Dayna Kurtz >> Somewhere hearts are pounding

Dayna Kurtz - "Beside You" (Live)

(Deebles Music, 1997 / Kismet Records, 2002)

I bought this CD a few years ago on a whim at a thrift store on Highway 61 (we call it Airline Highway in Louisiana) for $2.  The cover shot of her face was starkly bold, apparently an homage to Joni Mitchell's Blue, and the title, Otherwise Luscious Life, was an obvious nod to the jazz standard "Lush Life."  It turned out to be a live album, with just Dayna accompanying herself on acoustic guitar, though the songs are full-sounding enough that the first few times I listened to it I didn't even realize there was no drummer, bassist, etc.  It was recorded live at Wintertide coffeehouse in Vineyard Haven, MA, on 7/18/97.  So: A solo performer on acoustic guitar, live at a coffeehouse... That doesn't exactly sound very promising as Blowtorch Baby material, but it so is.  This is heavy music.  This is heavier than anything that those pathetic pansies in Slayer, Wolf Eyes, or Converge could ever come up with.   She won the National Academy Of Songwriters’ award for Female Songwriter Of The Year in 1996, 1997, and 1998, while you were sitting around wasting your time listening to Guided By Voices, Stereolab, and Neutral Milk Hotel, respectively.

How great of a line is "Somewhere hearts are pounding"?  So vague, yet every interpretation of it is probably interesting.  DK has a very husky voice, probably quite influenced by Nina Simone; this is one of the few songs that she sings in her high, essentially falsetto, register.  The last name is presumably German, but she looks somewhat Native American.  I like this pic by an unknown photographer:

I recently got a 2004 promo EP of hers called The Beautiful Yesterday Sessions, but I dislike it.  She is playing here for Jazz Fest (the most inaccurately-named festival in the country) in a few weeks, and also has scheduled two little club gigs, so I might go see her.  She even named her 2006 album NOLA (hilariously spelled Nola on most websites) in honor of New Orleans, LouisianA.  I have a feeling she no longer plays any early, melancholic stuff, though.

I nabbed this from the Tumblr of super-negra a few months ago:

And then I just found this new, even more detailed one she had drawn for someone else:

...LOL

I'm missing Chairlift tonight, but will hopefully see them sometime, if only for their songs "Wrong Opinion" and "Cool As A Fire."  One reason I'm not making the hour-long drive to NOLA is that I don't like opening act Nite Jewel.  I do have tickets to this at Tipitina's on Friday, though:

Put your hack into it: Anonymous targets Monsanto

Egyptian cleric: No to Mother's Day

Planets with similar climates: Tracy Chapman - "For You" (1988), Maxwell - "Know These Things: Shouldn't You" (1998), Ani Difranco - "Sorry I Am" (1995), American Music Club - "Last Harbor" (1988), Suzanne Vega - "Small Blue Thing" (1985), Joni Mitchell - "Blue" (1971), Alicia Keys - "Butterflyz" (2001).


Currently eating or drinking: Cabot Seriously Sharp (white) Cheddar; Sunbelle blueberries; Pepperidge Farm Farmhouse oatmeal bread; Samuel Smith Imperial Stout; Rogue Chocolate Stout.

Will Oldham & Jim O'Rourke >> Light had brightened certain textures

Will Oldham & Jim O'Rourke - "Ebb's Folly"

(Atavistic Records, 1996)

This song is from the soundtrack to the black and white 1996 documentary film Dutch Harbor: Where The Sea Breaks Its Back.  It's about the effects of the encroachment of modernized society on the traditional lifestyle of the Aleutian people, specifically those of Unalaska Island.  (Though my research finds that Dutch Harbor is actually on its neighboring island, called Amaknak Island... hmm.)  Read more about the flick here.  This is the only song with vocals on the whole album, plus it's the penultimate track, right before a gentle lilting piece, so it really stands out.

Read the incredibly cryptic lyrics here, though I'm not sure if they're official, since they're not printed in the CD booklet.  I've still never seen the film, but I did buy the CD right when it came out, through Atavistic Records mailorder in summer of '97.  It was just a good hunch that paid off.  It is impossible to not be moved by Will Oldham's fragile vocals, and in my opinion this song shows it off better than any other song by him in all of his guises (Will Oldham, Palace, Palace Music, Bonnie "Prince" Billy, etc.), aside from maybe Palace's "Stablemate".  Oldham is credited with vocals and acoustic guitar, while Jim O'Rourke did all the background soundscaping, including the atonal noise finale.  The melodic flow of the song is very dramatic and soul-stirring, especially when you know that the climax is coming.  I also bought Palace's Arise Therefore album that summer, though I stupidly skipped a Palace concert at the Mermaid Lounge the previous fall.  (I finally saw him live in 2004.)  Anyway, I can't urge you strongly enough to buy or download this soundtrack.  I remember the summer of '97 as being very hectic, with me finding out about all kinds of new bands, going to lots of concerts, transferring to a new college, meeting girls from AOL in real life, getting an array of reptilian pets, etc.  This soundtrack provided a perfectly serene and haunting counterpoint, a head-clearer.  The album as a whole is credited to The Boxhead Ensemble, a nebulous "all-star" group made up of cool dudes from the Chicago / Louisville post-rock (the original meaning of the term "post-rock") axis.  It included members of Tortoise, Gastr Del Sol, Pinetop Seven, Eleventh Dream Day, etc.  Each track has a different lineup of members playing a semi-improvised tune, ranging between 1 and 13 minutes, for a total length of 70 minutes.  I really believe future generations will place this soundtrack on the highest pedestal of achievement within the genre.  Even the photos (film stills) in the CD booklet are stunning, and everything is done in grays and white, with some silver accents.

Back in the day, I cut out a 4-finger (4-star) review of the album from Alternative Press, by Mitch Myers.  Here's an excerpt:
"The net result of this altered summit is a series of compelling instrumentals that ranges between the brittle and the atmospheric.  Operating in several similarly manned configurations, the Boxhead Ensemble exhibit the ability to change themselves musically without losing sight of their job as empathetic accompaniments to a visual art.  As an added bonus, Palace brother Will Oldham sings a song with O'Rourke that the two wrote expressly for this project.  Serving as a perfect introduction to the cutting-edge Chicago improv scene as well as an unusual soundtrack recording, Dutch Harbor provides a safe and sumptuous haven for those in search of adventure."

VHS cover

After 14 years, I'm still dying to see the movie.  If you can somehow rent it or procure it in some fashion, Blowtorch Baby will hold Movie Night at your house; you are to supply the movie, big-screen TV or film projector, appetizers, nonalcoholic drinks, full dinner, alcoholic drinks, board games, and anything else, while I will supply companionship and thought-provoking conversation.  Note: The conversation will take place before and after the film, not during it.  The film came out on VHS (No Choice / Atavistic) in 1998, and on expanded DVD (Plexifilm) in 2003.

Planets with similar climates: Cat Power - "Keep On Runnin'" (1998/2003), American Music Club - "Big Night" (1987) & "Will You Find Me?" (1992), Palace - "Stablemate" (1996), Idaho - "If You Dare" (1995).