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-->Slightly Confusing to A Stranger - Album Review
-->SF Bay Guardian - Concert Review
-->SF Bay Guardian - Feature Article
-->The Perm and The Skullet - Album Review
-->Cool Hunting - Album Review
-->Dusted Magazine- Feature "Listed" (new!)

S.C.T.A.S.

Freeze-Die-Come to Life Review
April, 2006

THE WOODEN STOOL upon which I sat had become moistened topsoil, my frail body sunk up to the waist. My eyelids had grown shut as my eyes began to fossilize. Ivy ran rampant through my beard. I vaguely remember the phone ringing and my supervisor calling my name - but these events were largely dishonored given the fact that I had been exposed to Freeze - Die - Come To Life.

The physical state of time and deadlines had become but factors to those unaware.
"it gets so cold with these winds across my heart"

It was Devendra that last spoke of taking his teeth out and showing them "a real good time / a good time" - well the final dance ballroom sway of "Angel of Light" makes me want to do the same. Has there ever, in recent memory, been a song - and album - so incredibly rich in harmony, beauty and subtlety? Possibly Mat Sweet's latest Boduf Songs album.. . Tony Dekker's two previous works.. . S&G's Parsley, Sage, Rosemary And Thyme (specifically hear "First Rain" & "Goodnight").

I cautiously approached the initial listening of Freeze - Die - Come to Life with that small scar on my mind aware that within these 10 songs could possibly be that glitch, that tainted moment if you will, that could keep an album from greatness. Lovingly, that moment never dared to peek above sterile ground. Perfectly placed even was that shining moment of trumpet(s) in the distance on "Gray Day".

Michael Talbott - I owe you and your team of Wolfkings (members of the Court & Spark, Cass McCombs, Kelley Stoltz) something larger than the sum of all I own in response to this album you have offered me. Might I offer a small legion of polite listeners? From the same farm that brought us papercuts - Michael Talbott is certainly in good company.

Oh, please do not apologize - these frigid tears have begged to stream for years.

 

SF Bay Guardian

Michael Talbott and the Wolfkings
Cafe du Nord, Oct. 28

MICHAEL TALBOTT TRICKED me. I'd been listening to the MP3s on his site, www.michaeltalbott.com, all week and wondering how he and his band, the Wolfkings, were going to perform their painstakingly quiet songs in front of a boisterous Friday-night audience eager to get their Halloween on. Perhaps sensing that he had roughly two and a half minutes to wow before people started relating that day's office gossip to one another, he got down to business.

Talbott and the Wolfkings began with "Winter Streets," a meditation on city life that drew listeners in with its lyrics and held them with a deceptively simple, repetitive chorus of "la-di-da"s straight out of an eastern European folk song. Armed with nothing but a mic stand and some great melodies, Talbott impressed immediately with a folk-tinged tenor that provided a perfect counterpoint to the cosmopolitan lyrics of his song. His quiet yet unfaltering delivery summoned bits of Nick Cave and Richard Thompson without coming off as overly studied.

Not that there hasn't been plenty of time put in on the rehearsal tip: The Wolfkings have been around in one form or another for the better part of two years now. Created as a backing band for recording Talbott's own songs, they are a veritable supergroup of local talent that features guitarists M.C. Taylor and Scott Hirsch and drummer James Kim of the Court and Spark. Round it out with Paul K. from Antenna Farm Records on bass and Oranger and Paula Frazer band veteran Patrick Main on keyboards, and you've got almost too much street cred for one stage.

Talbott himself is, of course, a fixture on the San Francisco scene: He was in Mover, the Calculators, and Winter Flowers before he turned his attention to this solo project. Turns out Taylor and Hirsch are also producing Talbott's upcoming debut, Freeze-Die-Come to Life (Antenna Farm), in their own studio, giving them an even deeper insight into his songs. All of this has apparently freed Talbott to concentrate on tweaking his live sound, resulting in an almost total overhaul of the songs as they appear on his album.

Take "Goodnight," a sweet, bucolic lullaby. While there were definitely a few sticky moments before the song gained momentum, it was stripped of its sentimentality in the live version and, save for its melodic theme (played flawlessly by Hirsch and Main throughout), became almost country rock. The uptempo change certainly hinted at the Court and Spark's work. Freed from the confines of their trademark sound and shows, and the expectations that accompany both, Taylor, Hirsch, and Kim were permitted to expand into Arab Strap-like expositions of guitar-driven noise. It was during those moments that everyone in the band seemed to be enjoying themselves the most.

Not all the songs strayed far from their origins. "Angel of Light" was a minstrel's waltz that kept its composure and held a potentially chatty audience at bay with just enough twang to keep things moving forward. While there could have been a little bit more stage banter to engage the crowd between songs, Talbott was unapologetic. "We don't know any jokes," he said without a trace of irony, as Taylor tuned a guitar.

The most surprising moment of all was definitely " Gray Day," a song that I remembered as a sigh-filled contemplation that would make even Morrissey despair. It took a moment to recognize the number in its shiny new pop jacket. With its chorus newly emphasized, the song revealed an anthemic, sing-along quality that came off as the stuff of a movie soundtrack you can't shake from your subconscious. Nuances aside, the real tribute to Talbott's music was an audience that stayed put for his entire set instead of wandering off for shots of Jäger at the first sign of folk.

Michael Talbott and the Wolfkings play music that approaches you like a stranger you can't stop looking at, aloof yet vaguely familiar just the same. If you've got to debut an album that won't be out till 2006, you could do worse than perform with an all-star cast. If you've got an album full of moody, autumnal reveries, you could do a lot worse than to redesign them as commanding tempests-in-teacups onstage. (Kate Izquierdo)

 

SF Bay Guardian

Come in from the cold
Local songsters Michael Talbott and the Wolfkings howl slowly, sweetly, April 19, 2006

These days, folks make records faster than nervous singer-songwriters forget the words to their own tunes.

Jenny Lewis forged the delectable, bite-size Rabbit Fur Coat in the time between hairdos — I mean, between Rilo Kiley's increasing obligations — finishing lyrics on the plane. Will Oldham churns out projects faster than I can spot them. And that's all well and good. These people have their voices and they're sticking with them. But, luckily, San Francisco's Michael Talbott and the Wolfkings took their sweet time constructing Freeze–Die–Come to Life (Antenna Farm), a panoramic realization of earthy songs that have been floating around in the gentle, gifted Talbott's head for years.

The resulting depth is fantastic. Underneath sonic icebergs freezing and melting and taking form again, there are oceans upon oceans, dark worlds within illuminate worlds. The many life-forms on this record swirl around us like the icy but essential winds in the opener, "Winter Streets."

"I'd been kicking these songs around for a while," Talbott says, speaking in a Mission District café on a break from his work in film restoration. The record would probably not have manifested but for the encouragement of Court and Spark's M.C. Taylor and Scott Hirsch, good friends of Talbott's. They'd heard his tunes over the years and believed in his vision. "They offered to be my backing band, and we started playing. Then they offered to make a record for me," he says with gratitude.

Taylor and Hirsch are the producers and a definitive part of the extensive backup band. "We didn't have any financial constraints. I had as much time as they were willing to put in," Talbott acknowledges. They tweaked different parts over time, recording much of the album at Alabama Street Station, in San Francisco, throughout a one-year period. Oakland's Antenna Farm Records is becoming a major indie folk club for the young and clear. It makes an excellent, publike home for this project.

There is certainly a lack of constraint here, recalling the egoless, mystic lake and hilltop murder ballads passed from singer to singer in the British folk tradition. None of the stories feel forced. Like many old tales, Freeze–Die–Come to Life flirts with darkness, caresses it, and then looks it considerately in the face. The record is modern in its focus on the fate of our hearts in often chilling, contemporary urban life, but ancient and, dare I say, traditional in its spaciousness. Keep it on for a day or two, and you're bound to think you just saw wispy wolves scurrying around the edges of Dolores Park.

The wolfking was a mythical creature said to roam the hills of Southern California, transforming painful realities into glowing amber stones, which it then spit onto the hillside. Hard work, but easy and effective when these particular Wolfkings pace it so well. In the making of the album, one song, "The Passenger," naturally split into two, which, Talbott says, act as interludes. In "Passenger II," which comes first and is enlivened by unexpected chordal resolutions, Talbott sounds like a more grounded Leonard Cohen: "I will watch you start a revolution / But I will not take a side ... I am the passenger / Leaving something behind." Tender harmonies abound throughout the disc, whether painting a picture of angelic abduction, on "Angel of Light," or brewing a potent cup of twilight tea, on "Goodnight." I shudder with delight every time "Angel of Light" reaches the trembling vocal climax: "Will you regret / Each pirouette / That you've turned?"

"The record is hushed and acoustic," Talbott confesses when I ask about the upcoming record-release show. "It's good to listen to by yourself. But that doesn't always translate when you play bars." Gathering from the talented local flock that plays on the album, Talbott formed an electric six-piece. The live shows are "louder and more aggressive," he declares, adding that no one in the audience will "get bored." And neither will the musicians, the tricksters, or the wolf-eyed shape-shifters, because each song has been specially reworked to thrive in the live environment.

In a nation where every viewpoint is clearly marked and where Mark Twain's early take on the budding tourist industry, Innocents Abroad, is quickly losing its humor because we're all like that these days, it's refreshing to see Talbott and his brethren inhabiting the musical landscape so fully, not content to be tourists. It's like, well, freezing, dying, and, while doing nothing but listening, coming to life.

 

The Perm and the Skullet

Freeze-Die-Come to Life Review
April 19, 2006

Being thrown into the Freak Folk genre for some reason, man I hate "genres", and sounding more like qualities of Beck's Sea Change, or at least what I've heard of the album so far, comes the debut album, Freeze-Die-Come To Life from Michael Talbott and The Wolfkings.

I've been listening to a few tracks from the release and it has been the perfect start to the day. Talbott offers up haunting and earnest vocals, anthems of sincerity if you will, and even based on the limited tracks I've heard, this release is most definitely being added to my list of top albums of 2006. Freeze-Die-Come To Life will be released on April 25, 2006, so make sure to head back to AFR next week. Oh, and like always, I have to mention what a great album cover.

Check out their site on Antenna Farm Records, and for that matter just check out AFR in general. First Papercuts I stumble upon and after some exploring of the others on AFR, man what a great label. More to come from them I'm sure.

 

Cool Hunting

Freeze-Die-Come to Life Review
April 27, 2006

San Francisco-based Michael Talbott and the Wolfkings's exceptional debut, "Freeze-Die-Come To Life," adeptly moves from pastoral melodies and harmonies to more intricate chamber-style orchestrations—all in the course of an album recorded by Wolfking members and friends of Talbott's, Scott Hirsch and MC Taylor of the Court and Spark. The result of a year in the studio, the finely-wrought instrumentation has a late-Beatles feel, incorporating an eclectic range of sounds, including cello, pump organ, banjo, harmonium, mellotron, pennywhistle, and pedal steel played by the 13-person group. Their record release party happens this Thursday, 27 April 2006 at Mighty in San Francisco. See the flyer and info after the jump.

Listen on their Myspace page and order from Amazon.

Michael Talbott and the Wolfkings CD release party
With Last of the Blacksmiths, Citay, Broker/Dealer, Jeffrodisiac,
and artwork by Isota Records' Nathaniel Russell

 

Dusted Magazine

Feature: Listed
Michael Talbott

While I'm not sold on the 'Brit Folk' unfluences claimed by others, there's certainly a mellow, proper charm to be found on his debut record, Freeze-Die-Come to Life (Antenna Farm). Shades of Beck trickle and whoosh (and sometimes twang) over sometimes sparse, sometimes lush instrumentation provided by members of like-mindeds The Court and Spark to create a slightly affected, slightly more memorable record of love and longing. His record release show was last night, so charge up your flux capacitors and check it out!

1. Buenos Aires, Argentina
The greatest city I’ve ever been to. I was lucky enough to spend a good amount of time there, and when I had to head home, I really didn’t want to leave. I could easily spend the rest of my days side-by-side with the Porteños, wandering the cobbled streets of Palermo Viejo and relaxing in the Plaza Cortazar sipping Fernet Branca or sharing a liter of Isenbeck, browsing the seemingly endless number of bookstores on Santa Fe and Corrientes, listening to vintage León Gieco LPs and enjoying an afternoon matte, feasting on asado, empanadas and a late-night delivery from the local heladeria.

2. Juana Molina
While the Argentineans have countless monuments to Borges, Cortazar and Gardel they have yet to uniformly recognize the brilliance of their greatest living artist. Go see her live: if you’re not impressed by her almost hypnotic layering of acoustic guitar loops, you’ll love her between-song comedy. She really knows how to work with the crowd, which is something I could use some pointers on.

3.. Tindersticks – Simple Pleasure
Hands down the best record I’ve ever heard. I’ve been listening to this at least once a week for quite a few years.

4. Luke Top – Unloading The Sun
Just go ahead and buy this album right now. Luke’s the best songwriter I know, possessed of a singular style that recalls hints of Gilberto Gil, Pink Floyd and Buffalo Springfield, yet remains truly unique. He’s got some big things on the horizon and in a year from now I’m sure his hand-screened self-released debut will be fetching ridiculous prices on Ebay.

5. Santiago Alvarez – He Who Hits First Hits Twice
Say what you will about the Cuban Revolution, but one of its undeniable achievements was the creation of a spectacular national cinema, with Santiago Alvarez as its key figure. Over his 40-year career he made nearly 700 films, almost all documentaries dealing with social and political crisis in the Americas and Asia. His style is inventive, yet free of pretention, as he seems totally emotionally committed to his point of view. His importance as a non-fiction filmmaker rivals Chris Marker’s and this new DVD set marks the first time his films have been readily available in the U.S.

6. Citay
The best new band in San Francisco. I got turned on to them after countless people started telling me I should set up a show with them and now I can’t stop listening to their CD. It’s Ezra Feinberg (from Piano Magic) and Tim Green (from The Fucking Champs/Nation Of Ulysses) and live they perform as part of an 8-piece band. I hate to fall into the trap of overly simple comparisons, but if you like the more acoustic tracks on Led Zeppelin’s albums, you’ll love this.

7. The Court and Spark – Hearts
My best friends and the best musicians I know. Everything I’ve learned about recording, performing and the general business of being a musician, I’ve learned from them. Throw out everything you think you might know about them and the type of music you think they might play and give this record your open mind.

8. Winter Flowers
I’m sure I’m a little biased since I used to play with them, but there will always be a special place in my heart for the Winter Flowers. Gavin’s got a voice that soars to the heavens, Christof can play circles around anybody and they’re genuinely unafraid to fly their freak flags high, singing songs about gypsy jalopies and macramé.

9. The Mission District
San Francisco’s Mission district is where I live and work, and it’s a pretty great place to do so, where almost everything I want is a quick walk from my front door: coffee at Philz, breakfast at Boogaloos, pastries at Tartine, Aquarius Records, clothes at Painted Bird, Adobe Books, buying little bones at Paxton Gate, the Roxie Cinema, fish and chips at The Liberties, running in to all your friends in Dolores Park, margaritas at Puerto Alegre, Club Neon and the Makeout Room, bringing your own beer into Pakwan, imported Argentine delicacies at Lucca Ravioli Co.

10. Melville
I am a devotee of both the author and the French filmmaker who adopted his moniker, but the Melville I’m talking about is my tail-less black cat. Last year I had to move out of my apartment suddenly and in the midst of my packing, my cat went out and never came back. It was pouring rain and I feared the worst. I plastered signs all over the neighborhood and rang every doorbell. I checked every animal shelter. There was no sign of him and eventually I got a new apartment and, well, moved on. Eight months later and out of the blue I got him back. He was skinny as hell and a little worse for wear, but we’re both happy again.