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.

Karl Blau might have already released one of my favorite albums of this year with his most recent KELP Lunacy titled Baby Nettles.  The sad part about that is only a handful of people will ever hold a copy of it.  While this limited release won’t make it to many ears his next album, which I am very excited about, titled Zebra will be seeing the light of day via, one of my personal favorite labels, K Records.

I was able to catch Karl at two of his 5 or so New York City shows earlier this year where he performed solo doing his thing with a guitar and and his beat box style vocal loops where he mentioned his new album, and said it would be paying tribute in a way to the music of Africa.

K Records has released a press release about the album with more details:

Listening to Karl Blau’s albums and trying to describe what you hear is like walking through a local farmer’s market and describing all the vegetables grown in that area. The common thread running through Blau’s records is a love felt for homegrown music. Most anyone can sense the passion this cultivator has for his trade.

In a world of instant access to musical cultures near and far, Blau overtly mirrors African musical influences with hints of blues, soul and rock steeped in l’herbe de Northwest and he calls it Zebra [KLP205].

This striped burro was birthed in the trusty analog setting of Dub Narcotic Studios in Olympia, Washington. For Zebra Blau explored the frontiers of folklore, adding one instrument at a time (drum, guitar, bell, keys, saxophone, flute, piano) in an organic process of response to this confluence of sounds. A restless thinker, Blau is adept at imaginative and sweet songs about education, work, love and society. Blessed with an expressive and gentle baritone, Blau asks the eternal question: “what’s next?” Every generation has its own revolution and we need heartfelt music now as much as ever. Let’s practice how we dance. (read the whole thing here)

GvsB posted the first single of the new album a while back, and I have been sitting on it taking it in for sometime now.  The track features both Melanie Valera ( Tender Forever) and Arrington de Dionyso(Old Time Relijun).  I hope you enjoy this first track as much as I do:

[mp3] Karl Blau- “apology to pollinateurs”
(off Zebra. via GvsB)

Every time Blau releases an album it brings a freshness to my ears…whether it is creating something entirely new, or transforming something familiar Karl Blau really cannot do any wrong in my book.

Karl Blau’s Zebra will be out on October 6th, 2009 and you will be able to purchase it from K Records here.

Karl Blau has a whole slew of tour dates lined up too…last time I saw him he mentioned working on a full band format…I wonder if that is happening this time around?  Either way these shows are not to be missed ( will update the post once the venue for the NYC show is confirmed):

• Aug 21, 2009 – Seattle, Washington @ Q Cafe
• Aug 22, 2009 – Rochester, Washington @Helsing Junction Sleepover – w/ Desolation Wilderness, Joey Casio, Christmas, Tender Forever, Jeffrey Jerusalem
• Sep 18, 2009 – Portland, Oregon @ Backspace – w/ Mount Eerie, Tara Jane ONeil, No Kids
• Sep 19, 2009 – Oakland, California @ 21 Grand – w/ Mount Eerie, Tara Jane ONeil, No Kids
• Sep 20, 2009 – Los Angeles, California @ Eagle Rock Center for Arts – w/ Mount Eerie, Tara Jane ONeil, No Kids
• Sep 22, 2009 – San Diego, California @ Che Cafe, San Diego State – w/ Mount Eerie, Tara Jane ONeil, No Kids
• Sep 24, 2009 – Eugene, Oregon @ EMU Ampitheater, University of Oregon – w/ Mount Eerie, Tara Jane ONeil, No Kids
• Sep 25, 2009 – Olympia, Washington @ Northern – w/ Mount Eerie, Tara Jane ONeil, No Kids
• Oct 11, 2009 – Olympia, Washington @ Northern – w/ LAKE
• Oct 12, 2009 – Tacoma, Washington @ The Den – w/ LAKE
• Oct 13, 2009 – Seattle, Washington @ The Josephine – w/ LAKE
• Oct 15, 2009 – Pullman, Washington @ Belltower – w/ LAKE
• Oct 17, 2009 – Salt Lake City, Utah @ Kilby Court – w/ LAKE
• Oct 18, 2009 – Denver, Colorado @ Rhinoceropolis – w/ LAKE
• Oct 20, 2009 – Lawrence, Kansas @ The Jackpot Saloon – w/ LAKE
• Oct 22, 2009 – Chicago, Illinois @ Schubas Tavern – w/ LAKE
• Oct 23, 2009 – Grand Rapids, Michigan @ The DAAC – w/ LAKE
• Oct 24, 2009 – Bloomington, Indiana @ Russian Recording – w/ LAKE
• Oct 25, 2009 – Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania @ Garfield Artworks – w/ LAKE
• Oct 28, 2009 – Plattsburgh, New York @ North Country Food Co-Op – w/ LAKE
• Oct 29, 2009 – Brooklyn, New York @ TBA (Market Hotel? Todd P still has TBA) – w/ LAKE
• Oct 30, 2009 – Haverford, Pennsylvania @ Lunt Basement – w/ LAKE
• Nov 4, 2009 – Greensboro, North Carolina @ Square One – w/ LAKE
• Nov 5, 2009 – Lexington, Kentucky @ Al’s Bar – w/ LAKE
• Nov 7, 2009 – Athens, Georgia @ Secret Squirrel – w/ LAKE
• Nov 8, 2009 – Tallahassee, Florida @ Club Down Under – w/ LAKE
• Nov 10, 2009 – Dallas, Texas @ Swiss House – w/ LAKE
• Nov 11, 2009 – Austin, Texas @ Emo’s Jr. – w/ LAKE
• Nov 12, 2009 – Lubbock, Texas @ Bash Riprocks – w/ LAKE
• Nov 13, 2009 – Albuquerque, New Mexico @ Burt’s Tiki Lounge – w/ LAKE
• Nov 14, 2009 – Phoenix, Arizona @ Trunk Space – w/ LAKE
• Nov 17, 2009 – Los Angeles, California @ The Smell – w/ LAKE
• Nov 18, 2009 – Santa Barbara, California @ Biko Garage – w/ LAKE
• Nov 20, 2009 – San Luis Obispo, California @ SLO Art Center – w/ LAKE
• Nov 21, 2009 – Santa Cruz, California @ Resource Center for Non Violence – w/ LAKE

For much more info on Karl Blau (mp3s, ect) please click here.

My past two evenings were spent with Karl Blau….and I really can think of a better way to start the week.  Monday night was a Zebulon, and last night at Bruar Falls (and might I say that Bruar Falls is a fine venue, and quickly becoming one of my favorites in the city.  It’s really nice to drink good beer at a show…I’m been digging the Sixpoint Mason Black Wheat).

Karl plays more or less by himself crafting songs using two microphones, a couple pedals, a guitar, and his vocal cords.  I have see artists use loop pedals before, but he is by far is the best…creating a entire song right in front of your eyes…it is just amazing to watch him add loop after loop.  The song starts out as one guitar riff, or one vocal beat box loop, and then in a matter of seconds turns into an amazing multi layered song.

I’m a pretty big fan of Karl Blau, and I have all of the LPs released in the past couple years…and if you have been following the GP I’m not the type of person that typically buys CDs.  Karl currently does a subscription service called Kelp Lunacy Advanced Plagiarism Society (KLAPS) and this is one of the occasions where I make an exception.  KLAPS:

follows the soundscape of audio artist Karl Blau– Kelps are sent out periodically in the format of CD: songs and sounds, orchestrations and field recordings.

Underscoring the committment to style exploration of the modern world as giant mixer of sonic cultures, Blau’s KLAPS–formed beneath the grey skies of the Skagit Valley– produce sonic landscapes of a new world. Karl Blau as crooner, as music producer, instrumentalist, as natural world observer, as collaborateur with artists from the NW and beyond. Kelp Lunacy Advanced Plagiarism Society above all shares Blau’s love of sound

It is important to note that part of the essence of KLAPS is the hand-packaging including screenprinting, letter-pressed, sewn paper, and often on recycled material. Sure, you can download Kelps here for cheap, but you won’t get the full flavor of Kelp Lunacy and the rush of treasure in the mail. (via kelplunacy.com)

Last July Blau announced that he would be putting a stop to KLAPS after issue #40, but you can still subscribe up to that point (currently on issue #29).  If you would like to I would email him first.  Info on this below.

I was able to pick up a copy of one of these issues when I saw him about a year and a half ago, and when I saw him at Zebulon I asked if he had any copies.  He didn’t have any at Zebulon, but brought a copy of the most recent issue for me to Bruar Falls.  KLAPS releases are extremely limited, and he mentioned that he only has enough for the subscribers…so I feel really lucky to have gotten a copy:

This particular copy is made of sewn paper, and is comprised of downbeat R&B songs (or the beginning of it is…that is what I heard on my commute this morning).  Karl mentioned that some of the tracks were off of various compilations.  It was a great soundtrack to my morning.

To inquire about KLAPS email: “kelpmonthly” at sign “fastmail” dot “fm”

You can buy some of the physical back issues of KLAPS and Karl Blau’s other albums on CD here.

If you don’t mind not having the awesome packaging, or would like to hear back issue of KLAPS you can download them!  They are available for the extremely reasonable price of $8.99 each.

You can buy KLAPS digitally here.

In the mean time check out this out:

[mp3] Karl Blau- “Kill the Messenger” (Bret Lunsford/ D+ cover) (off Dance Positive! Buy it!)

If you don’t live in the US there is a chance Karl might be playing near you.  He seems to be touring most of the world right now. Check out his tour dates here. Lets hope he stops back in NYC on his way back to the West Coast.

More on Karl Blau here.

Photo via K Records, taken by Calli Stark