Spotlit: Silkworm Tribute + the Soft Drugs
Posted on September 5, 2006 at 6:03 am | No Comments
Trying something new here on the ‘Nac, where I take a couple discs or artists I’ve been listening to lately and shine a brief but bright spotlight on them. Reasons can be timely (a tour, a new release), nostalgic (a rediscovered old fave), or entirely random, but it’s all music I feel deserves your utmost attention…
The world lost Silkworm when the world lost Michael Dahlquist, a prince of a man and one hell of a drummer, a guy who attacked his kit with the same passion he led his life. It’s no surprise that there was already a Silkworm covers project in the works well before Michael passed away, or that it’s become as much a tribute to the man as it has to his beloved band. The collection is called “An Idiot To Not Appreciate Your Time – The Songs of Silkworm“, and it’s a labor of DIY love all the way. Pulled together by a motivated fan, with contributions from messageboard loyalists, far-away followers, and a bunch of music-making, SKWM-loving friends, it compiles 29 varied tracks over two discs, and the thing is just 8 bucks including shipping (proceeds go to Michael’s charities of choice, the Jane Addams Hull House and the Nature Conservancy).
There are far too many great versions on the tribute to list ’em all, but personal highlights so far are Treasure State‘s cover of ‘Something Hyper‘, the Kadane Bros. (Bedhead / The New Year) with their piano-based ‘Clean’d Me Out‘, The Bismarck’s ‘The Cigarette Lighters‘, a French language take on ‘Beyond Repair‘ by Grand Hotel… oh hell, I’m not even past the first 7 tracks. Take my word for it, I’ve yet to hear a tribute so infused with love and respect for the artist it covers. From the names you might recognize, to the ones you’ve never heard of, everyone’s admiration for one of the best bands there ever was is obvious.
The Silkworm tribute record site has a few of the covers available to download, so here they are with their original counterparts…
The Kyle Sowashes – ‘Slave Wages‘
Silkworm – ‘Slave Wages‘Temper – ‘Ticket Tulane‘
Silkworm – ‘Ticket Tulane‘Trestle Music – ‘Don’t Make Plans Friday‘
Silkworm – ‘Don’t Make Plans Friday‘
The complete tracklisting…
‘An Idiot To Not Appreciate Your Time:
The Songs of Silkworm’disc one…
01. Navigations – ‘Ritz Dance‘
02. Matt & Bubba Kadane – ‘Clean’d Me Out‘
03. Grand Hotel – ‘Beyond Repair‘
04. T.T. Diamond – ‘Contempt‘
05. The Bills – ‘Garden City Blues‘
06. Treasure State – ‘Something Hyper‘
07. The Bismarck – ‘The Cigarette Lighters‘
08. Bass 666 – ‘That’s Entertainment‘
09. Mirror America – ‘Couldn’t You Wait?‘
10. Suzanne the Plan – ‘Grotto of Miracles‘
11. Tre Orsi – ‘Insomnia‘
12. toomanyhelicopters – ‘Drunk‘
13. The Nectarines – ‘Miracle Mile‘
14. The Soft Drugs – ‘Give Me Some Skin‘disc two…
01. Heather Whinna & Steve Albini – ‘Bourbon Beard‘
02. .22 – ‘Raised By Tigers‘
03. Chin & Lester & Franks – ‘Treat the New Guy Right‘
04. LUFF – ‘Quicksand‘
05. mtar – ‘Is She A Sign?‘
06. The Kyle Sowashes – ‘Slave Wages‘
07. The Family Ghost – ‘Oh, How We Laughed‘
08. Tiny Monk – ‘Raging Bull‘
09. The Turnarounders – ‘Young‘
10. Temper – ‘Ticket Tulane‘
11. Maurice Rickard – ‘Shitty Little Yacht‘
12. J. Britt Robisheaux – ‘Pearly Gates‘
13. Joe Sepi – ‘A Cockfight of Feelings‘
14. Volume – ‘Around the Outline‘
15. Trestle – ‘Don’t Make Plans This Friday‘
While you may quickly recognize names like the Kadanes or Steve Albini, there are some other fine artists behind the less-familiar monikers. Here are just a few details, courtesy of compilation curator Isaac himself…
- Bass 666 is 2/3 of a legendary North Dakota band called Straphanger (the longest running NoDak band, forming and playing since 1997).
- Tre Orsi features the sound man for the New Year, Shearwater, and many other great Texas bands. They also include a member of Okkervil River/Shearwater and a member of Slobberbone.
- Navigations hail from Finland, and their frontman is also Trestle Music.
- Grand Hotel/Temper are from France, and are actually the same band (one sings in English and the other in French).
- .22 are from Chicago/Boise, Idaho and Brian O. is now a member of Bottomless Pit.
- The Bismarck are from Seattle, but all the members grew up in NoDak.
- Treasure State is another band from Seattle featuring Mr. Mercer of Joel RL Phelps and the Downer Trio. Mr. Mercer’s brother is the lead singer for the Shins, if anyone cares (and according to Isaac: “Mitch, Treasure State’s drummer, may be the biggest SKWM fan I’ve ever met”).
- The Bills features Mike Dahlquist’s brother on drums.
- Mirror America is John Lee (from aMinature) and friends.
- The Soft Drugs is TW Walsh, formerly of Pedro the Lion and Headphones (more on TW below).
- mtar is Michael the Angry Russian. He owns Russian Recording in Nashville, IN.
- Joe Sepi is an all around great dude and a wizened vet of many, many punk rock bands.
- Suzanne the Plan is a guy named Nick McGaw.
And that’s barely half the contributors.
So here’s the thing: Just 1,000 copies of this thing were printed, and when they’re gone, they’re gone. No do-overs. I’m guessing they won’t last much longer than the Touch & Go Anniversary shows this weekend, where Silkworm’s Andy Cohen & Tim Midgett are playing a set of songs, as is their new band, Bottomless Pit. So head here and order one up straightaway.
And fellow fans, have no fear, ‘cuz this ain’t the last time you’ll be able to buy some Silkworm songs: there’s one more Silkworm disc coming in October from the 12xu label, an EP titled ‘Chokes‘. An unintended, and bittersweet, swan song of sorts.
The Soft Drug’s excellent debut EP, ‘In Moderation‘ (which christens Walsh’s own imprint, Tower of Song) came out a couple months back, and while some summer releases can get lost in the deluge of discs that arrive in autumn, this five-track fix deserves a lasting listen.
There’s a comfort found in these songs, in their meticulously warm crafting, and it’s as ideal for a Sunday morning spin as it is for a late-night mellow out. The EP reveals a impressive attention to multi-track detail, with each song taking on a whole new life between a pair of headphones. While the production may be warm, the song subjects are weighty ones, as Walsh sings of his own self-doubt, strained relationships, driving dilemmas, and growing older. Maybe I’m reading a little too much into the material, since I know a bit about T.W.’s struggle to balance his craft, his day job, and his family life, but there’s much to relate to for anyone trying to juggle those very things as time carries us along.
A couple songs, including ‘Brand New Name‘, have an almost mid-70s soul feel, with bouncing bass lines, gentle keyboard lines, distant falsetto harmonies. I picked up even a hint of Gerry Rafferty’s solo side, with a noticeable (though less strained) Neil Young quality to Walsh’s vocals (and for the few who’ll get the reference, his voice more closely resembles Tom Lawson of the recently-reunited Pants).
It’s worth noting that while it’s clearly T.W.’s project, he enlisted the assistance of some talented friends to play along, including ex-Pedro and current-Senator Senator bassist Ken Maiuri, and ace journeyman drummer/solo artist Frank Lenz behind the kit. Other contributors include Ester Drang’s James McAlister on percussion, Seldom/Crystal Skulls drummer Casey Foubert on drums & guitar for a track, and Crystal Skull’s frontman Christian Wargo for a bit of backing vox. Frequent T.W. collaborators Frank Padellaro and Pedro’s David Bazan (who, interestingly, stopped using a band name for his releases around the same time that T.W. started using one) also pop up in the credits, collectively providing the indispensable services of “online poker, wine, carpentry, and conspiracy theories”.
‘In Moderation’ is the best kind of EP: There’s a cohesiveness in production and songwriting that works ideally in a five-song dose. That said, and assuming a full length may come eventually, I would love to hear T.W. break things up with a full-on rocker (his guitar playing, especially on the great bridge of ‘Defending the Paint‘, shows he can go there), or maybe sparser song or two, like the acoustic Silkworm cover. Either way, I look forward to more; sometimes that fade out on track five comes far too soon, so I hit up The Soft Drugs ‘free monthly demos‘ page for more. Or I start searching online stores for his hard-to-find 1999 debut ‘How We Spend Our Days, the 2001 follow-up ‘Blue Laws’, or 2002’s ‘Pollensongs’ EP. I was an idiot to not appreciate them the first time.
Two songs from the ‘In Moderation’ EP…
Mp3: The Soft Drugs – ‘Defending the Paint‘
Mp3: The Soft Drugs – ‘Don’t Sweat It‘
Order it here.
post soundtrack: the album leaf – ‘into the blue again’
Mp3s: Throwing Muses + 50 Foot Wave live
Posted on September 4, 2006 at 2:33 pm | No Comments
I feel a somewhat close connection to the work of Kristin Hersh, from her Throwing Muses days, through her solo albums, and her most recent trio, 50 Foot Wave. It’s not just because I’ve been religiously listening to her songs and buying her ouput for over 15 years, but also because her music is semi-sort-of responsible for my fatefully finding Amie. It was May of 2000, and while the Muses hadn’t been a band for a few years, they surprisingly reappeared to play something called ‘The Gut Pageant‘ (named for a KH song) here in Cambridge, MA. Solo songs from Kristin, a ‘special surprise guest’ (in the form of Mr. Bob Mould), and a closing set from a reunited Throwing Muses that included appearances by former Muses Tanya Donelly and Fred Abong.
It was for the fans, and not only did they show up, they came from far and farther; not just from the west coast, but the U.K., Australia, the Netherlands, even a couple from Japan. There were so many overseas travellers that a get-together was held at Somerville’s Abbey Lounge the night before, a chance for some familiar Muses messageboard names to be put with faces, and it’s there that I first met Amie. The next night, just before the Muses hit the stage at the Middle East Downstairs, she asked if she could stand in front of me against the upper level railing. And we haven’t been apart since.
The whole event was a special one, the stuff of long-lasting memories; there was a real sense of community not just between the fans, but between us and the TM crew as well. My already high respect for K and Billy (her husband, manager, and primary organizer of all TM-related shows) grew quite a bit that weekend, and it probably goes without saying that I’ll never forget it. So we were more than a little psyched to hear that the Muses would reunite yet again for a few dates this year, during the same summer as our 5th wedding anniversary, and that one show would be in the very same room we were in six years ago. Not only that, but Kristin and bassist Bernard Georges would be pulling double-duty, as 2/3 of openers 50 Foot Wave.
The long line outside the Middle East was filled with many familiar faces, some I’d seen at other area Kristin shows over the past few years, others not since the Gut Pageant. That whole weekend came rushing back as we headed down those stairs, and yeah, Amie and I stood in our exact same spots for the show, up against the railing where it all began.
While I recorded the night with permission, I learned that Billy was able to pull together a last-minute ‘official’ recording setup, and would be making the live sets available online at the Throwing Music site. So as not to take away from any possible sales over at TM, I’m just going to offer a couple tracks from each band here on the ‘Nac, and encourage you to head over and grab the offical mp3s when they’re available (which should be any day now update: official bootleg now available here). Until then, here’s a couple live Throwing Muses songs, recorded from the audience at the Middle East on Friday, August 11th, 2006…
Throwing Muses – ‘Soul Soldier‘ (live)
Throwing Muses – ‘Shimmer‘ (live)
The Muses’ setlist from that night…
01. Hazing
02. Soul Soldier
03. Start
04. Furious
05. Shimmer
06. Los Flamingos
07. Fear
08. Shark
09. Colder
10. Mercury
11. Pretty Or Not
12. Hate My Way
13. Bright Yellow Gun
14. Speed & Sleep
15. Mexican Women
16. Vicky’s Box
17. Beaencore…
18. Pearl
19. Mania
And two songs from 50 Foot Wave…
50 Foot Wave – ‘Long Painting‘ (live)
50 Foot Wave – ‘Clara Bow‘ (live)
50 Foot Wave’s setlist as well…
01. Bug
02. Long Painting
03. Clara Bow
04. Pneuma
05. Hot Pink, Distorted
06. Bone China
07. Fuchsia
08. Lavender
09. Dog Days
For comparisons sake, check out a soundboard recording from the same show, a preview mp3 that will soon be available on that ‘offical bootleg’ over at the Throwing Music online store…
And finally, some links before I leave you…
Read this great post on Kristin Hersh’s blog, in which she shares a story and email from my drumming hero, David Narcizo, as they decided which songs to play at the summer shows. Abby was at the show, and took a few photos. Writer Bobby Hankinson from the Boston Globe was there as well, and provides this glowing review. Take advantage of all the complimentary mp3s that Throwing Music offers from the Muses, 50’~, and KH at their Free Music page. Grateful customers can make a donation there, or buy something else at the TM online store.
the fine print… If anyone has any issue whatsoever with these live mp3s being made available, just say the word (email link at bottom left). Recorded with a Sony ECM-719 mic and a Sony MZ-RH10 minidisc, converted to .wav and then edited to 192kbps mp3s. Mp3s are made available for a limited time, and are will not be available again once removed.