Ball of Wax 35 Songs: Aram Bajakian – “Medicaid Lullaby”

Posted on February 6, 2014 by Jon Rooney

Aram Bajakian is quite the get for Ball of Wax. Not only has the New York-based guitarist played with the likes of Lou Reed, Rufus and Martha Wainwright, Yusef Lateef, John Zorn, Nels Cline, and Diana Krall, but he’s also just released a solo record called There Were Flowers Also in Hell that’s garnered acclaim from places like the Free Jazz Blog (which I recommend you all bookmark). “Medicaid Lullaby,” also found on There Were Flowers Also in Hell, won me over from the first note. Bajakian begins the meditative instrumental piece with a weeping Ebow figure, then introduces touches of drums and bass that gently assert themselves until the last minute or so when the overall intensity and volume ramps up. “Medicaid Lullaby” is more a lament than a lullaby, with a snaking modal figure that has the half-step/whole-step/half-step sound of an eastern scale and evokes grief and the gnashing of teeth. I guess a dirge is a form of a love song. I hope that “Medicaid Lullaby” kicks off a wave of urban avant-jazz pieces being submitted to the proverbial grooves of Ball of Wax and Bajakian’s ambitious, accomplished work draws other Zorn-loving musicians to our digital shores.

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Ball of Wax 35 Songs: Inly – “In the Morning”

Posted on February 6, 2014 by Jon Rooney

Inly‘s “In the Morning” is a hardened love song, more “look out for that guy” than “that guy is the greatest.”  Mindie Lind’s sweet, rootsy voice croons a tale of warning (“in the morning / he’s going to fool you”) tinged with a nice patina of lusty pathos (“he’s giving you the shivers / with no ability to sweat”). Musically, Inly takes “In the Morning” through its vintage AM country paces. From the vocal harmonies to the gently surging lap steel, all the components create a sad, smokey vibe of mild desolation and heavy longing. I’m not an Americana-ist by any means (I lean more occidental), so I’m not sure if the bouzouki that pops up on the track would be the kind of thing one would find on a Jimmie Rodgers record, but it works for the song. Though Inly won’t be on the bill for the Valentine’s Day show, they will be playing the Tractor Tavern in Ballard next Wednesday – check them out.

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Ball of Wax 35 Songs: Virgin of the Birds – “Minmae Shall Be Revealed”

Posted on February 5, 2014 by Levi Fuller

Jon Rooney continues his campaign of shedding light on underappreciated cultural figures (cf “Victor Bockris”) with Virgin of the Birds‘ low-key ballad “Minmae Shall Be Revealed.” It’s nice to hear Jon mixing it up a bit with this simple recording, playing acoustic guitar and singing low in his range. Over this soft musical bed – acoustic guitar complemented in places with subtle organ and clean electric guitar leads – he unspools an ode to a girl (reader of New Directions books, wearer of bergère  hats) who probably appreciates the kinds of cultural references I sometimes miss (though I love the Joni Mitchell nod “We were kissing on the summer lawn / and you went hissing in the winter calm”). While I can’t say I understand the connection between the love object of this song and the prolific and underrated Portland-based musical project known as Minmae, I do appreciate the opportunity to give them a nod here. Between 1998 and 2009, the Portland-based band founded by Sean Brooks released a wealth of music. 2007’s 835 is the only  Minmae album I own, but it’s a great one – recommended for fans of Jim O’Rourke, Fog, and other wilfully obscure artists who can’t refrain from crafting perfect pop songs. I imagine just anywhere one might dip one’s toe into the pool of Minmae will be rewarding.

Virgin of the Birds will play a set of original love songs and a Love cover at the BoW 35 release show next Friday at the Lo Fi. Join us!

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Ball of Wax 35 Songs: Robert Deeble – “To Find You”

Posted on February 5, 2014 by Levi Fuller

Not all love songs are of the romantic variety. There are love songs to parents, siblings, and pets, and of course there’s the whole sub-genre of “love songs to one’s child,” which can often be particularly heart-melting, as is the case with Robert Deeble’s “To Find You.” Robert and his wife parented their god daughter – the “you” in this song – from the age of 3 days until her first birthday.  “To Find You” recounts the year after she left their care and the Deebles’ attempts to maintain a stable presence in her life after she had been reunited with her birth mother, who was continually in transition and on the move from city to city due to her own challenges in life. The result is a beautiful, aching lullaby of a song. Grab a few tissues and give it a listen.

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Ball of Wax 35 Songs: Joshua Schramm featuring Fairy Robot – “Drink Until You’re Dry Again”

Posted on February 4, 2014 by Jon Rooney

Westerly‘s Joshua Schramm makes his first contribution to Ball of Wax with “Drink Until You’re Dry Again,” a collaboration with Fairy Robot, known by most folks as Sarah McGuinn (who also plays with Schramm in Modern Relics). “Drink Until You’re Dry Again” is a pretty, atmospheric song that starts off sparsely with vibrato guitar and vocals from Schramm and McGuinn. As the sound fills in, it becomes clear that “Drink Until You’re Dry Again” is working on a whole different production level than most Ball of Wax submissions. The production is lush and polished in a moody, late-’80s Talk Talk kind of way. The way the background vocals are mixed, the synth pads used, the taut percussion, even the compressed distorted guitar – all these elements combine to evoke 1988 pop radio without descending into pastiche. It’s a bold, welcome change around here. Schramm and Co. will be playing the the Ball of Wax Volume 35 release show – In Love with Love Valentine’s Day at the Lo Fi in this formation, and the multifaceted Mr. Schramm will also perform solo under the name Harbor Island (we’ll hear more from them next week).

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Ball of Wax 35 Songs: Joey Beltram – “Bleed Through”

Posted on February 3, 2014 by Levi Fuller

Joey Beltram’s amorous contribution to Ball of Wax 35 came to me via a mutual friend who had collaborated with him in his current home of Cleveland. It seems Mr. Beltram had visited our fair state of Washington, written a whole album inspired by it (titled, appropriately enough, Hey Washington), and will soon be moving out here. I’m pleased to be able to introduce Seattle to Joey through “Bleed Through,” one of the songs from that album. Something about these lush, dense guitars, the simple progression, and the beautiful falsetto melody lead me to think this town will be very welcoming to Joey and his music. Check out “Bleed Through” below, and then go listen to the whole album.

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Double Your Love at the Ball of Wax 35 Release Show! 2/14 at Lo Fi

Posted on January 30, 2014 by Levi Fuller

2014-02-14Ball of Wax and Mamma’s Cave present
In Love with Love: A Night of Songs of and by Love
Ball of Wax Volume 35 Release Celebration and tribute to the band Love

Lo Fi Performance Gallery, 429 Eastlake Ave. E.
Friday, February 14, 9pm
21+ / $7 (includes a free copy of the Ball of Wax 35 love song compilation)

Featuring Hand of the Hills, Gonzo, Sam Russell, Robert Deeble,  Virgin of the Birds, Bandolier, Harbor Island, and Joshua Schramm featuring Fairy Robot

As you should be aware by now, Ball of Wax Volume 35 will be a collection of love songs, to be released on Valentine’s Day. Right when I hatched this brilliant plan, Seattle booking treasure Mamma Casserole was working on a tribute to the band Love on Valentine’s Day. It seemed obvious that we needed to join forces, paying tribute both to Arthur Lee’s groundbreaking, criminally underrated band and the funny feeling you get in your heart (and other parts) when you’re really into someone. We found a great collection of artists to share their visions of love and Love, most of whom also have songs featured on the new volume of BoW. As always, everyone in the door gets a free copy of the new BoW disc.

Stay tuned to the blog to hear brand new love songs from Robert Deeble, Virgin of the Birds, Bandolier, Harbor Island, and Joshua Schramm featuring Fairy Robot . . . and many more brilliant artists (Sam Russell’s fine track kicked us off, of course), and we’ll see you at the Lo Fi on Valentine’s night!

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Ball of Wax 35 Songs: Quichenight – “Fjord Tortoise”

Posted on January 30, 2014 by Jon Rooney

Ball of Wax newcomers Quichenight describe their music as “lo-fi, high-brow, easy-listening music for nerds.” Their contribution to volume 35, “Fjord Tortoise,” is top-shelf bedroom pop that reminds me of tons of great bands – from Pavement at their most accessible to Kurt Heasley’s brilliant Lilys to lesser known artists like Pants Yell! and Sam Flax. It’s a fantastic, breezy song that wouldn’t be out of place in the gentler wing of the Burger Records empire (see Sam Flax). Is “Fjord Tortoise” a love song? Sure – amidst the pretty major chord guitar strumming and falsetto vocals stand guileless lines like “I can’t keep my eyes off of you” and “you turn me on like I’m a computer.” In the best nod to the Velvet Underground since Macaulay Culkin’s pizza-themed tribute band, Quichenight head honcho Brett Rosenberg sings “When you parallel park / I’ll be your mirror.” I hope that the folks down in Nashville appreciate what they have in Quichenight, I know we in the BoW Illuminati are happy to have them on board for volume 35.

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Ball of Wax 35 Songs: The Ex-Optimists – “Let’s Go to Sleep and Dream”

Posted on January 29, 2014 by Levi Fuller

Former Seattleite and now apparent founding father of College Station, Texas’s rock and roll scene Kelly Minnis (also, in full disclosure, first drummer in my band The Luna Moth and onetime sometime hitter of skins in my other band The Library)  is a man of many talents. He is a force to be reckoned with behind the drums, of course, but he can write a pretty great pop song, too. His band The Ex-Optimists (whom we haven’t heard from since Volume 17) released a fine album called Bee Corpse Collector last year, which if I were a better blogger I would have written a glowing review of or included on a list of notable releases from 2013. “Let’s Go to Sleep and Dream” is a wonderfully concise bit of propulsively romantic shoegazery that should act as enough of a teaser to get you to buy the whole record (12″ vinyl, $10 postpaid! Now that just warms the cockles of my Dischord-lovin’ heart).  It’s also a fine counterpoint to Sam’s track, completing the one-two punch that kicks off this particular volume.

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Ball of Wax 35 Songs: Sam Russell – “The Arena”

Posted on January 28, 2014 by Jon Rooney

[It’s time once again to share with you, track by track, the songs from the upcoming volume of Ball of Wax. BoW 35 is devoted to the love song, and will be released Friday, February 14th at Lo Fi. Join us! -ed.]

Sam Russell (sans Harborrats for the moment) follows up the country waltz from Ball of Wax 34 with strident classic rock for the love song-themed Ball of Wax 35. “The Arena” has the same type of epic, Springsteenian majesty folks found in the Arcade Fire and We Are Augustines over the last half decade or so. The kick drum on every beat is inexorable, Russell’s pleading vocals are compelling and the acoustic guitars are down-strummed with gusto. Transient noises like streaking flange effects and electric guitar string noises bounce around like stray gunfire and explosions in a battle scene from a war movie, never disrupting the steady charge of the song. Despite the militant cadence of the vocals (actually, the militant cadence of pretty much everything about the song), the lyrics (by Molly Mac) are pretty inscrutable. Fragments stick out every once in again – “today will be a day / we rearrange all of our things” “then we start breathing together,” “maybe we need boats,” “the field looks flat to the onlookers” – but I can’t get a sense of the action or the topic, just the tone. And maybe that’s the great thing about love songs, how hyper-personal, inarticulate feelings and artifacts can congeal into passionate rallying cries that translate to broad swaths of people. I’m not sure what Sam Russell is singing about, but I’m totally on board and behind him every martial step of the way.

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