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Underwater Peoples was the first label to announce a Mountain Man release, that was back in October or November. Since then a lot has happened with the fine ladies from Vermont. They are releasing their full length, Made the Harbor, on Partisan here in the states and on Bella Union in the UK. They’re touring all summer long, some dates with Twin Sister!!
Sun Dog, the 10″ from UP, is available for pre-sale now. The songs are alternate versions, so you should really pick this one up in addition to the full length.
Here’s an amazing video of “Mouthwings” shot by Yours Truly and edited by Andrew Rea.
Mountain Man: Soft Skin (full length version, not UP version)
Everyone loves Neil Young. Every person who picks up a guitar is drawn to him, instinctually even. Whether they prefer his softer acoustic singer-songwriter side or his electric i’ll fuck you up with distortion side, a little piece of him is in every player. Matt Mondanile of Ducktails and Real Estate has done something with his cover of Young’s “Look Out For My Love” that is really, really rare. In every guitarists (and arguably musician’s) heart, they love Young so much that they can’t stray too far from him when paying homage to him in a cover. Mondanile has managed to make his treatment sound like a very, very distant cousin of the original.
It’s not that he changes anything in the song, it’s just the texture and tone of it all that sets it apart. The song sounds like it was recorded in a glass house with walls that echo rather than absorb. And his voice is more Kurt Vile than Neil Young. The nasaly-inflections that define Young are nowhere to be found.
He’s also chosen to omit the crazy section at the end of the song when Young attacks you with “You own it!” Perhaps Mondanile wanted to leave you wondering what you were missing. With him, you don’t own it? Or perhaps this is only from a random version… regardless.
Mondanile recorded this song for a benefit album. More details on that at Chocolate Bobka. Purchase the album, which also features Sun Araw and Julian Lynch, among others, at A Fundamental Experiment.
Matt Mondanile: Look Out For My Love
Tomorrow at 5 p.m. ET music bloggers and writers convene at Newtown Radio in Bushwick, Brooklyn to discuss blogger ethics and by extension, the future of music writing.
The discussion is taking place during an episode of Underwater Visitations and features Chris Cantalini of Gorilla Vs. Bear/Forest Family Records, Ryan Schreiber, founder of Pitchfork Media, Michael McGregor of Chocolate Bobka/The Curatorial Club, Mark Schoneveld of Yvynyl/Trug Club and Sam Hockley-Smith of the FADER/Group Tightener. Emilie Friedlander of Visitation Rites, myself and Ari Stern of Underwater Peoples will also join in.
We encourage you to listen and call in with questions and comments! 347-725-4163.
Below is a basic outline of the discussion put together by myself and Friedlander of Visitation Rites. Questions we want to address come after a summary of why we are talking about this.
Why we’re having this forum:
We all know that media, music and criticism will soon live primarily online. This is both exciting and daunting because the Internet is currently a free zone where anything goes and boundaries have yet to be drawn. Because we are all actively shaping the shape of music publishing, we are responsible for making it as ethical and equitable as it can possibly be.
We begin this conversation by using the subject of blogger run labels as a jumping-off point for understanding the role of the blogger and the ethics of music writing online.
It goes without saying that we aim for this to be a constructive conversation. Everyone involved is in it for love, not hate.
Questions:
What is the difference between what a blogger does and what a traditional music journalist and/or critic does? How do you define what you do?
Who do you write or blog for? Readers, bands, your community/friends?
Up until very recently, blogs would write about bands and then labels would see that they had press and potentially pick them up. Its obvious that you love the music you write about and want to make it accessible to the public, but why take the next step and release it on a physical format as well?
Is it ethical to sell something that you created the demand for? Do you think you could possibly lose the trust of your audience as well as your authority as a tastemaker if people know that you stand to possibly profit (either monetarily or though social capital) off the content of your opinions? Conversely, does it strenghten your reputation?
If a print music writer starts a label, that person has an obligation to refrain from writing about the artist he/she is releasing. Example: Hockley-Smith of the FADER/Group Tightener has clearly stated that he will not cover the artists he releases. Why is it that when we switch from print to online, these rules suddenly no longer apply? Is it really just the medium?
How do you distinguish between your label and a more traditional one? Are some smaller labels you admire put at a disadvantage because as a blog, you are already getting into the game with a built in PR outlet?
Many comments from online forums at Tiny Mix Tapes, Drowned in Sound, YVYNYL, have said that if the blogger is clear about his/her affiliations with the music being written about, everything is copacetic. Is transparency enough?
Is there an ethical or unethical kind of blogger run label? What would constitute going too far?
What are some rules that maybe we can agree are necessary to ensure that ethics in online music writing are valued? Should there be rules at all?
Feather and Folly is Holly Overton and Julia Hermannsdottir. The duo, from Nags Head, North Carolina and Iceland and now, Brooklyn, merge the music of their homelands, resulting is the kind of music that haunts and inspires.
Utilizing instruments like the ukelele, dulcimer and glockenspiel and of course relying on their pretty harmonies, Feather and Folly comforts in the most pleasant way: through warmth and sensitivity.
“Cold Spring” has a down-home feel. It may be a cliche to think of grassy fields and apple pie and the like, but that is what this conjures for me… The dedicated stomp and shaker shake is as close to the sound of a rapidly beating heart after a woodsy frolick that i’ve come across in some time.
Feather and Folly is playing a show at Rockwood Music Hall and at Zebulon in July. Pick up their cassette release, Shrine to Pleasant.
Feather and Folly: Cold Spring
Here’s a video of “Dapper Dan.”
TONIGHT
Fiasco, Okie Dokie, Zulus at Death by Audio, 8ish
Simon & Garfunkel Tribute at Central Park, 8
WEDNESDAY
Junip (featuring Jose Gonzalez), Mountain Man at Knitting Factory, 7
THURSDAY
Conversion Party, Radical Dads, Golden Girls, Gross Relations at Glasslands, 8
Mountain Man at the Living Room, 10
FRIDAY
The Eskalators, Terror Pigeon Dance Revolt, Fiasco, No Courage, The Shakes, Ava Luna, Rocky Sullivans, Ghost Mall at Shea Stadium, 8ish
SATURDAY
Future Islands, Lower Dens, Sensual Harassment at Silent Barn, 8ish
Pocahaunted, Sleep Over, Expensive Looks, Prince Rama at Glasslands, 8ish
SUNDAY
Walter Schreifels at Maxwell’s, 8:30
Pocahaunted, Prince Rama, Sleep Over at Pianos, 8ish
Fucking look at this place! Tropicale. Primavera Sound, 2010.
By Skizzo on Vimeo.
The music of Moses Campbell makes me feel like i’m back to the age when Clueless ruled my life (14, 15), when I lived on the edge of the suburbs and the country and would drive around in a giant cream colored Volvo wagon with 200,000 miles on it and a sun roof, and smoke cigarettes with my friends and basically just hang and party and go to the beach all the time. Basically the time of my life, you know?
Now i’m a city girl. It’s hard to know which life is better. But when you can feel like you’re in the other, that’s a good thing.
Moses Campbell is an LA band, they’re pretty young. How is it they understand nostalgia? Or maybe they don’t, it’s just me, putting it on them.
Anyway, “And It’s Over 1,” is clean and straight and down the middle. It feels like perfection. (There’s a female accordion player in the band).
You can pick up Who Are You? Who Is Anyone? from olFactory Records, the label arm of The Smell.
Moses Campbell: And It’s Over 1
Thanks, as always, to the lovely Rose Quartz.
This is the funniest and most fun thing i’ve seen. Also, this song is fucking killer. It almost makes missing Delorean this weekend ok. That’s a stretch, I take it back. I wish I had been in the sauna called Glasslands on Saturday night.
Delorean’s song, “Simple Graces,” is clearly a genre-time-country crossover: these two parties are different in every way.
Brooklyn’s Coasting is on course for greatness. They’ve got something like four 7″ or tape releases coming up, one already out on M’Lady Records, (hear and read about “Pussy Bow“), and are playing shows all over the city.
Coasting plays the Brooklyn Based Northside Fest showcase curated by Microphone Memory Emotion on June 25 at Matchless. Also on the bill: Family Portrait, Fluffy Lumbers and Bermuda Bonnie. More info to come on that soon!
In addition to Coasting, Madison (Farmer) and Fiona (Campbell) are involved in numerous other projects such as Dream Diary, Cybelle Blood and others, and Fiona is going on tour with Vivian Girls (replacing Ali who is now with Best Coast, so confusing).
“Snoozefest” is off a split with Reading Rainbow, another great 2-piece from Philly, out on French label ATELIER CISEAUX. The song features what Coasting does best- shake shake your hips simplicity, hard hit minimal punk drums and doubled up vocals.
I’ve seen the way Coasting does life: they work and live, (one of two) in a Bushwick duplex with a big pretty yard and a huge-ass done over basement that pulls triple duty as it’s also their practice space and a live music venue from time to time. They hang around and talk about bands, music, feminism. They smoke cigarettes and dark strawberry daiquiris. All of this compliments their music. Don’t you think? Let’s just say it’s not a Snoozefest??
Coasting: Snoozefest
Mountain Man shot in NYC by Vincent Galgano.
(via)
ps- the band is playing shows with Twin Sister. Pass out now, not then.
