Tiger Saw and Castanets

The songs of Ray Raposa mean so much more when you hear them too loud in a small lounge filled with dope smokers and summer innuendo.


On disc it's all often too dense, too much to comprehend beyond that voice and some instruments trying to reach you. Alone, with no drums, no harmonica Raposa becomes more emotionally credible.
The other night at a suburban cafe he played some of his songs and it doesn't particularly matter which ones I heard. He writes like Johnny Cash, only some things interest him - Raposa isn't a man of cars or politics. He'd much prefer to talk of ache and occurrence.


Listen to On Beginning for both.
"Dreams of something unending ... be straight with me, I'll be straight, straight with you."
His voice rolls over the gentlest of electronic swirls and a guitar so purposely gothic it could want you to know nothing else.
It matters that he shares his all-over sun burn after arriving in Australia a week before, it matters that he asks someone, anyone if they happen to have a guitar strap in their pocket. And then he plays without one, and without shoes.


The whole too loud thing is completely necessary. Each syllable of the very good lyrics pierce, each rough riding riff becomes a sort of wild horse coming onward, not something you want to dodge or control - a moment to just be attacked and stampeded by the unexpected noises.


Castanets is a request taking vendor but offers only "you motherfucker" in response to the one coming from the back, seems it's too difficult with only a guitar and four pedals to choose from.


A little before this a little band from Maine made me smile. Tiger Saw are quietly extraordinary. 100 plus members in a decade have said hello and goodbye. A book and a long discography come from it. If you can do more than nominate who exactly was playing the other night please let me know.
The songs at the moment are gentle, joyous and anthemic. Moments of singalong, times of almost silence and little crescendos.

Yeah, We're in a Band.

A 2009 Longlist

Here is some albums to consider for a list of the finest in 2009.

WILCO - Wilco
YEAH YEAH YEAHS - Its Blitz
THE ANTLERS - Hospice
PARALLEL LIONS - Holding Patterns
THE MOUNTAIN GOATS - The Life of the World to Come
MUSE - The Resistance
MEWITHOUTYOU - It's all crazy! It's all false! It's all a dream! It's alright!
ENTER SHIKARI - Common Dreads
ANTONY AND THE JOHNSONS - The Crying Light
CASTANETS - Texas Rose, The Thaw and The Beasts
AND YOU WILL KNOW US BY THE TRAIL OF DEAD - Century of Self
SUFJAN STEVENS - BQE
THRICE - Beggars
THEM CROOKED VULTURES - Them Crooked Vultures
BENJAMIN GIBBARD AND JAY FARRAR - One Fast Move Or I'm Gone
THE DECEMBERISTS - The Hazards of Love

It's understandable, they come from Adelaide

Coerce: a raw punk quartet from the South Australian capital, Adelaide.

Press release says something about Refused and At the Drive-In, should also mention lots about The Nation Blue but widely assumed critics no nothing so we won't mention colleagues.
Trance, Viper, Dance provides a roughshod introduction and yeah, you can hear yourself a whole bunch of ATDI, Cedric style screaming, some gang vocals and a rhythm section a little too in lock step.

The dude who sings (information is hard to come by) shreds successfully but it's the bands guitarist that makes this debut interesting. There are different tones from song-to-song and there's a willingness to adventure into more than just black and white. Different shades permeate songs like the dark title track, Silver Tongued Life Licker.

The 45 odd minutes here is best described as a ride on The Ghost Train at Luna Park followed by four and three quarter pots at the Espy. It's fun, rowdy, sometimes edging towards chaos and mostly good times.