Couch by Couchwest 2014 March 9 – 15

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The best week in music starts today. It’s time for the annual Couch by Couchwest festival. It’s the finest music festival there is and it’s easy to join in. Everyone is welcome and you don’t have to leave the house or even get dressed. Ok, if you want to be an artist, maybe getting dressed is a good idea, but bands like Bluejay have shown in the past that it’s not an absolute must.

In case you are a new to CXCW, the idea is fairly simple. Artists and bands shoot videos exclusively to the festival and submit them. CXCW staff posts the videos to the Couch By Couchwest website / twitter / Facebook during the week. The audience watch them, join the conversation, send photos of their pets and festival activities. It’s a whole lot of fun for everyone and also a great way to find new bands and artists. There’s been a couple of Finnish entries during the earlier festivals. Hopefully there will be a few more this year. Everyone is welcome and you don’t need much more than a camera photo to do it. Read the submission guidelines here. That’s all for now. See you at the festival.

Couch By Couchwest Website
CCXW 2014 at Twitter

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Myriam Gendron – Not So Deep as a Well

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This album is worth all the hearts. Not So Deep as a Well by Myriam Gendron came out just two days ago (March 4th), but it feels like it has already been my companion for a really long time. I started today by listening to it on my way to work, I kept it on the whole 9 hour work day, because I never felt like I wanted or needed a change, I listened to it on my way to home from work and now I’m listening to it at home while writing this little blog entry about this beautiful piece of art. So I kind of like this.

Myriam Gendron is a Montreal-based singer-songwriter and on Not So Deep as a Well she turns Dorothy Parker’s beautiful poetry into magical folk music. This was recorded and mixed in her bedroom, but the end-result still sounds perfect to me. Warm and lovely. And so effortlessly beautiful. It’s kind of a mystery that something so simple and bare can be as captivating, memorable, timeless and striking as this is. The music finds every corner of your body, even the parts that can’t be located from an anatomy chart. Ballade of a Great Weariness and The Last Question especially hurt and heal me simultaneously every time I listen to them. I would easily believe you, if you told me that this is a lost folk masterpiece from the 70s like Sibylle Baier’s Colour Green. It’s that good. Actually Not so Deep as a Well is the most impressive record of the year so far.

Not So Deep as a Well is a co-release by Feeding Tube Records and Mama Bird Recording Company. Limited vinyl edition is available from Feeding Tube and one of my favourite labels, Mama Bird Recording Company takes care of the digital side. This is Solace from Not So Deep as a Well.

[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/133288915″ params=”auto_play=false&hide_related=false&visual=true” width=”100%” height=”100″ iframe=”true” /]
 
Myriam Gendron at Facebook
Myriam Gendron Website

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Nathan K. – Most Birthdays

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These days we are hardly up-to-date around here, but let’s make an exception and post a new song almost immediately after hearing it. Michigan-based folk singer-songwriter Nathan K. just released the first single from his forthcoming album. I’ve listened to it on repeat for the past half an hour and I think it’s a great song. I Can’t wait to hear the whole thing. You can buy/listen to the new single Most Birthdays on his bandcamp page. And while you are at it, check out his earlier albums Dishes and Newspapers & Prayers. These albums are name-your-price downloads, so you can even get them for free. But that always makes me want to pay a few dollars. So even though I’ve had Dishes on the iPod since the release year, I just paid a couple dollars (well I had a selfish motive and wanted these beautiful records to appear on my Bandcamp collection). Anyway, this is the new Nathan K. single Most Birthdays.

[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/136950824″ params=”auto_play=false&hide_related=false&visual=true” width=”100%” height=”100″ iframe=”true” /]
 
Nathan K. at Facebook
Nathan K. Website

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Album of the Month: Gudrid Hansdottir – Taking Ship

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The month is almost over and I haven’t selected the album of the month. Of course I selected it a few weeks ago in my heart, but I’ve just waited and waited for the right time to write about it. It happens to me. I push aside albums that really matter in hope that one day I actually have the energy and time to write something meaningful about them. In the end, that time never comes and I realise the album I really cared for haven’t even gotten a mention on this blog. So if I haven’t mentioned your album, there’s two possibilities a) I don’t like it b) I like it too much.

Gudrid Hansdottir’s new album or mini-album Taking Ship falls into that b category. This faroese singer/songwriter has released a wonderful album that is easily worth that Album of the Month spot. I’m not sure is it her finest album, because the previous album Beyond the Grey was also very impressive. But Taking Ship is a dazzlingly beautiful album that contains seven wonderful songs. All of them have been favourites at some point, but lately the songs I love the most have been I Had In Mind To Stay (that reminds me of Frida Hyvönen) and that awesome You Blossom Like A Flower duet with Ochre Room’s Lauri Myllymäki. It’s all gorgeous though and this amazing little record works best as a complete work of art. This is the title track Taking Ship.

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Gudrid Hansdottir at Facebook

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