studionumbernine.com – steve benoit, experience architecture

the second published (but third drafted) installment of music ramblings which i’ll call “on the radar”. the bands mentioned here have come to my attention in one way or another (live, commercial recordings, indie recordings, recommendations, whatevs…) and i figure they’re worth writing about on some level. i most likely won’t spend too much time writing about bands i don’t like since that seems to be a reasonably large waste of time. if it’s here, consider it me approved.

joe pug:

Joe Pug – Nation of Heat from LaundroMatinee on Vimeo.

in other words: “The day before his senior year as a playwright student at the University of North Carolina, Joe Pug sat down for a cup of coffee and had the clearest thought of his life: I am profoundly unhappy here. Then came the second clearest. Pug packed up his belongings and drove the longest route possible to Chicago. Working as a carpenter by day, the 23 year-old Pug spent nights playing the guitar he hadn’t picked up since his teenage years. Using ideas originally slated for a play he was writing called “Austin Fish,” Pug began creating the sublime lyrical masterpiece that would become the Nation of Heat EP.”

my take: what’s not to love about this guy and his story? the songs will speak for themselves if you give them a listen. personal and well painted stories as you would expect from something that was intended to be a play. the recordings are good, but live seems to be his wheel house (then again i might always feel that way). a little dylan, a little ben lee, a little tim easton and a whole lot of joe pug. i buyin in…

check out: nation of heat, hymn #101, call it what you will (all available on his site, above)

horse feathers:

in other words: “Justin Ringle moved to Portland, Oregon in 2004, and began to play open mics regularly under the moniker Horse Feathers. In 2005 Peter Broderick heard two songs that Justin had recorded in a friend’s basement, and proceeded to track Justin down via the internet. Shortly after that, the two started playing music together. For the most part, Justin writes the songs initially, and then Peter helps to arrange them with varying instrumentation. In the later half of 2006 more people began to join the live show.”

my take: i was lucky enough to be able to catch horse feathers playing a free show right on the banks of the river here in portland. even though they had to compete with noise from all sides, it was something i am really glad i made the trip out for. fantastic arrangements, a whispery voice that draws you in and an attitude that makes you feel lucky to be able to have seen them.

check out: finch on sunday, curs in the weeds