Hank Williams is an artist everyone admires. He is remembered for country classics such as ‘Jambalaya’ and ‘I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry’ with his cowboy band backing him up.
For any one who hasn’t discovered him yet you must buy a copy of
an album. For those who already know and love his music, I suggest you obtain a copy of his rare demos
Just Hank on guitar and vocals you can hear the back-bone of these songs, some of them not well known and others are classics.
They’re all haunting and sound as if he is sitting in the corner of your room staring you straight in the eyes and singing his lonesome, lovesick blues.
Filed under: Uncategorized | Leave a Comment
Yair Yona On Toby Sligo
Yair Yona – the Israeli acoustic guitar hero – has championed Toby Sligo’s lastest EP ‘Songs From The Shack’, complimenting his playing style, ideas and the raw environment it was recorded in.
Toby Sligo’s latest EP was recorded in a little wooden shack on an old tape player. He improvised and recorded the three tracks in one take. His main influence for the EP was Henri Matisse, stating he was aiming to compose music which renders a particular emotion in the listener without over-complicating the music and without worrying too much about technicality.
The Strange Attractors Audio House recording artist likened Toby Sligo’s rough, emotive playing to that of early 70’s pysch-folk artist Chris Thompson. Yair Yona went on to say that if he recorded his album ‘Remember’ now, he would have given it a little unperfected edge featured on Toby Sligo’s EP.
You can download Songs From The Shack from:
www.tobysligo.bandcamp.com
And you can buy Remember by Yair Yona from all good record shops.
Filed under: Uncategorized | Leave a Comment
in the summer i recorded three songs in a wooden shack after returning from a trip to ireland.
i recorded the songs on an old rusty cassette player which must have been worth nothing when it was brand new.
the town i stayed in had more tales and mystery than it had people. it was a ghost town, with the ghosts of the past centuries lined up, naked and unable to stop their stories echoing across the mountains.
all of the three songs feature myself on guitar alone. i wanted the desolation to not be shadowed by vocals and lyrics and over production.
i’d like to dedicate the songs to the lady of the lake, who spoke to the animals in to her old age for they were her only friends, and who met a tragic end.
toby sligo
www.myspace.com/tobysligo
DOWNLOAD HERE
Filed under: Uncategorized | Leave a Comment
Sun Ra
This artist isn’t to be taken too lightly – Sun Ra (‘Ra’ being the God of the sun in ancient Egypt), of the Angel Race from Saturn was a prolific jazz composer, cosmic philosopher and preacher of peace above all.
There is some disagreement as to Sun Ra’s date of birth. He stated that he had “arrived on Earth” on a number of dates. He was fond of showing his doubters his United States passport, which clearly gave the place of birth as the planet Saturn. 22nd May 1914 appeared on his passport, but other sources place his birth anywhere from 1910 to 1918; most sources support a birth year of 1914 or 1915. Before his teenage years, Sun Ra was creating original compositions and site reading music. He could also hear a big band performance once and be able to transcribe all of the bands songs.
His personal music collection contained over 10,000 discs, and he was constantly reviewing and studying. Many of his improvisational and compositional innovations were extensions of ideas from twentieth-century European composers. Sun Ra is responsible for having brought these ideas into jazz decades before many commercial artists popularised the same methods.
As ever, the music speaks better than words ever can:
TS
Filed under: music | Leave a Comment
Tags: avant garde, jazz, sun ra
Herr Jazz
Hello,
I’d like to welcome my American friend and musician Samuel Regan, who’s just penned a great recommendation for a band. I’d never heard of this band before, and I swear to God they really are worth checking out.
Anyway, I’ll leave it to him:
The D.I.Y. Scene in Washington is currently thriving. Among the throng of bands from the Northwest coast of the US is Herr Jazz, a three piece from Olympia and Seattle, Washington.
Herr Jazz plays, for lack of a better term, Tropical (in the early Abe Vigoda/Vampire Weekend sense) punk music, complete with catchy, trebely guitar playing over driving bass lines. Their songs are upbeat and are easy to dance to.
I recently had the opportunity to see Herr Jazz play live – their music was meant to be heard this way and is infinitely more energetic at shows than recorded. Herr Jazz is fronted by Ben Funkhouser, an incredibly friendly person who loves playing music and this love shows in the bands songs.
There new album is up for free download at their blog, but I’ll just post the link here as well for convenience purposes. http://www.mediafire.com/?m4jje1erymn Or you can check out their myspace
Filed under: lo-fi | Leave a Comment
Automatic Children
Hello,
I’ve been listening to this New York band called Automatic Children.
If I had to pin down there music – and it would be tough – I’d have to say that it’s like a cross between the Rolling Stones and the Vivian Girls.
Evident are the Stones influence on songs like ‘Estrella’, with the thumping bass playing tight with the drums. Of the songs I’ve heard, they have the lo-fi slush, the grungey, gritty quality we all enjoy, which also can be found in Velvet Underground records. They wouldn’t seem out of place playing in Warhol’s Factory. Maybe it’s the ‘New York’ in them?
Make your own mind up by visiting their website and buying their records and watching this video:
TS
Filed under: music | Leave a Comment
Tags: Automatic Children, lo-fi, new york
The CD-R Revolution
Most of you who are familiar with my music will know that I only do very limited short-pressed releases. I’m not the only person who does. A load of musicians are producing as little as ten copies of their albums and handing them out, without them being available for download at all.
With our instant mass-produced culture today, it’s a refreshing concept to own one of a dozen copies of a CD.
If we get back to the root of music it wasn’t made to get a date. It certainly wasn’t made to get rich and famous. It was made to enrich the musicians life and those around them.
Second to busking, producing short run CD-Rs is the most democratic form of music. I ask the person I hand it to to pass it on once they’ve got all of their use out of it. Isn’t it heartbreaking when someone has a book on their shelf which hasn’t been read in years?
Anyway, should you want one of my CD’s email me at: tobysligo@hotmail.com
Wouldn’t it be beautiful if sporadically we received a free CD after meeting someone. A piece of music you could cherish and share.
Of course, if this is going to be a revolution, we have to get more people involved. Spread this post around to your friends that are in bands.
If you’re a musician, give it a go and make music for the purpose it was intended to be made.
TS
www.myspace.com/tobysligo
www.tobysligo.bandcamp.com
Filed under: lo-fi, music | 1 Comment
Tags: blues, folk, free cds, history of music, lo-fi, short run cd-rs
Woods
Hello,
This is the band that have been getting the most plays on my record player lately. The music is perfect for the summer and playing in your car, windows open, sunglasses on, one of those beer helmet things too so you can get to the cans easily.
They’re a psych folk group from New York. They have upbeat, mystical folk songs with a bit of noise and tonnes of vocal harmony.
If you walked through a forest and found MGMT playing there, this is what they’d sound like.
Check out the Woods LP ‘At Echo Lake’ here at Amazon:
Echo Lake
Thanks,
Toby
Filed under: lo-fi, music | Leave a Comment
Tags: folk, lo-fi, summer, woods
Recent Entries
Categories
- Food & Drink (1)
- lo-fi (4)
- music (15)
- Uncategorized (4)
