Singin’ Freebird with Christian Bookshop

Posted on September 13, 2012 by Levi Fuller

Longtime Ball of Wax listeners might remember the Irish band Music for Dead Birds from Volume 12. I’ve wondered over the past few years what they might be up to, and I was quite pleased to receive an email yesterday from Jimmy Monaghan about a new project. It looks like MfDB is still a going concern, but he has recently started Christian Bookshop, a new duo project with Aisling Walsh “to make friendly folk music.”

Well, sort of friendly, anyway. This is definitely a dark, slightly twisted take on a pretty, folky sound, which is exactly how I like it. Lead track “Singin’ Freebird” is a perfect introduction to this approach:

I’m singin’ Freebird to anyone passing my way,
And if you don’t like what I do then fuck you.

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Album Review: Loud Springs – Trinity Blast Suite

Posted on September 10, 2012 by Jon Rooney

Loud Springs – Trinity Blast Suite
(2012, self-released)

Loud Springs is the new project from Dean Wells, who spent much of the last decade writing, recording and eventually performing as the Capstan Shafts. Wells is a lo fi savant, channeling Robert Pollard’s fuzzy Quadraphenian flights of fancy and the infectious charm of classic Kiwi pop into insanely brief (often around one minute) songs. 2004’s Chick Cigarettes (on much-missed CDR label Asaurus Records) was my first exposure to Well’s slapdash genius, leading to me putting out one of his many, many releases out on my own little label. The Capstan Shafts eventually garnered some much-deserved attention, Wells put a band together and they spent a few years playing out up and down the East coast. Which brings us to his new project, Loud Springs.

Loud Springs’ first release, Trinity Blast Suite, sits along the best work in Well’s vast discography. Opener “It Kicked in and We Missed It” somehow fits 2 verses, 2 choruses and a bridge into 1:26. It’s a gem, as are the other 3 songs on the EP.

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Ball of Wax 29 Release Show Tonight at the Comet! Listen Here Now.

Posted on September 7, 2012 by Levi Fuller

Tonight’s show at the Comet Tavern should be loads of fun (and many many thanks go to the Comet for saving our butts after the untimely implosion of the Rogue & Peasant). Come on down for guitarless sets – many of them custom-built for this show – from me, Mark Schlipper, Town Forest, Caitlin Sherman, Rosyvelt, and Gems. And, of course, a free copy of the new Ball of Wax is yours at the door.

Whether you’re coming or not, you can check out that new volume right here:

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See you tonight!

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Old Friends with New Names

Posted on August 29, 2012 by Levi Fuller

Ball of Wax‘s connections to Mark Johnson and Michael Sanchez – of Amateur Radio Operator and The Way It Is, respectively – run deep, going back to our first couple volumes (ARO made their debut on Volume 1, The Way It Is had a song on Volume 2, and both were featured on Volume 4, covering songs and being covered by other early BoW favorites). As different as the two are, they’re a couple of my favorite songwriters – in fact, I recently compiled a list of my 100 favorite albums from 1996-2011, prompted by that one giant music site, and they each had an album on there.

So I’m somewhat sad to report that neither The Way It Is nor Amateur Radio Operator exist any more, as such. Continue reading →

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Album Review: Meursault – Something for the Weakened

Posted on August 27, 2012 by Jon Rooney

Meaursault – Something for the Weakened (2012, Song, By Toad Records)

Edinburgh’s Meursault have been gaining acclaim and attention across the UK and Europe over the past few years, most notably for 2010’s outstanding All Creatures Will Make Merry. A blend of folk, baroque pop and, at times, electronic music, Meursault is led by one Mr. Neil Pennycook, who possesses a mastery over those melodic now-I’m-singing-now-I’m-screaming emotive bursts matched only by Okkervil River’s Will Scheff. Pennycook is a tremendous songwriter, capable of producing both grand gestures and tiny set pieces. Something for the Weakened builds on Meursault’s excellent body of work, available on Edindburgh’s venerable Song, By Toad Records. The lead single, “Flittin’,” rides a simple rhythmic pattern through all sorts of soaring intensity. “Settling” and “Dull Spark” pull off similar building epic-ness while closers “Mamie” and “Untitled” are beautifully executed ballads. Easily my favorite album of 2012 so far.

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Snowman Plan Release Minerals Saturday

Posted on August 24, 2012 by Levi Fuller

It’s been far too long since you’ve heard the cerebrally strange sounds of Snowman Plan on a volume of Ball of Wax (go all the way back to the instrumental Volume 8 and dig “Your Toad Roots”), but then, they’ve never been the most prolific of bands. When they do release new music, however, it is always worth the wait. Head over to the Black Lodge this Saturday (tomorrow!) and help them celebrate the release of their new EP, Minerals – two songs from which you can hear right now on Bandcamp.

As if the show weren’t special enough, it will be the first and very likely the only performance by IS, a primarily studio-based new project and Seattle post-rock wet dream featuring Emory and Salo of Joy Wants Eternity, James Key of Unlearn, and Jonah Byrne of Snowman Plan (among many other projects). On top of that, master guitarist-vocalist-loopist Sky Lynn’s wonderful Levator – from whom we haven’t heard nearly enough over the past few years – will be opening the night up. Should be a great night of strange and delightful new music.

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Brite Lines Enter the Workshop

Posted on August 24, 2012 by Bart Cameron

As Columbia City turns into the Lower East Side of Seattle, (with I guess Tacoma serving as our Brooklyn), the scene at Columbia City Theater gets more and more compelling. That’s where I found Brite Lines singer Zach Gore– enthusiastic fan and friend to a number of local acts. Softspoken . . . and much bigger than me . . . I’ve run into this guy at random concerts and parties, found him making films for bands like Fort Union.

I got hold of the Brite Lines EP Make Shift, (not hard, you can download it free on bandcamp). The EP is a demo in the proper sense of the word– songs recorded, it sounds to me, to be workshopped. The rhythms are good. The singing is solid and sure of itself. The lyrics are confessional, often leaning on country touchstones. There is very nice saw. Continue reading →

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Ball of Wax 29: No Guitars! Friday, September 7 at the COMET

Posted on July 30, 2012 by Levi Fuller

Ball of Wax Volume 29 Release Show: No Guitars
Gems; Rosyvelt; Werebearcat!; Caitlin Sherman (Slow Skate); Town Forest (Mark Johnson, Amateur Radio Operator); Mark Schlipper;  Levi Fuller
Friday, September 7th, 8pm
$7 / free Ball of Wax 29 CD with entry
The Rogue and Peasant The Comet Tavern, 922 E. Pike

[Edit: Werebearcat! had some unavoidable circumstances come up which led to their having to cancel their participation in this show. Mark Schlipper, however, has graciously volunteered to play a solo piano set.]

[Edit 2: It turns out that the Rogue & Peasant is closing and will not be able to host the Ball of Wax 29 show (or any shows). Boo! Due to some serious luck, the Comet Tavern was free that night and have stepped up, so the show will be happening as planned, just at the Comet. Yay!.]

Sorry it’s been kinda quiet here on the blog lately. I’ve been busy listening to a bunch of excellent music without guitars (and writing and recording my own guitarless tune) in preparation for the next volume of Ball of Wax Audio Quarterly (vol. 29, Summer 2012).

In any case, I’m very excited to announce the release show for this next installment of BoW, featuring an array of keyboards, wind instruments, banjos, mandolas, percussive thingys, voices, and more – but not a single guitar (whether of the acoustic, electric, bass, or any other variety). In keeping with the theme, the release show itself will also feature no guitars whatsoever. For some people (such as the keys-and-drums juggernaut of Gems or the ivory-tinkling genius that is Caitlin Sherman) that won’t be such a big deal, but others of us are going to have to craft custom sets just for this event. Rosyvelt has promised a plethora of horns, and I might even play the keys in front of an audience for the first time in my life.

It’s gonna be fun, is what I’m saying. We’re excited to have this Friday night show at the Rogue and Peasant in Fremont, a new venue for us and a pretty darn cool one. Doors open at 8, and as always you get a free copy of the new Ball of Wax CD at the door. See you there!

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New Music from Sun Tunnels

Posted on July 17, 2012 by Levi Fuller

Although he’s been slacking something terrible on the blog front, my friend Louis has been getting back to rediscovering the fun of writing and recording music under his newish moniker Sun Tunnels, and sharing it via his fancy new Soundcloud page. (You know, I think if he really has to choose, I would rather have more songs from Louis than more blog posts, but don’t tell him that.)

Here are two lovely examples of what Sun Tunnels has been up to, “Fruit Fly” and “Not Old”:

Posted in Check Out This Song, Recorded Music | Tagged | 1 Comment

A Good Year for Local Instrumental Vinyl: New Releases from Joy Wants Eternity and Scriptures

Posted on July 6, 2012 by Levi Fuller

If you know me just through Ball of Wax, you might not realize that I’m a pretty big fan/supporter of instrumental rock music (sometimes referred to with the blanket genre term “post-rock”). I play in a droney instrumental band myself, and am one of the founders/organizers of the Cumulus Festival, which we started in 2009 to celebrate these kinds of sounds. All of which is to say, I’ve been paying attention to this stuff for a while. By sheer coincidence, two of my favorite bands making this kind of music have released very long-awaited new albums, both of which are now available on sexy 12″ vinyl. You should probably buy both.

Joy Wants Eternity played all three installments of Cumulus, but have been pretty quiet for the last few years. I didn’t even know they had plans to release a new album, but then all of a sudden there it was – on Etsy of all places – in both swirly clear and regular black vinyl. It’s totally worth the price of purchase, but of course you can preview it first just to make sure you’re sold. Even better, go to their record release show tonight at the Sunset and experience the sonic density and pressure of Joy Wants Eternity the way it’s meant to be heard.

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I’ve been a fan of Scriptures since they lived in Montana and were called This Is a Process of a Still Life (whom you might remember from touring through Missoula, especially if you’re Louis). They also played all three years of Cumulus. Their 2009 performance was under the old name, but for me it was the unveiling of the new sound that would become Scriptures. They shed a lot of the delicacy (and the vibraphones) of their earlier incarnation and started bringing more heavy riffing to the table, all without losing any of their musical sophistication or compositional chops. I was really excited to hear a new record from them and now, three and a half years later, it’s finally out and well worth the wait. I think for now you have to go to Spin Cycle Records in Capitol Hill to get the vinyl (cassette also available via Translinguistic Other), but you can hear a few songs to get you out the door to the record store right here:

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