Rock Torch

Matt Pond carries a torch for Neil Young

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Matt Pond and Neil Young

Matt Pond and Neil Young

Matt Pond’s recommendation: “Neil Young gets me going. It seems as if he has no choice in the matter of music. He has to make it to be alive. I would very much appreciate being catapulted in his direction.”

New to Neil Young? Matt Pond recommends you start here: “Start with Tonight’s the Night. I can’t think of an album more imperfectly perfect. The performances push against everything orthodox. The voices scrape and scratch apart all the right words. The guitars are brittle and broken. And yet everything that could be perceived as a mistake somehow makes sense. Honestly, the lines between music, art and feeling become indistinguishable… If you want to laugh at my words, you’re fully invited.

You really can’t go wrong with After the Gold Rush, Chrome Dreams or Harvest, either.

A Man Needs a Maid is probably the most misunderstood and elegant
self-deprecation song written. After my catapult crash-landing, I wouldn’t mind being sweetly buried in it’s orchestration.”

Matt PondAbout the guest author, Matt Pond: The Matt Pond PA group burst on to the music scene in 1998 when they won an unsigned band competition on CDNow (remember that site?). Since then, this Philadelphia-moved-to-Brooklyn outfit has opened for the likes of Ted Leo and the Pharmacists, Liz Phair and Keane and most recently has released the lovely The Dark Leaves collection, an indie record that can competitively sit next to one of your Wilco selections in your CD carousel. Check their official web page for tour dates.


Ruth Gerson carries a torch for Nick Cave

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Ruth Gerson and Nick Cave

Ruth Gerson and Nick Cave

Ruth Gerson’s recommendation: “Nick Cave is as important in every way as William Butler Yeats. His work is influential to so many different kinds of musicians and writers. As much as what he says in his songs, what is expressed in his voice when he sings them is what makes his work poetry – fully realized off the page. It is the joining of the words, the melody and the voice that sings them.”

New to Nick Cave? Ruth Gerson recommends you start here: “There are so many, but I love Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds’, The Boatman’s Call. Personally, if I had one album to be on an island with – it would be this one. As a teacher, as well, it is of the first albums I make my students listen to and study.”

Ruth GersonAbout the guest author, Ruth Gerson: Ruth Gerson hints above that she’s a teacher, but what kind of teacher hands Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds CDs out to their students? A damn cool one, I’d say. Ruth is the founder of San Francisco Vocal Coaching but she is also on the verge of breaking out big with her own solo career. She’s opened for The Dave Matthews Band and has six albums in her catalog. Her new album, “This Can’t Be My Life” will be released on July 20 and has already been called by Paul Freeman of Palo Alto’s Daily News a ‘pop-rock masterpiece.’ Do we have your attention yet? Find out more about Ruth Gerson on her official website.


Finn Andrews of The Veils carries a torch for Arvo Pärt

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Finn Andrews of The Veils and Arvo Pärt

Finn Andrews and Arvo Pärt

Finn Andrews’ recommendation: “I remember the first CD I ever picked up and inspected was Arvo Pärt’s Tabula Rasa – to be honest I was more into Michael Jackson and The Time, but my mum and dad played Arvo all the time and I remember thinking how it sounded like the most ancient thing I’d ever heard. I used to make weird little movies as a kid and just wander around my mum’s house filming the bookshelves for ages and Arvo was always the soundtrack. It just made sense.

It pisses me off when mid-paced Indie bands say stuff like “Coltrane was our primary influence” so I’m keen to avoid sounding like that by name dropping a classical artist. I figure I get around this because a) we ain’t no mid-paced Indie band and b) though Arvo is technically ‘Classical’ he has never sounded specifically ‘Classical’ to me. You can hear elements of him in some of Brain Eno’s self generative stuff, and in The Arcade Fire, and in our stuff too. There’s a great little interview that Björk did with him (also one of the great Umlaut faceoffs) where she says his music reminds her of Pinocchio and the cricket and he agrees and says his music is always a call and response between his sins and a kind of divine conscience. I really liked that and man oh man that’s exactly how it sounds.”

Find out more about the Arvo Pärt.

New to Arvo Pärt? Start here: “Start with Arvo Pärt’s Tabula Rasa. It might just be the most stirring Estonian neo-classical fever dream you ever experience.”

Finn Andrews of The VeilsAbout the guest author, Finn Andrews: Finn is the son of Barry Andrews, the keyboard player for XTC. Finn’s own band, The Veils, most recently put out Sun Gangs, a collection that Drowned in Sound hailed as, “…the most compelling chapter in The Veils story yet.” The Veils’ website shows that the band toured in early 2010 (New York Magazine said of their show, “The combination on that stage is magical and a sight not to be missed”) and are now recording a new album. Be on the look out for that as its sure to be another strong offering from the band that is clearly on its way to getting a bigger buzz.

MP3 Audio recorded by Finn between tours in 2009: Turn From The Rain


Hutch Harris of The Thermals carries a torch for Kim Deal

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Hutch Harris and Kim Deal

Hutch Harris and Kim Deal

Hutch Harris’ recommendation: “Kim Deal is definitely my number one inspiration/role model/crush, and she has been almost as long as I’ve been playing guitar and writing songs. Not only was she a member of The Pixies, the group whose records serve as the bible for alternative rock, but she created one of my favorite bands of all time, The Breeders! I’ve had the pleasure to meet Kim Deal on a few occasions, and she was always incredibly friendly and down to earth. One time at a Breeders show she was just hanging out at the merch table, free to talk with any fans who wanted to bug her. I couldn’t fucking believe it! An amazing musician/songwriter and a total sweetheart/babe. She’s got it all!”

New to Kim Deal and The Breeders? Start here: “Pod and Last Splash were both hugely influential records for me. Besides blowing my young, stoned teenage mind on daily basis, these records showed me that songs could be very simple and still convey complex ideas and emotions. These records are rudimentary, but textured and psychedelic in a very modern (90’s) kind of way. Last Splash is obviously one of the best records of the 90’s, and defines that entire era for me. Not as serious as Nevermind, not as self-obsessed as Siamese Dream, but rocks as hard as both.”

Listen to a track from the album:

About the guest author, Hutch Harris: Hutch is the frontman for The Thermals, an indie rock group from Portland, Oregon. Their first offering, More Parts Per Million, was mixed from Death Cab For Cutie’s Chris Walla (who is set to produce their upcoming album). They are now in support of their Breederish collection, Now We Can See.
Check the official Thermals site for developments on their new album and tour dates.


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