LISTEN: M Iafrate - Happy Xmas, X Is Here

Happy Holidays. Enjoy this seasonally appropriate record from M Iafrate. See you in 2012.

LISTEN: 63 Eyes - Look in For Mothmen

Here is material from an incredible 1980s underground rock band from Parkersburg. 63 Eyes featured now prominent West Virginia musician Todd Burge on vocals and bass along with Mark Poole (guitar) and Wes Poole (drums). Influential on the likes a number of area bands to follow in the years after, 63 Eyes could be compared to Husker Dü, Meat Puppets of Flipper. One fan commented: "I swear I hear 'Exit the Pig' when I [listen to] Foo Fighters 'This Is a Call.' Same chords, same guitar sound, same attitude... but 7 years after [63 Eyes]." Considering this album was recorded in 1987, the terrific songwriting paired with quality production could fool any listener into believing this record is contemporary. Look in For Mothmen is now available for download for $10, and upon streaming it for free, is well worth it.

WATCH: The Flaming Lips live in Parkersburg, October 2011

The Flaming Lips are not a band of which I've ever been much a fan. I do, though, recognize how entertaining their shows must be and why they have achieved their success and popularity. Which is why I was so shocked to find out on Saturday that the Oklahoma band was set to play a house show in Parkersburg on Sunday night. Yes, the Flaming Lips played a house show in Parkersburg, West Virginia! Supposedly it was the brainchild of a 17-year-old girl on Twitter from the third-largest city in the state, but I am unaware of any other details behind the event. Nevertheless, here is a video of the band's introduction and a couple minutes of their first song - Dream Syndicate's "It's Halloween." I've also included a couple photos via Parkersburg native and singer/songwritier Michael Iafrate, who was in attendance. Pretty awesome.

UPDATE: Here is a longer video with more music and explanation from Wayne Coyne on how they ended up playing a house show in Parkersburg. It just gets better.

PHOTOS:

DOWNLOAD: Andrew Iafrate - Hallowed Be Our Wayward Ways

"Andrew Iafrate’s first full-length under his own parentally-given name forges new paths along the folk/country fault lines he hinted at on his last record [as Pariah Prophecy]. 'Wayward Ways' sounds like an old timey album pulled out of the vault after decades of dusty slumber. Iafrate ain't no poser. This is the real deal: modern roots music informed by the very best in the tradition, shunning all the fashion of the current alt-whatever craze."

Artist: Andrew Iafrate

Album: Hallowed Be Our Wayward Ways

Year: 2005

For Fans Of: Bonnie 'Prince' Billy, My Morning Jacket, Bon Iver

DOWNLOAD: Andrew Iafrate - Hallowed Be Our Wayward Ways

DOWNLOAD: Andrew Iafrate - When I Am Stone Dead

When I Am Stone Dead is the 2006 Internet-released EP from indie folk singer/songwriter Andrew Iafrate. It is the pre-cursor to 2007's excellent full-length album The Ravages.

Artist: Andrew Iafrate

Album: When I Am Stone Dead

Year: 2006

For Fans Of: My Morning Jacket, M Ward, Bonnie 'Prince' Billy

DOWNLOAD: Andrew Iafrate - When I Am Stone Dead

WATCH: Andrew Iafrate - Red Light Bay

Here is a friend-made video for the track "Red Light Bay" from Andrew Iafrate's first album Hallowed Be Our Wayward Ways, which I will post tomorrow.

DOWNLOAD: Andrew Iafrate - The Ravages

"Andrew Iafrate is a musician born and raised in the [Parkersburg,] West Virginia and currently resides in Louisville, Kentucky. He developed a cult following throughout the Midwest following the release of his debut solo record, 2005's Hallowed Be Our Wayward Ways. He has been noted for his strong vocals, intelligent songwriting, and for delivering “indie rock with folk influence at its finest" (Daily Athenauem, Morgantown, West Virginia). He has shown promise in his developing career by supporting acts such as Magnolia Electric Co and J. Glenn (ex-My Morning Jacket). Andrew has followed in the footsteps of artists like Sufjan Stevens and Regina Spector by being featured on NPR's All Songs Considered: Open Mic, a music blog showcasing talented independent musicians.

"After a brief affair with Austin's diverse music scene in 2006, Andrew returned to his home state in order to begin production on his sophomore release, 2007's The Ravages. The record is released under the Factory R imprint–a project label established by West Virginia's defunct sci-fi metal phenomonon The Minus Tide. It features heartfelt, roots-influenced songcraft backed with traditional instrumentation, tight harmonies, and Andrew's haunting, transparent vocal style."

Artist: Andrew Iafrate

Album: The Ravages

Year: 2007

For Fans Of: Magnolia Electric Co., My Morning Jacket, Sufjan Stevens

DOWNLOAD: Andrew Iafrate - The Ravages

LISTEN: M Iafrate - No Matter How Deep The Darkness, He Descends Deeper Still

A mere 24 hours after recording began, M Iafrate (with the help of producer David Klug, both formerly of The Minus Tide) has released his new 5-song EP No Matter How Deep The Darkness, He Descends Deeper Still. Great stuff. Give it a listen, then name your price and buy it.

DOWNLOAD: The Dick Brothers - The Dick Brothers

In their own words: "The Dick Brothers is a collaboration betwixt two native West Virginian singer-songwriter brothers, Michael Iafrate (The Minus Tide, M Iafrate & The Priesthood) and Andrew Iafrate. Powerful artists in their own right, the Iafrates, under this charming moniker, have made numerous live appearances on conventional stages and at Christmas party sing-alongs. Before migrating to homes away from their Appalachian birthplace in the summer of 2006, The Dick Brothers teamed up for a whiskey-soaked recording session which resulted in a 10-track record. The self-titled album was recorded in three hours time to one track through one microphone in a basement in [the brothers' hometown of] Parkersburg, and is made up of four original instrumentals and six bluegrassy/ol’ timey cover songs penned by the likes of Hazel Dickens, The Stanley Brothers, and Gillian Welch. The result is a beautiful tribute to the brothers' home state, 'the nearest thing to heaven that they know.' "

Artist: The Dick Brothers

Album: The Dick Brothers

Year: 2006

For Fans Of: Bonnie Prince Billy, Magnolia Electric Co., M Ward

DOWNLOAD: The Dick Brothers - The Dick Brothers

DOWNLOAD: ZAO - The Splinter Shards the Birth of Separation

Before drummer Jesse Smith re-establish Zao from Parkersburg to Greensburg, Pennsylvania; and before the band sounded like Carcass with Daniel Weyandt on vocals, Zao was a standard hardcore band with metallic tendencies. The Splint Shards the Birth of Separation, released in 1997, was the bridge between the band's purer hardcore sound of All Else Failed and the more metal/grindcore style of more recent albums. It's also the last album to feature a Parkersburg-based line-up before all but Smith quit the group.

On The Splinter Shards, the then-Christian-influenced band's second full-length album, Zao moved from the vein of bands like Strife and Unbroken into more metal-tinged hardcore like Indecision or Shai Hulud. Despite the band's ministry-oriented lyrical content - screaming "Praise Jesus" at the end of one track - Zao appeals to any hardcore band due to the technical musicianship and Shawn Jonas's emotional vocals. Zao has gone on to do quite well for itself under the leadership of vocalist Weyandt, but in my opinion, the sound of the early records is more raw, powerful and interesting than anything the band did after The Splinter Shards.

Artist: ZAO

Album: The Splinter Shards the Birth of Separation

Year: 1997

For Fans Of: Indecision, Strife, Shai Hulud

DOWNLOAD: ZAO - The Splinter Shards the Birth of Separation

DOWNLOAD: ZAO - All Else Failed

Happy 2011. To celebrate a new year, I will start things off with one of one of West Virginia's more successful bands.

Zao was founded in 1993 in Parkersburg, and was one of the first bands coined as metalcore. According to Wikipedia, the founding members claimed to have a relationship with God, so in turn were considered a Christian band, which changed as time passed. Zao has endured numerous roster changes over the years - at one point re-establishing the group in Greensburg, Pennsylvania. For many years, drummer Jesse Smith was the only founding member in the band, and even he eventually quit in 2004.

To date, Zao has released 10 full-length albums on labels such as Solid State/Tooth & Nail and Ferret. It was only the band's first two albums - All Else Failed (1995) and The Splinter Shards the Birth of Separation (1997) that feature the original Parkersburg-based roster. Zao's debut All Else Failed was eventually re-recorded and re-released in 2003 by a newer line-up. The original album, though more traditional hardcore and less metal (and much better) than the band's later style is still a passionate and chaotic combination of genres and instrumentation that combines the emotion of Unbroken, the aggression of early Strife, and the tension of Creation is Crucifixion. This band has lived a long, successful life for a reason and here is where it started. (I will follow up with The Splinter Shards later this week.)

Artist: Zao

Album: All Else Failed

Year: 1995

For Fans Of: Strife, Unbroken, Creation is Crucifixion

DOWNLOAD: Zao - All Else Failed

WATCH: M Iafrate live in Parkersburg, 2002

In March 2002, I booked a show at an all-ages coffeehouse venue in Parkersburg called Caffeine Kelli's. I believe the bill included FüD (Food), Better Off Dead (ex-The Warriors from Morgantown), The Pariah Prophecy and Mikey Iafrate. The show started off with a bang and less than 60 seconds into Better Off Dead's opening song - a cover of SS Decontrol's "Glue" - singer Ray Cheek let explode a bag of flour all over the stage. This didn't do much to please the co-owners of the venue who immediately ended the set and demanded the mess be cleaned. The rest of the show went more smoothly, and at some point Iafrate played this cover of Berlin's "Take My Breath Away" from the Top Gun soundtrack. It was just one of those nights - a subtly great performance nonetheless.

DOWNLOAD: Pariah Prophecy - The Personal Is Political

Before Andrew Iafrate was an Appalachian roots folk singer-songwriter with the facial hair of a mountaineer, he was "Andy," - a teenager in Parkersburg playing melancholic pop acoustic songs under the moniker Pariah Prophecy.

Not unlike his singer-songwriter brother Mikey Iafrate before him (and most acoustic musicians spawned during the late '90s and early '00s), the sound on The Personal Is Political resembles that of the late Elliott Smith's Either/Or. Recorded at home in 2001/2002 while Andy was still in high school, the lyrics and music show an apparent songwriting maturity. The tone of the album - set by Andy's soft voice and lightly played guitar - is quiet and gentle throughout. The only presence of percussion on is on the album's final track, and is from a wall clock.

Now living in Louisville, Andrew continues to write and record music. Though long departed from the style of his teenage years, Andrew is a guileless musician. One thing his music has never lacked is the ability to write genuine songs. The Personal Is Political only helps show us that skill comes naturally to Andrew.

Artist: Pariah Prophecy.

Album: The Personal Is Political.

Year: 2002.

For Fans Of: Elliott Smith, Red House Painters, Pedro The Lion.

DOWNLOAD: Pariah Prophecy - The Personal Is Political.

WATCH: The Dick Brothers - "West Virginia, My Home"

West Virginia music veterans Michael Iafrate (The Minus Tide, COBRA) and Andrew Iafrate (The Pariah Prophecy) make up the duo The Dick Brothers. With Michael based in Toronto, Canada, and Andrew in Louisville, Kentucky, The Dick Brothers is not a full-time band but instead a sporadic collaboration between the singer-songwriter siblings originally from Parkersburg. The pair have recorded two albums and one EP consisting of original tracks mixed with Appalachian/bluegrass/traditional cover songs penned by the likes of Hazel Dickens, The Stanley Brothers and Gillian Welch.

Here is a video featuring Dickens' bluegrass state-pride anthem "West Virginia, My Home" from The Dick Brothers' first self-titled album. (Albums will be made available for download in the near future.) Enjoy.

The Dick Brothers - "West Virginia, My Home."