T.W. Walsh aka the Soft Drugs has just released a brand new song for free on his website. The track is called Family of Four and is highly reccomended listening for your “Friday night is so close and yet so far away” listening.
[mp3] The Soft Drugs – Family of Four.mp3
Previously:
My Interview with TW
Download The Soft Drugs Entire EP In Moderation FREE!
Not long before Death cab for Cutie became famous rock stars, they played a KEXP session full of great songs from New York. The session was sort of acoustic and sort of not, Gibbard played acoustic, McGerr used brushes, Walla left his effects at home, and Harmer made the good nosie on the bass. These are those sessions. I guess this is part 2 of an ongoing series of old KEXP in-studios. It’s a series I probably wont continue though.
[mp3] Death Cab for Cutie – Blacking out the Friction (KEXP).mp3
[mp3] Death Cab for Cutie – Champagne from a Paper Cup (KEXP).mp3
[mp3] Death Cab for Cutie – Company Calls Epilogue (KEXP).mp3
[mp3] Death Cab for Cutie – Interview (KEXP).mp3
[mp3] Death Cab for Cutie – I Was a Kaleidoscope (KEXP).mp3
[mp3] Death cab for Cutie – Lightness (Live).mp3
[mp3] Death Cab for Cutie – The New Year (KEXP).mp3
[mp3] Death Cab for Cutie – Technicolor Girls (KEXP).mp3
Sufjan did a live session for KEXP in the summer of 2004 with a very sparse backing band. Sufjan doesn’t often play truely acoustic these days, so I was pleasantly suprised when this came on my iPod yesterday.
[mp3] Sufjan Stevens – For the Widows in Paradise(KEXP).mp3
[mp3] Sufjan Stevens – He Woke Me Up Again(KEXP).mp3
[mp3] Sufjan Stevens – That Dress Looks Nice on You(KEXP).mp3
Everyone knows that the Shins new album (Wincing the Night Away) has leaked. Everyone also knows that the song Phantom Limb is making it’s way around the intrawebs rather quickly. Anyone who blogs knows that if I were to post another track from said album I would have a Cease and decist email from Sub Pop rather quickly. Whether or not new songs will be played at the small handful of shows they announced remains to be seen, but obviously either way, it will be worth your time.
[mp3] The Shins – Phantom Limb.mp3
I don’t want to say anything about this one, because there is a lot of negativity circulating and quite frankly, it’s not one of the better tracks on the album. You decide for yourself, that’s why we live in a democracy…I mean ya know…sort of.
[mp3] The Shins – We Will Become Silhouettes.mp3
The way the postal service should have done it.
[mp3] The Shins – Won one to many Fights.mp3
Unreleased and very good.
The Tour dates I promised you:
12-07 Seattle, WA – Key Arena (Deck The Hall Ball)
12-08 San francisco, CA – Bill Graham Civic Center (Not So Silent Night)
12-09 La Jolla, CA – RIMAC Arena (Holiday Hootenany)
12-13 Portland, OR – Crystal Ballroom (December to Remember)
Elsewhere:
Sorry for the short post, I’m rather sick. If you are in the Nasvhille area you should try to make it out to Grimey’s, where Anthallo is playing a free in store. The shows at 6 pm, it’s free and all ages. While you’re there pick up a record or two from the world’s best record store.
Christmas time is without a doubt my favorite time of year.
I am aware that I am supposed to be cool and hate Christmas but I could never do such. There’s something about being cold and listening to christmas music or seeing a christmas tree or attending a candlelight service that will never get old to me.
Belle & Sebastian – O Come, O Come Emmanuel.mp3
Bright Eyes – Oh Little Town of Bethlehem.mp3
Clem Snide – Joy to the World.mp3
Damien Rice – Happy Christmas (War is Over).mp3
Feist – Lo, How a Rose E’re Blooming.mp3
Math and Physics Club – A Marshmallow World.mp3
Mogwai – Christmas Song.mp3
Okkervil River – Listening to Otis Redding at Home During Christmas.mp3
Pedro the Lion – Silent Night.mp3
The Raveonettes – Christmas Song.mp3
Starflyer 59 – Christmas Time is Here.mp3
Sufjan Stevens – Hey Guys It’s Christmas Time!.mp3
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Feel Free to Link and share this post, the files will be up until the day after Christmas!
Caleb
T.W. Walsh is a musician. Though he is no longer so by career, he continues to make great music and make it available for free under the name The Soft Drugs. TW was half of the band
Pedro the Lion along with David Bazan. Walsh also contributed to Bazan’s synth and drum only side project Headphones. Before all of this however TW made several excellent solo efforts. Below is a conversation with T.W. from November 17, 2006 and some tracks from 2006’s In Moderation and 2001’s Blue Laws.
[mp3] T.W. Walsh – Gullwatching
[mp3] The Soft Drugs – Brand New Name.mp3
[mp3] The Soft Drugs – Defending the Paint.mp3
Caleb (HTFAF): What has the transition been like from making music for a living to going to work at a “real job” everyday?
TW: Hmm well overall, my stress level has probably decreased. When I was making music for a living, I was working for Dave (Bazan: of Pedro the Lion). It was fun in a lot of ways – the touring and the camaraderie, but there was a lot of instability and that career path really lacked a sense of purpose and identity for me. Now I feel a lot more like myself again…and being able to provide a higher standard of living for my family is a big plus.
Caleb (HTFAF): Has it sort of made it easier in a way to make music, now that you don’t have that pressure of, “This is my job I have to get such and such done today?”
TW: Well in pedro the lion the goals were always changing on a day to day basis. Dave likes to explore a lot of different options. He’s a bit scatterbrained…I’d be switching instruments every day at his request. I learned a majority of the band’s catalog on 3 or 4 instruments, and was able to play it all convincingly. But it’s tiring and it’s not really sustainable because your sense of purpose and momentum is always being uprooted. Now I can just be myself and when I write and record a song, i can do it more or less on instinct, rather than following someone else’s suggestion.
Caleb (HTFAF): Just so people don’t get the wrong impression, you are still very good friends with Dave, right?
TW: Well, it’s quite a bit more complicated than that. I don’t have a biological brother, but i think of Dave as my brother.It sounds terribly mushy; there’s a lot of pain but there’s a lot of love too. When i was in the band, I spent a lot more time with him than with my own family. We had to spend almost every minute together on tour. On tour you sleep 2 to a bed too, so we had to literally sleep together a lot. It’s a pretty intense lifestyle
Caleb (HTFAF): [Laughter] So you mentioned that it was nice to be able to “Be yourself” when you write and record a song. What exactly does that look like? Is there a certain time of day you like to write? Do you usually write on piano or guitar? What’s your writing process like, Tim?
TW: Well I’ve been trying to start this schedule where i wake up before six to work on music for a couple hours before work, but I haven’t really been able to get
that off the ground. Usually I come up with little ideas while just fucking around on the guitar or piano, and i record the little rough ideas and then go back to flesh them out later. I probably write 2/3 on guitar and 1/3 on piano. I am a terrible piano player
Caleb (HTFAF): While we’re on the subject, who would be at the top of a list of YOUR top songwriters?
TW: My favorite songwriters kind of line up with a lot of the paste (Magazine) top ten actually, but you gotta qualify it because each of them have written lots of shitty songs right beside the greatest songs. John lennon, Leonard Cohen, Neil Young, Al Green, Elvis costello, those are the biggies.
I don’t know, it’s weird to talk about influences. There’s so much music i like and songwriting is only part of the picture with making records. there’s a lot more to it.
Caleb (HTFAF): I know you record your own music and do most if not all of the mixing and mastering. Is that something you enjoy, or is it more out of necessity?
TW: I’d say I do enjoy it but it is more or less out of necessity. I engineered other peoples music for a long time, but I kind of can’t stand it, now.
Caleb (HTFAF): Why is that?
TW: Well there are aspects of mixing and stuff that people really obsess over that just kind of don’t matter or they’re just a matter of taste. I’m just kind of impatient and cranky, it sounds awful, but i can’t be bothered to tweak the reverb on someone’s vocal. It just annoys me. But that’s ok…I’m just not cut out for it
Caleb (HTFAF): Art is so subjective, it seems like having someone else say “I don’t like the way the snare sounds here” or “I think it could use less mids there.” Ya know, what most people would consider the little stuff, about something YOU created would just cause a whole mess of problems. I guess some people are more attached and involved with what they do than others.
TW: Yeah, and in the past I’ve worked either with people who were paying me, but weren’t my friends, or people who ARE my friends but WEREN’T paying me and each scenario has it’s own set of complications and difficulties.
Caleb (HTFAF): I’m sure. I gather that you waste no time in the studio
TW: Well I just try to minimize those situations where I think time is being wasted. I essentially waste a lot of time working by myself, but it rarely has anything to do with how something sounds or how well something is being performed. It just takes time to come up with a part that I like sometimes. Usually i’ll just throw up some mics and start. Ive been doing this long enough to where I just have a thing that I do, which works great for me, but if someone else comes in and wants to make a song sound like coldplay or something I just don’t know where to start. I’m just a dude in a garage with a $200 drum set, you know? It just happens to be my taste at this point in my life that I don’t like a lot of clutter. I think if you have good parts and performances that just a few elements can have a lot more impact. So, I don’t really believe in “layering” as a production style right now, but that may change.
Caleb (HTFAF): So we shouldn’t expect any 3/4 power ballads with delay drenched guitar and 8 vocal tracks on the next soft drugs project?
TW: No, but you CAN expect guitar solos.
Caleb (HTFAF) Are you working on anything new right now? I know you’re planning to release alot of free music song by song on your website.
TW: Yeah, I have a new song called “Family of Four” which I’m going to release in December. I played everything on it… I’m pleased with it, which is interesting.
Caleb (HTFAF): Is that Not something that happens often when you play everything on a record?
TW: I have done it a lot, but I didn’t really do that when I had Dave around all the time, we tried to be more of a traditional “band”…but I enjoy the process and I’m usually happy with the results. There’s a couple more songs around that I have recordings of already. One is called “Badge” and there are a few versions. One with Dave on vocals and drums, ken on guitar and background vocals and me on bass, and another one called “Build me a Ballpark” which I had up on youtube, and I’m still trying to nail down that song, I’ve done like 3 full-band versions but none of them made the cut yet. Dude, there are SO MANY tw walsh recordings from after pollensongs….dozens, I was going to release them all, but i didn’t want people to get confused about what was new or old
Caleb (HTFAF): You mentioned one of the new songs has Dave on vocals. I know you wrote Start Without Me on Achilles’ Heel, and Dave did the vocals on that one. Is that something you enjoy? Writing and let someone else take the vocal duties
TW: Yeah, it’s fine. Dave has an AMAZING voice. It’s funny though because no one ever reads credits, and I think a vast majority of people assume he wrote that song. I guess that’s the danger…just a blow to your ego
Caleb (HTFAF): Do you think you will have any involvement in the next Bazan or Headphones record? Writing, playing, anything?
TW: No…[Long Pause] I think we had our chance, it makes me sad actually, so much potential…[Long Pause]…really I had almost nothing to do with the actual Headphones record, and Achilles’ heel was really thrown together. But there was a lot of other work we did that will never come out that just made it clear ultimately that dave needs to work things out himself. His working style is very “solo”, I guess…
Caleb (HTFAF): [Laughter] Before you go, let’s play fast money.
TW: Okay.
Caleb (HTFAF)What Have you been listening to lately?
TW: Herman Dune, The Complete Rolling Stone John Lennon interview, This American Life, Cold War Kids, Milo Jones, and The Roots
Caleb (HTFAF): What was the last book you read?
TW: I’m currently reading “The Nomad of Time” by Michael Moorcock…it’s a collection that follows an English time traveler from the early 20th century named Oswald bastable. I’m a sci fi nerd.
Caleb (HTFAF): Who could fault you for that, Tim? Finally, what was the last film you saw?
TW: Borat! With Dave.
[Links]
Download The Soft Drugs Entire debut EP In Moderation completely free HERE
I had quite a long day at work yesterday. One of those days that sucks the life out of you. Needless to say I needed a bit of a musical pick me up on the way home, this is what it was.
[mp3]Anathallo – Hanasakajijii (A Great Wind more Ash).mp3
There was a period last summer where this was literally the only song I listened to for three days, it’s amazingly addictive. The drums are so frantic and so big that you can’t help but be drawn in. Then there’s the vocals and that tempo change after the first verse, my God how great is that. Do you hear it? The stomps and claps slowly building? Finally the whole thing explodes into a million different little rhythmic pieces, with horns, guitars, synths, drums, and flutes and comes down one last time to say bye.
You’ll be sad to see it go…
[mp3] The Decemberists – The Legionnaire’s Lament.mp3
Back in the day when Colin meloy was genuinely convinced he was a seafairing minstrel and not the lead singer of an immensely popular rock band signed to capitol records, he wrote songs like this and I beleived every word of it.
[mp3]Bishop Allen – Clementines.mp3
Though the years have been unkind…
This song is quite beautiful. You can find it the bands October EP. It’s interesting, you could very easily hear three or four Bishop Allen songs back to back and not know it was the same band.
These ep’s have ranged from ukulele and female vocals only to spanish salsa folk to straight up rock, and it’s all quite good.
ELSEWHERE:
Nashville Favorites The Golden Sounds have two new songs on their myspace
Silversun Pickups who are still on tour themselves, announced they will be opening for Snow Patrol and Ok Go this spring.
The Soft Drugs AKA T.W. Walsh (Formerly of Pedro the Lion) and friends, are offering autographed copies of their debut ep (which is easily one of my favorite offerings of 2006) for the absurdly low price of $3.
Sparrow House (Jared Van Fleet of Voxtrot) has an EXCELLENT new ep called Falls. His promise is to deliver one for every season (Like Bishop Allen but not as frenzied) and if this is any indication of what’s to come, then I am stoked. This particular song is a beautiful melancholy blend of brushed drums, keys, lofi vocals, and melodies that weave in and out of your subconcious as if they’re looking for a home but never really settle. They just keep swimming from ear to ear, hoping you’ll notice their delicate and whimsical ins and outs. The EP is due out November 10, but you can order it via paypal right now Here.
A few of you emailed me asking for some more Death cab, so here you go. Below are several tracks that could only be found on out of print cd singles, 7 inches, etc. etc.
[mp3]Death Cab for Cutie – For What Reason (Alternate)
This one doesn’t stray to far from the original, but it does feature a synth loop and some technoish drums near the bridge.
[mp3] Death Cab for Cutie – Blacking out the Friction (Demo).mp3
This one couldn’t be further from the original. The piano is slow and muddy, the vocals are reverb soaked, and it’s equally as wonderful as the original.
[mp3] Death Cab for Cutie – Coney Island (Alternate).mp3
All the drum machine glory that made the original what it is, has been stripped away. The drums are real, the guitars are different theres even some slide.
[mp3] Death Cab for Cutie – We Laugh Indoors (Dub mix).mp3
For all of your dub/techno indie rock needs.
Enjoy!
I apologize severely for my lack of activity over the past 5 days.
My uncle passed away on Tuesday and I haven’t posted since then. We will now return to our previously scheduled programming already in progress.
The WONDERFUL Denison Witmer turned thirty and he is giving us a present to celebrate! What a stand up guy. Denison recorded 33 songs in 50 days with one mic in a one room studio. There is some great stuff over there, covers, originals, new songs, it’s all good.
My reccomended starters are Healing Time, Little Flowers, Are you a Dreamer, Steven, and California Brown and Blue/You Got Me Good
To celebrate, here is a rare track of Denison’s. It’s a Christmas song that could only be found on an out of print compilation called Happy Christmas (i believe it was the third installment of such) I hope you enjoy it, it’s nice to be back.
[Download] Denison Witmer – A Christmas Song
[Link] Download the Tracks Here
Elsewhere:
Stereogum has some great CMJ coverage, posting live videos and reviews multiple times daily, I strongly reccomend you head over there.
Hard to Find a Friend - A Music Blog 