JoeMc (Curator)

It's already Thursday and Karl Blau hasn't put out a new album yet.

Something must be terribly wrong!

Of course, I jest. But if you think I'm kidding about how prolific this fellow is, check out this list of releases from his Kelp Lunacy Advanced Plagiarism Society label that feature him in a primary or supporting role:

The Dark, Magic Sea  ::  The Coconutcracker Suite  ::  Turning Tutu/Turning Leaves  ::  Dunkel Blau  ::  Purple Heart ::  Baby Nettles  ::  Remember Tomorrow  ::  Clothes Your I's  ::  Nature's Got Away  ::  Dubble Dooty Booty  ::  Trust in Sirens ::  It Was Hot, We Stayed in the Water ::  Welsh Phantoms and Other Ghosts of Western Europe ::  Sea/Saw  ::  Stereoearrings  ::  If I knew Zen What I Know Now ::  AM ::  Sing Together/Alone Under the Covers  ::  Beer and Chai ::  Flotsam and Jetsam ::  Let It All Out  ::  Sigh Lens  ::  Bread-n-Grease  ::  Trunkal Howl  ::  Free the Bird  ::  Dance Positive ::  Good Lovin' Country and Beyond  ::  In Return from Ghost Country  ::  1,000 Pictures  ::  An Unconscious Pattern  ::  Blue Nomad  ::  Doin' Things the Way They Happen  ::  Dragon Tape  ::  Into the Nada  ::  One Summer Night on Halloran  ::  Purple Shack of 4-Track  ::  Songs to Make a Living ::  Beneath Waves  ::  96 

And these are just his self-released items. I'm not even counting his albums on Knw-Yr-Own records or his last three on K Records, including last year's Zebra. Does Robert Pollard have something to worry about? I should say so.

Happily, this quantity makes for great stylistic variety--sometimes folky, sometimes electronic, sometimes poppy. I'm partial to the pop mode. Back in 2006, Mr. Blau released a swell tune of this type on K Records as a single. It was called "Slow Down, Joe" (fine advice I'm taking to heart, thank you). This song also appeared in slightly different form on the Dark, Magic Sea release, and that's the one I'm spotlighting today. Its propulsive, march-like rhythm and bristly guitar get me every time.

Listen, and then see below for a bit more on the Blau.

Karl Blau's not exactly fresh-faced and wide-eyed, at least as far as the music biz goes; he's been making music (at least publicly) for almost 15 years. He operates out of Anacortes, Washington, a town right on the Pacific that offers ferry rides to British Columbia and the San Juan Islands on a daily basis. Anacortes is also home to the Oyster Run, a motorcycle ride started by a biker dude named Limp Lee who likes oysters. On the last Sunday in September, the town becomes a veritable sea of Harleys and molluscs.

Not that Karl Blau has much time for cruising the main drag and slurping bivalves. When he's not recording music with his many friends and associates, including Ms. Veirs, Steve Moore of Earth, Phil Elvrum of the Microphones/Mount Eerie, Arrington De Dionyso, and various members of a million other Pacific Northwest entities (which I don't think includes Limp Lee, but you never know), Mr. B. can be found on tour. He started out with D+ in the late 90s, and these days he's often out supporting songbird Laura Veirs, who's got a new album she just put out herself called July Flame. Next month he's going to be touring all over Germany on his ownsome, so if you live there, check your local listings. Blau may be near you!

Mucho Blau can also be found on the FMA, where there is a generous sampling from his many Kelp Lunacy APS releases. Try what seems to be a Russian folk song from a show ("My Name, My Name"), or some dubby electronica ("96"). Find the Blau that suits you best!