Posted by
Tony -
September 6, 2011 – 9:49 pm
A Melodic Daydream
–posted by Tony Pucci, host of the Pollyanna Cowgirl Records Podcast
This week I want to write about a band you’ve heard me play many times on the Pollyanna Cowgirl Records Podcast, A MELODIC DAYDREAM. There is a personal story behind how I learned of the band A MELODIC DAYDREAM, but in this case it is not worth telling. There was a mutual friend who introduced me to this Colorado-based couple, but he has since disappeared from the lives of the band as well as myself, and none of use know why. Life goes on.
My first exposure to the band, besides mp3s at Myspace and such, was their self-titled 2006 CD, A Melodic Daydream. Wow, very tasty guitars and glorious, rocking female vocals, just what I like! A MELODIC DAYDREAM is Chris Newton and Lnz Kayd, and they can pull of great music whether performing as an acoustic duo, or with a full-blown band sound on CD. But best of all, these two have become dear friends, and that is to be cherished above even great music. Read More »
Posted by
Tony -
August 30, 2011 – 6:41 pm
SUEDE
–by Tony Pucci, host of the Pollyanna Cowgirl Records Podcast
This week my “Music Review/Personal Story” is the 2002 album by SUEDE, A New Morning. I always think of my friend Ben when I listen to Suede. After all, Ben was the guy who turned me on to the band, and A New Morning was the first CD by Suede that he loaned to me. Ben was one of the first friends I made online (at The Church’s fan forum, Hotelwomb), and ironically, we met in person because we discovered we lived in the same town! I went to my first concert by The Church with Ben, and through him, I actually got to meet the guys in the band!
I was so happy that Ben met the wonderful Lisa, and finally got married. But sadly, a few years ago, Ben passed away from stomach cancer. Thankfully, I have many things in my life that remind me of my friend. Suede’s A New Morning is a favorite of mine, not just because of the wonderful music, but because it also reminds me of Ben. Read More »
Posted by
Jakob -
August 30, 2011 – 4:29 pm
Roll: 2-9-13
Album: The Bastard Wing, Crystal Thicket
The Bastard Wing was a relatively short-lived collaboration between Christina Carter of Charlambides and her then boyfriend Andrew MacGregor. I’ve mentioned Andrew a few times in his capacity as a record store clerk (Fascinating Rhythm) and owner (Blackball Records), but he spent the subsequent years in North Hampton carving out a niche for himself as the psych-improv guitarist know as Gown.
Andrew’s music can be challenging. Foxydigitalis.com said of a tape of his I put out on my label, “very hard to listen all the way through on first listen, but it grew on me after a while.” Kristjanne of the band Bash Brothers once observed to me after one of his more abrasively confrontational sets, “Sometimes when I watch Andrew play, I feel like he hates me.”
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By Jakob
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Also posted in Simply Read
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Tagged andrew macgregor, Christina Carter, crystal thicket, gown, new weird america, outsider folk, psych-improv, psychedelic, review, the bark haze, the bastard wing
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Posted by
Tony -
August 24, 2011 – 1:18 am
Man Sleeps to Forget (cover 1)
–by Tony Pucci, host of the Pollyanna Cowgirl Records Podcast
Autumn is coming. Sooner or later for all of us, of course, but there is just a hint in the air here in the North that change is the only constant. One of the funky things I love about Autumn is almost all of my favorite songs seem to remind me of Autumn. “Heather” from Sojo Glider’s Man Sleeps to Forget is a perfect example of this. As you know, my favorite band is The Church. For whatever reason, a lot of musicians are fans of The Church. I think that’s a high compliment. But one of the benefits of networking online with fans of The Church who are musicians is discovering there are dozens and dozens of wonderful independent musician all around the world, making great music in their homes. One band I found via this route is Sojo Glider, from France.
It all begins innocent enough. You discover something in common, say, “Oh, you make music too?” Perhaps you send an mp3 or two via email, or you direct someone to your ReverbNation page. If you’re fortunate, you’ll find some incredibly talented new friend, and the scale tips just a little bit more towards the “Life is Good” side of things. Maybe now you even exchange CDs in the mail. You’re impressed with the delicacy of some songs, moved by the rawness of others, and overall you’re thrilled to have found some one, some band, some sound, made with obvious talent, aligned to your sense of what music should be, not just in sound, but in soul as well. One band I found that does exactly this is Sojo Glider, and yes, you guessed right, they’re from France. Read More »
Posted by
Jakob -
August 23, 2011 – 8:36 pm
Roll: 4-4-8
Album: Sebadoh, Smash Your Head On The Punk Rock
The name Sebadoh always made me think of Play Doh and sebaceous fluid. So, perhaps, some sort of modelling clay made out of sebum. Like that white stuff that you can dig our of those hard little whiteheads that form around your eyes.
In some ways that might be the best way to describe Sebadoh’s music. Hard, gooey, organic, slightly repulsive but impossible to resist poking at. And perpetually adolescent in a way that only ’90s indie rock can be. This is music written by young Sega-playing men in basement rec-rooms for young Sega-playing men in basement rec-rooms, hiding from responsibility and growing up.
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Posted by
Jakob -
August 18, 2011 – 8:03 pm
Roll: 3-6-10
Album: Stina Nordenstam, The World Is Saved
Swedish songstress Stina Nordenstam has a voice that’s been described as being like “an icicle melting through butter.” Or something to that effect. Even if I’m remembering it wrong, the description is apt. Her voice has the sharp, chilly fragility of an ice crystal, yet is somehow comforting like being submersed in a duvet. The former quality due to some sneaky EQ in the studio and the latter by her innate beguilingly coquettish delivery.
Well, her music is comforting, that is, if you’re comforted by being buried under an avalanche of insurmountable misery. Even her most upbeat songs are chock-a-block with couplets of debilitating pathos such as “Men claim the right of living/So you became an expert on dying” and “Why is there love/Why is there all this pain” (from “Lori Glory“, This is Stina Nordemstam, 2002).
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Posted by
Tony -
August 16, 2011 – 8:47 pm
Flying Saucer
–by Tony Pucci, host of the Pollyanna Cowgirl Records Podcast
One of the great things about the Internet is that it allows you to dig into the family tree of something that you enjoy. In being a fan of the BBC’s Doctor Who, I have discovered The Sarah Jane Adventures, Torchwood, The Catherine Tate Show and Sherlock, amongst others. The same can be said for musician/producer Ed Ackerson from Minneapolis. Does this make Ed Ackerson “Doctor Who”? I think he might like that.
In the late 80s, I was a college radio DJ on KRPR 89.9 FM in Rochester, Minnesota, the station for the Rochester Community College. Ed Ackerson had just put out an album with his band, The 27 Various, called Approximately. I played tracks like “Like the Poison” and “I Feel Damage(d)” a lot on the radio. At the same time, my old band CROME YELLOW was gigging new band nights at The 7th Street Entry in Minneapolis, and Ed was often the soundman, so I kinda-sorta got to know him a bit. In other words, I was a fan, and always tried to keep up on what he was doing. Read More »
Posted by
Jakob -
August 11, 2011 – 2:28 pm
Roll: 6-10-16
Album: Sam Rivers Trio, Sam Rivers Trio Live
At his best multi-instrumentalist Sam Rivers is a conduit between modal- and free-jazz. His earlier post-bop records on Blue Note temper the relatively safe, swinging grooves of Lee Morgan or Jackie McLean with a touch of the abrasive, adventurism of Pharoah Sanders at his skronkiest. Later, with albums like Crystals, he’d take things further towards the purely discordant regions of something like Coltrane‘s Ascension.
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Posted by
Tony -
August 9, 2011 – 7:20 pm
THE CHURCH - Starfish
–a CD review by Tony Pucci, host of the Pollyanna Cowgirl Records Podcast
In 1987, I was 19 years old and going through a one-year course in Stringed Instrument Repair and Construction at the Red Wing Technical Institute in the beautiful Mississippi River town of Red Wing, Minnesota. You might have heard of their pots and other crockery. Or you might have heard that Bob Dylan spent some time in the Reformatory School there because he was a young rebel, and it’s no coincidence that Highway 61 runs north-south through town. There was also a Band Instrument Repair course at the school, and I became friends with a guy in that class named Dave. One spring afternoon I hanging out over at his apartment, listening to records (yes, vinyl records!). We listened to the brand-new The Joshua Tree from U2, and with never hearing the songs before, Dave was able to grab the lyric sheet and sing nearly perfectly along with Bono. Amazed, I asked him how he did that, and he simply stated that he’d listened to a heck of a lot of U2 in the past.
Once that record was finished, Dave asked me if I wanted to listen to Diesel and Dust by Midnight Oil or Heyday from The Church. I’d heard of both bands, knew they were both Australian groups, but I’d head a little bit of Midnight Oil and had really liked it, and I hadn’t heard The Church at all at that point, so I played it safe and selected Midnight Oil. If I’d chosen The Church’s Heyday, with those 4 pretty boys in those gorgeous paisley shirts on the front cover , my life would have been totally turned on its’ head one year earlier than it was. Because a year later in 1988, The Church put out Starfish, and that is when I finally heard a group in real life making the music I had been hearing in my head. I’d finally and truly found my “favorite band”!
THE CHURCH - Heyday
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By Tony
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Also posted in Simply Read
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Tagged als, Australia, band, church, diesel, dust, heyday, hotelwomb, jenny, joshua, kilbey, koppes, midnight, milky, oil, piper, ploog, powles, radiohead, songs, starfish, tree, u2, under, way, willson
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Posted by
Jakob -
August 4, 2011 – 2:08 pm
Roll: 1-6-8
Album: Die Haut and Nick Cave, Burnin’ The Ice
There was a period I sought out every recording I could that featured Nick Cave. I even ended up with that rare Tuff Monks 7″ — a collaboration between The Birthday Party and The Go-Betweens in 1982. I don’t think I’ve ever listened to it. I probably should.
Especially since these sessions with German instrumental post-punk band Die Haut, also recorded in 1982, are so amazing.
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