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75OL-178 Monument Thief – Your Castle Comes Down
75OL-178 Monument Thief – Your Castle Comes Down CD
$7.00 S&H Included
Digital download is available here
Track Listing
1 A Scene
2 Every Time
3 King of Your Crown
4 Coming On Way Too Fast
5 Testing the Waves
6 Twisting the Constellations
7 Shadows Fall
8 All of Me
9 Again and Again
10 Endless Debut
11 Another Faded Song
12 With the Night
13 Just to be Wrong
Monument Thief was born from a love of British & American indie/alt rock circa ’89 – ’96 and the sound of fuzz pedals stacked on top of more fuzz pedals. Offering up a bevy of moody songs in mostly upbeat trappings, Your Castle Comes Down brings the shoe gazers and the star gazers together in an all out rock revelry
75OL-189 Nate Laban & Sam Hill – Self Titled CD
75OL-189 Nate Laban & Sam Hill – Self Titled CD
$8.00 S&H Included
Digital download is available here
Track Listing
1 Hypnotherapy
2 Autumn on a Beach
3 Hometown Shame
4 Sinister
5 Shoot for Victory
6 Garbage Town
7 Pills
8 Good Life
9 Fat Camp
10 Tonight
11 Insufficient Funds Since 1975
Nate Laban & Sam Hill is the debut release from the band. It is an 11 song introduction. The songs are a collection of stories and characters from every day working class New Hampshire (from which they hail). There are songs about genuine alien abduction, teen struggle, real fat camps, as well as fat camps of the mind. In this record Nate takes on The Devil, which is Sam Hill and all the things he is able to conjure. What is to come, and the sound the future holds depends on the outcome of this battle. Listen carefully.
The Wire reviews the new Nate Laban & Sam Hill self titled album
You can read the article here.
“Nate Laban & Sam Hill” by Nate Laban & Sam Hill, natelaban.bandcamp.com: On the cover of Nate Laban & Sam Hill’s self-titled debut, a small, bespectacled man with a guitar fends off a huge, menacing devil. The artwork (by local illustrator Matt Talbot) doubles as a mission statement for the album itself—Laban and the band standing together, fending off all the demons, both minor and major, that life throws at them. “Nate Laban & Sam Hill” is, at its heart, a fun album, but buried underneath the rousing choruses and blazing guitar work is some serious grit. It’s also an album about small-town life, with songs that double as character sketches (“Hometown Shame”) and short stories of attempted redemption. “Autumn on a Beach” is a great, bitter break-up song set on a boarded-up beach boardwalk, while “Garbage Town” is a folk-punk love letter to a rundown city. Many of the songs, like “Shoot for Victory” and “Pills,” use driving drums and guitar to bring to life the conflicts that happen when a person tries to make positive changes in their lives. But Laban never gets too serious—“Fat Camp” and “Insufficient Funds Since 1975” are just awesome punk anthems, loud, brash, and punchy. “Nate Laban & Sam Hill” proves there are few problems so serious that a good song can’t help solve.
Allysen Callery interview at All Creativelike
You can read the article here.
Allysen Callery is an earth angel. Her lyrics, melodies, and haunting voice are truly unique and special. What’s more, Allysen is a kind and thoughtful human. Man, some folks have all the luck! Read on to find out more about Allysen’s songwriting process, creative influences, and what it was like playing at the esteemed South-by-Southwest music festival this year.
How do you define creativity?
I don’t. I think that’s anti-creativity.
Where does your songwriting inspiration come from?
I get inspired every time I learn a new chord, or open tuning. I’m still learning, even after 15+ years of playing guitar. The melody comes, and the words follow. But sometimes it’s the other way around.
Can you remember the first time you had an experience with music?
I was a toddler in Taiwan. My parents were there because of the Vietnam war. My father was a medic. Music was a part of our living space, and I first noticed where it came from by seeing that Here Comes the Sun by The Beatles was coming from a reel-to-reel.
Tell me about writing your lyrics vs. developing melodies?
I was a poet before I became a songwriter. I don’t worry about hooks and choruses so much. I want to tell a story, and I want to make you feel and be transported. Melodies just come when I’m playing around on guitar. But the words and music come from someplace other than just me.
What have you been working on lately?
I’ve been lucky to have been recorded lately by the great Bob Kendall, who also laid some production over my songs “for fun.” The result was a session for Folk Radio UK that’s gotten over 4,000 plays in the last month. I am going to be recording a British Isles covers EP for a UK label, and working with Bob for that, as well. I cannot wait. (Here the session here.)
Favorite artist or influence?
Oh boy, so many. I was heavily influenced by all the wonderful artists my parents listened to: Joni Mitchell, The Beatles, The Incredible String Band. I learned how to sing by listening to Sandy Denny of Fairport Convention and Maddy Prior of Steeleye Span. Lately I have been really loving Jessica Pratt out of San Francisco. And, Anne Briggs really inspires me.
You recently played South-by-Southwest. What was that experience like?
I was very well taken care of at my first “South By.” I was lucky to have caught the ear of someone in a senior booking position, and he made sure I was given extra performance slots and all my showcases were in nice hotels. I made a few wonderful connections, and was written up and ranked highly in the Washington Post. I also made NPR Bob Boilen’s list of Intriguing Unknown Artists.
Any daily or weekly habits and practices?
I’ve been posting homemade recordings on my Soundcloud page about every week, some covers and demos that may or may not make it onto an album at some point. I am not a very regimented person, but I try to play guitar every day, and am playing one or two shows every week. I still have a day job, and will probably always have one – I like to pay my bills on time!
Any advice for aspiring musicians?
Practice. Be better than you thought you could be. Take risks, you should be frightened what people might think of your art. Don’t try to fit in. Don’t try to play it cool. Answer emails. Be kind to everyone. Don’t let anyone other than you define who you are. Get nice head shots. Get a real website. Keep a part-time job that you don’t have to get up too early for, that is not too physically demanding, so you can still play shows within a one to two-hour driving radius throughout the week. Officially release music every year. Upload new content weekly. Don’t get hung up on perfection. Pursue the press. Be true to your self, and your vision – you are unique and the world is wide, you will find your peeps, your tribe. They might be sprinkled around the globe, but that’s why the Internet is so awesome.
Sick Pills review in The Noise
You can read the review here.
SICK PILLS – Sickening (75orLess Records) 12 tracks
Chris Guaraldi has anchored punk band Chris Evil & the Taints and more rootsy group the Blood Moons for over a decade. His new outfit, Sick Pills, is a bit more straight ahead rock, with garage and punk elements still there. This album is in-your-face rock music, but there are catchy parts that subtly recall The Cars or Modern Lovers. Chris Evil is turning over a new leaf and uncovering some dark subject matter in songs like “Wormfood” and “Dead Teenager.” I think I can best describe this CD by quoting my friends The Tall many years ago, “This is rock ’n’ roll.”