Salad Fork

Live radio recordings on vinyl have always presented a certain aesthetic to me, I’ve always felt the live recordings, on vinyl, were as close as you can get to the musicians’ actual sound. Of course, there is a typical rare element too, as many ‘live on the radio’ sessions tend to be limited run and that seals the deal for me.

Thanks to the good folks at Inflated Records, we can get lost in a swirling spiral of laid back psychedelia orchestrated live by Matt Mondanile for WFMU back in 2008. It’s a limited pressing of 500, 250 on yellow vinyl, and was officially released last night at the Glasslands show in Brooklyn, curated by Georgia Kral of Microphone Memory Emotion. The Mall is one of my favorite Ducktails songs, and leaves a haunting mark on me each time I hear it on my Real Estate: Live On The Radio LP.

Ducktails: The Mall (Live on WFMU 2008)
Photo sent to me by McG with my copy of The Report

via

Taking a trip through New Jersey’s fast food circuit is Big Troubles, on the brink of the release of their debut LP with Olde English Spelling Bee. Their music most nearly represents 90s nostalgia, which can be shown by their Angelfire hosted website. I was always attracted to Big Troubles because of their fuzzed out, reverb soaked, poppy sound; essentially irresistible to those whom are fans of the lo-fi genre. Below you can enter into their world of greasy food and the homey feeling New Jersey represents. I am convinced that their upcoming s/t will be an LP that I will remember and link to my college days when I am an old man.

BIG TROUBLES “BITE YR TONGUE” from OLDE ENGLISH SPELLING BEE on Vimeo.

Big Troubles: Bite Your Tongue (Live on WFMU)

Related MP3s:
Big Troubles: Modern Intimacy (Live on WFMU)
Big Troubles: Wouldn’t Mind
Big Troubles: GreyDayz
Big Troubles: Freudian Slips
Big Troubles: Drastic And Difficult

(photo)

Previously:
Big Troubles: Freudian Slips [video]

The surroundings are blanketed with darkness as a lone traveler stands at the end of a rocky jetty, leading out from a majestic beach. There, the traveler sits down, depressed. Perhaps the traveler is saddened due to the loss of something meaningful in their life. Maybe they feel lost in the world, and simply on a journey to find their inner self. The ocean, so large in its amazing mass, has a seemingly magical power for a human to become in touch with their thoughts and feelings, because sometimes the faults of every day life can cloud them. The traveler begins to gaze into the ocean, searching for answers, and realizes that in the grand scheme of the world, the past seems irrelevant when compared to what they can make their future. As the sun begins to rise, its’ rays glisten and shine over the ocean water. The traveler feels as though a piece of himself that had been lost and buried from the trials of every day life had been found. The traveler returns to his vehicle, and drives back from everything he had once hated and resented, only to view that place as a new beginning.

Our Husband is an Australian duo that creates soothing indie pop with a soft rock and country base, gleaming with the utmost intense harmonious tones that will grab all of your attention and make everything in the real world seem unimportant, all of your worries are simply washed away. The feeling can be best represented by watching one of your favorite films, taking the emotion felt at the end, and somehow making that intense emotion last throughout the film as you watch it again.Villages is their first single. Like the foreword, the song starts out dreary and somewhat dark, in its’ own poppy rite, only to reach a chorus of hope and sudden realization.

Our Husband: Villages
photo by Chris Little

Here’s a completely stunning video by the mysterious Wu Lyf, I first mentioned them a while back with their introduction to the blogosphere using the track called Heavy Pop, which sounded exactly like what the songs’ title had hinted at. Instrumentally, their guitar riffs are catchy and are not drowned in gain. Vocally, the lyrics are difficult to make out and very raspy, giving off a ‘metal’ vibe. The combination of the two are unique, a reminder of Canadas’ Fucked Up, a band which has gained much Pitchfork acclaim. There is an element that separates Wu Lyf from the Ontario based band. Wu Lyf doesn’t seem to mind bouncing around some drone, surf rock, hip hop auto-tuned and Tupac samples into their songs, it is their willingness to incorporate different influences of music into their own that makes Wu Lyf stand out, even with all the mystery that embodies them. They are a band that boasts many members, and it is perhaps where all of the diverse influences are born from.

The below video shows native islanders being beaten to death by men from another land, the blood shown as colored paint and the native islanders dying. Soon after, a scene is shown of the ‘golden sun god’ bringing the native islanders back to life, frightening the intruders and chasing them off of their island.

i got dem wu wu busted teef spitting it concrete like the golden sun god- WU LYF from LYF on Vimeo.

Go to Wulyf.org to see this video streaming full screen from their website

Wu Lyf: Lucifer Calling (demo)
Wu lyf: Such A Sad Puppy Dog
Wu Lyf: Spitting It Concrete Like The Golden Sun God
Wu Lyf: Lung Songs
(via/via)

Previously:
Wu Lyf: Heavy Pop

The Ocean makes up about 71% of our earth, and we have only mapped roughly 5% of it. Essentially, another world exists in the form of the ocean, it is something humans have used as a mode of transportation to find other lands since the beginning of time. However, it is something that has yet to be explored itself. Science, more recently, has provided certain advancements in technology that has finally allowed us to begin ocean mapping and exploration of the ocean deep, to predicting wave propagation. We have discovered life forms in the deepest, darkest abysses of the ocean where we would have never thought life could be; these life forms evolving since the beginning of time and figuring out how to photosynthesize in complete darkness.

The ocean, is most nearly a living creature in itself. Since it is a living entity such as ourselves becomes difficult to predict its’ moods and habits. The Husband and Wife duo Tennis have witnessed how treacherous and unpredictable the ocean can be with their sailing adventure around the Americas, and their stories about their adventure is being released in vinyl form on Underwater Peoples Records.

If you have not yet divulged into the soothing indie pop of Colorados’ Tennis yet, I assure you once done it will lead you into a downward spiral of addiction to their soothing indie pop. Their newest single, Baltimore, is as equally amazing as the rest of their songs, and has nested a place inside my treasure box containing indie pop gems.

Tennis: Baltimore
(photo)

Previously:
Tennis: South Carolina [video]
Tennis: Marathon/South Carolina [mp3]

Liquid Sized Cups is a dreary and equally beautiful Green Gerry outtake to his band camp album Odd Tymes over the weekend, it’s soaked in his sound of sweet vocal harmonies and acoustic guitar plainly recorded right into his computer. Like a recipe from Italy, some of the best food are created by the simplest methods, and some of the best music is created by the simplest equipment. The Gloaming is an equally haunting track recorded with a friend covering Radiohead.

‘So you fall’

Green Gerry: Liquid Sized Cups
Green Gerry: The Gloaming
(photo)

Previously:
The Art Of Low Fidelity Recordings and Green Gerrys’ Odd Tymes EP [mp3]

I’d say it’s fairly often you see an opening band you really like, but less of the time you sit next to a complete stranger and end up making a blog post about her project.

Kassie Carlson plays the violin in Dream Apart ment, whos’ music also contains a banjo and male vocals. It is essentially lo-fi folk music, recorded in different environments onto a cassette tape. Their tracks were recorded outside or in tunnels, so you might pick up on sounds from a passing train, for example. Surrounded by the sounds of nature, are the sounds and harmonies of their instruments. Together, the sounds meld together in unison, and encompasses the listener into the beauty of the music, transported to the ears by using their instruments as a vehicle to get it there. I have chosen two songs that I really enjoy for sampling, but there is more available on their Soundcloud.

At the heart of every indie kid, there is a soft spot for folk music

Dream Apart ment: Legs
Dream Apart ment : Girls
(photo)

Stepping back in time, we are sent to early 1960s California, the mysterious Wolfman Jack is playing his show, howling “Who’s this on the Wolfman telephone?”. Americans are flocking to drive in movie theaters and drive up fast food resturants. The American automobile and television have really began to take off. Teenagers are attending their last high school dance, with music provided by rock bands and doo-wop musicians, some of which most likely sounds like James Frileys’ Idiot Glee, a musician preforming doo-wop soaked in reverb. He currently has a 7” out, of which you can get here.

Ian Perlman recently sent me this stunning video he shot of Idiot Glee at Glasslands in Brooklyn, preforming a cover of Bill Withers’ Ain’t No Sunshine, completely blowing me away. There are organ sounds radiating from James’ equipment, with a voice soaked in reverb, hitting the sweet spot that soul music can bring ever so right.

Idiot Glee - “Ain’t No Sunshine (Bill Withers)” from Ian Perlman on Vimeo.

Idiot Glee: All Packed Up
Idiot Glee: I Want The Night To Stay
(photo)

Creating rifts and holes in the dark clouds of rainy days and thunderstorms are the beautiful Sleep Over goddesses, their music representing the emotions of those who reside in the heavens. Some of those souls are filled with angst and darkness, perhaps because of what they left in their lives, or maybe they feel forgotten in the afterlife. Others are filled with joy and happiness, because they had left the earth knowing they had accomplished everything they had wanted in their lives.

Today, the heavens have opened and a vibrant light has breached through the dark, cloudy morning here in Rhode Island, blessing us with a new Sleep Over track, La Rose. La Rose is a completely striking track, and creates a well-rounded 7” when compared to its’ A-side. It’s a bit slower, and ends the record with a yearn for more, an addiction is most nearly what Sleep Over is.

Forest Family Records’ have opened pre-ordering for their Sleep Over 7”, limited to a press of 500 on clear vinyl, dropping officially on August 10th.

Sleep Over: La Rose

Previously:
Sleep Over: Outer Limits [video/mp3]
(photo)

Pictureplane: WIlliamsburg Waterfront, Brooklyn, NY

Some of you may know Ian Perlman for his work in cinematography, capturing music through the lens of his camera. I recently posted a couple of Twin Sister videos he shot of them live, showcasing his talent that brings us with internet to the live performance.

Ians’ grandpa recently passed away, and left to Ian was his Canon AE-1 35mm camera. Ian has been using the lens on this camera to shoot all of his new live videos, including the Twin Sister ones. In addition to these live videos, he has been using this lens to shoot amazing stills from his Rebel T2i.

The lightning in these photos are quite breathtaking, and Ian believes that the lens has a magical aesthetic to it, flaring light so beautifully and thus creating some very unique photos. Ian has created a tumblr to showcase these stills, named after his grandfather, Grandpa Al.

Perhaps grandpa Al lives on in this lens, choosing the lens to represent his soul as a physical object. As Ians’ full time job is capturing life through his camera, the lens was a fitting choice, following his grandson wherever he goes and giving all of us the gift of Ians’ photography and cinematography.

Thanks, grandpa Al.

Blissed out synth jams comprised of early 90s nostalgia is possibly one of the more accurate ways to categorize Coyote Clean Ups’ laid back style. Chrissy has honed the skill of layering astral synth textures in the background of his tracks, of which Downhill Express and Check Me Out Like Whoa are prime examples of.

Downhill Exxxpress is Coyote Clean Ups’ newest material, and every track is pure gold, a very possible contender for one of my favorite cassettes this year. This limited run C32 is shipping out on I Had An Accident Records July 26th.

Coyote Clean Up: Check Me Out Like Whoa
Coyote Clean Up: Downhill Express
(photo)

Previously:
Coyote Clean Up x Young Marble Giants: Brand New Life [mp3]

At the center of the solar system lies one of our galaxies’ most important stars, the sun, radiates heat from a core equivalent to 15.7E6 degrees Kelvin. Seasonally, the suns’ rays are reeking havoc on us at full force here in the northeastern part of the United States, direct contact from the sun has heat seeping into the pores of our skin.

People who reside in the state of Florida have much more experience living with the suns’ awesome magnitude of heat. Floridas’ upcoming duo, Port City, create glowing lo-fi soul pop songs. Their two demos have been keeping me cool by creating a body of water around me with their vibes, the unforgettable vocal melodies and the apparent drumming in the foreground brings Port City running into your ears.

FEEL IT OUT/DEMO from PORT CITY on Vimeo.

Two friends sharing a lucid dream

Port City: Feel It Out
Port City: Just Goods
(photo)

Photos shot from my Yashica MAT-124G TLR at Eskimo Sisters Gallery for a Farmacy Herbs Benefit on July 2nd.

Related:
Dark Dark Dark: Daydreaming [mp3]
Liz Isenberg [myspace]

Time travel has been a concept pondered about for quite a while now, and has been universally deemed as impossible to travel back in time in our world. The obvious reason for this is that you would cause ripples, or changes, when you came back to the future. For example, it’s possible for you have done something while in the past to cease your own existence. It’s possible you may have been the initial domino to cause the non-existence of an important event in history.

The parallel universe, however, is widely more accepted as a possibility for time travel. A universe that exists in another world, parallel to the Milky Way Galaxy. When this parallel universe is travelled to, the actions and experiences had there will not affect the alternate universe you reside in. They are the same, but they are not; a riddle is most nearly what time travel is.

Michael Parallax was sent from a parallel universe to bless us with computer generated sounds occasionally surrounded with the innocence of the mandolin and ukulele. He has recently released a digital EP here in our universe, called Cough Syrup EP, which features tracks of electronic psychedelia and heartfelt lyrics, some of them perhaps spawned from his childhood.

Michael has all of his work available for digital download at his blog, the song captured live in the video below is called Demons, off of his Ha Ha Hallelujah! EP.

I feel like I can see myself here
Holding a three dollar PBR illegally
Releasing my demons

Michael Parallax: Rainy Vacation
Michael Parallax: Demons
(photo)

XO Kids’ lo-fi sounds are layered deep within the heat of the summer, surrounding you with the lazy bliss that the summer heat can bring.

I had the pleasure of seeing XO Kid play his first show with Run DMT and Tonstartssbandht at a RISD loft in Providence, I had caught the tail-end of his performance and he had left a stinging impression on me since then. It’s a sure reminder of Wavves initial material before his studio-recorded sound.

He has a few digital downloads of music available at his blog, below are Like A Heat Wave and Bleach from his digital download called My First 7”.

XO Kid: Like A Heat Wave
XO Kid: Bleach
(photo)

‘It’s fucking hot out, I just want to go the beach’

Hey all, sorry for the delay with the tapes, I’ve been working on getting the design for it done with Aaron Bouvier, who has donated his professional services to design this cassette. You can see his portfolio here.

All of the information was sent to the tape company last week, and in his most recent update, the masters are done, the imprints are done, and all that’s left is duplication and the O-Cards. I expect to have the tapes in my hands no later than two weeks, (given the shipping is timely) and I will be putting all the Kickstarter goodies together with those who pre-ordered a tape. This delay has given me a lot of time to think about those special Kickstarter gifts, which I believe everyone will be super stoked when received.

Aaron has put a nice folder together containing the art with the MP3’s, and I will be re-sending those out to everyone who purchased them as a more complete representation of the compilation.

I only have a limited number of tapes left for sale, to be specific only six. If you are interested in purchasing a tape, I would do so as soon as possible to assure that you get one. You can purchase one from my Big Cartel store here. Below is a stream of a few exclusives that were made for the tape, Memory Tapes’ heavenly Peter, and Craft Spells’ glowing From The Morning Heat.

Memory Tapes : Peter by SaladFork

From the Morning Heat by SaladFork

20 anos de MPD is a compilation featuring prominent indie artists in Portugal. This compilation features tracks of minimalism, progressive synth, electronica, and experimental just to touch on a few genres. I was turned onto this compilation when Emmanuel sent me his track to premier just yesterday, his rad psych-electro jam Baconnayse. To be quite honest, this is one of the more solid and well-rounded compilations I have heard in quite sometime.

Intro: MPD makes me wanna smoke crack
Strobe: clube de futebol união de coimbra
Mainslide: old song
Once Upon A Time There Was A Beautiful Castle – endless trains to porto
Sensible Soccers – dead and awake
Dreams – daisy
Tiago Sarafado – csta alentejana
Quit – baconnayse
Rephrase – all you need is löw
Wools – have it all
Elite Athlete – do what’s good for that spanish girl called madalena or whatever
Kayl Worska – first riding class
Chuck Tailore – how to whistle through your fingers
We Love You! – grey day

Download

Below are some of my favorite tracks for quick sampling purposes. My next compilation will also feature the track Dead and Awake by the up and coming collective Sensible Soccers. If you are familiar with Washed Outs’ Tour CD-R, you may notice Dreams sampled a piece of track #4 off of this CD-R.

Dreams: Daisy
Wools: Have It All

Twin Sister - “Daniel” from Ian Perlman on Vimeo.

Twin Sister - “Lady Daydream” from Ian Perlman on Vimeo.

Glowing vibes is almost too little to say about the performance captured by Ian Perlmans’ cinematography. There are a lot of Twin Sister videos floating around the internet, but these live performances are the most atmospherically accurate of Twin Sisters’ music; estimating from how I feel about their music and never having the pleasure of seeing them play live.

Previously:
Twin Sister [all posts]

Hailing from another part of the world is Quit, the project of Portugals’ Emanuel Botelho; creating music that will gravitate you into an altered dimension of psychedelic electronica. He has shaken things up in my world before with his collective music project Sensible Soccers, containing a few of his friends.

The sounds, pulses, guitar and drum hits most nearly remind me of wandering in the middle eastern desert. You travel the desert knowing it is the only place in the world where mystery can exist in a place of nothing. Mirages come about only to trick your mind into a state of hope; while you trek on ignoring these downfalls in the name of adventure.

Baconnayse is off of a compilation featuring a few other artists prominent in the Portuguese indie scene and will be dropping tomorrow.

Quit: Baconnayse
(photo)

There’s something about low fidelity recordings that has appealed to me as an avid music listener. I have always had a preference for the rougher, low-quality recordings an artist makes. Perhaps it is the idea that I am getting what am I listening too, I am hearing through a bunch of 0’s and 1’s what I would hear if I am seeing the artist live. It could also be the slight imperfections that come along when recording straight into a computer. The low-quality mic recording the sound presents to me the idea that life is imperfect, making the music more real and tangible for me to relate too.

Green Gerry is an artist from Athens, Georgia who’s music is generally acoustic; with background noises composed of field sounds. More specifically, Green Gerry has captured the sounds of trains, birds, kitchen noises, and even the crowd in front of a coffee shop. I think nearly every fan of indie music in the world can admit to our unadorned love for Bibio, creating music so natural and raw that it is appropriate for whenever you want to think of nature as a musical being. Green Gerry is a reminder of this sound, using the worlds’ sounds at his disposal to create music full of life with the theme of lazy summers and slow-moving rivers, inspired by the southern way of living.

Song Fer Thunderstorms is an A capella track ending with the refreshing sounds of a moving train, birds, a pot, bushes and a moving car; recorded in the backyard of a friends’ house.

The track Beths’ Goodbye features conversations at a house in Georgia, and an amazing choir recorded in front of a coffee shop and in his garage. The lyrics are deep, real, and heartfelt. The guitar strumming and picking will remind you of Nick Drake, and matches the emotion presented lyrically though the track with the utmost accuracy.

While it pains me a bit to speak of the track Linked Sausage Is Delicious, I suppose I have to accept the fact that the southern states adore meat. The mood presented is certainly drowned in the laziness of summer heat, and I think I’ll leave off by saying the promotion of this song is ironic in the most absolute way as it pertains to Salad Fork.

All of Green Gerrys’ tunes are available for free with recommended donation from his bandcamp. Below, are my selections.

Green Gerry: Song Fur Thunderstorms
Green Gerry: Beths’ Goodbye
Green Gerry: Linked Sausage Is Delicious
(photo)