Nic Dawson Kelly put this record out last October and nobody really heard it over here. I’m not sure anyone much heard it over THERE either. But DC played it on The Waiting Room, and made me listen to it, and goddamn if I can’t stop playing it in my car and on my laptop and on my ipod. And it’s not the sound of something that will perhaps grab you by the balls and whisper in your ear, “you want me now, big guy, don’t you?” But it will, after making you cock your head to one side, when you first hear what this guy does with his voice, … oh it will slowly ease it’s way down the back of your pants and make you ache for more of it. (gosh, this has gotten filthy, hasn’t it? I seriously don’t mean these things to do this… it just happens!)

The whole album is brilliant, ….genius, ….brave. Nic Dawson Kelly has taken what could be a rather abrasive attitude toward life coupled with a heavy dose of heartache and made it into a really soulful collection of bluesy, sometimes quite sweet, folk songs. He did this, in part, by singing the way he does. And that is just something you have to hear for yourself. But the other two parts of this are, of course, fantastic lyrics and very well crafted instrumentation. Old Valentine has very old fashioned piano and guitar centered songs, filled out with harmonica, a violin here and there, tambourine, and the soft beat of a hand on a jean-clad leg.  Nic wraps his crazy vibrato vocals around these songs, most times gently and occasionally with a wild force. The first time I saw the video for “The Musician” I was very surprised to see how young this guy really is. There’s just so much character in the delivery of these songs, so much experience in these lyrics. I found it hard to believe that this tall, lanky, young man had pulled this all off!

The opening track, “Thursday” has a wicked harmonica line leading you into the most fast-paced track on the album. The title track has a certain charm, lyrically. “Adam and Eve” is absolutely a wonderful love song that he so soulfully belts out with so much conviction that you do believe he will “wait until the sea dries over.” But it’s track eight, “Delicate,” that puts you in that spot where you really just have to commit to this album. It’s a hard song to hear. The lyrics are poetic, a beautifully worded, bittersweet, goodbye to a lover. Nic’s trembling falsetto stretches impossibly high with the barest of accompaniment. It’s spell is broken by hard strumming of a guitar on the next track and oh, are you grateful. Rounding out the album with two more songs, Nic Dawson Kelly brings a unique flavor to the more typical bluesy, roots/folk music that I love. I know you have not heard this album. You’ve not even heard of this album. But I hope you become intrigued with it, as I have. I can’t wait to see where this guy is going next. This debut LP is simply brilliant… Edinburgh friends, he’s coming your way in March… go see him for me, eh? xoxo

Tracklisting

1. Thursday 3.23
2. Musician, The
3. Under Her Matress (I Wrote This)
4. Marilyn
5. All The Pretty Bullfighters
6. Old Valentine
7. Adam And Eve
8. Delicate
9. Ex Lovers And Old Friends
10. Oh Well

Tour Dates
Mar 27 2010 6:30P The Cavern Exeter
Mar 28 2010 6:30P Academy Bristol
Mar 29 2010 6:30P Barfly Cardiff
Mar 30 2010 6:30P The Peel Kingston
Mar 31 2010 6:30P Academy Birmingham
Apr 1 2010 6:30P Leadmill Sheffield
Apr 2 2010 6:30P King Tuts Glasgow
Apr 3 2010 6:30P Cockpit 3 Leeds
Apr 4 2010 6:30P Night And Day Manchester
Apr 6 2010 6:30P Bodega Nottingham
Apr 7 2010 6:30P Barfly London
Apr 8 2010 6:30P Joiners Southampton
Apr 24 2010 7:30P The Gladstone/w/The Icebreakers London
May 29 2010 7:30P The Gladstone/w/The Icebreakers London

The Soundtrack of Our Lives are coming to Chicago and I’ve been soaking them in all weekend. What a trip it’s been. Yeah, Communion, their latest double album was released in 2008, but I never got to it until now. And you know me, I love this hook-laden, rock-n-roll, heavy-bass, guitar-driven kind of music. It’s quite the contrast to The Black Atlantic, the other thing that’s been feeding my ears, I’ll tell you that! And it’s been a welcome contrast. I’m stoked to see them play live.

They’re ending their US tour right here in Chicago at Lincoln Hall with Nico Vega. I’ll be giving you the story, don’t worry, xoxo (it’s a Jam Productions show and therefore sold by Ticketmaster, which as you know, I think is the Devil Incarnate, so I’m sorry that link for Lincoln Hall takes you to them!)

buy their albums here

US Tour Dates
Feb 16th – Irving Plaza – New York, NY
Feb 17th – The Note – Philadelphia, PA
Feb 18th – House Of Sweden – Washington, DC
Feb 18th – Black Cat – Washington, DC
Feb 19th – The Warehouse Live – Houston, TX
Feb 20th – Emo’s – Austin, TX
Feb 21st – The Granada – Dallas, TX
Feb 23rd – The Rialto – Tucson, AZ
Feb 24th – The Casbah – San Diego, CA
Feb 25th – Glasshouse – Pomona, CA
Feb 26th – El Rey – Los Angeles, CA
Feb 27th – The Independent – San Francisco, CA
Feb 28th – Lincoln Hall – Chicago, IL

I finally came into possession of an old guitar someone had given me at a nightclub in San Francisco awhile back; Eric Drew Feldman had been holding it for me there on Haight Street. He convinced me that it looked cool (it was black) and had been given in the spirit of benevolence. Every time I picked it up a nice chord came out and so I lovingly cleaned it with red wine in the dressing room the following night and began to write. I told the tour manager that we would drive in my Cadillac directly to a recording studio in Los Angeles (and could he book one, oh, and a rhythm section, too?) from the gig in San Luis Obispo which would put us at the studio at about 4am. It all happened according to plan and we cut the initial tracks there in the wee hours over a few days, and then moved on to an equally haunted studio in London and Eric Drew Feldman joined us there and we finished the record in St. John’s Wood. Like I said the studio was haunted and I wrote many a couplet by candlelight in the studio accommodation, slept very little, and only felt the need to get the fuck out of there fast on the last night. The spirits had not ever bothered me, other than low drama moral support, but I was informed that they had heard enough and it was time to move on; plus I had a gig in Ireland.

When I was a boy the plant we boys called a fern was code for vagina, and to this day I love fern plants. In my heart the vagina is almost everything, and almost everything else could be summed up in what cock and seed have to offer; and everything else? The love of the father, dead or alive, the pain of too much pleasure, till death do us part, the voice of another song man from the other side, with or without God, Teri and the Possibilities, where ever you may be, the smell of sex in the air, seduced, slain, on my knees in prayer, sucking at the only thing that matters, my own personal Meret Oppenheim, I am Man Ray and I want you and to be all the way inside you, the cameras whirring as we put some elbow grease into the scene, the audience watching us in the dark.

Black Francis
January 2010, Central Oregon

Recorded in Los Angeles, London and Brooklyn, NonStopErotik was produced by Eric Drew Feldman and Black Francis, and features 10 original songs plus a cover of the Flying Burrito Brothers track “Wheels”.

Tracklisting :
1. Lake of Sin
2. O My Tidy Sum
3. Rabbits
4. Wheels
5. Dead Man’s Curve
6. Corrina
7. Six Legged Man
8. Wild Son
9. When I Go Down On You
10. Nonstoperotik
11. Cinema Star

Old, Dim Light mp3 The Black Atlantic Reverence For Fallen Trees

The Black Atlantic popped up on my twitter the other day via the ever-faithfully helpful, Drunk Country. Out of Holland, The Black Atlantic are heading to SXSW, and on their way they will hit a number of US cities. They’re booking their tour now. If you like what you hear, get in touch!

Their album, Reverence For Fallen Trees, came out last summer and I’ve been listening to it for a few days now. It’s lovely in all the right ways. Featuring melancholic arrangements of piano, mandolin, guitar, drums and soft harmonies, these songs are deceptively quiet. Recorded in Saranac Lake, NY in the heart of the Adirondack Mountains (in a log cabin!) with guest performances by friends, The Antlers and Spanish Prisoners as well as Kim Janssen, Reverence For Fallen Trees is a very pretty album and not as simple as it seems. There’s a current running through the background of this that is a constant stream of energy, almost a hum. It makes me feel the same way about songs on this album as I did for The Antlers’ Hospice; the layers of sound exist almost on separate planes. And when they break or join … that silence or combining of sounds is so striking! I hear it especially on “Old, Dim Light” and “Reverence For Fallen Trees.” The Black Atlantic have crafted a collection of songs here that evoke what it must be like to float aimlessly on the ocean without fear of drowning or being lost. Their music is so peaceful and yet thought-provoking enough to keep my interest for the duration of the entire album. I could not do without even one song. You must go and download this… they’re giving it away, and it is worth so much.

Chicago, help me bring The Black Atlantic here. They have March 25, and 26th open in their schedule! Give me a holler if  you know how to get them in a venue for either of those dates. I’m working on it, but heaven knows, I definitely need your help, xoxo

Read Sandy’s album review over at Slowcoustic!

9

Amsterdam Acoustics – The Black Atlantic : Fragile Meadow from Mokummercials on Vimeo.

wait for the song… it comes in about the 2:20 min mark…

The Black Atlantic – “Dandelion” from musikmob on Vimeo.

Tour Dates
Mar 17 2010 8:00P SXSW Austin, TX (USA)
Mar 18 2010 8:00P SXSW @ Soho Lounge Austin, TX (USA)
Mar 19 2010 8:00P SXSW Austin, TX (USA)
Mar 20 2010 8:00P SXSW Austin, TX (USA)
Mar 24 2010 8:00P Lemp Arts Center St. Louis, Missouri
Mar 27 2010 8:30P Mickey Finn’s Toledo, Ohio
Apr 4 2010 8:00P Piano’s New York, New York
May 26 2010 8:00P Schnuerschuh Theater Bremen (DE)
May 27 2010 8:00P Zentrale Hamburg (DE)
May 28 2010 8:00P tba Berlin (DE)
May 30 2010 8:00P tba w/ Holmes (se) Graz (A)
Jun 3 2010 8:00P Tambourine Seregno (IT)
Jun 4 2010 8:00P The Bleu Lézard Lausanne (CH)
Jun 6 2010 8:00P Pop In Paris (FR)
Jun 7 2010 8:00P The Forum Turnbridge Wells (UK)
Jun 8 2010 8:00P StartTheBus Bristol (UK)
Jun 9 2010 7:30P Hare & Hounds Birmingham (UK)
Jun 10 2010 8:00P The Slaughtered Lamb w/ Rue Royale London (UK)
Jun 12 2010 8:00P Kulturpalast Wiesbaden (DE)
Jun 13 2010 8:00P Morph Club Bamberg (DE)
Jun 14 2010 8:00P AZ Aachen (DE)

What are you doing peeking over here on this silly site?! Get over to WOXY.com and hear The Waiting Room because there’s a ton of great music including TWO lovely songs from Chicago folk who you should know or get to know. It’s not every day that a radio show, blasted out from Austin, TX, to the entire world wide web, coming from the teensy corners of far away Cardiff, Wales, contains so much Chicago talent, ya know! (Did you follow that? Cardiff, Wales >>> Austin, TX >>> the WHOLE WORLD!) …. yeah I’ve no idea what that picture means either.

Who’s in this week’s show that’s got Tart all flustered and stating the obvious for you in 115 different ways, you ask?

Puerto Muerto, who yes, I admit I have not heard yet and now that I hear they are breaking up from fellow Chicago blogger, Richard Giraldi of Loud Loop Press , I am ever so sorry! But you can catch their record release show at the Empty Bottle on Monday night, February 22.

Violetness, who I heard open for My Gold Mask at their record release show last month. I fell in love with her sound and reminded DC to go have a listen, (he’d heard of her, of course, I never beat him to the punch, the bastard!) But, Violetness is surely one to watch in 2010. She has an EP coming out very soon; her sound is quirky and interesting and fresh. I love her voice, she uses it like an instrument, at times avoiding the constraints of what “vocals” should be in a song. I can’t wait to hear what this EP is going to sound like. And I think you’ll find the song DC chose beautifully intriguing.

Perfect Love Flow mp3 Violetness

DC adds  (from his weekly TWR email),
This week you shall pierce your music taste on the following spikes of interest:

• The Unisex – Ambitious Baggy Indie Rock
• The HotRats – Leather Jacket Garage
• Citay – Melodic 70s’ Prog-Folk
• Cuthbert & The Night Walkers – The Muppets On Broadway
• Stornoway – Multi-Harmony Melody Folk
• Milkymee – Minor Key Acoustic Indie
• Like A Stuntman – Queer Electronic Indie Rock
• JonPaul Palombo – Infectious Indie Ringtone Pop
• Violetness – Subterranean Indie Soul
• Darwin Deez – DIY Indie Funk Pop
• Luther Dickinson & The Sons Of Mudboy – Sparsely Lit Delta Blues
• Balmorhea – Instrumental Alt.Folk Orchestra
• Hands – Classical Acoustic Swing
• UTE – Skitter-Drum Prog Folk
• Joe Firstman – Hammond Country Alt.Rock
• Smile Smile – Wonky 2-Part Folktronica
• Megafaun – Appalachian Chain Gang Blues
• Cars & Trains – Asthmatic Glitch-Folk
• Alec Ounsworth – Claustrophobic Dancehall Pop
• Akai – Inebriated Torch Song
• Lars & The Hands Of Light – Psychedramatic Indie Pop
• Gigi – Authentic Retro Bubblegum
• Cosmobile – Muscular Avant Fuzz Pop
• John Mouse – Elastic Hoedown Anti-Folk
• Laura Marling – Coffee Coated Angst Folk
• Puerto Muerto – Melodramatic Ballad Folk

Saturday at 8 a.m. EST

Sunday at 4 p.m. EST

Tune in at WOXY.com

No One Is Illegal mp3 Bill Tucker, Mythological Creatures And, I’m gonna include this 11:48 min. piece because I love it, and because it’s got everything in it that I’m talking about in this review. So, if you’ve got the patience (and I highly recommend you muster up some) please sit through the whole thing. This just turns me on, and maybe that will tell you something about me, for good or bad! But it will tell you a whole lot about the talent and passion of Bill Tucker.

by Rachael Mchan

Bill Tucker is a troubadour, and you don’t often hear one of those these days. I met Bill in an art gallery last summer. And the minute he and I got to talking, I knew that when he would pick up his guitar later that evening, he would sound exactly like he talked: fast, and urgently expressive. We chatted about music and politics and how to fight the apathy that comes with volunteerism burnout. Bill and I had done some of the same things, been to the same type of rallies, worked on some of the same kind of causes. We also knew some of the same bands and his face lit up like mine does when I talked about why I love to write this blog and how music connects people in the same way that politics on a grass roots level can. Why am I telling you all this instead of how interesting and cool Mythological Creatures is? Darlings, there’s always a rhyme to my reason, now isn’t there?

Mythological Creatures has an uncanny ability to call to mind such varied sources as the labor folk songs of Billy Bragg and Arlo Guthrie, the great story telling of singer/songwriters in the late 70s like Neil Young and Lou Reed, the instrumentation of newer folk sounds that I’m hearing out of Edinburgh and other parts of the UK from Mumford & Sons and eagleowl, and most unexpectedly, noise and ambient sounds such as those I fell in love with from Jasmine Dreame Walker’s work on Cabinet of Natural Curiosities‘ Searchlight Needles. Could you make sense of all those sources just now? It is hard to squeeze them together, isn’t it? Well Bill Tucker manages it. In 14 tracks he doles out some prescient political messages, and yet also grasps just how interconnected each of us are with what’s going on in the world and with the real people in it. With tunes that are both catchy and crafted to recall a great musical legacy of protest and political empowerment, Mythological Creatures is also a really fun record – don’t worry!

The sounds on this are weird and wonderful. His guitar predominates, joined by scratchy recordings of I don’t know what, and then by beautiful string arrangements. Just when you think you’ve got a handle on how Mythological Creatures is going to be, the next track is a hilarious discussion of Febreeze by a roomful of people, simply labeled “Rochester, NY.” “Somewhere in Pennsylvania” opens the record with Bill playing guitar over filmmaker, Allen Keating Moore talking about stereotypes. This is something Bill thinks about, how to overcome the differences in folks and find a way to relate to everyone. Scattered throughout this album are songs that explain just how he does that. But track ten, “Red Leaves,” stops you in your tracks (pun intended); it’s just a gorgeous instrumental piece, calm and daydreamy and I can understand how this is where Bill sees we need a breather from the angst and the reality of the world. What follows are some more experimental, noise/sound and some traditional songs and finally, the last track, “Rockford, Illinois” a piece with wind chimes/heartbeats/birds/wind/water (altogether) that ends the record in a beautifully peaceful manner. Bill Tucker is all these things, no… you can’t leave one bit of it out. He plays here in Chicago, and other Midwestern cities,  more than a few times a year, and a hundred or so people come out to hear him. His record release show last week went really well; he sold quite a few (of course, he could stand to sell some more.) This concoction of politics, and noise/sound, and music, and narrative, is alive and thriving here.  And Mythological Creatures encapsulates these seemingly disparate bits into a charmingly disturbing record that causes you to question some things you maybe don’t want to question, and find answers maybe you don’t like hearing, and take a breath when you need to. I love it. Some of you will too. xoxo

Chicago, come hear Bill play for free this Saturday at The Kahawa House w/The Bliss and Katie Dahl, 838 W Montrose. 4:00 pm

Table mp3 Rachael Dadd Moth In The Motor….. pre-order it here, from Broken Sound …. (those images above are just some of the images created for the collaborating, Moth In The Motor Arts Project. Also, the 300 limited edition 10″ vinyl pressings will have a unique liner designed by Rachael Dadd herself, wow!)

Rachael Dadd is my new calm-the-fuck-down music. Geeze, I feel guilty for even using the F-word in the presence of such pretty, airy, delicateness. Seven delightful, thoughtful tracks that even with her breathy, high voice, poke and prod your consciousness a bit just as they soothe you too. Moth in the Motor’s songs have phrases that float in and out of my head all night; from the title track, “Moth in the Motor,” she sings, “I’ve been voting for you… and I’ve been cheering for ya… and I’ve been counting on you,” for who counts on a moth? I’d like to know that person, maybe be that person.  The piano, struck intensely takes you to that point of tension where you can finally sigh, exhale and listen again to her voice gently pierce through the silent pause. At other times, it quietly leads you into her swirling vocal storms. “Caught In The Weight” is (some other word for beautiful) and (some other word for haunting) and I love how Joni Mitchell/Kate Bush comes to mind but just can’t stay in there as Rachael Dadd is so much her own voice, her own songwriter. Just go listen, you’ll instantly relax, unloosen, and feel yourself thinking about what a cryptically enchanting woman this Rachael Dadd must be. Moth In The Motor is such a short record to have such a potent, creative force. xoxo
Tour Dates
Feb 3 2010 8:00P The Wilmington Arms (Kick the Plug) London
Feb 6 2010 1:00A Union Chapel (Daylight Music) Midday gig London
Feb 10 2010 8:00P Moles with Alessi’s Ark Bath
Feb 11 8:00P CARDIFF Buffalo with Alessi’s Ark /Lauren / Hail! the Planes
Feb 12 2010 8:00P The Cube with Alessi’s Ark Bristol
Feb 14 2010 8:00P Portland Arms Cambridge
Feb 18 2010 8:00P The Birdcage with Alessi’s Ark Norwich
Feb 20 2010 8:00P The Hope with Alesi’s Ark Brghton
Feb 21 2010 8:00P Nation of Shopkeepers with Alessi’s Ark Leeds
Feb 22 2010 8:00P Bungalows and Bears ((Unquiet Desperation Presents…) with Alessi’s Ark Sheffield
Feb 24 2010 8:00P The Basement with Alessi’s Ark York
Feb 26 2010 8:00P Cafe Oto – London (incl Moth In The Motor exhibition) – with Alessi’s Ark and The Mariner’s Children London
Feb 28 2010 8:00P Hamptons Southampton

Ok darlings, here’s your chance to win one 7″ entirely white copy of Casper Bangs‘ “The Other Half” and “Queen of Hearts.” They are beautiful all white vinyl, like his album artwork, pictured to the right. Winners (two of you!) will be sent this gorgeous 7″ directly from our friends at Sneak Attack Media; all you have to do is answer the following question in the comments section below. (Also please reside in either the US or UK so they don’t have to do any crazy importing/mailing weirdness, thanks!)

To enter, answer in the comments section: What’s your favorite vinyl that you currently own? This will surely bring the vinyl weirdos out of the woodwork, eh?

Contest lasts until Saturday, Feb 6 March 1st!!! and I’ll select from the comments with my super secret random number selector. Good luck! xoxo

I can’t put it to you any other way, my dears. It’s as simple as this: Frightened Rabbit are coming to the US again, they’re promoting their new album The Winter of Mixed Drinks (which some bloggers have already got advanced copies of, sniff sniff!) and if you don’t go see them, then you’re an idiot. They are a wonderful band, go search their name on my little search window on the left down there and you’ll see how often they’re mentioned on this here blog. The Tart loves Frabbit and you should too if you’re into indie rock chock-full of raw energy, testosterone-fueled rock n roll howl of the finest sort. Can you beat that recommendation? No, didn’t think so. Now listen and learn and go see when they hit your town.

Oh yeah, by the way, there’s a contest over here. They say they want you to “enter is post a video response or leave a comment in the Shout Box on the channel of you making your favourite cocktail, or a cocktail of your own making, and we’ll pick our favourite as our winner. The closing date is the 15th of February, so get creative and get filming! The winner will get two tickets to an upcoming gig in the UK or US and the opportunity to enjoy the winning drink with the band after the show.” Pretty cool, eh?

See them!
March 17 – Austin, Texas @ SXSW
March 18 – Austin, Texas @ SXSW
March 19 – Austin, Texas @ SXSW
March 20 – Austin, Texas @ SXSW
April 17 – Indio, Calif. @ Coachella
April 19 – Tempe, Ariz. @ The Clubhouse
April 21 – Houston, Texas @ Walters
April 22 – Dallas, Texas @ Loft @ Palladium Ballroom
April 23 – Little Rock, Ark. @ Revolution
April 24 – Atlanta, Ga. @ The Masquerade
April 25 – Carrboro, N.C. @ Cat’s Cradle
April 27 – Washington, D.C. @ Black Cat
April 28 – New York, N.Y. @ Webster Hall
April 29 – Boston, Mass. @ Paradise
April 30 – Philadelphia, Pa. @ First Unitarian Church
May 3 – Montreal, QC @ Petit Campus
May 4 – Toronto, ONT @ Opera House
May 6 – Newport, Ky. @ Southgate House
May 7 – St. Louis, Mo. @ The Old Rock House
May 8 – Chicago, Ill. @ Metro
May 9 – Milwaukee, Wisc. @ Pabst Theatre
May 10 – Minneapolis, Minn. @ Varsity Theater
May 12 – Denver, Colo. @ Bluebird Theatre
May 13 – Salt Lake City, Utah @ Urban Lounge
May 15 – Vancouver, B.C. @ Biltmore Cabaret
May 16 – Seattle, Wash. @ Neumo’s Crystal Ball Reading Room
May 17 – Portland, Ore. @ Berbati’s Pan
May 19 – San Francisco, Calif. @ The Fillmore
May 22 – San Diego, Calif. @ Casbah

Frightened Rabbit on MUZU

Frightened Rabbit on MUZU