Favorite Records of 2013 - Number 7

Arbouretum's Coming Out of The Fog is striking for the classic rock vibe it has. The band that comes to mind is Neil Young and Crazy Horse. Take "Renouncer," it struts along at a slow beat with a thudding bass and heavy guitar run.  It's the kind of song that would play when we first see the smooth not-too-sure-about-this-guy in a movie. There's a sense of dread around it. "All at Once, the Turning Weather" is similar. Nothing fancy in either of these tracks but there is a tremendous heavy vibe. Not a metal heavy but a strong rock heaviness. That classic rock heaviness is balanced by other tracks with a cosmic-American sense like side 1 closer "Oceans Don't Sing." Pedal steel and acoustic guitars come together to close out the side on a warm note.

This record is about mood, it is about texture. I played a couple tracks for a friend who was not impressed at first, but he came back to me a few months later with greater appreciation for it after giving it a chance on his own. When I first heard it the power beneath it struck me. I liked the simple beats and simple bass lines propelling the guitar playing.

Arbouretum are a Baltimore band. I live in DC but even though the distance is not immense I cannot say I have a good feel for the Baltimore scene. A band like Arbouretum makes me wonder about the rock and roll life. Not the nonsense you see on Behind The Music about big-time-bands but the working life of a small time band. I imagine the guys in Arbouretum must have day jobs. They just finished up a two-week tour that took them as far as Chicago and Atlanta. Making a life out of music is terribly difficult, especially a life that has spouses and kids and mortgages and bills to pay. I would love to go out on a tour with my band but a) I know the likelihood of that is slim to none; and b) I have a job and taking a month off to do that is not feasible. We just recruited a new bass player because ours sadly had to move away to St. Louis. He's been in a moderately successful band, especially when compared to what we have accomplished. But he has still had a day job the whole run of that outfit. It is tough sledding I imagine.

Here's the aforementioned "Renouncer."

Up next...Canadians invade the list!!

Coming Out Of The Fog

Now that I have reverted back to primal ways of listening to music (vinyl through headphones) it is giving me an opportunity to really listen to the records. It is also making me much more picky with what I purchase. I have subscribed to eMusic for a long time. Since I have converted to vinyl as my primary mechanism I have seriously downgraded my digital commitment. Instead of the shotgun approach of getting new music I am now doing a lot more reading and researching and listening online before making an order. There is a local record shop but they don't have a selection of new stuff really. It's primary a vehicle for selling off and buying old stuff. Cool, but I am most interested in getting new records (though I have bought a nice pile of old stuff).

One of the bands that have made it through this new found prudence is Baltimore's Arbouretum and their latest record Coming Out Of The Fog.  It is 8 tracks of Crazy Horse-esque guitar anthems and mellower country-ish jams, country in this sense of Americana. Guitarist and vocalist Dave Heumann is the main song writer. His voice stays in the lower registers which occasionally climbs up the ladder. The musicianship is great; lots of great guitar work that remains the focus but doesn't get in the way. The chords are fuzzed out for the chunkier songs, giving it a nice full Neil Young kind of vibe. A few of my band's songs have the same kind of vibe, but these are better by far. The lyrics are imagery heavy, sort of high school-ish in spots but very good in others. Like: "Everyone says/It'll come to an end/Oh, the oceans don't sing/Of impossible things."

Key tracks include the Soundgarden churn of "The Promise" and it's story of ocean voyages giving way to the elegant piano and guitar  and slide of "Oceans Don't Sing," the very 90s grunge of "All At Once, The Turning Weather." The one misfire is the album closing title track; it seems like a throwaway, not really fitting in with the rest of the record.

I'd recommend it to Neil Young fans and fans of sludgy guitar work that doesn't get to the sharp point of metal.

Here's "The Promise:"