Grouper - Dragging a Dead Deer Up a Hill

 

Grouper - Dragging a Dead Deer Up a Hill

2013 LP (Kranky Records)

The hushed tones awash with reverb found within the depths of Grouper’s monumental 2008 album Dragging A Dead Deer Up a Hill offer little reprieve. Ambient instrumentals with blurred vocals that carry a sense of weight that makes you feel like you’re trapped deep within the woods, forgotten and abandoned. It evokes the feeling of finding a long-lost tape in an abandoned house- something so intimate and personal that you aren’t sure if you were meant to hear it. And, of course, you were- Grouper (aka Liz Harris) has always emphasized the ethereal and unknown within her music. Every release feels like a dream- melodies that carry you away into another world and lull you into a sense of comfort. Her songs are often long and repetitive with distant, barely understandable vocals that inject her work with a mysterious sense of wonder.

Unlike many ambient artists, Grouper’s songs are clean and organized. They almost always follow a somewhat clear structure, and aren’t typically long simply for the sake of being long. Since 2005, Grouper has been releasing ambient, drone, and folk music that never fails to put me at ease. She has a lot of music- I haven’t even heard close to all of it- and doesn’t seem to be close to stopping (though her last album was released in 2021, she’s been hinting towards a new release). Any time you listen to one of her albums, you know what you’re in for. Her work usually follows a formula, which is almost always to the benefit of the work: a relatively short album consisting mostly of ambient with a few devastatingly beautiful acoustic ballads that act as relief to the listener from the often heavy drones. On Dragging A Dead Deer, though, she shows her folk prowess early on in her career. Constructed almost entirely of guitar and effect-based drones, it is completely filled and covered with reverb and tremolo. The songs effortlessly flow into each other, and the experience is so hazy and hypnotic that it feels like it’s over before it begins. Disengaged begins the album by emphasizing what makes Grouper’s music so great- over 4 minutes of the same guitar line, completely drenched in reverb, with Liz’s vocals almost totally buried in the mix. It’s as beautiful as it is hypnotic, with a creeping drone in the background that sneaks up into the forefront of the song. When Liz’s voice and guitar fade out, all that’s left is this omnipresent drone. This transitions perfectly into Heavy Water / I’d Rather Be Sleeping, one of Liz’s most consistently popular songs and the first of a handful of ballads on the album. This has always been one of my favorite songs of hers- it was one of the first that I ever heard, and it’s played an important role in my life for a long time. Like many of Grouper’s songs, it feels like wading out to sea- like getting lost in the movement of something that serves a greater purpose than you do. The melody is divine and otherworldly, and Liz’s voice floats in and out with lyrics about isolation and love. It’s simple, relatable, short, and beautiful, and after it’s over, the album transitions into a chunk of heavily ambient tracks for the rest of the A-side. 

The second side of Dragging a Dead Deer begins with Invisible. It feels like finding a clearing within the dense forest; you begin to feel bliss overcome you as you think you’re close to finding your way out. By the end of the song, you realize you’re still lost, and the album transitions to some of the darkest ambient Grouper ever made. The three tracks that cap off this record are some of Liz’ most beautiful. Wind and Snow is pure drone; uplifting and hopeful, it evokes a feeling of childhood- of laying face down in the snow, staring up at the clouds, unsure of everything. You know nothing, but it doesn’t matter: you don’t have a care in the world, and you’re living out your life without even realizing it. Tidal Wave is a much deeper and more meditative cut; transitioning cleanly from the previous song, it’s another soothing guitar-based drone that sounds heavier and more ominous than the rest of the album. There are vocals present; they’re completely unintelligible, but Liz's beautiful and soothing voice mixes cleanly into the back of the mix. We’ve All Gone To Sleep is an idiosyncratic and calming ballad that perfectly caps off the album. It’s a representation of how this album makes me feel; whether or not it actually put me to sleep, I feel so related listening to it that I might as well be. “Don’t get too lost in a dream world, you may never come back.”

This album is an anxiety cure. Very few albums seem to consistently mute the constant noise in my brain, but this is one of them. Whatever it is- stress, anxiety, sleeplessness- throwing this album on makes me feel better. Dragging a Dead Deer Up a Hill will likely remain the high point of Grouper’s career in my eyes (with A I A: Alien Observer running a close second place), and one of the peaks of ambient music in the 2010s.

Jeromes Dream / July - Jeromes Dream / July

Jeromes Dream / July - Split

1999 7" (Hit The Ground Running)

It's winter here in Buffalo. We've had flashes of spring weather in the past week or so, but it's stayed cold and dreary for months. This time always makes me feel pretty depressed, but more so this year, as this winter has been especially draining. I've been spending some time (whether I want to or not) thinking about how I got to where I am due to me being in the final stretch of high school; about my journey with music, and how I got to where I am.

When I was 15, my mom gave me a compilation CD called Nowcore: the Punk Rock Evolution. This is an absolutely fucking stacked compilation, and it completely changed the way that I thought about music. Before this, I largely listened to a lot of popular indie and (sigh) RYM-core music. Not that this was bad by any means, as I still have love for a lot of that music- but I now know that I was just waiting to find my niche. Just on this one compilation, some bands featured are The Promise Ring, Hum, Modest Mouse, Braid, At the Drive-In, Mineral, Burning Airlines, Unwound, The Dismemberment Plan, Drive Like Jehu, Texas is the Reason, and a few more. It's insane. Considering it worked for me, this is basically the perfect way to get someone in the world of emo/post-hardcore. From there, I inevitably found bands like Portraits of Past, Orchid, and Funeral Diner, which expanded my mind to the world of screamo. Most of what I listen to now is more in that realm, but I still have a special place in my heart for the more typical midwest/90s emo sound of many of the bands on this compilation and others. 

This split between Jeromes Dream and July is a perfect summation of both my musical journey, record collecting, and the emo scene as a whole. As if you don't know who they are.. Jeromes Dream are an absurdly legendary emoviolence band who formed in 1997 in Connecticut. They put out a lot of releases during their original run, and a few since they returned in 2019. Their first album, Seeing Means More Than Safety, is basically the blueprint for emoviolence. Insane vocals, math-rock inspired riffs, short and dirty. It's perfect (and I'm sure I'll write about it soon). Between 1998 and 2000, they released splits with (in order): Amalgamation (Emperor-X was in this band), July, the Book of Dead Names, Orchid, Usurp Synapse, and the One AM Radio. The Orchid split is obviously iconic, as that skull has basically become the symbol for screamo as a whole in the last 10-15 years, and is amazing. However, the July split has become my favorite in recent times.

July was a band from Apex, NC. Its two members were named Gabe Johnson and Herb Harris. The song on this split is the only music they recorded that has ever surfaced online. They apparently have a demo tape, but neither of the guys in the band have a copy, so who knows if that'll ever come up. That's.. it. They were a random, one-off project between two musicians that only ended up on this split because they were friends with the person who ran Hit the Ground Running, the label it was released on. It's a very weird part of emo history, and definitely adds to the mystique of this split.

This entire release feels like a fever dream. Jeromes Dream's side tricks you into thinking it's going to follow their normal emoviolence formula, but it evolves from a short burst of chaos into a long, drawn-out instrumental that definitely shows their more experimental side. It's one of my favorite songs of theirs, and is a definitive point that shows where the band was going musically as they began to fizzle out. That leads us to the July side. This is the true highlight of the split. It's ethereal, mysterious, and gorgeous. At about 6 minutes long, July's sole and untitled song transports you to a different time. It feels like the nostalgic ideal of going to basement emo shows and experiencing all of these classic releases while they were coming out. It feels like going bowling with your friends at 4 in the morning. It feels like an early morning drive through empty country roads. It feels like your grandma's house. It feels like the sense of longing you get when watching videos of emo revival bands playing to crowds of less than 20 people. It feels like home.

This song has no percussion, or really anything else other than guitar and vocals. The vocals are delicate and beautiful, with lyrics about nature, the world, and a difficult relationship, just like all great emo. The song doesn't change much during the runtime- it hypnotizes you into a feeling of comfort. It's a fairly simple post-rock influenced tune that somehow finds a way to hit you right in your emotions. July are a great example of so many bands during this mid nineties to early two thousands period of emo: put out a few (or one) short release(s), play very few if any shows, and break up into obscurity. In current times with the internet playing the role it does in music discovery, many bands like this are beginning to get the respect they deserve, with both kids of my generation and people that were around back then digging up obscure bands and releases and bringing them to bigger audiences. Some bands that are part of this phenomenon that come to mind are Don Martin Three, Eldritch Anisette, Old Hearts Club, and Rockets and Bluelights (..whose song I named this blog after- please, PLEASE sell me their releases if you have them).

This leads me into my other point about this record: how it ties into emo collecting and archiving in the modern age. Right now, so many people are buying old emo records. It will inevitably die down as all trends do (and I have even seen prices coming down recently), but for now, old DIY emo releases are very expensive. Something that's been $20 for the past 10 years will get listed for $300, and someone will buy it, which immediately ruins the market. Now, this is a pretty selfish point to make, and I get that, but it's still a bit of a bummer. That being said, there are still a lot of nice people who will sell things on the basis of "punk pricing" as I like to call it. This split is and never has been easy to find. It hasn't necessarily always been expensive, but it has always been rare. Two colors exist: a green cover, which is more common, and a brown cover, which is much rarer and is what I have. I bought the Jeromes Dream discography CD, and the person who sold it to me asked if I was interested in some other Jeromes Dream stuff they had. This was in there, and I immediately jumped on it. They sold it to me for less than half of the Discogs going rate, and I am forever thankful for that, because I legitimately did not think I would ever find this record. If you're reading this, thank you.

If you're an emo fan, please listen to this split. I feel like it flies under the radar when it's being overshadowed by the monumental Orchid split (which is fair, I don't mean to sound like I'm talking down that absolute monster of a release). My copy of this split isn't in the best shape so I haven't bothered to digitize it, but I've included some high-resolution scans of my copy and a great-sounding rip I found. Enjoy.

Jeromes Dream / July - Split

1. Jeromes Dream - Thirty Dollar Bill

2. July - Untitled

Marietta - Summer Death

 

Marietta - Summer Death

2021 LP (Dog Knights Productions, Near Mint)

After seeing that truly insane Best Friends Forever Fest lineup drop yesterday (someone please fly me out) which includes a Marietta reunion, I thought it was a great time to write about one of my favorite bands. I actually started writing this post a few hours before that lineup or the reunion was even announced, so I guess I’m a prophet… you’re welcome!

Marietta are a midwest emo / emo revival band from Philadelphia who formed in 2011. They released a few EPs, including a split with Modern Baseball, and two albums. Summer Death was their first album, released in 2013. It was originally released by New Jersey label Soft Speak Records, and was later reissued by Dog Knights and Near Mint. My copy is a recent(ish) reissue that was a joint release between these two labels; I found it used in Philadelphia, which seems fitting (and dear God, I hope that my next trip to Philly is for a Marietta show). This record has been annoyingly expensive and hard to find for a few years now, so hopefully somewhere down the line it gets the proper widespread reissue it deserves. 

To me, Marietta represent the ultimate result of a scene that was building in Philadelphia for the years prior to their existence. I hold the belief that basically most of the best music in the history of emo as a genre came out of the Philadelphia area. Since the early 2000s, there had been a lineage of bands and members that slowly began rifling around in the underground and creating some of the best music ever. Some of these bands include Boy Problems, Snowing, Harrison Bergeron, Algernon Cadwallader, The Lady is Not for Burning, Glocca Morra, Make Me, Street Smart Cyclist, Boys and Sex, and many, many more (a lot of these will likely get their own writeups someday). Marietta existed at the tail end of the first emo revival, which many call the 4th wave, just as it was beginning to turn into modern emo, or 5th wave. Their music definitely embodies the trademark “twinkly” sound that many bands of this era had which, while it can at times annoy me when other bands do it, Marietta executes the style so perfectly that their music is basically undeniable. Summer Death is basically a greatest hits compilation, as every single song has stood the test of time in both quality and popularity. Marietta are one of the most popular emo bands among younger people into the genre for a reason: their music is incredibly relatable. If you are a confused teenager (like myself and most people I know), basically every lyric on this album will hit hard. The second track, Cinco De Mayo Shit Show, which has long been one of their most popular songs, is probably the best song on this album when taken out of context of the rest of the record. It’s catchy, anthemic, and beautiful. The song culminates in singer Evan Lescallette melancholically wailing, “I’m getting too old for this shit, I’m throwing fits and acting like a kid again.” This lyric and song so perfectly encapsulates what it feels like to be navigating your life at a young age- having no idea what you’re doing or what’s going on and getting by on what feels like luck. You’re always unsure about everything, and you never feel like you’re actually mature enough to be the age that you are. It’s poignant, sad, and beautiful; everything that emo music should be.

The first side of Summer Death is much more acoustic and pop-heavy than the second; both Deck WIne and You’ve Got the Map Backwards, Matt have acoustic guitar in them, giving the beginning of this record a much more melodramatic vibe. The B-side of the record starts with God Bless Eric Taylor: this is probably my favorite song they ever wrote. On the original and vinyl versions (not on streaming, for a reason that I assume relates to copyright), the song starts with a sample of British comedy Spaced, before a guitar line comes in to lead in the rest of the band. This song represents the core of emo revival. Witty samples, twinkly riffs, satisfying builds and endings, and anthemic group vocals. It also has a lyric lifted from the Street Smart Cyclist song Kiss Kitty On the Lips, which I’m not sure I’ve ever seen noticed before online. For the rest of the three songs on side B of Summer Death, Marietta demonstrates their ability to write emo that infuses elements of post-rock; these three songs are much more drawn out, slow, and out-there creatively than the first side. There’s even a trumpet, which means that Mike Kinsella would probably be proud. I’m sure most people reading this have listened to Summer Death before, but as it starts to warm up here in the northeast, it’s the perfect time for a relisten*. Even thirteen years after its release, it remains as relevant as ever, with so many new bands continuing to lift Marietta’s sound and change it up. Summer Death is a pinnacle of 2010s emo, and shows what makes the genre so great.

*I was sitting in the car yesterday listening to this album and I got hit by a sunbeam and it literally felt like I was doing heroin. Would recommend.

As has become commonplace here, I’ve included a download to a high-quality rip of Summer Death along with my favorite video of them playing. Enjoy, and have a great day!

Marietta - Summer Death

1. ..so they left me at a gas station

2. cinco de mayo shit show

3. you've got the map backwards, matt

4. deck wine

5. god bless eric taylor

6. ever is a long time (ever is no time at all)

7. chase, i hardly know ya

8. fuck, dantooine is big

Marietta Live @ Moonbase Nix (6/19/2024)

Good Night & Good Morning - Narrowing Type

Good Night & Good Morning - Narrowing Type

2023 LP (Energy Crow Records)

Good Night & Good Morning are an ambient slowcore band that formed in 2007 in Champaign, IL. They were much more active in the late 2000s and early 2010s, but they have recently been playing occasional shows in and around the midwest. They released many EPs during their tenure, including a collaborative release with midwest sludge metal band Rvins. Many of these EPs were digital-only, and are not the most known due to their hard-to-find nature. In 2012, they released their landmark and only album, Narrowing Type, on the Luxembourg-based label Own Records. In 2023, the album was reissued by the amazing Energy Crow Records, which is owned and operated by my friend Jen. My copy is a test pressing of this reissue, which is limited to 10 copies with a new cover. 

Note: This is very likely the best sounding record in my collection. The label and band went to lengths to make sure this sounded as good as it possibly could, even including rejecting the first round of test pressings. Although the first pressing has sold out, it was recently repressed on a nice pink vinyl. If you’re a fan of the band, I recommend picking it up. At $20, it is unbelievably worth it for the quality of the product you get. I don’t mean to shill or sound like a broken record, but it truly is amazing. A+, through and through. Check it out here. Now, on to the music..

To put it simply, this is one of my favorite albums of all time. Although not technically "emo", I hold the belief that this record is emo purely based on that intangible essence that you can sense on some bands if you get deep enough into the genre, whether or not it falls into the genre musically or not. It oozes such a subtle beauty that is only revealed on deep, meditative listens. Narrowing Type is a perfect combination of slowcore, drone, ambient, and shoegaze that is fitted with incredibly sleek, clean production. The closest comparison I can draw is to Grouper; many of the sounds on this album are reminiscent of those on Dragging a Dead Deer Up a Hill and A I A: Alien Observer. The second it comes on, the beautiful sounds fill your ears and empty out your head, filling it with dreams. The arrangements are drawn-out and gorgeous; the soft, delicate vocals on this record are some of the most soothing I’ve ever heard. The guitars are completely awash in tremolo and reverb, making some amazing tones that at times rival the more melodic bits of Loveless. Across the record, the drums are very sparse, only coming in when they truly need to. It’s reminiscent of the first few Low records- using silence as a tool to make the music that is present more impactful. When this record builds, it builds. The second track, Philadelphia, begins slow and peaceful, eventually cascading into a cacophony of dreamy guitars. Near the end of the song, an ethereal wall of sound is built with the use of a violin; an instrument not often used in music like this, but it is extremely impactful and well-placed.

Another thing I love about this record is how truly seamless it feels. There are no abrupt transitions between songs (well, other than having to flip the record), and every song perfectly leads into the next, to the point where it is barely noticeable when one song ends and another begins. Every sound on this record is placed in such a way that it makes me think that there is genuinely no way that it could be made better. The B-side of this record is where it truly shines, though. This is the more ambient side of Good Night & Good Morning: they show their chops by creating some of the most blissed out ambient soundscapes that have ever been put to tape. Median I / Median II is a perfect mix of both sounds, with the former being completely instrumental, eventually evolving into a noisy mix of effects and leading perfectly back into their slowcore sound on the latter. In my opinion, the track that most shows the band's genius is the final, Abroad & Neutral. This is one of my favorite ambient songs of all time; it combines the bits and pieces of ambient shown earlier in the record along with some nature recordings and more post-rock and drone influence into a massive, nearly ten minute long piece that infiltrates your psyche and puts you in a truly trance-like state. Narrowing Type stands up to both my favorite ambient albums and my favorite slowcore albums; it is a masterclass of genre-bending beauty that never ceases to amaze me.

I'm going to add some downloads at the end of this post here, Sophie's Floorboard style, along with a video of them playing with Ethel Cain at a recent show. This is basically their full discography- some of these are comically difficult to find. Please enjoy.

     

Good Night and Good Morning - Discography

La Quiete - La fine non è la fine

La Quiete - La fine non è la fine

2004 LP (Gasping For Breath Records)

La Quiete are a screamo band from Forli, Italy who formed in 2000. They are still together and occasionally play shows (they're touring Europe with pg.99 this year!), but they have not released any new music in over 15 years. Throughout their active period, they released numerous EPs, including splits with the likes of the Apoplexy Twist Orchestra, Louise Cyphre, the Pine, and a few more. They also had a few compilation appearances, including one on the amazing The Microwave Says to the Pacemaker, in which they share a bill with other incredible bands such as Kodan Armada, The Death of Anna Karina, and Die, Emperor! Die!. In 2004, they released their lone full-length, La fine non e la fine, or The end is not the end, with physical releases in Germany, Italy, and Australia. The Italian and German CD and 10" pressings respectively have different (well, the original) cover art, while the Australian LP release (my copy) has this leaf cover, along with subsequent reissues in the years after following suit.

Like I mentioned with Suis la Lune in my previous post, La Quiete are another band that very easily fall into the category of screamo royalty. Throughout all of their releases, they stayed incredibly consistent, and this release is no different. This LP is my favorite thing they ever put out, and for good reason. Clocking in at just over 20 minutes, La fine non e la delivers 9 tracks of blistering, chaotic screamo that never slows down. Their sound can be comparable at times to many "emoviolence" bands such as Ampere and Blind Girls. This record contains some of the most epic riffs ever put to tape for a screamo album, while at the same time polishing the same light production style and melodicism that typically goes along with European screamo of this era, such as the previously mentioned Suis la Lune, and with Raein, another hugely influential Italian screamo band of the same era. In particular, the title track- which sits as the last track and takes up nearly a fourth of the entire record's runtime- is a beautiful arrangement of screamo mixed with post-rock. It begins with a burst of aggression, goes into the typical emoviolence sound with one of the best riffs in the history of the genre, then ends with some beautiful ambient guitar layering. In my opinion, La Quiete on this record perfected the screamo formula. They let every instrument shine in its own way, including the bass which (despite my personal bias) is an essential part of this record, and at times sounds like a chainsaw cutting through the mix. The tone of the guitars is on point, and you can tell that every member of the band was truly giving it their all. The drumming is on point, and the vocals are as strained and passionate as one would expect. This was another one of the first screamo bands I ever listened to, so this record is very important in my personal understanding of the genre. Absolutely essential.

P.S.: The amazing Persistent Vision Records, who also released the Saetia discography 2xLP, are reissuing this album this year. Due in April, the reissue uses the leaf art present on my copy, and is being pressed on CD, tape, and three beautiful color vinyl variants. It's being remastered by Will Killingsworth of Orchid and Ampere, so you know it's gonna sound amazing. Despite having this copy already, I may still pick up another. Check it out.

P.P.S.: I've included a free download to a CD rip of the album that I've had sitting around on my harddrive, along with some old videos of them playing. Please enjoy and share. <3

La Fine Non E La Fine (2004)

1. Raid Aereo Sul Paese Delle Farfalle

2. Metempsicosi Del Fine Ultimo: Nevrastenica Oscillazione Fra Poli Estremi

3. Notte Dei Cristalli A Rue Des Trois-Freres

4. Cio Che Non Siamo, Cio Che Non Vogliamo

5. Il Destino Di Un Ombrello

6. Super Omega

7. Merce Cunningham

8. Uncaged

9. La Fine Non E La Fine

La Quiete live in Riverside, CA

La Quiete live in Zhytomyr, Ukraine

Suis la Lune - Heir

Suis la Lune - Heir

2008 10"/CD EP (Essucha! Records, TDD Records, Blessed Hands Records, Fasaden Records, Neat Skeleton)

Sidenote: this is the first post on this blog. I'm going to try to talk about some of my favorite records I own, some of my favorite music, and some shows that I go to. Bear with me if this is rough, I'm trying!

Suis la Lune were a screamo band from Sweden who formed in 2005 and broke up in 2018. During their time as a band, they released 3 full lengths (including a split with Shirokuma), 4 EPs, a split single with Osceola, a demo, and a few compilation appearances. This EP, Heir, was their fourth release, which they put out in 2008.

In my mind, Suis la Lune are one of the most important and influential bands in the history of screamo. In my personal canon, they stand up with the greats such as Orchid and the Spirit of Versailles, and are one of my favorite bands ever. They helped to invent and eventually perfected the European screamo formula, with most bands having much lighter production and more melodicism (specifically in their guitars) than their American counterparts. In my opinion, this four track EP was their strongest effort. The first track begins with over a minute of nearly-ambient nature recordings, eventually dropping into a beautiful melody of post-hardcore with some very passionate and genuine vocals. The second track September Gave Us Awkwardness, October Gave Me Nothing was one of the first screamo songs I ever heard (on a random skramz playlist on Spotify many years ago). As a bass player, I find that oftentimes, bass is not represented very well in screamo. This record changes that notion. The bass is present, thick, and ever-changing, with every song having a discernable and beautiful bassline that carries the song forward. This was a large reason as to why I fell in love with this record in the first place; as I grow as a bass player, I've come to love this record more and more for its intricacies. 

TL;DR: This is amazing screamo through and through, and is genuinely essential listening for anyone interested in getting into the genre. 

P.S.: I've included a free download to my .flac rip of the CD included with the 10", which is the same EP in digital form. Please enjoy and share. <3

Heir (2008)

1. With Wings of Feathers and Glue

2. September Gave Us Awkwardness, October Gave Me Nothing

3. The Greatest Actors Keep On Acting Offstage

4. Can't Believe I Spelled It Out to You