I enjoyed the new Tickley Feather record the first time I sat down to listen to it on Wednesday. Then yesterday I had a nasty 24-hour flu bug (or a 24-hour H1N1 – I’m uninsured, so I didn’t have it professionally diagnosed) and got rowdy on the Nyquil and Dayquil at the same time. I was thoroughly fucked. It was at that point that the new Tickley Feather jam hive sounded real good. I tried to type out my review for the album in this state, but all that came out was thoughts like “fickley teather’s bringing the happy face grind out ya doppler radar outta control” and “annie sachs lol, reminds me of, like, ’sacks’ as in ‘i want to carry around sacks so if someone ask for a hand i can be like – no dice, got these sacks’ jack handey to the max”(true story). Better wait until I’m 100% to write this, which I’m doing right now.

So… the fuck was I talking about? Oh yes, we were discussing adorable lil’ Annie Sachs, a.k.a. Tickley Feather a.k.a. Animal Collective’s BFF 4 Life. The Feather recently described her forthcoming Hors D’oeuvres as an attempt to embrace her “Southern Gothic meets Existential Hillbilly vibe,” promising a more bucolic, joyful, accessible effort. Bucolic? Yes, and you can hear the optimism embedded within from her recent move back to her homestead of rural Virginia. But accessible? Fear not, Tickley Feather is still weird as all hell and delightfully psychotic and looking glass-esque. Different this time around, as previously alluded, is the very concise, focused songwriting. The album’s production still sounds like it was recorded underwater (as it should), but the melodies and compositions are so good. Perhaps Hors D’oeuvres will go quadruple platinum. I fucking hope so.

Tickley’s signature drum machine, melted keys, and allegiance to four-track recording still remain in the forefront as she experiments with many genres, intrepreted slight askew of course. “Sure Relaxing” combines aquatic vocals and wah-pedal to evoke a sexy, LSD-lens Cocteau Twins. “Club Rhythm 96 and Cell Phone” brings you nasty dance funk electroclash as recorded by and for the Morlocks. “Buzzy” takes a page out of Ariel Pink’s instrumental jam book, using minimal loops and altering their fidelity to change the mood and timbre of the song throughout a la William Basinki (and a gorgeous one it is). “Don’t Call, Marilyn” amalgamates a ’60s doo wop sensibility with a sort of paranoia-inducing carnival beat and remains a big highlight.

However, where Tickley really hits her stride is on “Trashy Boys” and “Roses of Romance.” Tickley has a serious sense of soaring melody that was only hinted at on earlier work like “Natural.” Despite the wash of hazy effects and otherwordly disposition, there’s a quiet intimacy a la Movietone through the songs’ resplendent warmth that’s quite refreshing in the freak folk realm (though called Tickley “freak folk” is a bit of a disservice to her rather ingenious music). Truly gorgeous stuff.

Hors D’oeuveres holds up as I listen to it now with a sober mind, and was totally fuckin’ awesome on cough meds. Without sounding cliched, it is truly a syrupy trip into strange candy-coated lands, like entering the “Dark World” in Zelda Link to the Past. Highly recommended for all ocassions, and I reckon that it will end up on the best-of list for the year.

Hors D’oeuvres will burrow a hole in your dome when it drops October 20 coutesy of Paw Tracks. The image at the top is not the cover of the new album, by the way. High-res artwork has yet to be released for it.

Fagen-Becker Quality Rating

For fans of:  Ariel Pink, Bachelorette, Broadcast, Movietone

MP3 :::
Tickley Feather – Roses of Romance
Tickley Feather – Trashy Boys

There’s something about Louisville that produces adventurous female songwriters who completely eschew traditional (i.e. bland) folk leanings for massive, beautiful soundscapes and experimental song structures. Perhaps it’s the high grade weed that passes through here, who knows. Last week, you were introduced to the graceful Cheyenne Mize, who collaborated with Will Oldham on his Among the Gold EP.  I suppose you could classify her and other similar artists as part of the New Weird America camp.  But Tara Jane O’Neil, who recently relocated to Portland, is not new and not easy to pinpoint. She’s a longstanding freak folk luminary whose resume stretches far and wide, and she would stomp Joanna Newsome’s annoying ass and beat her with her own harp without a second thought.

A quick history lesson for the uninitiated. At 20, TJO tamed the low end in the legendary Louisville math rock collective Rodan, and played on their one and only album Rusty. After Rodan’s deterioration, she drfited between the likes of Ida, Mirah, Naysayer, Retsin, Jackie O Motherfucker, and good ol’ Dave Pajo as Papa M. Rodan enthusiasts will hate me for saying such, but her solo work, in my opinion, has left the most shattering impression. And the forthcoming A Ways Away is one of her best. It’s a scorcher.

While some of her recent work has adopted a more intimate and traditional folk approach in the vein of latter Fairport Convention or Townes Van Zandt, A Ways Away is lush, weird, and engrossing. Psych folk is the closest reference point, as the spinning textures and ambient flourishes are reminiscent of some of The Incredible String Band’s best stuff.  Yet, TJO is also entirely something else.

In a way, A Ways Away is a return to form and a maturation. The crafty utilization of space and syrupy slow tempo is reminiscent of early Low and, of course, Rodan and her first effort Peregrine. At the same time, TJO is fully owning her sound – writing concise songs while letting the drones and riffs wander in myriad directions. The result is a beautiful and accessible work that relishes in desolate sounds and bucolic late night wandering.  If you were intrigued by Grouper’s Dragging a Dead Deer Up a Hill last year, A Ways Away will floor you. Respect to Grouper, of course, but TJO was doin’ this thing first and, as such, deserving of your attention.

It’s important to note that you should stay very, very far away from alcohol whilst enjoying A Ways Away. It’s extremely somber and sorta creepy, notwithstanding that it’s absolutely gorgeous as well. Which reminds me, one of my best friends’ older brother had the pleasure of getting wasted with Tara at a Stereolab show in Louisville in 2002. I can’t even piece this scenario together. Stereolab played at one of the douchiest bars in town, Phoenix Hill Tavern (imagine “Parsec” amongst a sea of popped collars, ya know?). And here’s Sam, a total good times dude, taking whiskey shots with the distant TJO. I’ll have to ask him what they talked about next time I see him.

Ah, I follow tangents as they come, where was I?  Oh yes, back to how and why A Ways Away rules. The tonality TJO employs on her clean electric guitar, with huge atmospheric reverberation added to great effect, is remarkable to listen to, and perfect for driving west during the storm. “Pearl Into Sand” is a beastly, rowdy drone instrumental that just handed my ass to me. This leads into the equally beastly “Beast, Go Along.” As beautiful as it is haunting, “Beast, Go Along” is the best representation of A Ways Away as a whole. Morricone-style riffs drift in and out, while light touches of steel guitar adds a slight cosmic American music slant – all of which ride delicately over thick, warm drones. It’s a delicious dirge that you can expect on my best of ‘09 list.  While firmly cemented within the parameters of atmospheric folk, TJO’s A Ways Away reveals many facets that only get better with each listen.

Fagen-Becker Quality Rating

A Ways Away is her first album on K Records, and is out May 5 (along with every other record I’ve covered recently – that’s a huge day).

For fans of: Grouper, Linda Perhacs, Belong

MP3 :::
Tara Jane O’Neil – Pearl Into Sand
Tara Jane O’Neil – Beast, Go Along
Tara Jane O’Neil – Dig In

Some critics tend to take issue with an artist who lacks continuity on record. They may attack the artist for having some shade of a messy identity crisis. They might feel that a body of recorded work should be a cohesive submersion into an aurally cultivated landscape. I am not that sort of critic.

Sure, there’s a lot to say about continuity. An album such as, say, Lotus Plaza’s The Floodlight Collective is a great example of a cohesive record that sticks to a particular song structure and sonic timbre, and does it in a well-crafted fashion. However, there’s a fine line between cohesion and repetition or lack of inspiration. There’s also a fine line between ecclecticity and clusterfuck. Akron/Family, with the forthcoming Set ‘Em Wild, Set ‘Em Free, very intelligently carves an eclectic, surprising record that is not afraid to experiment with disparate genres – almost to an alarming level. It’s a textbook example of experimental music for people who might not like experimental music.

Akron/Family have dropped the freak from their freak folk flag, and in its place, introduced 11 remarkable tracks that explore every corner of cosmic American music – torch ballads to bucolic dirges, country rock to atmospheric anthems, sunshine pop and grating noise, Television and the Byrds, Sun City Girls and Sun Ra. Does this sound interesting to you? It should, Set Em Wild, Set Em Free is utterly imaginative.

“Everyone is Guilty,” the album’s opener, masterfully combines funk and post-punk. For a psych folk group, that’s pretty insane. From there, next track “River” provokes a sunshine-drenched subdued pop song with a twang. Eno-informed electronic flourishes swell and subside, as well as steel guitar and horn arrangements. It’s obvious that the Akron/Family loves music with no restrictions, plain and simple. What’s most surprising, aside from the genre jumping, is that fact that the group’s downsizing from a revolving roster to a trio yielded their most expansive album to date.

Now jump to “MBF” in the second half of the record. What begins as Steve Albini rock turns into a self-destructive porous membrane of sonic intensity that could fit very nicely on a Wolf Eyes or Prurient record.  The structurally loose “Sun Will Shine (Warmth of the Sunship Version” is another highlight. This track is the closest resemblance to the group’s last effort Love is All, yet maintains the consistency of maturation and playfulness that makes Set Em Wild, Set Em Free so remarkable.  The almost eight-minute “Gravelly Mountains of the Moon” is the real gem, though – a bombastic technicolor psychedelic anthem stocked with vast instrumentation and a pulsating over-the-horizon melodic quality. I like Akron/Family, but I didn’t see that one coming.

I can see the pure ambition of Set Em Wild, Set Em Free to possibly be a point of contention among critics and fans. I hope not. Set Em Wild, Set Em Free is smart and psychotic, almost refreshing to a fault, and showcases a band who has absolutely no comfort zone. Akron/Family have proven themselves to be pretty much fearless, and as a consequence, are propelled to a level much higher than simply another good offering from New Weird America. While some might find the record unlistenable at times, anyone with a relative appreciation of music and how it evolved should be compelled to give Set Em Wild, Set Em Free a fair shot, at least to hear an example of a truly brave and crafty collective.

Set ‘Em Wild, Set ‘Em Free hits the streets on May 5 and is available for pre-order on Dead Oceans.

Fagen-Becker Quality Rating

MP3 :::
Akron/Family – Gravelly Mountains of the Moon
Akron/Family – MBF

There’s a few big albums dropping today, amongst other significant events today, too.  Lest we forget, though, that the prolific MV & EE with The Golden Road drop a new one as well.  Drone Trailer is great.  The last record with The Golden Road, Gettin’ Gone, was decent enough, though spent more time exploring swampy blues and Neil Young riffs than the free flowing shattered acid folk that Matt Valentine and Erika Elder perfected with The Bummer Road’s 2007 Green Blues. “Anyway,” the opener and included below for your consideration, offers a nice throwback to Tower Recordings, albeit with a more electrified timbre.

As for other MV & EE goings on, they’ve packed the camper, the bong, and everything else to hit the road and party moderately.  When going to see them, please note that their recognizable canine friend Zuma, pictured left, is cute, BUT NOT FRIENDLY.  Do not approach.  I learned this when I went to a show in support of Green Blues.  Before show time, I approached the merch table, where both Matt and Erika were present, and reach down to give Zuma a lil’ rub on the dome.  Matt was looking right at us for quite a while, though I don’t think it registered immediately, at which point he said “ahhh… oh, hey man… I wouldn’t… I wouldn’t pet the dog, man.  She’s kinda weird around people.”  So, moral of the story: don’t pet the dog, man. That’s my public service announcement for the day.  Grip Drone Trailer here.

Of course it’s no surprise that the new Religious Knives full-length is good. Like Smuckers, if it says Ecstatic Peace on the label, it has to be good. With that said, The Door is still a nice surprise, considering how different it sounds from Resin released earlier this year (though the latter is a collection of older material and some live renditions).

The most noticeable and significant difference between The Door and Religious Knives’ earlier drone trips is that the band, sometime between then and now, got really funky. This is established in the first few seconds of opening brain burner “Downstairs.” If the low end were of a higher tempo, you could easily lay it against a blaxploitation film score. No foolin’.

It’s a strange funkiness too: serious, fluid bass grooves at a slow, steady tempo reinforce the walls of a Loop-meets-Jackie O Motherfucker gale of hazy, foreboding fuzz squall that remains sparse and powerful. Combined this with smoky pipe organ, crystalline chants, and tribal percussion, and Religious Knives whisk you away on a very gnarly (in a good way) magical mystery tour. Religious Knives have also boosted the vocals in the mix and staved off a lot of the usual reverb. This has been a point of contention among a few of the early reviews for The Door, with some critics writing that the prominent vocals showcase a bored, detached quality. To me, though, Religious Knives’ approach to the vocals on this album help separate them from many other artists firmly planted in psychedelia. By making a stern attempt toward a different method of production, as opposed to liberally applying the typical reverb and pan treatment as most artists who make this type of music tend to do, The Door carves out a very distinct niche and yields a rewarding listening experience.

“The Storm,” despite its name, is one of the more subdued moments on The Door, and one of the best. The group makes brilliant use of space – the wide open chasm between measures provide more of a ominous mood than even the most sinister of minor chords. Shortly after “The Storm,” the volume cranks, dense layers of fuzz poke through, and the tempo is upped for The Door’s closing remarks, “Major Score” and “Decisions Are Made,” providing a sharp contrast to the album’s first half and slinging one more surprise your way. Moody and cavernous, The Door is, seriously, best enjoyed with the lights lowered. I know that sounds corny, but it’s true. I understood the album more profoundly in the dark than the daylight.

Though The Door doesn’t necessarily chart new territory, Religious Knives have demonstrated that they can try new directions without straying too far from the general sonic cathedral they’ve built. It’s a hard balance to strike, and one the group has proven they do well, and as such, Religious Knives are certainly a collective to get excited about whenever they release new material. Hopefully, with their newfound home on Ecstatic Peace, that will be often.

If you like what you hear below, go on and grip The Door directly from the label for an extremely reasonable price.

MP3 :::
Religious Knives – The Storm
Religious Knives – Decisions Are Made

It would take a pretty awesome album cover to get its own post. And the album cover for the forthcoming Animal Collective album Merriweather Post Pavilion gets that honor.

The Magic Eye company spent years releasing optical illusion picture books that didn’t fuckin’ work! And it only took AC one try to get the wavy surrealism tip right. Man, this rules. I can’t stop staring at it. I’m trying to get my reviews of Religious Knives and Hush Arbors written today, but all I can do is stare at this thing. You guys enjoying this? I’m enjoying this.

Man… that’s kwaa-zeee! I wonder if it glows under blacklight as well?

Drops 1.20.09 courtesy of Domino. Traxxxx:

1. In the Flowers
2. My Girls
3. Also Frightened
4. Summertime Clothes
5. Daily Routine
6. Bluish
7. Guys Eyes
8. Taste
9. Lion in a Coma
10. No More Runnin
11. Brother Sport

In other news completely unrelated to Animal Collective, my Yelp review for one of my favorite local eateries is the Review of the Day today at Yelp Chicago. Bloggins power!

MP3 :::
Animal Collective – Daily Routine (Live at Pitchfork)

I should be releasing my best of 2008 list next month at this time. As a preview, you can bet that San Francisco’s Sic Alps will be firmly planted in the northern latitudes of the list. This isn’t your father’s unwashable, filthy, no-fi psychedelic rock scuz – Sic Alps twist, creak, and thump, taking you on a cosmically damaged romp through west coast good vibes and future shock trepidation.

Why I didn’t czech out the group earlier is a mystery to me. Their debut Pleasures and Treasures was released on Animal Disguise, home to my good friends Warmer Milks. The latest, U.S. Ez, has a comfy place on the Siltbreeze roster with the likes of Charlambides, The Dead C, and hey look, U.S. Girls (see below). Sic Alps certainly drink from the same goblets as the highest in psych rock royalty, but they also bring the goods to back up their seat at the table.

I was casually listening to my iTunes on shuffle whilst engaging in some fast-track multitasking when “Clubbing For $$” came on and I thought “hmm, I don’t recognize this Alexander Skip Spence song.” Both Skip Spence and Alps vocalist Mike Donovan retain a subtle, gorgeous quality through raspy timbre and decimated, hissing melodies, suggesting that both gentlemen have seen the true face of God and didn’t like what they saw. “Gelly Roll Gum Drops” also provokes this same, insane electric folk feel, with a bit of 13th Floor Elevators style celestial boogie and some general Holy Modal Rounders headfuckery tossed in to give this exercise in tape reverb fortitude some serious lift.

I’m also reminded of my favorite work of Neil Michael Haggerty in U.S. Ez, so imagine my elation when I found out they play as his backup band every now and again. The blitzkrieg of fuzz on “Massive Place” might make Mudhoney feel retarded. But enough of comparisons. Comparisons are lame. I’m listening to this record right now as we speak, and all that needs to be said is that it’s so fucking good. I hope Sic Alps sell a billion records.

Get this album, or else the terrorists will win.

I finally got around to listening to Chicago’s U.S. Girls, and it’s everything I could’ve hoped for. “Buzz Chant,” which you can find on WFMU’s latest Free Music Archive compilation, is gentle enough to subdue and hypnotize, but menacing enough to make an excellent Halloween season soundtrack. Speaking of that FMU comp, I know they’ve been giving these things out for free around NYC – anyone care to send me one? Puh-leeeze?! Anyway, I can’t do much better describing U.S. Girls than Scott W’s description from Beware of Blog, so I’ll let him talk: “Packing nothing more than a reel-to-reel tape deck, a mic, and 2 stomp boxes, U.S. Girls delivered a maelstrom of classic pop filtered through something unknowable and kinda crazy, I don’t know what it is. I’ll indulge the facile “A meets B” thing by saying imagine Phil Spector covered by The Conet Project, or The Dave Clark 5 as done by a gang of angry ghosts. It’s strangely still pop music, stripped of all affect, leaving behind the pure emotion and meaning of songs like “Bits and Pieces” and The Kinks’ “Days”.”

Finally, this jam has been a favorite of mine for a while. It’s from Atlanta’s The N.E.C., which stands for something awesome but I’ll be damned if I can remember. I discovered the N.E.C. through my friends Tight Leather (lots of SHOUT OUTS on today’s entry, eh?), who often trade shows between Lexington and Atlanta. The N.E.C. is, simply put, a nasty and fun Nuggets meets Psychocandy psych pop howler. The band has a full length coming out early next year on Double Phantom that I’m bound to discuss often on this blog, so in the meantime, enjoy “Young Wax” and get stoked.

Everything rules.

MP3 :::
Sic Alps – Bathman
Sic Alps – Sing Song Waitress
Sic Alps – Clubbing For $$
Sic Alps – Gelly Roll Gum Drop
U.S. Girls – Buzz Chant (Live on WFMU)
U.S. Girls – Prove It All Night
The N.E.C. – Young Wax

Perhaps it was just the acoustics of the Frank Gehry designed amphitheater, but Califone got better since last time we met. Tim Rutuli’s vocals were at their most melodic and pop-aware, meanwhile the band was increasing their sonic depth before your very eyes, unfurling louder, thicker, trippier soundscapes that were strange even for Califone. Walls of thick ambience, collapsing structures and disjointed melodies, violins, horns, jingly percussion – Califone did not fuck around. Seeing them reminded me of why I like Animal Collective, as in, there were two very disparate forces pulling away from each other at the same time. While one segment of the music moved more into the major key pop realms, the other spun off into a noisy, marshmallowy sea of sine wave shredding psych. Jesus fuck, they were really good. The hippie contingent was out in full force, too, which is always fun to see juxtaposed with all the douchey fasttrack business folk.

Sorry about the shaky video. I wasn’t allowed to approach the front of the stage (“we ask that you don’t record performances”), so I was at a distance, in addition to having a lethal amount of caffeine pumping through me. But the sound quality is great! “The Orchids,” as I recently discovered, is a Psychic TV song, though Califone’s cover is rather righteous, especially live.

Save the date, coach. Freak roots/experimental folk pioneers and Thrill Jockey payrollees Califone will bring it proper for a midday concert this Monday, Aug. 11, at the Jay Pritzker Pavilion in Chicago’s Millennium Park. The rockshow is part of the Audible Architecture Series. Admission is free and the show is scheduled to kick off at 12:15 p.m. There really are a surprising number of “New Weird America” rippers who work downtown (like me), and they will all be there geekin’ the fuck out whilst the Cloud Gate tourists remain righteously confused. It’ll be something to witness. My lunch break’s gonna rule.

And since Califone understands the toll recession is taking on folkheads these days, they’re playing another no-dough show at the Renegade Craft Fair on Sept. 14 along Division Street in the Ukranian Village (between Damen and Wood Avenues). Free love all around. You can also get your fix in Madison at the High Noon Saloon on Aug. 16, and the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis on the 18th. You probably have to pay for those, though. No word yet on any studio action. Roots & Crowns still owns, though, so I’ll just keep coastin’ to that jam hive in the meantime.

MP3 :::
Califone – A Chinese Actor

Feathers, rosaries, and teal colored water. Should be a good time, especially on LSD. Brightblack Morning Light’s latest, Motion to Rejoin, takes up where the self-titled record left off, and this time, was recorded with solar power. Brightgreen Morning Light. Matador just announced today that the album drops September 23, the same day as Mogwai’s new record, so the label will be receive approximately $26 of my money on that day. Of course, you can pre-order it now.

Brightblack hits the road and rips bongs this fall. There’s a high percentage of random places in California on this leg of their tour…
10/2 – The Tractor Tavern: Seattle, WA
10/3 – The Helm Gallery: Tacoma, WA
10/5 – Doug Fir Lounge: Portland, OR
10/8 – Sam Bonds Garage: Eugene, OR
10/10 – Humboldt Brews: Arcata, CA
10/11 – Delta of Venus: Davis, CA
10/14 – Cafe Du Nord: San Francisco, CA
10/15 – Cafe Du Nord: San Francisco, CA
10/16 – Starry Plough: Berkeley, CA
10/18 – Historic Brookdale Lodge: Brookdale, CA
10/20 – Casbah: San Diego, CA
10/21 – Detroit Bar: Costa Mesa, CA
11/05 – Hailey’s: Denton, TX
11/06 – Club Deville: Austin, TX
11/07 – Spanish Moon: Baton Rouge, LA
11/08 – One Eyed Jacks: New Orleans, LA
11/10 – Eyedrum: Atlanta, GA
11/11 – Caledonia Lounge: Athens, GA
11/12 – Grey Eagle Tavern: Asheville, NC
11/13 – Local 506: Chapel Hill, NC
11/14 – Talking Head: Baltimore, MD
11/16 – BAR Nightclub: New Haven, CT
11/17 – LPR: New York, NY
11/18 – South Paw: Brooklyn, NY
11/20 – Beachland Tavern: Cleveland, OH
11/21 – Magic Stick: Detroit, MI
11/22 – Hideout: Chicago, IL
11/24 – Waiting Room, Omaha, NE

MP3 :::
Brightblack Morning Light – Hologram Buffalo