by ImperfectFifth | Nov 20, 2018 | perspective
If there is one thing we can learn from Shawshank Redemption, it is this: we have to either get busy living or get busy dying. Americana trio The Deep Hollow are firmly planted in the former. Through their sophomore record, Weary Traveler, Micah Walk, Liz Eckert and Dave Littrell dig into this sorrowful life of getting older, longing for a stable home and the sometimes unbearable weight of the open road. Sonically, the band fits somewhere between the pulse of Patty Griffin and John Prine and the adventure of Jason Isbell, The Lone Bellow and Brandi Carlile. Below, Dave Littrell shares the story of his first musical experiences and how they shaped him as a musician.
Growing up, like many, our home was filled with music. It seemed like the radio was always on, a record or cassette was always playing, or a music video was always on our TV. After all, I am most definitely a product of the MTV generation. When Sting sang “I want my MTV!” in the introduction to “Money For Nothing,” his declaration was powerful and something this 7 year old could rally behind!
I am so grateful to have grown up in a home where music wasn’t just entertainment or background noise, it was important. You could even say it was a family value. I remember walking into the house after school to the sounds of Otis Redding, The Temptations, Diana Ross, The Beach Boys, Simon and Garfunkel, James Taylor, Stevie Wonder, and on and on. The Beatles LIVED in our home as far as I was concerned. John and Paul sang me to sleep most nights. We even had a full jukebox in our basement where my parents and their friends would spend nights and weekends singing (loudly) to their favorites. My mom had this charming habit of taking anything you said to her and breaking into a song. If I was being annoying to my older brother and he said “Stop!” she’d burst right into “Stop, in the name of Love, before you break my heart…” She still does it this day. This pure love for music shaped me in a way I could never imagine. I was just a kid who liked dancing in the kitchen to Motown artists, never realizing what an influence those experiences would have on me as I grew older. As a father, I try to pass that love onto my kids and there’s nothing more fun than watching my kids sing and dance to those same songs.
With that said, it is a little difficult to write about my “First Record.” To be honest, I’m not exactly sure what that record specifically was, because there were so many. But, The Beatles were kings in our household so “My First Record” has to be a Beatles album.
My uncle owned a huge record collection AND a great stereo system, which means Uncle Del was obviously the coolest guy in the world. Our tight-knit extended family all lived in the same small town in central Illinois so naturally we spent a lot of time together. Anytime I was at his house I would run directly to his stereo and start poring over his records and cassettes. He had these expensive headphones which allowed the music to be directly implanted into my brain. It felt like these musicians were playing just for me. The music was so crisp and clear, much better than my little tape player at home. It sounded so amazing! My first experience with Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” and Billy Joel’s “52nd Street” were through these marvelous wonders of technology, but hearing The Beatles through these headphones was one of the most perfect memories of my young life.
“Beatles” was hand-written on this cassette tape and once I started listening I couldn’t stop. I think I had heard a lot of the songs before, because like I said, my Mom was a big fan. But this was different. Listening on headphones made these songs have more depth and they came alive. I couldn’t necessarily relate to the infatuated teenage lovesick lyrics or the heartache caused by my crush not answering the door or telephone in “No Reply.” (I would uncover those gems later as I experienced my own girl-crush drama.) But the melodies, harmonies, energy, and songcraft were undeniable. I distinctly remember swinging on the swing set in the backyard as the sun was setting and listening over and over. I couldn’t believe that I loved every song. With other artists, even artists I loved, I didn’t like every single song. My uncle gave me this tape (or I just kept it, who can remember?) and I became a life-long Beatles fan.
Later, I wanted to use some birthday money to buy my own, proper copy of my favorite record. (Uncle Del also said it would probably sound better if it wasn’t a taped copy.) After perusing through the cassettes at our Sam Goody at the local mall with my Mom, I realized I didn’t know the actual name of the album. It just said “Beatles” on my tired, worn-down copy. After looking at all the titles, we discerned that the tape I had listened to religiously contained the first side of “Beatles For Sale” AND the entire “Rubber Soul.” Just looking at the songs on these two records floods me with memories and remind me what incredible songwriters they were. I still play several of these songs, and “In My Life” was used in my wedding ceremony, for example.
I am constantly on the lookout for new music, and I hope to find an artist that can even come close to replicating that feeling I had listening to Rubber Soul for the first time. Unfortunately, I don’t think it can really happen. My adult brain inevitably gets in the way and I immediately decipher lyrics or chord progressions instead of listening to music the way I did as a kid. I think we should all try to listen like a kid, because it was magic.
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Keep up with The Deep Hollow here.
by ImperfectFifth | Nov 20, 2018 | soundtrack
I’m always inspired by songs that are filled with strong and seamless vocals. I love listening to stripped down pop songs where you can really hear the artist sing. It feels raw and intimate, almost like a private concert. So here are some of my favorite acoustic style pop tracks with a little R&B flair. You can only listen if it also involves wine, cheese and good company.
Daniel Caesar – Best Part (feat. H.E.R)
Camila Cabello – Real Friends
Kehlani – Honey
Noah Cyrus, MAX – Team
Ella Mai – Naked
Mila J – No Brakes
Elijah Blake – Mama Knows
Tori Kelly – Paper Hearts
Rihanna, Kanye, Paul McCartney – FourFiveSeconds
Lauv – The Other (Stripped)
Frank Ocean – Ivy
Cody Simpson – Home To Mama
Jorja Smith – Goodbyes
Troye Sivan – My My My! (Acoustic)
Rudimental, James Arthur – Sun Comes Up (Acoustic)
Keep up with Arlene here.
by Phlis | Nov 19, 2018 | show review
Arriving at the venue I didn’t know what to expect, I was very familiar with Frozen Nation’s music. I should be, Alteria Anarchy was the first radio show to air Frozen Nation’s first single I Failed for you and I was the first journalist ever to interview them. I had become very good friends with Idris but this is the first time I would have met him in the flesh. The venue itself was a very artistic place, one side where the music happened and the other a very arty bar.
The first person who I met and recognised was Moss, the frontman of Frozen Nation. A tall handsome man who when I said Moss I’m Phill his face lit up and I was greeted with a big hug for a welcome. Frozen Nation are one of the very few bands I have a very close affinity to, a band like only a couple more that I have seen grow and followed. It felt like meeting someone I have known all my life but yet I was meeting in the flesh for the first time. After Moss greeted me he introduced me firstly to my great friend Idris of whom again I was met with a big hug and a smile, then to Dorian of whom I had never actually spoken to but yet he like Moss and Idris just seemed like part of my extended family.
As the night rolled on Idris, Moss and Dorian were there making sure we had a great night. They introduced us to people and the whole air of the gig was very much a personal one, to say we were made welcome is truly the understatement. It was a perfect night with great friends, but to my honour my great friends were also the headline band. Dorian chatted to me and told me the very intricacies of the music and told me stories of Elvis. Me being a Jethro Tull fan I was wowed by this.
Swan Death came on and they were very Goth Rock in style, their style mixed with their visuals blended well and was a great opening act.
Perverted By Language had more an attitude, slightly punkish and again really great live.
But I was waiting, waiting to see my friends, the headline band. The lights were dim and then the music started and so did the visuals in the background. As the music began the crowd just started to move. I had listened to Dark Belgian Disco so many times so when I heard Genghis Khan my body also started to instinctively move, the music just put you under a spell and you just couldn’t help yourself. Then in the background the silver spinning disco ball led to the title track of Frozen Nation’s album, Dark Belgian Disco which was played with perfection.
I personally was waiting for one song, the song that has been on my alarm since the first day I heard it. The song people have heard so much on Alteria Anarchy, my favourite song. And as I heard the start of I Failed For You, Idris shouted “This is for you Phill”, to say this was a true honour was an understatement. One of my favourite bands, my friends, dedicate my favourite song to me was just unbelievable. I couldn’t help myself move and then following I Failed For You was Come On To The Ride which is another song that is just so funky with such a great feeling.
As they played more yet another familiar favourite played, Give Me The Perfect Song. I was singing and dancing, I just couldn’t stop myself and neither could the people at the gig. Then followed Alone In Berlin, I couldn’t believe just how much perfection had been given to us. I love the sound of Frozen Nation, it’s just pure and funky. Dark but yet the lights shinning from that disco ball just shine brightly.
The night ended and I couldn’t thank Idris, Moss and Dorian enough. We had a long day so that’s where the night ended for me, but that’s not where this story ends.
The day after we met Frozen Nation, they took us to this amazing Belgian restaurant and treated us to lunch and beer. We just chatted more about the music of Frozen Nation. Dorian, Idris and Moss were just so passionate about their music and from what I heard & felt from the gig it shows. The guys spoke and Dorian said “Would you like to see our studio, would you like to meet Elvis?”, how could I refuse? After a pleasant walk through the streets of Brussels with the guys showing us the wonderful sights and telling us the stories and folklore of where we were walking we arrived at the studio. I was in awe, all the old analogue equipment that gave Frozen Nation their unique and wonderful sound. Dorian showed me where they record and how they do it, then in a smaller noise proofed room there he was there was Elvis. Dorian told me how they use him and how he is just like a person and the stories that made him feel that way.
We sat and chatted more, Idris and Dorian stayed in the studio to do a little work and Moss took us for a beer before we had to leave. Big hugs from Idris and Dorian, I felt sad in a way as I was leaving two of my close friends. We left for the pub with Moss. Nice beer too, traditional Belgian beer. Well you can’t go to Brussels without tasting the amazing beer now can you? As the time came close that we had to leave to come home Moss even walked with us to the tram station. We bought tickets and with one last hug from my friend Moss we were on our way.
The whole experience is one I will never forget, Frozen Nation themselves and the wonderful city of Brussels. I cannot thank my friends Idris, Moss and Dorian for an amazing weekend and for the amazing music. Thank you for letting me introduce the world to that wonderful Dark Belgian Disco sound and also for your friendship.
Frozen Nation we will be back, thank you.
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by: Phill Bruce
by Meredith Schneider | Nov 19, 2018 | albums, review
At a very important time, Kansas City-based alt garage rock band The UK’s – comprised of Noah Bartelt (Lead Vocals/Guitar), Scott Combs (Guitar/Vocals), Katelyn Miles (Bass), and Tarquin Eugene Kellough (Drums) – has released a 5-track EP, affectionately and poignantly titled American Way of Death. From the very first, melancholic sounds of “Why Don’t You Go” – which hits a stride that makes you want to add it to your “walking the streets of the city like a badass” playlist – through the 60s punk-influenced soundscape of “Wake Up”, all the way through third track “AWOD” which follows suit, there is an electricity that makes you realize that incredibly underrated music comes from the midwest. (Hello, Holy White Hounds and Mess!)
Cut to “The Poison Squad” and you’ve got a track we could easily find ourselves barbecuing to on a chilly autumn day, dancing to at a sweaty basement party, or driving to down the Kansas City streets. It all comes to a head with fifth and final track “Other Team”, which brings in that fun, vintage, upbeat feel again. If you’re not careful, you just might find yourselves on the ceiling too…
Keep up with The UK’s here.
by ImperfectFifth | Nov 19, 2018 | perspective
One part June Carter sassing Johnny Cash along with two dashes of Itzhak Perlman on a midnight hayride, Mad Crush’s songs contain theatrical, back-and-forth performances between their singing protagonists Joanna Sattin and John Elderkin. Complete with humor and heartbreak, their songs are in fact bright little dramas about fussing, fighting, and occasionally making up—universal truths sprinkled with brand-new magic dust. Below, Elderkin discusses his first musical influences, which are readily apparent upon listening to Mad Crush’s recently-released debut LP.
I have a habit of dismissing great albums on my first listen. I had friends with an advanced copy of Nirvana’s “Nevermind” who freaked out when they heard it, but when I listened, I thought it sucked. Later, I gave it another try and realized I was way wrong. Like the rest of the world, I ate it up. I had a similar reaction to R.E.M.’s first EP, called “Chronic Town.” Friends I respected said that it sounded unlike anything they’d ever heard anywhere. I listened and shrugged. It was different, but what was it? But when I pulled the record out again a few months later, I was flabbergasted. Those guys were speaking my language!
The one time I got it right came before these albums, on my first listen to The Clash’s “London Calling.” I was a teenager but I’d never heard of The Clash, and I bought it because I liked the cover picture of the bass player smashing his guitar on stage. I turned on my record player and by the end of the first song I was jumping up and down on my bed like a maniac. When my younger brother came in to ask what the hell was going on, I pointed to the record player and sure enough, he jumped on the bed, too. The only time I got down was to turn over the sides. I didn’t own a lot of records yet, and afterward I probably assumed that most albums would knock me out this way, that life would be one “London Calling” after another. Maybe that’s why I wasn’t so impressed later with other records that were supposed to bowl me over. Or maybe it’s just that great…
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Keep up with Mad Crush here.
by Meredith Schneider | Nov 16, 2018 | albums, review
Chicago-based shoegaze/pop collective Lightfoils releases new five track EP Chambers today, and we’ve got your first listen below! (Or fourth, or fifth, or twelfth… who’s counting?) The five-piece – comprised of Zeeshan Abbasi (guitar), Jane Zabeth (vocals), Cory Osborne (bass), John Rungger (drums), and Neil Yodnane (guitar) – wastes no time getting into the psych feels with the kaleidoscope intro to first track “The Bitter Over”, which layers into a cacophony of sound that seems to envelope your senses. “Duende” brings the same level of otherworldly vocals to it, a little more depth to the guitar parts than its predecessor. While “This Time Is Up” brings with it a punk garage band instrumental soundscape, we’re still left wondering how Zabeth can reach such insane places with her vocals. But I digress.
“Summer Nights” might, at first, make you feel a little bitter about the warm evenings being long behind us, but it also provides that whirring nostalgic feeling that makes it feel like summer might not ever end. (And it doesn’t have to if you don’t want it to!) Last track “Honeydew” brings with its title the same lust for warmer months, though we know we can relive those nights with this as the backdrop any time we damn well please.
Pick up this EP. It’s well worth it.
Keep up with Lightfoils here.
by Meredith Schneider | Nov 16, 2018 | albums, review
The world has waited since 1997’s RAPT to hear a follow-up from folk singer-songwriter Rebecca Blasband. Having spent some time producing sound design and music for television and film, she clearly has a knack for what works with her audience, a fact evident within the tracks on Here. Rebecca wastes no time, jumping right into gorgeous ballad “Love Is”, getting a little more primal with the percussive instrumentals. The title track seems to slow the pace down a bit, a lot more introspective than its predecessors. While “Walking On Water” is a song you could see yourself singing around a fire with your closest friends, while “Who The Hell is Peter Brown?” might get a little more attention at a karaoke bar. (It’s got an edge to it a crowd can’t deny!)
“Those Happy Days” picks the pace back up of course, quirky and fun in its existence, while “Ghost Song” slows it all down a bit more, getting very real with lines like “Sometimes I think I’m just gonna disappear / Waste away / In thin air.” If you feel a little out of control of your life right now, this track will resonate in its entirety. “Way Of The World” is a slap of reality, while “Gotta Work It Out” reintroduces that edge we fell for earlier. “Target” is soulful, psychedelic and perfection in most situations, though you might want to be careful about playing the beginning of it while driving. “Long Distance Love Affair” rounds it all out in a bittersweet and beautiful way, as mention of a long distance love affair brings a level of melancholy to an already meandering and blues-y song. It’s the perfect end to the album, as it makes us all feel a little detached by the end of it.
Here is available now. Keep up with Rebecca Blasband here.
by ImperfectFifth | Nov 15, 2018 | soundtrack
When I made a list of my favorite songs, I realized that all the songs chosen had deeply influenced me in one way or another. To be honest, it was my first time creating a compilation playlist. The process was quite enjoyable and enlightening.
All of these artists are unique, expressive, innovative and have made a lasting impact on me. Although exposing my roots leaves me feeling a bit naked… I hope you can enjoy these songs as much as I have!
At the end of the day, I still think of myself as just a music lover and mega geek.
Pavement – Mellow Jazz docent
The Breeders – Off You
The Cardigans – Starter
Portishead – Sour times
Aimee Mann – Red Vines
Beck – Pay no mind
Pixies – Hey
Smashing pumpkins – Hummer
Mannequin Pussy – Romantic
Autolux – Here comes everybody
Sonic Youth – Becuz
Garbage – Queer
Nirvana – Sliver
Red hot chili pepper – Warm Tape
Cornelius – New Music Machine
Ks choice – I smoke a lot
Dinosaur Jr – In a Jar
Keep up with Cream with a K here.
Photography: Kenta Karima
Styling: Yuuki Sakamoto/Shop Yaiya
Hair & Make up: Rina Taniguchi
by ImperfectFifth | Nov 15, 2018 | soundtrack
I am celebrating girl power with this playlist! These are women who have inspired me to write my music and live my life from a place of strength. The list spans from my vocal idol Linda Ronstadt to my girl crush Sia.
I believe music is one of the best ways we can connect as human beings and heal together throughout this crazy journey. Enjoy!
Keep up with Brooke Moriber here.
