FULL ALBUM STREAM: Clear Moon

In this first of two new albums planned for release in 2012, Mount Eerie presents a monumental work of depth and maturity. These are songs about a quiet life in and around a small northwest town, usually buried in fog, and the unexpected moments of clarity that briefly flash through. Clear Moon is the resonant lone bell symbol, the glint in the water, the sudden breath.

For over thirteen years Phil Elverum has been releasing beguiling records from and about the Pacific Northwest, first as the Microphones and since 2004 as Mount Eerie. The thread has sometimes been challenging to follow, meandering into weird EPs and live experiments, but there have always been punctuations of cohesive sound and idea, made giant; The Glow pt. 2 (2001), Mount Eerie (2003), Lost Wisdom (2008), Wind’s Poem (2009), and now Clear Moon (to be followed later this year by its companion album, Ocean Roar).

After all the world-touring that followed the release of Wind’s Poem, Phil Elverum has spent 2 years establishing a new recording studio, “the Unknown”, in an old de-sanctified church in Anacortes, Washington. These 2 new albums, Clear Moon and Ocean Roar, are the first Mount Eerie recordings to be released from the new old space. You can hear the giant wooden cathedral room in these songs. Vast echo, resonating gongs, impenetrable walls of thickness, and always a voice cutting through the fog, moon-like.

The sound is not lo-fi as it is sometimes called. It’s also not hi-fi. These are just crazy recordings, bigger and deeper than any real-life fjord. It’s 100% analog, and it is a sound that can only come from 15 months of studio solitude, crushing tape, riding waves of fake strings, finding new angles on “intensity”. The music of Popol Vuh was inspirational, as well as explorers from black metal such as Menace Ruine, Nadja, and others. Contemporaries in theme can be found in the heavy sacred regionalism of Olympia’s Wolves In The Throne Room. Ultimately, this is music on its own island, unlike anything else; a break in the clouds and a view of a hidden new landscape.

Tour Dates

05/15 Edmonton, AB Wunderbar
05/16 Calgary, AB Central United Church
06/17 Olympia, WA Northern 414 1/2 Legion Way
06/18 Portland, OR 4321 SE Hawthorne
06/19 Portland, OR Valentine’s
06/20 Seattle, WA 20/20 Cycle
06/21 Vancouver, BC Rickshaw Theatre
06/22 Nanaimo, BC TBA
06/23 Victoria, BC The Fifty Fifty
07/13 - 07/15 Anacortes, WA 1st Anacortes Unknown Music Series
08/24 - 08/26 Rochester, WA Helsing Junction Sleepover

Mount Eerie
Clear Moon
(P.W. Elverum and Sun)
Street Date: May 22, 2012
Formats: Digital, LP
Theme: place/magic

1. Through The Trees pt. 2
2. the Place Lives
3. the Place I Live
4. (something)
5. Lone Bell
6. House Shape
7. Over Dark Water
8. (something)
9. Clear Moon
10. Yawning Sky
11. (synthesizer)

Links: Official Site//Twitter

MP3: “Sweet Sure Gone”

MP3: “Too Far To See”

Apart from the fact that “MV & EE” is slang for zero gravity and that they’ve been doing it consistently “better” with good vibes/jams they still WANT to give you more of the best of them. This is their “space homestead” and for good reason this wall of sound applied thru DIY sensibilities was recorded over the course of a year in 9 different studios, presenting as clearly as circumstances can permit, a living idea right here in the now of what it is all about. These are sonics in motion, the satiate plural perfect supply of the hunger unusual, the picturesque in sound. Grab a shuttle for your spectrasound furniture any time in any aeon and dig the volume of their trip.

Tour Dates

05/15 Baltimore, MD - Golden West Cafe
05/16 Washington DC - DC9
05/17 Hudson, NY - Spotty Dog
05/18 Montague, MA - The Bookmill
05/19 Biddeford, ME - The Oak and the Ax &
06/03 Becket, MA - Dreamaway Lodge
07/14 Asheville, NC - Inner Mountain Festival - The Grey Eagle (Acoustic and Electric sets) %

& = w/ BR Garm
% = w/ dredd foole, willie lane, samara lubelski / herbcraft

MV & EE
Space Homestead
(Woodsist)
Street Date: May 15, 2012
Formats: CD, LP, Digital

heart like barbara steele
workingman’s smile
sweet sure gone
shit’s creek
common ground
moment
too far to see
wasteland
porchlight > leaves

Links: Official Site//Band Blog//Label

MP3: “Nightshift in Waltz” (RAJA Rearrangement)

Jonti created “Sine & Moon Mix” originally for the Stones Throw Podcast, a collection of earlier songs he’d recorded on 4-track. In the months since the mix, Stones Throw decided to post the individual tracks on their site as well.

But then the album took another turn. Jonti revisited the songs, mixed and mastered them anew. Due to strong demand from the fans, now we have Sine & Moon (The Album) pressed on vinyl, as well as an official digital release.

Bio:

Jonti may not be a familiar name just yet but that’s no reflection of his resume. Multi-instrumentalist, arranger, producer, and vocalist, Jonti, began assembling music after his departure from South Africa to Australia in 1999. Spending countless hours studying records like they were books, processing each song, this became Jonti’s music school, testing his theories on a 4-track recorder.

If you love music, eventually you meet others who do too. In the past year, through different projects, Jonti has recorded with Mark Ronson, Santigold, Sean Lennon and the Dap-Kings, as well as producer John Agnello (Sonic Youth, Dinosaur Jr., Kurt Vile). Ironically, for Jonti’s solo album, he decided to purposely go the opposite route, doing everything himself, start to finish.

Sometimes it feels like you’re not even moving and then one day it’s done and the madness is like a fading dream. That fading dream left behind two albums, Twirligig and it’s brother album TokoRats.

Twirligig draws inspiration from many of Jonti’s favorite artists, Madlib, Stereolab, Free Design and The Beach Boys. But Twirligig’s main inspiration came from cartoonist/ filmmaker Norman Mclaren. Jonti explains, “His films are complex, but they’re still fun. You can feel his enthusiasm for techniques and experimentation. I try make simple pop songs with that same mentality.”

Although Jonti describes his music as simple, label head Peanut Butter Wolf sees it as anything but that. “I understand the pop references because his music is so catchy, but the arrangements blew me away. I couldn’t figure out how the hell he did what he did. That he did it all on his own at such an early age kinda scared me. I knew right away I needed to add him to the roster.” You will soon understand why Stones Throw is proud to present it’s first Australian signing Jonti as a new member of the family.

Jonti
Sine & Moon (The Album)
(Stones Throw)
Street Date: May 15, 2012

Track List:

01. Saturday Night Songs
02. Red On Green
03. Confused Birds
04. Nagoya Train Station 3AM
05. Nightshift in Blue (Alt. Version)
06. Koi Moon’s Daughter Pt II
07. By This Shore
08. Flesh Of Morning
09. Lost Machines
10. Young Wildebeest
11. Nagoya Interlude
12. Moon Goddess
13. Sugar High
14. Lovers Stone (Alt. Passaros)
15. Vendas Newly Won Dream (Bonus Track)

Links: Twitter//Facebook//Label

An Evening with Philip Glass & Joanna Newsom w/ Tim Fain

San Francisco, CA The Warfield Theatre
Monday, June 25, 2012
doors 7pm / show 8pm

Tickets on Sale this Weds. at Noon PST at: http://www.folkyeah.com

As part of Philip Glass’ Days and Nights festival, this very special evening will feature solo performances and collaborations between Joanna Newsom, Philip Glass and Tim Fain. The event is a benefit for the Henry Miller Library in Big Sur to cover a massive upgrade project.

More about the Henry Miller Library:

In 1981, Emil White founded the Henry Miller Memorial Library in honor of his friend Henry Miller. Three decades later, thanks to the help of countless artists, musicians, and supporters the once sleepy bookstore/gallery has become one of the most innovative and awe-inspiring places in the world.

But the the place is in jeopardy. Federally-mandated health and safety requirements, including the Americans with Disabilities Act, requires upgrades that will cost a lot more than what the Library currently has in its savings. Proper plans for the required upgrades have been filed and, pending approval and FUNDING,
construction will start this Fall.

HMML has received permission to host an abbreviated 2012 (June - October) (((folkYEAH!))) performance season Lucinda Williams, Jenny Lewis, Woodsist Festival, Grandaddy, plus more to be announced very soon will perform @ HMML this season.

The impact of any donation made at this time will be immediate and meaningful:
it will ensure the long-term survival of the Henry Miller Memorial Library.

Here are just a few of the performers (((folkYEAH!))) has presented @ HMML:

Gillian Welch
Ryan Adams
Arcade Fire
Fleet Foxes
Cat Power
Animal Collective
Bonnie ‘Prince’Billy
Red Hot Chili Peppers
Chris Robinson
Pegi Young (w Neil Young)
Bill Callahan
MGMT
Bill Callahan
Kurt Vile
Thurston Moore
Blonde Redhead
Little Dragon
Tallest Man on Earth
The XX
J Mascis
Band of Horses
J Tillman
Woodsist Festival
Beachwood Sparks

Plus performances by:
Philip Glass
Laurie Anderson

http://www.bigsurfilm.org/site

HMML’s International Short Film Series is presented and booked by Henry Miller Memroial Library.
email: magnus@henrymiller.org

HMML’s Live Music Concert series is booked and presented by (((folkYEAH!)))
email: britt@folkyeah.com

Links: Henry Miller Library//(((folkYEAH!)))//Days and Nights Festival//Joanna Newsom//Philip Glass//Tim Fain