Tag Archives: Folk

Follow your only instinct

9 Feb

The day glows warmly. It’s sunny, but the woods cause the sunlight to create dull shadows even at midday. There’s a lonely cabin near a creek. During the winter months, the chimney pumps out smoke from the fireplace, but it’s not winter yet, so all is silent. The air is cool, a breeze causes the trees to sigh. The cabin is hollow, cavernous even, without furniture or many walls. In the middle of the room are instruments and amps and sheets of music, all carelessly piled atop one another. This is the hypothetical space where Colorado Youth conceived their debut album, Only Instinct.

This is a cohesive folk album, but it often feels like more than that. One of my favorite tracks is “Fare You Well,” a soft four minute melody. Other tracks are louder, with fuller swells of guitars and brusque vocals, but still others are stripped down and acoustic. Listen closely and you may even catch a banjo.  Only Instinct’s opening track, “Tricks,” sets the tone with a slow-burning intro, a choral refrain, and eventually a taste of the true form that Colorado Youth exhibits. Powerful vocals demand to know, “is it just my mind playing tricks on me?” We’re being had, you and me both.

Only Instinct is out now. For more information, visit Colorado Youth on Facebook.

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Top Songs of 2014 – #7: “Stolen Dance” by Milky Chance

6 Dec

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We are bending the rules for the next hit. Milky Chance, the eccentric German folk/rock duo, hit it big with its hit “Stole Dance” (our only band/song rhyming couple on the list) in 2013. And when I say big, I mean really big. Seemingly countless charts (usually in the top 10) and 500,000 sales in the United States. While I first heard of this song back in 2013 because if its tremendous popularity around the globe, it didn’t truly take off on U.S. radio stations until 2014, and much of the country first heard of the hit in 2013. That said, “Stolen Dance” is finding its way onto the 2014 chart at #7.

After three years of work on this song, Clemens Rehbein and Philipp Dausch released it in 2013 and it almost immediately found tremendous success; it has eclipsed 90 million YouTube views as I write this. The reason for the success is simple; the song is excellent.

The song, which tells the story of intense loneliness, features music that matches the melancholy lyric. Clemens Rehbein’s voice is drenched in a lagubrious tone that matches the lightly plucked guitar and persistent electronic percussion. The chorus is a bit livelier, but the song is majestic because of its ostensible monotone. In all reality though, Rehbein and Dausch create a song that creates the impression of bedragglement. Yes, that is a partial neologism. Initially the listener thinks the song is eclectic, weird, and tries to run through it to avoid getting poured on, but around a minute into the piece the listener acquiesces and just allows the song to pour over them like an immense rainstorm. In that there is some serious beauty. Well done sirs!

Find out more about the band on its Facebook, Twitter, and Webesite

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No Vacancy

21 Nov

Liza AnneWriting just the title of a song can be a very crucial display of your artistry. Most songs have obvious names, clearly so that a listener may be able to remember it later to look it up and buy it on iTunes. But some bands take a different, but equally tame approach, naming their song something tangentially related or clever. Of Montreal takes the cake for throwing all naming conventions out the window, but my favorite titles are the misnomers. The best example of this is Band of Horses’ “No One’s Gonna Love You”; the lyrics are actually the exact opposite of how callous the track’s name may suggest: “No one’s gonna love you more than I do.” This is so brilliant, so casually passionate. Liza Anne makes her own mark with “Room.”

Especially after my obsession with Glasser’s most recent album full of ideas of physical space, Interiors, I initially assume Liza Anne’s single is a place, an area of her home that perhaps she has felt emotion that she’ll share in the lyrics. Emotion she shares, but the room she speaks of is not tangible. “I shoulda known you didn’t want me, you didn’t have any room to want me,” she accuses. This “room” is an assessment of space, but there is none left. Contrary to what I assumed from the title, there is no room.

“Room” will have a digital release on December 16th. Check out more information on Liza Anne on her website.

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Snippets of Feeling: an interview with Kathleen Mary Lee

14 Nov

A few weeks ago, I wrote about a delightful new folk artist, Kathleen Mary Lee. I discussed her latest single, “Hours Gone By,” and now she is back with a video for the track. I was also privileged enough to virtually sit down with Kathleen (we were both at computers in our respective homes), and ask her some questions about her music and the new video. Continue reading →

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Side Saddle writes warm, comfortable folk music, not just for horseback riding

3 Nov

With the volume of music being created today, it is refreshing to hear an artist that capitalizes on the fundamentals of songwriting. Ian McGuiness released a new folk record this year as Side Saddle, and is forthright and earnest from the outset. As a nod to his hometown, McGuiness calls his album The Astorian, allowing us to feel the upstate New York environment that so moves him.

The album opens up with “When It’s All Done,” a welcoming number. I find myself pulled in with the familiar chord progressions and the crescendoing chorus toward the end. Next up is another strong track, “Halcyon,” and the melodies branch out from there.  The album takes on this satisfying tone, one where I know where the album is going to take me, but I am happy to join Side Saddle on the journey. A journey that concludes with one of the strongest tracks, “Lush.” It starts out as a contemplative ballad, lamenting an old love, until it picks up with driving drum beat. Then enter heavy guitars, anchored by a gentle piano riff. An impressive finale to a solid folk-pop record.

The Astorian is out now. Find more information on Side Saddle’s tumblr.

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