Constant Hitmaker

Thank god that's over. Summer, that is. We're more of an Autumn. Winter, even. But Summer's just a smeary, bleary blur of heat, sun, and muggy humidity. Good riddance, we say, and realize we're in the vast minority. So be it.

Before we hit up today's musical guest, we have a request. We need to fix up our links to the left, along with an eventual site re-design, and figger we're missing some mighty fine sites, musical or otherwise. Anyone got some recommendations of websites we should be pimpin'? It could be your own, of course, or someone you're following. Let us know, and we'll get it up.

Now we got a feller who we think is super duper, and perfect for an Autumn afternoon.

Kurt Vile (yes, it's a pun) is a slightly cracked egg, at least on wax (we don't know him personally). He plays in a band called The War On Drugs, which is a fine band, but not our concern for today's post. We're interested in Vile's fascinating solo work.

We don't know much about Vile, really. We've got four records by the man, all released within the last 12 months, and each one a tiny bedsit jewel of strummed melancholy, looped languidness, chug-a-lug ramble, urban psych, and keen lyrical observation. He's called "Philly's Constant Hitmaker", for what it's worth.

Vile takes the pre-supposed nature of the bedroom auteur and transforms it into something revelatory, stripping away the self-involved excess and creating, nay, crafting records full of the richness of the everyman. More tuneful and accessible than Jandek, less bombast than Neil Young and somewhere in between the twilight and the morning.

Sensory reflection, then, a spillage of foilage with darkness at the edge of town, and the drop the needle, the intake of breath and a hiss of tape, a voice in the void of summer speeding and winter hibernation, a warm drink taken bitter and sweet.

The following songs were taken from, in order, his brand spankin' new record "Childish Prodigy", his previous long player "Constant Hitmaker", the limited vinyl "God Is Saying This To You" LP, and the EP "Hunchback". Check 'em all out!

Perfect music for watching the leaves change and the evening comin' on.


Kurt Vile: Freak Train(mp3)

Kurt Vile: Freeway(mp3)

Kurt Vile: My Sympathy(mp3)

Kurt Vile: Good Lookin' Out(mp3)

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