Bill Mallonee: Lower Case

This is our first full-band, studio recording in two years! A joy to make. We're proud to offer this mini-EP, "lower case!"
These songs have been in my head for a few months. String of Pearls, Sober Up and Sad Parade all felt like a bit of a long-lost dialogue with my British-pop twin brother. Only they aren't so "pop." Melody is in the forefront. The lyrics run the gamut from intentional "trippiness" to the heart-break and plaintive. The arrangements, while on the surface sounding simple, are both economical and complex. No note is wasted, no strum superfluous. Multi-layered guitars and string arrangements abound; Muriah's keyboards and harmony vocals are precise and engaging. It felt good to finally see a few new songs "realized" after two years of no formal studio recording, a rarity for me.
These sorts of songs contain the elements that drew me into the harmonic richness of the later-era Beatles and their American offspring such as the Byrds, Big Star with a salute to Robyn Hitchcock on Sad Parade. Enjoy!

It seems like ages since we had some new studio songs from Bill and Muriah but this little collection makes it worth the wait. The standout track for me is String of Pearls but all three are excellent. Hopefully this is a pointer to a new long-player? Is that a real Mellotron?

Bill Mallonee has a new record out

If you know me you'll have heard me bang on about Bill Mallonee (and before that his band - the Vigilantes of Love). Bill (and his lovely wife Muriah Rose) played an intimate gig at my house last October for about thirty friends and he is never less than superb. The human spirit and bleak experience that drips from every song is unique and you could do a lot worse than to download Circa - the new album. You can also catch any of his old CDs - some as a two-for-one deal if you download.

Here is a posting I noticed via MySpace - it sums my thoughts up perfectly;

About twelve years ago, I discovered the music of Bill Mallonee and the Vigilantes of Love through word of mouth. Starting in Athens, Georgia in the early 90's, the music has had overwhelming roots in americana with dabbles in brit-pop, and mass, critical acclaim without much commercial success at all. Mallonee himself - now in his early 50's - has said that record executives have told him, "This is what I listen to when I'm off the clock", and "I love the stuff, but I can't sell it."

These days, the "Vigilantes of Love" moniker has been dropped in favor of the simple and solo, "Bill Mallonee", which is truer to what the music is as Mallonee has been the sole, stable member and songwriter since the beginning. I've had the pleasure of seeing him live about ten times (and even sharing a beer or two) over the years - sometimes with a full band, sometimes with just a second guitarist, and most recently with an accompanying piano player. Each setting has brought out different aspects of the performance while being consistently phenomenal in it's intimacy.

His perseverance has cost him over the years, as spending time away form his family to tour for most of the year, and financing new albums on credit cards (and now, pre-orders by loyal fans) often does. Through all this, though, he's still the type of artist willing to give away his music for free to those willing to listen.

Tonite I received a message on my myspace bulletin board stating that through Mallonee's myspace page (www.myspace/billmallonee) you could download four tracks for free, as well as go to his online store (www.volsounds.com) and get two full albums for free (one needs to be downloaded track by track, the other is free with purchase of another album - a two for one deal.)

It's great news for those of us living in an age where a CD of new music costs anywhere from twelve to twenty dollars a pop, yet for an artist who has been putting out records year after year with little or no commercial success for near twenty years, one has to wonder what the repercussions for such a bold move may be.

Some of you who know me well know that I've worked in customer service for over ten years now, but through it all, one thing I was never good at was feeding a bullshit line to make a sale and Im not about to start now.

I'm posting this to you, my friends, to tell you about the music of Bill Mallonee - a man I've met, corresponded, bonded, and shared drinks with. He's a good man witha kind heart who I hope to one day get the chance to perform alongside. If you enjoy music with roots in americana (i.e. - country, bluegrass and folk) with dabbles in brit-pop, and have ten bucks to spare, I implore you to go to his online store and pick up a copy of any of his records (I recommend 1998's To The Roof of The Sky, 1999's Audible Sigh, or 2004's Dear Life...). You'll get The Peter Buck (guitarist for R.E.M.) produced Killing Floor for free, and be able to download the brit-pop influenced album Summershine for free to hold you over until your two discs arrive.

That's three CD's of music you've probably never heard, and that has more soul and diligence than a lot of what's being pushed to the masses today, for ten bucks that goes directly to the artist.

Bill and Muriah played our living room!

I had a fabulous day Friday - took the day off work and went to collect Bill Mallonee and his wife Muriah Rose from Waterloo. They played a two hour set in front of thirty or so friends and they were great! I took them back to the Eurostar on Saturday so they can continue to Belgium (more gigs) before returning to the States.
Having chatted with them about the difficulties of securing gigs while you don't have a label behind you made me doubly determined to support them and other musicians who are doing it independently.

This YouTube clip is of one of the tunes they did on Friday. My middle boy Dan was very pleased Bill borrowed his guitar amp and I'm proud I was able to give Bill my D-blues harmonica (he'd misplaced his) - he did tell me he'll keep it for the next time he records!

Live music at Phil's house

I just sent this email to lots of friends;

On Friday 13th October I'll be hosting an acoustic gig in my house! Bill Mallonee who used to be the singer/songwriter with my long-time favourites The Vigilantes of Love is currently touring the UK promoting his new album ¨Permafrost¨ and because he's not got a gig every night he's keeping it real(!) by playing in fans' houses for friends and family and the chance of selling some CDs (and saving a few dollars on hotel bills!).

If you've paid any attention to my rantings about the state of music over the last few years you'll know I hold him in the highest regard and if you appreciate live acoustic music in an intimate setting then come and join us and we'll have a ball - we'll do some snacks and it'll be a nice evening. I'm inviting friends from work, the street, church,and further a field!

So - Sarah and I would love you to come - stylistically Bill is very much in the Americana vein - think Neil Young with a bit more melody or maybe what REM might sound like as a solo act. If you'd like to borrow a CD just tell me. He's turned out fifteen or so albums in the past couple of decades and so has an impressive body to work to draw on - you have my word that it will be an enjoyable performance. He's never made it as big as he deserves and is a jobbing musician. I can't over emphasise that music this good doesn't come your way every day - plus, the snacks and company will be good!

So if you want to come send me an email!

My favourite band in my living room!

Be near my house in the first week in October and enjoy an acoustic set by Bill Mallonee, ex front-man of The Vigilantes of Love;

We've become increasingly displeased and discouraged with the politics and dynamics of club oriented shows and tours over the last two years. I played that scene for 14 years, so i know of what i speak. And while we still do club and rock club gigs, we find the cooler places diminishing. With no label, formal distribution or booking, the "bottom line" all too quickly kicks much good music (we believe) to the curb. It is not without notice that the whole "House Show" industry has exponentially grown over the last few years as artists will always be driven to "take their music to the people," and give expression to their vision that isn't cluttered by beer sale quotas and late night dynamics that tax the ability of many folks (who'd like to hear good music) to attend. The fact that many artists who played the club circuits in the 90's are now playing more and more hosue shows testifys to something of what i think is a revolution in this area of the music business.

hope this finds all well...thanks for gracious support.

peace,
bill mallonee

Bill Mallonee's new record "Permafrost"

This arrived in the post yesterday - all the way from Athens, Georgia in the US of A - very exciting! It's the new CD by my longtime favourite (and ex-frontman of The Vigilantes of Love) Bill Mallonee. I saw him earlier in the year where he has playing some of these tunes live.
So, slammed this new disk into the CDRom tray and have been enjoying it since - Flowers has been tugging at my ears and Bank has the makings of a classic.
Bill isn't a wealthy musician but his ilk are well worth supporting - if you want a great introduction to his music then his fan website BillTunes.com is a good starting point.
"Why has Phil blogged a picture of the jiffy bag?" you ask - well look closely at the customs form - it's signed by Bill himself! You don't get that level of attention to details and care for the fans with Robbie Williams....

When the equipment fails......

Tonight I had a great evening - I went to a tiny little music pub in Brixton to see three of the giants of Americana - Steve Dawson of Dolly Varden, The Amazing Pilots and my musical hero - Bill Mallonee (ex frontman of The Vigilantes of Love).
Half way through Bill's set the PA starts acting up so quick as a shot he leaps off the stage with an acoustic and does a blinding set there in the crowd - what a pro! You can bet that most of the acts in the top-twenty couldn't come near that level of musicianship.

CD Times - the shape of the future? - I've been subscribing to BillTunes.com since it launched at Christmas - since I'm a huge fan of ex-Vigilantes of Love frontman Bill Mallonee I've really been enjoying the slightly left-field content on this (modestly) paid-for website. "...Maybe after the last few years of litigation, a solution may be emerging that will make both musicians and fans happy with the added bonus of snookering major record labels. Now that is what you call disruptive technology..."