#2: Matthew and the Atlas

Artist of the Day #2:
Matthew and the Atlas

Americana folk should be seen as the bigger, bolder and brasher brother to the recent surge of British Mumford and Marling folk. For some reason, the home nation of Bob Dylan manages to evoke a stronger sense of true heritage when it comes to bedraggled vocals, steadily cautious guitar pickings and an array of traditional percussion.

So, to see a London band, with a vocalist from Aldershot, swell with folk stylings that so vividly recall dusty, backwater Wyoming wilderness, the split between Americana and British folk begins to shake and shatter in the wake of growling vocals about life and love. Matthew & the Atlas are fronted by Mathew Hegarty, a singer who expels a voice so mired in husk and whiskey, managing to resonate an American accent without the usual nasal schtick.

It is difficult to understand how such experience in terms of lyrical content, vocal strain and melodic meandering can spurn from such a young group of British musicians, but it is simply wonderful to listen to regardless. The Nick Drake-like purr of 'Come Out of the Woods' is singed with a slow burning flicker of soul and sadness, whilst 'Beneath The Sea' feels like Tom Waits with a taste for world music.

Give them a listen and maybe pop along to see them at the Luminaire on the 16th December, I shall see thee there.

Matthew and the Atlas

A Deadbeat Summer...

'In summer, the song sings itself.' ~William Carlos Williams


Hola once again! Yet another month or so of shuffling, moving, job searching, homelessness, kerfuffle (and losing my password to access my blogspot) and I am finally back to attempt to blog every other day or so on music and all that such a wondrously vast topic entails.

I will be attempting to bring a few ongoing sections (such as Cover Me Slowly) into constant renewal on here as well as this weekly update on what to send spiralling down your earholes!

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Seeing as I have had a penchant over the last few posts for some sort of gnarly, lo-fi-esque band, why not kick off again with one more for good measure...

Oh and they are based out of bloomin' Brooklyn (OFF TOPIC I visited recently and MUST live there; on with the music!).

Coasting are two females, Fiona and Madison, with the ability to send their sound hurtling down a grinder of sorts, resulting in the strained sophistication that stumbles out in the likes of the deliberate drubbing titled 'Don't Fight'. But don't, not for one second, think they don't know how to thrash something bone rattling out via a heady drumbeat and a growling grumble of a guitar. Just smack the self-titled 'Coasting' all the way up and feel your fillings fall out.

'Kids' is a standout piece of blurred singalong rock that gets off with its own percussive power. I pray they make it to London around the time I get there.

Coasting's Myspace

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I recently had the pleasure of reviewing a record for Middleboop by a man from LA, named Will Wiesenfeld but using the name of Baths for the musical miscellany he musters. Every song on 'Cerulean', the blue-ish title of the album, sounds like a hazy, misty memory not quite recallable yet always on the tip of the proverbial tongue.

'Maximalist' kickpushes its way through a field of samples whilst the strained vocals and beat of 'Lovely Bloodflow' pulsates with a blood-like resonance. The percussion on the record acts as a honed heartbeat, tapping and ricocheting its way amidst an emotional sea of lyrics on love and sound effects recalling birdsong and shoreline rumblings.

The full album review can be found right HERE at Middleboop so go check it out for a little more info on this suprisingly loud chillout album by Baths.

Baths' Myspace

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Folk music is always tricky to get right, with modern attempts treading the fine line between modern technology and production and the archaic, elemental factor in the original folk stylings of the early 20th century. So, it is lovely to hear it done right once in a while.

Dear Winesburg are a foursome who use a host of lush instrumentation (including a wondrous chunk of harmonica) on their debut, self-titled album. Frontman Chris Kreinczes' vocals seep out through a time machine, at times rasping like a young Tom Waits and then suddenly lighting up in full story-telling mode, as if preaching to a full campfire circle. Lyrically, the stories at hand weave and duck through wit and litany, seen wonderfully in the tale told within 'Under The Eaves'.
Violins kick in sporadically to great effect, throwing a Civil War atmosphere into the intoxicating mixture of archaic, melancholy folk music peddled by Dear Winesburg. Well worth a listen and I am deeply regretting my inability to reach their EP release gig, and hope to make it along to another opportunity asap.

Dear Winesburg's Myspace

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Last Minute Reinforcements....

• Fol Chen sound like Dirty Projectors with a roomful of instruments, a heap of something illegal and intoxicating and a supercomputer...their second album 'The New December' is simply sublime...
• Janelle Monae is all over most blogs and reviewers' radar after the release of her debut 'The Archandroid'. One more can't hurt. It is AMAZING. Go Get It....
• I love Jenny Lewis. Literally LOVE. But her boyfriend, Jonathan Rice is also bloody talented and they are releasing an album together titled 'I'm Having Fun Now'...DAMN HIM!

Albums out over the next week or so that you should probably buy include;

• 'Archive 2003-2006' by Department Of Eagles [Melodically low key indie pop with a hint of the avant garde and a spot of dreaming drama...]
• 'Turning Lead Into Gold With The High Confessions' by The High Confessions [Loud, spindly and long with plenty of drums, fuzz and backlash]

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Keep live and kicking for a bunch of different features and sections and whatnots!

Buh Bye!
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The Colours of the Farm...

'Music is a safe kind of high.' ~Jimi Hendrix

As my pal Jimi agrees, here are some new narcotics for your earholes...

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The tale of how Grouplove came to meet has been splattered in the blog coverage they have spurned so far and who am I to rob you of that knowledge! The band met in Crete as part of an arts residency, though they come from LA, London and New York.

In one of those beautiful moments of connection, the group have span out a fantastic EP full of Arcade Fire-esque momentum. Each track bounds along in an epic fashion, prompting sing-a-longs and hand waving in a crowd on a wonderful festival evening. 'Colours' brings a ranting, chanting lyrical assembly with 'It's the colours you have, no need to be sad, they really ain't that bad." Sumptuous and fulfilling, I defy you to listen to the likes of 'Naked Kids' without a stupid grin on your face.

Grouplove's Myspace

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Fractal Farm manufacture rhythmic indie rock that snaps and twists its way along. From Wilmington, North Carolina, the threesome are working on a debut DIY ep and looking at tours across the US (but sadly not these British shores yet).

Perfect for summer, the soft angles of their music jut their way into your ribs and you can feel the energy of the band, bold and brash in the recordings. 'Walking' and 'Bone Ideas' blend psychadelia with math rock and indie pop, pushing the neat categorical types to compare them to a whole heap of bands, from Foals to Radiohead to The Shins. But comparisons be damned as these guys forge their own brand and I hope they make it to British shores sometime soon so I can see it all up close and personal.

Fractal Farm's Myspace

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Just One More Hit (or five)

• Sam Buck Rosen is a soulful electronic whiz who has a record out you should find and listen to, which is titled 'Dominant Mind' and is full of wonderment and distortion.
• I have rediscovered possibly one of the greatest albums of all time, in Tom Waits' 'Closing Time'...simply breathtaking from start to finish.
• New Arcade Fire - wondrous as bloody always!
• Janelle Monae has a new album out titled 'The ArchAndroid', a sci-fi, R&B tale of love and identity (I think I love her a little bit)
• Wavves surfing back our way with 'King Of The Beach'; and 'Cool Jumper' as a teaser of what's to come from the noisy talented buggers.
  

Albums out over the next week or so that you should buy include;

• 'LP4' by Ratatat [Perfectly produced sampling and mixing masterpiece with beats that send your body trembling]
• 'Been Listening' by Johnny Flynn [Troubador pretty nu-folk with a buoyancy and certain sweetness]
• 'Memoirs' by Rox [modern soul from Londoner songstress with feeling and sass]

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So! Until next time true believers!!

Ears peeled and eyes open!

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