We won\u2019t get a new Woods record until probably sometime late in the calendar year but in the meantime there\u2019s a rich-in-sound full length debut to be enjoyed from the band\u2019s semi-regular touring keys player John Andrews. It\u2019s solid.<\/p>\n
Entitled \u201cBit By The Fang,\u201d the LP is release number 78 from Jeremy Earl\u2019s Woodsist label. Out for two weeks now, I\u2019ve been playing it a lot early in the morning on the way to work.<\/p>\n
Andrews created all of the album\u2019s sounds and wrote all of the music except the tune Trouble which was penned by his pal Christopher Yaple. The esteemed Portland, OR-based engineer Timothy Stollenwerk mastered the record which sounds great on my subpar home playback system.<\/p>\n
The piano and organ are front and center on most of the numbers although there\u2019s some great guitar work too. The title track features a really cool jam which one could envision Earl or Jarvis Taveniere helping out on should they ever back John up. As it is now, Andrews is going it alone in the live setting. He told the music writer Darren Bonilla that at least his first few dates would feature him alone sitting at his Wurlitzer. It doesn\u2019t sound like expansive touring with a band is part of the plan.<\/p>\n
There are definitely moments where you hear a little Woods seep into the sound of the record. The opening trip-out on Hear Me Out has that Woods between-songs interlude feel. Same with the end of Fang. The effects bridge songs together and make the record feel connected as it goes along. That it was all done by Andrews in the home setting is pretty amazing, really. Sonically, it\u2018s lush. But it\u2019s also impressive that he has such versatility to make a record with all these components.<\/p>\n
Don\u2019t Spook the Horses has Quilt-ish hints to it. Quilt of course is the band Andrews plays drums in, his primary endeavor.<\/p>\n
A couple days after the formal release date of Bit By The Fang, Andrews expressed what sounded like frustration with the internet world\u2019s reception to his accomplishment. In a Tweet dated 4-16-15, Andrews said: \u201cFound more torrents to illegally download my record than album reviews.\u201d<\/p>\n
I don\u2019t know much about \u201ctorrents\u201d or how all that stuff works but my feeling on this record is that it will be remembered and enjoyed in a way that\u2019s ultimately much bigger than a bunch of pirate nobodies who clutter up Google search results with whatever no-good they\u2019re up to. Additionally, this record is forever in the annals as a Woodsist release which is a prestigious and rare distinction.<\/p>\n
-I had a ticket for that much-anticipated Hookworms show at Palisades a week ago Saturday only to find out a few weeks before that it had been cancelled. The band scrapped 11 US dates after learning it had failed to obtain visas to tour and perform in the states. In a statement to its fans, the Hookworms said they were \u201cconfused\u201d and \u201cupset\u201d about the US government\u2019s failure to issue proper requested documents despite six months advance effort and the band\u2019s problem-free US visit 18 months prior. We\u2019re talking about five young English guys with no known transgressions worthy of getting snagged by a travel barrier. Unless there\u2019s something the band isn\u2019t telling us, it may be another example of post-9-11 US government bureaucracy killing the aspirations of young artists who want to visit America to share their work. Six days after the band\u2019s announcement of the cancellation, I received word from Ticketfly that my ticket order for the show had been fully refunded. Still, it\u2019s shitty that movement of artists between two continents on good terms is blocked for what appears to be no good reason.<\/p>\n
-I forgot to mention it in the previous couple Met game write-ups but Billy Joel\u2019s Piano Man has become a permanent tradition now during the break preceding bottom eight of home games in Flushing. I actually like it.<\/p>\n
-And now that the Islanders have played their last game at the Coliseum, I can only laugh at the sudden disingenuous rush to scream foul over their move to Brooklyn. The time and opportunity to keep the Isles where they belong came and went on August 1, 2011 when the voters of Nassau County rejected a modest proposal to renovate the Moz. It also would have been nice if some of the people who packed the Coliseum the final few weeks of the season would have gone to a game or two when times were lean. All Long Islanders can hope for now is that somehow Brooklyn doesn\u2019t work and people don\u2019t show up. That could potentially set the stage for a return to Uniondale. But I don\u2019t think that\u2019ll happen. The Isles will grow a new fan base at Atlantic and Flatbush while simultaneously extending a hand of welcome to the die-hards from Nassau and Suffolk who will learn the L-I-R-R isn\u2019t a bad way to go to a hockey game.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
We won\u2019t get a new Woods record until probably sometime late in the calendar year but in the meantime there\u2019s a rich-in-sound full length debut to be enjoyed from the band\u2019s semi-regular touring keys player John Andrews. It\u2019s solid. Entitled … Continue reading