Wolf Explosion – Send Your Rope

Isaiah 60 

Creation Song

The Wolf Explosion began in Shenawana Hall. Keith and Jeremy began writing music together while they were roommates at Houghton College. What began as a few songs grew quickly into over a dozen. They began playing music around Houghton and Rochester, as well as writing music for the original play ‘Swallow’. Using guitars, ukulele, harmonica and saxophone, their music strikes a rich organic tone that comes with acoustic music yet a distinct rawness of shouts, panic and oft broken strings. Their lyrics pound as they wander through issues of poverty, power, and temptation, while attempting to reconstruct itself as hope. Their first EP, ‘Send Your Rope’ is set to be released in November of 2009, featuring the artwork of Cory Zingg. The Wolf Explosion don’t enjoy writing artist bio’s much but do enjoy lost treasures, community, cities, and trying to better understand what it means to love others. We hope you enjoy our musical efforts.

 

http://www.myspace.com/thewolfexplosion

Download the EP for free

Future of Indie Music – Exclusive!

Anne Stewart of www.gighive.com has posted an excellent synopsis from various indie music bloggers of their insights into the future of our niche of the industry.

See if you can find my comments as well among these illustrious authors and arsonists!

http://gighive.com/the-buzz/2009/12/indie-music-2020/

Elvis is Alive! – This Snowy Christmas

Elvis Presley – Blue Christmas

Elvis – Holly Leaves And Christmas Trees

Chagall Guevara – To Fly Below the Radar

Have seen Steve Taylor twice.  Chegall, never.  Oh, what I missed.  But we have their album and some great videos!

Christmas is Coming!

Yeah, Christmas is coming!

yarn owl – Night Flights Circa 2010

Very unique and groovy music.   Enjoy yarn owl and keep an eye and ear out for their new album . . .

The band is constantly working on recording new material and recently put out a cassette tape through California based label Leftist Nautical Antiques. This 7 song tape entitled “Tiny Dots” features some of the best work from the band. Yarn Owl is currently unraveling a new 6 song EP called “Stay Warm” recorded and mixed with Chris Early and mastered by Ed Brooks. Tentative release for early 2010 depending upon label looks.

Yarn Owl must be pretty secure in their masculinity. They’ve got a gentle, playful sound and a near-falsetto set of lead vocals that a lot of bands wouldn’t dare try onstage. Not many groups could pull off a sweet, soft relationship song like “Rubik’s Cube” (a song that, by the way, rhymes “Yahtzee” with “not see,” which is an automatic win) and make it work. They are utterly adorable, and I mean that as a compliment. Good job, men. — Paul Constant, The Stranger

http://yarnowlmusic.com/

http://www.myspace.com/yarnowl

Patrick Watson – Interview & Download Today

December 5, 2009 – Patrick Watson and his band The Wooden Arms defy easy categorization. Hailing from Montreal, the group takes inspiration from contemporary indie rock, cartoon music from the 1940s and impressionist composers. Their newest record is Wooden Arms, on which each song is a lush, deep soundscape, achieved using unconventional instruments and found objects. Depending on the song, you’ll hear pots and pans or bottles and barrels.

Cartoons And Composers

“We were really into a lot of cartoon music, the old cartoon music of the 1940s,” Watson says. “Just how the instruments really tell narrative stories.”

This comes through particularly well in the song “Beijing,” which brilliantly conveys the sounds of a busy city. They actually used a bicycle to produce some of the song’s sounds during recording. The song is powerful, to the point where it’s hard to imagine that it wasn’t inspired by personal experience.

Read more and download @ Patrick Watson – Live on NPR 

CMJ Concert @ Patrick Watson – Concert at CMJ

Bob Dylan – MTV Unplugged “More”

 

Go to Captains Dead for these Dylan Tracks from 1994 MTV glory before MTV became a byword of disgusting commercialism. 

http://captainsdead.com/

I Want You

My Back Pages

Don’t Think Twice its Alright

Hazel

Everything is Broken

Love Minus Zero No Limit

I’ll Be Staying Here With You

Absolutly Sweet Marie

 

Lights – Slide Back to Sanity

 

Lovely, glorious, female lead pop.  This is what happens when Pop music does it right.  Lets hope it sells and encourages others. 

“On “Pretend,” there’s an active cursing of how things have become, so far away from what they once were, when scraps and injuries were covered up with Flintstones Band-Aids and kissed to be made magically better. The times when soda pop was imagined to be wine and guns were only filled with water are remembered as the golden years and now, there’s nothing like that and Poxleitner isn’t shy about being discouraged by that innocence being ripped to shreds. She’s hoping for and singing to some sort of escape hatch or a prince charming to begin anew, somewhere else, hinting on “Pretend,” that going a long ways back into time might even be the way to go, by singing, “It would be nice to start over again, before we were men.”"

Read the rest here and download this concert:

http://www.daytrotter.com/dt/lights-concert/20030998-19.html

truth and salvage co. – Soul Singers

“The four songs found here, most likely to be featured on the band’s debut full-length set to come sometime next year, sound as if there were each cut from one piece of cloth, the pair of scissors never stopping to pause, just snipping out the profile and adding all of the flare and trimmings as they went. They are songs that are more soul and R&B numbers than those of the golden years of Laurel Canyon, borrowing more or at least equally from the quiver of Sam Cooke and Otis Redding as they do from The Byrds or Lovin’ Spoonful.” 

Read more and download these soulful tunes at: http://www.daytrotter.com/dt/truth-and-salvage-co-concert/20030993-37382166.html

 

Works Progress Administration – Download Album Giveaway

WPA is a fairly new Alt/Folk/Country Supergroup started in 2007. The self- titled album debuted on August 28 of this year.  The sound palette leans to country with the requisite fiddle, pedal steel and carefree piano melodies.  

http://www.myspace.com/wpaband

http://wpamusic.com

Download Concert Here:  http://wpamusic.bandcamp.com/album/free-live-ep

WPA – by Works Progress Administration – Released August 28th, 2009

1. Always Have My Love 04:12 – G. Phillips
2. Good As Ever 03:08 – G. Phillips
3. Cry For You 04:02 – L. Bulla and G. Phillips
4. Rise Up 04:05 – G. Phillips
5. Paralyzed 02:29 – Sean Watkins
6. Remember Well 04:55 – L. Bulla
7. End This Now 03:08 – G. Phillips
8. Already Gone 03:48 – Sean Watkins
9. I Go To Sleep 03:16 – Ray Davies
10. Not Sure 03:07 – Sean Watkins
11. A Wedding or a Wake 02:24 – G. Phillips
12. The Price 04:23 – B. Tench

Headlights – WOXY Session

The last time that Headlights joined us in the studio, they had recently expanded into a quintet. After they hit the studio to work on their third album, guitarist John Owen quit the band and things were looking a little ominous. Luckily for us, Headlights shone on and reconfigured some of the songs they were already working on and wrote new ones as a 4-piece. The end result is Wildlife, a fantastic album whose songs dissect loss, communication breakdowns and the bonds of friendship. In this session, you’ll hear four songs from Wildlife before they end with a great rendition of a song from Some Racing, Some Stopping.

Download & Text from: http://woxy.com/music/loungeacts/index.php?id=410

Track Listing: – intro/interview -

Secrets

Telephones

You And Eye

Love Song For Buddy

So Much For The Afternoon

Soldier On Dear Friend – Waiting, Still Waiting

 

SODF reminds me of those passions and dreams that I have sadly felt myself  drift far from with each unrequited passing year.  What is it we so strongly desire, but is just beyond our reach?  It could be grasped by force and therefore conquered, but that would cheapen it somehow.  So we wait, and still wait.  In the meantime, you may enjoy the often Renaissance and folk sounding melodies that flow freely from these four talented friends.

 ”We have plans to record in January/February for a 7″, which will be our first proper physical release.  We’d like to record a proper album soon, but as funds and time are short it’s difficult.  We all met in college at Swarthmore.  Then Anna (singer/guitarist), Meredith (violinist), and myself (bass) graduated in 08.  Meredith moved to Germany for six months, and when she came back we decided to keep the band going.  Meredith and I are in Brooklyn now, Anna is in Philadelphia, and Zach (drums) is a junior at Swarthmore.  It’s a lot of traveling, but we play shows in New York and Brooklyn pretty frequently.  We’re taking December off, but we’ll hopefully be playing a lot in the new year.”  - Madalyn and SODF

It may sound like radio silence, but if you listen real close, ear to wall, face to floorboard, pressed against the threshhold, you’ll hear a hum, then a chord (the violin tunes, the guitar rings clear), then a crash, and sure enough, behind closed doors, things are happening, there is music. November is here, and so are we, so we return. We play for you. Onward.

If you would like a copy of our two new tracks [Midnight Comes & Acorns] AND/OR our 2008 EP Airplane Demos, do e-mail us and we’d be delighted to send you a copy: soldierondearfriend@gmail.com.
SODF – Midnight Comes  

SODF – Widows Walk 

http://www.myspace.com/soldierondearfriend

http://sodf.wordpress.com/

Bill Mallonee – In His Own Words/new song lyrics

There is a new online magazine with solid singer-songwriter interviews, record reviews and music news called: “Down the Line.”

The 5th issue just came out today.                                                       

 (Really happy about it; It was nice to “get the cover!”)

It’s at: http://www.downthelinezine.com

It is superbly edited and written by Steve Ruff, Matt Crosslin and Joshua Lory.

Folks, this is the most extensive and incisive interview I’ve ever done.

The interview is to be found on pages 7 to page 14.

Plenty of good photos and, as they say, “a good read!”

DID I TELL YOU THE BULLETS’ STILL THERE?

Words and music: bill mallonee

1.

yeah, it’s good to see yer faces

yes, it’s been quite a while

i was covered with blood and disgraces

but you might say that’s my style

i was moving from tween devils and deep blue seas

i was driftin’ from twilight to dawn

i was going from pillar to post ya’ see

when the shot rang loud and long

chorus:

Hey, did i tell you the bullets’ still there?

Did i tell you the bullets’ still there?

So close to the heart, we’d be friends from the start

Did i tell you the bullet’s still there?

Now, doctors say it causes the visions

I’m told it accounts for the voices

it might correlate with self-hatred

but I don’t think that was one of the choices

Now, I see men all afraid and a-stumblin’

all greedy for profits and war

and they wrap up in their flags & their rhetoric’s rags

They’re all drunk but they call out for more

(Repeat chorus)

2.

Now, I came here to pick up the loose change

of all my deficit days

I came here all those bad checks to claim

of promises I broke on the way

they were written with the best of intentions

they had lots of zeros in tow

They were written I think with invisible ink

but one day I’m told that’ll all turn to gold

(Repeat chorus)

Yeah, it’s good to see your faces

and it’s good that you see mine

just so you can describe to the authorities

what you saw at the scene of the crime

I was driftin’ tween devils and last calls

with this pawn shop guitar of mine

looking for God, or the next best thing

all done up in 6/8 time

all done up in 6/8 time

(Repeat chorus)

yeah, it’s good to see your faces

my, my, it’s been long time

love’s a river that runs..then it races

back to the arms of Love Divine

Saviour Machine “Eric Clayton” – Free Journal Download

Eric Clayton has kept numerous journals down through the years. These chronicle not only Saviour Machine’s journey as a band (and as a lightning rod of controversy), but they also detail the personal trials, tribulations and experiences of Eric on a very personal level. Eric has opened up some of his most intimate affairs in these journals and has shared them with the fans to read… to understand and to catch a deeper glimpse of what has been and what is to come. Eric was gracious to release some of the excerpts of these journals to Down The Line magazine. There is a full book of these writings in their entirety being released soon, but for now you can download and read these excerpts at no charge… a gift to the fans from Eric. What you are about to read will excite you, inform you, and remind you of something Eric recently told me in an email. “God is always moving in ways FAR beyond anything we can possibly imagine!” Be sure to visit www.saviourmachine.com to pre-order the full book.

Read more and Journal excerpt download @ http://www.downthelinezine.com/

One eskimO, Recorded Live In Concert

November 27, 2009 from WXPN – Singer-songwriter Kristan Leontiou was already an established musician in the U.K. when he decided to start over from scratch, joining three others to form the imaginative and (literally) animated group One eskimO. The band mixes catchy and provocative pop with a multimedia approach that’s made it an Internet sensation. Click the link above to hear One eskimO’s live performance from WXPN and World Cafe Live in Philadelphia. With the help of Gravy Media, the group produces short films to accompany its songs. Those videos were an instant hit, receiving honors at film festivals, as well as a British Animation Award in 2008. Appropriately, One eskimO’s self-titled debut album is an audio-visual project, complete with an impressive assortment of animation. Still, while self-produced visuals are a notable component of the band’s work, One eskimO’s heart and soul lies in music that’s as joyous, expressive and colorful as its films.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=120745108

Bassekou Kouyate and Ngoni Ba – Speak Fula?

 

Honestly, this music is almost impossible for this reviewer/music lover to describe.  It is a mash-up of Mali sounds and western hipness often played at break-neck speeds.  The main instrument is the ngoni, a stringed instrument of West African origin, here performed very skillfully and very quickly.  This is music that is best understood in context, but even in my mid-west, middle-class life, I find in it a world that beckons me to discover while reaching out a warm welcome. 

Please check out their Myspace page for your listening pleasure: http://www.myspace.com/bassekoukouyate

From Wiki: Present-day Mali was once part of three West African empires that controlled trans-Saharan trade: the Ghana Empire, the Mali Empire (from which Mali is named), and the Songhai Empire. In the late 1800s, Mali fell under French control, becoming part of French Sudan. Mali gained independence in 1959 with Senegal, as the Mali Federation. A year later, the Mali Federation became the independent nation of Mali. After a long period of one-party rule, a 1991 coup led to the writing of a new constitution and the establishment of Mali as a democratic, multi-party state. About half the population live below the international poverty line of US$1.25 a day.

From the band: Since 2005, Bassekou has led Ngoni Ba, the first-ever group built around not one but four ngonis—all played by members of his family. The group’s second CD I Speak Fula comes out on Sub Pop in February of 2010 (preceded by a digital release via iTunes in December ‘09) on the occasion of Bassekou’s first U.S. tour as a headliner. Bela Fleck will join the group on stage for a number of shows, guaranteeing a storm of string-picking ecstasy.

Bassekou’s longtime friend and booster Lucy Duran (a BBC radio host, record producer, and Mande music scholar) produced the band’s debut, Segu Blue. Before long, Bassekou and Ngoni Ba were touring Europe and in high demand. I Speak Fula builds on the success of Segu Blue. Its 11 tracks provide a star-studded tour of pan-Malian music, including collaborations with Toumani Diabaté, griot vocal legend Kasse Mady Diabaté, master of the horse-hair soku fiddle Zoumana Tereta, and guitar phenomenon Vieux Farka Toure, Ali’s precociously talented son.  The release of I Speak Fula and Ngoni Ba’s first U.S. tour mark the latest leg of an extraordinary musical journey.

http://www.myspace.com/bassekoukouyate

“I Speak Fula” Album Notes

01 I speak fula 03:37
02 Jamana be diya ft. Kasse Mady Diabate, Toumani Diabate 04:56  
03 Musow – for our women 05:23
04 Torin torin ft. Harouna Samake 04:45  
05 Bambugu blues ft. Andra Kouyate, Vieux Farka Toure  05:03  
06 Amy ft. Zoumana Tereta 04:29
07 Saro ft. Vieux Farka Toure 03:46
08 Ladon 05:27  
09 Tineni ft. Toumani Diabate 04:52
10 Falani 05:42
11 Moustapha 05:06

Glen Hansard & M. Irglova – Christmas Version

Hansard sings on “In These Arms,” “Maybe I was born to hold you in these arms,” and there’s every part of him that believes in that – in the idyllic version of love conquering over all. But then there is a time during the beautiful folk of “Star Star,” a special version of which here has Irglova inserting a stunning piece of “Oh, Holy Night” when Hansard sings that “time is the enemy” and “time is the guise,” at once suggesting that time could both ruin and it could be exactly what retains the bonds of a love. Divine nights and divine days, can turn and oftentimes do. It’s where the Swell Season’s most pointed worries are rooted, but even so, love is attempted and love is sought, as slippery as it may be.

The Swell Season – Star Star (Oh’ Holy Night) 

 Read the rest and download the complete concert here:  http://www.daytrotter.com/dt/the-swell-season-concert/20030991-37382164.html

Poll – What is your Musical Style?

   

Bombadil – New-So Many Ways to Die-Video

Previously on FM Bombadil: http://castleqwayr.wordpress.com/2009/06/21/bombadil-wow-tarpits-and-canyonlands/

From: “This Mornin’ I Am Born Again” http://www.thismornin.com/

Bombadil just unleashed their first ever music video. Set to ‘So Many Ways To Die,’ the flick features classic (public domain) footage of the various ways people have come close to dying. But just as their music is brave and uplifting, the video reveals that the only way to truly live is to push yourself to your own limits.

Read the rest of the post here:

http://www.thismornin.com/2009/11/bombadil-offers-sincere-correspondence.html