Milton Melvin Croissant III is a labelmate of Joseph Childress’ over at Ash From Sweat. He makes some heavy psychedelic folk tunes. Music for the painted Colorado deserts… subtle tribal grooves and echoing electric guitars beneath a distant powerful voice. We are lucky enough to be asked to sell his Vinyl debut at the Endless Nest Store

On the Record:
After a handful of self-released CDR and tapes, Ash From Sweat is pleased to release the vinyl debut of Denver’s mastermind songwriter, Milton Melvin Croissant III. His band may have split for Portland, but Buddy soldiered on with an array of loops, beats and other oddities to keep the full band sound. The results are this fantastic seven-inch single that combines the best of Milton’s songwriting with his experimental side, while drawing energy and imagery from wanderlust for Colorado’s high plains. As with all Ash From Sweat releases, the importance of art is not overlooked. Cover and insert drawings by MMCIII, and screen-printed by any number of AFS volunteers. 300 copies exist on black vinyl.

Check it!
Song Remains the Same

MMCIII is on the level… check out this parody of Sinead O’Connor’s “Nothing Compares 2 U” that tickled the ribs of A.V. Club at The Onion.

Collage by Paul Morgan

THIS Saturday (8/21/2010) make your way to Amnesia in San Francisco to watch John Dwyer and Randy Lee Sutherland perform in the first of two events celebrating the release of Sword + Sandals’ debut studio recording, Good & Plenty, out soon on Empty Cellar. It is likely to rule.

Sword and Sandals emerged through the vision of founders John Dwyer and Randy Lee Sutherland. Within the intense interplay of Dwyer’s blurred wrists and strobe-like fills caressing the cry of Sutherland’s horn, the possessed pair incorporated second horn Shaun O’Dell and initiated a trail composed of both conjured soundscapes of euphoric beauty and signifying shrieks of postmodern existence (thus far). As an improvisational trio—with guests sitting in occasionally—Sword and Sandals provide an existential outlet for those seeking connections beyond peripherally materialist arrangements and toward closer, more cerebral intimacies. Their sound envisions the metaphor of their Ben Hur-esque name: while wearing sandals into combat enables a graceful interplay with one’s adversaries, the sword (let alone the opponents) remains razor sharp, reminding the participant of the thin line between achieving transcendence and triumph and the brutal reality of second guessed timing, and unfocused adherence or intent as one waltzes through moments and situations—improvising for survival and renewal. Trust forms the blue print for Sword and Sandals, sealing their execution, empathy, and a progressive existence within the interplay of their music. As economist Jacque Attali once noted, music is, “by its very presence, a mode of communication between man and his environment, a mode of social expression, and duration itself. It is therapeutic, purifying, enveloping, liberation; it is rooted in a comprehensive conception of knowledge about the body, in a pursuit of exorcism through noise and dance.”

Empty Cellar’s upcoming release for Sword + Sandals stemmed from one all-day 16-microphone recording session, with Anthony Petrovic sitting in on synth, captured on 1-inch tape.

Coming September 28th:

SWORD + SANDALS – GOOD & PLENTY

This is a beautiful performance by Elephant Micah of “Still Life Blues” in New York City on WNYC’s Spinning On Air, broadcast May 16, 2010 during the Micah Elephant & Mark Trecka tour. Elephant Micah is is joined Beth Remis, fiddle, and Mark Trecka, harmonium, both of Pillars and Tongues. Video by David Garland.