MV& EE w/ Charalambides




































I wanted to post a little something on MV & EE w/ The Bummer Road since they are rolling through Portland tonight w/ Charalambides at The Reed College Chapel. I realize its not much notice, but if you want to head out to the show, it's probably around $6-8.

The MV stands for Matt Valentine and the EE stands for Erika Elder. The married duo have been releasing limited edition CD-R's and vinyl that have long gone out of print. For those of you who weren't fortunate enough to snag those when they were in print, you can still find them scattered on various blogs and file sharing services such as Soulseek. I will be posting a couple of these later this week, so keep your eyes peeled for that.

Since time is of the essence I am only going to say that ever since I discovered the Tower Recordings (MV & EE's band before they started MV & EE w/ The Bummer Road) ) album Folk Scene, I have been mesmerized with it's intoxicating blend of atmospheric folk, indian ragas, experimental soundscapes and haunting slide guitar blues. MV & EE continues this trend, but tightens up their sound into more of a song-oriented electric blues with distorted psychedelic vocals. There is still plenty of left-field experimentation on Green Blues to interest fans of eclectic free-folk outfits like No Neck Blues Band, Wooden Wand and the Vanishing Voice, Sunburned Hand of the Man and Animal Collective. Here is a review for their new album on Ecstatic Peace called Green Blues.

MV & EE w/ The Bummer Road- Canned Happiness and All Troubled Blues
From:Green Blues [ Ecstatic Peace, 2007]





















Charalambides are another husband and wife duo who tirelessly release limited edition CD-R's on their Wholly Other label. The sound of Charalambides is hard to nail down in just a couple sentences, but I will just say that they create an experiemental folk sound with droning lap-steel guitars and spookily ethereal vocals that seep into the darkened corners of your mind. Here is a site that gives more info on Charalambides. Here is a review of A Vintage Burden from Stylus Magazine. Make sure that you check out this show if you live in Portland, Oregon. I'll be back later this week with an update about the show.

Charalambides- Dormant Love and Hope Against Hope
From: A Vintage Burden [Kranky, 2006]

Comments

Cellar said…
Saw the words "sun city girls" on totally fuzzy and thought i should stop by!
thanks for the music
Kevin said…
Theo, thanks for commenting. Do you like MV & EE? What other kind of stuff are you listenign to these days? I'm interested to find out about new music as well as turning people on to new things. It's good to know that I am not just talking to myself on here. Take care.

Kevin
ShardsOfBeauty said…
I drove all the way from Eugene to see that show! Charalambides were so great. Wasn't that impressed with MV/EE, but they were OK.
Kevin said…
How did you hear about the show since you live in Eugene? I was really blown away by Charalambides, especially Tom Carter's explosive guitar playing. I wish I could get a copy of that live recording. Do you think anyone was recording that show. I know that MV & EE records all of their shows and then sells them from their website, but It would be great to have a copy of the Charalambides set as well.

I was a little bored during MV & EE's set, but they picked it up in the middle and I loved their cover of "Who Do You Love". I've heard that you never know what to expect from their live shows. Certain shows might be really upbeat with a lot of bluesy slide guitar and others are low-key stoned out affairs. I think that show was a combination of both, because they were obviously stoned out of their minds, but continued to hold my interest throughout the show. Thanks for your thoughts.

Take care, Kevin
Anonymous said…
Old Beck Rarities:

A Western Harvest Field By Moonlight http://www.mediafire.com/?54jenznmyyg

Pay No Mind (Snoozer)
http://www.mediafire.com/?f5njdjxjyuj

1992 Demo Tape
http://www.mediafire.com/?2qjytmyrjjl

Don't Get Bent Out of Shape (Version 3)
http://www.mediafire.com/?3zd2v5dzmmq

KCRW Session, Santa Monica, CA, USA, 07.07.1993
http://www.mediafire.com/?d44mlmwmmjb

KCRW Session, Santa Monica, CA, USA, 03.01.1994
http://www.mediafire.com/?4gamjdmwenf

Live on WXRK-FM (92.3 K-Rock), 1996
http://www.mediafire.com/?1mynmi0mwwo

francoisverlaine@gmail.com

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