coming soon: listenlisten
09Sep09
Last month, we shouted out a record called Hymns from Rhodeisa from a band called Listenlisten, which will be arriving on eMusic on 9/22. I love this record, and I think you might, too. Haunting, apocalyptic Appalachian folk music. If you haven’t already, check out their song “Safe Home, Safe in Port” for an idea of what the full-length holds.
Just yesterday, Listenlisten unveiled the video for “On the Water,” and we wanted to share it with you. It’s harrowing, haunting, dark and gripping — all the things we love. Take a look and see what you think!
I figured by the band name alone it would be something I’d dig. After seeing this video? Yeah, I’m sold. Even if there weren’t any beards.
Well, I meant even if there weren’t any beards in the video/band, I’d still dig it. Jeez. Time to caffeinate.
I shudder to think of a world without beards in general.
This is on my radar so hard.
(translation: I’m really looking forward to this.)
I dunno. It’s the type of music I am predisposed to like, I love the album title, and I love the way you describe the sound (“Appalachian folk music”). But the fingerpicked guitar pattern repeats itself too much at the beginning of the song without any new sounds or textures added to hold my attention. And the payoff (when the drums and strings and extra guitars join for added heft) seemed slight to me.
I prefer “Safe Home, Safe Home,” on the MySpace page. There’s a nice build to the song (the second guitar and strings — I think it’s strings! — chiming in at around the :45 mark, just before the second verse), and I like how the few basic elements in the song rise and fall throughout its 3:55 run time. (And I like “Watchmen, Tell Me,” Parts I and II even better. There’s a nice little menacing vibe to Part I. And the vocal harmonies shine on Part II (and I dig the handclaps in the chorus)).
To be fair, sometimes I am very skeptical of updated “old-timey” music (terrible name). I think it’s a form that was perfected at around the turn of the 20th century, and so much of the pleasure in the music for me is tied to the crackles and pops of the original works — and my imagining what life was like for the artists — that it’s hard to get enthusiastic about modern updates of the sound. I like a lot of what I hear from this band, tho, so I’ll definitely give it a chance. Top performers in this genre, for me: Fleet Foxes (what they totally lack in “menacing-vibe” they make up for in thick, lush harmonies) and Stone Jack Jones (what he lacks in thick, lush harmonies he makes up for in “menacing-vibe”). The latter’s disc is available on eMusic. An underappreciated little gem. If you dig this type of music, it’s absolutely worth checking out (link below).
http://www.emusic.com/album/Stone-Jack-Jones-Bluefolk-MP3-Download/10980546.html
Sorry! That first paranthetical was supposed to be “(Haunting, apocalyptic Appalachian folk music).”
We need a good hub or blog-post on eMusic’s deep cataloge of “old-timey” music, BTW. A great example of the hardscrabble songcraft of the era is Alfred G. Karnes’ “Called To The Foreign Field.” You can practially see Karnes’ eyes bugging-out with impassioned fervor as he works himself up with spitfire lyrics during the song. It is in some ways offensive (in its religious presumptions, at least; FWIW, I’m Jewish, and hardly the target-audience for the song at the time of its recording), but I nevertheless thoroughly enjoyed it as a cultural artifact and an intense song.
“Called To The Foreign Field” — and the rest of the album, called The Music Of Kentucky: Early American Rural Classics 1927-37 Volume I — must be heard to be believed.
http://www.emusic.com/album/Various-Artists-The-Music-Of-Kentucky-Early-American-Rural-Classi-MP3-Download/11421688.html
Anyway, I think this would be a great genre to further explore in some sort of feature.
This is good, love it not as much as the other songs like daniel said but still good… but also check out Possessed By Paul James, would suit your old-timey with menace itch. His voice is golden though.
Good mountain folk is working its way back into my system. Excited to stick this in my ear holes. Will continue to listen to Paper Bird until then.
Good idea for the hub, Daniel — jotting it down!