La Cerca "Sunrise For Everyone" on Fort Lowell Records

There are records that grab you and shake from the first track demanding all your attention whether you like it or not. Then there are those records that sneak up on you getting better over time, revealing themselves after multiple listens. Sunrise for Everyone on Fort Lowell Records is an understated album that's been expertly crafted not to be auspicious or trendy but to exist in a comfortable place created by a satisfied artist. It's the perfect soundtrack to a weekend afternoon, like Sonny and the Sunsets Tomorrow is Alright, a little bit hard to explain without putting the time in.

The first track, "Arizon" is a perfect example of the Sunday afternoon feel they'll return to over and over. Even when they eventually rise to wind carved plateaus, it's from a fisheye lens on a bird just around sunset. They have strong ties to Real Estate's laid back sound especially in a bass line that rolls in like tiny Jersey lake waves. Andrew Gardner's vocals come from a high register place like A.C. Newman accompanied by a half indie jangle, half '70s solid gold sound with the slightest momentum. Like other laid back rock I find myself continuing to turn to years later, Lambchop or American Music Club, this is serious songwriting that emerges from intense skill and dedication making it out of his first few bands with a sense of who he was and what he wanted to sound like. Andrew almost crosses the edge of his range in the chorus of "Climate Control" because that's where the track wanted to go. He's not forcing anything with an uncompromising hand into a predetermined pop structure. Like in skillfully adding backing vocalists on the title track from different sonic spaces bringing together an exalted choir sound in lyrics about a 'sunrise for everyone'. "The First One" builds on the previous tracks emotional rise and ends up beating this gentle tom rhythm under a picked sustained melody and layered vocals from Andrew working in dense harmonies that wrangle themselves into a heavier tempo chorus, it's the perfect end to this side. A melancholy ride home in the early morning with gold atmospherics that seem to gradually pick up steam and pace as it heads out over the horizon.

On B-Side's "Sorry XO", a country guitar with background slide work ends up not having a hint of country in it and continues to float along with familiarity and a chorus that's immediately catchy. It doesn't take more than one listen for the "Sorry / XO Sorry / XO" to stick with you. The track picks up in the middle of every measure with a long distance see saw that crests ever higher. They manage to take this upbeat sounding track and give it a sad undertone of distortion - this is an apology after all. There's a lot of planning without ever feeling overworked or pulling out every trick to distract from exactly what's going on. "Weather Festival" reminded me of The Ocean Blue's first self titled record, always subtly changing, impossible to note the moment it's slipped into a new tempo with mellow, dreamlike precision. The guitars start to make themselves known in this heavier chorus with fits of starts and stops uncharacteristic for the band but it's some kind of catharsis. They need to get the final traces out before settling in for the epic track that's "Mountain Villager". Tuscon, AZ has been quietly harboring the kind of insane talent in La Cerca that Fort Lowell Records has again recognized with this release.

moyamoya self titled debut on Fort Lowell Records

I love instrumental rock, from Can to Mogwai from The Mahavishnu Orchestra to Don Caballero from John Fahey to The Fucking Champs. But instrumental rock is in direct odds with the format I love too. Seven inch releases by any of these artists are obviously few and far between - as they should be. No more than six minutes - and at 33 ⅓? That’s not nearly long enough to stretch out not to mention the compromised fidelity which might be acceptable if you were listening mostly to the vocals. When laid out bare in the tiny format it had better be at least cut at 45 or you’re doing a disservice to the complex arrangement. Fortunately on this self titled full length release from moyamoya on Fort Lowell Records they weren’t willing to compromise and went for the six track long playing LP. It’s no surprise then this is the result of five years of evolving songwriting. Ross Severson from Canyons of Static mentioned once the unbelievable amount of time it took to write material for an album as a group and that touring with that material required even more rehearsal to be able to perform a set every night. It’s an unnatural feat of endurance that doesn’t end in the studio.

“sorry I called you he-man” graduated from the Tortoise school of instrumental attention to detail. It’s not attempting the blown out cinematic plateaus as much as making sure to capture all the intricacies of each performance. The guitar is just a small part of a whole that doesn’t rely on heavily manipulated tones processed after the fact. It’s simply another element to add to this evolving mix that feels at times like it has a lot more in common with Jazz. The capture of a slight return from a drumstick bouncing back off a brass high hat is given as much weight as the crunch of sustained epic strings, it’s almost an absurdly high resolution for the range of dynamics. They break on the track for the hum of ungrounded cables and low end guitar noise to loop and change the rhythm. The bass and kick line up while guitars infinitely delay and separates in its own direction. Even when they get more atmospheric they have an insane amount of control over the individual pieces. Taking a sound and bending it into repeated noise isn’t something that was meant to be controlled but they manage tight changes even with those elements of unpredictability.

The track titles on the record are even in the style of Don Caballero and their feeling that they’re pointless, empty signifiers. There’s no statement to be made in titling the composition. They’re meaningless non sequitur fragments because you should be listening to the track.

“full-on half-wit” has a jazzy Shellac feel introducing a slight groove in the bent chords and jagged, angular crunch. It’s an aggressive quirky sound that references Mr. Albini in more than just heavy compression. The harmonic strikes of strings, barely pressing on the frets halts the piece in an extremely slow moment that feels more interested in the overall contrast, how each track is exploring those huge swings in mood and style and the limits of that pendulum swing. Working slowly back up to speed it ends up in compressed shards of distortion, pushing the sound almost into a synth wave blending the entire chord of notes into one unibrow. Moyamoya has a delicate touch, gently guiding the gymnastics of shifting rhythms and time signatures, but they won’t let you forget you’re listening to a carefully rehearsed show, a highly choreographed performance that is the culmination of endless amounts of time and effort. Not just in rhythm but in swapping effects with equal variety and speed, they aren’t ever making things easy. As soon as this melody is introduced it changes to another equally complex section. A cymbal ride gradually increases with the huge sound of these layered guitars but doesn’t get the best of them. It also doesn’t offer a mental break to appreciate the waves of blown out amplification that continue crashing. Oscillating from an epic high speed groove to a shoegaze inspired Explosion in The Sky psychedelic sound it puts the rest of their frantic energy into perspective. There isn’t a moment of rest, they’re compelled to get faster and louder, building to an impossible height only to knock it back down multiple times in the same song with no restraint. They’re too smart not to know this stacked monument is getting too big to support its own weight but always continue past the point where they could have safely backed off ignoring the laws of gravity.

“spurgeon-haddix” is as ominous as the law firm sounding title with a fret tapped melody in conversation to their previous track. Crunchy in all treble that delicate technical tapping, making sure it’s extra impossible to duplicate live. Moyamoya are constantly taking you by surprise, the slight changes that slowly add up to a new massive whole are like that that summer camp serial killer who disappears every time you turn around. There’s also a real sense of a distance travelled, it’s exhausting stuff, the guitars endlessly building and toppling over, any brief pause driven under by fast picking rides and sustained distortion. It’s a study in two opposing sides reacting exponentially larger to one anothers actions. Each phrase and tone has to get bigger and bigger until there can be nothing left. But you can’t expect to live in this heightened state of awareness. It’s an induced jittery buzz that has you nervously looking over your shoulder just as you start to appreciate any given groove. It’s a delicious, perfect cupcake with a tiny belligerent mouth that’s screaming “HURRY UP AND EAT ME!”.

Released digitally this Tuesday, Sept 30th and on brown vinyl limited to 500 copies to ship October 28th from Fort Lowell Records. Exclusive stream below and preorder that vinyl here.

Fairweather Friend on Fort Lowell Records

Shoegaze is a deceptively easy genre. You would think that layered mess would be easy to create, just turn everything up almost into peaking volume with chorus and/or delay and/or reverb and/or sustain chained together and play the simplest melody. Fortunately that’s not the case, it’s an exacting, precise way to construct tracks with an impressive level of understanding of the technology to hit that balance between pure atmosphere and layers of distortion. It’s a tightrope walk of recognizable but impossible to pin down melody that asks the listener to decipher the static wall of haze. Fairweather Friend in Tucson, AZ, the latest Fort Lowell release is creating a lush pop shoegaze informed by its ‘80s peak in the style of Modern English and The Psychedelic Furs.

A-Side "You and I..." - Minimal shimmery choral electric notes open this up foreshadowing the shoegaze wall to come. The guitar bursts into higher tremolo notes extended into infinity above this pounding drum track. Lead singer and guitarist Kevin Unwin comes in with a unique delivery rhythm that’s especially typical of that late '80s doubled up huge sound. This sound is continuously riding right up to the lip of the epic plateau and sliding back down the curved surface into the valley of booming rhythm and verse of Kevin’s wavering baritone. Like the Church or even The Stone Roses the real work is in reminding yourself of the overall picture. They have a huge vision that builds out of innumerous pieces and obscure timings in a mathy technique. As carefree its nonspecific notes and melody seem its actually highly specific and technical. You have to put a huge amount of ingredients together in just the right proportions, like the difference between baking or throwing everything into the pan at once. The end of this keeps growing bigger and bigger into the inevitable sunset of emotion and ringing sustained guitar tones.

B-Side’s title track “Fairweather Friend" starts with fast tempo booming drums and the serious production of elements having been carefully examined and EQ'd. Kevin’s lead vocal might have more layers of effects this time, doubling himself in a kind of chorus harmony. Fairweather Friend excels in building a very obscured sound that’s inherently likable. You can’t help but get swept along with the built in emotion of soaring guitar foundation. It even sounds like the ride cymbal, which is always shimmering, can’t escape a wash of effects in unison with this warm swatch of guitar without a hint of jangle. It’s a sodden summer Sunday late afternoon companion, the satisfying close to another day, the most memorable part of the journey is this clear optimism. That guitar is transformed into a bell chime, ringing out over every layer of this track, a sustained a memory related to the church on the cover...those clouds visible on the insert are obviously about to disappear.

On clear purple vinyl with download card, the cover is an austere black and white photo of Mission Church San Xavier del Bac on glossy cardstock.

Pick this up from Fort Lowell Records.

Saint Maybe "Things As They Are" on Fort Lowell Records

Saint Maybe could be the closest thing you can get to the sound of the American Southwest without picking up and moving to that part of the country.

The members of Saint Maybe themselves seem to have naturally gravitated to the Tucson, AZ area after nomadic years of touring to settle down with Fort Lowell Records and release their debut, Things As They Are. Lead vocalist and guitarist Oliver Ray played in Patti Smith’s band and happened to put down roots near Bob Dylan’s drummer Winston Watson who he’d met briefly when Patti was opening for Bob. Along with Oliver’s longtime friend from NY, Chris Sauer, the three ended up as the foundation for Saint Maybe. As the liner notes will attest though, their songwriting is also about bringing in impressive local talent like Fen Ikner, Michael P. Nordberg, Naïm Amor, Connor Gallaher, Chris Giambelluca, Kevin Pate, Tommy Larkins, Thøger Lund, Laura Kepner-Adney and label-mate Tracy Shedd.

This kind of collaboration might seem at odds with their loner, dusty country sound but it also allows Saint Maybe to craft an expansive tonal landscape. They take tracks from an intimate front porch to a massive wind carved canyon valley. On “Everything At Once (and more)” they quickly establish their sense of time and space. What begins with a solitary acoustic guitar opens up with organs and layered distortion. Oliver’s vocal combines Jim Reid from Jesus and Mary Chain’s low-end seriousness with the wizened persona of Tom Petty. It’s a storyteller’s voice that’s seen it all, passing time with a fellow traveler on the side of the road, sitting on a suitcase.
The epic ebbs and flows of the melody start with a crawl only to end up leaping right off the side of this cliff. There’s a real sense of a journey, from the quieter passages that capture imperceptible nuances to the multi layered orchestral arrangements with church choirs. Capturing that immense, wide-open feel is one of the goals here. It isn’t a speedy ride right through the center of the country on the interstate. Geography be damned, Saint Maybe is going to weave around a little and take the long way to get nowhere in particular in order to find those amazing monuments off the beaten path.

Reaching into the depths of country folk, they make full use of the instrument synonymous with solitude, the acoustic guitar, for tried and true blues-rock. A verse, a chorus...a little prayer and a little heartbreak; those elements are at the center of every track. “She’s Alright” begins with a patient acoustic melody and is joined by a tinkling piano in a honky tonk bobbing rhythm. Oliver never strains in delivering his vocal, he isn’t wasting emotion vying for the spotlight, instead he narrates tales in an understated Dylan or Jonathan Richman matter-of-fact style. Tracy Shedd becomes a stand in for the character he’s singing about, giving a voice to the object of his affection.

Saint Maybe is conscious of a heavy narrative direction along with their driving, gritty blues, complete with epic solo’s trailing off into supersonic space. “Everything That Rises” on the B-side continues in a naturalistic style, and like that landscape there isn’t room for unnecessary showiness. The craft is in its straightforward subtlety, the slow instrumental melodies and haunting guitar tone reminiscent of Neil Young’s chilling Deadman soundtrack. The mood turns from a prairie sunset into a peyote vision quest with twisting distortions and echoes, and the title lyric leads the cresting waves of layers. Saint Maybe follows the religion of a darkening sky that suddenly becomes a towering dust storm. Resisting alt-country they find time for psych experimentation in skittery metal reverb and angelic choir singing behind Oliver’s heavy vocal delay.

“Take It Easy (But Take It)” saddles the electric with cowboy reverb and an Ennio Morricone crisp delay. They go to impressive lengths in the shockingly perfect capture of a single snare hit or sliding fingers on metal strings in the next room. They appreciate there’s nothing sadder than the use of a slide guitar but the feeling lies in the storytelling, the melody is only the supporting cast. There’s no need for vocal howling or raspy blues torment, these songs are tortured in a more subtle, self destructive way. It’s a sea shanty morality tale of Man’s injustices and attempts to restrain the track only hold off the inevitable tide of wriggling, slippery notes. It becomes a swirling psych again about the sun going down and fighting the tension of chaos.

“Things As They Are” is a powerful narrative about what should be an all too ordinary subject. Wishing on a star becomes the futile thing that it is; a pointless, impossible act of hope. It’s a sentiment that's better when delivered by Saint Maybe of course, and ultimately that’s where this record succeeds, in examining everyday emotions with a familiar musical language. The record isn’t going out of its way to impress, but just to exist as that favorite found piece of furniture. It’s more about the history you’ve given it and the things you couldn’t live without.

Get this grey marble 12" vinyl from Fort Lowell Records.

Andrew Collberg on Fort Lowell Records

This just went up for sale over at Fort Lowell yesterday, and I always admire James' attention to design over there... he's had this really clear aesthetic from day one. I think you could spot any of his releases from across the room, I picture in the lobby of Fort Lowell HQ they have some kind of giant frame with all the current releases so far under glass. Frankly I'm shocked at the amount of thought that's gone into the whole enterprise, where'd he get all this money for thinktanks and focus groups...are there super pacs for 7inch labels?

His latest is from another Tuscon local, Andrew Collberg, who divided his time between New Zealand and Sweden growing up, finally landing in the southwest US and quickly absorbing all of that sandblasted open desert to concoct his own classic, guitar based country.

On "Dirty Wind", the A-Side track, it's pretty ridiculous he's already got this kind of big sounding, developed talent...like this tortured guitar solo towards the end of this track is one of those genius manic Neil Yong moments when he would launch into this kind of scary explosion, when this melancholy song goes from heartbreakingly quiet and introspective to completely dangerous. This whole track has until then been working in a Dylan band, ensemble, country sound with Andrew's vocal coming out of a tiny bathroom, echo-ing around the tile, until that guitar comes in to to tear it all apart. It's a clear moment of 'don't underestimate me', there's a still a part that's going to explode, the fuse is lit.
The B-Side, "Back on the Shore" then has Andrew getting a little more introspective, the back and forth piano melody, a see saw guitar rhythm, it's playing with those musical interpretations of the ocean, complete with ghostly, siren backup from Kaia Chesney. The piano is the one this time to break out of the even keel... a pure bar piano, out of tune, pounding out a counter melody...Andrew's still got a firm grasp on where this is going, driving the whole thing like a great Wilco ship, or Giant Sand...you can't tell me this landscape in this part of the country doesn't have something to do with this sound. James and Fort Lowell have been providing scientific proof now for years. The whole track slowly fades off, a long tracking shot out of the tiny transitor radio speaker on a dirty plastic picnic table outside a mobile home in the middle of nowhere.

This one is on heavyweight mint green vinyl with download code from Fort Lowell Records, who still have copies of their benefit full length Luz De Vida for sale...you'll support more tuscon artists, get a cool giant yellow record and all the money goes to support the victims of the shooting tragedy. Completely unselfish...makes you feel a little bad for just listening to a regular old record.

Luz De Vida 12" benefit compilation on Fort Lowell Records

Fort Lowell Records went and upped the stakes on their 7" single series of Tucson based bands and went all out recently for a 12"...on yellow vinyl! But the radical departure from the 45 format isn't the real story here...this is a benefit album for victims of the Tucson tragedy. It's a pretty amazing homegrown compilation of bands and a label that wanted to help. They looked at what they know how to do, and donated it to the families of the victims of a really terrible tragedy. When you pick this up from Fort Lowell Records, the proceeds are going to the Tucson Together Fund... in this case, buying a record can directly make a difference.

James got this extensive release together of local bands for the vinyl.... you've got previous Fort Lowell artists Tracy Shedd and Dead Western Plains, along with a Giant Sand track from another FL contributor, Howe Gelb. There's also tracks from heavy hitters, Calexico, Rainer and Holy Rolling Empire among others. There's even a live cover of "A Change is Gonna Come" from Chango Malo which is exclusive to this vinyl release.

Let me start right out by saying, it feels bad even talking about these tracks in any kind of way, I mean, this is such an unselfish idea from everyone involved that it's a foregone conclusion it's good...you can't possibly listen to this any other way.

The A-Side starts out with The Dead Western Plains and their heavily layered, optimistic sound, bouncing along with a Brian Wilson experimental edge. A familiar direction for this oddly named local band...I don't think I'm wrong in thinking this complex dance sound doesn't bring to mind a lonesome prairie. I keep confusing them with someone else. The Kiss & Tells have this great nostalgic '60s girl group sound, but I hear the Shangri-La's in everything these days. Big, belted vocals, backup harmony, and on vinyl, it completes the great detached layering feel, making it instantly timeless...in fact I wouldn't be surprised if you told me this was a revered Tucson band from 30 years ago.

Rainer includes a homemade, live room sounding track, with steel guitar and what sounds like an upright bass. A real south western folk sound, from the late Rainer Ptacek. Mariachi Luz de Luna, collaborators with Calexico, gets traditional on their track that might be right at home in another universe with the neo-traditional acts on Electric Cowbell. Giant Sand plays dirty using a chorus of little girls in the chorus...didn't see that one coming...aren't Howe's somber, blues vocals enough? Apparently not.

The live cover of "A Change is Gonna Come" from Chango Malo includes a horn section and is a strong contribution of the classic material. Tracy Shedd lifts the B-Side up with a Magnetic Fields sounding "Encourage Me", the unusually warbly guitar and her layered harmonic vocals reminded me a lot of some of Claudia's contributions. La Cerca is a indie guitar-pop patch of Tucson and Calexico gets introspective again with their especially Iron & Wine sounding track "Absent Afternoon". (Do they need to be compared to anyone? No. Nice going.) I'm just saying be careful with this one. Lenguas Largas is buried in swirly-shoegaze with their dreamy "Such a Thing" while Holy Rolling Empire switches gears again with a flamenco ballad on "Gabynda (Yolanda)". It's a diverse collection of the various sounds of Tucson, a reflection of the people coming together to help out neighbors. It's that simple.

This Saturday in fact, Fort Lowell is having a Record Release Benefit show at The Rialto Theatre in Tucson, AZ. The showcase will feature artists from Luz de Vida, such as Kiss & The Tells, Reno Del Mar, Mariachi Luz de Luna, HAIRSPRAYFIREANDGIRLS, Tracy Shedd, La Cerca, Golden Boots, Silverbell, Rich Hopkins, and Tom Walbank. All proceeds will go to the Tucson Together Fund, and patrons will receive $5.00 off the price of the vinyl record or digital download card of Luz de Vida when purchased at the showcase.

Get this one from Fort Lowell, giant yellow 12" vinyl, an edition of 1500 copies compiling a crazy array of sounds from the Tucson, AZ part of the country, while supporting a truly good cause.

Howe Gelb - Sno Angel / Melted Wires split on Fort Lowell Records

I got an advance copy of this split single from the ever prolific, Fort Lowell Records by one of the legends of alt-country, before it was alt, Howe Gelb. Keeping with the label's geographic theme, Howe is based out of Tuscon and this single unites a couple of his projects onto one split opaque deep blue marble vinyl. Fort Lowell gives this the standard deluxe 7" treatment with a double-sided foldover cardstock sleeve, download card and inserts for everything from the photography to it's subjects. All seemingly separate elements coming together, all essential to the process, and James connects the dots. Like that old expression, 'It takes a village to press a great single'.
The A-Side track 'Spiral' from Sno Angel is Howe on vocals and piano with the Voices of Praise choir backing him up with their angelic harmonies. This could easily go a few rounds with Leonard Cohen's best, tackling those major theme's, the apocolypse content; things are getting hotter, the waters are rising, a massive 'spiral down'. Recorded live in Ottowa, you can clearly hear intimacy of the changing distance to the mic, the huge hall echo and even the release of piano foot pedals. It's going to make you reconsider all of Howe's efforts these past 26 years, and solidifies his place, again, alongside those greats.
It's hard not to sound perfect with a choir softly echoing your vocal behind you. But those aren't even the more moving moments which come from the quieter parts and Howe's disarming vocals. You can take away all his previous achievements and consider this great completely on it's own. Balancing these heavy themes, while keeping it in perspective with the opening line: 'There's a lot of people having a hard time tonight', in that conversational vocal that's really not even trying to sing, an effortless storytelling kind of feel with the carefully crafted sound and skill of a Tom Waits, all those classic songwriting roots running up through it. It figures when you strip everything away to these bare elements and it's this moving, it's going to be around for a long time...which is no surprise coming from the founder of Giant Sand.

These are both great sides to turn up and hear that space on vinyl, the crystal capture of the little details next to the rising choir and full instrumentation.... or Howe's solo vocal. You're going to want to track down Sno Angels Winging it on Ow Om Records.

The B-Side has another project of Howe's, Melted Wires who recorded 'Cordoba in slow motion'. It's a moody, space filled instrumental, all captured perfectly within this 7" groove. The silences, the light brush of a snare or cymbal against a thumping drum kick. There's layers and layers of subtlety here. Recorded like historic jazz loft jam sessions, this project consisted of 2 members of Giant Sand and two from Calexico. There's no mistaking Jacob Valenzuela on trumpet, but where it's coming from is another matter entirely. This huge sounding space of this recording is unintuitive, the piano so upfront you hear the hammers striking strings, then between the far away hushed drums, heavily mixed left, the trumpet isn't anywhere in the middle?...it's a great effect and with any natural speaker separation, it's completely intensified by this capture and mix, you can really get in there and feel the smoke in that dimly lit room. Record players are meant for jazz after all and it's got that feeling of countless Blue Note records I'm now going to go listen to.

Get this one by supporting your local record store on Record Store day or straight from Fort Lowell when it becomes available. There's also couple of signed test pressing contest giveaways going on over at Fort Lowell for this one, as well as live shows scheduled this weekend for Record Store day.

Apparently James still has too much time on his hands.
Lucky you.

Death Kit on Fort Lowell Records

James has put together another killer package from Fort Lowell, this time looking westward to LA's Death Kit who aren't without an Arizona connection. August on drums (or death kit?) used to play with Tracy Shedd while Jessica and Whitney are from another Fort release, Wet & Reckless. For the new year and new look, the Fort has brought the Tuscon Community Darkroom into the fold on art duties and the silhouetted, fly fishing under seagulls sleeve. You don't really know anything about seagulls? No problem.
The Birdman has an insert with popular FAQS about the birds, the organization works to rescue neglected and unwanted birds in Tuscon. The levels of connections are endless and I haven't even gotten to the solid apricot color vinyl yet.

Death Kit was formed in response to the lack of laptop-free electronica bands in LA. Which is surprising, I would expect somewhere out there is a scene all about dance culture, with a bunch of venues and fans. You wouldn't think to form a band like this if there wasn't. God knows it's never easy to introduce the plethora of technology it takes to create this sound, it certainly doesn't make a performance easier.
On the A-Side, 'Devadesi', comes in with that heavy synth laden sound while keeping the guitar work front and center in a New Order way. There's still room for the human element in the performance. A very live, tom driven percussion holds the dance rhythm while a falsetto vocal plays with this loose concept of the Devadesi, who were prostitutes for Hindu dieties. This otherworldly theme fits right into the massive swirling pop leaning dance-rock. Riding right in the middle of precise technology and live vibrations, like !!! or I love you but I've chosen darkness, it's always catchy with a hint of that shameless adoration of good old pop synth melodies while keeping it grounded and live. They've definitely succeeded in what they've set out to do.

The B-side finds another Tuscon connection with ...Music Video?, remixing Death Kit's track, 'I can make you love me.' Their sensibilities are a perfect match and this has to be completely thanks to Fort Lowell immediately putting two and two together. The natural pairing has ....Music Video? even recording and engineering additional instrumentation to the point where I don't even consider this a traditional remix in the usual sense, they've taken the basic vocal and melody and reinterpreted the track. A real collaboration more than an entity putting their stamp on the original tracks. It makes all the difference to have a band coming from the same aesthetic working on your baby. This one feels even more hopeful and optimistic than the A-Side, maybe it's the soaring vocal progressions and the synth is humanized and tweaked to work as the original melody but still improvised and raw. The vocals sound like they have a hint of autotune in there or this guy just has a meticulously precise voice.
Keeping with their slightly creepy themes, the title is repeated, 'I could make you love me', which of course is the worst thing you want to hear being on the receiving end of that conversation, but like the vision and instrumentation, Death Kit is convincing enough to try it, and you wind up getting caught up in the moment on the backlit dancefloor and give in, forcing you to love them.

This video sheds some light on their whole songwriting process, the fact that they can pull this off live, acoustic and all and that they choose to take it to the singles electronica place, really shows the foundation is there, that's whats important.

DEATH KIT "DEVADASI" from Gorillacoustic.com on Vimeo.

Get it from Fort Lowell or Death Kit

Dead Western Plains on Fort Lowell Records

Fort Lowell Records snuck in this single from Dead Western Plains right at the end of last year, bringing their total in 2010 to (4) 7" singles pressed since the label started just barely a year ago. Given that these take at least a few months to plan and turn around, the Fort staff probably haven't had a single break since putting together the Young Mothers single. It must be mostly work running a label after all.

The A-Side, "Alta" starts out in that Beach Boys, harmony-surf direction explored by Panda Bear or Animal Collective, specifically like AC's, Strawberry Jam when it moved from an angelic chorus to the frantic shock of clearly hearing the shriek of Avey's up front recognizable vocals.
The influences and changes sound equally as eclectic here. They have a pretty incredible mastery of a variety of styles like the Banned Books full length on Stumparumper.
The high falsetto layers of vocals at the beginning almost become unrecognizable at points. It's a nod to their appreciation of the human voice, which is a direction I think a lot of bands find themselves in, a sort of classic way to push those limits of traditional melody.... and then the electronic production kicks in, in case there was any doubt where they were going.

The 'Jesus' chorus lyric could be a little off putting but then again it's exactly the sort of thing they would be able to get away with, just another character in the fractured narrative between rolling the dice to figure out the next movement.
You want the vinyl to hear all the programmed details. There isn't one thing that remains the same from the beginning to end, not one over-repeated melody. The only thread is the lack of one. A neverending freefall of listening, there ends up being nothing to hold on to for very long, and it's pretty insane going down.

It's a kind of mashup style that might be a result of a pop-saturated culture. This is a reaction to the constant bombardment of ideas and styles. The reaction has to be equal to the original action; demanding attention.
But it never feels like they had to work hard to achieve this either. It has to come somewhat naturally or at least be comfortable in negotiating the mix for all these directions to work together in one track... it's getting easier as younger generations grow up with it. I really think a sound like this would be inconceivable 20 years ago without Dj culture and youtube mashups which steadily trains an audience for a band like this. Black Moth Super Rainbow is another contemporary of this anything goes mentality, except their name gives you some idea of the non-sequitur, barrage of reference points, while here the Dead Western Plains evokes a alt-country band, like Fleet Foxes...romanticizing that barren, lonely place that is an acoustic guitar and tortured vocals.

You could also make a similar assumption from the B-Side title; "Gift Horse in the Mouth", which is slightly more conventional than the "Alta" side. The pacing is decidedly slower, the percussion is more unusual and the vocals have that distorted megaphone feel in places. The entire song fades out toward the end, only to slowly rebuild a completely different melody in an entirely new direction...so specific and distinct, it's like the storytelling of the Firey Furnaces, a sort of progressive epic indie-rock. These two worlds coming together - big Rhodes organ lines over sub bass synth arrangements. The percussion structure needs to use the entire drum kit, but that's the way they approach every song...it's not enough for the end result to be catchy...it has to push the limits variation and then pull the whole thing back to that pop place. They push both of these tracks in every place, looking for some kind of weakness to exploit in the great tradition of The Flaming Lips.

Pick this up and their other quality Arizona based recordings from the Fort's blog.
This stuff was born to be remixed and if you search around DWP's site, you'll find a bunch of hidden versions of these two.

“Alta” b/w “Gift Horse in the Mouth”, recorded for Fort Lowell Records, is Dead Western Plains’ expressionistic debut. The group handcrafted 10+ minutes that lead the audience over hill and dale through winding musical tales of pivotal loss, Armageddon, brotherly love, haunted houses, and passionate crimes. The well-garnered compositions have a kaleidoscope of influences spanning postmodern and romantic composition, pop, hip hop, and electronic artists. “Alta” swells from beginning to end telling the story of a lonely Jesus, a botched attempt at camaraderie, and the epiphanies that come with failure. “Gift Horse in the Mouth”, which summons a darker timbre from the quintet, entangles raucous guitars and ominous organs which provide the soundscape for a dire realization; everything comes to an inevitable end and the horrors that arise when one takes this certainty into their own hands.

My cat is named after a Chomp 7" A-Side, Arizona.
It's all connected.
I love 45's.

Too much.

Tracy Shedd / Wet & Reckless split on Fort Lowell Records

Google will tell you Wet & Reckless is some kind of lesser DUI charge and a lot of people seem interested in working out it's legal definition online. In this case it's a four piece out of LA and the A-Side of a split from Fort Lowell with Tracy Shedd.

Wet & Reckless is rocking a sloppy, jangly indie guitar sound all under toe of that girl group ooooo's chorus sound of decades earlier. The hint of vocal reverb and tambourine/snare combined with a Built to Spill sound of bent warbling guitar strings. It's optimistic pop punk, granted lyrically it isn't all sunshine "Fill my boots /with heavy rocks....I was built / to go down, down, down" but It sounds like a contemporary combination of that side of the country, minus the deliberate fidelity challenged sound. Their working with a kinder gentler indie sincerity...informed, I'm sure, by the sunny west coast.
But damn, does Seattle have to pay for your weather?
Do you ever even get sad?
This just sounds like the sickening idea I have of the Pacific...the sun, beaches, wax on wax off, harmonizing....well adjusted. Just don't expect me to sympathize with your happy go lucky ways. We have seasons in Brooklyn!

Tracy Shedd with "Tear it up" on the other side appropriately takes things in that mysterious noir side direction of the surf city. This is what happens at night when you have a population isolated by their cars, and little separate houses with picket fences....you get introspective...you drink...and are all alone. Maybe it's the vocal quality though that I'm reading into...a bit Sarah Dougher, or the Spinnanes delicate haunting rock sound. It's definitely at home on a lynch set, velvet curtains, singing into a lightbulb. Or it's the slow strum of the tremolo electric with harmonic mandolin working into a dreamy Mazzy Star feel.

It's a bi-polar roller-coaster ride of flipping sides. I'm always into the color vinyl FL presses, this one is blood red, and the dual sided monochromatic printed sleeves...the usual great package from the Fort of singles that is Lowell.

Interview with ...Music Video?

I talked with the guys from ...Music Video? this week about the state of social networking, their music videos, evolving into a live electronic band and working with Fort Lowell Records on their latest single.

Download it here (30mb)..

...Music Video? on Fort Lowell Records

This second release from the barely conceived Fort Lowell is this completely out of nowhere single from ...music video? Forget any preconceived ideas you might have about Tuscon, AZ or where Fort Lowell Records is going, because this second single is blazing it's own path of high concept electronics in the world of sludgy home recorded blown out garage-fuzz. This couldn't be further from any of those prevailing go-to sounds. Start with perfectly zeroed out silence and carefully place heavily produced complex programming under high register Ben Gibbard style vocals from lead Paul Jenkins and you actually end up with something close to that follow up Postal Service record that isn't ever going to happen.
They even went as far as to carry the similarity into their name '...Music Video?', is about as easy to google as Postal Service and you really have to dig to find this trio's previous releases. It helps if you add 'Tuscon' to the search, and again that's thanks to Fort Lowell who is seriously redefining this part of the country for me. I've been to the Grand Canyon, the petrified forest. I've sat in the backseat of a million miles in the car through dirt and flat dusty deserts...none of this has anything to do with ...Music Video? or Fort Lowell I'm beginning to realize. Tuscon's got a pretty diverse music scene apparently and I'm glad Fort Lowell is out there documenting it all.

The A-Side 'I'm afraid of everything' has a kind of smooth '70s feel. It's the classic beginnings of electro R & B. Maybe it's those dreamy vibraphone sounds coming from the guitar that's taking me into some kind of dreamy candles k-tel video. But I think you can hear right away the effort they put into creating this particular unrecognizable direction. These aren't instrument sounds you're familiar with. The huge possibility of having complete control over a sound file can be crippling, you have to be constantly willing to play around and make huge mistakes, or replace entire sections of a song...what you may have been working on the last few weeks needs to be replaced since you re-sequenced something. I'm getting annoyed just thinking about all the possible problems when you rely on this technology. I have trouble with blogger spell check, let alone dragging all this equipment around to play live.

They're definitely not playing it safe using heavy pans and massive vocal echoes that ends the verse and rattles around to abruptly cut off. Huge ominous sounding deep synth parts offset the airy vocalizations over background distortions of a guitar. It's a sort of Spiritualized filtered through that Postal Service gated precise aesthetic. True to the track title, Paul is singing through all kinds of fears in a classically trained voice, he could be easily playing with layered harmonies, but it's never overdone, it's that same Gibbard school of this-is-just-enough. You can unintentionally read more into the reserved delivery that way.

'feelgooddesparation' on the B-Side (wonder if that's a website) has a basic piano foundation and then all kinds of glitchy synth waves and mechanical whirrs fade in and out. Paul has that hugely emotive voice that I could see crushing the tiny soul of a loner in the backseat on the bus to homeroom. I'm a little surprised they chose these two somewhat uncharacteristic slower more introspective tracks for the breakout single of the album... something like 'The day we exploded' could hold it's own against anything from 'Give Up', so they're going the slow jams single direction...couples only on the dancefloor.

The locked loop at the end is always a nice touch...it's been a while since I came across one of those and it makes sense keeping with the technology heavy theme of this release...and with Fort Lowell's impressive overall vision for the label.

This preorder is on thick clear vinyl from Fort Lowell Records.

Young Mothers on Fort Lowell Records

Fort Lowell, who I talked to a little while back, just released this single for Record Store day and is available on their blog. Young Mothers are from Fort Lowell's backyard in Tuscon and James randomly came across them after sticking around after a friends band and seeing them play live.
Zachary Toporek is the lead singer/songwriter force behind this single.

The A-Side 'Come on, the cross', has a real Doug Martsch vocal style that comes out in the
minor chord changes all within that major melody, harmonized into layers of optimism. Definitely pop, the vocals are the centerpiece mixed way up front, and it has all the guitar work from a Built to Spill track. Harmonic solos and Zack goes the range from falsetto to layered growl, that's the difference between their similarly heavily produced guitar, Zack allows himself a greater range of emotion and is at home equally on acoustic as he is working within this layered studio arrangement.

The B-Side James told me was one of those tracks that he'd always had in mind to record but wasn't fitting into their full length easily...that's the story of every great B-Side. 'Good Swords' is an acoustic layered fingerpicking hushed track, very much Elliott Smith style. Half whispered, pushing the vocal out and really letting go towards the end again going further than Elliott ever would, demanding your attention. One of those slow burns that completely destroys with subtlety and impressive intricate guitar.

On Fort Lowell a pale green vinyl, handnumbered with digital download card.

Interview with Fort Lowell Records part 2

Here's part 2 of my interview with James from Fort Lowell Records. We talked about the pressing of their first single from Young Mothers, the importance of color vinyl, printing locally and his love for Tuscon.
The Young Mothers single should be ready for order on April 20th, look for the review sometime before it hits Fort Lowell, but in the meantime listen for an excerpt from the A-Side 'Come on, the Cross' and I start the whole thing off with a track from Tracy Shedd, who is doing a split with the Fort very soon.

Download it here (25mb).

Interview with James from Fort Lowell Records

I Talked to James this past weekend about his brand spanking new label, Fort Lowell Records...so new, there is literally nothing to even sell yet, just a massive plan to unleash at least 3 singles onto the scene this year, from local Tuscon, AZ bands, on colored vinyl from Young Mothers, ...Music Video? and a split from Wet & Reckless and Tracy Shedd, all of which I play samples of throughout the interview, except his wife Tracy...who I'll have to get to in part 2, next Friday.

I checked out his blog and he is passionate as hell for vinyl, all the way back to experiences with indie 90's singles from Sarah, KRS. We emailed back and forth and he was kind enough to get on the phone with me and talk about the fledgling label before they even have a preorder button for their first release. The hype machine starts here.

Download it here. (22mb, 16min).

James says:

The beauty of 7inch Records lies in their economics; they are not expensive to produce and it does not cost the bands a lot of money to record music for a 7inch, thus making the cost for the customer between five to six dollars. I am personally working extremely hard to ensure that our records offer a great value to you. All records will be released on a limited run of 500 Hand Numbered Colored Vinyl, and will also include an MP3 Download for those customers that don't have a Record Player. All of the artwork will be a Two Color Offset Print, printed locally in Tucson, and NOT on a Photocopier!