pc worship - parking lot (sittin' in my car) [video]

i ordered this record almost a year ago, still haven't gotten it, this is a great song.

MFOA folksmas mixtape

ten songs from the past year as a yule-time gift for you. celebrating over 2 years of existence and being largely ignored for MFOA!

1-the turlocks - the strangest thing
2-brent emanuel - the pretenders
3-j frye and chef dan's pc florida -pass it all around
4-camellia sinensis - walking
5-the james badfellows - i went to the store for you
6-bre & me - throw aggi off the bridge
7-marty stitches - my education
8-the platypus method - oleander
9-j moss - cock's crow dance
10-bryan whitten - trapper

happy holidays! download this thing.

the tres amigos - hey joe (video)

a great post for MFOA here, a video of folk trio the tres amigos performing the folk/rock standard 'hey joe'. this is one of those tunes, like 'st. james infirmary', or 'house of the rising sun', with an inscrutable history, it origins lost in the dusty murder filled history of america,  its vibes seized upon by countless psychsters and rockers. most notably jimi hendrix, whose birthday would've been a few days ago.



as a bonus i wanted to include this wacked out version by one-off forgotten 60's art rockers ant trip ceremony.



find out more about the tres amigos here.

talley summerlin - queen's drone

some lushly produced introspective songwriting out of new jersey by talley summerlin.



grab a free EP download here.

emil lager - fire escape (video)

a cool video from the swedish, by way of london, emil lager. there is a lyric in this song that i like..."i saw the rock'n'roll doctor, he told me to get a telecaster". emil knows how to play that telecaster.



i also enjoy the many references to factory era bob dylan. you can also check out a number of tracks on his soundcloud, here is one.



look for an album in the near future

sunsplitter - oh my

here is some earnest, harmonized folk-pop from north of the border, in the form of 'oh my' by toronto's sunsplitter. confessional lyrics, shuffling snares, and twanging guitars.


if you're digging it, purchase the album for a modest three bucks right here.

andy the doorbum - oomtat (video)

a new video by charlotte, north carolina's venerable andy the doorbum. not much more that needs to be said about that.



i've been a fan of this character for quite awhile. enjoy. also, you can get more of his stuff here and here. the modern folk music of america.

bre & me - throw aggi off the bridge (black tambourine cover)

this is a little thing bre & i recorded on my phone in a hotel room in mcdermitt, nevada. a cover of this great song by black tambourine.



this is what we did while we were missing the leonard cohen concert we had tickets to in portland...

camellia sinensis - pinks & blues

new old stuff from camellia sinensis. here is what he has to say about it-

"if, for whatever reason, you've ever wondered what I was like in early 2010, I think this is a fairly accurate representation. that's when these songs were written and recorded, along with some others that hopefully only really exist on my hard drive at this point. I was learning how to write songs. I was naive about most things, and had no idea what I was doing. I was shaky-voiced and nervous. I wrote songs about wearing sweaters, and I didn't really understand how to use a minor ninth chord. in a lot of ways, things haven't really changed. I suppose I'm grateful for that."

enjoy. the modern folk music of america.

bryan whitten - siren

happy to throw down another tune out of frozen alaska from MFOA's good friend bryan whitten. this tune, 'siren', is a psychedelic sea shanty of sorts.


i'm not exactly in alaska right now but i'm posting from the middle of nowhere and sure identify with that frozen boat. i really enjoy the instrumentation here, especially the french horn.

personnel:
guitar/vocals-bryan whitten
french horn-emily lyngholm
drums-cassidy phillips
fireworks-tanana valley fair

police teeth - emmanuelle in renton

coming out of seattle with an unhurried grungy sound reminding me a little bit of the later career of the afghan whigs, here is a new video by police teeth


Police Teeth "Emmanuelle in Renton" from Do it for the girls on Vimeo.

here's to footage of kids from the 70's getting stoned and i guess doing chemistry? good song though. click their name up above to hunt down the rest of the LP, its pretty good as well.

alameda - slow beginnings

this is the lead single from the new LP 'procession' by portland, oregon's alameda. melancholy chamber folk, reminding me a little of another portland musician, elliot smith, in some of his more produced moments.



the feel of this tune mimics its title. it starts slowly and quietly then builds to a whistful refrain with the low buzz of the cello giving it that chambery vibe. lyrically personal, this song sounds like a rainy-day-staring-out-the-window kind of jam, in a good way. you can stream the entire LP here, or look out for it on sale on the false migration records imprint.

the saturday giant - when death comes

here's a tune from a one man band called the saturday giant who recently hit me up for tour help, which i unfortunately couldn't provide much of. anyway, he produces solid layered bedroom pop tunes that he reproduces on stage by building the sound with a series of loops. i noticed a bit of beat-boxing there...


anyway, good pop tunes and what sounds like a dynamic live show. too bad i'm on the wrong coast, but look for him touring back east this month.

au dunes - red thang

here is a new track from au dunes, another zach barbery composition.



only z bar can put together rock steady and dave davies with a lot of cheap beer and come up with this thing.

check more au dunes and other portland business at curly cassettes.

valkyrie youtube playlist

valkyrie guitarist/songwriter and great dude jake adams put together the following playlist of all the valkyrie videos he could find on youtube.



seems like one way to kill some time on a thursday night. valkyrie is not currently active, jake is in honduras being a teacher and his brother pete is in baroness (glad they all survived that bus crash), but i'm sure they will return at some point for some more of their head-blasting shows. the modern folk music of america.

MFOA inspirations C70 mixtape

this mixtape is a little different from the last one...here is a mix of musicians that inspire the modern folk music of america. those that took home recording to a new level, or made it popular, or played and recorded against all odds. some tracks are just the home experiments of widely known artists. some are field recordings of genuine folk. some are demos, works in progress. recorded in basements, hotel rooms, bedrooms and garages, by the famous and the obscure, these are the kinds of songs that make us modern folk think to ourselves 'maybe i could do that'.

of course there are other themes here too. there are four very different versions of "in the pines" to show how these traditional songs can wind their way through our cultures and times. there is even at least one tune here recorded by this spot's spiritual grandpa, alan lomax. there are strange songs and there are pop hooks.

1-leland - this is my world
2-epic soundtracks - night time
3-gull - baby momma
4-the band - ain't no more cain
5-buddy holly - wait till the sun shines nelly
6-john phillips - black girl
7-r. stevie moore - i wanna hit you
8-donnie & joe emerson - good time
9-human switchboard - i gotta know
10-elizabeth cotten - shake sugaree
11-vic flick - zulu maid
12-holy modal rounders - hesitation blues
13-captain beefheart - the dust blows foward and the dust blows back
14-guided by voices - game of pricks
15-leadbelly - where did you sleep last night
16-alex chilton - alligator man
17-sun city girls - black orchid
18-the witch - black tears
19-skip spence - cripple creek
20-roscoe holcomb - in the pines
21-big star - motel blues
22-link wray - in the pines
23-joe meek - i hear a new world
24-shoes - boys don't lie

download MFOA inspirations C70 mixtape

i have to give a kind word to ghostcapital, aquarium drunkard, and the late lamented holy warbles and weird brother for letting me in on some of these inspired/inspiring transmissions.
PS
this also hints at my actual taste, which i tend to not express here. MFOA is not about taste making or genres or exclusion, it is about presenting homemade music, no matter what. so send me some. the.modern.folk@gmail.com

jonathan wall - three tape pieces

here are some tape experiments from north carolina's jonathan wall. 'how many shocks do we wish?' these are made from tape manipulations i guess. other stuff around the bandcamp page is made from chopping up youtube videos, a modern take on ideas pioneered by the likes of william burroughs and brion gysin.




this music, pushing the boundaries of what music is and using found sound and cut-up technique, is new for MFOA and i'm glad to have it. I appreciate the convergence of these movements with youtube as the scrapyard. enjoy.

half way station - moonshine

here is new one for MFOA: an international post. here is some spacious, ghostly nordic folk music from rotterdam, netherland's half way station. sparse, droning northern grooves with backwoods southern themes. it has that kind of charm like when phil lynott sings about being a cowboy. those southern girls, they all seem the same.




this might not be the modern folk music of america per se, but it shares that inspiration, and i see no reason why a rigid concept such as national borders ought to restrict the content here. these cats got their band name from a greyhound station in jackson, tennessee, which they described to me as an "awkward place/twilight zone". sounds like a fair description of any greyhound station to me. the modern folk music of america.

the platypus method - sound mind

continuing on that electronic theme, here is some killer, haunting lofi ambient music from the platypus method. the first twitter connection for MFOA. despite the these modern circumstances this music has a timeless quality to it and a well worn warmth.




the whole album is a free download. click the name above to grab it. follow its creator on twitter @kilobees.

emanuel labor - ride a cow (video)

a dulcet improvised tune from brent emanuel and company. yelpings and dronings.





video by brent.

the turlocks - in tow

here is a ripping country tinged power pop jam from the turlocks. i posted some of their earlier demos here.



if you live in the harrisonburg, va area, look for these guys playing live in the near future.

drew - a short film by brent finnegan

everyone should take 3 minutes to watch this short documentary about one of harrisonburg, va's favorite people, drew johnson, shot by brent finnegan for the super gr8 film festival.




the modern folk music of america.

marty stitches and the chinese dragons - motherwhore and my education

many of us suffered a loss recently in the form of the death of our friend marty tribble. i hope he is resting easy. during his life he played in a lot of bands and made a lot of music, here are two songs he recorded, lovingly uploaded by sean namei/country creatures and zach barbery.

marty will be missed by alot of people. the modern folk music of america.

mikes bar - a short film

thought i'd post this short film 'mikes bar' by my friend ryan walker. its a story about a man making an unfortunate deal. or more accurately, paying up. some music by the brooms is featured in it.




check it out. some more of his work is available on his youtube channel. the modern folk movie of america?

the cinnamon band - black love

here is a new music video from the cinnamon band in support of their new 'black love/tough love' 7" release on funny/not funny records.



"Black Love" from Will Renton on Vimeo.


this has long been one of my favorite tunes of theirs. video by will renton.

pc worship - figure it out (video)

more pc worship in the form of this new video. track to be released on an upcoming tape comp.  i can't get enough of this band.


PC Worship - "Figure It Out" from Kreephaus on Vimeo.

kreephaus again. the modern folk music of america.

j. frye and chef dan's pc florida - pass it all around

j. frye of brooklyn's pc worship just sent me this spontaneously recorded ode to weed and good times and passing out that he and his friends committed to tape today.



somehow this song is light hearted and droney at the same time. one take guitar solos plus hoots and hollers, abound. here are the lyrics, posted on the kreephaus soundcloud site:

"Take a hit,
take a puff,
take a trip,
light it up,
light it down
& pass it all around
Smoke some air,
smoke some weed,
smoke some dust,
smoke some cream,
smoke a dream,
& pass it all around...
hold it in,
let it out
before you pass out you gotta do it again
& pass it all around
*take a rip,
take a nip,
take a dip,
take a sip,
take a chip
& pass em all around"

take a chip. click on that kreephaus link to check out music from pc worship, buck gooter and lots of other way out bands.

the turlocks - song number one and coaster glasses (demos)

here are two demos from harrisonburg, va's the turlocks. similar to the james badfellows the turlocks are somewhat of a local supergroup featuring members of many current and/or defunct virginia bands, including the brooms, the alphabet, tomsmen, uncle bengine and the super vacations.

songwriterish rock, twinged with a country sadness. some of my best friends. love these dudes.





look for these guys cramming themselves into the corner of the little grill during this weekend's macrock festivities in downtown harrisonburg.

au dunes - bottom of town

here is a cool track from portland lo-fi psych revivalists au dunes. this tune was written and sung by au dunes member and frequent contributer here, zach barbery.  a nice tapey feel saturates the proceedings, and some mic busting crackly screaming raves up the end of this timeless sounding number.



you can grab some more au dunes, and stuff from many other portland bands falling under the general umbrella of psychedelic/indie rock at curly cassettes. mostly available in the form of cassettes or downloads.

buck gooter - straight to hell, consider the grackles, terry reads poetry (videos)

here is a little output from harrisonburg va's infamous buck gooter, noise spewing road dogs about to embark on a spring tour with mounds and black pus.









get buck gooter's stuff at kreephaus records (lotsa good stuff there). the modern folk music of america.

aggrocrag - all the cool kids had to have one (video)

dirtpond's unlikely but very frequent stage-sharers aggrocrag have this sweet vid that was recently (re)brought to my attention...i think there is a country creature somewhere in there...



crazy costumes and circle pit of fire. MFOA.

degollado - the dying season

heavy instrumental noise rock from strasburg, va's degollado, a hard touring two piece guitar and drums machine on founding father records. i featured FFR labelmates (and bandmates) trade here back in this spot's early days.

zone out to this heavy number, and look for degollado coming to your area...they are some road warriors.



you can pick up EPs by both trade and degollado here. the modern folk music of america.

not so modern folk music

a group called cultural equity has funded the digitization of roughly 17,400 audio files worth of alan lomax's life's work...field and otherwise recordings of all kinds of music, interviews and thoughts. prison songs, play songs, blues songs, folk songs.

decidedly not the usual fodder for my spot here, but mr. lomax was the very inspiration for this weblog, so i had to post it. a real treasure trove here. the modern folk music of america.

no hay banda and brent emanuel - glass stories and once he finds us (video)

here are some videos from MFOA favorite brent emanuel and early supporter shayla givens. just a little video post for your day. 'glass stories' is awesomely strange. 'once he finds us' is a todd snider cover about jesus.





the modern folk music of america.

bognor - don't go there

pleasant bedroom pop out of portland in the form of 'don't go there' by bognor. this thrumming track is part of the soundtrack to a graphic novel called 'picket line'. the track art is a scene from the graphic novel.
 

this track is a $1 download, but you can grab two other albums worth of free downloads at bognor's bandcamp. also, check out the visual output of the man behind bognor at selfishsteam.  the modern folk music of america.

camellia sinensis - heavens to betsy

here are a couple tracks from camellia sinensis' EP called 'heavens to betsy'. lo-fi anti-folk kind of stuff with interesting words. from the wilds of new jersey, i think.








download the EP free at his bandcamp. you can also keep up with camellia sinensis on FB. the modern folk music of america.

salvaticus - breeding ground

here is a track from charlottesville, va's salvaticus. a heavy monolith of instrumental, blackish metal. this, for now, is the recording project of the drummer and guitar player from thus came, whom i posted about way back in the murky history of this spot. this track and the 4 song EP it is from offer long form blasts that listen more like suites, each lasting for about ten minutes. they work in movements, pulling participants through shades of darkness, at times winding down to acoustic guitars before blasting off again. here's the lead song, 'breeding ground'



you can grab the EP as a free download at their bandcamp. the modern folk music of america.

jordan perry - boriska and old hake

here are some solo guitar musings from jordan perry, whose music was featured on the MFOA mixtape. These songs have a contemplative vibe, somewhere on the border between 'american primitive' fingerstyle guitar and classical composition i think, though i'm not an expert on those genres. unexpected nylon string dreamtones.





the modern folk music of america.

freddie nunez - runaway

here lie a couple tracks from freddie nunez's brand new (meaning today) album 'runaway'. soothing bedroom pop from california's moreno valley. this 'collapsing' song is an especially pleasing harrisonesque transportation.







run away with it, as well as two of his older albums, for a nominal fee, at his bandcamp. the modern folk music of america.

gull - shackleton (video)

this video is badass. gull embodies many of the philosophies behind the modern folk music of america. video shot/directed by chad middleton.




don't forget the street muse project, which is very near its fundraising goal. kickstart it here. the modern folk music of america.