Look folks, I don’t know how much longer this is going to go on for. When I started this column back in January, I had no idea what the rest of the year had in store for me. Though, I must say, I found out soon enough. Twins. Yup, my wife is eight months pregnant with twins, which means that any day now my world is going to get pulled inside out and nothing will ever be the same. But you don’t care about the boring minutiae of my personal life. The upshot is that this Bang the Drum! column, this whatever-it-is, probably won’t be around for many Mondays to come (though I’d like to get one in next week, we’ll see). There will, undoubtedly, still be lots of music coverage on the Dog Blog, some of it coherent.
California’s Big Tree will self-release their second full-length This New Year on Oct. 4. I’m a fan, and mentioned them on the blog here several months. They took notice and shot me an email wondering if I could help them get in with the Regina Folk Festival. Obviously, they overestimated the pull I have in this town. Or any town. When I say “this town”, which town am I talking about?
mp3: “This Fall” by Big Tree
Haven’t heard much from Sylvie since their unforgettably named last album, Trees and Shade Are Our Only Fences. Understandable, maybe, as the band’s Passmore section (2/5) has been motoring with Rah Rah pretty much non-stop. But here’s an absolutely gorgeous, brand new track from Sylvie bassist Riva Farrell-Racette, who curiously has the same number of capital R’s in her name as Rah Rah has in theirs. Conspiracy or coincidence? Not for me to say. But hopefully this track is a sign of things to come.
Firelight by Riva Farrell-Racette
Here’s the latest from Seattle hip hop three-piece Dyme Def. It’s called “Dizzy Izzy” and the video was shot on Fearce Villain’s phone. So you got no excuse.
PEACE!
Emmet Matheson is a freelance writer who blogs at A Bulldozer With a Wrecking Ball Attached. You can e-mail him at: bulldozerDOTwreckingballATgmailDOTcom