All Those Stacks

You know the ones (especially if you live with a lot of people). The stacks of random Cd's, burnt, in cases, traded for when on tour, picked up out of free boxes...you know, they build up, you never listen to them- you stick to what you know. Well, this past month, I've been chipping away at all the Cd's around my house. My house is a revolving line-up co-op house, many of which being touring musicians, so they have built up to the point of not being able to access the Cd you want without a stack or two falling over. So, I've been bringing them to work, popping them in at random... and occasionally finding some goodnesses.

Marriage + Cancer- ST- This release on Seattle's, mostly experimental and ambient, label Aphonia Recordings was kind of a surprise in that it didn't turn out to be very experimental or very ambient. It has a kind of retro feel, various elements of 60's pop, folk, and country. Some synths and some reverb on the vocals give it an airy feel that probably appeals to the Aphonia aesthetics. I might make it sound a bit unexciting, but it's pretty darn good, actually. Looks like they put out a follow-up to this, which I'll probably check out, since this shows miles of potential. Marriage + Cancer reside in Portland, Or.
Marriage + Cancer- The Drinking Lady

Gowns- Red State- for being a band that Jordan O Jordan has covered, this shit is dark. And I love it. There just might not be words for what it is. Guess one of them is from Amps for Christ, which I've always thought was a pretty awesome noise project.

Wooden Wand- Harem of the Sundrum & The Witness Figg- the sparse, old-time folk aesthetic done fairly weird. I like it, but kind of wish for a bit more depth in some of the songs. The male/female vocals works real well with this. Came out in 2005 on the now-defunct Kill Rock Stars side-project, 5RC.

OK Vancouver OK- The Balcony- one i've heard a lot about without ever hearing. I think this is the solo project from a member of the Greenbelt Collective, a pretty fun, massive, live band. This album is cool; like one epic mixtape, sound collage-ish with songs peaking out here and there. It's kind of the old Microphones way of conceptualizing an album, but whereas I'd wait for the songs in the Microphones tape noise madness, I wait for the tape noise with OK Vancouver OK. Not to say that the songs are bad, I just think he makes some good noise.

Lisa Bozikovic- EP- pretty engaging, a touch Joni-esque, folk from Toronto. Don't have the slightest where this one came from, but I really like it.

Papa M- Sings- Didn't know anything about this person and never would have guessed from the folk-country banjo numbers that this guy is a former member of Slint, Stereolab, and a million other groups. Well, I'll say that, removed from all of its contexts, this album is very pleasant. A good lazy Sunday, hanging out, working on zine, kind of album.



photo by alex smith
A real highlight, though, was finding a Kickball/Fear Kittens "Live at Speed Limit 35" CD. Speed Limit 35 was an old Olympia house show venue from 6 or so years ago that was run in large part, from what I can remember, by the one-and-only John Manini. I'd never heard this live recording, nor do I think I was at the show, but it's such a time capsule of Olympia music, it brings me back to an era that suddenly seems long gone. (Sigh). One particular song stood out...in that I don't remember it at all. Total jam, though.
Kickball- Raindrops