Free Album of the Day: Brown Recluse – Panoptic Mirror Maze

Posted on March 11, 2011 by Jon Rooney

Philadelphia’s Brown Recluse have a proper full-length, Evening Tapestry, coming out soon on the venerable Slumberland Records, which is currently home to indie pop darlings the Pains of Being Pure at Heart and the Dum Dum Girls but boasts a 20-year history of releases from the likes of Black Tambourine, the Ropers, the Aisler Set, and Kurt Heasley’s seminal, yet woefully underappreciated, Lilys.  Brown Recluse have made a companion piece to Evening Tapestry available for free right now on Bandcamp.  Hazy, psychedelic pop that’s mercifully free of faux dust bowl Americana affectations, Panoptic Mirror Maze splits the difference between the foggy dreamscapes of the Clientele with the ADD synth excursions of Of Montreal.   Old solid state organ, reverb guitar and anachronistic stabs of cheap synthesizers color the songs on the EP, a varied and impressive jaunt through pop marginalia and spooky sentiments.

Download Panoptic Mirror Maze here.

Also check out the 6th Borough Shangri-La’s pastiche of “Orgy of the Damned (Conshohocken Curve)”, another free single available on Brown Recluses’ Bandcamp page.

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Back in MY Day: I Win

Posted on March 10, 2011 by Indie Rooney

Alright then, let’s have a look at you.

Hmm . . . no. This won’t do. This won’t do at all!

Continue reading →

Posted in Indie Rooney | 1 Comment

Ball of Wax 24: Submit!

Posted on March 9, 2011 by Levi Fuller

As I hope you are aware, Ball of Wax is not just the best blog in the universe*, it is a long-running quarterly CD compilation series that brings you regular doses of new music in a handsome package at a very low price. We’ll be putting together the next volume (Volume 24, Spring 2011) very soon, and we would love to have new music from you.

General submission info is here. Volume 24 deadline is April 11th. There is no particular theme for this volume, but if you want to send in songs of Spring and Rejuvenation, by all means, go for it (songs of Winter and Death, or Autumn and Tofu, will also be considered). Volume 25 is being held aside for Songs about Books, so this will be the last open call for a while.

Thank you for making sounds.

*OK, it’s not the best blog in the universe at all, but it’s pretty good, right?
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Colin J. Nelson: Man about Town

Posted on March 9, 2011 by Levi Fuller

I’m privileged to once again introduce a brand new contributor to this here Blog of Wax: Mr. Colin J. Nelson. Colin is a relative newcomer to the Ball of Wax world (see volume 20), and someone I’m very pleased to have crossed paths with, as a musician and a fellow local music enthusiast. Like all of our writers, Colin will write about whatever he damn well pleases, but will probably lean toward the live side of things, checking out local bands and open mics, and welcoming new folks to town.

His own music is absolutely worth checking out. It might sometimes lean toward that “indie roots” stuff Indie Rooney was so recently complaining about, but it is definitely its own thing, not remotely beholden to treading again and again through the well-worn rootsy mud. Or something. Anyway, he’s got a great voice and a fine ear for melody, and a highly talented bunch of musicians backing him up.

Here’s “Normandie,” his song from Ball of Wax Volume 20:

Colin J. Nelson – Normandie

Now, go read his first post!

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Welcome to Town: Deep Sea Diver

Posted on March 9, 2011 by Colin J. Nelson

Hello readers and fellow lovers of music, my name is Colin. Levi has generously invited me to join in this here conversation. I am a songwriter living and playing in Seattle. The wish of this Blog of Wax to find and feature fine musicians in danger of passing under the radar matches perfectly with my wish to fight the (often weather-induced) urge to cozy up at home, and instead get out and discover fine musicians in danger of passing under my radar. So, here we go.

Just as I am new to blogging, sometimes musicians are new to cities, including Seattle. So it seems entirely appropriate I should begin with a New Series: Welcome to Town.

Today I’d like to point out a band I just discovered a month or two ago, after which I quickly became addicted to their music. Deep Sea Diver is the project of Jessica Dobson. File that under the Shivers-type situation Jon explained recently. She is the songwriter, guitarist, singer (there might be more to this list, sadly iTunes music files do not come with liner notes), and when not playing solo, she is joined by various permutations of a band, with drums and bass being the most common compliments.

I don’t know much first-hand info on these folks. But I really dig the music. Dobson’s writing comes off as effortless, but is rich with off-the-beaten-track chord progressions and melodies, and swiftly-changing rhythms and textures. The lyrics, though mostly in the first person, stay well away from banal life-blogging (that’s what the kids are calling it these days, right?). Like the music, her lyrics navigate images, places, feelings, statements that feel like questions (and vice versa) with nimble grace. A favorite of mine, “Tsunamo is Snowed In,” is written from the perspective of a young child living in an igloo with her family. The chorus goes “We all get along/ In our igloo home/ so bury us inside/ no we wouldn’t mind it.” Awesome. Go to their myspace page and listen to it.

Continue reading →

Posted in Welcome to Town | 2 Comments

[glocal scene] – Some People Just Make You Sick

Posted on March 8, 2011 by Phil Heron

Being productive is the bane of my life. It irks me, therefore, to cite “wrote a blog about a productive person” as the most productive thing of my day.
Continue reading →

Posted in Community, Glocal Scene | 2 Comments

Hollow Earth’s Light Rail/Dark Rail

Posted on March 7, 2011 by Levi Fuller

As mentioned previously, Hollow Earth Radio is currently in the midst of its annual, month-long Magma Festival. As part of that, on Saturday I attended Light Rail/Dark Rail, a concert on a Sound Transit Light Rail train. As might be expected, it was utter chaos and an absolute hilarious delight. The first two videos below don’t reflect my experience – there were two different cars with two different sets of performances going on – but they do reflect the general air of merriment and wonder that infused the whole thing. This kind of thing is one of the many reasons I love Seattle; I sure hope this becomes an annual tradition.

Continue reading →

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Discover the Shivers

Posted on March 7, 2011 by Jon Rooney

Somewhere beneath the visible layers of the indie hype machine lives a band from the outer boroughs of New York City called the Shivers.  The Shivers are seemingly a band in the same way that the Mountain Goats, Destroyer and Bright Eyes are a band – one founding singer songwriter periodically surrounded by supporting members.  Keith Zarriello, in that light, is the Shivers and he is a gifted and original songwriter of the highest order.  Zarriello writes anguished, confessional songs with enough darkness and humor to fend off the trappings of pretension and self absorption.  The arrangements tend to be simple, often bluesy, leaving enough space for the nuanced, personal lyrics to stretch out a bit.  More than anything else, Zarriello’s songs benefit from an uncanny lack of self-consciousness or pandering for adulation.  The Shivers have been kicking around for almost a decade with little in terms of acclaim or recognition to show for it, only a varied and formidable body of work.  Zarriello began releasing music as the Shivers back in 2004 with Charades and there have been three subsequent, apparently self-released, Shivers albums since then, most recently 2009’s  In The Morning, which features a handful of amazing songs like “African Passport”: Continue reading →

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Ainara LeGardon: “Thirsty”

Posted on March 4, 2011 by Levi Fuller

Speaking of Europe, I have no idea how Madrid’s Ainara LeGardon (heard on volumes 5, 18, and 23)  initially found Ball of Wax, but I’m very glad she did. It’s always great to hear new stuff from her, whether it’s the austere, finger-picked beauty of her track “The Morning of the Earthquake,” featured on Volume 18, or the harsh, controlled explosion of “We Once Wished,” which appears on our newest volume and is the title track to her new album. We Once Wished is definitely a heavy record: its brittle guitars and bone-crushing drum sounds are reminiscent of a Steve Albini production, and in fact the closest musical comparison I can make is an Albini-produced band led by another strong European woman: Italy’s Uzeda.

All of which brings us to today’s video – for “Thirsty,” another track of said album – which really requires no introduction. Just take 2 minutes to watch, and you’ll get an idea of the raw talent and fearlessness we’re dealing with in Ms. LeGardon.

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[glocal scene] – Europeans beware

Posted on March 2, 2011 by Phil Heron

If you read any metal magazines in the US, you may have heard of Ryan Bartek. A prolific journalist since the early 2000s, Bartek has been published in Metal Maniacs, AMP Magazine, Hails & Horns, PIT Magazine, and two ton of webzines and newspapers. I met Ryan in Denver, Colorado while he was compiling his book on the ultimate guide to underground cultures in the US, The Big Shiny Prison. On the road for a year, Bartek greyhounded, hitched, and crawled over America to cover all forms of extreme metal, punk, industrial, experimental, rock, and pyschedelia around.  The 315-page road-book is packed with insight into the underbelly of American culture and even features a chance meeting with President Barack Obama.

In June 2011, Bartek heads to Europe to interview bands, artists, writers, filmmakers and musicians for a follow up to The Big Shiny Prison. Arriving in London, Bartek and his tape recorder will spend a week each in the UK, Paris, Amsterdam and Berlin before purchasing a month-long Euro-Rail Ticket to visit every other major European city possible.  If you have any one you think Ryan should meet, or suggestions for his travels, please contact him at anomiepr {at} yahoo.com.

The Big Shiny Prison is available for free download and is as epic as his traveling feat itself.

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