So, Does Everyone Hate Cass McCombs?

I happen to like both records.

http://www.4ad.com/artists/cassmccombs/

wukka wukka...he sucks!!

So, Does Everyone Hate Cass Mccombs?

um, anyway, the album is really pretty. and pretty varied. nice mix of sounds, but one cohesive vibe overall. i dig it.

-- Maria D. (maria...), January 7th, 2005. (Maria D.)

I said this! Maria was logged in on the computer. I hate when that happens. I don't want to put words in anyone's mouth. Although Maria is enjoying the album as well.

w!mb!sh@gma!l.com if the answer is yes. No worries if no.

Thanks

ihttp://www.amazon.com/gp/product/images/B000777J3M/ref=dp_product-image-only_0/104-0006613-9323968?%5Fencoding=UTF8&n=5174

ping ping goes the shovel
pang pang goes the pail
the middle of summer
and the furnace will be burning
when she gets some mail!

Tourist Woman is also great
Not crazy about the production and a little disapointed in some of Tim DeWitt's drumming; he's usually great.

so, the single is out there. That's That. sounds pretty good.

nice guy

great name, too...sounds like a hero of the Wild West...

the first song (Lionkiller) on the new album is pretty sweet. kinda dark, with a dinky keyboard riff towards the end. has anyone heard the record?

since the last album really lit up ilm, i am proud to announce that a new album, Catacombs, is coming out in June. First single, dreams come true girl, is out there on the internet. I didn't like a lot of Dropping the Writ, but based on the last time I saw him live, I am anticipating this.

feel a little bad that i didn't hear the last album and now there's a new one. but i'm a busy guy.

the new album,Catacombs, (he probably thought about this title for years..) is very good.
in fact, it's probably one of the better records of 2009.
References:John Lennon,Robyn Hitchcock,Calvin Joohnson,Nick Drake,Robert Wyatt...

great, minimal production too.

I've only heard one song by him: "Full Moon or Infinity". A friend put it on a mix for me. I really liked it! Is that song of typical quality for McCombs?

i don't know that song.
the only record i heard from him is perfection, which is very good, but he changed styles almost totally afterwards.(less 80's more 70's and accesible, in short)

also sounds kinda like a richard davies solo record. or bill fay, which is a great compliment.

i like "full moon or infinity" despite it sounding like elliot smith. i've never heard it mentioned as a highlight, and he has better songs. if you like that song i think you will find plenty to like on his albums.
i'm not totally convinced by the new one yet. it's too long by about three songs. the first track is really excellent, though.

if you are looking for something that sounds like richard davies, i recommend aptos by the moore brothers, which is probably my favorite album of 2009.

"Harmonia" is my JAM right now.

New record might be his best.

wow I forgot about cass mccombs. I really liked those first two records and then somehow totally forgot about them.

dude, she choked on a ham sandwich. preserve what little dignity she has left.

akm, I did the same as you. But this new single brought it all flooding back. Such a beautiful song:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EyeBD4MYRk8

i kinda ignored that song at first cause there are too many slow ones on the album but it is really excellent.

A is still one of my favorite records of the 2000s!

Just got the new album and listened to it once - "Harmonia" is the track that is really jumping out at me thus far. And "Dream Come True Girl," but that one not in a good way. The rest of the album I need more time with.

i saw him last night with a new band including andy mcleod on drums and the bassist from bishop allen. they were great.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lVo7eueP6wA

i'm gonna turn this into a youtube thread now. last summer he played this fun, sun records-ish instrumental, wonder if he recorded it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5c5wMLspJN8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hSZ1QEUwRy8

never heard of him until his new one. like it a lot, reminds me of prime go betweens at points.

i've gotta get this -- i think he's a super-talented guy, and have loved some individual songs over the years, but from what I've heard, he's yet to make a truly great record. maybe this is it?

It is pretty good - turning out to be quite a grower. I wrote about it yesterday.

nice review!

i have listened to catacombs and can only conclude that this guy is a low-level sociopath.

please elaborate

karen black!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-5l8lqNakPI

theres just such an insane amount of narrative distance with his stuff--i can only conclude that he's insincere, that he's fucking with me, or that he's more of a cranky editorialist/ironist than anything else. like "executioner's song" is so gorgeous melodically, and it's a great performance by him, but the lyrics + the title are fucked, and you can tell he knows this and knows the effect he's going for. a lot of his songs are also concerned with participating/not participating in mainstream normal stuff ("don't vote" being the biggest example but there are more) and he consistently comes down on one side of that debate. he's just a weird fucking dude.

that being said, it's an excellent record and a few of the tunes are really sticking with me and having an emotional effect--totally glad i bought it.

video is certainly strange:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9KtPQt8B8HA

theres just such an insane amount of narrative distance with his stuff--i can only conclude that he's insincere, that he's fucking with me, or that he's more of a cranky editorialist/ironist than anything else.

― call all destroyer, Tuesday, December 22, 2009 11:26 PM (1 week ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

I first meet Cass McCombs in a dressing room...His first sentence after “I’m Cass” is “Give me a minute to get changed into my outfit.” He returns 25 seconds later wearing a round straw hat and a denim jacket with a bright pink, airbrushed scorpion on it. Across his shoulder blades are the self-referencing bubble letters “Lion Killer.” Also sunglasses.

“It’s easier to be somebody when you have an outfit,” he tells me as we spill from Vancouver’s Commodore Ballroom out into an alley through alarmed fire doors.

BUT! There are some songs that are very emotionally direct and sincere. Dreams Come True Girl for one. Harmonia is a gorgeous song, about making yourself vulnerable, getting hurt, and realizing that the risk was worth it.

Amazing and beautiful record. Person upthread with all that narrative distance stuff may well be right. Thats what makes this record so much more interesting than other records of a similar ilk. Its good that it is mysterious.

new single is gorgeous
http://pitchfork.com/forkcast/15354-county-line/

btw, i really hope he has a best of titled Does Everyone Hate Cass McCombs

mm, love this. so stoked for new album. "You Saved My Life" has lingered in my head for like two years.

Catacombs has quietly become one of my favorite albums of all time.

Wit's End is my most anticipated 2011 release by far. Well, maybe not 'by far.' There's Callahan, Josh Pearson and Gang Gang Dance to consider. But you know. Pretty fuckin' stoked.

I think there's a bit of a lull up front - Don't Vote, You Saved My Life, Executioner's Song - but from Harmonia to the end Catacombs is fantastic. I'm looking forward to the new one too.

hahah those are my three fav songs on catacombs

It's the next three that are my favorite - Harmonia, My Sister My Spouse, and Lionkiller Got Married.

Have you heard the new track from this album yet? It's great.

http://vimeo.com/20794924

you saved my life is probably my favorite cass song overall.

County Line is sublime. Anyone else excited about Wits End? Heard anything else on it? Can't wait for this etc etc..

i can't wait for it either. haven't seen anything else from the album turn up anywhere, and i giess it has been pushed back to april 26

Heard this thing now. Unsure what to think. Very slow with lots of simple repeated melodic lines. A bit of piano. County Line still so great. Dreamy and lethargic. I hope my first impression is only the beginning of a beautiful relationship and not the end.

A Knock Upon the Door is jaw-dropping. 2 of these songs feature what may be a bass clarinet, one of my favorite instruments.

album is very dirge-y

haven't heard anything other than "county line" but it is a great great song. anticipating!

Superb album. A definite downer, but in a beautiful, uncompromising way. "County Line" is still the highlight IMO, but every song is woozy and gorgeous and spooky in all the right ways. Dude's a genius.

New album sounds good, but I already miss the twang that attracted me Catacombs. I have been in a country mood lately, though.

this album has most of the qualities i look for in music. lovely!

"county line" is just

I know, right? My favorite song of 2011.

wish there were more songs that sounded like this

i get a definite neil young vibe from it. neil young covering lionel richie or something.

with a healthy dollop of Leonard Cohen.... at least on the rest of the lp.

this album is fantastic

cass is dreamy.

this story is about the last album, but its probably the best thing i've read/ heard with him
http://www.wbez.org/episode-segments/cass-mccombs%C3%A2%E2%82%AC%E2%84%A2-catacombs#

I *love* the weird, "too loud" bangs/smacks that act as snare noises on some of the longer songs late in the album- they're so jarring in the midst of how melancholic the tunes are

plus, "Buried Alive"! what a tune!

Okay I hate to be one of those guys that jumps all over something BNM'd on Pitchfork, but I was browsing at Reckless last night and "County Line" straight up stopped me in my tracks when the guy behind the counter put it on. Didn't know who it was at the time, but, damn, fantastic song.

I *love* the weird, "too loud" bangs/smacks that act as snare noises on some of the longer songs late in the album- they're so jarring in the midst of how melancholic the tunes are

plus, "Buried Alive"! what a tune!

― the tune is space, Wednesday, April 27, 2011

These caught me too. It sounds like a balloon being burst.

I also love that he is only conducting press on this record via letters in the post and that his current press shots were taken by a private investigator.

haha i was wondering about this photo

http://www.pitchperfectpr.com/images/hires/CassMcCombs2_photobyPaulValenciaPI.JPG

wit's end gets better and better. at first i was kind of luke warm on half the songs, now i love all of them except the lonely doll. especially liking hermit's cave and pleasant shadow song right now.

A Knock Upon the Door is jaw-dropping. 2 of these songs feature what may be a bass clarinet, one of my favorite instruments.

― mizzell, Saturday, April 9, 2011 1:32 PM (3 weeks ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

album is very dirge-y

― mizzell, Saturday, April 9, 2011 1:57 PM (3 weeks ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

u were v. otm with both these posts. good album. cass is still a fucking weirdo.

excellent, very quiet show last night in nyc. county line sounded great and just about everyone in the audience (including peter saarsgard) was grooving along to it. other highlights were meet me here at dawn, harmonia, equinox, and when the bible was wrote.

excellent, very quiet show last night in nyc. county line sounded great and just about everyone in the audience (including peter saarsgard) was grooving along to it. other highlights were meet me here at dawn, harmonia, equinox, and when the bible was wrote.

whoops sorry for that

album of the year

Wow, really? I can't get into it at all, aside from "County Line".

"County Line" is definitely track of the year, not so sure about heaping that much praise on the album as a whole yet.

The thing that broke it open for me was playing the tracks in a different order. I had to skip County Line altogethor cos its so sublime it was overshadowing everything. Now I pretty much like everything except for Lonely Doll and A knock upon the door. Memories Stain and Buried Alive in particular are stunning. I have even come round on Saturday which I thought was a serious misstep initially. Overall listening to this I can't help thinking how defiant and lacking in compromise - the whole thing is. I love the eccentric little touches ie on Memories Stain with that strange rattling drums that signal a change in direction- this just lifts the tune immeasurably and the beautiful coda. Lonely Doll and Knock I like the least because there is so little melodic development- but I wouldn't bet against that opinion changing too.

http://www.nyctaper.com/?p=5974

after this being hammered into me by repeated plays in the office, I am liking this quite a lot. are any of his past albums as good?

Catacombs is still my fav, by a good amount.

catacombs and maybe a are better, prefection nearly as good though different sound

ironically, even though A is the only one i physically own, i listen to it the least because the LP skips so much :(

Dropping the Writ is incredible, too.

Dude was amazing in Birmingham, AL Monday night. About 12-15 people there. Long versions of "Harmonia" and "Dreams Come True Girl." His band on this tour is incredible. People were complaining later about a 'lack of dynamics,' whatever that means (they played in complete darkness but for a flickering backdrop of projected lights behind them), but I thought it was the best show I've seen all year.

Lower Dens, who opened, were also awesome. Like if a Krautrock band knew how to write actual songs.

Sounds like a great show, wish they'd come to my town.
Still loving Lower Dens.

cool, he's rolling through here in a couple weeks, i think i 'm going.
haven't gotten heavily into the new one, but i just need to give it a few more listens i think.

Wits End is a perfect album and I love every song on it. I am going back to Dropping The Writ and Catacombs to find out if I was a cloth eared cunt for not really getting into them.

yeah, it is really good. wonder if the new one will be more "rock" though. that seemed to be the direction he was leaning in during the live show -- didn't even play very much from wits end.

def will be more uptempo and rock
seems like the two were recorded in the same group of sessions

"Windfall" off Dropping the Writ is seriously about the most beautiful thing ever right now.

Can't wait for Humour Risk. Was this part of the strategy all along, to release two records this year - one sad slow and deep and the other more up tempo- or did they just decide to put more stuff out after Wits End. Hard to get much info from the Mccombs camp. I guess thats how he likes it.

http://pitchfork.com/tv/special-presentation/1788-cass-mccombs/2917-more-or-less/

where do the first and third songs ("More or Less" and "Angel Blood") come from? are they on singles or something? i don't see them on the tracklists to any of his albums, including the one that's about to come out.

yeah, i guess they are newer than the new album. he played angel blood last time i saw him. not on any singles that i know of. his b-sides are good though.

so for this album's interviews he's going pithy

Were Wit’s End and Humor Risk recorded at the same time?

Wit’s End started years ago. It just took a long time. It wanted to be that way, to be a slow record. Humor Risk began about halfway through (the creation of) Wit’s End. It was like the tortoise and the hare, you know what I mean? Except if the tortoise and the hare sort of tied.

Were you surprised by that surge of creativity? 



I write every day just to keep the wheels greased.

If you don’t, do your wheels get rusty?

No, I haven’t been rusty in a real long time. It’s just a job, you see. Not a lot of hocus pocus. You just build these little songs and slowly but surely they become finished.

That’s a very unpretentious attitude. A lot of musicians I talk to seem to regard writing as a mentally arduous process.

They should get stoned more. 


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QzGJYjsfwQk

Dude is easily one of my favorite songwriters, one of the greats, I'd say, but I hate that he feels the need to be all belligerent and off-putting to prove it. Lou Reed's Disease, I reckon. (I refer to the Pitchfork interview posted today and not the video above, which I haven;t seen yet).

the video is lol

i dunno, i think it's ok that he is not a very forthcoming interview subject, it really doesn't matter too much. he was actually a pretty lively, warm presence when I saw him play last summer -- seems to be serious about the music, but also serious about *enjoying* the music. if that makes sense.

New one is AOTY for me. Just outstanding.

didn't you say that about the last one?

i do like this one more than Wit's End. Looking forward to getting to know this through many, many plays. "Mariah" is a killer song.

I did say it about Wits End, but this one is even better. Maybe far better. I don't know. Listening to it last night for the first time, I was having a hard time remembering when I heard a 'new' record I liked as much. Silent Shout and The Drift come to mind, but this album...holy smokes.

this $3.99 on amazon mp3 today...going to download when i get home!

STOKED

the field recording/processing on "love thine enemy" is so cool

I guess I need to go back and give Wit's End another change. "County Line" is still one of my favorite songs of the year, but the rest never really grabbed me as much as that one did.

"county line" does kind of tower over the rest of the record, but there's some great stuff on there.

Hope we got Humor Risk at the radio station. Hope I can find it in a store on vinyl.

it's streaming at http://www.dominorecordco.us/usa/news/07-11-11/cass-mccombs-humor-risk-out-today/

Oh, I've been listening to it on Spotify. But I want to own it on vinyl, and I also want other programmers at the radio station to play tracks from it.

yeah i meant that for anyone rather than as a reply to you

Its riduculous that he can release two albums of such brilliance in the same year. Two very different CmC albums as well, what a top class songwriter.

the two albums really interlock in a cool way - twins in which there's the introvert and the extrovert?

like the long ramble of "Mystery Mail" and the long ramble of the "Knock Upon the Door" kind of balance each other within the respective ecosystems of the two albums

I see what you mean that "County Line" is so great that it overshadows stuff, but "Buried Alive" is pretty goddamn fantastic too

I'm glad that these were two albums rather than one big thing- it would have been exhausting- and each is fab

^^^^ otm

I'm listening to this album again, this time not high as hell, and I like it just as much. White it's probably too obvious a comparison to make, a lot of this reminds me of some lost 'good' Lou Reed solo album. It also has a heavy Moz Factor, which I always appreciate in Cass's music. Don't mean to pile on the hyperbole - the truth is I usually find something to hate about everything - but every song on this album is a perfect '10.' If P**chfork gives this anything less than a 9.5, they have cloth ears.

I love how after a record of brilliant, meticulously produced pop, he out-private presses everyone with "Mariah," which is like, I dunno, Jakob Olausson or Greg Ashley or something. Outstanding.

Buried Alive, Saturday Song & Memory's Stain. What a fucking sequence of songs. I like County Line but that is just the warm up for me.

I also think that Memory Stain is the equal of County Line. I kind of like it more now cos it took me longer to get into.

It looks like Pitchfork are indeed cloth eared cunts. Or maybe just a bit churlish because Cass gives a grumpy interview. Fuck em. Why is it that the albums that always score around 7 are class and most of their Best New Music stuff is rinse?

Wow. Dude, its not like they trashed the album.

No they didn't trash it and I didn't say they trashed it. I just disagree with their review. Again.

i believe there's a thread that's all about how pitchfork sucks

xxxpost, nice to see 'rinse' getting some use even if I disagree.

all of this is so much better than he was live a few months ago.

I was just browsing other reviews of Humor Risk and discovered this gem. Its the most badly written review ever, even an underachieving 5th former could write better copy than this. http://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2011/11/cass-mccombs-humor-risk.html

The disembodied sounds on "Love Thine Enemy" sound like some audio verite thing added for atmosphere, until a lone voice from the murmuring actually sings a line of the song. That was my stoned 'holy shit i'm freaking out' moment of the album this fifth time through.

Also, the spoken 'what's done is done' line on "Robin Egg Blue" - I can't tell if it's Cass's voice affecting some sort of character, or if another person actually speaks that line. The quality changes suddenly, abruptly, and the voice seems to appear from out of nowhere.

I may be smoking too much weed.

Love this fuckin' album so much.

lol “To Every Man His Camera” (paste review)

hmm I like this guy a lot

totally love him releasing two great short albums last year. short great albums rule.

The Living Word gets stuck in my head a lot.
His delivery is a little bit too precious at times.

'mystery mail' off the second one is a treat

new 7" Bradley Manning b/w Empty Promises

http://images.amazon.com/images/G/01/richmedia/images/cover.gif

b-side is great

hmm, cover not showing?

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-OjfST998zjM/T1aAs4wDjAI/AAAAAAAAAg0/hmKmBSoeWko/s640/artworks-000017586003-kchx9l-original.jpg

I keep listening to the new Grizzly Bear record and liking it musically but it's reminiscent enough of McCombs' stuff that when I start trying to get anything out of the words, I just put on Catacombs instead. Cass is unparalleled as a lyrics writer right now imo.

Catacombs is really, really great. i've kind of been obsessed with "you saved my life" lately. it's such a spacious song, and the lyrics kind of sink into the open spaces after they're delivered and flood them with afterthought. yeah, a much more genuine and less laboured performer than the likes of Grizzly Bear.

Underrated dude. Those last three albums are just beautiful.

he's opening for John Cale on the West Coast next month
I saw him a couple of weeks ago in a tiny bar in brooklyn, apparently taking a break from recording to play some new tunes. Angel Blood sounds like the best to me, but this was my favorite of those I hadn't heard before
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cZgTvERl2b4&feature=plcp

I played "County Line" a hundred times a week in January and February.

new song
http://theskateboardmag.com/videos/?__mr_id=67587

also this recent live clip has a cool Tinariwen groove
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c_HNep_A8q8

huge double album coming out in October

http://www.brooklynvegan.com/img/bp/cass-mccombs-lp.jpg

Big Wheel and Others

Disc 1:
01. Sean I
02. Big Wheel
03. Angel Blood
04. Morning Star
05. The Burning Of The Temple, 2012
06. Brighter!
07. There Can Be Only One
08. Name Written in Water
09. Joe Murder
10. Everything Has To Be Just-So

Disc 2:
01. It Means A Lot To Know You Care
02. Dealing
03. Sooner Cheat Death Than Fool Love
04. Satan Is My Toy
05. Sean II
06. Home On The Range
07. Brighter! (Featuring Karen Black)
08. Untitled Spain Song
09. Sean III
10. Honesty Is No Excuse
11. Aeon Of Aquarius Blues
12. Unearthed

damn, that's a lot of cass

I just impulsively pre-ordered it. The more Cass the better.

Where is the pre-order link? This is the best news I've heard all day!

Got it. Pre-ordered vinyl. Psyched!

Ah, sorry! Followed stories back to the website myself.

To many records to buy... they never stop.

The new album sounds good on first listen but it's goddamn long.

it will take me months to get through this thing

he was so fucking great at Basilica Sound Scape, damn

I met the guy who draws the cover art and he was really cool too

all in all, thumbs way up

the new songs sounded great live, and lotsa hits from Wit's End, Humor Risk too

"County Line" is one of the classics of the new decade imo.

i was on the fence about seeing him (it's on a monday) but i just checked and he's got an excellent (and non-obvious, pairing-wise) opener in arbouretum so i guess i'm there

Aw I was going to go to Bascilica but decided it was too much to figure out in the short term. Saw him at Maxwell's a while ago and it was magical.

Haven't heard the album yet, but "Brighter!" is lovely.

http://www.npr.org/2013/10/06/228850503/first-listen-cass-mccombs-big-wheel-and-others

Oh man... what a great year it's been for music.

It's an okay album, dabbling freely in western tropes. Karen Black steals the thing. Also: it's long.

Just okay, huh? I'm three tracks in and already having a great time with it.

wait till you get to the nine-minute one in which he murmurs "They say Indians are for India" over and over.

"Classic Cass!"

The player keeps locking up for me, this last time everything went back to 0:00 so I'm not going to bother.

yeah at Basilica there was a full moon in the sky and it lined up beautifully with the highest window and right when Cass was singing "County Line" I looked up and saw him and the moon and it was pretty heart-melting, frankly

one of those moments of performance that sticks with you

"Classic Cass!"

― Evan, Monday,

"classic my ass!"

"County Line" is one of the classics of the new decade imo.

otm

Liking what I'm hearing from this album so far but not expecting any song to top 'County Line'.

It might be unfair to expect a new song to top that!

so far nothing as good as County Line (or You Saved My Life) but lots of good stuff on here. The jazzy instrumental is my surprise early fave

there's one instrumental that sounded like McCombs doing Manassas.

i've listened to 40 cass songs today. via youtube playlist. cass kinda day.

he is a very mood-dependent artist to me.
sometimes it could be a cass kinda day, but sometimes he is boring as fuck.

I feel that way about his less accessible stuff, though "Dropping the Writ" is a top 15-20 all time record for me so it is not so dependent.

listening to the new album on the npr stream. don't like the stream sound on my computer though. stuff i was hearing on youtube sounded better.

he sounds like he's been listening to my hero Lawrence on "There Can Be Only One". lyrically and inflection-wise, sounds like Felt-era Lawrence. to me.

which is, you know, third-gen Lou, but whatever.

Couldn't get further than four tracks before the stream failed multiple times for me. That's OK though because I just got an email from Domino with the full download. Apparently because vinyl production got delayed. Oh well.

i switched to the guardian stream of the album.

Angel Blood- Morning Star- Burning of the Temple- Brighter- There can be only One is an amazing sequence of songs.
Disc two hasn't sounded good to me, but might just be due to fatigue. I should try listening to it first.

I love the whole thing! I'm fighting the lukewarmish current here and declaring this to be another great record. Very happy with it.

yeah, i'm digging this a bunch too! especially the run of songs that mizzell mentions. might have to delete the "Sean" interludes from the playlist soon. i also need to start a listening session on the second half, because it's true that by the time i get there i'm usually focused on another activity and they just drift by.

Though "It Means a Lot To Know You Care" I'm afraid is making my co-workers think I'm taking an elevator to the produce section.

There's a great string of songs at the end too - Untitled Spain Song, Honesty Is No Excuse, Aeon of Aquarius Blues

Keepers: "There Can Be Only One," both versions of "Brighter" (but prefer Black's), "Honesty is No Excuse," "Dealing," "Morning Star."

didnt realize that "Honesty is No Excuse" is a thin lizzy cover

Really loving 'Name Written in Water' followed closely by both versions of 'Brighter!'

'Joe Murder' sounds like Red House Painters for better or worse. (For the record, I love RHP.)

It's always for better with RHP

Love this album as much as Wits End, Prefection, A and Dropping The Writ, but not as much as Catacombs (some days, my favorite songwriter album of the decade) and Humor Risk (ditto).

I deleted the Sean interludes too, and not just because I've seen that documentary already.

Cass rules. I hope I never met him. I don't want to find out he, like, skateboards or drinks PBR or something. I like to imagine that his lyrics are all deeply obscured references to sinister crimes he's committed; so many of them read like the kind of inscrutable puzzle-poetry that might appear in taunting letters to the police or something. His music is like if Scorpio from Dirty Harry had a band.

err, hope I never meet him, rather.

i thought he was a skateboarder! like, a good one...

He may be! I have no idea. I've gone to great lengths to not meet him. We have friends in common, I've seen him play, etc.

I prefer to imagine him as a persona and not a person, and his inscrutability makes that easy. In the right, err, 'frame of mind' (heh heh), his records spook me like metal records used to. Like, an unstable person might look for (and even find!) 'clues' in these songs. You know?

his wiki entry supports the serial killer scenario:

"He has led a nomadic existence for most of his adult life, moving from one city to the next, living in cars, on couches and at campsites."

McCombs has stated that his tombstone will read "Home At Last."[12]

I could do without his mystique/persona but this album is good.

"Persona" as a concept alone makes most people roll their eyes but if done well it is kind of necessary to distinguish the album with the picture of a guitar playing guy under the name of that guy apart from the other album with the picture of a guitar playing guy under the name of that guy.

his D.H. Lawrence-in-Taos-meets-Crazy-Horse vibe isn't convincing though

i admire his dedication to songs that have almost the exact same tempo and vocal delivery. in that way he really is reminiscent of M.K. from RHP. they do the same thing over and over and it can only be because they really like that thing. I liked that about JJ Cale too. but if you don't like it you are gonna be bored probably. i am bored by so many guitar dudes. maria put on richard buckner one day and i was so over it halfway through the 2nd song. but some people love him and can listen for hours.

I like Buckner too but these dudes are worlds apart. Cass reminds me of Morrissey if Morrissey liked Poe instead of Wilde. Buckner reminds me of an alt country-damaged Ralph Stanley or maybe even a more Americanized (??) June Tabor (in a good way). Buckner is way less inscrutable, more earnest.

Also, solo Lou Reed apologists should find much to love here

i just mean that people are different when it comes to voices and technique. not comparing anyone really. more of a general singer/songwriter thing. i apparently have a large capacity for cass and a lot of people probably wouldn't. same with buckner or nick cave or a million other people. it's a personal taste thing.

but that's kinda all obvious anyway. some people like some things/some people don't. i would understand completely if people were bored by cass. i would totally get that.

i mean i was comparing cass and MK from red house painters. i do think of RHP sometimes when i hear cass. just the lonely sad weird thing more than anything else. like they both see themselves as lonely weirdos.

Also, solo Lou Reed apologists should find much to love here

― Jimmywine Dyspeptic,

I'm looking for a new sensation

xp Oh, yeah, totally. I've tried to convert people I know who like things like this, and they don't understand my obsession with his records at all. His records just seem to fill a slot in my life that no other records do. I mean, it's the only pop music I listen to ON WEED, for example. I tend to get pretty effusive and annoying when I talk about certain Cass McCombs songs.

Never got into RHP beyond a few songs college girlfriends were obsessed with (one about New Jersey or something?). Respect more than admiration for Kozelek. Not sure I've ever made it all the way through one of his records. Which I guess is proving your point about different strokes etc, Scott!

Lonely weirdos apparently really resonates with me, too.

Though have you checked out any later Sun Kil Moon?

xp

I have - a friend was really into the double album he put out recently (not the most recent, the one before it? It had a lot of uproarious titles) and played it for me on a recent drive. I kept forgetting it was on. Maybe that was the wrong setting?

Ha, maybe but it could just be more evidence that Kozelek isn't quite for you. In my opinion, if the "Admiral Fell Promises" album doesn't do it for you nothing else will (since it sounds you sampled the other MK styles already).

And the appropriate setting is... near a fireplace? A view of changing fall leaves? Something like that.

i kinda bailed after the first SKM album which i liked a lot. i love all the RHP stuff though. i would recommend the first sun kil moon album, the s/t red house painters album known as "bridge" (has a bridge on the cover), and Ocean Beach if someone were interested in his stuff. "bridge" does indeed have "new jersey" on it so it might remind people of old girlfriends/boyfriends.

in my defense, most of his output since RHP has consisted of sad acoustic covers of alt-rock and ac/dc songs, so, i think i can be forgiven for not listening to everything. the SKM album i had hopes for was the one that was not an entire album of modest mouse covers, April, and it was just really forgettable to me. overlong, tedious, all the things that people who don't like RHP would say about that band and that i never agreed with.

i would still listen to the last SKM albums if i saw them cheap somewhere though.

I will definitely give the SKM stuff another chance! Thanks for the recommendations.

scott "Admiral Fell Promises" is especially good. I think it is very distinct even though the ingredients definitely are not.

It was much more absorbing initially than April for me.

This has been in seriously heavy rotation since it came out. I guess I should go back and listen to his older stuff.

alfred wrote a really nice review of the new album:

http://www.spin.com/articles/cass-mccombs-big-wheel-and-others-domino/

thank you Alfred for not mentioning that McCombs hates doing press or lives a nomadic existance and all the other crap that most writers can't stop repeating.
I still really like the Manassas song.

oh I don't care for biography

This has been in seriously heavy rotation since it came out. I guess I should go back and listen to his older stuff.

― Immediate Follower (NA), Monday, October 21, 2013 10:57 AM (4 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Dropping The Writ!

A top something favorite album ever for me.

Forgot to report that the deluxe vinyl for this was worth it! Love the packaging and the bonus 7" is great. Album sounds great on record too. Only hiccup was that it reads "Casss McCombs" on the spine, but that might be intentional I guess.

cassssssssss

2 or more extras I can see, 1 extra though? I should write them an angry letter about this.

Dear Sirs or, as you would have it, Sirss,

“I don’t even really want to make records — I’m dissatisfied with the whole medium,” said the singer-songwriter Cass McCombs, who has made seven of them, including the 22-track “Big Wheel and Others,” which he released earlier this month. “It’s a bizarre format in these digital times. The size of the Internet is infinite, so why do we define albums to be a specific length? It’s annoying to have to conform to something so arbitrary.” That’s why his latest, a massive, sprawling tapestry (the extended vinyl edition actually features 25 songs) that jumps from genre to genre, explodes the format. “It’s more like two and a half albums,” McCombs said with a laugh. “I actually had enough material to make a terrible triple album. As much as I love “Sandinista!,” I never thought that was a good idea.”

It's long but I don't mind a bit.

wait till you get to the nine-minute one in which he murmurs "They say Indians are for India" over and over.

― the objections to Drake from non-REAL HIPHOP people (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, October 7, 2013 1:45 PM (1 month ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I'm glad you revised this criticism in your review because nothing about this statement is true about the song in question.

yeah it's "They say an Indian doesn't come from India" and it's 8:59.

Saw him play last night. A very good set that didn't just concentrate on songs from the new album. The only disappointing part was 'County Line' with no Rhodes.

He only says that once, too.

xp

That was the main error.

i can't say i get what cass was going for with everything has to be just so. the older version, which was released as a b-side, is great. one of his best melodies in hidden there.

Excellent, jammy show last night in nyc. Highlights were often from guitarist Dan Iead, who got a very Jerry Garcia like tone on his solo for There Can Be Only One, had lovely nimble runs on the pedal steel, and had a huge, jazzy/psychy solo on the standout number Dream Comes True Girl (nearly as skronky as the keyboard solo from this show: http://livewire.auralstates.com/2011/07/28/cass-mccombs-live-at-the-golden-west-cafe/)
Drummer Joe Russo also really great.

my brother and cass! wish i could go. i never go.

https://scontent-a-iad.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-frc3/t1.0-9/1532078_669302099774176_5714364121732205858_n.jpg

Go!

recent live show: https://archive.org/details/cm2013-12-13.mk4.rbox
that's the only thing up on the archive at the moment, but hopefully more pop up - i think he is actually a lot better live than on record.

His band was amazing when I saw him. Incredible players, all of them.

OK!

Alternative rock godfathers Meat Puppets will be teaming up with the newer and consistently impressive songwriter Cass McCombs for a co-headlining tour this fall.

10/21 Duck Room @ Blueberry Hill University City, MO
10/22 High Noon Saloon Madison, WI
10/23 Empty Bottle Chicago, IL
10/24 A and R Music Bar Columbus, OH
10/27 Underground Arts Philadelphia, PA
10/28 The Met Pawtucket, RI
10/29 The Sinclair Cambridge, MA
10/30 Showcase Lounge South Burlington, VT
10/31 Rough Trade NYC Brooklyn, NY
11/1 Rough Trade NYC Brooklyn, NY
11/2 Black Cat Washington, DC
11/4 Local 506 Chapel Hill, NC
11/5 Center Stage Atlanta, GA
11/7 Fitzgerald's Houston, TX
11/28 Crescent Ballroom Phoenix, AZ
11/29 The Casbah San Diego, CA
12/2 Troubadour Los Angeles, CA
12/3 The Independent San Francisco, CA
12/5 Neumos Seattle, WA
12/6 Doug Fir Lounge Portland, OR

dammit no mpls, would love to see this bill! that's amazing

so this was kind of a weird pairing. meat puppets were pretty bad imo, there's a weird aggro metal-head vibe going on there that i wasn't into. but cass was good, and he played a 11-minute, dubbed out version of county line
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-U5M2LrgtHk

The A and D sides of Big Wheel are pretty much perfect. Have less of a problem with the length of the thing than the Sean interludes, undermines the dusky mood of the whole thing. "Morning Star" is a song that I continue to unpack and unpack

saw a somewhat secret show last night in a small nyc basement. sound was terrible and i left early but the band (including walter martin from the walkmen on organ) turned Don't Vote into an excellent JJ Cale shuffle.

fun recent show of the McCombs Skiffle Players, basically Cass plus Beachwood Sparks
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qTCvw7uxY4U
According to Dave Scher's blog, this group recorded earlier this year

http://www.treblezine.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/cass-folk-470x470.jpeg

A Folk Set Apart: Rarities, B-Sides & Space Junk, Etc.

01 I Cannot Lie
02 A.Y.D.
03 Oatmeal
04 Twins
05 Minimum Wage
06 Poet’s Day
07 An Other
08 Bradley Manning
09 Evangeline
10 Empty Promises
11 If You Loved Me Before…
12 Three Men Sitting On A Hollow Log
13 Lost River / Old River
14 Old As Angry
15 Texas
16 Night Of The World
17 Traffic Of Souls
18 Catacombs Cow Cow Boogie
19 The State Will Take Care Of Me

!!!

Nice! Looking forward to it.

Me too. Release date?

December 11

cool cover

Looking forward to having these all together, I have a bunch of them already. I don't know:

03 Oatmeal
07 An Other
17 Traffic Of Souls
18 Catacombs Cow Cow Boogie (hoping this is the instrumental from the youtube video i posted way upthread)
19 The State Will Take Care Of Me

only tracks missing that I know are Healing (from the That's That 7") and an earlier version of Everything has to be Just So, which I have an mp3 of but don't know where it came from.

I have been looking for the original version of Everything has to be just so (and cass forum) forever! Where did find it?

Bad Grammar. Also - Mizzell, I took the extended county line video you posted. Glad someone found it.

Haha is that Adam? Tim K. here.

I've got the song on my computer - PM me yr email address!

I like it way better than the album version, btw

Having a hard time getting into this new b-sides / rarities collection. I still like it (I like p much everything this dude does), but there's some pretty skippable stuff on this new one imo. Then again, I didn't love Big Wheel either. I may just prefer Cass in smaller, digestible doses, I think.

I thought I preferred small Cass to big Cass but think this collection might be my favourite 'album' of his

Interesting! What are some favorites? I like a good third of it quite a bit, but of those, I'd heard about five of them before. Some of the earlier "garage-y" stuff doesn't appeal to me at all; one of those tunes sounds like an outtake from Incesticide or something. I wish there was more of the "Edgar Allan Poe meets Morrissey meets Lou Reed" stuff he does so well.

one of those tunes sounds like an outtake from Incesticide or something

AYD kinda quotes Nirvana ("I hate myself but I want to live"

Some def skippable tracks, but that's not much of a surprise for a b-sides and rarities collection.

AYD, Twins, Minimum Wage, Empty Promises, Evangeline, and Night of the World all really good. Traffic of Souls the pick of the previously unreleased tracks.

Thanks for the video, Griff. Let me know if you still need Everything Has to be Just So.

Anyone know if the physical copies come with some sort of background on the tracks, like what release they were on or near? I know the state will take care of me was issued on vinyl at some point because the version I found prior to this release had the signature pops and crackles.

interesting, it hasn't been release on vinyl as far as i know. Domino says 5 tracks have never been released, and The State Will Take Care Of Me is one of those, i believe.

Releases:
I Cannot Lie/ AYD - 7" Single (Monitor 2004)
Twins - B-side to Sacred Heart (Monitor/4AD 2004)
Minimum Wage - B-side to Dreams Come True Girl (Domino 2009)
Poet’s Day - B-side to The Same Thing (Domino 2011)
Bradley Manning/ Empty Promises - 7" Single (Domino 2012)
Evangeline & Night Of The World - Split Single with Meat Puppets (Domino 2014)
If You Loved Me Before… - Split Single with White Magic (Famous Class 2013)
Three Men Sitting On A Hollow Log - Split Single with Michael Hurley (Secret Seven 2013)
Lost River / Old River, Old As Angry, & Texas - 7" that came with Big Wheel and Others (Domino 2013)

That leaves Oatmeal, An Other, Traffic Of Souls, Catacombs Cow Cow Boogie, and The State Will Take Care Of Me.

The track order seems chronological in some places but not in others. Here's my guess at the chronology of the unreleased tracks -

Oatmeal - pre I cannot lie/ AYD
Catacombs Cow Cow Boogies - Catacombs era obvies
Traffic of Souls - Catacombs era (his voice, the production and instrumentation)
The State Will Take Care of Me - Wit's End era (his voice, the tape hiss and instrumentation)
An Other - Humor Risk (Very reminiscent of mystery mail and the power pop style of other songs from that era)

Thoughts?

Tim - I messaged you but not sure if you got it, when I went to the PM page I noticed an email address was missing.

saw cass play on thursday and he is slowly morphing into a jam band act. he had two drummers! and lots of extended jams and some pretty great guitar solos by dan iead. i wish cass would solo more i like his guitar playing a lot.

also his record with the skiffle players is coming out next month! https://theskiffleplayers.bandcamp.com/

NYCTaper put up a recent show here: http://www.nyctaper.com/2016/01/cass-mccombs-january-7-2016-bowery-ballroom/

(I suppose music should still continue.)

Thanks for the heads up on that Skiffle Players project. I preordered it immediately after hearing that one previewed track. Sounds really nice.

yeah, it sounds lovely. excited it's coming out so soon.

that nyctaper post is the show i was at. kinda bummed that i missed those last two extended songs, but it was getting late on a school night.

I feel silly I missed that show. I didn't have a good reason not to come out for it, except that I wasn't paying attention!

So the Skiffle Players album is nice enough. FWIW I like their "fake Floyd" better than their "fake Dead." There are two or three keepers, though. Pitchfork called it "low stakes" and after two listens I'd say that's pretty otm. Maybe I'd like it more if it came out in summmertime; it's not at all a winter record.

this is pretty good: https://soundcloud.com/cass-mccombs/cass-band-tophane-musicians

"last halloween, we travelled to turkey for the very first time to perform at the akbank caz (jazz) festival. late that same night, we had an impromptu jam with some incredible & talented local musicians, in the istanbul district of tophane. the recent attack in istanbul was only a few streets over to where this was recorded & our hearts go out to all our friends in turkey. one could title this jam 'halloween in istanbul', but as our new friends informed us, only bobos celebrate halloween in istanbul. some of the musicians are from the band gevende. nuff said, it was a magical and chaotic evening & hope you get something out of listening. peace through music & much love to turkey"

upgrading from "pretty good" to "very good"

New single is great

http://pitchfork.com/news/65669-cass-mccombs-announces-new-album-and-tour-shares-new-track-listen/

Agreed! I really liked it

cool song

I guess this song's going to be on the new album - https://soundcloud.com/darkdarks/sky-ferreira-rancid-girl

Update the forum if you get a freebird!

wrong thread?

Written with Jon Brion, Cass McCombs, and Fiona Apple collaborator Blake Mills.

Gaz McCoombes

Mangy Love:

01 Bum Bum Bum
02 Rancid Girl
03 Laughter Is The Best Medicine
04 Opposite House
05 Medusa’s Outhouse
06 Low Flyin Bird
07 Cry
08 Run Sister Run
09 In A Chinese Alley
10 It
11 Switch
12 I’m A Shoe

Presumably sung by him

I guess this is what we can expect https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QU4SNapX8EU

lol

New Song!

Run Sister Run -

https://soundcloud.com/antirecords/cass-mccombs-run-sister-run

I wanna like the new album, but little things rub me the wrong way. Some of these folky pop numbers have a stiff and forced feeling to me.

I like about half of it. Wish there were more songs like "Medusa's Outhouse" and fewer like "Cry."

Same here

It hasn't fully grasped me yet but I was having to listen to it in a browser at a desk and not walking around with headphones, so I feel like there's more to come from it. Bum Bum Bum is great.

Like half of it is great but it's just so...smooth

"Bum Bum Bum" is definitely one of the good ones. And I like "Laughter Is The Best Medicine" (which admittedly contains some of the smoothness bunny mentions; definitely some Pat Metheny or Bob James moves in that intro) and "Opposte House," as well as the aforementioned "Medusa's Outhouse." The rest (basically the back half of the album) is where he loses me this time: "Cry," "In A Chinese Alley," "Run Sister Run," etc.

Im obsessed with that "medusa's outhouse" song. The album is really, really good. His best since "Catacombs" imo

No way man. Humor Risk is his best!

I'm pretty sure it's Wit's End

Big Wheel for me

weed of all kinds. (purple kush,white rhino,afghan,ak47,sour diesel,white widow,panama red and g13)at the cheapest rates around here.instant delivery to wherever you want.contact me at
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^^^ one of my fave lyrics from the new album

Dropping the Writ always moves me the most, Catacombs comes in second

Testament to an artist's greatness when there is no consensus on what is his or her best album

For me, it's Humor Risk > Catacombs > Wits End > Big Wheel > Dropping The Writ > Prefection > A > Mangy Love, and those first two are two of my favorite indie* records of all time

(*indie meaning guitar-based music made after 1985 that has vocals)

In fact, the only songwriters in this genre I have any time for in 2016 are Cass, Callahan, and Bejar.

That said, the new album remains a disappointment despite many listens

it has grown on me, i listened to it earlier this week and it sounded great aside from a couple of tracks. excited to see him here next week.

http://headlineplanet.com/home/2016/12/11/cass-mccombs-scheduled-perform-december-16-ellen-degeneres-show/

Weird

co-sign on Cass, Callahan and Bejar. 3 of the few people i will give a shit ton of time of day to nowadays.

latest Cass album is fantastic, and i finally got round to getting properly into Catacombs and Writ. fantastic catalogue he's built up.

Uu bad

I mean u smelll baaad

"Laughter Is the Best Medicine" sounds like DMB

I feel like he's had trouble coming up with really nice vocal melodies since Catacombs/Wit's End. Catacombs is minimal AND has really memorable melodic vocal lines. He's settled on very similar sounding ones lately imo.

Saw him play basically an entire set of new material at Union Pool in Brooklyn a little while back. Material was much more rock/blues oriented than previous album but still strong. In the vein of "Mystery Mail". He mentioned the band had been in the studio.

Also, this is basically a dream come true:

https://www.jambase.com/article/full-set-video-phil-lesh-teams-cass-mccombs-grahame-lesh-alex-koford-ross-james

I would love to hear Cass McCombs sing either of the other Jimi Hendrix Experience title tracks.

http://www.brooklynvegan.com/files/2018/10/cass-mccombs-tip-sphere.jpg
1. I Followed The River South To What
2. The Great Pixley Train Robbery
3. Estrella
4. Absentee
5. Real Life
6. Sleeping Volcanoes
7. Sidewalk Bop After Suicide
8. Prayer For Another Day
9. American Canyon Sutra
10. Tying Up Loose Ends
11. Rounder

Out Feb 8

after being ilx's resident cass superfan for a good bit, i have to say mangy love never grabbed me (i might not have even listened to it all the way through) and this new single isn't very promising, imo.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aJd_bd9vBFc

I like it! But he's definitely settled into a more narrowed vocal approach and delivery. Literally echoing myself upthread, but it holds true with this new single too.

after being ilx's resident cass superfan for a good bit, i have to say mangy love never grabbed me (i might not have even listened to it all the way through) and this new single isn't very promising, imo.

I felt the same way about Mangy Love. His first dud, I think. Still, I'll be ordering the deluxe edition of this new one.

Have you heard the newest Skiffle Players LP? I think it came out earlier this month. I haven't gotten a chance to listen to it. The first one was OK in that low-stakes, sort-of-supergroup kinda way.

Can't listen to this new single yet (I'm at work), but looking forward to hearing it tonight.

I'm into the new track. I agree that he seems to have settled into a specific vocal approach and delivery, at least with his solo stuff. I think it started on Catacombs. Although Mangy Love had Medusa's outhouse and Low Flying Bird which are sing almost entirely in his higher register. Mangy Love was worth it for Bum Bum Bum, Medusa's Outhouse and I'm a Shoe which start, end and anchor the middle of the album (not in that order).

The new skiffle is worth a few listens at least. The stand out cass track to me is Oakland Scottish Rite Temple Waltz. At least half the albums vocals are lead by another/other singer. The other cass lead tracks have moments but nothing like his solo material or the first skiffle album.

New Skiffle Players is pretty good, though most of the longer songs could stand to be two minutes shorter. "You'll Miss It When It's Gone" sounds exactly like a lost Byrds / Gene Clark tune. A lot of this just had me missing Beachwood Sparks. Do these guys play live?

Also, is that the cover art for the new Cass album above? because

https://goo.gl/images/m3pg9E

oops

https://threelobed.bandcamp.com/album/batholith

I love the first Skiffle Players record! 'Til Stone Day Comes was one of my favorite songs of the year. I don't know why really, it just relaxed me so much and was really nice in the car driving around upstate NY / rural NJ. I actually didn't know there was a new record! Thanks for the heads up.

"You'll Miss It When It's Gone" sounds exactly like a lost Byrds / Gene Clark tune.

Just checked this out- love it!

I like it too, but it'a little too on the nose imo

I thought Wit's End was spectacular and keep expecting him to do something similar but maybe it was always an outlier

niels - same but I do like his whole catalog. I have a hard time picturing him being that emotionally indulgent again.

Also, new things:
https://www.stereogum.com/2025732/cass-mccombs-estrella-take-away-show/video/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5UoZmzighMM

Well, it's here!

https://www.npr.org/2019/01/31/689658416/first-listen-cass-mccombs-tip-of-the-sphere

The write up is good. She really knows her stuff.

Def my favorite album since Big Wheel. Lotsa jamming on this one. Absentee scratches the Wit's End itch in a big way.

Yep, great so far. Never did connect with Mangy Love but seems like he's back on track

I'm liking "estrella"

count me in the crew who never felt mangy love and is loving this new one. the beginning and ending jams are a blast.

I adore the single “Wine of Lebanon.” It is like Bel Canto pretty to me.

i'm still not into the last two albums (or wine of lebanon) but here is a great show from 2016: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dh_duzOrRZo

saw this pop up on discogs:

https://www.discogs.com/Cass-McCombs-Mere-Demos/release/12670944

a cdr he apparently handed out around 2001 called mere demos. needless to say very interested in hearing it. i can find no other mention of it on the internet. anyone know anything about it?

To all the McCombs fans - if you haven't already, be sure you check out the Blake Mills album that was released earlier this year, Mutable Set. Aside from it being my favorite album of the year, Cass McCombs co-wrote a bunch of the songs. He doesn't sing on any of it, but the overall vibe is not far from a McCombs album.

thx for the tip

Apparently there are many, many albums of demos floating around his friend group. I've kind of back-burnered PREfection and Writ in favour of Catacombs onward but I'm gonna pull those albums out today

I am quite into that 2016 show with some nice jamming upthread. He looks a little like Robert Forster (in the beginning of the thread the Go-Betweens were mentioned...), doesn't he? And his voice reminds me of someone else. Lawrence from Felt, anyone? A little stilted but I like it.

PREfection is a lovely album

I have this memory that I watched a video of Cass playing Dreams Come True Girl and the organ player goes off on a really really really long solo, like he's trying to push Cass or annoy him or something. Did I imagine this? Am I remembering the wrong song?

Yes the blake mills is quite good. You can really hear the cass in the first track. It’s the easiest for me to imagine as a pure cass song. That and the chorus of vanishing twin. My Dear One shares lyrics with a song he played on a pitchfork way back in 2012 called “More or Less”:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=7Y1cdLW461k

God I’m a dork.

The new album by Cassandra Jenkins is excellent and really scratches that itch for new music from the other Cass. Check out the song “Crosshairs”.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KXAEULWPzw4

Reminds me quite a bit of "Everywhere" by Fleetwood Mac.

It seemed familiar but I couldn’t place it. Will listen again thinking about Everywhere.

beautiful little tune

Def hear Everywhere in it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7sjQAx22SMA

haha a bit on the nose that, but enjoyable

Yes but neat execution for sure. Nice song!

Yeah, feels very unlike him but also...not?
Probably my favorite Cass song since 2013.

I started to lose track of his work when too much of his material traded in the vocal melodies in favor of a sort of speak-singing storytelling thing, and when he did this it was with a very similar cadence. I missed the distinct vocal melodies circa Catacombs. He never got bad imo but the shift meant I was paying less attention. Going to keep an eye on this release though.

"The Wine of Lebanon" is the best piece of branded content of all time
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gH9qJxTB5oU

new album is great, getting ryley walker vibes

saw him live, excellent stuff, he really has a great catalog by now

new album very blue, very good

i think this is a new song? sounds really good. bummed i missed all his recent shows.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J4YDdMtdncM

Definitely new. Loved his last album (no respect in the ILM top 77 was criminal!).
Catacombs has been getting a lot of spins by me lately too. A timeless classic, desert island pick for me.

Catacombs is my favorite of his. “Harmonia” is probably my favorite song of his, any album.

Every year it’s gets a few spins and every year I get a new favourite song. My sister my spouse is 2023’s hit for me, though yeah harmonia had that place for a while

Wits end is what I consider to be his other classic, but falls to catacombs due to not having the variety of style that catacombs does. Reading a lot of the reviews on catacombs where it’s described as a one-note, plodding sort of album which is totally off the mark. Sure the songs can be one-note, but which artists can pull more from one chord progression and one vocal melody than Cass? I love that part of his style, no bells and whistles, no big thrills and changes, no accessories, just a killer story, a killer melody, a killer spirit, a killer tone, killer everything

Aside from County Line, which is all-time, I really dislike most of Wits End (and I’ve also fallen out of love with his more recent stuff too.)

He collaborated with Blake Mills on Mills’s excellent Mutable Set album and I feel like his influence there is very palpable (even though his voice isn’t); but it’s offset by Mills’ musicianship which is another level.

It’s less a variety of style that wits end lacks, more a variety of tone. It’s all so solipstic, melancholy, blue, existential. Great if you’re in the mood, and the last track on that album is one of my favourite sets of lyrics ever. I’m always partial to lyrics that function as a philosophy of aesthetics, and a knock upon the door still knocks me on my feet with its beauty and smarts

I’ll check out the mills album, I listened to the first track of his most recent one and his musicianship was distracting to me. I’m correct in thinking he was the guitar player for some tracks on catacombs right? Remember looking at the liner notes a while ago. If it’s him that plays that solo on harmonia then he’s got all my love.

County line is the anomaly of style on that album. A pop hit surrounded by dirges. Classic track though. Definitely give a knock upon the door another chance if you can be in the mood for it, it’s a knock out

it really is - and it's a very fun song to... knock along to

that live video, what a location! looks great
his bands are always great

last album was very good, "a blue, blue band" and "belong to heaven" personal faves

"tip of the sphere" is also a great album, had that on repeat in 2021

never listened to catacombs for some reason... I will

Report back with your findings!

I’m correct in thinking he was the guitar player for some tracks on catacombs right? Remember looking at the liner notes a while ago. If it’s him that plays that solo on harmonia then he’s got all my love.

I don’t think he plays on Catacombs, but o could be wrong. Wikipedia doesn’t list him among the personnel but I don’t have the actual liner notes to refer to.

I think Wit's End is meant to be an experimental album via its uncomprimisingly stubborn compositions. It's a difficult album with a lot of really understated subtle beauty. County Line however is effortlessly beautiful but I do think it fits in just fine with the rest of the album.

uncompromisingly*

Last album seems SUPER slept on by the way?

I’m correct in thinking he was the guitar player for some tracks on catacombs right? Remember looking at the liner notes a while ago. If it’s him that plays that solo on harmonia then he’s got all my love.

I don’t think he plays on Catacombs, but o could be wrong. Wikipedia doesn’t list him among the personnel but I don’t have the actual liner notes to refer to.

― sctttnnnt (pgwp), Friday, July 28, 2023 10:08 AM (eighteen minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

Blake toured with Cass in 2009/10, so right around Catacombs, but according to discogs, the only album he's on is Mangy Love.

Last album was super slept on. Maybe my favourite of his in the past decade.

I don’t take wits end as anymore understated/subtle/ than catacombs. Though yeah maybe it’s slightly more difficult due to being a more claustrophobic album (the middle two tracks of harmonia and the executioner’s song bring a lot of fresh air to Thats combs which wits end doesn’t really have). Part of why catacombs is my favourite is it’s pacing, it’s such a well layed out journey. I actually think of catacombs as more subtle as it’s doing most of what wits end does (in its creation of a mood), but with more conventional musical forms.

The executioner’s song also one of my personal favourites this year

I voted for Heartmind pretty high but unfortunately no-one else on ILM did. "Karaoke" is such a beautiful song. I really love "Estrella" from Tip of The Spheres too which is another totally slept-on album of his. As is Mangy Love from 2016! There's a lot of soul stylings on that one that really work well. It took me a while to come around to Wit's End. Its pretty dark and one-note. I'm in agreement with most here that Catacombs is his classic.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X2FM4zuAlNI

Cass has always been an incredible vocalist, and I knew the bridge of this song was incredibly difficult vocally, but seeing someone else try it really gives some context to how much he kills it.

Perfect song for a harp cover too!

I do think that his vocal melodies really toned down after around Catacombs by and large. His vocal delivery approach narrowed and lots of songs ended up sounding kinda samey as a result.

Windfall is the polar opposite of that problem, as demonstrated there

On the other side, windfall has always bordered on the offensively saccharine for me. I still love the song because its really the only saccharine song in his discography, so its worst qualities are balanced out by the rest of the work (I think I'd have no time for this song by anyone else). His wide vocal stage were definitely still there for Wit's End. County Line, Memory Stain (a top 5 Cass melody), buried alive/the lonely doll/hermits cave/pleasant shadow song.... so really everything besides a knock upon the door and saturday's song.

Windfall also has to be one of his only songs with a third section! It's normally always either A or A-B. Amazing how much putting a bridge in a discography without them makes the song sound completely out of character. The more time I spend with Cass's music, the more I grow to love his "one section repeating over and over" songs more

A return to a wider vocal range on his new album too. Love the vocal harmonies on Karaoke. The wandering, where the hell is this melody going? vocal lines on Music Is Blue. Every track is interesting vocally, it's the instrumentation and production that I haven't fell in love with on Heartmind (except for Karaoke, a cracker track)

enjoy reading your thoughts

I never considered Cass a strong singer, in the sense that his vocals seem a bit fragile or... well, they're very understated... but they work perfectly, live too

can't put a finger on the instrumentation, my favorite from Heartmind is A Blue, Blue Band

Wit's End kinda his masterpiece, no? got a vinyl copy. haven't listened to him/it in a long time. pressing is sadly a little loud/surfacey at the beginning of each side. and a little loud otherwise. in that way of modern vinyl. still sounds good though. i do think "County Line" is his best song but the whole album is nearly as strong. i don't know if i have the inner fortitude to do a Cass deep dive right now but this album will do for now.

i got this copy from a musician i know named nat baldwin. he's very nice. he makes cool avant garde music. has a tape label. he just got his Masters! he's moving to town from a couple of towns over. anyway, he sold me a crate of records - which was a very hip crate - and he had a bunch of singer/songwriter LPs that i had never heard. Wit's End was one of them. and of them was put out by my friend Teddy on his Feeding Tube label and somehow i missed it - Ted usually brings me in a big box of FT releases to sell every blue moon - and I think anyone here would really like it. Ned Collette - Old Chestnut. it's REALLY good in a late-60s/early 70s folk-psych vein. it reminds me of a lot of not-famous british singers that i like a lot. anyway, check it out. came out in 2018.

i started this thread 19 years ago and i'm still listening to the Casster! the Cassaroonie! MC Cassie Cash!

Thanks for the Ned C. rec, Scott--going to give a full listen, but on first flip-through that synth arpeggio incorporation on Track 2 is tastefully surprisingly/well-integrated into the folkiness IMO!

Nat Baldwin seems like a v cool fellow indeed--first heard of him through his Dirty Projectors membership.

As an intermediate Cass listener/fan I'd rec next getting into Catacombs and then Big Wheel, maybe?

(Oh, I now grok that you've already heard a good am't the Cassster and are re-listening, gotcha)

i like Catacombs a lot. i could see that being someone's fave Cass. that has such great songs on it. i wouldn't mind having that on vinyl. 2XLP.

still listening to Wit's End and "Buried Alive" is up there for me too. sounds so good. the guitar especially.

I remember "Memory's Stain" really blowing me away, too--am in need of a relisten myself!

Have only cherrypicked/skimmed through his Anti- output in recent years, am now thinking I should attempt to give those later albums some (mangy) love

don't sleep on Tip of the Sphere!

gotta agree wit's end is impeccable

Scott, have you ever listened to this? Cass is in this group:

https://theskiffleplayers.bandcamp.com/album/skifflin

that Skiffle Players album never clicked with me. I kinda want to sell it, given the prices it seems to get.

I saw him play a small intimate gig with Steve Gunn last Thursday. They did a gorgeous psychy rendition of "Wild Mountain Thyme".

Skifflin'! oh man no i didn't know about that one.

"County Line" is one of my favorite songs.

that Ned Collette album i praised above is kinda like the new Taylor Swift. the first LP is perfect and all you need out of an album and then some. BUT if you want more there is a 2nd LP.

The “Coo Coo Bird” cover is good! I like the Skifflin’ album

I don't know why exactly but this one really gets me:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nWX09AivQGk

Some reissues and a new odds and sods cassette:
https://www.brooklynvegan.com/cass-mccombs-announces-early-lp-reissues-and-fall-tour-listen-to-sacred-heart-demo/

And some tour dates

CASS MCCOMBS – 2024 AS PAINT ON FUR TOUR
Wed. Sept. 19 – Santa Cruz, CA @ Moe’s Alley *
Thu. Sept. 20 – San Francisco, CA @ The Chapel *
Fri. Sept. 21 – Los Angeles, CA @ Lodge Room *
Wed. Sept. 25 – Brooklyn, NY @ Music Hall of Williamsburg ^
Thu. Sept. 26 – Philadelphia, PA @ Johnny Brenda’s ^
Fri. Sept. 27 – Baltimore, MD @ Ottobar ^

* w/ Papercuts
^ w/ Advance Base

"anchor child"! so far this is way better than an odds/sods/outtakes album.

https://www.normanrecords.com/artwork/medium/74/205324-cass-mccombs-seed-cake-on-leap-year.jpg

"baby" is good too!

yah for real.

"Gum Tree" too.

i'm not a big tribute album person but you could make an awesome tribute album of his songs with different singers/styles. it would bring different colors out of them. A Shoegaze Tribute to Cass McCombs. i would like to hear some good women singers sing his songs. country singers!

*swoon*

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6iTNbtKQ9Ic

for real if you are a big fan of early early cass like me you need this or need to hear it. the whole thing is so good.

i would get mj lenderman to do "always in transit" for my tribute album.

Not usually an outtakes person but this is a great album

yeah, so this is incredible.

22-23yo Cass. How was he so good, so early? I might even like this more than his debut which I love a lot

New song is classic cass

sounds great, a tribute to a... late singer songwriter?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZPkQB6K4_Mc

a million years later and I have finally seen this guy, opening for beth gibbons. he was excellent.

New album featuring Priestess, second track Peace is also great.

https://cassmccombs.bandcamp.com/album/interior-live-oak

Yeah, "Peace" is giving Blue Oyster Cult vibes. This guy's records have always been consistently good and are always surprising--a rare balance to strike

Forgot this was already due out this week! Absolutely love all three preview tracks so far, cannot wait to hear the full thing.

Yeah, I never dream about trains is classic. Melancholia of Wit's End with the classic song writing of Catacombs/parts of Tip of the Sphere. Heartmind wasn't my favourite, a bit too clever, a bit too cynical/ironic, a bit too busy. I much prefer hearing about what he never dreams about

Got my cd in the mail yesterday, after one play the three already released songs seemed the best, agree that I Never Dream About Trains is great. Some variety to the album, though so more listens certainly required.

There are some flat-out beautiful tunes on here--the first three in particular--but I think I miss the edge of the earlier records

"I'm not ashamed", the song that teaches you how to listen to the album. 16 songs of Cass in 3rd gear on his Sunday Drive is fine for me at this point of his career.

chilled out slacker Cass sounds good to me - look forward to checking this out!

https://cassmccombs.bandcamp.com/track/missionary-bell

Missionary Bell is gorgeous

Lovely