Ball of Wax 44 Songs: Joelle Berry – Moon Beam

Posted on June 6, 2016 by Matty P

Joelle Berry’s “Moon Beam” glistens lyrically as well as musically. There is a cathedralesque reverb which lends itself to the tight harmonies and cadences that grace this song. The song is pretty in and of itself and very pleasant to listen to, though it’s fun listening to hear where the various vocal lines are going next and what chords will miraculously appear and open up. From the beginning, “Moon beam bend down low,” starts the song off with a most poetic gesture. Those five words are wonderfully suggestive and pretty in their own succession. The heavy hitting doesn’t let up throughout the song, and the grace of the delivery keeps up. And then there is that beautiful space of ringing overtones and reverb that follow a well stroked chord when “heavens above” is sounded. The song fades easily with the soothing low tones of the singer’s vocals “talking in the world tonight.” Joelle Berry’s “Moon Beam” is a heartwarming meditation.

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Ball of Wax 44 Songs: Anne Mathews – In the Meadow

Posted on June 3, 2016 by Levi Fuller

You’ve already heard Anne Mathews’s voice once on this volume of Ball of Wax, backing up Annie Ford on “The Ravens’ Feast” as half of The Lonely Coast. But here she is all on her multi-tracked lonesome, singing another sub-two-minute beauty, no less powerful for its sparseness and brevity. This tune feels both modern and ancient to me – which makes sense, since the idea of creating layers of sound and beautiful beds of drone with the human voice is probably as old as the human race, and yet is still reused and repurposed to create some pretty forward-thinking music and sound art (as we’ve heard throughout this volume). “In the Meadow” would be equally at home in a medieval cathedral or a night of experimental music at the Chapel . . . or, of course, at the Fremont Abbey, where I hope we’ll hear a live rendition from Anne, Annie, and Valerie on June 11th at the Ball of Wax 44 release show.

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Ball of Wax 44 Songs: Rae Diamond – elemental partita: water

Posted on June 3, 2016 by Matty P

womwomwomwomwom. Many times over and in layers. steady hmms and moans. This song plays like an eerie alleyway perhaps in 1970s New York City. There is neither up nor down in the song. It feels largely like things are coming at you. And then, they fade away. Maybe to return again, though maybe not. The song is spooky enough, but to think that it was all recorded with the human voice is even spookier. Is Rae Diamond trying to tell us something with this piece – and if so, what? There is a slow build with many sounds coming in then fading out. Perhaps it’s appropriate this song is named after water, as one could picture waves and an occasional splash. The piece itself is rather shapeless like water, spilling into whatever form will hold it.  Perhaps trying to interpret it too much or at all is beyond the point of the piece. Strange frequencies come to mind.

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Ball of Wax 44 Songs: Virgin of the Birds – Cardinal Points

Posted on June 2, 2016 by Levi Fuller

At this point in Ball of Wax 44 we’ve strayed into some pretty strange territory, pushing at the outer limits of what you might call music. Jon Rooney/Virgin of the Birds’ a capella version of “Cardinal Points” takes us some of the way back toward the realm of song, but keeps a few toes squarely in droney soundscape territory, which is a-OK by me. Most of you haven’t heard the original “Cardinal Points,” as it’s on an album that hasn’t come out yet, but suffice it to say this treatment is quite a departure. As always, we hear Jon’s distinctive baritone intoning his eruditely obscure lyrics, but instead of upbeat pop driven by trebly guitar and punchy Motown bass we get lush beds of supple, beguiling, delay-drenched oohs and ahhs, expanding to include a plaintive descending melody in the last third. I almost wish I could unhear the original so I could completely appreciate this version on its own merits. The rest of you, make sure to absorb this one while you can, and then hear it anew on VotB’s new record this fall.

I’m not sure which version we’ll get at the Ball of Wax 44 release show, June 11th at the Fremont Abbey, but it’ll be great either way. Get your tickets now!

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Ball of Wax 44 Songs: Darryl Blood – Maelstrom

Posted on June 1, 2016 by Matty P

Listening to Darryl Blood‘s “Maelstrom,” I’m taken into a dark world of nightmares. So it seems, with the strange industrial-esque sounds inhabiting the background. There is a faint pulse beating every couple of seconds and occasionally what sounds to be a loud foghorn blasting its whereabouts in a darkened chamber full of mist. Occasionally the singer makes himself heard with indistinguishable words and phrases. It sounds like Roach from Wes Craven’s The People Under the Stairs. And so the song sounds as if it would be a fitting soundtrack to such a movie. Or one could just as easily picture this piece as an accompaniment to Edgar Allen Poe’s “A Descent into the Maelstrom.” The musical tone is sure dark enough.

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Ball of Wax 44 Songs: Velvet Grapes – El No Puede

Posted on May 31, 2016 by Matty P

This Ball of Wax has brought out more experimental sounds then in any recent edition. Listening to the mix may in fact leave you strait-jacket mad. Velvet Grapes‘ “El No Puede” walks you through a dream state. Background sounds galore. There isn’t too much to focus on for too long in this piece. There are the reoccurring themes of the radio sounding voice repeating “el no puede,” there is the sound of a girl humming in the background, sounds of running water, ghosts in the back of the house, or pipes rustling from the floor above in a hundred year old house. It’s as if the artists has picked up on some strange radio frequency which simultaneously picks up endangered whales and Latino radio. thanks to a google translation, “no can” is a refreshing rejoinder after years of hearing you can do this and you can do that. sorry, not me. No can do.

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Ball of Wax 44 Songs: Kelly Morgan – Way Down

Posted on May 31, 2016 by Jon Rooney

“Way Down” opens with an uneasy gurgling of voices that sound like the creeping nightlife in a jungle. That gurgle persists like a vamp, looping as sonic foundation underneath a handful of voices weaving around each other, singing the words “Way Down” in a multitude of phrasings. Kelly Morgan’s contribution to Ball of Wax 44 is ambitious, fascinating, and well-executed – a sort of swamp thing La Monte Young that I didn’t know how much I needed to hear until after I heard it.

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Ball of Wax 44 Songs: Amanda Winterhalter – Sugar Water

Posted on May 26, 2016 by Levi Fuller

I first met Amanda Winterhalter through the Bushwick Book Club, so it’s fitting that her first song with Ball of Wax is a Bushwick song. In fact, the night I saw her play this song – we were both performing at an event featuring music inspired by the work of different writers from the group Seattle7Writers – was the night I said to myself “yes, let’s do a voices-only Ball of Wax, and let’s have that song be part of it.” (Of course I promptly forgot/waffled on that plan and didn’t decide on it again until four months later.) Thankfully Amanda graciously acceded to my request to include her beautiful, Appalachian-style ballad – inspired, appropriately enough, by the tale of the Carter Family as presented in Frank Young and David Lasky’s graphic novel The Carter Family: Don’t Forget This Song.

I know, I know, there were a lot of references in that paragraph. Bushwick? Seattle7? Carter Family? But truly, you don’t need any of that background info to appreciate the sad, unadorned beauty of Amanda’s tune, lamenting a life gone wrong and a useless cure. Just click play, and then go buy your tickets so you can experience the in-person version at the BoW 44 release show June 11th at the Fremont Abbey.

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Ball of Wax 44 Songs: The Lonely Coast with Annie Ford – The Ravens’ Feast

Posted on May 25, 2016 by Jon Rooney

“The Ravens’ Feast” sounds like a timeless folk song, composed of a simple, repeated melodic figure that gives way to a soaring resolution in the last third of the minute-and-a-half or so track. As far as I can tell, however, it’s an original composition that showcases the clear, confident voices of Annie Ford along with Valerie Holt and Anne Matthews of the Lonely Coast. This is sparse, gripping Americana of the highest order, somber and ghostly and a wonderful addition to the vocals-only Ball of Wax collection.

Come see Annie Ford and the Lonely Coast perform “The Ravens’ Feast” and other songs at the Ball of Wax 44 release show on June 11th at the Fremont Abbey.

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Ball of Wax 44 Songs: Holly Small – Break

Posted on May 25, 2016 by Levi Fuller

Holly Small (last heard on Volume 42 with her take on the meaning of life) returns with another unapologetically sweet, R&B-infused tune – with, of course, no instruments but her own pipes. “Break” is another love song from Holly, and a fine entry into the canon. Backing her confident lead vocal up with a note-perfect chorus of oohs and ahhs, Holly almost turns herself into a one-woman Boyz II Men (Girl II Women?) – and I do mean that as a compliment (I mean, maybe their music isn’t for you, but there’s just no arguing with these dudes’ vocal chops). “Only you can break my heart” is just such a great line for a bittersweet love song, too. “Break” is yet another splendidly written and sung tune from Holly Small.

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