Podcast Toad Sessions: alela diane bonnie prince billy hem holy modal rounders johnny cash mariee sioux neutral milk hotel shaky hands toad session vashti bunyan willard grant conspiracy
by Matthew
17 comments
Toad 2.0
Toadcast #30 – Alela Diane & Mariee Sioux Toad Session
Hello and welcome back to the Toad Sessions. I was a little drunk when I noticed that Alela Diane was playing in Edinburgh as part of the Triptych Festival, so the idea of emailing her label and inviting her to do a Toad Session didn’t seem quite so preposterous. In the morning, I thought I was mad and would be laughed at, but amazingly they agreed, and now here it is.
This one was also recorded by Nick at Bananarow and he’s done another amazing job – the songs sound absolutely gorgeous. Dylan’s pictures can be found at the Flickr page, and we have some more videos at the Song, by Toad YouTube page. Here’s the interview podcast, with the tracklisting at the bottom of the page.
Toadcast #30 – Alela Diane & Mariee Sioux Toad Session
Here are the sessions tracks themselves. The Cuckoo is a traditional song, and Dry Grass & the Shadows is from Alela’s new album which should hopefully be out later this year. Mariee’s songs are Flowers & Blood from her recent album Faces in the Rocks, whereas the gorgeous Icarus Eye is an old song from a home release.
Alela Diane – Dry Grass & the Shadows
Alela Diane – The Cuckoo
Mariee Sioux – The Icarus Eye
Mariee Sioux – Flowers & Blood
Here are the videos, all hosted at the YouTube page. Again, the interview is going to have to go up later because I seem to have entirely lost Morgan, my resident editing expert, so I’ve had to cobble these things together myself. I am going to work on the interview movies as best I can, so they should hopefully be available in a week or two.
01. Alela Diane – Dry Grass & the Shadows (Toad Session) (04.51)
02. The Shaky Hands – Summer’s Life (08.36)
03. Johnny Cash – I See a Darkness (11.45)
04. The Holy Modal Rounders – Hesitation Blues (20.42)
05. Neutral Milk Hotel – The Communist’s Daughter (24.10)
06. Mariee Sioux – Flowers & Blood (Toad Session) (26.07)
07. Hem – Half Acre (32.29)
08. Bonnie Prince Billy – No Bad News (41.41)
09. Willard Grant Conspiracy – Twistification (46.05)
10. Vashti Bunyan – Glow Worms (53.35)
11. Mariee Sioux – The Icarus Eye (Toad Session) (58.10)
12. Alela Diane – The Cuckoo (Toad Session) (62.56)
Well I hope you like these. The next session is going to be with local band Meursault, and will be the first one to be recorded in Toad Hall. Very exciting!
Cheers pal, much appreciated. They were both so tired after a month of touring I ended up just feeling guilty, but the recordings are gorgeous.
I had never heard of Mariee Sioux before you previously mentioned her, and never actually heard her music until this post. Needless to say I like it very much.
Was Mariee Alela’s tour support?
Not really, she played in the band. I don’t think she did any of her own material at any of the gigs – at least, she didn’t do any in Edinburgh. At the Bongo Club it was Alela solo, occasionally joined by Mariee or Michael Hurley, who was also playing that night, but she had more of a band on the rest of the tour. I think her Dad came along to play and a fellow called Matt Bauer from New York but they both flew home before the Edinburgh gig.
I think the Bongo Club gig was just Alela’s set due to a lack of time, but on most of the European dates (including Dublin where I saw them play) Mariee was also Alela’s support act and did a set of her own material. Thank you very much for the excellent podcast, I’m a big fan of both!
ps. the link for ‘Dry Grass and Shadows’ is broken – missing a ‘3′ in the filename! Just to let you know..
Fuck, thanks for that Richie. Sorted now.
Oh glorious Toad! All hail!
In-fucking-deed, me old mate. In-fucking-deed.
Well done mate. Aplogies for dissapearing altogether … a lot on my plate as you know. I’ll be back !
Mariee Sioux…WOW..where did she come from? I think I know.
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[...] local bands, with interviews, movies a podcast and downloadable session tracks. #3 -Meursault #2 -Alela Diane & Mariee Sioux #1 -Broken [...]
Mariee Sioux and Alela Diane are two great, distinct artists. Google each separate. I am totally in love with Mariee…she is NOT just a part of anyone’s band! So glad they’re both getting love here!
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[...] recently stumbled upon Alela Diane’s Toad Session with Mariee Sioux, if you haven’t got a chance to check it [...]
[...] and partly for her unfailingly gracious attitude, despite enormous tour fatigue, when recording her Toad Session last May. Having slowly clambered up the slippery pole of public recognition, she has finally [...]
Totally fucking gorgeous. Another Toad triumph!