songs:illinois

Thunder In the Family is a bookend to last months post about Mike Gunther (here). The band mixes emo with old timey music (although their motto is “Don’t call us old-timey and we won’t call you emo”). TITF’s new record, A Long, Long Walk By… is out now on Heart Of A Champion.

Everything I wrote about Mike Gunther I think could be cut and pasted right into this post. I’ll just add that I hear a less manic Gogol Bordello in Thunder In The Valley’s music. I also hear a hint of emo in the title song “Altar”. And again that must have something to do with their motto. The band’s record release party is April 28th at The Turf Club in Shelbyville. Buy it here now ($10).

Altar
So The Story Goes

The Moore Brothers should be so much bigger than they currently are. What’s the holdup? Their new release, Murdered By The Moore Brothers, came out March 28 and so far (aside from 1 post by Bars and Guitars) hasn’t made a dent on the blogosphere. I suspect part of the neglect is the fact that they don’t record for a bigger label. They’re on Plain Recordings which has the rights to some Flaming Lips vinyl and released the first Cat Power and also last years Wingdale Community Singers disc.

Are they too gentle and sensitive for indie rock (Sufjan did it)? Too eclectic for folk? Too esoteric? Intelligent? I don’t know but I do know that if all these baby boomers who grew up with Simon and Garfunkel and Crosby, Stills and Nash could hear this they’d abandon their Concert in the Park and reunion discs and put The Moore Brothers on repeat. You can buy it here now directly from the band.

Bury Me Under The Kissing Teens
I Let Myself Go

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One of my favorite labels has just awoken from a long winters hibernation with not one but three releases slated for early summer of 2006. I could write about all three such is the quality of music put out by undertow records. But I think I’ll just write about The Cush. Some say they’re the bestband in Burlington, Vt. which seems like no great achievement. Lets up the ante and say they’re the best band in the upper Northeast.

Cush’s foundation is the husband/wife team of Gabrielle and Burette Douglas but as you can see from the photo the band is expanded to 5 or six people to fill out the sound. And on New Appreciation For Sunshine it sounds like that’s just what they’ve done. “Small Town Movie” is filled with a warm analog layer of feedback, reverb and hiss. On top of that the band layers in fuzzy guitar, ethereal vocals and just the right about of psychadelic americana. Pre-order here.

Small Town Movie

Bonus song from undertow’s other May 16 release by Magnolia Summer (featuring members of The Bottle Rockets, Waterloo and The Linemen) titled from driveways lost view. Pre-order here.

Along for a Ride
Music

Double Bonus: The first song has been released from the upcoming Bloodshot record Zoysia from the Bottle Rockets. I’ve lost touch a bit with this group over the years but “Mountain to Climb” sounds like vintage Bottle Rockets.

Mountain to Climb

Out of tune vocals, embarrassingly simple lead guitar, closed fist acoustic strumming and twee like lyrical matter. Sounds like a bad record, right? Well no, quite the opposite. Lil’ Hospital make it all work somehow. Lil’ Hospital’s new record Heavy Metal sounds nothing like heavy metal thankfully. More like perfect pop, a mix of Jonathan Richman and Tullycraft. The swedes would love this stuff.

Early music by Lil’ Hospital was basically Kevin Alvir in his basement with a 4-track and a drum machine but on the new record the sound has grown to include strings, horns, keyboards and real drums. The result can be found on Total Gaylord Records (if their site was up to snuff) so instead click here or here.

I’m A Lil’ Hospital

Big Sister In Hollywood
Why Why Why

Dana Falconberry has her debut ep coming out later this summer. This Austinite has an incredibly mature sound for such a young woman. Besides her solo project Dana is also a vital part of the more experimental folk group Peter And the Wolf.

I love the sentiment and images in “Paper Sailboat” as the protagonist sends a note off in a paper sailboat with a “wave and a kiss” and waits patiently for some kind of reply. It’s a sad and winsome song. Email her management here (roytaylor@earthlink.net) for more info or just leave a comment on her My Space page.

Paper Sailboat

Bonus: Two demo’s from Peter and the Wolf.

People of the Night
Strange Eyes

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At first I only wanted to post this becasue of the publicity photo. But then as I listened more and read more I really started to get into The CJ Boyd Sexxxtet (heard about `em through Italien blog/podcast Indie Eye). There’s a lot more info about his “solo” bass project and three “solo” records at his proper website here.

This is experimental chamber music for a six piece. There’s probably nothing else like it on Earth. CJ Boyd’s solo work could be compared to some of Charles Mingus’s longer compositions as well as Edgar Meyer’s more out-there solo work. The songs below from 2006′s Fleur du Mal are fairly brooding and if this is their take on the sound of physical love than I’m scared to see anymore. You can buy this here (click on “Listen”)

Here’s To Bacchus
At The End Of Breath

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Well…every day’s a first when you blog. This was the first time I had to search online restaurant reviews for a photo of singer/songwriter Amalea Tshilds. As it happens, not only is she an interesting and eclectic musical artist but she also runs one of the hippest, award winning kitchens in Chicago. Her restaurant Lulu is a popular destination in the artistic enclave of Logan Square. Her debut record, Painted Tiles, is due out May 30 on her own imprint called Fallen Fan.

There are a number of excellent songs to sample on her website here but it’s the first song on the record (isn’t it always!?) that really stikes a chord. Of course what I like about it is the same things I love about recent songs by Rachel Ries, Shelley Short, Birdie Busch and Casey Dienel and that is the sweet, unadorned melodies that seem to have always existed but are only recently being rediscovered and put on to disc by these women. So here’s the first track “Distant Town”. Contact Amalea and her label Fallen Fan to purchase Painted Tiles – info@fallenfan.com.

Distant Town

Bonus song:

Lafayette

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I’m not going to write these up officially. They’re the two “legal” leaked tracks from Drag City’s May releases. Faun Fables’ The Transit Rider and Espers II. These are both freaky folk and interchangeable in a way. I like this stuff though reminds me of some of the music SST Records was putting out in the late 80′s.

But mainly I just get a kick out of mentally picturing the rawk staff at Drag City trying to bang their heads to this stuff.

Transit Theme – Faun Fables
Mansfield and Cyclops – Espers

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Songs:Illinois was mentioned (favorably, thank goodness) in an article that’s being picked up by many newspapers in Canada through the wonder of syndication. Here’s a link to the article (which also namedrops Said The Gramaphone and PopSheep).

Web offers fans endless opportunites for discovery

P.S. Thanks to Helen Spitzer for the shout out.

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Of course there are just some bands I’ve missed out on and I’m just never going to make a connection with. Seattle’s roots rockers Straw Dogs is a perfect example. I’ve heard rumblings but never come across their music. It’s too late for me to catch up with Straw Dogs but it’s not too late for frontman’s Darren Smith’s latest solo release Last Drive (Crafty Records, April 6, 2006)

The sound is pure americana with pedal steel, mandolin, accordian and dobro. Darren’s voice and the way he structures his songs reminds me of recent stuff from Slaid Cleaves. It’s tasteful and every element from the instrumentation to the backing vocals are just perfect. Buy it here now.

Dogtown Mines
Last Drive

Bonus song from Straw Dogs 2005 release Tell The Rising Sun

That One

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