Noise Pop asks today's most innovative musicians to share the music that is on their stereos, mp3 players, and walkmans. Hear for yourself what these cutting-edge artists are listening to and find out how it affects the music they are making.
The Court and Spark
We were listening to these songs on the road to and from Austin for this year's South by Southwest festival.
Ron Sexsmith has become a new favorite of the group recently. His undeniable voice floats on top of the best sounding recording ever, thanks to the brilliant Tchad Blake and Mitchell Froom combo. Next we have Howard Tate's Stop from a record that C&S drummer James Kim was so insistent we all listen to that we all found burned copies of it in our room one day. James was right; this is some of the best soul music ever. We are scratching our heads that in the midst of a ton of new Bert Jansch re-issues, the L.A. Turnaround record got lost in the shuffle. Since this record is impossible to find, we hope you enjoy this blissful tune featuring O.J. Red Rhodes on the pedal steel. Pole makes the deepest dub music and he records it underwater. Once we got past trying to figure out how he got the electronics to work in liquid, we got really into the sound of his music. Mr. Scott Walker always has a place on a long drive late at night. His over the top scatting passages have a way of making the drive to the next town shorter, which is something you need in Texas. The band has tried to adopt Lee Dorsey's mantra "Everything I do is Gon' be Funky from now on." Shouldn't you? On this last tour we played with a brilliant band called Autumn Defense, who inspired us to get our favorite Colin Blunstone record out again. Bug-in is a record by none other than the Inter-Urban Electric A & E Rhythm and Pit Crew Band that our friend Ryan Bishop was looking for over six years because when we were in school, it was hands down the best record to play in the summertime. He eventually found it, and here is one of the dune-buggiest jams from it. Outdoor Miner always fares well on a mix tape because it will stay with you for the rest of the day, and that's a good thing. Finally, the mix ends with Aston Barret's Cobra Style Dub. We always invite the Family Man into our van, for he is a classy fellow.
Out on the Water is from the forthcoming Court and Spark LP Witch Season. Release date is August 15th, 2004.
First Light at Avalon is from the forthcoming Court and Spark EP Dead Diamond River due out June 15th, 2004.
About the Band
The beauty of The Court and Spark is that they're as likely to use a Dhruva shruthi harmonium box mail-ordered from India as they are a dusty Hummingbird (a guitar, for those not in the know) picked up on the sly at some pawn shop on the edge of town. And pretty likely to drive all night from Austin or Denver to get home to San Francisco just to see if they could do it (and save themselves some bed tax in the process). M.C. Taylor, Scott Hirsch, and James Kim have been making music together for a long time. They have an apartment up on Alabama Street where they get their mail. Dan Carr and Tom Heyman live right around the corner. What kind of music do they make? Some people say country. Some people say folk. A lot of people say American music. I say soul music; it comes from an honest place.
They even coaxed former Byrd Gene Parsons out of Mendocino County to do some playing on their last record. People seemed to like the albums Ventura Whites and Bless You. NPR did a story on the group. They won an SF Weekly Music Award. I heard someone say that they got turned on to The Court and Spark by one of the Coen Brothers, which is funny. To me, they're that band from San Francisco, foggy city on the sea, writing songs around the kitchen table that keep getting better.
-- Dr. S. Douglas, PhD
highlights
noisepop mix tape
aquarius records' sound mind
about KQED
