Plush

There's this guy, see, his name is Liam Hayes and he lives in Chicago (i think). He creates music and records it and sometimes performs it.... wait... he records and re-records it, etcetera... etc. He puts out records once in a long while, his best effort to date, Fed, is only available on some Japanese label and was released almost exactly four years ago, December 23, 2002. Vocally, Hayes drifts in and out of Bowie territory, but never stays for long, he even draws brief comparisons to Bryan Ferry. Musically he drapes strings, horns, and baubles over the songs and he often warms things up with some welcome soul. This song, "Greyhound Bus Station" was an instant favourite, but then again, Hayes is the type of writer and artist whose work grows on you over time... so I get the feeling that my faves of this artist will shift over time.

[mp3] greyhound bus station

[mp3] no education
[mp3] i sing silence [unmastered rough mix from his work in progress]
mp3s via salon.com's audiofile - link to audiofile post

Visit the hype machine for more mp3s.

Fed Tracklist
1. Whose Blues
2. I've Changed My Number
3. Blown Away
4. So Blind
5. Greyhound Bus Station
6. No Education
7. Sound Of San Francisco
8. Born Togerther
9. Unis
10. Whose Blues Anyway
11. What'll We Do?
12. Having It All
13. Fed
14. The Woods

The indie label Drag City has released an album of Plush songs called Underfed which is different versions of songs from Fed. Did I mention he likes to re-record, there's likely another version of Fed sitting in a box somewhere.