Posts Tagged ‘Nebraska’

ICKY BLOSSOMS – ” In Folds “

Posted: May 3, 2015 in MUSIC
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From the opening bars of “In Folds,” it sounds like Icky Blossoms are going for one of the many chase scenes in a John Carpenter film. Once the track opens up, it’s a whole new ballgame; synth pop driven by female vocals with hints of yearning and darkness bring to mind the epic scope of Anthony Gonzalez’s work.
This video came with the disclaimer of *NOT FOR THE FAINT OF HEART, and it lives up to the warning. The clip opens with singer/keyboardist Sarah Bohling being kidnapped by thugs and brought against her will to a space where her bandmates are already bound and bruised. It’s already scarier than that dumb-ass internet horror movie everyone keeps going to the theaters to see.

The video is totally on some weird John Carpenter shit though. Opening with a kidnapping, vocalist Sarah Bohling faces her kidnappers and is forced to play a particularly “killer” show complete with blood spatter everywhere. After that, things get very Buffalo Bill ala Silence of the Lambs and then take a total left turn. It’s weird enough to watch more than once and thankfully the track lends itself to hella repeats.
Order Icky Blossoms’s new LP “Mask” via Saddle Creek Records, due on May 12th. The band took the above pre-tour photo recently, so catch them at a gig near you soon.

SIMON JOYNER – ” You Got Under My Skin “

Posted: February 26, 2015 in MUSIC
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Grass, Branch & Bone is an evocative name for an album, and Simon Joyner’s “You Got Under My Skin” lives up to the album title’s gritty, rootsy insinuations. In the ’90s, Joyner was a contemporary of Midwest lo-fi folk-rock greats like Will Oldham and Bill Callahan, and his music shares traits with both of those artists. “You Got Under My Skin” is plainspoken and graceful, yet both Joyner’s weathered tenor and the barebones arrangement sound as parched and cracked as the pages of an old book. He’s a favorite of fellow Omaha native Conor Oberst, who wrote Joyner’s official bio, and you can definitely hear how Joyner’s quirky, matter-of-fact delivery affected Oberst’s songwriting. Gillian Welch and the Black Swans’ Jerry DeCicca are also big fans. Grass, Branch & Bone is coming out on Woodsist Records, and that makes sense too; like Woods, he plays American roots music at a charmingly off-kilter angle.

SIMON JOYNER – ” Nostalgia Blues “

Posted: February 26, 2015 in MUSIC
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Nebraskan singer-songwriter Simon Joyner has amassed an extensive discography spanning over 12 albums, and which has earned accolade from some of indie’s greats. Both Beck and The Mountain Goats’ John Darnielle cite Joyner’s records as some of their favorites. Most notable, however, is his influence on Conor Oberst of Bright Eyes, who called Joyner his “favorite lyricist of all time.” The twang and earnest vocals on his latest song, “Nostalgia Blues”, makes the connection especially apparent.

The sparsely arranged track carries on for over seven minutes, showcasing Simon Joyner’s ability for heart-wrenching storytelling. Over an acoustic guitar and ploddingbass, he describes cigarette burns and allusions to the poem “Hey Diddle Diddle”. He drops sobering lines throughout, like, “All those sweet dreams I watched corrode so long ago.” As if it weren’t already sad enough, his quivering voice only heightens the desperation. It’s an elegant ode to loneliness that doesn’t spare the harrowing details.

Simon Joyner will release his 13th album, “Grass, Branch & Bone”, on March 31st via WoodsistRecords. For more from the album, check out his previous single, “You Got Under My Skin”.

JOSHUA JAMES – ” Dramamine “

Posted: November 18, 2014 in MUSIC
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A video companion, directed by Matt Eastin, to Joshua James’ version of “Dramamine” from the album “Well, Then, I’ll Go To Hell” written by Isaac Brock and the Modest Mouse boys.

Joshua James is an American singer-songwriter currently based out of Fork, Utah and Lincoln, Nebraska. His original debut release of The Sun is Always Brighter was the in the Folk Album list best in 2007 and sold in excess of 25,000 copies by the end of 2008. The album caught the attention of the  Indie Folk scene, with Paste Magazine naming him one of their “Next 25 Artists You Need To Know”,  He subsequently supported tours by John Mayer, David Gray, Ani DiFranco, on North American tours. NPR Radio has also cited James in one of their “Song of the Day” publishings. They featured his “The New Love Song”[3] as one of the best new songs from a previously unknown artist in a long time. Joshua James “a young Mid Western singer-songwriter who writes hard-bitten songs of family tragedies and sings them in a voice that’s as sun-bleached and wind-battered as a Nebraska cornfields.

James’s third album, “From The Top of Willamette Mountain”, was released in November 2012, on Intelligent Noise Records. It was produced by  multi instrumentalist Richard Swift, who also collaborated on it with James. They recorded it at Richard’s home studio dubbed National Freedom Studios. Evan Coulombe, long time friend and band mate played Electric Guitars on the record. Over the span of a year and half Evan Coulombe and Joshua James recorded, when time allowed, cover songs of older Modest Mouse songs. These collaborations / covers were put into a recording and released as “Well, Then, I’ll Go To Hell” in 2013.

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