Pages tagged “langhorne slim”

Pennsylvania-born singer/songwriter's strongest album yet

Langhorne Slim’s new self-titled full-length refines the rocked-up/tripped-out lunatic Americana of his relatively stripped-down 2005 album When the Sun's Gone Down, which was full of breakneck banjo picking, thrashing acoustic guitars, twittering organ and Slim's impassioned yelps.

The singer/songwriter’s soulful, urgent vocal delivery and down-home rootsiness still provide the foundation for the new record (as well as a connection to his past work), but he’s dialed down the stringband vibe and reined in the weirdness, opting for a more mature, accessible and layered sound. The album's glimmering folk-rock is propelled by simple, straight-ahead drum beats and is spruced up by cello, bells, tuba, accordion, pizzicato violin, Rhodes piano and countless other inventive instrumentation choices.

Every bit as important as the sonic variation, though, is Slim’s impressive songwriting, which—while strong in the past—now places him in the league of contemporaries like Josh Ritter, Conor Oberst and The Avett Brothers. While Slim’s sense of melody and his affecting, straightforward lyrics—about the everyday struggles and mysteries of life and love—have most in common with the Avetts, he still occasionally dips his brush for an impressionistic phrase, waxing watercolor where they might reach for oil paints. And given the more complex arrangements Slim (and the supporting cast of musicians) deftly executes here, he’s revealed himself to be as musically ambitious as Oberst and Ritter, who’ve both succeeded at pushing the often bland singer/songwriter tradition forward with their integration of wide-ranging sonic textures and electronic flourishes.

Slim’s range and depth are on full display this time out—with Langhorne Slim, he has painted his first near masterpiece, marking himself as a true artist whose work should be followed with a careful ear from here on out.

We've been excited about the prospect of the next Langhorne Slim release for a while. What can we say? It's been too long since we had new meat in our optimistic Appalachia diet. What we now know is that all this roots rock build-up will come to fruition in the form of a self-titled release in the middle of a lengthy tour. The city resident with a rural aesthetic will release his debut for New York indie Kemado Records April 29, his first full-length since 2005's When the Sun's Gone Down and the follow-up to 2006's Engine EP.

"I’m not sure that there’s any other kind, but the songs I write are love songs," Langhorne says of the new record. "Some are literal, about specific events, people and relationships in my life; a form of therapy, self-help for the flowers and the shit along the road of life. Others come from a place far more mysterious. Either way, I’m in it to capture the feeling, the truth of an emotion, changing only names and events to protect the innocent."

Kemado Records is offering a preview of this emotion with a download of the track "Rebel Side of Heaven" from the forthcoming album. You can get it here.

Sam Kassirer (otherwise known as the keyboard player in Josh Ritter's band) hosted Langhorne at his studio, Great North Sound Society, in Maine to record the album. Longtime cohorts Malachi DeLorenzo and Paul Defiglia lent their talents to the project as well.

Catch him if you can:

April
10- Boston, Mass. @ Middle East
11 - Newmarket, N.H. @ Stone Church
12 - New Haven, Conn. @ Café Nine
24 - Asbury Park, N.J. @ Stone Pony (w/ Josh Ritter)
25 - Peekskill, N.Y. @ Paramount Theater (w/ Josh Ritter)
28 - Brooklyn, N.Y. @ Music Hall of Williamsburg (w/ Josh Ritter)
29 - Baltimore, Md. @ Recher Theater (w/ Josh Ritter)
30 - New York, N.Y. @ Mercury Lounge (CD Release Show) +

May
1- Arlington, Va. @ IOTA Club & Café +
2 - Chapel Hill, N.C. @ Local 506 +
3 - Mt. Pleasant, S.C. @ Village Tavern +
4 - Orlando, Fla. @ The Social +
6 - Atlanta, Ga. @ The Earl +
7 - Nashville, Tenn. @ Mercy Lounge +
8 - Birmingham, Ala. @ Bottletree Café +
9 - New Orleans, La. @ One-Eyed Jacks +
10 - Austin, Texas @ The Mohawk +
13 - San Diego, Calif. @ The Casbah +
14 - Los Angeles, Calif. @ Troubadour +
15 - San Francisco, Calif. @ The Independent +
17 - Portland, Ore. @ Doug Fir Lounge +
19 - Seattle, Wash. @ Tractor Tavern +
22 - Salt Lake City, Utah @ Urban Lounge+
23 - Denver, Colo. @ Hi-Dive +
24 - Lawrence, Kan. @ Replay Lounge +
26 - Madison, Wisc. @ High Noon Saloon +
28 - Chicago, Ill. @ Schuba’s +
29 - Chicago, Ill. @ The Hideout +

August
1 - Happy Valley, Ore. @ Pickathon at Pendarvis Farm
2 - Happy Valley, Ore. @ Pickathon at Pendarvis Farm

September
19 - Bristol, Tenn. @ Bristol Rhythm and Roots Fest
20 - Bristol, Tenn. @ Bristol Rhythm and Roots Fest

+ - Indicates headlining date

Related links:
Langhorne Slim on MySpace
Paste: Review: Langhorne Slim - When the Sun's Gone Down
1,000 Words: Langhorne Slim in Philadelphia

Got news tips for Paste? E-mail news@pastemagazine.com.

Kemado Records, home of Swedish psychedelic rockers Dungen and Interpol-esque New Yorkers Elefant, has just signed folk/soul-rocker Langhorne Slim, and will release his upcoming, self-titled album on April 29.

Slim's drummer Malachi DeLorenzo and Sam Kassirer (otherwise known as Josh Ritter's keyboardist/producer), produced all but one of the 13 tracks on the upcoming release, the last of which was helmed by Brian Deck, longtime producer of Iron & Wine, amongst others. Both Kassirer and Deck also contributed their musical skills some of the tracks.

Slim, who says his stage name comes from "a skinny town in Pennsylvania where the motorcycles roam in silence," was born Sean Scolnick in Longhorne, Pa. After his first album, When The Sun's Gone Down, was released on Narnack Records, Langhorne hopped to V2 Records to release his 2006 EP, Engine.

In between, Scolnick toured with compatriots The Avett Brothers, Lucero, Murder By Death, and Rocky Votolato. He'll soon go on tour himself, starting in the upper Northwest, before expanding nationally over the course of 2008.

Current dates:

January
23 - Bend, Ore. @ St. Francis - Father Luke’s
24 - Portland, Ore. @ Kennedy - Gym
25 - Troutdale, Ore. @ Edgefield - Blackberry Hall
26 - Forest Grove, Ore. @ Grand Lodge - Compass Hall
27 - Portland, Ore. @ Crystal Ballroom

Related links:
LanghorneSlim.com
Langhorne Slim on MySpace
Kemado.com

Got news tips for Paste? E-mail news@pastemagazine.com.

Pennsylvania-born Langhorne Slim trades in big, countrified exaggerations, blowing up rural stereotypes to delirious proportions, howling so hard you can practically see the wheat bushels tumbling from his mouth. Maybe the joke’s on us (Slim records in “various apartments in Brooklyn”), but When the Sun’s Gone Down—the follow-up to Slim’s debut EP—is just ridiculous enough to sell the farm. Vocals occasionally nod to Jack White’s high warbles, but never sit still long enough to warrant a more emphatic comparison to the Man in (white, red and) Black. Supported by acoustic and steel guitars, harmonica, banjo and light drums, Slim may be snickering under his breath, but his din is too loud for anyone to decipher it.