New Pain & Music for the New Year

I hope the rest of you started the New Year in better shape than me.  On my way to work along my usual route down the steep Portola/Upper Market drive I slid into a curb with my bicycle and flew about 10 feet (according to witnesses) and remained unconscious for about 10 minutes.  Somebody called an ambulance but as soon as I saw a familiar face say “are you alright?” I got up, put my bike in the back of this person’s vehicle and demanded he drive me to work.  I must have been delirous, repeating myself and worrying my wife would kill me if she heard, but eventually the ambulance picked me up at work and I spent the rest of the day recovering from a concussion in a neck brace next to crack addicts and prisoners at the General Hospital.

With that said, let me guide you to some interesting music being put out by Yerbird Records, a wonderful independent label run by Morgan King out of Charlottesville, Virginia.  His latest offering is the music of Nic Garcia with an album called The Desperate One’s.  The singers voice is subtle and hushed, with a light instrumental back up.  Reminds me a bit of a little known artist who worked under the name Bullet for Fidel and even a little bit of Will Oldham during Palace years, but with more of a Hayden twinge.  Here are a few tracks from the record for your own research:

Nic Garcia : The Black Turn Pink
Nic Garcia : Triumph

Another soft, quiet sound I’ve been checking out comes to us from Athens, Georgia called Venice is Sinking.  They’ve got this barn yard rock sound that is brought together by a strong violin or viola lining.  On their site they compare themselves to Galaxie 500 and Low.  They have furnished this nice tune for us all to listen to.  Here:

Venice is Sinking : Pulaski Heights

And finally check out what’s new by the wonderful folks who used to call themselves Sparring Partners but are now known as Heartbreak Motel.  They’ve returned to their original sound and have added some great drums and electric guitar.  Great harmonies and male and female vocals bring these songs together in the fashion of other great duos like Arcade Fire and the Fiery Furnaces.  Welcome back folks!  You can see them live in the Bay Area soon too at Papa Tobys Revolution Cafe in San Francisco, CA on Jan 19, 2006 @ 9:00PM.

Heartbreak Motel : Jakes Song
Heartbreak Motel : High on the Ground