Drapeaux Rouges Des Enfants Perdus

“Bullshit Love” by Scott Rudd

from Lonely Life, self-released in 2010

I chose “Bullshit Love” because it stuck out so prominently as the single track most noticeably different from the rest of the album. Singles of this nature are often the most fun to present as introductions to a new artist, purely because they direct the mind in one direction, only to be more significantly shifted upon experiencing the entire record; it’s a misdirection, a (slightly-misleading) fragment removed from context, which creates expectations that are often defied. In this particular case, the “payoff” from the record as a whole is incredible; Lonely Life is a gorgeous piece, one that deserves patience and solitary listening. Scott Rudd is a New York musician (often boxed into that city’s anti-folk movement), and its exactly there that I imagine myself when I listen to this record: in Alphabet City, wandering on a grey, delving day, alone in search of something intangible; lonely in a crowd of millions.

When asked about the song, Scott answered with what felt like common sense: “At the time I had just gotten out of a long term relationship and I had a lot of things floating around in my head. I think that song is really just about my frustrations with looking for love, finding love and losing love.”

Scott Rudd is also a photographer whose work I admire (LOOK).

Here’s a collection of demos he recorded in 2011:

He also emerged for the first time this year to release a new single last month:

“Kill Our Friends” by Joe Sampson

from Kill Our Friends (2012), released on Fellow Creature Recordings

I have met some truly beautiful people since I moved to Denver. Among them are the family that surrounds Nathaniel Rateliff, several of whom will be featured soon and some of whom are involved in the currently featured album: Joe is an old friend and collaborator of Nathaniel, and Fellow Creature Recordings was co-started by Nathaniel’s (lovely) wife, Jules. To tie it all together, the song itself features Nathaniel on back vocals (as it is often performed live (see below)). I only share this information because I feel guilty; I feel guilty for not featuring more of my Denver friends, family and local acquaintances, for not highlighting the great poetics that I sometimes take for granted. So, from here on out, I promise to fill more space with Colorado artists, past, present, and future.

Joe, as a poet, is as fierce as he is mischievous. This is the same way I might describe him as a human being, but with the addition of an ever-present grin. He is a warm-hearted man who has always shown Erika and I an overwhelming amount of welcoming kindness (no matter how little we may actually know eachother), and for that I am unspokenly grateful.

I wish the record was on Bandcamp, so I could share it; regardless, I highly recommend heading over to Fellow Creature and grabbing yourself a copy.

UPDATE: An amazing woman named Jaimie was kind enough to host the entire album on Tumblr. Thank you, Jaimie! We love you dearly! [LISTEN HERE]

“No More” by Changing Colors

from Ghost Of Red Mountain, released on Blank Tape Records

I met Conor Bourgal at my very first show upon arriving in Colorado; He and his twin brother Ian we’re opening up for Mimicking Birds at the Black Sheep in Colorado Springs. Conor was kind, soft-spoken and generous, taking the time to write down an overflowing list of Colorado musicians to investigate. He also gave me his e-mail, and allowed me access to the family of musicians that is Pueblo, CO’s Blank Tape Records.

After the show, we all piled into the green room below the venue and smoked weed together, my friends and I, The Changing Colors, Mimicking Birds, and Nate Lacy’s amazing aunt. We spoke of music, travel, love and loss, and it turned out to be the most overwhelmingly warm introduction to a new home I’ve ever had the good fortune to receive. Thank you, Conor. Thank you to everyone who was present that evening. Colorado is truly my home now.

This song, which closes out the album, is, by far, the shortest (both for the album itself, and for this zine). It is easily the most effecting single minute of music I’ve ever presented.

“Sing Me A Reprise” by Hip Hatchet

from Joy and Better Days (2012)

Joy and Better Days is a sopping, heavy affair. It drips with longing and growls with a hunger for something else.

Hip Hatchet is the project of Philippe Bronchtein. He recorded this album in The Map Room in Portland, Oregon.

This album has left my chest hollow and my throat dry. These are thoughts and facts.

Leaving Home ain’t pleasant
the road can be cold and cruel
when all that you’ve learned is present
in these familiar rooms

and I have been feeling distant
from the friends i’ve learned to love
i crave the comfort of transition
and a car covered in rust

Your eyes are facing down
your feet are planted firmly in the ground
you’re thinking about how
she left you standing there in your mother’s house

and you’re waiting for the fall
and nothing that you do will help at all
the cold will settle in
both your hands will crack and your eyes will sting.

what’s unknown is beautiful
when what we live ain’t new
but the warmth of other women
just ain’t as warm as you

sing me a reprise
that i know as well as home
delivered with the guilty comfort
of drinking all alone

I have a friend, a brother
with a vision of the west
we’ll trade the coasts together
and leave its for the best

My feet are moving now
away from the place where she taught me how
to love her with my mouth
and drive myself into the ground

I’m waiting for the fall
nothing that i do will help at all
the cold will settle in
both my hands will crack and my eyes will sting

“Lady, I” by Samuel Lockridge

from his self-released When I Rise (2012)

“Is it too early to talk about the best album of the year?

Yes, it absolutely is.

But this is one worth remembering. I can safely say that.”

That’s what I originally wrote, before saving it as a draft. I still mostly agree. The album is really good, but I secretly hope that this isn’t the single highest peak of music in 2012. What a gorgeous single though…

Also, (and let me preface by apologizing for being that fucking guy), doesn’t the poetic cadence and chord movement of “Hangman” strongly resemble that of Leonard Cohen’s “Hey, That’s No Way To Say Goodbye”? Does anyone else hear that? Am I an asshole for simply asking?

Nomads, Pilgrims (2010)

“Charlie” by Town Hall

from their self-released Sticky Notes & Paper Scraps

Brooklyn folk. Haven’t had much of that recently. I like it.

Town is hall is comprised of somewhere between 3 or 15 people. I’m not sure. [EDIT: 3 people, definitively.]

she looks like an angel in a cloudy cradle

passed out on the bed in your room

your sweet little darling

all she knows is falling

down the stairs or in love

so Charlie got a tattoo on his wrist

hoping she’d stay there like his skin

and I’m dying to know if I could win

with a heart like hers

she looks like Diana with a leopard in her hands

as she leaves holding all of her laundry

your sweet little moon beam

all she knows is moving

down the street

or in her sleep

so Charlie got a tattoo on his wrist

hoping she’d stay there like his skin

and I’m dying to know if I could win

with a heart like hers

she looks like an actress in her yellow sundress

as she smashes the bugs in her apartment

your sweet little lady

all she knows is fading

like a t-shirt

or a friend

so Charlie got a tattoo on his wrist

hoping she’d stay there like his skin

and I’m dying to know if I could win

with a heart like hers

I wrote this a while back and forgot about it. When I came back to it, I found that they’ve released a new full length (that shares a few songs, but is a noticeably “louder” album). Here you go:

Roots & Bells (2012)

“Margaret” by Every Atlas

from Burn Down the Forests! Bleed Out the Oceans! The Deserts and Canyons Will Sing

Californian 4-piece. They seem to constantly, in all forms of press, compare themselves with Bright Eyes and Manchester Orchestra. I always find it strange when artists (not labels, managers, PR teams etc.) openly compare themselves to other, more “famous”, artists. I don’t know why this bothers me, but it does. Regardless, the comparisons are warranted. I get it; I think their work is gorgeous, their poetics sharp. I hope you don’t misinterpret cultural analysis for under-appreciation.

Listen to Every Atlas slowly; give each word, each note, time to bloom. Once this album has shaped a garden, I’ve provided additional work by them below.

Margaret was such a beautiful woman
I was a tired old man
We married in June of last year by the ocean
and danced to our favorite bands
But I broke her heart just the same
From the balcony she’s calling my name
I can’t hear her through the glass

Margaret was a wife so loyal and caring
I cheated, I stole and I lied
And she tried to break down my walls and my barriers
Her love for me she could not hide
But I took her heart for a fool
A joke so ungrateful and cruel
And I’m an undeserving man

I was a piss poor excuse for a husband
She waited on my hands and feet
And I was an arrogant, selfish old bastard
Who could never once thank her for a single good deed
But she showed me love just the same
Always made sure that I was okay
And I deserve to die

So why of all people would you want my pity?
I’ve learned from the things I’ve done wrong, but I’m ashamed
Your love is a bottomless bottle that’s empty
I think you could fill it back up if you’d kiss me the same

Margaret I miss you to death
So to you it’s my sins I confess
and Margaret if you’d come home

I swear that I’ll change
I swear that I’ll change
I swear that I’ll change
Margaret I swear that I’ve changed

Big Bad Wolf EP (2010)

The Ghosts of Everyone (2009)

“Bridges” by Holy Spirits

from The Afternoon’s Blood, released on Kassette Klub

A lot of Kassette Klub stuff recently. I think it’s a good thing.

I picked a single for the sake of the zine’s continuous mixtape. The song is different from, yet perfectly in line with, the rest of the EP. The video, a handmade motion-collage made from 40-year old magazines, is below

I really wanted to publish The Afternoon’s Blood in it’s entirety, and have below. This is easily one of the most depressingly-overlooked EPs I’ve heard in the past few years.

That having been said, Holy Spirits has official broken up. So, enjoy this one.