Good old Joshy Tillman. I first saw him opening and drumming for Damien Jurado four or five years ago. He was playing solo, in cowboy tight pants with radass boots, whispering sad songs. He didn’t much seem to mind that the only people close to the front of the room, paying any sort of attention, were me and a loud, jovially intoxicated, marginally employed looking woman. I shook his hand, bought a disc, and tried to keep up on how he kept busy. He quietly released a couple decent solo albums, drummed with a solid post-rock outfit, Saxon Shore, and recently found another drum job (scab) in the remarkably successful Fleet Foxes.
Tillman’s released work has steadily ramped up the arrangement complexity, ending up here, Vacilando Territory Blues. If you look at the progression you can see the footsteps in the sand, carrying Tillman to the realm of the more fully realized, thoughtful, mature songwriter. The sound isn’t specifically derivative of the FF vibe, but it does sound like something someone in Fleet Foxes would do. A bit like, but less far less so, how all of The Strokes solo stuff sounds Strokes-y.
Check out Steel On Steel, a rocking little number.
Comments 4
I’ve loved this song for about a year, and never seen it acknowledged anywhere until now. Tillman has my full endorsement — he’s not running for office, to the best of my knowledge, but he’s got it anyway.
Posted 06 Mar 2009 at 1:06 am ¶…and, Andy, how all the FF dudes look, well, Foxey
Posted 06 Mar 2009 at 1:49 pm ¶hehehe…foot prints in the sand. nice.
Posted 10 Mar 2009 at 12:45 am ¶Thank you for getting that.
Posted 10 Mar 2009 at 9:18 pm ¶Post a Comment