Tag Archives: wilco

interviews, listen, video

Poetic Memory: Boy Without God (List)

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Boy Without God

Fact: there are more albums in existence today than ever before, and, as more albums are released in the future, that number will most likely increase. We, the intrepid writers for Owl&Bear, stand at the frothy frontline of this constant deluge of new music, bravely filling buckets with the good stuff and presenting it as sweet sustenance to our parched readers. We perpetually receive music from PR people, begging us to check out undiscovered artists, and a lot of it is, quite frankly, underwhelming. But once in a while we come across a diamond in the rough, something that grabs us by the ears and doesn’t let go. And so it happened that, mere seconds into hearing “If You” (MP3), I became a fan of Boy Without God.

Hailing from Massachusetts, famed home of the sassy Congressman, Boy Without God is the solo project of multi-instrumentalist Gabriel Birnbaum. His new album, Your Body Is Your Soul, which sounds like Neutral Milk Hotel if they’d been fronted by Johnny Cash, has been on constant rotation in the Owl&Bear offices lately and is shaping up to be one of the best albums of the year. Birnbaum was kind enough to share his influences with us for our newest installment of Poetic Memory.

Poetic Memory is a regular Owl and Bear feature in which musicians disclose their influences—whether it’s albums, songs, artists, or something random. If you’re interested in being featured here, send us an email. Continue reading →

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Jim O’Rourke to Release ‘The Visitor’ Sept. 9 (Stream)

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Jim O'Rourke - The Visitor

As a producer, Jim O’Rourke is responsible for fundamentally re-shaping Wilco’s Yankee Hotel Foxtrot (and the band itself); as a composer, his songs could accompany both sweet dreams and nightmares; as a lyricist, his turns of phrase are pretty much enviable.

Yet perhaps because of his boundary-testing nature, the Chicago experimentalist doesn’t like to outstay his welcome. Even his album art, though always amazing, is tough to digest sometimes.

The better part of a decade has passed since O’Rourke released anything solo. Granted, he did record those two Loose Fur albums with Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy and Glenn Kotche, and he recorded and toured with Sonic Youth, but that’s a whole different thing. This year, Drag City also re-issued some of O’Rourke’s early work—including a three-hour two-disc epic described by the label as a “double-disc drone-gasm”—but it’s just not the same. Continue reading →

interviews, listen

Poetic Memory: Kissing Cousins (List)

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Kissing Cousins

L.A.-based Kissing Cousins, an “all female sepulchral counter-pop” band led by Heather Bray Heywood, began with a few modest EPs. Since then, they’ve had a song featured on Nip/Tuck and recorded a full-length album, Pillar of Salt. Kissing Cousins recorded Pillar live to tape—a rarity in today’s mostly digital landscape—with the help of Richard Swift. The band used Wilco’s old TASCAM 8-track to record the album, bestowing a second life upon the piece of equipment that has produced some of Wilco’s greatest songs. Kissing Cousins definitely do the machine justice.

Music videos for Pillar are in the works, and the vinyl will be released in July (see tour dates below). For samples, check out “In Too Deep” from Pillar, as well as “Deathhouse“, Heywood’s personal favorite song from the album.

After the jump: 10 bands that influenced Heywood’s songwriting “in some shape or form.” Continue reading →

interviews, listen

Poetic Memory: The Rest (List)

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The Rest

The last time Ontario, Canada’s The Rest played at the Casbah, we missed it. But we won’t make that mistake again. After all, according to their MySpace page, The Rest like all the things that we like: doing push-ups, shooting each other with water guns, howling at the moon, and delicious Thai food. (More details below.) We have other reasons, too. For one, their new album, Everything All At Once, is amazing. For another, they graciously agreed to write the latest installment of Poetic Memory. Also, they use the word “rascal” in their lyrics.

We’ve featured The Rest on our podcast a few times, but in case you missed it, here are a couple of MP3s. The wondrously haunting “Drinking Again” is definitely one of our favorite songs of 2009. Also, be sure to check out “Everything All At Once“, the epic titular track from their new album.

Poetic Memory is a regular Owl and Bear feature in which musicians disclose their influences—whether it’s albums, songs, artists, or something random. If you’re interested in being featured here, send us an email. Continue reading →

interviews

Poetic Memory: Alan Wilkis (List)

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Alan Wilkis

Brooklyn’s Alan Wilkis calls himself “a sponge type of listener” who is “influenced by many different artists, genres, and time periods” and it’s easy to tell from his music. His new EP is called Pink and Purple, and it’s a blast. To describe his taste, Wilkis says, “One day I might be listening to some death metal, next day it’s 80s hip-hop, then Bach fugues, and then it’s Elvis Costello all weekend.” His style will take you by surprise, but it’s a good thing—and it’s plain that he writes for sheer enjoyment.

We described his last album, Babies Dream Big, as “reminiscent of anything from funk to deep soul to something like the soundtrack to Ghostbusters,” and Pink and Purple operates in a similar dimension. Given last week’s passing of Michael Jackson, it seems only appropriate to publish Wilkis’ list of influences, which he readily admits is “a little 80s funk-heavy.” Below are Alan Wilkis’ top 10 influences.

Poetic Memory is a regular Owl and Bear feature in which musicians disclose their influences—whether it’s albums, songs, artists, or something random. If you’re interested in being featured here, send us an email. Continue reading →