27th July 2011: Sea Of Bees / Playlist

Featured: Sea Of Bees - Songs For The Ravens (Heavenly)

Sea of Bees is Julie Baenziger, a 25 year old singer, song-writer from Sacramento. Multi-instrumentalist Julie Ann Bee hails from Grandaddy's stomping grounds, California's Central Valley, and like her onetime neighbours, she has an impeccable knack for infusing despair with charm.

Her pain is the loveless kind, and she conveys it in a voice equal parts twang and coo, backed by lush country-folk and gossamer bedroom haze. The strength, innocence, honesty and purity of intention that flows throughout Sea of Bees' debut, Songs For the Ravens, manifests itself compositionally and technically - most immediately with the laser beam pull of Jules' captivating voice.

She's so versatile, not only as a vocalist but as a songwriter, that 'Songs For The Ravens' finds her masterfully navigating Americana-tinged stompers, heavy, trotting expanses, soaring harmonic rock sorrow and keyboard-brightened musings. Aside from the drums and a few other instrumental lines, Jules wrote and played every single bit of the entire album - including handheld percussion, glockenspiel, guitar, bass, keys, marimba and slide.

This is a record that will soothe your broken heart, commiserate with you when you're angry, befriend you when you're lonely and celebrate life with you through the pure joy of its being. Longing is expressed with hope; sadness with understanding. Its scope, intensity and solidity would be considered stunning for any weathered artist; it's simply astounding here.

www.seaofbees.com

Radio Playlist 27th July 2011

Noa Babayof - Yr Million Sweetnesses (Demo)
Cian Nugent - Sixes & Sevens (excerpt 2) (Doubles)
Sea Of Bees - Fyre (Songs For The Ravens)
**
Colour Haze - Stars (All)
Dead Meadow - Rocky Mountain High (S/T)
Dan Auerbach - The Prowl (Keep It Hid)
**
Sea Of Bees - Skinnybone (Songs For The Ravens)
Elevator - The Animals (A Taste Of Complete Perspective)
Woods - Out Of The Eye (Sun & Shade)
**
Jessica Lea Mayfield - Somewhere In Your Heart (Tell Me)
Okkervil River - The Valley (I Am Very Far)
Sea Of Bees - Marmalade (Songs For The Ravens)
**
Tamaryn - The Waves (The Waves)
Anonymeye - Federation (Anontendre)
Tristeza - Sand & Coral (Paisajes)
**
Diane Cluck - Yr Million Sweetnesses (Oh Vanille)
Sea Of Bees - The Gold (Songs For The Ravens)

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Sideways Through Sound Archive

27th July 2007: Fence Recordings
28th July 2008: T.Carter & C.Kiefer - From The Great American Songbook
29th July 2009: The Steals - Static Kingdom
28th July 2010: The Driftwood Manor - Holy Ghost

20th July 2011: Major Chord / Playlist

Featured: Major Chord - Psychic Civil War (Other Tongues)

Major Chord is the intelligently crafted solo project of pop/folk artist Dan Flynn. Upon the disbanding of his former band Sleeping Pilot in 2006, Flynn more than seized the opportunity to go solo, taking on the roles of songwriter, vocalist, guitarist, percussionist, and musical jack-of-all-trades from his home studio in Melbourne.

Major Chord produced his self-titled debut album independently in 2007 and followed it with his sophomore album ‘The Rabbit Hole’ in 2009. Between a full-time job as a social worker and the arrival of a newborn baby boy, Flynn’s time in the studio was rare and passionate, with his projects recorded principally between the hours of 8PM and 4AM.

Major Chord has now given birth to a third album, ‘Psychic Civil War’. Is anyone else their own worst enemy?

These ten songs come from Tom Waits, Ron Sexsmith, Leonard Cohen and of course Lennon, McCartney, Harrison and Starr. They also come from Flynn’s mastery of the song writing process and his ability to draw from within himself and the world around him to create pop infused, folk related, long debated works of art.

This time round Major Chord uses more percussion, sharpens the arrangements and delves a little deeper to deliver a result that is sometimes bleak, often hopeful, a little confusing but always true. The ‘psychic civil war’ is the struggle within ourselves and the struggle that is all around us. Major Chord has built a bridge between the two worlds, weaving it all together with captivating vocals and glorious melodies in his most accomplished and riveting work to date.

www.majorchord.com

Radio Show Playlist 20th July 2011

Black Cab - Warsaw Girls ( Combat Boots 7")
Laura Jean - Missing You (advance)
Major Chord - Psychic Civil War (Psychic Civil War)
**
Marissa Nadler - Puppet Master (S/T)
Alanna Cherote - Roses In My Side (Paper Flower)
Sand Pebbles - Occupied Europe (advance)
**
Major Chord - Tomorrow Night (Psychic Civil War)
Cocoon - Comets (Where Oceans End)
By The Sea - Old Coasts (GPS 7")
**
The See See - Automobile (GPS 7")
Matt Valentine - Hit The Trails (What I Became)
The Laurels - Run For Cover (Mesozoic EP)
**
Major Chord - Gather All This Love (Psychic Civil War)
Other Lives - Dust Bowl III (Tamer Animals)
Sailor Days - Species Counterpoint (S/T)
**
Alex Turner - It's Hard To Get Around The Wind (Submarine OST)
Ben Hall - The Christian Life ( A Little More Ben Hall!)

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Sideways Through Sound Archive

20th July 2007: Black Forest/Black Sea - Forcefields & Constellations
21st July 2008: Arborea - S/T
22nd July 2009: v/a Leaves Of Life
21st July 2010: v/a Beyond Berkeley Guitar

13th July 2011: Cave Country / Interview / Playlist

Featured: Cave Country - Pray This Dam Don't Burn Yet (SR)

Cave Country is a lovely and rather contemporary blend of country, indie rock and folk, colored by a rich vocal harmony that resonates with the very essence of their home on the California coast.

Jim Reynolds and Evan apRoberts began the first incarnation of Cave Country at school in Los Angeles and, with the additional influences of John Thompson from South Carolina and Andrew MacIver from Philadelphia todays dynamic line-up was completed.

Taking sonic and stylistic lessons from past legends such as Buffalo Springfield and on to more modern folk flavoured rockers Wilco, Cave Country's down-tempo drawl is perfectly fitting given the pace of their hometown Highland Park... their sound is warm, melodic and honest, exactly the way folk music (and life) should be...

cavecountryband.com

Radio Playlist 13th July 2011

Into The Woods - Where The River Meets The Sea (demo)
The Wooden Birds - Believe In Love (Magnolia)
Cave Country - Huffrag (Pray This Dam Don't Burn Yet)
**
Alex Hallahan - Midnight Radio (advance promo - Human Veins)
Tyler Ramsay - A Long Dream (A Long Dream About Swimming Across The Sea)
Isbells - Maybe (S/T)
**
Cave Country - I'm Going Wrong (Pray This Dam Don't Burn Yet)
Evan apRoberts - Cave Country (Under The Ghost)
Cave Country - When You Ride (Pray This Dam Don't Burn Yet)
O'Death - Ghost Head (Outside)
The Low Anthem - Hey, All You Hippies (Smart Flesh)
**
Belles Will Ring - The Green (Crystal Theatre)
D. Charles Speer & The Helix - Leaving The Commonwealth (Leaving The Commonwealth)
Cave Country - All We Could See Was The Sea (Pray This Dam Don't Burn Yet)
**
Phosphorescent - Tell Me Baby (have you had enough) (Here's To Taking It Easy)

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Sideways Through Sound Archive

13th July 2007: Charlie Schmidt - Xanthe Terror
14th July 2008: Jeff Eden - Night & Day Songs For Solo Guitar
8th July 2009: Tranko / Yoshino / Japanese Special
14th July 2010: Ass - Salt Marsh

6th July 2011: Kaya Ogawa / Playlist

Featured: Kaya Ogawa - Open The Door (SR)

This is authentic music... and that's perhaps surprising considering we're talking about a young Japanese guitarist working in the blues traditions of the American South.

But it turns out Kaya Ogawa has paid his dues, busking on the streets and playing in the clubs of New Orleans, London, Amsterdam and Okinawa and from the sounds of it, this dedication has paid off...

Kaya has fashioned a distinctly expressive, individualistic style of acoustic and electric blues that speaks from the heart, while at the same time reflecting the legacy of the Delta blues and later stylists like Ry Cooder.

Whether it's the sly, greasy blues of 'Guernica' or the pensive quiet of 'Butterfly', Kaya creates an atmosphere of intimacy that leaves a long and lasting impression.(Metropolis Magazine, Tokyo)

www.myspace.com/ogawakaya/music

Radio Playlist 6th July 2011

Long Voyage - Hot Air Balloon (Spring Fair EP)
Thousands - We Don't Tell (The Sound Of Everything)
Kaya Ogawa - Blue (Open The Door)
**
Bon Iver - Holocene (S/T)
Tamara Van Esch - Ace Of Spades (Demo)
Ravenna Woods - Goldrush (Demons & Lakes)
**
Kaya Ogawa - Butterfly (Open The Door)
Brad Barr - Heart Shaped Box (The Fall Apartment: Instrumental Guitar)
Robbie Basho - Where Butterflies In Winter Go (Twilight Peaks)
**
Justin Vernon - Hazelton (Hazeltons)
Tiny Ruins - Just Desserts (Some Were Meant For Sea)
Kaya Ogawa - Redwind From San Diego (Open The Door)
**
Daniel Martin Moore - O My Soul (In The Cool Of The Day)
Cat Power - (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction (The Covers Record)
Sharon Van Etten - Don't Do It (Epic)
**
Kaya Ogawa - Guernica (Open The Door)
Matt Baldwin - Weissensee (Paths Of Ignition)

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Sideways Through Sound Archive

28th July 2010: The Driftwood Manor
21st July 2010: v/a Beyond Berleley Guitar
14th July 2010: ASS
7th July 2010: Rangda
**
29th July 2009: The Steals
22nd July 2009: v/a Leaves Of Life
15th July 2009: Rusted Rail Records
8th July 2009: Tranko/Yoshino/Japanese Special
1st July 2009: The Boy Who Spoke Clouds
**
28th July 2008: Tom Carter & Christian Kiefer
21st July 2008: Arborea
14th July 2008: Jeff Eden
7th July 2008: I Am Your Autopilot
**
27th July 2007: Fence Records
20th July 2007: v/a Leaves From Off The Tree
13th July 2007: v/a Dead Man's Shoes OST
5th July 2007: White Magic