Today sees the release of Carl Hauck’s new 9 track album “Windjammer”.  The album is a study in delicate finger picked singer songwriter selections that carry some of the best melodies of 2010.

Hauck is no stranger to the pages of Slowcoustic (see here, here & here) so I might be a bit biased on this Illinois’ talent.  The bias is earned, so I do not stray from that fact that I enjoy a Hauck tune.  Something about being able to bring a pitch perfect selection of lyrics to stunning acoustic arrangements…you know, that’s all.

The title track is a perfect example, it is beat steady, has a build that joins in additional layers (fantastic violin & strings in this one) and it defines what a Carl Hauck track might be.  This is the stuff that made Sufjan Stevens everyone’s favourite indie talent, listen to the song and find elements of Stevens’ work intertwined with Hauck – there’s beauty in ‘dem songs.  Listen:

Probably my favourite track on the album is the song “Martial Reisling”.  It starts with just Hauck singing over acoustics and does the build to a melodic chorus with the best of them.  Other than just being catchy, the lyrics alone show the strength in this album, example:

“My fingertips are tapping on a hefty stack of papers sitting
Stamped and sorted carefully, all ready to be sent
Sonnets, prose, and charming odes to ennui-laden scribbles so
Affected by the rain or lack thereof that fell today”

…

“Blank checks made out to certainty, the memos bursting at the seams
With issues better left unspoken of and never seen”

Quite an ominous few lines, but they fit and show the beauty of an album worth of stories/situations/laments/memories all set to music.  [Side Note: the lyrics for the album can be found on his Bandcamp page and I suggest a little "light" reading while listening.] Overall in this particular song, I think the chorus is what gets me – some may say it’s hokey, but when you earnestly sing the naked-as-I-am line “But I have dreams too” – it just hits the spot for me.   Listen:

Bonus out-take from the album (from carlhauck.com): “Sinking Ships”

So if you pick up one “folk” album today, make it Carl Hauck’s Windjammer.  If you are in Chicago, you can hit the CD Release show at Martyr’s (Facebook event info)

Visit Carl Hauck:  Website, Bandcamp, Facebook, MySpace
Purchase Carl Hauck:  Bandcamp, iTunes, eMusic

~Smansmith

First off we have a new track from Carl Hauck called “Windjammer” – it is the title track to his upcoming November album.  You might remember Hauck from a couple of posts we previously had (see here and here) and as expected we are getting some fine acoustic goodness.  This one is pretty light and airy (no pun intended) and may seem too delicate to some.  But wait, Hauck is starting to incorporate some strings, and keyboards and it adds a layer of completeness to a singer songwriter styled song.  Can’t wait for this one!

“Windjammer” – Carl Hauck, from the upcoming “Windjammer” album (Nov. 2010)

Visit Carl Hauck on Bandcamp, Facebook and MySpace

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We also have someone who has seen these pages in Leonard Mynx.  We recently had his great duet with Laura Gibson (see the video on his site here) as our “featured video” for a few weeks.  Now we have his “Song With No Name” which comes off as pretty Americana for Mynx and I like what he is doing here – even with it being molasses slow Americana (as it should be).  Great stuff.

“Song With No Name” – Leonard Mynx, from his 2010 Bad Panda single

Visit Leonard Mynx on his Website, Facebook, Twitter and MySpace.  Find more info about this track and an interview with Mynx on Bad Panda here.

~Smansmith

Everybody likes a good cause and everybody likes good music.  This is the main reason why music and charities go so well together.  It also tends to go down a little better when it comes from an “independent” nature that provides all the profits to the cause.  In this case the compilation album “We Were Lost, We Were Free” gives all the purchase/donation fee to the Susan G. Komen for the Cure® cause.

The compilation is available in digital format and (I think it is being issued on a CD at some point) is available at the On Joyful Wings website (click here).  There is a fair amount of information, artist info and a bit of a story of this project over there as well – an interesting read for a group of folks who look to bring good music for this and other causes (they are already working on the next one!!).

I also don’t want to be gotten wrong, I am all for a good cause, but if I can’t stand behind the medium or how it’s delivered then you risk losing me altogether.  In this case we have a 21 track collection of music that includes some Slowcoustic favourites – so I guess I didn’t get lost!  You have artists such as Holocombe Waller, Jesse Nesbitt, Carl Hauck, Will Stratton, The Rest, Jeremy Larson among many more.  While the compilation sticks to the more folk/singer songwriter format, it also has a bit of range with almost indie rock (“Certain Degree” by Chasing The Sky) to something akin to a better Keane track (“NHR.2″ by Cool Hand Luke) to full on piano ballad (“Across The Dusty Plains” by Josh Woodward).  I have picked a few to listen to below – while The Rest track is a free download on Last.fm as well, the remainder are streaming because you only have to part with 5 singles to get them!!!  So let’s take a listen:

“Over The Hill” – The Rest

Risk Of Change – Holocombe Waller by Slowcoustic
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“To Coast” – Carl Hauck by Slowcoustic

Visit On Joyful Wings:

Now come on, skip the latte and pick up this album.  Go on now, git it now!

~Smansmith

Very little time today (damn day job getting in the way of things that are important)!

I did see that former Slowcoustic post victim Carl Hauck has been a peach and posted his WEFT Sessions II (this is his second time recording sessions with WEFT) and has offered them up for consumption.

Head over to his MySpace page and check his latest blog.  This is from January 19th, 2009!!!  HOT of the presses here people.

Enjoy a couple of appetizers below prior to digging into the feast of acoustic goodness over on Carl’s page.

~Smansmith

So Carl Hauck is the future, eh?  Not to be dramatic, but someone who knows his way around an acoustic guitar, skillfully writes songs that one can relate to and is a soon to be educator…what else would you call him?

Carl Hauck is currently a senior at the University of Illinois, and I am sure he will be strong leader of our youth one day (major – English / minor – Education), but it is his talents outside the classroom that has brought him to Slowcoustic.  This Grayslake, IL native combines a range of toned down acoustic guitar with a slight finger-picking style to his polished voice.  You get a bit of flexibility on Carl’s delivery of what I am sure are his well thought out story-lined songs.  I think his comments to myself really reflect on him and his style of songwriting;

“As a songwriter, I try to avoid confessional lyricism.  Although honesty is often cited as being a fundamental aspect of great songwriting, I consider the songs that are self-aware, that reflect a degree of psychological tension, that don’t confine themselves to a single voice, to hold more truth than those that delve blindly into extreme emotionality.”

For the sounds that might be the medium to the message here, take a listen to two tracks from his 2008 release “Counter Intelligence” to get an idea of what I am saying – “Milt the Stilt” is a solo affair with that polished delivery (performed “just a half register higher” than normal) while “Herrick, You Devil!” brings what I feel is his “real” voice out with great girl/guy harmonization (I apologize for not knowing her name, but the two mesh perfectly).  “Herrick…” is truly a gem and a current favourite with the darker feel and the ominous far off guitar that really hits the mark.

Check out upcoming performances: Pygmalion Music Festival (!!) in Champaign-Urbana (Sept. 17-20); Also, a condensed tour through the Midwest (MO, KS, IA, MN, WI, IL) with Todd Reese in November.

Sample two tracks from the “Counter Intelligence” (no pun intended) below – the album can be purchased on his website (linked above) or via iTunes.  Enjoy.

~Smansmith