Quilt list Top Ten things of 2013
Quilt at Mexican Summer Five (more by PSquared)
Boston’s Quilt make folky psychedelia recalling the Summer of Love sounds of the Haight-Ashbury scene. They released their self-titled debut LP on Mexican Summer back in 2011, and its followup, Held In Splendor (which we’ve already heard a few songs from), comes out January 28 via the same label. The band’s been known for some cool, jammy live shows too, and you’ll be able to see those shows on their previously announced 2014 tour which hits NYC on February 28 at Rough Trade (tickets).
Meanwhile, Quilt singer/guitarist Shane Butler has given us a list of his top 10 things of 2013. None of them are albums, but one is in reference to some cartoons he and other bands drew at Woodsist Fest in Big Sur, one of which is pictured below. Check out the whole list below…
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Quilt – Top 10 of 2013
In no particular order – here are some things I remember well from the year
1.) Watching Weyes Blood‘s set at the Mexican Summer 5 Year Festival — I have been watching Natalie perform for a few years now and this performance really dug the new depths; smoked sunlight, white garments, and the eternal choir from a day lit tape echo.
2.) Drawing cartoons with the rest of Quilt, Tim Cohen, Alex Bleeker, and Michael Hurley in Big Sur after the last night of the Woodsist Fest – favorite Ronald award goes to Hurley, down in the right corner. (drawing below)
3.) Watching Mike Bruno & The Black Magic Family Band play at the West Kensington Ministry in Philadelphia — Bruno has been a favorite of my since I saw him play a few years ago in a basement in South Philly. This time it was in the basement of a beautiful church & he had a 7 piece band accompanying him laying down washes of medicinal ear shine from a ricochet assortment of electronic and acoustic gadgets. It was truly something else.
4.) Hearing mixes from DJ Sasha Grishin for the first time in the basement of Oldich Dress & Drink in Moscow.
5.) Revisiting the song ‘Sometimes’ by My Bloody Valentine. Maybe it was all the reborn MBV hype, or maybe it was just hearing it in a new way again. Anyway there were some beautiful nights lying down, and not lying down, listening to that song this year.
6.) Seeing new art by Travess Smalley. I am a huge fan of this dudes work/
7.) Driving up from LA to Davis, California with my brother and sister listening to The Moon & Antarctica on repeat.
8.) Finding out there are archives of MS Subbulakshmi’s’ Bhajans on YouTube.
9.) Spending more time in Western Massachussetts.
10.) There was a night when I met some locals from Big Sur who were talking about going to the baths at Esalen Institute: it was about midnight and I hopped in the car with them. When we got there the place was closed but one of the guys knew how to get to baths through a fence; we snuck around and laid in the mineral baths overlooking the darkened-blue pacific as the security guards shined flashlights on us and didn’t notice our naked flesh. Afterwards we left and the leader of the pack proceeded to ask, “Would you like to see the Walruses?”; I said, ‘Okay.” and he took us to a cliff that overlooked about 100 screaming mammals; their chant was equivalent to a Hildegaard Von Bingen epic. After our ears were nourished he then asked ‘Would you like some water?’, I said, ‘Okay.’ and he proceeded to drive us to a rock on the side of the road that had fresh spring water pouring out of it. I drank some water, replenishing what was missing after the baths, and then he drove me back to the campground I was staying at. That was a bizarre evening.
