Brightblack Morning Light ... WTF?

is the sanneh review online?

And Gris Gris way way way way way way better than this thing

it's by no means canonical or groundbreaking -- guess we must be really starved for something INTERESTING nowadays

I haven't heard anyone say it's groundbreaking, just a lot of "hey it's a nice record." I don't see any grand claims in the Sanneh piece either. He says they're "mesmerizing" and "quietly dazzling" ....

i know that the feathers album has been around on vinyl for nearly a couple years already, but i'm suprised that the recent cd release didn't garner some of this attention. it's really strong.

The record's nice. SOUNDS great, for sure.

non-CD track is called "Miwok Shapes" ... nice instrumental but I wouldn't sweat it

http://static.matadorrecords.com/mpeg/brightblack/brightblack_everybody_new.mp3

guh, WHAT THE FUCK IS A REAL SONG?!

that post actually makes me want to see them now. i love hippy chant shit. that mp3 is actually pretty rad.

there is also some pre-motorik motorik thing going on.

I thought the same thing. for something that has the trappings of "here we are around the campfire making shit up" the drumming is really locked-on.

xpost - yep, exactly

surprisingly/perhaps not surprisingly they band he namechecked as starting it all was my bloody valentine. and he said "rural gospel." the musicians in the band besides shineywater and hughes (elias reitz of gojogo, paz lenchantin of a perfect circle, any macleod of white magic) are all pretty accomplished and the drumming especially is tres tight. the music has deep pockets, id say its more funky than anything else.

WTF?

funky is pushing it but it is pretty groovey.

Wow, talk about something that would have ME arriving late. Or not at all.

OTM, but an even more accurate comparison, perhaps: Spiritualized's "Shine a Light."

PS I'm gravely sleep-deprived right now so pls to forgive for confessing I don't know if anything at this precise moment can excite me more than the idea of 'campfire motorik'

guess I was wrong

also stuff we're working on for fall/winter here and in the uk will be SICK, bros.

:\

probably

i don't even think it's bad. I just think it's incredibly pedestrian

i don't even know what poor songwriting means.
-- The JaXoN 5 (jaso...), March 10th, 2005

thanks.

daveSegal totally OTM re: Shine a Brightblack Morning Light.

See, I don't think it's a "schtick." I think Brightblack really are these authentic,
back-to-nature types who happen to make trippy, soulful, gently psychedelic, campfire blues rock.
YMMV, of course.

remember when people liked the polyphonic spree?

It was a sad, cruel time...

(puns not welcome perse but i understand if they're being made. thnx)

silkscreened gatefold lathes in a limited edition of 33 1/3? that would be sicker

isn't that your issue? why do you think we would know?

um no i meant more live shows. and i'd prefer the rti pressing plant, who does all matador vinyl. best sound ever.

It's either good or not-good. Sonically. Emotionally. Without recourse to extra-contextual analysis. Whether or not BBML are "real hippies" on their own time is completely beside the point.

FWIW, I like it. Sounds like people in a Vietnam movie smoking doobies.

Can't open my mouth without getting my lips burned off. Sucks, I guess, to be less-than-cool. Still, I stand by my hamfistedly earnest blather. BBM's "real hippie" status is a non-issue, and a boring one besides.

No, I wasn't even directly addressing that to you, but it seemed like it was posted in a spirt of, "Can you believe what this guy said?" and I see "trying to discover ways to include interacting with wilderness in our daily routine," ande "Hey wilderness has a place in our human experiences" and I'm like, OK.

It's like if Califone were really really good or if Movietone were into Kissing Spell reissues instead of jazz. Sort of. I dunno. I think it's really good.

That being said I am looking forward to hearing this record based on the comparisons being made (Fender Rhodes + Spiritualized + Dr. John = me like), and I couldn't give less of a fuck about whether or not the lead guy is a dippy hippie or whatever.

??? don't hear that at all, good man.

faint praise...

Maybe I just really miss Movietone

i hear the movietone, just not the kissing spell.

but I guess I"m guilty of it. but who knew there was such interest for such bland band

i guess long hair gets people excited

I should hope.

"...it doesn’t take any money to interact with wilderness, all you need is food, so if we could incorporate, as a society, wilderness as a daily routine, the maybe it would help dissolve classism a little bit, because your pastimes wouldn’t be determined by how much money you have."

Standard-issue hippie lib-kid entitlement. Blissful lack of awareness of other people's often wildly different circumstances and views. "We could all be happy if we were all (unencumbered, young, white, middle-class, educated) people like me, and we all shared my ideas. We could all be happy if we all had access to the same freedoms I do."

and i'm not a shoegaze/Spiritualized/Dr John fan.

That would have gone down a treat at ArthurBall, I'm sure.

But yeah, about three-quarters of the way into the set, a backup singer came on (Mariee Sioux, maybe?) and Nabob's guitar amp started erupting in feedback. The sound was pretty shitty, but he stopped in the middle of the song and started futzing around. At some point he came over to Rabob's Rhodes and was trying to get her to stop playing (or something, he kept messing with her hands and she refused to stop). He then proceeded to run upstairs, looking for the sound booth. When he found it, he threw himself into the door a couple times, and, unsuccessful, started throwing shit at it (I think). (Meanwhile, Rabob and the rest of the band are all playing with embarrassed looks on their faces. The backup singer is standing there and not really doing anything). Security (and the sound guy) rush over to confront Nabob (this is all upstairs in the VIP lounge-y thing at the Troubadour). I don't really know what happened next but I was told that the guy who replaced D. Higgs on the bill (some guitar-y folk guy--Embrace? Entrance?) threw a bottle, either at security or at Nabob, and some hippie chick in a poncho was rushing back and forth. Rabob and the band played one more song (to heavy applause) and then got off stage pretty hastily.

The Troubadour has really shitty sound, but it was pretty inexcusable to storm off like a baby and throw shit at the the sound booth, especially for a guy like Nabob, who seemed like (in the 40 minutes I talked to him) a decent, if spacey, guy. But--more respect to the band's other 4 touring members, who played well despite the distraction. I have to say that I liked it a lot both with and without Nabob; as long as Nabob's not going to pull a diva act, they're worth seeing.

http://homepage.mac.com/jmcgonnell/look/brightblack_1.jpg

but i met elvis telecom and ned, tho!

They are really great. I'm a believer!

They had Jeb Bishop on trombone playing with them at Pitchfork, as well as some other unidentified reed guy (anybody knows?) .. what a nice sound.

this is still a great album for 85-degree-and-above heat

Saw them play in the woods out here in Nor Cal and they are equally good for crisp foggy weather as well ! Robbie Lee is the name of the guy playing the flute/ reed.

When they played here recently, I was not too eager - I had gotten the impression from reviews and what not they were sorta alt-country freak-frolk beardo shit.

So at least at the time it was real pleasant surprise. Then I little a little bit of one of their records. Sounded good!

i like this thread because its both one of the first that i ever posted to on ILM and its about the first band i ever wrote an 800-word article about

this is still a great album for 85-degree-and-above heat

-- max, Tuesday, July 17, 2007 4:27 AM (Yesterday) Bookmark Link anyone who's not some college student idiot.

yes, i agree.

feelin it

http://www.thefader.com/articles/2008/7/22/freeload-brightblack-morning-light-hologram-buffalo

http://www.matadorrecords.com/images/fullsize/ole-786.jpg

Nice...I hope they have some tracks with a punchier groove but this is cool. Love their Rhodes sound.

pysched to hear about a new record. bummed i re-read this thread.

What a great cover

i hope this album is like the good songs on the last one, but all the way through. not that there were any bad songs on the last one, really, but more consistent awesomeness would be great thanks.

hey i got it. it sounds like the last one, but even less urgent. almost a little gospelly in places.

they kind of remind me of mu. the fankhauser band from the 70s.

It's a sneaky sideways move from the last record- less drums but more horns, so it's funkier and yet also more motionless. The production on the vocals is really gooey and great. I think the thing it reminds me of the most is Sly & the Family Stone's "Thank you for Talking to me Africa"- lotsa empty space, a certain starkness. The lyrics seem more directly political on this record, and that's a change too.

hey, i posted a Mu song to my site last week.

http://robotsinheat.com/trax/EternalThirst.mp3

the vocals are the thing that really bug me on this one :(

man, so dying to hear this .... but, I will wait until it comes out

not sure if I like the idea of them deemphasizing the drums .. "even less urgent" ... hmmm ... ah, I'm sure I'll love it

yeah, the drums were so good on the last one. but can't wait for this.

still haven't heard the last one but i liked their debut

"another reclaimation" sounds really, really good on a rainy morning.

hey, what do you know, so does "a rainbow aims." if this keeps up i might have to post four more times.

"Previous to this recording, while BBML toured Europe, singer Naybob Shineywater sang each show with an arrowhead in his mouth. Why? To let his own sung words & breathe touch this stone before european ears could hear them.
"I was not singing for war, but to engage the spirit of the maker of the arrowhead itself, to offer up Peace, that his warrior effort find a new respect,
and to help my own warrior spirit sing in Peace," reveals Naybob."

for some reason i don't hate this band despite shit like that. like, I strangely do not find that as lame and stupid as it sounds

look, nobody post anything about this band, their names, what they think or the things they do in this thread, ok? i just want to like their music and ignore them being prats.

Let's just call 'em Raymond & Nathan.

I still haven't revisited the new record since my initial lukewarm reaction. Maybe I will do that today.

ian download that ted lucas i posted on noize

also

look, nobody post anything about this band, their names, what they think or the things they do in this thread, ok?

^^^ this

but the thread title is "bbml - what the fuck?" so isn't that like the point of it?????

my post was not intended to be a wtf? post i was actually saying i really like them despite the fact that they do seem like total "prats" (assuming that that word has some sort of negative connotation)

prat (plural prats)
1. (UK, slang) Art student.
2. (obsolete, slang, UK) The buttocks.
3. (slang) the female genitals.

the stuff i heard from the first album made no impression on me and their hippyness is kind of irritating but 'motion to rejoin' is really doing it for me. slow jams.

Let's just call 'em Raymond & Nathan.

― ian, Monday, September 15, 2008 10:33 AM (1 week ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

My dad and I are who now waht?

prat (plural prats)
1. (UK, slang) Art student.
2. (obsolete, slang, UK) The buttocks.
3. (slang) the female genitals.

― REIGN IN FUDGE (GOTT PUNCH II HAWKWINDZ), Tuesday, 16 September 2008 01:03 (1 week ago)

if two of three definitions are truly great things, how negative can this word really be?

they're not prats either, they're pretty fucking ballsy and out there..there are bands with much worse art school wastes in this country

ballsy?

I'd say so, they ride with their schtick pretty hard and yeah you can try to play off all the things that come with it as gimmicks but at least they're not going the cookie cutter route that a lot of new bands see: mgmt, vampire weekend, and ton of their followers are falling into. they're not playing for college crowds and they've stuck to their vision, which happens to be a pretty unique one IMO

it might not be so ballsy to play music in a style that may have been explored before but they're just making it work for themselves and not coming off as trite. that is a feat in itself.

The album notes shout out the solar panels on this itinerant duo's New Mexico hut/recording studio, thanks main man Naybob Shineywater's tent and sleeping bag by name, and reprints his lyrics, including ballsy lines like "Canoe painted rainbows lends a power, every truth is there to find"

ha. surfboard, did you write the othermusic review of this or is "ballsy" the adjective du jour for these dudes?

Great cover art, I've really come around to this band lately

this is fucking awesome. i love these weirdos so much.

i feel like they stuck to the formula but branched out at the same time.

i kept wishing the last one had fewer and longer tracks like this.

they should do a 60 min single/LP like the necks some time.

only heard a couple promo tracks so far but yeah I think I need to get this

sounds even slower and more spare than the last one but also heavier/deeper

no I didn't but if anyone from other is reading this I kinda need a job

wasn't sure if I was going to see them on this tour and then I see they've got IASOS as the opening band

which is insane and I am there

http://iasos.com/detalist/idm/

will they be playing Harmonic Convergence this year???!

oh wow IASOS sounds pretty amazing.

I'd be more excited if Superconducter was the opening slot.

I'd be more excited if Krisna Das was the opening slot.

pretty typically excruciating kiss-ass piece in arthur. do music journalists get paid extra if they buy into a band's bullshit?

both their albums are the first two minutes of "the low spark of high-heeled boys" over and over. but in a good way

not really

dope song tho

listen to the first two minutes of high heeled boys and then any brighblack song. identical grooves

yeah i understood your first post.

do yourselves a favor and avoid their feature in the new Arthur, unless you really want to get disgusted by their shallow generalizations and willful naivete.

ok will do.

love this story from upthread:

I don't know about him insulting L.A. or the audience (I actually thought I heard him say, "You guys are great"), but it was pretty empty. Dan Higgs wasn't there, which pissed me off.

But yeah, about three-quarters of the way into the set, a backup singer came on (Mariee Sioux, maybe?) and Nabob's guitar amp started erupting in feedback. The sound was pretty shitty, but he stopped in the middle of the song and started futzing around. At some point he came over to Rabob's Rhodes and was trying to get her to stop playing (or something, he kept messing with her hands and she refused to stop). He then proceeded to run upstairs, looking for the sound booth. When he found it, he threw himself into the door a couple times, and, unsuccessful, started throwing shit at it (I think). (Meanwhile, Rabob and the rest of the band are all playing with embarrassed looks on their faces. The backup singer is standing there and not really doing anything). Security (and the sound guy) rush over to confront Nabob (this is all upstairs in the VIP lounge-y thing at the Troubadour). I don't really know what happened next but I was told that the guy who replaced D. Higgs on the bill (some guitar-y folk guy--Embrace? Entrance?) threw a bottle, either at security or at Nabob, and some hippie chick in a poncho was rushing back and forth. Rabob and the band played one more song (to heavy applause) and then got off stage pretty hastily.

The Troubadour has really shitty sound, but it was pretty inexcusable to storm off like a baby and throw shit at the the sound booth, especially for a guy like Nabob, who seemed like (in the 40 minutes I talked to him) a decent, if spacey, guy. But--more respect to the band's other 4 touring members, who played well despite the distraction. I have to say that I liked it a lot both with and without Nabob; as long as Nabob's not going to pull a diva act, they're worth seeing.

― max (maxreax), Monday, July 31, 2006 6:09 AM (2 years ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

u will henceforth be known as Grabob.

i might see them live in november but i can't imagine it not being boring

hay eman i would smoke a bowl before that show if i were you

true. this band is psychedelique.

Re: "Ian" and "(GOTT PUNCH II HAWKWINDZ)" --

unused photograph by Trinie Dalton from the BBML feature she wrote for Arthur (which btw, is now available online in text form here)...

http://www.arthurmag.com/magpie/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/trinienabob.jpg

These folks make pretty cool music, but that article on them in Arthur (http://www.arthurmag.com/magpie/?p=3269) is kind of hard to take, I think. These two spout so many cliches. For example:

Nabob throws his head back and belly laughs, before finishing the riff. “East coasters are looking for their air conditioner power buttons so they don’t die. It’s like, Give me some iced tea and an air conditioner, and let’s watch the football game! In the West, it’s like, Come on out, the weather’s perfect, leave your clothes in the grass. Go surf! Kayak! Mountain bike!”

What is this guy talking about? Isn't it the American southwest, from New Mexico over to L.A. that's basically sucked all the water from the earth trying to maintain their precious lawns. And hell, last time I checked A/C wasn't just east of Mississippi. I could go on and on, but like somebody said above, I should just stick to the music and not read about them.

I think he was just pointint out that people on the west coast (probably northern california and pacific nw) are generally more into outdoor activities and in tune with nature around them.

that's a faulty assumption, though, and phrased incredibly poorly.

yeah, sure, i just don't get why people seem to get upset about it.

the piece in Fader def stuck more to music, maybe people should read that instead (sorry jay).

He just sounds like a clown.

I'm not particularly upset about it, it's just laughable. And perhaps a shame that Nabob really thinks that geography is the appropriate way to stereotype people.

you said you were disgusted!
he is just talking about how different regions of the country have different cultures with regards to the natural world. that's not stereotyping.

well, you implied you were disgusted.

i really don't want to defend these guys, let's just listen to the music.

a slight wtf? at the fact that the lp has a different cover than the cd. i still like it though.

i don't think it's a shocker that this guy has some retarded views about the world

also, the oppression song is a reworking of their old song which can be found on the split with bonny prince billie a few years ago.
http://www.discogs.com/image/R-760036-1155992174.jpeg

Um, he is sterotyping. Tons of people I know in Boston love going skiing, camping, mountain biking, surfing, etc. in Vermont and Maine and shit.

People in the northeast savor "perfect weather" more than a lot of motherfuckers, that much I can tell you.

It's just that I'd rather read about the band's interests in actual new age music, like how a relatively obscure but really quite influential character such as Iasos has informed their music and how they're now playing shows with him. That's a neat bridge between two generations. Then there's the interesting duality in their music. Although the group lives off the land in the middle of nowhere, the music, to these ears at least, doesn't totally reflect that. There is a certain urban vibe to it. But instead, I'm reading poorly formed thought on the environment. I'm into ecological issues, but I'd rather look to someone else for that stuff.

clowns make good music sometimes

I think he was just pointint out that people on the west coast (probably northern california and pacific nw) are generally more into outdoor activities and in tune with nature around them.

What does living "in tune with nature" mean?

playing all your songs in the same key

re: QN. I love this! Nabob, defender of A/Cs and grass lawns? Are you HIGH, sir???

Re: Mizzell. The Fader? You want to read a magazine owned and operated by a slick big-money marketing company, fine. I mean, I'm glad they get good stuff in there (cough, tokenism, cough), but...

I don't know what your point is. All I'm saying is that this dude spouts a lot of nonsense.

QN: Nabob's thought is pretty self-consistent, actually. Maybe you should re-read the piece, and pay attention to the stuff about Babylon.

What's the point? I'm high...

have you ever read Arthur magazine... on weed??

In my experience people that live out West are generally more into doing things outdoors. I went to a well-known outfitter here in Chicago and they didn't even sell tent stakes. It was mostly laptop bags and clothes. I think Nabob is OTM.

urban outfitters?

Nabob's not really talking about outdoors so much as he is talking about wilderness.

hay eman i would smoke a bowl before that show if i were you

― ♪☺♫☻ (gr8080), Sunday, October 19, 2008 9:08 PM

so if i don't have any i shouldn't go?

i'd see them with or without weed but since i havent seen them before i will defer to max on this one.

i has seen it it is boring weed will not help

☻

hey eman maybe just stay at home and listen to the cd while you smoke a bowl.

have you ever read Arthur magazine... on weed??

― ♪☺♫☻ (gr8080), Thursday, October 23, 2008 10:18 PM (3 weeks ago) Bookmark

so if i don't have any i shouldn't go?

― eman, Friday, November 14, 2008 3:33 PM

it disturbs me that these people are actually flakes hanging out in the woods instead of just some hipster put on

fursaxa and zomes (lungfish guitarist solo) are opening. any good?

celtix/nuggets & lakers/pistons is looking more likely

Fursaxa is pointless. Maybe it's just my mood but I'm staying the fuck in and watching the NBA tonight.

need 2 to get some dankver nuggets

yah just lay back and get melo bro

lol @ outdated promo-sheet copy used on the club's website: "Her music has been compared to Nico's solo work and is often categorized among New Weird America artists." remember New Weird America guys???????

some dude called in to my radio show at 1 AM to request some Brightblack

luckily I was high

freak folk reprezent!

still haven't heard the new album yet. is it any good?

indistinguishable from the new beyonce

new weird america failed as a genre because it was too confusing to abbreviate

i played it at the wrong speed, like, all the way through, not having heard them before, and really enjoyed the shit out of it

when I realized my error, I also enjoyed it at 33

ha!

I really liked my friends' description of them as "a Stax band on cough syrup".

when i wrote an article about them i think i called their music new orleans funk w/ too much codeine

or something equally nonsensical that function, more than anything else, as a way to indicate that i knew about drugs

best album of 2008... not sure if in one hour my opinion will be the same

so, best album of the last hour then...?

new one's good but the previous one seems a bit more engaging to me, possibly due to presence of rad percussion stuff going on way down in the mix. haven't noticed that so much on the new one.

i like the new one better-- longer and fewer tracks.

got all the way through the (back) cover story in the new Fader without hating these people too much. it still was too much about "wow these two are weird and live in the desert" than about thier music or touring, but i still enjoyed it. the naybob quotes only get as weird/annoying as "there's an old indian site over there and these crazy space telescopes over there-- man this desert is awesome." the photos are pretty dope too

i played it at the wrong speed, like, all the way through, not having heard them before, and really enjoyed the shit out of it

when I realized my error, I also enjoyed it at 33

― J0hn D., Friday, November 14, 2008 8:50 PM (1 week ago) Bookmark

did you play it too slow or too fast??

i dont think J0hn would put a record made this year on at 16rpm, HOOS.

brightblack morning light 78s would sound great at 33.

i seriously would like a dub version of the new one. maybe by basic channel.

i just want one or two of the tracks in a 60 min version like an album by the necks

does anyone else hear like weird, barely audible instruments in some of the songs? like they recorded a bunch of extra tracks but only wound up using the absolute minimal necessary instrumentation.

xp: that'd be good, too.

srsly dig this btw

sippin on a bourbon while this plays loud makes my couch feel like a bayou porch

they were ok live

did u get weed in time

i thought they were better than ok live, and i had no weed. more energy that you would expect, the grooves are emphasized, rachel is fun to watch, and i rarely see horns played in a live setting. thumbs up.

feels like "star blanket river child" goes by in like five seconds

Has anyone remarked on the similarity of this band's sound to the Twin Peaks soundtrack?

angelo badalamenti. the name sticks with your for some reason, it just rolls off the tongue. badalamenti.

so at atp these guys played one riff for their entire set - is that a normal thing, with them?

(it was awesome.)

anyone?

**crickets**

saw them live a year or so back and they didn't do that

i have seen them twice and both times they played recognizable versions of songs from their albums, with a little bit of stretching out and riffing. i think both times they also played with horn players that they weren't touring with, but had hooked up with for the night.

they have songs. sometimes they have one long song. sometimes they have more than one.

first time i saw them it was this great shuffly riff for the whole thing. i thought it was boring so started to leave and by the time i'd made my way out of the crowd thought it was rad, like a trio playing something off angels & demons at play.

second time i saw them they played songs and it was boring and maudlin.

yeah, i heard the record (admittedly on computer speakers @ work) before i left and went "eh" - definitely my fault, though; on computer speakers it sounds like a lot of nothing

my friend figured it was a screw-you to mbv for overrunning; otoh i preferred their screw-you set to any way i can imagine them not playing like that. there was no singing, which maybe helped.

no singing? that's kinda odd

i saw them at pitchfork and they kinda did that one riff thing, although they came on super late and i thought were quite obviously high as hell; moving slowly and laughing alot. and shineywater's vox was processed so echoey you totally couldn't understand anything he was saying. but if you listen to the record all the songs have a similar type riff, so that may be why . . . also they had a dude on the 'bone iirc. i enjoyed what there was of it. and they do segues nicely adding to the effect of one song vibe.

I've only ever heard these guys off a recordeding of their set straight after their set at ATP a week ago, in the chalet, drinking lots of tequila, it sounded fantastic.

no 'bone or other horn

mister craig can you confirm there was no singing? i was pretty out of it at that point. and the first night i was convinced mbv weren't singing until someone made me actually look at their mouths

"dude on the 'bone" @ Pitchfork = Jeb Bishop, he of Vandermark's groups, solo work, and just all around bad-ass on that thing. Yeah, that was a great set, actually the first time I had even heard a note of BBML! I became an immediate fan, went out and bought all the records. I actually DO NOT remember it as a one-note affair at all. I mean, the songs were LOOOONG, they jammed (and yeah, they were totally stoned), but they certainly transitioned between certain tracks on that s/t Matador LP. Awesome set.

I actually talked to Jeb at some point last year after that set, and he said it was all improvised, he hadn't practiced with them at all. Not that that'd be too hard for a master like him, it's essentially two-chord vamps .. still cool that he just kinda got up there last minute and jammed with them

Saw them last year at the Hideout touring 'Motion to Rejoin' and this time *I* was the stoned one, so have vague / weird memories of the night. But i'm positive that it was rad.

it seems that nathan and rachel have broken up? and he's replaced her.

On the eve of Brightblack Morning Light’s first Australian tour, founder Nathan Shineywater has announced that this will be the last Brightblack Morning Light tour and the debut of his new musical identity, Berry Shadows.

The new project Berry Shadows finds our man Shineywater deep in “freak” exploration and psychedelic spirit anthems. The first unofficial Berry Shadows shows took place in 2009 in San Francisco and Humboldt County, California, opening for Hope Sandoval & The Warm Inventions. Berry Shadows will soon be working and recording with Hope Sandoval; look out for a collaborative release between Mistletone Records and Hearted Hand Limited.

Brightblack Morning Light (formerly known as Brightblack and previously, rainYwood, and now moving towards the new incarnation of Berry Shadows) is a band based in New Mexico, specialising in permutations of folk rock and psychedelic music; the work of ND Shineywater and an ever-changing & rotating touring party of old friends & new friends who enjoy what they do. Recording their debut in 2005 for Matador Records, Brightblack Morning Light toured with Os Mutantes, Vashti Bunyan and Joanna Newsom, and more recently with My Bloody Valentine and Hope Sandoval & The Warm Inventions. Their slow-motion, blissed out, shamanistic music is unforgettable and hypnotic: think lush, sensual, woozy soundscapes tinged with soul, blues, gospel and other southern sounds harking back to Shineywater’s Alabama roots.

For this tour Brightblack Morning Light will consist of Shineywater with accompanist Danielle Stech-Homsy (keyboards/vocals) who will also perform a solo set as Rio en Medio.

http://mistletone.net/news/brightblack-morning-light-as-berry-shadows/

Yet, after two Brightblack Morning Light albums – their eponymous 2006 debut and 2008’s excellent aural opiate, Motion to Rejoin, the latter recorded using power from just four solar panels – Shineywater is retiring BBML. His new magic carpet is called Berry Shadows, featuring recording guests including Hope Sandoval. So this tour will be the last outing for BBML and minus the co-founder, Rachael Hughes. Instead Shineywater and his flotilla of souped-up vintage keyboards will be joined by accompanist Danielle Stech-Homsy (aka Rio en Medio) and Sioux percussionist, Cannupa.

”Rachael is not jammin’ much any more,” Shineywater says. ”She was on the road for, like, eight years and she decided it was time to hang out with her family in New Orleans for a while and I thought that was groovy. I’ve been staying on the road ’cause I keep getting invited to do things.”

these guys have the illest rhythm sections

I played a show with these guys last year in which Nathan rigged an artificial tree with mics and metal sheets that he banged with a mallet. The sound guys hated him, but damn did it sound cool.

Standard-issue hippie lib-kid entitlement.

guess this thread was before J0rdan's persona got fully defined

I really like these guys

liked, you mean? they're no more iirc.

I'm sorry, I should have tried to be more specific. I absolutely should have said I REALLY LIKE LISTENING TO THESE GUYS

xp really? i never heard that.

i was actually looking for double-confirmation. somewhere upthread it's mentioned that the band broke-up (no hard feelings, it seems: one member looks like she retired; the other member looks like he has a new band).

they're no more iirc.

― Daniel, Esq., Monday, November 15, 2010 11:13 AM

i guess i hate em now

you like reggae

haha

they're no more iirc.

― Daniel, Esq., Monday, November 15, 2010 11:13 AM

i guess i hate em now

― am0n

lol. good, they deserve it.

should i hate reggae too since its no more

YES

you should also hate big-band, jitterbug, and disco.

maxreacts

thought this might be a death revive

Death has their own thread

sorry shakey, i didn't mean to set your death alarm off for no reason

death is a "their"?

they're a black punk band from the mid-70s whose sole eponymous album was recently reissued

and there IS a thread, but I can't find it

Since it's probably the best rock record that's going to come out this year: Death (detroit proto punk not metal band) - "...For The Whole World To See" Thread

That Death album is totally, completely overrated

Standard-issue hippie lib-kid entitlement.

― buzza, Monday, November 15, 2010 2:27 AM (15 hours ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

guess this thread was before J0rdan's persona got fully defined

― buzza, Monday, November 15, 2010 2:34 AM (15 hours ago) Bookmark

??????

seriously gershy your insistence that everyone on ilx is either a sock or had some previous persona is really bizarre & just an extreme level of paranoia that i wouldn't necessarily call "healthy"

wait buzza is gershy? lol I always learn about this shit like 20,000 years after everybody else including Tuomas has figured it out

talk about an unmasking!

lol I have no idea who anybody is for the most part

i think we have reached the ultimate in needing a break from ilx

why would i of all ppl be "fuckfuckingfuckedfucker" -- do you have a wheel of well known ilxors that you spin or something?

I have no idea who anybody is for the most part

― the Whiney G. Weingarten Memorial 77 Clique (Shakey Mo Collier)

yeah. for about a week now, until i just read the paranthetical, i thought you were whiney g. weingarten.

I thought underrated aerosmith bootlegs I have owned was gershy

2 posts not related at all

first c&p was "lol @ this"

2nd was observation that i never saw you post on anything even vaguely related to this kind of music

was not implying you were that poster??

yeah that would be v v out of character

i could do "maybe that's not really him ; )" if u want tho

fair enough -- but also i only have one post itt about dude having stupid views?

i thought http://i54.tinypic.com/11l4yvn.gif was http://i54.tinypic.com/11l4yvn.gif

he is

;)

now if we can just solve the mystery of who posts as "surmounter"

lol

am0n likes reggae

nothing funny about that!

^am0n sock

http://www.elephantos.com/images/marijuana_rasta_socks_.jpg

lol

the secret is revealed.

nice socks btw.

i don't think it's a shocker that this guy has some retarded views about the world

― jordan s (J0rdan S.), Thursday, October 23, 2008 3:54 PM (2 years ago) Bookmark

so, the post was referring to this^ being an undefined posting style? still dgi

i was laughing at the "hippie" remark, made in 2006 by that dude who i do remember as an opinions4U troll

then a few minutes later as i read down the thread i got to j0rdan's 2008 post where he says he's feeling some indie freak-folk tune (based on the link he posted). i thought that was very much not in character, but i was not referring to the 2006 post from some unrelated guy at that point

Not eberyone es sock bro stop bein praranoid

yeah. for about a week now, until i just read the paranthetical, i thought you were whiney g. weingarten.

I am preserving Whiney's legacy while he is temp banned by giving deej a hard time about Wata Loada Shit or whatever his name is

waka flocka flame

hes a rapper

I know who he is. he's terrible

oh ok--you just didnt seem to know his name so i wasnt sure

Lol wooo

Shakey Mo gunning for the "horribly formed 'joke'" revival spot

Wata Loada Pitus Berry

Not eberyone es sock bro stop bein praranoid

― the questeon

^

Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean the socks aren't after you.

Brightback Morning Light...I kept reading reviews of these guys and thinking I should check them out. I never did. Probably never will, I guess.

Are you on your deathbed or something

he just realized he was a sock

seandalai's last words: "I have never heard the following bands that received moderate critical praise: Brightblack Morning Light, Shogun Kunitoki, Moon Duo, and by the way...argh."

*bewildered loved ones by the bedside*

"he just started saying the names of anime movies or something... then he was gone."

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51lfVLm-UaL._SS500_.jpg

4 track live ep available digitally.

thought their album sucked; classic example for me about how the narrative about a band ends up taking precedence over actual music. Bon Iver being another example of this ("NO WAY DUDE, YOU RECORDED AN ALBUM ALONE IN A CABIN??? GTFO!! WOWWWWW")

they have 2 albums

The one that came out in 2006.

that's the first one. totally don't care about the "narrative" personally, I think that album in particular SOUNDS great and has a lot of subtle things going on.

good comments poliopolice

I had an EP of theirs that I completely loved but I remember hearing all kindsa stuff about how you don't really wanna know these ppl

eh they're just desert hippies, what's the big deal

i'll be sure to remember not to invite them to my birthday party next time i'm listening to their record.

I guess they seemed chill enuf to you tho max? it's always just weird to me when I hear somebody and I think "it'd be great to tour with these guys" and I ask around and ppl're like "no man you don't want that"

haha the guy seemed chill on the phone but check out my story about what happened when i saw them in LA

Trinie Dalton enjoyed their company

they have 3 albums

forgot about Ali.Cali.Tucky - having never seen a copy of it anywhere will do that

they don't even have it listed on their website discography.
anyone heard this: 2009 N.Shineywater Handmade Cassette Ep Featuring Rachel Grimes Piano ?

i wish this band still existed, feel like they had another 10 albums of the same chill vibe in them

Naynay is claiming to have 3 albums ready to go
http://www.tented-tent.com/

or i guess 3 EPs, who knows.

"3 New Albums by NayNay Shineywater's newest project LIBRARY OF SANDS! All recorded while living in a tent!"

I love Motion to Rejoin but this guy.... This is not my kind of guy.

tbf an adult man is not what I think of when I hear the word "naynay"

Lol wooo

― the questeon, Tuesday, November 16, 2010

thing one actually sounds interesting....

ALBUM #2 LIBRARY OF SANDS "Lifting Sand"
DESCRIPTION: A collection of songs in EP format, of musical work by NAYNAY SHINEYWATER & COLM O'CIOSOIG recorded in the late summer of 2011.

I wonder if Colm recorded his drums in a tent in the desert too?

Via @arthurmagazine...

Folks often ask us privately whatever happened to Brightblack Morning Light. Here is what Naybob is doing now. * http://www.wildsagesrecords.com

I'm liking a couple of tracks there, but man is this miles removed from the soulful drift of Brightblack.

i wish this band still existed, feel like they had another 10 albums of the same chill vibe in them

Yes. Exactly.

NAYNAY SHINEYWATER. i like this band but seriously is this dude 4 years old.

he's just a hippie, get over it.

Just listened to s/t + Motion To Rejoin back to back. What a band!

so i dabbled with these guys here and there over the past 6 years or so, something was intriguing at first but ultimately felt kind of boring. but one of their tunes off the first record came on the ipod this morning when i was changing my son's diaper and for like a cloudy 6am wake-up while i was still half alseep it was really the most perfect music i could hear. i've spent most of the day listening to the rest of it and also the second record. these guys are amazing!

maybe it's all the MV & EE and sun araw i've been listening to that opened me up to them. also i kind of love that they are totally weird spaced-out hippies? like that's exactly how i imagined them to be. all that shit upthread about the wilderness and arrowheads, i love it. so many people ITT were so conflicted between their weirdo worldviews. it's kind of perfect and fitting for this band IMO

both their albums are the first two minutes of "the low spark of high-heeled boys" over and over. but in a good way

― kamerad, Saturday, October 18, 2008 3:37 PM (4 years ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

ha i checked that out after browsing upthread, i didn't feel that

i dont remember that post but i've always been frustrated that the first two minutes of tlsohhb isnt how the rest of the song sounds

i wish this band still existed, feel like they had another 10 albums of the same chill vibe in them

― ♆ (gr8080), Friday, April 6, 2012 2:40 PM (2 years ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

^^^

my boss: "are you playing the same song over and over?"

me: "no this is just this band that all their songs sound the same."

boss: "oh."

i wish this band still existed, feel like they had another 10 albums of the same chill vibe in them

― ♆ (gr8080), Friday, April 6, 2012 2:40 PM (2 years ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

^^^

― marcos, Wednesday, April 23, 2014 2:11 PM (1 month ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

^^^^

ko-sign

yup

in agreement

Funny Marcos mentions listening to this very early in the morning with a young kid - I have a similar memory. They're a good soundtrack to the groggy but blissed out early parenthood stage.

dude lives in Joshua Tree now apparently. he put out a bunch of cassettes or something didn't he?

played this stuff for the first time in yearsss while gardening over the weekend, so much love for them still.

weird that people aren't as familiar with the first record, it's by far my favorite and definitely the one i have the most sentimental attachment to. they popped up at some big sur folk fest thing around that time (2004?) and sorta blew everyone's minds, that organ sound + so much analog bassssssssss. one of the only records i was obsessed with at that time that i still am not ashamed to support.

does any of the other mid 2000s freak-folkish stuff hold up this well? i should probably bust out some sunburned hand of the man and tower recordings / mv+ee records too, but none of them establish this kind of ecstatic drone and consistent mood/texture. i guess bbml is more in the mazzy star / cowboy junkies vein of slow vibey country so maybe it's lazy to clump them in to freak folk, tho that was very much how they were received at the time

weird that people aren't as familiar with the first record, it's by far my favorite and definitely the one i have the most sentimental attachment to.

ala.cali.tucky? i've had a hard time finding it, still haven't heard it

freak folk was always a poor genre label. a lot of MV + EE records are good but 1.) not very consistent and 2.) in some cases, grossly derivative.

i can dig matt valentine's neil voice but i'd never pretend they are on par w/ BBML. mv + ee have some pretty great peaks though. gettin gone and space homestead are probably my favorite, though there is great stuff on most of their records

sun araw have a different vibe and repetoire than BBML but something like "on patrol" satisfies some similar needs for deep groovy blissed out spacey grooves

freak folk was always a poor genre label

definitely, lots and lots of stuff clumped in together that didn't make much sense as a whole. i like a lot of those records but you're definitely otm when you say

in some cases, grossly derivative

i think my main takeaway from that whole thing was basically "listen to the incredible string band ffs"

someone should do a good mv&ee comp tho, there are definitely some gems

yea and even some of the grossly derivative stuff is good!

sun araw is a good comparison actually, tho yeah def different in many ways

sun araw have a different vibe and repetoire than BBML but something like "on patrol" satisfies some similar needs for deep groovy blissed out spacey grooves

otm, i almost made this exct post a few weeks ago

he's v v different, but i'd think any BBML fans who haven't yet checked out Connan Mockasin wouldn't regret doing so:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Teyy1A_AJso

like if you swapped BBML's freak folk for freak decadent lounge crooner maybe

raaaaaaaaaaad

marcos if you arent in to this, u should be:

High Maintenance - Very good web-series. Discuss.

haha i enjoyed that episode gr80, thanks

was totally expecting the wife to freak out when she came home w/ the sick child, she was all happy for him that he kept the dress, haha

the closest thing I can think of to BBML also lumped in the freak folk category would be this all-time jomf track. ultra gentle groove

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4vqqn2-COxk

cool! i've never really checked jackie o out. was put off by the wire magazine's fascination w/ the band name, felt like they dropped it all the time without actual reference to the music to feel cool or something.

that's definitely my favourite, they weren't always that chill though. there are bits on sticks & stones... by the no-neck blues band that hint towards a bit more to this sort of mellow groove but they never quite went there.

bit more toof this

I didn't have any knowledge of "freak folk" when I heard bbml, remember they reminded me of air (a band I grouped a lot of stuff around at that time, like black moth super rainbow https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2mqk2tewN1A)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qj8z4cngKO0

sry i tried to https the black moth video didnt work out i see

connan mockasin track is great, will check out the album - really grew on me when watching the High Maintenance episode.

Common denominator could be a specific type of really mellow psychedelia.

maybe also bbml fans would be into Darkside?
http://youtu.be/d8NaWT0WvEE

was listening to bill callahan's dream river last night and it satisfies a similar need

not as stoned though. still very deep, groovy, and mellow

Well, there is a dub version of that album.

totally! forgot about that

it is 80 degrees and gorgeous today so the s/t album is feeling right

lemme go over to the grateful dead thread and say the same thing about "live/dead"

it's that time of year

yup

<3 this

Wish these guys were still together so I could force them to cover this

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_59gKd1VJ0

wow can't believe it's been nearly 10 years since this record... they should do a deluxe reissue that comes with *TWO* pair of the cardboard glasses emblazoned with marijuana leaves!

hahs yes

Oh my god, I forgot about those glasses.

city lights
oppression
fence line
oppression

I always want to recommend La Hell Gang's "Thru Me Again" in this thread but it's really only the first two songs that have a (slightly) similar vibe. And it's definitely more rocky, especially as the album progresses into Atacama desert psych rock with a heavy Spacemen 3/Loop influence.

Strange synchronicity for this revive. I just yesterday bought the Brightblack S/T and Loop 'Gilded Eternity' CDs to jam in the car while driving around a very hot and wildfire hazy Seattle. Sounds like I need to check LA Hell Gang.

Thanks for the La Hell Gang recommendation - three tracks in and I'm sold.
https://lahellgang.bandcamp.com

Cool! And definitely check them out YL, it's good stuff.

Is anybody else into the original Rainywood recordings from 2002? Not the split with Bonny Billy but the self-released self-titled album? I'm fairly sure I downloaded them on the naturalismo blog like ten years ago, but I came across the MP3's on an old HD this week. I can't find an upload of them anywhere on google, it would be cool to throw them up onto youtube. I think I might do that.

Never heard that stuff. Was it widely released?

it's one of the few things on my discogs want list but i've never heard it.

would love to hear it

ysi?

they're easily found on slsk

i recall the 2006 album being a bit of a disappointment to me after a lot of listening to that one, though now the earlier stuff feels like a bit of an of-its-time new weird america artefact (not that i have anything against those) while the 2006 album still feels v distinct.

fondly remember seeing them play at an atp and shineywater getting increasingly irritated by the loud + inattentive audience, finally at the end going on a rant, except he still had reverb and delay all over his vocals, so who knows what he actually said.

Yeah you're right Elvis! I haven't been on slsk in a long time. You know what I still can't find? The 2010 split cassette with solo Nathan and Berry Shadows with Hope + Colm. I remembering 'preordering' that thing from Nathan via Myspace way back then and I'd say like a year later received a refund out of blue with a message that they oversold their stock, was very sad at the time. Have still held out to this day trying to avoid those x3 discogs costs :(

Live at Valley Society for the Evolutionary Arts
Brightblack Morning Light - (2006-06-17) Unitarian Meetinghouse, MA
https://archive.org/details/autonomous_battleship_collective_061706

This show—the way it was recorded, who they played with, everything about it—has always been some of my favorite BBML material. Slow and moody self-titled era songs. Mariee Sioux was sitting with them on this set. Brings back a lot of memories from college listening to this thing.

nice, thanks. I have a live recording I made of them on tour with a trombone player, I should get that out there.

Yeah man, absolutely.

Man this Rainywood stuff is good. I prefer BBL but it's great.

BBML?

I still want a dub album

cosign

khruangbin

kindred spirits

Currently blasting at the S/T cd at home and peering out at the sparkling lake with the 3D glasses on. It's BML season, friends!

Hey Sleeve, I never saw your reply about your live recording. Wow, yes please—I'd love to hear that! I am on a hunt for hearing everything BBML-related. Here I will start. Last year I finally got a copy of that Nathan Shineywater/Hope Sandoval/Colm O’Ciosoig cassette and have just uploaded it to youtube.

Side A:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hze4SQ1Gp14

Side B:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-1uepPqRM5U

he he I have that cassette

at the time I was dissapointed it didn't sound like the album I enjoyed, but listening now sounds p cool

My favorite BML experience was years ago I was playing the CD for a friend at the end of a long summer evening of drinking. We were sitting on the back deck, my friend was wearing the glasses that came with the CD, and he was lighting cigarettes off of a citronella candle in a metal bucket that had been going all night. In the morning light I found that he had accidentally dumped a huge mess of citronella wax all over the table, which ran through the wooden table slats and hardened all over the deck. Good times.

Neal lemme work on that, I'm pretty busy atm but will try to update here when I get my shit together

ok so the song "Just One Time" by Juicy Lucy (better known as "Mary Anne" covered by Spacemen 3) really oddly reminds me of BML in some ways, especially the... what is that sound? harmonica? underblown sax? synth? and the kind of faded drumming.

underblown sax, yeah

i really miss this band. no one remotely close this warmy souplesse i get from them. also, great ppl

also, great ppl

lol what

are they bad ppl?

great fucking guys, or couple, if they're still one, more like it

from what I've heard they have broken up and things are not going so well for Nathan

Listening to the new Deradoorian album (which is great btw -- pleasantly dark/murky production, with the rhythm section pounding out motorik beats a la Stereolab) and the deep bass groove peppered with jazzy flute on the track "Devil's Market" has me reminiscing about this band :'(

It's only a little reminiscent of BML to my ears... but it is great, thanks for posting about it.

Alright here is something that should be fairly unheard. BBML's Maida Vale session for Radio 1 back in 2006, a couple months after the first LP. This also includes two interview segments spliced between their recording session. I was determined to find this after coming across a random cell phone video of them doing a soundtrack at Maida Vale, uploaded to Youtube in 2006. Was not so easy given that BBC's archive doesn't go back that far. But luckily there's folks out there archiving random DJ sets from years and years ago, had to grab the whole set and pull out just the Brightblack segments. Anyway, it's great sounding and a fun listen.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wa9Jo5k-Rdc

one of the very few bands I keep pulling to appear higher or at all in best of 00s lists. peak vibe albums.

This sounds great - thanks for the heads-up! I did have to skip the interviews though. Needs a warning: 'contains hippies, two of them'.

On the one hand I feel like I need a hundred more albums of this music, on the other hand I don't think I ever really *listened to* "Miwok Shapes" (the final song on the s/t) until right this instant

Not saying that track is up there with their best work (it's not) just that there is plenty of listening left to do within their small discography.

So this revive inspired me to finally get off my ass and upload this live tape I made.

They played in Eugene at Sam Bond's garage in October 2006, they had a trombone player. The tape isn't great, maybe a B- as far as audience recordings go, I was a bit too far back so there's crowd noise and chatter. But hey, this is the first time I've made it available. These are FLAC files, feel free to upload on DIME or whatever since I am too lazy.

https://www.mediafire.com/file/p0wnbr26i9rerlg/Brightblack_Morning_Light_-_Sam_Bond%2527s%252C_October_2006.zip/file
https://www.mediafire.com/file/2h5up0udyr66v4i/Brightblack_Morning_Light_-_Sam_Bond%2527s%252C_October_2006_part_2.zip/file

Thanks Sleeve! I’m gonna delve into this tomorrow and follow up again after listening. Appreciate the heads up too in the guitar thread, take care.