Tom Eaton

The whole season is a shot of fresh oxygen, where trees and grasses remember life before they dozed off a few months back, birds and wind delight in frivolous movements, and waking up in the morning is a whole lot easier (unless, of course, your relationship with pollen is compromised). Wouldn’t our New Year’s Resolutions have a better chance of success if we made them in the Spring instead of in January?

What do we do in the Spring? Hair-dying? Knot-tying? Potato frying? Lawn-lying? Ankle-sock buying? Get-in-shape trying?

What spring foods do we eat?
What about Spring music?
What Spring spots do we visit?
What Spring spots do we visit whilst whistling a Spring tune in between bites of Spring food?

Read on for some of our favorite springy things…

Michael Kaufmen:

To bring in the spring…Slo-Ro is flexing muscles, working out at LA Fitness which has a mural of San Diego. Cracks him up everytime he is doing his 10 pull ups. Hey, he is working his way up. Don’t you worry. When not working out, he is “crate-digging” at his public library for lovely music of other territories than the U.S. pop flood. He is learning to identify species of birds and energy bars.

Half-handed Cloud:

Sleeping with the windows open.
Swimming in rivers and lakes.
Bike-riding without gloves or long sleeves.

Megan Slaboda:

Spring line of Mamma Made Clothes
LONG WALKS
The warmth of the sun on my face.
Vacations with the ‘Smith’ family

Dan Zimmerman:

a trip to Longwood Gardens, PA
“The Girl from Ipanema” goes walking..
The Notorious Byrd Brothers
“If Dogs Run Free” then why can’t we?
Care for your mower..
Lila Downs,
New Order,
and oh yes,
“The Santa Cruz River Band”
from lovely Tucson Arizona
(see my MySpace)

Christiaan Palladino:

Lamburgers with your best friend.
Piggyback weekends.
Fleet Foxes on repeat in the car.
Car washing.
Kissing my wife.

Lenny Smith:

I think everyone would greatly enjoy doing what I just did last Saturday and two Saturdays before that. I drove, with my three sons, down to the Batsto River in the South Jersey pines. We had a great breakfast and then went off, with our kayaks, down the Batsto River. It was so peaceful and lovely. The whole 7 hour trip we only saw two other boats: two canoes with couples fighting about who can steer better, branches in the face, and something about spiders! Once we got past them (they did say, “Hello.”), we had nothing for the next several hours but peace, beauty, and a quiet joy. The woods really are “lovely, dark and deep.” NOW we get to the best part: Along the way, while my 3 sons were out paddling and laughing ahead of me, I quietly dropped into the cedar water behind my kayak the following things: any memories tormenting me from the past, any hopes for the future robbing me of the joy of the moment, any regrets whatsoever, any thoughts about wars, floods, earthquakes, famines, shootings and the like, any concern about the election, any considerations about possible invasions by aliens or terrorists. Over the side went my over-active mind, my identification with my mind, my propensity to “take” offense, and so much more. Suffice it to say, when I finally got out of the kayak for lunch on the sandy beach, I forgot that I was not a kid anymore. In fact, I really was a kid again and I remembered that I was allowed to be happy! And NOW I AM. There really must be something magical in that cedar water flowing through the South Jersey pines.

Hi All,

An article appeared in the New York Times this weekend called “The Return of the One Man Band” by John Wray. It’s a great article about Final Fantasy, St. Vincent, and Panda Bear (with a brief nod to Sufjan Stevens), but it also had these nice words to say about the great Half-handed Cloud:

“…in the last few years there has been a gravitation from tried-and-true rock paradigms, driven both by boredom with the increasingly threadbare conventions of indie rock and by a sincere, if playful, rediscovery of experimentalists as diverse as Van Dyke Parks and Philip Glass. And it’s no surprise that many of the boldest of these, like Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti, Half-handed Cloud and Ghostband, are essentially one-person projects that don’t require too much consensus about what a song should be.”

Way to go, Mr. Ringhofer!

For the whole article, click here!

We’re here to help you woo!

Featured below is a list of ‘Best Love Songs of All Time’ for Valentine’s Day. So, what are your favorites? Cheesy, poignant, silly, achingly beautiful…whatever you’ve got, bring it on (give us your faves by leaving a comment)!

Take care, folks, and happy Valentine’s Day!

LOVE,

Everyone at Sounds Familyre

Lowell Brams:

‘Andmoreagain‘ from “Forever Changes,” by Love (1967). It’s the prime example of the Love enigma; how could an erratic, drugged- to-the-gills wildman like Arthur Lee write and sing such heartfelt, sensitive love songs, and turn them into classic recordings? I don’t know, but there it is, the song that expressed a love that’s remained with me for forty years- the love, not the person. We tried, but didn’t make it, and neither did the band, which broke up after recording Forever Changes, but the brutal aftermath doesn’t diminish the song’s beauty and the emotions it stirs.”

Ben + Vesper:

“Vesper grooves to ‘Hallelujah‘ by Jeff Buckley, but Ben loves ‘Someday We’ll Be Together‘ by Diana Ross and the Supremes, and ‘Mad About You‘ by Belinda Carlisle. Yes, he’s a softie. He gets all melty when he hears those. Ben also loves ‘Bonnie and Clyde‘ as sung by Bridget Bardot. We remembered that because as we were browsing Belinda Carlisle’s ouevre, we saw that she came out with a version of that song on an _all French_ CD last year!”

John Ringhofer:

“Kenny Loggins & Stevie Nicks: ‘Whenever I Call You “Friend“‘

I don’t know if this 1978 duet is actually a love song or not, but it’s sassy enough to be one. It begins with some false starts, gets soulfully acapella, cycles through some deliciously strange melody twists, displays a vaguely Country chorus (accented by cascading strings), and ends with the obligatory key change. Unless I’m mistaken, I’m pretty sure it’s got Michael McDonald’s falsetto singing “Ever and ever!” right when the tempo jumps a couple notches to the third movement. His suspected involvement at least qualifies it for greatness. The lyrics are kind of hard to decipher, with the possibility of innuendo: “I know forever we’ll be doing it…right.” Oh yeah, and there’s a sax solo. Whatever it is, it’s classic!”

Joshua Stamper:

“Without a doubt, one of the most romantic pieces of music ever written is ‘Ravel’s Piano Concerto in G Major-2nd Movement‘. The piece begins with solo piano, and the central theme is so beautiful it hurts (typically Ravel). About 45 seconds after the the orchestra enters, a sweet chromaticism begins to pervade the piano part, such that harmonies that were straightforward now seem just a bit troubled. The piece continues to unfold with a staggering balance of tension and release, until the end where it resolves sweetly, easily, and gently - how do those guys do that? The result is, to use a hackneyed phrase, breathtaking (hey, it’s Valentine’s Day - I can say ‘breathtaking’). Truly bittersweet. Oh, and it’s in 3/4. Who can resist 3/4?”

Dan Zimmerman:

Doris Day - ‘Secret Love‘
Beatles - ‘And I Love Her‘
Dylan - ‘Love Minus Zero/No Limit‘
Everly Bros. - ‘Let It Be Me‘
J.S. Bach - ‘Sheep May Safely Graze‘

Ken Fabianovicz:

Troggs - ‘Love Is All Around‘
Tom Rapp (of Pearls Before Swine) - ‘Love/Sex‘
Velvet Underground - ‘I Found A Reason‘
Bob Dylan - ‘If Not For You‘
Beach Boys - ‘God Only Knows‘
Delfonics - ‘La La Means I Love You‘
Bread - ‘Baby I’m a Want You‘
Ronettes - ‘Be My Baby ‘
Flamingos - ‘I Only Have Eyes for You‘
Daniel Johnston - ‘True Love Will Find You In The End‘
Glen Campbell - ‘Less of Me‘

Christiaan Pallidino:

Dylan - ‘Love Minus Zero/No Limit‘
Irma Thomas - ‘It’s Raining‘
Nina Simone - ‘Love Me Or Leave Me‘
Biz Markie - ‘Just A Friend‘
Benni Hemm Hemm - ‘I Can Love You In A Wheelchair Baby‘

Ted Velykis:

“My favorite love song has to be ‘When You Need a Laugh‘ by Hank Cochran and made famous by Patsy Cline. I don’t know if it’s just the way Patsy sings it or if the lyrics just touch me somehow - but every single time I hear it I get choked up. Do sad songs count?”

Howdy All,

We thought it would be good to compile a ‘Best of 2007′ list before February hits (when we’re REALLY into 2008). The idea was to list things that were new to us in 2007 (though not necessarily new IN 2007). The list!

Andrew Smith-

Food:
Christos’ Falafel

John Ringhofer-

Music:
- Hansadutta, ‘The Vision’
- Beethoven, ‘Late String Quartets’
- The Motifs, ‘Away’

Books:
- Jason Roberts, A Sense of the World: How a Blind Man Became History’s Greatest Traveler
- Alan Moore, The Watchmen
- Barry Miles, Many Years From Now
- Ellis Jones, The Better World Shopping Guide

Films:
- Robert Bresson, Balthazar
- Bong Joon-ho, The Host

Restaurant:
-Herbivore, now in Berkeley!

Activities:
-Routinely falling asleep to quiet records
-Playing bass for The Curtains
-Sitting on the couch in the morning at the precise moment that sunlight enters the window (favorite)

Dan Zimmerman -

Reading:
- Teilhard de Chardin at the Jersey Shore

Recording:
- with Daniel Smith and other amazing familyre folk

Playing out:
- with Tony Jones and Joshua Stamper

Watching:
- Robin Z’s brilliant kitchen design take shape

Rediscovering:
-cherished Golden Age of American Rock’n'Roll 1954-1963
-Jackson Pollock
-Charles Burchfield and the way my own painting is evolving

-Dylan, always Dylan

Seeing:
- I’m Not There in Princeton with Robin
- first Broadway show (Spamelot) with Robin, Michael, and Elizabeth Z

Talking:
- to Robin about the marvelous memoir writing process

Joshua Stamper -

Music:
- Robert Wyatt, Rock Bottom; Ruth is Stranger Than Richard; Shleep; Cuckooland

Films:
- Thomas Riedelsheimer, Touch the Sound (documentary about percussionist Evelyn Glennie)

Books:
- Anton Chekov, Lady With Lapdog and Other Stories

Food:
- Monk’s Burger
- St. Bernardus Abt. 12

Places:
- Collingswood, NJ

Elin Smith -

Music:
- Margo Guryan

Food:
- Black olives on pizza

Book:
- Vera Henriksen, Dronningsagaen

Yarn:
- Baby Alpaca

Glaze:
- “Metallic Awesomeness”

New friends:
- Josh & Kory

Anita Santiago -

Films:
- Grey Gardens
- Tears of the Black Tiger

Books:
- Andy Warhol, The Philosophy of Andy Warhol

TV:
- Madmen

Online:
- etsy
- wardrobe_remix
- jezebel

Ted Velykis -

Music:
- Calypso music (especially the Lion)
- Pascal Comelade, The Oblique Sessions

Books:
- Lord Berners, A Distant Prospect

Films:
- Marco Ferreri, La Grande Bouffe

Concepts:
- The concept of entrepreneurialiizationalism and it’s sweet reward

Ken Fabianovicz -

Event of the Year:
- The birth of my son.

2nd best event of the year:
- Joshua Stamper joining the Sounds Familyre Famile.

Music (in no particular order):
Robert Wyatt, Comicopera
- Blues Control, Blues Control
- Yeasayer, All Hour Cymbals
- Ben + Vesper, All This Could Kill You
- Dirty Projectors, Rise Above
- Burial, Untrue
- Nick Lowe, At My Age
- Trolleyvox, Your Secret Safe/Luzerne
- Jens Lekman, Night Falls Over Kortedala
- The Return of Siltbreeze Records, Times New Viking; Sapat; Pink Reason
- Von Sudenfed, Tromatic Reflexxions
- Tinariwen, Aman Iman
- Rob Crow, Living Well
- Panda Bear, Person Pitch
- Ortolan (demos)
- Brenda Ray, Walatta
- Wooden Shjips, Wooden Shjips
- Skream, Skream!
- Meg Baird, Dear Companion

Reissues:
- The Return of STAX Records!
- Jim Ford, The Sounds of Our Time
- Bobb Trimble, Iron Curtain Innocence and
Harvest of Dreams-Reissues on Secretly Canadian
- Rhys Chatham, multiple reissues on
Table of the Elements
- Tully, Sea of Joy Soundtrack
- Yatha Sidhra, A Meditation Mass
- Loren Connors, As Roses Bow: Collected Airs 1992-2000
Dorothy Ashby - Rubaiyat of Dorothy Ashby
- Henry Flynt & Nova’ Billy, Henry Flynt & Nova’ Billy
- Richard Crandell, Oregon Hill ; In the Flower of Our Youth
- Keith Hudson, Reissues on Pressure Sounds
- Everything on the Dust-To-Digital label
- Philip Cohran, Singles
- Telegraph Ave, Telegraph Ave
- Trees Community, The Christ Tree
- Lee Hazelwood, Reissues on Water Records & Rhino Handmade
- Moussa Doumbia, Keleya
- Noah Howard, The Black Ark

What’s on your ‘Best of 2007′ list? Feel free to leave a comment!

We’d like to thank you for the pleasure of sharing ‘A Familyre Christmas - Vol. 1′ with you all. It was an exciting project, and so much fun to have everyone involved.

If you missed the download window, don’t despair. There is a high likelihood it will be made available again next Christmas season, along with Vol.2!

The complete track listing for Vol.1:

1: ‘Christmas Eve Nite’ - Danielson
2: ‘For There Is Born A Child’ - Lenny Smith
3: ‘Plant A Little Fir Tree’ - Half-handed Cloud
4: ‘Dayspring From On High’ - Soul-Junk
5: ‘Pat-A-Pan’ - Leopulde
6: ‘In The Bleak Midwinter’ - Dan Zimmerman
7: ‘Lo, How A Rose E’er Blooming’ - The Singing Mechanic
8: ‘We Wish You A Merry Christmas’ - Sufjan Stevens*
9: ‘What Child Is This’ - Rachel and Jon Galloway
10: ‘I Wonder As I Wander’ - Woven Hand
11. ‘Christmas Is A Holiday’ - Ben + Vesper
12. ‘Immanuel’ - Joshua Stamper
13. ‘O Holy Night’ - Elin

*Recorded with Daniel, Elin, Lilly, and Ida at
the NJ Recreation Rm over Thanksgiving Weekend (2007).

Have a wonderful 2008, folks!

Love,

Everyone at Sounds Familyre

New Year’s Resolutions for 2008!

Daniel Smith:
1) Early mornings.
2) Organize.
3) Blog.
4) Breath deep.

Elin Smith:
1) Answer e-mails.
2) Make more calls.
3) Walk more.

John Ringhofer (Half-handed Cloud):
1) Locate a Boxer dog in the neighborhood that I can visit.
2) Consider one exceptional situation/crisis outside of my ordinary life to pray for each day.
3) Learn how to edit home movies with computer software.
4) Spend less time on emails (is this bad?).
5) Eat more chocolate (dark!).
6) Find Rafter Roberts and draw diagrams of all the stretches he knows that I don’t yet.
7) Walk through each day perceiving.

Lowell Brams (Asthmatic Kitty):
1) Organize my office and keep it that way.
2) Exercise regularly and lose 30 lbs.
3) When confronting a difficult situation, ask myself “What would John Ringhofer do?”
4) If that doesn’t work, “What would Lenny Smith do?”

Dan Zimmerman:
1) Make sense of the mess and mess with what makes sense.
2) Get rid of more clutter and embrace more ambiguity.
3) Reach into the past and mix it with the present.
4) Celebrate my lovely wife. Dance together.
5) Get out of the basement more. Play out. Stretch.

Joshua Stamper:
1) Eat more carrots. They’re good for teeth and eyesight.
2) Don’t turn on the computer until AFTER 9am.
3) Spend more time outside, especially in the winter.

Rachel Galloway:
1) Create what I love.
2) Live in the joy of the now.
3) Remember who I am.
4) Have a grateful heart.

Ted Velykis (Leopulde):
1) Ted resolves to act his age, NOT his shoesize and to quit smoking (again).

Michael Kaufmann (Asthmatic Kitty and Unusual Animals):
1) Learn to throw a punch.
2) Give better hugs.
3) Juggle four objects.

Were you aware that the tradition of making New Year’s resolutions has been around for hundreds of years? We thought it would be interesting to include a resolution that’s “old school” (as the youth would have it).

Here’s one from colonial American preacher and theologian Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758):

Resolution #9 (out of seventy): To think much, on all occasions, of my own dying, and of the common circumstances which attend death.

And on THAT note, good luck with your resolutions, everyone, and Happy New Year!

by John Ringhofer (from Half-handed Cloud)

Last Autumn, Daniel Smith invited me to play bass guitar and sing backing vocals for Danielson’s 2006 European tour. He said we’d be doing songs from the recent Ships album and that the usual bassist wouldn’t be able to come, “Could you fill-in?” It didn’t take long for me to answer yes—I’d been a friend of Daniel’s for years, and a fan even longer. As a listener, I pretty-much already knew the backing vocal melodies by heart (a cinch!). The bass parts were more of a challenge, but after practicing at home and about a week of touring, I was starting to get more comfortable with the notes. We did a more rock-sounding version of “Sing to the Singer”, most of the new Ships songs, plus oldies like “Cutest Lil’ Dragon”, “The Lord’s Rest”, and “Idiot Boksen” (really fun). The beginning of the tour had few hang-ups (the worst part involved a couple of our uniforms being stolen in Belgium), and on-stage things were starting to click pretty solidly within the first week.

The stage that wasn’t as fun as I was expecting was in Glasgow, Scotland. I had pretty high hopes because the last time I got to visit there was on the Illinoisemaker tour, and Sufjan and I were able to walk all over the city absorbing most of the major Charles Rennie Mackintosh architecture sites. I had my sights set on Glasgow well before this Danielson tour started.

When we got to the club at the end of November, they fed dinner to us before sound-check (it’s not uncommon for venues to provide meals for the bands that perform there). Everybody else in the band had the regular meal, and I had the vegetarian meal: a type of pasta with some sort of leafy arugula they called “rocket.” After the meal, and following sound-check I had just enough time to trek through the rain for a visit to the record store. By the time I got back though, I had a pretty awful stomach ache. The Danielson guys were all, “Are you sure you want to play, John?” “Yeah, should be fine,” I said.

We went on. The show started well, but about half-way through, after Daniel had already asked the crowd for trumpet-stepping stories, we were playing another song from Ships, and… I started to black-out on stage! Within a few moments I was down on one knee. Daniel initially thought, “John’s really getting into the song, like a real rocker!” David thought, “Looks like he dropped his pick.” Chris wondered if I was having a spiritual experience on the floor. All were wrong, though—I was sick, very sick. Was it food poisoning? Daniel looked over towards my side of the stage at the end of the song, and could tell what was really going on: I had to leave and get some fresh air for a couple songs (it was pretty dramatic). The Scottish people were incredibly gracious though, chanting my name from the audience. The next day, after a whole night of violent sickness, Daniel joked that if I blacked-out on stage again, we could turn the drop-to-one-knee-experience into a routine, kind of like James Brown and his shiny cape. Oh Brother!