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Some American Radio Nov. 16 2009
Bogged down by both technical difficulties and a dearth of talking heads in attendance, JP and Brett get by as a duo this week. To compensate for the fact that Sean, Eamonn and Jamie have all scattered to the four winds for the time being, JP and Brett deviate slightly from our usual formula and play/discuss all of the songs they’ve brought to the table. Apologies for the crappy audio quality - our recording hardware decided not to play ball this week, but next week we’ll be back to business as usual.
Baker’s Dozen Contents:
I Wish I Knew Natalie Portman - k-os
Monsters - Hurricane Bells
Tornado - Sharon Van Etten
MK Ultra - Black Rebel Motorcycle Club
Must Be Santa - Bob Dylan
Our Age - A Lull
Download it HERE
a considered opinion: hurricane bells - tonight is the ghost
That this band came into my consciousness because of the New Moon soundtrack and I bothered to take the time to listen to them is pretty remarkable. I was dead set against all things relating to that particular property, after all. Spent a lot of time on the podcast saying as much. In spite of my vitriol, the quality of the collection eventually got through to me. I even wound up paying for it. As a result, any band I had never heard who was a part of it managed to slip past my hastily erected, hateful barriers as well, which led me to my interest in Hurricane Bells, a side project of guitarist/gun for hire Steve Schiltz.
“Monsters”, the song recorded exclusively for the New Moon compilation that grabbed my attention, is an old school rock romp heard through a badass, bitcrusher filter. The hugely compressed nature of the recording makes what would be a pretty stock song dynamic and interesting, and catchy as all hell. It also perfectly encapsulates Schiltz’ ability to be both upbeat and depressing at the same time.
This dichotomy is on full display throughout his earlier full length effort, a half hour of dreamy, melancholy music that actually manages to soothe the soul just a little by the time it’s done because the sadness on display is never so overwrought as to be offensive. Much of the lyrical focus is on vaguely personal recent history, with feelings of loss and a lack of direction taking a center stage, but in a way that implies a sense of acceptance. Life can be difficult and a little confusing, but that seems to be just fine with Steve and he wants you to feel that way too.
Sonically Tonight Is The Ghost artfully borrows elements of My Morning Jacket, Death Cab For Cutie, and M. Ward into something not entirely new but not wholly derivative either. It is very divergent sounding from “Monster”, with most tracks taking a longer, more meandering course to their conclusion, and possessing a downbeat feel. Densely layered drums (which may in fact be sampled in some cases), slide guitars, and reverb drenched synth parts, all played by Schiltz himself, also contribute to how relaxing the whole experience is. Ghost is an almost ideal soundtrack to a late summer’s evening spent on a porch, alone of course.
If you’re the type to get nostalgic, or dare I say wistful, over the long gone end of summer, then Hurricane Bells first effort could be the exact record to fix you up and leave you feeling a ok. After all, there are always warmer days ahead. Hopefully there will be another Bells album as well.
Some American RECOMMENDS Hurricane Bells - Tonight Is The Ghost
