Blank Dogs - On Two Sides [2008]

Blank Dogs Interview :

Flying under the radar for most of 2007, Blank Dogs went relatively unnoticed, even though Mr. Blank Dog was releasing material at an astoundingly rapid pace, which set the bar higher for what defines a prolific songwriter. But that period didn’t last for long as people began to detect the immense talent in the bedroom rock of Blank Dogs and embrace the mystery. Bloggers hurriedly slotted Blank Dogs into their year-end best of lists, while others are just starting to rave about the band now. The likeability of the band is immediate. Washes of synth fuzz, strident guitars, indifferent vocals and undeniably catchy bass lines, Mr. Blank Dog fuses these elements into haunting, atmospheric songs. He has an innate ability to write psych rock melodies with pop touches that fixate listeners for days. Though he is releasing material at a daring speed, he consistently delivers quality, perspective-changing songs. He shows no signs of stopping now as 12 releases are planned for this year alone.

You are extremely prolific with recording and releasing material. Would you tell me about your recording process, and how you choose which labels and forms to release your music through?

I record from home. I just write some melodies and record them. I get a bit perfectionist when it comes down to mixing and adding effects, but they tend to wash out into some blur. I guess that's a process? As far as labels, mainly I like to work with people whose prior output is stuff I like a lot, but I also like to help people starting up labels too. As far as format, I think vinyl is the best way to listen to music. CDs have no intrinsic value, it's just data. Also, it seems like they just fall out of magazines whenever you pick them up, these days. Giveaway junk. It cheapens the music, in my opinion. Besides, it all winds up on SoulSeek anyway, that's why I have everything that's already out downloadable from the website. Cassettes are cheap and easy for people who don't have enough money to start a label but love music, that's why I've agreed to do a bunch. They also require active listening instead of clicking on a link. Some people just prefer the analog format too.

source

On Two Sides [2008]

Blank Dogs - Scenes From A New Town

High Places - Self Title [2008]

High Places is Mary Pearson and Rob Barber. Mary and Rob met while Mary was completing a music degree in bassoon performance and Rob was working in visual art, teaching lithography and etching at an art school. Both were performing as solo musicians at the time. Mary relocated to New York from Michigan in late spring 2006, and the two soon after began collaborating under the name High Places. The name refers to a place where one has a better vantage point and can gain broader perspective; it references a love for mountains, rooftops, and of course metaphorical “high places.” The duo has an “exquisite corpse” style of songwriting where they exchange ideas back and forth, challenging one another’s expectations, pushing songs to new places, or more aptly, new heights. They began by releasing a number of singles as well as contributing songs to a few compilations. These early and varied works were collected and released in July of 2008 as 03/07-09/07 in advance of tours with Deerhunter and No Age.

Since its inception, High Places has created a signature sound out of using bass-heavy, yet crisp beats, lilting vocal melodies, syncopated rhythmic lines performed on folk percussion instruments, guitar duets turned into treated samples, and percussive lines created from the manipulation of household objects. The songwriting is expansive and fluid, all the while managing to be concise. Overall, the compositions are settled and assured. High Places gravitates toward the organic over the electronic, and that natural aesthetic adds warmth and intimacy to the recordings.

In a live setting, the band creates their layered recordings with Mary singing and simultaneously manipulating her vocals with various delay and reverb pedals, while playing some hand percussion, recorders, and creating and controlling various loops. Rob handles the drums triggering a variety of percussive sounds with his drum pads, as well as playing hand percussion, wooden blocks with contact mics, and singing some ambient vocals. High Places’ self-titled debut was recorded by Rob and Mary in their apartment in Brooklyn’s Fort Greene neighborhood between January and May of 2008. They employed a wide variety of instruments to make this album ranging from the more traditional: 12 string guitar, banjo, shakers and rattles, bass, bells and Kalimba, to the inventive: plastic bags, mixing bowls, wood blocks and other common household objects. The album has a contemplative and organic lyrical tone emphasized by the themes of goodness manifested in nature, hardship and wonder as necessities to human existence and growth. Additionally, the idea of maturation and development is further accented through the recurring mention of trees and their extending, enveloping branches. Rob created the High Places artwork by using photos taken by both band members. The images are drawn from nature but all have a subtle, mystical, “golden” motif, a fitting frame for the album’s recurring themes. This can best be summed up by the words to “Gold Coin,” a song that was inspired by Kahlil Gibran’s The Prophet:

The ocean is your god-self
The sun is your god-self
God as air
Part of you is man
Part of you is god-self
The rest is just stumbling in the mist.

thrilljockey

High Places [2008]

Bonus :

01 - High Places EP [2006]
02 - 03/07 - 09/07 [2008]


High Places - "New Grace"

Lullabye Arkestra - Ampgrave [2006]

Lullabye Arkestra was formed in the summer of 2001 by Justin Small (drums) and Katia Taylor (bass) and are currently based in Toronto. Justin is also member of Do Make Say Think.

The Ark began by writing minimal, stripped down and raunchy rock songs using their signature fuzzed out bass sound and banshee vocals. They combined elements of hardcore punk with 60’s-era soul creating an unusual yet raw and energetic sound. That first summer they recorded "Bzaster", an 8-song CDR release which was self-produced with handmade covers and sold only at shows and a few select record stores in Toronto. For this recording they called upon Do Make Say Think members Ohad Benchetrit (saxophone) and Charles Spearin and Brian Cram

In 2002 Small and Taylor recruited Shelton Deverell (Tangiers, Z’Howndz) on organ. Deverell’s gospel-influenced style of playing added sweetness and density to the Ark’s sound. They began playing live with Benchetrit, Spearin and Deverell and also called upon Jason Baird (Do Make Say Think, Feist) for saxophone and Randy Ray and Marco Landini for backing vocals. From this point, Lullabye Arkestra’s live performances consisted of anything from two to twelve players. Other musicians who have since joined the band on stage are Julie Penner (Fembots, Do Make Say Think, Broken Social Scene) on violin, Bryce Kushnier (vitaminsforyou) on saxophone and keyboard, Joann Goldsmith (The Old Soul) on trumpet and Amanda Newman on trumpet.

Lullabye Arkestra’s soul-core sound is continuously evolving with influences from grindcore to garage, pummeling rock epics to soulful crooning, and rave-ups to throw downs.

Lullabye Arkestra are a bass and drum duo who've been playing and self-releasing glorious slabs of distorto-soul for several years. Formed in Toronto by Justin (drums) and Katia (bass), the Ark has played shows throughout eastern Canada as a duo and as a large band, adding horns, voices and organ. Their slow, swampy, overdriven cover of "Summertime" was an early signature tune, along with a clutch of original rave-ups ranging from one-minute combustions of riffage and hollering to longer, fuzzed-out R&B numbers, often marked by those sincere but sassy boy/girl call-and-response vocals that make everyone's day.

Their new album, and first for Constellation, is a knockout. Bursting with barely controlled chaos on some numbers, stripped back to sultry, art-damaged loversoul on others, Ampgrave is a hell of a good time, full of testifying and tenderness, see-sawing between massed instruments and the raw minimalism of the core rhythm section. Justin rounds up fellow Do Make Say Think players Ohad, Brian and Jason on horns and hollering, along with Shelton Deverell on organ and Julie Penner on violin. An additional 10-voice "Chorus Oblivia" of exuberant caterwaul also rallies to the cause.

Opening track "Unite!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" explodes into a beautiful cacophony of horn vamps, crashing through ascending chord crescendos while screamo vocals punctuate the flight. "All I Can Give Ya" builds from a delicate exchange of devotional verses by Justin and Kat, towards a soaring, searing chorus. "Hold On" follows with another round of call and response vocals laid over a slow, pummeling soul groove, before bursting into it's distressed, desperate refrain. "Y'Make Me Shake" is entirely self-explanatory, and rounds out Side One. Our lovers continue to rock on the flipside, with the album's centerpiece lullabye "Come Out, Come Out" kicking things off. Three mighty tunes pile up from there, gaining crazed momentum until the final swirl of "Bulldozer of Love" segues into the four-on-the-floor anthematics of "Ass Worship". Hail! Hail! Rock n' roll. Ampgrave is blistering and beautiful CPR for the soul. Constellation is thrilled to serve up this platter of unabashed, unpretentious rock action. members (trumpets) who added to the soul-inspired songs.

www.lullabyearkestra.com
www.myspace.com/lullabyearkestra
major bonobo

Ampgrave [2006]

lullabye arkestra - hail hail rock & roll