Friday Cover Up - Holy Sons On The Beach

Emil Amos is a man of many talents, and has spread them through a gamut of incredible bands - Grails, Om, Lilacs & Champagne... Yet Amos pours his heart out into Holy Sons, a solo project that has always pushed towards the emotional depths that the likes of Jim James, Mark Kozelek or Jason Molina regularly mined. He has an album, The Fact Facer, coming out through Thrill Jockey Records, and in preparation Amos has been releasing bonus material in the lead-up and one of the tracks is one of my favourite songs ever made - a cover of Neil Young's 'On The Beach'. But it isn't that simple - because Amos has squished it into another cover, one that also kills it - Black Flag's 'Nervous Breakdown'! I can't even imagine the conception of the idea - but I'm glad the mad alchemy exists.


And for a special bonus, here is another song, 'More Therapy'... You can pre-order The Fact Facer here.

Ash Black Bufflo Finds The Grails

Being a fan of Grails (a fact that can be quite divisive amongst certain friends of mine), it was a matter of course that I would be interested to hear what Ash Black Bufflo had to offer. The solo project of Jay Clarke (of Grails, Dolorean, and Holy Sons fame), Ash Black Bufflo is soemthign of a narrative driven sound, producing instrumental music that is as much a story as it is an aural tapestry. The debut album, Andasol, means "a walk in the sun" in Spanish, and in many ways it epitomises the warmer nature of these tracks to some of Clarke's other sonic outpourings. Clarke also composed the score to the award-winning documentary, Marwencol, a fact which now has me very interested to find out more about it. But back to Andasol - this is an album that is easy to fall into, and get lost in, yet it might take a few listens for some people to get to the stage where they can unlock it for the treasures within. That isnt me trying to placate those friends of mine certain to hate it due to its Grails attachments (you both know who you are), its me saying that this is an involved listen that rewards with continual layers of entrancement and amazement. Except for you, A-Rey - you'll love it from the get go. Thats how we brothers roll.

In-house references aside, Ash Black Bufflo is one artist that is well worth the investment.

Ash Black Bufflo - Misery Is The Pilgrim's Pasture