american

The air around the Appalachian mountains seem to be infested with forest spirits that tell you how to cook up the most simple and amazing melodies that the best producers in the world can’t come up with try as they might. Larkin Grimm, a native of Memphis, Tennessee who lived in a hippie commune till she was 7 is a real life example that comes straight from Shyamalan’s “The Village“

Fortunately our fears are a thing of the past right now as the iconic Barack Obama has become the 44th president of the USA. We’ve been watching his moves much longer than the media hype started surrounding him and no one deserves this spot better than this sincere, honest and kind man, he has been an inspiration for a whole generation and I hope he will succeed in bringing change and unity to his country and the world.

We are not in SF or USA, but there’s an event we’d rather go this sunday at our favourite Aquarius Record Store. Sun City Girls guitar legend Sir Richard Bishop will be playing acoustic at the record store Sunday, October 26th at 4pm. Here are two tunes from his impeccable Salvador Kali album from 1998.

Yet Balmorhea’s music had this universal quality that transcends cultures, which made me persist in trying to get into their music, which is something I rarely do if it doesn’t hit me at the first listen. Taking the rock bit of post-rock and the sluggishness of shoegaze while heading straight to the roots, “Rivers Arms” is an album with more than a handful of good songs and some lackers.

I’ll admit I’m a new convert to Katherine Elizabeth (Kaki) King’s intricate music. I haven’t listened to her previous body of work which has higher critical acclaim. I’m not really knowledgeable in this acoustic alt. country/folk/indie stuff, frankly I haven’t even listened to Cat Power. I’m not an American you know!

Carrying on the good songwriting ethos from the previous post, I should quickly mention Alela Diane to you. Portland’s Holocene Music released her self-released second album in October, after she made 650 copies by hand, that is “sewing lace and paper bags for the case, drawing golden ships, lettering ink, and burning each cd“. So we can say “The Pirates Gospel” is her first proper meet with a larger audiences and it won’t take a genius to figure out that she’s a gifted songwriter. Hell, she may easily be labeled the reincarnation of the down-to earth, treehuggin’, homegrown all-Americana female folk singer for this decade.

I’m not really literate in American acoustic folk music so only obvious comparisons like Joan Baez (the protest attitude replaced by more personal & lyrical stuff (but not as lyrical as say Joanna Newsom), Iron & Wine or Devandra from recent times spring to my mind and that should be enough to give you a basic idea because her music speaks for her and all you need to do is to hear the first few notes to get it. The warm kitchen picture she’s added to her myspace or her influences “Campfire gospel, children singin’ along, and my great aunt Fay’s guitar.” also paints a picture of American memory & landscapes. I know I say this all the time but really “The Pirates Gospel” is a brilliant album with no mediocre songs. I know it’s extremely hard to keep an audience interested (e.g a non-American like me) in only a guitar and vocal , especially without the added bonus of psychedelic or cinematic elements or other instruments, but she manages this almost effortlessly with simple songs and good singing. This is definitely a keeper from 2007, don’t miss it.

Alela Diane - The Pirates Gospel
Alela Diane - Foreign Tongue
Alela Diane - Can you Blame the Sky