New free Damnwells album! (somewhere between breaking and broke there’s a song to sing)

I fell hard for The Damnwells with their 2006 album Air Stereo, and I’ve been tiding myself over during the wait for a new album with little fantastic demos like “Bastard of Midnight” and alternate acoustic versions of their songs I love. Dezen’s voice has an air of hardy romanticism to it, brilliantly-colored exactly like this Turner painting. It slides and rasps to carry the literate lyrics and musical stories he constructs.

The Damnwells have shifted in formation and members, while lead Damnwell Alex Dezen has moved to Iowa to teach and study fiction and creative writing. But he hasn’t stopped writing songs.  And starting today, they are releasing their newest album One Last Century for free via Paste Magazine. There’s a full-band treatment of “Bastards of Midnight,” surprising bluesy gospel twists on cuts like “Jesus Could Be Right,” and songs that well up with a sadness like “Say.”

I’ve talked with Alex about this new album, and the beautifully freeing feeling they’ve discovered in giving their music away. He wrote a statement about it:

I suppose the hardest thing to explain to people is why I’m giving this record away. “You’re just going to give it away?” seems antithetical to the human brain. “Is this just a bunch of b-sides or something? Some ‘give away’ material you don’t mind releasing into the ether?” No. Quite the contrary. I have never worked so hard or put so much of myself into a collection of recorded songs. It is for just this reason that I want to give it away.

To me it makes perfect sense. I just want people to hear this music, and I don’t want them to have to enter into some kind of contractual agreement with a third party to do so. Download the record, copy it and give it to your friends, lovers, and enemies. Whatever. It’s so hard these days just to get the actual music into people’s houses and cars, let alone their ears. Besides, I know everyone’s broke, maybe I can supply the soundtrack.

So, I just want to give this music away because I want people to hear it. I should have done this years ago. I’m starting over.

Enjoy,
Alex Dezen

DOWNLOAD: One Last Century

Everything – The Damnwells

“Somewhere between darkness and wonder is every dream
Somewhere between breaking and broke, there’s a song to sing…“

Gladly going down with the Damnwells ship

This song popped into my inbox recently from lead Damnwell Alex Dezen, and maybe it’s just the cold grey skies that are causing me to post two melancholy tunes in one day, but I’m feeling this one.

Alex makes it sound easy the way he crafts these humble aching love songs with his acoustic guitar, and puts his soul behind it. The Damnwells will be back in the studio come February, with Alex saying “it’s going to be the record we should have made long ago.” I don’t know what that sounds like, but I’m glad to hear that there’s more music forthcoming from this earnest, shining talent – the two years since Air Stereo already seem interminable ’round these parts.

Down With The Ship – The Damnwells

New song from The Damnwells: The Bastard of Midnight

After listening to the Damnwells demo “She’s The New York City Skyline” about, oh, a thousand times on my recent sojourn out of Dodge, I was stoked to click onto their MySpace page from the kitchen table of my friend Jenn’s apartment in Queens and hear a brand new song streaming.

“Hey what’s your number Chicago?
What time is it in Japan?”

I first listened to this while watching the morning greyness outside her 6th floor window, half-contemplating what would happen if I climbed out onto the fire escape to feel the cool air. It’s a sweetly melancholy acoustic tune with a falsetto chorus of aching vulnerability, perfect for finding yourself in some strange, new city.

I was all set to post a ripped copy, but then The Damnwells were so kind as to send me this spiff mp3, so a thank you to them:

The Bastard of Midnight
- The Damnwells

No new tour news or album news from The Damnwells but for the love of all that’s good and holy, try to find a way to see their documentary Golden Days. Recommend it to your local film fest, or music channel, or whomever will listen. It’s a piercing story full of musical heart — a film that should be seen.

[top photo credit Heather Conley]

Celebrate the Damnwells’ Air Stereo release anniversary with old demos & new album news!

I am deeply in love with the music of The Damnwells now more than ever. I’ve been on a kick lately, and as far as I reach in, they meet me there with their music. As my friend Scott wrote, “[Lead singer/songwriter Alex] Dezen uses the pen like a rapier to carve little bits out of your heart and soul.”

Yesterday marked one year since Air Stereo (2006, Rounder Records) was unleashed upon us unworthy masses, and if you don’t own it yet, why not? Why, oh why not. I discovered this in 2007, so it doesn’t get to go into my top list of the year that I’ll put out this Deccember, but that’s just a technicality. This is undoubtedly one of the best albums of my year, one I’ve listened to the most, sang my lungs out to in the car, and spent time alone with on my iPod.

The great news this week is that Alex has revealed some juicy details of work commencing on a new album. He writes, “The Damnwells will be going back into the studio before the end of this year to record a new record. I’m thinking a self titled affair. Really, when you consider all the pressure and nonsense—both existential and metaphoric—we always had to deal with every time we went into the studio, this will be the first Damnwells record we will ever be able to just make. ‘No pressure,’ Paul, our A&R guy at Rounder says. ‘Make the record you want to make.’ What a crazy idea! Not like we were ever making anyone else’s records, but there was always compromise.

Guess we’ll find out.”

In the spirit of Damnwells love, I’ve unearthed some more demos from their early days and they are heartbreaking, insanely good, wrenching, melodic — some of the best stuff I’ve heard in months. I love the ferocious romanticism of The Damnwells, and that’s a kind of romanticism that can be manly too (not talking like bubble bath romantic, more like bleeding out in the backcountry following your dream romantic).

Information about these is incredibly scant, and my normal methods of reconaissance are failing me. If you can confirm anything else about these demos, I’d love to hear it. Far as I can tell, these are mostly demos for the PMR (Poor Man’s Record) + 1 EP, which you can still buy over at CD Baby. There are two demos from the Heart Hazard EP which was a self-produced, hand-stamped job that I can’t find a trail on either.

DAMNWELLS DEMOS
PMR+1 and Heart Hazard EPs
H.C.E.
Sweet Marie
Honeside
Smile Guy
Stay (demo)
For My Own Good
Goodnight Tonite
Ballad of You (demo)
Have To Ask (demo)
Three Day Old Lover (blue version)
Three Day Old Lover (red version)
How Do I Say Nothing (demo)
Televised Telephone (demo)
The Only One Who Laughs (demo)
While You Can (demo)

ZIP: DAMNWELLS DEMOS

Damnwells will be playing Bumbershoot in Seattle on Labor Day weekend. Wanna go?

Damnwells do damn well

From their MySpace blog:

Monday, April 16, 2007

2007 Phoenix Film Festival. Best Documentary: Golden Days.
We won.
Fuck yeah.


Congrats, guys!

New tour dates with The Damnwells

I am half-wishing I had a reason to be in Phoenix tonight for the premiere of The Damnwells new movie Golden Days, and also for their late night concert which is buzzed to be an hours-long, energetic affair in the works.

They’ve announced a string of tour dates (hurrah!), but not in Colorado yet (boo). We’ve established my budding love for them and I can’t wait to catch them live . . . someday.

May 10 – The Triple Door, Seattle, WA
May 11 – Berbatis Pan, Portland, OR
May 14 – Troubador, Los Angeles, CA
May 15 – The Casbah, San Diego, CA
May 16 – Plush, Tucson, AZ
May 18 – The Granada Theater, Dallas, TX
May 19 – The Parish, Austin, TX
May 22 – WorkPlay, Birmingham, AL
May 23 – Mercy Lounge, Nashville, TN
May 24 – Smiths Olde Bar, Atlanta, GA
May 25 – The Map Room, Charleston, SC
May 26 – Tremont Music Hall, Charlotte, NC
May 27 – Outer Banks Brewing Station, Kill Devil Hills, NC
May 29 – The Jewish Mother, Virginia Beach, VA
May 30 – The Birchmere, Alexandria, VA
May 31 – Gramercy Theatre, New York, NY
Jun 01 – Middle East (Downstairs), Cambridge, MA
Jun 02 – Iron Horse Music Hall, Northampton, MA
Jun 03 – Tin Angel, Philadelphia, PA
Jun 05 – Rex Theatre, Pittsburgh, PA
Jun 06 – House of Blues – Cambridge Room, Cleveland, OH
Jun 08 – Phoenix Hill Tavern, Louisville, KY
Jun 09 – Abbey Pub, Chicago, IL

MUST LISTEN:
I Am A Leaver (alternate stripped version) – The Damnwells
This will absolutely give you chills at the 1:42 mark…

Let’s go and get tangled in (acoustic) chains of golden days

Thanks to a warm and prompt response to an email plea to Mr. Damnwell himself, Alex Dezen, I wanted to share this acoustic version of the undisputably wonderful song “Golden Days” with you guys.

This is the incarnation of the song that’s used in the trailer for their movie of the same name (opening in a few short weeks at the Phoenix Film Festival). Alex writes, “I’ve always been kind of partial to this version too. P.S. Feel free burn, post and disseminate anyway you like. This music belongs to everyone.”

Now that’s a refreshing sentiment not heard nearly enough.

From the rich slowburn opening that takes its time easing in, this version stuns (but I still adore the original, in fact, the whole album):

Golden Days (acoustic) – The Damnwells

New Damnwells documentary: Golden Days

“They’ve toured the country, opened for rock legends, and you can’t find their album anywhere.”

And thus begins the journey in the new movie about Brooklyn band The Damnwells, their rise to Epic fame and fall from major label grace, and current creative successes as independent artists. Golden Days just got its first screening lined up — it’s one of 10 films picked for the Feature Film Competition at the 2007 Phoenix Film Festival (April 12-19 at the Harkins Theatre in Scottsdale).

Now I just recently found out about The Damnwells and have been listening to their Air Stereo record from 2006 (Zoe/Rounder Records) on heavy rotation. It is a damn fine record, one that you definitely should pick up if you liked the warm pop-alternative harmony and chiming guitars of Gin Blossoms or (my beloved) Toad The Wet Sprocket. There’s also a distinct alt-country vibe, perhaping emanating from the sticks of drummer Steven Terry, who was in Whiskeytown.

Here’s the trailer for the film:

Here are a few more Damnwells songs for your enjoyment and sampling. Get all their stuff — seriously. Plus, doesn’t lead singer Alex Dezen look (and sound nothing) like Jeff Buckley?

Golden Days
You’ll hear this in the trailer (for obvious reasons) — a warm tune off Air Stereo, full of “oooooh” backing vocals and wonderful lyrics of musical allusions: “I can’t hear much but the melody coming from you / Baby please don’t rush, keep the tempo slow and blue, let me hear the words you say / Let’s go and get tangled in chains of golden days.” This is a great song.

You Don’t Have To Like Me (To Love Me Tonight)
This one rolls right out of your speakers like that cocky guy walking into a bar and kicking the jukebox. And this comes out. “Nobody at school can tease me like you. Should we never be ours, leave it all to skies and the scars. Please don’t love me alone tonight.” [Air Stereo]

Untitled Demo (from Dec 2005)
Thanks to the Damnwells’ MySpace page over a year ago, and the Songs:Illinois blog way back then for snagging it.

I Will Keep The Bad Things From You
A sentimental song rife with little inside communications between guy and girl, promises like “You can keep your last name if you want to,” and “You keep the band names coming, I’ll make the jokes real funny.” From their 2004 album Bastards of the Beat.

Monday Music Roundup

I don’t know about you, but I’ve often pondered the existential question that all of us, if we’re honest, must someday answer: If you attended Bayside High, which Saved By The Bell character would you be? Finally there is a quiz to help you make that all-important determination with great questions like:

Everybody’s got a dark side. What’s yours?
a) I’ve moved a lot because my dad’s in the military, so it’s difficult for me to make friends.
b) I was addicted to caffeine pills.
c) I’m a complete nerd…how much more dark can you get?!
d) I went on a date with Screech. Eww!
e) My family isn’t very wealthy, despite what people might think.
f) I’ve been struggling with obsessive-compulsive disorder, schizophrenia, depression and mild anxiety… Syke! Ha ha, I had you fooled there, didn’t I? You really believed I was that messed up! Ha ha! What a moron!

Bonus points if you can match each option with the appropriate character. It’s somewhat comforting to have such clear-cut roles in life. By the way, it tells me that I am Kelly Kapowski. I’m not really seein’ it; I think I’m more of a Screech (nerd), or maybe Slater? I’ve always so admired his fashion sense.

Happy new year and happy new music!

Sunday Morning
k-os
This one’s just fun and fresh and feels like something you should dance around to (if you, unlike me, have any feisty left in you after last night and especially -ugh- this morning). A slaptastic backbeat and repetitive lyrics that sound like they are droning at you from very far away, this is infectiously catchy. It’s got the class of an old soul deal remixed with modern hip hop beats, from Trinidad-Canadian k-os (stands for knowledge of self, pronounced like “chaos”) to help you start your year off right. From the upcoming release Atlantis: Hymns For Disco (EMI International).

Up
Rob Crow
I was prompted to finally listen to this new song that I downloaded a few weeks ago by seeing and (magnabbit!) liking the freaking Clorox Wipes commercial that Rob Crow (of San Diego band Pinback, not to be confused with Nickelback) penned and is, sadly, only available to tug at your heartstrings and make you feel all oozy as a snippet in the ad, as you watch a dad dance around with his daughter standing on his feet (as he stops, inexplicably, to wipe the table with a Clorox wipe, which is the logical move at that time in fuzzy technicolor-memory moments with your kids). Sorry. Back to this song, it’s from Crow’s forthcoming (Jan 23) album Living Well (Temporary Residence Ltd) and it reminds me a little of early Beck in its lo-fi acoustic/electronica-hybrid goodness.

Everybody’s Talking
(written by Fred Neil, popularized by Harry Nilsson)
Luna
Dreamy (now defunct) indie ’90s band Luna put out a covers-only album this summer on Rhino Records (called Lunafied) that I just adore. You all know that I love the creative energies present in the best reinterpretations, and this album presents an always-interesting journey through songs by artists from the New York new-wave of Blondie and the Talking Heads to the Sixties goodness of Serge Gainsbourg and Donovan.

I Am A Leaver
The Damnwells
The second studio album from Brooklyn’s The Damnwells, Air Stereo (Zoe Records) made it onto the best-of 2006 lists of several friends I respect, so I decided to take it for a spin. Their sounds is warm and full, a golden pop-alt-country vibe that for me draws up memories of Gin Blossoms and the handful of Goo Goo Dolls songs that I like. It’s robust and thoroughly enjoyable, damn good.

War No More (link below)
Tommy Guerrero
San Francisco musician/ex-skateboarding legend Tommy Guerrero has a laid back, earthy sound that would be right at home on the front porch of one of the city’s lovely old houses, or perhaps a beach somewhere in the Pacific. This instrumental track has a global vibe to it with African-feeling drums and a shimmery Latin melody. Guerrero contributed to some of my favorite tracks on the Sprout surf movie soundtrack, and the aptly-named From The Soil To The Soul is an album that I could definitely see myself playing on repeat.

Trying something new, this is a free download of the song through an independent music promotor, IODA. They do all the linky work for me:

Download “War No More” (mp3)
from “From the Soil To the Soul” by Tommy Guerrero
Quannum Projects

Buy at iTunes Music Store

Buy at eMusic