We recently spent the day hanging out with Baltimore baroque pop ensemble Soft Cat on a Maryland horse farm, where they treated us to an intimate performance of a couple of their new songs. On their latest album, Lost No Labor, the band is joined by friends from other Baltimore bands such as Secret Mountains, Weekends, Small Sur, Strange Fur and Wing Dam. Nearly two years in the making, Lost No Labor was released earlier this month through Human Kindness Overflowing , a non-profit record label that supports humanitarian efforts through online donations from [...]

nello scegliersi il nome ci piace credere che abbiano pensato al capolavoro di Jack Kerouac , che non è On The Road - Labor, il nuovo album della formazione folk/slowcore Small Sur (qui sopra la copertina, realizzata da Skye Gilkerson ) uscirà a Giugno: The Salt by Small Sur Labor by Small Sur
![Small Sur // Labor [Single]](http://cdn.elbo.ws/posts/4878389_lg.jpg)
Sparse and beautifully atmospheric is "Labor" - one of the first songs off their upcoming record by the same name. The vocals are slow and sour, singing lyrics that have both depth and vagueness to them - drafting a thick enigma of a song which creates a desire to know the person who wrote them as well. You can pre-order Labor on their Bandcamp page, due out June 4th. Small Sur: Site // Bandcamp

Day three folks. Day three. Pictured above, the CD disc face from the KEEP Recordings CD (CDR?) - understated, clean, even sparse. A signal of the mindset of the album, the sparseness of the recordings? I like to think that and not that it was a cost effective option of getting the discs made...come on, give me that at least! This sparseness in the recordings is probably what defined the early Josh Tillman albums, whether you like to call it that or not, it still did. It is what drew me in and captivated. I could [...]

Small Sur from Baltimore have provided another new listen from their soon to be released album Labor (late 2012). The song is called Through the Blue and is another reason why I think the new album will be one of the best of the year without even hearing the entire thing. If this song and the track The Salt (see our post here) are any indication of the new material, count me in! So keep your ears open [...]

I don’t often venture north to Baltimore, Maryland for music, but whenever I do I am usually greeted with an exceptional and relatively intimate performance. Being just north of Washington DC, Baltimore is not on the map for most artists when they look at the U.S. mid-Atlantic states. Turns out there are wonderful small venues hidden throughout the city. So I traveled the hour north on an unseasonably warm February Monday night to an art gallery in the middle of the city to see Austin band Shearwater for the first time. [...]

1. The National - Twenty Miles To NH (The Philistines Jr. Cover).mp3 2. Nightlands - Til I Die (The Beach Boys Cover).mp3 3. Lia Ices - Wish You Were Here (Pink Floyd Cover).mp3 4. Small Sur - Fall Skull (Little Wings Cover).mp3 5. Wye Oak - Strangers (The Kinks Cover).mp3 6. St. Vincent - Never Tear Us Apart (INXS Cover).mp3 7. Youth Lagoon - Goodbye Again (John Denver Cover).mp3 [...]

Small Sur - photo by Henn Pict Today has been excellent so far. Really excellent. Small Sur posted on their Facebook wall this morning about a recent live recording was up for a free download. Apparently the long time in the making session for Mobtown Studios came to fruition and we now have 13 tracks to download from the "Microshow: Live in Baltimore" session! Wrapped up in this set are some new tracks, old tracks (like a personal favourite 'The Kelp'), mostly [...]

40. Gillian Welch - The Harrow & The Harvest Gillian Welch - The Way It Goes.mp3 39. The Mountain Goats - All Eternals Deck The Mountain Goats - Damn These Vampires.mp3 38. Dodos - No Color Dodos - Companions.mp3 37. Small Sur - Tones [...]

Contributing to the folk frenzy I’ve recently been prone to fall into, Small Sur’s (@smallsur) downtempo tunes have been an excellent addition to my sleepy summer night playlists. Captivatingly subtle, the music acts as an audible portrayal of frontman Bob Keal’s childhood surroundings in rural South Dakota. While the band itself came together in Baltimore, Keal’s memories haven’t been lost in translation. The core of the music consists of gently plucked acoustic guitar, sustained keyboard and delicate, rhythmic drums, while a variety of other instruments including sax and banjo, add depth [...]

*please disregard the fact that I only have 4 of the 5 listed below - $15.00 shipping from the USA t0 Canada isn't right. Sure a favourite releases list of 2011 thus far - I can do that. Also, as it is the weekend I am going to post 5 today and 5 tomorrow because honestly it gets me a post material for tomorrow automatically!! This first grouping is not necessarily lesser than tomorrow's grouping, but for lack of scientific research these could be considered #10 through #6 favourite releases of 2011 thus far. [...]
SMALL SUR myspace facebook last.fm bandcamp Prettyboy [mp3] From the record TONES. "Small Sur’s music is perfect for those quiet moments when life winds down. This is music for lying on a California beach while watching the sun set and allowing the natural surroundings [...]

so sanft wie sich der longplayer "tones" von small sur gibt, so gemächlich hat er auch mich erobert. die zögerliche notation einer gewissheit von kunstfertigkeit, die aus geschliffenem handwerk und etwas mut und innovation hervorgeht. sie hat sich an mich herangeschlichen und nach für nach eine beziehung entstehen lassen, die mich zum nutzniesser ihrer ausprägungen macht. einer musik, die so introspektiv wie notenbedacht aktuell eher selten anzutreffen ist. sun kil moon, red house painters sind mögliche vergleiche, downtempo, slowcore, und schielt man auf aktuellen folk, müsste man die unvermeidlichen fleet foxes nennen, wenn sie die rauschefahrt kurzzeitig einstellen, vetiver, okkervil [...]

I whip my hair back and forth. Not because I am a teenage girl (although I sometimes act like one) but because there is a party. No, it's not in my pants. This party is in my ears, and soon it will be in yours as well. I am pleased to present to you The Indie Sabbath - more refreshing than an ice-cold soda in the middle of the desert. For me, music is the purest form of communication this world has to offer. I think I should have no other mortal wants, if I could always have plenty of music. [...]

Small Sur is a Baltimore, MD three-piece headed by Bob Keal, whose vocal cadence fits in nicely with genre-mates Will Oldham and Mark Kozelek. Musically, Small Sur takes some cues from Kozelek, melding the more folk-oriented vibe of Sun Kil Moon with the slowcore down-tempo of Red House Painters. With contributions from members of fellow Baltimoreans Lower Dens and Wye Oak, the band's new album Tones is introspective, image-driven, and mesmerizing. On slow-burner "The Woods," Keal sings longingly "In The Woods/I will find what I seek/ Build a home there beneath the canopy." The aptly titled Tones [...]

Baltimore's Small Sur released their new LP Tones this week, currently streaming in full on AOL Spinner, and are currently on tour in support of it around the Northeast. "Small Sur is the primary musical alias of South Dakota-born, now-Baltimore-based songwriter Bob Keal and current collaborators Austin Stahl and Andy Abelow. The project was born during the spring of 2005 in a friend's Southern California bedroom, where Keal recorded the self-titled Small Sur EP shortly before relocating to Baltimore. 2008 marked the release of the band's full-length debut, We Live in Houses Made [...]

Small Sur, a Baltimore three-piece, are seemingly playing the long-game when they recorded album number two. By that we mean you need to dedicate a lot of time to their new record to reap any real reward. But rest assured there is a gem or two here – it’s just not instantaneous. This album wants to stop and observe its surroundings; it’s a bit of a day-dreamer. Yet after repeated listens Bowlegs did start to unearth the subtleties which hide within the record’s slow pace and gentle, lilting nature. The band is led by Bob Keal, whose voice [...]

Photo by Monique Crabb Small Sur is the musical alias of Bob Keal and his collaborators Austin Stahl and Andy Abelow. They have released a new album this week entitled Tones (which can be streamed at AOL Spinner ) and the simple, understated nature of their folk music is beautiful. The album features Andy Stack of Wye Oak and Geoff Graham of Lower Dens among others and helps to showcase the strength of Baltimore's burgeoning music scene. I simply could listen to Prettyboy any time. Its soft sounds render [...]

Photo by Monique Crabb Small Sur is the musical alias of Bob Keal and his collaborators Austin Stahl and Andy Abelow. They have released a new album this week entitled Tones (which can be streamed at AOL Spinner ) and the simple, understated nature of their folk music is beautiful. The album features Andy Stack of Wye Oak and Geoff Graham of Lower Dens among others and helps to showcase the strength of Baltimore's burgeoning music scene. I simply could listen to Prettyboy any time. Its soft sounds render [...]

We’ve got some more musical loveliness which has ambled out of Baltimore, in the shape of the new Small Sur track ‘Prettyboy’. The mellow alt country-folk song is taken from the band’s album, ‘Tones’, which is out any minute now. Listen to the track here: ‘Prettyboy’