Mountain Man

First things first, the Mountain Man are none of the sort. They are three girls. You might already know that as their debut album Made The Harbor came out in 2010, but I’ve only just become aware of them.
The album is short songs of stripped down folk with three part harmonies.
Now when I mean striped down I don’t mean like the first Bon Iver album where he recorded the base of the album in the woods then put overdubs on it (why bring Bon Iver into it? Well he’s riled me somewhat, liked the first album but his last effort was plain awful).
With just Vocals and acoustic guitar Made The Harbor is proper stripped down and has the sound production of a field recording that gives it a haunted feel. Quality stuff.



Follow link to download Mountain Man - Animal Tracks from Box.com

The Jawhawks - A Buyers Guide

The Jawhawks are touring Europe in march, its their first time over here in? I have no idea. But it’s a long time as Mark Olsen and Gary Louris only got the band back together the other year. But what a band. If you’re new to The Jayhawks but don’t know where to start then here is a quick buyers guide

All of their albums are good, with the exception of Smile which is the last album before the comeback. Don’t buy it, its rubbish. Nothing wrong with a band looking for a new direction but I don’t want an early nineties Manchester drumbeat and wah wah pedal funk to be anywhere near The Jayhawks.

Tomorrow the Green Grass is a great record and a must have. But Hollywood Town Hall is better than great. Country rock with harmonies catchy choruses and loads of melodic fuzz guitar solos. It’s a masterpiece.



Follow link to download The Jawhawks - Waiting For The Sun from box.com

Cover #13 Saint Etienne - Only Love Can Break Your Heart

Only Love Can Break Your Heart is probably the most well known song from the dance indie pop band Saint Etienne. That might not be true but it is for me anyway. To tell the truth I don’t know any other song from them. I’m sure that I’ve heard some more of their stuff on a duke box in a pub or in an indie club back in the nineties or even on the radio. But if I recognised the song then I wouldn’t know that it was Saint Etienne.
So why am I posting a blog about them if I don’t know their music? Well because I do know the Neil Young song Only Love Can Break Your Heart and the great cover that Saint Etienne do of it. Musically radically different from the country/folk original but still keeping the same melody.
Maybe it is time I divulged into Saint Etienne’s back catalogued a bit.



Follow link to download: Saint Etienne - Only Love Can Break Your Heart

Rapture Riders

I’m not a big fan of mash ups. You know take one song and mix it with another song that has the same tempo and preferably the same key and create some kind of fusion. Sometimes when I hear one I might think that it was an interesting novelty but have no interest in listening to it again. But usually I’m left thinking ‘what was the point of that?’
There are a few exceptions and one is the mash-up done by Go Home Productions of The Doors song Riders on the Storm and Rapture by Blondie.
Works really well, even though it has that terrible Debora Harry rap that sounded dated a week after it came out.

The December Sound

I first become aware of The December Sound from a free sampler download compilation by Dead Bees Records. Though most of the songs were pretty good, their song Painkiller was the stand out track for me. On the strength of that I purchased one of their albums called The Silver Album which is a strong outing from start to finish. Its psychedelic shoegaze indie rock with a mechanical feel to it and is worth a listen, if that’s your kind of thing.

Follow this link to download The December Sound - Painkiller