Wino & Conny Ochs: Freedom Conspiracy (2015)

The legendary Wino has been working with German guitarist/singer Conny Ochs for a while now. It started out a little shaky, as they didn’t seem to know how to use their very different voices in a coherent way. It seemed like the only thing tying them together was a similar vision and perhaps friendship, not complementary qualities. But now, on their third collaboration, they’ve really got this thing figured out.

Freedom Conspiracy is just the kind of dark Americana, singer-songwriter material you’d expect if the album cover is a black-and-white drawing of a guillotine, arranged so that you are looking at it from the same angle as its victim. Now, lay your head down right there, above the basket, and listen.

Dark Americana Briefs, Volume 17

If God is vengeance, we all have it coming.

Bob Dylan: John Wesley Harding (1967)
4 out of 5 stars

With great tunes like "As I Went Out One Morning" and "All Along the Watchtower," it's easy to see why Bob Dylan's John Wesley Harding is considered one of the greatest albums of all time. A consensus top 10 across genres and decades, if ever there was one. And Dylan is considered perhaps the greatest songwriter of all time. For my part, I enjoy it a great deal, the downbeat mood with acoustic guitar, drums, and harmonica being a style I enjoy, and the melodies solid. But I can't give it a perfect score for two reasons. One, I think this is one of those where lyrics are what elevate it, and I simply can't pay much attention to lyrics; they are nearly meaningless to me. Two, Dylan's voice sounds vaguely like Randy Newman.

Dark Americana Briefs, Volume 15

Darker Than Metal

More dark Americana. I hope you enjoy.

Jeff Zentner: The Dying Days of Summer (2009)
3.5 out of 5 stars

Pure country music doesn't often pique my interest, but then again, Jeff Zentner doesn't play a typical country style. The Dying Days of Summer is soft, quiet, and gentle. Despite its lack of violence it's still extremely dark and deeply sad. And not in a stereotypical "My wife left me and my dog's dead" way. It's mostly acoustic guitar and male vocals, but other sounds do assist on the dynamic front (female vocals, mandolin, etc.). Unfortunately, the complete lack of percussion and the extensive length of the record (64 minutes) make it a lot more challenging than it needs to be, and I'm not quite sure the payoff is enough.

Dark Americana Briefs, Volume 15

Hell of a Week

This has been a hell of a week for me, thus the lax updating. I hope one of these will make up for it.

T.G. Olson: The Bad Lands to Cross (2013)
3.5 out of 5 stars

T.G. Olson is the frontman of Across Tundras, in my opinion one of the most interesting bands in metal today. As I've mentioned before, he also has a hell of a lot of solo material for pay-what-you-want on Bandcamp. If you had to explain Bad Lands to Cross to someone who grew up in the 60's, you might get pretty far by calling it acid country. It takes that classic sad cowboy style of country and adds in atmospheric electric guitar, a layer of fuzz over the vocals, and just the right amount of echo to make it psychedelic. It's good stuff, but not quite dynamic enough to go on for a full hour.

Wovenhand: Refractory Obdurate (2014)

The Reverse Path

In the nearly three years since I found Wovenhand, I've found myself listening to it more than any other artist. If it's not my favorite band, it's at least my favorite active band. Consider the Birds is one of the five albums that changed my life, if you'll excuse the slight hyperbole. So, take this with a grain of salt if you must. But I've been recommending them repeatedly since then, and I've gotten nothing but positive feedback from anyone who's listened.

So, with that introduction out of the way, let's consider Refractory Obdurate, the band's seventh studio full-length. The Laughing Stalk (2012) found the band adding heaviness to their unmistakable blend of folk and country. I had always sensed an affinity to metal from David Eugene Edwards' music, but that is where it really came through. The incredible "Corsicana Clip" and "The Refractory" are excellent examples of a the Laughing Stalk sound continuing. But if anything, Refractory Obdurate represents an even larger shift for the band.

Dark Americana Briefs, Volume 14

Salt and Sky

I'm still chasing that dark Americana dragon.

Salter Cane: Salter Cane (2007)
4 out of 5 stars

I know nothing about Salter Cane, having discovered them by accident on Rdio and listened without looking them up. An extremely familiar drum beat (I've heard it from Munly and 16HP) kicks things off, and it's very straight-forward folk/country of the kind I'm used to. But also, it's fairly high-caliber, and for some reason I can't quite put my finger on, it reminds me of Nick Cave.

Dark Americana Briefs, Volume 13

Things Aren't All Rosy

Songs of Townes Van Zandt Vol II (2014)
3.5 out of 5 stars

Here is the follow-up to 2012's Songs of Townes Van Zandt, an album I loved. This time around the contributors are John Baizley (Baroness), Mike Scheidt (Yob, etc.), and Nate Hall (USX). Each of them has at least one strong contribution, but really, it's kind of hard to screw up such magnificent songs as "St. John the Gambler" (Baizley) and "Rake" (Scheidt). The real winner of them is Hall, who superbly covers "Waitin' Around to Die" and "Our Mother the Mountain." Some of the split’s modern touches are nice, like the echoing percussion on "St. John the Gambler," but Baizley's characteristic guitar tone on his solos is just a bit too heavy-handed. Overall I like this, but it just doesn't hold up to the excellent Steve Von Till/Scott Kelly/Wino record that preceded it.



Neurot Recordings

Dark Americana Briefs, Volume 12

There's a Bad Moon on the Rise

This time around, I check out a late release from a standard, a proto-dark Americana masterpiece, and something I discovered completely by random chance.

Slim Cessna's Auto Club: Cipher (2008)
3.5 out of 5 stars

Slim Cessna's Auto Club are the group that began the Denver sound, and even the relatively recent Cipher displays all the hallmarks of it: An allegiance to country, rock, punk, metal, and folk music all in various measures. Where it differs from 16 Horsepower is that it's not as consistently dark. Sure, there are apocalyptic pieces here ("Jesus Is in My Body - My Body Has Let Me Down") but there's also quite a lot of upbeat material. The arc of the record overall seems to center on the concept of human failings and a struggle of faith. But cuts like "Ladies in the Know" will broaden the appeal, while simultaneously making it less powerful to those of us who want it dark all the time.

Dark Americana Briefs, Volume 11

Darker

Here's more of my second musical obsession. Let me know what you think.

Mark Kozelek: Like Rats (2013)
4 out of 5 stars

Growing up in a small town in rural Nebraska: It turns out, that's not a great way to keep up on things. I'm always finding out about music and trends from the 90's that I had no idea existed. For example, slowcore. Mark Kozelek was one of the big names of slowcore, with a couple of bands, but on Like Rats he plays dark Americana, pure acoustic folk/rock. He manages to make the style consistent among covers of such varying artists as Danzig, Bad Brains, Bruno Mars, and Genesis, among others. There's even an unironic cover of "I Got You Babe" that is way better than it should be. But the best songs are his take on "Green Hell" that rivals the Metallica version, and a rendition of Godflesh's "Like Rats" which sounds like Wovenhand.

Dark Americana Briefs, Part 10

Double Digits

Vic Chesnutt: North Star Deserter (2007)
5 out of 5 stars

Vic Chesnutt became a paraplegic at a young age and eventually died of an overdose on muscle relaxants. If you think he might make some fucked-up and dark music, you'd be right. This is the closest thing to Wovenhand I've yet found (see "Splendid," "Debriefing"), with the psychedelic and post-rock touches added to folk/rock. North Star Deserter tends toward sparser arrangements, with a hint of the great Cash. Stop what you're doing right now and listen to "Everything I Say." Thank me later.

Dark Americana Briefs, Part 9

Three More

Big John Bates: Battered Bones (2012)
3 out of 5 stars

Frontman Records contacted me after noticing my interest in dark Americana, and I thank them for it because this Big John Bates record was an interesting listen. In the end, though, Battered Bones isn't really what I'm looking for. It's described as "rustic punk," but I'm pretty sure it's some permutation of rockabilly. It's upbeat, punky rock with sounds pulled from dark Americana, but it's not really Americana, and definitely not dark. It's fun.

Pesanta Urfolk Briefs

Condolences, and Celebration

I recently mentioned that the strange mix of music that Pesanta Urfolk chooses to focus on--obscure metal, dark Americana, and neofolk--intrigues me a whole lot. So I thought I'd explore a whole lot more of what they have to offer.

As a side note, it seems the label head's mother recently died. I'd like to extend my condolences. She was quite young, which only makes it harder.

Munly & The Lee Lewis Harlots: Munly & The Lee Lewis Harlots (2004)
4 out of 5 stars

I previously expressed an interest in hearing Munly & The Lee Lewis Harlots, and this reissue by Pesanta Urfolk provides an excellent opportunity. This blends 16 Horsepower's rock-influenced old-time Americana with Nick Cave's unhinged genre-bending narratives. There's plenty of strings, guitar, and enough banjo, plus female backing vocals. The folk and country are joined not just by their familiar gospel music ("The Leavening of the Spit-Bread Girls") but also by relatively modern, mid-century styles ("Of Silas Fauntleroy's Willingness . . .") Being genuinely different, engaging, varied, dark, light, and entertaining, it's one of those rare 78-minute albums that works.

The Sterling Sisters: Hale (2012)

Raised in the West . . . or Baltimore

Pesanta Urfolk may be one of my favorite labels at the moment. Not only did they release the incredible Lux Interna album this year, which takes a Neurosis approach to Americana, their whole deal may be to do exactly what interests me right now: Straddling the worlds of metal and dark folk. I’ll just make a note to myself to do more research on them later. For now, The Sterling Sisters are what’s important.

The Sterling Sisters play in the old-timey folk/country meets rock and roll style pioneered by 16 Horsepower and other Denver bands. The modern drumming, bass, and the occasional distortion give the sound the update to make it palatable to a modern audience. That’s old news. But here’s the new part. This young band has fully taken advantage of what the Internet has to provide aspiring musicians, putting everything out on Bandcamp and running a Kickstarter to fund their tour. Their debut full-length, Hale, was given a limited release last New Year’s and is now being given a proper issue by Pesanta Urfolk.

Dark Americana Briefs, Part 8

I See a Darkness

Elliott Brood: Ambassador (2005)
4 out of 5 stars

Elliott Brood is a Canadian band who, according to Wikipedia, have been characterized as "death country." That should be enough to catch the attention of anyone who regularly reads this feature, but let me proceed. They're the best alt-country band (not a side project of a metal or punk luminary) I've found since Wovenhand / 16 Horsepower. While compared to those two bands, it's a little more like mainstream country in the general compositional style and the way electric guitar is used, Ambassador is some of the darkest music I've heard using a banjo (etc.). The vocalist doesn't quite convey the pain of David Eugene Edwards, yet he is no slouch. The first half of the record is especially great. This is quite the lucky find.

Dark Americana Briefs, Part 7

You know the drill.

Across Tundras: Electric Relics (2013)
4 out of 5 stars

As I've mentioned before, Across Tundras is one of those few bands who expertly land themselves at the crossroads of metal and dark Americana. They sound like an old-school country/Western band (complete with nasally cowboy vocals) mixed with the desert rock of Kyuss. The production is extremely dry, and listening to it feels like a walk through the desert to a marginal frontier town. It's tailor-made for me, but your mileage may vary.

Man's Gin: Rebellion Hymns (2013)

Doggamn, Don’t Let It Go

Any time you read the words “dark Americana” on this blog, you can blame Man’s Gin. Sure, I’ve always liked acoustic-electric material on the order of Alice in Chains Unplugged going back to my teenage years, but Smiling Dogs is the album that sent me down this rabbit hole. It’s the reason I listen to things like Steve Von Till, Dax Riggs, and Wovenhand nearly as much as I listen to Suffocation, Darkthrone, and Evoken.

Rebellion Hymns is the long-awaited follow-up to Smiling Dogs, and it is well worth the wait. Not only does it continue in the dark rock/country/folk of its predecessor, it builds on it.

Lux Interna: There Is Light in the Body, There Is Blood in the Sun (2013)

There Is Neurosis in the Wovenhand

If you’re sick of my talking about dark Americana and want me to stick to the death metal, you can stop reading this review right now. If you’re eagerly waiting for the next recommendation, or just morbidly curious, Lux Interna should be next on your list.

I have not heard this band before. From my written and audio research I think it’s fair to say they’re a neofolk band, though nothing so light and airy as Amber Asylum. With There Is Light in the Body, There Is Blood in the Sun it seems they’ve done the same transformation Wovenhand took on their most recent release: They decided to make dark Americana heavy, weaving in a thick layer of bass and touches of electric guitar.

Dark Americana Briefs, Part 7

Home and Far Away

Riitaoja: Mantereelle (2013)
3.5 out of 5 stars

Now here's something a little out of the ordinary for this series: a Finnish band with Finnish lyrics. But the fact it's Americana is undeniable, with Western-sounding electric guitars and banjos, plus a bit of harmonica, and an overall American folk vibe through most of the music. The promo spiel referred to Wovenhand (possibly because the promoter was catering to me specifically?) but it's a fair comparison. That's not to say the European-ness is absent. The vocal style (both female and male) is decidedly un-Americana, and a few lighter tracks sound very Euro. Complete with bass and understated drums, the best songs on here are fantastic, even bordering on heavy (as the title track). Besides the great songs there are also a few very good droning tunes, as well as some weak ones that might sound like lullabies or lifeless indie rock. Overall, much more good than bad.

Across Tundras / Lark's Tongue: Across Tundras / Lark's Tongue (2013)

Desert Split

I’ve discussed the Denver-to-Nashville transplants Across Tundras once or twice before. Their combination of country, folk, psychedelic rock, and stoner metal is what you might call a perfect storm of my musical interests. They have the potential to be one of my favorite bands, but with as prolific as they are I’ve been unable to catch up on everything they’ve done. That’s especially so if you include guitarist/vocalist T.G. Olson’s solo work (most of which can be had on the Across Tundras Bandcamp). He’s one of those guys who can’t seem to stop creating.

Their latest release is a split with Lark’s Tongue, out of Illinois. This is a band I’ve never heard of before, but there is definitely a common thread running between the two bands.

Conny Ochs: Black Happy (2013)

German Americana

I don’t really know much about Conny Ochs. He’s collaborated with Wino. Apparently he’s German, though you’d never know it from his vocals. That’s just about the only information out there about this man and his guitar.

His kinship with Wino stems from a mutual appreciation for dark singer-songwriter material, and that’s what you’ll hear on his sophomore solo record Black Happy. It falls into the amorphous “dark Americana” that I’m always talking about, but within that category it cuts a wide swath. At times, I was tempted to say it sounds like one of the Alice in Chains EPs. At others, I wanted to reference the Beatles, what little I know of indie rock, or (once) that Stone Sour song from the first Spiderman movie (see “No Sleep Tonight”). There really isn’t a good, honest way to sum it up by comparison to others, because he seems to draw on a timeless set of singer-songwriter influence from each of the past six or seven decades. Even longer, if you count the blues of “Mouth” or traditional folk vocal of “Faces in the Crowd.”