Reviews

Review: Have Gun, Will Travel – Postcards from The Friendly City

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Have Gun, Will Travel – Postcards From The Friendly City (Self-released, 2009 or 2010)

If you are a bit unsure whether you want to enter as deep to the country territory as I have, I can recommend Postcards From The Friendly City as a good stepping stone where you can sit back and decide whether you are ready for more. It’s not a stepping stone that you can quickly pass through. It’s way too beautifully crafted for that and it also has a lot of stories to tell. The reason why it’s a good place to wonder about the essence of things is that it’s located somewhere between the deep country soil and modern indie field and therefore might turn out to be equally enjoyable and uplifting place for both indie hipsters and old back porch hillbillies. All you need is one praising pitchfork review and all those The Shins and Death Cab For Cutie loving indie boys and girls (I’m one of them) are into country music before they know what hit them.

Have Gun, Will Travel have taken their name from a western television serie and they come from Bradenton, Florida. The album Postcards From The Friendly City pays a homage to their hometown and all the songs and the stories take place in Bradenton. I can’t say what is true and what is purely fictional because I don’t know a thing about the city or its history, but I can say that everything is really enjoyable and part of me wants to go and book a plane ticket in order to see the town that gave birth to these stories.  These well-written stories wrapped into these pop-tinged folk and americana songs is a winning combination and it makes this album work like a beauty. Salad Days and Soles Of Our Shoes are my big favourites, but basicly I like everything on the record.

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Listen to Salad Days:
[audio:http://www.onechord.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/03-salad-days.mp3]

Have Gun, Will Travel at myspace

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Reviews

Review: Danny & The Champions Of The World – Streets Of Our Time

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Danny & The Champions Of The World: Streets Of Our Time (Loose Music, 2010)

I’ve been a long time fan of Danny George Wilson. I love most of those Grand Drive albums and I love that solo album, but I was slightly dissapointed with the first Danny and The Champions of the World album. At first, I was really into this second album Streets of Our Time, but right now I’m thinking that it’s on its way to that same slight dissapointment category. I guess the problem is that while I do love listening to them, there’s nothing that I particularly love about them. Ok, that probably didn’t make any sense at all. The lost point was that it feels good to listen to their mellow and pleasant folk and americana songs, but almost none of it really strikes me as truly memorable. The only song that really stands out from the crowd is the opener Henry The Van. That is a great song and probably the most touching song ever written about a tour van. My other favourite is Streets Of Time, but as a whole this is more like a really good sunday morning record that makes you feel comfortable without demanding complete attention from your tired mind.  Nothing wrong with that I suppose, but some of his earlier works have left a much bigger mark on my heart. High hopes might actually make this little review sound more negative than it should be. Despite everything I said, I know I’m still going to buy the next album as well.

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Danny and The Champions of The World Website
Danny and The Champions of The World at myspace

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Reviews

Review: Micah Schnabel – When The Stage Lights Go Dim

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Micah Schnabel: When The Stage Lights Go Dim (Suburban Home Records, 2010)

Micah Schnabel self-released his debut solo album When The Stage Lights Go Dim last year and the people who heard it, fell in love with it. Folks at the Suburban Home Records’ Headquarters were some of the lucky ones who heard it and they wanted to re-release the album. Thankfully Micah Schnabel gave them the permission and now this wonderful album is out and available to wider audiences.

I admit that it wasn’t an instant love affair with me and Micah. My first introduction probably happened when I saw American Static video by TCSupergenius (you’ll find it below). I liked the chorus and loved the verse, so I seeked more samples. Usual suspects ninebullets.net and Suburban Home website gave me them and even though I liked everything I heard, some part of me was still trying to reject it. Maybe it just felt a little too bare and raw for my pop-soaked heart. Eventually I found myself always going back to watch that video or listen to the mp3s I had found from the usual places and I had to give in and release a statement to myself that said “this Micah guy is just brilliant and you are a damn fool if you keep on ignoring that. Go and preorder the album right now”. Therefore I did do that and even though the physical copy of the record hasn’t yet arrived (the album was released only a couple of days ago), I’ve already been spending a huge amount of time with Micah and the free digital dowload of the album that came with the preorder.

When The Stage Lights Go Dim is a brilliant album. Stylewise it might not be my closest companion, but there’s something here that really grabs ones attention. This just feels so real and alive that you keep on thinking that Micah must be the hardcore troubadour that Steve E. was talking about. Blend together some country, punk, folk rock and 80’s US indie rock in a whiskey bottle, strip it down to its bare bones and deliver it with all the passion, anxiety and beauty you can come up with and you might get somewhere close to Micah Schnabel. The album is filled with gorgeous songs like Stage Lights, Cut Me Mick and American Static. The only song I could do without is The Replacements cover I Can’t Hardly Wait, but maybe that’s already saying something. The least interesting song on the album is written by no other than Paul Westerberg (ok, it also has something to do with the fact I always prefer originals more than cover versions).

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Listen to Cut Me, Mick below:
[audio:http://www.onechord.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/02-cut-me-mick.mp3]

Watch American Static:
http://vimeo.com/6730309

Micah Schnabel at myspace

Oh.. and don’t forget Micah Schnabel’s band Two Cow Garage. So far I only have their latest album Speaking in Cursive. Highly recommended stuff altogether. I think the overall sound on the album could have been a little better. It sounds a bit dark at least for a pop fan, but songs like Brass Ring, Folksinger’s Hearts, Skinny-Legged Girl, Bastards and Bridesmaids are absolutely stunning. I need to get the other albums as well. I already ordered one of them and it should be in the same packet with the solo debut.

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