Having made a name as the lead of indie rock icons Cymbals Eat Guitars, D’Agostino turned to Empty Country as something of a new beginning. Joined by Rachel Browne (Field Mouse), CEG drummer Charlotte Anne Dole and her twin brother Pat, the project is far from a strictly a solo endeavour, and retains the sense of experimentation and inventiveness that has long marked D’Agostino’s work. Following on from the cassette/book Basilisk, which came out earlier this year, November sees the release of the latest Empty Country full-length album. Titled, succinctly, Empty Country II.

A joint release between Get Better Records and Tough Love Records, the album feels like the culmination of D’Agostino’s work across both projects. The autobiographical immediacy of Cymbals Eat Guitars meets the fictional style of Empty Country, each track a short story aiming to evoke the strange, idiosyncratic milieu of contemporary America with both honesty and empathy. There’s a character who sends “letters and Violent Femmes” to John Hinckley, a Calvinist bogeyman, a whole host of strange visions and uninhabitable landscapes and the oddballs who wander across them. If not the actual US, then the apocalyptic fever dream of its addled mind.

If ‘David’ sees D’Agostino himself step into this semi-fictional world, then the mailer-daemon comes to take on a different shape. A literal malevolent being, just another hellion working to make life a misery within this fallen world. The single is essentially the next rung down in the hierarchy of communication. Face-to-face is no longer possible, the illusion of cyberspace now removed. So all that remains is art, be it as a plea or a tribute, or indeed an old-fashioned lament, as D’Agostino cites “Elegy,” the short poem by W.S. Merwin, as a key influence:

Elegy

Who would I show it to

I finally wrote this song for you
But I don’t know who I’d show it to
I’m scared to die
I’m not scared of death
Put on your records
It feels like forever
Self-portrait at 33

Check out the video by Andrew Futral below:

Empty Country II is out on the 3rd November via Get Better Records (US) / Tough Love Records (UK) and you can pre-order it now, including a version bundled with the recent Basilisk release.

Photography and layout by Rachel Browne

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Doubling as a tribute to Berman and an anti-suicide pact with himself, I can’t believe civilization is still going here in 2021! Congratulations to all of us, Love DCB is far more than imitation or pastiche. Indeed, there are no covers on the record, with John Vanderslice choosing to instead celebrate creation and experimentation. The result evokes the spirit of David Berman far more successfully than any cover album, pushing beyond the conventions of the genre to achieve those intangible things that marked his work.

After the ode to survival that was ‘I get a strange kind of pleasure from just hanging on,’ Vanderslice has unveiled a brand new single that furthers this style. ‘Taverns Of The Neo Subcortex’ marries beats with acoustic guitar to weave an off-kilter backing, as the vocals offer earnest advice on the art of perseverance. “This song is filled with nods to David’s writings, especially his amazing The Portable February,” Vanderslice told Under the Radar. “The last song on the EP with any kind of guidance, the lyrics warn the listener to be vigilant about their mental health. ‘Don’t leave death a nice clean shot.'”

Photo by Andrea DeSouto

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Medosch says the album is a tribute to and celebration of the “absurd yet strangely dignified world” that Berman created in his music and writing. As she goes on to say:

In every piece of his writing at any point you might stumble upon the most stunning view of the miraculous beauty of decaying American life. Every line had the same opportunity to blow your mind with it’s brutal and transformative honesty, achingly encompassing a landscape of tragedy-turned-comedy and vice-versa.

The roster of artists plays like a who’s who of contemporary bedroom pop, Florry and Fog Lake and Cormier joined by twenty four other artists who each provide their own unique and respectful take on one of Berman’s songs. There are too many to describe in detail, but rest assured that filler is nowhere to be found. Chad Maheny dials back the usual manic intensity of his Emperor X project with a version of Bright Flight’s ‘Horseleg Swastikas’, while Molly Drag provides a suitably melancholic take on ‘Suffering Jukebox’, a lament of a lonely artist playing to themselves in the corner of an otherwise happy room.

Greta Kline (of Frankie Cosmos fame) covers ‘Death Of An Heir Of Sorrows’ under the moniker Franz Charcoal, transforming The Silver Jews original into their characteristically simple and subtly emotive bedroom pop. Pickle Darling’s contribution is even more of a departure, turning ‘Nights That Won’t Happen’ into a stripped-back contemporary pop song. There are some louder moments too, notably as Joyer play ‘Night Society’ and The Funs share a wonderfully scrappy and lo-fi take on ‘Trains Across the Sea’. Final track ‘We Could Be Looking For the Same Thing’ by Hothead and the Baby also has a nice depth of sound, fittingly capturing Berman’s countrified indie rock.

All proceeds from the compilation will go to Shatterproof, an American nonprofit that takes an empathetic and evidence-based approach to combating the devastating effects of addiction. They work to remove the stigma around addiction, campaigning to Congress that it should be regarded like any other disease. It’s incredibly important work and a fitting tribute to the life and legacy of David Berman.

You can get Late Homework – The Songs of David Berman from the Dear Life Records Bandcamp page. And if you haven’t listened to Purple Mountains yet, now seems like a good time.

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