This week’s EP was curated by Jeremy Sroka, the mastermind behind HI54LOFI, probably the most essential blog/radio station on the internet. Jeremy also runs 95EH, a blog-form homage to his new hometown Kimberly, BC. Check it out and feel jealous that we can’t all live there!

Packing / Unpacking

by Jeremy Sroka

1) Song with a name in the title

Marie – Townes Van Zandt (with Willie Nelson)

I thought that the lack of specific-ness for this song prompt was going to stress me out. I mean, there are a lot of songs with names in the title, so how was I going to pick one? I started off my thinking process by wishing that there would have been a more specific ‘name of famous person’ or something filter, but then I remembered how much I love this Townes & Willie collaboration ‘Marie’. And too think I was briefly considered giving this spot to The Goo Goo Dolls ‘Name’.

2) Song that reminds you of your favourite video game

The Alley (War) – Big Trouble In Little China Soundtrack (John Carpenter)

I have not played video games since I lived at home and had a video game console. I only made it as far as a Playstation 1, but my fondest joystick memories are probably the Double Dragon marathons spent on the Nintendo. And since I just included a metal version of the Double Dragon theme song for my Rigby mix for The Grey Estates  I figured I better go with something else that reminds me of that era of personal peak video gaming. And it turns out it was the soundtrack to Big Trouble In Little China. I guess Kurt Russell fathered a lot of us kids born in the 80s (metaphorically speaking, but maybe literally too).

3) Song that sounds like the bottom of the ocean

Heavy – William Ryan Fritch

When I saw this song prompt I immediately thought of William Ryan Fritch. When it comes to floating & falling, nobody’s music captures those feelings better. I haven’t been to the bottom of the ocean myself, but I imagine it sounds pretty heavy down there.

Aberdeen – Mando Diao

I like to say that I’m an excellent dancer, but the reality is that I’m (probably) not. I figure it’s a mixture of not being much of a ‘dance=y’ person to begin + rarely feeling comfortable being ‘dance-y’ in public even when I’m feeling a little ‘dance-y’ on the inside (i.e. drunk-y). Maybe if places put on tunes like this Mando Diao one, instead of some Top 40 hit that came with instructions on how to dance to it (instructions I haven’t read), maybe I could become the excellent dancer I lie about already being. Or maybe I’ll just continue doing my best dancing at our flat to songs like this.

5) Song you’d play during the apocalypse

(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction – Cat Power

I actually made a little ‘apocalypse ‘ mix on 8tracks a few years ago (well, that was for the rapture, but same difference). Anyways, this song is not on that 8tracks mix, but I can imagine putting it on my headphones and walking cinematically slow down some apocalyptic / raptured high street.

6) Song from at least 20 years ago

Good Time Charlie’s Got The Blues – Danny O’Keefe

I only came across this gem from ’67 within the last year, which, considering the age I turned in 2016 and the line “yr not a kid at 33’, the timing of this discovery feels timely. Throw in the fact that my girlfriends name is ‘Charlie’ and that we’ve spent the last 4 years hopping around Europe and Canada (including an extended trip back to Denmark due to an unexpected loss in Charlie’s family tree), this song lands a lot of jabs to my head every listen.

Here’s the whole thing in one go so you can hit repeat, sit back, and take it all in.

Be sure to read everything Jeremy Sroka does on HI54LOFI and 95EH, and check back next week for the next Mystery Mini Mix.

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To describe an act called Old Haunt as haunting may sound a tad obvious, but there is something about the solemn lyrics and gentle instrumentation that invokes eerie visitations in empty rooms, be they spectral figures or just stories and emotions trickling back through time. This isn’t a terrifying/poltergeistic/levitating-bedsheet type of haunting but rather a quiet contemplative meeting of past and present, something that is thoughtful and comforting, melancholic in a nice way.

The last song on the EP is a cover of Townes van Zandt’s ‘Tower Song’, a lovely little take that works well with more hushed vocals.

空 is available on a pay-what-you-can basis over at Bandcamp.

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Huck Notari

Earlier this year Portland’s Huck Notari completed a successful Kickstarter campaign for his third album, Huck Notari and the River. Now released, the LP does not disappoint with Notari’s trademark wistful strumming and stirring lyrics. If you are new to the artist, check out ’Wall Around Your Heart’, one of my favourite songs.

Tiny Ruins

Haunts is the latest EP from Auckland’s Hollie Fullbrook, AKA Tiny Ruins. This is organic music, with simpe instrumentation supporting the main attraction – Fullbrook’s incredible vocals. It feels like she is singing in an empty room for you alone, her voice filling the space and bringing to life the tales she is telling.

Old Haunt

An offshoot of The Gertrudes, Old Haunt is a haunting blend of traditional folk and more experimental genres like electronic and drone. Herohill’s write-up states that front man Lucas Huang described the project as ‘Tim Hecker unearthing a box of Townes van Zandt demos’, which makes us very excited for the full album coming this November.

<a href=“http://oldhaunt.bandcamp.com/track/ghost-town” data-mce-href=“http://oldhaunt.bandcamp.com/track/ghost-town”>Ghost Town by Old Haunt</a>

Jason Isbell

Southeasten, the new album from the former Drive-By Truckers man, is an exceptional collection of songs. Listen to a few of them here thanks to Garden and Gun (kudos to Songsfortheday for the find).

Suntrapp

The press release accompanying the first single by Newcastle’s Suntrapp states that it intends to capture the human conditions, being ’impulsive, celebratory and cathartic in equal measure’. I think this is a perfect summation of what indie-folk-rock (or whatever) should be all about.

Glass Cake

Glass Cake aren’t particularly folky but the idea behind this series was to let us post about more good music, not constrict ourselves with rules. Lunar Caustic is like a Sharon van Etten x Twin Sister x Scout Niblett hybrid playing a raucous garage rock. It’s great.

Ben De La Cour

Ben De La Cour is a singer-songwriter based in Nashville. He has recently released his third album, Ghost Light, a really nice collection of acoustic folk songs and some country rockers. I’ve seen comparisons to Leonard Cohen and Townes van Zandt and I think these are fair. He certainly has the pedigree to be considered an oldtime-style wandering man, having travelled the world as an amateur boxer, a bartender, a janitor and farm worker. You can download the album for however much you like over at Ben’s bandcamp page.

Wes Tirey

We have featured Wes a few times recently, with a review of his EP I Stood Among Trees, and last week’s interview about his music and writing, and he has a new 3-song EP out now. False Idols is another collection of superbly written earthy songs from some old vision of America and is available for as little as $1. All funds will go towards Wes’ Indiegogo campaign to get him to Italy.

We’ll be seeing you next month.

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I am paraphrasing here but the sentences above capture exactly what makes the record so great. In The Throes is a collection of songs that play like perfect short stories, writing that has been mercilessly editted and revised so that each and every word has been forced to justify its existence. Each song feels distilled, reduced to its purest and most brilliant form.

The real masterstroke is putting together all of these killer lines and making them fit together into something that sounds like a stream of conciousness, as if they are the words of a man spilling his inner self for the first and only time. The songs are simultaneously highly polished and roughed up, carefully crafted and organic.

As for comparisons, I guess you can take your pick from your favourite songwriters. The slower finger picked songs such as ‘3:59AM’ bring to mind Joe Pug, and Nine Bullets suggested Townes Van Zandt (with which I concur), but there are plenty of others you could name too. Nebraska-era Springsteen, Jason Isbell, Steve Earle, Tom Petty…  Moreland is in no way out of place among any of the gravely poets that make up the big names of songwriting.

The whole gamut of emotions are covered on In The Throes, from sadness and desperation (I swore the days were over, courting empty dreams / I worshiped at the altar of losing everything) to earnest joy (I got the guiltiest conscience / Listening for a savior on a Saturday night / I got my ear to the ground / You got Easter Sunday in your eyes) and even humour (I guess by now, I’m supposed to be a man // But my grandmother still gives me ten bucks on my birthday). Some artists make songs that are made memorable by just one masterful line, John Moreland produces songs with masterful lines as his only ingredient.

You can buy the album from Last Chance Records.

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Rocks & Gravel sees a continuation of Klar’s brand of folk music, although he’s stepped it up a bit in terms of volume and dynamism. ‘Devil’s Bread’ is more blues-rock than folk, the gravelly vocals growling with a barely-restrained force. The title track is another bluesy rock affair, a bar room brawl compared to some of Klar’s more reserved moments, “Somebody tell my woman!” he yells during the chorus.

Speaking of reserved moments, the next track, ‘Can’t Help Thinkin It Was Easy’ is reminiscent of the self-titled EP, a quintessential folk song, with shades of Dylan, van Zandt et al. It’s a matter of personal preference but I prefer Klar in this mode. The lyrics are the ramblings of of a wandering man:

“Now I’m watching the road running under the wheels
And I’ll daydream the next hundred miles

Rolling down with the night
the hills and these eastern pines”

‘Ride On’ is another lovely folk song, with a strong The Tallest Man On Earth vibe, and closer ‘Ham & Eggs’ is as bluesy as they come, a foot-tapping shuffle backed by Klar’s signature whiskey-soaked vocals.

The EP is available for $10 and comes in handmade, one of a kind packaging. You can also download it for however much you feel like paying. Get it via the Jake Klar Bandcamp. If you’re a fan of Klar’s previous work, or of folk/blues/rock then I’d highly suggest giving it a shot.

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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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