Posted: 08/09
Artist: Hiss Golden Messenger
Title: 'Bad Debt' EP
Release Date: 15 November 2010
Label: blackmaps
Formats: CD & Digital
Cat Number: BM005
Website: www.blackmaps.org
http://hissgoldenmessenger.blogspot.com
Hiss Golden Messenger is the current recording name of MC Taylor, also known as Jai 'Slim' Diamond, a Californian songwriter whose work is spun from the very brightest threads of the Cosmic American Songbook. Like lost classics pulled through the slipstream and captured for a contemporary audience, Taylor's deeply lyrical meditations tell of sin, sacrifice and redemption, timeless themes drawn into songs performed with a compelling emotional resonance. Oh, and a voice that could charm the birds out of the trees.
Elements of country blues, folk and gospel all shine through a sound described by David Bowie as "Mystical country, an eerie yellowing photograph". Two EPs are planned for release over the coming months, the first being 'Bad Debt' in November followed by 'From Country Hai East Cotton' next February. The full debut album is planned for summer 2011.
The first EP features seven solo voice and guitar pieces that hit with a gnarled beauty, each recorded in one take to single track tape over the course of a freezing North Carolina winter. 'Bad Debt' puts the focus firmly on Taylor's peerless songwriting, stark and focused with echoes of John Martyn, Tim Hardin and Townes Van Zandt. It is also a spiritual set of songs, centred around Taylor's own questions about God and belief.
A man with an eloquent turn of phrase, it might be better to let him explain himself;
"Bad Debt is about my God: That is, whether I have one, and whether there is a place for me in this world. It’s also about donkeys, snakes, betrayal, redemption, scarecrows, wandering and love, though anyone that listens to the words may wonder whether I’ve gone off the deep end for the Lord. But all the songs are not biography, only some parts of some of them."
"And anyways: In 1973, Billy Joe Shaver wrote a song called “Jesus Christ, What a Man.” Billy Joe loves his God. He was also recently acquitted for attempted murder and, according to legend, has spent a goodly portion of his musical life in a haze of dope and liquor. So see, he can have both. This is an American tradition. I don’t go to church and I am not saved. I can party too. I can do a saxophone now and again, bang the proverbial drum, though I’m not going to shoot anybody no way. You may run into your God face-to-face sometime soon. Or you may realise that you are alone in this world, and the next, and adjust accordingly."
Seeking to liberate himself from the confines of formal band dynamics and more fully engage his broad musical palette, MC Taylor conceived Hiss Golden Messenger in San Francisco in the summer of 2006. Prior to HGM, Taylor was the front man for Court & Spark, a celebrated San Francisco psychedelic country outfit that released a series of seminal albums which generated widespread critical acclaim and a devoted following. During this time, Taylor regularly shared stages with the likes of Wilco, Neko Case, M. Ward, Six Organs Of Admittance, Magnolia Electric Co and many others.
Not just a talented songwriter, Taylor also dabbles in college lecturing and field recordings, no less. Specialising in teaching Folklore, he deals mainly in the realm of what he calls 'expressive vernacular culture'. And as if that wasn't enough, Taylor is also editing a music curriculum for Quincy Jones. A fascinating character with a lot of interesting things to say, he writes a highly recommended blog called The Old Straight Track which features some of Taylor's stunning photographs as well as his musings on life, spirituality and folklore; http://hissgoldenmessenger.blogspot.com
Artist: Hiss Golden Messenger
Title: 'Bad Debt' EP
Release Date: 15 November 2010
Label: blackmaps
Formats: CD & Digital
Cat Number: BM005
Website: www.blackmaps.org
http://hissgoldenmessenger.blogspot.com
Hiss Golden Messenger is the current recording name of MC Taylor, also known as Jai 'Slim' Diamond, a Californian songwriter whose work is spun from the very brightest threads of the Cosmic American Songbook. Like lost classics pulled through the slipstream and captured for a contemporary audience, Taylor's deeply lyrical meditations tell of sin, sacrifice and redemption, timeless themes drawn into songs performed with a compelling emotional resonance. Oh, and a voice that could charm the birds out of the trees.
Elements of country blues, folk and gospel all shine through a sound described by David Bowie as "Mystical country, an eerie yellowing photograph". Two EPs are planned for release over the coming months, the first being 'Bad Debt' in November followed by 'From Country Hai East Cotton' next February. The full debut album is planned for summer 2011.
The first EP features seven solo voice and guitar pieces that hit with a gnarled beauty, each recorded in one take to single track tape over the course of a freezing North Carolina winter. 'Bad Debt' puts the focus firmly on Taylor's peerless songwriting, stark and focused with echoes of John Martyn, Tim Hardin and Townes Van Zandt. It is also a spiritual set of songs, centred around Taylor's own questions about God and belief.
A man with an eloquent turn of phrase, it might be better to let him explain himself;
"Bad Debt is about my God: That is, whether I have one, and whether there is a place for me in this world. It’s also about donkeys, snakes, betrayal, redemption, scarecrows, wandering and love, though anyone that listens to the words may wonder whether I’ve gone off the deep end for the Lord. But all the songs are not biography, only some parts of some of them."
"And anyways: In 1973, Billy Joe Shaver wrote a song called “Jesus Christ, What a Man.” Billy Joe loves his God. He was also recently acquitted for attempted murder and, according to legend, has spent a goodly portion of his musical life in a haze of dope and liquor. So see, he can have both. This is an American tradition. I don’t go to church and I am not saved. I can party too. I can do a saxophone now and again, bang the proverbial drum, though I’m not going to shoot anybody no way. You may run into your God face-to-face sometime soon. Or you may realise that you are alone in this world, and the next, and adjust accordingly."
Seeking to liberate himself from the confines of formal band dynamics and more fully engage his broad musical palette, MC Taylor conceived Hiss Golden Messenger in San Francisco in the summer of 2006. Prior to HGM, Taylor was the front man for Court & Spark, a celebrated San Francisco psychedelic country outfit that released a series of seminal albums which generated widespread critical acclaim and a devoted following. During this time, Taylor regularly shared stages with the likes of Wilco, Neko Case, M. Ward, Six Organs Of Admittance, Magnolia Electric Co and many others.
Not just a talented songwriter, Taylor also dabbles in college lecturing and field recordings, no less. Specialising in teaching Folklore, he deals mainly in the realm of what he calls 'expressive vernacular culture'. And as if that wasn't enough, Taylor is also editing a music curriculum for Quincy Jones. A fascinating character with a lot of interesting things to say, he writes a highly recommended blog called The Old Straight Track which features some of Taylor's stunning photographs as well as his musings on life, spirituality and folklore; http://hissgoldenmessenger.blogspot.com
