Morning Shorts

I can't get enough of The Blow, K Records' dynamic duo of Khaela Maricich and Jona Bechtolt, both of whom work in a crazy number of projects. Khaela has performed her monologue based solo opera, "Blue Sky versus Night Sky" nationwide and exhibited drawings and paper sculptures around the Pacific Northwest; Jona has, among other artistic endeavors, co-created, filmed, directed and edited an internet based reality show, The Ultimate Blogger.

Together as the Blow, they put together intimate music you can blast at your next party. Maricich's voice often reminds me of labelmate Mirah; in particular, "Hey Boy" is a more aggressive version of the sort of sly confessional that filled up You Think It's Like This But It's Really Like This. Drum machines, samples, and fun, danceable little songs that are serious and seriously silly while never becoming novelty.

K is making their whole seven-song EP Poor Aim: Love Songs availble for free download until their new album Paper Television drops October 24th; I dare you to keep this out of rotation.

MP3: The Blow - Poor Aim: Love Songs EP (.zip file)
MP3: The Blow - Pile of Gold (from Paper Television)

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The New York Times covers the trend of reissue labels like The Numero Group and Gear Fab: "Therein lies the rub: are private-press records special because they’re great or because they’re rare? “I’m not so certain that just because something isn’t reissued, it should be,” Mr. Shipley acknowledged. Meanwhile Mr. Maglio is making plans for Gear Fab’s next release: a collection of songs by 1960’s psychedelic bands from Arkansas."

Jagjaguwar has posted a preview song, "Medicine Blues", from Simon Joyner's tenth album Skeleton Blues, out November 21st, just in time to play during Thanksgiving Dinner. Press mess: "Unlike recent albums recorded in studios with professional musicians, Joyner expanded his Fallen Men and recorded live in a vacant old train station building in Omaha over the course of one lost weekend. Veteran collaborator Michael Krassner flew in to engineer and was forced to join the band on "warehouse" piano. Chris Deden (drummer from the early Sing, Eunuchs! records) returns, along with the protean Alex McManus (The Bruces, Lambchop, Bright Eyes), this time cutting his teeth on pedal steel and sharing lead guitar duties with Dave Hawkins. Lonnie Methe is back too, playing organ and vibes instead of violin. Mike Tulis plays the bass."

MP3: Simon Joyner - Medicine Blues