Saturday, June 30, 2012

Why wait until the last minute when...

June has been a pretty inactive month for TimbreLeaf. This wasn't intentional, but it also wasn't unintentional. Other corridors of my life have been given much more of my attention lately. What little time I manage to assemble for creativity has been optioned to music projects: one long distance endeavor with a long time dear friend, some local jamming with a newer friend, and some very personal solo acoustic work.

Things have been busy. My dad went in for surgery a couple of weeks ago. This was the second related to the aneurysm that ruptured in his brain last October. I am happy to report that the operation was successful, resulting in an expected increase in his strength, independence, and return of personality traits. Every day I am in awe at how resilient my old man is...he still has so much drive and liveliness in him even after all of this. Seeing and hearing him laugh is an amazing gift that I will never again take for granted.

I also recently celebrated my 31st birthday. I had a small group of friends over and throughout the night I insisted my guests choose vinyl from my collection to spin. I am sure that it was mostly due to my insistence, but they cooperated nonetheless. Here's a sample of selections from the evening: Jethro Tull's Stormwatch, Sleepy Sun's Embrace, Fleet Foxes' Helplessness Blues, Do Make Say Think's Winter Hymn Country Hymn Secret Hymn, An American Prayer, some random Polish polka, and Jethro Tull's Songs From The Wood.

Last night I spent some time exploring new music (well...new to me anyhow). It was the first time in a long while that I had actually dedicated time for doing just that. It was quite a fruitful evening as I stumbled upon a few things that may eventually find their way to TimbreLeaf. For now I'll leave you with a track from Seattle's Anhedonist, whom I've discovered thanks to the dangerously fantastic blog that is OMG Vinyl. Hearing this was a reminder and a beckoning - long has it been since I've delved wholeheartedly into this sort of dark and powerful music...and long has it been since I've allowed music to flourish in my heart the way I once had. It is time for me to nourish what I can no longer ignore.

PS ~ You may have noticed the incredible new TimbreLeaf logo above the blog archive. This was created by the exquisitely lovely and talented Rosemary of Rosemud.

Friday, June 29, 2012

The Thing V

The fifth Thing In The Spring came to a close the afternoon of Sunday June 10 with a very special set. To the surprise of many, Death To Tyrants had announced earlier this year that they would be performing a reunion show. I was disheartened when I realized that I was not going to be able to attend. Imagine my delight when their name appeared on the bill for this year's Thing. I'm extremely happy to have had a second chance and it was the perfect ending to an amazing art-filled weekend.

The festival kicked off June 8th at Peterborough Town Hall. The Town Hall's auditorium was the perfect step up as a venue for The Thing, featuring a large stage and ample space for seating, dancing, mingling, and merch. Later that evening entertainment moved down the street to Harlow's Pub for a late night dance party DJ'd by Redwing Blackbird's own Austin Wright. Saturday afternoon simultaneously featured both *broke: The Affordable Arts Fair and a Jem Cohen film marathon presented by The MacDowell Colony. In the evening we were graced with not 1 but 2 shows: one at the town hall, and the other at Harlow's Pub. If, miraculously, you managed to get up and out of bed Sunday morning Harlow's also featured a farm breakfast with cartoons - a mellow appetizer for the afternoon's grand finale.

Needless to say I was pretty spent by sundown Sunday evening. I relaxed at home reflecting on the festival, feeling refreshed and inspired to create. It sometimes just seems too good to be true to have such a rich art scene here in the Monadnock region, and even more so that every year we get to experience the showcase of talent that is The Thing In The Spring. I certainly never take it for granted.

I've deliberately chosen not to go into depth about each artist/band in this year's Thing post...there'd just be too much to squeeze in. Instead I'll let the music speak for itself. I have selected a single track from my bootleg of each indoor set. These tracks were recorded with a pocket voice recorder and thus are very raw, providing a fly-on-the-wall experience; don't expect sonic clarity, but instead let each track convey the atmosphere and energy of each performance. Accompanying each is a photograph by Elisabeth Fuchsia (her full set of photographs from The Thing can be found here). In some of the shots you can get a glimpse of Luke Ramsey's artwork as the backdrop for the main stage. Enjoy!

Friday - 01 - Mmoss
mmoss


Friday - 02 - Daniel Higgs
daniel higgs


Friday - 03 - Woods
woods


Saturday - 04 - PG Six
DSC_7510


Saturday - 05 - Brown Bird
brown bird


Saturday - 06 - Nina Nastasia
nina nastasia


Saturday - 07 - Mail The Horse
mail the horse


Saturday - 08 - Coke Weed
coke weed


Sunday - 09 - Red Sled Choir
red sled choir


Sunday - 10 - Death To Tyrants
death to tyrants


Personally, my highlights were the centering and spiritual experience that is Daniel Higgs, the foot-stomping swampy sounds of Brown Bird, and the intense instrumentals of Death To Tyrants. My utmost thanks and appreciation go out to Eric and Mary Gagne, all of the contributing artists, and everyone who helped put this together. Thank you all for a fun and truly memorable NH weekend!