Graham Wright Archives - Various Small Flames

Roof Beams – Tectonics

Jon Doyle — Tue, 22 Apr 2014 13:55:00 +0000

Hailing from Washington D.C, Roof Beams make a poppy Americana that is somewhere along the lines of The Avett Brothers and Okkervil River. The band have been around for some time, releasing three albums and two EP since their formation in the early 00s, but Tectonics sees a slight change of tone. Frontman Nathan Robinson wrote this EP at home, during evenings when his wife was at night school and his daughter was asleep, and this gives the record a reflective bent and quieter registers. “Being a dad has impacted how I look at a lot of things,” Robinson said. “Things take on a more positive, universal tone.”

Their name is inspired by J.D Salinger’s book Raise High the Roof Beam Carpenters (they were formerly known as Raise Up Roof Beams), and the EP has a literary feel, with a earnest lyrics and a strong storytelling element that remind me of Graham Wright’s solo work. Certain lines stick with you and demand further thought, quite obviously metaphors or references that needs to be figured out. For example, the refrain at the end of ‘Foxholes’:

’I’ve been digging,
I’ve been digging,
I’ve been digging foxholes for atheists.

She wrote me a letter
asking how down I could get
digging foxholes.

I wrote her an answer
more than one decision I’d regret
digging foxholes.’

This example comes from an aphorism attributed to war correspondent Ernie Pyle, and I’m sure there are many more to explore and read up on. The EP is full of little things like this that unravel with repeated listens, and is well worth your time.

&amp;lt;a href=“http://roofbeams.bandcamp.com/album/tectonics” data-mce-href=“http://roofbeams.bandcamp.com/album/tectonics”&amp;gt;Tectonics by Roof Beams&amp;lt;/a&amp;gt;

Tectonics is out now, and can be purchased via Bandcamp.

The post Roof Beams – Tectonics appeared first on Various Small Flames.

Favourite Free Music of 2012 (E – K)

Liam Doyle — Fri, 04 Jan 2013 15:23:00 +0000

The second batch of our favourite free music of 2012. As I said last time, many of the albums are pay-what-you-like so while they can be free, I’m sure the artists would appreciate any sort of donation. If you can’t afford to do that, tell your friends about them!

Earth Person – Summer Recordings

(RIYL – Experimental, New Age Ideologies, Peace)

Eat Your Birthday Cake – For Alex (Single)

(RIYL – Indie Rock, Friendship, The Eels)

Eef Barzelay – Songs We Made: Part One

(RIYL – Clem Snide, Will Johnson, John Vanderslice)

Elvis Depressedly – Mickey’s Dead

(RIYL – Bedroom Pop, Coma Cinema, The ill will of the world)

Flight Tonight – Flight Tonight

(RIYL – Post-Dubstep, R&B, Mount Kimbie, Jamie XX)

Fog Lake – inference (iii)

(RIYL – Bedroom Pop, Coma Cinema, Youth Lagoon)

Ghibli – Rare Pleasures

(RIYL – Experimental, Dance, Samples)

Gorgeous Bully – The Young Obese

(RIYL – DIY Rock, Fluffy Lumbers, ARMS)

GSJF –MONDAYMARCH26TH2012

(RIYL – Graham Wright,Spencer MacEachren and the Fabulous Yawn, Travelling Willburys)

Hanetration – Tenth Oar EP / Torn Heat EP

(RIYL – Ambient, Electronic, Drone, IDM)

Hazy Memories – Out Of Place EP

(RIYL – Hip Hop, Electronic, Ambient, Spoken Word)

High Pop – Hip Hip Hooray

(RIYL – Garage Rock, fuzz, Wavves)

Ice Dragon – Dream Dragon

(RIYL – Psychedelic, Doom, Rock).

Jacob Augustine – Bikini Island

(RIYL – David Bazan, Shearwater, Bon Iver)

Jake Klar – Jake Klar

(RIYL – Bob Dylan, Joe Pug, Tallest Man On Earth)

Jeannot – Turner Street EP

(RIYL – Folk, young summers, nostalgia)

Jonny Kates – Groombridge

(RIYL – Ambient, drone, Tim Hecker, Loscil)

Kissed Her Little Sister – Sailor

(RIYL – Lo-Fi, Indie pop, Throw Me The Statue, ARMS, Why?)

The post Favourite Free Music of 2012 (E – K) appeared first on Various Small Flames.

GSJF

Liam Doyle — Mon, 13 Aug 2012 15:08:06 +0000

GSJF is the result of a hungover Graham Wright, Spencer MacEachern, Joe Manzione and Feurd (The Elwins) getting together for a single morning and making an EP. The neat little ‘making of’ video gives an insight into the process. Fans of Graham Wright’s Shirts Vs. Skins will be happy with the carefree upbeat nature of the songs and his familar vocals. Also features a nice cover of Travelling Wilburys which is to feature on our (imminent) third mix of covers.

The release is free from Bandcamp so enjoy!

The post GSJF appeared first on Various Small Flames.

Graham Wright

Jon Doyle — Thu, 26 May 2011 15:20:00 +0000

I don’t know what it is about Canada but I’ve always held some sort of romantic view of the place, despite never having set foot in the country. I’m sure the long line of musicians hailing from there has something to do with it. It’s time to add another next to the likes of Leonard Cohen, Jim Bryson, John K. Samson and Dan Mangan…

Graham Wright, the keyboard player from Tokyo Police Club, has been working on solo stuff for a number of years. 2008’s ‘The Lakes of Alberta’ is a masterful piece of songwriting, one of my favourite ever EPs (if people have such things) and definitely one of the best things kindly given away free on Bandcamp (D/L links available below). The age old story of spurned love, hotel rooms and second chances may sound trite but Graham pulls it off with apparent ease, creating beautiful folk songs that tell a story that seems to have been in development for years before you put your headphones on.

Graham Wright’s debut album, ’Shirts Vs Skins‘ is due to be released on June 28th. You can listen to 3 of the songs from it on his Facebook page. It seems like a departure from his sound on ‘The Lakes of Alberta’ but very promising nonetheless!

Shirts Vs Skins – Coming June 28th!

The post Graham Wright appeared first on Various Small Flames.