Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros - Up From Below

2009 - Up From Below

Birthed by Mouth in the year two-thousand and five, young Edward Sharpe had to wait nearly two years before he was to grow his arms and legs and fingers and toes.
Immaculately conceived, his father (a Robot who had magically become a real boy…but that’s another story) declared his undying devotion to the creature. He perched the fleshy bust upon a teetering pedestal fashioned from stacked cereal boxes and positioned the display at his window for all the town to see. Young Edward soon proved no ordinary boy.

Though his father had figured him deaf for his unresponsiveness to sounds, he in fact had the universally unique condition of being deaf from hearing too much or, more correctly put, too well. In plain words, he heard EVERYTHING AT ONCE.
At first it proved rather painful like a wretched whining winding all hours, but very soon those who whisper visited young Edward and revealed to him the Tricks and Truths, the Ways and Plays, the Chords and Dischords of the Universe.

He did not need to eat but the color of the sun, which was F#, and moved his bones to grow.
His arms and legs and fingers and toes grew ‘til the tower of boxes collapsed and he laughed. He moved thru the door which was C over B# and ran thru the village hearing ALL of its music! The workers and children and painters of buildings and dogs barking madly and trees bristling softly and OH!!

Norfolk & Western - Dinero Sivero

Dinero Sivero

Norfolk and Western are from Portland, Oregon and play folk music that includes, as part of its stage set-up and sound ensemble, a turn-of the-century Victrola Grammaphone. The band consists of core members and couple Adam Selzer (band founder, guitar, lead vocals) and Rachel Blumberg (drums, keyboards, backing vocals) with rotating cast members Tony Moreno (guitar, banjo, accordion, found sounds), Amanda Lawrence (viola), Dave Depper (bass, vocals, piano), Cory Gray (trumpet, piano), and Peter Broderick (violin, banjo, saw, mandolin, theramin, and accordion).Norfolk and Western began as the recording project of Adam with friends playing various instruments, and evolved over time to become the fully orchestrated band it is today. In the early days Norfolk and Western’s sound was whispery, intimate, elegant folk music laced with creaky old instruments and atmospheric sound collages. The band still retains glimmers of this original form, but with their latest release, A Gilded Age, they defy their usual descriptors and comparisons. The songs on A Gilded Age cascade dynamically and unrelentingly, beginning with the Victrola and string swell opening of “Porch Destruction” to the overdriven guitar and banjo attack of the title track. Each song serves the whole, adding layers of depth, drama, and subtlety to an undeniable tapestry of music. The interplay between light and dark, loud and soft—is expertly realized by Norfolk and Western both on this record and during their enthralling live show, which features band members frequently switching instruments and film accompaniment.

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