When handed Gavin Glass‘s Holy Shakers album and told it’s more rock than what he’s playing with Lisa Hannigan‘s ensemble, never did I expect to be astonished and excited by genuine Southern rock sounds. Born and bred in Ireland, Gavin left school at eighteen to pursue various paths of music; eventually being impassioned by a documentary about Canada’s The Band. From there, his sound took on a timeless nostalgia of folk, country, blues and rock, with sparse moments of gospel and jazz. He sings like the heart of a soul that rarely gets to speak; a longing for years of wonder to embrace the hopes and dreams of childhood through ragged stages of growing up, discovering, and becoming whoever you are.
French chanson tradition, Chinese folk motifs, Continental jazz and Latin notes are interwoven together into a colourful collection of songs on Jessica Fichot’s debut album. The versatility of her debut Le Chemin (2007) mirrors her multicultural and multilingual background. Often accompanied by piano and accordion, recalling the rhythms of waltz, polka and cabaret music, Jessica’s elegant songwriting evokes the images of 19th century Parisian coffeehouses and dance halls. “1,2,3” is a fine example of her inventive songwriting, clear vocals and a distinctly French instrumentation.
I’m heading with Aurgasm friend, Adam, to Europe for three weeks in July.
Right after we land, we’re hitting up the Dour Festival in Belgium.
Totally psyched about this. We plan to bring you the same sort of broad coverage that we did for SXSW. Go check their lineup and yell at us if there’s anyone there we need to see.
We got our train passes
After the festival, we’re planning on meeting up with my brother in Stuttgart and taking the train around quite a bit. Right now we’re planning on hitting Amsterdam, Stuttgart, Prague, Olomouc, Krakow and Budapest. And then maybe Zagreb or Rijeka, Croatia, or Cluj, Romania, or somewhere else?
If anyone has suggestions for what to do or see, or any nearby cities, please leave a comment. (I might email you back) If you live in one of these spots, I’d love your perspective and we should definitely meet up for a drink!
Can I get some music, please?
Why, certainly :) Dub FX, is a beatbox artist who street performs all over Europe. Watching him construct one of his multilayered compositions is impressive—he throws some pitch-shifted bass underneath ethereal treble highlights and solid hip-hop vocals:
Some of you might have seen Allie Moss performing with the lovely Ingrid Michaelson. Her debut EP Passerby (2009) reveals Allie to be a strong and promising singer-songwriter on her own. The extremely captivating “Corner” displays Allie’s songwriting skills as well as her sweet vocals and clever phrasing, setting the tone for the rest of her EP. From bittersweet to soft and melancholic, Passerby is a solid and well-crafted collection of folk-pop songs.
Wilco fans (you know who you are) will recognize Nels Cline as that band’s lead guitarist, but he’s been doing other stuff on his own (collaborating, featuring, musicating, etc.) for a little over thirty years, now “” and yet, still, his solo stuff seems to remain under-appreciated. Perhaps some of it is too experimental for a big following (and I don’t mean that as any kind of affront to Wilco fans), like the opening track from Coward, his latest album; it’s called Epiphyllum, and is basically a wall of foamy, pulsating sound. The rest of the album, though, gets a little more melodic, borrowing heavily from Middle-Eastern sounds and even The Twilight Zone at one point, and rounding out nicely with Cymbidium, yet another wall of sound “” but one with cracks in it, chinks of guitar and scars of bass. There are shades of Susumu Yokota and maybe Faithless, too, and overall of quiet, confident comfort. Close your eyes and let it grow.
A ladybug from Miami’s South Beach can play the kazoo and charango while singing ~ who knew!? Well I’m sure glad to have finally found out, because Rachel Goodrich presents a pleasantry unlike any other. She grew up perceiving music as a seemingly essential ingredient for life, which may be what allows her to welcome any sound-making thing into her arena; dancing and tinkering in astounding whimsy. Quirky yet smooth, she meshes this inventive inventory into a joyful jubilee – donning theatrical highlights amidst her casual rhythms and rhymes that hearten emotions like new rays of sunshine. (thx, Ben)
Maneuvering brainwaves routed by intricately synthesized polymers of Moloko and Phon°noir familiarity, Frances Noon and Lazlo Legezar have materialized an undulating ecstasy that voyages vital force and bites at your feet. His surreal chorus of extravagant noises deploys a fulgent realm for her iridescent vocals; fluently shifting between sinister and saccharine to timid and giddy. As their motley, crystalline wisped sounds are consumed, a subterranean purlieu emerges. In a carnival’s bygone mystique of bright lights and smiles since ceded to a Hitchcock bale are mad hatters absconding to unite with strawberry shortcakes; rampantly dissolving the absurd, unwanted, depreciating rationalities that impersonate rainbows and he-man transgressions of societal laste. Where We Are threshes trip-hop’s quintessence into dizzying bits and pieces then coalesces to form a twisted treat of enigmatic, aural candy.
Soul, folk, jazz and creole influences shine throughout Camphor & Copper (2008) — the first full-length of self-taught guitarist and singer-songwriter Mélissa Laveaux. On her debut album Mélissa displays impressive musical range and clever lyrics. Mélissa’s folk-blues arrangements, catchy hand claps, whispery vocals and her unique percussive finger-style guitar will be appealing to the fans of Ayo and Aurgasm featured Asa. Of special quality is Mélissa’s sharp and powerful cover of Elliott Smith’s “Needle in the Hay”.
The opening to “Too Many Prisoners (Elewon Po)” sounds like it could be taken right off an Isaac Hayes record (one extremely well-known one in particular…), which is funny because Hayes is one of the few people not commonly listed as an Allen influence (viz. Art Blakey, Dizzy Gillespie, James Brown, Fela Kuti, etc.). After that, though, the Shaft theme is quickly dropped for something more like Pucho Brown: a breezy, carefree collection of bass, vocals, and the drumming for which Allen is most renowned. The single was released May 11 and is available on iTunes; the album (Secret Agent) comes out June 8. (We also covered some of Tony’s other work way back in August 2007.)
Venturing from home in Nashville, Audie‘s sound grew dear as she followed charms winding their way through mountain trails and Parisian boulevards before encountering musical kin in Portland. With helpful newfound friends, a tickle of entrancing hymnals was then culled from her memory; forming a delicate, haunting echo in your heart that asks where you’ve been. Were you calling out quietly in the night for a friend? Or swinging in tire swings on dwindling summer days… an occasional ring to your ear of someone you knew and should maybe say hello to. Do clairvoyant clarinets introduce another scene? Stringing you along as hammers unlock dissonance and banjitars herald kind nudges anent upright bass. Jeering ghosts fleshed out with hindsight; twilight’s mist dispersed upon reason; her songs usher in an elusive, captivating treasure to collect and hold tender forever.
Aurgasm seeks to bring you an eclectic menagerie of aural pleasures. We scout out music you've never heard and deliver only the finest. Expect music curiously different, yet simply enjoyable...
Paul Irish is a music-loving web geek in San Francisco.
You can download most music on aurgasm – right-click the song names and select Save Target As. These files will be removed at some indefinite point.
All files on aurgasm are online with permission of the copyright holder.
This music is here for evaluation purposes ONLY.
That's what I want you to do: eval-u-ate: try on this music for size, see if it fits you. If you enjoy it, learn more. Explore the artist, delve into the genre.
Take an active approach in finding music you love. Only you can find what you love. Immerse yourself in it. Buy the CD. Go to the show and meet your favorite artist afterwards. Tell them their music changed you. Support the artists whose work you adore.
Be passionate about music.
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Maneuvering brainwaves routed by intricately synthesized polymers of 
Venturing from home in Nashville,