28th September 2011: Himalaya / Polyminor in Session / Playlist

Featured: Himalaya - The Reason We Start Fires (SR) 

Brooklyn’s psychedelic indie rockers release their second album 'The Reason We Start Fires'.

"Himalaya is so god damned good. I hate to call them a psych rock band because they are so much more than that. They are epically large in their scope and ambition. Their album The Reason We Start Fires is so fucking good it hurts right in that area where your body can fold in half.

'Day Six' video is a collage of old time images from the boardwalk, kind of harkening back to a version of America when people were dumber, more rapey and violent, and infinitely more racist. The song 'Day Six' however, transports us into a more wonderful future where everyone is all Gattaca Uma Thurman hot. Fuck you Himalaya for making me have to get my leg bones broken and stretched just to be good enough. I hate/love you." (SYYFFAL)

Himalaya

Polyminor's Matt Luciano - Live in Session

Polyminor

Radio Playlist 28th September 2011 (here)

Mogwai - Hound Of Winter (Earth Division EP)

Barn Owl - Temple Of The Winds (Lost In The Glare)

Himalaya - Far Too Long (The Reason We Start Fires)

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Texture Like Sun - Bottle (1 track advance)

Across Tundras - Wounded Battle Hymn (Tumbleweeds)

Jonathan Wilson - Desert Raven (Gentle Spirit)

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Polyminor - Sola (Echo & Shadow)

Polyminor (Matt Luciano) - Shadow (Live on Sideways Through Sound)

Polyminor (Matt Luciano) - Mayflower (Live on Sideways Through Sound)

**

Himalaya - Big Star (The Reason We Start Fires)

Grand Atlantic - Searchlights (Constellations)

The Solomons - On My Own (1 track advance)

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Richard In Your Mind - Maybe When The Sun Comes Down (Sun)

The Heavy Co. - The Heavy (The Heavy (please tune in...))

Himalaya - Day Six (The Reason We Start Fires)

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Sideways Through Sound Archive

29th September 2010: Mondo Drag - New Rituals

30th September 2009: Nancy Elizabeth - Wrought Iron

29th September 2008: Heidi Elva - Live in Session

27th September 2007: Gravenhurst - The Western Lands

21st September 2011: Jeff Lang / Playlist

Featured: Jeff Lang - Carried In Mind (ABC Roots) 

This website is probably not capable of powering the gigga-whatevers needed to hold the amount of information required to explain Jeff Lang’s career. Let’s just say that ‘Carried In Mind’ is his fifteenth studio album and that is not even including the many other projects his has been involved in, the guy is a historical, musical landmark in the Australian scene.

So by the time an artist reaches album number fifteen you would expect a reviewer to find few things wrong with said record. You would be right, ‘Carried In Mind’ is full of brilliant musicianship, mature song writing, and some of the smoothest blues riffs Lang has ever produced, and is above all, hard to fault. The two main points of interest on this record are the guitar lines, which are simply brilliant, and the vocal melodies, which wrestle each other for the spotlight constantly.

Whether you have been following Lang’s career or are a newcomer ‘Carried In Mind’ will do more than satisfy as it speaks with its own voice. Whilst there is a range of styles explored, which creates great diversity, the underlying blues tone that Lang is more than present. Here’s to the sixteenth and onwards.

Jeff Lang

Radio Playlist 21st September 2011 (here)

Ben Salter - The Cat (The Cat)
Mondo Drag - Black River (New Rituals)
Jeff Lang - Towards Love (Carried In Mind)
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The Moffs - Tomorrow Never Knows (The Collection)
Hotplate - Going To Bill's (Elephas)
Six Organs Of Admittance - Bar Nasha (Luminous Night)
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Jeff Lang - Running By The Rock (Carried In Mind)
Jeff Lang - You Never Know Who's Listening (Carried In Mind)
Jeff Lang - Jack-A-Row (Carried In Mind)
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Dean McPhee - Sky Burial (Brown Bear EP)
Sky Picnic - Moons Of Jupiter (v/a Sound Explosions)
Elder - III (Dead Roots Stirring)
**
Sienna Root - Waiting For The Sun (v/a Electric Magic Vol.3)


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Sideways Through Sound Archive


22nd September 2010: Amaya Laucirica - Early Summer
23rd September 2009: Major Chord - The Rabbit Hole
22nd September 2008: Khancoban - Limbs May Fall
20th September 2007: The Oscillation - Out Of Phase

14th September 2011: Wooden Shjips / Interview with Nash / Playlist

Featured: Wooden Shjips - West (Thrill Jockey)

Wooden Shjips, as it is today, started in 2006. The band self released a 10" and 7" that year and started playing shows shortly thereafter. Prior to 2006, Wooden Shjips was an experiment in primitive and minimalist rock. After it imploded, Ripley Johnson, guitar and vocals, assembled the current lineup of Dusty Jermier on bass, Nash Whalen on organ, and Omar Ahsanuddin on drums.

The over riding theme for the album (as indicated by the title) is the American West, and all of the mythology, romanticism, and idealism that it embodies. The band members grew up on the East Coast, so for a long time the history and literature of the West was an abstraction and a fascination for them. Part of the allure of the West, which is part of the myth, is the concept of Manifest Destiny, the vastness, and the possibilities for reinvention, which is not to say that is what each song is specifically about, but it was very much an undercurrent during the songwriting of the album. The artwork also touches on the same theme by using an iconic structure that is both a gateway in a literal and metaphorical sense.

It is easy to see why these would appeal to Wooden Shjips, as their music lends itself to exploration. It is both transformative and transporting, the sum being far greater than it’s parts. The steady driving rhythms are the elliptical motion machine driven by the often thick and distorted guitar lines, melodic and boundless. Where they may lead cannot be anticipated but following them is exhilarating. It is all about getting there, the destination, while the experience of getting there is an adventure. It is the guitar lines that guide both the listener and the band on the literal and metaphorical journey into the vastness. The ghostly vocals, obscured by dense layers of instruments surrounding them, are alluring with their airy mystery. This elusive quality further draws the listener in, while they attempt to grasp at their meaning. While indebted to both the psych music of the ‘60s and mid-‘70s, electric Neil Young, and even the induced travels of Spacemen 3, the Wooden Shjips’ music is modern and in every way their own. West is an epic journey to the edge and beyond.

Wooden Shjips

Radio Playlist 14th September (here)

Spaces - The Crown Of The Sun (Nothing Exists But Atoms & The Void)

Andrew Douglas Rothbard - Zweitracht (Exodusarabesque)
Rancho Relaxo - Like A Light (Neon Twang House)
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Wooden Shjips - Flight (West)
Moonbell - Nostalgia For The Future (Figurine EP)
Three Dimensional Tanx - Way Up To The Sun (S/T)
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Wooden Shjips - Black Smoke Rise (West)
Wooden Shjips - Crossing (West)
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The Soundcarriers - Morning Haze (Celeste)
Amaya Laucirica - No Excuses (advance promo)
French Rockets - Mandy Summers (Demo)
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Deserters - Stars Burn (advance promo)
Mount Peru - Crooked Road Blues (My Sweetheart The Destroyer)
Man Ray Sky - Ooort Cloud/Feeling Of Loss (Demo)


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Sideways Through Sound Archive


15th September 2010: Black Mountain - Wilderness Heart
16th September 2009: Safety Meeting Records
15th September 2008: Mary Hampton - My Mother's Children
13th September 2007: Rusted Rail Records

7th September 2011: James Sera / Playlist

Featured: James Sera - Reality Of The Fantasy (SR)

James' music has been described as music that "lifts you up and carries you on a wave of instrumental beauty that transverses many moods and atmospheres, whilst retaining a raw and human element." On his self released debut album ‘Reality Of The Fantasy’ solo acoustic guitarist James Sera "Creates a pallet of light, freedom of thought and striking imagery." His music can range from uplifting to haunting, inspirational to gothic. The soulful nine track collection crosses numerous genres and has been described as everything from "atmospheric," "ambient," "psychedelic," and "neo-folk" to "neo-classical with a dash of American Primitive."

Drawing his inspiration from individual experience and inner reflection, James’ debut album ‘Reality of the Fantasy is a deeply personal affair, and much of it has an air of melancholy, anger and the regrets and frustrations of everyday life. At the same time, ‘Reality Of The Fantasy’ is a collection of songs that is a quest to find harmony in a world of dissonance and discord, creating a calming, soothing yet hypnotic quality to the music for the listener to experience.

Written over a crucial time in his life, James wanted to musically express something with a different depth and meaning that was a true representation of what was happening to him at that particular time. The stress, pressures, inner revelations and questions about the what-ifs in one’s life all play an imperative role in the nature of his music. Also underpinning this particular body of music is the battle and struggle his younger brother George faces after being diagnosed with an aggressive and crippling form of MS, a theme that hangs deeply over the nine heartfelt compositions like a dark portrait.

James Sera 

Radio Playlist 7th September 2011 

Black Eagle Child - Walk In River Park (v/a Various Deficiencies Vol.2) 
Voice Of The Seven Woods - The Fire In My Head (S/T) 
Jimmy Page & Robert Plant - The Battle Of Evermore (No Quarter: Unledded) 
Voice Of The Seven Woods - Silver Morning Branches (S/T) 
James Sera - Wish (Reality Of The Fantasy) 
** 
We Are Willow - Bring You Round (Part 3) 
Hailer - Postbag (Demo) 
The Flying Eyes - Lay With Me (S/T) 
** 
James Sera - In The Evening (Reality Of The Fantasy) 
The Yellow Moon Band - Focused (Travels Into Several Remote Nations Of The World) 
Led Zeppelin - In The Evening (In Through The Out Door) 
** 
Jonathan Wilson & Farmer Dave Cher - La Isla Bonita (Live On Sideways Through Sound 08-04-2009) 
Into The Woods - Where The River Meets The Sea (Demo) 
Quiet Loner - There Go The Ghosts (EP) 
** 
James Sera - Chemistry In Motion (Reality Of The Fantasy) 

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Sideways Through Sound Archive

29th September 2010: Mondo Drag

22nd September 2010: Amaya Laucirica in Session

15th September 2010: Black Mountain & Interview

8th September 2010: Martha Tilston / Khancoban in Session

1st September 2010: Tompkins Square

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30th September 2009: Nancy Elizabeth

23rd September 2009: Major Chord

16th September 2009: Safety Meeting Records

9th September 2009: Anonymeye in Session

2nd September 2009: Ben Reynolds

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29th September 2008: Heidi Elva in Session

22nd September 2008: Khancoban

15th September 2008: Mary Hampton

8th September 2008: Static Caravan Records

1st September 2008: The Black Angels

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27th September 2007: Jesse Sykes & The Sweet Hereafter

20th September 2007: Diane Cluck

13th September 2007: Gravenhurst

6th September 2007: Men-An-Tol