Ball of Wax 32 Is Out Now!

Posted on June 11, 2013 by Levi Fuller

32After a wonderful night of live music at Conor Byrne featuring The Foghorns, Black Swedes, Pampa, GreenhornBluehorn, and Robert Deeble  – oh, and me and my band – Ball of Wax Volume 32 is now officially out and available for purchase. I hope to have copies at Sonic Boom in Ballard soon (I should have gotten them there on Saturday, but there was some kind of insane bicycle race going on as we were loading in that totally threw me off my game), but in the meantime you can listen and purchase over on Bandcamp.

I’m very proud of this collection of music and the way it flows together. Part of that is due, if I may pat myself on the back just a little bit, to my own labors as a compiler, but there were also some wonderful sonic and conceptual confluences that I couldn’t have predicted or imposed. Virgin of the Birds and Jim of Seattle bring us a wonderful pair of witchy songs with “Make Me a Witch” and “Starting a Witch Hunt,” and there are two very different love similes going on between Ken Cormier‘s delightfully New Englandish “Love like a Quahog” and midnorth‘s “Loved like Fall.” There’s more, too; but as LeVar Burton would say, don’t take my word for it. Listen for yourself, and please consider purchasing to support Ball of Wax‘s efforts.

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Tele Novella

Posted on June 3, 2013 by Colin J. Nelson

Once there was a band I liked very much called Agent Ribbons, from Austin by way of Sacramento. After years of relentless touring and several records they are recently no more (I believe the drummer may have been tired of not having things real people do, luxuries like health insurance, food, etc).

But wait, cease your sobs! Natalie Gordon of said band has hit the ground running with a brand new one called Tele Novella. Natalie’s tasty telecasting, expressive alto and songs I wish I’d written were all major highlights of AR, and they’re all there in TN. I know little else (price you pay for being on the cutting edge right?!), so no need to babble on. From what I can tell they’re making some really excellent pop music. Continue reading →

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Ball of Wax 32: 6/8 at Conor Byrne, and Online Now!

Posted on May 29, 2013 by Levi Fuller

BoW-32-posterBall of Wax Volume 32 CD Release show
Saturday, June 8th, 8:30pm
Conor Byrne Pub
The Foghorns / Black Swedes / Levi Fuller & the Library / Pampa / GreenhornBluehorn / Robert Deeble
$7 / includes free copy of Ball of Wax 32 CD

The time has come to celebrate the release of yet another volume of Ball of Wax Audio Quarterly into the world. Come on out to Conor Byrne next Saturday, June 8th to hear live performances from six of the artists featured on the newest installment, and receive a free copy of Ball of Wax 32 as you walk in the door!

And it’s a good one, I tell you. There’s a great range of stuff on here, from hooky pop to melancholy acoustic tracks to strange experiments both sonic and linguistic. Don’t believe me? Dig in right here:

If you can’t make it to the show, you can pre-order your copy right now (and download it instantly) through the magic of Bandcamp.

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Supercrow – Captain EP

Posted on May 28, 2013 by Colin J. Nelson

supercrowSupercrow – Captain EP
(2013, self-released)

Allow me to introduce to you Supercrow, a band fresh out of Portland, Oregon. I am about to dive into their new recording with you, but first, for you tl;dr types I should mention they are in town tonight, playing at the beautifully-restored Comet Tavern in the up-and-coming Capitol Hill neighborhood, not far from downtown Seattle.

Now then, Supercrow is a band founded by Christopher Benson (one of the growing roost of Seattle expats residing in Stumptown). Their forthcoming debut release, Captain EP, is due out June 28, but you can already listen along here  (and a little Portland bird told me you might be able to score a real copy at tonight’s show). Continue reading →

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Ball of Wax at Northwest Folklife Festival

Posted on May 9, 2013 by Levi Fuller

2013NorthwestFolklifeIt’s spring in Seattle, and time once again for the annual orgy of free music and culture known far and wide as Northwest Folklife Festival! Ball of Wax is very proud to continue our association with the fine folks at Folklife, presenting our third Ball of Wax showcase at this year’s festival. For this year’s showcase – Saturday, May 25th from 7 to 10 pm on the Vera Project stage – we bring you sets from our good friends Gems, The Great Um, Virgin of the Birds, and Sun Tunnels. It’s bound to be a good time, and did I mention it’s free? It’s free. See you there!

In addition to this slab of Ball of Waxiness, many more of our friends are playing throughout the Festival, and you should go see them all! Here’s what not to miss: Continue reading →

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Songs from Boston, for Boston

Posted on April 19, 2013 by Levi Fuller

I spent the first twenty-five years of my life in Boston. I don’t have a lot to add to the ocean of ink and pixels that have already been spilled on the subject of the craziness that’s been going on all this week (and is, I hope, ending as I type). But an old and dear friend of mine who still lives there started a Facebook thread of youtube links to songs by great artists of Boston origin, and it quickly escalated into a gargantuan outpouring of nostalgic obscurity. I figured this here blog was as good a place as any to repost some of this fantastic, all-too-little-known greatness from my hometown. May it be the soundtrack to a happy and safe weekend for all of us.

[One giant-ass pile of embedded video below the cut.]

Continue reading →

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New Records Coming from Corespondents and Gems!

Posted on April 3, 2013 by Levi Fuller

SoCRRII far this year has been a slow one for me, musically speaking; I haven’t really heard much that’s grabbed me and gotten me excited. Something tells me that’s all about to change, though, as two of my favorite groups of (mostly) instrumental noisemakers are poised to release new records – and I’d be shocked if they weren’t among the best of the year.

Corespondents got so into planning the release show for Land of the Low People that they couldn’t keep it all contained to one night. Next weekend, on April 12th and 13th, The Josephine will play host to a cavalcade of musical madness hosted by Sospunwespunwest, all in celebration of this anticipated new release. Continue reading →

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Submit to Ball of Wax 32!

Posted on March 25, 2013 by Levi Fuller

Yet again, with the release of a new volume of Ball of Wax comes a round of complete slackerdom on my part on this here blog. This one is really good and special, though. Why don’t you listen to it right now?

And while you’re doing that – or after you’re done – you should think about sending us some music for Volume 32, set for a late spring 2013 release. The deadline is April 15th. That’s plenty of time! Go check out our guidelines, and send me your sounds.

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Ball of Wax 31 Originals: The Music of Grayface – Averybrieftale

Posted on March 8, 2013 by Jon Rooney
[Ball of Wax 31, as previously announced, will feature 15 local songwriters and bands all covering each other's songs. Between now and the release show on March 9th, I will share the originals with you to provide a little background, and perhaps a deeper appreciation of the CD and show. (Which is March 9th. Did I mention that? March 9th. Columbia City Theater.) We're posting the cover versions on Bandcamp, where you can pre-order the CD now.]

The Music of Grayface could be the most enigmatic member of the larger Ball of Wax universe. First appearing on Ball of Wax Volume 5, the band (revolving around singer/songwriter Christopher Hydinger) has made just a smattering contributions in the subsequent years and volumes. The Music of Grayface has a small online presence and doesn’t seem to have a huge released body of work – their Soundcloud page has just 3 songs (including an ambient, barely recognizable cover of “Lean on Me”).  One of those 3 songs is ”Averybrieftale,” which, like the rest of their songs that I’ve heard, is stark, often beautiful, occasionally unsettling and fiercely original. To force a crappy analogy, it sounds like Jeff Buckley fronting late-period Talk Talk (see, I told you it would be crappy). Robb Benson’s cover of “Averybrieftale” fills in the spaces with guitar, bass and drums, transforming the meditation into a sweeping jaunt.

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Ball of Wax 31 Originals: Slow Skate – Hourglass

Posted on March 7, 2013 by Jon Rooney
[Ball of Wax 31, as previously announced, will feature 15 local songwriters and bands all covering each other's songs. Between now and the release show on March 9th, I will share the originals with you to provide a little background, and perhaps a deeper appreciation of the CD and show. (Which is March 9th. Did I mention that? March 9th. Columbia City Theater.) We're posting the cover versions on Bandcamp, where you can pre-order the CD now.]

Slow Skate’s original version of “Hourglass” has a surprisingly icy and sinister opening for a band known for their intimate, organic arrangements. The claustrophobic drum machine and fuzzy synth bass evoke the soundtrack to one of Brian De Palma’s early 80′s films, uptight and on edge. As Caitlin Sherman’s film noir vocals and Jason Goessl’s vibrato guitar enters, the song gains more balance and warms up, but the undercurrent of dread remains. Reduced down to voice, reverb and delay, the version of “Hourglass” recorded by the Music of Grayface for Ball of Wax 31 could be the boldest interpretation in the collection. It’s terrifying and exhilarating; I can’t wait to see it live.

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