Tag Archives: Merge

Articles

Julian Koster – The Singing Saw at Christmastime

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Julian Koster - The Singing Saw at ChristmastimeJulian Koster – The Singing Saw at Christmastime (Merge)

Remember when you used to have to wait until after Thanksgiving to hear your favorite Christmas carols? Not anymore. Many radio stations across the country switched to an all holiday format after Halloween this year. And who can blame them? People love Christmas music.

But it’s easy to get tired of the same old versions of the same old songs performed by the same old singers. It’s a rare treat to hear someone take a standard and make it their own. But that’s exactly what Julian Koster does on The Singing Saw at Christmastime. You’ve heard all these songs before, hundreds of times (“Frosty the Snowman,” “White Christmas”), but they’ve never sounded like this.

The first time you hear the sound of a singing saw you might assume it’s a weird electronic synthesizer, maybe a Theremin or an early Moog. It’s a weird, otherworldly sound that conjures images of Martians frolicking on their spaceship. Not overtly creepy, but strange and disconcerting. Which makes it perfect for Christmas music, of course…if you’re a little twisted.

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Articles

The Rosebuds – Life Like

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The Rosebuds - Life LikeThe Rosebuds – Life Like (Merge)

There are a lot of entries in the “couple-core” movement, some more worthy than others. But for my money, The Rosebuds are heads and shoulders above anyone else currently working under that nifty label. As enjoyable as She & Him, Mates of State, and Beach House might be, The Rosebuds have been quietly releasing better records that improve with each outing and with each listen.

The duo’s third album, last year’s Night Of The Furies (review), found them exploring territories of 80s new wave, a move that found some fans questioning the decision while others such as myself felt that such a change was intriguing and successful.

To those that did not appreciate such an approach, you’ll be happy to learn that The Rosebuds’ latest effort, Life Like, manages to hark back to their original blueprint while managing to retain the studio gloss and dark corners of their most recent work.

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Articles

The Broken West – Now Or Heaven

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The Broken West - Now Or HeavenThe Broken West – Now Or Heaven (Merge)

With the amount of time that the Broken West spent on the road supporting their debut I Can’t Go On, I’ll Go On (review), one would expect the band to pull out the leftovers for album number two. Surprisingly, the band makes an unexpected left turn with Now Or Heaven and they execute this sea change with an authority that will have you questioning how they managed to pull such a Houdini with so little free time to contemplate new directions.

From the sounds of it, the road deadened the Broken West’s sense of optimism. Whatever they saw through the windshield of their van over the course of a year clearly wiped away that wide-eyed possibility and traded it in for the reality that the world ain’t always a pretty place. And when you pin that against the band’s inherent sense of melodic beauty, you come up with some remarkable results.

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Articles

Glorious Noise Interview: The Broken West

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The Broken West - Now Or HeavenHailing from Los Angeles has its share of benefits and drawbacks. The benefit is that you’re so close to the entertainment industry that you’ve got a plethora of support systems to utilize, whether it be a myriad of clubs to perform in, like-minded musicians and performers to befriend, or the industry itself when it comes time to hawking your shit. The downfall is pretty much the same as the benefits, but at least you’ve got a large history of bands before you that managed to rise above the make-believe and keep L.A.’s allure in tact so that people still put it on the end of their own yellow brick road.

Or to quote one such band from L.A.: “The West is the best / Get here and we’ll do the rest.”

The Broken West don’t happen to use The Doors as their musical blueprint, but they did follow their relocation advice as all of the members are transplants to the City of Angles. After an independently released EP (The Dutchman’s Gold) they signed to Merge Records and released their debut I Can’t Go On, I’ll Go On.

Frontman Ross Flournoy set aside some time to talk with Glorious Noise as the band began their North American tour in support of their new album Now Or Heaven.

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MP3s

Conor Oberst – Danny Callahan

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MP3: Conor Oberst – “Danny Callahan” from Conor Oberst, out August 5 on Merge.

Sounds like Bright Eyes, but it’s his first solo album since some cassette releases in the mid-90s. Why go solo now? Who knows? Maybe Merge made him an offer he couldn’t refuse, and since “Bright Eyes” is so historically tied to Saddle Creek, it wouldn’t have seemed right…

Conor Oberst: Web, MySpace, Wiki.

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Articles

Big Dipper – Supercluster: The Big Dipper Anthology

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Big Dipper - Supercluster: The Big Dipper AnthologyBig Dipper – Supercluster: The Big Dipper Anthology (Merge)

Big Dipper played an important part in my young adulthood. They were with me on the day I cut off all my hair. It was the late 80s and I was sporting what could be described as the ‘Duff McKagan,’ a mass of long blonde locks that was obviously manufactured to look more “rockin” than what my coif would naturally attain.

I got tired of the ‘Duff’ look and decided to start over. The night after the big trim, I went to see Big Dipper play in support of their second album, Craps. There was a nice size crowd, bigger than the previous times the band had played. You got the sense that Big Dipper was on the verge of bigger and greater things.

After the show, a few friends approached me while I attempted to talk with the members of the band. In between the comments of “Great show!” and “What happened to your hair!” bassist Steve Michener signed the insert of my Heavens CD and added “Your hair looks good!”

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MP3s

Robert Pollard – Two New Albums

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MP3: Robert Pollard – “Rud Fins” from Coast to Coast Carpet of Love, out now on Merge.

MP3: Robert Pollard – “The Killers” from Standard Gargoyle Decisions, also out now on Merge.

For these two new releases, Pollard has put together two markedly different albums — one focuses on his super-catchy pop side the other his more down and dirty rock side. It’s like Beatles Vs. Stones! A battle to the death and, of course, Bob emerges as the victor.

Happy 50th birthday, Bob! You crazy, prolific son of a bitch!