Ball of Wax 43 Songs: Raymond Anderson – Two Dreams

Posted on February 22, 2016 by Jon Rooney

From the first few bars, I was all in on Raymond Anderson’s “Two Dreams,” a brief lo fi torch song featuring crooning vocals, jazzy chord changes, and stream of consciousness lyrics. Anderson employs just voice, electric guitar, and some analog buzz to craft a full, compelling little world that questions the metaphysical effectiveness of prayer, evokes the story of Jonah and the whale and justifies a knife fight. Pretty good stuff for just two minutes and six seconds. According to the interwebs, Raymond Anderson recorded “Two Dreams” in a living room in Portland for a 7″ release from One Horse Records, a new label in Rose City. That’s pretty much all I know about Anderson and “Two Dreams,” but it’s way more than anyone needs to enjoy this little gem.

Posted in Ball of Wax, Check Out This Song, Recorded Music | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Ball of Wax 43 Songs: Aaron Starkey of Long Dark Moon – Too Busy

Posted on February 22, 2016 by Levi Fuller

You might recognize Aaron Starkey’s voice from the dark, moody sounds of his rock band Gibraltar, but here on Volume 43 he’s bringing us something a little different. “Too Busy” is a solo acoustic demo of a song by his band Long Dark Moon, which I have to assume has more of a rootsy, Americana-tinged sound than Gibraltar. I’m looking forward to hearing the full band at the BoW 43 show this Saturday, but the song stands on its own with this stripped-down treatment: Aaron’s playing – from light, finger-picked verses to heavily strummed choruses – and his emotive voice introduce a few levels of dynamics and keep the song moving and your ears engaged. Lyrically, he seems to be addressing the difficulty of expressing our most important thoughts and feelings – whether in song or otherwise – before life draws to a close. Heck, under a different title this song would have fit well on our “Meaning of Life” volume.

Catch Aaron and the rest of Long Dark Moon at the Ball of Wax 43 release show this Saturday at Conor Byrne.

Posted in Ball of Wax, Check Out This Song | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Ball of Wax 43 Songs: Darryl Blood – Mint

Posted on February 17, 2016 by Jon Rooney

Longtime Ball of Wax contributor Darryl Blood returns with “Mint,” a big, classic rock-y number punctuated by some nifty lead guitar lines. The lyrics, which culminate in the chorus “don’t come to my defense unless you’re mint,” are a bit inscrutable (there’s a line that goes “I’m saving all my best tracks for my box set” that I like a lot) but Blood delivers them with raspy gusto. Some creative arrangement choices, like an unexpected harmonica solo at the midway point followed by a mini vocal breakdown, make “Mint” deserving of a close listen or two. It’s a clever, well-produced track and a welcome addition to ye olde Ball of Wax.

Posted in Ball of Wax, Check Out This Song | Tagged | Leave a comment

Ball of Wax 43 Songs: The Jesus Chords – When the Man Gets You Down

Posted on February 17, 2016 by Levi Fuller

For those of you who thought The Foghorns had a lock on Seattle’s working class anthem racket, allow me to introduce you to The Jesus Chords, a band that’s been grinding out their own brand of gritty, low-fi country since before I (and probably you) lived in Seattle. “When the Man Gets You Down” is a fine entry in the “country songs about shitty jobs” canon. It starts and ends with a simple chorus of solidarity, between which Greg Irving spools out an all too familiar litany of bad-job scenarios: disrespectful bosses, lousy hours, wage theft on top of crappy wages . . . basically the 20-teens economy in a nutshell. “When the Man Gets You Down” is pissed-off, but in a good-nature way – more of a call to booze than a call to arms.

I’m very much looking forward to catching the Jesus Chords’ working class call to booze in the perfect setting, Conor Byrne Pub on a Saturday night! Don’t miss their set at the Ball of Wax 43 release show on February 27th.

Posted in Ball of Wax, Check Out This Song | Tagged | Leave a comment

Ball of Wax 43 Songs: The Foghorns – Like an Old Trans Am

Posted on February 16, 2016 by Jon Rooney

Ball of Wax staples the Foghorns return with “Like an Old Trans Am,” a track off their upcoming LP, a companion to last year’s The Sun’s Gotta Shine. “Trans Am” is the Foghorns at their most wistful, defeated and wise. As with much of his best work, Bart Cameron is able to paint a vivid portrait of sadness and loss with just a few subtle strokes.  Cameron opens the song with the line “the way you used to look at me / like an old Trans Am on the road,” setting the stage for a bitter, beautiful analogy involving faded muscle cars and lost love. The analogy is neither cryptic nor overworked; it’s modest yet dead-on. Lauren Trew’s bass clarinet solo is just gorgeous and the backing vocals work like a disheveled Greek chorus at the end of a bar. “Trans Am” is another small miracle of song from Cameron and his protean band.

Posted in Ball of Wax, Check Out This Song | Tagged | Leave a comment

Ball of Wax 43 Songs: Jack Shriner – January Dream

Posted on February 11, 2016 by Levi Fuller

Jack Shriner (Another Wisconsin boy! What did I tell you?) has been a friend of Ball of Wax for quite some time, but his contributions have been few and far between (the most recent was his excellent submission to the “dance party” volume under the inspired name Bertolt Breast). It’s a pleasure to share a brand new song from Jack’s new album The Fluid Ounce, due out any day now. “January Dream” continues the head-bobbing groove that opens this volume, started by Amina and Fen Wik Ren, nicely blending some African-inspired rhythms and guitar lines with indie rock breakdowns and Jack’s subdued, straight-ahead vocals. And then at the end it all flows perfectly naturally into this Sufjan Stevens-ish 6/8 wind-and-strings coda. The whole thing is propelled forward by an unceasing, insistent shaker, which helps tie these seemingly disparate musical elements together and keep you grooving.

I am very excited to see Jack and his band (and get the percussionist a beer at the end of this song) at the Ball of Wax 43 release show on the 27th. I bet he’ll let you buy a copy of the new record if you ask real nice.

Posted in Ball of Wax, Check Out This Song | Tagged | Leave a comment

Ball of Wax 43 Songs: Fen Wik Ren – Witch in the Grass

Posted on February 10, 2016 by Jon Rooney

Fen Wik Ren is the latest musical moniker of now-Portland-based R. Ren (known to some of us as Ryan) Barrett, who not too long ago led the well-regarded Seattle-based band The Pica Beats. “Witch in the Grass” is a throbbing, psych-leaning song soaked in reverb and phaser. It has a nervous, galloping beat that’s almost dance-ey and mysterious lyrics (when I can make them out through the heavy delay) along the lines of “there are things I would do for love / there are things I would do for hate” and “everybody hopes that you lost your mind / just a little bit.” It’s more melodic and vocal-based than a lot of the psych-revival stuff going around but laced with a bit too much D&D foreboding (I definitely made out the phrase “the demon’s feet”) to classify as straight ahead indie pop. Fans of Barrett’s early work or the late period Sunset Rubdown will find a lot to like about “Witch in the Grass.”

Posted in Ball of Wax, Check Out This Song | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Ball of Wax 43 Songs: Amina – Spice

Posted on February 9, 2016 by Levi Fuller

Maybe it’s the fact that my dad’s from Green Bay, or perhaps there’s some kind of Boston/Seattle/Wisconsin triangle of compatibility that makes us all instantly dig each other, but whatever the reason, I keep finding myself surrounded by (and loving music by) Wisconsin expats. The newest case in point is Amina, the project of a dude named Ethan who moved here from Madison last year and released the very satisfying EP Cannibalize, from which comes our opening track, “Spice.” If I were a better music critic I would have a pocket full of bands and genres to reference here, but I’ll just say that something about this particular blend of head-nod-inducing beats, hyper-syncopated bass, weird bloopy noises, and meandering vocal melodies totally hits a sweet spot for me. I’m really looking forward to seeing what the live Amina experience is like (I’ve been assured much looping is involved). Find out with me at the BoW 43 release show February 27th at Conor Byrne!

Posted in Ball of Wax, Check Out This Song, Free Album of the Day | Tagged | Leave a comment

Ball of Wax 43: Saturday, February 27th at Conor Byrne!

Posted on February 8, 2016 by Levi Fuller

bow-43-posterBall of Wax Volume 43 Release Show
The Jesus Chords / Jack Shriner / Long Dark Moon / Amina / Candice Rose
Saturday, February 27, 8pm
Conor Byrne Pub, 5140 Ballard Ave NW
21+ / $8 (Ball of Wax 43 CD included with entry)

Hey, we’re putting out a new Ball of Wax! It’s got a ton of great music on it, by the above-listed fine artists, whose lovely sounds you can experience in person at Conor Byrne on February 27th, and by 11 more friends new and old, from The Foghorns and Darryl Blood to Thad Wenatchee and The Vardaman Ensemble.

Join us!

Posted in Ball of Wax | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Submit to Ball of Wax 43!

Posted on January 5, 2016 by Levi Fuller
Image via Andy Maguire on Flickr

Image via Andy Maguire on Flickr

As always, we are looking for new music. Specifically, we are looking for music of all sorts to become Ball of Wax Volume 43, the first volume of 2016. There’s no specific theme, so just send us what you got – or take a weekend and crank out something new. Are you about to release a new record? Writing some new songs you don’t know what to do with? Trying to figure out what to do with that weird track you recorded earlier this year? Send ’em our way!

Submission deadline: Monday, January 18th. (But as always, let me know if you want to get me something but need a little more time.) Submission guidelines here. Questions? Drop me a line.

Posted in Ball of Wax | Leave a comment