Cathy Davey on Other Voices

Other Voices is an Irish music show which features musicians playing in a small little church in Dingle, Co. Kerry, one of the most beautiful and controversially named towns in the country. In the absence of time to write about this properly, this session features some of Cathy's best material, and one unreleased song. It's very nice.

Save Button
Old Man Rain
Come Over
Big Guns (unreleased)

Thanks to xanthein for the songs. And be sure to check out a great new session by Grizzly Bear at Daytrotter.

Peter & The Wolf - The Fall

The original version of 'The Fall' contemplates a city evacuated and moved to the desert, as part of a government response to a major terrorist attack - it focusses on the possibility of regaining in the loss of urban life what we've lost in urban civilisation, the end of distraction, the renewal of simple connections between people. But it's really just a contemplation, played out on a couple of voices and a pair of guitars.
This new version (via Daytrotter) is played on a Tuvan Igil, a bowed instrument which sounds like the violin but untamed - I actually possess the Egyptian equivalent, but have never been very successful in playing it. Here it's almost as if Red Hunter has decided to push off into the desert without the city, and there he starts to call for people to join him, like a madman, but people come anyway because it sounds a lot more hopeful than what they hear in the suburbs. The soft vocals, shared in the old version, are yelled here, bounced around wide open spaces. The song has evolved; like the people of its lyrics, it has shed the dull window-shopping civilisation and gone for something wild, alive and fascinating.

The Fall (original)
The Fall (Tuvan Igil Version)

not all that unwanted

In the last weeks, the Guardian, Popmatters and the Pitchfork blog have all added to the voices telling you to soak up the sunny delights of Lucky Soul - not to mention bloggers all over the shop. It's really good to see a band so deserving start to get some attention, especially one sticking to the idea of independence and releasing their album themselves. So to celebrate, here's a rare little Lucky Soul gem, which is genuinely as good as some of the songs on the record. And don't forget that Christmas cover they did, if you haven't heard it yet.

Lucky Soul - I Gots The Magic

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Drat. That stupid legislation passed.

little birds again

Jonah Dalhart - Little Bird

It's almost like a giant in love. The song is soft and delicate, and the backing vocals murmur caution. But at the same time, in spite of all this that voice is big, like a boat drifting down the river (this song is recorded by the river, by the way) and it's nearly incidental - too far removed from the talking going on on land. It's a natural coincidence. The voice pushes the song along, makes it get up, shouting to the shore, laughing back. Little birds keep telling people things - here, the conversation ends up sounding like Devendra Banhart singing Neil Young, which is a nice way to finish. Not quite dramatic, but too good to forget all the same.

{Myspace}

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The European Parliament will be voting tomorrow on a piece of copyright legislation, IPRED2, that could open up taxpayer-funded police forces to working with and for aggrieved copyright holders - which is all well and good, apart from introducing the crime of "incitement to piracy" and potentially threatening everyone from YouTube to bloggers. And if you don't trust me, think of this: even the Max Planck Institute for Intellectual Property, Competition and Tax Law is opposed to it.

Unfortunately it's more or less too late to do anything now, but it might be worth seeing how your representative votes. Here's hoping they approve these amendments.

I need a soul to keep me warm

Cathy Davey - Hoochie (demo)

According to my computer, I first heard this song a little over a year ago, and somehow, against all likelihood, managed to lose it - until one day last week that bassline decided to show up again unannounced, and started my foot tapping, and that chorus nagged and nagged until I remembered its name, and soon I wasn't the only one singing it from memory. Eventually, and after much searching, we tracked the song down, and here it is. Don't let the fact that it's a demo fool you, this is a well developed little thing, full of twists and turns that might almost be dancing, but dancing out of anger and getting that anger out.
The song's not going to be on Cathy's upcoming album, so take it, enjoy it, and be careful with it - it's not nearly as softly spoken as the girl of 'Sing for your Supper' but it's just as insistent. And you're going to love it.

Hodiau Direkton

Radiohead have a blog, Dead Air Space, which most everyone knows about. They began posting little images (which may or may not adorn the next album), videos and bits of audio recently, which this blog, updated daily, has been archiving. It's intriguing work, the social aspect of the band is to the fore once again, as seen in the Simpsons-referencing image above, as well as many pieces which seem to be based on the theme of global warming. They've posted some clips of audio too, including the snippet of '15 Step' which was recently reported. It's a nice place, and the artwork is interesting. Sundays are slow days.

Radiohead - Arpeggi (live, Ether festival version)

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There's a great new session up at Daytrotter by Peter and the Wolf - it includes reworked old songs and new material to appear on the next record, Sunchasers. Waste no time in downloading it.

Final Fantasy & Cadence Weapon

{via}

Last weekend CBC Radio got both Final Fantasy and Cadence Weapon into the studio, with impressive results. As well as playing John Cale and Chad VanGaalen covers, they collaborated on each other's tracks, leading to a trippy version of 'This Is The Dream Of Win & Regine' and a new rendition of 'Sharks' which manages to incorporate an Andrew Bird violin line. For fans of Owen Pallett's music, it's very interesting to hear the songs played like this, and damn if it doesn't etch a permanent smile onto your face. Here are my four favourites.

This Is The Dream of Win & Regine
What Do You Think Will Happen Next?
Paris 1919 (John Cale)
Sharks (Cadence Weapon)

Links expired, see here for the songs.

St. Vincent - Now. Now.

St. Vincent - Now. Now.

If those noises at the start are anything, they are bright colours which have come unstuck from whatever they covered, hanging now from tight guitar plucks, or whatever the hell that is that sounds so good. This whole song, the drums that are close enough to what you've heard before and yet unreal and unhinged enough to be a pure product of your mind. This song has ingredients, and side-effects, and they're wonderful. Synths that feel like floating, enough of a chorus to make this song epic though it really shouldn't be - listen!

You don't mean that, say you're sorry

This is a little like a couple arguing and making up in public, in enough of a movie way to be slightly cheesy and heartwarming, until you realise they haven't stopped kissing. It's genuinely one of the best songs of the year, a little effort to fulfill the promise behind the phrase 'pop music.'

{St. Vincent is Annie Clark. Sometimes she plays with The Polyphonic Spree and sometimes with Sufjan Stevens. As well as supporting John Vanderslice, she'll soon be supporting the Arcade Fire. Minor details, really, just listen to that song again.}

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Some sad news: Cacoy's DJ Klock took his own life last week. Rasmus from Efterklang and Cacoy's label Rumraket has written a nice piece in his memory here.

to the east

Electrelane - To The East

Lately I've really been enjoying Electrelane's newest album, No Shouts, No Calls. It was recorded in Berlin last summer, while the city celebrated the World Cup, and it must have been a different place. Somehow this album sounds like the Berlin I know - but happier. It's deep, it has lots of emotional ups and downs, and there are several songs on it that are genuinely great. 'To the East' is one of them, a song that sounds slightly tired, but it's going to go out tonight anyway even if it doesn't have a good time. So after all, it's slightly surprised when the night turns out to be amazing, revelatory and heartrendingly romantic.

The East's not so far away / but it could be home for you

You can hear more songs here, including the wonderful 'The Greater Times', and you can buy the record here.

Marla Hansen (or how different everything is when the sun comes out)

Somewhere between Sufjan Stevens and Final Fantasy (at his least fantastical) lies Marla Hansen, sometime Illinoisemaker and general friend of My Brightest Diamond and that crazy New York gang. And good! Yes, with soft viola-plucked piano-underlined songbits that sound exactly like the dappled spring sunlight breaking through trees to turn grass golden looks. Oh all spring and natural, like little written hearts, sunshine and that hour in the middle of the sunny day when you've forgotten what time it is, but with those moments, darkening and dull, when the sun is hidden behind a cloud and you remember oh God Monday and school and jobs and grocery shopping, but then with a gleeful murmur and skip-one-two the sun comes out again, and on and on. Oh the sun is out! I must go, it won't last long.

Wedding Day
Shuffle Your Feet

{You can buy her Wedding Day EP, you know. It features guest appearances from Sufjan Stevens, Shara Worden, and that Inlets fellow.}

cross-pollination

Cross-Pollination is a weekly concert series based in New York. Judging by the line-up on their first ever mixtape, they know what they're doing, because there's some fine music here, not least a new song by My Brightest Diamond (a song as beautiful and dark as a little jewel), but also a one by Dave Deporis, who I've heard much about. His song, 'Be Strong' is a little like a bundle of contradictions, bound in string and thrown over your shoulder as you leave home. It's soft but insistent, warm yet tense, uplifting yet nervy. It's a real little achievement.
You can download the whole mixtape for free (!) here, and you should. My two picks are below, but seeing as I only received this today, there may well soon be more.

My Brightest Diamond - Hi, Remember Me?
Dave Deporis - Be Strong

An Open Letter to Josephine Foster

Dear Josephine,
Last night I (we) saw you play and sing, in Kreuzberg. We saw you come out so calmly and slowly, with Victor the guitarist, we saw you two interact. We saw how you began to sing, like a bow very slowly and quietly touching violin strings, testing them, the beautiful sounds that begin as nothing more than fiction. You began to sing without singing to the microphone, or closing your eyes, or looking above the crowd - indeed you barely seemed to open your mouth.
Yes, and we were enchanted, caught up, inching closer to hear as you plucked guitar or harp strings, and your voice billowed like a thin sail, or like the air in it.
We were there when you finally decided to play songs from your last record, the ones with lyrics by Goethe, or by Eichendorff. We saw you hesitate, and I'm not surprised - so many in the audience had the air of a German literature professor, here to see you set those softened words to your music like framing pressed flowers.
You set your lyric sheets before you, you began one, you stopped. All our hearts leapt for you at once. We were afraid you would leave, because there were people there who paid no attention, the rude moaners at the bar, the young man sitting on the stage who chatted incessantly, making ridiculous exclamations in accent-encumbered English to impress anyone - we were angry too, Josephine!
But then, you played on.
Then you played 'An die Musik' - my favourite song from the album - and it was wonderful. So all we really wanted you to know - and it really isn't just me - is that you didn't need to leave so quickly. You really did win the night over, and it was obvious to everyone there.
I hope other audiences are as kind as they should be.

Thank you,
Berlin.

An die Musik

the magic bishop

I'm still grappling with essays, but I've finally finished the Hugo Ball assignment. I've also learned some things about the German language while translating it - the German word for mortuary is 'das Leichenschauhaus' which literally means 'corpse showhouse' and that's pretty brutal. But the German word for someone who's been bereaved is 'der Hinterbliebene' and that literally means 'someone who stays behind' which seems weirdly profound, given that it's an everyday word.
Completely unrelatedly, but necessary to give this post some musical value, here's a rip of that new Sufjan live song that's been floating about the place, which someone was nice enough to send my way. Thanks, mysterious sender of mp3s!

Sufjan Stevens - Barn Owl, Night Killer (live)

Hugo Ball

I'm slightly distracted by trying to write an essay on this weird sound-poetry at the moment, and as you can imagine it's a bit harder than writing about normal poetry. But it is kind of interesting when you get into them; the above poem, for example, is based on what it sounds like as a herd of elephants approaches. It's the kind of writing that tries to convey images and emotions without using actual language. You can hear some of it here, it's pretty ridiculous and spectacular at the same time. I've heard that Talking Heads have used some of this poetry for lyrics. I'd like to hear that.
Anyway, enough rambling. Here's a cover song that I'd love to write about if I had time, which I don't, but I'm posting it anyway because it's really quite beautiful. So just listen.

Iron & Wine - Always On My Mind (live)

Cathy Davey Interview

After playing some warm-up shows around Ireland, Cathy Davey is preparing to release her new album, a long awaited follow-up to 2004's wonderful but underloved Something Ilk. This is good news, since all we've had to consist on for the last year is the excellent 'Sing for your Supper' - in demo form. So pay attention! This could be the best Irish album of the year.

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How are you? How did the Cork and Galway gigs go?

I'm in great form thank you! The gigs were better than I had hoped for, I've been putting a new band together this year, so the shows were our first bonding session really. I didn't want to be playing guitar on every song this time around because I find it quite inhibiting. So these shows were the first time I could look around me and feel like I'm part of the show... I have lots of good things to say about it all...

What have you been doing since you finished playing Something Ilk?

I've been writing since I stopped touring the last album. I have a house full of drums and old instruments and I recorded my heart out. When I look back on the last two years I divide it into two definitive categories: manic writing and head-bashing writer's block. I appreciate the normality of this in most artist's lives but I still find unproductive periods unbearable.

How do you deal with writer's block?

I didn't find a remedy for it I'm afraid. But I knew it would pass, that relieves some of the pressure.

Please reveal everything about your new album.

It's called Tales of Silversleeve. It will be out in the summer.

What does it sound like? Are you happy with it?

Well... to me it sounds like music I'd like to dance to. And not serious dancing. Just child-like, please don't catch me on camera kinda happy dancing. I wrote half of the album on drums instead of piano or guitar because I really wanted to make music that would keep me lifted through the whole proccess... The subject matter is quite sinister and at times macabre, so the music had to counter that if I was to enjoy it, and I wanted to let moments have their own full charge... Not be embarrassed by them. Big feelings in little packages.

How is the subject matter sinister?

I had a head full of skeletons and if I wrote songs for them they danced.

What happened to your bike? It sounded nice.

Oh my bike! It makes me sad to think about it... I had a major love affair with this bike for one summer. It ended in robbery. The police gave up the search long ago but I still live in hope.

Some of the new songs have built on the mellower side of Something Ilk into something different ('Sing for your Supper', 'Piece of the Pie') - but others like 'Harmony' and 'Hoochie' take up the other side. What dominates this album?

'Piece of the Pie' was a b-side for a single from the last album (can't remember which one). That's hard to answer... I reckon everyone feels like they've distanced themselves from previous albums, but to others the similarities are obvious. I dont think I'm capable of making an album that sounds completely cohesive, like a theme or musical thread running through them because I dont build them up with a band. The freedom is too great when you're left to your own devices. So this album is again (to me) quite disjointed. In a good way though!

What has your experience of a major label been?

The last few years have been a learning curve for many things to do with the music industry. I think the key is that whether it be major or indie, make sure you come with developed ideas and excitement. Otherwise it's labourious for anyone involved. I thought that being signed to a major would make it easier to have my concepts come to fruition but, at the end of the day, they just didn't know what I was on about.

Do you have a favourite song on the new album?

I do. I will always love 'Sing for your Supper' because it's honest from tip to tail.

What made you share your demos as you recorded, and what kind of reactions did you get?

The same reason people release albums. It feels good to share something that you made and without getting too metaphysical about it all, it feels like you're building extensions onto yourself... the more people that hear it, the more room there is in you to make more music. Something like that... The reaction was wonderful and it gave me a good idea as to what people want to hear. I don't know what's going on in the charts, so any help is welcome.

Will you do the artwork for this album too?

My notebooks go hand in hand with every song I wrote for this album. There is no separating them and I would rather burn the master tapes than have someone else's interpretation of two and a half year's work. I would have lost my marbles completely if I didn't draw, so it's an important part of the album. The last cover was a compromised version of something important to me, so this time I'm a little more than adamant!

How is your newer material different from what you've recorded?

For the last album I reworked my home demos with other musicians. This time I recorded the demos to a higher standard so I didn't have to re-record with anyone else if I didn't want to. The new material is a hybrid of home demo and studio which I'm more comfortable with.

Which do you prefer: writing, recording or playing your music?

My favourite stage is having just finished writing the skeleton of a song and now I get to flesh it out... The next few hours are a big blissful blank. You just get carried away on instinct. It's one of the few times I get to be impulsive so I cherish it.

What music/books have you been enjoying lately?

Books have always had a bigger influence on me than music. Not always in a favorable way. When I went to Australia for a holiday, I read Rebecca (Daphne du Maurier) and spent the whole trip feeling disoriented and quite haunted. Now when I think of Australia I get the creeps.. I love Haruki Murakami because every book introduces you to new food and music. Virginia Woolf, John Steinbeck, Janet Frame, Saul Bellow... Books are easy, I'd be hard pushed to name as many bands.

What did you learn from your first album and tour?

The most profound thing I learned (which I'm sure is obvious to those with more experience) was that I must allow myself to enjoy everything that comes with making music. It's nothing to be scared of!

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Sing for your Supper (demo)
Clean and Neat (video)
Hear more on MySpace.

londonists

Alberta Cross - Lucy Rider (acoustic)

I bring this song to you without knowing anything about Alberta Cross, who they are or what they sound like, except that they're from London. But it is a good song, with its heart somewhere between Turin Brakes and My Morning Jacket and a voice that blows leaves around the street. And that chorus, a lost child, trying to understand something intolerable like loss. Yes!



Owen Duff - Act of War

Next up is Owen Duff. His song is a different thing altogether. It's a pile of clothes in the corner of your bedroom that you haven't touched since you were left alone. It's a voice that pushes the furniture around the room, trying to remember how it used to be. It's a jumble of softness, soft piano that drives the song as much as the soft drums, and guitar and vocals, every one of them in a rush, not knowing where they're going. It's very very good.

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Unrelatedly, Scott Solter remixed John Vanderslice's wondrous album Pixel Revolt, and John Vanderslice being John Vanderslice, it's available for download here. He's so cool.

peter and the wolf U.S. tour

You Americans/Canadians don't know how lucky you are. As if a tour wasn't enough, there'll also be a tour only CD, Fireflies - one song of which ('A Race Around The Earth') you can now stream on MySpace. Oh, I wish some enterprising European label would hurry up and do the sensible thing.

Safe Travels
Lightness
Anna Maria {KVRX}


04/06/2007; Denver, CO; Hi-Dive w/Maria Taylor
04/07/2007; Salt Lake City, UT; Slowtrain Records
04/08/2007; Boise, ID; Hillview House
04/09/2007; Seattle, WA; Triple Door w/Amiina
04/10/2007; Portland, OR; Doug Fir w/Amiina
04/12/2007; San Francisco, CA; Swedish American Hall w/Amiina
04/14/2007; San Diego, CA; House of Blues w/Amiina
04/17/2007; Columbia, MO; Mojo's w/Elf Power
04/18/2007; Bloomington, IN; Bear's Place
04/20/2007; Richmond, IN; Earlham College
04/21/2007; Madison, WI; University of Wisconsin-Madison w/McCarthy Trenching
04/22/2007; Chicago, IL; Empty Bottle w/Will Johnson, Jana Hunter
04/23/2007; Detroit, MI; Cloak and Dagger House
04/24/2007; York, PA; First Capital Dispensing Company w/Ponyheart
04/26/2007; Middletown, CT; Wesleyan University
04/30/2007; Bronx, NY; Rodrigue's Coffee House at Forham University
05/01/2007; Brooklyn, NY; Union Hall w/Artanker Convoy
05/02/2007; Rochester, NY; TBA
05/03/2007; Peterborough, ON; The Spill
05/04/2007; Toronto, ON; Over The Top Festival at The Music Gallery w/Michael Gira
05/05/2007; Murfreesboro, TN; Casa Burrito