VARIOUS - 'INTERNATIONAL SAD HITS: VOLUME ONE'

Formats

• 20202003 - CD

  600197100424

Details

INTERNATIONAL SAD HITS: VOLUME ONE INTRODUCES FOUR SINGER-SONGWRITERS FROM ASIA TO THE ENGLISH SPEAKING WORLD. ALL FOUR ARE VETERAN MUSICIANS IN THEIR RESPECTIVE HOMES, WITH DECADES-LONG CAREERS, LARGE DISCOGRAPHIES, AND DEVOTED FOLLOWINGS. THE TRACKS WERE SELECTED BY 20/20/20 OWNERS DAMON & NAOMI, WHO FIRST ENCOUNTERED THESE SONGS WHEN TOURING THE WORLD THEMSELVES. THESE FOUR SINGERS ARE AMONG THE DISCOVERIES CLOSEST TO THEIR HEARTS. AND WHILE THE TITLE POINTS OUT THAT THESE ARTISTS ARE LINKED BY A LINGUISTIC FAMILY (ALTAIC) AS WELL AS A CONTINENT (ASIA), WHAT TRULY CONNECTS THEM IS THEIR LOVE OF MELANCHOLY. INDEED, THESE COULD BE AMONG THE SADDEST SONGS YOU'LL EVER HEAR. ONE OF THEM, 'BOHEMIAN' BY KIM DOO SOO, IS REPUTED TO HAVE CAUSED TWO SUICIDES IN KOREA. MIKAMI KAN AND TOMOKAWA KAZUKI ARE FAMOUS IN THEIR NATIVE JAPAN FOR THEIR EXTREME EMOTIONAL SINGING STYLES, AND TURKEY'S FIKRET KIZILOK PLAYS MELANCHOLY LOVE SONGS BACKED BY GUITAR, STRINGS AND PERCUSSION. RATHER THAN A COMMON STYLE, THE POETIC LYRICISM AND EMOTIONAL POSSIBILITY OF THESE SONGS UNITE THEM. THE FIRST OF DAMON & NAOMI'S (GALAXIE 500) INTERNATIONAL SAD HITS COMPILATIONS, A SERIES FEATURING THE DUO'S FAVORITE SONGWRITERS FROM AROUND THE WORLD INCLUDES A TWENTY-PAGE FULL-COLOR BOOKLET WITH LYRIC TRANSLATIONS AND BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES

THESE ARE NOT POP STARS OR TRADITIONAL FOLK ARTISTS, BUT SINGER-SONGWRITERS IN THE TRADITION OF BOB DYLAN, TIM BUCKLEY, AND NICK DRAKE. AS A RESULT, THEIR MUSIC HAS, FOR THE MOST PART, NEVER TRAVELED BEYOND THEIR NATIONAL OR LINGUISTIC CULTURES. THIS COMPILATION IS INTENDED TO TAKE THE MUSIC ACROSS THOSE BORDERS, AND INTRODUCE IT TO THE WIDER AUDIENCE IT DESERVES. AFTER ALL, EVEN IF YOU GREW UP IN ANATOLIA, AND SOMEONE GAVE YOU A COMP WITH NICK DRAKE, TIM BUCKLEY, TOM RAPP, AND BOB DYLAN, WOULDN?T IT BLOW YOUR MIND WHETHER OR NOT YOU UNDERSTOOD THE LYRICS?

Tracks

1. FIKRET KIZILOK - JUST AS LONG
2. KIM DOO SOO - BOHEMIAN
3. TOMOKAWA KAZUKI - STORMS IN THE DEAD OF NIGHT
4. MIKAMI KAN - NEVER BEFORE
5. FIKRET KIZILOK - BEAUTIFUL, HOW BEAUTIFUL YOU HAVE BECOME
6. TOMOKAWA KAZUKI - WHAT IS THIS PLACE?
7. KIM DOO SOO - MOUNTAIN
8. MIKAMI KAN - WHY STOP IF YOU LIKE IT?
9. TOMOKAWA KAZUKI - KASAI ZENZO
10. KIM DOO SOO - SWEET BRIAR
11. FIKRET KIZILOK - WITHOUT NOTICING
12. MIKAMI KAN - THE SCARLET RUG
13. KIM DOO SOO - WILD FLOWER
14. FIKRET KIZILOK - I'M ANATOLIA
15. MIKAMI KAN - AT THE HARBOUR IN MY SHORTS
16. TOMOKAWA KAZUKI - MY BOY

Press

REVIEWS CONFIRMED IN THE WIRE, PLAN B

Audio & Video

JOY - 'SAILING DAYS'

Formats

• SHR151 - CD EP

  759718115123

Details

SAILING DAYS, THE NEW FIVE-SONG EP FROM ECLECTIC POP MARVELS JOY, COMBINES ELEMENTS FROM EVERY STAGE OF THE BAND'S HISTORY - FROM THE LO-FI, ACOUSTIC FOLK OF THE BAND'S 2002 DEBUT TO THE MORE COMPLEX RECORDINGS AND ELABORATE INSTRUMENTATION OF MORE RECENT EFFORTS. RECORDED OVER THREE WEEKS BOTH ON FOUR-TRACK IN A BASEMENT AND DIGITALLY IN A STUDIO, THE ALBUM ADDS MANDOLIN, BANJO, AND CELLO TO THE USUAL MIX OF ACOUSTIC GUITARS, STRIPPED-DOWN DRUMS AND IDIOSYNCRATIC VOCALS. JOY'S DENSE AND RICH SOUND STILL RETAINS AN ORGANIC AND SIMPLE FEEL.

FORMED BY LONGTIME FRIENDS DANIEL MADRI AND MATT SAVAGE, JOY BEGAN AS AN ACOUSTIC DUO IN BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, ALONGSIDE OTHER SHRIMPER REGIONAL POWERS THE SECRET STARS AND JOHN DAVIS. THEIR SELF-TITLED DEBUT, A HALF-HOUR OF FOLKY FOUR-TRACK TWANGLING, IS RIFE WITH SUBTLE COMPOSITIONS THAT SHOWCASE TRUE SONGWRITING TALENT. A SELFRELEASED FOLLOW-UP, HATRED AND GRIEF, IS MARKED BY A MORE SOPHISTICATED COUNTRY SOUND AND A MOVE TOWARD HIGHER FIDELITY WHILE 2005'S DEVIL'S BLUES IS A MORE ROOTS-ORIENTED, BLUESY EFFORT.

Tracks

1. TIGER'S PAWS
2. SAILING DAYS
3. BLUE LIGHT
4. HAMMERS AND HAIL
5. SEX

Press

N/A

Audio & Video

FERN KNIGHT - 'MUSIC FOR WITCHES AND ALCHEMISTS'

Formats

• VHF101 - CD

  783881010121

Details

MUSIC FOR WITCHES AND ALCHEMISTS IS A DARK AND BEGUILING COLLECTION OF SONGS BY FERN KNIGHT, THE PRIMARY COVER FOR MARGARET WIENK'S SINGING AND SONGWRITING. BEAUTIFULLY RECORDED BY GREG WEEKS (ESPERS), THE SONGS ARE CAST IN RICH, DETAILED ARRANGEMENTS WITH ALEC K. REDFEARN (THE EYESORES), GREG WEEKS AND MEG BAIRD (ESPERS), AND SEVERAL OTHER PHILADELPHIA-AREA LUMINARIES CONTRIBUTING TO THE SWEEPING SOUND. AT THE HEART IS WIENK'S STRONG VOICE, CELLO, AND GUITAR, LEADING THE TUNES WITH FEELING AND SUBTLETY. FOLLOWING IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF OF ELECTRIC-TRAD LEGENDS SUCH AS PENTANGLE AND TREES, WIENK'S MUSIC RINGS OF THE INTENSELY PERSONAL AND IS DELIVERED WITH CRYSTAL CLARITY, NOT THE HIPSTER- FUZZ OBFUSCATION OF SOME CONTEMPO 'FOLK.' MUSIC FOR WITCHES AND ALCHEMISTS IS FERN KNIGHT'S FIRST DOMESTIC RELEASE, FOLLOWING THEIR BARELY AVAILABLE DEBUT ON THE GERMAN NORMAL LABEL.

DEBUT RELEASE OF RESONANT FOLK-ROCK FROM MARGARET WIENK AND FRIENDS. ENGINEERED BY GREG WEEKS (ESPERS) AT HEXHAM HEAD IN PHILADELPHIA, PA. FEATURES CONTRIBUTIONS FROM WEEKS, MEG BAIRD (ESPERS) AND ALEC K. REDFEARN (THE EYESORES)

Tracks

1. SONG FOR IRELAND
2. AWAKE, ANGEL SNAKE
3. W. MEMPHIS
4. MURDER OF CROWS
5. LINTWORME, PT. I
6. MARBLE GREY
7. SHINGLE RIVER
8. THE DIRTY SOUTH
9. SUMMER OF THROG
10. WHAT THE CROWS LEFT BEHIND
11. LULLABY

Press

TBA

Audio & Video