| DIY Top 12 Picks: March/April 2007by Mare Wakefield |
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Showcasing independent songwriters who have
released an album without the backing of a label.
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Chris Ayer
This Is the Place
The lush, pop-rock arrangements may be the first thing to catch your ear on This Is the Place, the first full-length album from Brooklyn-based artist Chris Ayer. But it would be a mistake to let the lyrics pass you by. “You are the start of every season, changing, breathing, holy like a place I’ve never been,” Ayer croons to a lover on “Fall Away.” “Maybe you were a monarch in the 16th century, in which case the life self-righteous is your feudal destiny,” he muses on “We Are Birds.”
 “Get Lost” is another gem. “The rain comes but nothing grows, we get stuck in the things we know / We’ve been there, it’s time to go,” Ayer softly sings over rhythmic acoustic guitar, moody synth and a deep vocal chorus of oohs that echo Ladysmith Black Mambazo.
Ayer’s effort has it all—tight arrangements, excellent musicality and imaginative lyrics. If you’re looking for great music, this is the Place indeed.
myspace.com/chrisayer
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Justin Beckler
Oh! My Troubled Mind
Somewhere between Ray LaMontagne and the Black Crowes lives the music of Florida resident Justin Beckler. Oh! My Troubled Mind combines pleading lyrics with soulful guitar to make sensitive folks sweat and swoon.
The recording starts with “This Mountain,” a song straight off the chain gang. Twangy electric guitar intertwines with the toil-and-trouble lyrics and belabored walking pace. Other highlights include the harder-rocking “Desperate Need” and the title track, with a pleading slide guitar sure to tug at every heart within earshot.
File it under soulful blues-rock or edgy roots-folk, but go to any trouble to add Oh! My Troubled Mind to your collection.
justinbeckler.com
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Careless Hearts
Careless Hearts
The San Jose-based Careless Hearts call themselves alt-country, but we say they’re purveyors of good old-fashioned rock ’n’ roll.
The kind that’ll have you singing along and tapping your foot before the end of the first chorus. The kind with more hooks than a convention of pirates at a bait-and-tackle shop.
You’ll be sucked in by the first line of the first chorus of the first song, a delightful three-and-a-half-minute number called “Chattering Teeth.” Lead singer Paul Kimball alternately wails and whines (in a good way) while powerhouse drummer Craig Heitkam never lets up. Lyrical gems like “I’m shaking like a junkie in a film by Gus Van Sant” are the icing on this cake.
They’ve also included a straight-up country ballad (“Old Ways Die Slow”), complete with a honky tonk and a cheating heart. But we’re still calling these Hearts rock perfection.
carelesshearts.com
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Jordan Carp
The Dark Architecture
The title of Jordan Carp’s third studio album can certainly be deemed appropriate given the nature of his songwriting and instrumentation. Like a master craftsman, Carp uses swirling piano to provide the blueprint, electric guitar to lay the foundation, and his husky tenor breathes life into delicate images. “Snowflakes fall like ghosts tonight / the city sleeps under the distorted light,” he sings in “Simple Pleasures.” Harmonies spin around the guitars while bass, drums and Mellotron hold down the rhythm.
The polished helping hand of producer JP Bowersock (Ryan Adams, the Strokes) is evident in tracks like “Giant in a Tiny Universe” (an ode to the one who helps him “see the child inside,”) and “Spaceman” (a dark, offbeat offering—think “Space Oddity” meets “Dark Side of the Moon”). “JP had an insight into the songs I was attracted to,” says Carp. “I was excited every time we talked, and I really connected with his vision.”
On this latest release, Carp has masterfully constructed his own exquisite, albeit dimly-lit, world. “The content of the songs and the harmonies are dark,” he concedes. “But I hope that it makes people feel good. Dark is what makes me feel good. This is the music that I want to hear. I love cold, rainy days and David Lynch films. This is mood music, and it has its place.”
jordancarp.com
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Dennis Crommett
The Evening Sorrow
Jangly guitars and softly layered vocals are the signature sound of Massachusetts-based artist Dennis Crommett, who successfully bounces from the somberness of Elliott Smith to the merriment of the Monkees.
“Some Kind of Friend” kicks the album off with a peppy brushes-on-snare beat while Crommett admonishes a former friend. “You think it’s cool to meet in a cool place, like sitting in cafes, sipping so fast,” he sings, softening the lyrics with his sighing tenor. Other highlights include the luxurious cello sounds on “Larkspur,” the country twang and pedal steel of “Oranges and Reds” and the enigmatic “Green Depression Glass.” “In from the sea the glass gets smoother and rounder / In with the tide your memory floats in my head,” Crommett sings over a mellow groove. The Evening Sorrow will alternately sooth and surprise, but it won’t disappoint.
denniscrommett.com
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Emilia Dahlin
God Machine
Ever think to yourself, “I wish I could curl up and listen to a sweet-voiced girl with smart songs backed by accordion, ukulele, sabar and kashishi”? No? Well, you should check this out anyway. The Portland, Maine–based Emilia Dahlin has just released God Machine, and she’s turned folk music on its ear by making it spin and groove.
Highlights include the melancholy “Home to Grey” (“Islands don’t forget me, I fear you’ll drift away … the dormancy of winter is shortening the day”), and the deliciously blasphemous title track (“Mary rakes her nails across the floor … to make a messiah, girl you gotta writhe”). Overall, a sparkling, spunky record that we highly recommend.
emiliadahlin.com
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Bronwen Exter
Elevator Ride
OK, picture this: Lou Reed and Astrud Gilberto have a baby. She’s raised by the band Mazzy Star until the age of 16, when she falls in love with James Bond and runs away to Argentina. Got it? The soundtrack for this story is the music of New York resident Bronwen Exter. Hypnotizing you with her husky, half-whispered vocals, she’ll thrill you with the mixture of samba, tango and NYC cool, and entice you with lyrics about dreams, pain and roads from the moon to the sun.
To the instrumental foundation of bass, drums and guitar, Exter adds organ, piano, trumpet and saxophone. The work of songwriter and producer (and one-time PS DIY artist) Jonathan Spottiswoode is evident in the offbeat yet refined sound. From the refreshingly eccentric lyrics to the creative arrangements, Elevator Ride will be a trip your ears will want to take again and again.
myspace.com/bronwenexter
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Ted Russell Kamp
Divisadero
Divisadero, the fourth release from Ted Russell Kamp, is classic country. A simple up-tempo drumbeat sets the mood for “Swinging Doors,” as subdued electric guitars and organ join Kamp’s twangy vocals while he relates a tale of a woman who did him wrong. “You said that there was no other, and now I’m just the next ex-lover,” Kamp accuses over the chugging rhythm.
“Gypsy’s Tune” is laden with luscious pedal steel and sweetly aching memories. “Broke and Still Breaking” sports a Bakersfield honky-tonk sound, a la Dwight Yoakam. Kamp employs a few country-music luminaries on the record, as well. Jessi Colter sings harmony on the lonesome ballad “Looking for Someone,” while Colter’s son Shooter Jennings offers his vocal and piano skills on the fun “Better Before You Were Bigtime” and the stripped-down “The Road Keeps Getting Longer.”
Waylon Jennings is surely smiling down on Kamp, and after one listen to Divisadero, you’ll be smiling, too.
tedrussellkamp.com
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Jeremy Messersmith
The Alcatraz Kid
Remember the way you felt the first time you heard the amazing harmonies of Simon and Garfunkel? That subdued, magical sound lives once more on Jeremy Messersmith’s The Alcatraz Kid, but this time with a 21st-century twist.
Messersmith lulls with his gentle voice and overdubbed harmonies, easing the shock of his sometimes-harsh lyrics. On “Novocain,” he asks, “Could you pass me the needle, I’ve got a brand-new scar / I need a shot of Novocain to numb my heart,” against a lightly descending glockenspiel. Orchestral vocals on “Snow Day” call to mind the Beach Boys while Messersmith sings of those who tell him to “brush all your teeth and floss at regular intervals.” The experimental “Super Frog Saves Tokyo” is a 20-second exploration with acoustic guitar and xylophone while “Great Times” is a musical smorgasbord featuring trumpet, tenor guitar and tambourine. Quirky? Certainly. Will you like it? No doubt.
jeremymessersmith.com
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Bar Scott
Parachute
The title of upstate New York resident Bar Scott’s latest proves to be an apt metaphor for her music. Parachute is the first album Scott has recorded since her 4-year-old son died from liver cancer, but this is no somber death knell. The record floats gracefully through the atmosphere, enveloping listeners with a silken touch and a life-supporting strength.
Scott’s ethereal voice invites listeners on a soulful, inspirational journey, while the stark piano accompaniment lets her lyrics shine. Scott’s skies are populated with “Clouds of pink and blue, and some as pure as white,” while her love is stronger than “the joy of Christmas morn.” There’s even a subdued but surprisingly moving cover of Sly & the Family Stone’s “Everyday People.”
Parachute will set you down in a place you’ve never been before; trust us when we tell you to take the dive.
barscott.com
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Jason Vigil
Heart Gone Sober
On his debut release Heart Gone Sober, Colorado-based Jason Vigil displays a keen pop sensibility and a knack for tapping directly into the heart of a song like a modern-day Buddy Holly. No unnecessary fluff, not one wasted note—just catchy melodies and lyrics that make a visceral statement.
“Grab a bottle, hold on tight to me, we’ll be everything, just you and me,” he sings on “You I’m Thinking.” The heavy pop-rock arrangement supports rather than clouds the lyrical and melodic roots of the song. Ditto for the title track, a grooving number that perfectly captures that painful moment of falling out of love: “My heart’s gone finally sober / From missing out on life, my life.” Do your own heart and ears a favor, and don’t miss out on Vigil.
jasonvigil.com
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Patti Witten
Tell the Wind
Patti Witten’s new record, Tell the Wind, deserves an A—for astute, artistic and ambitious. Her intelligent lyrics provide wordplay and imagery, while the sparse arrangements showcase her guitar skills.
Standout tracks include the sultry “Obvious” (“My heart beats out the code, a secret message everybody knows”), “No More Crying” with its catchy melody and chorus of pedal steel, and “Encircled” in which Witten’s lilting vocals wrap themselves seamlessly around lines like “I want to be a messenger, not an entertainer with those gymnastic, histrionic, fancy maneuvers.” Tell the Wind is music for your mind, heart and soul—tell everyone we told you so.
pattiwitten.com
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To Submit Your Album:
Please send CD, bio, mailing address and e-mail to:
Performing Songwriter
ATTN: DIY
2805 Azalea Place
Nashville, TN 37204
You will be contacted if your album has been chosen, so there is no need to call the office regarding this. Please be patient and continue to send us your new releases. We do listen to all submissions for DIY consideration.
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