The post Wake The Deaf’s Favourite Songs of 2015 appeared first on Various Small Flames.

Tracklisting:

1. A Lingering – German Error Message
2. All You’ve Gotta be When You’re 23 – Free Cake For Every Creature
3. Can You Feel It, Too? – Fun Home
4. Garden Tomb – Pasture Dog
5. How Marvelous – Lewtrakimou
6. Out Names – Shunkan
7. Floral Mattress – Naps
8. Rapture in Heat – Liam Betson
9. Astoria – Gwenno
10. Electric Duck – Henry Demos
11. Angharad – Yucatan
12. Orchids (Instrumental) – Celebrity Crush
13. Tulsa – John Statz
14. Snow – Alanna McArdle
15. Yours Till the Ocean – Danielle Fricke
16. The Lights in the Sands of Katumpkale – REW<<

April 2015 Roundup from Wake The Deaf on 8tracks Radio.

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As we explained in our previous post, Statz enlisted the help of a variety of musicians to bring his album to life. Jeffrey Foucault produced the album and lended his guitar and vocal skills, Caitlin Canty provided harmonies while Billy Conway (of Morphine) drummed, Mark Spencer (of Son Volt) played guitar, Jeremy Moses Curtis (of Booker T band) the bass and Matt Lorenz the fiddle. There is something gratifying about a range of talented people getting together to bring one man’s writing to reality, a more traditional sense of folk community opposed to the set line-up of most contemporary bands.

The album opens with the title track, an atmospheric all-American song made for driving long roads in beat-up cars, rife with that half-mean, half-defeated air of a compulsive whiskey drinker. It tells the tale of a sad traveller stuck working in a Tulsa casino after car trouble, playing on the uniquely soul-destroying mix of desperation and sadness that drifts around casinos and seeps through your skin:

“Working at the Cherokee casino,
watching people pull the slot machines.
Wasting all those precious hours,
wasting money like it’s free.

Working late into the mornings,
sleeping through the afternoons.
I still dream of Arizona,
but I guess Tulsa has to do.”

‘Old Pro’ is romantic in a different way, a classic country love song with wistful violins and pedal steel in which money and distance and time get in the way of what could have been. The album as a whole flits between emotions in this way, with the mood changing between the galvanised surety of chirpy Americana songs like  ‘Home at Last’ and ‘One Way Opens’, the late-night bourbon-scented blues of ‘Exposure’ and ‘Tanneburg’, and the contemplative melancholy of ‘Any Town Will Do’, ‘Roadkill Zone’ and the mournful Radiohead cover ‘Motion City Soundtrack’. The result is a complete picture of love and loss, the massive highs and crushing lows of a single lovelorn drinker, the stories he half-hears over the jukebox, the collective emotions of a room or time. A snapshot of Tulsa and all its characters.

You can buy Tulsa now from the John Statz Bandcamp page.

John is also about to embark on a tour of the UK and Ireland. Check out the dates below and then go along and support him!

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Tracklist:

1. Deserter – Siskiyou
2. Pill – Ought
3. There’s a GIrl In the Corner – The Twilight Sad
4. Kill What You Love – Scotdrakula
5. PS You Still Do This To Me – Kissing Fractures
6. Walls – Two White Cranes
7. Lifetime Warranty – Cyberbully Mom Club
8. The Great Big World – R.L. Kelly
9. Misery Loves Company – Gorgeous Bully
10. Blah Blah Blah – Girlpool
11. My Song – Spencer Radcliffe
12. Summer Lawns – Mike Pace & The Child Actors
13. Crossroads – Sally Fowler
14. Sweet Isolation – Nathan Reich
15. Home At Last – John Statz
16. Our Town – Chalk
17. Mole – The Mountain Goats
18. Easy It Goes – Eric & Magill
19. Slow Thickening – German Error Message
20. Cabin Lights – Lung Cycles
21. The Day is Past and Gone (Variations) – Sarah Louise
22. Holding – Grouper

November 2014 Mix from Wake The Deaf on 8tracks Radio.

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As ever with Kickstarter, the basic options essentially allow you to pre-order the album while helping the artist, and there are a number of juicy prizes for those with a few more dollars to spare. Head on over to the Tulsa Kickstarter page and give what you can.

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In fact, it was Statz who alerted us to Nelson’s new release, describing it as an EP he feels strongly about. Trusting his word, and feeling an obligation to finally cover Nelson in a proper post, we dove into Whittier.

On first impression, the EP seems a tad gentler than previous release Drugs to Make You Sober. The tempo is undoubtedly slower; the guitars played down a little, the drums are more relaxed and the swinging harmonica set to the side, leading to a sound that is more reflective and mournful, having a tangible end-of-the-night feel. Opener ‘Heart & Soul,’ is a good example, with neat guitar work accompanying Nelson’s crooning vocals. ’Isolation has taken its toll on me’ he sings amongst other lyrics of regret and remorse. ‘Truckers in Drag’ is a slight change of tack – the song is imbued with the weird dream-like feel of a Father John Misty song, as the narrator waits for a storm to pass in Missoula while truckers in drag try to get him drunk. ‘Dog’ has a similarly strange atomsphere, with the intensely satisfying build up from near-slow motion drums to clattering crescendo reminscent of Chad VanGaalen.

Nelson’s lyrical capabilities have always stood out, and Whittier is no different. The temptation with folk music, especially jangly good-time folk music, is to allow the energy be the focus and, as a result, lose something from the lyrics. Nelson has a talent for both poetic and narrative-driven songs that seem to owe as much to the written word and they do folk songs. Indeed, ‘Truckers in Drag’ works like short story, something Denis Johnson might write, with enough images and clues to set a scene and context.

Even the instrumentals, such as ‘Interludes’ (which by definition should be merely filler between the ‘proper’ songs) are intricate and delicate and carefully crafted, proving their worth is far beyond beefing up the release.

You can buy Whittier on a pay-what-you-can basis via Bandcamp.

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The band has three members, Tim McWilliams, Misa Giroux and David Funderburk, share both the songwriting and vocal responsibilities, which creates a nice balance between male and female vocals.. A multitude of instruments are also used including acoustic guitars, banjos, mandolin, organ and musical saw.

Carolina serves as an artistic homage to the region, the product of the artistic efforts of three talented individuals. If you’re into folk/alt-country music then I suggest you check this out.

You can buy Carolina now via the Redleg Husky online store, or their Bandcamp page.

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Miss last month’s edition? Listen to our January round-up.

February Mix from Wake The Deaf on 8tracks Radio.

The post February 2014 Roundup – A Mixtape appeared first on Various Small Flames.

First up is a brand new single from John Statz. ‘World of War’ is taken from 12 August, an upcoming album of duets that Statz recorded with fellow folk singer Josh Harty. The album is due for release on the 18^th of February via Money Wolf Music, and we hope to write more about it closer to the date. Also, if you happen to find yourself in Kansas City, Missouri on the 18th of Feb then get down to the Czar Bar for the release show (which also features Zachary Lucky!!).

Stampede Road – Old Town

Stampede Road is Graeme Duncan and his Edinburgh based band. Their new single ‘Old Town’ starts off as a ruminative acoustic ramble before blooming with drums and electric guitars at the close. It’s really good and I certainly want to hear more from them.

Jess Williamson

Just a quick reminder that Jess Williamson’s brilliant Native State (which we first mentioned during our Advent calendar series) has just been released and is available to order as a digital download or on “Texas Flag tri-colour vinyl” (which sounds really cool).

Copper River – To the Grave

I can’t find much info on Copper River, except that he’s a man from Seattle, WA who makes great folk music. Check out his newest release, the single To the Grave, above. He also has several other EPs/demos/covers on his Bandcamp page which are definitely worth checking out.

Old Man Canyon – Phantoms & Friends EP

Phantoms & Friends is a five song EP from Vancouver’s Old Man Canyon. The EP can be aptly described as folk-rock (a good comparison is fellow Vancouver residents Wake Owl). My current favourite is the title track, with its catchy sing-a-long chorus. Listen above and then buy the EP, it’s worth it for that artwork alone.

Brian Payne – Brian Payne

Colorado-based singer/songwriter Brian Payne has just released a self-titled EP and I like it a lot. Stream my current favourite track, ‘Where the Good Folks Shine’ below, and then head over to Bandcamp and get the EP for just $4.

Wes Tirey – Home Recording

Last but not least is a new release from Wes Tirey (who we spoke to back in August). Home Recordings is an album of solo, improvised, experimental guitar stuff (and some super-weird noise stuff – see ‘Her Name Was Jackie’). It was released by Orange Milk Records and available as a digital download or on cassette tape via Bandcamp.

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The album’s other strength is in the vocals and songwriting. I believe that he is a UK native who has since relocated to California, and this is apparent in his vocals. The songs are poetic and wistful and deceptively simple, with the yearning and honesty you would expect from any songwriter worth his salt. Here I should say that the lyrics have produced another hypothesis on the album title (revealing my inner biologist), one that probably disproves my first idea. Tropism is the response of an organism to a specific stimulus, for example heliotropic plants position themselves toward/away from the sun to maximize/minimize light on their leaves. There are a few rather clear references to an anthropomorphic version this sort of idea across the album, not least on the title track where Pick sings ’She grows towards the sun’. The idea can be applied to other, less direct lyrics too, with themes of leaving/staying and so on. It’s an interesting concept and I wonder how far he intended the reference to go through the record.

Whatever was intended, the album is a superb example of how simple but carefully crafted music and strong songwriting can produce some of the most exciting and emotional music that begs to be played again. If you consider yourself a fan of any of the other Yer Bird artists (e.g. Tyler Butler, John Statz, Greater Pacific) then I’d highly recommend checking this out. I’ve embedded one of my current favourites below, so have a listen and then buy the album via Yer Bird Records.

&amp;amp;amp;lt;a href=“http://yerbirdrecords.bandcamp.com/track/lee-of-the-mountain” data-mce-href=“http://yerbirdrecords.bandcamp.com/track/lee-of-the-mountain”&amp;amp;amp;gt;Lee of the Mountain by Pickering Pick&amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;gt;

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