Just a quick hello to readers of the site, I know I don’t have chances to post nearly as often as I would like but I want to assure you that I am not going anywhere. I am still constantly on the search for the very best in the world of quiet music past and present to share with everyone and hopefully one day regular postings will occur more often, but until then I just wanted to pop in and say thanks for reading and sticking around through the slow times. More soon, I have a few wonderful albums that I am looking forward to mentioning when I have the time. Thanks for reading and until next time, have a good one! -John

Peter Broderick - Ten Duets

I will start of my saying that this release is unfortunately already sold out and gone from buying existence, which is a shame really. It was released in limited number on cassette tape and quickly sold out at the various places which carried it. Peter Broderick has quickly made a name for himself in the past couple of years and for good reason, his peaceful minded approach to creating music is easy to fall in love with and this release is no exception. Its stunning in its simplicity, each song written and performed with only two elements, two instruments, ranging from piano to violin to sampled environments. Its a recent favorite and I can only hope that one day the music may be made available again in another format but perhaps it is best suited to remain a musical rarity in its physical form, scattered about the world in a small handful of collections. I usually dont ever condone the use of the internet to find music among file sharing sites but I may have to make an exception here because its very much worth tracking down. The version of it I have here is simply someone who recorded each side of the tape as two audio files which I kind of like because it feels like its being presented in a way that is true to its original format. So heres to hoping it will become available again but if not, happy hunting.

Artist Site

Tags: Peter Broderick

Wixel - Clouds

I have written about Wixel before here on You Disappear and his wonderful series of releases from this year (2009) where he is releasing a new album of music each month for the whole year. Each holds a different idea or theme and so far all of them have been pretty wonderful considering most of the time I see musicians try to pull off this sort of project it sort of end up falling flat in a lot of ways. Wixel has done a wonderful job of keeping things interesting and continues to putt out release after release of beautiful, understated music from month to month. Among these releases Clouds, his February release, is easily one of my favorites. It comes across as an ambient music record only a highly organic one that, as the title implies, feels like a perfect soundtrack for watching clouds drift across a sky. The opening track sets the mood all to perfectly as it leaves your mind instantly drifting through your thoughts as you get tangled in its web of warm drifting ambience. Easily a record I highly recomend.

Artist Page • BandCamp page where you can purchase the songs (name your own price!)

Tags: Wixel

I cant say much about the artist here outside of the fact that he was involved in another project of his called The Robot Ate Me which I have heard of but not really heard. I cant even remember how I came across these recordings now that I think of it. Just something I stumbled across while wandering the never ending maze of the internet. I am referring to a release that is sold primarily as a collection of four 7” vinyl records packaged in fancy limited edition fashion and I would absolutely love to own the collection of records but at 50 dollars for the basic package its just a bit too rich for what I can pay. Why he chose to release it this way is sort of strange to me but I’m sure he had his reasons. I love the idea of limited vinyl releases and the special feeling you get holding this object full of music that only a hand full of other people in the world also hold but it’s not often they cost so much. Enough bitching, what about the music on these fancy little plastic discs?

The short of it is that I think its fantastic. Minimal, straightforward structures are a dime a dozen these days with the million other independent musicians out there trying to make their voice heard in this sort of subtle way but few really shine through the rest. Its why I started this blog here after all... It’s is a wonderful collection of songs where you will find the instrumentation sitting politely in the back of the mix while Ryland’s vocals sit up front and center pulling you into the songwriting with a subtle force that you hardly notice unless you pay attention. The often relatively short songs are split into four little collections of music, one on each of the records and numbered simply Seeds 1-4. I find myself gravitating towards the first disc and the fourth for reasons I cant fully explain, they just connected with me in ways that the other two did not do. I am a fan of simple, honest lyrics that walk along the border of coming across cheesy or over simplified and the lyrics here do a marvelous job of this and give you plenty of moments where you may find yourself nodding with a small smile thinking “yeah... I know what you mean” and its that simple connection that often feels good in this kind of music right?

The songs are available in a few different ways on his website which links to the site that sells them so I will keep things simple and send you there if you are interested in hearing or seeing more. Also, I have posted a video below as well featuring one of the songs and from what I gather, with the vinyl packages you get a collection of videos to watch as well which I wish I could see but so it goes.

Artist Site

Tags: Ryland Bouchard

This is certainly more polished and thematic than most things I post here but its an album I have really enjoyed and thought would fit into the fringe side of the you disappear spectrum. In comparison to his past solo records this album has been produced with more of a straight forward, less elaborately layered feel to it that I immediately fell for. While it still carries forward with a thick orchestral feel the music feels much more easy to grab ahold of and simply enjoy. The part of his music that captures me the most is his voice and the way he stretches it to all sorts of different places and this slower, more simplified recording approach has given it plenty room to breathe and lead the songs. Have a listen and see for yourself what I mean. I have included a video below of him performing a random song in the streets of Paris as part of the wonderful Take Away Show Series. Links to iTunes and the artists site below.

iTunes Link • Artist Site

Tags: Patrick Watson

Episode three of You Disappear Radio is available now in the feed. Please read the show notes included in the podcast and visit the links in the enhanced audio file to visit the artists sites. The idea is to give you a sample of some great music and hopefully turn you onto some great new albums in the process. See the tags below for links to my reviews on You Disappear of the artists included in this episode.

Otherwise, here is a link to the feed which you can put into iTunes or whichever reader you use for podcasts: http://www.youdisappear.net/files/blog.xml I don’t include direct links to the files in these posts simply because I am keeping this on the underground side of things and I want to keep things as simple as possible with them. Hopefully this will not alienate too may people. Let me know your thoughts should you have an opinion on the idea. I am always open to suggestions.

If you are an artist featured on this podcast and you wish to have your music removed please contact me directly at john-at-youdisappear.net and I will be more than happy to remove it for you. I completely understand, the intention of the site is to promote great music of a calm mindset, not capitalize on it. Its for the love of the music.

Tags: Yo La tengo, A Weather, Eef Barzelay, Julianna Barwick, Tara Jane Oneil, The Green Kingdom

Bonnie Prince Billy - Master And Everyone

With what is most likely Will Odhams most well known project he has created some truly beautiful music. Through the years of its releases I have gravitated to a couple of his albums much more than most of his others and it seems like he always has something new out but maybe thats just me. Master And Everyone is a beautiful album through and through. It rings out with a peaceful look into the world of love, heartbreak and life, much like many of the albums that grace the pages of You Disappear. I recently started putting on my vinyl copy of this more often than I even realized until one night it was playing and I found myself completely hypnotized by it’s calming sort of presence in my mind and my voice is always finding its way out of my mouth to sing along with bits of the songs here that manage to whisper truth into my ears. Now that it is back in heavy rotation in my mind I felt I should add it to the site here where it certainly belongs and If you have not heard his music this is a great place to start.

iTunes Link • Artist Page

Tags: Bonnie Prince Billy

Yo La Tengo - They Shoot, We Score

I cannot stop listening to Yo La Tengo’s score for the film Old Joy. Its become the type of music that I simply must keep listening to because without it I fear I may fall apart. The clean and deep electric guitar echoes out a solitude that is truly haunting and is layered perfectly with subtle layers of piano, bass and on occasion, drums. Its a simple instrumental masterpiece that my mind cannot get enough of. The music is available via an album they released which contains music for all the films they have been part of scoring over the past few years and the music from Old Joy is easily my favorite from the collection and is what I am recommending to you here. It was released on CD as well as digitally but not via the usual channels and I can only find it through their site here. There is a note on the homepage saying the sore is broken but who knows, that may be out dated. Either way if you would like to hear the music first simply watch the film, its a wonderful quiet film that may be slow for some peoples taste but I really enjoyed it.

Tags: Yo La tengo

Cat Power - It Ain’t Fair (from the EP Dark End Of The Street)

I finished setting up a large sound system flow in the air at a half coliseum show today and was digging through my laptop for music to play to the empty room and I initially chose some upbeat Jamie Lidell songs and some Phoenix but settled into an EP from Cat Power that I had not given much of a chance called Dark End Of The Street, more specifically the last song on the EP called It Ain’t Fair. As soon as the first pluck of the stand up bass in the song was struck the large empty hall came alive as the song snuck into the room and gave my mind a much needed rest after all the work. There is nothing quite like playing music you enjoy on a big fancy PA in an empty music hall before a show. I often take the chance to sneak in favorites when I can. Anyway, after hearing it in this way I got home and put it on again and the same effect was layered into my room when I played the song. Its just a beautiful soft blues song that is hard not to enjoy while slowly nodding your head. The EP it is from is full of covers, something Cat Power is no stranger to and while I have not enjoyed her last few releases as much as her older albums this song may have me taking a closer look at what she has been up to lately. I was sad to see that it was sold out on vinyl but who knows, maybe one day I will get lucky wandering through a record shop somewhere...

iTunes Link • Artist Page

Tags: Cat Power

The North Sea & Rameses III - The Night of the Ankou

This is not the first and it is certainly not the last you will see on You Disappear from the wonderful label Type Records. They have an uncanny ability to find and release some of the most beautiful music out there and this album is no exception. While it took me a while to sit down and give this album the time it deserved this afternoon it appeared randomly while I had iTunes on shuffle. As the music started to creep into my mind I hardly realized it was there. The slow drone of the music snuck into the room like a fog building slowly in the night, slowly filling my mind and causing everything around me to seem at peace somehow. The album itself is composed of only two songs both just shy of 20 minutes in length and each evolve in a way that albums split into lots of tiny ideas or tracks have a harder time accomplishing. Various elements fade in and out among the fog as gently as fireflies attempt to light the moments just before night fully settles in. It’s a really beautiful experience and will hold you in its warmth. Listen and let your heart and your mind have a moment in your day to rest...

iTunes Link • Artist Page (label)

Tags: The North Sea & Rameses III

Julianna Barwick - Florine

Imagine a singular, zen like chant echoing out into a void. A choir of one voice layered and spilling over itself creating a swelling ocean of vocal harmony. That is exactly what you will find here on this short 6 song EP. It’s a beautiful exploration of one voice and a few other simple elements crafted into music that is something like slow motion. While there are no clear lyrics in these songs I find that to be somewhat irrelevant as the melodies and sounds here speak for themselves. I imagine this is what life would sound like if everything was beautiful and moving in slow motion revealing every tiny glimmer of light as something magnificent and spectacular. Maybe these words sound over the top, I don’t know, it is simply what has come to mind while I hear it fill the room.

This EP was released exclusive to emusic, heres a link • Artist Site

Tags: Julianna Barwick

A Weather - Cove

I am not sure where I came across A Weathers music at first but I quickly fell in love with its simple approach. I ended up ordering a vinyl copy which I just put on while I write and it’s reminding me how much I enjoy the album. It manages to be whisper quiet and calm while holding a steady rhythm that adds an uplifting note to the music that I really appreciate. I feel its something really unique in the world of this sort of music. The songwriting is playful yet it holds a wonderful grounding in a peaceful sort of melancholy that, like the music itself, manages to be both sad and happy all at once. Its a wonderful little album that I’m sure you will enjoy.

On a side note the female singing in this group is done by Sarah Winchester which I have featured here as well.

iTunes LInk • Artist Page

Tags: A Weather

The Green Kingdom - Laminae

This album is one of those beautiful ambient albums that somehow graft onto the world around you seamlessly as though it is music designed to accompany you through any environment and help slow it down and bring out the beauty in any given moment. The music here is a sound that pulls electronic sounds together with acoustic sounds to create an atmosphere that is really perfect for any number of moments in life. With little samples hiding among it’s drifting ambience it adds another world to yours and I absolutely love music like this. The musician is a graphic designer and sound artist who slowly crafts these songs over time and seems to spend a lot of time evolving them into such a natural, flowing sound. It’s a wonderful release and is well worth your money if you are a fan of such subtle electroacoustic ambient as this.

iTunes Link • Artist Page

Tags: The Green Kingdom

Tara Jane O’Neil - To Trace A Raveling

I bought this record at a live show where I was running the sound here locally and before that night had never heard Tara Jane O’Neils music before. The show really caught me off guard as it was a really beautiful set of music. I chose this album randomly from her small selection of offerings at the merch table and I’m glad this is the one that I chose. It just appeared to be the most interesting of the bunch because of its hand made silk screening and lovely artwork. As soon as I arrived back at home I put the album on and it immediately became one of my favorite vinyl records to put on late at night as I was just lying around in bed.

The release is actually a combination of two EP’s from her and was released in this way as a limited edition pressing on a label called Mississippi Records that releases nothing but record in small quantities which are apparently somewhat hard to come by. The first half of the record, To Trace is three songs that blend seamlessly together as a whole and was released as an EP called Tracer which was released on a Japanese label originally as far as I know. The second half is from an EP called A Raveling and is my favorite side of the record because of its slow minimal approach. You will find plucked acoustic guitar, layered whispered vocals and an organic ambience that leaves you off and dreaming in no time. I love this music and its beautiful ability to fill my room with a calm that is as uplifting as it is relaxing and its dark sound is perfect for a relaxed late night.

While both EP’s were released in somewhat obscure ways, one on a Japanese label and the other on a Spanish label, A Raveling is more readily available as a digital purchase and is very much worth the small amount of money you would pay for them. The vinyl may be out there for sale somewhere but I’m not sure where to direct you outside of google for that.

iTunes Link (for the A Raveling side) • Artist Site

Tags: Tara Jane Oneil

Kate Micucci - Just Say When (from Songs EP)

I found Kates music after my brother pointed me to the fact that she had a short little album available online. She is a comedian/musician/actress. Typically found with a ukulele in hand she often sings short songs with a cute style filled with little puns and quirky stories and situations and its what I expected when I got my hands on the EP but was pleasantly surprised to hear the last song on the 10 minute release. A little mini piano ballad that I keep listening to over and over and thought, why not post it here on You Disappear. It’s a simple enough song but it has surprising depth coming from a typically comedic artist. I Can only hope that she will expand on her songwriting and explore it more in the future with and without the quirky humor. (you can hear the song streaming on her myspace page here)

iTunes Link • Artist Page • CD Baby Page (where you can buy it digitally straight from the artist)

Tags: Kate Micucci

The Cinematic Orchestra - To Build A Home (from the album Ma Fluer)

It would have been easy to write about the album this song is from but I wanted to feature a song from it here before I get around to adding the album here because its just such a brilliant song in my eyes. It’s a subtle masterpiece really and is one of those songs you should not be without. Well, if you are able to feel it the way that I do. The original version of this song as it appears on the album Ma Fleur is sort of a living, breathing thing, fragile and calling out for you to listen as it plays. Relatively simplistic at first with voice and piano the music quickly evolves and carries you forward through its story. Honestly, I cannot speak highly enough of this song. It was a collaboration between the Cinematic Orchestra and singer Patrick Watson and while there are a few versions of it around there to hear this is the best way to hear it and I highly suggest you do if you are not already familiar with it.

iTunes Link • Artist Page

Tags: The Cinematic Orchestra

Eef Barzelay - Bitter Honey

While I have written about Clem Snide here before I held off writing about the singers solo album and I have no particularly good reason to have done so. Maybe because this album is not too hushed and quiet, maybe because I was not sure if I enjoyed it all the way through, but whatever the reason, I suppose its irrelevant and I am just rambling for no good reason. That aside, I have given this album more of a chance and it has grown on my quite a bit and I have ended up playing it a lot as of late.

The music is pretty straightforward, singing with simple acoustic guitar as its companion but what eventually really pulled me in and got me hooked was his songwriting. There is a balance of humor, sarcasm, sadness, and whit that all blend together and make for a pretty interesting listen through and through. There are a handful of songs on this album that really took ahold of my mood lately and caused me to listen to the album often. I would suggest anyone with a slightly bitter sense of humor about life and love have a listen. It grows on you.

iTunes Link • Artist Page

Tags: Eef Barzelay

Episode two of You Disappear Radio is available now in the feed. Please read the show notes included in the podcast and visit the links in the enhanced audio file to visit the artists sites. The idea is to give you a sample of some great music and hopefully turn you onto some great new albums in the process. See the tags below for links to my reviews on You Disappear of the artists included in this episode.

Otherwise, here is a link to the feed which you can put into iTunes or whichever reader you use for podcasts: http://www.youdisappear.net/files/blog.xml I don’t think I will be including direct links to the files in these posts simply because I am keeping this on the underground side of things and I want to keep things as simple as possible with them. Hopefully this will not alienate too may people. Let me know your thoughts should you have an opinion on the idea. I am always open to suggestions.

If you are an artist featured on this podcast and you wish to have your music removed please contact me directly at john-at-youdisappear.net and I will be more than happy to remove it for you. I completely understand, the intention of the site is to promote great music of a calm mindset, not capitalize on it. Its for the love of the music.

Tags: Sarah Winchester, Ben and Bruno, The Allender Band, Hildur Gudnadottir, Jason Molina

Sarah Winchester - The Northeast Kingdom Demos

This little mini album is really wonderful, its nothing short of a lullaby through and through. Its a perfect sleepy album with a warm feeling that will leave your eyelids feeling gradually more and more heavy as the hushed vocals and guitar fill your mind. Sarah is part of a great group that I should write about here one day called A Weather and has recorded these songs as her first venture into solo recording and they are really beautiful songs that anyone who enjoys calm music should have a listen to.

As of the time of this writing the album is available for free on a nice music label type site that rotates its free releases monthly. The site/label is called Team Love and you can visit them through this link.

Tags: Sarah Winchester

Ben and Bruno - 100 Grim Reapers

Here on the site I posted about a couple albums from the group Wixel and through the fact that visitors from You Disappear went to check out his music he found the site here and decided to write in with a suggestion and it was a great one. He pointed me to this great release from an artist I was previously unfamiliar with, Ben and Bruno. The story behind the groups music is a bit strange and leads you to wonder more about them but I appreciate a little mystery behind music I listen to. The story, as taken from their myspace page is as follows:

“ben and bruno" is a group of songs based around one character named BEN. After losing his mother at a very young age, Ben is abducted by an unstable woman renting the room beneath him and his father (both men have fallen for her). Ben, during his trip (while fleeing from the police), becomes completely infatuated with the woman. The story continues after the capture of the woman as he grows older.... acquiring/losing a dog/best friend (BRUNO), marrying, having two daughters, divorcing. And so on.”

The music reminds of some of the more gentle songs from Mount Eerie and the only reason I say this is to give you a frame of reference. Its simple approach leaves you feeling at peace and its playful yet poignant lyrics draw me in and leave me wanting to listen to it over and over. It was this type of subtle often overlooked gentle recording and songwriting that made me want to start up a site to feature them in an environment full of like minded music. This is great music for the beginning of this spring season as it reminds me of sitting in a quiet field somewhere, breeze blowing tall grass around and the silence of the landscape singing along...

While the CD is now sold out because of its handmade production there is a few vinyl copies left from what I have read and despite not having any extra money at all to spend I ordered a copy anyway. Digital versions of these songs do exist on emusic and they also have a podcast with a ton of live recordings and different versions of their music which can be found in the iTunes podcast listings.

Artist Page (and myspace page)

Tags: Ben and Bruno