Choices: To Ad or Not to Ad

Sudden dilemmas, thrust upon you out of the blue, can have a certain awakening effect on you, if you choose to see them that way. Yesterday I received an e-mail which spurred my own dormant quandary. It came from a large commercial network which will remain unnamed, offering to add this blog to its lists in exchange for the placements of ads.

I must admit, I was flattered (even though it was probably scripted and automatically sent). The offer has a very strong allure as it has the potential to expose the blog and its content to a lot more people. After all, traffic-wise, this isn't even a minor blog - more of a nano one.

However, the commercialization and ads that are promised are not things I would gladly welcome. To maintain as true as indie spirit as I can, I rely on legal and free offerings by artists, using free and open tools that are available for all. I'm not sure I'd feel comfortable, poor aesthetics aside, seeing big company ads and slogans floating around here.

I know that there are blogs that allow ads and those that don't; you'll find both kinds in this blog's Links area. I just need to figure out what's right for me and this blog and I'd appreciate any helpful comment from any of you few but true readers have to offer.

Now for something that actually matters: good music. This post is dedicated to Ayla Nereo, a San Francisco folk singer-songwriter. For some reason I associate her with Joan Baez, perhaps inspired by certain physical similarities and voice qualities. Her own style is somewhat different, of course, and as her last.fm profile defines it as "quiet and luminous". Her current project, Beatbeat Whisper, is a duo with her brother, Davyd Nereo, and listening to their Daytrotter session, it seems to bring the best of them both.

Check out Ayla Nereo on her official site, MySpace and last.fm. Her current project, Beatbeat Whisper, is here and on MySpace. All of their charming LPs and EPs can be found here.

Ayla Nereo - The Whistler {MP3} (from Play Me A Time)
Beatbeat Whisper - Old River {MP3} (Daytrotter session)
Beatbeat Whisper - Up the Long Tracks {MP3} (Daytrotter session)

I Love You

"I Love You" - simple, heartfelt and sometimes difficult to say (or even to think). We've probably all been in those situations, pain in chest, dry throat and burning in the eyes, when all we can see or feel is the other person. Someone you think so special that all others melt before her (or him, depends on who reads this). So you approach, somewhat timid, hold her hand and feel the words ripped out of you, hurrying to their acoustic destiny in the little space between you.

These feelings and emotions have somehow been personified and forged into a beautiful, somewhat dark, song by Texas' singer-songwriter Beau McDermott. As it is simple and direct so it is powerful and moving. If there's even a shred of the romantic left in you, you will feel it too.

Check out Beau McDermott on MySpace and last.fm. More tracks are available on SoundClick.

Beau McDermott - I Love You {MP3}

Shelter From the Storm

It's windy, hot and hellish in here (and I'm not even talking about the crazy weather outside). All this inspires, aside from the occasional bad hair day, a need for something calm with an Americana flavor, to fit the rolling hay bails (and people), drifting in the storm.

The work of R. Mansfeld & Joseph James, as singer-songwriters in the Californian band Deathbot, certainly hits the spot.

Check out Deathbot on the official site, MySpace and last.fm for a lot more tracks and updates. Their debut LP, Cold Wind Revival (2008) is available for free download on their official site.

Deathbot - Shelter From the Storm {MP3}
Deathbot - My Oh My {MP3} (from Cold Wind Revival)

Estobahn and My Day Job

With the more than usual much ado about nothing going on at work today and the ever encroaching fatigue, I'm not sure I'll be able to write much of a post today. This is a pity because Mansfield, UK's Estobahn, though mysterious and cryptic online, deserves some play time. It has a very desired calming effect that lends me some resources of patience and peace when otherwise there would be none. It's going to be a long day.

Check out Estobahn on the official site and last.fm for more tracks and info.

Estobahn - Lucid {MP3}
Estobahn - Blue Skies {MP3}
Bonus: Estobahn - Some Things Last a Long Time (a Daniel Johnston cover)

Manson Family Picnic: An Interview

There are artists who leave an undefinable mark and feeling on you when you listen to their work. When you feel compelled to smile or get cheered up, even move your feet in a little dance but at the same time the lyrics are provoking or just plain fun. And through it all a certain feel of madness is in the air, of unpredictability. Yeah, that's my impression of Manson Family Picnic, whom I've posted about before. I couldn't just leave them like that though. Here's an interview.

Q. Manson Family picnic is composed of 5 unique members. Can you tell me a little about the group and its inner workings?

A. Definitely unique members, everyone of us is a little crazy in our own way, and we are from a bunch of different music backgrounds like noise, metal, r&b, and classical. We formed up in a wood shop in Bushwick, Brooklyn and we decided to play only acoustic instruments. Devlin use to bang on all sorts of spare machinery before we had anything that resembled drums. Some of us are trained musicians, some are not. Jeff (violin) likes to make strange sounds and noises at parties. Andrew (bass) seems to be a good driver. We all really like to cook food for each other. Arthur and I write the songs, and then we all collaborate on the arrangements, so I definitely feel that it is the intense collaboration that turns whatever we bring to the table into something that could only be expressed by the 5 individuals in this band.

Q. What inspires you to create and make music?

A. By playing and making music together we are celebrating and uplifting each others spirits. Touring has been fun and inspiring. I definitely think we are interested in the big questions... life, death and such.... suburban trauma.

Q. Is there a story behind the band's name?

A. We were playing the song "the mistakes" and we were just really getting to know each other. We started to think that we sounded kind of like a cult, like a Manson Family Picnic...ding ding ding! And it stuck. Also, I grew up in Chatsworth, Ca and used to hang around the Manson caves and play when I was a kid. Pretty weird place, Chatsworth, Ca. They use to shoot westerns a lot in the hills near the house where I grew up. Inspiring landscape! Now they make a lot of porn there.

Q. Starting out as an indie band in a world filled with bands can be very hard (but also a lot fun, if you're with the right people). What's your approach? Any funny/interesting anecdotes?

A. Well, it's strange...you know, scenes and all. They can be pretty narrow minded. But we have been able to play a lot of different kinds of scenes, and while not fitting in, I think we have been accepted. We once got kicked out of a venue because we played in the house's kitchen while the show was happening in the garage. I guess they were worried about the cops, but we only come with acoustic jingle jangle so WTF? Also, that night I think our bassist at the time was kind of a butt to the Vivian Girls. We apologize for that.

Q. What do you think of the music industry? How does the indie artist relate to it?

A. The music industry? I don't get it. But, I hope that if we keep making music that comes out of a true raw kind of collaborative effort, maybe folks will catch on.

Check out Manson Family Picnic on their website, MySpace and Facebook for streamable tracks and gig updates. Get their debut EP on CDBaby.

Manson Family Picnic - Kentucky Waltz {MP3} (from Manson Family Picnic)

Two Bicycles: A Special Interview

You may have noticed that at the headline of this blog lies the slogan "The music speaks for itself". But, like the tree falling in the forest, the music must have a listener for it to be what it's supposed to be: a creation, a work of art. Sometimes the creator is the only one who gets the opportunity to enjoy it. On other times, the lucky listeners will find something unique within themselves and the piece - and connect.

Jamison Dick, creating under the moniker of Two Bicycles, has managed to inspire such a connection for many people with his personal songs "Love Is" and "Love Is Not", as previously posted here. I wanted to find out more about him and how he works.

Q. Can you tell us a little about you and the music you create.

A. I'm 23 and I live in a town called Abbotsford, which is about an hour outside of Vancouver. It's cool, I know a lot of people would rather just live in the city but I like being a bit more in the country. I spent a few years living in the Prairies, which is like Canada's Midwest. I like the quiet life and that has a big effect on my songwriting.

Q. You said you're "not in it for the money". What inspires you to create and make music? What are your influences?

A. I started making music as "Two Bicycles" two years ago. I had been working on some more introspective, electronic songs and I felt it was about time I picked up my guitar and started writing songs. I wanted to encapsulate some of that Prairie life. Alt Country songwriters like Jeff Tweedy and Ryan Adams had a big influence on me too.

Q. "Love Is" and "Love Is Not" achieved tremendous popularity on the Hype Machine probably because people were able to personally connect with them. How do you balance your personal experiences and songwriting when you're writing a song?

A. I guess one of the main reasons I write this stuff is because it's become the main way I process things. Relational stuff, spiritual stuff, sometimes even political stuff; I work out a lot of this stuff in these songs. This new record deals a lot with me working out spiritual things, which has been really healthy for me.
I think my personal experiences are the main force behind my songwriting. I was thinking about this with the last question, and the reasoning behind writing songs. I sort of realized that songwriting is a way for me to process my experiences; to take those experiences and create through them "art". The whole thing is very much outside of myself.
You saying that people connected with both "Love Is" and "Love Is Not" is interesting to me, because I both those songs are very specific to my experience. That being said, there is something about a song, whether the lyrics are specific or not, that can allow it to be something that is easily empathized with. When I think of the music that I love, and I mean really love, I realize how often its something in my own life that is associated with it. Take Kid A by Radiohead, which is my favourite record. The reason it's my favourite record is because of the times, places and states of mind that I've listened to it in. Truthfully, and I'm sure I'm not alone on this one, I couldn't tell you, lyrically, what Thom Yorke is trying to say through that record. I can pick up on some themes, or a general idea, but I can't tell specifically. That being said, I still find that I connect with that record in a way that is deeper than most. I guess that's what I'm trying to do: create music that people will be able to associate with their own experiences. My friend Dave is a poet, and once told me that art doesn't exist until someone other than yourself experiences it. If a poem, or a song, or a painting, just sits on its own, without an audience, than what is it? Art needs to communicate, and I hope that I can accomplish that through my music.

Check out Two Bicycles on MySpace, tumblr, Facebook and the 61 for more tracks and updates. His latest LP, An Attempt to Be Alone, is a beautiful album that needs to be out there.

Two Bicycles - Clothe Me {MP3} (from An Attempt to Be Alone)
Two Bicycles - Ghost {MP3} (from An Attempt to Be Alone)

Archivist, Poison and Life

Sometimes it's not just the poppy laced melodies or rich literary depth that can be found in an artist's work that hooks you on your first few listens. Sometimes, the way the artist describe himself/herself on the bio section adds a few more dimensions to the sound.

This is the case, for me, with Montreal, Canada's Archivist (not to be confused with the mysterious The Archivist blogged here before). The lead man of the group, Ben McCarthy, aided by some talented friends (from The Dears, Pony Up, Sunset Rubdown and Land of Talk), has been creating some sort of unique and tantalizing indie pop/alternative sound. This, like the bio brief on the band's MySpace, may leave you wondering and thinking, trying to re-read and re-listen. Primarily the result of initial bedroom folk recording, Archivist is more than that now; these archives need to be explored.

Check out Archivist on MySpace for more tracks and interesting blog entries. Their debut LP, Learning to Live on Poison, is slated to be released on June 2nd.

Archivist - Sunday Morning {MP3} (from Learning to Live on Poison)
Archivist - Jagwagger {MP3} (from Learning to Live on Poison)
Archivist - Pop Litany {MP3} (from Learning to Live on Poison)

You, Of the Red Sea

Self recrimination can sometimes be based on an objective rather than subjective truth. Sometimes you are more responsible for your condition than you'd previously have liked to admit. A small degree of comfort can be attained, though, by finding songs that help you realize "You do it to yourself". The next few steps are up to you.

In the meantime though, take comfort in Newcastle, Australia's Of the Red Sea, a fast paced indie rock band with guitar riffs that bring back long lost memories and an overall sensation of urgency mixed with caring.

Check out Of the Red Sea on their official site, MySpace, last.fm and Facebook for gig updates and more tracks. Their EPs can be bought on iTunes or on their site.

Of the Red Sea - Escalators {MP3} (from the new Of the Red Sea EP)
Of the Red Sea - Pulling Teeth {MP3} (from Verona)

Come Abscond With Me

The need to get away from it all is strong in me today. I don't care much which way or how, I just want to see and feel the view passing quickly at the corner of my eyes, the gentle rocking of the vehicle; open sky before me. Evidently there's a name for it aside from the usual wanderlust - with the good music to accompany it.

"Abscondo", according to his blog, comes from "abscond", meaning "to run away, usually taking something or someone along". Originally from Seattle and true to his moniker, he's traveled himself, perhaps running from or towards something, finally settling in Slovakia to create music. He is also half of the indie duo Sungod Abscondo.

Check out Abscondo on his official site (for a free download of his latest LP, Stages) and last.fm. You can also download many other tracks here.

Abscondo - Strangled Into Gray {MP3} (from Midnight Snow)
Abscondo - Tattoo Angel {MP3} (from Midnight Snow)
Abscondo - Midnight Snow {MP3} (from Midnight Snow)

Don't Close Your Eyes (or ears)

"Stick around or say goodbye, just don't close your eyes". With this final line Findlay, Ohio's singer-songwriter Josh Woodward delivers a powerful message of compassion and caring. This particular song, "Don't Close Your Eyes", appears on his latest release of 2008, which is actually two albums in one; the first is upbeat and poppy and the second is more bare and exposed.

Woodward is unusual not only in his warm voice but also in his business approach: his entire collection of albums and tracks can be downloaded for free or be bought with a customer determined price. Given the quality of the music, any price would be a huge bargain.

Check out Josh Woodward on his website, MySpace and Facebook for a lot more tracks and updates. Get his latest LP, The Simple Life, on his website store.

Josh Woodward - Don't Close Your Eyes {MP3} (from The Simple Life)
Josh Woodward - I'm Letting Go {MP3} (from The Simple Life)

Needs And What We Deserve

What do we really need in our lives? Why do we feel that we need it? Do we really deserve receiving our wishes? At what cost, to ourselves and to others? The questions are endless, especially as they touch upon every aspect of life, from relationships to diet, politics and the environment. How do we tackle them?

Let's start with a response from The March Greens, a Leeds, UK band formed around singer-songwriter Spencer Bayles (formerly of Last Night's TV). It is a very human, warm and calm approach which, like any good song, leaves room for more questions and a taste for more. I wrote about Last Night's TV in the past, and I'm glad to hear its former members continue to produce music.

Check out The March Greens on the official site, MySpace, last.fm and Facebook for more tracks and updates. The debut EP, You Shall Go to the Ball, is available on Amazon.

The March Greens - You Don't Need It Or Deserve It (from You Shall Go to the Ball EP)

This Will Never Save The World

With the end of current work week, I've decided to deviate a bit from the usual tranquil music that usually possesses this place and loosen up. So, shed off your years and job related angst and come to a raw indie punk that doesn't apologize, only lives and hurts the moment.

"This will never save the world", Hobart, Australia's Chris Burrows screams. Perhaps. But music comes in many forms and flavors, just like people. And as long as the artist not only puts his soul but his body as well into it, there may be hope just yet.

Chris Burrows' many exploits can be found on MySpace. His Asking For It project is here and his new project, The Anorexic Olsen Twin, is here.

The Anorexic Olsen Twin - Sweet Dreams Rebecca {MP3} (from The Anorexic Olsen Twin EP)
Asking For It - Home Sweet Homeless {MP3}

Where Do The Colours Run?

The relationships that bind us together make up a lot of our lives. However near or far physically, our rope burns arising from friction (or lack of) are an important part of that as well. But there's always a bind, a tether to keep us falling through the storms, each with its own facets and ambiguities.

Colours Run, a Manchester, UK indie rock/pop band, wrote a song about such a tether. So, whether it's a twisted, braided or hair-thin cord, it seems best to keep it knot free and close by.

Check out Colours Run on MySpace and last.fm for more tracks and info. Get their EP, The Sticks, on iTunes or CD Babay.

Colours Run - Tethers (Doghouse Demo) {MP3}

A Little Piece of Spring

Global warming aside, the thawing of the snow and ice come early spring is usually welcomed as a good sign. A shift from the grey, cold and forlorn view to the fresh green, clear delicate water ebbing joy that washes over stones and forests like an exuberant wave of bliss. Hope made into sight and sound.

That's how I feel by the end of the wonderful week long 'Found Songs' project by Iceland's Ólafur Arnalds. It should be listened to in order, as each piece, created daily (with some history behind it), also fits and develops the former and anticipates the latter. By the last one, "Ljósið", though saddened by the project's end and by the blue atmosphere the pieces inspire, something shines and dawns. Spring coming is the most obvious metaphor, but I suspect it can also be termed in much more personal images; to each his/her own.

This is also an opportunity to further explore this fascinating young artist, including his past releases: the debut LP Eulogy for Evolution and the following Variations of Static EP. They can also be bought on the Erased Tapes label store.

Check out Ólafur Arnalds on MySpace and last.fm for more great tracks and gigs info. The 'Found Songs' project can be downloaded here.

Ólafur Arnalds - Ljósið {MP3} (from 'Found Songs') For the full appreciation and experience, I recommend downloading and playing by order all 7 pieces.

Bonus: A live performance of "Himininn er ad hrynja, en stjörnurnar fara pér vel" (Ólafur translates it) from Variations of Static. The video was produced by Iceland Airwaves podcast, a must for Icelandic music lovers.

We Are The Underground

A lone man walks the dark, rain washed streets. Huddled in a long trench coat, he walks steadily onwards, determined. His sullen footsteps occasionally drop hints of a fractured life, repression and shadowy existence. These are but echoes now as he walks on.

A woman follows. And another man. And another. The streets are silently filling with hurrying individuals, forming subtly into a great mass, moving as one towards their goal.

The power of the mob, mesmerizing and terrifying, speaks loudly from the throat of the disenchanted person who works (or worked?) under the moniker of We Are The Underground . Is this a real person or could this be some government black project exploring a lonely bureaucrat's childhood dream of rock and rebellion?

Check out the cryptic We Are The Underground on MySpace and last.fm for a few more scraps of info and tracks.

We Are The Underground - The Start of Something {MP3}
We Are The Underground - We Are The Underground {MP3}

Two Bicycles, One Love

I remember her eyes, big and grey. I thought they were always questioning me, measuring and sizing me up (or maybe it was just me). Not cold, but somehow distant; deep to dive in, with a strange twinkle that would leave me puzzled late at night - what does she mean? What did she mean to me?

The breadth between the Love that Is and the Love that Is Not can be very thin, lined with the smoky haze of broken hearts. British Columbia, Canada's Jamison Dick, working under the moniker of Two Bicycles, knows this well. Perhaps more importantly, he'll make you feel and recall what was, what could have been and what remains.

With the help of a few friends and a huge amount of talent, Two Bicycles has crafted a number of beautiful and personal EPs and a debut LP, An Attempt to be Lonely.

Check out Two Bicycles on MySpace, tumblr, Facebook and the 61 for more tracks and updates. The new album, An Attempt to be Lonely, is out and I have no idea how to get it (legally). Help, please?

Two Bicycles - Love Is {MP3}
Two Bicycles - Love Is Not {MP3}

Keeping tabs on The Haunted Mansions

I like to keep tabs on artists I was fortunate to encounter in my work on this blog. It enables a wider perspective of how the artist works and develops and how the sound evolves or in some unfortunate cases stops. In the case of The Haunted Mansions, the developments are all positive.

A 3 piece indie psychedelics/freak folk from the North West, I stumbled upon them about 3 months ago (post). In the meantime they've started working on a new album, which at least as the first single from it suggests, will not only be a continued evolution of their unique sound, but also promises to be very intriguing.

Check out The Haunted Mansions on MySpace for more tracks and updates. Their new album is being recorded as these lines are written. Can you hear them?

The Haunted Mansions - Oh, Samantha! {MP3} (from the new and untitled album)

This Week's Realities

As you may have noticed, I took the last few days off of this reality and into delved another one. Actually, make that two realities, sometimes interacting with one another, but each also self contained with its own rules and wonders.

The first was World of Warcraft. As I mentioned before, I immersed myself in this fantasy driven world, getting totally hooked in the process while also trying, now desperately, to pause and think about the experience. It occurred to me there are a few basic principles underlying it:

1. It's a lot easier and much more fun to play and work as a group. It's also very much possible to retain your sense of individuality while working in consort.
2. There are no "Save" or "Load" buttons; since you can be brought back to life, there is no actual and permanent death - except, in a way, when you log out. That is the only way you stop existing in the world (or you just sit in some deserted corner AFK).
3. People come in all shapes and sizes, manners and behaviors. The variety can astound you at first, but after a few minutes you may wonder how it could be any different. You may try to categorize them by vocation, trait or skill, but each person is unique and will not come again. It may be a characteristic, but ultimately each persons defies categorization, unless to create his or her own genre.
4. It's always possible someone will surprise you and help you when you least expect it, for no reason other than to help and perform that random act of kindness.
5. The world is beautiful, stunning in every resolution and perspective, from mountain tops, forests and deserts to the fauna, flora and sentients that inhabit it.

I wonder if any of these can be carried over to my other realities.

The second reality was deep within the smoky blue atmosphere of Leonard Cohen's Live Concert in London CD I mentioned earlier. I may try to seek wisdom all my life and it would still not be so eloquently expressed in a single Cohen song.

A third reality is this, the blogosphere. I've come to perceive it as its own bubble of hype, feeding itself and the people writing and reading it, marked by its own rules of conduct, its own genres and personalities. So now I come back to it, ready to continue my work.

This post's featured artist is Eric Sarmiento, an indie pop singer-songwriter from New Jersey. Aside from his must-read bio on MySpace, Sarmiento creates curious tracks with a very distinct presence of their own, that has a sense of promise of much more to come. After a musical career spanning several groups, he has released his debut solo album, The Declaration of Independence, a few months ago.

Check out Eric Sarmiento on MySpace for more tracks and info and get his intriguing debut album on his home label, Alchemist Records.

Eric Sarmiento - Reptiles {MP3} (from The Declaration of Independence)
Eric Sarmiento - Alejandra Told Me {MP3} (from The Declaration of Independance)

Leonard Cohen to the Rescue

It is no secret I love the forests, though from my perspective, given where I live, it's like the Inuit who loves the boiling desert. So when I got the opportunity to explore vast and timeless forests, massive trees with strange and numerous animals lurking about, I got sucked right in. Yes, I confess; in the usual tardiness of fashion I've succumbed to World of Warcraft. That is why I didn't post anything yesterday and why I woke up so early today. I got hooked.

But not all is lost. I received Leonard Cohen's fabulous album live performance in London the other day, and it has a magnetic pull on me that is equivalent to all the magic potions and copper coins I may care to collect on WoW. In fact, rumors of Cohen's eventual arrival to a show here have strangely broken the elvish hold in favor of an even older and venerable charmer. Leonard Cohen, count me in!

For a bit of that woodsy atmosphere, here's a beautiful instrumental piece by the Sleeping Tree (last.fm, music is art guest post).

The Sleeping Tree - Second Leaf (from Leaves and Roots) {MP3}

p.s. - If you happen to pass by a night elf priestess scurrying about in all sort of quests in the next few days, say hello. It might be me.

A glimpse of Leonard Cohen performing in Athens, 2008 {Video}

Entertainment for the Braindead, a Life Saver

I'm writing this post from behind the churning curtain of a splitting headache, probably the result of too little drinking water and too much falling asleep with the iPod's uncomfortable headphones stuck in my ears. Whilst it's a very nice experience having The Tallest Man on Earth and Bright Eyes singing you to sleep, this kind of effect in the morning after leaves much to be desired. And quietly so.

So when I stumbled upon Entertainment for the Braindead, I knew I was heading in the right direction. Not only my hammering and fuzzy mind would be properly addressed, it would also get a calm, quiet and yet subtly invigorating music it so craves. At my current state, Cologne, Germany's Julia Kotowski, working under this moniker, was exactly what the doctor would have prescribed.

Check out Entertainment for the Braindead on her website, MySpace and last.fm for additional tracks and gigs info (Germany). Some of her recordings are available on her site here.

Entertainment for the Braindead - Colours {MP3} (from Hydrophobia)
Entertainment for the Braindead - Resolutions {MP3} (from Hydrophobia)
Entertainment for the Braindead - Prologue {MP3} (from Hydrophobia)
Entertainment for the Braindead - Run! {MP3} (from Hydrophobia)

On other news, I wrote my first contributer post on the wonderful Music is Art. This is a huge honor for me and I hope I'll be able to actually contribute something of my own there. This will also mean I'll have to devise some sort of a work plan to coordinate my efforts on these two blogs - I have no intention to stop writing this one or reduce its update frequency. I'll figure something out.

As a start up bonus, here's a video I was unable to share there (due to my limited Wordpress experience) and that features a beautiful instrumental version of a new song by Amit Erez from his coming album. Enjoy.