Not so dark, definitely not mean.

An album four years in the making!

A band recording in seclusion in the woods!

Insert other cryptic pull-quotes that merit exclamation points (!!!!) and italics.

Ultimately, Dark Mean's debut LP is just really good. Period.









A trio from Steel Town, Canada (aka Hamilton, Ontario), Dark Mean began work on a full-length in 2007 and released two EPs in the interim (Frankencottage and Music Box) which built steam, and interest in this, their self-titled debut. And just like it took a while to make, it takes a while to digest. It's a slow-burner, but ultimately those are the fires that provide the most warmth and last the longest. Dark Mean play a brand of indie-folk that bands like The Wilderness of Manitoba and The Deep Dark Woods also perform (though not as symphonic as the former nor as 70's AM radio as the latter). It's a music where you can hear the notes breathe on the quiet parts, but isn't afraid to shout like it's lost in the woods now and then (see: "Lullaby"). The song that ultimately won me over was "Finland," with its gorgeous trumpet line - I'm a sucker for horns and handclaps - but there are many entry points and reasons to love this little album.

The video for "Happy Banjo" is below, and is available as a free MP3 if you provide your email address over at the band's website.

Happy Banjo from Dark Mean on Vimeo.

You can purchase Dark Mean via Bandcamp.

Thanks for reading, now start listening...

Sunny future for A.M. Overcast

I'm quickly coming to the conclusion that Alexander Litinsky is a genius. Or at least a musical savant.

In a little over half a year, he's recorded two phenomenal albums of angular pop that hearken back to Pinback and run their course so quickly you're left exhausted and eager for more. December of last year saw the release of Eyes Up, and one week ago Shepherd Moon dropped onto an unsuspecting public, unprepared to be pummeled like Sugar Ray Leonard working the ring; quickly and efficiently. There are no wasted moments and no slackening of the pace from opening salvo "Valentine's Night Out on the Town" (59 seconds!) to the "Cannonball" that leaves no survivors in its wake (at 2:26 it's 9 seconds shy of being the longest track on the album).

One unexpected benefit of an album this brief is that wanting to listen to it over and over doesn't require a giant time commitment. My bus-ride to the station takes less time than Shepherd Moon - I nearly made it twice through thanks to traffic.



Check A.M. Overcast out on Facebook, and grab the album via Bandcamp. And keep an eye on my show blog since I'm trying to get A.M. Overcast to come appear on my show (and I'm definitely hoping Alex will rope in the Catherine, Kevin, and Andrew he mentions on Facebook contributed to this album to play with him as they sound like a very tight unit on highlight "Haystacks Northbound").

Thanks for reading, now start listening...

To paraphrase a certain monster, 'me wild for Wildcookie.'

Though the album came out in February, I haven't heard too many people talking about Cookie Dough, the collaboration between Anthony Mills and Freddie Cruger - which is a shame because it's an excellent record, and one I keep going back to the well on.

Things start with the simple, repetitive, and entrancing "Song With No Ending" that puts the spotlight on Mills' voice. And what a voice - 'mellifluous' may in fact be selling it short (even with the hollowed-out effecting). Mills pulls the plodding keyboards along behind him as he intones the song's title over and over on the chorus. If it really was a song with no ending, I'd actually be alright with the loop that Cruger and he have created. But instead they end the song and dive into one of the two drug-themed standout tracks, "Serious Drug."

The song is about cocaine, and about some of the crazy things that have happened to the likes of Rick James and Richard Pryor as a result of using. The song is almost smooth enough to sound like it's endorsing blow, but when Mills sings "Smokey Robinson / he coulda wrote more songs" it's obvious Wildcookie isn't wild about the nose candy. Midway through the album, the duo return to the subject of drugs in music with "Heroine" [video below]. The lyrics take the tack that "heroin made / my favourite jazz." Having seen Ken Burns' Jazz documentary series and read more than a few biographies of jazz artists, the position has a great deal of merit. There were a lot of jazz artists riding the horse back in the day (including purveyors of the West Coast cool jazz which seems like the last thing someone strung out on heroin would make).



It's clear from listening to Cookie Dough that Cruger and Mills have a shared love of jazz - sounds creep into the production and song structure that owes a huge debt to the genre, but like most forward-thinking stuff released by Tru Thoughts (one of my favourite labels), there's broken-beat, nu-jazz, neo-soul and other elements thrown into the mix for something distinct and eminently listenable.

You can download "Heroine" via their Bandcamp page.



Thanks for reading, now start listening...

What's in the water over there?

I've long thought the Swedish government is secretly putting soda-pop in their drinking water instead of fluoride. How else to explain the long line of note-perfect pop music coming out of that country? This Is Head is another example of what gorgeous music comes out of a lifetime of ingesting the stuff, though their water was also laced with Police's Ghost In The Machine era keyboards.

Personally I like "0007" best (video below)), but "0002" is the lead-off single, available at Spotify. The album is available for purchase through Adrian Recordings here.

This Is Head - 0007 from Adrian Recordings on Vimeo.

Tension isn't always a bad thing

I had to double-check, but Western Vinyl is one of the labels I've mentioned most here on Ear To The Sound. I don't do it intentionally, but I sometimes play favourites with labels because - if they build their roster right - there's usually some sort of overlap or common appeal to the artists they release (which is not to say their roster is cookie-cutter identical). So it is with this Austin label - I've written about or mentioned Ola Podrida, Secret Cities (who also have a great new album out right now), Sleep Whale and Botany in the past and now, thanks to their deft decision-making, South Bronx duo Wires Under Tension have been added to their line-up and my playlists.

Like Russian Circles, Wires Under Tension are another one of those duos who manage to make way more music than two people should be capable of producing. And like Russian Circles, multi-instrumentalist Christopher Tignor and drummer Theo Metz convey a great deal of emotion and ideas in their lyric-less tunes. Metz is the muscle of the outfit - he pounds the hell out of the drums on "Position and Hold" and "A List of Things to Light on Fire." But that doesn't mean he's all brawn and no brains; the proof is in the intricacy and fluidity of his drumming on "Irreversible Machines" and "Mnemonics in Motion."

As you'd expect from a band with the moniker Tignor and Metz chose, listening to Light Science can feel like your heart is in a vise grip sometimes - there's an urgency to much of the material and it can be unrelenting. After it ends though, you're left with the same breathless exhilaration that accompanies an activity like bungee jumping or a riding a big roller coaster. Light Science is the best kind of intense.

This isn't an official video for "Electricity Turns Them On," but it's still my favourite track on the record:


If you like it, Western Vinyl has it available as a free download here, and if you want to see an actual video, check out "Mnemonics In Motion," which admittedly is also a great track.

Check out their website and Western Vinyl artist page.

Matthew Maaskant should be Matthew Maas-can

Okay - time to get back on the horse here before bambino #2 totally derails things and I stop listening to new music and spend all my time singing 'rock-a-by-baby' (which, when you consider the lyrics, is a pretty creepy song).

Matthew Maaskant's Believe It Or Not, This Is The Place is a quiet, restrained album that has made its way into my head and heart since it arrived March 28th at the station. This isn't an album that hits you over the head with its greatness, or holds up a sign that says 'NOTICE ME,' but insistently burrows into the folds of your thoughts and takes up residence.

Opener "Katie Cruel," with its piercing viola notes creates a feeling of unease that is softened by Maaskant's gentle vocals - a sonic balance that he deftly achieves throughout the record. And when he intones "here I am where I must be," the sentiment can be taken as an artistic statement that this truly is "the place" the album's title alludes to.

Blending strings, electronic elements and more with his 'folk' (and I use the term loosely - this isn't Bruce Cockburn we're talking about here), Maaskant's sound is unique, but strangely familiar - and because of his experience as a recordist/producer, that sound is also exceptionally well captured. Take standout track "Fall To Pieces" (video below) with the layered vocals of Amai Kuda serving as a ghostly intro to Maaskant's own weightless voice. The vocals are tethered to the song only by the upright bass - it's the only thing that has a solidity to its sound. The attention to detail Maaskant clearly put into the recording pays dividends in rewarding the attention of listeners, both on this song and throughout Believe It Or Not, This Is The Place.



Check out Matthew's website and Bandcamp page, where you can purchase the CD or download the mp3s.



Thanks for reading, now start listening...

Just grab these...

I'm behind on writing actual posts (believe me, there's some great new music I want to write about, it's just a matter of finding time. Too busy preparing for bambino #2), but I thought I'd do a quick one about a few artists I LOVE that really don't need a lot of introduction or background. Chances are you've heard of them, and, if your tastes are in line with mine, you probably love them like I do. And they've got free stuff for you to grab and listen to!!

First up - The Sea & Cake have a new record due out in May called The Moonlight Butterfly and the first track is available courtesy of the folks at Thrill Jockey. It's called "Up On The North Shore" and, as expected from these masters of their craft, it's another in a long line of exceptional tunes. To give you an idea of how much I love this band, my son is named Archer.

The second track you need to grab comes courtesy of RCRDLBL and it's a remix of my man Will Holland. Most folks know him as Quantic, the moniker under which he has been plumbing electronica, latin rhythms and more over the years. Most recently he moved to Columbia and formed the Combo Barbaro to play with him - their latest is the Caliventura Remixes EP on Tru Thoughts (another phenomenal label). The Daedelus remix of "Undelivered Letter" is a keeper so check it out and pick up the EP if you like what you hear.

Thanks for reading, now start listening...