A little birdie tells me:
‘Syd has been asked by Jonathan Donohoe of Mercury Rev to open for them at their “Deserters Songs” show in Dublin on May 18th at Vicar Street. Obviously this will be her biggest gig to date and something to cherish through the long lonely nights of making the records she has no choice but to make.’
Oh to be a Dubliner.
Or to have a fancy private jet.
Or even a hot air balloon and a knowledge of wind currents.
For those of you lucky enough to be or own and have any of the above, then scootle yourselves down there and enjoy.
Free download: quixodelic.com/site/category/syd-lane/
2011 is shaping up to be a vintage year… Rocketships of Love, Simon Piler, Fig Mints on the horizon, possibly some Burnouts, maybe even (gulp) a Warchalking record. And now, straight out of left field with flowers in its hair, a spring in its determined step, and more magical melodies than the laws of physics deems is possible to be contained on one record, is something truly brilliant.
Of course I’m talking about ‘Hypatia’, the latest offering from the inimitable Syd Lane. The big question for me was ‘How can anything possibly top It Begins In Beauty?’ and sturdier souls might have baulked at the thought of even attempting it. Thankfully Syd’s muse is alive and well and from a couple of listens I can already say that this record could very well top anything before it. Mastered by the super-talented kindred psych-spirit that is Jason Raspa (Frogville), these fragile psychedelic ballads now glitter like a studio album, lo-fi enough to still be considered a record of and for the people, but yet you feel like this was always how these songs were supposed to sound.
It’s too early for me to pick favourites and I know from experience that Syd Lane songs creep up on you and tap you on the shoulder when you least expect them – but from what I’ve heard, why not try Saro, or Deladis, or Kate, or… shit, who am I kidding? They’re all top drawer and the record’s on Bandcamp, so just stream it from start to finish will you? Better still download it in its entirety, share it with your friends, and throw a dollar into her online hat if you feel so inclined. I know her well enough to know that the last thing she does this for is money, but a girl needs guitar strings, right?
These songs might sound like a continuation of It Begins In Beauty, but like all her previous records and incarnations (The Loaded Whispers, Chansons De Geste) you can really hear her voice grow and songwriting skills maturing into something truly awe-inspiring. The basic premise remains the same (a good song is a good song), but there are new sounds like swirling organs,or bluesy guitar, drums, or even kooky 60s kitsch-pop that defines this as a record in its own right, rather than another daisy in the chain.
Thanks for the music Syd. (Salutes).
Free download: quixodelic.com/site/lo-swing-of-the-earth/#more-708
Many things go hand in hand: I won’t waste your time by listing them here but I will however waste it by introducing you to a new combination, namely Simon Piler and the Spring. Coincidently, two of my favourite things. The latter I like because it happens immediately after that darkest of seasons. It says ‘You have survived another year.’
I like Simon Piler’s music for many more reasons, most of which I have expounded somewhere along the line. For those of you new to these parts however, let me summarise it thus – pure lo-fi, folk-thriller, imaginary dancing, epic lyrics that cut to the heart of reality in neat-shaped Japhy Ryder-esque battle-stanzas, songs that rattle on the wind, that seep into the grass, that growl like gravel and flutter like snow, songs that bake like sun, and swish like great oceans on the shore of mind. Simon Piler does all this with minimal fuss. Listening to his records is like pressing your ear to the key-hole of a cabin in the eternal woods. He doesn’t make it up for fame or fortune, and like many of us, he doesn’t do it because he has to. He does it because curiously enough, he actually has something to say to the world.
Have a listen to ‘Lo Swing of the Earth’ with your springtime boots on and tell me if I’m wrong. What he’s saying might not always be obvious, but it pounds and murmurs at something grand. Always inspirational, try ‘Song’ a mediation on death – (will my spirit fly with me? into the sweet the dry the neverending). ‘Corn Soot’, a traveller’s anthem – (if you’re moving the earth moves you, it’s a form of intimate embrace). Or the mighty lines of ‘Zoroaster’ – (when I look up the moon is full again and Zoroaster casting on a boat shaped like an anatomically correct aroused goose (in his splendid fashion) and when he smiles his crooked teeth come spinning off the silken vapor layers of deep sleep and a stern bite out of reality). These are pomes that make you feel like a middle-aged dumb version of Kerouac who has wandered with a bellyful into a new and shimmering world.
Whereas lyrically it is unsurprisingly magnificent, musically it falls somewhere between two of the GREAT Piler albums – the accessibly lo-fi experimental-folk-pop of ‘Songs From Home’, and the wonderfully experimental weird-fi off-the-wall magic of ‘KINGTIME’. ‘Lo Swing…’ is more polished than either, more gritty and bluesy, but it has its own twinkling moments like the beautiful instrumental ‘Jack’, or the supercool howl of ‘Spruce Prayer’. Is it his best record to date? Give me a few months of listening, but I’ll tentatively stick my toe in the water and say ‘probably…’
But don’t just take my word for it. Lap it up, chew it around, spit it out, kick it on, roll it into balls of dirt between your fingers, let it catch on the wind, and lie down on the hilltop, a million miles away from civilisation. Spring is almost here. And the earth swings lo.
More Simon Piler:
www.last.fm/music/Simon+Piler+and+The+Atom+Band
