J-Shirt

AITL Boxcar now available. Also, new site

Louis — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 20:36:09 +0000

An Invitation to Love’s first release is an EP of Twin-Peaks-themed neo-art-grunge, and it’s available here now to buy as a full-color-Digipak-enclosed CDR. It’s been available in mp3 form on Bandcamp for a while now, for free or “name your own price,” but now it’s corporeal and in the world as something to own (and stuff stockings with? Hmmm????). Note that its “official” release date is 1/10/2012, for what its worth.

Also, this j-shirt site is now very different. I’m still adding features and whatnot, but this is more or less what it’s going to look like now.

An Invitation to Love – Boxcar

Louis — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 08:19:51 +0000

An Invitation to Love are a band from Seattle, Washington, who make melodic hard rock that has been described as “Slinty.” Inspired by 90′s era Northwest bands and the TV show Twin Peaks, they’ve made a 5-song EP called Boxcar.

“An Invitation to Love is the grunge band fronted by Ball of Wax regular… Louis O’Callaghan. Louis has had many songs on Ball of Wax over the years, whether as his longtime solo project The Graze, its new moniker, Sun Tunnels, or with An Invitation to Love. I love Louis’s voice and his songwriting, and I absolutely adore the noises he wrenches out of an overdriven electric guitar, which he doesn’t do nearly enough. I also think Sam Jansons and Brian Massey are just about the perfect rock rhythm section. So of course I love this EP, and if you love loud guitars and Twin Peaks, you will too. I do hope they won’t make us wait too long for a full-length.”
- Levi Fuller, Ball of Wax

Ball of Wax Volume 24

Louis — Thu, 12 May 2011 04:00:36 +0000

Air Museum ”Helium Balloon”
Casey Alexander ”The Best Thing You Can Give”
Bundy “Col. Cpt. Boss Man”
Sip’s Odyssey ”Terrible”
TheM all ”American Highway”
Brad DerManouelian “The Dark”
Peter Vukmirovic Stevensand FM3 “Nine Pieces For Solo Piano And Buddha Machine – Loop Five”
Colin J Nelson ”Hot spring”
FUNSHIP ”FUNSHIP”
Virgin of the Birds ”They Wake”
Amateur Radio Operator ”Waiting on the Tide”
Your Heart Breaks ”Instrumental 1″
Sun Tunnels ”Teenager”
Galapaghost ”The Demise of Me”
The Washover Fans ”Soldier”
Brian Erickson ”What a Melody”
Sunday Evening Whiskey Club ”Everything Is True”
Robert Deeble ”Heart Like Feathers”
City Light ”Down the Central Coast
The Magic of Multiples ”Womb to Womb”
Molly Rose “Today Is a New Day”

Features the first released track from Sun Tunnels, and of course tons of other stuff.

Ball of Wax Volume 22

Louis — Mon, 01 Nov 2010 19:00:14 +0000

Stenobot ”Fallen Leaves”
City Light ”Here Tonight”
Blouse (u.s.a.) ”Girl B”
Particle Gods ”Knights through the Corridor”
The Scrams ”B.H.J.”
Shiv Hurrah ”Oh Oh Oh”
Ghosts I’ve Met ”Out with the Embers”
Prairie Empire ”To Be Certain”
The Graze - “Trip Song”
Richard Wilson ”On a Horse of Gold”
Moore + Sons ”Silent Vows”
Levi Fuller ”They Like You”
Virgin of the Birds ”Sisters at the Sounds of Dawn (Morning Version)”
Michele Khazak ”Atheists Don’t Believe in God, God Doesn’t Believe in Atheists, I Don’t Believe in Either-What Does That Make Me?”
Arthur C. Lee with Whit Walker “View from a Tree”

Features the last recorded output of the Graze. For now at least.

the Graze – Give/Sell out now

Louis — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 20:00:50 +0000

After a long hiatus the graze returns with a second album of melodic indie rock, and this time it’s digital. Well the other one was digital, strictly speaking, but since “digital” now means “download” you do what the name implies and get it off the galactic interweb and put it on your hard drive, leaving no shiny plastic things to take up space in your hall closet. Did I mention it’s also free? It’s true, it’s free when you sign the graze’s mailing list, which you can do on it’s/his website. Of course if you wanted to pay for it you can do that too at various outlets like Amazon.com, eMusic, iTunes, and more.

But what about the music? It picks up where Iowa Anvil left off, with lo-fi-slash-folk-slash-neutral-milk-influenced indie pop songs, adding a depth of arrangement and production over the first album, and then the beginnings of experimentation. Download it and hear for yourself.

The Graze – Give/Sell

Louis — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 20:00:14 +0000

Second album from one-man band the Graze.

“Give/Sell is an instantly-likeable collection of lo-fi folk songs — something that’s furthered by O’Callaghan’s vocal kinship with the likes of Jeff Mangum, Ryan Adams and John Vanderslice.”
- Sara Brickner, Seattle Weekly

“…a solid set of lo-fi indie/folk tunes that at times recall Elliot Smith’s brooding and Neutral Milk Hotel’s songwriting knack.”
- Nico Janssen, KEXP 90.3 FM Seattle

Ball of Wax Volume 19

Louis — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 20:00:40 +0000

Gene Pool & Chris Poage “Ten Thousand Books”
Househeld Objects ”The Never Wills and the Also Rans”
Can the Boy Tell Time? ”Forward”
Tito Ramsey ”Stay in Line”
Ora Cogan ”Gather”
Led To Sea ”Dark Like Night”
Levi Fuller ”Sick Day”
Vinca Minor ”Here”
This Blinding Light “Oh My Lord”
An Invitation to Love ”Donna (To James)”
Hail Citizen ”No Intentions”
B. Arson “Afraid of Flying”
Norman Baker ”Stork & Bow”
Slow Skate ”One to Remember”
Mojo Spliff ”My Heart Needs to Love”
The Magic of Multiples ”Alex in 2K7″
The Way It Is ”Triple Word Score”
The Foghorns ”More than Jesus”

Ball of Wax Volume 18

Louis — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 20:00:18 +0000

Wesafari – Mako Moon
The Pica Beats – Nettles
Poland – Living with Victoria
John Totten – 44 Women
Ken Cormier – Everybody Kind
Shenandoah Davis – Use Your Hands
Oldman Winter – Bump in the Night
The Way It Is – Sing Seven Up
Steven Kattenbraker – How Much
Slow Skate – Orange Curtain
Webelos – Black Funnel Cloud Tail
Dandelion Gold – Version Volcano
City Light – Born to Die
m. Lord – S.I.L.
L.A.P.D.ants – Your Body Is Not Your Friend
Ben + Joey – Snuggle Bear
What What Now – Bundle of Dynamite (Up Your Ass)
My Printer Broke, – Time Is When It Tells Time
Salo + Will – Kill All Your Friends
False Walls – Throwing Stars
Ravenna Woods – Intermission
Emory Liu – Misfortune Cookie
Virgin of the Birds – In Praise of Marrying Widows
Mostly Dimes – We Won’t Give Up So Easily
Hot Or Huguenot? – If You Deny Me
Levi Fuller – So Great
Seth Howard – Do/Buy
Another Bedroom Baby – Long Face
Thundercats, Ho! – Skeletons
I, Cordyceps – Deny the Dinosaur
Open Choir Fire – Clara
Ainara LeGardon – The Morning of the Earthquake
Bucks T-4 – Headin’ to the Mountains
The Glass Notes – Eve
The Bawds of Euphony – Madrid
Prkr – Valentine
Glow Crow – Prize Prize
Starfarsafari – Take Me Home
Splinters – Prophelaxing
Brian Baillie – An Abandoned Chess Game
Mark Schlipper – Sunset Comes
Chocolate Shoes – Monah Sea
Alicia Amiri – Solidaire/Solitaire
Unbunny – Ex-Girlfriend’s Car
Tonjia Atomic – Holding

Emory from Beep Repaired imagined a Ball of Wax compilation filled with songs no longer than 2 minutes. Many artists joined in and now here it is.

Mississippi Painful – No Recession

Louis — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 19:00:50 +0000

Members of Seattle bands Open Choir Fire, An Invitation to Love, and Rosyvelt sometimes make folk music, and when they do it’s called Mississippi Painful. One Sunday in May they played ten songs at bass player Brian’s house, and recorded it live. No overdubs allowed! Except two, but they’re not saying what they were. Then they had a cookout.

No Recession is presented in CDR format inside screenprinted cardboard cases. You can buy your copy here for cheap, or get mp3s for free via the Bandcamp link above.

Brent Amaker and the Rodeo at CMJ

Louis — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 19:00:00 +0000

Brent Amaker and the Rodeo (AKA B.A.R.) are on tour across the United States right now, on their way to their CMJ showcase in New York. Check out the calendar and go see them in your own town.

2008 has already been a big year for the Rodeo. They spent three weeks this Spring touring Europe, they’re drawing large crowds at such renowned venues as the Tractor Tavern, their new album is coming out November 4 on Gravewax records, and the song “You Call Me the Devil” from the first (self-titled) B.A.R. album will be featured on the Showtime TV series Californication on November 2.

Of course their first album is available here. You should get it.