Camp Revival

Her name sums her up. Dominique is young, 18 years old, and is making the most unique hip hop / grime / house inspired dope ass music that has seized my ears in quite some time. Based out of Tampa FL, Dominique works with producer Hard Feelings (Yo! Majesty) to create her complex, yet fluid music. Dominique has a natural talent as an mc. The meters that Hard Feelings throws at Dominique are not standard, thank god, and Dominique floats over them like a seasoned veteran. I am very excited to see what the future holds for Dominque. Maybe I should ask her, because her sound tells me she is already living there. Push play on this shit, and I dare you not to dance.

Music Time

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Hot Girl

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Volcano! makes music that manipulates the mind and body. I’m not sure what strange practice of hypnosis these men studied, perhaps jazz, but every time I hear “Africa Just Wants to Have Fun” I end up breaking something. Volcano! is based out of Chicago, IL and is made up of Aaron With, Sam Scranton and Mark Cartwright. The group has been around since 2003, so this music is not new by any means. With that written it doesn’t detract from the fact that the music is incredible and I felt compelled to write about it. Having stalked the group’s oddly abundant number of social networking sites it looks like there is new music from this group on the horizon. Stay tuned here.

Hearing Kim Krans sing reminds me of the first time I put on a Pretenders record. I put down the needle, halfway interested in the greatest hits collection I found in a bargain bin. I was about to leave the room when I heard Chrissie Hynde’s voice and immediately came back in and sat on the bed and played the first song over and over for the next hour. It was one of the moments where I found a record that I didn’t just like- I loved it. That feeling doesn’t happen that often.

When I put on Family Band’s first full length, Miller Path, I was only really half-listening. I was in the kitchen when I heard the drums drifting in, and then the sparse guitars, but my ears perked up instantly when I first heard Krans’ world-weary voice. Once again, love at first listen. And it didn’t stop there. The more I paid attention, the more I was in awe of Jonny Ollsin’s perfect execution of sounds- the guitars are meticulous and have a classical sensibility about them. This record is perhaps one of the strongest arguments I’ve ever heard for buying a pair of high quality headphones- you’ll find yourself on the floor, eyes closed, transported to a dark folk landscape of sound.

It may be hard to believe that Family Band only have one EP to their name (Miller Path will release in March). There’s a dynamic at work here that veteran bands can only dream of. These songs feel like they were composed outside of city noise or cramped professional studios-they seem to be constructed in someplace quiet and beautiful. There’s a reverent nod to silence as much is there is to the unique textures and layers that make up these nine songs. In short- its not the typical full length debut. Expect the eerie beauty and heavy, desolate folk of Family Band to warm up to ears later this year.

Fantasy

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Hatred

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Mason Lindahl’s upcoming release “Serrated Man Sound” has swept me away. This record is a collage of sound that is perfectly suited for its fall release date (10/20/09 / Porter Records). In the tradition of Avey Tare & Kria Brekkan and Phil Elverum Mason has woven together a unique assortment of instrumentation, tempo and melody that builds intrigue and intimacy for the listener. Perhaps the most enthralling aspect of Mason’s music is his voice and how purely it will cut through your speakers.

Fall is here; Mason Lindahl IS your perfect soundtrack. Go forth and listen!

“Serrated Man Sound”

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“Here Blows”

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“Dressed and Pleased”

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Soft Cat is Neil Sanzgiri’s experiment. An experiment in composition, instrumental layering and collaboration in a blossoming Baltimore music scene. The result? A haunting, beautiful sound.

Neil Sanzgiri is a transplant in Baltimore, MD by way of Dallas, TX. Soft Cat grew out of the music that Neil was making with Talking Tiger Mountain. Neil’s new Baltimore friends (Weekends, Small Sur and Andy Abelow) also helped him out on this project. Soft Cat will be releasing a split release with Talking Tiger Mountain. If you are interested in purchasing this release, contact Neil on his myspace page.

If you live in or near Baltimore, Neil will be curating and hosting a festival called Soft Fest on 10/24 + 10/25. It will feature upcoming, and older, Baltimore bands that are not getting proper exposure; this is a festival that resonates very well with Camp Revival.

“Silver Babies Sun”

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“It Won’t Be Long”

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“Blackbird”

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The Midwest is alive; it speaks and breathes. Jeff Walls -aka- Campfires has kept his ear to the ground and has created a sound that plays in time with its pulse. Campfires, thus far, is a solo home recording project for Jeff. The songs that are currently available were recorded over the past two years in Chicago and Michigan. The state of Michigan, both physical and current, provided much of the inspiration for Jeff’s recordings. Jeff described this inspiration well in his e-mail to me:

“I draw a lot of my inspiration from growing up in Michigan and the rust belt in a more general sense. There’s an interesting combination of natural beauty and a sort of faded prosperity in contrast with a pretty bleak and run-down current state of things, and a lot of the feeling behind the songs and lyrics draws from that. One gets a strong feeling growing up in a place like that that everything isn’t necessarily going to be ok, but you can still be at peace with that and find comfort and beauty in it, and I guess that’s the crux of the vibe that I hope the music has.”

From what I have gleaned from other reviews (Don’t Die Wondering, Rose Quartz Weekly Tapedeck) it sounds like a majority of the current songs were recorded in an abandoned trailer park, most likely in Michigan; very interesting. Jeff’s sound is large and intricate. It provides moments of pure beauty and then enriches them with the sick beats that he exercises from his drum kit. Jeff informed me that he has four tapes coming out in the near future, one self-released and three to be put out through various record labels. Keep a close watch on Jeff’s site and MySpace page to stay wise on when those releases will be made available.

“Pilot Dreams”

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“Daytime TV”

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“Stormy Late Fall”

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