Former Ghosts / Whitman split on Folktale Records

There ought to be a special place on your seven inch shelves for split singles of bands covering each other. They are the rarest of splits and require a crazy investment from both bands to come up with a version of the song that will do justice to the original while putting their own spin on it. It's not something you're likely to have in your set list normally and could even risk a friendship if taken too far. It helps if you run the Folktale label like Chris from Whitman on the B-side of this split covering Former Ghosts. I'm just getting into Former Ghosts thanks to their cover of Whitman on the A-Side, but sadly nothing is available on vinyl here in the US it seems except this single which is good news for you, reader.

Former Ghosts cover Whitman's track "Shake" bringing their heavy electronic slant to this avant garde party. The depth and glitches used is astonishing, they aren't sounds from the same family or even neighborhood. Annie Lewandowski from Powerdove on vocals brings a clean, melancholy sound to the proceedings working as perfectly as Chris on the original vocal, her measured echo delivery working opposite the bleeps and bloops vying for attention, like a one night stand of Aphex Twin and Zola Jesus. It comes crashing apart in this end section redirecting the melody and dropping the vocal sounding sinister in the opposite way this doesn't feel like a bedroom or any instrument you've ever heard. The coldness adds something new to the track and the artists here couldn't be more opposite and therefore lead to the best covers of each others material.

Whitman covers a Former Ghosts track "New Orleans" pushing it into a pop pace with organic weird sounds and a low thud rhythm instead of heavy electronics and sticks to the familiar sounds of the bedroom. Chris keeps the same vulnerability of Former Ghosts's version but feels like he's delivering the lyric in the barest of intimate spaces, the kind with a lightbulb on a cord over the toy xylophone....nothing better to really hit the nostalgia home. Gets me every time. I'm hearing the lyric completely differently also, the way he's phrasing this, as much as previously they've built up this heavy rhythm he's ignoring it. He then changes the chorus to emphasize the original heartbreak with cello layered in with room noise and life happening throughout. Don't ask me why that's inherently sad, but this vocal about leaving the city and taking me with you certainly is. You want to think this would work out alright, but that kind of desperation never works in real life. It's taken the original, and stripped away the digital framework and elevated it with homemade sounds, taking it to an even more raw, emotional place. Desperately making a mountain out of mashed potatoes on the livingroom table, trying to communicate and making a huge beautiful mess in the process.

Pick this up from Folktale Records. Chris also did that great sleeve art and left the rest of us feeling lazy and boring.

Ezra Buchla / Whitman split on Folktale records

Got an elaborately packaged single in from Folktale Records out of Portland, Williamsburg's sister city. It always amazes me sometimes checking back on labels at just how many releases these guys have already put out, and I still feel like I barely know the label. What I do know is that they've put out some really unique artifacts, a picnic plate lathe cut packaged with a box of candles and a 5" record. it's inspiring that a smaller label like this can still push the limits of the single format...you don't have to have unlimited funds and a pressing plant down the street to do tri-color vinyl, or records inside records.

The A-Side of this split is from Ezra Buchla, entitled "Black Rabbit" it starts out with some droning low bass tones and synth just hardly audible above the crackling of the surface of the vinyl. Quieter distant and buried vocals...I think... coming off like Godspeed You Black Emperor, exploring this kind of sonic landscape, taking time to slowly develop. A healthy guitar distortion rises out of this humming and bashing on the strings. The chords are drawn out infinitely long, and there's a bunch of voices now, some kind of devilish imp chorus. They're reversed and decayed, combining into a real creepy mass.
Like Locrian, this is born out of real depths of dread... the catharsis never really coming, just building and building on this vaguely ominous feel. Real damaged and unsettling in a pretty traditional way. He's not using any weirdo instrumentation or new fangled effects to shock...it's a slow creep... piling on layers, strings and samples. I almost don't want the lyrics spelled out on that insert, I'm already deciphering it into something even more sinister (not that this isn't already in a dark place). Ezra was in the Mae-shi who I've only ever heard rumors and stories about their shows, and this single makes me want to go backwards and check them out as well.

Whitman on the B-Side, includes Christopher Payne, the puveyor of Folktale, with the track "Scorpion". This has Christopher's dual vocal over crickets and a bare bones electric, or hushed acoustic, no effects whatsoever. Dealing with that same hopeless, blank place as the reverse, coming at it from a more folk place. With the depth of a Bill Callahan, this is a powerful songwriter who is comfortable being completely naked, thanks to his unique delivery. So closely mic'd you hear lips crack to start to sing in just above a whisper like John Davis...you still have to lean in a bit, and the layers just barely lining up but remaining two separate and distinct deliveries following the minimal chords. A cello peeks in to hum along under this night time scene. I hope it was recorded outside at night and knowing Folktale, it probably was.

Get this one from Folktale direct, come with a huge printed insert on cardstock, great thick black ink on brown chipboard sleeve, perfect design for the creepy minimal drones inside.
It says: "This is serious as the apocalypse".
Cryptic scrawling in the gutter.
Not to be listened to in a dark place emotionally.

Check out Black Rabbit via Ezra's page, Whitman's full length below:

Whitman - No Babies 5" split anomoly on Folktale records

Chris at Folktale Records sent me this freakishly small 5" record, the likes of which I dumbly can't say I have another example of anywhere actually....the great thing is that it fits into a CD-R record 7" style sleeve, which honestly almost made me put it in the pile of CD's I'll never get to. Sorry about that Chris, lesson learned, and let it not be said that 7Inches covers the occasional non 7inch from time to time.

No Babies on the A-Side (?, there's not even room in the gutter for matrix labels) does "Morlocks take Manhattan". Why does this seem so crazy, it's throwing me off just looking at this thing...it's kind of like altogether reinventing the CD format. Here's this object that's the same feel essentially, but only has two tracks....take that CD's!
This side has No Babies sounding clearly like they're in a live room space, performing all together, one take, starting very quietly at first with the hint of a low string instrument, a cello maybe and a post punk off time beat. Minimal electric notes pierce
the soothing female vocals, but it's short lived. They explode into Foot Village bursts of spastic tempo rhythm with yelling vocals and saxophone (?) squeals. These organic sounding additions sound great being a part of this raw performance, and I think I'm questioning exactly what's there because of the sheer free form cacophony style in this middle section. There have to be a heck of a lot of people jammed into this basement space and that deliberate dynamic contrast catches you off guard. I appreciate the vocal about riding in the pouring rain, just barely forgetting about the past few weeks of nothing but and bringing a change of clothes to work again because I just can't bring myself to wear rainpants AND a jacket. Pointless.

Whitman offers, "Here's to denying our existence" on the other side which has an equally minimal soft beginning. Slow acoustic loud picking and a chorus of layered vocals, like an old John Davis single, without the crazy accent....and they then also bang in heavy distortion meltdowns on the left then the right channels making you jump...it could be from a cassette, massively hissy and dense with the layers of destruction.
This brief lyric is all the track needed:
"About a quarter of me hopes that you're happy - and the rest of me hopes you're dead."
This can't be longer than 60 seconds...and the only trouble I'm finding with this format is you have to be really careful about placing the needle down - just a hair past the starting point of this and my turntable wants to automatically reset the needle back to the beginning. Whitman is working on kickstarting his long overdue full length with various packages of color vinyl and playing in your livingroom. Oh the shows I would have in my aptartment like Aimee Mann in Portlandia if I win that lottery I never play.

Not only is it the tiniest record, and reason enough to pick up but, it's packed with a nice printed lyric insert, catalog and download card, with a great skull painting on the cover which is mirrored on the record inner label as well... overall a nicely put together package, with some equally as unusual efforts from both these bands.

Get this one from Folktale Records who have a ton of great releases:

This record starts off with the forlorn and familiar plucking of Los Angeles based, Whitman's guitar, which is shortly joined by shaky vocals that deliver some of his most brutally honest and straight forward lyrics yet. Then things take a bit of a turn as your ears get pummeled with shrieks of white noise and tape garble. A short but haunting journey, showing you Whitman at his best. On the flip side, current Oakland residents No Babies start their song off with a catchy beat, bass clarinet, and vocals that are surprisingly melodic. This is a pleasant surprise for anyone who is used to their energy packed live shows, but it doesn't last long, the beat picks up and chaos ensues, leaving you with an exhausted but satisfied feeling in just under two minutes. This is a one time pressing of 549 5" records on black vinyl. They come in full color covers with art by Anthony Fonda and Christopher Payne and include a lyric sheet and MP3 download card.