video: The Report, Bleeker/Mtn Man "Oh Boy"

"Wish I Was You"

From the Church show last December. This track, and many more (from the Church, as well as the ever-increasing Chocolate Bobka archive) will be available on The Report DVD, which is sort of like the videos we post online, but super-high, barely compressed quality that's sure to look lovely on your television. This is a project we have been working hard on for the past few months, and we couldn't be more excited to send it out into the world. So excited that we made this epic trailer to wet your taste buds:

The Report, if you don't already know, is a 100+ page bi-annual journal, compilation and DVD package, containing the weirdest, wisest musings on culture, art and music. Contributors include Dent May, Ben Chasny, Rob Mitchum (Pitchfork), Devin Wolfe (Naturalismo), Justin Gage (Aquarium Drunkar), Molly Sarle (Mountain Man), Matt Mondanile (Ducktails, Real Estate), Sawyer Carter Jacobs (Underwater Peoples, Family Portrait, Emilie Friedlander (Visitation Rites, Arthur Mag, Tiny Mix Tapes), Madalyn Merkey (Irma Vep Tapes), and Cian Traynor (SeeWhatYouHear, Guardian), amongst many, many others. The cassette compilation, which also comes as a digital download, features a bevy of exclusive unreleased tracks, as well as songs that simply were overlooked or are soon to be released.

The Report Mix-Tape Tracklist:

Side A
1. Madalyn Merkey - Excerpt from Orphic Breathing
2. Twin Sister- Kimmi In The Ricefield
3. Raw Thrills- Komiche Traveling With Vampires
4. Javelin - Clamato
5. Family Portrait- Dog Wah
6. Holiday Shores- Three-Peat
7. Run DMT- Let's All Take Acid
8. Alice Cohen- The Binding of Cords
9. Real Estate - Wonder Years jam

Side B
1. Alex Bleeker- Journey Through The Past
2. Mountain Man- The Loon Song
3. Pillow Talk- Living Room Jam
4. Pigeons- Behind the Reeds
5. Woodsman - Mothka
6. Pure Ecstasy- Dream Over
7. Alex Craig & the Cedermark Kitchen Singers - If It Makes You Happy (Sheryl Crow)

(SOLD OUT)
or PayPal $22 (includes shipping) to mpmcgregor [at] gmail dot com

video: Mountain Man at the Church

"Lay Your Head"

Ray Concepcion capturing Mountain Man at the Chocolate Bobka Church show two weeks ago. Amazing.

show: Mountain Man, Bleeker, Liam the Younger

"Sewee Sewee"
Going to be a special evening. Bring blankets, yoga mats to sit on. Baked goods will be sold on the premises. BYOB. Click here to see a large scale, beautiful rendering of the work, done by Mike Mahon.

live: Mountain Man, Alex Bleeker, Liam the Younger

"Who Walked the Dog"

A month from today Chocolate Bobka will host another show in our concert series, and this one, in all honesty, may be the best yet. On Friday December 11th, Mountain Man, Alex Bleeker (accompanied by the Mountain Man singers), Liam the Younger and Luka (No Demons Here) will descend upon the majestic Lutheran Church of the Messiah in sleepy Greenpoint, Brooklyn for a night of quiet, unamplified ballads and hymns. It's a real pleasure to host this show in the amazing Church, which has previously been host to performances by Mt. Eerie, Marissa Nadler, Calvin Johnson, and Kria Brekkan, among others. The intimate venue, along with a heaping of blankets, should make the Church basement feel more like a coffee house, or house show, which, in my opinion, is the only way to absorb real, honest to god Folk music. Details will trickle out in the coming weeks, so keep your eyes peeled. Also, if anyone is interested in volunteering at the show, shoot me an email at mcgregor [at] me.com. See ya in a month.

new morning music: Kria Brekkan

"It Sounds Wonderful!"

(Photo from NYC Taper)
I finally got around to listening to NYC Taper's phenomenal recording of Kria Brekkan's semi-recent set at the Lutheran Church of the Messiah in Greenpoint a few months ago. Whoa! I remember the evening feeling as if the basement of the church were some hideaway on the great astral plane and the Taper's recording only cements that feeling. While the set isn't without its warts (chairs moving, blips, clicks, etc), it is an absolutely phenomenal capturing of an extremely intimate moment, one I haven't been quite able to shake since the evening. Kria's eccentric, hushed, utterly ethereal sound scapes are the stuff winter dreams are made of. That said, download this set asap before the chill of winter sets in and you feel like hibernating. It will aid greatly in the process.

PS-NYC Taper's got a new server and downloads are super fast. Highly rec'd snatching as much as possible, ya know, for the future.

Download Kria's set (and more) at NYC Taper.

we saw: Kria Brekan & Olaf Arnalds

Pixie Dust

Todd P sent out an email yesterday that read:

2NITE -> a special beautiful night of quieter sounds w/ Múm alums Kría Brekkan -&- Ólöf Arnalds (both from Iceland) -&- Sam Amidon @ LUTHERAN CHURCH OF THE MESSIAH

Immediately, I knew I was in. Even more so after my delirious eyes realized the Lutheran Church of the Messiah is a few measly steps from my front door. The basement of the Greenpoint church was dark and dank, quite the contrast from the cool evening outside, which seemed to usher in autumn. We arrived at 9 just in time for Kría Brekkan's set of tape looped, piano driven, whimsical dream cycles that flutter in and around your head like specs of gold dust after you've run into a brick wall. Quite refreshing, and entrancing too. Kría wanted the room dark and finagled with the lone flood light that lite the stage. She pushed a table in front of it so its ominous glow was more of a shadow than a spotlight. Her live show was much like I envisioned after hearing the Wildering 7"; gorgeously quiet, as if her music was seeping out from 5,000 years of frozen dreams. Kría often stopped songs claiming she was messing up, or didn't know the words, but she is so beautiful and charming on stage that none of that mattered, as if it should. Music to dream to, most definitely. Even reminded me to get back into William S. Burroughs My Education: A Book of Dreams.

Her former múm partner Ólöf Arnalds set was similar, albeit totally different than Kría's more experimental set. Leaning closer to traditional Icelandic folk than Lau Nau-ish experimentalism, Ólöf stunned the crowd with her voice, which sang like you wish your mother would've sung you to sleep. Of course, Ólöf is a new mom and her son was in the audience, arguably making more noise than the dudes running down the stairs, popping beer bottles and shuttering lenses. All good though, he was just hungry and when Mommy called him on stage for some food, and an acapella lullaby, he seemed to relax. Ólöf ended the evening by bringing VT bred ambient folkie Sam Amidon, whose set we regrettably missed, and Kría back on stage for a string of collaborations that carried me off into a purgatorial state, which I may still be in while writing this. Absolutely beautiful evening from some of Iceland's most provocative, most enchanting songstresses.

Next up, Sigur Ros tonight. Iceland's really taking over.

Kria Brekkan- Gömul vísa um vorið

Ólöf Arnalds performing "Klara"