“No One Knows That You’re Lost is an album inspired by the Norwegian coast and a human interior, by tight itching doubts and wide open spaces. Here, fragility, strength and beauty become one and the same, parts of a landscape in constant flux yet remaining fundamentally unchanged”

Tina very kindly agreed to write a guest post for our ‘Lit Links‘ series (part of the Quiet, Constant Friends project), where artists and writers create a playlist of songs based around a book of their choice. Arm yourself with headphones and have a read below.

Chad Harbach’s The Art of Fielding
by Tina Refsnes

I’ve never felt comfortable with answering questions that ask for «the best» or «your all time favourite» as I just feel there’s too much good and different material in the world to hold them up against each other like that. So, I’ll say that one of my favourite books that I enjoyed immensely reading is one called The Art of Fielding by Chad Harbach. It’s set in an American College and with baseball as the back-drop, and it’s one of those slow books with great meaning but without the drama. It deals with the big hopes that young people usually have to life, with self doubt in performance, and with the social difficulties or shyness that young people sometimes struggle with. But, in a very down to earth way since, at least the main character, is so un-academic. I also imagined this suburban North-American setting for it: Long, wide streets with tall leaf trees on both sides of it. Really big and old campus buildings, and maybe since the characters were so alone in their minds I kept picturing everything as with never that many people around.

Tracklisting:

1. Jenny Come Home- Andy Shauf
   2. Gather, Form and Fly – Megafaun
   3. Own Side – Caitlin Rose
   4. Casimir Pulaski Day – Sufjan Stevens
   5. Easy – Laura Marling
   6. Blue Train – Emmy Lou Harris, Linds Ronstadt and Dolly Parton
   7. Out of the Woodwork – Courtney Barnett
   8. Big Black Road – Thousands
   9. That Knot Unties? – David Karsten Daniels
   10. Mr. Rodriguez – Rayland Baxter
   11. We Are Fine – Sharon Van Etten
   12. Horizons – The Staves
   13. Archie, Marry Me – Alvvays
   14. Friends – 22-20s
   15. Poison Oak – Bright Eyes

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Nathan Reich – Motion Sadness

One of the joys of Bandcamp is finding artists and albums that would have otherwise passed you by via the music feed page. Nathan Reich, a songwriter and guitarist from Nashville, is one such find. Motion Sadness was recorded in one take and is, in Reich’s words, “filled with imperfections” as a result. This gives the release an organic feel, a real sense of the human behind the tales told, bringing to mind folks like Hip Hatchet and Psalmships.

You can buy the album on Reich’s Bandcamp page.

Brian Laidlaw and the Family Trade – Jeremiad b/w Glad For Every Burden

A couple of weeks back we featured a lovely record by Ben Weaver which was released by a new label run by the folks at Hymie’s Records in Minneapolis. Those good folks have also put out this 7″ by Brian Laidlaw and the Family Trade. A-side ‘Jeremiad’ is a pretty, reflective folk song with some nice strings and a rousing, romantic chorus. The record’s B-side, ‘Glad For Every Burden’ is a lot more countrified, with lyrics that hark back to a classic era of country and folk music. He sings in the chorus: “Oh honey I’m glad I’m glad for every sorrow that I’ve had, I’m glad for every burden / Without this old heart to weight me down, I’d fly away for certain.” You can get the single now via Hymie’s Records and if you haven’t got the Ben Weaver one yet then why not grab that too?

P.S. You can hear some of Laidlaw’s previous releases over at his Soundcloud page. I’d highly recommend it.

Sally Fowler – These Lines Laid Down

These Lines Laid Down is the fourth release from Virginia’s Sally Fowler. She has a fairly traditional sound, employing acoustic instruments and lyrics about sorrows and devils and crossroads, and her voice is strong and mournful and really rather great. If you like First Aid Kit or Laura Marling then it will be right up your street.

Sally started off covering songs via Youtube before progressing into her own material. You can find them on her Youtube channel.

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

Siskiyou – ‘Deserter’

‘Deserter’ is the first single from Nervous, a brand new album from Canadian folk (?) band Siskiyou. The new album promises to be an advancement of the sparse and ghostly atmosphere of the band’s previous work, a foray into chamber pop territories recently inhabited by artists such as PJ Harvey, Nick Cave and Tindersticks. The mood and texture of the album is a product of health problems faced by lead singer Colin Huebert, who battled an inner ear condition which left him hyper-sensitive to certain volumes and frequencies. Also look out for the impressive roster of guest musicians, including Colin Stetson and Owen Pallett.

Nervous is being released on Constellation Records on the 20th of January. Pre-order it now to get a 12″ x 12″ art print of the beautiful Indian ink artwork by Michael Drebert.

Sarah Louise – Field Guide

Sarah Louise is the recording project of Sarah Henson, a young lady from North Carolina who makes music that feels as old as the Black Mountains which inspire her. “More than anything, these songs are a reflection of my home in the Black Mountains of North Carolina,” she says, “smooth-stone creek bottoms, delicate lunar-born mushrooms beneath rhododendron boughs, extreme changes in elevation.” Her new album Field Guide is coming out in the New Year on Scissor Tail Editions and it feels like a lost disc from Harry Smith’s Anthology of American Folk Music. Some of the tracks are inspired by old Appalachian hymns, while others have an almost far-Eastern meditative feel. It’s really, really good.

You can get Field Guide right now on a pay-what-you-want basis over at the Sarah Louise Bandcamp page.

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The EP is seven tracks of haunting, ambient folk music, backed with Gale’s excellent vocals. Some of the tracks are sterling examples of conventional lo-fi folk, all fragile vocals and lovelorn lyrics (see ‘Blood’). Others (such as ‘Longing’) are something a little different, the vocals joining a hazy swirl of ambience, producing something more akin to Julianna Barwick than Laura Marling.

Gale signs off the album description by saying, “Nothing big or fancy….just plain and simple….Maybe a bit too simple, but i hope you like them for now”. She is either being unnecessarily modest, or is capable of something pretty extraordinary if this is “too simple”. You can download the album right now on a pay-what-you-want basis over at Bandcamp

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