A Free Man

The Chapin Sisters, two of whom actually are sisters, are based out of L.A. They got a bit of attention with a cover of “Toxic” last year. What I’ve heard of their new LP “Lake Bottom” sounds pretty good - twisted Americana a la The Be Good Tanyas.

MP3: The Chapin Sisters - “Washed Away”

Speaking of Americana, the more I hear from Damien Jurado the more I am convinced that he’s one of the best songwriters around right now. This track, from his forthcoming LP “Caught In The Trees” is a perfect example. Golden.

MP3: Damien Jurado - “Gillian Was A Horse”

Clem Snide’s 2001 “The Ghost of Fashion” was a masterpiece and one that I’ve been waiting for them to improve on since. Clem Snide is gone, but Eef Barzelay has a new solo record, “Lose Big”, which ciyky sounds like Eef could be back on track.

MP3: Eef Barzelay - “Lose Big”

For those of you not in Australia, Triple J is a national radio station that is pretty good and seeking out new talent from Down Under. One of their latest contests was to find the nation’s best high school bands. Every time I here this track from Sydney trio (is), I’m just amazed that these are high school kids - and then I feel really old.

MP3: (is) - “Cult Romance” 

The Herbaliser has been making jazz influenced hip-hop out of The Big Smoke since the early 90’s. Their latest, “Same As It Never Was” sounds like it’s got a big old dose of The Big Easy as well. These guys are on tour all over the U.S. and Europe this summer.

MP3: The Herbaliser - “On Your Knees”

A little bit Pavement, a little bit Breeders, New York’s The Dig is making solid guitar based indie-rock and is out on tour suppporting their Good Luck and Games EP. They’re all over the East coast this month check them out in a town near you.

MP3: The Dig - “Lovesick Woman”

If what you are missing in your life is Sikh hip-hop, then A Free Man is here to help you out. Sukshinder Shinda is a Birningham (UK) based producer has been a major player in a scene that I never knew existed. He’s worked on over 200 records and “Living The Dream” is his fifth solo effort. I hope I don’t sound dismissive, because this is the most interesting music I’ve heard this week. Check it out if you’re a fan of M.I.A.

MP3: Sukshinder Shinda - “Aao Gidha Palay Eh”

I’ve heard lots of good things, and continually great tunes, from Seattle’s Throw Me The Statue. But nothing tickled the fancy of a self-avowed 80’s hater this week like their Huey Lewis cover. Their excellent LP “Moonbeams” is out on Secretly Canadian and look for Throw Me The Statue in Europe in October.

MP3: Throw Me The Statue - “If This Is It”

Another New York act, The Virgins, are making delightfully radio friendly funk-influenced pop. Their self-titled debut is out now on Atlantic. These guys are going to sell a lot of records.

MP3: The Virgins - “Rich Girl”

Closing things out this week is a duet from A Free Man’s favorite music scene. Portland’s The Old Believers are making sparse yet strangely melodic folk. They’re on a major tour of the Western U.S. this summer and “Eight Golden Greats” is out on July 10.

MP3: The Old Believers - “There It Is”  

I’ve read about SxSW ad nauseum today and can read no more about it. One of the bands that’s getting pretty much universal praise after the goings on in Austin is Portland’s Blitzen Trapper. I’m not one to gloat (actually I kind of am), but I covered these guys last summer on my personal blog. It’s been a busy day, so if you’ll forgive a repeat…

Portland, Oregon of the first part of the naughties is like the Seattle of the early 90’s or the Athens, Georgia of the early 80’s - it is churning out some of the best bands in the world right now. The Decemberists, Modest Mouse, The Dandy Warhols and The Gossip are all based out of Portland, and that’s not to mention the hundreds of lesser known acts that call this little corner of the Pacific Northwest home.

One of those lesser known acts is Blitzen Trapper, who must win some sort of prize for best band name. This sextet has been generating lots of buzz amongst the cool kids at Stereogum and Pitchfork and have recently signed to Sub Pop. I’ve got about a half dozen free tracks over the past few months, but it was “Sci-Fi Kid” (courtesy of KEXP) that turned my crank this morning with its sort of garage psychedelia sound that transitions into synth heavy carnivalia. “Wild Mountain Nation”(from Stereogum), the title track from their most recent record, features Led Zeppelin guitars with a refreshing country twang reminiscent of “Hot Dog”. Good stuff out of the Northwest - enjoy!

MP3: Blitzen Trapper - “Sci-Fi Kids”
MP3: Blitzen Trapper - “Wild Mountain Nation”

“Wild Mountain Nation” is available from eMusic, and Amazon.

Portland must be a fantastic place to be for a music fan these days. I have managed to stumble into “hot” music scenes throughout my life - I lived in Seattle in the early 90’s and Athens, Georgia in the latter part of that decade. These places pale in comparison to the musical Mecca that Portland has become in the Naughties.

The latest Portland based act to catch my ear is The Helio Sequence, a duet composed of Brandon Summers and Benjamin Weikel. “Keep Your Eyes Ahead” - their fourth LP, and first in four years, was released in January on Sub Pop.

It was the folky, Dylan inspired “Broken Afternoon” that caught my attention on Word Magazine’s free CD, but this track seems to be the exception rather than the rule on “Keep Your Eyes Ahead”. For two mild mannered looking Oregon boys, The Helio Sequence have a big ole sound. Weikel used to drum for Modest Mouse and you can certainly hear the Mouse’s, and some of their Portland contemporaries, influence in Helio Sequence’s latest.I’m not typically a big fan of heavily synthesized music, but Helio Sequence use the keys effectively to establish a loping rhythm that complements but doesn’t overshadow the vocals and guitar. Likewise, there is a fair bit of studio wizardry to generate the swirling, multi-layered, texture that comes through on “Keep Your Eyes Ahead”. Again, it’s not intrusive and serves more to enhance Summers’ and Weikel’s musicianship than hide their failings. Check out “Broken Afternoon” and “Captive Mind” from the new record.

MP3: The Helio Sequence - “Broken Afternoon”
MP3: The Helio Sequence - “Captive Mind”

The Helio Sequence’s “Keep Your Eyes Ahead” is out on Sub Pop and available from Amazon and .

There’s nothing wrong with prog rock. My first college experience was all about soaking up new information. Unfortunately, little of that soaking up occurred in the classroom. As a fraternity pledge at a small private college in the South Carolina foothills I was exposed to all kinds of new stimuli. Most of them have been left along the way, but I still love a lot of the music that I heard there. The Indigo Girls, B-52s, the Grateful Dead, the Eagles all still strike a chord.

I had a fraternity brother who was a big Jethro Tull fan. I have hazy recollections of pre-party evening spent listening to the occasionally pompous flautist and his band of merry men noodling there way through classics like Aqualung, The Whistler and Locomotive Breath. It was really my first exposure to rock so “hard” and the oft-maligned prog rock world. But what really got me going was the 45 minute epic “Thick As A Brick”. I spent many hours analyzing lyrics, dreaming of the English countryside and trying to wring as much as I could out of the St. Cleve Chronicle.

Like much of the music from that time in my life, I lost interest along the way in Ian Anderson and his little Milton. Until the end of last year when Portland, Oregon’s The Decemberist released their major label debut “The Crane Wife”. I’ve been a fan of the band for a couple of years, their previous albums are delightful romps that are ecstasy for the overeducated. Picaresque in particular mixes sea shantys (Mariner’s Revenge Song) with tongue in cheek protest songs (16 Military Wives). And they are a fabulous live act (go and see them if opportunity arrives. So, I looked forward withanticipation, and a little bit of apprehension, to the major label debut. More apprehension as early reviews said “The Decemberists go prog rock”. My mind raced to Yes - a band I’ve never been able to figure out.

Now, “The Crane Wife” is a fine album. Nice sing-alongs such as “O, Valencia”, “Summersong” and my favorite “Yankee Bayonet” (I’m a sucker for a Civil War inspired pop song). It’s beautifully bookended by “The Crane Wife 3” on the front and the yearning “Sons & Daughters” on the back. But, it’s “The Island” that makes this album a beast worth reckoning with. A 12 1/2 minute neo-prog masterpeice. Seven minutes on is a riff that just needs a flute to make Ian Anderson seethe with jealousy. It’s this track and the later “Crane Wife 1 & 2” that make this album into one of the best of ’06. And made me crank the volume up on the iPod this afternoon.

Gain Web