Ball of Wax 41 Songs: Tomo Nakayama – Eye Soda Lite

Posted on September 10, 2015 by Levi Fuller

Until very recently, Tomo Nakayama was one of those “why the heck haven’t they been on Ball of Wax yet?” artists for me. I’ve been a fan and acquaintance of his for pretty much the entire time this endeavor has existed, but for whatever reason it just hadn’t happened. So I was delighted when my inbox dinged with this title-tweaked, Casio-and-drum-machine-fueled rendition of a classic (I was perhaps a little too delighted, as I should have checked whether it was public domain or not, but what are you gonna do?). The beats and keys provide a low-key, head-bobbing bed for Tomo’s sweet falsetto, which he zapped with just the right amount of dirt in the recording process. I’m not usually one for singing “praise the lord,” but I’ll definitely make an exception in the case of this particular jam.

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Ball of Wax 41 Songs: Amy Blaschke – Silvery Dreams in Blue

Posted on September 10, 2015 by Jon Rooney

Amy Blaschke‘s “Silvery Dreams in Blue” is all gossamer and atmosphere – pretty, floating, and a little eerie. It’s almost a duet between Blaschke’s gentle voice and the decidedly ’80s synthesizer pads, a torch song out of Twin Peaks or Judee Sill making a New Age record. There are small touches, like a brief vocal counter melody and a little staccato organ part at the end, that make “Silvery Dreams in Blue” such a compelling song and remind us why Blaschke is one of the most distinctive and accomplished artists to contribute to Ball of Wax (track down Volume 5, people).

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Ball of Wax 41 Songs: Alex Drum – Bells

Posted on September 9, 2015 by Levi Fuller

Alex Drum swears he hadn’t seen my last blog post about him – wherein I lightly ribbed him on the many musical monikers he’s used over the years – when he decided to release his newest work under his own name, but I feel like I still have to take a little credit. Maybe the mere existence of the “Alex Drum” tag in WordPress-land somehow subtly wormed its way into his brain and influenced his behavior, like some kind of digital toxoplasmosis gondii? Or maybe he just got sick of trying to keep all these projects straight. Anyway, Alex has once again proved that no matter what he calls it, he is more than capable of reliably cranking out highly listenable low-fi masterpieces.  The most recent such masterpiece, “Bells” – perhaps named more for the jingling percussion than for any lyrical element – is built on a repeating acoustic guitar figure and its various interactions with Alex’s simple vocal melody, the aforementioned percussion, and an electric guitar that nabs the lead as soon as he’s done singing, jumping from background figures to a swirling, delayed-out swell before surrendering once more to the acoustic. As always, it’s a pleasure to have Alex here, representing our surprisingly sizable Brooklyn coterie.

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Ball of Wax 41 Songs: Blake DeGraw – Quartet IV

Posted on September 8, 2015 by Jon Rooney

It’s really exciting to see Blake DeGraw’s bracing composition, “Quartet IV,” on Ball of Wax 41. While we tend to mean rock, folk, punk, and Americana when we talk about Seattle’s underground music scene, there are obviously other styles of music being made that deserve attention, particularly in the realm of improvisational, electronic, and art music. Despite my limited knowledge and vocabulary in this space, I’m going to barrel ahead anyway with this mini-review.

“Quartet IV” opens with a chromatic motif repeated a handful of times before being interrupted by some lower, crashing tone clusters. This pattern generally repeats as the motif shifts its starting point (I’m not sure I detect a traditional key here – see, my lunkhead guitar rock music theory betrays me) and the tone clusters separate into quasi-arpeggios. Around the one minute mark the motif seems to be doubled (or, in guitar rock land, someone steps on a delay pedal) which helps the piece build to a shimmering climax before a sudden end around the two and a half minute mark. I really enjoyed “Quartet IV” and hope to hear more from Blake DeGraw around town.

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Ball of Wax 41 Songs: Travis Champ – The Yellow Rose of Borges (demo)

Posted on September 8, 2015 by Jon Rooney

Travis Champ’s “The Yellow Rose of Borges” is, at first glance, a simple cowboy song. Champ’s baritone drawl and campfire strumming makes it immediately familiar and, if you’re not really listening, easy to gloss over as yet more Americana aural wallpaper to go with the belt buckle you found in a thrift store driving through Idaho and the boots you bought that time you went to Austin (man, the tacos there were amazing). But then there are the lyrics. “The Yellow Rose of Borges” is filled with top flight frontier surrealism, like if Tom Verlaine had been raised on Townes Van Zandt. There’s some Silver Jews-esque absurdism (“bribe some mattress with some cash”) and a choice Dylan allusion (“up on housing project hill”) among any number of really nice lines to transform this number from a perfectly nice ditty to meaty musical text.

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Ball of Wax 41 Songs: Unai Azkune – Coming Home

Posted on September 7, 2015 by Jon Rooney

Spanish songwriter Unai Azkune returns to Ball of Wax with “Coming Home,” a stark, sublime folk mediation not unlike “Bálsamo de Tigre,” which appeared on Volume 34. Featuring only voice, acoustic guitar and some delay, “Coming Home” is spooky and timeless; the song seems as if it could have been recorded pretty anytime over the last 50 years. The sentiment of longing and loss is more suggested than explained, giving the song a nice, wistful sense of vagueness to balance the directness of the arrangement. A fine and welcome addition to the Ball of Wax collection.

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Ball of Wax 41 Songs: Andrew Weathers – I Saw a Bald Eagle at Hurricane Ridge

Posted on September 4, 2015 by Levi Fuller

Volume 41 continues with a track from Mr. Andrew Weathers, another Ball of Wax Guitar Hero. Knowing that this track was recorded in a small cabin in Sequim (something of an outtake from this recently-released collaboration with Seth Chrisman), I presume the title is a simple statement of fact, probably relating the inspiration for this Faheyian acoustic guitar jaunt. I like imagining Andrew walking around Hurricane Ridge, seeing a bald eagle, then heading back to Sequim to lay this track down, visions of eagles flying through his head and guiding his fingers.

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Ball of Wax 41 Songs: Blizzard Swan – RedWhiteBlue (In the Future, We Will All Be Rich and Beautiful)

Posted on September 3, 2015 by Levi Fuller

You would be forgiven for thinking Blizzard Swan was yet another new addition to our global coterie at first glance, but as soon as you hear that seductively sideways guitar, you know you’re in the capable sonic hands of our old friend Olie Eshleman. Outside of his work with the brilliant Corespondents (and all the other bands and artists he sits in with), Olie seems to be gradually amassing an LP’s worth of beautifully twisted soundscapes using the studio and whatever instruments he happens to have at hand, and as long as he keeps trickling out these little drops of genius I will keep putting them on Ball of Waxes. “RedWhiteBlue” plays out like the soundtrack to an animated film, spooling out variations on a theme for a while – in counterpoint with plenty of weird creaky sounds and some minimal percussion – before breaking down to a somber progression that gradually swells, backed with popping fireworks, then recedes into quivering feedback. I don’t know, I certainly want to see whatever film this is scoring – could somebody just go ahead and make it for me? You know, when you’re off the phone with Elvis Costello.

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Ball of Wax 41 Songs: Bucky Fereke & the Pony Express – Please Don’t Wreck Up My World

Posted on September 3, 2015 by Levi Fuller

Bucky Fereke, out of Lowell, MA, is yet another newcomer to the Ball of Wax fold (always happy to have more folks from my home state), and he brings us the delightfully low-fi “Please Don’t Wreck Up My World.” There’s nothing particularly fancy going on here – just the beer-and-whiskey-soaked plea of a (soon to be?) jilted lover, simple country guitar, and a lot of tape hiss and reverb – but it all adds up to a new country classic, as far as I’m concerned. I’m no country expert, but I could hear anyone from Hasil Adkins to George Jones making this song their own – or maybe we could get Elvis Costello to do a version for a second volume of Almost Blue? Someone get on that.

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Ball of Wax 41 Songs: Future Fridays – I Am Not You

Posted on September 2, 2015 by Levi Fuller

BoW newbies Future Fridays – the duo of Eric Padget and Sari Breznau – keep the punk rock energy going on track 3 with “I Am Not You,” a stripped-down, propulsive little number with just about everything you need for a triumphant musical experience packed into two and a half minutes: Syncopated, choppy guitar, pulsing drums, attitude-filled male/female vocals (complete with “doo-doo-doo” chorus), and throbbing synth-bass. “I Am Not You” practically demands to be replayed as soon as you get to its swirling, twirling end. And then you’ll probably want to go listen From Fun-zo to Done-zo, the album on which it appears, a few times for good measure.

Some form of Future Fridays will be appearing at the Ball of Wax 41 release show on Friday, September 18th (hey, that’s a future Friday!). Be there!

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