Ghosts Never Die And Neither Will You!

I’m not sure if everyone knows, but Isaac of Blanketarms, Isaac Arms, The Spooky Ghosts, and the man behind the beloved Pop Monster Collective has called it quits. While I am deeply saddened we all do what we need to do and I’m just happy Isaac is letting the legacy live on by allowing us to post the entire discography onto CLLCT.com (or as much as possible). Today I personally put up Blanketarms’s masterful double album Sweet & Sour along with their side of the activist-minded One Small Fist split. I also put up Isaac’s solo record that I won’t shut up about. Russ of Tinyfolk is also working on uploading more material and if any of you have something that we might not have let us know!

I like to talk about how I got into lo-fi music a lot lately (or at least the events behind it) and I just remember Blanketarms being one of the first bands I listened to. The first song I heard was “Heartbreaker,” the version off of their tour CD-R (anyone have the entire disc?). I was transformed completely and utterly forever. I never heard something so raw, so honest and so unexpected. From that moment I had to find more. I was freshman in college and I was vulnerable and open and I wanted to consume everything lo-fi; luckily Pop Monster Collective was right around the corner. I immediately started snatching up records from Blanketarms, Tinyfolk, Real Live Tigers, Super Famicom, Jon Crocker; you name it I was listening to it. And not just Pop Monster either, but I would follow myspace top 8s to get to any artists that sounded like the perfect fit.

It wasn’t just about listening to all these wonderful artists, but it was about the spirit of DIY and how it didn’t matter if your guitar was a twenty-five dollar toy guitar, if it was broken, or if it was a thousand bucks. You could record your songs on cassettes using headphones, using iPod mics, or even the recording device that comes with windows; it didn’t matter. For the first time in my life I knew that if I made music someone would listen because in this community everyone was willing to give you a chance.

I mean I can honestly say that my entire train of thought was effectively altered forever because of Blanketarms, Pop Monster Collective, and all of you fine folks out there doing what you love no matter what. I grew up in place where most people had ZERO passion and suddenly discovering so many people who cared deeply about what they were doing inspired me to become a more driven and confident person.

So what I do is for all of you. I want to make Isaac proud, Pop Monster proud and all of you proud of what I do, you do, what we did, what we do and what we will do. We are all artists and no matter what, we always will be.

The legacy of Pop Monster Collective will never die and I suggest for those uninitiated check out every artist that was a part of that family.

Mp3s:
Blanketarms-“Heartbreaker (Unripe Version)”
Isaac Arms-“Us Vs. Stuff”
Real Live Tigers-“No Regrets”
Tinyfolk-“Dear Apollo”
Rambling Nicholas Heron-“Only This And Nothing More”
The Spooky Ghosts-“Ghoul's Night Out”
Super Famicom-“I Evaporate”
LA Beard Club-“ Harder Than It Has to Be”

Links:
The Pop Monster Collective site
Pop Monster on myspace
CLLCT.com where the legacy lives on!

Blanketarms-"Ya Basta!"

Get up and out of bed and in your car and off to work

Complain cuz greatness passed and you're just stuck with common jerks

So you've been lost so long just like a cog it's not the end

And it won't kill you to destroy yourself and start again

But I refuse to believe that no one gives a shit

And I think we, we watch ourselves sink

Just because we're used to it

You know how nacho cheese it gets real stiff when you let it sit

Well I think your eyes are pale

And your soul is stale cuz you don't do shit

Just ride a bike or read a book or send a letter home

Or build a new friendship cuz we weren't meant to be alone

But I refuse to believe that no one gives a shit

And I think we, we watch ourselves sink

Just because we've given up

But enough is enough

Rambling Nicholas Heron: Here In Dreamland (2007)

I was really excited for this release. Mailed quick by the lovely folks at Valiant Death Records, Rambling Nicholas Heron’s new record Here In Dreamland arrived in my mailbox just before Christmas. And what a lovely gift this album is. Rambling Nicholas Heron and his band hail from Sweden and make confident, smart and tender music. I feel like he could be an old friend of mine and whenever I listen I get flashes of my time spent in mainland Europe. Not the museums or the big cities, but the rolling green hills with snow-capped mountains in the back with embedded castles are what I imagine while listening to this amazing folk-pop album.

“Pillow Book” immediately struck me and is somewhat unlike my previous signifiers. Driven by a samba-esque rhythm this song takes an attitude like “Like A Rolling Stone,” only appears more subversive. Lines like, “Since that morning I’ve been yearning to live/In that moment forever/Julie and sleepy/In truth that’s the way that I am/Only you wouldn’t know/And never have guessed it,” fall back and forth deceptively from biting to beautiful.

“As If I Didn’t Know It” is a song that is right on the edge of falling apart. The vocals are almost above their range, a pan flute sounds half broken and the beat is almost just a bit off, but it fits the theme of the song very well. Rambling Nicholas recalls very relatable experiences of when we choose ignorance because we just do. “I turned to writing on my walls/Pretending I was a master poet/William Blake I wasn’t/But I acted as if I didn’t know it/As if I didn’t know it,” are probably my favorite lines on the record and really capture one aspect of Rambling Nicholas Heron very well. So does the song fall apart in the end? Yes, but in a bed of laughter and a bit of call and response that’ll make you smile.

This album is chock full of great instrumentals, but the two intermezzos “Passing Time” and “Precious Things” are sublime bits of old-timey European comfort.

Being in the midst of my Carpenters obsession, hearing “Only Yesterday” on Here In Dreamland was a wonderful surprise. I spoke with him on the difficulties of singing their songs (Karen’s voice is something to behold) and Rambling Nicholas manages to pull it off well...Much better than I can that’s for sure.

“Born to Sleep in the Sun” is the sound of pure ukulele bliss and that’s all there is to it.

Here In Dreamland ebbs and flows quite wonderfully and when I listen to it I became more serene during those fifteen tracks. It might be because of Rambling Nicholas Heron’s soothing vocals or the abundance of instrumentals or the confidence in the lyrics; either way Here In Dreamland is a pleasant, warm and rewarding experience many many times over.

Mp3:
Rambling Nicholas Heron-“As If I Didn’t Know It”

Links:
Rambling Nicholas Heron on myspace
Order the album from Valiant Death Records

Mp3 of the Week: “Only This and Nothing More” by Rambling Nicholas Heron

I first heard of him through the Pop Monster Collective sampler cd I received when I bought Tinyfolk’s Bill. Only now did I find that sampler again and the first song to play was Rambling Nicholas Heron’s “Only This and Nothing More.” It starts up with a very simple bass line then jumps into a very sweet song. His voice is smooth and soulful with an adorable Swedish (I believe) accent. I don’t know what it is about this song, but I feel safe and happy. An accordion/melodica adds to the foreign pop vibe that I am really digging right now. The song is more importantly available on his new record Snug And Cozy Like Before off of Pop Monster Collective. I just ordered it a few days ago and I can’t wait to fall in love with it.

For now enjoy the song and as a bonus watch this cute music of the song as well.



Mp3:
Rambling Nicholas Heron-"Only This and Nothing More"

Links:
Rambling Nicholas Heron on myspace
Pop Monster Collective