Sideways Through Sound

8th February 2012: Mark Lanegan Band / Playlist

2012-02-01T16:13:00.000-08:00

Featured: Mark Lanegan Band - Blues Funeral (4AD)

'Blues Funeral' is the new Mark Lanegan Band record, the first since 2004's 'Bubblegum'. It was recorded in Hollywood, California by Alain Johannes at his 11ad studio.

The music was played by Johannes and Jack Irons with appearances from Greg Dulli, Josh Homme et al.

Mark Lanegan has sung with Screaming Trees, Queens Of the Stone Age, The Twilight Singers, The Gutter Twins, Soulsavers and Isobel Campbell.

He resides in Los Angeles and has two dogs.

Mark Lanegan

Radio Playlist 8th February 2012

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Sideways Through Sound Archive

1st February 2012: Morning Of The Earth / Ryan Francesconi in Session / Playlist

2012-01-26T12:33:00.000-08:00

Featured: Morning Of The Earth OST (Warner Music Australia)

Morning of the Earth is arguably the first surf movie that went beyond waves and into something of a (wordless) meditation on life based on surfing.

The film is gloriously a product of it's time and is full of late 60's early 70's back-to-the-country hippy vibes as well as featuring some beautifully filmed surfing on Australian, Hawaian and Bali waves.

The soundtrack is therefore an incredible collection of Australasian country folk (G Wayne Thomas), psychedelic prog rock (Taman Shud), and superbly mind bending Acid Rock from New Zealand's almost but not quite, long forgotten Ticket.

Like the film, the soundtrack is a bit of a time machine back to a by-gone era as well as being an astounding collection of early 70's Australasian psych-folk.

Morning Of The Earth LIVE

In 1972 one film defined a music, a lifestyle… a generation.

Featuring stunning surfing sequences from Bali, Angourie, Kirra, Oahu, Maui and elsewhere, Morning Of The Earth has been universally acclaimed as perhaps the greatest surfing film ever made.

With the blessing of its creator Albe Falzon, Morning Of The Earth has been re-edited and remastered to highlight the simple beauty of one of the few true Australian Classic Films and its story - the dream of every surfer to search for the perfect wave.

Universally acclaimed as perhaps the greatest surfing film ever made, Morning Of The Earth LIVE will bring together a veritable who’s who of Australia’s musicians, such as Brian Cadd and Lior, to breathe new life into this classic soundtrack.

Screened at some of Australia’s most iconic theatres, Drive-In movie theatres and breathtaking coastal locations, this live performance film event will be the highlight of the 2012 summer season.

Morning Of The Earth

Ryan Francesconi - Live in Session on Sideways Through Sound

Portland-based Ryan Francesconi's stock has soared of late as the main man on Joanna Newsom's remarkable triple album Have One On Me.

He arranged and played all over that massive opus, as well as figuring centrally in its live incarnation and the Ys Street Band of Newsom's previous record. But Francesconi does his own thing too.

His solo acoustic guitar creates a rich sound that hints at his extensive musical interests - Baroque, Balkan, Turkish, Americana and jazz improvisation.

Ryan will be a guest on Sideways Through Sound and you can also catch him at The Red Rattler, Marrickville on Saturday February 4.

This intimate concert will also feature Melbourne folk favourite Grand Salvo in a rare Sydney appearance previewing songs from his forthcoming new album as well as acclaimed Sydney outfit The Singing Skies, whose 'Routine and War' album garnered great notices in 2011.

Click HERE for info...

Ryan Francesconi

Radio Playlist 1st February 2012

The Driftwood Manor - The Fog Will Rise At Dawn (Shelter)
Vetiver - Hurry On Sundown (Thing Of The Past)
G.Wayne Thomas - Morning Of The Earth (Morning Of The Earth OST)
**
Tame Impala - The Bold Arrow Of Time (Innerspeaker)
Heavy Hands - See Saw (Smoke Signals)
The Ticket - Awake (Morning Of The Earth OST)
**
Ryan Francesconi - Parables (Parables)
Ryan Francesconi feat. Mirabai - Parallel Flight (Live on Sideways Through Sound)
Ryan Francesconi feat. Mirabai - For Christos (Live on Sideways Through Sound)
**
Neal Morgan & RF - Pool (v/a Family Album)
Christopher Paul Stelling - Solar Flares (Songs Of Praise & Scorn)
Tamam Shud - Bali Waters (Morning Of The Earth OST)

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Sideways Through Sound Archive

25th January 2012: Sharon Van Etten / Playlist

2012-01-20T16:12:00.000-08:00

Featured: Sharon Van Etten - Tramp (Jagjaguwar)

The shimmering sound of Sharon Van Etten's Jagjaguwar debut album, 'Tramp', both defies and illuminates the unsteadiness of a life in flux.

Throughout the 14 months of scattered recording sessions, Sharon was without a home, crashing with friends and storing her possessions between varied locations. The only constant in her life during this time was spent in Aaron Dessner's (The National) garage studio.

>A two year journey brought her to that point of instability. Upon the release of 'Epic' (Ba Da Bing; 2010), Sharon surprised the music world with a touching embrace. Having established herself as a reliable performer around New York and, coming off the release of her spartan first effort, 'Because I Was In Love' (Language of Stone; 2009), Sharon created a short album of diverse songs connected by a shared goal of expanded sound and her unmistakable voice.

FFWD to 2012 and 'Tramp' showcases an artist in full control of her powers, the album containing as much striking rock as pious, minimal beauty; it can be as emotionally combative as it can sultry. Contributions from Matt Barrick (Walkmen), Thomas Bartlett (Doveman), Zach Condon (Beirut), Jenn Wasner (Wye Oak), Julianna Barwick, and Dessner himself add a glowing sheen to the already substantial offering.

Sharon has traveled far, and if her displacement took an emotional toll, she offset those setbacks with a powerfully articulated vision.

Sharon Van Etten

Radio Playlist 25th January 2012

Oh Ruin - Ringsend (EP)

The Great Went - That's Not There (Sheltering Sky)

The Autumn Isles - Isolation (Kaleidoscopes)

Sharon Van Etten - Give Out (Tramp)

Jona Byron - Changing Of The Hours (Red Tide)

The Solomons - False Prophets (EP)

Sharon Van Etten - I'm Wrong (Tramp)

Dead Horse One - Blackwood (Heavenly Choir Of Jet Engines -part 1)

Delta Mainline - Hope / Grace (In A World Full Of Madness, The Simple Joy Of Melody Can Pull You Through)

Pascal Finkenauer - I Wanna Be Adored (demo)

Noveller - Glacial Wave (Glacial Glow)

Sharon Van Etten - Serpents (Tramp)

Elysian Fields - Lions In The Store (Bum Raps, Love Taps)

Sleepy Sun - Wild Machines (Fever)

Sky Flying By - Hold Your Fire (Do They Still Make Lighthouses?)

Sharon Van Etten - Warsaw (Tramp)

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Sideways Through Sound Archive

18th January 2012: The Vorticists / Sam Amidon (live in session) / Playlist

2012-01-13T22:42:00.000-08:00

Featured: The Vorticists - Show (SR)

Modern psychedelic rock band The Vorticists have just released their debut album, 'Show'.

"This is really an 'album-listeners' album, in the vein of Pink Floyd and Radiohead... but I'm wary of calling it a concept-album," says keyboard player and vocalist Alex Chod.

"To me, 'Show' is a strange, alluring journey through the emotions of self-realization. We're excited to give something new to our fans and to make new friends as we promote our album and take the live show on the road,"

After a year of writing, recording and experimentation the album is now available for digital download through their Bandcamp (see below). An independently produced work, the band is offering a 'pay what you want' pricetag on the three-song demo of the album (aptly titled 'Faux Show'), and a five dollar minimum on the complete, nine track album in high quality formats... Bargain!!

The Vorticists

Sam Amidon - Live in Session on Sideways Through Sound

New York-based singer Sam Amidon has won massive acclaim for his ability to radically re-invent traditional songs. To augment his guitar, banjo and fiddle and deadpan vocals, Sam draws on a host of collaborators for his latest album, 'I See The Sign', including Nico Muhly for string, woodwind and brass arrangements and Beth Orton for backing harmonies...

On the eve of his Sydney Festival appearance, Thee Sonic Assassin will be joined in the studio by Sam for a chat and a couple of tunes...

Sam Amidon

Radio Playlist 18th January 2012 (here)

Tyler Ramsey - All Through The Night (Live Chapel Session 2011)

Dextro - Ilm (Winded)

The Vorticists - Cannonball (Show)

Modest Mouse - Perfect Disguise (BBC Radio 1 Session) (The Moon & Antarctica)

Dean McPhee - Star Burial (Son Of The Black Peace)

Lisa Hannigan - Nowhere To Go (Passenger)

Sam Amidon - The Needle & The Damage Done (v/a Harvest Revisited)

Sam Amidon - I See The Sign (Live on Sideways Through Sound)

Sam Amidon - Streets Of Derry (Live on Sideways Through Sound)

The Vorticists - Searching (Show)

Baron - Eyes Wide Open (Illegitimate Nephew)

Glorie - Highrise (S/T)

John Smith - Not Over Yet (album sampler)

Nick Castell - Heitaro Meets Higo (Deep Beneath The Mountain In The Palace Of Owls)

The Vorticists - Cubs & Waves (Show)

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Sideways Through Sound Archive

11th January 2012: Black Market Karma / Playlist

2012-01-07T15:53:00.000-08:00

Featured: Black Market Karma - Comatose (Flower Power)

Black Market Karma are psychedelic and are ready to bring another dose of textures and sounds to your eager ears, you lucky people you!!

Taking influence from the 1960's psychedeIic and garage movements, you'll hear bits of The Velvet Underground and The Beatles in the BMK sound, cut with the later neo psych of the My Bloody Valentine and Spacemen 3.

After a couple of killer EP's and a ton of gigs across the UK and Europe their debut album 'Comatose' is finally out, released January 1st, 2011. Brimming with intergalactic narcotic swagger, the gang deliver a gently in-the-red mix of rib-rattling shoegaze and intricate sonic wonder.

And guess what?? The band are already back in the studio recording the next album. Check out the label (Flower Power Records) for downloads and other cool stuff!!

Flower Power Records

Radio Playlist 11th January 2012

Sun Dial - 3000 Miles (Acid Yantra)
The Morning After Girls - Alone (Alone)
Black Market Karma - The Way It Was (Comatose)
**
Tyrnaround - Colour Your Mind (Colour Your Mind EP)
The Jimi Hendrix Experience - Purple Haze (BBC Sessions: 28-03-67)
Galaxies In The River - By The Crow Flies (Home From Above EP)
**
Black Market Karma - All These Things (Comatose)
Ride - Drive Blind (Chelsea Girl EP)
Hypatia Lake - Only The Queen (can speak to the nine eyed rose of infinity) (Ouroboros)
**
The Soft Hills - Chosen One (The Bird Is Coming Down To Earth)
Rancho Relaxo - Celestial Giveaway (Heavy Third Eye)
Psychemagik - Valley Of Paradise (12")
**
Black Market Karma - Pulling Shapes (Comatose)

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Sideways Through Sound Archive

4th January 2012: The Early Days / Playlist

2011-12-28T15:21:00.000-08:00

Featured: The Early Days - S/T (SR)

The Early Days started out 2007 in Stockholm, Sweden as a sunday living room jam duo, but rapidly evolved into a five-piece full rock band.They proudly administrate the heritage from the 60’s psychedelic pop, but also clear new paths for the neo-psyche-delic wave that is tearing up shores across the world as we speak. With repetitive, melodic songs, floating vocals and dreamy guitars, The Early Days build upon both new and old traditions.

Finally the long and winding road from industrious songwriting to the release of an album is behind us. We kindly ask you to take over the wheel from this point. We have finished the job and The Early Days debut album belongs to us no more.

A lot of great people have been on-board this trip, but first and foremost we would like to thank the excellent Mark Gardener for mixing the album. Also big thanks to everyone at Svenska Grammofon Studion who let us record our music in an almost perfect and very inspiring environment. We could not have done it any better or in any other way.

This album is the logical follow-up to our previously released EP's, it is more accessible and the "60's" is even more present than before, but it is still a matter of psychedelic music in the truest sense of the word. We completely unscrewed the doors of perception this time and created a record that the human mind will need a philosophy of its own to handle.

We feel proud of this album and we hope you like it too.

Sincerely yours - The Early Days

The Early Days

Playlist 4th January 2012

Vetiver - You May Be Blue (Live at Fernwood Resort, Big Sur, CA 14-05-2011)
Terra Firma - Separate Graves (S/T)
The Early Days - There She Falls (S/T)
**
Chapterhouse - There's Still Life (Blood Music)
The Myrrors - The Mind's Eye (Burning Circles In The Sky)
The Sand Pebbles - I Don't Ever Want To Come Down (A Thousand Wild Flowers)
**
The Early Days - Butterfly (S/T)
The Early Days - London Dungeon (with Ebbot Lundberg, TSOOL) (Live in Stockholm 2011)
The Soundtrack Of Our Lives - To Somewhere Else (A Present From The Past)
**
Booger Red - I Know You (demo)
Jack Bradley - Run Again (demo)
The Early Days - Spaceman (S/T)
**
The Sun Blindness - Three Silver Digits (Blood Meridian Rarities)
By The Sea - Woods (Lisa's Funeral) (GPS - Springtime Promo)
Vetiver - Been So Long (Neighbors Remix) / You May Be Blue (edit) (12")

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Sideways Through Sound Archive

28th December 2011: Top Ten 2011 / Playlist

2011-12-27T03:22:00.000-08:00

Featured: Sideways Through Sound 2011 Top Ten

On this very special Sideways Through Sound we’ll begin our Top Ten countdown, as voted for by the Sideways Through Sound listeners...

Playlist 28th December 2011

Torn Sail - Birds (12")
Dollboy - Sun Will Rise (Demo)
Jonathan Wilson - Desert Raven (Gentle Spirit)
Anna Myrsten - Woodpecker (Demo)
Belles Will Ring - Come To The Village (Crystal Theatre)
James Sera - Day Of Celebration (Reality Of The Fantasy)
**
10. Black Mountain - Old Fangs (Wilderness Heart)
9. Tyler Ramsey - Stay Gone (The Valley Wind)
8. Wooden Shjips - Black Smoke Rise (West)
**
7. Marissa Nadler - Baby I Will Leave You In The Morning (S/T)
6. True Widow - Skull Eyes (As High As The Highest Heavens And From The Centre To The Circumference Of The Earth)
5. Vetiver - Hard To Break (The Errant Charm)
**
4. Martha Tilston - The Cape (Lucy & The Wolves)
3. Six Organs Of Admittance - Above A Desert I've Never Seen (Asleep On The Floodplain)
2. Laurels - Merry Go Round (Mesozoic EP)
**
1. Black Angels - Bad Vibrations (Phosphene Dream)

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Sideways Through Sound Archive

21st December 2011: Summer Solstice / Playlist

2011-12-17T14:37:00.000-08:00

Featured: Listener Voted Top 21 countdown 21 - 11.

On this week’s very special Sideways Through Sound we’ll begin our end of year listener voted playlist.

The Summer Solstice playlist countdown will be starting at number 21 down to 11, but before we get into the actual countdown Thee Sonic Assassin will also be playing a few tracks from those folks who just missed out getting into the Top 21...

Next week we count down from 10 to number 1, the most popular track from Sideways Through Sound in 2011!!

Playlist 21st December 2011

Hawkwind - Levitation (This Is Hawkwind, Do Not Panic -live at Stonehenge)

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

Bright Eyes - Firewall (The Peoples Key)

Glenn Jones - The Great Pacific Northwest (The Wanting)

21. Fleet Foxes - Bedouin Dress (Helplessness Blues)

20. Arbouretum - The Highwayman (The Gathering)

19. Brad Barr - Heart Shaped Box (The Fall Apartment: Instrumental Guitar)

18. Into The Woods - Where The River Meets The Sea (Demo)

17. Sisters Of Your Sunshine Vapor - Black Mind (S/T)

16. Oh Ruin - The Pillow Where Your Head Does Lay (Static Caravan 7")

15. Hills - The Vessel (Master Sleeps)

14. Jeff Lang - Running By The Rock (Carried In Mind)

13. Nick Jonah Davis - Death & The Monkey (Of Time & Tides)

12. My Brother The Wind - I Wash My Soul In The Stream Of Infinity (I Wash My Soul In The Stream Of Infinity)

11. The Sand Pebbles - Spring Time (Who Hasn't Lost Their Head?) (Dark Magic)

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Sideways Through Sound Archive

14th December 2011: Cult Of Dom Keller / Playlist

2011-12-10T13:50:00.001-08:00

Featured: Cult Of Dom Keller - EP3 (SR)

Cult Of Dom Keller arrived on earth in 2008 and in their few years together have bestowed upon our ear drums their dark psychedelic whacked out sounds with three self released EPs.

Way back when, the band rehearsed in the basement of an old cathedral. "It was fucking freezing, damp and the electrics kept going, but it was a free space". Before rehearsals they listened to 'Pebbles Volume 3: Acid Gallery' and the 'Dom Keller Os Mods'... 'Dom Keller' means 'Cathedral Cellar' and it made sense. The dark reverberating sounds made in the cathedral cellar had been named. Here was born The Cult of Dom Keller.

Dom Keller sound like they've fallen from the back of Ken Kesey's legendary LSD loaded magic bus, down 'n' dirty slabs of fried freak beat are sumptuously decoded within a swamp infested heavy beatnik chassis, part acid laced shade wearing psyche and part heavy stoner goo, a wasted baby laced with hazy 60's sourced keys and looping gridlocked riffs of mind expanding proportions; a blissed out frenzied fuzz laced tripping haze and bone rattling f**k you,a bludgeoned blues bastardisation spewed out by a tranced out Brian Jonestown Massacre amid an impenetrably squalling sonic wall feedback fisticuffs with a volatile 13th Floor Elevators" - losingtoday.com

Between the sounds – between the sounds in your head – you will hear voices whispering the answers you seek.

Cult Of Dom Keller - psychotropic spacemen playing black acid blues

Radio playlist 14th December 2011

Fire Eyes - Out Of Dust (RAOV 7")
Ufesas - Ecstasy #9 (S/T)
Cult Of Dom Keller - Heavy & Dead (EP3)
**
The Early Days - Shee (7")
Sungod - Blanche Of Castile (First Matter)
By The Sea - Stay Where The Sun Is (GPS 7")
**
Cult Of Dom Keller - This Is How It Feels To Live Your Life Dead (EP3)
The Telescopes - The Perfect Needle (Altered Perception)
Roky Erickson & Black Angels - Two Headed Dog (Live)
**
EYE - Usurpers (Centre Of The Sun)
Tearjerker - Focus (Rare)
Cult Of Dom Keller - Black Bullet Blues (EP3)
**
Ship Of Fools - Diesel Spaceship (Out There Somewhere)
The Early Years - Complicity (7")
The Oscillation - Visitation (exit) (Out Of Phase)

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Sideways Through Sound Archive

7th December 2011: The Woodbine & Ivy Band / Playlist

2011-11-30T11:55:00.001-08:00

Featured: The Woodbine & Ivy Band - S/T (Folk Police Recordings)

The Woodbine & Ivy Band is a group of Manchester musicians who came together to arrange and perform the ten traditional songs that make up this album. For each song they invited a different singer to contribute a lead vocal; Jackie Oates, Fay Hield, Nancy Wallace, Olivia Chaney, Pinkie Maclure, Jim Causley, Jenny McCormick, James Raynard, Rapunzel & Sedayne and Elle Osborne.

The musicians and singers were gathered together under the direction of Peter Philipson and Michael Doward and aimed to create an expansive sound that reached beyond that usually associated with traditional song. Although the musicians involved are not all from a folk background, there is a sly tipping of the cap towards the electric folk revival of the 1970s.

The singers were initially invited to perform the songs a cappella and, during a series of late night sessions, the band used these performances as a guide to their arrangements. The fruits of these free-ranging sessions were consolidated during recording dates in North Manchester’s Limefield Studio, where the legendary folk producer, Bill Leader, was around to lend a hand and give the band his quiet nod of approve.

Amongst their influences, the Woodbine & Ivy Band cite the music of Sandy Denny, John Martyn, The Byrds, Pentangle, Crazy Horse and the drone rock of Spaceman 3. This album is also one for fans of Joe Boyd’s Witchseason Productions and much of the music released on the Harvest, Leader and Transatlantic record labels.

Folk Police Recordings

Radio Playlist 7th December 2011 (here)

Corn Capri - 13 Bells-a-Ringing (Demo)
Starless & Bible Black - Under The Orcadian Tide (Static Caravan 7")
The Woodbine & Ivy Band - The Roaming Journeyman (sung by James Raynard) (S/T)
**
Dirt Farmer - Real Young (Demo)
Jona Byron - Changing Of The Hours (Demo)
Whistle Peak - Sailor (Half Asleep On Echo Falls)
**
The Woodbine & Ivy Band - Twa Corbies (sung by Pinkie Maclure) (S/T)
Holy Sons - Things You Do While Waiting For The Apocalypse (Decline Of The West)
Nyles Lannon - Better With Nothing (Pressure)
**
Snails - She's Like An Hour (GPS 7")
Matt Bailey - Whitey (The Three I's)
The Woodbine & Ivy Band - Gently Johnny (sung by Jenny McCormick) (S/T)
**
Lindsay Clarke - New Light (Home Of The Brave)
A.A. Bondy - Down In The Fire (lost sea) (Believers)
Madeline Flash - Eyes Beneath The Foot (Depth Monster EP)

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Sideways Through Sound Archive

30th November 2011: Tyler Ramsey / Sand Pebbles interview / Playlist

2011-11-25T22:19:00.001-08:00

Featured: Tyler Ramsey - The Valley Wind (Fat Possum)

Many of you may recognize Tyler Ramsey from his other job as guitarist with Band of Horses, a career that started before he joined the band with his self titled debut in 2004. He followed that up in 2008 with the quietly beautiful 'A Long Dream About Swimming Across The Sea'. After an intense recording effort earlier in the year he has just released his third album 'The Valley Wind'.

'The Valley Wind' is an album that is both nuanced and intelligent, opening with a wonderful short acoustic introduction highlighting Ramsey’s skill on the guitar. What follows are perhaps the two strongest tracks on the album, the Springsteen-esque title track "The Valley Wind" and the beautiful "1000 Black Birds" which features some delightful fingerpicking and Ramsey’s warm and textured vocal. Ramsey’s vocal is an undoubted highlight of the record. It is at times plaintive and emotional, at other times it is rich and comforting with just the right balance between beauty and rawness that perfectly suits the themes he is singing about.

Another highlight of 'The Valley Wind' is the instrumentation. Throughout the record it does just enough, never threatening to overpower Ramsey’s vocal. It’s also reasonably sparse, throwing the listeners attention towards the vocal performance and Ramsey’s lyrics, which are both thoughtful and nuanced.At a brief 35 minutes the album is over before you know it. I was left wanting to hear more, but it's undoubtedly better to be left wanting more, than wishing it had all stopped two or three songs earlier.

Tyler Ramsey

The Sand Pebbles, Ben Michael X talks with Thee Sonic Assassin on the eve of their Sydney album launch...

Fresh from a string of sold out Melbourne shows and a national tour with Galaxie 500's Dean Wareham, Melbourne's Sand Pebbles make they're long awaited Sydney return by launching their acclaimed new record Dark Magic at GoodGod Small Club on Saturday December 3.

Special guests on the night are reclusive wall melters The Astral Kaleidoscope who will perform their first show as a full 7-piece band since 2007. Cosmic trippers The Sun Blindness are also making the trip north to play tracks from their new album, 'Far Arden'.

Hypnotic. Cosmic. Kinetic. Exploding from the eye of the Universe!

Sand Pebbles

Radio Show Playlist 30th November 2011 (here)

Michael Beach - There Is No Edge Of The World To Run To (Mountains & Valleys)
Band Of Horses - Monsters (Everything All The Time)
Tyler Ramsey - When It's Done (The Valley Wind)
**
Sand Pebbles - Dark Magic (Dark Magic)
Sand Pebbles - Entrance To The Stream (feat. Will Carruthers) (Dark Magic)
**
David Lynch - The Night Bell With Lightning (Crazy Clown Time)
Angelo Badalamenti - Twin Peaks Theme (OST Twin Peaks)
Voyager One - Beautiful Wreckage (Afterhours In The Afterlife)
The Sun Blindness - A Trip In A Painted World (Like Pearly Clouds)
**
Tyler Ramsey - Stay Gone (The Valley Wind)
Real Estate - Out Of Tune (Days)
Mono Stereo - Orange Is Green (Space Out EP)
**
Vetiver - Hard To Break (The Errant Charm)
Findlay Brown - Losing The Will To Survive (Separated By The Sea)
Tyler Ramsey - 1000 Black Birds (The Valley Wind)

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Sideways Through Sound Archive

23rd November 2011: Sisters Of Your Sunshine Vapor / Playlist

2011-11-17T13:36:00.001-08:00

Featured: Sisters Of Your Sunshine Vapor - Spectra Spirit (SR)

Sisters of Your Sunshine Vapor are a garage-psych band from Detroit, MI. Originally formed in 2004 under the moniker 'SikSik Nation', they morphed from a hard-charging garage-blues band into a atmospheric, electrifying psychedelic rock band.

The debut album 'Spectra Spirit' was recorded at their own Space Camp Studios, and is a crashing confirmation of the howling, heavy sound that first drew Sideways Through Sound to this infectious Vapor. But the album is something more than it's predecessor – its ferocity more focused, its chakras more aligned, its slithering, sin-with-a-grin, serpentine-shake more singular, yet no less sinister.

'The new album finds our heroes in full-on swagger and menace mode, disposing of the incense and lava lamps for the wafts of a hookah and bonfires. They’re neither here to mess around nor waste your time. Highest recommend'. Valis

SOYSV

Radio Playlist 23rd November 2011 (here)

Dollboy - Sun Will Rise (demo)
Sproatly Smith - Death (from SF's Sorrow) (Minstrel's Grave)
Hawkwind - We Took The Wrong Step Years Ago (In Search Of Space)
**
Sisters Of Your Sunshine Vapor - Centre Of A Velvet Room (Spectra Spirit)
Spacemen 3 - We Sell Soul (Forged Prescriptions)
The Heavy Hills - Red With Mud (The Heavy Hills Roll)
**
Portishead - The Rip (Third)
Warm Digits - Warm Welcome / Keep Warm (Keep Warm... With The Warm Digits)
Cave - WUJ (Neverendless)
**
Sisters Of Your Sunshine Vapor - Black Mind (Spectra Spirit)
Strange Flowers - Mars Behind Our Eyes (v/a Psychedelica Vol.2)
Suuns - Gaze (Zeros QC)
**
Sisters Of Your Sunshine Vapor - Green Eyes & Dream (Spectra Spirit)
Bonnet People - Master Dimitri (demo(n))

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Sideways Through Sound Archive

16th November 2011: Iain Chambers / Playlist

2011-11-11T17:02:00.001-08:00

Featured: Iain Chambers - Rituals & Pastimes (Transformed Dreams)

Iain Chambers started playing guitar in his late teens. He didn't hear John Fahey's music until much later, after being introduced to it by a friend. Discovering Fahey opened the door to the range of influences running through the so called Takoma School (Fahey's circle of fellow American Primitives), from Charlie Patton to Bartok. He particularly admired Charlie Patton's use of slide – how his music seemed focused and aggressive.

'Rituals and Pastimes' is 47 minutes of fingerpicking/slide guitar music and offers a guide for a different mindset. As if time and place are bent, the listener loses awareness of these references, being lured out of everyday life into Chambers' world of wonders, charms, unknown territory, astonishment and mesmerizing beauty.

Meandering around themes, floating freely, getting off the beaten track, building up intensity to let loose, growling before whispering, aggression followed by softness: from darkness and dread to peaceful lightness and sparkling loveliness, he collars the listener from the first stroke, revealing a different mode, pace and tempo, ingredients of a challenging and intense experience, each song a story in its own distinct mood.

Iain Chambers

Radio Playlist 16th November 2011 (here)

Iain Chambers (Hotplate) - Letter To Val (Rituals & Pastimes)
The Verve - Virtual World (A Storm In Heaven)
M.Mucci - The Ward Revisited, Harris St (Demo)
**
The Demon Parade - All The Cool Kids (Demo)
Purple Mercy - Off The Pigs (Private Pleasures)
Mazzy Star - Roseblood (Among My Swan)
**
Iain Chambers (Hotplate) - Rituals & Pastimes (Rituals & Pastimes)
John Fahey - Jesus Is A Dying Bedmaker (America)
Chapters - The Last Days Of Steam (EP1)
**
The Early Days - My Way (Demo)
It's Not Night: It's Space - Moon Goose (East Of The Sun & West Of The Moon)
Jack On Fire - New Moon (Sermons From The Eastern Seaboard)
**
Iain Chambers (Hotplate) - Port Authority Bus Station Blues (Rituals & Pastimes)

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Sideways Through Sound Archive

9th November 2011: Joe Boyd interview / Playlist

2011-11-03T17:03:00.000-07:00

Featured: Joe Boyd - record producer / writer

Joe Boyd

Radio Playlist 9th November 2011 (here)

Nick Drake - River Man (Made To Love Magic - demo, recorded Spring 1968)
Robin Frederick - Been Smoking Too Long (demo, recorded Aix-en-Provence Winter 1966/67 - covered by Nick Drake)
Nick Drake - Things Behind The Sun (Pink Moon - 1972)
Fats Domino - I'm Walking To New Orleans (Walkin' To New Orleans - 1963)
Soft Machine - Joy Of A Toy (Vol.1 1967 - UFO club regulars)
Pink Floyd - Arnold Layne (7" 1967 - first single, recorded by Joe Boyd) Tomorrow - My White Bicycle (John Peel's Perfumed Garden radio show Aug 14,1967 - UFO club regulars)
Purple Gang - Granny Takes A Trip (7" 1967 - first single, recorded by Joe Boyd)
Fairport Convention - It's Alright Ma, It's Only Witchcraft (S/T 1967 - Judy Dyble on vocals)
Joni Mitchell - Chelsea Morning (Clouds 1969 - covered by Fairport Convention)
Sandy Denny - Blackwaterside (The North Star Grassman & The Ravens 1971)
The Incredible String Band - Witches Hat (The Hangman's Beautiful Daughter - 1968)
The Jimi Hendrix Experience - Drivin' South (Top Gear BBC Sessions - October 1967)
The Jimi Hendrix Experience - Rock Me Baby (Live at Monterey Pop Festival - June 1967)
Fairport Convention - Tam Lin (Liege & Lief - 1969)
The Band - Chest Fever (Music From Big Pink - 1968)
Nick Drake - Horn (Pink Moon - 1972)
Sister Rosetta Tharpe - This Train (v/a Roots Of Rock & Roll Vol.3 - 1947)
Nick Drake - River Man (Five Leaves Left - 1970)
Jackson C. Frank - Blues Run The Game (Blues Run The Game 1965 - covered by Nick Drake)
Nick Drake - Black Eyed Dog (Made To Love Magic - demo, recorded February 1974)
Nick Drake - Tow The Line (Made To Love Magic - demo recorded July 1974)

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Sideways Through Sound Archive

2nd November 2011: True Widow / Playlist

2011-10-26T20:59:00.000-07:00

Featured: True Widow - As High As The Highest Heavens & From The Centre To The Circumference Of The Earth (Kemado)

The second album from this Texas band is built on a thunderous, distorted beauty that is compellingly gorgeous, heavy and slow... a dreamy, mud-bank metal/celestial drone-drawl.

Think Mazzy Star sludging through a thick swamp with even more plodding, hypnotic allure; think a Codeine steam roller methodically leveling sun-baked melodies at 3 kmph; a half-speed psychedelic stomp/sprawl with a heavy hand on the reverb/shoegaze chord; a purpose-driven snail on downers with an electric guitar and a chorus of swaying, hypnotized, lead-footed followers marching to a 20 ton slo-mo dance; sensual, opium-drenched pool laps in a quicksand embrace; an elephant thump-soaring through drug-hazed streets lined with beckoning angels...

The band calls it "stonegaze". I like it. A lot. (Charlie Quaker).

So do Sideways Through Sound Charlie, so do Sideways Through Sound...

True Widow

Radio Playlist 2nd November 2011 (here)

Midlake - Roscoe (Beyond The Wizards Sleeve remix)
The Main Street Gospel - Love Will Have Her Revenge (Love Will Have Her Revenge)
True Widow - Night Witches (A.H.A.T.H.H.A.F.T.C.T.T.C.O.T.E.)
**
The Carpet Knights - Magical Space-Style (According To Life...)
Quest For Fire - Psychic Seasons (Lights From Paradise)
Assemble Head In Sunburst Sound - Mosquito Lantern (Ekranoplan)
**
True Widow - Skull Eyes (A.H.A.T.H.H.A.F.T.C.T.T.C.O.T.E.)
Hawkwind - Spiral Galaxy (Live at Canterbury Fayre 2001)
Luger - Zwischenspiel / Quidquid Latet Apparebit (Concrete Light)
**
Saturnia - Organza (feat. Nik Turner) (Muzak)
Monkey3 - One Zero Zero One (Beyond The Black Sky)
True Widow - Blooden Horse (A.H.A.T.H.H.A.F.T.C.T.T.C.O.T.E.)
**
Tears Run Rings - A Question & An Answer ( A Question & An Answer EP)
Can't Fake Nature - Ricordea Plains ("You..." EP)

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Sideways Through Sound Archive

19th / 26th October 2011: 2ser Subscriber Drive / Playlists

2011-10-13T15:34:00.000-07:00

2ser 107.3 Subscriber Drive 2011 - Switch On

When you subscribe to Sideways Through Sound during this year’s Subscriber Drive, you’ll receive a beautifully packaged CD of tracks selected from live sessions recorded for Sideways Through Sound.

This subscriber drive only release features 13 unreleased tracks from 13 artists including Sister Jane, Charlie Parr, The Black Ryder, Major Chord and Amaya Laucirica…You will also go into the draw for 12 whole months of entertainment and there'll be other giveaways for subscribers throughout both shows!!

Keep 2ser on air and support Sideways Through Sound - subscribe to 2ser during Sideways Through Sound, Wednesday 9pm, October 19 and 26... Switch On brothers and sisters!!

2ser

2ser Facebook

Radio Playlist 19th October 2011

Hawkwind - Levitation (This Is Hawkwind Do Not Panic - Live From Stonehenge)

The Sand Pebbles - Occupied Europe (take me across the water) (Dark Magic)

Wooden Shjips - Black Smoke Rise (West)

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

Sister Jane - Outer Suburbs Of The Soul (Mercy)

Belles Will Ring - Come To The Village (Crystal Theatre)

Khancoban - Until It Takes You Over (Arches Over The Sun)

Vetiver - Hard To Break (The Errant Charm)

Martha Tilston - The Cape (Lucy & The Wolves)

Marissa Nadler - Baby I Will Leave You In The Morning (S/T)

The Black Ryder - All That We See (Live on Sideways Through Sound 22-04-2010)

Laurels - Merry Go Round (Mesozoic EP)

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Sideways Through Archive

20th October 2010: 2ser Subscriber Drive - Week 2

21st October 2009: 2ser Subscriber Drive - Week 2

20th October 2008: Heavy Water Experiments - S/T

18th October 2007: v/a John Barleycorn Reborn (disc 1)

Radio Playlist 26th October 2011

John Fahey - Sunflower River Blues (Death Chants, Breakdowns & Military Waltzes)

Six Organs Of Admittance - Hold But Let Go (Asleep On The Floodplain)

Black Mountain - Radiant Hearts (Wilderness Heart)

Himalaya - Day Six (The Reason We Start Fires)

Amaya Laucirica - Sun On My Face (Live on Sideways Through Sound 15-12-2010)

Arbouretum - The Highwayman (The Gathering)

Black Angels - Bad Vibrations (Phosphene Dream)

My Morning Jacket - You Wanna Freak Out (Circuital)

Fleet Foxes - Grown Ocean (Helplessness Blues)

Jez Mead - Sucker (Beard Of Bees)

The Cave Singers - Outer Realms (No Witch)

Charlie Parr - 1890 (Live on Sideways Through Sound 06-10-2010)

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Sideways Through Archive

28th October 2009: Old Lost John - Faceless

27th October 2008: Jeff Lang - Half Seas Over

25th October 2007: v/a John Barleycorn Must Die (disc 2)

12th October 2011: My Brother The Wind / Playlist

2011-10-06T13:31:00.000-07:00

Featured: My Brother The Wind - I Wash My Soul In The Stream Of Infinity (Transubstans)

My Brother The Wind is a hypnotic band. Focusing on seizing the keys that are rarely found when arranged, their atmospheric sounds will take you into a journey through the psychedelic labyrinth of these musicians minds. Since their first release, 'Twilight In The Crystal Cabinet', they have impressively progressed beyond the complex sound-scapes that only occur when people connect in absolute harmony.

The band consists of Nicklas Barker (Anekdoten) on guitar, Mathias Danielsson (Makajodama, and formerly of Gösta Berlings Saga) also on guitar, Ronny Eriksson (Magnolia) on bass and Tomas Eriksson on drums: four relative strangers who with this record capture the achingly beautiful, melancholic music magic that ensues when talent and intuition meet and marry and the inspired result casts its hypnotic, psychedelic spell on us all.

My Brother The Wind blend their influences and experiences with creativiy, explosiveness and a burning passion for music combined with respectfully untampered mixing and the results is the most honest, perceptive, sonically cinematic experience in recent decades.

'I Wash My Soul In The Stream Of Infinity' is a bewitching culmination of pure, unedited creative energy - from the soul, through the fingers, directly to tape. It doesn’t get any more real than this. That statement is more than obvious when you watch the haunting video below...

My Brother The Wind

Radio Playlist 12th October 2011 (here)

Dwellers - Theme 1 (Peace, & Other Horrors)
Anna Myrsten - Woodpecker (Woodpecker)
My Brother The Wind - I Wash My Soul In The Stream Of Infinity (I Wash My Soul In The Stream Of Infinity)
**
Master Musicians Of Bukkake - Cascade Cathedral (Totem One)
Litmus - You Are Here (You Are Here)
Hawklords - The Only Ones (25 Years On)
**
My Brother The Wind - The Mediator Between Head & Hands Must Be The Heart (I Wash My Soul In The Stream Of Infinity)
Beyond-O-Matic - Starbong (Time To Get Up)
Cult Of Dom Keller - Worlds (EP2)
**
Dead Man - Today (Euphoria)
The Black Ryder - All That We See ( Live on Sideways Through Sound 22-04-2010)
My Brother The Wind - Pagan Moonbeam (I Wash My Soul In The Stream Of Infinity)
**
Causa Sui - Gelassenheit (Pewt'r Sessions 2)

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Sideways Through Sound Archive

13th October 2010: 2ser Subscriber Drive - Week 1
14th October 2009: 2ser Subscriber Drive - Week 1
13th October 2008: Preservation Records
11th October 2007: Voice Of The Seven Woods - S/T

5th October 2011: Glenn Jones / Playlist

2011-10-02T16:32:00.000-07:00

Featured: Glenn Jones - The Wanting (Thrill Jockey)

'The Wanting', Glenn Jones’ first album for Thrill Jockey, was recorded in a fourth floor apartment on Commonwealth Avenue, Allston, Massachusetts, a suburb of Boston, overlooking the commuter train line. If you listen carefully to the record, you can occasionally hear trains going by in the background. Reuben Son recorded the album between December 12, 2010, and April 20, 2011. 'The Wanting' was mixed and mastered by long time collaborator Matthew Azevedo. Simply put, 'The Wanting' is a collection of original compositions for solo acoustic steel string guitar, six-string, 10-string and bottleneck, and 5-string open-back banjo. A little background and context may help. So in his own words:

“The ‘60s, as has been drummed into our heads to the point of tediousness, was a period of musical growth and exploration. And while there does seem to have been something in the water back then that everyone of a certain age was sipping, I came of age late in that decade. In 1967, my head was blown off by Jimi Hendrix’s second album. After hearing it, I bugged my old man till he bought me my first guitar. I was 14. Today, I consider myself to be part of a tribe of acoustic finger-style guitar players whose main inspirations are the “American Primitive” or “Takoma school” guitarists, those centered around John Fahey.

The model par excellance, and the fountainhead, John virtually single-handedly created a style of solo guitar playing, as well as an audience to support it. He was also, for people like me, the inspiration to try making some kind of coherent music utilizing the acoustic guitar myself. Playing like the people who influence you, however, only gets you so far. No matter how much one loves a particular player, or how long one studies their work, it’s all but impossible to beat them at their own game. You’re always at a disadvantage. Better, therefore, to make up your own game, devise your own strategies, invent your own rules. This is what Fahey and Robbie Basho did, as well as such lesser-known players of the early-to-mid ‘60s as Max Ochs, Harry Taussig, Fred Gerlach, Dick Rosmini and others.

As I got more into the instrument and began listening to the music of guitarists of all kinds, I found that the “Takoma school” players were decidedly different from other guitarists. Despite the fact that many guitarists were technically more adept, polished or sophisticated than the American Primitives, what I like about the latter was the fact that their music was not about virtuosity for its own sake, but, rather, was a way to express some kind of feeling. Though every record I make is a ready acknowledgement of my debt to the guitarists I learned from, I strive to create music that is my own. “Strive” is perhaps not the right word. It sounds like I’m trying to do something, whereas, from where I sit now, this many years down the knife-edge, what I do is what I do: there is no trying, there is only the need to play everyday, and to create something that validates me to myself.”

Glenn Jones

Radio Playlist 5th October 2011 (here)

Ed Cooke - Burning The Rice Field (Spirit House)
Causa Sui - May Sun (Pewt'r Sessions 1)
Oresund Space Collective - Who Tripped On The C(h)ord (Dead Man In Space)
**
Glenn Jones - The Wanting (The Wanting)
Sister Jane - Indigo Shire (Live on Sideways Through Sound 08-06-2011)
Mugstar - Sunburnt Impedance Machine (Lime)
**
Glenn Jones - The Orca Grande Cement Factory At Victorville (The Wanting)
**
John Fahey - The Portland Cement Factory At Monolith, California (Days Have Gone By Vol.6)
Stillheten - While The Sky Is Quietly Changing (S/T)
Hella Vader - Mammothopolis (XVIII)

Glenn Jones - Anchor Chain Blues (The Wanting)

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Sideways Through Sound Archive

6th October 2010: Charlie Parr - Live in Session
7th October 2009: Starless & Bible Black - Shape Of The Shape
6th October 2008: Cian Nugent - Childhood, Christian Lies & Slaughter
4th October 2007: Voice Of The Seven Woods - The Journey

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

2011-09-21T16:50:00.000-07:00

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)

Texture Like Sun - Bottle (1 track advance)

Across Tundras - Wounded Battle Hymn (Tumbleweeds)

Jonathan Wilson - Desert Raven (Gentle Spirit)

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)

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

2011-09-17T20:11:00.000-07:00

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)
**
The Moffs - Tomorrow Never Knows (The Collection)
Hotplate - Going To Bill's (Elephas)
Six Organs Of Admittance - Bar Nasha (Luminous Night)
**
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)
**
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

2011-09-07T15:18:00.001-07:00

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)
**
Wooden Shjips - Flight (West)
Moonbell - Nostalgia For The Future (Figurine EP)
Three Dimensional Tanx - Way Up To The Sun (S/T)
**
Wooden Shjips - Black Smoke Rise (West)
Wooden Shjips - Crossing (West)
**
The Soundcarriers - Morning Haze (Celeste)
Amaya Laucirica - No Excuses (advance promo)
French Rockets - Mandy Summers (Demo)
**
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

2011-09-01T15:25:00.000-07:00

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 (here)

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

1st September 2010: Tompkins Square Records
9th September 2009: Anonymeye - Live in Session
2nd September 2009: Not Tonight...
8th September 2008: Static Caravan Records
1st September 2008: Black Angels - Directions To See A Ghost
6th September 2007: Ennio Morricone

31st August 2011: Lucie Thorne in Session / Playlist

2011-08-27T16:43:00.000-07:00

Featured: Lucie Thorne - Bonfires In Silver City (Little Secret)

'Bonfires In Silver City' is the stunning new album from acclaimed Australian songwriter Lucie Thorne. Steeped in that striking spaciousness and sensuality for which Thorne's work has become so renowned. 'Bonfires In Silver City' encompasses a remarkable breadth of feeling and flavour and is an arrestingly assured collection from one of our finest song-poets.

Lucie's last album, 'Black Across The Field' (2009) garnered acclaim from leading critics, including being awarded 'Best Roots Album of 2009' by The Sydney Morning Herald, was short listed for the prestigious Australian Music Prize, and earned her a place as one of Australia's most distinctive contemporary songwriters. 'Bonfires in Silver City' is an exciting development from this remarkable musician who has clearly hit her stride.

Most of these songs were written whilst on the road, over the past two years of almost constant touring. Evocative songs brewed over this nomadic time, during which Lucie has only occasionally retreated back to her country cottage by the Tantawangalo Creek that she still calls home.

Lucie Thorne

Radio Playlist 31st August 2011 (here)
Drawn From Bees - Dreams Don't Lie (Of Walls & Teeth EP)
Dead Letter Chorus - Underdog (Yearlings)
Lucie Thorne - Can't Sleep For Dreaming (Bonfires In Silver City)
**
Jonathan Wilson - Carousel (Frankie Ray)
Vetiver - It's Beyond Me (The Errant Charm)
Low - Try To Sleep (C'mon)
**
Lucie Thorne - Great Wave (Bonfires In Silver City)
Lucie Thorne - Falling (Live on Sideways Through Sound)
Lucie Thorne - Till The Season (Live on Sideways Through Sound)
**
True Widow - Duelist (S/T)
The Demon Parade - To The Mountain (Demo)
**
Hills - Death 1 (S/T)
The New Lines - Off Axis (GPS 7" split with Still Corners)
Songs - Heavy (Demo)

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Sideways Through Sound Archive

30th August 2007: Robin Allender - The Bird & The Word

24th August 2011: Sand Pebbles / Playlist

2011-08-19T16:39:00.000-07:00

Featured: Sand Pebbles - Dark Magic (dot dash)

Dark Magic is the Sand Pebbles fifth album and features contributions from Galaxie 500's Dean Wareham, Luna's Britta Phillips, Tim Holmes (Death In Vegas), Will Carruthers (Spacemen 3, Spiritualized), and Malcom McDowell.

When Wes Holland joined the Sand Pebbles a couple of years ago at the age of 18, Andrew Tanner had just turned 50. The band quickly realised they ran a unique age gamut: a member born in each decade in the history of rock n' roll - 50's, 60's, 70's, 80's and 90's. Far from disowning this unique fact, they decided to use it to inform their next album.

The result,Dark Magic, speaks from many minds and many times. Hypnotic, cosmic, kinetic and freewheeling.

Sand Pebbles

Radio Playlist 24th August 2011 (here)

Dollboy - Sun Will Rise (Demo)
Bibio - The Ephemeral Bluebell (Vignetting The Compost)
Sand Pebbles - Spring Time (who hasn't lost their head) (Dark Magic)
**
Damon & Naomi - Walking Backwards (GPS 7")
The Magic Shoppe - Trip Inside This House (v/a Trip Inside This House)
The Laurels - Merry Go Round (Mesozoic EP)
**
Sand Pebbles - Long, Long Ago (feat: Britta Phillips) (Dark Magic)
Dean & Britta - Knives From Bavaria (spoonful of fun) (L'avventura)
Hypnos 69 - My Journey To The Stars (v/a Trampled Underfoot)
**
Sungrazer - 34 & More... (Mirador)
Freelove Babies - Sky Blue Feeling (Home Improvements For Condemned Buildings)
Sand Pebbles - Entrance To The Stream (feat: Will Carruthers) (Dark Magic)
**
Still Corners - History Of Love (GPS 7")
Lucie Thorne - Falling (Bonfires In Silver City)
The Sun Blindness - A Crack In The Concrete (for D. Crosby) (Like Pearly Clouds)

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Sideways Through Sound Archive

23rd August 2007: Earth - Hibernaculum
25th August 2008: Tan Or Boil - Seamstress In A Suitcase
26th August 2009: Luminous Night
25th August 2010: John Smith - Map Or Direction

17th August 2011: The Driftwood Manor / Playlist

2011-08-12T16:54:00.000-07:00

Featured: The Driftwood Manor - The Same Figure (Leaving) (Rusted Rail/Slow Loris)

Initially released as a limited edition CDR on French label Ruralfaune in March of 2010, Rusted Rail and Slow Loris are proud to announce the release of 'The Same Figure (Leaving)' by Irish avant-folk project The Driftwood Manor.

Recorded between October 2008 and May of 2009, the album took in a considerable cast of long-time collaborators, with Driftwood Manor lynchpin Eddie Keenan working closely with friends from across the spectrum of the Irish folk and underground scene. United Bible Studies students Gavin Prior, David Colohan and Vicky Langan all added their talents with Prior in particular working closely with Keenan and co-Producer Steve Fanagan to help shape the sound of the album.

The Driftwood Manor have crafted their own brand of warm and earthy music which weaves strands of apocalyptic appalachia, psychedelic folk and Irish trad into a rich sonic tapestry. This CD is housed in a hand-assembled and hand-stamped recycled card sleeve... lovely!!

The Driftwood Manor

Radio Playlist 17th August 2011

James Elkington & Nathan Salsburg - Scarborough Fore & Aft (Avos)

Jim Ward - Easier Said Than Done (Quiet In The Valley, On The Shores The End Begins)

The Driftwood Manor - The Same Figure, Leaving (The Same Figure, Leaving)

Peace For Old Ghosts - Escape Route (Dawn Chorus)

Polyminor - Saturn's Return (Echo & Shadow)

Mercury Rev - The Funny Bird (Deserter's Songs: Instrumental)

The Driftwood Manor - To Be Done (The Same Figure, Leaving)

Jozef Van Wissem - The Day Is Coming (Ex Patris)

Arborea - Phantasmagoria In Two (Red Planet)

John Smith - Not Over Yet (album sampler: Map Or Direction)

Fleet Foxes - The Shrine/An Argument (Helplessness Blues)

The Driftwood Manor - You Have Mapped The Pathways (The Same Figure, Leaving)

Custom Blue - Let It All Fall Down (The Tree EP3)

Gravenhurst - Song Among The Pine (The Western Lands)

Lewis & Clarke - We Think We Have Eyes (Blasts Of Holy Birth)

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Sideways Through Sound Archive

16th August 2007: Angelo Badalamenti / David Lynch

18th August 2008: Helena Espvall & Masaki Batoh - S/T

19th August 2009: Grand Salvo - Soil Creatures

18th August 2010: The Soft Hills - Noruz

10th August 2011: William Elliott Whitmore / Playlist

2011-08-05T18:13:00.000-07:00

Featured: William Elliott Whitmore - Field Songs (Anti)

On his 2011 album 'Field Songs', Iowa troubadour William Elliott Whitmore documents a vanishing American landscape with all the heartfelt soul and quiet fury one could hope for.

"Heartland firebrand blows fuse, fights for truth" heralded Spin Magazine when describing Whitmore, who utilizes a powerful singing voice beyond his years and a stark dramatic sound rooted in bluegrass, blues and folk protest music. These songs vividly evoke a life of struggle, humble resilience and family bond inspired by life on his family's farm along the Mississippi River.

Whitmore has made a name for himself both within the punk movement, where his populism and sincerity resonate with alienated urban kids, and the roots community, where writers like Andy Downing in the Chicago Tribune have placed him within the "new pastoralism" of Bon Iver and the Fleet Foxes.

William Elliott Whitmore

Radio Playlist 10th August 2011

Jarrod Dickenson - Northern Sea (Live At Roost House)
Oh Ruin - The Pillow Where Your Head Does Lay (Static Caravan 7")
William Elliott Whitmore - Don't need It (Field Songs)
**
United Bible Studies & Jozef Van Wissem - The Seas Have Lifted Up Their Voice (Downland)
Apricot Rail - Surry Hills (Demo)
The Opium Cartel - Heavenman (Nightblooms)
**
William Elliott Whitmore - Not Feeling Any Pain (Field Songs)
Bonny 'Prince' Billy & The Phantom Family Halo - The Mindeater (The Mindeater 7" EP)
Clogs - We Were Here (feat: Sufjan Stevens & Shara Worden) (The Creatures In The Garden Of Lady Walton)
**
M. Mucci - Chase Down Alice St. (Time Lost)
Glenn Jones - Barbeque Bob In Fishtown (Barbeque Bob In Fishtown)
William Elliott Whitmore - Bury Your Burdens In The Ground (Field Songs)
**
Gillian Welch - The Way It Will Be (The Harrow & The Harvest)
Sun City Girls - This Is My Name (Funeral Mariachi)
Coastal - Northern (S/T)

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Sideways Through Sound Archive

9th August 2007: Sunn O)) - Altar
11th August 2008: The Great Pop Supplement Records
12th August 2009: International Vinyl Day
11th August 2010: The Soundcarriers - Celeste

3rd August 2011: The Travelling Band / Playlist

2011-08-01T15:28:00.000-07:00

Featured: The Travelling Band - Screaming Is Something (Cooking Vinyl)

The Travelling Band’s shimmering blend of cosmic-country-pop, understated psychedelia, vocal harmonies and nu-folk has made them one of the most talked about artists to emerge from the Manchester music scene.

Their debut 'Under The Pavement' blurred the folk/rock boundaries, delicately intertwining sensitive lyrics with accomplished folk vocals and jangly instrumental accompaniments to form "a tapestry of glittering whimsy”, however, their follow up album 'Screaming Is Something' demonstrates a giant leap forward for the band.

The album was recorded in a few different locations but most of the recording was done in a converted church called Kinclochspelve on the Isle of Mull in Scotland. It was so desolate and tranquil on Mull and that gave that session a real focus.

The result, which isn’t quite soul music, isn’t quite folk, isn’t quite pop, country or rock has made them one of the most talked about artists to emerge from the Manchester music scene - "If you consider the term Mancunian Americana to be an oxymoron try listening to the Travelling Band. Brilliant." Marc Riley BBC 6 Music.

The Travelling Band

Radio Playlist 3rd August 2011

The Trouble With Templeton - Bleeders (Demo)

Fields - How Are You Now? (If You Fail We All Fail EP)

The Travelling Band - Hindsight (Screaming Is Something)

Torn Sail - Birds (12")

Seabuckthorn - Submerged In The River (Twilight Synopsis)

Arbouretum - The Highwayman (The Gathering)

The Travelling Band - Screaming Is Something (Screaming Is Something)

The Ovals - Refugees (Into The Eyes Of Those Who Sleep EP)

Black Mountain - Old Fangs (Wilderness Heart)

Villagers - I Saw The Dead (Becoming A Jackal)

Winter Park - The Night Beetle (The Night Beetle EP)

The Travelling Band - On The Rails (Screaming Is Something)

Grey Reverend - One By One (Of The Days)

Junip - To The Grain (Fields)

Weekend - End Times (Demo)

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Sideways Through Sound Archive

2nd August 2007: Joolie Wood - Tales Of Colour & White

4th August 2008: Luluc - Dear Hamlyn

5th August 2009: Micah Blue Smalldone - The Red River

4th August 2010: Jez Mead - Live in Session on Sideways Through Sound

27th July 2011: Sea Of Bees / Playlist

2011-07-21T02:10:00.000-07:00

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

2011-07-17T01:31:00.000-07:00

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

2011-07-07T02:48:00.000-07:00

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

2011-07-01T16:38:00.000-07:00

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

5th July 2007: Tower Recordings & Friends
7th July 2008: I Am Your Autopilot - Robots In The Orchestra
1st July 2009: The Boy Who Spoke Clouds - S/T
7th July 2010: Rangda - False Flag

29th June 2010: The Black Angels / Interview with Christian Bland / Playlist

2011-06-22T15:22:00.000-07:00

Featured: The Black Angels - Phosphene Dream (Blue Horizon)

The Black Angels third album, and first release on Blue Horizon, is the highly anticipated 'Phosphene Dream' and marks a giant leap forward for the band. Produced and mixed by Dave Sardy (Oasis, Wolfmother, Band of Horses, Black Mountain) over a period of six months in Los Angeles, the album shows off a bold new direction for The Black Angels both sonically and musically, a fresh take on the neo-Psychedelic movement they've been at the forefront of for years.

While past albums 'Passover' and Directions To See A Ghost' were recorded in the band's hometown of Austin, Texas, the process by which 'Phosphene Dream' was created pulled the band out of their comfort zone and forced them to look at songwriting and recording in a way they never had before.

Years of non-stop worldwide touring have turned The Black Angels into a tightly wound unit, and those years of work are all on showcase here. Seymour Stein, music business legend and founder of Sire Records commented; "Great musicianship and performers, mesmerizing vocals, and songs that penetrate the subconscious. That's the best way to describe Black Angels, our first signing to Blue Horizon records".

www.theblackangels.com

Radio Playlist 29th June 2011

Falloe - Found You Somehow (Science Of The Heart EP)
The Acorn - Even While You're Sleeping (Glory Hope Mountain)
The Black Angels - The Boat Song (Phosgene Nightmare)
**
Lights - Heavy Drops (Rites)
Joshua James - Black July (Build Me This)
Les Anees - San Francisco Now (S/T)
**
The Black Angels - Bad Vibrations (Phosphene Dream)
Roky Erickson & The Black Angels - Rollercoaster (v/a The Psychedelic Sounds Of The Sonic Cathedral)
Roky Erickson & Okkervil River - John Lawman (True Love Cast Out All Evil)
The Black Angels - Haunting At 1300 McKinley (Daytrotter Session 11/12/2010)
The Black Angels - No Satisfaction (Demo)
The Black Angels - True Believers (Phosphene Dream)
**
UNKLE - Follow Me Down (feat. Sleepy Sun) (Where Did The Night Fall)
Jessica Bailiff - For April (Old Things 1999-2003)
Micah P. Hinson & The Pioneer Saboteurs- She's Building Up Castles In Her Heart (S/T)

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Sideways Through Sound Archive

30th June 2010: Strange Attractors Audio House Records

22nd June 2011: Owls Of The Swamp / Playlist

2011-06-16T05:45:00.001-07:00

Featured: Owls Of The Swamp - Go With River (Broken Silence)

Following his fifth European tour, Melbourne-based international dream-folk troubadour Pete Uhlenbruch (aka Owls of the Swamp) has settled down just long enough to record and release his second full-length album, 'Go with River'.

All the songs were recorded during a five week solitary stint in a beach shack in Inverloch, Victoria, infusing the album with a subtle yet captivating, spellbinding pace. Further fleshing out his reflections on solitude and nature, Pete invited a number of local and international musician friends along for the ride.

'Go With River' is a fully realised exercise in etheral, melody driven folk and you could easily be excused for thinking you’ve stumbled across a long lost Nick Drake record.

With Pete's wonderful fingerpicking guitar style and penchant for rhythmic instrumental numbers and sparse lyrics are reminiscent of Drake at his very best, so much so that this may well be one of the hits of the year...

www.owlsoftheswamp.com

Playlist 22nd June 2010

Torn Sail - Birds (Claremont 56 12")

Cass McCombs - Buried Alive (Wit's End)
Owls Of The Swamp - Pyramid (Go With River)
**
The Flower Machine - In The Glow (Chalk Dust Dream Of The Tea Cozy Mitten Company)
Joshua Burkett - Look Floating (Golden Cosmos)
The Main Street Gospel - Love Will Have Her Revenge (Love Will Have Her Revenge)
**
Owls Of The Swamp - By The Riverside (Go With River)
Flying Canyon - Down To Summer (S/T)
Devon Sproule - If I Can Do This (I Love You, Go Easy)
**
Bark Psychosis - 400 Winters (Codename: Dustsucker)
Magic Hour - When I Remembered (Will They Turn On You Or Will They Turn You On)
Sky Picnic - Astronomy Domine (Synesthesia EP - outtake)
**
Owls Of The Swamp - Walking Song (Go With River)
Adam Haworth Stephens - With Vengeance Come (We Live On Cliffs)

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Sideways Through Sound Archive

21st June 2007: v/a A Raga For Peter Walker
26th June 2008: Thomas Denver Jonsson - The Lake Acts Like An Ocean
24th June 2009: The Orbweavers - Graphite & Diamonds
23rd June 2010: Resurrection Fern - Transcend Mortality

15th June 2011: Grey Reverend / Melodie Nelson in Session / Playlist

2011-06-10T05:33:00.000-07:00

Featured: Grey Reverend - Of The Days (Motion)

As far as live bands are concerned, The Cinematic Orchestra have few equals. Of course many will argue for the virtuosity of more traditional jazz performers, but because J. Swinscoe and company do things a bit differently, they have significantly more appeal to jazz fans who may not be the most hardcore enthusiasts.

However, this post is not about The Cinematic Orchestra, but focused on the most recent signing to the Motion label, 'Grey Reverend', the pseudonym of solo acoustic guitarist and singer/songwriter L.D. Brown.

Grey Reverend is a serious talent to be considered in the world of acoustic songwriters. Reminiscent of a certain musical icon by the name of Elliott Smith, Grey Reverend's chord progressions have the ability to uplift his otherwise sullen themes to a feeling of optimism.

However, it is Grey Reverend's lyrics that will elevate him into a realm of truly great musicians. The songs are incredibly raw and honest, wearing his emotions on his guitar. His knack for being able to tell a story through his play on words is matched by his ability to place the necessary emphasis on certain words in order to maximize emotional impact.

wwwgreyreverend.com

Live in session in the 2ser studio: Melodie Nelson

www.myspace.com/melodiemelodienelson

Radio Playlist 15th June 2011

Sarah Jane - The Reaper (Beneath Black Robes)

Thurston Moore - Space (Demolished Thoughts)
Grey Reverend - One By One (Of The Days)
**
Derwent River Star - Dead Roads (The Winter Dark)
Amaya Laucirica - Sun On My Face (Early Summer)
Melodie Nelson - Meditations On The Sun (Meditations On The Sun)
Melodie Nelson - Bovine Blues (Live on Sideways Through Sound)
Melodie Nelson - This Town (Live on Sideways Through Sound)
**
Catherine Traicos & The Starry Night - Love's Widow (Gloriosa)
Lou Rhodes - One Good Thing (One Good Thing)
Grey Reverend - Altruistic Holiday (Of The Days)
**
The Singing Skies - Routine & War (Routine & War)
Sam Amidon - Relief (I See The Sign)
Grey Reverend - Road Less Traveled (Of The Days)

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Sideways Through Sound Archive

15th June 2007: Meg Baird,Helena Espvall & Sharron Kraus - Leaves From Off The Tree
19th June 2008: C. Joynes - The Running Board
17th June 2009: Humble Soul Records
16th June 2010: M. Mucci - Time Lost

8th June 2011: Vetiver / Sister Jane in Session / Playlist

2011-06-01T14:40:00.000-07:00

Featured: Vetiver - The Errant Charm (Sub Pop)

'The Errant Charm' is the new album from San Francisco’s Vetiver, and the band’s fifth full-length overall. Recorded by bandleader Andy Cabic and Thom Monahan, 'The Errant Charm' is a superb soundtrack for an afternoon idyll.

And that’s fitting...

As he worked on material for the new record Cabic spent hours wandering the streets around San Francisco’s Richmond District, listening to rough mixes, tinkering with lyrics and arrangements. You can hear his strides in the tempo: Not hurried, just excited to be heading somewhere.

And 'The Errant Charm features some of Vetiver’s most unabashed pop songs to date, with songs like the hazy, layered and sunlight-dappled “Hard to Break,” and the driving, propulsive “Wonder Why.” 'The Errant Charm'. Errant as in wayward, elusive. Wandering but not lost. Within that wandering, all manner of small treasures are uncovered and new ones surface with each listen.

http://www.vetiverse.com/

Live in session in the 2ser studio: Sister Jane

http://sisterjane.net/

Radio Playlist 8th June 2011

Samson & Delilah - Silently (Little Red Rabbit 7")
The Hazelman Brothers - River Stone (Eyesight Like An Owl)
Vetiver - It's Beyond Me (The Errant Charm)
**
Fleet Foxes - Icicle Tusk (EP)
Cave Country - Constant Arrival (S/T)
Sister Jane - Be Kind (EP)
Sister Jane - Indigo Shire (Live in session on Sideways Through Sound)
Sister Jane - And That Is All (Live in session on Sideways Through Sound)
**
Vetiver - Hard To Break (The Errant Charm)
The Middle East - Jesus Came To My Birthday Party (I Want That You Are Always Happy)
Major Chord - Tomorrow Night (advance promo)
**
Chief - Breaking Walls (Daytrotter Session 11-29-2010)
The Maple Trail - Highwire (EP)
Vetiver - Faint Praise (The Errant Charm)

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Sideways Through Sound Archive

8th June 2007: Fonal Records
12th June 2008: Invisible Bees - S/T
10th June 2009: Alela Diane - To Be Still
9th June 2010: Static Caravan Records

1st June 2011: Arbouretum / Playlist

2011-06-01T14:18:00.000-07:00

Featured: Arbouretum - The Gathering (Thrill Jockey)

The Gathering, Arbouretum’s fourth album, was to a large extent inspired by The Red Book by Carl Jung, or more specifically, Jung’s pursuit of the inner images that led to the book’s writing.

Dave Heumann, the singer, guitarist and main lyricist of Arbouretum, has long been a fan of experiences that surpass comprehension and describe the numinous. The narrative of “losing one’s way and finding it again” resonated deeply and it was in this context that the songs that comprise The Gathering came to be.

The concept and the band could not be better matched. The song structures that Arbouretum favor are open, never a simple verse chorus verse chorus, with several points at which Heumann’s guitar and Allender’s overdriven bass might come off the rails, tessellating and unfolding into long, expressive instrumental passages. In order to further open things up, Heumann restructured the band’s instrumentation from what had been two guitars, bass, and drums, replacing one of the guitars with Matthew Pierce’s keyboards and percussion. The propulsive rhythms of Carey’s drums provide an underlying groundwork for Heumann’s guitar solos to weave in and out of, further taking advantage of the newly opened space.

'The Gathering' and the band’s live performances manifest themselves according to time and place, and the band excels in situations where ideas have time to develop and reveal different facets of themselves. Whether it be in a live setting or in the lyrical vignettes that slowly unravel within the songs, their essence is rooted in the realms of ecstatic experience.

www.myspace.com/arbouretum

Radio Playlist 1st June 2011

Spiritualized - Electricity/Home Of The Brave/The Individual (Ladies & Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space - Royal Festival Hall 12-10-2009)

The Early Days - Hill (Promo 2009)

Arbouretum - When Delivery Comes (The Gathering)

The Paperhead - Let Me Know (Trouble In Mind)

The Black Ryder - Outside (Buy The Ticket, Take The Ride)

The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart - Anne With An E (Belong)

Arbouretum - Destroying To Save (The Gathering)

Earth - Descent To The Zenith (Angels Of Darkness, Demons Of Light 1)

Grails - Future Primitive (Deep Politics)

Helicon - Hypocrite (Demo)

Air Formation - Hope (57 Octaves Below EP)

Arbouretum - The White Bird (The Gathering)

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Sideways Through Sound Archive

1st June 2007: v/a A Raga For Peter Walker

5th June 2008: Dan Mangan - Postcards & Daydreaming

3rd June 2009: Jeff Zentner - The Dying Days Of Summer

2nd June 2010: Sleepy Sun - Fever

25th May 2011: William Fitzsimmons / Playlist

2011-05-18T21:20:00.000-07:00

Featured: William Fitzsimmons - Gold In The Shadow (Nettwerk)

William Fitzsimmons is equal parts songwriter and psychotherapist, creating captivating music, which uniquely melds depravity, honesty, and autobiography into a counter-intuitive seamless whole.

For many years, armed with a Master's degree in counseling from Geneva College, William Fitzsimmons worked as a mental health therapist, and only began recording his songs during graduate school breaks.

Since 2005, Fitzsimmons has created three full-length albums, each thoroughly themed and embossed with matters of family history, intimate disclosure, and bold confession.

While previous releases have been a detailed and agonizing retelling of events, 'Gold In The Shadow' is about Fitzsimmons personal regeneration in the aftermath of those experiences. Based on a specific set of psychopathological disorders from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders IV (DSM-IV), Fitzsimmons describes the songs as "a real and long coming confrontation with personal demons, past mistakes, and the specter of mental illness which has hovered over me for the great majority of my life."

http://www.williamfitzsimmons.com/

Radio Playlist 25th May 2011

D. Charles Speer - Marcos's Cave (Aghiledes)
Thousands - Love Won't Come (The Sound Of Everything)
William Fitzsimmons - The Tide Pulls From The Moon (Gold In The Shadow)
**
Secret Cities - Brief Encounter (Strange Hearts)
Deep Magic - Minds In Lucidity 5 (Lucid Thought)
Jeff The Brotherhood - Endless Fire (We Are The Champions)
**
William Fitzsimmons - What Hold (Gold In The Shadow)
Chris Forsyth - Long Warm Afternoon (Dreams)
Here We Go Magic - Mirror Me (The January EP)
**
Jesse Sykes & The Sweet Hereafter - Spectral Beings (Daytrotter Session 01/22/2009)
Barn Owl - Visions In Dust (Ancestral Star)
William Fitzsimmons - Tied To Me (Gold In The Shadow)
**
Sleepingdog - From Where It Was (With Our Heads In The Clouds & Our Hearts In The Fields)
Sun Airway - Swallowed By The Night (Nocturne Of Exploded Crystal Chandelier)
Tears Run Rings - Distance (Distance)

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Sideways Through Sound Archive

22nd May 2008: Yousei - The Echo On Black Tile
29th May 2008: The Accidental - There Were Wolves
27th May 2009: Orla Wren - The One Two Bird & The Half Horse
26th May 2010: v/a We Are All One In The Sun - A Tribute To Robbie Basho

18th May 2011: Hills / Playlist

2011-05-13T17:53:00.000-07:00

Featured: Hills - Master Sleeps (Transubstans)

It could be argued that a hill is, in one way, the foundation for a mountain. Hoary and trite? Probably, but like a lot of things hoary and trite, there’s something that rings true at the center.

Swedish purveyors of all things multi-psychedelic, Hills, understand these little kernels of truth and have a rock solid foundation to build a mountain of sonics.

A mountain range is more apt, with their swirling mix of Krautrock, psych and space rock heft and flourishes of post rock … all still shrouded in their stony fog.

For music so heady it remains earthy and rooted; you have to stand on something to reach up and out.

Hills follow-up their debut with 'Master Sleeps' picking up right where they left off and going exactly where you always wanted them to. It’s a stellar follow-up that in no way diminishes the excitement of their first outing. Hills simply deliver again on the manifesto of foundation, showing what that foundation is made of and not getting showy or bloated. If anything, Hills knows how to use moderation like an instrument.

Like a hill, or mountain, at their core, they simply are. And that’s more than enough.

www.transubstans.com

Radio Playlist 18th May 2011

The Eighteenth Day Of May - Eighteen Days (S/T)
Fuzzy Lights - Slowing Time (Twin Feathers)
Hills - Bring Me Sand (Master Sleeps)
**
No Joy - Maggie Says I Love You (Ghost Blonde)
Moon Duo - Seer (Mazes)
Hills - Rise Again (Master Sleeps)
**
Cheval Sombre - Red Moon (Sonic Boom mix) (GPS 7")
Moonbell - Figurine (Figurine EP)
The Clientele - As The World Rises & Falls (Minotaur)
**
Hills - The Vessel (Master Sleeps)
Saxon Shore - Bar Clearing Good Times (It Doesn't Matter)
Yawning Sons - Garden Sessions III (Ceremony To The Sunset)
**
Explosions In The Sky - Be Comfortable, Creature (Take Care, Take Care, Take Care)

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Sideways Through Sound Archive

15th May 2008: Cath & Phil Tyler - Dumb Supper
20th May 2009: Anonymeye/Seaworthy/Yousei
19th May 2010: Bo'Weavil Recordings

11th May 2011: Rif Mountain Records / Playlist

2011-05-06T21:09:00.000-07:00

Featured: Rif Mountain Records & v/a Echoes From The Mountain (Rif Mountain)

www.rifmountain.com

Radio Playlist 11th May 2011

Jason Steel - Box Of Precious (Baby, Wolves Abound)
The A.Lords & Mark Fry - It's Not My Place To Fail (v/a Echoes From The Mountain)
The Owl Service - Willie O"Winsbury (The View From A Hill)
**
Roshi (feat. pars radio) - Jaana Maryam (Mehregan)
Starless & Bible Black - Silver Lady (v/a Echoes From The Mountain)
Robert Sunday - House & Hollow (Butterfly Hairslide)
**
Alasdair Roberts & Friends - Joy To The Person Of My Love (Rif Mountain 7")
Pamela Wyn Shannon - Love Song (v/a Echoes From The Mountain)
Straw Bear band - A Lyke Wake Dirge (Vexed Soul EP)
**
The Owl Service & Alison O'Donnell - The Wooden Coat (The Fabric Of Folk)
Katie Rose - Grey Lady Morning (v/a Echoes From The Mountain)
The Owl Service - Cruel Mother (The View From A Hill)
**
Nancy Wallace - Jack Hall (v/a Horses & Hangings, Homicide & Hellfire)
Jane Weaver - Death (v/a Echoes From The Mountain)
The Owl Service - The Dorset Hanging Oak (A Garland Of Song)

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Sideways Through Sound Archive

8th May 2008: Telling The Bees - Untie The Wind
13th May 2009: Sensory Projects Records
12th May 2010: The Great Pop Supplement Records

4th May 2011: Arborea / Playlist

2011-04-30T19:08:00.000-07:00

Featured: Arborea - Red Planet (Strange Attractors Audio House)

Buck and Shanti Curran are bonded together in their journey through life by matrimony and a mutual dedication to their art, and the music they make together as Arborea is a stark and strikingly intimate reflection of their very personal mystery.

From their verdant and far-flung home in the state of Maine, the avant-folk duo incant a haunting sound woven from a diversely textured loom, casting adrift songs that seemingly hover in the air, weightless and in flux, like a spectral hymn bathed in twilight. Arborea are sculptors of cinematic mini-masterpieces, with an expansive folk style that borrows from traditional American and British folk idioms, 60's pysch/folk and rock, 'American Primitive' guitar, world indigenous music and minimalism, tethered all the while by Shanti Curran's wistful, ethereal vocals and lush lyrical imagery.

Toting two full-length albums and a singles collection (House of Sticks, Borne!, 2009), Arborea have received near-universal acclaim with each outing, displaying a steady evolution of their folk-dappled style into shimmering sound pools which, collectively, convey the feel of minimalist film soundtracks. Arborea have come into their own with their fantastic fourth album 'Red Planet', absolutely the most finely distilled and focused display of their resonant sonic-acoustic vision to date.

arboreamusic.blogspot.com

Radio Show Playlist 4th May 2011

Takumi Uesaka - Cosmonaut (Glimmer)
Middle Brother - Wilderness (S/T)
Arborea - Arms & Horses (Red Planet)
**
Heavy Water Experiments - Downward Spiral Stairways (Dark/Heavy Demo)
Douga - Frozen Assets (EP)
Lumerians - Chevaux Fous (Burning Mirrors 7")
**
Arborea - Phantasmagoria In Two (Red Planet)
The Head & The Heart - Down In The Valley (S/T)
Sister Jane - Sweet Mercy (Mercy)
**
UNKLE - Separate Half (feat. Lumerians) (The Answer 12")
Emeralds - Now You See Me (Does It Look Like I'm Here?)
Arborea - Black Is The Colour (Red Planet)
**
Sarabeth Tucek - Splash 1 (Now I'm Home) (v/a The Psychedelic Sounds Of The Sonic Cathedral)
Dodos - Companions (No Colour)
Tim Schmidt - Fare Thee Well (YaYa River)

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Sideways Through Sound Archive

1st May 2008: Slow - Seeds
6th May 2009: Marissa Nadler - Little Hells
5th May 2010: Alasdair Roberts (live in session)

27th April 2011: Fleet Foxes / Playlist

2011-04-21T16:30:00.000-07:00

Featured: Fleet Foxes - Helplessness Blues (Sub Pop)

Hey, my name's Robin and I'm a singer in and songwriter for Fleet Foxes, here to write the promotional biography meant to accompany and explain Helplessness Blues. I'm just going to write down some thoughts I have about the album and give you some context. Let's do this...

Recording started with demos at a building in Seattle that's been multiple recording studios since the ‘70s, from Triangle, to Jon & Stu's, to Reciprocal Recording, to the Hall of Justice. A number of incredible albums have been made in that building over the years, including Bleach by Nirvana. So we were lucky enough to take over the lease when Death Cab for Cutie moved out in October 2009, and I started writing songs more seriously again.

A couple of months later, Joanna Newsom asked me if I would open some shows for her. As a huge fan of hers, I was completely honored and flattered that she'd want me to open her shows, and I felt like I needed some new songs that I could play alone. So, a number of the songs that ended up on this album came from the writing that preceded those tours. Having to play the songs alone meant I was really focusing on having a clear lyric and a strong melody, which ended up being a great change of focus for me as a writer because I'd spent a lot of 2009 messing around with non-songwriter type music and not always finding it satisfying.

So here we are, almost three years after the first album, finally done with the second one. Now I'll talk about the actual music a little bit.

I think this music draws influence and inspiration from popular music and folk rock of the mid ‘60s to the early ‘70s, I'd say it's a synthesis of folk rock, traditional folk, & psychedelic pop, with an emphasis on group vocal harmonies. Astral Weeks was a big inspiration on this album, if not always in sound then in approach. The raw emotion in Van Morrison's vocals and the trance-like nature of the arrangements were very inspiring for this album!

The last thing I'll talk about is the title. It's called Helplessness Blues for a number of reasons. One, it's kind of a funny title. Secondly, one of the prevailing themes of the album is the struggle between who you are and who you want to be or who you want to end up, and how sometimes you are the only thing getting in the way of that. That idea shows up in a number of the songs.

www.fleetfoxes.com

Radio Playlist 27th April 2011

Low - Especially Me (C'mon)
Delta Spirit - Salt In The Wound (History From Below)
Fleet Foxes - The Shrine / An Argument (Helplessness Blues)
**
Beachwood Sparks - Drinkswater (Make The Cowboy Robots Cry)
Anonymeye - The Disambiguation Of Anonymeye (I Am Feeling Very Olympic Today: Live In Sydney, 2010-2011)
Jane Weaver - Fallen By Watchbird (The Fallen By Watchbird)
**
Fleet Foxes - Bedouin Dress (Helplessness Blues)
Sky Picnic - The Wise Man Lost His Head (Synesthesia EP)
Assemble Head In Sunburst Sound - End Under Down (When Sweet Sleep Returned)
**
Horse Feathers - The Drought (Thistled Spring)
The Migrant - Don't Turn Tidal Wave (Travels In Lowland)
Fleet Foxes - The Plains / Bitter Dancer (Helplessness Blues)
**
Iron & Wine - Resurrection Fern (The Shepherd's Dog)

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Sideways Through Sound Archive

24th April 2008: Salome Dupree - Aural Picture Book
29th April 2009: The Soundcarriers - Harmonium
28th April 2010: The Black Ryder (live in session)

20th April 2011: The Unthanks / Martha Tilston in Session / Playlist

2011-04-15T20:07:00.000-07:00

Featured: The Unthanks - Last (Rabble Rouser)

'Last', the third album from the North-Easts best loved folk revivalists was made predominantly at the snowed-under Northumberland farmhouse that is home of Rachel and Adrian.

Having made the highly successful 'Here's The Tender Coming' in a studio, the return to home recording might have signaled a move back to the intimacy of their earlier work, but in practice, 'Last' takes on the epic hallmarks of a masterpiece, in terms of the scale and atmosphere of the setting. Known for their timeless, unsentimental and quietly subversive tales of loss, fear, booze, brawels, abuse and sorrow, siblings Rachel and Becky Unthank are honest, young storytellers outside of time, forging links between folk worlds old, new and other.

It's hard to imagine a British folk band with fans like Radiohead, Portishead, Robert Wyatt, Ben Folds, Elvis Costello, Damon Albarn, Ewan McGregor and Nick Hornby, but The Unthanks occupy a unique place in music. Influenced as much by the minimalist eccentricity of Steve Reich, Antony & The Johnsons, Robert Wyatt and Miles Davis, as they are by their Geordie native North East England, back home The Unthanks have established themselves as the most innovative and critically acclaimed folk band in modern history.

http://www.the-unthanks.com/

Martha Tilston - Live In Session On Sideways Through Sound

Martha Tilston is back in Australia for the second time, this time not with her band The Woods but with her new family and a spellbinding new album 'Lucy & The Wolves'.

Martha is a captivating performer, an enchanting writer blessed with a gloriously clear and seductive voice. Throughout 'Lucy & The Wolves', Martha expresses herself in her trademark, endearingly direct, poetic manner, putting forward her philosophy of life, and examining relationships in an accessible, universal way.

The songs are exquisitely set, the musicianship is faultless: a mesh of violins, viola, cello, double bass and, unusually. trombone. Martha's stepmum, Maggie Boyle, adds flute/harmonies to 'Wild Swimming'; 'Searching For Lambs' was recorded in a Somerset wood with help from only a few neighboring crows.

www.marthatilston.co.uk

Radio Playlist 20th April 2011

Alela Diane - Of Many Colours (Wild Divine)
Anabelle Kay - Mountain Meets The Snow (S/T)
The Unthanks - Queen Of Hearts (Last)
**
The Gardenelles - Take My Hand (The Wake Of The Parsley Tree)
Headless Heroes - Blues Run The Game (The Silence Of Love)
The Unthanks - No One Knows I'm Gone (Last)
**
Martha Tilston - Winter Flowers (Of Milkmaids & Architects)
Martha Tilston - The Chair (Live In Session On Sideways Through Sound)
Martha Tilston - The Cape (Lucy & The Wolves)
Martha Tilston - Old Tom Cat (Live In Session On Sideways Through Sound)
**
Steve Tilston - It's Not My Place To Fall (An Acoustic Confusion)
Lal & Mike Waterson - Red Wine & Promises (Bright Phoebus)
The Unthanks - Gan To The Kye (Last)
**
Mary Hampton - Silver Dagger (Book One: Six Songs Of Refusal)
The Paradise Motel - The Exiles (I Still Hear Your Voice At Night)
The Unthanks - Last (Last)

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Sideways Through Sound Archive

17th April 2008: John Fairhurst - Joys Of Spring
22nd April 2009: Cheval Sombre - S/T
21st April 2010: Horse Stories - November November

13th April 2011: Eternal Tapestry / Playlist

2011-04-15T16:26:00.000-07:00

Featured: Eternal Tapestry - Beyond The 4th Door (Thrill Jockey)

Eternal Tapestry started in the fall of 2005, conceived after original members Nick Bindeman and Dewey Mahood discovered their mutual love of Sonny Sharrock and Neu! It was these two vastly different artists who helped the band's sound take shape, free improvised guitar with structured rhythms and lots of layered ambient sound.

On their Thrill Jockey debut Eternal Tapestry have delivered an album not unlike their epic live shows. Beyond the 4th Door contains long stretches of melodic guitar improvisations, dark brooding songs that slowly build and expand to allow in layers of light. The album was recorded in their home studio and was created by recording more that two hours of material, mostly live, and hand picking what became 'Beyond The 4th Door'.

There is a free and open nature to their structure creating for the listener a spacious environment to explore. Harkening back to the early 70's experimental rock that inspired them, such as Popol Vuh, Cluster and Trad Gras och Stenar, Beyond the 4th Door is an album meant to be listened to in its entirety.

www.myspace.com/eternaltapestry

Radio Playlist 13th April 2011

Foxpockets - Lament (The Coracle & The Albatross)

Kendra Smith - Get There (Five Ways Of Disappearing)

Eternal Tapestry - Cosmic Manhunt (Beyond The 4th Door)

The Morning After Girls - Parrt Of Your Nature (Alone)

Lower Dens - Plastic & Powder (Twin-Hand Movement)

Lower Heaven - Rain (Ashes)

Eternal Tapestry - Galactic Derelict (Beyond The 4th Door)

Cubs - Lunar Electrification Program (The Whispering Woods)

First Band From Outer Space - Mean Spacetime (the Impressionable Sounds Of The Subsonic)

Crocodiles - Stoned To Death (Sleep Forever)

Dum Dum Girls - Take Care Of My Baby (He Gets Me High EP)

Dead Meadow - Kingdom Of Heaven (v/a The Psychedelic Sounds Of The Sonic Cathedral)

In Heaven & You - Vena Cava Pt.1 (Vena Cava Pts 1&2)

Eternal Tapestry - Ancient Echoes (Beyond The 4th Door)

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Sideways Through Sound Archive

10th April 2008: Lionshare - From The Ground

8th April 2009: Evan Miller - Beeswax Ephemera / Three Visions Of Stylites

14th April 2010: Jack Rose - Luck In The Valley

6th April 2011: The Low Anthem / Playlist

2011-04-02T18:44:00.000-07:00

Featured: The Low Anthem - Smart Flesh (Nonesuch)

With its dreamy, rustic take on the idea of Americana, the Low Anthem's Smart Flesh builds on the promise of the group's universally praised 2008 Nonesuch Records debut, Oh My God, Charlie Darwin.

As the Washington Post has put it, "The Low Anthem isn't the first bunch of indie rockers to experiment with older string-band instruments and echoes of the songs of pre-1940 rural America. But no one has done it better than this Rhode Island trio... That's because very few bands have paid so much attention to detail, or to beauty."

To record Charlie Darwin, the three original band members-Jocie Adams, Ben Knox Miller, and Jeff Prystowsky took over a Block Island cabin in the dead of winter. To record Smart Flesh, the group now expanded to a quartet with the addition of drummer Mat Davidson - found a former pasta factory in Central Falls, Rhode Island, a cavernous loft space that became crucial to the shape of the album.

Says vocalist Miller, "We knew right away when we stepped into the factory that the space was really the main instrument for the whole record. The resonance was chilling. We were able to experiment with new recording techniques to capture the sound at different distances. Mics 100-200 feet away caught the sound barreling across the room." Additional tracks were recorded in a garage that had previously been home to a reptile breeder, another unconventional studio space that the quartet dubbed "the gator pit."

The group self-produced Smart Flesh, bringing in Mike Mogis (Bright Eyes, Monsters of Folk, M. Ward) to mix the Pasta Sauce sessions and Jesse Lauter (Elvis Perkins, April Smith) to engineer. Instrumentation included jaw harp, musical saw, stylophone, oversized drum kits, and three antique pump organs that the band had found and restored.

The exquisitely crafted, achingly spare arrangements at times recall the early recordings of Leonard Cohen, and Miller's voice, on a track like "Burn", displays a similarly gruff yet plaintive timbre. The deeply melancholic mood the group favors, starting with a spellbindingly slow-motion rendering of George Carter's 1920's era "Ghost Woman Blues", will appeal to fans of the backwoods musings of Bon Iver or the lovelorn southern balladry of the Avett Brothers, with whom The Low Anthem has toured.

www.lowanthem.com

Radio Playlist 6th April 2011

Bright Eyes - Firewall (The People Key)
God Is An Astronaut - First Day Of Sun (S/T)
The Low Anthem - Matter Of Time (Smart Flesh)
**
Broken Bells - Citizen (S/T)
The Ruby Suns - Remember (Sea Lion)
Viva Stereo - Vultures (Endure The Dark To See The Stars)
**
The Low Anthem - Hey, All You Hippies (Smart Flesh)
The Quarter After - Nothing Out Of Something (Changes Near)
Bobby Long - A Winter Tale (A Winter Tale)
**
Dead Confederate - Wrecking Ball (Wrecking Ball)
The Low Anthem - Love & Altar (Smart Flesh)
The Windy Hills - Little Hawk (Friend From Another Star)
**
The Gentle Good - Let Your Light be Your Guide (While You Slept I Went Out Walking)
Owls Of The Swamp - So Far Away (Demo)
Mike Fekete - Magnolia (in blossom) (Yellow & Red - solo guitar)

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Sideways Through Sound Archive

3rd April 2008: Junkboy - Three
1st April 2009: The Gentle Good - While You Slept I Went Out Walking
7th April 2010: Philip Butler & Natasha Tranter - Stories For Emily

30th March 2011: Six Organs Of Admittance / Playlist

2011-03-26T16:45:00.000-07:00

Featured - Six Organs Of Admittance - Asleep On The Floodplain (Drag City)

After 2009's sonically dense Luminous Night, Ben Chasny (Six Organs) has returned to the familiar environs of home recording to sculpt and assemble this batch of free-wheeling jams collected as 'Asleep On The Floodplain'.

Without the restrictions and deadlines studios might normally impose upon a song, Ben created a living nest in which this material could grow and breathe. As a result the album took longer to complete but sounds effortless and bright with light with much of Asleep On The Floodplain drawing on imagery from Chasny's youth, a time spent in Elk River.

About six years ago, Six Organs of Admittance was something like a buzz band, swept into the rising tide of what was called freak-folk or New Weird America. Devendra Banhart placed Chasny alongside Joanna Newsom, Iron & Wine, Jack Rose and more than a dozen others for Arthur Magazine's compilation, 'The Golden Apples Of The Sun', he got a Drag City deal, and his rock band, Comets On Fire, was signed to Sub Pop. But as freak-folk as a fad has faded, Chasny's star has suffered due less to a lack of musical quality and more to a lack of stylistic consistency. He's been difficult to label. Has it been folk rock or freak folk, free folk or just plain folk?

'Asleep On The Floodplain' triumphantly answers back none of those. Rather, Chasny has distilled all of his impulses and obsessions - slow drones and brisk picking, solemn mumbles and cheery riffs, ponderous lyrics, and ruminative instrumentals - into 43 muted, marvelous minutes. It's the sort of record that finds the workmanlike Chasny doing what he does better than most, all at once but never too quickly.

www.sixorgans.com

Radio Playlist 30th March 2011

Marissa Nadler - Baby I Will Leave You In The Mornin' (Demo)

Sundial - 3,000 Miles (Acid Yantra)

Six Organs Of Admittance - Above A Desert I've Never Seen (Asleep On The Floodplain)

Villainares - Time At All (Sometimes EP)

Treefight For Sunlight - Time Stretcher (S/T)

The Holydrug Couple - Now (Ancient Land 12")

Six Organs Of Admittance - Hold But Let Go (Asleep On The Floodplain)

Wye Oak - Civilian (Civilian)

Quiet Life - The Boss Man (Big Green)

Quest For Fire - Bison Eyes (S/T)

The Sand Pebbles - Scenic (live at PBS-fm) (v/a We Are Fused)

Six Organs Of Admittance - River Of My Youth (Asleep On The Floodplain)

My Majestic Star - Uncertain Terms (I Haven't Got It In Me)

Alps - Black Mountain (Le Voyage)

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Sideways Through Sound Archive

31st March 2010: Early Autumn Break - Swimming With Children

23rd March 2011: Grails / Playlist

2011-03-19T21:28:00.000-07:00

Featured: Grails - Deep Politics (Temporary Residence)

Standard issue post-rock isn’t usually this cinematic. Heists, dates, slasher flicks, the spaghetti western — the best of the canon’s tropes can be heard on Grails’ Deep Politics. And a lot of the credit, this time around at least, has to go to fifth man Timba Harris.

Deep Politics was conceived during the lengthiest gestation period between Grails albums, and reflects a deeper, more educated level of concentration. In their ongoing exploration of occult/fringe culture and the rich history of film music, they have cultivated a unique environment that inspires both an eternal sense of longing and an indelible sense of dread. Through tireless exploration and awe-inspiring execution, Grails have found their true calling as purveyors of a new kind of library music, to be discovered by future generations of crate diggers and curious forward-thinkers.

www.grailsongs.com

Radio Playlist 23rd March 2011

Philip Selway - By Some Miracle (Familial)
Radiohead - Give Up The Ghost (The King Of Limbs)
Grails - Deep Snow (Deep Politics)
**
Jamie Hutchings - Invisible Coat (Avalon Cassettes)
The Travelling Band - Diamond Flighted Arrow (Under The Pavement)
The Ovals - Heretic (Into The Eyes Of Those Who Sleep EP)
**
Grails - Future Primitive (Deep Politics)
Hailer - Forever (Good Canyon)
Beady Eye - Wigwam (Different Gear, Still Speeding)
**
The Kremlin Succession - Leave This City (EP)
French Rockets - Mandy Summers (Demo)
Grails - Almost Grew My Hair (Deep Politics)
**
Citay - Secret Breakfast (Dream Get Together)
Emeralds - Overboard (off the deep end) (S/T)
Zak Riles - Sand/Silk Road/Origin (S/T)

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Sideways Through Sound Archive

24th March 2010: Allysen Callery - Hobgoblin's Hat
25th March 2009: The Sun Blindness - To Sydney!
27th March 2008: Kaya Ogawa - Blue

16th March 2011: Little Red Rabbit Records / Playlist

2011-03-12T19:54:00.000-08:00

Featured: Little Red Rabbit Records

Little Red Rabbit Records is an artist-run label based in Manchester set up to release work by members and associates. The roster stretches from the singer-songwriter folk-pop of Anna Kashfi and Crazy Man Michael through to the psyche-post-rock of Fuzzy Lights via the sprawling collective Last Harbour.

Here are a couple of Sideways Through Sound's favourites from the Littrle Red Rabbit roster that deserve your extra love and attention...
Samson & Delilah are a 5 piece folk-rock band from Manchester led by the songwriting partnership of husband and wife Sam Lench and Anna Zweck. Their well-received debut album of 2009 led to shows at Greenbelt and Limetree Festivals and supports to Horse Feathers, 3 Daft Monkeys and Mick Turner (Dirty 3). Their new album 'And Straight On Till Morning' will be released in January 2011. Immaculately recorded live in a Victorian concert hall, it shows their progression from a duo vehicle to a full band capable of shifting in a heartbeat from mournful piano laments to Byrds-like psyche-drone to “Arcade Fire after a country-folk makeover” (City Life).

Fuzzy Lights are a five piece band based in Cambridge led by husband and wife Xavier and Rachel Watkins. Combining both folk purity and psychedelic guitar noise, their new album 'Twin Feathers' stands at the crossroads of 1960's British folk and haunted noise-rock. It is this unlikely intertwining which truly defines Fuzzy Lights' sound. The album scored 4/5 in Uncut, Artrocker and Mojo (where it was also awarded the Underground Album of the Month accolade). They appeared at End of the Road Festival (2010) and have played shows with the likes of Evangelista, Vetiver, Willard Grant Conspiracy and James Blackshaw.

www.littleredrabbit.co.uk

Radio Playlist 16th March 2011

Fuzzy Lights - The Sea & The Heather (Twin Feathers)
Frontier Ruckus - The Back-Lit World (The Orion Songbook)
James M Carson - Once A Mighty Oak (Demo)
**
Sparklehorse - Gold Day (It's A Wonderful Life)
Anna Kashfi - Gold Day (7")
Danger Mouse & Sparklehorse - Star Eyes (I Can't Catch It) (Dark Night Of The Soul)
**
Holly Throsby - It's Only Need (Team)
Last Harbour - If They're Right (JT mix) (Lights EP)
Calexico - Dance Of Death (v/a I Am The Resurrection: A Tribute To John Fahey)
**
Samson & Delilah - Swimming Against The Tide (S/T)
Jack Door - Little Box (Stop Motion)
Khancoban - Until It Takes You Over (single mix) (Arches Over The Sun)
**
Quiet Loner - Counting The Days Down (Spectrology)
The Changing Colors - That's What My Love Is For (Ghost Of Red Mountain)
Susurrus Station - Barnstorm (Add A Day Going West)
**
Fuzzy Lights - Rituals (Twin Feathers)

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Sideways Through Sound Archive

17th March 2010: Rory Faithfield - Live in Session
18th March 2009: Arborea - House Of Sticks
20th March 2008: Lewis & Clarke - Blasts Of Holy Birth

9th March 2011: Nick Jonah Davis / Michael Gira (Swans) interview / Playlist

2011-03-03T00:22:00.000-08:00

Featured: Nick Jonah Davis - Of Time & Tides (Tompkins Square)

Nick Jonah Davis is a guitarist from Nottingham, England. His early blues rock leanings led to the discovery of prewar blues, as well as modal British folk and Nick steadily absorbed these influences over many years of solitary improvisation.
The post-Takoma acoustic guitar solo scene has provided a context for Nick's music, which might otherwise have remained a private endeavour. Live, Nick has shared bills in the UK and USA with the likes of James Blackshaw, Alasdair Roberts, Jozef van Wissem, Max Ochs, Ellen Mary McGee and Eric Carbonara.

Nick first ventured into the studio to record his brief album 'Guitar Recordings Vol 1, one of UNCUT/Wild Mercury Sound's Top 100 Albums of 2009. 'Of Time and Tides' is his more expansive second release, featuring evocative solo performances on 6 and 12 string guitar, as well as duets with guitarist Will Phipps and pianist Ed Earl. Liner notes are by legendary American Primitive player Max Ochs.

www.myspace.com/nickdavisguitar

Michael Gira (Swans) - Interview

After years of pursuing a slightly different path with his band Angels Of Light and recording and producing a diverse roster of artists for his Young God label, Michael Gira has reconvened his legendary group Swans. As he says: "This is not a reunion. It's not some dumb-ass nostalgia act. It is not repeating the past. After five Angels Of Light albums, I need a way to move forward, in a new direction, and it just so happens that revivifying the idea of Swans allows me to do that."

Thee Sonic Assassin was honoured to have a chat with Michael on the eve of their impending debut Australian tour...

www.swans.pair.com

Radio Playlist 9th March 2011

Jack Bradley - Wise Mistaken (G-Band Recordings Demo)
Akron/Family - Cast A Net (S/T II: The Cosmic Birth & Journey Of Shinju TNT)
Nick Jonah Davis - A Broken Circle (Of Time & Tides)
**
Nick Jonah Davis - Death & The Monkey (Of Time & Tides)
Breathe Owl Breathe - Own Stunts (Magic Central)
Devendra Banhart - Goin' Back (What Will Be)
**
Swans - Reeling The Liars In (My Father Will Guide Me Up A Rope To The Sky)
Michael Gira - Interview (Live on Sideways Through Sound)
Swans - You Fucking People Make Me Sick (My Father Will Guide Me Up A Rope To The Sky)
Swans - Little Mouth (My Father Will Guide Me Up A Rope To The Sky)
**
James Blackshaw - Fix (Glass Bead Game)
Louise Le May - War With Love (Tell Me One Thing That Is New)
Nick Jonah Davis - Nocturne (Of Time & Tides)
**
Angels Of Light - The Provider (Akron/Family split)
Iron & Wine - Godless Brother In Love (Kiss Each Other Clean)
Sun Kil Moon - Unlit Hallway (April)
**
Nick Jonah Davis - Narrow Bridge (Of Time & Tides)

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Sideways Through Sound Archive

10th March 2010: Voice Of The Seven Thunders - S/T
11th March 2009: Northern Star Records
13th March 2008: no featured album

2nd March 2011: Black Eagle Child / Playlist

2011-03-02T01:25:00.000-08:00

Featured: Black Eagle Child - Lobelia (Preservation)

Black Eagle Child is guise for guitarist Michael Jantz. Jantz has previously released an expansive body of work, sprawling across some of the most notable underground labels of the current day. His solo recordings work a realm of exploratory zones for guitar that touch on the discordant, psychedelic and pastoral, while also deploying varied percussion and field recordings for texture and rhythm.

That journey continues with Lobelia, though in its expansive scope it’s played for pure songcraft and resonant beauty. Lobelia can take a breezy pace but is deep with feeling throughout. The album’s title comes from the name of a native flower Jantz’s mother would use as a cure-all remedy when he was younger. Coming full circle now, Jantz has recently seen the birth of his own, child, a daughter. Sweet and enigmatic, Lobelia finds a musical place befitting of such an ideal. It is as evocative as it is lovely.

www.blackeaglechild.com

Radio Playlist 2nd March 2011

The Altered Hours - Daydream Parade (Demo)
Youngteam - My Only Friend (Daydreamer)
Black Eagle Child - Paper Delivery (Lobelia)
**
The Great Went - That's Not There (Sheltering Sky)
Every Silver Lining Has A Cloud - Where Earth Meets Sea (S/T)
Mogwai - Letters To The Metro (Hardcore Will Never Die, But You Will)
**
Black Eagle Child - Porch Screens (Lobelia)
Black Eagle Child - Interview / The River's Course (Live on Sideways Through Sound)
Black Eagle Child - Crandon (Lobelia)
**
Somniferum - Skies Of Grey (To Walk The Path Less Travelled)
The Ocean Tango - Hosannah (S/T)
Gruff Rhys - Shark Ridden Waters (Hotel Shampoo)
**
Black Eagle Child - The Quarry Slide (Lobelia)
The Asteroid #4 - Shoot Out The Stars (An Amazing Dream)
Himalaya - 31 (S/T)

Black Eagle Child - I Forgot (Lobelia)

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Sideways Through Sound Archive

3rd March 2010: Sean Taylor - Calcutta Grove / Alex Hallahan - Live in Session
4th March 2009: Dollboy - A Beard Of Bees
6th March 2008: Bon Iver - For Emma, Forever Ago

23rd February 2011: v/a More Townes Van Zandt / Phillip Bracken in Session / Playlist

2011-02-21T01:30:00.000-08:00

Featured: v/a More Townes Van Zandt Via The Great Unknown (For The Sake Of The Song)

About a year ago someone decided to put together a compilation of covers by a great selection of indie artists. That album was called 'Introducing Townes Van Zandt Via The Great Unknown'.

This follow up tribute album to the late great Townes Van Zandt not only again introduces one of the greatest songwriters/singers ever, but also another 18 artists, who pay tribute to his musical legacy.

'More Townes Van Zandt By The Great Unknown' showcases a stunning line up of the well known (and not so well known) including Neal Casal, Phosphorescent, Alela Diane, Phillip Roebuck and many more.

Getting a compilation of this magnitude together is no mean feat. The diverse range of artists and unique covers will hopefully serve as benchmark for others who have climbed the complilation ladder and failed to provide the results which lack any real soul to serve as a fitting tribute.

This is as good as tributes get and a great opportunity for those not so familiar with the work of Townes Van Zandt to be set on a beautiful journey of discovery.

Radio Playlist 23rd February 2011

Townes Van Zandt - Tecumseh Valley (A Gentle Evening With...)
Owls Of The Swamp - Heart Of The Mountain (Demo)
The Deep Dark Woods - Silver Ships Of Andilar (v/a More Townes Van Zandt By The Great Unknown)
**
Phosphorescent - Why She's Acting This Way (v/a More Townes Van Zandt By The Great Unknown)
Michael Silversmith - Matter Of Time (Life Is Beautiful)
Family Of The Year - No Good At Nothing (Songbook)
**
Phillip Bracken - Everything Looks Better In Candlelight (Everything Looks Better In Candlelight EP)
Phillip Bracken - It's Not Too Late (Ishmael) (Live on Sideways Through Sound)
Phillip Bracken - The Master & Marguerita (Live on Sideways Through Sound)
**
Olle Nyman - Kathleen (v/a More Townes Van Zandt By The Great Unknown)
Jay Fraser - Walking A Fine Line (Buildings Of Dreams)
Shinyribs - Dollar Bill Blues (v/a More Townes Van Zandt By The Great Unknown)
**
Great Lake Swimmers - Our Mother The Mountain (v/a Introducing Townes Van Zandt Via The Great Unknown)
Ben Ottewell - All Brand New (Shapes & Shadows)
Band Of Annuals - For The Sake Of The Song (v/a More Townes Van Zandt By The Great Unknown)

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Sideways Through Sound Archive

24th February 2010: v/a Open Strings / James Blackshaw interview
25th February 2009: The Psychic Ills - Mirror Eye
28th February 2008: Rusalnaia - S/T

16th February 2011: The Cave Singers / Adam Franklin interview / Playlist

2011-02-10T00:16:00.000-08:00

Featured: The Cave Singers - No Witch (Jagjaguwar)

The Cave Singers spend a good deal of time beyond the darkened edges of Seattle, in the mist and mystic, among the wolves and redwoods. And their songs, at least on record, have always been like beautiful, faded grayscale photos of this hinterland.

Now, these photos are injected with hot blood and technicolor, a ferocity and bite we've yet to see from the band. No Witch is a new found sheen to the aura that made The Cave Singers' music so special to begin with.

Nervy, scrappy and lush, the Seattle trio's latest effort add a new layer of darkness to the fresh, transcendent folk their previous albums exuded...

www.thecavesingers.com

www.swervedriver.com

Radio Playlist 16th February 2011

Paul Turner - Heaven & Earth (Another World)
Portland Cello Project - Seeds May Fall (The Thao & Justin Power Sessions)
The Cave Singers - Swim Club (No Witch)
**
Matt Bailey - On The Wire (The Three I's)
Sister Jane - Be Kind (Be Kind EP)
The Laurels - Wandering Star (Demo)
**
Swervedriver - Never Lose That Feeling / Never Learn (Creation 12")
Swervedriver - Duel (Mezcal Head)
All Sparks Burn Out - If True Means Death For Us All (Exactly What It Sounds Like EP)
The Cave Singers - Faze Wave (No Witch)
The Cave Singers - Outer Realms (No Witch)
The Cave Singers - Black Leaf (No Witch)
**
Fleet Foxes - Helplessness Blues (Helplessness Blues)
Megafaun - Gather, Form & Fly (Gather, Form & Fly)
First Aid Kit - Ghost Town (The Big Black & The Blue)

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Sideways Through Sound Archive

17th February 2010: Trevor Moss & Hannah Lou - S/T

18th February 2009: v/a Beyond The Pale disc 2

21st February 2008: Major Chord - S/T

9th February 2011: Villagers session / Playlist

2011-02-06T23:11:00.000-08:00

Featured: Villagers (live in session)

From the very first seconds of 'Becoming a Jackal', he’s got you. A faint drone of organ, joined by eerie strings and a cascade of piano that collectively casts a Hitchcock movie shadow before a hushed voice asks, “Have you got just a minute? / Are you easily led? / Let me show the backroom /Where I saw the dead / Dancing like children on a midsummer morn / And they asked me to join” – and then the music obliges by with a similar spectral sweep. ‘I Saw the Dead’ is not just the album intro of 2010 to date but also a magnificent intro to the vivid narratives, gripping poetry and melodic depth of Conor J. O’Brien – or as he likes to call himself and his cohorts, Villagers.

Over the course of 11 varied, subtle, complex and plain gorgeous songs, the Dubliner shows just why he is Domino’s latest signing, while defying any easy categorisation of his influences or peers. O’Brien namechecks David Axelrod, Jens Lekman, Robert Wyatt and Rufus Wainwright but you could equally add Paddy McAloon, Paul Simon and Randy Newman to the possible roots of this record. And its creator is just as captivating in person.

Sideways Through Sound is honoured to have Conor live in the studio whilst over here in Australia as a guest of the Sydney Festival and promoting his enchanting debut 'Becoming A Jackal'...

www.dominorecordco.com/artists/villagers/

Radio Playlist 2nd February 2011

Jess Ribeiro & The Bone Collectors - Pilgrimage (Demo)
Gareth Dickson - AGOA (Collected Recordings)
The Hazelman Brothers - River Stone (Eyesight Like An Owl)
**
A Book About Elephants - Summer From Your Comfort Chair (Two Dream Tuck)
Amaya Laucirica - Marry Me (Early Summer)
Catherine Traicos - Baby Don't Cry (Beg For Love EP)
Kelly Kneiser - This Life Of Ours (Demo)
Villagers - I Saw The Dead (Becoming A Jackal)

Villagers / Conor J O'Brien - That Day (Live in Session)
Villagers / Conor J O'Brien - The Pact (Live in Session)
Villagers / Conor J O'Brien - Becoming A Jackal (Live in Session)
**
The Tyde - Don't Need A Leash (remixed by Nobody) (Three's Co.)
The Twilight Singers - Be Invited (Dynamite Steps)
Isobel Campbell & Mark Lanegan - To Hell & Back Again (Hawk)
**
The Orbweavers - Memento Mori (Japanese Mountains EP)
Lady Of The Sunshine - Lady Sunshine (Smoking Gun)
The Yellow Moon Band - Polaris (Travels Into Several Remote Nations Of The World)

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Sideways Through Sound Archive

10th February 2010: Ange Takats - Live in Session

11th February 2009: v/a Beyond The Pale disc 1

14th February 2008: no featured album

2nd February 2011: Cubs / Playlist

2011-02-01T04:14:00.000-08:00

Featured: Cubs - The Whispering Woods (Rusted Rail / Deadslackstring)

On 'The Whispering Woods', their second release for Rusted Rail, Cubs continue peddling their rural symphonies woven from a freewheeling combination of mandolin, guitar, accordion, tin whistle, banjolin and the occasional bit of wordless vocalising.

With members of Agitated Radio Pilot, Phantom Dog Beneath The Moon and show regular and favourite CWK Joynes, Cubs have created a lovely album with a campfire feel, whilst maintaining their rustic authenticity with the acoustic instruments complemented with found sounds and weird and wonderful sound effects...

...all rather perfect for Sideways Through Sound...

www.myspace.com/c_u_b_s

Radio Playlist 2nd February 2011

Cubs - The First Time Of Asking (The Whispering Woods)
The Burning Leaves - Midday Sun (S/T)
Koryo Saito - Mirage (Mirage)
Cubs - The Second Time Of Asking (The Whispering Woods)
**
Samson & Delilah - And When The Rose (S/T)
Autumn Grieve - Within Hollows (Stray Birds)
Agitated Radio Pilot - World Winding Down (World Winding Down)
**
Cubs - Lunar Electrification Program (The Whispering Woods)
Phantom Dog Beneath The Moon - Two Hours After Dusk (The Trees, The Sea In A Lunar Dream)
Sharon Van Etten - Don't Do It (Epic)
**
Sean Smith - Die Until Tomorrow, Sleep (v/a Berkeley Guitar)
John Fahey - In Christ There Is No East Or West (v/a Fahey, Lang & Kottke)
Cubs - In Cubs There Is No North Or South (The Whispering Woods)
**
CWK Joynes & The Restless Dead - The Godolfin Arabian (GPS/Bo'Weavil 7")
The Driftwood Manor - Before It Is Time (Every Light Goes Out Eventually)
Cubs - The Great Frost (The Whispering Woods)

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Sideways Through Sound Archive

3rd February 2010: John Fairhurst - Live in Session
4th February 2009: Dust Wind Tales Records
7th February 2008: Noa Babayof - From A Window To A Wall

26th January 2011: Michael Chapman / Olof Arnalds session / Playlist

2011-01-22T15:01:00.000-08:00

Featured: Michael Chapman - Trainsong: Guitar Compositions 1967-2010 (Tompkins Square)

Michael Chapman began his career on the Cornish folk circuit in 1967. He signed to the Harvest label, home to Pink Floyd, Deep Purple and many others, recording four quasi-legendary albums. The influential 'Fully Qualified Survivor' was John Peel's favorite record of 1970, and featured future Bowie collaborator Mick Ronson and the album is set for reissue by Light in the Attic soon.

After decades of recording and touring, Chapman remains an obscure figure in the States. His profile was raised by a lengthy interview with big fan Thurston Moore in Fretboard Journal last year, and he also toured extensively with the late guitarist Jack Rose, with whom Michael shared a warm kinship.

Chapman has released dozens of albums, but only a few in the States. 'Trainsong : Guitar Compositions 1967-2010' is a 2CD collection of 26 recently-recorded solo guitar versions of tunes spanning his entire career. It is a fascinating look at one of the most prolific and profound guitarists of our time. This release, out one day after his 70th birthday, should finally bring proper attention to this inspiring and masterful musician. Tompkins Square is truly honored to be releasing this album by one of their favorite musical heroes!!

www.tompkinssquare.com

Radio Playlist 26th January 2011

Casey Edward Denman - Hearts & Bones (Songs For The Living & Songs For The Dead)
Peace For Old Ghosts - Til You Get There (The Likewise EP)
Michael Chapman - Slowcoach (Trainsong: Guitar Compositions 1967-2010)
**
Autumn Gray - Address Book Blues (Love Handles EP)
Golden Brown - Ravine (Lonesome)
Lia Ices - Daphne (Grown Unknown)
**
Michael Chapman - Caddo Lake (Trainsong: Guitar Compositions 1967-2010)
Mr. Maps - Nostalgia Is Crippling (Wire Empire)
Stick In A Pot - Warning (A Number More Than Nothing At All)
**
Olof Arnalds - Vigil / Klara (Live in Session on Sideways Through Sound)
James Reid - Goldfinch Mask (Demo)
Michael Chapman - The Last Polish Breakfast (Trainsong: Guitar Compositions 1967-2010)
**
Olof Arnalds - Crazy Car (Live in Session on Sideways Through Sound)
Jack Bradley - Marjoram (Peace Before Wounds EP)
Michael Chapman - Leaving The Apple (v/a Imaginational Anthem Vol 2)

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Sideways Through Sound Download Archive

27th January 2010: Deep Water Acres Records

28th January 2009: Sweet Williams - S/T

24th January 2008: v/a Migrating Bird - The Songs Of Lal Waterson

19th January 2011: Dead Meadow / Playlist

2011-01-14T20:17:00.000-08:00

Featured: Dead Meadow - Three Kings (Xemu)

Dead Meadow have a special affection for the bell bottom era's sludgier side. The Los Angeles-via-Washington, DC psych-rock trio have spent much of the past decade dusting off the knotty proto-metal of yesteryear (as performed by bands like Vanilla Fudge, Blue Cheer, or Black Sabbath) and pushing it toward darker, druggier, and heavier extremes.

Coming two years after the band's last proper release, 2008's Old Growth, 'Three Kings' is an unabashed homage to Led Zeppelin's concert film The Song Remains the Same - packaging a live recording and a few new studio tunes with a DVD that cuts between performance footage and loopy dream sequences.

www.deadmeadow.com

Radio Playlist 19th January 2011

James Sera - The Ascension (The Reality Of The Fantasy)
The Autumn Defense - Once Around (Once Around)
Dead Meadow - At Her Open Door (Three Kings)
**
Iron & Wine - Tree By The River (Daytrotter Session 01-12-2011)
Jason Simon - I Let It Go (S/T)
The Upsidedown - Spiders (The Town With Bad Wiring)
**
Dead Meadow - Seven Seers (Three Kings)
Citay - Hunter (Dream Get Together)
Gosteleradio - Glass Clouds (Great Deeds Against The Dead)
**
The Maple Trail - Highwire (Highwire EP)
The Swim - My Clown (v/a A Phase We're Going Through)
Dead Meadow - The Whirlings (Three Kings)
**
The Bluejays - The Road (Colours In The Window)
Chief - Stealing (Modern Rituals)
Beachwood Sparks - Once We Were Trees (Once We Were Trees)

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Sideways Through Sound Download Archive

20th January 2010: The Boy Who Spoke Clouds - Live in Session
21st January 2009: Elizabeth Devlin - All Is Relative
17th January 2008: no featured album

12th January 2011: Melodica Festival / Playlist

2011-01-08T20:26:00.000-08:00

Melodica may be the name of a quirky mini-keyboard meets woodwind instrument, but it’s also the chosen moniker for a now international acoustic festival that began in Melbourne in 2007, set to inspire Sydney in January 2010.

With a line up boasting Sydney’s finest emerging talent, as well as special guest appearances from some well known names, the charming Cafe Lounge in Surry Hills will resonate with song for two days.

Keeping with tradition, entry is by donation so that it is accessible to all. The premise is simple - to showcase independent, up and coming singer songwriters in a relaxed, intimate and stripped back acoustic format, while providing an inspiring musical environment for musicians, promoters, bookers and music lovers to meet and extend their professional and personal music networks.

From humble beginnings in a small Collingwood cafe just 3 years ago, the Melodica festival has exploded into a worldwide phenomenon. Since 2007, festivals have taken place in Melbourne, Sydney, Reykjavik, Hamburg, Berlin, Brighton and Aarhaus, with plans for events in New York and Vancouver in the near future.

www.melodicafestival.org/where/melodica-sydney

Radio Playlist 12th January 2011

Jona Byron - Refuge (Demo)
The Lovely Sparrows - Year Of The Dog (Bury The Cynics)
Christopher Paul Stelling - Never Been There (Daytrotter Session 12/14/2010)
**
Aislee Wills - Fine Fool (Somebody For Everyone EP)
Caitlin Harnett - Before Now (v/a Melodica Sampler)
Bianca Meier - Devil Song (Oh Bright Night)
**
The Hazelman Brothers - Beach Train (Eyesight Like An Owl)
Nicolle Lane - Interview (Live on Sideways Through Sound)
Torben Stock - When Will It Be (v/a Melodica Compilation #1)
**
Owls Of The Swamp - Heart Of The Mountain (v/a Melodica Compilation #1)
Peregrine - Love Lost (The Overdue EP)
Kahlia - Keep Me Warm (v/a Melodica Sampler)
**
Sumie - Lost In Light (live in Berlin) (Demo)
Olof Arnalds - Madrid (Innundir Skinni)
Caitlin Rose - Things Change (Own Side Now)

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Sideways Through Sound Download Archive

13th January 2010: Brown Bird - The Devil Dancing
14th January 2009: The Travelling Band - Under The Pavement
10th January 200: Jozef Van Wissem - Objects In Mirror Are Closer Than They Appear

5th January 2011: Samson & Delilah / Playlist

2011-01-02T17:18:00.000-08:00

Featured: Samson & Delilah - And Straight On Till Morning (Little Red Rabbit)

Samson & Delilah are a 5 piece folk-rock band from Manchester led by the songwriting partnership of husband and wife Sam Lench and Anna Zweck.

Their new album 'And Straight On Till Morning' shows their assured progression to a full band capable of shifting in a heartbeat from mournful piano laments to Byrds-like psyche-drone to uplifting, anthemic crescendos.

With 'And Straight On Till Morning' Samson & Delilah have created a beautiful record of psychedelic folk, immaculately recorded in a restored Victorian concert hall.

Recorded almost totally live over a single week, the record uses the vast space of the concert hall to full effect, with natural reverb and multiple ambient microphones capturing the dynamics of a band totally at ease with each other and their songs. Often playing together in a circle, their music acts as direct folk songs that communicate truths between performer and listener.

www.myspace.com/thesamsonanddelilahshow

Radio Playlist 5th January 2011

Sproatly Smith - A Leaf Must Fall (Pixieled)
Galley Beggar - False Love (Reformation House)
Samson & Delilah - Rope Has Bound The Shadows Down (And Straight On Till Morning)
**
Liz Simmons - Silver Dagger (The Whole World Round)
Joan Baez - Silver Dagger (S/T)
Mary Hampton - Silver Dagger (Book One - Six Songs Of Refusal)
**
Samson & Delilah - Silently (And Straight On Till Morning)
Martha Tilston - Who Turns (Lucy & The Wolves)
Sharron Kraus - The Woody Nightshade (The Woody Nightshade)
**
The Rowan Amber Mill - The River (Heartwood)
The Hare & The Moon - Crazy Man Michael (The Grey Malkin EP)
Samson & Delilah - Gravity Is Merciless (And Straight On Till Morning)
**
Gravenhurst - The Diver (Flashlight Seasons)
The Straw Bear Band - The Red Giant (From The Sea To The Stars)
Lady Space - Seal (Long Lost In A Twilight Head)

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Sideways Through Sound Download Archive

6th January 2010: Dan Mangan - Live in Session
5th January 2009: Little Somebody Records
3rd January 2008: River Crombie - S/T

29th December 2010: Sean Smith / Playlist

2010-12-22T02:17:00.000-08:00

Featured: Sean Smith - Christmas (Tompkins Square)

Sean Smith plays the guitar, or so he would have you believe. It is far more likely, however, that Sean actually plays some sort of magic orb that causes you to feel from your deepest-self, most exquisitely. Sure the orb makes guitar sounds, and when you look at it, you even think you’re seeing a guitar, but these illusions are just a testament to the power of the orb... and our willingness to accept things as normal when they are actually extraordinary, like good music, you know, the one-true-miracle.

Unlike many other guitar-men of immense technical skill, Sean doesn't play just to hear himself noodle, to boast of ability, or to illuminate some obscure passage of musical history. Instead, he is playing for you to live the song, hoping that it will be as much yours as it is his. You should really just listen to some of his tunes.

Sean Smith has released several albums under his own name, and has produced and contributed to the compilations Berkeley Guitar and Beyond Berkeley Guitar. His latest album, 'Christmas', is a gorgeous, contemporary acoustic guitar recording featuring fourteen well known Christmas classics and two Sean Smith originals.

Considering the vast amount of syrupy instrumental music in this genre, Christmas is a most welcome holiday album, and one which could well become a classic for many years to come.

www.myspace.com/seansmithlives

Radio Playlist 29th December 2010

C. Joynes - Christmas Medley: i. I Saw Three Ships Come Sailing In ii. In The Bleak Midwinter iii. The Holly & The Ivy (God Feeds The Ravens)
Black Mountain - Radiant Hearts (Wilderness Heart)
Sean Smith - We Three Kings (Christmas)
**
Jason Simon - Let's Begin (S/T)
Dungen - Nasta Sommar (Skit I Allt)
Wolf People - Tiny Circle (Steeple)
**
Sean Smith - Little Drummer Boy (Christmas)
Voice Of The Seven Thunders - Out Of The Smoke (S/T)
Mondo Drag - Black River (New Rituals)
**
The Demon Parade - Afterworld (God Said It's Legal EP)
Sleepy Sun - Desert God (Fever)
Sean Smith - Silent Night, Holy Night (Christmas)
**
Hawkwind - Silver Machine (Johnny Walker Radio 1 Session, August 2, 1972) (At The BBC 1972)
The Beautiful Daze - City Jungle Part 1 & 2 (v/a High All The Time Vol.1)
Tame Impala - It's Not Meant To Be (Innerspeaker)
**
Jimi Hendrix - Sunshine Of Your Love (Valleys Of Neptune)
Pat O'Connell - The New Year (Demo)
Sean Smith - Auld Lang Syne (Christmas)

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Sideways Through Sound Download Archive

30th December 2009: End Of Year Special
29th December 2008: End Of Year Special
27th December 2007: End Of Year Special