A few days ago I was in the Amoeba Buyer's office when I noticed a retail bag with the artwork from the new Calexico album, Carried To Dust on it. It is the artwork of one of my favorite artists, Victor Gastelum, who I have written about in the past. After I stopped gawking at the bag and remarking how cool it was, I noticed there was something familiar about it. I went on with my work and didn’t think much of it after that.

Saturday was the opening of Victor’s new show, Xacto Mundo, at Overtones Gallery in Venice. I went to the opening party and it was really fun and nostalgic. I saw many old friends from back in the early 90’s from Long Beach & San Pedro, most that I hadn’t seen in a quite some time. After reminiscing about old times with that crew, I looked at that same piece, now framed and on the wall of the gallery. Then it hit me. It made me love the new artwork for Carried To Dust even more.

I took some shots of Victor’s pieces. Unfortunately, my crappy photography skills do not do the artwork justice, so go check it out yourself.

Continue reading

First find on the dock: This has been waiting in the wings for some time, in fact, it’s a little bit of a redo, as it’s a title I championed a few years ago in the Music We Like book. I‘ll take this opportunity to expand my earlier opinion.

Tracker - Ames  (Film Guerrero)

Tracker is, basically, a guy from Portland, OR named John Askew (not to be confused with the DJ of the same name) and whoever he collects around him when he’s ready to record and tour. This was the first album from 1999 and is almost completely played by Askew with some help from friends Adam Selzer (Norfolk & Western) and Erik Herzog (Buellton). I bought it solely on the strength of the album art and the weakness of the price tag. Thus, I was doubly rewarded.

In a number of ways there are similarities to the dynamics of Jason Molina’s Songs:Ohia/Magnolia Electric Company projects. Both are the aggregates of a single man’s songwriting and organizational vision. Both have an undeniably roots Americana base, but with a lot of layering, whether it’s voices, samples of classical music or electronic textures hazing around simple plucked banjo lines. Like Molina, Askew writes extremely strong melodies, and couples them with thoughtful and often mystifying lyrics.

The charm of Ames is due largely to its lack of self-seriousness. Askew lets a breath of ease into his writing and production. “Evan’s Getting It Together” is driven with some lazy and seemingly living-room recorded handclaps that work perfectly to prove that, as beautiful and lush as the songs here sometimes get, they are being played by some guys who are just trying to make some cool songs that get into your head. In fact, some of the song transitions (and there is a lot of ambient connective tissue) remind me of the great also-overlooked Purple Blue by Eric’s Trip, another group of dudes (and a dudette) who were just trying to make some cool songs.

Continue reading