HOMEMADE LOFI PSYCH --- WHERE TO START?





"There is so much great music here..." WHERE TO START???

I recommend to
start with the HLFP-Samplers (especially HLFP 04).
Here you will come to know many of the bands/musicians featured in this blog. If you like what you hear, you may check out more of their music later on.
(You may also click on the picture on the sidebar and you will find the original post with download links.)

There is also a "FOCUS ON..." section. Here you will find albums that imo are absolutely great (***** = "five-stars-recordings") and that are essential listening and strongly recommended for download.


I TRY to RE-UP some stuff that has been down from time to

time, but I still don't have enough time to

listen to/post much new stuff.

Sorry!

IMPRESSUM: see here!

Wednesday, August 25, 2010

Richard There - Who touched my bones (EP, "There" 2010) + OK, I'll do all that again (Compilation album, 2010)

RICHARD THERE is a guy from "There", who is into music since 2005. "Who touched my bones" is Richard's second regular release, recorded in February 2010.

Not an easy task to describe RICHARD THERE's music. One probably could call it dark experimental folk. Arrangements are rather sparse most of the time. The voice is very much to the fore, giving the tracks almost the quality of a poetry reading. The lyrics are sometimes personal, sometimes abstract, sometimes provoking...

Interesting piece of music!

"I'm making music since 2005 but never made an album until 2008. This first album contains the songs I made without instruments (because I didn´t have any intruments in that time but really want to make music).
... The first one is called "How many times I´ll have to die?" and can be heard here:

http://www.lastfm.de/music/Richard+there/How+many+times+I%C2%B4ll+have+to+die%3F - In my last.fm page you can also find another two releases. One called "B-sides" which was released now in 2010 and one with Cover songs released in 2009. ... I have a website where I put draws and comics I make: http://richardthere.blogspot.com/ - I think the draws and comics are pretty related with my music. There you can also find a review about the album I sent to you. ... I think that my biggest influences are Daniel Johnston, Mark E. Smith (The Fall) and Calvin Johnson. This 3 man estimulated me to make my own music. ... for this album I was inspired or influenced by The Legendary Pink Dots and by Julian Cope. This two bands were really important for this album."

(R. T.)


(music as well as comics and drawings)

Favourite track: Wesley Willis

RICHARD THERE: Who touched my bones
(EP 2010)

01 - Cat in my head

02 - Empty bed

03 - You should go on

04 - Wesley Willis

05 - In my dreams

(mp3-zip, 5 tracks, 13 min, 19,4 MB)
Get it here or here or here!

"I would like to tell you that I made a compilation album now with a selection of my music and maybe it's something for you. It's a long album and shows every direction that my music can go." (R. T.)

Some of the tracks of the compilation sampler feature a girl singer (I'm debby, who are you?; The song of the yellow girl), and the song collection shows indeed a greater variety of styles than the ep. Some songs are quite funny, others are rather strange, almost disturbing (Ignore the machine, Words) (I know - kind of a cover song, but I'll ignore that fact....)

RICHARD THERE: OK, I'll do all that again
(Compilation album, 2010)
(includes the EP above)
(mp3-zip, 25 tracks, 77 min, 140,6 MB)
Get it here or here or here!

Popcorn - Popcorn & Other Delights (1997)



Here's another past musical project of Brian Andrew Marek and "Manik" Myk Thompson (see post below). POPCORN is an American rock/pop band not too dissimilar to ROCKET PARK, posted some time ago (see here!).
Enjoy!

"Popcorn began as a vehicle for legendary local front man Craig Downs and was my first project with drummer Eric Moore, but neither fellow was long for the band. Ultimately Popcorn mutated into a sort of refinement of the recently demised Lemonade with a new drummer (Dan Stuvland) and some swapping of roles (Danimal switched from bass to full time lead vocals while I abandoned guitar for bass). "Manik" Myk Thompson stayed on lead guitar, and we played a variety of originals - some new, some leftover from Lemonade and other projects, some to rear their heads yet again when Eric Moore, "Manik" Myk and I joined forces yet again in Rocket Park, which shared a similar aesthetic of hard, concise pop with occasional flights of fancy. We never did any professional recording, just enough ambitious four-track basement demos to fill out an album. Enjoy these now sounds for pop people!"
(Brian Andrew Marek)

Favourite track: thorazine cocktail


POPCORN: Popcorn & Other Delights (1997)
(mp3-zip, 15 tracks, 51 min, 116,9 MB, artwork incl.)
Get it here or here or here!

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

The Vertigo Swirl - A New Swirled Record (2010)



I know that quite some of you have been waiting for this: a second VERTIGO SWIRL album - "A New Swirled Record". And what a great album it is again! This time Brian Andrew Marek brings on board his old mate "Manik" Myk Thompson, and together they present us quite a collection of fantastic songs - from the reflective "Loneliness Is a Choice" to more lighthearted tracks like "Got Yer Back". And we also get some jam based tracks like "Third Sun from the Stone". What else could we ask for - if not for: MORE, PLEASE!

Enjoy!

"In late 2009, "Manik" Myk Thompson suggested we revive our long dormant collaboration with some recording of an experimental/psychedelic nature. I countered by suggesting that we do so with the goal of a recording a second album under The Vertigo Swirl identity. We began with a day of improvisation that yielded "Jeremy's First Flight", "Third Sun from the Stone" and the compositional beginnings of "The Megalith". I added my contributions to some tracks that Myk had begun at home ("We've Got Electricity", "Molehill Sherpa", "Loneliness Is a Choice" and "Got Yer Back") while he, in turn, added guitar to my own pet projects ("You Belong in Outer Space" and "The Megalith"), a couple of guest performers did their thing and, voila, we had a new swirled record - eight paths of excess trod by two psychedelic brothers in arms."
(BaM)

Q: How did you record "A New Swirled Record"? What has changed since your first VERTIGO SWIRL album?
B: This album was recorded primarily on a Tascam Portastudio 424 Mk. III 4-track cassette deck - a bit unusual for me as I've been head over heels for my reel-to-reel lately, but since Myk was bringing some partially completed tracks from home on his own 4-track, I figured I'd keep things consistent. An audio editing computer program called Goldwave was used for mixing, editing and superimposing additional tracks, but all the actual recordings were analog. As for what has changed, "Manik" Myk got involved and took things in a few new directions and made recording a slightly less lonely process!
Q: Who was involved? Who played what?
B: A fine Saint Louis saxophonist named Dominic Schaeffer (http://webpages.charter.net/dominicschaeffer/html/index/dominic.html) provided drone loops and solos on "You Belong in Outer Space". Myk's friend Andrea Busch (last heard on Rocket Park's Teenage Folklore album) contributed the disembodied telephone voice on "Loneliness Is a Choice". Beyond that, the only certainties are that I played all the kit drums and keyboards, as Myk and I shared guitar, bass, vocal and percussion duties.
Q: What's your favourite track on the album? Why?
B: "You Belong in Outer Space". I feel it's rather sadly majestic and, lyrically, I think of it as a sequel to the Flaming Lips' "I Want My Own Planet".
M: "Got Yer Back". It was inspired by hearing a Christian radio personality talking about how Charles Manson would tell potential recruits that he loved them and had their back, and it occured to me that whereas in 1967 all you needed was love, in 2010 you need both love and protection. I also enjoyed having Brian sing some very silly lyrics.
Q: Listening to the song "Vertigo Swirl" from the first VERTIGO SWIRL album two krautrock veterans, namely ACHIM REICHEL ("Grüne Reise - Green Journey") and MANUEL GÖTTSCHING from ASH RA come to my mind. Do you know those two artists, and was that song meant as a homage, or is the similarity in style coincidence?
B: A coincidence but probably not a total coincidence, as I've no doubt been inspired by other artists who were themselves inspired by those fellows! I am, admittedly, a bit of a babe in the woods as far as krautrock goes - Can and Neu! are about the only "pure" krautrock bands I can claim much familiarity with.
Q: Every regular blog reader will surely have noticed that you already have released quite a number of albums (under different names). So since when are you into recording music?
B: I've been doing something musical in the vicinity of a tape recorder since I was a child. The oldest recording I have in my possession is my first band Current Rage rehearsing three songs circa 1981, when I was 10 or 11. My first "professional" release was Rocket Park's Teenage Folklore in 1999. The big step forward, however, was when - inspired by both the homemade lofi psych blog and fellow travelers such as Drew "Full Dimensional" Aldrich, Walt Winston and "Manik" Myk himself - I raised my own personal bar for home recording and starting packaging and releasing the results in DIY form a few years ago.
M: I've been recording since I was 16 and am currently on my third four-track recorder (which I bought at a garage sale for $5 - it was one of the top twenty best days of my life).
Q: How many records did you already release? Please list them all in chronological order.
B: CASSETTES: O Joy, O Rapture, I'm Gonna Be Sick! (with Rastafarian Tweed, 1987), Angus Tweed (with Angus Tweed, 1988), Accept No Imitations (with Angus Tweed, 1989), This Is Your Brain on Drugs (1990), Not Actual Size (with Not Actual Size, 1991), et cetera... (with Angus Tweed, 1993), Fight for Your Right to Be Pouty (with Lemonade, 1994)
CDs: Teenage Folklore (with Rocket Park, 1999), The Effects of Eating Too Much Television (with Rocket Park, 2000)
CD-Rs/DIGITAL: Then! (compilation, 1988-2005), Dark Side of the Moo! (compilation with Angus Tweed, 1988-1994), Live at Hits (with Angus Tweed, 1989), Indulgence (compilation, 1993-1998), Popcorn & Other Delights (with Popcorn, 1997), Ghosts, Villains, Sirens and Superstars (compilation with Rocket Park, 1995-2003), Up Against Goodbye (with Rocket Park, 2003), A Lion in the Sun (2005), Three Song Demonstration Disc (with Bargain Basement, 2007), The Lair EP (2007), The Way We Feel Inside (with Kate Mittendorf, 2008), The Vertigo Swirl (as The Vertigo Swirl, 2009), Utopian Flying Machines (2009), A New Swirled Record (with The Vertigo Swirl, 2010)
M: CASSETTES: The Formative Years (compilation, 1980-1990), Subliminal Hearing Loss Tape (1991), She's So Alternative single (1991), Suburban Dream (1992), Song in My Ear EP (1992), Dysfunctional (1993), Beyond Dysfunctional (1994), Naked in Bohemia (1995), Christmas with Mike (1995), Celebrate Perversity (as Manik Myk & Friends, 1996)
CDs: Designated Drunkard (with Guitar Joe and the Angry Neighbors, 1999), Teenage Folklore (with Rocket Park, 1999), The Effects of Eating Too Much Television (with Rocket Park, 2000)
CD-Rs/DIGITAL: Dark Side of the Moo! (compilation with Angus Tweed, 1988-1994), Manik Digressions (compilation, 1991-1995), Popcorn & Other Delights (with Popcorn, 1997), Ghosts, Villains, Sirens and Superstars (compilation with Rocket Park, 1995-2003), Artist's Manifesto (compilation, 1999-2009), Primordial Soup Kitchen (with Riding the Riff, 2009), Me and the Devil's Favorite Campfire Songs (with Paul Stewart, 2009), A New Swirled Record (with The Vertigo Swirl, 2010)
Q: Any feedback for your VERTIGO SWIRL records (except for HLFP)?
B: Aside from a few uselessly nonspecific slights, the response has been pretty positive. The Swirl's music has been posted on a few music blogs, seen some intermittent radio airplay in far corners of the Earth, and inspired a fan video from Finland. Not bad for a couple of dudes in a basement with crapped-out old gear and a budget of zero!
Q: How do you write your songs? What comes first, words or music?
B: I have no formula except to have no formula. Creativity manifests itself however it chooses.
M: It just depends on what inspires me. In the past it was often the words, but lately I've been coming up with the music first.
Q: What’s the best song you’ve ever written?
B: I probably haven't written it yet!
M: The one I'm writing now.
Q: Favorite line from a song you've written?
B: "I forget sadness and I forget hate, I forget breathing and slowly suffocate" from "Satisfied Rainbows". Look for it on the THIRD Vertigo Swirl album!
M: "Subliminal phosphenes, oblivial haze, seems all the world's a passing phase" from "Four Finger Fantasy", an unrecorded song I wrote when I was 15.
Q: What are your main musical influences?
B: They vary with my ever-changing listening tastes, but some perennials are The Beatles, Pink Floyd/Syd Barrett, Beach Boys/Brian Wilson, David Bowie, Electric Light Orchestra, The Flaming Lips, Nirvana, Sebadoh, King Crimson, early Gong/Daevid Allen, Kevin Ayers, Robert Wyatt, Aphrodite's Child, The Nice, Jack Bruce, Camper Van Beethoven, Tyrannosaurus Rex/T. Rex and Hawkwind in no particular order with many glaring omissions that I will only notice later!
M: The usual suspects found on black light posters.
Q: Favorite band at the moment?
B: The Flaming Lips have brought me great joy since I first heard Oh My Gawd!!! at a record store in 1987, and I am currently rekindling my love affair with them.
M: I don't have a current obsession. I'm looking for one.
Q: What was the first record that really blew your mind?
B: I like to joke that my parents warped me for life by giving me The Beatles' 1967-1970 compilation ("The Blue Album") when I was five. How is a five-year-old supposed to know that "I Am the Walrus" is not "normal pop music"...?!?
M: When I was five years old I would listen to Jesus Christ Superstar and get so worked up over it that I would run around and smash things in the backyard, and my parents would have to take the album away for a while.
Q: From listening to some of your songs I suppose that you must be a great (early) PINK FLOYD/SYD BARRETT fan!? Which one is your favourite PINK FLOYD song/album?
B: "Astronomy Domine", simply because it is such a perfect melding of the opposing sensibilities of early Floyd - pop music AND improvisational insanity all in one package. The album I actually reach for most often is probably the soundtrack to More, simply because there's a certain looseness to it, a sense that the stakes are lower (i.e., it's not a "real" Pink Floyd album) and, resultantly, a sense of happy, stoned fun. {Also one of my top 5 Pink Floyd records!!! - mike-floyd}
M: "Free Four". I love the line "the memories of a man in his old age are the deeds of a man in his prime". It has been said that after the age of thirty, everything is commentary. Favorite album is a toss-up between The Dark Side of the Moon and The Wall - Dark Side is the better album of the two, but The Wall came out when I was 13 and I identified heavily with it.
Q: Would it be ok, if people call the VERTIGO SWIRL music "neo psychedelic rock"? Or what "label" would you prefer?
B: I'm not a huge fan of the "neo" prefix when it comes to music, if only because of the disappointments it has often brought. Besides, I make no claim of bringing anything particularly new to the plate. But if people are calling it anything, they're talking about it, and that's good enough for me!
M: Whatever people call it is fine by me.
Q: What's your definition of "psychedelic music"?
B: Music that transcends the mundane and takes you outside your overly familiar environment and circumstances. To me it is less a genre descriptor than a measure of its transportational properties - a quality it is possible to hear in any genre.
M: I go with the Greek definition, which literally means "mind show". A good psychedelic record should put you in a state of altered consciousness to some degree.
Q: What are your five all time favourite psychedelic records? Why?
B: The Madcap Laughs by Syd Barrett (the most internal of all psychedelic albums - the weirdness is in the brainwaves more so than the soundwaves), Magical Mystery Tour by The Beatles (they may not have been rock's biggest drug users, but they could afford the best stuff and giggled all the way to the bank), Rock Bottom by Robert Wyatt (a genre-obliterating work - the sonic equivalent of an ever-shifting Salvador Dali landscape, but always fully invested in heart and soul), 666 by Aphrodite's child (to my ears, the only "concept album" where the music never suffers for the sake of the words - the band's native Grecian music traditions are seamlessly integrated into the soundscape, and Silver Kolouris' guitar work is simply stellar) and Smiley Smile by The Beach Boys (if this isn't the birth of homemade lo-fi psychedelia, what is? - the man of genius can give up and stay at home, but the genius itself just keeps going).
M: Are You Experienced? by The Jimi Hendrix Experience (I love it from the flattened fifth that begins it to the backwards guitar on the title track), Revolver by The Beatles (I consider this their first psychedelic album, and often one's first experiments in a genre are the strongest and most interesting), The Doors (I like their synthesis of jazz and classical ideas, and how they foreshadow punk while remaining psychedelic), Surrealistic Pillow by Jefferson Airplane (it sounds like a bunch of friends having fun together, and I love the songwriting of Grace Slick and Paul Kantner), and Bitches Brew by Miles Davis (I love the competence and imagination that went into it and the way that Miles Davis reinvents himself).
Q: Any plans for live gigs?
B: No plans, but that doesn't mean it can't happen. After several years of intense gigging with an ambitious rock group, I'm burned out on that grind and prefer to take intermittent gigs here and there just to keep things fresh. In the last couple of years I've played 4 or 5 gigs with totally different musicians and set lists each time! The Vertigo Swirl did play a one-off show in 2009 prior to Myk's involvement, featuring Kjle Risch on bass and Eric Moore on drums. Myk and I also played a show earlier this year which, though it was billed as The Popcorn Bros., did feature some very Swirl-like improvisations (Robert Hedges provided percussion).
Q: Website?
Q: The last five records you bought?
B: Pop-O-Anthology by Pop-O-Pies (digital), Camembert Eclectique by Gong (digital), Picturesque Matchstickable Messages from The Status Quo (CD), The Columbia Singles '65-'67 by The Byrds (new vinyl) and The Mandrake Memorial (new vinyl).
M: Anthology by Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, Valleys of Neptune (CD single) by Jimi Hendrix... who buys music anymore?
Q: Anything that you think is interesting, that you'd like to inform the blog readers about...
B: The concept of ownership over music is a very recent one in human history, yet those who profit the most from this concept (spoiler alert: it is rarely ever the actual artists) proceed as if copyright law was graven on Moses' tablets. In their zeal to assert their "rights", the powers-that-be have twice had this very album deleted from online servers, despite the fact that no persons or entities besides Myk and myself can make any legal claim to this work. Most likely it was simply because the album was posted on a blog and presumed guilty by association, but one can't help but notice the symbolism of profiteers obstructing free distribution of a free work...
M: I really appreciate all the work Mike Floyd does for our favorite music blog.
M-F: Thanks, guys. Been enjoying this interview a lot!

Favourite tracks: Molehill Sherpa and Loneliness Is a Choice and of course the "potential hit single" You Belong In Outer Space

THE VERTIGO SWIRL: A New Swirled Record (2010)
(mp3-zip, 8 tracks, 44 min, 101,1 MB, artwork + lyrics incl.)
Get it here or here!

Get the 1st VERTIGO SWIRL album here!

Friday, August 20, 2010

No Monster Club - Tropical Decibels Volume One (IRELAND 2009)


NO MONSTER CLUB is Bobby Aherne from Dublin, Ireland.
On offer is homemade lo-fi psychedelic pop/garage.
Enjoy!

- Where exactly are you from?

Dublin, Ireland

- Do you want your real name mentioned? If so: What is your real name?

Bobby Aherne

- How recorded?

recorded onto cassette and mixed/overdubbed on a laptop

- When recorded?

July 2009

- Who involved? Who played what?

me - guitar, handclaps, vocals, minimal kazoo

- Any more releases? Any "official" releases?

Tropical Decibels Volumes One and Two (Cass/Flick, April 2010)

- Since when does this band/project exist?

Summer 2009

- Any previous bands worth mentioning?

Dublin Duck Dispensary

- How'd you "label" your music?

as much noise squeezed into as little space in as little time as possible, and concluded just before the whole thing bursts

- Influences?

The Polyphonic Spree, 1910 Fruitgum Company, Neutral Milk Hotel, The Unicorns

- Website, myspace?

- Anything that you think is interesting, that you'd like to inform the blog readers about...

If the world ends, at least we've got each other.
(B. A. via email)

NO MONSTER CLUB: Tropical Decibels Volume One
(IRELAND 2009)
(mp3-zip, 10 tracks, 15 min, 20,5 MB, artwork incl.)
Get it here or here or here!

Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Dan Lawrence - Nameless EP (USA 2009)

DAN LAWRENCE from Newton, MA, sent me his ep "Nameless" to post it for your pleasure. It's a mixture of psychedelic folk/pop, acoustic guitar playing with some added electronics and a remarkable voice that you may need to get used to at first listen.
Quite interesting... Would like to hear more.

Here we go:

"I recorded it through a tape player directly into my Macbook. It was recorded over a period of two weeks during the summer of 2009. I played all the parts myself. This was my first EP since my 2008 debut LP entitled 'Stay' which is largely sample based and not readily available online at this point in time. I am currently working on a new full length LP entitled 'Predator Instincts' which will probably be released sometime this coming summer. I have played around in several bands before on multiple instruments but currently record and write music by myself. I'd label this EP as experimental pop/psychedelic, however, I like to explore many different genres throughout different projects. I am influenced at this point mainly by foreign music, especially asian classical music, I like to explore unfamiliar tones, and the internet is a valuable resource for finding otherwise forgotten musics."

(D. L.)


Favourite track: Brother Song


DAN LAWRENCE: Nameless EP (USA 2009)

(mp3-zip, 4 tracks, 12 min, 28 MB)

Get it here or here or here!

Monday, August 16, 2010

Abortion Eve - s. t. (Tape) (AUSTRALIA 2010)

art by: MILA

Some experimental recordings by ABORTION EVE from Australia, done pretty lofi on a dictaphone tape. Surely not everyone's cup of tea, but if you're into experimental lofi music you might check this one out. Quite atmospheric stuff!
Enjoy!

- Where exactly are you from?
I grew up in Batemans Bay a small town near Sydney. I have been living in Melbourne now for 2 years.
- Do you want your real name mentioned? If so: What is your real name?
Samuel Miers
- How recorded?
I record using either an electric guitar or a bass, playing them with various objects from a cymbal to thumb tacks or other guitar strings. I keep playing until I find a pattern that im happy with and try to hold that for as long as I can. I don't own any pedals or a 4 track, all I have to record with is an old dictaphone tape recorder, so I try to create a few melodies within the one track. I can't play any of the songs again.
- When recorded?
February/March 2010
- Since when does this band/project exist?
January 2010
- Any previous bands/side projects worth mentioning?
I play bass in a punk band Eat A Brick
- Influences?
Raymond Scott, The Flying Lizards, Sack and Blumm, Free Choice Duo, Kluster, The Shaggs, Genesis P Orridge and The Early Worm, Ilitch, Ariel Pink.
- Website, myspace?


ABORTION EVE: s. t. (Tape) (2010)
(mp3-zip, 2 tracks/sides, 36 min, 83,1 MB, @320)
Get it here or here or here!

Saturday, August 14, 2010

JohnnyX Guitar - back from space (GER 2010)

In January I posted It's all end in nothing by JOHNNYX GUITAR from Hamburg, Germany. (Original post here.)
Here's a new album: back from space, which is quite similar in style, though even more "spacy". You'll find long dark ambient pieces that may indeed evoke some kind of interstellar space feelings... The title is quite appropriate.
Enjoy!

JOHNNYX GUITAR will also be featured with one track on the forthcoming HLFP-Sampler – to be posted in a few weeks.


JOHNNYX GUITAR: back from space (GER 2010)
(mp3-zip, 7 tracks, 65 min, 88,6 MB)
Get it here!

Comments welcome!

Thursday, August 12, 2010

Psydentical - Lore EP (USA 2009)

PSYDENTICAL is a very interesting experimental drone/(mostly) instrumental band from Merriville, Virginia, and Chicago, Illinois. Lore is their first ep – and it is quite a promising start.

- Do you want your real names mentioned? If so: What are your real names?
jordan poff, kyle poff, glenn chan, dave seal -- we live in chicago illinois now. but are moving to merriville virginia soon. not that it really matters I guess though. ha we don't do shows yet really. kyle is in the band wrugs and a couple others im not in any others.
- How recorded??
recorded on an 8 track and then transferred to garageband and added sounds
- When recorded?
last year
- Who involved? Who played what?
we all jump around from instrument to instrument we are still trying to learn how to play different instruments -- we should probably all just stick to one though ugh.
- Any more releases?
no
- Since when does this band/project exist?
since last year
- Any previous bands worth mentioning?
wrugs and tropical pills
- How'd you "label" your music?
lofi homemade slurge that sounds interesting sometimes. we love it and hope someone else does.
- Influences?
riding in moving vehicles with a bunch of friends listening to really load music and eating sandwiches at the same time.
- Website, Myspace?
- Anything that you think is interesting, that you'd like to inform the blog readers about...
we named the band because me (jordan) kyle think similarly about too many things but we don't look alike. and the world is here to move around and look at and its destructive power has to be stopped. we have to grab the earth by the hair and tell it how to behave. We are totally against destroying the earth but are totally for making the earth our bitch. move and reshape the earth as much as possible without harming anything. The earth will always destroy people no matter how nice we are to it though OR how much of a ringleader we are as well. everyone should just eat a banana and shut the fuck up. don't eat any fattening foods either unless they taste really really fucking good.
(Interview via email with Jordan & Kyle)


Favourite track: Jumping Plants

PSYDENTICAL: Lore EP (USA 2009)
(mp3-zip, 4 tracks, 18 min, 26,4 MB, front cover incl.)
Get it here or here or here!

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

MacGregor Burns - This Is Gonna Be That Kind of Party (USA 2009)



MacGREGOR BURNS is from Baltimore, Maryland, USA.
This is gonna be that kind of party was recorded on a fisher price tape recorder "and has wicked tape hiss..." It's definitely lo-fi. Just MacGREGOR BURNS' voice and acoustic guitar playing.
If you like urban folk you might want to check it out. The songs are in fact quite good.
Enjoy!

- Where exactly are you from?
I am from Baltimore, MD. Home of the best crabcakes in the world, national bohemian beer, and the occasional drive by shooting.
- Do you want your real name mentioned? If so: What is your real name?
My name is MacGregor Burns. It is actually my first and middle name though... I would prefer to just have it say that I am MacGregor Burns and that that is my name. I am not related to the historian James MacGregor Burns..
- When recorded?
The record was recorded in July and November 2009 in a cottage in Maine and my basement in Baltimore, MD
- Any more releases?
I have released a couple other CDRs. The Big White EP 2008 and Hello, My Name is Harvey 2008 but there were only about 50 of each of them and have since vanished from the face of existence...
- Since when does this project exist?
MacGregor Burns started in NYC in the summer of 2007 when I moved there to start playing solo gigs regularly. Since then I have done 4 tours, with my current two month cross country tour being the longest, playing house shows, coffee shops, and anywhere else that will have me...
- How'd you "label" your music?
I call my music "Concrete Acoustic" not like french concrete but like the asphalt cement... Like an urban folk, Balternative Folk...
- Influences?
Influences: Turner Cody, Jeff Lewis, Doug Martsch (Built to Spill), The Band, Bob Dylan, Good Guise (Baltimore) they are some peers of mine as are The Oafish But Loveable Jew and Friends, Kate Ferencz, Cityslides, and Old Thunder Heart
- Website, myspace?
http://www.myspace.com/macgregorburns is the myspace also feel free to post a link for this album, it was free for me to make so I will give it away if people want it.
- Anything that you think is interesting, that you'd like to inform the blog readers about...
I run the DIY space the ZOO in Baltimore, MD and that is a fun place to see acoustic shows. I am into collecting really shitty cheap guitars and have about 15 of them right now... Half of the record was recorded on a classical guitar I bought for 10 dollars... The song "the difference between teaching a man how to fish..." that is up on the myspace page was recorded on a canoe durig a canoe camping trip in Western Maryland almost two years ago... I like to throw paper airplanes off of bridges...


MacGREGOR BURNS:
This is gonna be that kind of party
(USA 2009)
(mp3-zip, 16 tracks, 62 min, 84,4 MB, art/picts incl.)
Get it here or here or here!