Here’s a PDF compendium of some recent blurbs from L.A. Record … For this PDF I have clipped the bits that mention, uh, me. But you can see the complete articles by clicking here.

Alright, here’s the PDF:

http://www.5-track.com/press/LARecordAJWBlurbs.pdf

for more press, dig here:

http://www.5-Track.com/5/5press.php

Had the pleasure of a few days visit from Team Evan & Woody, roving Seattle musical tag-team.

In between playing a ridiculous amount of music with everyone we met, we stopped into Origami Vinyl and made some financially-ill-advised-but-aesthetically-sound purchases.

Evan picked up a new record by Tortoise (perhaps “Beacons Of Ancestorship”?). I chose “The Freak Of Araby” by Sir Richard Bishop, his first solo record to include musicians other than Sir himself.

(Woody abstained from purchasing. Way to buck the culture!)

We started with Mr Bishop, whose tones are thick and mystic chops formidable. The first track is a lengthy unaccompanied rumination for middle-east-inflected electric guitar, featuring round, warm, diamond-edged tone that is just about everything I could want in a recorded guitar sound.

The band kicks on track 2, and from there on the songs are long and they groove mightily. Think about something between Medeski Martin & Wood’s “Shack-Man” and Marc Ribot’s 2nd Los Cubanos Postizos, “Muy Divertido” … but it is nothing like either of those, really. They are the closest reference points I can think of just now.

It was a brain-cleansing listen, from the beginning of side A straight to the droning, Joujouka-escent closing track on side B.

Then we threw the Tortoise platter on the table and basked in a whole big pile of oddly electronic sounding instrumental grooves for bass, drums, keys, and occasional sips of guitar, all of which was recorded PERFECTLY, the tones so big and round and warm that it could perhaps have been done on a 4-track. You could call that kind of sound “hi-fi lo-fi”. Totally amazing record.

We capped it with a listen to the “West Coast Post-Asiatic Sampler” record, vinyl edition. We were so caught up with examining the truly lovely multi-colored record itself that we failed to navigate the side-selection issue properly and listened to side 2 first. (Not that sides are anything like plainly marked on this release). But I think it was OK, and supplied a properly weird vibe to the end of the evening.

BTW:

A few nights later I stayed up with Woody listening to Tim Buckley’s “Blue Afternoon” and “Happy/Sad” records. I esteem “Blue Afternoon” highly in a wide array of ways, and although I have been intensely fond of “Happy/Sad” for years, I have generally thought of it as a gem made perfect by its very flaws.

Opinion revised. “Happy/Sad” is a perfect album. Period.

Holy craps last night was fun … listening back to some of it now …

There’s a band called http://www.myspace.com/lesbicyclettesblanches, a duo, and they’re in Los Angeles right now. Her name is Magnolia, and his name is Max. Max plays the guitar and the drums, and Magnolia plays the bass and the kazoo and she sings. Max on guitar generates a lovely droning thrum or sometimes more soul-styled proto-r&b crystals. I’ve been sitting in with them (thanks to Amanda for the hookup) while they’re in town, and the last of their shows here was at the Airliner, last night.

Meanwhile, I also play bass in Amanda’s husband’s band, ie Matthew O’Neill, with the illustrious Scott Keil on the drums, and somehow we ended up on last night’s bill with the Bicyclettes. That would be the first proper show with Matthew and Scott. It’s an unusual-sounding group so I wasn’t sure if we were gonna really grab people or empty the room completely.

There were enough people there to grab, and we grabbed them. We even made a couple of people dance. Matthew’s stage presence is something else, and Scott and I kept the grooves thick while Matthew took his guitar on a four-day electric kayak trip through the secret rivers of Big Sur. I’m listening back to some of that set now… Sun-baked post-rural psychedelic epic.

(Mercury is in retrograde, and accordingly the show was very chaotic, but also very positive)

Next up were Les Bicyclettes. Amanda played drums for a lot of the set. I played an acoustic guitar through a wah, a delay, and a bass amplifier. Haven’t got that far on the tape yet, but I’m looking forward to hearing it. Sort of a Velvet Underground meets Mazzy Star From Hell thing…  People seemed to enjoy us.

Afterwards I was talking to a blonde guy named Chase Carlisle who I know from somewhere but I’m foggy on exactly where. He’d been tuned into Matthew’s set for sure and then also diggin on the Bicyclettes and he asked me if I’d like to sit in on his set - he was up next. Chase plays the acoustic guitar and sings.

I’d never heard his songs before, so I said “Sure!” and plugged my acoustic straight into the PA. It went very well, I only really screwed up maybe twice, people seemed to enjoy the music and I think Chase was happy so call it 3 for 3.

Incidentally, this was the most people I’ve seen in the Airliner yet at a show I played there. The first time I played there we had about 7 people (all of whom we brought) and the bartender, doorman, and two TVs showing “American History X”. The second time we had twenty to thirty people. This time, over the course of the night, at least 50+ wandered through the room. Though many did not stay as they were on their way upstairs or out back - there are actually three performance spaces in the Airliner.

http://www.archive.org/details/glassgoblins2009-08-28.amandasbasement

Woody Frank (guitar), Evan Strauss (bass), Scott Keil (drums), 5-Track (guitar and sing)

plus guests Jym “The Snake” Fahey (harmonica, sing), Cricket DeManuel (sing), and the mysterious Lady Die (sing on Love Buzz etc)

Longtime followers will understand that having Woody and Evan at a show is significant and awesome … some may recall certain Seattle Glass Goblins configurations, and/or nights and nights of Snoose Junction overload, let alone Neon Brown Presents / Woodlands Acoustic Orchestra / Juggler’s Challenge. (Mayhem at the Chai House, yo…) Not to mention VARIETY PACK!!

This was the first killer house party that I have encountered in the wicked and inhospitable environs of Los Angeles. Props to Amanda and Matthew for supplying the necessary good vibes to make it a reality. We had plans to hold this shindig at WHERE but WHERE is having trouble, so Amanda said, “Let’s have it in the basement! I’ll make grilled cheese!” and lo, it came to pass.

I’m very psyched about this recording, because I LOVE 2 guitars, bass, drums … We got to play some songs that I don’t usually get to play (The Gypsy’s Curse, Tacoma Motel) and we got to give Cricket a proper rocknroll band for a song or two and we got to explore the outer reaches of space and time. Dig it…

here’s to the next one
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