New mp3 from Chris Bathgate + Frontier Ruckus on tour

Lots of news from the great state of Michigan:

Download Chris Bathgate's new single, "No Silver," here. I'm really enjoying the rumbling drums and multi-layered percussion (is that a washboard I hear?). Classic old school backwater folk music.

Frontier Ruckus, some friends of Chris' with a similar sound and also hailing from Michigan, is on tour. Check out the dates.

CMJ - Chris Bathgate & Frontier Ruckus @ Spike Hill

A rather quick CMJ recap for today - Thursday I hit up Spike Hill in Williamsburg to see some of my fave Michigan peeps. Chris Bathgate was up first, with a good-sized band behind him (including Matt Jones on drums). As usual, the audience was filled with ever-loyal and always-psyched former Michiganders (Michiganites? Michiganians?) showing up to support artists from their native land. Chris played a lovely set, which included some new music from his upcoming album.

Next up was Frontier Ruckus, who played lots of new stuff, as well. Or, at least, I didn't seem to know a fair amount of it. I have to say I was sad that they didn't play my favorite of their songs, "The Blood," but they did play other old favorites like "Rosemont" and "Adirondack Amish Holler." Their nostalgic bluegrassy folk always tugs at my heart strings. All in all, it was a great show, and I left wishing that it didn't end so soon.

More pictures:

CMJ - Chris Bathgate & Frontier Ruckus @ Spike Hill

A Flash of Light Followed By [mp3] - Chris Bathgate - (iTunes)

Rosemont [mp3] - Frontier Ruckus - (iTunes)

Best Non-Debut Albums of 2008

Yesterday we brought you our list of Best Debut Albums of 2008, so today we thought we'd follow it up with our list of Best Non-Debut Albums of 2008, in no particular order. If you think we left something out, let us know what in the comments section! Or if you just want to add any thoughts on the albums we posted. Oh, but take note - there are still some lists yet to come (so much good music! We may have gone a little crazy with the lists this year...).

Best Non-Debut Albums of 2008

Nada Surf- Lucky
This seems to be the album that grows on people, slowly taking them over. At first listen, it seemed to be a collection of listenable and radio-friendly songs, but pretty soon we found ourselves craving to listen to those tracks again and again. The lyrics are great and each track has its own lovable element to it, whether it be the uplifting pulsing rhythm of Beautiful Beat or the sung narrated truth of "Everyone's right and no one is sorry" with perfect background "oohs" in See These Bones.
Beautiful Beat [mp3] - (iTunes)

Sigur Rós - Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust

Sigur Rós came out with their 5th album this year and it started off on the right orchestrated foot with the now ever-popular Gobbledigook. The band's made-up etheral language of Vonlenska once again proves to be a bewitching characteristic of the group, but they proved that they could create the same emotional experience in English for the first time ever in the track All Alright. While the album lacks the cascading genius that 2005's Takk contained (Festival is simply no Glósóli), the overall feeling of the album is that it is wiser, older and filled with more emotion and drama. More emphasis on keys and guitar progressions, Sigur Rós has learned a thing or two over the years, and this rich, sparkling album is a beautiful example of combining silver with gold.

Gobbledigook [mp3] - (iTunes)

The Dresden Dolls - No, Virginia

A more pensive, slightly less playful album than the "brechtian punk cabaret" duo from Boston has come out with in the past, "No, Virginia" continues to showcase their talent and versatility, taking subjects as dark as rape or as mundane as teen angst and taking them in musical directions that I'm not sure anyone else would ever think of or could ever get away with. The Dresden Dolls remain truly one of a kind.

Night Reconnaissance [mp3] - (iTunes)

My Morning Jacket - Evil Urges

Not traditionally our style, we've gotta give credit to the classic rock sound when it's due. This Americana-alternative rock collection is filled with good tunes that satisfies many an ear, with old-school guitar improvisations, sing-along choruses and that sweet home alabama taste. Some songs sport a different sort of flair, such as the Prince-like vocals on Highly Suspicious or the James Taylor-esque laid-back Librarian or Sec Walkin. Nevertheless, the album is classic rock at its soul, and it the large range and perfection of acheiving the sound intended really makes this album different from the rest.

Librarian [mp3] - (iTunes)

Cloud Cult - Feel Good Ghosts (Tea-Partying Through Tornados)

We couldn't resist posting one of our favorite Minneapolis bands. While some people have said this album is not as strong as their others, we have to disagree. So many of the songs from this album have remained on our playlists since the album came out in April, which is proof of the band's staying power and we certainly hope that means the rumors of a break up are false. Cloud Cult's music is always emotionally powerful, lovely, and they have developed their own style very well. It would be ashame for it to end now.

No One Said It Should Be Easy [mp3] - (iTunes)

The Dandy Warhols - Earth to the Dandy Warhols

Is there a Dandy Warhols song that we dislike? Not that we can think of... This album is The Dandy Warhols' first self-released album, which is exciting as they have always struggled with the corporate side of the entertainment industry, some would say to their detriment, and they are the types of free spirits that probably work best when they feel uninhibited by "the man." This album is a highly enjoyable mix of their usual sounds - from psychadelic to country, and just about everything in between. One of our favorite things about them is that they can take any musical genre and make it their own.

The World Come On [mp3] - (iTunes)

Ladytron - Velocifero

When we think about this album, we think "Dance, baby, dance." Crunched drums, fast-tempo, synths, catchy club hooks flying every which way, this album is perfect for those nights that you just want to let loose, especially with the dark thumping drums featured on Predict the Day. The swinging rhythm of Ghosts became the hit track of the album and constantly on the rotation list at clubs, clothes stores and radios nation-wide. The whole album is a solid collection of dance hits that are sure to fit the bill for any night out.

Ghosts [mp3] - (iTunes)

Ane Brun - Changing of the Seasons

A positively haunting album, every song will make you shiver with how gorgeous it is. Ane Brun's effortless voice floats over her fluent music in a way that makes music seem as easy as breathing for her. The album also grows on us with each listen more and more, unlike some albums which you get sick of after repeat listening. Honestly, it's hard for us to describe how talented Ane is, so just listen to her music and hear it for yourself.

The Puzzle [mp3] - (iTunes)

The Hard Lessons - The Complete B & G Sides

Ok so technically it's not one album. But throughout the year, Detroit rock band The Hard Lessons has been coming out with 3-song EPs that they call "B & G Sides" (as in Boy & Girl - Ko Ko Louise writes one, Augie writes one and they write one together I believe). They released volumes 1-4, which is definitely a full LP's worth of songs, so we are still going to count it. Ko Ko and Augie have perfect rock voices and the rockstar attitudes to accompany them (in a good way). And their songs are catchy to boot. They put on a great live show, so if you have the chance to see them, do it.

See and Be Scene [mp3] - (iTunes)

Frightened Rabbit - The Midnight Organ

Wonderous, wonderous Scottish indie music, how we love thee, espeically Frightened Rabbit. You're honest, you're life is imperfect, you've felt tough pain - and you create smart indie lo-fi rock songs about it. Its hard to choose favorite lyrics of yours, whether it be the imagery of the hole in Keep Yourself Warm or the understandable "I'm not ready to see you this happy" in Good Arms vs. Bad Arms, but we know that any song of yours is practically perfect. Stellar sophmore album from this amazing group.

Backwards Walk [mp3] - (iTunes)


Best Re-releases

These albums are albums that were self-released by the artist before 2008 but re-released by a label in 2008. Or in a few cases, EPs were released before 2008 and the companion LP released in 2008 has most/all of the songs from the EP.

Meiko - Meiko

It seems like every time we posted Meiko here at GFP, fans would crawl out of the blogosphere woodwork and shout their praise for this artist. Indeed, when Lise first posted Meiko, she couldn't decide which mp3 to post because she loved them all and ended up posting an unprescedented 4 mp3s, so its no wonder that Meiko is on our list now. Technically, Meiko released her album in 2007 and met with tons of success - she landed at #35 for top 100 iTunes albums that year. In June 2008 she signed with a label and her album was re-released in August where it jumped to #14 on the list. Meiko is everything Lise loves- a folk/pop female singer-songwriter that has immense talent. This girl has just begun to outshine many, and we can't wait for her next album.

Boys With Girlfriends [mp3] - (iTunes)

Bon Iver - For Emma, Forever Ago

This album was originally self-released in 2007 and re-released by the indie label 4AD in 2008. There's something about this album that is reminescent of the experience of listening to early Coldplay or Radiohead for the first time, and there is no other way to explain or describe it. There is something organic and natural about this music - something terribly sad and at peace all at the same time. Its a simply balanced work of art that easily creeps into the soul, and once it does, it circles around once or twice before hunkering down.
Flume [mp3] - (iTunes)

Locksley - Don't Make Me Wait

Locksley is shooting to stardom, opening for acts like The Bravery, Rooney and Ray Davies (of the Kinks). Now that they have a shiny new label behind them and a shiny new bass player (lead singer Jesse Laz-Hirsch's younger brother, Jordan), they've remastered the old tracks, added a few bonus tracks, changed the album cover and rereleased a shiny new version of their old album. Locksley is kind of like The Beatles reincarnate - screaming teenage girls and all. Or well, The Beatles before they went all psychedelic. You can't help but bounce up and down to they're obscenely catchy retro pop sound. And bonus points for the fact that they're all well-dressed, charming and handsome too.

Don't Make Me Wait [mp3] - (iTunes)

Frontier Ruckus - The Orion Songbook

Michigan folk band Frontier Ruckus self-released a six-song EP last year and it was quite a DIY affair in an 8.5 x 11" paper packet (no jewel case), with hand-written lyrics and hand-drawn album art. While that was actually rather charming and gave it a personal touch, they now have a label behind them and can afford jewel cases, which I think is a good thing. They re-released newly recorded versions of 5 of the 6 songs from the EP on an LP this year with a bunch of new songs too. Even though they now have a label, they're still the same old wonderful folk band, with their banjo, saw, harmonica and the arresting vocal harmonies that are some of the most natural I've heard of any band.

The Blood [mp3] - (iTunes)

Holiday Hash pt. 7

Donde Esta Santa Claus? - Augie Rios [mp3] 

Jingle Bells - Barbra Streisand [mp3] (itunes)

O Holy Night - Nat King Cole [mp3] (itunes)

Driving Home, Christmas Eve - Frontier Ruckus [mp3] (myspace)

Jingle Bell Rock - Bobby Helms [mp3] (itunes)

Little Drummer Boy - Greg Laswell [mp3]  (myspace)

Someday At Christmas - Jack Johnson [mp3] (itunes) (myspace)

An Interview with Frontier Ruckus

I recently had the privilege of interviewing Matt from Frontier Ruckus, one of my favorite folk bands of recent times. Here's what he had to say.

I hear you delayed the album so you could release it on Matt's birthday? Why was it important to you that it be released then?
The album kept getting pushed back just for promotional purposes and due to how long we were taking in wrapping up all the little details that go into finishing an album that we hadn't really considered. All of a sudden we were looking at a November release date and I thought, "My birthday is November 6th; I can't think of a better gift for myself than the catharsis of this heavy world called Orion Town--sounds good."


Matt - what is your songwriting process?
My songwriting process is to allow the container of my body to go a long period of time (for The Orion Songbook it was my entire life up until then) where I'm just bloating and becoming heavy with obsession for place(s). I feel like I write mostly about places and that the people are less characters than they are more just extensions and images and contents within the containers of places that won't allow themselves to be abandoned by me. And the places I'm talking about are often amorphous and very hard to define. Orion Town is not one town but many towns touching and blurring--it is the multiplicity within the whole. So I am filled by all this seemingly ineffable stuff and memory when I pick up a guitar and hopefully through music I can somehow organize and codify it all into a simpler, less overwhelming form. The image is the most important thing to me and, in a good song, hopefully a large part of the image remains intact after the transaction between internal unvoiced mythology and song occurs.


Once you come in with a song, Matt, how do you guys and decide on instrumentation and construct the songs from there?
Several of the songs on The Orion Songbook have been around for a long time--since it was just David and I. Back then I would bring a song to David and he would just start playing banjo to it and it would sound perfect--very natural. Now there are several more people and more parts to figure out and everyone just kind of hones them as we go along. We really don't think about it all too much as a group, until we get into a studio. We're kind of lazy like that. Everyone is really good about figuring out what they want to do on a song individually, though, and it's still very natural even with more people. Everyone cares about whatever the core of the song may be and how they can complement it. Ryan will obsess over how an extremely minute difference in a beat will effect a song; Zach has to decide what instrument he wants to play on it, or will spend a long time meticulously arranging trumpet harmonies; and Anna has an ear for harmonies that bring a lot of ease to the vocal aspect.


How does the studio process differ from live performances for you guys?
We recorded The Orion Songbook with all of us playing together live in one room, for the very, very most part. I didn't do a single overdub on the record. And I'm not saying that in a boastful way, in fact I'm sure there are probably many people out there who will find fault in it. But that is just the way we feel most comfortable doing it--we really don't do well tracking the core of a song in a piecemeal way. We like to be able to look at each other as we play and try to remember exactly what it is that we're singing about and convey an image instead of just recording notes. This isn't to say that Zach didn't have fun layering horns, since he was the only horn player, or that we didn't have fun trying different textural things after we had the bulk of the song down, but I just enjoy an honest portrayal of what the band is capable of and thought that that would in turn deliver a more accurate account of what Orion Town means.


Where is your favorite place that you've played so far?
Anna and I sang to a rowdy drunken pub in Dublin once and I barely remember it. That was nice. Our best shows of all time have probably been in Lansing. We had a great time busking outside of a strip club in Washington D.C. once and used all of the tips to fill up a hotel bathtub with ice and cans of beer. That night I slipped down the entire rain-slicked set of stairs of the Lincoln Memorial on my side and ribs at 4 am.


Where is the place you would like to play the most in the world?
We're gonna be overseas this summer, which is thrilling. I would like to sell out the segment of shore of the St. Lawrence River that runs past the town Ogdensburg, New York.


Now that you guys have a record label, where do you see the band going over the next few years? What are your short term and long term goals as a band?
We want to release as much music as possible. I have many songs. And the idea of a seemingly endless tour sounds very nice. The Expansion of the Touching-Towns Touring Recital. I want to make snow globes of Orion Town. We're gonna release an EP of our more countrier songs and, also, The Orion Songbook will be out on vinyl in February with about five extra tracks from the Orion mythology, manufactured with the help of our friend John Krohn.


What's the story behind the tandem bike video?
That tandem bike is half-owned by me, and half-owned by someone who is very special to me with whom I made a pact that prohibited me from riding the bike with anyone other than said person. Needless to say, the evidence that that video provided of my and David's mustachioed joyride put me in the doghouse.


A question for Zach - How did you learn to play the saw and do you have any tips for people who would like to learn how to play the saw?
I learned to play the saw by watching youtube videos of Julian Koster playing the saw. By modeling yourself on a sawyer, you can learn to play it prettily. Though, I've noticed that when some people who've seen me do it for years try it, they'll hold it upside-down or bow it over the teeth at first. Literally, I think the easiest way to play the saw is by keeping the handle between your knees, curving it into an 'S' shape with your non-dominant hand in any way that doesn't hurt. And when just starting, I recommend hitting it with something, like a mallet or a pen, before bowing to find the "sweet spots," which change depending how strong your saw's bent, analogously with the pitch. There are so many important tips. Jiggling your leg (as if you needed to urinate) for vibrato, sweeping the bow along the saw so you don't need to be quite so accurate, to name two. Really, I just recommend watching a fellow sawyer and playing with friends or music. If you play alone on the saw, you're lost.

Orion Town 2 [mp3]
Purchase "The Orion Songbook" on iTunes

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Michigan at CMJ

Last night I went to see some of my favorite Michigan bands at Union Pool. First up was Canada, who I hadn't seen before and had been wanting to see for a while. It seemed like a majority of the audience was also from Michigan, which was great because people were belting along to Canada's songs, which really emphasized the collaborative feeling of the band. It also helps that they rotate instruments and roles fairly frequently, so there isn't really a frontman or anything. I really enjoyed their performance and was glad I finally got to see them.

Next up was Chris Bathgate with an incredibly large band behind him, which was very different from the time I saw him play solo. I have to say I like him a great deal more with a band behind him. The fullness of his music really comes out when he has a band to play with, as opposed to just a looping pedal (as good as he was at utilizing that, it's just not the same as having 8 people on stage with you playing live).

Lastly (or well, lastly for me because I had to work in the morning so I left before the last band) was Frontier Ruckus, who came with their new album in tow. They were wonderful as usual. Gotta love any band that has a banjo and a saw. I'm very pleased with their new album, "The Orion Songbook," which has most of the songs from their old self-released EP, plus many new songs and a record label behind them (no longer does the album come in a DIY paper packet but in a real CD case). The setting felt a little less intimate than when I saw them at Living Room, but I still enjoyed their performance immensely and this time I could even sing along because I knew some of the songs.

The other great thing about the night was that the same faces came off and on stage all night - everyone was collaborating with each other and rotating roles. It's really great how everyone seems to really care about each other and about their music.

More photos here.

Look to the Trees [mp3] - Canada - "This Cursed House" (iTunes)
Every Wall You Own [mp3] - Chris Bathgate - "A Cork Tale Wake" (iTunes)
Adirondack Amish Holler [mp3] - Frontier Ruckus - "The Orion Songbook" (eMusic.com)

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Sounds of Summer

Lise already posted her top 5 summer songs, but I have been reluctant to admit that summer is over. I'm still not ready for it to end, but I think I can safely list the songs that topped my summer playlist (though picking 5 is too hard, but I've managed to narrow it down to 10). The songs tend to come from all different genres all over the place and were played on repeat for different reasons, which I think is indicative of the type of summer I've had. Well, and my eclectic music taste, in general. In no particular order:

Waltzing with Lady Dawn [mp3] - Matt Jones - "The Black Path" (iTunes unavailable)
That's Not My Name [mp3] - The Ting Tings - "We Started Nothing" (iTunes)
Polite Dance Song [mp3] - The Bird & The Bee - "Please Clap Your Hands EP" (iTunes)
Be Mine Everyone [mp3] - Sam Champion - "Heavenly Bender" (iTunes)
The Blood [mp3] - Frontier Ruckus - "I am the Water You Are Pumping" (iTunes unavailable)
Talk Radio [mp3] - The Dandy Warhols - "Earth To The Dandy Warhols" (iTunes)
Lonesome Organist Rapes Page Turner [mp3] - The Dresden Dolls - "No, Virginia" (iTunes)
This is Where We Are [mp3] - Ravens & Chimes - "Reichenbach Falls" (iTunes)
A Song for Ellie Greenwich [mp3] - Parenthetical Girls - "Entanglements" (iTunes)
Hold It In [mp3] - Jukebox The Ghost - "Let Live and Let Ghosts" (iTunes)

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Frontier Ruckus

On Saturday night, I went to Living Room to see Michigan band Frontier Ruckus. The 6-piece folky band really blew me away with the beauty of their music, and it made me happy that they utilized a saw and banjo in many of their songs. They were very chill, but you could tell that they loved their music. They also just seemed like a nice bunch, as I had the pleasure of hanging out with some of them before and after the show. They have a new album coming out in the Fall, but here is a sample from their EP in the meantime - which, by the way, has the most unique packaging I've seen, as it comes in an 8.5 x 11 booklet, rather than a jewel case, with lyrics and illustrations done by hand.

Rosemont [mp3]

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