man have i worn out my copies of grinning like an undertaker and martha splatterhead... i love the accused! y'know, i used to live with a cat who ran a zine, and we both interviewed blaine. you know that guy is/was a kindergarten teacher? glorious glorious ironies...

Yeah, the guy i work with got me into them and was telling me about the singer.

His voice is fantastic. I hear him as a more vomit-y younger Guy Picciotto, for some reason.

a) this song rules, and how this cat plays it is fantastic, but b) he built that fiddle and it sounds burly as hell for a damn cigar box. i know guys with way more expensive fiddles that sound like two cats fucking in a high school gymnasium, and that sure doesn't.

Favorite comment from Youtube: "The vocalist blows. He's holding the band back so much." Holding them back from what? Pop superstardom?

If I didn't know it was a cigar box, I wouldn't guess- it sounds like a proper fiddle. Admittedly my ears are untrained in folk instrumentation so I don't know if one looks for different timbral qualities as a fiddler vs. a classical violinist. (You might not? The instrument is, after all, the same.) But it doesn't sound like what I'd expect from a cigar box, nor does it sound like a cheap student model.

Extra points for "in a high school gymnasium", as the venue bears at least a passing resemblance to one.

A friend of mine sent me a link to this. It reminds me an awful lot of a modernized version of the Sisterhood EP.

i'm not sure there's too many differences in terms of what people look for in fiddles vs. violins set up for classical circumstances-- you know-- players like what they like, and it's all over the map, and you're probably just as likely to find people playing stainers and their like as you will find stradivarius derivatives. i'm sure some folks quibble about who made what.. but most people use any tool for the job, really. i know that since there's way more double stops and cross tuning- so an instrument that's flexible in multiple tunings is definitely best-- i sure prefer to hear a more open wooly and fat bottom end than some of the italianish fiddles make-- which seem to have a focus-y one note sound when i hear them. that cigar box sounds pretty great though-- mebbe a little screechy up top.. but no beef with it's throaty honk!

i love seeing people build their own stuff and coming away with cool sounding instruments!

Considering I can think of two pieces in the entire "standard repertoire" of western art music that call for a violin tuned to something other than standard- and one's for a solo section meant to represent a folk fiddler!- I think you're right about the alternate tuning. (Mahler Symphony no. 4, Scherzo, in case you're wondering; the other being Saint-Säens' Danse Macabre... And one could make a case for fiddling there, too.) I'm sure there's more somewhere, but it's not a common practice at all. Bass gets dropped to C all the time, but that's it's own thing, with a special apparatus to deal with the scale length issue on an upright, 5-bangers being comparatively rare in that world, at least in English-speaking countries.

I'm reminded of a comparison that... I think it was the BBC did a couple years ago, between an actual Stradivarius, a nice old German violin that wasn't a 6- or 7-figure collector's piece, and a current production student model, all in the hands of some well-known soloist or other. The Strad was easy to pick out of a lineup, as it were, but Chris from Garda and I both prefered the German violin tone-wise- it was darker, but it seemed richer and more nuanced, and to my rock guitarist's ears a more refined thing, certainly for solo or small ensemble playing. The classic Italian violin would damn sure "cut through the mix" though, and I can see why that design became favored for soloists who needed to be heard over a large ensemble without amplification. It did make me think of a Strat into a Marshall, though- very bright lead tone!

There's a whole bunch of more normal ones:

Decidedly analog Waits cover:

For some reason, this, all the time.



I think it's because it's awesome. All those delicious leads, all that blasting, all that arghghgh

http://godsagshispants.bandcamp.com/alb ... same-trees

Required listening for all Modest Mouse fans

For some reason random leads on this remind me (a lot) of Marty Friedman sorts of shit. Weird scales and inneresting phrasing.

Don't really like the production a ton, particularly the continually slammed modern metal vibe of it, and the way they are treating Benton's vocal(IMO, his voice without distortion is more unique/interesting to me than slammed and buzzsawed like this, which makes it sound to me like just about almost anybody), but it is still pretty solid shit.

These guys sound massive for just a two-piece. They're great live as well, saw em in the NME tent at Reading. Not sure how he gets his guitar sounds, maybe a splitter into an octave pedal then a guitar amp? I'm intrigued, would certainly cut out the hassle of finding a good bassist

Can't stop listening to QOTSA since I saw them live. I could take or leave them before but had such a good time that night. Smooth Sailing gots da swagger.