Apologies via New Buffalo,

So you'd think I'd forgotten this. All I admitt to is neglecting it. And being Fickle. Because it's not like i havent been spening this time not collecting downloadable-from-the-net without using yousendit or any of those, type things. In fact i have a whole folder on my computer for this little project ii and I are sharing. But it's just super hard to choose who to show when and after who and things like that. But I'll tell you a story that made me decide to show you New Buffalo. Basically I keep a livejournal. Which is very lame and the most recent post I made, a friend of mine commented on the post saying "I've got you and You've got me". And then another friend of mine went into this grand spiel about how wonderful it was that someone was quoting Sally Seltmann (New Buffalo) and how it brought a tear to her eye (even thought that is a line that is common in a lot of songs and poems and books and things, but whatever) and oh all this stuff that makes me sound much nicer than I am so I dare not repeat it. And last night was the ARIA(australian record industry association) awards on tv so it's only appropriate that I do a bit of OMG MY COUNTRY HAS AMAZING MUSIC AND YOU SHOULD ALL GET INTO IT RIGHT NOW NOW NOW DO IT ALREADY JIMMENY CRICKETS etc. Even though New Buffalo wasn't nominated for anything, It's my (and ii's) blog and I'll do what I like thankyouverymuch.

New Buffalo is Sally Seltmann who is from Melbourne, and is married. She was with Lustre4 but then Ben Lee picked up one of her songs. She is influenced by Gershwin, Irving Berlin, Nina Simone, Sigur Ros and the Rolling Stones. Her most recent full-length realease is The Last Beautiful Day which she signed with Canadian label Arts and Crafts in 2005 (it was originally recorded with dot dash in '04). If anyone has stolen my copy of this CD (because I can't find it, bitches!) I will cry. And if it happens that I've lost it, well that would be very common of me. Her music is very personal and beautiful and she uses her casio in an amazing way (ie. not in the way you think she might, if you've been eyeing-off the latest common influx of indie post-punk/noise-art/i have no idea what they're actually calling it and dont care because only bits of it are ever any good so ner).
'New Buffalo brings the whimsy of a big band and drama of a doe-eyed stalet into indie pop...' hot press, january 2005.

'Recovery'
'I've got You and You've Got Me'
'Yes'
thanks to newbuffalo.net for the image and mp3s.

Paavoharju

Paavoharju are another oddball of the so-called "Finnish Folk Movement", probably best known rather outside the country than among the local listeners. I only recently discovered them through foreign links and recommendations! The band uses lo-fi techniques, tying electronic crackles, snaps and pops to folk-ish melodies; into something I would like my best dreams to have on their soundtrack.

Really, I don't think I can say anything about them, anything that would do them justice. Just listen carefully and close your eyes.

Downloads from Fonal.com:
Valo tihkuu kaiken läpi
Kuljin kauas

Downloads from Mikseri.net:
Hän teki minut autioksi
Kuljin kauas (Live)

Photography courtesy of Paavoharju.com. See the band's homepage for more information.

Likeness to Lily is the new Opera.

I can't think of what to write about Likeness to Lily. But I love what they do, a lot. Maybe Likeness to Lily is an opera, no, an operetta? Something amazingly beautiful that makes me not ashamed of loving classical music without knowing as much about it as my friends who are musicians do. I forgive myself because I am not a musician, but I can tell the difference between a couple of composers just by listening to the style, even if i've never heard the song before. Which is easy, but tricky. Likeness to Lily play mostly in New York/Brooklyn which also says something about them, too. what i can tell you is that david durst and susan oetgen met whilst working on an experimental indie-rock opera by bob massey. I only know this because Likeness to Lily's website says this and so I know. I'm going to say their music is classical, just because it is full of cinematic class. What else? Extremely talented. Extremely Courageous. Extremely Special. Definitely Special.

though the lyrical nature of their original compositions calls to mind the art of the concert stage, the ensemble generally plays downtown venues where genre-defying new music has popular appeal. - likenesstolily.com'Little Night Song'
'Apollo'
mp3s and photograph of david hurst from likenesstolily.com

LIVE: Joanna Newsom.

really quickly. by chance (and having really great friends) i was able to attend a sold out performance of holly throsby, smog, and joanna newsom at the Globe theatre. in that order. of course it was as flippin' wonderful as you could imagine. joanna was sick and didn't seem to enjoy brisbane's disgusting heat, but she was a darling. for the occasion have some mp3s of songs that joanna played. i was going to try and find some smog or holly mp3s but i had these links already and it's rather past my bed time.
'clam, crab, cockle, cowrie' live at the earl april 10 2004.
'cosmia' live at queen elizabeth hall april 2 2005
'the sprout and the bean' live at the earl april 10 2004.
mp3s from acousticwood.net and home.fromamouth.com/milkymoon and picture courtesy of myself and my digicrap camera.

Everyone's a cousin with Brian Molnar.

Brian Molnar’s music reminds me that every human being is in fact, connected. And that there is a reason why we like the things we like, music, art, all those lovely subjective things. Brian Molnar makes music that I’d make if I was a boy (because its not the same as the music I think about making as a girl). Brian Molnar I find him to be a calmer, more sweet Bob Dylan. If only because of the resemblance Dylan and Molnar have in their voices (Molnar says this comparison happens to ‘anyone who writes good songs and plays acoustic guitar’ and lists Willie Nelson and Kris Kristofferson as other close comparisons, which I hadn’t initially thought of but now that he mentions it, I can see it. Hear it. Whatever). You’ll find I have a great bias towards music that is simple-sounding. This is because it is the sort of music I like. This is because simple music isn’t easy. It’s easy to dress up a song. It’s easy to use what equipment you can get your hands on to help your song get more adjectives. It’s easy to write a simple song, sure, but it isn’t easy to play a simple song well. This is why I like to show off artists who have achieved perfection in simplicity. Brian Molnar does just this. His music sounds so easy, but it’s amazing. Another bias I have is with surnames and some countries (ie. Finland, Canada, Australia, Hungary, France, Russia…). Brian Molnar takes up one of these biases too. This makes me think I could be related to him distantly, even though I know I’m not. (The bias we have here is with surname. His surname is mine, but due to the circumstances in which my father’s family migrated to Australia, there’s no way we’re related. But y’know, it’s a nice thought.) Which brings me back to Brian Molnar’s music reminding me that every human being is in fact, connected.

In an age of clever hooks and slick production, Molnar's music is a rarity in that it breathes with that quality that can only be described as truth in experience--that breath that can only come from the artist's soul. – BrianMolnar.com
‘Black and Blue’
‘I Need You’
‘Throw Me a Line’
mp3s and photograph (from the unterdon county democrat 10/06/04) courtesy of brianmolnar.com

Alec K. Redfearn and the Eyesores do not have retina damage (that I know of)

Alec K. Redfearn is not a simple man. Alec K. Redfearn is a multitasking musician with around 15 or so years od musical experience, at least. Alec K. Redfearn's website backs me up in saying "his music has been very difficult to categorize" (except I'd spell it with an 's' instead of a 'z'. but that's just geography). Alec K. Redfearn's current project is called Alec K. Redfearn and The Eyesores, although they're quite pretty to look at. Alec K. Redfearn and The Eyesores formed in '97 and are still astounding. Alec K. Redfearn and The Eyesores have worked with a film director, and theatre and dance troupes. Alec K. Redfearn and The Eyesores could very well be a circus gypsy family, except on the surface at least, they don't look the sort. Alec K. Redfearn and The Eyesores confuse categorisation maybe because of the instruments they use, with accordion, upright bass, cello, electric guitar, drums, french horn, and bassoon, Alec K. Redfearn and The Eyesores could very well be the more grown-up, less Australian Architecture in Helsinki (this is mostly just because they have a lot of instruments and alternate between things and sometimes they get more in from other places like ciolins and banjos and stuff. the two bands sound no way similar). Alec K. Redfearn also teaches accordion to friends and family and their friends in Rhode Island, but this is maybe only handy to know if you become a friend of his. Their latest full length album, The Quiet Room is available from cuneiform records and was released in January of this year.

"This is an amusingly complicated musical device, a jerking, juddering clockwork whose workings are difficult to understand but whose net effect is worthwhile. " - Ink 19.

'Mole'
'Dashboard Lazarus'
'Black Tar and White Slavery'
mp3s and photograph courtesy of aleckredfearn.com

Marissa Nadler (and seperation anxiety disorder?)

Marissa Nadler's music I have known about for a fair bit now. Her music and I do so well together that I've not had the heart to tell any one friend about her until now for fear of losing her. I like keeping secrets like these, so I've been a bit tense about giving her to you, but I feel that this is something I should do, as it says a lot more about me than it does about the music when I start admitting my attachments to songs and artists and such... Marissa Nadler contains your interest through her voice and the calm use of strings. There's a alluring sadness in her song and she has this habit of melting me the same way Leonard Cohen does. Perhaps I'm very easily charmed by the rare simplicity in contempory music, or maybe Marissa is nothing more than a Siren. Her music is the sort you very well wouldn't mind spending a day in an empty off-white room listening to in perfect solitude. This is the strongest music I've heard in a very long time.

She may be a contemporary folkie, but she seems somewhat removed from the current trends...There's something a lot more classic and old-fashioned about her approach, which makes hers seem quite a bit more timeless than many of the other records that have been coming out of this genre. - Other Music, New York City

'Turquoise'
'Days of Rum'
'Mayflower May'
mp3s and photograph courtesy of marissanadler.com

How's Your News?

I really need to take a moment to thank Bomarr Blog for this one. "How's Your News?" is a documentary film which features a team of five news reporters with mental and physical disabilities. I havent had the chance to see this film (as of yet. it'll happen, definitely), but it is now on the top of my dvds-to-find-and-buy list (yes, above saved. and above spirited away.). Some of you who know me may or may not be aware of the fact that my longest-running career aspiration is to become a special education teacher. This came about after a profound moment around age eleven/twelve (this was 2000) as my class did weekly work experience/helping out type stuff at a local care facility for the mentally and physically disabled. Unfortunately I live in a (mostly) passionless city so I'm going to be working up a sweat looking for this DVD here. I encourage everyone to find it and see it for themselves, wherever they are, because it looks absolutely brilliant. The music is joyous and the lyrics are so wonderful. Please please please enjoy these songs.

As we drove across America we tried to write some songs about the various places we visited. After the trip was through we got together at Chad's house and recorded some of these songs for the movie's soundtrack. Not all of the songs made it into the movie, but we still like them. Here's your chance to give them a listen. The lyrics were written by Ron and Sue. - howsyournews.com

'How's Your News?'
'Grand Canyon'
'California'

mp3s and photograph courtesy of howsyournews.com

Fran Rodgers,

Fran Rodgers has a voice that leaks the same essense of a woman as Joni Mitchell. She is all of twenty-three years young but her voice speaks of another age entirely. In my opinion, hers is a voice that warms your ears and dampens your eyes, definitely. There is a familiarity in her music that is trusting and full of wisdom and honesty. Through song I am left feeling as though I am with an old friend, being told the most beautiful of secrets whilst at the same time, being healed by her company.

"Fran has a feather light voice that ebbs and flows with emotional pull like the River Esk that flows past the pub. Songs of melancholic beauty, passion but not without wit..." - Robert Nichols, Teesside Evening Gazette

'Song to a Stranger'

'The Girl'

'Out of Time'

mp3s and photograph courtesy of franrodgers.co.uk