Alexander Tucker

Kentish acoustic balladeer Alexander Tucker has been gradually making his name as a purveyor of what could be described as folktronica or perhaps even - in a pathetically transparent effort to maintain ever more spurious genres - countrytronica. With two albums released through ATP/Recordings, Old Fog (2005, from which Hag Stones is taken) and Furrowed Brow (2006).

Hag Stones is typical of Tucker's looped open-string and detuned acoustic style. Layered over this country-tinged finger picking and strumming are distant droning vocals and occasional bursts of blissed noise. On record, this is comparatively polite, but live, one man and his army of effects combine to create an ear-splitting, often highly improvised wall of noise. I recommend witnessing one of his sets very highly (and for anyone living in southwest England, he is playing at the ATP festival, 18th May in Minehead).

Tucker is also a visual artist, creating artwork for all of his album covers and side projects, including ongoing drawings and comic artwork for 'Sturgeon White Moss' (White Moss Press) and the new cover for Nordic doom-master Wolfmangler (Aurora Borealis).

Alexander Tucker - Hag Stones MP3 off of Old Fog (ATP/Recordings, 2005)

Alexander Tucker on myspace

Bacanal Intruder

Bacanal Intruder is a Spanish gentleman by the name of Luis. He plays all of his own musical instruments - piano, melodica, harmonica, spanish guitar, double bass, anything lying around - and records the results into his computer and mashes the results up.

So much electronica released on the net is either repetitive, derivative house or a million and one ambient soundscapes, so it's refreshing and invigorating to hear such lively, imaginative, melodic music, all glitched up into a cocktail of rhythms and harmonies.

Modem is the title track from his release on Zymogen Records, and is an excellent example of his work.

You can download the following EPs:
Modem on Zymogen
Room-A-Tronic on So Soft
Herramientas Para Abrir Un Libro on Test Tube

Tim and Sam's Tim and the Sam Band with Tim and Sam

TaSTatSBwTaS are a guy called Tim and his band, of which there are usually six, none of which are called Sam. When they play live, half the members wear T-Shirts with 'Tim' written on them, no one wears a T-Shirt with 'Sam' written on it. Only one member, Tim, is called Tim. They make instrumental music with acoustic guitars, clarinets, cellos, glockenspeils and ahhhhs. The sound is organic, melodious and, well, cute; kinda like a forest saying goodnight to all the little woodland creatures. In my experience, it's rare to find a band that attempts to channel youthful awkwardness into something so graceful and unashamedly uncool--I think it's great.

I bought this EP from Tim's mum, as she was sat behind a table at the gig. It came with a free teabag. But if you don't live in Manchester, you can grab Tim's self-released three track EP from the myspace. Here's the magnificent title track; enjoy:

Tim and Sam's Tim and the Sam Band with Tim and Sam - Stepping Stones

Diane Cluck

1 of 2 guest posts from Manchester's Slow Joe

Diane Cluck - Countless Times (Important Records 2006)



Firstly, Diane Cluck's 'Countless Times'. Surprisingly, this album has been recorded in a much more low-tech manner than her debut. Her songs are phenomenally good and somehow seem to glide along that edge of doom and angst without ever being overcome by it. Comparisons are easily drawn to Nina Nastasia and Kristin Hersh's solo career, but I think this holds it's own through the quality of the songwriting and the garage atmosphere. The track I've sent is perhaps not the most reflective of the album style, but it's so gripping and strange, I can't stop playing it.

• Diane Cluck - My Teacher Died Mp3
  

Ben Christophers

2 of 2 rapid fire guest posts from Manchester's Slow Joe

Ben Christophers' Viewfinder (Rocketeer 2005)



Also, Ben Christophers' 'Viewfinder'. I've been a fan of Christophers' sly, sideways, wired folk stylings for a long time now. This last album is lacking in both the pop-sensible joie de vie and the brazen bizzarity that previous albums seemed to flit between with abandon. It's also lacking in length, being 38 minutes, a fair chunk of which is filled up with short instrumentals (perhaps this was meant to be an EP?). Though, while this may be down in energy, the result is coherent, sophisticated and even romantic. The variety of genre influences are wild, but they are never beaten into you. This song is definitely one of the more upbeat tracks on the album, but despite the overall laziness, I don't feel that any point in the album falls into anything remotely akin to self-pity.

Hope you like them, have a good one this weekend...

• Ben Christophers - Night Monsters Mp3