http://grown-so-ugly.blogspot.com/
― Amateur(ist) (Amateur(ist)), Thursday, 28 September 2006 02:51 (seventeen years ago) link
lots more shows at D!MEaD0z3n right now. Amateurist, email me at sleeve (at) efn (dot) org if your'e still looking for stuff.
he just recently played his first show in Astoria since moving there a number of years back (after cancelling two previous gigs). My friend who went said it was great.
― sleeve, Saturday, 11 August 2007 04:08 (seventeen years ago) link
New album!! It's called Ancestral Swamp, on LP and CD. As usual there are a couple of his standard remakes but it is mostly new stuff, 5 covers, buncha blues tunes, subject matter is swamps and rivers and floods. I heard one track in a coffee shop today but haven't gotten my hands on teh LP yet.
― sleeve, Wednesday, 24 October 2007 04:30 (sixteen years ago) link
I like it, but I haven't heard his earlier stuff yet so I don't know how it compares. Need to remedy that.
― da croupier, Wednesday, 24 October 2007 04:33 (sixteen years ago) link
can't go wrong with Wolfways or Snockgrass or Have Moicy
― sleeve, Wednesday, 24 October 2007 04:40 (sixteen years ago) link
New one's great. As I said on the "2007 Reissues" thread, I think it seem to be mastered more quietly and with less dynamic range than some of his older material--this makes it feel more gray and less bright than some of his older releases. Subdued is the word. But it actually fits pretty well, there aren't any tracks that really scream for an ebullient sound.
― ian, Wednesday, 24 October 2007 19:59 (sixteen years ago) link
He's playing tomorrow in Astoria, an Upper Oregon Coast town about 4 hours from me. My girlfriend used to live there and we are totally road trippin it tomorrow for some live Snock action that I also plan on recording.
― sleeve, Friday, 29 February 2008 20:37 (sixteen years ago) link
oh, he lives there so this is not that unusual, but it has been at least a year or two since he did a hometown gig.
― sleeve, Friday, 29 February 2008 20:38 (sixteen years ago) link
Ggo go go, and let us know how it is!
― ian, Friday, 29 February 2008 20:46 (sixteen years ago) link
If he is still selling his homemade 2CDR set with 'Land of Lo Fi & Redbirds' PICK ONE UP!
― Stormy Davis, Friday, 29 February 2008 21:17 (sixteen years ago) link
awesome!
― bb, Friday, 29 February 2008 21:29 (sixteen years ago) link
yeah Stormy I have that one but I still need "Growlin' Bobo".
― sleeve, Friday, 29 February 2008 22:21 (sixteen years ago) link
or did you want one?
no i have it but i meant to say that if you didn't you should get one cuz it's SO GOOD!
― Stormy Davis, Friday, 29 February 2008 22:24 (sixteen years ago) link
someone should burn that shit for me.
― ian, Friday, 29 February 2008 23:48 (sixteen years ago) link
http://www.snockonews.net/images/Husbands.jpg
― sleeve, Saturday, 1 March 2008 16:05 (sixteen years ago) link
Armchair Boogie need a proper reissue
Dude can play a little too long live occasionally, but that's a pretty nit-picky complaint I guess
― If Assholes Could Fly This Place Would Be An Airport, Saturday, 1 March 2008 16:10 (sixteen years ago) link
No. I agree. Hurley can be transcendent, but he can also ramble. One too many songs, in my opinion, creep into the five- and six-minute marks.
― QuantumNoise, Saturday, 1 March 2008 17:08 (sixteen years ago) link
"time to pause for the cause" = smoke break.
There are usually 3 or 4 of these breaks in your average Hurley concert.
― sleeve, Saturday, 1 March 2008 17:17 (sixteen years ago) link
also I mentioned this on teh rolling vinyl thread but Warner are still being dicks about the 2 LPs on Raccoon, informal word from Mississippi was that they won't be allowed to reissue Armchair after all.
― sleeve, Saturday, 1 March 2008 17:19 (sixteen years ago) link
yeah, that's a fuckin bummer. do you know what the particular hang-up is? Blame Jesse Colin Young.
― ian, Saturday, 1 March 2008 17:58 (sixteen years ago) link
Blame his moustache!
― QuantumNoise, Saturday, 1 March 2008 18:20 (sixteen years ago) link
Also: Michael Hurley can never play too long as long as you keep a steady-but-not-indulgent drinking pace.
― ian, Saturday, 1 March 2008 18:36 (sixteen years ago) link
Agreed. Plus, his pace reflects the life he lives. I've spent time in places like Bolinas in northern California. It's as if the entire town lives like one of his songs.
― QuantumNoise, Saturday, 1 March 2008 22:25 (sixteen years ago) link
so last night at the store I saw that the new issue of the Wire has a piece on Michael, written by none other than Byron Coley.
Damn. I really wanna read it but I also don't wanna give 9 American bones to shitty ass Wire just for the privilege. Hm.
― Stormy Davis, Sunday, 2 March 2008 04:24 (sixteen years ago) link
I got a good recording but it cut off at the best part about 70 minutes in. some great song about Alice the alcoholic, totally new to me. that's always how it is, yeah? tape cuts off right at the best part. anyway, some other dude also recorded the set. His should be up on Tr@der's D3n/3tree sometime soon. I will Leonardo my recording once I get it tracked out. MH played for about 80-90 minutes, unaccompanied. Some banjo, lotta guitar, some really nice mouth trumpet action. A couple of great songs I had never heard before, just like every time I see him.
The "Husbands, Love Your Wives" referred to in the flyer above was a young woman doing a solo set with guitar and voice. Very sweet and young and pretty capable of holding the room's interest. Her grandma lived in Astoria and MH said that she had Myspaced him (!!) and they decided to set up a show together. Her whole family was there!
Astoria was still pretty beat up from that big winter storm, two-foot diameter pine trees just snapped in half. lots more just torn up by the roots. lotta blue tarps on roofs.
I bought "Growlin' Bobo", and only have a few releases left to track down (Bellmeade Sessions, Down In Dublin, and the Excrusiasion '86 tape). Bobo is a smokin hot live set in Vermont, November 1980 (actually the best of two nights) featuring a four-piece backing band, four-part vocal harmonies, and Robin Remaily's fiddle playing. Excellent and worth your time.
― sleeve, Monday, 3 March 2008 06:12 (sixteen years ago) link
I'm sitting here on my lunch break reading the Hurley piece in the Wire. Did you guys know he began sessions for an album on ESP but Stollman nixed it because of the mouth trumpet?! unbelievable.
― ian, Tuesday, 4 March 2008 22:30 (sixteen years ago) link
ian have you ever read the Popwatch interview with him from a few years back?
― sleeve, Wednesday, 5 March 2008 00:43 (sixteen years ago) link
Nooooo, I am gonna have to go dig it up!
― ian, Wednesday, 5 March 2008 17:43 (sixteen years ago) link
yeah, i read that wire thing on monday and was amused by the esp thing...and surprised. what got into stollman there? i was also surprised on byrons very straight approach. there was some line about halfway through that suddenly reminded me that it was byron writing...
ill look for the popwatch bit. i was wondering on mon night if there was much else written about him
― bb, Wednesday, 5 March 2008 18:29 (sixteen years ago) link
also still annoyed that everyone forgot to call me when he did the random "show" at d4ddy's (here in brooklyn) a few summers back because everyone assumed someone else had called me...or simply assumed id be around at some point anyway...
― bb, Wednesday, 5 March 2008 18:32 (sixteen years ago) link
it was Popwatch #9, but Perfect Sound Forever re-ran it:
http://www.furious.com/PERFECT/michaelhurley.html
― sleeve, Wednesday, 5 March 2008 20:37 (sixteen years ago) link
Michael Hurley's virtual jukebox:
http://www.snockonews.net/listen.htm
― sleeve, Friday, 14 March 2008 03:04 (sixteen years ago) link
smokey the bear standin therein front of the woods all black & baretears in his eyes.
― ian, Sunday, 26 October 2008 18:57 (fifteen years ago) link
has anyone purchased the OOP LPs on CDR from Hurley's web site? if so, what do you get? just a cd-r, or packaging/artwork/etc.?
― amateurist, Tuesday, 24 February 2009 19:51 (fifteen years ago) link
amtst, which one(s) are you looking for? If they're ones I have, I will tape them for you for free.you can e-mail me if you do not want to discuss it here--dr.carl.sagan at gmail dot com
― ian, Tuesday, 24 February 2009 20:17 (fifteen years ago) link
I remember Michael from my youth--I actually ended up working at the same restaurant as his ex-wife when I was in high school. He lived in Vermont for awhile, back when the Modals were kicking around up there, playing there snockgrass and drinking their hard cider. My mom always talked about how she was down with the scene (they even had a nickname for her). I went to see him play in Brooklyn a few years back, with that band Ida for some reason, and approached him after the show, and mentioned my mom. "Oh, I remember her," he said. Before walking away abruptly. AWKWARD!
― the who cares (okamax), Tuesday, 24 February 2009 20:57 (fifteen years ago) link
yeah he really doesn't seem too interested in talking to fans, which is fine for an old coot like himself. I'm sure he does whatever he damn well pleases at this point.
amateurist, the CDRs are on regular burned discs with his scrawled titles on them, but they do come with one-color mockups of the original covers. my copy of Growlin' Bobo is 4-color, but the ones of Blue Navigator and LoFi/Redbirds are blue and yellow-green respectively. Blue Navigator is burned from vinyl, natch.
― sleeve, Tuesday, 24 February 2009 21:06 (fifteen years ago) link
hmm. i actually already own most of 'em, but i just thought i'd give my money to ol' snocko hisself. however i'm not too keen on paying top dollar for a CD-R in an envelope.
― amateurist, Wednesday, 25 February 2009 23:48 (fifteen years ago) link
when i say "own" most of 'em, i suppose i mean, "i got 'em on mp3s"
oh and i guess the ones i don't have in any form (but want) are:
- Snockgrass- Watertower- Growlin' Bo Bo- Woodbill Brothers- Wolfways- Parsnip Snips
― amateurist, Wednesday, 25 February 2009 23:50 (fifteen years ago) link
of those, i only have watertower but i'll happily tape it for you if you want. or you could send money to the man; but i don't know what his cdr packaging is like. at least, however, if you order from him you can also see what new comics he has for sale!send me an e-mail.
― ian, Thursday, 26 February 2009 00:18 (fifteen years ago) link
I have mistakenly given a bad impression of the CDRs. They come in jewel cases, with a front page (this is the "one-sheet" I referred to, but they also have J-cards for teh back cover, same color. They are pretty good for homemade CDR copies.
Also, you NEED Wolfways, it's my favorite.
And I also mistakenly referred to Growlin' Bobo as a 4-color, I meant Woodbill Bros (which is live with a full band in Vermont).
― sleeve, Thursday, 26 February 2009 01:26 (fifteen years ago) link
isn't snockgrass out on CD officially now? or is that out of print too? i know the price of the LP has been insane the last few times on the bay, but i keep on lookin.
― ian, Thursday, 26 February 2009 18:47 (fifteen years ago) link
and amtst, did you grab his last record, ancestral swamp? i think it's grand.
hmmm, Snockgrass was on CD via Rounder (with two must-have bonus tracks), but I dunno if it's still in print.
― sleeve, Friday, 27 February 2009 01:48 (fifteen years ago) link
fucking bonus tracks.fucking CDs.
― ian, Friday, 27 February 2009 03:27 (fifteen years ago) link
huh?
no, i haven't picked up his newest, but it sounds very good indeed, and i will do so.
― amateurist, Friday, 27 February 2009 03:49 (fifteen years ago) link
MICHAEL HURLEY'S PLAYING AT MY HOUSEMY HOUSE
AND THE NEIGHBORS CAN'TCALL THE POLICE
On Saturday, May 9th, Le Sous-Sol presents the esteemed Michael Hurley,one of America's great musical treasures. Starting with his first releaseon the Folkways label in 1965, Hurley has steadily amassed a large,varied, and impressive body of work on numerous records and CDs. Hisclassic 1970 LP Armchair Boogie was recently reissued by Portland'sMississippi Records. We are excited to be able to bring him to Eugene forthe first time in several years.
Michael will be playing with Portland musician Alexa Wiley. The show isat 7 PM, all ages, suggested donation $10-12.
Le Sous-Sol is located at 375 River Road in Eugene. Parking is availableuntil 11 PM at the lot at the end of Fir Lane next to the VRC footbridge,although biking is encouraged. More info: 541-xxx-xxxx or sx✧✧✧@x✧✧.x✧✧
Hurley on the web:http://www.snockonews.net/http://www.myspace.com/snock07
Alexa Wiley:http://www.myspace.com/awileyp
― sleeve, Thursday, 23 April 2009 00:53 (fifteen years ago) link
Snock set at Holocene was soooo on last night
― bear, bear, bear, Thursday, 30 April 2009 22:34 (fifteen years ago) link
i adore hurley but it's really tied up with a past relationship that still hurts
― Nedlene Grendel as Basenji Holmo (map), Monday, 13 December 2021 20:20 (two years ago) link
Mine is delayed, but excited to get it next week.
― ma dmac's fury road (PBKR), Tuesday, 14 December 2021 14:08 (two years ago) link
Fucking lol at the "weird kkk level racist" shit. Never change ILM!
― JackMyFruit, Tuesday, 14 December 2021 16:27 (two years ago) link
cool username, jackmyfruit
― Nedlene Grendel as Basenji Holmo (map), Tuesday, 14 December 2021 16:31 (two years ago) link
new record is fantastic — there are times when his vocals are gruff (even for Hurley), but by the end, he's crooning beautifully. long live snock!
― tylerw, Tuesday, 14 December 2021 16:37 (two years ago) link
I really love the instrumental that opens side b, "Knocko The Monk" I think?
― chaos goblin line cook (sleeve), Tuesday, 14 December 2021 17:15 (two years ago) link
First listen: distinctive, and sometimes subtle, turns in all these, as written, played: his Wurlitzer piano emphasizing the colors of "Blondes and Redheads," also digging the bass clarinet x half-circle of other voices around his (didn't really notice the wear that much, not after those 100 songs of Peter Stampfel's 20th Century, which I was amazedballed by over on the Holy Modal Rounders thread).
― dow, Tuesday, 14 December 2021 17:49 (two years ago) link
Ian and me in chat:
floyd's headSteve…, Mississippi is reissuing sweet korn on LP, but without two of the best cuts wtfNo Barbara Allen?? Negatory romance??
floyd's headPlease have a word with someone about this
You sentI SAW THAT
You sentan absolute outrage
You sentI blame Hurley himself tbh
You senthe always does shit like that, see also Wolfways
floyd's headInappropriate
floyd's headI’m still gonna fucking buy it tho 😕
You sentlol same
You sentgotta have the unreleased track
― out-of-print LaserDisc edition (sleeve), Thursday, 22 June 2023 15:53 (one year ago) link
https://michaelhurley.bandcamp.com/album/sweetkorn
― out-of-print LaserDisc edition (sleeve), Thursday, 22 June 2023 15:54 (one year ago) link
Seen him 3-4 times already this year in Portland, once opening for Will Oldham in a midsize theater, once in a little cider bar releasing this album ^^, and two more times at a bar he plays regularly. Always enjoying him.
― underwater as a compliment (Eazy), Thursday, 22 June 2023 15:59 (one year ago) link
last time I saw him (2019? pre-pandemic, also saw a pandemic zoom kitchen show) he was incredible, he's at some kind of peak
― out-of-print LaserDisc edition (sleeve), Thursday, 22 June 2023 16:03 (one year ago) link