About Emit Bloch:…” Recorded for £6 on a Sony cassette dictaphone as a demo for his soon-to-be music publishers (MuteSong), Emit Bloch’s’ Dictaphones Vol. 1’ is truly a credit-crunch album. Fueled by Bloch’s rapid-fire lyricism, unique guitar styling and cosmic/comic imagery, the 16 songs collected here are a tour through a wild west of eloquent grifters, talking rivers, bleeding clouds, interplanetary frontiersmen and neighborly psychopaths. Born on a cattle ranch in Utah and transplanted by his professor father to Berkeley, CA – ground zero for all things beatnik – Bloch has a rich history to draw on when creating his distinct American music”…

That`s what he is saying: “I’d demoed these new songs at my kitchen table in London. They got me a publishing deal and some money to record with. As usual, the raw demos sounded better than the studio recordings, but quite unusual everyone agreed to put them out instead,” says Bloch. Helpful was the fact that when an early edition of the dictaphone recordings was issued to iTunes through Blochs imprint, iDot (via One Little Indian), the recordings were chosen by iTunes editors as a front page pick.

I love his songs, clever lyrics, his unique finger picking, his phrasing and this cheapo Sony Dictaphone sound. Buy the album – out on One little Indian April 5th. I just got a promo copy of ‘Dictaphones vol 1′. Listen to the wonderful Trees

Emit Bloch – trees

My good friend AA strikes again,  with KCRW`s today`s top tune, this time with Carolina Chocolate drops. Great tune it is.

Carolina Chocolate Drops_ Kissin’ an

The Wailing Wall is New York-based multi-instrumentalist, Jesse Rifkin.

The Wailing Wall’s first record, Hospital Blossoms, released free on the JDub Records website, was downloaded well over 15,000 times by new fans all around the world. That project landed Jesse live spots on MTVU, WNYC Soundcheck, WFMU and Fearless Music TV.

His new record, The low hanging fruit, could not have come together without Jesse’s collaboration with ANTI recording artist Tim Fite. Tim guided the recording process, which primarily took place in a barn in Columbia, NJ, with additional work in a high school auditorium in Blairstown, NJ, Tim’s studio in Brooklyn and Wesleyan University’s memorial chapel. “My process in recording and performing has always been to follow spontaneous moments of inspiration…[but] Tim taught me how to make a record with care and patience, to put consideration and work into every single note until it is at the exact place where it needs to be, and to let those moments of spontaneous inspiration lead to even greater moments of total awareness and control.” 

Over the past few years, The Wailing Wall has been joined live and on record by a diverse and lengthy list of co-conspirators, including members of and contributors to such bands as Camera Obscura, Titus Andronicus, Eli “Paperboy” Reed, Pepi Ginsberg, Mountain Man, DeLeon, Dinowalrus, The So So Glos, Thanksgiving, The Grates and Wolf Colonel. Listen to Jesse Rifkin

This is to remind you of the up&coming compilation, with a restroom session poster no 4. By the way, you will be able to purchase those for 24.95$ at our up& coming web shop. ( original size 100cm x 60cm )

My favorite track of a Mississippi records tape series blues and spirituals compilation, posted first on Rootstrata, is Memphis Minnie`s Frankie Jen. To download the full A&B sided compilation click HERE . Special thanks to the guys at  Aquarium Drankard on this.

Memphis_Minnie

SAADI Featured On Urban Outfitters’ Music Monday. Click here for 5 free downloads from UO: Besnard Lakes, Epstein, Class Actress, These new puritans and Saadi

NYC-based City Center aka Fred Thomas and Ryan Howard of Saturday Looks Good To Me (Polyvinyl, K Records) have announced a full DIY spring tour in support of their Quite Scientific Records debut, a limited edition EP called Spring St.

Watch out for our first compilation, coming out real soon.. ( this mixmash image is the third in a series of posters called The restroom sessions – it is made of bits and pieces of promo cards I found in entrances of restrooms of respectable establishments such as bars, clubs and restaurants while visiting Berlin few months ago.

Maestro Vincent Moon ( of  the La Blogotheque fame) with ‘Views of Montreal’ and this great band – The Luyas

We love David Moore`s music, as a solo artist and with his collective (Bing and Ruth) and he is going to be featured on our first compilation. The 26-year-old composer and multi-instrumentalist`s musical background is in classical performance and experimental improvisation. In 2006 he has founded his own ensemble Bing and Ruth with which he has recorded two albums; 2006’s self-titled debut and 2007’s Kentile Floors. In the short time since its inception, the group has made appearances at 2007 and 2008 Wordless Music Series concerts, the 2008 WFMU Festival, and most recently a commission and performance for the 2009 MATA Festival. In addition to his writing for Bing and Ruth, David has released two albums of compositions for solo piano under his own name (2005’s Book of Days and 2007’s Neighborhood Shifts) and works tirelessly as a composer for film, stage, and installation. He founded and runs an independent record collective called ‘Happy Talk’, and recently completed work on a new Bing and Ruth album currently slated for release in 2010. He lives in the Gowanus neighborhood of Brooklyn, NY. This is the David Moore Lofiles interview

Watch out for a great compilation including many Lofiles favorite artists.

Check out this ultra extra fooooonky remix of ‘Baby‘. The phenomenal handclap band remixed by Architec.

Meklit Hadero is a singer/ songwriter born in Ethiopia, raised in US and lives in San Francisco for the last several years. I Should talk about her, just let you watch and listen to this extremely gifted artist.

For those of you that want to purchase her album, her entrancing debut full-length recording, “On a Day Like This…”, it will be released on the San Francisco-based Porto Franco Records on April 20, 2010.

Wild Palms have covered Bjork’s Human Behaviour

I got this mail from Extraneous Noise, a small music management and video production company based out of Boston. They say one of their goals is to capture great multi-camera live footage of indie artists that come through Boston. It seems they have worked with a large number of bands in the past few months, including Hanne Hukkelberg, Bad Veins, and Royal Bangs. I watched few of their live clips and loved what I have seen, especially The Bad veins one, full of raw energy. As for the quality, if you thought you`d try it at home, it would require you to purchase 3 Panasonic GH1`s guys, so there you are. Enjoy

From Greenland to the theatre near you. Check Nive Nielsen at SXSW

Rooom

Nive Nielsen on tour:

3/4/10 Montreal, QC @ Lambi

3/10/10 Toronto, ONT @ Central (Canadian Music Fest)

3/13/10 Toronto, ONT @ Global Village (Canadian Music Fest)

3/17/10 Austin, TX @ Gibson Room @ 4PM (Crossing Border Event/SXSW)

3/18/10 Austin, TX @ 18th Floor at Hilton Garden Inn @ 10PM (SXSW)

3/21/10 Austin, TX @ tbc

3/27/10 San Diego, TX @ San Diego Indiefest

From the composer of ‘Life in a suitcase’ (a film by Peter Greenway), Borut Kriznik, a brilliant and innovative musician.

The ultimate country folky lofi track you have ever heard – Emit Bloch. Recorded on a Dictaphone. Plays Rough Trade East In-store London – Tuesday 2nd March, 1.00 pm. Releases Dictaphones Vol. 1 on One little Indian on 5th April 2010.

Dorothy_Dictaphone

My wife came back from Hong Kong last week and brought me this disturbing evidence, a book by Vincent Yu. This is a cloth bounded book of  the photographed story of Shek Kip Mei,  Hong Kong`s oldest public housing estate with 50 years history, waiting to be demolished.

Vincent`s first and most important goal was to document what is about to vanish. I wanted to share few photos with you. Go to the Shek Kip Mei page