americana Archives - Vinyl From The Vault

Dusk “The Pain of Loneliness (Goes On and On)”

sfilzen — Tue, 15 Feb 2022 20:01:28 +0000

Dusk “The Pain of Loneliness (Goes On and On)” 2018. Dirtnap Records. Appleton, WI-based Americana garage-pop. The 7″ single is backed with “Go Easy.” Both songs are upbeat with a touch of country flare – “The Pain of Loneliness” a bit more driving, “Go Easy” is, as advertised, more easy-going – with a super-full sound and Laurel Canyon vibe. We’ve seen Dusk and their sister-band, Tenement, play a few times over the years (mainly up in Appleton at Mile of Music) and I remember the stage being stuffed with musicians, though the liner notes say there’s only 5 members (in person and on the 7″ it feels like a lot more). I think we may have picked up this single from one of those MoM shows.

From Dirtnap’s Bandcamp page: “Dusk was formed in 2014 by Amos Pitsch (bass guitar, vocals) and Colin Wilde (drums) as an informal recording project – mostly of obscure soul covers and country-rock indulgences – and later gained traction as members Julia Blair (described by Pitchfork Media as a smooth country-soul alto), Ryley Crowe (electric guitar, vocals) and Tyler Ditter (electric guitar, vocals) joined the fold at the onset of serious songwriting and recording. They recorded a series of demo recordings and later a 2 song single for Forward Records. They’ve toured America twice thus far; once doubling as the backing band for Tim Buchanan in Oklahoma City-based cosmic-cowboy punk band Cherry Death, and the other time doubling as an extended lineup of Pitsch’s other group, Wisconsin punk band Tenement. “The Pain Of Loneliness (Goes On And On)” was written by Amos Pitsch, and “Go Easy” was written by Tyler Ditter. Both cuts were arranged by the band and recorded mostly live at Crutch Of Memory, Dusk’s home-base and recording studio in Appleton, Wisconsin.”

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Camper Van Beethoven “Key Lime Pie”

sfilzen — Tue, 29 Jun 2021 18:31:59 +0000

Camper Van Beethoven “Key Lime Pie” 1989. (2014 Ominvore Records reissue, double-LP, the 4th side at 45 rpm in reverse to make things extra-confusing). Key Lime Pie was CVB’s 5th and final release before breaking up in 1990 (though they got back together in the early 2000′s and started recording again); it became their best-selling album and went to #141 in the US. It’s a mix of neo-psychedelia, Americana (a lot of violin/fiddle) and 80′s alternative rock – not quite punk but hard-edged, humorous and occasionally political. CVB’s cover of Status Quo’s 1968 “Pictures of Matchstick Men” is one of my favorite songs from the era. It became their most popular single, hitting #1 on the US Modern Rock Tracks chart. Also great are “Jack Ruby” (tense, stomping, political), “Borderline” (a ska/alt-country/klezmer mashup) and “June” (lovely, soaring, anthemic).

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“The Best of the Carter Family”

sfilzen — Tue, 19 Jan 2021 20:37:27 +0000

“The Best of the Carter Family” 2017. Third Man Records. A compilation of recordings from 1927-1933 (first released on 78rpm from Victor Records and Bluebird Records) by Sara and Maybelle Carter. A.P. Carter (Sara’s husband) is credited for writing the country/folk tunes writing but in reality he collected the songs from his sales travels throughout the Appalachia region (Sara and Maybelle also collected songs though they were not credited for this until much later). As always, Third Man has done a stellar job in the sound recovery of these old tracks as well as in the high quality of the album’s vinyl and packaging. Country/folk music is definitely not my go-to music, but I do have a soft spot for it…as a kid my parents would get together with their other folky/hippie friends for folk and bluegrass jam sessions and included a few Carter Family songs into the mix like “Keep on the Sunny Side,” “The Foggy Mountain Top” and “The Cannonball.” I think I also played a few of them as “fiddle tunes” as a kid on my violin. I honestly didn’t know that much about the Carter Family until we watched the Ken Burns documentary Country Music (2019), which was amazing. Featured extensively in that documentary was the history and current interviews of Dolly Parton, whose 75th birthday is today, January 19th (we don’t have any Parton on vinyl). So this Cater Family post is really a very long roundabout way of wishing Queen Dolly a happy birthday (she has, in my opinion, become a national treasure with her charity work, contributions to medical and scientific research, even Dollywood – which on its surface seems like an ego-booster – was her way of helping to bring much needed revenue to her hometown area in Tennessee). And, as noted above I am far from a country music fan, I think her song “Jolene” is one of the most haunting songs ever written.

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The Grateful Dead “American Beauty”

sfilzen — Sun, 01 Nov 2020 19:33:45 +0000

The Grateful Dead “American Beauty” released 50 years ago today, November 1st, 1970. Classic Americana psychedelic folk-rock, American Beauty was the Dead’s 5th studio record. Their studio work is generally considered sub-par as compared to their live performances but American Beauty is one of their better releases; it hit #30 on the US charts. Some really excellent tracks and favorites including “Friend of the Devil,” “Sugar Magnolia,” “Till the Morning Comes,” “Truckin” and one of my all-time faves “Ripple.” The Dead released “Truckin” as a single the same day as American Beauty’s release; it hit #64 in the US (their best-performing single until ‘87′s “Touch of Grey” hit #9) and was one of their most-performed songs in concert. Also notable is “Operator” which was written and sung by Pigpen (Ron McKernan), his only singing and songwriting Dead track on any of their albums (honestly, though, it’s not one of favorites).

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Johnny Cash “A Night To Remember”

sfilzen — Thu, 22 Oct 2020 15:36:01 +0000

Johnny Cash “A Night To Remember” 2020. Third Man Records, Vault Package, clear vinyl. Recorded live May 5th, 1973 at the Ahmanson Theatre, Los Angeles. The concert was part of a series, “A Week to Remember,” spearheaded by Clive Davis (who introduces Cash at the start of the concert), highlighting Columbia Records artists. The week also included performances by Miles Davis, Bruce Springsteen and Earth, Wind and Fire. The Vault package also includes a DVD of the concert (which I haven’t watched yet). The concert is simply amazing. Classic Cash originals like “Big River,” “I Walk the Line,” “A Boy Named Sue” (written by Shel Silverstein but mostly associated with Cash) and “Folsom Prison Blues” but also Cash’s versions of other Americana greats like “The City of New Orleans,” “If I Had a Hammer” and “Will the Circle Be Unbroken.” Cash’s wife June Carter Cash joins Johnny on several songs, as does rockabilly great Carl Perkins (on “That Silver Haired Daddy of Mine,” “Will the Circle Be Unbroken” and “Daddy Sang Bass.” Like all Third Man releases, the quality of this release is impeccable. Top quality vinyl, a glossy and durable gatefold sleeve and bonus inserts (the DVD plus a 7″ split single of Cash covers: The Lumineers doing “Pretty Pictures in My Mind” and Ruston Kelly’s version of “Dark and Bloody Ground.” According to the Johnny Cash website, these are “two brand new songs from Johnny Cash: Forever Words project, a multi-year project by John Carter Cash, who has combed the Johnny Cash archive for unreleased poems, prose and lyrics.”

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The Suitcase Junket “Pile Driver”

sfilzen — Tue, 07 Aug 2018 17:36:33 +0000

The Suitcase Junket “Pile Driver” 2017. Signature Sounds Recordings. Still coming down off my Mile of Music fest high from this past weekend, I’m spinning another favorite artist who was a new to us (he’s played MoM years past), the one-man band of Matt Lorenz, who was accidentally – hilariously – introduced at the Paper Valley Grand Ballroom performance as The Suitcase Junkie, to which he dryly quipped, “yep, I’ve got suitcases running through my veins.” The description from the MoM website initially drew me in: “the songs are played on instruments built of broken bottles, twisted forks, dried bones, gas cans, shoes, saw blades, a toy keyboard and an overhead compartment worth of luggage.”

A self-decrbied “swamp yankee,” Lorenz’s sound is at once traditional (mixing Americana, folk, blues and honky tonk) and utterly modern-experimental and unique. Lorenz managed to pack an entire stage’s worth of sound into a small piece of stage real estate and sprinkled warm, amusing anecdotes and jokes throughout the performance, including introducing his band: “the left heel plays…etc.” Because his show at Mile of Music was my first exposure to The Suitcase Junket (and we picked up this LP at the end of the concert), I’m not entirely certain of what tracks he played from the album, but I know he played “What Was I Gonna Say?” as he got the entire audience to sing a call-and-response during the chorus (here is a great video from a past performance that also is a great example of his onstage charm and humor). I think he also played “The Next Act,” the lead track from Pile Driver as well as “Beta Star” and “Swamp Chicken.” According to his website, The Suitcase Junket has combined streams of 1.25 million on Spotify and was named to Spotify’s Best of 2016 Folk & Americana and Blues & Roots Rock playlists. Lorenz caught the attention of National Public Radio who chose his video session for “Earth Apple” from his 2015 album Make Time as one of the year’s favorite sessions.

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