Big sap.

Uh oh, Alex is getting all sentimental about everything again.

FR IE ND S!




Material possessions!


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The Duchess & The Duke - She's the Duchess, He's the Duke

Download: Mediafire
Tags: indie, folk pop, acoustic

This is the first album of the folky Rolling Stonesy duo, The Duchess & The Duke. I hosted their second album a couple years ago and I don't know why because I've always liked this one so much more.
I listened to this a few summers ago when I was getting to know the lazier side of my hometown. It works just as well, if not better for springtime. It's a really cute, fairly short album that's great for feeling antsy on a nice day or thinking about someone who isn't around or when a friend is cutting your hair outside.

Things're so good.

Someone new and fun.

Someone old and timeless.

Who wants to take bets on how soon I get a Tumblr?

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The Great Valley - Holiday, Holinight EP

Download: Bandcamp (free)
Tags: pretend-pop, summertime, lo-fi

I remember it was this time last year that I was taking my first cracks at animation and rockin' to this EP. Now it's a year later and I'm still "just starting" so why not continue listening to it?
Yo, the Great Valley is the best. They describe themselves as "pretend-pop", which can mean whatever but I think it makes sense. This is my favorite release of theirs and it's full of so many catchy riffs and warm, pleasing textural sounds. The whole thing was recorded to an 8-track, for you analog dorks out there!

These flowers in my kitchen.

You apparently can't do this with a Tascam reel-to-reel.




My autumn of '09.



This is what thoughts look like.


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Ulaan Kohl - Ceremony. Vol. I

Download: Bandcamp
Tags: avant garde, experimental, psychedelic

Another Steven R. Smith project. This one is a lot more textural and droney. I hope y'all are into rockin' psychedelic soundscapes because it's all I've been listening to lately.

Painful yellow sunrise.

A moment from my travels in January.

HEY EVERYONE. I HAVE A POOOOOOORTFOOOOOLIOOOOOO SITE NOW. CHECK IT OUT!

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Hala Strana - Fielding

Download: Bandcamp
Tags: Experimental folk, psychedelic, Eastern European

So I've been recently introduced to the work of Steven R. Smith, a self-taught experimental guitarist that has released enough music to hold me over until I'm old and don't care about music anymore. This is merely the first album I was introduced to and I'm all about it right now.
Listen to it if you're down with atmospheric textures and peaceful dissonance (which I know doesn't make any sense). Stuff gets pretty heavy at points, as well.
Smith is also a crazy talented printmaker and is the artist responsible for most of his album covers.

"The Brain of Pooh"

Masha wears a sweater of nighttime.

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The Act of Estimating as Worthless - These Splintered Minds//Leaden Thoughts Sing Softly

Download: Bandcamp
Tags: indie-acoustic, folk, majestic, lo-fi

Act Of is quiet and cute but swells to glory and triumph. Everything on this album is loaded with beauty, from the songwriting to the production to the the gorgeous cassette packaging.
Listen to it at night while chopping garlic.

Feelin' the best.

Here are some collaborations I did with Jen Liu.

The family gathering around for the morning drink.

The watering hole has been poisoned. They must leave.

An unfortunate ending under an alien moon.

Oh, yeah. And tour was crazy.

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Big Blood - Sew Your Wild Days Tour Vol. II

Download: Free Music Archive
Tags: freak-folk, psychedelic

Get ready for my new everything. I've been feeding off of Big Blood's stuff all winter and they've been kind enough to host twelve of their albums for free download on The Free Music Archive.
One thing I really appreciate about them is how beautiful all of their artwork is and how synchronized it is with their music. Both are pleasingly textural, super creative and above all else, beautiful in their simplicity.
I chose to display this album because I'm most familiar with it but know that I had a really, really hard time settling on one. Other favorites of mine include Already Gone I and The Grove.

Please love this at least half as much as I do.

Oh, the news!

Yo! My band, Wood Spider goes on tour today! We're traveling as a five piece through the Midwest down to New Orleans and back up the East Coast in promotion of our new album, In the Thick of It, which you can listen to the heck out of on our Bandcamp.
We'll also be curating a traveling art gallery and distro of prints, zines and stuff as representatives of the Spikedriver Arts collective. All of the shows we're playing are free/donation-based/stupid cheap so you have no reason to not attend every single one! Here are the dates!

WED JAN 4 - NEW HAVEN, CT - Neverending Books (810 State St) w/ Dr. Caterwaul's Cadre of Clarivoyant Claptraps, Tyler Bussey, Black is the Color

THR JAN 5 - ALLSTON, MA - Ted Saunders (Msg for address) w/ The Swaggerin' Growlers, Jake & the Infernal Machine, Andrew Eckel & the Undertones

FRI JAN 6 - HADLEY, MA - Emmett Island (8 Pine Hill Rd) w/ The Suitcase Junket, Asher (of Bella's Bartok), An Historic

SAT JAN 7 - HUSDSON, NY - Spotty Dog Books & Ale (440 Warren St) w/ Pocatello

SUN JAN 8 - ITHACA, NY - Ghost Cat Co-Op (514 N Aurora St) w/ Clog the System, It’s a Riot! Puppet Theater

MON JAN 9 - PITTSUBURGH, PA - Hambone's (4207 Butler St) w/ LRAD!, Gabe Acita & Ryan Williams

TUE JAN 10 - COLUMBUS, OH - Monster House

WED JAN 11 - COVINGTON, KY (Near Cincinnati) - Bangarang's of Covington (620 Scott Blvd)

THR JAN 12 - BELLEVILLE, IL (Near St. Louis) - Illegal Tone Recordings

FRI JAN 13 - MEMPHIS, TN - Courthouse Co-Op

SAT JAN 14 - NEW ORLEANS - We're taking the day off! Let's hang out!

SUN JAN 15 - NEW ORLEANS - Hi-Ho Lounge (2239 St Claude Ave) w/ Sweet Street Symphony

MON JAN 16 - MOBILE, AL - TBA

TUE JAN 17 - PENSACOLA, FL - TBA

WED JAN 18 - ATLANTA, GA - WonderRoot Community Arts Center (982 Memorial Dr) w/ Christ, Lord, Jesse & the Great Perhaps

THR JAN 19 - ROCK HILL, SC - The Hampton House

FRI JAN 20 - CHAPEL HILL, NC - Internationalist Books & Community Center

SAT JAN 21 - DURHAM, NC- Hillbilly Chateaux w/ All Your Science

SUN JAN 22 - RICHMOND, VA - Flying Brick Library

MON JAN 23 - BALTIMORE, MD - Curious Fucking Palace (126 S Arlington Ave) w/ Dee & the Warlocks

TUE JAN 24 - PHILADELPHIA, PA / NEW JERSEY / NEWARK, DE / EASTERN PA - HELP??

SAT JAN 28 - BROOKLYN, NY - The Hive (20 Cook St) w/ Dr. Caterwaul's Cadre of Clairvoyant Claptraps


Sounds fun, yeah? See ya 'round!
(Flier is designed by ME and we'll have a buttload of awesomely hand-printed merch also designed by ME.)

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Also! I'm really excited to announce that our tour distro is going to feature a story I've recently written/illustrated, Mathos & the Pursuit of Beauty. It's about a boy who struggles with the concept of creating beauty and goes on a quest for understanding. In his travels, he talks to a lot of colorful weirdos.

It's currently in zine format with around eight full-page charcoal illustrations and spot drawings. Wood Spider will have them on the road, so if getting one of these is up your alley, come out and see us!

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Wood Spider - In the Thick of It

Download: Bandcamp
Tags: folk punk, cabaret, freak folk, lo-fi

Our new album! Yayayay! Get ready for our most full, composed, personal, texturally oppressive release yet. It's six songs of energy and manic angst with banjo, cello, ukulele, accordion, saw, washboard and a bunch of other things all recorded to tape. We're crazy proud of it and if you're into those sweet archaic formats, we have 200 cassettes of it each in their own beautfilly handmade box-thing!

The insides are teeming with more stuff. Teeming.

'Kay. I'm done. I've got to pack now.

Inappropriate for the holidays.

A week or so ago, I did some holiday collaborations with James DeAngelis. Check out how textural and sad they came out.

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Skeletonbreath - Eagle's Nest, Devil's Cave

Download: Mediafire

Tags: progressive, experimental, math thrash, instrumental

Skeletonbreath is a violinist, electric bassist and drummer. They violently barrel through so many different genres and influences (from classical to surf to metal to Klezmer to omgwhat) but with a bizarre grace that makes it so engaging. If you're looking for alarmingly talented musicians playing manic, brutal as hell compositions that will blow your mind through the back of your skull, do yourself a favor and download this.

You may recognize the playing style of Bob Pycior, who is also the violinist of the gothic country/indie folk group, O'Death.

This album was the soundtrack for the collaborations posted above. I feel like it makes sense.

OCCUPY!

Phase 1: Start Occupation

Phase 2: Continue Occupation

Created in acknowledgement of Occupy Wall Street's third Monthiversary. This scene is riddled with characters and friends from past creations and relationships of the last several months. Maybe you'll recognize some!
Though there are things I'd do differently in hindsight, this piece holds a buttload of personal significance and it's crammed with a lot of sentimentality and nostalgia. It felt really good to make it and I couldn't be happier that I did.

Way more to come.

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Couch Forts - Boln

Download: Mediafire
Tags: folk, indie pop, bluegrass

Since we're revisiting the past few months, here's something I listened to a whole bunch back in September. It's really gorgeous folky pop stuff. I've never heard such rich and decorative instrumentals come out of music like this and the lyrics are tender and inspiring. Some lovely things can happen when you put guitar, banjo and fiddle together.

...But we already knew that, right?
(Forgive the absence of album art. Anyone care to help me out with that?)

The New York post.

Haw haw. Get it?

Done with ink and coffee. I'd like to do more on-sight comic documentation, or whatever this would be considered.

Oh, and I finished this flier. Didn't it come out cool-looking?!

There'll be a bunch more stuff soon. I've got a spiel to give about a Wood Spider tour/new release too. So many things!

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Various Artists - Retro Christmas

Download: (Compiled by) Ultraswank
Tags: lounge, space age pop, christmas

I'm confident there's some people out there who like Christmas music when it's done with some creativity so this is for them. It's a compilation of loosely holiday-themed tracks from the experimental sound recording scene of the 50s, 60s and 70s. It's way swanky and at the very least, makes nice background music when you're drinking a carton of egg nog amongst your extended family.

If you're into some real good holiday swing, check out this post from last year, too.

How'm I Doin'?

Look, guys! I went to Chelsea Market. I drank expensive hot chocolate and did some observation drawings.

Then I traveled back in time to the Upper West Side circa January 1882. I drew the Dakota through Central Park.

It's said that its name is derived from the fact that the building stood tall over a part of Manhattan which, at the time, was as distant and isolated as "the Dakotas" out West.
This was done with charcoal, pastel and dry-brush gesso.

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Mountain Man - Made the Harbor

Download: Mediafire
Tags: chamber folk, indie, a cappella

Oh, my God. Why is this so hauntingly beautiful? Mountain Man is usually comprised of three female vocals over minimal instrumentation and it's that tender simplicity that leaves me swooning over this album. I first listened to this in the backseat during a Boston snowstorm and now that it's getting cold again, Made the Harbor has found me.
If it's any more incentive, it's also Vermont as all hell.

Super happy dry-brush fun time.

I'm trying new things.

What can be seen of Hoboken across the Hudson River.

Some pretty things in(on?) Highline Park in Chelsea.

The Great Plains exhibit in the American Museum of Natural History.

There's so many other things to show.

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Dr. Caterwaul's Cadre of Clairvoyant Claptraps - Live at Lyric Hall 3/6/11

Download: Bandcamp
Tags: folk, world music, improvisation

This was the soundtrack of me getting settled into my new place last month. Dr. Caterwaul's is full of really cool people who I seem to be getting more and more involved with. They're some of the most talented musicians I know and if beautifully performed folk compositions with accordion, fiddle, banjo, cello and percussion isn't enough to make you listen to it, maybe an awesome rendition of Tom Waits' Dirt in the Ground will.

Shameless Plug: If it's of interest, here's a recording of Caterwaul's Adam Matlock and Brian Slattery on accordion and fiddle (respectively) playing on a song with my band, Wood Spider.

All green and hazy.

Oh, hello. Long time no see. Sorry I've let the place get a little dusty. It's been quite a struggle trying to find a balance between staying on top of the commissions I've got on my plate and indulging in the seductive swells of summer. With that said, my time on the computer has been minimal. But there's benefits to be found in that, right?

Anywho, here's a few favorites from the sketchbook over the past handful of weeks. I'll hopefully be back with something a bit more substantial.

One of a few little paintings I did during a particularly delirious all-nighter during finals week.

Bein' a mopey little illustrator.

A big celebrity.

An embellished European Rhinoceros Beetle.

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Why Are We Building Such a Big Ship? - No Blood No Blooms

Download: http://www.mediafire.com/?ouoo50q5gv8du9p
Tags: punk brass, gospel, new orleans jazz

So here's something I've been blasting lately. A much more polished, nicely produced release in comparison to their self-titled. Gritty punk vocals exchanged for pretty and engaging instrumentation. Was it favorable? You be the judge!

Kids on Holiday.

Life of Fog

And when the fog rolls in, you question everything.
There's no answers in these shades of gray
but some people want the security
of knowing what's surrounding them.
And when the fog rolls in, you question everything.
Who's your king? Is he your friend?
Is there freedom to be found in the fog
when you don't know where to stumble to?
When the fog rolls in, you question everything.
Are those distant shapes your home?
Now there's nowhere we have to be
but with nowhere to be, where should we go?
Anywhere you walk is just a blur.
It's up to you to give it form.
Everything was simpler back then.
Now when I question anything, the fog rolls in.


"But I thought you said ambiguity was a bad thing."
"It isn't if you're not a wuss!"

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Juana Molina - Un Dia

Download: http://www.mediafire.com/?ofzrg46dqfl0udm
Website: http://juanamolina.com/
Tags: dream pop, folk, electronic, experimental

IMMERSE YOURSELF IN ARGENTINIAN AMBIENT DREAM POP. I know next to nothing about Juana Molina. Thunderbolt Jackson gave me this just yesterday and I spent my whole morning listening to it while struggling to mount a heavy, wooden frame with push pins.