“at once pensively miserable and unhurriedly easygoing…heightened by Rice’s tragically wry way of writing about life’s woes”

Now Rice is back with a new record, Hurricane Alaska, one which sees a marked departure from his previous releases. Formerly a primarily bedroom folk sorta guy, he has decided to plug in his instruments and go electric, utilising his knack for melody to make some pretty killer lo-fi garage rock songs. The result turns out something like a fun blend of classic rock and lo-fi slacker, complete with folk and country undertones, languid guitars licking around the collection of twelve songs which are alternatively catchy and energetic and swayingly cool.

‘Console’ is perhaps the stand out track, with its squealing sunshiney guitars and twitchy lulls of verses, which build and build into carefree bursts.

“If you ask me how I am I’ll probably lie.
Just because I’ve never been the kind of guy
to share the weight of his problems”

‘Eight Stories’ is so laid back its pretty much sprawled on the ground (“What’s the point in sleeping ’til the afternoon? What’s the point in waking so soon?”), while ‘Destroy’ is a change of pace with its acoustic guitar and is more akin to previous Joplin Rice releases. ‘Catapult’ has an easygoing summery vibe, with breezy guitar lines and flowing melodic vocals, and ‘Clear & Present’ has restrained lulls and bursts of stormy lo-fi guitars. Penultimate track ‘Rocket’ sees some pretty impressive shredding, before ‘Brothers’ closes on an acoustic note, with passionately earnest vocals and lyrics which are pretty gloomy before a slight chink of something in the final lines:

“but if you look close enough
there’s a pull behind the push
and a gentle certainty
that existed before me”

The whole thing has an endearing homemade feeling, which is not to say the production values are poor, just that it sounds warm and fuzzy and close. You can get Hurricane Alaska on a pay-what-you-want basis via the Joplin Rice bandcamp page. Also, if you haven’t already then grab a cassette of his precious album via the folks at Practice Records.

The post Joplin Rice – Hurricane Alaska appeared first on Various Small Flames.

Hip Hatchet

“Speak[s] of that vulnerable core at the heart of every man, and the desperate, ridiculous attempts to suffocate it with cigarette smoke or drown it in whiskey or cover it over with scars”- Philippe Bronchtein weaves timeless folk tales about the vanity and pride of tough guys who have been on the road too long.

Frog

“The U S of A in eleven songs – quirky, joyous, breathless, exhausting, addictive, heartbreaking and downright weird, accelerating towards a distant horizon while keeping its eyes firmly on a halcyon past that sure seems like it should have been more fun.” – some words about Kind of Blah, the excellent, endlessly quotable album from Frog out now on Audio Antihero.

The Modern Folk

“Folk songs don’t require banjos and fiddles, it’s something a little deeper than that” – some bona fide folk music from The Modern Folk.

Kathryn Joseph

“A simple album about things so complicated that it’s almost impossible to put them into words” – we used Marilynne Robinson to describe what makes Kathryn Joseph’s Bones You Have Thrown Me and Blood I’ve Spilled so special.

Island Eyes

“Confronts the uncertainty of every life, admitting his fear about pretty much every possible scenario while finding solace in the fact that this uncertainty binds us all” – The self-titled album from Derek Janzen’s Island Eyes is an epic metaphor for your everyday quests.

Adam Stafford

“Could quite easily make solid, radio-friendly, painted-by-numbers pop music that would be lapped up by the undiscerning masses, but instead endeavours to make innovative, progressive music” – Adam Stafford’s new single ‘Atheist Money’ bodes well for his forthcoming album on Song, By Toad.

Bobby’s Oar

“If you placed Nana Grizol, The Front Bottoms and The Hotelier in a blender and seasoned them with acoustic guitars, throaty emo vocals and the odd mathy flourish…” – The Weeds in Your Garden by Bobby’s Oar is a passionate, defiant slice of pop-punk-folk.

Debris Slide

“Lo-fi rock music that sits at a crossroads between shimmery shoegaze, oddball experimentalism and early nineties noise pop” – some noisy, deranged pop songs from Nottingham’s Debris Slide.

Women in Music Journalism

‘“What’s the big deal? You’re a groupie.” She replied, “I’m a woman who writes about rock and roll.” His answer: “Same difference.” Groupies have proved an enduring stereotype of women’s participation in rock: worshipful, gorgeous, and despised.‘ – Anwen Crawford explains why the world needs female rock critics in The New Yorker.

Spotify: a Good Thing?

“As both an independent musician and a music fan, I’m here to give you a new headline: I believe Spotify is saving the industry” – David McMillin of Fort Francis writes for PopMatters on how Spotify might not be as bad as some would have you believe. We don’t know what to think anymore…

The State of the Music Industry (or, Goodbye Thrash Hits)

“It still pains us to see other, larger organisations dumping content online with little thought to the medium they’re working in or the audience they’re speaking to” – Thrash Hits went on an indefinite hiatus with this closing piece on the state of music industry and journalism in 2015.

Henry Demos / Lewtrakimou / Nice Legs

“I could be wrong here but I have a theory that people want to make loud music everywhere in the world” – START-TRACK spoke to Henry Demos & Lewtrakimou about Nice Legs, solo work and the South Korean music scene.

Fields / Molina

Another week, another great Jason Molina tribute article over at Common Folk Music, this time courtesy of Jeffrey Fields of The Morning River Band. Be sure not to miss the cover of ‘Whip-Poor-Will’ while you’re there.

Casiotone For The Painfully Alone

“I was pretty much always nervous in those days. The memories of my awkward, fidgety & depressed early 20’s have come rushing back to me, leaving me feeling awkward, fidgety & depressed all over again” – Owen Ashworth, now of Advance Base, came across an old CD of a radio session he did as Casiotone For the Painfully Alone back in 2001. Check it out on Bandcamp.

HI54LOFI’s Mix Tape Radio

Jeremy over at HI54LOFI posted episode 55 of his Mix Tape Radio series and it’s brilliant as usual.

Swell Tone’s MEGA SUMMER BABES

The cool people over at Swell Tone have put together a great summer playlist which should see you set for the coming months.

And Finally… the 8tracks Playlist of the Week

It’s this one by Annievain. I stumbled across it and it’s really dreamy and cool.

we’re changing from annievain on 8tracks Radio.

The post Week in Review: #3 (25-29th May) appeared first on Various Small Flames.

Joplin Rice is a musician from Lexington, Kentucky who makes personal bedroom folk meets lo-fi indie pop. His latest (and first ever physical) release is called Low Hum, an album which is at once pensively miserable and unhurriedly easygoing, something heightened by Rice’s tragically wry way of writing about life’s woes. Take for example ‘Lucky Man’, with its cool and laidback guitars and lyrics such as “I’m lit up like a burning car”, or the acoustic strum of ‘Perfect Coils’ in which he sings, “Hating myself now just ain’t the same“.

He’s capable of changing things up too. ‘Coffee’ is a fuzzed-out rocker which tells a sad little story of seeing a lost love around the town with someone new:

“I saw you buying records with your boyfriend
I just hid behind the shelf, started crying to myself.
I saw you drinking coffee, you were laughing
Was he telling you a joke? Did you see me leave alone?

Whereas ‘Haunt Me’ is more towards the folk side of the spectrum and centres on a pretty morbid question, “Would you haunt me if you died today?”, and finale ‘Parking Lot Waltz’ is a shuffling lo-fi rock song, with lines that bleed into one another, creating a stream-of-conciousness style vocal delivery – e.g. “i blow smoke back home i take ticking time bomb tambourine crescendoes endocrine releases into shaky muddy puddle people”. 

Low Hum is being released by Practice Records, a label run by the good folks at The Modern Folk Music of America, which is one of the best music sites around and a champion of home-recorded, DIY music like this. You can get the album on limited edition cassette via Practice Records or as a pay-what-you-want download via the Joplin Rice Bandcamp page. Take note that if you pay $5 or more you’ll receive a bonus EP of demos that didn’t make the album.

P.S. Why not dig into the Practice Records back catalogue while you’re at it?

The post Joplin Rice – Low Hum appeared first on Various Small Flames.