Sam Phillips (Not the Sun Records Guy) C/D S/D

Does she do the annoying vocal snippets on Gilmore Girls? It sure sounds like her.

"The Turning":

"Down":

"Libera Me":

"I Will Carry You:

"River of Love":

I've been digging some of these late '80s Turning-era clips. Her live material has a spooky, minimal hush that her records lack, partly because she can't reproduce those sugary, multitracked harmonies in concert. At this point her songs still tend toward dramatic AOR balladry, but without the support of gloopy AOR arrangements(cf. the relative schmaltz of her early records), they come across more as sketches than full realized performances -- which works surprisingly well in spots.

The Indescribable Wow (first post-"Leslie") is the one.

Although Jesus also gives her lots of love for the "Gilmore Girls" stuff.

mmmhmmm, she sure knows how to ah la la la la la laaaaaa la la with the best of 'em

Martinis & Bikinis is my no-shit favourite gawd-damned album of that whole decade, and justifies T-Bone Burnette's existence all by itself.

Doing the subscription series

The Long Play is a year of music. While digging for inspiration and journaling the process of writing and recording, I will release 5 EP’s and a full-length album through samphillips.com. There is no record company involved — this is just between us.

As a subscriber, every two months you will automatically receive a high-quality digital EP made up of new songs, new versions of my old songs, seasonal songs, or previously unreleased songs. (The first EP is entitled “Hypnotists in Paris”; a collaboration between myself and The Section Quartet.)

At the end of the Long Play, next fall, you will receive a full-length digital album. This is the most music I’ve ever released in a one-year period. Essays, video, photos and audio logs will make the Long Play part music, book, magazine, laboratory, radio program and curiosity collection.

Will opening up some of the creative process affect the way I write and record the music? Will it affect how you hear it? I have no idea, and there’s only one way to find out…please join me for the Long Play. 

Sam


Might just pull the trigger on this (it's $52)

Reviving thread to quote this...

Martinis & Bikinis is my no-shit favourite gawd-damned album of that whole decade, and justifies T-Bone Burnette's existence all by itself.

― Myonga Vön Bontee, Monday, December 22, 2008 4:17 PM (1 year ago)

This is utterly OTM

Finally jumped in on the 'Long Play' series, as it looks pretty definite it'll never see physical release--so that's the first (and hopefully last) time I pay money for mp3s (FLAC files, actually).

$52 would've been a very reasonable price for this sort of thing done as a boxed set. . . but the music seems up to the strong par she's set over the last decade, and it's kind of enjoyable how the relative smallness of the EPs allowed her to test out different ground in concentrated bursts (ie the all-cello-quartet feeling of 'Hypnotists in Paris,' etc.). Excited for the LP--sounds on first brush like it might be a lot stronger and more focused than 'Don't Do Anything,' closer to the sultry darkness of 'Fan Dance'.

I guess she was never burning up the charts (relatively speaking) on Nonesuch, but it's a shame the music on these EP and the LP seem to be getting almost no critical attention whatsoever--can't find even a single non-blog review, for example, of any of it. But hey, if she sold a couple thousand subscriptions at $52, she probably made as much as she would've from an indie label release, without being obligated to anyone at all. More power to her!

Wow, I had no idea she released an album this year. It's like her separation from T-Bone kicked in an omerta, though I guess they've since occasionally crossed paths (he completed production of her "Boot and a Shoe," and it looks like a song of hers wound up on the T-Bone overseen "Crazy Heart" soundtrack).

Obligatory thread revive for new album Push Any Button. I dig it... short, solid guerrilla pop album

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ezIriE8Fg68

this is tremendous so far

Love the new record. Love Sam Phillips. Such a slept on singer/songwriter.

On first listen the new one is awesome. Kudos to you guys for your good taste.

New album out today! https://samphillips1.bandcamp.com

New single?

I like it, though I'm inclined to. World on Sticks was so good.

And while I'm here, The Indescribable Wow is a perfect album that one should play every few months at least.

Listening to "World on Sticks" for the first that, it's great! I'd actually never heard "The Indescribable Wow " either, and had reached for it first because Carl "AC" Newman was excited on Twitter about finding a copy, and honestly, I was a bit let down. From the production (especially) to the songs, it sounded like a trial run for where she would get in an album or two.

a fourth or fifth rewatch of gilmore girls in my house has brought me back to Sam Phillips, who I like much more than I apparently did 19 years ago (I always did like the first three post-Leslie albums). Lost track of her around Boot and Shoe but now I really like both that and Fan Dance, and her post-nonsuch albums are good too based on my one listen during my commute. She seems to keep a relatively low profile, never touring, and maybe she handles all her promo herself based on how scant it is.

oh also, this, from the Leslie era, which is ... amazing? I'm a sucker for marillion-sounding chorus arpeggios too.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=koWFYi7hRes

Also, I think it’s notable that her post T Bone Burnet albums sound a lot like the Burnet albums. She def carried a lot of those techniques forward with her.