Four albums into his career, and I am about ready to elevate Micah P. Hinson to the Toad Pantheon of Unchallengeable Greatness.  Red Empire Orchestra seemed to lack a little purpose at times, almost as if Hinson himself were slightly uncertain about the album, and I do not like covers at all, so All Dressed Up and Smelling of Strangers didn’t really click for me either.

This, however, without being a drastic change, slaps down those niggling doubts pretty fucking decisively – it’s fucking great.  You know who Hinson reminds me of?  Sam Amidon.  I’ve interviewed both now and both are opaque, intimidating people, hugely generous with their time and conversation, but with a kind of hard edge to them which a stupid question, a waste of time or a glib frivolity could easily cause to bubble to the surface. Lovely guys both of them, but if they came to think that you were an idiot, I get the impression there would be little else to be had from either but a cool dismissal.

Musically they remind me of one another too, particularly in the combination of relying heavily on straightforward songwriting embellished so lavishly and beautifully with classical orchestration, and all the time with that same undercurrent of bite which makes their respective personalities so striking.

One of the things which seems to make artists lose their flair in old age is that anyone successful enough to still be making music that long seems to have their desire, their need, dissolved slightly by that very success.  Hinson strikes me very squarely as someone whose fire burns so fiercely that even the salve of finding true love is unlikely to ever dampen it.  When you speak to him he just simmers with passion, and in his music that simmering boils over time and again, despite the presence of more soft-focus bliss such as the uncomfortably unguarded Dear Ashley.

This album feels, at heart,  like a beautifully constructed alt-folk album, swirled about by gorgeous classical instrumentation. And yet if that’s what it is, it is one which has been twisted, distorted and enraged by noise and chaos, as if the underlying beauty were always in danger of being consumed by the fury which seems to bubble from the exact same well which makes the beauty so intense.

It is perhaps a little more abstract, this album, than his previous ones.  It relies less on songs, per se, and more on long, building instrumentals, which seem to carry the emotional arc of the album more than the lyrics themselves.  He starts and ends with these, beginning with the lovely Call to Arms and ending with the twelve minute microcosm of The Returning, which eventually draws the sting of the seven minutes of aggravated guitar, before lapsing into more soothing strings of what feels like turning the last page of an emotionally devastating book.  It’s all done, it’s half four in the morning and there is already a greying light in the sky, but you’re through it now and can finally go to sleep.

Micah P. Hinson – Seven Horses Seen

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Micah P. Hinson – The Returning

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I will be in Macclesfield at Unconvention, pretending to know what the fuck I am talking about when it comes to new music business models when you come to listen to this.

I do get a shiny new pair of Converse, courtesy of the sponsors, which is cool.  But above all, me, the chance to talk shit… well, it’s just a match made in heaven isn’t it.

My Granddad lives in Manchester too, which is rather convenient, so on Sunday I will go round to his house and say hello.  Who knows, it might even shunt me slowly out of the Bad Son status I have been occupying for all these years.

This playlist is largely composed of new stuff which has appeared in my inbox recently, and a couple of bizarre wild cards – two covers,

Toadcast #121 – The Votecast

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01. Yusuf Azak – Turn on the Long Wire (06.23)
02. Micah P. Hinson – 2s and 3s (12.50)
03. Nina Nastasia – Cry, Cry, Baby (17.58)
04. Emit Bloch – Milkshake vs. Passenger (Kelis & Iggy Pop) (23.50)
05. Run on Sentence – Out in the Woods (30.16)
06. eagleowl – Morpheus (33.43)
07. David Tattersall – The Old Family (39.15)
08. Los Hombres – Let it Out (Let it All Hang Out) (41.36)
09. Male Bonding – Year’s Not Long (46.12)
10. Willie Nelson – Smells Like Teen Spirit (49.22)
11. Super Adventure Club – Pick Up Sticks (57.03)

11.Meursault – Love or Limb
This is almost a bloody country song, and fucking hell it’s miserable.  Like the rest of Nothing Broke, the songs really don’t seem to belong together, but they really do fit amazingly well. And one of the nicest things about this song, for someone actually involved with the release, is that it came as a total surprise – I knew nothing about it until suddenly there it was on something we were releasing.

12.Yusuf Azak – The Key Underground
Yusuf is threatening to retire from music before finishing his album.  Based on the evidence of his two EPs (free to download from his MySpace page) and this out of the blue pop gem that would be a tragedy.  It’s such a strange song, and yet so incredibly catchy.

13.Micah P Hinson – In The Pines (By Leadbelly)
Yes, I know, I don’t like this album much, and covering In the Pines by Leadbelly is an enormous cliche, but the sheer venom with which Hinson sets about this song is a bloody joy.  He just beasts the living shit out of it, start to finish.  Truly exceptional.

14.Meursault – William Henry Miller Pt1
Hmm, this song got a little lost in the debate between single versions and EP versions and all that pish, but forgetting everything else and just popping it on the stereo, it’s just a genius pop song pure and simple.  The oohs, the claps, the banjo… the fucking weird subject matter.  I defy anyone not to love this – in fact, if you are that person then all I can say is ‘Ha hahahaha – you’re an idiot.  Bad luck.’

15.Samamidon-1842-ToadSession
More banjo, and one of the most gorgeous voices I’ve heard in ages.  Sam played in Edinburgh a lot this year, and I don’t know if his second Bowery gig or his Toad Session the next day will end up being the most memorable from my perspective.  How someone can bring old folk music so powerfully to life by doing so little to it is beyond me.  The lad’s a fucking genius.

16.Withered Hand – For the Maudlin
One of the most understatedly brilliant albums I’ve heard for ages.  Almost every one of the songs on Good News should be on this list.  The only real relief for me is the fact that due to appearing on the Religious Songs EP a handful of them have disqualified themselves, otherwise Dan might fear he had a stalker.

17.Langhorne Slim – I Love You But Goodbye
I’m still getting into the album itself, but the teaser track from Be Set Free is more elaborate and involved than earlier work, but the twinkling piano and lazy strings just give this song an incredible air of indulgent, nostalgic melancholy.  If you like to wallow in your sadness yet not allow it to become too bleak, then this is the song for you.

18.eagleowl – Sleep the Winter
If you want to know what I think of this single, read this.  Otherwise just listen to the roll of the guitar refrain, the gorgeous sound of the violin and the wonderful interplay between Bart’s growl and Clarissa’s whisper – it’s just beautiful.  They make making music like this sound so incredibly easy.

19.Sparrow & the Workshop – You’ve Got it All
If I were Jill O’Sullivan’s gentleman friend I would be somewhat worried by the number of venomous, barbed songs she writes.  If I didn’t know what a sweetie she was, and just knew her by her lyrics, she’d scare the shit out of me.  This whole EP is fierce and vulnerable, but mostly fierce, and this is probably my favourite song on it.  Although… well, for now it is anyway; it’s just a great EP full stop.

20.Animal Collective – Summertime Clothes
I blow hot and cold with this album, but this track is simply a brilliant pop song.  Even I feel like a hip kid listening to this (although it’s probably eight months too late to be saying that).  But honestly, anything that makes me feel even vaguely like dancing deserves a fucking medal, and that’s what this does.

To download all ten songs as a single zip file, click here.

1-10 / 11-20 / 21-35 / 36-50

I know I promised the Notcraigcast last week, but it didn’t happen I’m afraid.  After last week’s amazing Craigcast Neil and I were intending to introduce Craig to all sorts of modern music which we thought continued some of the traditions of the blues music he was describing to us, but circumstances have rather conspired against us unfortunately.  Neil is off on tour with Meursault playing his songs, and Craig is off on tour with his liver, taking it around the watering holes of Edinburgh and giving it a good, hard kicking in each one.

Consequently I’ve sort of cobbled together a podcast from fragments of the Pantscast and the stuff I’d intended to play for Craig.  It’s largely folky, but that wasn’t wholly by design, more to do with the fact that listening to the really early blues stuff Craig played for us sent me back to listening to old Smithsonian Folkways stuff and so there are a couple of songs from there, as well as a couple of modern things which those recordings brought to mind.

Smithsonian Folkways, incidentally, is a non-profit record label run by the Smithsonian Institute to preserve and support a truly epic amount of our musical heritage.  Just go and have a browse through their archives – it’s amazing how much incredible stuff these guys are looking after on everyone else’s behalf.

Toadcast #94 – The Not-Notcraigcast

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1. Micah P. Hinson – She Don’t Own Me (02.57)
2. Hem – The Cuckoo (11.13)
3. Saint Etienne – Like a Motorway (16.52)
4. White Antelope – Silver Dagger (22.15)
5. The Boggs – Plant Me a Rose (28.00)
6. Willard Grant Conspiracy – River in the Pines (31.47)
7. Berzilla Wallin – Conversation With Death (Oh Death) (39.22)
8. Samamidon – O Death (44.26.)
9. Dock Boggs – Sugar Baby (49.21)
10. Alela Diane – White as Diamonds (Daytrotter Session) (54.09)
11. Sandy Denny – By the Time it Gets Dark (59.07)

I am probably the wrong person to be reviewing this, because I find covers albums to be utterly pointless and generally frustrating.  I can understand the fascination, I can understand the urge to do one, but ultimately the results absolutely always leave me bored and completely indifferent.  I can’t think of a single one I actually like, although I’ve not exactly made an exhaustive search.

This is a really interesting one too, with a tremendous variety of song choices and artists.  This Old Guitar is a song I have heard Hinson play live and absolutely loved, particularly the poignant story which accompanies it about how the song itself and the playing of music in general anchored his relationship with his father, and salvaged it, to a degree.

I still don’t really like this album though.  There are none of the gorgeous orchestral flourishes of Hinson’s own work, and precious little of the furious guitar whirlwhinds either (In the Pines excepted, which is scorching).  He has produced a potentially fascinating record which is basically just a bit boring.  I know this is likely to be down to my completely dysfunctional relationship with covers records, but what else can I say?  A couple of them I do like – Suzanne is goooooorgeous and We Almost Had a Baby is interesting – but the whole album strikes me as one more interesting to the artist himself, as is almost always the case with these things, than to the listeners.

I think I am more frustrated than I should be by this record.  I absolutely love Micah P. Hinson, and so I think that plays a large role, and some of this is really good, but ultimately I wish artists would keep covers to single one-off curiosities because large albums full of them really don’t do anything for me at all.

Micah P. Hinson – This Old Guitar

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Micah P Hinson – In the Pines

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Micah P. Hinson – Suzanne

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There’s not been a Big Famous Album reviewed on this site in bloody ages.  Partly I’ve become so focussed on what’s going on locally that I have somewhat taken my eye off the ball with regards to bigger releases, even just those which are big relative to the small world of indie music.  And partly there have been very few which have tickled my fancy in the slightest for quite a while.

There are some bits and pieces coming along though which suggest that this might change in the immediate future.  And about time too, all this navel-gazing is no good for anyone.  Look outwards, I say, cast off the Tunnel Vision of the Toad and embrace the wider world.  Alright, sorry, but sometimes I get so deeply into my own stuff I do kind of forget that from time to time.  So what do we have?

The Twilight Sad: I have a naughty copy of this, to which I am not going to confess, and have only listened to it a few times through.  It’s out on the 5th October though and is currently sounding rather promising.  I wouldn’t say I was all that into it just yet, but then I only really embraced their last album a song or two at a time, so I am prepared to take it slowly with this one.

The Avett Brothers: Their sound hasn’t changed much, but then it never did, really.  Out on the 29th September, the title track from I and Love and You has been slipped out in to the world for us to enjoy and it is full of the exact same understated warmth which I love about this band.  I know I am morally obliged to hate them because they are on Columbia these days but if the whole record sounds like this then I may find my indie snobbery very difficult to maintain.

The Avett Brothers – I and Love and You

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The Mountain Goats: Alright, I’ll say it: I thought Sunset Tree was their best album abd I have yet to hear anything by this band that I like anything like as much, despite their considerable back catalogue.  Heretic Pride was okay, and the new song Genesis 3:23 is also… okay.  Not at all bad by any means, but I would not describe it as any better than pleasant.  This one’s also out on the 5th October.

The Mountain Goats – Genesis 3:23

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Yo La Tengo: Popular Songs is out on Monday, which somewhat makes up for the fact that they seem to have been a little less generous with preview mp3s than everyone else.  But then, with a cast-iron reputation like theirs, why would they need to?  This sounds a lot like “…I Will Beat Your Ass” and I would say that I am enjoying it, but am yet to be blown away.  There are a few more moody, quiet numbers on this record as well, perhaps a little more in line with the likes of Summer Sun and the like than the previous record was.

Flashy Python: This is a solo project by a certain hand-clapping, yeah-saying gentleman by the name of Alec Ounsworth.  He, like Julian Plenti before him, is rather keen to keep his solo project free from associations with his band stuff, and has put the whole album up for preview here.  It’s less driven than early CYHSY stuff, and generally a bit more weird, but it sounds pretty interesting to me.

Flashy Python – Skin & Bones

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Micah P. Hinson: This just dropped into my inbox this morning, and I know nothing about it bar two things: firstly, that Micah P. Hinson is fucking amazing; and secondly that the artwork, pictured above, is bloody lovely.

Langhorne Slim: His new album Be Set Free isn’t being released until 26th October, but the new song sounds brilliant.  It’s called I Love You, but Goodbye and is a little plusher and more elaborate than his earlier recordings, but unusually, I rather like this.  The piano is especially gorgeous – a times eleborate, at times rich and sonorous and at times deft and twinkly.  This augurs very well indeed – I am excited.

Langhorne Slim – I Love You, But Goodbye

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It’s about time the big(ger) boys fought back a little, frankly, but it looks like there could be some very promising recordings from some relatively high-profile artists coming our way this Autumn.

Helloooo people.  This morning the Toadcast comes to you from Leith.  There were beers and there was a fuckload of incoherent rambling, and it ran way over time but, erm, who really cares?

This week I went to visit my crippled friend Steven (v? ph?) Kearney in Leith and we recorded a podcast in his house prattling on about all the usual nonsense.  He got all jumpy about sound quality, omitting to notice the fact that the Toadcasts are the most incredibly badly recorded show on the interwaves.  Honestly, why would this week be the one single week it suddenly didn’t sound like shit?

Still, Steven has recently started his own podcast, leading on from his Fresh Air show Dylan and the Mule.  It’s only one episode down, but it sounds very promising indeed, so with a bit of luck there could be very good things coming from that part of the world this year.  Me, I just desperately need a sleep.  Night night Toadlings.

I will probably be gawping at the wonderful Cybraphon by the time you read this.  With a hangover.

Toadcast #81 – The Mulecast

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01. Withered Hand – No Cigarettes (06.56)
02. Buster Fantastic – Mess of Me (17.57)
03. Mountain Goats – Genesis 3-23 (19.47)
04. Kill It Kid – Send Me an Angel Down (29.07)
05. Joe Cocker – Dear Landlord (33.51)
06. Loch Lomond – Blood Bank (44.52)
07. Micah P. Hinson – Don’t You Forget (Parts 1 & 2) (59.24)
08. The Palace Flophouse – Until My Lungs Hurt (64.52)
09. Tom Waits – A Little Rain (78.17)

The key word in that phrase, of course, is if.  There are a massive number of people in the fucking internet age, however, who seem to think that intending to build it is reason enough for people to come and it is really, really getting on my nerves.

Bloggers start blogs, write five posts, and then start making demands about being listed in the Hype Machine or elbo.ws directories immediately, despite it being incredibly fucking clear that it’s going to take at least two months before they’ll even consider you. They are important services and drive a lot of traffic to your site, so I can understand the desire, but please just show some fucking patience.  At least create something of substance before clamouring for people to shower you with praise.

This happens when penis-brained publicists get their hands on a small but promising band as well: the uber-hard sell comes out to play.  “Greatest band ever, set to explode!“  And not infrequently this band has no more than a small handful of songs to their name.

Venture capital-backed start-ups promise to REVOLUTIONISE online music sales/sharing/funding/whatfuckingever and send out these breathless fucking emails full of wind and promises about how you’ve JUST GOT TO BE in from the start.  Do we?  Do we really have to?

People do it to bands all the time.  I can get you on the radio, I can get you this, I can get you that.  And then they just stop paying any fucking attention, it all fails to materialise and the band is left with nothing.

The new mantra for the 21st Century should be more along the lines of: “I don’t care about your fucking plans, your grandiose ideas or your vacant, meaningless promises.  I don’t care what you intend to do, or about your fucking ambitions.  Go away, get your nose to the fucking grindstone and DO something.  Then talk about it.”

Can you tell I haven’t had enough sleep?

Shout Out Louds – Hurry Up, Let’s Go

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The Magnetic Fields – Promises of Eternity

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Micah P. Hinson – Patience

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11. The Cave Singers – Invitation Songs

Screeched vocals, and stomping, percussive guitar playing give this a kind of noirish, raucously foreboding atmosphere.  It’s simultaneously raging and simmering, with an old-fashioned murder balled style, and absolutely brilliant.
The Cave Singers – New Monuments

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12. Gerry Mitchell & Little Sparta – The Ragged Garden

Sounding a lot like the Dirty Three, Little Sparta give a tortured backdrop to the spoken word ramblings of Gerry Mitchell.  It’s part poetry, part interior monologue, dark and obsessively introspective, almost exactly what you might expect at 5am from a drunken Glaswegian who was most of the way through a bottle of whisky and somewhat given to self-pity.  It is a spectacularly good album, but not for those prone to complaining about music that is slightly morose.
Gerry Mitchell & Little Sparta – Widow Dressing

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13. Micah P. Hinson – Micah P. Hinson & the Red Empire Orchestra

It doesn’t have the same feral howl of rage that much of Hinson’s earlier work has spilling from it, but the beauty and intimacy are still there.  If he keeps this up, Micah Paul Hinson will become one of the greats.
Micah P. Hinson – Tell Me it Ain’t So

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14. The Dodos – Visiter

Having talked about the percussive guitar on The Cave Singers’ album, I find myself scrabbling around for something else to describe this record.  It’s not Gothic folky Americana, but the guitar is used like a drum kit, and the constant use of the drumsticks on one another gives this record an irresistible pace.
The Dodos – Ashley

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15. Aidan John Moffat – I Can Hear Your Heart

I’ve swung back and forth on this one a little.  After my initial review Beth pointed out in the comments that it is actually an extremely self-indulgent record.  She’s right, but the emotional impact of half of the songs on this record is so far ahead of pretty much anything else you’ll hear that you just can’t tear yourself away from it.
Aidan John Moffat – Good Morning

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Part 1: 1-10
Part 2: 11-23
Part 3: 24-36
Patt 4: 37-50

And so we stumble on to the penultimate post in the countdown to the Toad’s favourite song of the year.  At this point the idea of some sort of hierarchy of love is becoming rather ridiculous.  Do I genuinely prefer Make Another Tree to Frankie’s Gun?  No, of course I don’t.  Do I really get more goose bumps or feel more lightheaded with glee when Out on the Water comes on the stereo, compared to, say, Restless?  No, not in the slightest so what am I going on, here?  Well I don’t know, it’s just a gut reaction I suppose, largely dependent on my mood at the time at which I finally turned a ‘bunch of songs’ into some sort of list.

So don’t take it too seriously, just enjoy that fact that there have been this many brilliant songs released this year. Read the rest of this entry »