Like the soundtrack to an old-fashioned gothic western (is there such a thing?), Blanche songs are creepy, twangy, and very, very pretty. With sad banjo and moody vocals, these slow, ghostly country songs let the listener drift back to the days of pre-industrial America. You know, the good old days, before the electric light bulb illuminated the sneaking shape of the sly killer and cast his shadow across the barn door for the hapless victim to see.
Carla Bozulich
After recent events left me feeling a little, shall we say, agitated, I went searching for some cynical sounds to get me through Wednesday. What I found gave meaning to my gritted teeth: the singularly powerful Carla Bozulich careening through a nine-minute version of one of the greatest protest songs ever written — not to mention one of Dylan’s best songs, period. When Wednesday gave way to a cold, rainy Thursday, “Lonesome Roads” and the fabulous Willie Nelson cover “Blue Eyes Cryin’ in the Rain” were just the nudge of strained melancholy I needed. Now that Friday’s here, the woman who channels Patsy Cline, Janis Joplin, Tom Waits (there’s even a Waits cover here) and something nobody had heard until she wailed for herself, should help you make it through a long, lonely weekend. I know she’ll help me.
(P.S. There’s plenty more on her website from her many side projects — if you have the bandwidth, it’s worth your time.)
Migala
Bittersweet, cinematic folk with a love-worn voice that alone tells a million tales. Perfect for a chilly, rainy day…
Daniel Johnston
Where to begin? The liner notes to Johnston’s new retrospective/tribute pin the “Godfather of Lo-Fi” label on him. That’s a start. Name check the tribute and you’ll get a sense of the depth of Daniel Johnston’s influence: Beck, Bright Eyes, Mercury Rev, Sparklehorse, and Tom Waits. He began in the early eighties, committing simple, raw, gorgeous songs to tape (“Put My Love Out The Door”), via handheld recorder. While his production quality has improved over time, it’s never been at the expense of his primary craft, songwriting (George Lucas take note! The new Star Wars movies suck!) Daniel Johnston makes me wanna toss my computer out the window (gasp!) and never use a cell phone again. He’s proof, and hope, that the medium doesn’t have to be the message.
n.Lannon
Film School member, Nyles Lannon, graduates, goes solo and trades out a few guitars for a computer and puts a tech touch to his homestyle melodies.
Two mp3s added. Original posting: 06.15.04.
Minmae
Fragile vocals over fragile guitars, Minmae’s songs could fall apart at any moment. Make one mistake and face utter cacophony. It’s in the band’s unflinching push to the next chord, verse, or just to the next riff that these songs transcend the notion of popular music and teeter on the verge of pure art.
Devendra Banhart
Banhart’s voice and eerie gaze only add to the fragility of the song. “The Body Breaks” is hardly a pick-me-up, but it’s good to hear a songwriter with genuine eccentricity freely create something that nobody else can.
Two Gallants
Young and well-read, this San Francisco duo have, thankfully, spent very little time listening to (and even less time being influenced by) their rock ‘n’ roll contemporaries. Instead they’ve forged these songs from their own blood, sweat, and tears, and brought them to life with the simple tools of voice, guitar, and drums.
Vetiver
Folk is well on its way to becoming the sound du jour thanks to the likes of Andy Cabic and the group of friends and neighbors he enlists (Devendra Banhart, Hope Sandoval, Joanna Newsome, and Colm O’Ciosoig) in crafting a collection of acoustic gems lined with daydream edges. An extravagantly simple melody that you can really sink your ears into.
Mirah
While Liz Phair’s spent the new century embedded in VH1’s Culture Vultureplex, Mirah’s been embedded in evergreen indieland (that’s Olympia, Washington) making sweet and musically adventurous paeans to relationships, politics, and many of the other things that make us think about more than our cholesterol. “Jerusalem” is the only new track here, but it’s worth downloading the others to see how easy it is to fall in love with a singer whose mind is as irresistible as her disarmingly delicate voice.