Fade Into You

It's a little bit of a shame about Mazzy Star, in that by the time I got around to appreciating them, they hadn't played in years. For the uninitiated, Mazzy Star was largely a collaboration between Hope Sandoval, vocalist and David Roback, guitarist. Typically classified as dreampop, if such classifications matter to you, they were perhaps the most successful band of that genre, owing largely to the song this post is about, "Fade into You."

Whether you know it or not, you know this song. Maybe I am insulting your intellect by telling you that, but I couldn't tell you the number of people who don't know it by name when I ask them. It was featured in the movies Angus and Starship Troopers, and on the tv shows Alias and Gilmore Girls, among other things I am probably missing. It was a ubiquitous staple of alt-rock radio, as well.

As I said though, I was a bit young when it came out to really get into it. I sort of forgot about it altogether until I accidentally stumbled across this live version of David Bazan (playing as Paperback, I believe) doing it. Since Mazzy Star predate the era of readily available mp3 by quite a bit, I can't even post an mp3 of the original version. Here is a YouTube, however:

Mazzy Star - Fade Into You (video)

And a live acoustic version for MTV Europe:

Mazzy Star - Fade Into You (live acoustic video)

And finally, here's an mp3 of the Bazan version, courtesy of pedro-the-lion.com (no I'm not hot-linking to their bandwidth, since it's an unofficial site).

David Bazan - Fade Into You

Palo Santo

Shearwater got awesome all of a sudden in 2006 with the release of Palo Santo. It's not that they were bad before that or anything, but sounded more like the Okkervil River side project they were (and are). On Palo Santo, it's exclusively Jon Meiburg's vocals and songwriting, and no offense to Will Sheff, but I like the former's songs better.

From that first paragraph, one might be inclined to believe that I was into Shearwater all along and heard about them before you did because I'm just that cool. Actually though, no. Those are my impressions working backward chronologically from Palo Santo. I first heard Shearwater just last year opening for Magnolia Electric Co in DC, and was thoroughly impressed. It's not that their sound is exactly 100% unique, it's just that it's really good. Meiburg's vocals are fantastic. I wish I could put "La Dame et la Licorne" up here so you could get a full grasp of his range, but that one is not and never has been available for free, so not so much.

Instead, I have two other tracks from Palo Santo. Or more accurately, the band does, as this way I don't have to upload them. The first is "White Waves," which has an almost Stones-y riff to most of it that I promise you will find memorable, even if you end up not liking the song.

Shearwater - White Waves

The second is "Seventy-four, Seventy-five", which the band's website suggests "recalls early John Cale." It's basically an enjoyable piano-based number with a very pentatonic sort of sound to it.

Shearwater - Seventy-four, Seventy-five

Sleep Station

Sleep Station are a three-piece band based mostly around the songwriting efforts of one Dave Debiak. They are on Eyeball Records (you know, the home of Murder by Death and The Tiny and former home of My Chemical Romance and Thursday), but don't hold some of those bands against them. I am not quite sure who to compare them to; the first thing that comes to mind is Matt Pond PA, although that isn't quite right. I first heard them while randomly downloading tracks by Eyeball bands after being impressed by the first Murder by Death LP.

All Sleep Station records are concept albums, which, despite being kind of pretentious, works out pretty well for them. Their first release was a Debiak-only solo record called Anhedonia, based around a fairly obscure medical condition (defined as an inability to experience pleasure), which, as far as I can tell, has been out of print for quite some time. I've never really made the attempt to find a copy, honestly, but that's my impression.

The next record, and the first I heard, was Runaway Elba-1, a concept album about a lonely engineer who builds a female cyborg companion, and the ensuing chaos as they flee his employer, who wants to reclaim their property (the she-cyborg). Yes, I know, that sounds Yoshimi-level ridiculous, but it's really got a number of lovely songs, including this gem, entitled "Frustration of Leaving."

Sleep Station - Frustration of Leaving

Their next record was 2003's Hang in There, Charlie, about a pair of astronauts who are sent into space only to discover that one of them will not be returning home. It too is a pretty great record, containing a number of extremely well-written songs, including this one:

Sleep Station - Broke Your Trust (external -- on the Eyeball Records site)

Hot on Charlie's heels came the internet-only Von Cosel EP, which used to be available here, though apparently the server is down for the time being (hopefully not permanently) and 2004's After the War, which sold better than previous efforts and also garnered the band more attention. I can't say I like it as much as their other albums, but I am in the minority on that.

Though Sleep Station still exist, Debiak's other band, the heavily 80's-influenced New London Fire, seems to have consumed most of his time for the last couple years. They aren't bad, though I have to admit, I wish he'd go back to Sleep Station. Fortunately, that seems likely this year. Despite the fact that neither the band's website nor the label's have said much in quite some time, their PureVolume site has two demo tracks from one of (apparently) two forthcoming Sleep Station projects. The second one, "Settle on Your Name," is particularly good.

It's Too Heavy for Superman to Lift

My recent purchase of a ticket to see Sam Beam of Iron and Wine play a solo show with David Bazan (ex-Pedro the Lion) at Messiah College has brought me back into listening to the former.
I first heard Iron and Wine the same way as most people, I think, unfortunately: the Garden State soundtrack. I honestly think that the cover of "Such Great Heights" featured on that soundtrack is one of the five worst songs Beam has ever recorded. I very nearly gave up on ever listening to I&W again after hearing it.

Fortunately, the strong buzz behind Woman King convinced me to download it, and I was converted. I am convinced that the studio version of "Jezebel" is one of the best-written and executed pieces of acoustic music ever written. I wanted to post that here, but unfortunately, it does not appear that it was ever officially available in mp3 format, and the live versions I have don't really do it justice.

What I do have is very nearly that good, however, and it's a three-fer, so you should be thrilled.
First up is an excellent cover of Flaming Lips "Waiting for a Superman," which, as much as I love the Lips, slays their version. It brings out the lyrical beauty of that song in a way Wayne Coyne, how shall I put this, can't. This is only available on a pretty obscure magazine sampler, so I'm pretty sure it's kosher to post (Passing Afternoon also has it)

Iron and Wine - Waiting for a Superman (Flaming Lips Cover)

Second is "He Lays in the Reins", from the Calexico collaboration of (more or less) the same name. I wasn't as impressed with the entire EP as some were, but this song is pretty undeniably great.

Iron and Wine - He Lays in the Reins

Finally, I have a live version of "The Trapeze Swinger" dating back to the In the Reins tour. The original song can be found on the soundtrack to In Good Company, of all things. This song is best live, without all the overdubs, leaving arguably the best lyric of the last twenty years bare and out front. Of these three, it's my favorite. Enjoy.

Iron and Wine - The Trapeze Swinger (Live In Washington DC 2005)

The Year that Got Away

TW Walsh released two LPs and an EP on Made in Mexico, Truckstop and My Pal God between 1999 and 2001 before joining Pedro the Lion as a full-time member. Working with David Bazan, he contributed the opening riff to "Options" and the closing riff to "Second Best," as well as the song "Start Without Me" on 2004's Achilles Heel. His departure from Pedro the Lion led Bazan to give up the Pedro the Lion moniker altogether and start recording under his own name. (The song "Fewer Broken Pieces" off Bazan's excellent 2006 Fewer Moving Parts EP is about this).

As my previous post mentioned, there was a time when I first heard Pedro the Lion when I wanted anything and everything associated with it. Walsh's records were then (and remain now) fairly hard to track down in regular record stores. Insound has Pollensongs, and Amazon has all three records, but otherwise they are pretty scarce, which is a shame, because both Pollensongs and Blue Laws are wonderful records (I can't say the same about How We Spend Our Days, although some people like it).

Anyway, back before I was able to track down much of anything (even on P2P), I found this track. Taken from the Acuarela Songs compilation for the Spanish label Acuarela, it is the demo version of a track called "The Year that Got Away," which also appears in a fleshed out full-band version on Pollensongs. Technically I am bending my own rules a little bit because this is still in print, but as far as I can tell it's import-only and either way, it's certainly out of most people's price range. This song is the most devastating, heart wrenching thing I have ever heard. An absolute must-hear.

TW Walsh - The Year that Got Away (Watercolor, 2000)

Two tracks from Blue Laws and one from Pollensongs are also available here.

As a post-script, I should note that TW Walsh gave up full time music when he left Pedro the Lion. He is currently involved in a part time project called The Soft Drugs that plays shows in the Pacific Northwest and occasionally in Walsh's native Massachusetts. After an attempt to self-release an (excellent) EP called The Soft Drugs in Moderation didn't go well, TW made the music available for free through a Creative Commons license here. Check that out as well, particularly "Defending the Paint."

All of a Sudden, I Miss Everyone

I was late to the Explosions in the Sky party. I first heard them during my sophomore year of college after being encouraged to check them out by my then-girlfriend's roommate. This was shortly before the Friday Night Lights soundtrack, but about that timeframe. The first thing I got my hands on was the excellent The Earth is Not a Cold Dead Place, which is the only real competition, as far as I am concerned, with Mogwai's Happy Songs for Happy People for greatest post-rock album of all time. They have an incredible sense of dynamic and melody, and the guitar interplay is absolutely top-notch.

As you may or may not know, Explosions in the Sky have a new record coming out next month, entitled All of a Sudden I Miss Everyone, which will be accompanied by a fairly extensive tour. (I believe I will be at the Philadelphia date). They have put up the track "Welcome, Ghosts" on their official site, which is pretty impressive (see link below). The whole thing has, of course, leaked, and until someone tells me otherwise, I am going to toss another track up here as well, the damn sweet "Catastrophe and the Cure."

Explosions in the Sky - Welcome, Ghosts (on the EITS site)

Explosions in the Sky - Catastrophe and the Cure (removed, on second thought).


Because I posted that second one, I am going to remind you again to BUY THEIR ALBUMS, DAMN IT.

Not Forever, Just for Now

Like many people, I was first drawn to Uncle Tupelo through Wilco. When Yankee Hotel Foxtrot came out, I was impressed, as was the fashion of the time. (I don't consider it the timeless classic that some people appear to, but it is nonetheless a very good record). Anyway, as I looked into Jeff Tweedy's history, I found out that he had played in Uncle Tupelo with Jay Farrar (currently of Sun Volt, whose debut album I later would remember my father listening to back when I was still in middle school). I liked what I read about them and bought the Still Feel Gone reissue on a whim when it came out. By the time the opening track, Tweedy's "Gun", had ended, I was hooked.

Their best album always was and clearly remains the all-acoustic Peter Buck-produced March 16-20, 1992. The selection of traditional songs and covers is excellent, and the originals, many of the best of the band's four-album career. Unfortunately, I don't have any particularly impressive live or rare tracks from that era that aren't included on official releases, so I can't post anything from it.

The track I do have, however, does not disappoint. The song comes from the band's debut album, No Depression, which, as you might guess, spawned the title of a certain well-known alt-country publication. The band's sound was still very rough at this point, and most of the album sounds like traditional country played at punk speed and volume. There are, though, a few exceptions: namely, the aforementioned title track (a Carter Family cover), and the excellent original "Whiskey Bottle." I have a great deal of difficulty believing that anyone who has spent any significant amount of time in a "three hour away town" can't relate to its lyrics, which describe with a startling degree of accuracy the feeling of longing for something bigger and better.

The version I have attached to this post is an acoustic radio session; note, however, that it is not the same acoustic radio version that appears as a bonus track on the Legacy reissue of No Depression. Enjoy.

Uncle Tupelo - Whiskey Bottle (live acoustic)