further introductions!

while I'm at the posting on this very dreary fall evening-

martin bemberg over at Lamictal Glade shot me an endorsement and he's really much more deserving of it than I.

I've been happy to call Martin my friend over the past odd month or so that I have been living here in Fayetteville, Arkansas. Past the fact that he is just an all-around fine fellow, he's also a founding member of a local band, the Memphis Pencils, who you can listen to here.

I've repeatedly stressed to Martin how great I think his band is and I have a reputation for being a harsh critic. The Memphis Pencils have a excellent musical aesthetic and a virtuoso grasp of texture that they share with fellow Fayetteville contemporaries St. Anthony. (This is no coincidence: St. Anthony's Neil Lord is a former member of the Pencils and a frequent collaborator with Martin).

The Memphis Pencils are characterized by evocative lyrics marked by literary whimsy, songs that move from one catchy movement to the next in a way that conjures up late 60s baroque pop, and sometimes endearingly ramshackle vocal harmonies aided by the band's unflinchingly brotherly demeanor.

now that I'm done plugging I hope that's enough to get you to give them a good chance. Expect more scribblings in the coming days.

-SD

an introduction.