listen.

swimming with laura

Great Lake Swimmers have sort of barely been on my radar for a while now, basically just to the extent that I knew I'd heard a few songs that I'd really liked.  Well I finally got around to picking up (or "picking up", as in downloading from emusic) their most recent album, last year's Ongiara. And it's really super good.

They are a trio of handsome Toronto-based gents, with that guy in the front there Tony Dekker doing the songwriting, singing and guitar.

Amanda saw a picture of them and told me I'd like them even if they played cowbells and tinkertoys, which frankly is off the mark because I think a band based primarily on cowbells and tinkertoys would be totally awesome no matter how cute they were, but I get her point. Still, though. They're really hitting the spot for me right now. Kind of a hazy, countryish folky blend of banjo, guitars, some other random instruments, string arrangements from Canada's awesome one-man-band du jour Owen Pallett (another fave of mine), and then there's Dekker's vocals, which make me sad in that good-sad-but-still-sad way. Kind of a perfect soundtrack for yesterday's cozy afternoon at home, avoiding the rain outside by making quiche and drinking too much coffee.

Here are a couple of my faves:

Great Lake Swimmers - Your Rocky Spine

Great Lake Swimmers - Where in the World Are You
(you know those double-tracked vocals get me every time. also love the strings on this one.)

And an older one, from their 2005 album, Bodies and Minds:

Great Lake Swimmers - Various Stages

Just for fun, here's the video for Your Rocky Spine, which I think is completely adorable:

And as I was listening to Great Lake Swimmers yesterday, I threw some Laura Gibson into the mix, which was totally perfect.

The young and mesmerizing Laura, on Portland's genius Hush Records (see also big faves of mine Loch Lomond, not to mention hush alums The Decemberists of course), has a voice that breaks your heart and a simple, pared down approach to a classic introspective country folky sound. So good.

From her 2006 album, If You Come To Greet Me:

Laura Gibson - This is not the end

Laura Gibson - Country, Country
("Everybody in the country knows I always sing them country songs, and always fall for country boys."  Ditto that, Laura.)

And she just released this awesome limited edition EP (available for purchase and download here!) called Six White Horses, which is all reinterpretations of traditional songs, including this one I remember singing as a kid (but I don't think the lyrics we sang were this creepy):

Laura Gibson - All the Pretty Horses

Enjoy.

>ben

those unison voices in your head

so, i've been meaning for a while to write a post about the use of double-tracked unison lead vocals.  which might sort of be like writing a post about "the use of the acoustic guitar", or "the use of piano", seeing as how it's not all THAT uncommon (though admittedly, less common than the acoustic guitar or the piano), but still.  when it's done well, the effect can be truly intense, lush and beautiful. 

not that i know a whole lot about the process, but it's basically when a singer records two takes of a melody and layers them on top of each other, so the slight differences in nuance or inflection add a real texture to the line. it's one of my favorite things, and three of my fave bands of late (all previously featured on listen.) have used it to great effect. it's best appreciated on headphones!

First of all, i refuse to stop inundating you all with the gorgeous music of Horse Feathers. [side note: i just discovered HF's daytrotter session, which included alternate takes of two of my favorite songs from the album, and two unreleased tracks. please go, listen, download, enjoy.]  Justin double-tracks his vocals a lot on the album, and this song is double-tracked throughout.  it's another of my faves from the album, and probably my favorite when we saw them live: at their most dynamic and intense.

horse feathers, falling through the roof

loney, dear is another recent discovery-then-obsession, and he does a lot of double-tracking. it's interesting on this song because the double-tracking comes in and out pretty subtly. i hear it first about 0:37 in on "i've been counting on it since ten".  then of course on "time, i had a chance, i had a chance..." it's pretty in-your-face. beautifully so. anyway:

loney, dear, the meter marks ok

and i'll try and spare you the redundancy of how much i generally love sleeping states (see here, here, and here) but this is my favorite song from the new album.  except i can't listen to it without feeling (more than) a tad melancholy.  it's all about the beginning of a new relationship, promising to take it slow:

i won't rush things, i'll be your friend first.
i'll take you out for lunch and i'll ask you those things i forget:
like, would you like to go for a walk? and,
would you like to take my hand?
and i'm asking you, please? come on, please? 

Of all these songs i'm posting today the double-tracking is probably most obvious on this one because Markland's voice is SO front-and-center in the mix, it's like he's singing inches from your ear. you can hear him open his mouth before he starts each line.  and then, on the second refrain of "please..." (which he hears back from the chap he's courting), the double-tracking multiplies and expands into full harmony. gorgeous. heartbreaking. genius.

sleeping states, the next step

i really can't do a post about double-tracked vocals without including the song that first introduced me to the concept, and which, as far as i'm concerned, is still one of the gold standards for the effect. i could go on and on about the beauty of this song (not to mention the entire album), but instead i'll just say that Jeff Mangum's precision in singing unison with himself is kind of mindblowing.  and the part at the end when the double-tracking (like in the sleeping states song above) expands into a multi-part harmony is amazing. one of my favorite songs of all time.

neutral milk hotel, king of carrot flowers part 1

>ben

WE LASTED A MONTH! and: sleeping states won't stop breaking my heart.

some of them didn't believe. some of them scoffed. some of them said "we'll see how long this lasts." well, thirty-one days later, we're still here, and you're still listening! we hope. so thanks for sticking around.

some quick interesting stats, for you statisticians out there:
we've gotten just over 1000 non-unique visits (non-unique meaning a good third of that is probably due to me hitting refresh to make sure the formatting is right).
we've posted 21 times, which averages to exactly one post per business day.
we've shared 69 songs (many but not all of which were indeed love songs).
and we've even been the brunt of ONE strange, unprovoked insult before our friends rushed to our defense and the detractor retracted.

we also just tweaked some of the listening options, so please see the "so many ways to listen." instructions to your right.

hooray!!

now.  some of you know i'm sort of obsessed with Markland Starkie aka "sleeping states", and not just because he's adorable, gay and british. though that may or may not count for something. i mean, look at him with those balloons and that cable-knit cardigan sweater vest and that bowtie and tell me you don't want him to kiss you on the cheek.

but really, something about his quiet, vulnerable music just kind of destroys me. he sounds like what i imagine london to be, having never been there: gray, sort of rainy, strangely muted, and eternally inescapably melancholy. his croon is so honest and immediate, his lyrics always sad and lovely, all against a backdrop of these shimmery, rainy, subtly dissonant atmospheric guitars. it's a little too much for me to handle sometimes. and knowing he's singing these beautiful sad love songs about another *dude* really drives them home for me.

ANYWAY. he just came out with a new album, which i've basically been waiting on for months. and it's a totally heartbreaking album all the way through, right from track 1, "Rain Check", which just repeats the refrain:

.....

when i'm getting ready, in spite of the rain

you sometimes ring me up (/let me down) and say, another time.

.....

but it's a capella, and each time it repeats he layers another harmony on top, until he's singing with himself in 5-part harmony. it's gorgeous.

Sleeping States - Rain Check

and then there's this quiet one, which starts with: "watching your mouth in the evening, as the sun's going down." if i had a nickel for everytime someone told *me* that!  <sigh>  <sob>

Sleeping States - The Sleeping States, or Who Has Been Rocking My Dreamboat?

and just for fun, here's the lovely video for the album's single (i guess), "Rivers", which might be my favorite track from the album.

NOW. he's coming to NYC and playing at Mercury Lounge on Oct. 8.  geoffrey and i are going.  who's coming with?

one more older track of his just for good measure, since he's soon making a trip to NYC...

Sleeping States - A Trip to NYC

keep an eye out for another post soon all about multi-tracked vocals (the other mtv), which will feature yet another new sleeping states song.

xo >ben