Ten Atoms Archives - Various Small Flames

Strand of Oaks – Dark Shores

Jon Doyle — Wed, 05 Sep 2012 12:49:00 +0000

Strand of Oaks’ Timothy Showalter writes songs concerning a much wider range of topics than your average artist. From giants in bowling alleys to dystopian futures to Dan Aykroyd missing John Bellushi, he has covered areas that most ‘serious’ musicians fail to reach. The impressive thing is how he uses these often bizarre tales to paint a believeable picture and convey all-too-real human emotion. Song writing as clever and nuanced as his would pack a punch sung by a tone-deaf parrot, a voice like his would make the most insipid and cliched verses affecting. Showalter has both and here is beginning to master them. With the help of John Vanderslice in production, Dark Shores sees his songs become quicker and shorter while losing none of the punch of his previous work.

Dark Shores is an album about space. According to various interviews it began as a concept about space exploration and wars but the human element came to the fore. The album is still influenced by space, but rather than flying saucers and lasers, the ‘space’ here is an empty vacuum, the ultimate isolation. From the opener ‘Diamond Drill’, with a closing refrain echoing ‘Its a lonely life’, you realise the album is not going to be the most upbeat listen. ‘Satellite Moon’ and ‘Dark Shores’ further the imagery of space as emptiness. ‘Maureen’s’ and ‘Little Wishes’ are full of the same hope and regret that made ’Bonfire’ so enthralling. ‘Last Grains’, a song set in a not-so hard to imagine broken future about just that, is quick and desperate, capturing perfectly the antinomic pressures put on modern persons juggling family, employment and social status. ‘Trap Door’ clings to a chink of light in darkness. These are songs crafted carefully to entwine the fantastic and the recognisable, perfect examples of his paradoxical use of fantasy to portray reality.

Showalter is not afraid to change his sound to suit the stories they tell. The early version of ‘Spacestations’, recorded for the brilliant Shaking Through series, was packed with epic synths and was worlds away (no pun intended) from the acoustic singer-songwriters he is often compared with. Since, the song has been striped back, synths replaced with a more familiar guitar, but the switch highlighted just how versatile Showalter can be. Leave Ruin was classic folk strumming, Pope Killdragon experimented with metal-tinged noise, and now we have sci-fi synths and succinct rock. His voice and lyrics would be effective against any musical backdrop and Strand of Oaks can therefore go in any direction. I for one cannot wait to follow.

Buy Dark Shores on CD from Ten Atoms or digitally via Bandcamp.

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Wake the Deaf’s Top 15 Albums of 2011

Jon Doyle — Mon, 26 Dec 2011 12:13:00 +0000

There’s only one way to see out a year: A ‘best of’ list. Here’s our attempt, featuring our favourite 15 albums of the last 12 months.

15. Tune Yards – W H O K I L L
(4AD)

14. Oneohtrix Point Never – Replica
(Mexican Summer/Software)

13. Youth Lagoon – The Year of Hibernation
(Fat Possum/Lefse)

12. Parts & Labor – Constant Future
(Jagjaguwar)

11. Radiohead – The King of Limbs
(XL/TBD)

10. Clams Casino – Instrumentals Mixtape
(Self Released)

9. South of Lincoln – Homes

(Self Released)

8. Blanck Mass – Blanck Mass
(Rock Action)

7. Conrad Plymouth – Comrade Plymouth
(Ten Atoms)

6. St. Vincent – Strange Mercy
(4AD)

5. The Antlers – Burst Apart
(French Kiss/Transgressive)

4. Gil Scott Heron / Jamie XX – We’re New Here
(XL/Young Turks)

3. James Blake – James Blake
(A&M/Atlas)

2. Handsome Furs – Sound Kapital
(Sub Pop)

1. Bon Iver – Bon Iver
(4AD/Jagjaguwar)

If you’d like a sample of the above, check out the Wake The Deaf Top Albums of 2011 playlist on Spotify. Click here to be taken straight there.

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Conrad Plymouth

Jon Doyle — Fri, 26 Aug 2011 15:52:00 +0000

I’ve been listening to Conrad Plymouth for a good while but, like so many of the artists I listen to and enjoy have never gotten around to writing about them. The band, from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, have yet to release a proper album but their on the debut self titled EP has kept my attention long enough on it’s own. It may only be four tracks long but I’m yet to tire of songs like ’Fergus Falls’ and ’Metamora’.

The reason I have decided to write about Conrad Plymouth today is the release of more songs via their Bandcamp page. ’Comrade Plymouth’ is a collection of (mostly solo) songs that were deemed unsuitable for the upcoming full length but nevertheless contains some gems. Both ’Comrade Plymouth’ and ’Conrad Plymouth EP’ are available on a ‘name your price basis’ and I’m sure it would be very much appreciated if you could give a donation, however small, to help these guys carry on making music for our listening pleasure.

If vinyl is more your cup of tea, the S/T EP is available from Ten Atoms for a very reasonable $10. Keep an eye out on the Ten Atoms site for the debut album, I’m sure it will be worth the wait.

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Strand of Oaks

Jon Doyle — Thu, 03 Mar 2011 15:10:00 +0000

Strand of Oaks is Tim Showalter from Phildelphia. In 2003, when his fiancée left him and his house burnt down, Tim found solace in writing songs. His debut, Leave Ruin, was a moving album that focussed on loss and grief, summed up by the opening track ‘End In Flames’.

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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