Losing his mother when he was twelve, Albert af Ekenstam and his sister were forced to grow up more or less alone. Ashes is in part a meditation on loneliness and inner-strength, how determination can not only co-exist with but actually derive from fragility. As such, grief and sadness colour the songs but do not define them, leaving that to the incandescent moments of defiance and joy which spit and spark through the dark, like fireflies on a summer’s night, embers blown high on the wind.

To help us better understand the range of emotions that went into Ashes, Albert af Ekenstam has crafted us a list of songs, one for every situation and circumstance that cropped up during the creation of the record. Not only does it serve as a great way to explore the influences behind Albert’s work, it also makes for a rather beautiful listen.

When you dream…

Ashes is out today (14th October) via Kning Disk and you can get it from iTunes or listen via Spotify.

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Yowler

“Water permeates the record in all of its guises, in rain and in blood and in sinks, in rivers and seas and oceans, in sheet ice and snow melt and the film over an eye” – The Offer by Yowler gives Maryn Jones a chance to create something intensely personal.

Samantha Crain

“Music has the power to change minds and to nudge humanity down a different path but for the most part I feel like most music just wants to follow the mass around asking what they like and what they want from them. There are bigger things going on, music and art needs to direct attention towards those injustices.” – We chatted to Samantha Crain her forthcoming album Under Branch & Thorn & Tree.

Late Night Music in the Museum

“The evenings showed that museums can be innovative, adaptable and welcoming to all, centres of the community rather than simple tourist novelties…What better way to ensure the survival of an institute than to make it central to the lives and well-being of the people it serves?” – We were left feeling inspired by recent events at the National Museum in Cardiff.

Fevered Press, Fevered Certainty

Cool people cover cool songs by cool bands for a cool zine. What’s not to like? The Epoch Fanzine from Fevered Press, Fevered Certainty.

Right Away, Great Captain

“The journey is an epic one, written in novelistic detail that surpasses the overwhelming majority of albums – tracing the sailor’s time at sea…and his return to land” – Andy Hull’s Right Away, Great Captain release entire catalogue in one anthology.

Harley Alexander

“Just the right blend of luminous and languorous to occupy your headphones during the summer (or dreams thereof)” – Glorious summer vibes from Harley Alexander on Gold Shirt.

Fazed On a Pony

Fox Food Records continue their hot streak with this slice of “raucously rad” indie rock from Fazed On a Pony.

Star Horse

“Keepin’ it dreamy with yearning vocals and a resounding crystalline shimmer” – A few words about ‘Slower Now’ by Star Horse, which premièred on No Fear of Pop earlier this week.

May Roundup mixtape

If you missed the chance to read everything we posted during May, do yourself a favour and catch up with all the cool bands via this handy mixtape.

Introverted Stars

“When I hear Alessia [Cara] valorize her love of staying at home, it feels like an affirmation that my preternatural quietness is a bearable tic rather than a curse. She wants to be alone in her room, and she has the courage to tell it to the whole world” – Molly Long wrote a fantastic piece for The Fader about being introverted and shy… while also being a pop star.

Mark Kozelek Being Offensive Pt. XXVI

“He can use sexually violent language to reduce female critics to the status of groupies, knowing that while male musicians’ misogynist acts are examined for nuance and defended as traits of “difficult” artists, women and those who call them out are treated as hysterics who don’t understand art” – Laura Snapes wrote about her recent run-in with Mark Kozelek for The Guardian…

“Maybe a feminist reimagining of popular music doesn’t just involve putting more women onstage. Maybe it includes creating spaces without stages: where power is fluid, where no one can play god, where art can be shared without elevating artists three feet above their audiences” – …and Sasha Geffen wrote a great piece for Consequence of Sound about Kozelek’s recent behaviour and how he is far from the only example.

Sufjan or ETs?

If you’re like me then you quite like Sufjan Stevens, and you ABSOLUTELY LOVE UFOs and all that weird stuff. Test your knowledge (of either category) with this fun list from Mandala Laura over at McSweeney’s.

Jenny Hval

You can stream the new Jenny Hval album over at the New York Times:

Titus Andronicus

And Titus Andronicus unveiled another track from their forthcoming album ‘The Most Lamentable Tragedy‘:

And Finally… the 8tracks Playlist of the Week

This week’s winner is this gem from Badical Turbo Radness.

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The point that I immediately noticed was, despite being labelled with tags such as minimal and slowcore, there is actually some pretty electrifying rock music on display. A good example is opener ‘Reinforced/Delicate’, which starts with some sparse guitar, but eventually blossoms into a fully-fledged rock song. Amundsen and backing singer Margo May offer the repeated refrain of “Are you ready now?” as some kind of plea and guitars swirl around everywhere and big drums come crashing in as the track hits a crescendo around the 2:35 mark. It sounds “big”, almost like the loudest moments of Hospice-era Antlers, or something Strand of Oaks would have shredded his way through before aiming at more conventional indie rock.

Another great track is ‘Ride On, Molina’, presumably a tribute to the great man which is primarily a really good rock song, seven and a half minutes of catharsis. The second half is almost devoid of vocals, an entirely instrumental guitar jam. But despite these louder, rock leanings, the song never strays from what Amundsen has carved out so far in his career. There is a sense of patience and of space, and this is perhaps a testament to the confidence of a musician who knows exactly what he is trying to do in his music. Imagine one of Molina’s Magnolia Electric Co. tracks beamed through the prism of the whole minimal/slowcore canon, and you come close to describing it.

‘My Favourite Drug is Sleep’ is a hibernation anthem for the oncoming winter, in which Amundsen sings, “Now that night is getting cold enough, to go to bed with all the windows shut, under blankets I can burrow deep, and be reminded that my favourite drug is sleep.“ And this goes some way to describing Amundsen’s work as a whole. I Remember Everything always maintains that wistful air of sadness, but often in a glorious, life-affirming way. It’s melancholy as comfort, be it through kinship or catharsis or both. It’s an album that you could play to tap your feet and silently rock out on the train, but also one to listen to when your soul is hurting and you just want to stare out of a window to make things seems okay. This is a difficult combination to achieve and one which signals a very, very good album.

You can buy I Remember Everything from the Rivulets Bandcamp page, either as a digital download or on limited edition 12” vinyl. Europeans can get it via Jellyfant Records.

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Tracklisting:

1. From Stardust To Sentience (High Places cover) – Banjo or Freakout
2. So Prone (SLUTEVER cover) – Ghost/Light
3. I Will Always Love You (Dolly Parton cover) – Howth
4. Salvador Sanchez (Sun Kil Moon cover) – Little Silver
5. Brother (Annuals cover) – Manchester Orchestra
6. Darling (Magic Man cover) – And the Giraffe
7. When You Were Mine (Prince cover) – John Heart Jackie
8. I Wanna Be Adored (Stone Roses cover) – Coma Cinema
9. Crying (Roy Orbison cover) – Austra
10. Streets of Philadelphia (Bruce Springsteen cover) Casiotone For The Painfully Alone
11. Iron Man (Black Sabbath cover) – Four Tet
12. The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonight (R.E.M. cover) – Oxford Collapse
13. My Proud Mountains (Townes van Zandt cover) – J. Tillman
14. Chelsea Hotel #2 (Leonard Cohen cover) – Sarah Jaffe
15. If I Handle You With Care (Trembling Blue Stars cover) – Evening Hymns
16. Left & Leaving (The Weakerthans cover) – Beat Radio
17. I Know What I Know (Paul Simon cover) – Graham Wright
18. Some Things Last A Long Time (Daniel Johnston cover) – The Twilight Sad
19. Unicorn (Gay Against You cover) – Dananananaykroyd
20. See U Again (Miley Cyrus cover) – The Mae Shi

Click on the band name in the tracklisting to be whizzed off to a specific page for each artist. Buy some music if you like what you hear. I didn’t bother with Dolly Parton, Springsteen etc. but if you need some pointers on where to find out more about them give us a shout.

Enjoy.

The Covers Mix: Volume #2 from Wake The Deaf on 8tracks Radio.

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However Showalter was keen to avoid this story defining him and set out to write more music and hopefully avoid being tagged as the guy who’s house burnt down. The result, Pope Killdragon, is much more varied than his first effort but no less affecting. The sound is more complete and there are forays into genres other than the lonely acoustic songwriter. I hear similarities to Damien Jurado in some parts, Wintersleep in others. Some of the album, such as the song ‘Sterling’ remind me of Rob Kozelek’s Sun Kil Moon in the way that the song seems to keep going and going, a stretch of sounds that feel like they began before you were listening and continue when you stop. You get the feeling that you have caught only a brief section of a grand story that is always unfolding.

Pope Killdragon is available to buy from Ten Atoms, Bandcamp and is on Spotify.

P.S. Download the cover of ‘Wolves’ by Phosphorescent free here.

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