Matthew Hayhurst

Morsels

Drakkar Sauna: WARS AND TORNADOES

Oh, my…What do you get when you cross the amazing talents of Drakkar Sauna with the songs of country legends The Louvin Brothers (Ira and Charlie Louvin)…you get perfection.

Released on Marriage Records, Drakkar Sauna put forth Wars and Tornadoes: Drakkar Sauna Faithfully Sings Songs of The Louvin Brothers. Easily one of their best releases to date. The reason why you ask; it’s because Drakkar Sauna actually plays this one straight forward, no humor, no wackiness, just pure American Country / Bluegrass backwoods hymns. There is such a devotion here, such a respect level that comes through on these renditions, that you can’t help but get excited and stomp your boot. These songs embrace the true talents of Drakkar Sauna and allow them to shine like never before. Now don’t get me wrong, you know I love Drakkar Sauna and all their releases, but to hear them preform these songs justs lights the kerosene lamp in my soul.

Now some may shy away from this, and it’s kind of bold of Drakkar Sauna to even release this album. I mean, songs about God and religion aren’t flying of the shelves these days, not to mention these are Louvin Brothers songs, and while I love the Louvin Brothers (no pun intended), they are not everybody’s flask of whiskey. All I can say is give it a shot. If you don’t know of the Louvin Brothers yet, but you love Drakkar Sauna, let this be a great introduction to two of country’s godfathers, and vice versa, if you dig the Louvin’s and don’t know Drakkar Sauna, or haven’t really dug their prior material, give this a chance. It’s truly a fantastic LP!

c. January 2009

Forest Fire

I wrote about Forest Fire back in ’06 on TPATS, and to me their sound has changed quite a bit since then. Thankfully someone else with some resources took notice of this band from Brooklyn and released  a cd this past year. The album, Survival, the label, our friends at Cat Bird Records; A perfect fit if you ask me.

I came across Forest Fire like I said in ’06, but it was only because band member Adam Spittler told me about them. I was in contact with him about his side project Black Dragon (which is still phenomenal…I once had hopes of releasing it on the my never created label, oh, how ambitious we were…), but anyway, he told me to check out his other band, which happened to be Forrest Fire. That was all she wrote. I downloaded what tracks I could, back when Myspace let you do so, and have been stuck with those, that is, until Survival.

I was thrilled to see on another blog a mention about Forrest Fire. I was immediately smiling from ear to ear. Finally a proper release! I mean, this is one of those bands that you are literally shocked they don’t have an LP out there. Well they do now, and it’s a good one!

Somewhere between an almost jaded not quite lo-fi rock instrumentation, but a lo-fi rock persona and a broken down fishing cabin out of place in the heart of the city, lives Forest Fire’s Mark Thresher’s urban cowboy voice. Haunting at times, Parsonesque at others. Are they folk, well no, do they have slide guitars and a kind of a “city” folk feel, yes they do. And that’s welcomed with open arms, because these guys pull it off well, but they also can harness soundscapes of electro knob turning fuzz, unusual percussion, acoustic guitars, slightly out of tune brass, screachable violins, and layers of electronics; Making Forest Fire a “genre” unto themselves.

c. January 2009

Welcome to the Welcome Wagon

Poetry may be the only way to describe the music that couple, Reverend Thomas Vito Aiuto and his wife Monique make on their Self Titled release for Asthmatic Kitty. With the help of Sufjan Stevens, Welcome to the Welcome Wagon unlocks the doors of their sanctuary and invites the public in to be washed over with their simple hymns of love for God and for each other. Pre-album, I picture these two around a fire place, on a rug, in a humble home, with Vito strumming a swapmeet guitar and Monique tapping out time on the table, singing out old time hymns and smiles from ear to ear.

c.December 2008