Various Artists
Issue #28
The Sound the Hare Heard (Kill Rock Stars)
By Beth Capper
Published: June 1st, 2006 | 10:10am
Olympia, Washington: a playground for artist-types and home to two of the most influential indie underground record labels in the game – Calvin Johnson’s K and Slim Moon’s Kill Rock Stars. At K, Johnson continues to do what he has always done best: uncovering and documenting the thriving DIY music community he helped build. However, the older he gets, Johnson’s taste and passion for music never seems to age.
The same cannot be said of Slim Moon. Although KRS continues to put out the excellent riot grrl and post-feminist punk and pop records it’s always been known for; Moon’s personal musical palate seems to be leaning toward easy listening. Or at least that’s how it seems if you take his hand-picked compilation, The Sound the Hare Heard, as evidence. The songs that make up this compilation are predominately uninspired renderings of the alt-country genre, and while most of them were unknown to me on first listen, there are a few you’ll recognize; Sufjan Stevens’ “Adlai Stevenson” for one, a song that doesn’t stray too wildly from his typical ecclesiastical indie fare. (Perhaps the reason why Stevens is able to churn out a record for every state in America lies in the fact that he rarely varies his musical formula.)
However, there are a few notable tracks that stand out. Laura Veirs’ wistful ballad, “Cast a Hook in Me,” provides some much needed charisma, while opener Devin Davis’ “When the Angels Lift Our Eyelids in the Morning” is a raw acoustic ballad utilizing guitar and harmonica, which penetrates with a passion and force distinctly lacking in the generality of songs here.
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