Just two months ago Cloud Nothings were just a name with their first cassette//cd-r coming out on Bridgetown Records…no shows played, but a few big ones lined up…the first of which was with Real Estate and Woods here in Brooklyn (and I finally caught them in January with Alex Bleeker and the Freaks). Dylan Baldi’s Cloud Nothings were suddenly getting written up all over the internet (including several times by me), and their fuzzy upbeat punk pop was blasting out of stereos…I even had friends across the country ask me to send the digital files of Turning On because their tapes weren’t portable enough (yo dudes…get a walkman).

Now here we are at the end of February, and Cloud Nothings have two more releases out, and a reissue of that first tape but this time it’s on LP.

First up is their split tape with Campfires out on Bathetic Records. I know at this point more and more people are realizing that bands are doing tapes, and while the format might seem to be out of date even Pitchfork just reached out to the format in a big way (see Marc Hogan’s wonderful feature on cassette culture titled “This is Not A Mixtape“…as well as tape releases often making it on to the 4kst).

This tape features four new songs by Cloud Nothings, and as I expected it is full of the same fuzzy pop as the first full length. Campfires are very much of the same mind set, and offer five songs…making the split well worth the $6 post paid.  A great introduction to Campfires…I can’t wait to her more.

The Fader posted one track from the split, and I’m happy to repost it here for you.  ”Little Raygun” sets the tone for the tape, and is the third song on side A:

[mp3] Cloud Nothings- “Little Raygun”

• Buy the Cloud Nothings//Campfires split from Bathetic Records here.
  • pick it up fast…this tape is limited to 100 copies.

In addition to this split Group Tightener Records has released a extremely limited 7″ single by Cloud Nothings which includes “Morgan” a single from the upcoming 12″ on Group Tightener, and an exclusive b-side: “Another Man.” This is the second release by Group Tightener, and it is limited to 250 copies, and is hand stamped and numbered.

While these are both unreleased tracks You might be familiar with “Morgan” if you saw my videos from Cloud Nothings show at Monster Island back in January. Can’t wait to hear this record, and the recorded version of this tracks…here is a re-post of that video:

Buy the Cloud Nothings’ Morgan/Another Man 7″ from Group Tightener Records here.

Last but certainly not least is that SpeakerTree Records has just started mailing out the LP repress of Cloud Nothings fabulous debut full length Turning On.

Turning On was originally released back in December by Bridgetown Records. I featured this release on my column This Week In Mail Order, and you can read the full write up here. The LP version of Turning On will feature one additional track, “Strummin” as the closer to the album.  This LP press is limited to 500 copies, and to remind you how good this release is check out “Can’t Stay Awake”:

[mp3] Cloud Nothings- “Can’t Stay Awake”

A also captured the exclusive LP track live when Cloud Nothings were in town so you can preview that here:

Buy the LP from SpeakerTree Records here.

• If you don’t have a record player….Bridgetown Records has repressed Turning On on CD…buy that here.
  • and for a limited time you can order the LP release from Bridgetown as well…I highly recommend contacting Kevin at Bridgetown because he is offering some cool combo packages.

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• More on Cloud Nothings (photos, video, mp3s, and reviews) can be found here.
• The photo at the top of the post is from the White Lodge.
• More this week in mail order can be found here.
• CLOUD NOTHINGs are on TOUR and are playing everywhere…go see them!  The dates can be found here.

tonstartssbandht is from Montreal, and was first introduced to me by the Friendship Bracelet Club Vol. 2 compilation where the demo version of “Black Country” appeared.  Friendship Bracelet has been curating amazing compilations (go here and check out the side bar to download/buy), and if you haven’t looked at Friendship Bracelet in a while make sure to check out their rad new header for the blog… I’m so ready for baseball season…Go Pirates.

The demo version of tonstartssbandht’s “Black Country” made me track down a copy of their full length from last year titled An When, and the album version of that song  is even more powerful than the demo.  An When was released by Does Are Records last year.

“Black Country” is a unique track that uses extremely heavy booming drums and percussion to create the beat and tone of the song, but musically it lies in a grey area between heavy psych and extremely dark folk.  There is a underlying repetitive melody that makes such a heavy track sound some what light. The melody has a tone of hope, and it adds a an additional element of mystery and wonder.  This song started off as just something that caught my ear, but has quickly become an obsession.  The vocals are haunting, and at this point I just wish I knew what the fuck he was saying…repetitive listening hasn’t really helped me decipher the the lyrics, but has just made hit repeat as soon as it ends.

Listening to “Black Country” while walking home from the train yesterday evening was a great experience…the sun going down but the last glimmer of light was reflecting off the snow, and it brought me to the cold dark place that this song brings me too, but in both cases the melody and and glow let me know everything was ok.

[mp3] tonstartssbandht- “Black Country”

• buy An When here.

“Black Country” isn’t the only song on An When that has this tone, but tonstartssbandht has one of the most eclectic sounds that I have heard in a very long time.  You can’t lump them into a category, and you should expect to hear more about them on the Great Pumpkin.  I’m sure this is not the last post, and I can’t wait til the Midnight Cobras 7″ goes on sale from Psychic Handshake Recordings.  Links to various record labels that have released other tapes, cdrs, 3″ cds by tonstartssbandht can be found on their myspace.

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This is part of my Speed Dating series.  You can read more about singles I have featured in this series here.

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The photo above was taken in Vermont on a holga using medium format film.  This photo is part of the White Lodge.

• more gprecs posts featuring photos from the White Lodge can be found here.

It’s been almost two months since Chocolate Bobka took over the basement of the Lutheran Church of the Messiah, and brought the sweet un-amplified sounds of Mountain Man and Alex Bleeker to this holy place.  It was a truly surreal experience to see so many people sitting quietly while these bands played their music in such a  peaceful setting.  It was the type of thing that can only happen when the people at an event want to be there, and aren’t just there because it was the cool thing to do…and that is what made this night so special.

While I had heard “Animal Tracks” before this was my first real experience with Mountain Man.  If you didn’t already know Mountain Man is actually three ladies from Bennington, Vermont who make mostly acapella folk music with the occasional use of acoustic guitar.  Their performance at the Church was nothing short of magical. From Singing with Alex Bleeker and performing a cover of “Oh, Boy” by Girls , covering  “My Roots are Strong and Deep” by Phil Elverum’s The Microphones, and even Tom Waits….

Mountain Man- “Green Grass (Tom Waits cover)” into “Animal Tracks”

Ray Concepcioñ always does an amazing job capturing Chocolate Bobka’s events.  I also recorded their cover of “Green Grass,” and while I’m not a magician with a camera like Ray is (nor do I have that type of equipment) I feel that this video captures the setting and vibe of the church.  The complete lack of light, the politeness of the audience, and what it felt like to be at such a unique event.

Mountain Man- “Green Grass (Tom Waits cover)”

I’m honestly not a Tom Waits fan, but this version can make even a person that hates Tom Waits like this song. These covers were in addition to their own beautiful musical creations.

Mountain Man was selling limited edition copies of their self titled cd-r at the show.  The cd-r’s that Mountain Man had at the Church were all made by hand out of paper bags, sewn together, and then decorated.  Every copy was different.  This version, from my understanding, is different than what they released earlier in 2009 because it has two additional songs: “Loon Song” and “Buffalo.”  I’m really happy to have been able to get a copy of one of their releases after reading about them non-stop for for so long.

If I had just heard this record without seeing them live I would have thought the music came from another time.  It’s oldtime-y in a way that feels classic, and if knew nothing about these ladies I would not be able to guess when it was released.  If you haven’t experienced them yet I’m happy to share a couple tracks with you now…  “Animal Tracks” is already a classic:

[mp3] Mountain Man- “Animal Tracks”

“Buffalo” is one of the newest tracks to emerge from these ladies, and while it still keeps the same vibe as the rest it brings us much closer to the plains than the mountains.  An ode to this glorious beast, and so short and sweet at that.  I’ve listened to this track probably a dozen times today…. follow the buffalo:

[mp3] Mountain Man- “Buffalo”

If you are interested in hearing more Mountain Man and don’t mind having a digital copy you can buy their 7 song EP directly from the band here.   This website also allows you to stream the entire album, and has a complete list of their West Coast tour…which is currently going on.  If you are in San Francisco this weekend I highly recommend checking them out.

Many of these tracks will be seeing proper release on one of my new favorite record labels…the magnificent Underwater Peoples.  Keep an eye out…it’s going to be a 10″, and is sure to be a must have.

Previously posted mp3s featuring Mountain Man:

[mp3] Alex Bleeker w/ Molly Searle of Mountain Man- “Oh, Boy (Girls cover)”

[mp3] Alex Bleeker and the Freaks- “Animal Tracks (Mountain Man cover)”

• Buy Alex Bleeker’s self titled LP here.

Mountain Man is just one of the many reasons why Vermont is such a wonderful state…maybe I will live there one day.

Links:

• the photo above was taken by Rez Avissar at the Lutheran Church of the Messiah.  More photos taken by Rez from this show can be found here.
• more on Underwater Peoples can be found here.
• more on Alex Bleeker can be found here.

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I was going to a Best Of Limited Releases for 2009, and figured my energy would be better spent making this post.  Mountain Man’s cd-r is everything I look for in a limited release…amazing music, and packaging made with loving care.

There were several other releases that have made my shortlist of Best Limited Releases of 2009, and all of those have been previously covered in my posts called This Week In Mail Order.  Here is that list, and links to the original posts:

• Mount Eerie- White Stag
• Karl Blau- Baby Nettles
• Karl Blau- 96
• Cloud Nothings- Turning On

more of my best of lists can be found here.

My first show of Twenty Ten will be tonight, and as far as I’m concerned it couldn’t be any better than Julian Lynch.  Julian Lynch made one of my favorite records of 2009 (my lists are still to come), and he will be contributing his own best of list to the Great Pumpkin later this week! I also hope to shoot a little video at the show tonight as well…we will see.

If you can make it this should be a really good show(oh and it’s FREE!), honestly it would be a really good show if Julian was the only one playing…but I’m pretty excited to see Big Troubles as well.

I’ve been digging on the Julian Lynch tracks that Friendship Bracelet posted a while back from the Birthday CDr on Buffalo Songs, and I thought I would share one here with you now.  Just as dreamy as Orange You Glad, but with some found tapes and loops added in…initially reminded me of the backwards speak in Twin Peaks.

[mp3] Julian Lynch- “dubna”

If you missed it a while back I posted Big Troubles “Freudian Slips,” and here it is again:

[mp3] Big Troubles- “Freuduian Slips”

Here is to hoping that all of Big Troubles’ songs are this wonderful.

See you at Bruar Falls tonight! Again this show is FREE!

Links:

• more on Julian Lynch here.
• more on Big Troubles here.
• this show is presented by PopJew
• Concert Poster by Courtney

This past weekend was a period of music discovery for me, and not necessarily things I hadn’t heard before.  Studying for the GRE gave me time to give somethings quality playtime, and Saturday morning the mail man brought me a small package from Bridgetown Records.

I was previously unfamiliar with Bridgetown Records, but I have had my eye on Cloud Nothings for a while.  Get Off the Coast and Weekly Tape Deck have both been posting about them…and “Hey Cool Kid” has made it on my iPod at least two different times (and now with this CD three times)…and “Can’t Stay Awake” got stuck on repeat once I heard it week.

Cloud Nothings is the recording project of Dylan Baldi who hails from Cleveland, OH.  Dylan is 18 and has been recoding under the name Cat Killer, but recently shed that name in exchange for Cloud Nothings.  No matter what name he goes under this is one talented young man.   Cloud Nothings played their first show a week or so ago in Brooklyn at Market Hotel opening for Real Estate and Woods, and their second with Coasting.  They also have a couple shows coming up in Ohio:

• 1/12/10- Cleveland, OH @ Believeland w/ Truman Peyote and Many Mansions
• 1/16/10- Columbus, OH @ Skylab w/ Truman Peyote and Many Mansions

Turning On is his first full length as Cloud Nothings…8 songs, and roughly 30 minutes.  While I’ve been one to rant about lo-fi in recent months, but Cloud Nothings are proof that it can feel new and fresh.  While the vocals are muffled, they aren’t fuzzy, and rather than making garage rock he turns out extremely catchy pop that fringes pop punk.

Turning On was pressed in a limited run of 50 CDs and 100 tapes.  When I saw that these were selling for only $5 I couldn’t pass it up, especially with how many times I had listed to “Hey Cool Kid” (which happens to be playing right now as I type this).  I expected this album to be good, but I had no idea that it would be awesome from beginning to end.  Overall Turning On is an extremely impressive debut from this pop mastermind.  “Can’t Stay Awake” very well might be one of my favorite songs of the year.

[mp3] Cloud Nothings- “Can’t Stay Awake”

[mp3] Cloud Nothings- “Old Street”

Both tracks are from Turning On (pictured to the right).  This is a very limited release so get them while you can:

Order Cloud Nothings’ Turning On from Bridgetown Records here.

Cloud Nothings also have three more upcoming releases: an LP on Group Tightener, a cassette on Breakfast of Champs, and a cassette on Bathetic.

I would love to see Turning On get released on vinyl… I would surely buy it again.

Last Thursday Karl Blau graced Ash’s Place in Williamsburg with his presence.  This was my first time at Ash’s, and I was a little bit surprised at the vibe the Karl and his K Records crew were greeted with.  Instead of the usual quite, smallish, attentive crowd Ash’s Place was packed…half with people who were there for the music, and the rest seemed to have mistaken the show for a drunken rowdy Thursday night party.

Karl was backed by LAKE (who also opened).  This was my first time seeing Karl perform an entire set with a backing band, and it was as wonderful as I expected (despite the loud talking of the crowd).  It made possible the recreation of many of the songs off of Zebra, and even some from last years phenomenal Nature’s Got Away.

While it wasn’t possible do to background noise to capture any of the quieter songs I was able to grab the two singles off of the new album…check out the new dance Karl invented for Brooklyn at the beginning of the extended live version of “Dark Sedan.”

Karl Blau- “Dark Sedan”

Karl Blau- “Apology to Pollinateurs”

It was a pleasure seeing Karl with a full band, and I hope I have this opportunity again, but I did miss the mesmerizing loop building of his solo sets.  Karl also mentioned that they were shooting the music video for “Dark Sedan” this weekend in New York…I can’t wait to see how that turns out.

If you haven’t grabbed a copy of it yet, Karl has a new volume of his Kelp Lunacy available for sale.  This time it is called 96 (pictured above) and is limited to 175 copies.  All copies have letter pressed covers, and are printed on the back of other album covers. K Records describes it:

Those who follow Karl Blau’s prolific trail may find 96 to be of the Double Duty Booty /Dance Positive dance vein of Blauisms. Extra-hott dog.

I picked mine up at the show (along with Blau’s reggae tribute to the Nutcracker!), but you can grab one from Karl off of his website…as always with Karl this album is totally worth it. I can’t get enough of his smooth dance jams.

Buy Karl Blau’s 96 here.

To give you a taste of 96 here is a song from the previously mentioned Double Duty Booty. It is an amazing, kind of creepy, dance jam titled “Ceremonial Apple Pie.”  The song starts off with almost a hip hop or dance hall style beat and vocals, and then turns into one of Karl’s wonderful reggae influenced dance jams…full of of his smooth voice, and other vocal experiments.

[mp3] Karl Blau- “Ceremonial Apple Pie”

off of Dubble Dooty Booty.  buy it here.

Links:

• More on Karl Blau (tour dates, mp3s, release info, videos, ect) click  here.
• Buy other Karl Blau releases directly from him here.
  • or if you have other shopping needs at insound.
• More on K Records here.
• More gprecs videos here.

This past Sunday klk and I drove all the way out to the end of the North Fork of Long Island.  I had never really gotten out to the wine and agricultural part of the island, but it was a really nice day.  The farm stands were abundant so we picked up pumpkins for the upcoming holiday, and other delicious veggies. We stopped off at Orient Beach…which I had no idea was as beautiful as it is.  The water is as clear as can be, and the beach is covered in stones (I’ve never seen this before…I assume it’s natural).  Looking out over the water I couldn’t help but think of the Montauk Monster, and the alleged government animal testing facility.  On our way back a little wine tasting and some of the best ice cream in the world.  I’m also learning how to use my camera better, and this is the result:

Farm Stands:

Orient Beach:

Maybe the best ice cream I’ve ever had:

On our way out to the North Fork we pasted Port Washington, New York.  This reminded me of one of my favorite Mountain Goats song:

[mp3] The Mountain Goats- “Going to Port Washington” (off of Ghana. Buy it here)

I’ve been thinking about the Mountain Goats a lot lately…they have been on Colbert, and the new album is coming out.  On our trip out to the North Fork we listened to Bitter Mellon Farm, and it was pretty much perfect music for our drive through all of the farms and vineyards.  I know that the Mountain Goats have gotten really big from their studio albums, but I truly miss the tape hiss and the grind of the acoustic guitar.  If you haven’t experienced this side of the goats check out the track above, or by a record pre- Tallahassee .

I’m really looking forward to another trip to the North Fork… it was relaxing, and I’m really craving another ice cream cone from Magic Fountain… the pumpkin and the bourbon cherry ice creams were to die for.

Record shopping was good at the Underwater Peoples Showcase last night!

Buy these things:

• Julian Lynch/Ducktails split 7″/DVD here.
• Underwater Peoples Summer Showcase CD here.
• Fluffy Lumbers 7″ here.
• Ducktails- Landscapes LP here.