The Indie Anthology 2: essential songs

For my second choice of this peculiar and very personal anthology, a classic. And if you allow me, with a familiar note. A little homage after a tough day at the hospital.

Song: Something On Your Mind
Artist: Karen Dalton 
Year: 1971

Revivalist movements have something good. Sure, there's a lot of copy and "jumping on the bandwagon" of the successful trend, but aside the (very few) good new bands, it makes you recover a lost gem you hadn't heard in ages. That was the case with the neofolk revivalist movement, that brought us back the amazing Karen Dalton.
Well, honestly, Dalton was not really "recovered". It is fair to say she was mostly ignored in her own time. But on a personal level, my father (can't remember exactly where) had this incredible song. Thanks to a proper and deserved remaster of her work in 2006, the tune now has passed to the son.
In his wonderful memories "Chronicles", Bob Dylan referred to Dalton as her favourite singer in the early 60s among the folk troubadours of Greenwich Village, comparing her voice to Billie Holiday's and her guitar style to Jimmy Reed. Her destiny was tragic, releasing only two albums. The debut "It’s so Hard to Tell Who’s Gonna Love You Best”, thanks to Neil Young, in 1969, and, "In My Own Time", in 1971, after being completely forgotten, just to be found dead in the early 90s on the streets of NY, sick and addicted.
Yes, Dalton was a singer and not a composer. But what a singer she was. And yes, "In Your Own Time", the album that opens with "Something On Your Mind" is a collection of covers. But what an incredible collection of covers. What an interpretation. What a magnificent marriage between her vocal warmth with the eternal, extraordinary melody, folk with jazz echoes, sublime, ethereal, celestial. Seems suspended on air.

Dedicated to my father

Discoverer 21: new indie findings

Back with the weekly proposals!

Elephant Stone. Checking the great Indiecater label, I heard the song "Bombs Bomb Away", and then "I Am Blind", that blow me out. What a discovery! This band comes from Montreal (thanks again, Canada!), leaded by Rishi Dhir. In 2009 they debuted with the stunning album "The Seven Seas", nominated for a Polaris Music Prize. They returned with "The Glass Box" EP in 2010, and  seems we'll have more tunes soon. That would be a blessing, because Rishi and co. are goldmisth genius of indie-pop song. From jangle to power-pop, sometimes with an Indian feel, they offer music gems. Absolute must.

Red Shoe Diaries. Since July we can enjoy "When I Find My Heart", second EP from this five-piece band hailing from Nottingham, UK. After a very well received self-released debut EP, gigs along The Wave Pictures, A Sunny Day in Glasgow or Nouvelle Vague, and playing festivals like the great Indietracks in 2010, the time has come for the Diaries to gather the attention they deserve. Because is hard to find such a perfect collection of indiepop gems. Classic, sophisticated, with a scent of epic and literary skills. It has MASTERPIECE written all over it. Run to grab your (limited) copy!

We Are Trees. James Nee and Josiah Schlater come from Virginia, USA. In July 2010 released their first EP, "Boyfriend", but their sophomore effort, "Girlfriend", out since March, is the one catching the blogosphere attention. Whispering voices, lo-fi acoustics predominates, and with the help of cello and violin, the duo creates a peculiar, intriguing, hazy neofolk that sometimes evolves to indie-rock territory (check the glorious "I Don't Believe In Love").  Reviewers compare them with Grizzly Bear mixed with Guided By Voices or Fleet Foxes. I prefer to say they have a unique and exciting voice of their own. Listen. Have your say. You won't regret it.