Matt Fraza – Let Trouble Go
75OL-190 Matt Fraza – Let Trouble Go CD
$9.99 S&H Included
Digital download is available here
Track Listing
1. Seventeen
2. Too Much Love
3. Forever
4. Sunset’s In
5. Libertine
6. Let Trouble Go
7. Watermelons
8. Tell Me
9. Hit the Wall
Let Trouble Go is the debut album by actor, surfer, and songwriter, Matt Fraza. A literate, melodic, and emotionally direct transmission from the witch-haunted wilds of Perryville, the record was captured by Kraig Jordan at Plan of a Boy, and features the production skills, voice, drums and keys of Warren’s nifty man, Tom Chace.
Bob Kendall in Mercury Magazine
You can read the article here
Bob Kendall felt as if he was interrogating himself throughout the process of writing and recording his third, self-titled record — a sentiment that’s also reflected in the album’s cover art. Bound to a chair under a single light bulb, Kendall and his guitar take the stage on his 2014 release.
“I ended up pulling out five of the songs. I was forcing lyrics and started feeling like I was making false confessions, which is where the drawing came from,” says Kendall, whose Providence illustrator brother Brad Kendall drew the cover.
A marked change in both sound and approach separate “Bob Kendall” from his two previous efforts, “Midnight Flower” and “Enough is Enough.” The songs have space to breathe through more sparse instrumentation, and Kendall’s voice sits high in the mix, a decision he probably would not have made had he mixed the record himself.
For the first time in his solo career, Kendall handed over the production reins to his friend Paul Kolderie, a well-known engineer and mixer who has worked with artists like Radiohead and the Pixies.
The songs on “Bob Kendall” are consistently mid-tempo with tasteful instrumentation. They immediately call to mind current artists like Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds and Richard Hawley as well as jangly groups like The Byrds and Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers.
“The simplicity is the trickery of it — those are usually the best songs,” Kendall says. “They are to the point and they say exactly what you want them to say. Most of my songs are pretty depressing, but they all have some description of hope,” he says.
The record’s opener, “Stay,” is a testament to the Middletown resident’s affinity for the pop form — both musically and lyrically.
“That song was written six or seven years ago and I thought of it as a challenge song. I was listening to ‘Breaking Up Is Hard To Do’ and the more I thought about it, I realized that sometimes staying is harder to do,” says Kendall.
“Stay” sets the tone for the sound of the record: a mixture or ’60s pop and country-inspired ballads which result in 10 hook-centric songs, plus bonus track “The Wind.” Although it’s clear that Kendall unabashedly wears his influences on his sleeve, he’s able to keep the songs from being derivative.
“Some of those songs were kind of soul songs, ‘New Day’ and ‘Holiday,’ and ‘Dead End Dream,’ were heavily influenced by a Roy Orbison period of my life,” says Kendall, “and they never really fit in with anything else I was doing.”
Recording at Stable Sound studio in Portsmouth was a process very unlike what Kendall was used to. “Midnight Flower,” Kendall’s 2012 release, was done in his backyard shed. According to Kendall there was less pressure this time around as an engineer was present during the sessions. “And the cool thing about Stable Sound is that while you’re recording you can open the windows and horses will stick their heads in,” says Kendall of the rural studio.
While Kendall is credited with writing nearly all the songs, the band collaboratively worked on “Dazed,” a dreamy, pop ballad with the type harmonies and guitar lines that don’t seem to be written anymore.
Even with five additional band members (drummer Dave Narcizo from the Throwing Muses, keyboardist Dan Wright, bassist Kevin Zahm and both Chuck Ciany and Rafael Attias on electric guitars), the record does not sound too big. “There was more dissecting than adding,” says Kendall of the mixing sessions, helping mold “Bob Kendall” into a collection of perfectly compacted, well-crafted pop songs.
A record release show with Providence-based rock ’n’ roll group Smith&Weeden, who have also just released an album, will be held at the Narrows Center for the Arts in Fall River, Mass., on Friday, June 20. “Bob Kendall” is available at www.75orlessrecords.com and at www.bobkendall.com, as well as locally at the Music Box on Thames Street in Newport.
“This is the best sounding record so far, Kendall says. “The quality of it is so much better. I appreciate it much more now than I did before, as I’ve recently been able to remove myself from it and see it more objectively.”
Bob Kendall ‘Midnight Flower’ video
Motif Magazine covers Bob Kendall’s self titled album and the upcoming live performance of Stanatron
You can read the article here.
Bob Kendall – Self Titled
75OL-187 Bob Kendall – Self Titled
$9.99 S&H Included
Track Listing
1. Stay
2. Long Road
3. New Day
4. Waistd
5. Rage
6. Dazed
7. Dead End Dream
8. Holiday
9. Pall Mall Days
10. Can’t Have Everything
Providence Phoenix feature on Haunt the House
You can read the article here.
The House that Houlihan built
Haunt the House’s ‘Jack Rabbit Jones’
By CHRIS CONTI | May 28, 2014
Singer-songwriter Will Houlihan returns under his Haunt the House moniker with Jack Rabbit Jones (75orLess Records), the full-length follow-up to the 2013 EP Rural Introspection Study Group. Expect a packed house in the upstairs lounge at the Columbus Theatre (where the album was recorded) this Friday when Houlihan and his Housemates return to headline their album release party (columbustheatre.com). Fans of Brown Bird, the Low Anthem, Iron & Wine, and Bon Iver should grab a copy of Jack Rabbit Jones ASAP.
The album gleams with a stirring, spiritually-inflected sound that well represents the band name on the marquee, as Houlihan explained when we caught up following a particularly stunning performance a few weeks ago at Theatre 82 in Cranston’s Rolfe Square.
“I started off playing solo at open mics and people would often tell me how haunting my songs were, but it also has a spiritual origin whereby the Holy Spirit is often referred to as ‘living within you’ after Christian conversion,” he said. “Our bodies are also called the temple of the Lord, so it just made sense to me that the Holy Spirit haunts your house.”
And while Houlihan remains the lyrical architect, this time around he has assembled an impressive backing House band which includes Stephen Law (mandolin), Vudu Sister’s Amato Zinno (upright bass), Bessie Bessin (accordion/vox), and backup vocals and harmonies from the best in the biz, Allysen Callery.
“I am really happy for Will — he is one of the sweetest, funniest, and most wise people I know,” Callery said after the show. “When he asked me to sing on his new album I was delighted.”
Houlihan also enlisted the Columbus Theatre and in-house mixologists (and Low Anthem co-founders) Ben Knox Miller and Jeff Prystowsky.
“I feel very blessed and fortunate to have worked with Ben and Jeff and the Columbus folks,” Houlihan said. “We couldn’t have asked for a more friendly, patient, and professional set of engineers.”
Prystowsky had nothing but praise for the House that Houlihan built. “Will’s voice sneaks up on you, it’s subtle and intense, and before you know it, he’s jumped into falsetto and a powerful wave of musical joy washes over you,” said Prytsowsky via email. “I remember him telling me his journey that led him to music and it was so compelling it inspired me for weeks. His music is charged, not just with an aptitude for words and melodies, but with a deep feeling of soul.”
Westerly/Charlestown native Houlihan decided to once again release his music via Warren-based imprint 75orLess. Label boss Mark MacDougall met Houlihan through artist William Schaff at his Fort Foreclosure, where MacDougall screenprints CD jackets and hosts his “That’s Not Incredible” podcast. 75orLess labelmate Callery had also been in MacDougall’s ear exulting Houlihan’s music. He caught a Haunt the House set and was convinced.
“Will happily embraced reverb on his vocals, reminding me of Jim James and Roy Orbison, while the music was stark, bare, and emotional,” MacDougall told me. “When I finally got to speak with him after the show, I found out how ‘organizationally challenged’ he was, and we agreed to start working together.”
Houlihan’s vivid and stark storytelling is carried by weary yet warm vocals as his schizophrenic character ruminates over a lost lover. Each of the 13 songs on Jack Rabbit Jones portrays a conversation between the two personalities,Jack Rabbit Jones and his evil alter ego King Amish. The album is meant to be “projected into your mind’s eye, and viewed as a theatrical experience,” the Jack Rabbit press release notes.
“I initially had a grand scheme to release a small comic with it and do an elaborate stage production early on, but as I got deeper into the writing process it became clear that the songs would be cohesive enough to allow the listener enough room to imagine their own interpretation,” said Houlihan. “The songs evolved into a dialogue between two people, one of which has a split personality like a Jekyll/Hyde character, and this creates a messed-up love triangle.”
The album opens with Houlihan’s acoustic gallop on “Mosquito Coast,” where he wraps a well-worn couplet in the chorus: “Tell my body not to leave my soul, I’ll grow up but I’ll never grow old/I’m so tired doin’ what I’m told, breakin’ my back for another man’s gold.” Houlihan certainly channels Orbison on standout cuts “Black Butte” and “Burial Waltz.” In “Jealous Vow,” Houlihan’s conflicted character vows, “I will have my vengeance on your soul” and is “tortured by rushing winds” on “Pity Creek Ravine,” though on “Emerson” he confidently declares that “love can heal our scars.” And it’s no coincidence that some of the most beautiful moments occur when Houlihan and Callery are entwined around the mic, particularly on “Little Bird” and “You’ve Disappeared” (she will join HTH for the entire performance on Friday). Their rendition of “Ease Your Troubled Mind” at the Theatre 82 show held the room in total silence. This song is absolutely gorgeous.
“Will is a gifted songwriter and an amazing soul,” commended Callery. “I can’t wait for everyone to hear his music.”
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.