Jam of the Day | Sylvan Esso - Coffee

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Some would call it premature to claim that a band who has only officially released three songs is, in fact, the second coming of Christ in musical form.

But those people have clearly never listened to Sylvan Esso.

We at SiC are unabashed about our love of this holy union of Amelia Meath and Nick Sanborn, and ever since first seeing them live at Hopscotch 2013, we've not been able to stop talking about them. Seriously. We forward every new tidbit of information about the band to each other and giggle like little school girls. We've written Jam of the Days for both of the band's previous two tracks, and here we are writing about their third, and thus far best, song, "Coffee."

Replete with drool-worthy synths and sensuous vocals, "Coffee" ticks just about every box on the kick ass song checklist: slinky, sexy, and catchy as hell.

If this doesn't move your booty, nothing will.

Stream | The Shouting Matches - Grownass Man

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If you're a fan of Bon Iver, Megafaun, or Peter Wolf Crier, you may want to keep reading.

Brian Moen, Phil Cook and Justin Vernon played one show as The Shouting Matches nearly seven years ago. They reunited in Eau Claire, Wisconsin this past year and made a record fusing influences into what they do best: playing together. Over years of sharing stages and studios in a myriad of projects, they come together as a trio and give you Grownass Man, a record with Midwestern knuckles and Southern callouses.

Stream the entire album here, via our friends at NPR.

Speakers in Code: Hopscotch Music Festival | Day One in Photos

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The first night of the Hopscotch Music Festival can be tough.  If you don't take the entire day off - you spend the daylight hours working your normal 9 to 5, then do your best to turn into the 21 year-old you, and stay up and alert until after 2:00 am.  In the past, those two conflicting worlds have collided in an explosion of sleepiness and tired legs.

Last night, however, the mind-boggling quality of the lineup kept even the oldest of us bloggers infused with enough testosterone to not only be fully-awake in the wee hours of the morn, but also jumping up and down along with the kids with Xs on their hands in the closing moments of the night.

As a collective, the Speakers in Code club took in Young Magic, Charlie Parr, Altos, Matthew E. White, Airstrip, Delicate Steve, Phil Cook & His Feat, Flesh Wounds, Gross Ghost and Guardian Alien. Our girl Aggie snapped a few pics as well. See them below.

On to day two!

Jam of the Day | Amateur Love - Con/A Sewer/Cat

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From: Mr. Justin Vernon
To: Mr. and Mrs. Speakers in Code

It’s a difficult task to write about Amateur Love. The band was the singular catalyst driving me to found Chigliak Records. What Amateur Love means to the history of Eau Claire music is representative of everything we set out to illuminate with this record label. Our goal is to release records that hold weight in people’s hearts. For us, it’s notable to point out that one person’s favorite record of all time may have only existed in bedrooms that were within 100 miles of each other.

There seems to be a premium on popularity in popular music. When an artist sells records to people all over the world, their music is then validated by a larger social contract. But Amateur Love is the most popular band this town has ever known, and for good reason. It is not in our estimation that the re-issuing of It’s All Aquatic will project the band into that great popularity. No, we just hope to give the music a further chance to live on… for those who adored and those who never had the chance.

Josh Scott was the ambassador of my heart for many years. While both songwriters in Eau Claire, we were close friends and admired each other’s music. It was obvious to both of us, however, who the better writer was. Josh was writing songs that were both more mature and masterful than mine. His songs came from a perspective as snarly as Paul Westerberg, as enchanting as Neil Young, yet he wielded power as beguiling and unique as any songwriter I've ever heard. Nestling himself around Brad and Phil Cook (Megafaun) and Brian Moen (Peter Wolf Crier, Laarks and Shouting Matches), who stretched themselves outside their own comfort zones into those of un-tapped electronic pop, Amateur Love became one of the most enigmatic and electrifying bands I have ever known. With local-legend Jaime Hansen engineering, the band was caught at the rise to their peak of musical power on It's All Aquatic in 2003.

What you have here is Amateur Love’s one and only full-length, initially only released on CD, now re-issued as a 12” vinyl LP. Included is a special download of unreleased recordings that I have come to know as the Ev Sessions; recorded by Ev Olcott, the great master of Minneapolis studio magic and former member of 12Rods and Halloween, Alaska. Ev produced these sessions after the release of It’s All Aquatic sometime in 2004. These sessions are considered ‘un-finished’ by the band but stand as a fantastic ‘what could have been’ document.

Amateur Love gets to always live on, thru the grooves on our turntables now. Enjoy. We all did.

Get it here.

Jam of the Day | Lost in the Trees - Red

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I was introduced to Ari Picker's music waaaaay back in the year 2000, when his first band, The B-Sides, opened for someone like Superdrag, or Guided by Voices, at the Cat's Cradle in Carrboro, North Carolina. He was just a high school kid at that point, but my friends and I left that night singing one of their tunes. And over the next decade, I watched from afar, as he formed another now defunct band, The Never, expanded his music and composition skills, and ultimately formed Lost In The Trees.

The Triangle music scene has been brimming recently with buzz, with The Love Language, The Rosebuds, Carolina Chocolate Drops, and Megafaun previously dominating coffeehouse conversations. But post-SXSW last year, the buzz was redirected to Lost In The Trees and the new material they were recording in various places around the area.

"Red" is our first taste of the new record those recording sessions spawned. Entitled A Church That Fits Our Needs, the record covers the untimely death of Picker's mother, whose photo hauntingly graces the album's cover. Showcasing Picker's studies of classical composition at Berklee College of Music, "Red" leaves no doubt that the area is soon to see another breakout record. 

Check it out below and remember to pick up A Church That Fits Our Needs when it's released March 20th on ANTI- and Trekky Records.

Jam of the Day | Megafaun - These Words

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Go see Megafaun live, and you will immediately understand what the entire Triangle has been...yeah I'm going to do it..."fawning" over in increasing fashion over the last few years. The boys, Phil & Brad Cook, and percussionist Joe Westerlund, have become local celebrities, immediately getting tables at the most popular restaurants, and roaming around with a posse of thugs that will eff you up if you approach or try to speak to them. There is even rumor that a hipster's knee was broken in a savage beating after he went to King's wearing a Love Language shirt.

And while most-to-all of that previous paragraph was not true, the fact remains that Megafaun is indeed one of the best damn bands around. And with this, the first track off the new album, their process, song craft, and raw energy come together in a wonderful electro-grass (just coined a new genre!) jam of goodness.

This is the sound that encapsulates the band, and hopefully the new record, Megafaun. It's out September 20th on Hometapes. 

10 to Spin | Megafaun

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We've heard when Phil Cook isn't touring the world with his genre-blending folk band Megafaun, he's on the porch of his North Carolina home, finger-picking his guitar, while his loyal dog Willie lays nearby. So it only makes sense that these intimate moments would eventually be recorded and make their way to a proper release.

Hungry Mother Blues was captured in a single day, in the back room of Cook's house, during a rare North Carolina ice storm. The immediacy and intensity of the performances have little to hide behind, as every song incorporates a single instrument in all of its vulnerable glory, with the occasional addition of Cook's tapping foot.

To help us celebrate the album's release May 10th, Phil once again takes us home, trading his porch and guitar for his turntable indoors -  laying out one hell of a soul-filled springtime playlist. So open those windows people, and give your neighbors a taste of his 10 to Spin.

Songs My Neighbors Down The Street Can Hear From My Open Windows On This First Day of Spring

"25 Miles" by Edwin Starr

At the end of the film Adventures In Babysitting, starring Elizabeth Shue, there is a scene where Chris, the babysitter (Shue), is in a race against time to return everything to normal order after a crazy misadventure in Chicago’s underbelly before unsuspecting parents arrive back home from a dinner party. It’s a solid soundtrack all around, Chicago-centric, but this tune just nailed it for me. I was 11 years old and I’d rewind the scene over and over and dance around the living room. 25 Miles would go on to accompany me home from Hillcrest Elementary school, bounding ten blocks home through the snow and cutting through the same backyards day after day. Years later, this song would be responsible for at least one speeding ticket as well as a few noise complaints in college. The drumming is simply phenomenal. Rambunctious and relentless and fanning the flames on Edwin’s searing vocal take.

"Little Ghetto Boy (Live)" by Donny Hathaway

I’ve played The Troubador in Los Angeles and it’s not a big place, even though everyone you’ve heard of has played there. I will always have an affinity to smaller rooms because a few hundred people packed together in close proximity is always more exciting than a few hundred people with their personal space in bigger room. This is my ultimate wish-I-could’ve-been-there show. There are these two women in the crowd that just CAN NOT contain themselves at Donny’s singing and they’re presence is my wife’s favorite part of the recording. My favorite part of the recording is every single perfect bass line delivered by Willie Weeks. Virtuosity can be misread when the only filter in one’s criteria is simply “lots of notes real fast.” (See 2/3rds of all bluegrass, metal, jazz or any other music based in “virtuosity”) Virtuosity must imply a deep understanding. A deeper listening only exemplified by patience. How they pick their moments and choose to fill that space. How they help you hear that space. Fantastic.

“Sweet Inspiration” by The Sweet Inspirations

These amazing women are responsible for the backing vocals on Aretha Franklin’s greatest songs. They made a few albums on their own and this title track from their S/T record is wonderful. Trivia note: Cissy Houston, the mother of Whitney, is a founding member.

“Blue Monday People” by Curtis Mayfield [listen]
My buddy just showed me this record (There’s No Place Like America Today) It’s the newest addition to my weekly spins. Curtis singing all close and falsetto around your ears. Soooo good. I can honestly say that there’s no way D’Angelo wasn’t familiar record when he made Voodoo ten years ago.

“Soul Sister” by Allen Toussaint

Allen Toussaint is a straight up bad ass. Through and through. Not only is he the mastermind producer behind two out of three songs to come out of the city of New Orleans for the last fifty years, but his well sought-after solo LP’s are the complete package. Thoughtful existentialist lyrics, swampy grooves, perfect hooks, and creative arrangements. This is the first of two songs I’m including in this list. I almost made this whole list an Allen Toussaint listening guide. Another time, another hour.

“I’m A King Bee” by Slim Harpo

Check that roomy slide hook. Also, is that drummer just slapping a cardboard box with a canoe paddle? I hope so dammit. This my favorite track to come on the house sound systems when we leave a stage. You should all see our collective air guitar for this poignant guitar solo.


“Voodoo” by the Neville Brothers

The record Yellow Moon was a staple of my childhood. My father, always a champion of Aaron Neville’s vocal prowess, would include this song as well as the title track on his yearly Ski-Tape. Back in the day my dad would take off a whole day of work to execute the perfect mixtape, which he had been mulling over for weeks. This tape had an important function. It would be the only source of music we’d hear for the entirety of our annual downhill skiing trip to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. The entire five hour drive there and back the Ski-Tape just flipped its sides and rolled on. My father, an active lifelong skier, raised Brad and I on the slopes. The long chairlift rides were the perfect no-escape situations for him to talk to his growing sons about things like sex and college. To this day, I’ve never seen anyone who can ski like him. His Ski-Tape rolling on inside his headphones, he had perfect balance on all four of his edges and he used the whole hill, taking his time and exploring every corner of the run with a patience and a grace no one had. Brad and I, looking only for jumps, would barrel down each run at break-neck speed focusing solely on the lip of a dropoff slope where we’d try and perfect our “Daffy”, but with one chance each run, we had to get in as many runs as we could. We’d meet up with dad every six or seven loops in the chairlift line but usually as we waited in line for our chair I’d look up the hill and spot dad up there, taking his time. Feeling the land. The subtlety in his effortless turns matching every nuance of Aaron Neville’s floating voice in his ears. 

“Get Right Church and Let’s Go Home” by The Staple Singers [listen]
The Staple Singers are my favorite singing group of all time. They take me to the place I want to go. Every time. Mavis was so young when they started recording, maybe 13 years old. Their early years were their most potent. Touring the country’s churches and civil rights marches, they were often backed only by Pops’ classic tremolo-bathed electric guitar and occasionally a drummer. This song is only a minute and a half long, but I’ve filled at least a week’s worth of my life with that perfect minute and a half.

“Everything I Do Gonna Be Funky” by Allen Toussaint [listen]
Off of the record From A Whisper To A Scream this groove may be too much for some people to handle. This groove will do things to your pelvis that you may not be prepared for nor comfortable with. That kick drum pattern has space to play a soccer game in. Unreal. Also, check out his use of acoustic guitars and lap steels in this setting. Rare instruments in funk music, but so natural here.

“You Can’t Stop A Tattler, Part II” by Washington Phillips [listen]
Between 1927 and 1929, a traveling preacher named Washington Phillips made eighteen recordings and was never heard from again. This happened a lot in the late twenties, as shellac was plentiful before the war and the first boom of the record business was underway. We don’t know much. We have only the small offering of these recordings and the oral anecdotes of a few distant relatives and acquaintances years later. There’s a celestial quality, similar to a calliope, that’s in his instruments and his playing that transports me to another time and place when regionalism hadn’t yet met with the persistent unification of mass communication networks. The blurry picture of Washington’s life and story makes for great debate, just google him. Academic papers and assertions galore. I’ve read some of them, but it doesn’t matter in the end. I prefer to exist in that “unknown” this time. Enjoy.

Video | DeYarmond Edison - Set Me Free (Carol King Cover)

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Before Bon Iver and Megafaun separately blew the hell up, both bands were collectively part of DeYarmond Edison, the now defunct NC via WI super-group of folk power. Consisting of Bon Iver's Justin Vernon, and Megafaun members Joe Westerlund, Phil Cook and Brad Cook, they were poised to become the biggest thing to come out of the Triangle since Ryan Adams gave us all the finger and moved to NYC.

Well, they reunited for a short set at South by Southwest, playing just three songs - “Lovers Will” by Bonnie Raitt, “You’ve Got a Friend” by Carole King and “Set Me Free,” a DeYarmond Edison original. Sure would be nice to see a reunion like that in the road guys...just saying.

Jam of the Day | Megafaun - Carolina Days

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With the release of their stellar mini-album Heretofore a few weeks back, newly-minted North Carolina heroes, Megafaun, are releasing a free MP3 of "Carolina Days" for our listening pleasure. The timing couldn't be more right for this anthem about their/my home state since the weather down here is finally cooling off and that smell of Autumn is starting to creep its way in.
 
Give it a spin below.

Megafaun - Carolina Days

Jam of the Day | Megafaun - Volunteers

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When trying to introduce Megafaun to the masses, it's hard not to bring up the fact they were three of the four members of the Raleigh band DaYarmond Edison. Reason being - the fourth member of that band was Justin Vernon, otherwise known as everyone's favorite indie-folkie Bon Iver.

But as our Jam of the Day illustrates, brothers Brad & Phil Cook and Joe Westerlund have headed down a different path than their fellow Eau Claire, Wisconsin native. And that's not necessarily a bad thing.

"Volunteers" is full of plucking banjos, strumming guitars, the occasional harmonica hum, and lyrics like "Sunlight, silhouettes, dogwood trees, swaying all alone in the Carolina breeze." So of course, I just love the hell out of it.

You will too. Check it out below. Then make sure to pick up their mini-LP Heretofore which will be released later this summer.

Megafaun - Volunteers