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Fingertips: Unwebbed
Expanded Liner Notes
Okay, so the first Fingertips CD, entitled Fingertips: Unwebbed, does not come with the largest of packages. There was more to share about the disc's 13 tunes than I could fit on the modest-sized sleeve. I wanted, for instance, to write a little something about each song; I also wanted to give the musicians themselves a chance to say a word or two, if they felt so moved. Ideally I'd've included the original "This Week's Finds" blurbs as well but no way would the budget--or my personal graphic design acumen (such as it is)--allow for a CD package large enough for all that. No worries: here on the web, we have much more space, and lots of links to link to.
What follows, then, are expanded liner notes for Fingertips: Unwebbed. Click on the artist picture below to find more information about the song, links to artist web sites, links to buy CDs, and in some cases, great comments from the musicians themselves.
1. "Howdy" - Danny Allen (Danny Allen)
Vivid, swampy-slow goodness. Dig those skewed minor-key guitar arpeggios. And check out the wordless bridge at 1:25: a melodic moan in the middle of an overheated summer night of a song. Allen is from Oakland, California and was previously in the band Harvette; "Howdy" is the title track of a solo CD released in 2004.
Vocals, guitar: Danny Allen
Bass, lapslide, accordion, piano: John Would
Drums: Mitch Kink
© 2004 Stanley Recordings and (p) 2004 Triple Carpet Publishing/ASCAP
> Danny Allen on the web
> Buy Howdy
> Original "This Week's Finds" entry (Dec. 2004)
2. "Blue Skies" – The Young Republic (The Young Republic)
Buoyant, lightly-stepping pop, full of expansive melodic lines and grand, string-laced ensemble energy (note number of players). It's about "a romantic's (small r) longing for humility and simplicity in a place that he views as growing richer and uselessly complicated all the time," says Julian. Taken from the CD Modern Plays, released in 2006.
Violin: Kristin Weber
Violin: Jon Lee
Viola: Nate Underkuffler
Cello: Hamilton Berry
Piano: MJ Kim
Flute: Katherine Neis
Acoustic guitar, vocals: Julian Saporiti
Electric guitar: Bob Merkl
Electric Guitar: Jeremy Harris
Bass: Chris Miller
Drums: Matt Smith
© 2006 The Young Republic
> The Young Republic on the web
> Original "This Week's Finds" entry (Feb. 2006)
3. "Ecoutez Bien" - Eux Autres (Heather Larimer, Nick Larimer)
"'Ecoutez Bien' was born of wanting to make a song that emulated the non-sequitur quality of '60s French pop, when they used to sing random words in English just because the words sounded cool to them," says Heather. This chewy burst of sweet garage pop appeared on the band’s 2004 debut CD, Hell Is Eux Autres. Eux Autres is now signed to Grenadine Records.
Players: Nick Larimer, Heather Larimer, Jeff Stuart Saltzman
© 2004 Eux Autres
> Eux Autres on the web
> Grenadine Records web site
> Buy Hell Is Eux Autres
> Original "This Week's Finds" entry (May 2005)
4. "At Least Like Melissa" - Sara Culler (Sara Culler)
Powerful, almost hypnotic. Uses a rhythm at once waltz-like and stuttery. Captivates with its assured alternation between reserve and forcefulness. Don’t miss the emphasis on the word "like": not a comparison but a plea. "The song is about acceptance," says Sara. "People who shove and push and shrink people for power within a group." "At Least Like Melissa" appears on Sara’s 2006 demo Wolflike They Are. Sara lives in Malmö, Sweden, and is actively seeking a record deal.
Vocals: Sara Culler
Drum machine programming: Sara Culler
Analog drums: David Fridlund
All other instruments: Sara Culler
© 2006 Sara Culler
> Sara's blog
> Sara on MySpace
> Buy Sara's demos
> Original "This Week's Finds" entry (Jan. 2006)
5. "Silence" - The Layaways (David Harrell)
Dreamy slice of power pop, written and recorded just before this Chicago-based band was going into the studio. Turns out this "last-minute" song, says David, "had the most energy of the all of the songs we had recorded." The band had rehearsed it maybe twice before laying it down.; "Silence" became the leadoff track on the CD We've Been Lost (2004).
Drums and percussion: Nathan Burleson
Vocal, guitar, and keyboard: David Harrell
Bass and harmony vocal: Mike Porter
© and (p) 2004 Mystery Farm Records
> The Layaways on the web
> Buy We've Been Lost
> Original "This Week's Finds" entry (Feb. 2005)
6. "Shallow" - Halomobilo (Halomobilo)
Swaying to a fat 3/4 beat and driven by a barrage of heavy guitar work. Unaccountably endearing, perhaps because of its unexpectedly touching chorus ("I won't be a shadow/No, I won't be so shallow"). "Shallow" was released on the web in 2005; the band, from Chelmsford, Essex (UK), are continuing to gig and develop their live sound—which they characterize as "immense"--throughout England.
Performed by Halomobilo
© 2005 Halomobilo
> Halmobilo on the web
> Original "This Week's Finds" entry (July 2005)
7. "Don’t Be Afraid, I’ve Just Come to Say Goodbye (The Ballad of Clementine Jones)" - Spider (Jane Herships)
Jane says: "The producer/engineer I worked with (Matt Boynton) originally put some stuff on my voice. This was my first time recording, and I guess it was the normal stuff you do with vocals. Compression, reverb or whatever. But it wasn't right. The intimacy of the songs wasn't coming across. Then he said, 'Hey, wait a sec,' and he started turning knobs and pushing buttons and, I said, 'What are you doing?' And he had taken all the effects and everything off my voice and it sounded great, and we went from there." From the CD The Way to Bitter Lake, released in 2006.
Vocals and guitar: Jane Herships
Background vocals: Brooke Lovell
Flute: Nina Mehta
Cowbell: Tom Psipsikas
Wurlitzer: Brian Thorne
© 2006 Jane Herships
> Spider on the web
> Buy The Way to Bitter Lake
> Original "This Week's Finds" entry (March 2006)
8. "Letter to the World" - Dead Heart Bloom (Boris Skalsky)
Pink Floyd chords, Beatlesque strings, and Neil Finn-ish melody. Both lovely and deep. Dead Heart Bloom is NYC-based singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist Boris Skalsky. Heed the Lennon-like timbre of his rich voice. "Letter to the World" is from Dead Heart Bloom's self-titled debut CD, released in March 2006 on Skalsky’s label, KEI Records.
Drums: Simon Ley
Slide guitar: Paul Wood
String Quartet by the Sunrise Quartet
Everything else: Boris Skalsky
© 2006 by Boris Skalsky
> Dead Heart Bloom on the web
> Buy Dead Heart Bloom CD
> Original "This Week's Finds" entry (Feb. 2006)
9. "The Music Box" - The Brother Kite (Jon Downs)
"The Music Box" can be found on The Brother Kite's first album, thebrotherkite (2004). The band's second CD, Waiting For The Time To Be Right was released in September on the Gainesville, Fla.-based Clairecords. The Brother Kite appears courtesy of Clairecords.
Guitar, drums, percussion, vocals: Patrick Boutwell
Guitar, keyboards, vocals: Jon Downs
Guitar: Mark Howard
Bass guitar: Andrea Mason
© 2004 thebrotherkitemusic
> The Brother Kite on the web
> Clairecords web site
> Buy Waiting For The Time To Be Right
> Original "This Week's Finds" entry (Nov. 2004)
10. "Camellia" - Buried Beds (Eliza Hardy, R. Brandon Beaver)
Eliza sings close in your ear, with a beautiful tone, but torn up just a bit. Sweet. Maybe even sweeter when joined in harmony by Brandon in the chorus; this may also be because the chorus itself is drop-dead gorgeous—laid-back and with all the inevitability of a lost pop standard. Buried Beds is from Philadelphia; "Camellia" is a song off their debut CD, Empty Rooms, which has been available at band gigs since 2005 and was officially released in 2006.
Wurlitzer, vocals: Eliza Hardy
Guitar, vocals: Brandon Beaver
Drums: Tom Bendel
Bass: Tom Mallon
Viola: Hallie Boyle
© 2006 buried beds
> Buried Beds on the web
> Buy Buried Beds CDs
> Original "This Week's Finds" entry (Feb. 2006)
11. "Captain" - Shapes of Race Cars (Dylan Champion)
A big, bashing dollop of tuneful, hard-driving, summer-anthemy energy. Blast this one from your car's sound system with the top down all summer long. Provided it doesn't rain. And provided you have a convertible. Effortlessly evokes nameless, bygone, transcendent moments in rock history through both sound and gusto. Shapes of Race Cars is a self-described power trio from Southern California; an earlier version of "Captain" appeared on an EP in 2004; this is a newly-recorded version for their debut full-length CD, Power, released in 2006.
Guitar, vocals: Dylan Champion
Drums: Josh Grolemund
Bass: Dale Zyla
© 2006 Tiger Team Records
(p) too much gun music/ASCAP
> Shapes of Race Cars on the web
> Original "This Week's Finds" entry (June 2004)
12. "I Feel Like a Fading Light" - Kim Taylor (Kim Taylor)
Says Kim: "I'm an NPR addict and as much as I do love listening
to a real news source, I wish I could sometimes kick my addiction and
just tune the world's problems out. It's all so overwhelming sometimes.
I'm not sure we are meant to bear so much but here we are and we do.
I wrote this song shortly after Katrina and Abu Ghraib and the general
constant chaos we now live in. Or maybe we've always lived in but now
we know about it. I dunno. But here we are and here you go." This is the demo version of a song now available on Kim's new CD, of the same name.
Guitar, shitty programming, vocals: Kim Taylor
© and (p) 2006 don't darling me/ASCAP
> Kim Taylor on the web
> Buy Kim Taylor CDs
> Original "This Week's Finds" entry (Dec. 2005)
13. "Love Revolution" - All Mighty Whispers (All Mighty Whispers)
Friendly, polished, and wrapped in a groovy-'60s wash, just for you. The effortless melody, the bassline hook, the head-bobbing beat, and the unidentifiable background fill combine to ooze an unbearable nostalgia for a past that never quite existed. Will send you off with a smile on your face. Taken from the CD, Love Revolution, released in February 2006.
Music by All Mighty Whispers
Copyright Control 2005
> All Mighty Whispers on the web
> Buy Love Revolution
> Original "This Week's Finds" entry (March 2006)
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