Tag Archives: Chris Walla

Articles

The Lonely Forest – E.P.

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The Lonely Forest - E.P.The Lonely Forest – E.P. (Trans)

“Nashville you’re much too safe,” advises Lonely Forest vocalist John Van Deusen on “Live There,” one of the songs on the Anacortes, Washington digital-only e.p. “Quit weighing the pro’s and con’s, just create,” he admonishes, like he’s been around the block enough times that he’s got the answer to Music City’s creativity problems.

You should know that Van Deusen is in his early twenties and he hasn’t strayed far from his small-town hometown in the Pacific Northwest. Hardly the epitome of the school of hard knocks, and with barely more than a couple of records under his band’s belt, he’s not a deep source of catalog experience.

But Van Deusen and company do have the benefit of one Chris Walla, the Death Cab For Cutie sound architect who has a boutique label arrangement with Atlantic Records and a pretty impressive resume of knob twiddling.

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Articles

Tegan and Sara – Sainthood

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Tegan and Sara - SainthoodTegan and Sara – Sainthood (Sire)

Following the pop tart approach initiated on The Con, Tegan & Sara‘s latest (Sainthood) continues the tradition of New Wave gloss thanks to another go-round with Death Cab For Cutie‘s Chris Walla behind the studio glass.

What is surprising is how Sainthood tastes like there’s nearly twice the sugar as The Con. Despite the heavy-handed album title and visually stunning cover art, the two have completely severed all traces of their folkie past and are gunning for a more mainstream audience.

And what band does Tegan and Sara most resemble as they work their way into sweet realms of pop?

Missing Persons, circa Rhyme & Reason.

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MP3s

Forkast Roundup: Round VII

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It’s been several months since we’ve done a Forkast update. There are two main reasons for this. The first is, you know, who cares anyway? You have plenty of stuff to listen to without this. The second reason is that the Fork has been posting a lot fewer actual mp3s lately. They’re posting lots of videos and iMeem streams, but the mp3s have been few and far between. Here are the good ones.

• Matthew Dear – “Pom Pom” [fr0k]

• Throw Me the Statue – “Lolita” from Moonbeams. [fr0k]

• Augie March – “There is No Such Place” (acoustic version) from Moo, You Bloody Choir. [fr0k]

• Soulsavers – “Through My Sails” (Neil Young cover featuring Mark Lanegan and Will Oldham) from It’s Not How Far You Fall, It’s the Way You Land. [fr0k]

• Schooner – “Carrboro” from Hold on Too Tight. [fr0k]

A bunch more after the jump, including Kanye West, Radiohead, Chris Walla, and Lou Reed…

Continue reading Forkast Roundup: Round VII →

Links

Death Cab vs. U.S. Customs

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U.S. Customs and Border Protection representative Mike Milne claims that Death Cab guitarist Chris Walla’s hard drive was not confiscated in order to “censor musical content coming into the United States. Period.”

“Our officers on the line are not politically motivated by what they do, they’re driven by the law … If you have recorded music — from a professional recording studio, from a professional musician, from a foreign country that’s being imported to the United States — there are certain import requirements,” he said. “If it’s worth a certain amount of money, it requires a formal entry into the United States, which means a bond needs to be posted and there needs to be formal invoices presented. There are copyright and trademark ramifications in the music industry that we enforce as well.”

Yeah whatever, dude. Blah blah blah. We all know The Man is trying to keep Chris Wall down. Because when The People hear this album, there’s going to be Revolution, man. Revo-fucking-lution, baby! Keep on keepin’ on, y’all. Fight the Power!