13 Columbia Artists to Watch in 2013

 

It’s a new year, so of course we’re waiting with some anticipation of what’s going to be happening in music locally here in Columbia, SC…here’s a short list of some folks who are going to be making noise this year. Any others I missed, put ‘em in the comments.

Reggie Sullivan – While the list of accomplishments of bassist Reggie Sullivan is already longer than most artist’s full careers, his rock band is just getting going, it seems. They’ll be heading across the country this year with a West coast tour in the works; now the rest of the country gets to see what the southeastern states have known for a while.

Stagbriar – This brother/sister country folk act’s first EP was on my ‘best of’ list for local releases in 2012, and they are in the process of recording a full-length followup. Emily McCollum is so far one of the great unheralded voices in town, but that’s about to change.

http://stagbriar.bandcamp.com/track/she-isnt-me

Can’t Kids/People Person/Falling off A Building – The creative juices that have been flowing between Adam Cullum and Jessica Oliver converge and diverge in various ways among these three groups. Cullum quietly released some recordings under the not recently used Falling Off a Building moniker, but Can’t Kids, including Oliver (who also fronts People Person) on drums and vocals, is the hot property right now.

Toro y Moi – He’s pretty much conquered the indie world with his previous critically acclaimed albums, but since we still claim the now California-based Chaz Bundick as a Columbia native his upcoming new Toro Y Moi album Anything In Return (Carpark) is still cause for excitement. It’s being billed as his ‘growing up’ album; decide for yourself by listening at this link: Click Here

Missisippi Kites –I was alerted to this blues rock outfit via the presence of Kevin Petit (Loch Ness Johnny, Bare Knuckle Champions) on bass; they only played a handful of local dates in 2012 so I’d expect to see much more of them in the new year.

JFS – Jason Stroud is a videographer and electronica artist on the Post-Echo collective’s roster; his JFS project has largely been a solo thing but he has begun to collaborate with others including visual artists. A new album is coming in March, check the first song previewed below for a taste of Stroud’s atmospheric, billowing cloud style of blips and bleeps. JFS New Song, Album Preview

The Lovely Few – Mike Mewborne has a new label, Hearts & Plugs, and his trio The Lovely Few released a new album, The Orionids, as well…Mewborne is promising some more interesting artistic collaborations for 2013, can’t wait to see/hear what they come up with.

http://thelovelyfew.bandcamp.com/album/the-orionids

Ben G – he’s being built up as the rapper who will finally put Columbia on the hip-hop map, and his brand new Reflections mix tape is the next step in that direction. Check it out here: Ben G: The Reflection

Trent Jeffcoat – This Lexington native has been doing the songwriting thing in Nashville for almost a decade; he’s now living here and splitting his time equally between home and Nashville. If you so much as just talk to the guy, you’ll find he has the kind of deep country baritone voice that’s perfectly suited to singing country music. Hoping to see and hear more of him since he’s now at least half-local again.

Pinetop Lightning – D.B. Bryant has been a familiar name around Columbia for a long time, especially among the leather vest wearing, motorcycle riding crowd. Pinetop Lightning is a new original music project that less ‘southern’ rock and more just plain old rock ‘n’ roll, with the bluesy swagger Bryant is known for. Local guitarist Vince McKinley has also joined up with the group, giving them a potent twin guitar potential. Pinetop Lightning EP

Brent Lundy & the Lucky 13 – Speaking of familiar names, Brent Lundy has been active in one iteration or another since the early 1990s; his latest group is a more acoustic version of his basic classic songcraft framework. They’ll be releasing a new recording in the very near future, they’re playing a ‘pre-release’ show on the 25^th of this month at Utopia.

My Favorite Local Music of 2012

I have been covering local music in Columbia for just over 19 years now, and this was perhaps one of the most productive, as well as one of the best years for music around these parts. What follows is just the tip of the proverbial iceberg when it comes to great local releases from 2012 and I probably could make another totally different top ten list tomorrow that would be equally awesome.

Top Ten Local Releases of 2012

1. Those Lavender Whales, Tomahawk of Praise

Indie rock has a tendency to take itself way too seriously sometimes, but that’s not a problem with the whimsical yet powerful melodies of these songs, which possess an innocence and naivete that belies the deeper layers in each composition. Plus they are just so easy to sing along with it’s like kid’s music for adults.

2. Josh Roberts and the Hinges, Mighty Old Distance and Murky Old Time

It has been a while since a full-on electric band album from Josh Roberts, and the rockers certainly rank with the best of his much-loved back catalog. The jewels here, however, are the quiet numbers, “Just In Time to Lose” and “Steady As We Can.” Perhaps they’re made more poignant and persuasive dropped between the raucous waves of the other tracks, or maybe they are the best songs Roberts has ever written. **K. Oliver**

 

3. Pan, These Are the Things I Love And I Want To Share Them With You

The whole Post-Echo stable of artists have had a banner year, with the multimedia **Drift** their crowning achievement. As far as the individual bands’ albums go, this one stands out as a majestic, melodic take on the instrumental rock archetype. It’s almost a cliché to say that they don’t need lyrics, but trust me, words would just get in the way of the music Pan makes.

4. The Restoration, Honor the Father

The historical fiction of The Restoration is an unlikely candidate for a great rock and roll album, but Daniel Machado’s possessed carnival barker schtick pushes the potentially dry material into a dunk tank of Dixieland jazz and chamber folk wrapped in near punk-rock energy levels and a lyrical story line just this side of Flannery O’Connor’s **Wise Blood**.

 

5. Stagbriar, How Fast You Got There, The Holt Sessions

Brother/sister duo Alex and Emily McCollum have the sibling harmony thing down pat, but there’s more here than just some pretty singing. Three brief songs that also enlist Kenny McWilliams of Archer Avenue (the studio where the tracks were recorded), bassist James Gibson, and drummer Colin Brown are polished enough to be potential TV show soundtrack fodder (“Nashville”, anyone?). Their Youtube series “The Holt Sessions” (available on their Bandcamp page as audio tracks) proves they can deliver in a more raw environment as well, revealing musical tastes from Ryan Adams to Radiohead.

 

6. Post-Timey String Band, Post-Timey String Band

A contemporary take on old-time music that keeps the reverence but skips the rote authenticity for something more organic and emotionally resonant. Kelley McLachlan is by turns a Cary Ann Hearst style spitfire, a gentle folkie, and a brassy Jazz Era cabaret singer, while Sean Thomson’s banjo keeps the ‘string band’ in their sound no matter what direction they are heading.

7. Pandercakes, Paint by Numbers EP

A debut, but with the solid backbone of drummer Logan Goldstein on board and the waif-siren vocals of Desiree Richardson floating above the fray, this is a mighty accomplished-sounding quartet already. These four tunes combine the complex and densely arranged Elephant 6 sound with the psychedelic sheen of 80′s era Game Theory.

8.  Fat Rat da Czar, Da Cold War Vol. 3

I’ve just about given up on modern hip-hop with its’ emphasis on bling and crack over banging tracks, but Fat Rat singlehandedly restored my faith this year in at least the homegrown variety. The culmination of years building up “Da Cold War” with DJ Shekeese providing the beats and Fat Rat the streetwise experience, maturity pays off with this final installment of the plan.

9. Parlour Tricks, Parlour Tricks

This is the second time drummer Logan Goldstein has shown up on my list, this time as the protagonist whose enlistment in the band formerly known as Death Becomes Even The Maiden was so game-changing they had to come up with a new name. These tracks take the Mission of Burma and Joy Division cards of the past and deal out a new hand that’s slightly more manic and less depressive, resulting in a jittery bug-out of an album that’s impossible to ignore.

10. The Hollerin’ River Talkers, The Hollerin’ River Talkers

Where local rockers tackle a slate of blues and gospel tunes with utter sincerity and charm. With members of American Gun, the Restoration, Shallow Palace, Whiskey Tango Revue, Mason Jar Menagerie, and more, the result is less an esoteric exercise and more an extended workout of the participants’ collective influences and demons.

 

 

 

 

 

My Favorite Albums of 2012

Now that we’re done, really done, with 2012 and the Columbia Free Times (my home publication) has issued its 2012 “Year in Review” coverage today, I can post my own lists. First up is my overall Top Ten albums list. None of these made the official Free Times music section list, which either means I’m hopelessly out of touch or just that I have much different taste than my fellow music critics.

 

Shovels and Rope, O Be Joyful (Dualtone)

Charleston’s husband and wife duo of Cary Ann Hearst and Michael Trent are the darlings of the Americana scene this year, and with good reason. O Be Joyful captures the pair at their most adorable, flippant, and musical. It’s almost scary how good Trent and Hearst sound together, with her abrasive drawl sliding off his smoother delivery while the instruments burn up the ground underneath them.

Mumford & Sons, Babel (Glass Note)

It’s not often that critical acclaim and great album sales go together any more, but that’s what has happened with the brit-folk rock of this popular act. I was a huge fan of the British and Irish folk rock of the 80′s, bands such as Hothouse Flowers, The Waterboys, and the Lilac Time; Mumford is simply this generation’s exposure to the undeniable energy and attitude of the current version of that sound.

Bruce Springsteen, Wrecking Ball (Columbia)

Springsteen hasn’t gone gently into his golden years, and while some of his latest stretch of albums have been less great than usual, this time around he manages to recapture some of those glory days while updating his sound. There are traces of his acoustic phase on “Shackled and Drawn,” a new Irish punk fervor in “Death to My Hometown” and “American Land,” and a gospel soulfulness in “Rocky Ground.” This one added more new classics to Bruce’s repertoire than the last two or three albums combined, making it a nice return to form for an old favorite.

Foxy Shazam, The Church of Rock and Roll (EMI)

Rock ‘n’ roll used to be dangerous and full of debauchery, drugs, drag queens, and drama. Foxy Shazam remembers this, and celebrates it as if Queen and the Rolling Stones had a baby and named him Bowie.

 

Band of Horses, Mirage Rock (Columbia)

Few bands out there have settled into the 1970s California sound of Buffalo Springfield, Neil Young, Jackson Browne, and the Eagles as seriously as Band of Horses, but instead of sounding like a Holiday Inn lounge band covering “Peaceful Easy Feeling”, they inject the classic harmonies and twangy melodies with a genuine sense of discovery and openness that’s disarming and charming.

The Avett Brothers, The Carpenter (Universal Republic)

Remember when everyone wondered if Rick Rubin and the major label machine would ruin The Avett Brothers? Instead, they have leveraged the opportunity to expand their musical palette and continue the clear-eyed, emotionally resonant lyrical path they were already on.

John Fullbright, From the Ground Up (Blue Dirt)

The first glimpse I got of John Fullbright was a group tour he did a couple years ago, where he so completely blew away the other two artists I can’t even remember who they were now. This debut studio album (there’s a live one out there, too) is a wordsmith’s dream with nearly every song containing a quotable line or two; Fullbright’s a poet but not one of those inscrutable types as his songs are deceptively simple, honest, and forthright. Musically he’s a student of American forms, wrapping his songs in the same basic no-frills trappings that made musical touchstones of The Band, and he’s equally adept on guitar and piano.

 The Spring Standards, Yellow//Gold (Parachute Shooter)

There’s a sweetness and light to the music of The Spring Standards that just makes me smile. This release is a dual EP that combines a more subdued, quiet set with an upbeat and more rocking one. Either way, the songs are wonderful and wide-eyed, innocent and yet not innocuous.

 

Bob Mould, Silver Age (Merge)

dB’s, Falling Off the Sky (Bar None)

Drivin’ N’ Cryin’, Songs from the Laundromat (Redeye)

2012 had more than its’ fair share of veteran artists releasing new music, from Van Halen to ZZ Top, but the three which affected me most were a trio of artists who I connected with initially in my formative college years. Bob Mould was the driving force behind Husker Du in the 80′s, a band which showed us how great melodies and fierce buzzsaw guitars could coexist. Through Sugar and now his solo work Mould has maintained a high level of quality; Silver Age is the farthest he has traveled back towards his more snarling youth.

The new album from the dB’s was a welcome surprise, though Chris Stamey and Peter Holsapple have done a couple of duo albums this was the first time in 30 years that the original foursome had reconvened. Thanfully, the band’s whip-smart pop sensibilities are intact and even better, richer in texture and tone.

Drivin’ N’ Cryin’ has never stopped touring and recording, but this year’s model has been juiced up by the inclusion of new lead guitarist Sadler Vaden and the band sound rejuvenated on stage and on recordings; the year-long series of short EP’s they are releasing every few months was jump started by this one which includes the spot-on tribute song “R.E.M.” **K. Oliver**

 

 

 

 

10 Columbia Bands to Watch in 2012

Borrowing from Paste Magazine, which has done this recently for our Atlanta neighbors, here’s a list of ten new-ish bands from the Columbia, SC area that you need to pay attention to this year:

1. Can’t Kids: Adam Cullum from Magnetic Flowers used to have a band of his own that I really liked called Falling Off a Building. Can’t Kids are a different animal altogether from either that band or the Flowers, but the combination of raucous sounds and the cello of Amy Cuthbertson is powerful stuff (btw, drummer Jessica Oliver and I are NOT related, as far as I know). Check out their excellent EP on Bandcamp here.

2. Black Iron Gathering: Last year saw these guys making some real strides performance-wise, and they’re getting out more around the state and beyond this year, I’m sure. One of the best live bands in town right now, and their cover choices mixed into the shows has been inspiring, as on the clip below:

3. Dixie Dynamite: I love to tell the story about the first time I saw Dixie Dynamite leader Matt Goudelock playing live–it was as a solo acoustic opener for heavy rockers Isabelle’s Gift at a biker bar in Lexington County, where he had the tough-as-leather crowd eating out of his hand playing outlaw country covers. Goudelock brings that Waylon Jennings 4/4 stomp to his new band’s original music as well, making them a great hard country addition to the local scene.

4. Forces of a Street: Not a new band but one that’s been somewhat overlooked locally so far, I think. I posted just the other day about their label/promotional venture Post-Echo, which is plenty ambitious all by itself. Justin Schmidt and company are showing a wide array of sounds and styles on the new album Pro Icarus, from which the song/video below comes.

5. The Fishing Journal: the biggest buzz in town in 2011 surrounded this outfit featuring former Death Becomes Even the Maiden member Chris Powell and ex-Restoration drummer Josh Latham along with Mercy Shot bassist Reno Gooch. They’re poised for more of the same this year, as every live show so far has been well-attended and well-received.

6. Those Lavender Whales: The new album Tomahawk of Praise isn’t number one on the WUSC playlist right now for nothing, as Aaron Graves has a uniquely endearing outlook on life which comes shining through in his precocious-sounding indie-pop tunes. I fully expect this band to conquer at least the indie-rock version of the world soon.

7. Right To Fall: As generic and similar as most hard alt-rock is these days it’s hard to get excited about yet another seemingly over-testosteroned outfit, but these guys have something going on outside the usual stereotype. Jeremy Scott screams a bit, sure, but he also sings unusually well for a heavy band’s vocalist, forcing them to lean more toward melodic tension than simple sledgehammer riffs. Like their buddies in Obraskai, they also have impeccable taste in making music videos, as you can see in the clip below.

8. Post-Timey String Band: One listen to this acoustic duo’s throwback-sounding style and you’ll be hooked, if not dragged, into a previous century where girls were saucy and guys were dapper. Vaudevillian as they can be, and entertaining to a T.

9. By the Bull: Nick Brewer of The Memorials and other previous endeavors has a new hard rock trio, and like a bull in a china shop they’re poised to incur some serious damage. check out the short clips in this video just posted online:

10. Global Soul Revolution: the new vehicle of celebrated bassist Reggie Sullivan, even without hearing them yet I can guarantee this will be a band you’ll need to check out. With various jazz luminaries, his own Reggie Sullivan Project, and also until recently with John Wesley Satterfield, Sullivan is a class act who lights up any stage he sets foot upon.