Chris Bathgate |

hey congrats to all you bosox fans out there. i, like the rest of the country probably, didnt think they were going to make it out of the alcs, but what the hell do i know? i expected my sox to have won at least 2-3 world series by now. considering that they have the same freakin team as 05! anyway, those rookies really carried em, which bodes well for the future. could it be possible that arod might be a sock next summer now that he has opted out of his contract with the yanks? man, i would love if the white sox got him. nay, they need to get him. no matter the price. by the way, papelbon needs to just stop.

dont know if you guys have checked out this comp called folk music for the end of the world, but its pretty great. its put out by yer bird records and features a lot of great performers including j tillman, hayden, travel by sea - whose new record i cant wait for, aline simone, chris bathgate, paleo and matthew ryan amongst others. one thing i really dig about it is that it flows really well and no track seems outta place - which is a major downfall of a lot of comps. its definitely worth your investment.

swimming in money - paleo

flash of light followed by - chris bathgate

yer bird records site

staying on the topic of folk music for the end of world, i wanted to make special mention of two of the artists. first being paleo, who has just wrapped up his song a day for a year project. i havent listened to only but a few, but they are cool for what they are - raw recordings. check em out here. he plays in athens on the 17th of december at the flicker. the other artist in question is michael metivier’s oweihops. his contribution to the comp is beautiful little tune called “sad little drunks.” hoping that the rest of his stuff was as grand, i hopped over to his myspace page and i can confidently say that it is. his new record, cinquefoil, can be downloaded/purchased on his myspace page.

sad little drunks

this is the earliest tupelo recording i have heard and as luck would have it, its a great recording. here they are playing at the blue note on 8.22.88.

Continue reading ‘hey, woman! hey, woman!’

you couldnt have asked for a better lineup last night at the earl and in the end it was one of the best shows i have ever been witness to. opener and fellow atlantian, ben trickey’s 45 minute set was stunning in its simplicity. just a man, a guitar and a handful of lovely songs. sadly, ben was only special to the atlanta show, but i definitely cant recommend him enough. justin earle was a huge surprise. not that i expected him to suck, cause i have listened to yuma and its quite good, but i was surprised how engaging he was/is. of course the strength of his set was his songs, which take on new life in a live setting. if yuma was filled with the same life as his live set it would be a totally different recording. the there was the star of the evening, jason isbell backed by his band the 400 unit. not surprisingly he was awesome. my only disappointment was that he failed to play a couple of songs i was really wanting to hear, “decoration day” and “shotgun wedding” to be exact. oh well, other than those two missteps the night was close to perfect. he did bless the crowd with version’s of thin lizzy’s “jailbreak” and the talking heads “psycho killer” which were very cool. he played for just over 2 hours but ended very abruptly with a sonic youth inspired type of guitar feedback freakout. he is touring through the end of august, but only for the next 10 days or so with justin earle but he hooks up with the men of centro-matic in mid august. check his site for upcoming tourdates - the next date is tomorrow in raleigh @ hideaway bbq.

jason isbell site / myspace

dress blues

justin earle myspace

the ghost of virginia

ben trickey site / myspace

explode again

absence

“in a razor town” my favorite track off sirens of the ditch

i have yet to listen to ann arborite, chris bathgate’s debut a cork tale wake but these two tracks are freakin great. very reminiscent of the more haunting richard buckner stuff that can be found on his classic the hill. fans of buckner, okkervil river, and maybe even beruit should take notice for sure.

every wall you own

a flash of light followed by

you can stream the entire record here

chris bathgate site / myspace / quite scientific - label

here is a wonderful live recording of television in portland sometime in 78. the version of marquee moon is absolutely blistering.

Continue reading ‘i heard you was dead!’