All Request Hour: Timber Timbre's Hot Dreams

My friend Joe Apple sent me a Facebook message asking if I would review an album he recommended. I am all up for that. Joe has good taste in music and the record he recommend was one I had not heard of: Hot Dreams by Timber Timbre.

Timber Timbre is a Canadian indie-folk act led by singer/songwriter Taylor Kirk. It's very atmospheric, very elaborate sounding. The record starts off vocally sounding almost like an old Rick Nelson record, but about halfway through the album owner "Beat The Drum Slowly," the reference becomes Richard Hawley, a fine English singer/songwriter who spent some time in Pulp. Hawley is a guy I once said was music to drink Scotch to. This record is very much in that spirit. It reminds me of a less sinister Nick Cave record.

I like the line that opens the title cut "I want to dance, I want to dance, I want to dance with a black woman." Lyrics like that grab the attention. Lyrically it's an interesting record. "Curtains!?" is a great cut; opens with a heavy beat and keyboard with sharp electric chords on the guitar, a quiet break in the middle before ending loudly. "Bring Me Simple Men" reminds me of Urge Overkill covering "Girl, You'll Be A Woman Soon." The music feels like it could be a soundtrack to a spaghetti western or a Tarantino movie. "Resurrection Drive Part II" is another such cut, but in this one I can see sinister looking hippie-chicks dancing behind a thumping beat and weird violins scraping. Maybe I am just weird.

What I like about it is the mood it creates. It is an incredibly interesting record. And that's good praise. So many records are dull; this one holds the attention. When one song ends here I am eager to hear what is coming next. Thanks, Joe, for the recommendation!

Here is the title cut "Hot Dreams."

Favorite Records of 2013 - Number 1

I was tempted to be a wise guy and list my bands record but that would be too obvious, right? Oh by the way, click here and do a little commerce and come back in a few.

Let me stress that this list is for my FAVORITE record of the year. Like I said at the start of this it is impossible for your humble correspondent to declare what the best record of the year is. I can most definitely say what it is NOT however, and it certainly is NOT the Kanye West record. That guy could smear his shit on a disc and Spin would give it 5 stars. Please. No, it is far more accurate to say what my favorite records are, the ones I keep coming back to to enjoy and find new things with.

So my favorite record pf the year is hands down The Eldritch Dark by Blood Ceremony. The band's name coupled with the album cover make it sound like this is some satanic band. Well, only kind of. HA! This nominally gets put into the metal category, but more appropriately it is folk-metal. What the hell is that, you ask? I describe Blood Ceremony as if Jethro Tull did Black Sabbath songs. Or maybe Black Sabbath doing Jethro Tull songs. Imagine it either way but front the band with a sexy witch. Mix that up and shake and you get Blood Ceremony.

They are another Canadian act. Four-piece. Guitar/bass/drum with the lovely Alia O'Brien doing vocals and keys and naturally the flute. They traffic in a classic proto-metal sound while incorporating folk touches. It's great stuff. Lyrically they find interest in the occult. Titles like "Witchwood," "Lord Summerisle" (for you Wicker Man buffs), "Ballad of the Weird Sisters," and "The Magician" give it a way. It is not as tongue in cheek (or Dio-inspired) as Ghost, but it's wicked in an amusing not sinister way. It sort of reminds me of the goth girl on my residence hall floor my Freshmen year who was probably casting spells on everyone, except with better taste in records. It plays like those creepy Italian horror movies from the 70s.

Why do I name it my favorite? It is an alluring record, especially with the alluring Ms. O'Brien presiding over the festivities. It helps, I will not downplay it. But without that the music is still great, still alluring in of itself. Ms. O'Brien is an excellent singer. The songs are catchy and heavy and airy all at the same time. The band is super-tight. Great riffs and grooves. I saw them open for Kylesa and was so blown away I hunted out and found a similar Yamaha guitar that guitarist Sean Kennedy plays. Which has incidentally become my go-to guitar for shows. Back to the record. The songs are just really good. Great interplay with guitar and keys/organs and flute and fiddles.

Here's "Goodbye Gemini."

So there you go...my favorite ten records of the year. I do hope you have been inspired to check them out! Otherwise, I wouldn't have gone to all the trouble. I will talk about some of the records I got recently that did not crack my list but might have if they had shown up earlier!

Oh, and a very Happy New Year! To paraphrase a poet of old, got a feeling '14 is going be a good year!

The Eldritch Dark

When all is said and done this year, I expect The Eldritch Dark by Blood Ceremony to by sitting at the top of my favorite records of the year list. They are one of the many bands that Spotify has recommended to me since I started using the service.

I have mentioned them a couple times here. First when I
saw them open for Kylesa; second when they made my mid-year report. In case you're just tuning in they are a four-piece from Canada fronted by a keyboard and flute playing lady. Naturally she is fine but that is honestly just ancillary to the music, which is a cross between Jethro Tull and Black Sabbath. Lyrically it is kind of silly, singing about witches and sorcery and goings-on in related forests, but that's part of the fun. It doesn't waste anytime, as album opener "Witchwood" (of course) demonstrates:

Black magic has come to Witchwood

Their devilry takes place within our lonely woods

Such strange words and stranger visions

Forbidden hymns to summon things one never should

The record continues in that vein. There's more about shape-shifters, and sisters up to no good, and the moon, and the dark, and magicians, and a song about Christopher Lee when he burned up The Equalizer in The Wicker Man. This kind of stuff always makes me laugh a bit. When I was a kid I used to think how dangerous it was to listen to things like Iron Maiden. It was more interesting than what you usually got out of rock lyrics. Blood Ceremony are the same way. The pseudo-witchiness comes across as kitsch more than anything else. It's not scary like Slayer is; when you see Kerry King you get the impression he probably does worship Satan. Blood Ceremony does it with a nod and a wink. And I mean this all as a positive!! Looking at the notes in the record it appears guitarist Sean Kennedy writes all the lyrics. That is somewhat disappointing. Lead singer Alia O'Brien is a looker and it's more alluring to think she wrote them, but that's really a whatever kind of thing. The charm is that you have a pretty girl getting all witchy and singing about devil hymns. She seemed like a nice girl when I saw them live.

The music is great through and through. It's a very folky kind of heavy rock. I've seen them filed under doom metal. It's not really metal...too much gets lumped under metal these days. It has mellow spots where the flute takes over but it has plenty of rock to keep the head banging, but it stays to a very 70s inspired brand of metal. Really very debut record-era Sabbath. The band is altogether tight. Good grooves, good melodies that are both bright yet sinister-esque. Great vocals. Guitarist Sean Kennedy played a beautiful Yamaha when I saw them which inspired me to look into getting one of my own. I found one on eBay which I got for a total steal. Granted mine is the low-end base model wile his was the high-end fancy one, but it plays amazingly well for a guitar I got mainly because I liked the look, so much so it has become my primary gig guitar. Sweet!

Anyway, here's the second track off the record, "Goodbye Gemini."

Favorite Albums of 2012 - Number 7

A melancholy day with the terrible doings in Connecticut. But one of the things about music is it can help heal, help people get through difficult times, it can just help in a small but maybe meaningful way.

Ryan Bingham - Tomorrowland

I've written about Ryan Bingham before, specifically how I think he carries on the tradition of Springsteen-esque rock. He is the type of artist whose music fits the image: jeans, flannels, stubble-faced.  This record is a great mix of acoustic-based folk and harder barroom stompers. It is the former collection of songs that hit the hardest. His songs reflect the darkness that makes up the shadows of life.  A big part of life is the sadness, is the loss. Life really is all loss, from the day we are born we are on a path towards dying. The struggle of life is to fight through that and reach for the light on the other side of the shadows, for the things that make it all bearable.

It is sort of appropriate this record comes up today. Here's "No Help From God."