#EDAS Album Review: Molly Drake, Molly Drake

by Justin (@justasstrazdin)

Label: Squirrel Thing / Alimentation - March 5, 2013

Artist-Fair Shopping: CD (US), CD (UK).

(Sorry nerds, no vinyl, but both CD's come with liner notes and poetry book.)

Style: Painted Portrait Where the Eyes Move, Haunted Home Studio, Ouija Board Lyrics Generator

Audience: Milk Bath with Opium & Honey Crowd, Gents Who Relax with Lipstick, Nostalgic Grandmothers, Ghost Hunters with an M.A. in Literature

Better Tracks: Happiness, Love Isn't a Right, I Remember

I doubt anyone approaches this collection without acknowledging that Molly Drake birthed Nick Drake, and in turn got him into music. She kept a reel-to-reel recorder in the home, and Nick used it for some home recordings released in the 2007 collection Family Tree. Molly died in 1993, but two of her songs made that album because her daughter, Gabrielle, cashed in with grace and style to reveal more about Nick and Molly's lives and music. In 2013, nineteen of Molly's private songs (including the two on Family Tree) were quietly released to show that Nick's craft ran in the family.

The album opens with the sad words, "Happiness is like a bird with twenty wings / Try to catch him as he flies." Look at the album cover for a moment. A regular portrait, for an album of regular music, yet there's a haunting and fragile quality to her lyrics, led by a husky, yet quivering voice. Her son's early death may have a lot to do with my lyrical interpretation, as it is tempting to analyze a musical family's individual works on the basis of the lives and misfortunes. Their voices share tonal similarities and their writing often feels dark.

Concert Recap: Har Mar Superstar Shines @ (Le) Poisson Rouge 5/5/13. Catch Him Solo Tonight on The Moon.

Click this .gif for more pictures

Last Wednesday, I made sure to follow a strict caffeine regimen in order stay awake and catch Har Mar Superstar rock (Le) Poisson Rouge at midnight.  I ended up sleeping it off for almost the whole next day but holy crap it was worth it. Sean "Har Mar" Tillman and crew (featuring #EDAS favorite, Denver Dalley) brought an old fashioned RnB show, the likes of which I haven't seen since I caught Little Anthony and the Imperials Shimmy, Shimmied their Ko-Ko Bops years ago at BAM. You may have already read our review of Bye Bye 17, which is certainly in the running for 2013 Album of the Year, but this man's stage-show is a whole other ballgame. I would categorize his act as part Marvin Gaye, part pro-wrestling villian's manager.

If you missed this amazing show, don't beat yourself up. New Yorkers get another chance tonight when Har Mar Superstar is the musical guest for my absolute favorite comedy show, The Moon. Join hosts Nat and Bob at Union Pool as they welcome funnymen Myq Kaplan and Mark Normand as well as the incomparable Cocoon Central Dance Team for their mind-blowing 79th Show. Tickets are only 5 measly bucks and the show starts tonight (May 21) at 8:00 PM. If you are going to miss this show as well, then I heck, you might as well start beating yourself up, hard.

Har Mar Superstar - Prisoner

As a final note, I must say that this was the first time that I can remember ever being disappointed that a grown man did not strip down to his underpants. Looks like Har Mar may be growing up. There is a realistic chance that the next time you hear from him, he will be one of the top adult contemporary artists this side of Carnegie Hall. Check the pictures below to see him in all most of his glory.

Some Jerk Hits Toots Hibbert With Bottle. Provokes Karma in The Worst Way Possible. *UPDATED*

**UPDATE**

Toots went to the VCU Hospital where he received 7 staples. He has been released and somehow has already performed a show in New York. He does have this boss scar now. What a freaking trooper.

It appears that some ass-head threw a bottle at the man who first coined the word reggae. Frederick "Toots" Hibbert and his Maytals have been bringing irie vibes to the masses for over 45 years and they certainly deserve better than this crap. I have seen him on several occasions and he is truly one of the great performers out there. I would advise any live music fans to catch him with his original bandmates before they hang it all up.

They have already caught and arrested the perpetrator, some teenage schmuck who has now dragged the entire Virginia  music scene through the dirt. This jerk is lucky he hasn't caused massive damage, very few 67 year olds can take a vodka bottle to the dome. We here at #EDAS just want to send our positive thoughts and prayers over to the man himself and wish him a short recovery both physical and mental. I don't have much to say to the bottle-thrower, karma will take care of him no doubt. Enjoy a historic blast from the past with an old school Rasta Mon-day.

Toots & The Maytals - You Gonna Need Somebody

Old iPod Song Review: Bill Cosby - I Love You Camille

by Justin @justasstrazdin

These posts concern an old 1st generation iPod Touch that I recharged looking for an old demo I made, and instead listened to a crapload of songs I forgot about.

Bill Cosby, Bill Cosby Presents Badfoot Brown & the Bunions Bradford Funeral Marching Band, "I Love You Camille"

Okay, this is some confusing shit. Many know about the 1971 release Bill Cosby Presents Badfoot Brown & the Bunions Bradford Funeral & Marching Band, due to Bill Cosby playing electric piano on it, A Tribe Called Quest sampling "Martin's Funeral" on "We Can Get Down," and a 2008 reissue of that rare LP, but "I Love You Camille" is from 1972's Bill Cosby Presents Badfoot Brown & the Bunions Bradford Funeral Marching Band. Go back and read the two titles carefully. You'll notice that the 1972 release is missing an ampersand, and Bill Cosby on keys--he merely produced this record and did a guest vocal. The liner notes are notoriously murky, there is only speculation as to who performed on these sessions.

To further confuse people, that Youtube embed above has the wrong artwork, the 1972 record art is this. It remains out of print, and probably won't see a reissue on account of Cosby not performing, but there is a solid cinematic soul instrumental in "I Love You Camille," and it puts me in a good place every time I hear its dated goodness. Until next time, draw a bath and listen to "Martin's Funeral" on repeat until your fingies wrinkle.

Saturday Spin: Jeff Beck's "Beck-Ola" (1969)

If you have worn out all the grooves on your Led Zep records, you will definitely appreciate this dusty fingered a classic from the Godfather of heavy British blues, Jeff Beck. Astute listenered may also recognize some future Faces in Ronnie Wood on bass and the good ol' pipes of a young Roderick Stewart.  

Jeff Beck Group - Beck-Ola (Full Album)

Denver Dalley Takes the Lead On His New Statistics Album "Peninsula", Due This June.

Wednesday night at the amazing Har Mar Superstar concert, I was honored to receive a super secret gift by gentle giant, Denver Dalley. Well, if you promise not to tell, maybe I can let you in on just a little bit of it.

Enjoy your beautiful Friday with a funky dance-rock tease from the first Statistics album since 2005. This track actually features an added dash of Har Mar, who will be appearing next Tuesday my favorite comedy show The Moon. Dalley's latest, titled Peninsula, should arrive next month from the lovely Afternoon Records. The album title echos Dalley's laidback yet jetsetting nature, and I love it extra because it makes me think of this funny Simpsons moment. 

Have a great Friday but make sure to come back tomorrow. We're fixin' to get back to our old, every day, ways.

#EDAS Album Review: Mikal Cronin, MCII

by Justin (@justasstrazdin)

Label: Merge – May 7, 2013

Artist-Fair Shopping: Merge Site

Style: Lesson in Summer Rock, Throwback Soda,
Rock N' Roll High School Reboot 

Audience: Your 90's Friends,
Your 10's Friends,
Kids Driving Nowhere All Night Gas Prices Be Damned

Better Tracks: Weight, Shout It Out, Peace of Mind

It does not happen all the time, but I sometimes pine for a record that sounds all 90's, loves the 70's, but could also pass for a throwback to garage pop from 2001. This loosely ties to my fantasy of an alternate universe where it is bizarro 1978 forever, I'm tearing it up in high school (I wasn't born yet), everyone has tube socks or kickass jeans, power pop is the only genre, and Big Star is the highest power. Yet some may question how sustainable or relevant a garage pop record is in 2013, when buzz blog forces continue to assault all forms of guitar's sanctity.

Don't despair, Mikal Cronin will fight for your right to tastefully rock. He knows that you can't have an ethereal avant-synthpop pool party this summer—you need to trick your friends who still heavily rotate Stone Temple Pilots CD-R mixes into finding common ground beyond Wavves with music made after 1998. It is noble of Cronin to craft an album that moves bodies, with a pile of nods to the 70's and 90's, and a solid economy to all of the mixes. I'm often wary of a love at first listen release, but this album plays its parts well. Cronin covered any garage pop deficiencies you may have this summer while you cruise a coastal highway, shoot Instagram selfies on an empty stomach, or order a large ice cream cone with three toppings.

Verdict: Like Eating Pizza in a Pool and You're So Making Out Later Tonight

Lelia Broussard's "Hipster Bitch": Making Fun of Hipsters Before It Was Cool

According to today's New York Post, "42 percent of American voters have an unfavorable opinion" of hipsters, "the bike-riding, vintage-clothes-wearing subculture...(that) soullessly appropriate cultural tropes from the past for their own ironic amusement."

Looks like the suspender-wearing, local-organic-lacto-ovo-pescetarians are taking it on the chin again. 

What gives? Slow news day? Lelia Broussard has been having a laugh at hipsters' expense for years with "Hipster Bitch," a song that (so far as I can tell) was written sometime pre-2007. Remember? Back before the recession hit and Britney opened the MTV Video Music Awards mid-breakdown? Oh, those halcyon days. 

Take a listen. In addition to crafting a near-perfect pop tune (and, to my knowledge, the only person to use “Fuckin’ Williamsburg,” in a song), Broussard has toured extensively with the likes of Ingrid Michaelson and Bess Rogers and competed on NBC’s The Voice last year. (She was booted after belting half of Florence and the Machine’s “Dog Days Are Over,” during a sing-off. I thought she nailed it.)

Nevertheless, she’s a killer vocalist and a fine musician who proves that there are women singer/songwriters out there who can do more than ape Ani DiFranco or craft butt-hurt self-indulgent lyrics about bodies of water, tears, horses, pickup trucks and “Gowns shaped like pastries.” 

I’m looking at you, Taylor Swift.   

"Daisy Dukes must be back in style. She walks in, she walks up and owns the bar. Her and my former flame are the picture of lust, eyes lock, their bodies intertwine. They’re so, so inappropriate, baby. I can’t compete, I’ll never win."

#EDAS Album Review: Har Mar Superstar, Bye Bye 17. Watch Him Disrobe Tomorrow @ LPR.

by Matt (@bones_jones)

Out Now on Cult Records

Artist-Fair Shopping: CD / iTunes

Style: Neo-Neo Soul,
Throwback Jams,
Life of the Party,

Audience: Both Sam & Dave,
Motown, Stax & Chess Recordheads,
Ladies Who Frequent Chippendales

Better Tracks: Restless Leg, Prisoner,
We Don't Sleep,
Everywhere I'm Local,
Late Night Morning Light

This dude is wacky as hell, but he definitely knows his stuff. It's almost as if he spent his early days listening to warped old soul records. Thanks to the internet, I was able to trace Sean Tillman's musical genesis from his hardcore roots with the Minneapolis band Calvin Krime, to his Snark Rock antics as Sean Na Na, to his latest and greatest character Har Mar Superstar.

This incarnation begins as a fully suited, slightly balding Soul Man and ends as a sweaty naked guy doing headstands. A blind man might think he was listening to a contemporary of Al Green, Otis Redding or Marvin Gaye, but it is in fact the exact opposite; a chubby white guy from now. His newest release, Bye Bye 17, arrived courtesy of Julian Casablancas' Cult Records, and it is a drop dead winner. It brings back all the feelings you get when you listen to your favorite Motown Record. This album caters to almost every classic or current music fan with straight up dance jams, old timey malt-shoppe classics, and songs that make you want to sit on the dock of the bay. I have kept this album spinning since its release last month.

I am posting this review now because tomorrow night, Har Mar and Crew bring the party to New York City as they take the stage at the swanky Le Poisson Rouge. For all the compliments he gets on his recordings, he gets ten times as many for his one of a kind performance style. This is where his history as a rocker begins to show. His stage presence seems to be a cross between James Brown and Lux Interior and that is a combination I can't bear to miss. This unique stagecraft, combined with a band that features some straight up all-stars (including one of my personal favorite musicians and all around people, Denver Dalley of Desaparecidos on Bass) make for an unmissable show. Get tickets to tomorrow night's NYC show HERE before the prices go up. Make sure to listen to the hit single below which Har Mar dedicates to one of his idols, Sam Cooke. The title comes from the last words Cooke ever spoke before his tragic death. See you at LPR tomorrow night. Until then, don't forget to congratulate us on our 500th post and enter our contest to win some really cool stuff.

Verdict: Good enough to be from the 1960's, listen to it until the 2060's.

Har Mar Superstar - Lady You Shot Me

500th Post // Name That Face!!

After running through some analytics, it has come to my attention that this right here, is Every Day Another Song's 500th Post! I remember when I started this music discovery site, I was just a man with a dream and a whole bunch of music to ramble on about. Now, almost three and a half years later, I can barely count all the unique experiences I have shared with some of the most talented and nicest people in the music industry today. 

500 was my Number

I wouldn't have been able to persevere through all the late nights (and subsequent rough mornings) if it were not for all the hard-working PR firms that continue to get me on these lists, my rag-tag guest writers, my friends, family and finally, the tens of thousands of EDAS readers who keep coming back to hear and enjoy what we have to say.  To celebrate such an unprecedented milestone, I have made a photocollage of some of my favorite #EDAS moments. See how many of these faces you can guess. If you think you know your stuff, then put your money where your fingers are and shoot me an email @ everydayanothersong@gmail.com with the subject #EDAS @ 500!  In order to be eligible, I ask that you  become a fan of EDAS on Facebook (if you aren't already) and send in your answers by May 27th, 2013. The fan who sends in the most correct answers will receive the first ever, one-of-a-kind, #EDAS Prize-Pack. 

Click to Enlarge

#EDAS Album Review: Andrew Graham & Swarming Branch, Classic Glass

by Justin (@justasstrazdin)

Label: Tonk – May 8, 2013

Artist-Fair Shopping: Vinyl

Style: The American Dream, That Carnival in Disney's Pinocchio, You Wouldn't Understand

Audience: Matured Midwestern DIY Kids, My Future Wife, Not Enough People on Soundcloud

Better Tracks: That Constant Country Thirst, The Sistine Twist, The Pounce

I want to make a baseball analogy because I recently watched Ken Burns' Baseball like it was a part-time job. Andrew Graham is that career minor leaguer who bats righty and throws lefty, and the scouts love what he gets done in the short-season, but they can't call the kid up. It would not make sense. His latest effort, Classic Glass, contains frantic doses of rambling bedroom rock with horns, keys, country slides, and some carnival vibes filtered through astute writing and a Lou Reed meets Ray Davies meets a $20 mic delivery that goes back to his days in RTFO Bandwagon, when he honed his lo-fi craft with songs like the infectious "Like A Dan Shearer Over Troubled Water."

Four years after RTFO Bandwagon, Graham has two releases with Swarming Branch—the joyful and abrasive Andrew Graham's Good Word, and Classic Glass. Both albums feature a raw, ambitious arrangements and infectious writing that convince me he holds something quite his own, yet just wasn't made for any of these times. I could go on whining about how most talented bedroom rockers are criminally unappreciated and all that, but all the rare and often obscure reissues of the past ten years taught us that some albums take time to catch on, usually 30 to 40 years after the release date. But what about these mavericks of the internet age, who make entire albums on cheap and easily borrowed gear, turn technical limitations into creative strengths, and make whatever the fuck they want?

I think Classic Glass is a worthy case study you can try at home. Purchase the 150 gram vinyl, unwrap it, dent a couple of jacket corners, maybe nibble on them to accelerate wear, place on your shelf, and wait. Someone in the future will flip through your discerning collection, pull it on the basis of its awesome cover art, give it a spin, and start asking you all about it. And you will explain that it was some dude from Columbus, Ohio who should have had way more Soundcloud followers than he did, but the internet age was a cruel one for the bedroom set—with odds favoring wispy buzz acts that Instagram well—while you transfer a digital copy to their thumb drive, or touch Google Fingertips, or whatever.

Verdict: Not Meant for Everyone but It's for You If You Read This Far

Upcoming Shows: Artist's Tumblr

Andrew Graham – Red Light Green Light

Tasty Barrels, Brah

Just got back from a week Hawai'i via the LAX redeye. I'm not going to brag with too many photos, but I did accomplish a life goal by learning to surf, otherwise known as 'catching tasty barrels, brah'. I even got my pic taken with longboard pioneer Duke Kahanmoku.

MK with The Duke

Check him out below by watching a technicolor video from WWII showing his gnarly moves. Then listen to a song by my all-time faves that they wrote about him while they spent time on the islands. I recommend turning down the volume on the first vid while cranking up the sound of the second. It really gives you the idea of how influential the waves can be to a group of landlocked 'murricans.

Blind Melon - The Duke

#EDAS Album Review: Thee Oh Sees, Floating Coffin

by Justin (@justasstrazdin)

Label: Castle Face - April 16, 2013

Artist-Fair Shopping: Vinyl/ DL Code

Style: Twist & Mostly Shout, Getting Comfortable, Tripping in a Hot Rod

Audience: Sweaty Folks with One Shoulder Half-Ripped off Their T-Shirts, Echoplex Enthusiasts, Derby Girls

Better Tracks: I Come From The Mountain, Tunnel Time

This is the kind of band people ought to spin at Halloween parties, in-between sets at Knights of Columbus scene shows, or at Laser Tag arenas. Overall, they're better than some near-secret pleasure of the vinylgentsia and download link bloggers. The band has come a ways from their sparser work of the past, and have hardened into a force of tight, spastic, echo-laden freak-out rock that holds down a rocket ship of a rhythm section to drive your psychic surf garage nights, you people who hold DJ nights like that. But, I feel like they said a lot with Castlemania and Carrion Crawler/ The Dream. 2011 was a huge year for Thee Oh Sees in that regard. They have a shitload of albums. Last year's Putrifiers II was good, too. With all this cranking out, Floating Coffin seems to get lost in the bustle as an average, if heavier entry that doesn't seem to add much to all the crazy hard work they put into being a live band, or making music videos, as "Minotaur" (embedded below) has delayed my artsy-fartsy statement that the music video is dead for at least a few months.

Verdict: This Band Works Hard as Shit What Scheduling Software Do They Use

Thee Oh Sees - Minotaur

GG DOOM Update. Grip Grand talks to #EDAS!

MF Doom, The Super Duper Villian

Bad news folks. After only a day or two of life for Grip Grand's newest, MF DOOM waged and won a battle, forcing a legal takedown of their unrequited collaboration, GG DOOM! But How?. I reached out to  the man himself to see what was up with the situation and I got a response later that day:

I'm in the hospital all week with my new (second) baby. It may be too late if your post is already up, but DOOM's people made me take down the album, so...my apologies. The videos are still on YouTube... for now. I expect they won't be for long. In the meantime, there's ten-plus years of other Grip Grand music to be found at www.gripgrand.com. Thanks again for the support and for listening to my music.

Peace and respect,
Grip Grand

This guy has nothing to apologize for other than being a class act and an incredibly talented artist. He's also smart... By producing both MF Doom Remixes and Babies, his catalog is diversified enough that the SuperVillian can't take it all away. Check out his robust vaults of music (I see you, Boner Jams '03) by clicking any underlined blue words in this post OR the pic of lil' Baby Grand #1 below. Once you are there, buy a bunch of his music to make sure Baby #2 gets to be put into a box full of records as well.

Baby Grand

GG DOOM - Genie in a Bottle

Cali producer Grip Grand remixes MF DOOM; Creates BandCamp Monster GG DOOM

I just came across this remix of one of my favorite all time rappers MF Doom. I don't know much about Bay-Area Producer, Grip Grand, other than he has a huge catalog and his beats are just insane. He puts Doom's cult underground-approved rhymestyle on top of old-fashioned jazzy loops. The combination is reminiscent of Handsome Boy Modeling School. GG DOOM is a great listen start to finish and it's available on a pay-what-you-want basis on his Bandcamp, shoot him some money for these dope remixes. Tons to like on this album but I'd have to say there is currently a tie for my favorite track between the third and fourth, Gonads and Bain de Soliel respectively. Listen to the rest of the album below, or by clicking Read More. 

GG DOOM (Grip Grand & MF DOOM) - Gonads

#EDAS Album Review: Dawes, Stories Don't End

by Justin (@justasstrazdin)

Label: HUB - April 9 2013

Artist-Fair Shopping: 256K MP3 or Vinyl

Style: California Rock (Ask a Journalist), Band Coming into Their Own (Ask Yourself), Tequila & Sunbeams/Gin & Raindrops

Audience: Campers, Sad Ex-Boyfriends, Girl Who Makes It to the Front of the Stage Every Time, Teens Dragged to an Eagles Reunion Wearing Headphones in the Parking Lot, Maybe My Dad

Better Tracks: Just beneath the Surface, Someone Will, Hey Lover

Taylor Goldsmith is a daring songwriter, which is to say that he writes some really dumb things and pulls them off most of the time; the lyrical equivalent of a daring circus act with the safety net retracted. See what I did, there? "I buckle in my seat belt and plug my headset in a chair/ And to the music, I watch flight attendants move/ They are pointing out the exits but it looks more like a prayer/ Or an ancient dance their bloodline reaches through." See what Goldsmith did there, on "From a Window Seat?" The success rate for lyrics like that probably rests below 5%, and to add to the risk, there's nutty 70's AM Gold leaning piano rock guiding it. And after a few listens, it totally works, and you're afraid to break up with the album once the summer's almost over.

The risk doesn't end there. Goldsmith wrote another old man song "Bear Witness" (preceded by North Hills' "Bedside Manner"), where he gambles with, "Is my granddaughter Ruthie still working at the movies?/ Does she still let all her boyfriends in for free?/ Does she still stare out of the front door as she's serving people popcorn/ And talk about how nice today was supposed to be?" Goldsmith is either a time traveler, or he sees things most of us don't, and is dedicated to writing them down. My hope is that Dawes keeps up their obsession with the past in crafting solid and risky new American rock, and that Taylor Goldsmith hooks up with Taylor Swift somehow and celebrity magazines can play with their names.

Technical Note: One detraction is that the bass in some of the mixes gets murky, which doesn't suit an album that leans toward a handful of purdy songs.

Verdict: Love It All Summer, Stay Friends in the Fall

Dawes - Someone Will

Happy Belated Record Store Day 2013

I hope that everyone survived Record Store Day. I'm sure someone got scratched fighting over the last copy of that Husker Du release. It didn't happen while I was shopping (though some guy got really bummed about it selling out), but I had my own adventure. My favorite part of this yearly retail event are the people and experiences along the way for everyone who seeks to flip through rows of records.

Earth Day 2013

"Only when the last tree has died 

and the last river been poisoned 

and the last fish been caught 

will we realize we cannot eat money" 

- Cree Indian Maxim

Happy Earth Day! From #EDAS

Thin Lizzy - Mama Nature Said

#EDAS Album Review: White Fence, Cyclops Reap

by Justin (@justasstrazdin)

Label: Castle Face - April 9, 2013

Artist-Fair Shopping: Vinyl/ DL Code

Style: New Traditional Garage Psych or Something, 4-Track Punishment, Neat-o Fuzz Licks

Audience: Easily Tricked White-Bearded Psych Collectors, Smelly Dudes Who Get Chicks, Roll One on the Album Jacket Types, Apparently These Chicks

Better Tracks: Chairs in the Dark, Pink Gorilla, To The Boy I Jumped In The Hemlock Alley

Cyclops Reap opens with the calculated nugget "Chairs in the Dark," greeting you with fuzz squeal and organ stabs, then phaser-laden clean picking -- Okay, there's nothing new here, déjà vu, man, if it wasn't such damn cool noise-making. People are listening to Tim Presley. That guy, like, made an album with Ty Segall, and tours a lot, and can't stop making albums that in brief moments remind me why I love The Kinks so much. I only mention them because White Fence's sleepy psych country numbers echo some of The Kinks' tamer moments, but in a respectable, imposter-like way, like on Is GrowingFaith's "StrangerThings Have Happened (To You)," but never as much like when The Turtles did "Dance This Dance" on Turtle Soup.

The fuzz greeting and hard panning antics on "Pink Gorilla" establish the grandchildren of Nuggets cool that Presley is so good at dialing in, but that's a minor problem, unless you pine for that stuff after 45 years of incrementally stronger weed and vinyl coming back. The feeling that a previous album may largely be the same to less discerning ears, but captured the moment better, even if that moment is a close copy of another era, shit, you can probably say whatever you want about it at that point. While Is Growing Faith may be that "moment record," perhaps Cyclops Reap needs time and spins to sink in. It's fractured, louder, and pushes 4-Track bedroom production to it's limited limits. FamilyPerfume, Vol. 2 was too scattered and this release reigns most of its problems in. But you wonder what else is out there in Tim Presley's unfinished and future work.

Verdict: Neither Rewrites Book Nor Rocks Boat, but Lock Your Smoked-Out Friends in a Room with It and See What Happens

White Fence - Chairs In The Dark

#EDAS Album Review: Kurt Vile, Wakin on a Pretty Daze

by Justin (@justasstrazdin)

Label: Matador - April 9 2013

Artist-Fair Shopping: MP3 or Vinyl/ DL Code

Style: Textbook Long-Form Rock, Space on Earth, 70's Rock Renovation, Summer Drug Days

Audience: Windows-Down Trucker Tanning Types, Flannel and Cold Pizza Types, Guys with Crappy Long Hair, Maybe Lester Bangs' Ghost

Better Tracks: Wakin on a Pretty Day, Never Run Away, Shame Chamber

It's an amazing mix of murk, haze, clarity, and time-stretching. A 9 minute, 31 second single may confuse the industry, but "Wakin on a Pretty Day" on Wakin on a Pretty Daze manages to be the vessel of a Vile that manages to merge the welcome meanderings of his earlier work with the acoustic immediacy of Smoke Ring for my Halo. The psych-cum-stoner guitar layers are well-woven in a surprisingly clear track that drifts along until the end. The album follows suit, and although there seems like there's so much that could go wrong with this kind of production, it's refreshing and flows upon its constructed layers and strong songwriting.

Vile's lyrics continue to approach weird honesty and cool detachment in equal measure, he stands high among his grimy peers with lyrics like, "I'm living all the time thanks 'cause you're mine/ You turn my dying days away/ Each day we carry on like believers and lovers/ Even though there are others who would rather run away." What's most remarkable is that someone put out an album in 2013 that runs 69:03 and isn't a soundscape of pipes clattering in an empty warehouse. If you have to clean your apartment or drive along a historic highway, Vile released your soundtrack.

Verdict: Future Top 10 of 2013 Contender

Kurt Vile - Wakin on a Pretty Day

Eternal Summers & Pow Wow! play Irving Plaza with 90's Alt-Weirdos Presidents of the United States of America on April 15th

You already know Spring has Sprung, but next Monday Eternal Summers hit NYC with some heat of their own. Nicole Yun and Daniel Cundiff started off in Roanoke, Virginny as a guitar and drums duo before adding bassist Jonathan Woods to the fold. Now their jangly, penetrating rhythms are complete and Nicole's dazey, nonchalant vocals have a strength reminiscent of Ana da Silva from The Raincoats or a more minimal, dreamier Jenny Lewis.

Eternal Summers

Their sophomore album, Correct Behavior, off Kanine Records garnered rave reviews from all over, especially on Pitchfork. This has lead to them being hand picked by Martin Van Buren, Rutherford B. Hayes and Gerald Ford The Presidents of the United States of America to accompany them on the east coast swing of their latest tour. Stops include Philly, Boston, Asbury NJ and of course, Monday night at NYC's Irving Plaza (tickets still available, somehow!).

Also on the card are local sweetiepies pow wow!. I have been a big fan of theirs since their album "Don't Stop to Look" warmed me up during the dead of winter. I challenge you to listen to their spritely melodies without bursting into a full earbud-to-earbud smile. I have not seen them live yet but I have heard such great things I'm really excited to check them out!

Wild Thing: Charles Fréger's Wilder Mann at Chelsea's Yossi Milo Gallery, April 11 - May 18

May I have the attention of Western civilization for just a moment? Kay, thanks.

Much to the chagrin of our communal elitism, and despite the automatic New York Times updates beamed directly to our iShits, we are not actually civilized. Well, not if Charles Fréger has anything to say about it. Wilder Mann, an exhibit of Fréger’s photography is set to open at New York’s Yossi Milo Gallery, April 11 and will run through May 18.

The show, which is comprised of photos of people looking “wild”—wearing anything from ceremonial garb to throwbacks to ancient folktales—essentializes the idea that no matter how many mobile, wi-fi-enabled devices we carry, or how “civilized” we consider ourselves, humankind is still much wilder than any of us would comfortably admit.

“Wilder Mann,” which translates to “Wild Man” from German, is a photographic series that explores the ancient celebrations and mythology of the primeval “wild men” that lived across Europe. The exhibit explores, among other things, totemic figures and the way they can help us understand humanity’s ancient nature—and how it may—or may not—teach us about the present.

According to the people that study this kind of stuff, the exhibit explores “Neolithic Shamanism.” That’s fancy talk to describe the people who celebrate ancient rites and celebrations of equinoxes, fertility, life, and death, symbolizing the complicated relationship between mankind and nature. It’s pre-religion; it’s part of being a human, the genetic fingerprint that, some argue, predisposes us to tend toward spirituality in its many forms.

Is this our history? It’s still happening…

Charles Fréger From the series Wilder Mann
Wilder Mann 77,  2010-2011 Inkjet Print
© Charles Fréger, Courtesy www.charlesfreger.com

…And this is our fashion sense.

Charles Fréger From the series Wilder Mann Boes, Ottana,
Sardinia, Italy, 2010-2011 Inkjet Print
© Charles Fréger, Courtesy www.charlesfreger.com