I wrote about the extremely lofi twee folk of Andrew Phillip Tipton a while back (here and here). Now Andrew’s got a new ltd. edition covers record out. These two songs have a lot in common with classic Daniel Johnston. They share his fondness for out of tune ukeles, banjos and tinkling keys. Andrew’s voice is somewhere between that of a whisper and a the sound of a child. Thus it’s perfectly suited for this creepy Belle and Sebastian cover and the spooky version of the theme song to Disney’ ride The Haunted Mansion.
Asaurus is now over as a label. It sounds like it will return as some type of music blog/webzine. The label’s last release is fittingly by The Mathletes. The Mathletes are an impossible to pigeonhole lofi rock band that claims to be the best cover band in Texas, on an unrelated note the lead singer is a reluctant expert on Marmaduke comics. Think Velvet Underground meets Daniel Johnston.
I always thought music blogs were put on this earth to support ventures like Asuarus. True indie labels that don’t hire Fanatic, AAM or Force Field to create a false buzz on undeserving bands. But seeing the lack of posts about Asaurus over the last 4 years has led me to re-evaluate what the bulk of music blogs do and where their allegiances lie (ie $$$, tickets, tshirts, box sets).
The 100 disc run of #$@% You and Your Cool is sold out but maybe you can convince Mathew to burn a few more here.
There’s a bit of sad record label news this morning. Asaurus Records has announced it’s taking a permanent vacation. Asaurus is/was one of the coolest little lofi records on the planet. Their catalog consists of seminal recordings by Colin Clary, the Mathletes, Pants Yell!, Red Pony Clock and Capstan Shafts.
The last threatened release should be something new from The Mathletes in June. It may or may not include these cover songs released this year as a free download. Here’s “What Goes On” by VU and “Seeing Other People” by Belle and Sebastian. In the meantime head over to the Asaurus store before it closes for handmade, cdr releases from all of the above plus many more.
Hey there, here’s some straight talk for ya. I’ve got solicitations to write about every minor and major release out at the moment (and then on up through May), but I’m bored with each and every overproduced one of them (no offense…sorry pr folks). Luckily somehow last night in a very odd case of six degrees of separation I came across Tony Wain And The Payne.
Tony Wain and co. walk the fine line between being quaint hobo’s and outright hoodlums. Their MySpace page says they met in the local Ashville, N.C. drunk tank and I don’t think there is an once of irony to be found in that statement.
The songs below are rough demos, but I expect the finished product will sound very similar to this. This is lofi country performed by a generation that missed out on the punk movement but is still willing to fly the freak flag high. Impossibly these guys have a live date on their docket this week - so if you’re down in Ashville catch the band at Harvest Records at 8pm on March 27.
I’m always worried that Asaurus Records is on the cusp of throwing in the towel. Sometimes months go by when they don’t update their website and I start to worry. But they did just update and improve their site, so hopefully we’ve got them for another year at least. In fact, in February there’ll be a new record out that is a lo-fi compilation of covers of Depeche Mode tracks. Grumpy Bear contributes this cover of the song “World Full Of Nothing”. The previous outing from Grumpy Bear on Abandoned Love Records was much listened to in my house, so I’m happy to hear something “new” from them.
“World Full Of Nothing” is from the February release called Letting You Down Again: Lo-fi Vs. Depeche Mode. According to Asaurus it’s taken three years to put this baby together. I don’t have a track listing yet, but expect some of your favorite Asuarus bands to be represented (Colin Clary, Pants Yell, Mathlete and hopefully the Capstan Shafts). There’s a gauziness to the track below where you just want to reach your hand into the mix and pull back all the layers and get to the root of the sound. That’s done for you, thankfully, right at the very end of the song by the band itself.
Hey, completely new topic. Did all my sad little rants about the greatness that is The Felice Brothers finally pay off? Don’t know, but they have been picked up by Team Love and will release a compilation of all their best stuff on March 4. Here’s a song that will no doubt be on there. Good going, boys!
P.S. Swedesplease has an excellent collaboration between Grumpy Bear and Anna Järvinen called “Round The Bend”.
P.P.S. Hey just an administrative fyi. I just added an email subscription box to the right. Simply put your email address in the box and click enter and in the future you will receive Songs:Illinois updates directly to your email inbox.
P.P.S.S. Also the radio player on the right is working like a charm. Check it out!
Glad you found me at my new url. Songs:Illinois is committed to writing about music that is under-appreciated and unique. I've found that the music I write about shares a couple of traits. And they are: lyrical integrity, musically diverse, and written/performed by compelling characters.
Most songs found here are free and legal and have been provided by either the artist or label. If for some reason you'd like to have a song removed, please email me at cbonnell (at) gmail.com.
