Pillars and Tongues "End Dances" on Empty Cellar Records

A friend of mine from Ireland always used to swear by The Blue Nile. They rarely recorded, releasing albums every six or seven years. He made them sound mythical and different from the bands I knew who went after commercial success or pushed the underground envelope. They seemed to be able to redefine what intelligent and hugely produced sound could be. A band with the skill and resources to pull off something really unusual within a traditional pop structure. The resources required for production today may not be as taxing but that skill and direction is still a rare thing. The Blue Nile is the first thing that came to mind when listening to End Dances from Pillars and Tongues on Empty Cellar Records. Vocally Mark Trecka has a similar cavernous crooning delivery. It's a naturally gifted vocal that softly works over loops and weird atmospheric samples in perfect contrast to the mysterious dreamlike soundscape they create over both sides of this record.

A-Side's "Knifelike" begins the epic journey the way that a bleak landscape can convey the huge distances between people and places. The way those vast stretches of the planet aren't inhabited by much life at all like this understated rhythm consisting of an electronic sounding woodblock and rim shot. They favor these cool, minimal structures with just enough of a skeleton to be somewhat recognizable with haunting loops of scratching metal becoming an ancient kettle drum. Mark's vocal is an emotional chant, witness to a ritual, a primal, ancient rite reenacted by a trained classical vocalist who's aware of the space and the way a body can project. "Dogs" takes on a middle eastern quality with melodies that scatter everything at random managing to sculpt a form with enough structure intact to enforce melodic pop. Beth emerges from the background an essential ghostly element mirroring his emotional delivery. They can feel like the southwest, a purple, flat mesa style landscape mixed with Moroccan architecture. There's nothing specific being hinted at but something even harder; an attempt to understand the much larger picture. Over and over this record gives you the space to attempt to go to that place and the time with it to spend on the subject. "Bell + Rein" begins with the sound of a natural orchestra tuning up with the rattling of guitar strings, decaying loops and infinite feedback. Sounds that create themselves without any intervention if you're willing to let that chaos work itself out like the Dirty Beaches soundtrack to Water Park. You have to be willing to leave things to chance but you're never going to get tired of creating the work live. Any of these tracks are going to take new shape every night and always be surprising like The Disintegration Loops ending up in a completely new place from where it started. Set up the parameters and let it twist into a new shape. Heavily meditative and underneath a violin willing it's melody into a very specific direction after all and I'm hoping it happened in the same room, live while these sounds were rising and fading into something new. "Points of Light" is positively optimistic with Beth harmonizing to the point of pure religion of a layered choir of voices, the primary instrument of the band. It's the thing that honestly can't be duplicated. The one instrument that can't be replaced by any sort of technology - you can shape it with autotune, but the foundation has to be there. They create a slow moving, half height wall of sound that's exponentially growing, not in a threatening way, but coming in for a closer look. If the human voice is the centerpiece in their exploration of these huge themes then Mark's vocal is the the core of that search.

On B-Side's "Medora" they introduce more subtle rhythms and as much of this feels free and open, there are times it gets a little ominous or dark. I think those opposites are at work here. It can be a serious affair with no room for lightness. After all they're tackling huge existential questions, from the place of a spiritual echo chamber their voices expanding out into a supernova of harmonies. It's impressive the organic, natural sound they get out of clearly manipulated samples. They don't immediately give up their source and provide a foundation for Mark's vocal to squarely place this in a real place. The repetition and loops encourage a meditative trance like some kind of new age psych, mentally changing the way you approach hearing these sounds. This violin demands a thought process with a sort of math inherent in the melodies or maybe because it's such a frail temporary sound that seems to float by like some kind of balloon string just out of reach. "Ends" is one of the most memorable tracks giving in to the most random acts of chaos, the fading layers of loops come crashing in heavy waves with a skeletal tiny violin the only sign of humanity in this endless sea of bubbling static. "Ships" picks things back up and is the dawn breaking, harmonies flying, a clearing of the storm. This is Pillars at the height of their powers, the culmination of all the previos tracks, all the ways they've been building to this point with a real sign of hope. We might not have come up with any answers but they might be suggesting that we don't have to either.

Deluxe package here with heavy tip on sleeve and newsprint fold out insert with lyrics and liner notes. Really honors the material inside. Pick it up from Empty Cellar Records.

Podcast episode 23 - Post RSD

Darren kicks things off talking about his latest release from Shockwave Riderz, with tips for this crazy splatter pressing. Pitchfork covered it here.

New Ty single on Drag City - (Thanks @rockyshane on twitter)

3RD MAN Vault Vs. Insound - who's selling the exclusive Vault pressing? What happens to poor saps like Darren who already ordered the Vault version from Insound?

The LP for Third Man Records' Vault package #20 will be the ONLY limited version of JACK WHITE'S NEW ALBUM LAZARETTO to be released. Pressed on split-color blue-and-white vinyl and coupled with exclusive album art, this alternate presentation of the album is both insightful and deserving. Also exclusive to the Vault is a fold-out poster accompanying the album, featuring a classic National Archives photo that serves as a recurrent image throughout the album art.

We talked about Conor Oberst's new record on Nonesuch and his Record Store day single. A couple of new ones from Mt. St. Mtn.: Burnt Ones & The Mallard.

Crazy pressings of Thee Oh Sees and Dylan Shearer from Castleface and Empty Cellar.

Darren's pick is Satellite of Love various artists single.

Jason's pick is Darren's Shockwave Riderz single.

Dylan Shearer "Porchpuddles" on Empty Cellar Records

You could say that psych rock officially began with The 13th Floor Elevators and - let’s face it - LSD. It has, in the forty years since, mutated and combined with elements of freak folk even picking up some of Brian Eno’s atmospheric methodology along the way. Porchpuddles by Dylan Shearer expands on this thread into a quietly unsettling mix of hushed but spacious tracks. Hazy psych originated and flourished on the West coast, especially in the San Francisco Bay area, where Dylan currently lives and naturally cultivated his hybrid of muted perception.

The film Eraserhead clearly drew a line in the sand; you either enjoy giving in to the unknown or it’s an experience that will leave you frustrated. Slowcore bands like Rex and Fuck had the same problem with tempo; if you aren’t going to sit back and accept their deliberately slow ride then Porchpuddles also isn’t going to reveal itself. What Dylan is able to accomplish given this self imposed minimal environment continues to be amazing with each listen.

“Afterwhile” begins with a minimal electric guitar, slow, timid, and loud as hell. It’s turned up to a Velvet Underground level, amplifying those unavoidable imperfections, but in the process, humanizing the tracks. The chord changes groan and squeak, skittering across the fret board, ignoring polish. Dylan’s low, quivering vocal has a lot in common with Tim Cohen’s woozy folk roots, and he also lets his vocal melody evolve to look for cracks to creep in, often at odds with the electric guitar and hint of percussion. “Vacancies” goes further down the ambling folk road with a skeleton thin guitar that barely props up the meat of the lyric. Tim Cohen calls Dylan “A ghost of the present” in the press release and the comparison is something I can't escape. He’s literally delivering his phantom vocal in a moaning flutter that floats through open windows and down with falling leaves in the backyard. He’s created a real sense of calm in singing about sitting in a waiting room again, his world is running on another speed. It’s a perfect soundtrack for that passive activity…or taking a nap. Not because it’s boring, but it’s functioning as a lullaby in its subtle changes and tranquil melodies. A banjo pokes through the fluctuating rhythm of bass as if there are a few different songs wrapped up in each other. His improbable approach to song construction comes together like a driftwood shack on a foggy beach, adding to the dreamland feel, asking how this could possibly continue to hold itself together. Especially on “Tardy Party” which can barely keep a regular strumming rhythm, like the best Will Oldham moments, its stumbling home at the end of a drunken evening with the right kind of slowness.

B-Side’s “Alright, Already” finds Dylan nearly country, leisurely picking in a slower tempo so the tune can sink in deeper. A hint of hesitation in the performance is like a shaky stutter of car engine turning over, the chorus defying expectation and forcing the listener to will it into place, an inevitable failure that contradicts the master plan Porchpuddles had from the beginning. “Lostlore (Tinsel Mines)” is also in a constant state of catch up, just behind the vocal, which ceases to give any context for meaning. He’s nearly abandoned recognizable words and delivers them at such a soothing, warm blanket pace that the lyric becomes pure sound refusing to spell things out. There’s no direct message or story, it only sets into slow motion a Sunday afternoon. Dylan’s natural vibrato isn’t immediately apparent until you catch him at the end of a layered vocal on “Walked Away” where one of his layers ends too soon. By this time there’s no surprises in the instrumentation, the same elements are employed to mix and wind together into a massive, laid back stroll through that impressively green forest as far as you can see in every direction. You’re completely, hopelessly lost and it doesn’t matter.

Get Porchpuddles from Empty Cellar Records

Magic Trick - The Glad Birth of Love on Empty Cellar Records

The thing about Tim Cohen, and this goes for any number of his side projects, is just how plain likeable it is musically. Take anything he’s done either on his numerous solo albums or his work with The Fresh and Onlys and he’s consistently able to pull of a huge array of ‘60s influenced psych, with bubbling pop leanings without feeling like he’s repeating himself or pulling directly from the genre. He’s been drawing what is essentially a straight line from ‘60s psych through to contemporary sounding garage, virtually channelling this period effortlessly every time. The Glad Book of Love is no exception, but here under the Magic Trick moniker, the tracks take the time to get majestic, expanding on the verse/chorus pop psych into two massive tracks per side, exploring the longer form of dreamy pop.
Tim doesn’t need much to get to that dense, mythical place and “Cherished One” is mostly full of quiet instrumentation from an acoustic and is impressively minimal. Lyrically, he’s exploring a conceptual place with an incredibly complex narrative in some completely unfamiliar fantasy world like Fantastic Planet a creepy, slightly unsettling place full of gardens and queens, delivered in a loose airy harmony and that romanticised ‘70s Sunday afternoon feel. It’s been years of absorbing those records, he’s done all the work for you. Ghosts sing choruses with the warbles of saws. There’s even a heavy Sitar improv clearly placing this in that psych landscape, as if the length wasn’t doing it. “Daylight Moon” has a ringing chorus’d out guitar and a choir of backup singers la la la-ing around that watery guitar completely roaming. Eventually the whole thing catches up with itself, waking out of it’s hazy slumber to coalesce into a big measured rock breakdown. For as much as these parts spread out for a minute they’re never jammed out into oblivion and quickly get reined back in line for the strict psych-out.
You get the sense he’s really enjoying the ability to experiment in all of these directions, committing every direction to vinyl like this... he’s certainly thriving on it with no end to his output.
But you can’t discount the contributions from San Francisco contemporaries here, John Dwyer from the Oh Sees on flute (!), Grace Cooper from the Sandwitches on ‘angelic’ vocal duties and Diego Gonzalez working with all of the non traditional instrumentation on the Oud and Tamboura, adding up to new layers and giving the sound more of a freedom to meander and explore a particular groove.

Magic Trick is building dense, towering structures of instrumentation and vocals along with an underlying melodies that function as an anchoring foundation... thankfully never veering into that experimental free form spaghetti to decipher. In fact to hold this together in the delicate balance of catchy pop and drone repetition for 14 minutes is an achievement. I want to imagine Tim and Co. have this all mapped out Brian Wilson style on great blackboards and archaic scrawling pictograms of changes...to it’s credit it’s never improvisational but moving forward in it’s own secret narrative across both sides. A long journey that Magic Trick have destined you take on full length vinyl.

This heavy cardstock thick sleeve is the perfect case for the massive gram vinyl inside and glossy painting foldout insert with lyrics and a gentleman performing an act of magic... pulling a rabbit out of a hat. On Empty Cellar Records.

The Sandwitches - Duck, duck...Goose. EP on Empty Cellar Records

Full length review of The Sandwitches, Duck, duck....Goose! One sided 12" on Empty Cellar Records over here in the full length message board. Etherial, ancient vocal folk songs, from great distances.

Sonny and the Sunsets on Empty Cellar Records

The Endless Nest Collective recording division, Empty Cellar Records has teamed up again with Sonny Smith alongside his massive, amazing 100 7" records project, of which these tracks are sort of an extension of that project...a novel Sonny had started broke into 100 pieces and these songs were assembled from some of the pieces. All I keep thinking about Sonny is, what do you do next? You came up with 100 fictional bands singles, recorded the music, came up with, comissioned the sleeves and then played them in a custom jukebox for the gallery show? How do you top the yearlong effort of something like that?
Releasing yet another single on Empty Cellar is a pretty good start. His single fever obviously hasn't been cured yet, and Sonny had enough material for a 4 track EP, collaborating with Heidi and Grace of the Sandwitches and a fictional band (?) the Transients, Sonny presents these 4 tracks which were inspired by a near death experience in the ocean.
This could be super downer serious gloomy acoustic, but Sonny sounds like he's taken the opposite approach and is optimistically appreciating each minute he's still playing and recording.

Sonny even created his last will and testament in song form with the first track on the A-Side "Throw my ashes from the pier". This song is full of that warm tight delay, especially in the vocals, that classic country, bluegrass rock sound that I love from hearing early, early Elvis tracks....like Blue Moon...I know, Elvis, it's a ridiculous reference, but there's still something to hearing those raw demos of the early years.
I understood why people called reverb wet. You can almost hear a 'drip' sound in the spring echo when the strings are a little muted and your strumming high on the fretboard.
Sonny's coming to terms with what to do when the bucket gets kicked, and ending up scattered around in the ocean sounds pretty good. You don't want to get morbid about it, but why not on a high note, at the end of the best possible day. But why even paraphrase...Sonny gets this across in a much better way.
"Through the fog and haze" is a slow trip back down to that ocean again. He's just a great songwriter...and to naturally get this introspective feel across takes a lot of commitment. The instrumentation is so minimal, he He's determined to make something good out of that experience and I can't help but read into every word of each track:

Oh to behold such sorrow
To behold such pain
Will I never see the sun

But like Will Oldham he makes it sound so damn nice, you don't even notice the sadness creeping up. The best is how Sonny chose to keep these subtleties... the raw twang of an acoustic mispick, that imperfections that made it through for the sake of capturing the best take without cutting and pasting. But there's more than just a strong Oldham connection in the melancholy and tragedy, Will's brother, Paul mastered these tracks for Sonny.

"Cathedral in the desert" over on the B-Side has Sunny possibly thinking about a higher power's role in existence, with an upbeat track of shiny steel acoustic.
"Take a hard look down that long corridor" finds Sonny way offshore and this has to be it, the big 7" in the sky, reevaluate your life pretty quick...it's the saddest sentiment and I really hope I don't even have a moment to realize it's the end and there's nothing you can do about it. Don't catch yourself singing along with this one.
Sonny taught me to be glad I'm on dry land next to a record player.

I think deliberately every track changes slightly in tone, a whole different character...a new narrator with the help of subtle effects, engineering changes. Sonny's vocals go from doubled up reverb to clear, close mic'd, almost cracking vocals. I think his 100 records project has inherently always been in him, in every song he writes, putting himself into an experience with his specific point of view, and musically it's restrained and as classy as any past and contemporary country legend I can think of.

This one is available from Empty Cellar Records who says:

Not long ago, Sonny Smith (Sonny & The Sunsets) survived a near-drowning off the coast of northern california. The experience affected him profoundly and led to a wealth of output including a play, a novel, and a stack of songs. Sonny's critically acclaimed "100 Records" project is itself a direct product of Sonny's fight with the sea. A novel he began, "Adelard the Drowned", broke into 100 pieces. Four of those pieces come as songs on this 7" e.p., each bound to the next by a twisted braid of water and death. Through the fog and the haze, however, there lies in these songs a shared sense of redemption, transformation, or reawakening. Featuring appearances by Heidi and Grace of the The Sandwitches and a long-lost band called The Transients, this record features Sonny's songwriting at its strongest, staring death in the face. Perhaps, this is in part why the ocean gave him back. Recorded in San Francisco and mastered by Paul Oldham, each record includes a comic book, four full-color album covers, and a high-quality digital drownload.

More of Sonny's acoustic instrumentalism and a sample of the sad, personal comic, (the best kind) that comes with the single is available here:



It's another great extra level to the work and I've really never seen it work so well together.

The Cairo Gang 'Holy Clover' on Empty Cellar Records

Whoa.... what happened at the Empty Nest Collective? A million more records have been released that's what.
Arvel sent this one in the other day, and looking at the website, they have been insanely busy since the last time I checked in.
This latest single from The Cairo Gang is just the tip of the iceberg, in fact I just noticed they are playing with Will Oldham at Monster Island April 1st, which I'm working on getting tickets for, but it isn't looking good. How they're pulling this show off is impressive for Will and the Island.
But the Oldham connection doesn't end there, looking at the back of the sleeve it turns out Paul Oldham mastered this 4 song EP from these slow lyric heavy rockers, working with a lot of classic tear the insides out minimal instrumentation.
After reading their disclaimer to music journalists I'm at a bit of a loss, and a little worried about comparing this to any kind of sunday afternoon 70's feel without being another misguided douche. I'm not versed enough in those references to really know what I'm talking about, but I imagine it's the sort of thing that could have been played on turntables 30 years ago, informed by soaring honest country, and beaten English rock. All with an overwhelming sadness for sure, 'Lovers Only' kicks it off with acoustic, deliberate slow enough to hear every string as an individual note, with Emmett Kelly close mic'd enough to hear every inhale. He's inside your head, right in that personal space. 'The World Outside' is far away layered heavy echo...I'm hearing that inside-a-silo tone that seems to be an underlying theme with the Cellar. This one builds staying melancholic but climbing out of desperation, things are going badly...it's a hand on the rainy windowpane as you pull out of the driveway. Jesus...with angels.

The B-Side's "Get's me back' is driven by this loud slow strum electric and Emmett's higher harmonies this time until the groove starts...they balance this minimal songs:ohia feel with Neil's completely leveling 'Down by the river'. I sometimes ask myself how all of these styles can make any sense to one person, or am I just bombarding myself with no sense of direction. Well, then I remind myself when it's as honest and true to it's direction you can hear it. There's no gauge exactly, but there's not the slightest sense of parody or imitation. If you hear this dedication, it just makes sense. 'Holy Clover' just can't get loud, I'm really turning it up but there's a layer of distance covering the whole sludgy tempo. It's a texture that comes with well worn vinyl grooves, anticipating it's future.

This is the case of the seven inch teasing you with where this band can go given the vinyl room, they've probably got acres of a massive jam in them dying to spread out and take the solo home, trading off between members, everyone gets their moment.

I love that both sides seamlessly combine the tracks together in one long evolving slow ride. It's going to be a hell of a show, these two are going to be perfect together.

Get it from Empty Cellar Records/Endless Nest, who keep releasing compelling classics before anyone else.

"HOLY CLOVER" new EP by THE CAIRO GANG. features four NEW songs recorded in a risen cornfield in shelby county, kentucky. A departure from previous cerebral and primarily acoustic efforts, this record is tight and electric with choruses and vocal harmonies all supported by an enforced bass and drums set. One mic at a time and brought to you in 33 rpms on glorious 7 inch vinyl! Limited copies made available by Empty Cellar and Tin Angel in the USA and Europe, respectively. Includes freed downloadable version.

The two sides of Tim Cohen on Empty Cellar Records

I swear this Tim Cohen full length from Empty Cellar and Secret Seven Records has been on my turntable the past two weeks, off and on, but I keep coming back to it. It's a huge departure from his other project, The Fresh and Onlys, but like the Jeff Novak solo full length I am totally convinced that he's a huge talent that's going to take his solid songwriting ideas to whatever genre he ends up in... garage pop punk or this more intimate solo beautifully arranged masterpiece. If you remember Arvel from Empty Cellar clued me into this during our interview and I was really expecting some kind of Ty Segall distorted blues one man blowout, and this is completely in the other direction.
It's essentially a pretty quiet record, he's arranging subtle all over the place pretty minimally and switches from muted drum machine beats to heavily delayed acoustic guitar with hints of organ melody. It's completely restrained, distilled down to the essential parts. They are a collection of exceptional songs, not necessarily cohesive as a whole piece, but then again that's what I love, it keeps switching directions all within this subtle quiet framework. It's meant to be loud in complete silence, and keeps being so rewarding...immediately. Completely unexpected.
The first track 'Amazing Visions' is an acoustic piece with layered whispered vocals. All kinds of animal imagery, that sort of hallucinogenic folk. On 'Haunted Hymns' he's using all kinds of subtle effects; call and answer lyrics, but it never relies on those weird distinctive sounds or emotive vocals, it's a slow descent into pure songwriting, grounded in great melody and lyrics to come back to. 'Burn My Martyr', the last song on the A-Side even has this early Police feel, practically new wave, really sparse guitar instrumentation, kind of dark vocals, and it actually picks up to become slightly pop at one point. Vocally it's distant and unemotive in those moments Sting isn't trying so hard. It's all about the clean bassline and this cold new wave feel...it's one of my favorites, but really we'd have to be talking about a collection of unreleased singles or something from some length of time...not this package recorded last year in San Francisco(?).
'Open up the sky' on the B-Side has Chad Vangaalen written all over it to me, a lot of these do now that I think about it. His neo-folk style, combined with anti-human elements, drum machines, synth, but warped and muted out to fit this dreamlike journey... the slow deliberate machine beat with subtle synth and his layered falsetto vocals. Add a hint of beach boys type harmony and their multitrack experimentation, and he just keeps delivering these solid, really imaginative songs that stick in your head.
'I swear to God' uses his typical 4/4/ kick metronome beat with sleigh bells. Piano chords march right along with the hits, the vocals are always quiet, even contemplative, delivered just warbly enough and feeling but again, and I keep going back to this, the melodies are just so brilliant. A few other songs take that marching piano chord style, it's almost 60's pop, like Jeff Novak, it's taking that upbeat formula and making it sound damn good...and god forbid... on 'Burden of Being' he even takes everything away to just sing along with an acoustic guitar on a haunting completely sad track...that takes some balls not to drown it in effects..he's just that good my friend.
The sleeve and inserts for this are top notch...it's a heavy matte stock sleeve. The drawings, I'm assuming they're his, are great trippy doodles, on the back they're reproduced on that yellow legal ruled paper...really nice. The cardstock insert has another drawing and typewritten lyrics and thanks to every great label.
Insound's still got it...as well as aquarius I'm told, or try hitting up Empty Cellar direct, Arvel did mention on the interview I did with him this is going to be repressed...so get in line.

Arvel from Empty Cellar Records Interview part 2.

It's another Friday and finally you can hear part two of my conversation with Arvel from Empty Cellar Records. (20min, 18mb).
They have tons of great stuff planned for upcoming release, as well as their currently available Dry Spells LP.
Arvel talks about the operating philosophy of the label, making it as a self sustaining not for profit outlet for curated music. Some of his experiences dealing with pressing plants and examples of other labels that inspire Empty Cellar.
The guy is a wealth of information and passion for music....really just the best...can't wait to see what they come out with next.

Interview with Arvel from Empty Cellar Records

As promised here's an interview I did with Arvel from Empty Cellar Records...Part 1. Episode 60. 27min. Immediately after part one you can hear the Joseph Childress side of the 7" single.
We talked about how The Endless Nest collective started, what Empty Cellar has been up to so far, the recording process with the Joseph Childress and The White White Quilt single, and what releases they have coming up.
Arvel started out booking shows, including The Indian Summer Music Festival and working with people like Wymond Miles from The Fresh and Onlys who had a studio and another friend The American Opry who documented the festival and finally they decided to take all these elements and put them together under one roof and start a label.
This all came together around 5 months ago, with the help of all the members of the label and collective and has been quickly gaining momentum with releases like the sold out Tim Cohen of the Fresh and Onlys solo album and The Dry Spells.
Empty Cellar loves the vinyl and has collaborated with other labels in making sure these pressed. I love what they have done so far, and what they are trying to do as a self contained collective to release music they believe in.
They have an upcoming EP release from The Sandwitches, Heidi Alexander and Grace Cooper who sang on the Fresh and Onlys records, and have a repress already planned for the Tim Cohen record as well, so email the label to reserve one of the second (and last) pressings.
Amazing things are afoot in California, from the empty watertowers down to the handcrafted labels. Go pick up the single or their full length releases at their store.

Joseph Childress and The White White Quilt split 'tower' 7" on Empty Cellar records

Endless Nest is the Artist collective consisting of 4 entities, a recording studio, a field recordist, show organizing and the label called Empty Cellar records. Arvel contacted me about his latest release from Empty Cellar and I actually ended up recording an interview with him which I'll post tomorrow but in the meantime here's some thoughts on their latest seven inch release.

This split, the first 7" for the label, is with The White White Quilt and Joseph Childress, I didn't know anything about either of these two before hearing this but the opening few seconds of Joseph Childress' side are so powerful, it's all I needed to be convinced. The countdown to a beautiful echoed acoustic guitar melody immediately punctuated by this huge booming percussion sound which apparently was members of the White White Quilt hitting the inside of this metal tower. It's an amazing unique sound that has so much to do with the space and story that went into recording this single. I was hooked the second I read the story behind it. It seems Joseph Childress is that classic fast disappearing vagabond American storyteller. He can pull off this heartwrenching confessional songwriting style, like the greats of the genre. It's even more impressive this is a live recording, his performance is just amazing. Like Jason Molina and Songs:Ohia, it's hard to listen to almost, I don't necessarily want to go there tonight, but once it starts I'm in the silo not making a sound, not moving so I don't break the spell.

The White White Quilt on the other side is equally matched to Childress's intimacy. The reverb on these tracks from the water tower/silo is incredible, there's just no way to authentically replicate this soundspace...and then to put it on vinyl? It's a piece of perfection. The acoustic melody reverberates around the space, while both members of the White White Quilt harmonizing in almost a deep whisper. It's a slow, sleepy track, with a hesitating fingerpicked melody that breathes so much space around it, the noises around you become a part of the track, a jackhammer in the distance, a crow....it lends itself that Cage thing of everything becoming a part of the experience.
The bonus digital track from the White White Quilt, 'Fire Cup' is an even more epic minimal acoustic track, complete with metal creaking and even larger pauses between notes. This has to be the result of sitting down to record this at the tower...this song has to be different played live, at a bar....anywhere else. It sounds exactly like the cold empty night.

Arvel explained about the bonus track further in an email:
They actually were kicked out of the water tower for trespassing. The WWQ brought a generator to the second session to lengthen the playing time and that's what alerted the world to their presence in the tower. The bonus WWQ track on the download is from that second session.

According to Endless Nest, The White White Quilt has since disbanded but both members are off on their own solo projects. Martin Salata is working on the Like Circles and Alexander James on The Quilt. So this might be the only recording of the group committed to vinyl unfortunately, but it's a monument.

Amazingly captured by the field recording member of Endless Nest, The American Opry, he deserves all the credit for getting these intimate live moments down on tape (?)...whatever he used, whatever mics, it's an achievement. To think of these two bands in the middle of nowhere, playing these two amazing tracks to no one but themselves in the middle of the night, choreographing the percussion performance inside that space...it's the saddest thing I can think of. It's genius to record here and adds immeasurably to the ambiance of the recording.

Get your heart broken at the Endless Nest store.