Talented songwriters and musicians Alex and Karen take turns on the guitar and behind the drums while trading, harmonizing and intertwining their vocals to capture our imagination with every story sung. Case in point, “Shallow Grave”, it’s a down-and-dirty, make-no-bones-about-it, foot-stomping murderous tale about a man who murders a wife-beating husband whose cousin is the sheriff. It’s a song brimming with righteous indignation and imagery so vivid it places the listener at the scene of the crime. “Sinner” is another well-crafted murder ballad featuring Karen’s sweet yet strong voice narrating the confession of a woman who sealed the fate of her two-timing husband. Then, there’s the slow, melodic ballad, “Body in the Quarry”, which tells the dark story of a boy who drowned and the two lovers who go to the quarry to either find the boy’s body or join him. But, not all of The Parlor Soldiers’ songs are murderous tales or stories of death: “When the Dust Settles”  is a gritty, bluesy song about the tumultuous aftermath of infidelity, while “Crazy” is a humorous and relatable song about love and how our significant others drive us crazy. And, there are also songs about heartbreak and loneliness like “Mess” and sweet desperation and encouragement such as “Don’t Let Your Dreams Get You Down” on the album.

With this amount of great storytelling and songwriting, When the Dust Settles, is an excellent debut effort, and one that captures the meaning and technique of folk music. And, I’m also excited to see this trio preform live when they head my direction this summer.

Listen & Buy When the Dust Settles
The Parlor Soldiers: Facebook; ReverbNation

I like surprises. They remind me that there’s still a world of wonder despite the late onset of adulthood. I’m not so cynical to think that I’ve seen and done it all. Rather, I take responsibility for causing the mundane in my life: I get stuck looking at the same things from the same perspectives. Autopilot may suffice for lawn mowing and driving but it’s definitely not the ticket to a full human experience.

Which brings me to Matt Bauer’s The Jessamine County Book of the Living, an album full of wonder and magic. It’s surreal lyrics, dark tone, and ten-piece orchestra all work together to make dark and creepy forest music.  Think of Peter and The Wolf rewritten by Gabriel García Márquez.

There are plenty of artists and musicians who use the surreal in their work to surprise or even shock their audience. But the surreal shouldn’t just leave you thinking that the piece is weird. When used effectively, the surreal constructs a new reality around a scene that would otherwise make no sense.  Bauer’s “White Lake” is a perfect example of this:

When I was the white worms
In the rabbit’s side
The only way that I could move
Was eating toward the light
And when I saw what I had done
And saw just what I was
I thought “My word! My word!”

Despite the implausibility of a worm ever considering the spiritual implications of its actions, there is still an emotional impact as we’re drawn into the worm’s perspective. Being able to connect on an emotional level with something as repulsive as a maggot is surrealism executed to its best effect.

Magical realism, surrealism’s first cousin, is a tool often used by anime master Hayao Miyazaki. And the album’s closing track, “Flowering Deer,” is about a character from Miyazaki’s Princess Mononoke. The song, with its dark-sounding strings and its magical lyrics, is creepy enough to scare the bejesus out of you, just as the Great Forest Spirit did in the movie.

The Jessamine County Book of the Living is also one of the most ambitious albums I’ve heard lately. Bauer rounded up a host of guest singers, including Jolie Holland, Angel Deradoorian from Dirty Projectors, Mariee Sioux, and Jay and Alex Foote from Welcome Wagon. Further, his orchestra of strings, woodwinds, brass, and vibraphone doesn’t just accompany him but often takes center stage. To pull off a project of this size — on what was likely a shoe string budget — is pretty remarkable. Also, musically, there’s just a lot of depth here.  And imagine the time it took to arrange all of those different parts.

Another intriguing element of the album is that it retains a folk music feel despite the heavy reliance on the orchestra. Perhaps it’s Bauer’s voice, which can sound as deep and full as Richard Buckner’s while also sounding as emotionally raw as Sufjan Stevens. I would like to say that this is my favorite album so far this year but alas, I’m way behind the curve in reviewing it and it was actually released last June. Regardless, this is a very fine album worthy of a heck of a lot more attention then it’s received so far.

Visit Matt Bauer’s website

Purchase The Jessamine County Book of the Living

Video for “Flowering Deer”

“Morning Stars” by Matt Bauer

When I was nine, I got my first minibike, a used Yamaha GT 80. Tellingly, the purchase involved a cardboard box of inessential parts removed by a combination of gravity and vice grips. The remainder of the bike was dented and twisted, with the worst of its bruises covered up by a swell coat of magenta house paint. When you got it running (never a sure thing), the gas tank would rattle between your legs, chattering and shaking. And there was no quiet mode: the damn thing was loud. When you finally let the clutch out, however, you forgot what it sounded liked, what it looked like and just enjoyed the sheer pleasure of the ride.

The Manly Deeds remind me of that minibike. They start themselves up, revving their mandolin far past the red line, the junk percussion starts clanking, the bass drops in, the tension builds and you’re pretty sure they’re going to come apart at the seams. Then the screaming starts and off they go… a streak of joy and danger heading to the nearest watering hole.

Sure, the title cut to their album Hard Times For The Animal Kingdom is an environmental anthem of sorts, but it’s an irreverent one, reminding us that we’re as beastly as the next species:

Well I get high like a bird
and I get busy like a bee
and you can’t buy much
when times are tough
but we can f___ for free

What makes Hard Times stand out from other punky bluegrass albums is that The Manly Deeds know how to mix it up, throwing in a couple of minor key dirges like “Tomorrowland” and “Minnie The Moocher.” They also never let the cacophony obscure the lyrics, which bring interesting twists to old themes. In “St. Paul Girls,” brothers Adam and Jason Aud sing:

Those St. Paul girls are always smiling
always smiling when I come around
those St. Paul girls are always smiling
always smiling when I come around
but those St. Paul girls keep on smiling
when I’m gone

Formerly known as “The Middle East,” The Manly Deeds, hail from Maryland and reference the midwest whenever possible. I’m not sure of their geographical past but let’s just assume they get around some.  And I’m hoping that they get around me soon because I bet they put on a hell of a live show.

Visit The Manly Deeds Website

Stream and Purchase Hard Times For The Animal Kingdom

Here’s some audio-visual goodness to get your weekend rolling. The Peach Kings play a down-and-dirty kind of noir rock that seems like equal parts PJ Harvey and Raymond Chandler.  The video for their song “Thieves and Kings” is artsy, sexy and entertaining. Said differently, it’s all of the Lana Del Rey at a fraction of the hype.  Now I like the two songs I’ve heard from Lana Del Rey and I don’t think it’s fair to hold the attention she’s received against her. I also like it when new musicians who make good music get discovered. What I find puzzling, however, is how our music culture turned into such a winner-take-all kind of playing field. In a fairer world — a world where John Peel came back from the dead and was appointed CEO of Clear Channel — The Peach Kings would be receiving a decent portion of that hype as well.

Bonus:  be sure to check out their website where you can download their three-song EP Trip Wop for free.

Devils & Ghosts is their first studio release to feature their entire live band and brilliantly showcases Aubrey’s amazing vocal chops. They give you two great songs worthy of the “repeat” button. The first track, “Devil and a Stiff Drink,” is an awesome assault on the ears. Aubrey attacks the vocals. Ah, hell, she doesn’t attack the vocals, she kicks their ass! And, with the addition of the slide guitar and percussion this song will rock your world. Then, the second song, “Give Up the Ghost”, starts with the more familiar Aubrey with her tender and expressive voice, but when the girl let’s go, she really let’s go with no abandon. My God, I’ve never had my mind blown by just two songs until now.

Devils & Ghosts is dramatic, explosive, graceful and a lot more, so make sure you download it. No excuses. It’s free.  Also, if you can, y’all need to catch them live as they will be touring regionally and working on a full-length record due out later in the year.

The Local Strangers: Website; Facebook; Twitter
Stream & Download Devils & Ghosts

The term “distressed” gets applied to everything nowadays: clothes, furniture, photos, etc. Usually, the process involves a fast-forward wear-and-tear cycle upon said object in the hopes of applying a quick aura of authenticity. It’s sort of like the spray-on tan equivalent for the school of hard knocks.

But there are also those people who try hard not to let their distress show… who try to wrap their psychic bumps, cuts and bruises in a new coat of beauty because the last thing they want to be reminded of is how those various wounds came to be. Derrick Hart seems to be one of those folks.

Hart’s album Prodigal Songs was begun in 2002 but wasn’t released until Christmas day last year. On his Bandcamp site, Hart explains the nine year delay:

I was addicted to drugs & alcohol for a long time, making very little progress as the next couple years went by. My songs were mostly pitiful junkie autobiographies about things like being up to my neck in hospital bills from nearly dying of drug overdoses a handful of times.

When 2005 arrived there wasn’t much left of my life at all. I was homeless, in my own personal hell of full-blown addiction. My mother convinced me to go to a long term rehab at Denver Rescue Mission in Denver, CO USA. There I stayed for the next year & a half, slowly recovering from the damage done as my spirit began to awake. I wrote songs about my redemption & recorded them on a 4 track well into 2006 right there in the institution.

It’s a dream of mine that this record will be able to pass along a message of hope & to let anyone out there who needs it know that you are not alone.

Musically, the album is reminiscent of Mark Linkous and his project Sparklehorse. It’s a collection of slow acoustic songs mixed with samples, loops, and ambient sound. For instance, the opening track “You’ll Have It All” sets hopeful lyrics against a tragic sounding waltz. Strange noises like a heartbeat filtered through an ultrasound fade in and out. “Sewn In My Heart” takes a similar approach, telling a story about how Hart impacted those around him during his battle with addiction.

The highlight of the album — at least for the optimists of the world — is the album’s closing track, “What A Beautiful World,” and it’s here we should come back to the subject of Mark Linkous. Like Hart, Linkous battled with addiction and had hopeful-sounding titles like “It’s A Wonderful Life” and “It’s A Sad & Beautiful World.” Yet Linkous always seemed to be coming at these songs from the midst of his own hell and in March of 2010 he committed suicide. In “What A Beautiful World,” however, Hart sings from the redemptive side of his experience, from the perspective of someone who was able to put his demons to rest. In a voice and tone much like Linkhous, Hart sings “We live in a world of beauty and sometimes it can blow your mind.”

Yep. Even after life has thoroughly kicked your ass, it can still blow your mind.

Stream and purchase Derrick Hart’s Prodigal Songs.

Released in August 2011, I discovered Canadian singer-songwriter Carly Maicher’s debut album, Hiding, through a tweet from Devon at Hearth Music sometime in December. And, when I first heard Hiding, I was taken aback by the crystal-clear soulfulness of Carly’s voice and it quickly became one of my favorite late-in-the-year discoveries for 2011. So, if y’all haven’t had a chance to listen to Hiding, please do after reading this great interview with Carly.

CFM: When did you become interested in music? What is your earliest musical memory?

CM: I suppose I have always been interested in music, even as a small child. My earliest memories are of participating in school theatre productions and going in between loving it, to being way too shy to do it. Not much has changed to be honest!

CFM: Have you always wanted to be a folk singer-songwriter? When did you start creating and writing your own songs?

CM: I started writing my own songs, on the piano, around when I was 12 or 13. My focus had been on the piano for many many years, and then I switched to guitar when I was about 15 or 16 and taught myself the basic chords, and over the years my style has transformed more so into folk music.

CFM: Why did you move from Manitoba to Grand Manan, NB? What did you do while living in there? How did Grand Manan influence Hiding? What did you learn about yourself and your music while living in Grand Manan?

CM: I was given the opportunity to live on Grand Manan Island sporadically after my family bought a summer home there. The summer home was not going to be used on a regular basis so I decided to take advantage of it and move there alone. The original intention was to go for one summer (I moved at the end of April 2008) to work on songs and to record this ‘home made’ album I had been wanting to record (super super lo fi). My grandparents are from the island originally which is why there was a connection to the place. I ended up staying the summer and loving it, and I continued staying and staying and staying until almost 4 years passed by.

Originally I had a job at a bakery, and then I got a new job as a waitress at a busy restaurant that I ended up loving. I met so many strangers who were tourists to the island, which the island strives off of in the summer time. Time kept passing and even though I was writing new songs, I wasn’t exactly following through with recording the album I had wanted.

I spent a lot of days hiking, sitting, pondering, watching, observing waves crash along the shore line, amazed by how fast the tide goes in and out and how much water travelled. And I spent many many nights on the beach having bon fires and singing songs to the moon.

Basically, the island was a total paradise and I was living a dream.

I became the manager at the restaurant and began using the restaurant as a music venue, and then eventually I started a folk festival (Summers End Folk Festival) which will be going into its third year this year.

What did I learn about myself? I learned independence in a pretty extreme way. I also learned about how some of the simplest things in life is what matters most. And even though I’m not currently on the island, I am still learning off of my experience there.

CFM: Describe Hiding. Which song best represents the album as a whole? Why?

CM: Hidingis basically about my journey there in a bigger picture. It originally wasn’t intended on being that because I had already had compiled a list of songs that I wanted my first album to be, but it became that. It’s about leaving all of the familiar things behind and experience the beauty and sadness of being totally alone.

What song best represents the album as a whole? Why?

That’s a super tough question. Each song sort of explores a different feeling, or thought. When I was living on Grand Manan, I definitely struggled with the thought of loving the solitude vs. missing everyone, and the life I left behind.

It’s like ocean vs. prairie. Not really knowing where in the world you belong. I think the songs are up and down like that too.

CFM: Was this your first time working with Zachary Lucky? How did you meet? What was it like to tour in the Prairie Roots Revue with Lucky, Northcote and Ryan Boldt? Any favorite moments?

CM: Yes, this was my first time working with Zachary Lucky. We met when Zachary was recording for a mutual friend of ours, (Kayla Luky).

Prairie Roots Revue was honestly, hands down, some of the best fun I have ever had. I loved spending 8 days with those boys – they are all so great. We laughed so hard. And connected on so many levels. And it was such an honor to share the stage, and share some songs. If I could do that tour over and over again for the rest of my career, I would.

CFM: Also, for those of us who follow both you and Zachary on twitter, what’s with the love/obsession with the Canadian ranches, horses, & the dramatic series Heartland?

CM:What a great question. Um. Well, we stumbled upon the series Heartland and got hooked. That’s the gist of it! There is some seriously addictive drama on that show! I guess the other obsession with it just comes from pining for that kind of lifestyle. Living out in the country surrounded by beautiful natural.

CFM: What are your plans for the future?

CM: Well, I will be heading out on a pretty long coast to coast tour with Zachary Lucky beginning in March, for his CD release.

After that – well I plan on doing lots of camping this upcoming summer (which it will almost be when we get back!). I’ll be busy planning a 3rd festival for a while too. And, I’ll probably come up with some plans to record a new record in that time. And maybe get a tan.
Carly Maicher: Facebook; Twitter; Myspace
Stream & Purchase Hiding

My first introduction – the gateway drug, if you will – was “Nothing is the News”, a swirling, trippy piece of psychedelic indie-folk rock that had my head spinning with the sheer power of its awesomeness. I mean, this song completely took control of my mind creating some kind of oneness with the tune, and by the time I woke up from this five minute mystical experience I was hooked. Jurado also produces some more subdued moments on Maraqopa like the wistfully haunting “Working Titles” and the brutally honest “So On, Nevada”, but it’s “Museum of Flight” that has become my drug of choice. A light and airy track about love and the lessons of love that glides so easily through the air I forgot he was going down in flames. It truly is a gloriously smooth jam which makes it all too easy for me to press “repeat” repeatedly.

Maraqopa drops on February 21st via Secretly Canadian, but don’t wait, this is an album you need now. All the cool kids are listening to it. So, if you want to be one of the “cool” kids, you’ll have to pre-order the album for an instant gratification download. And, I promise, you’ll be gratified and satisfied.

Damien Jurado: Website; Facebook; Twitter
Pre-Order Maraqopa

“Museum of Flight”

It’s hard to believe Jenny Berkel has only been writing songs and playing the guitar for four years. Born out of a love for writing poetry, Jenny started to create music around her written words while living in an empty apartment in Winnipeg. After a year  in Winnipeg, she traveled Canada and Europe the spent two months in Belfast, Ireland where she found her voice and started performing alone. Two years ago, Jenny moved back to Winnipeg where she spent eight months working on her EP Gather Your Bones when tragedy struck her family, which in part led to her phenomenal full-length debut Here On A Wire.

This afternoon I was able to chat with Jenny about herself and Here On A Wire, which has already been released in Canada and is climbing the college radio station charts, but has yet to be released in the United States. New to the whole music business thing, she is working out some kinks on the business end, and is hoping to release it in the Spring. Meanwhile, you can download the three-song preview of Here On A Wire for free and her EP Gather Your Bones for an affordable price on Bandcamp.

CFM: When and how did you first become interested in music? Who were your earliest musical, or, even, non-musical influences? Are there any current artists who inspire and influence you and your music?

JB: I grew up going to a church full of hearty singers who all seemed to have an ear for harmony, so I’ve been surrounded by music since I was small. The harmony lines in hymns still get me – they can be so haunting. My family used to listen to a lot of 1960s rock and roll – not a lot of folk, actually, other than Simon & Garfunkel. It wasn’t until I went to university that I discovered many of the great folk legends that most people grew up on – Leonard Cohen, Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Joni Mitchell. Soon after I discovered folk music, I began writing songs.

CFM: Was there one particular experience or instance that helped you to realize music could be a career? When and what was it?

JB: About a year ago, I took the train across eastern Canada to do my first solo tour. My sister joined me for the first half of it, and we did a house show in Hamilton. There was something about the buzzing excitement in the room that convinced me this was worth pursuing.

CFM: How has growing up in Ontario surrounded by both the forests and urban landscapes affected your music? Has moving to Winnipeg changed your music? If so, how?

JB: Our home was nestled beside a deep ravine and forest, but only about 15 metres away from a busy highway. I think growing up next to that severe contrast gave me a perspective that often shows itself in my lyrics. Winnipeg is very isolated compared to southern Ontario – when you drive into the city, it seems to erupt out of nowhere. Moving to a place like that, and so far from home, might contribute to the melancholic feeling of my music.

CFM: How would you describe your music and songwriting style? What do you think makes your music unique and special?

JB: Somebody recently used the term “haunt folk” to describe my album, which I’ve taken a bit of a shining to…

CFM: Can you describe your creative process while making and recording Here On A Wire?

JB: I wrote and shaped most of the songs while living in a one-room studio in downtown Winnipeg with a good friend, her dog, and my cat. I was waitressing about 25 hours a week while preparing to record. Because I was sharing such tight quarters and working so much, it meant being very organized with my time in order to work on music. I was lucky enough to have the aid of my sister, Kristen Berkel, and my producer, Matt Peters. It was so helpful having fresh ears involved in the project. We wanted to be sure that despite all of the extra sounds, the album stayed focused on my vocal and guitar parts, so we were very careful with the arrangements.

CFM: Describe Here On A Wire. Are there any themes? Do you have a favourite song or is there a song that is more personal than others on this album? Which song and why?

JB: Here on a Wire is a quiet collection of mostly sad songs. Throughout the album, there are images of ghosts, dreams, lost love, and cityscape. I’m not sure I have a favourite song, but I think “Come a Long Way” draws the whole album together, both lyrically and emotionally.

CFM: On an album where all of the songs seem to have similar sounds and styles and flows easily, how does the spoken word track, “Awaken In Stars” fit? It keeps within that same dreamy, mellow, and somewhat melancholy vibe of the album but what was your purpose? Why a spoken word? What did you want the listeners to gain or experience from it?

JB: The poem was written by a good friend of mine, Michelle Elrick. We’ve spent the last four years side by side, almost glued at the hip – this has often caused our creative projects to delve into similar themes. About a year and a half ago, we did a tour together to launch her first book of poetry (To Speak) and my first mini-album (Gather your Bones). We would incorporate both elements of our projects into one performance. As a long time lover of poetry and a strong believer in Michelle’s poetry, I really wanted her words on my album. I gave her all of my lyrics and she came up with that piece, which I find very moving. I think listeners will react the same way.

CFM: Name a song, any song, you think best represents you during this time in your life. Why?

JB: “If I’ve Been Fooled” by the Weather Station. I can’t stop listening to it. It’s wrapped itself around my whole apartment.

CFM: What are your future plans?

JB: Here in Winnipeg, we’ve entered the part of winter where we plug our cars in at night, so I’m trying to stay warm while working on getting this album heard. I’ll be doing a lengthy tour in the spring to launch it across the country.
Jenny Berkel: Website; Facebook
Download & Stream Here On A Wire
Purchase & Stream Gather Your Bones EP

Although I’ve been listening to In A Wild Deep’s A Small Collection of Folk Tales EP since November, I still find myself with brain freeze every time one of the six songs shuffles to the top of my iPod. Which for me, is kind of weird. I may not be able to remember my own phone number but once I’ve heard a band, it’s permanently imprinted in my brain. Thus, the paradox of being intrigued enough to want to know who’s singing the song —  while repeatedly forgetting who sang the damn thing — has me a bit stumped.

Part of my problem may be the complex stew of different styles and influences in the music. The opening bars of “Before the Desert Night Was Cold” are reminiscent of Jim White’s Wrong-Eyed Jesus.  Later on in the album I hear Animal Collective-like textures and a banjo that sounds like it could be from a Sufjan Steven’s album.  Despite the multiple comparisons, there’s something very original going on here, especially in the complexity of the arrangements and song structures.

A Small Collection of Folk Tales is based on a book of stories that was handed down to singer-songwriter Black Reed by his grandfather.  On the In A Wild Deep Bandcamp site, Reed says, “…I can only hope this music lets you feel a little bit of the way I felt reading them over and over again.”  While the production never lets the lyrics and stories come through in a clear way, there’s a very distinctive atmosphere that gets created here… one that is a bit dark but also gentle and compelling.  Consequently, the EP makes a perfect backdrop to the grey days of winter and reminds me a bit of the Icelandic band Slowblow with its layers of strange ambient sounds.

A Small Collection of Folk Tales passes in less than 25 minutes. Since I often find myself wanting more, I usually resort to listening to the EP more than once.  What would be really nice, however, is a full In A Wild Deep album. The news section of their website is rather sparse so it’s hard to say what they have in store for 2012 but with great songs, vocals and arrangements, In A Wild Deep is definitely a band to keep an eye on.

Download A Small Collection of Folk Tales (name your own price)

In A Wild Deep Website