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Vague Tidings [LP]

Vague Tidings [LP]

$22.99 USD
$22.99 USD
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The raw inspiration for Vague Tidings, Elephant Micah's third effort for Western Vinyl, comes from a DIY tour of the 49th state. It was a trip that went off the beaten path-sometimes a bit too far for comfort. Now, over a decade later, listeners find songwriter-producer Joseph O'Connell stationed at a creaky spinet piano, singing about the Alaskan sky. Throughout, his lyrics take a new angle on a pet theme: human encounters with the natural world. Vague Tidings places these encounters in the American West and, at times, in it's sci-fi corollary, outer space. It's imagery draws from the allure of Alaska, the idea of Western prosperity, and the human relationship to wilderness more broadly. Often, O'Connell sings about the goal of capturing and commodifying nature. In poetic sketches of resource extraction industries and dark sky tourism, frontier lust runs amok. Pipelines catch fire and stars disappear, all to the tune of a stark, uncanny Americana. It was 2006 when O'Connell received an unexpected invitation to gig in Alaska. Details were sparse, but the idea was seductive. He grabbed a guitar, boarded a discount flight in Indianapolis, and piled into an old RV in Anchorage with an assortment of other young folkies. What followed was somewhere between a concert tour, a camping trip, and an extended jam session, all taking place under the legendary midnight sun. By necessity, the venues were non-traditional-a public library here, a health food store there-and half the playing went unobserved by any audience at all. For a couple weeks, O'Connell immersed himself in Alaskan life: he cheered on the Homer 4th of July parade, drank from rivulets on the Matanuska Glacier, and, in a terrifying turn at the end of the trip, got stalked by a black bear at Hatcher Pass. "I started to wonder at some point," he recalls, "whether this kind of tour was a little too risky for me." When he caught his flight back to the lower 48, it was kind of a relief. Unpacking, O'Connell found he had some new artistic resources at his disposal, including a camera full of low-res digital images and a greatly improved clawhammer banjo technique. So he started making songs. "I'd already written about Roman ruins and medieval cathedrals and so forth," he says. "When I got back from Alaska, I began to draw more from the idea of 'new worlds' rather than a European 'old world.'" This new material expressed itself in metaphors of mountain climbing, gold prospecting, and stellar observation. An American tradition of cowboy bronzes and sublime landscapes tends to glorify Western expansion. For his part, O'Connell intended to cast doubt on it. "What I had in mind, I think, was a kind of song that, instead of celebrating progress, was broadly anxious about where it was leading," he explains. Vague Tidings is a sustained, hallucinatory rendering of this theme. In style, it's eight songs follow a switchback path between foggy incantations and mountain anthems. Made with a small cohort of acoustic instrumentalists, the record is rough hewn, but easy on the ears. Opener "Glacier Advisors" sounds a warning for the anthropocene, describing environmental pillagers that "encircle the earth and then dive for her prize." "Eastern Callers," for it's part, mashes up astronomy with Alaskan fakelore in a surreal account of the Aurora Borealis. "Your callers have come from the East," locals tell the aurora. They're paranoid about foreign visitors, who supposedly want to conceive children under the illuminated sky (a real-life xenophobic myth). But the aurora itself is moving on from it's possessive guardians-"being drawn away" by the magnetism of solar winds (an actual scientific phenomenon).O'Connell's strange northern exposure has had a lasting impact that goes beyond his Elephant Micah project. The year after the trip, he enrolled as a folklore studies graduate student in another northwest state, at the University of Oregon. Seeing the influence of the folk music revival in Alaska was part of what sparked that move. "The family that invited me on the tour was big into traditional music," he remembers. "That trip deepened the mystery for me of who gravitates toward 'old songs' and why." More recently, he's made trips back to the northwest to do field research for a cultural program called the Oregon Folklife Network. The time he's spent with regional personalities-from maritime singers to self-described "water witches"-has kept him puzzling over the identity of the broader region. "I think we tend to imagine the western states as a kind of testing ground for American ruggedness and independence. These are things I try to examine or question in songs. And oftentimes, in a folklife project, I'm interviewing people who are also putting their spin on those ideals."It took a while for O'Connell to make a record of his Alaska songs. But the passage of time seems to have turned this material, like celluloid film, into something extremely combustible. In 2019, the time felt right to do some preservation work. "The more it sinks in that the planet is at risk, and that we belong to nature rather than vice versa, the more relevant these songs feel to me," O'Connell says. To put Vague Tidings down on tape, O'Connell assembled some of his favorite musicians in Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina area, where he's lived since 2015. They crowded into a converted utility shed and began to jam on the unearthed compositions. As much as the songs themselves, O'Connell's collaborators shine. Libby Rodenbough (Mipso) bows and plucks a detuned fiddle, Matt Douglas (Mountain Goats) breathes life into various woodwinds, and Matt O'Connell (Chorusing, Lean Year) sets the pace on a two-piece drum set. Their loose, imaginative playing pushes Vague Tidings beyond singer-songwriter tropes into something richer in texture. Ultimately, this is foreboding but spacious music, with plenty of room for reconsidering life on earth.

Tracklist:

  1. Glacier Advisors
  2. Eastern Callers
  3. Pipe Diversions / Bored Auroras
  4. Occidental Blue
  5. Return to the Abandoned Observatory
  6. From Anti-Gravity
  7. The Cantor/ the Labrador
  8. Vague Tidings

UPC: 843563130865
Label: Western Vinyl
Release Date: 4.9.21
Format: Vinyl

Comic Book Preorder Policy

Golden Apple Comics Comic Book Preorder Info

What is a preorder?

A preorder is an order placed for an item that has not yet been released. For comic books and collectibles, we offer preorders to allow customers to reserve their copies in advance. This ensures they will receive the item they want and eliminates the worry of it selling out before they have a chance to buy it.

What is the difference between a pull list or subscription and a preorder?

A comic book pull list is similar to preordering books in advance, but with a few key differences. Preorders offer more flexibility, whereas a pull list can be harder to adjust. Since pull lists are typically set months in advance, adding or removing titles can be tricky. On the other hand, preorders can be placed closer to the release date— even the week of release— as long as stock is available. While there are differences, preorders can still function much like a traditional subscription pull, allowing you to secure the books you want ahead of time.

Do I pay up front for my preorder?

This process helps us verify that payment is valid and ensures you are committed to your order. Since we need to place preorders months in advance, we base our orders on the demand from our customers. By securing payment up front, we're able to reserve the books specifically for you, guaranteeing you get what you've requested.

What is “FOC” or Final Order Cut  Off?

This is the final deadline for retailers to place book orders before they go to print. We cap our orders at the Final Order Cutoff (FOC). This date usually falls 1–2 months before the release date, though for hardcovers, trade paperbacks, manga, and specialty items, the timeline may be even longer. Certain items require orders to be placed at least six months in advance.

What can I find current preorders?

On the homepage of www.goldenapplecomics.com, we offer a dropdown menu organized by release date for both current and past preorders. A new catalog is uploaded around the 3rd or 4th weekend of each month once it becomes available. Cover sets and CGC offerings are typically added within a few days of the catalog’s release.

Does Golden Apple Comics offer discounts on preorders?

Yes, comic books are discounted for approximately the 1st 1 - 2 months when we list the catalog.  As it gets closer to the time we need to order, the discounts will be removed.  We encourage you to place your orders sooner so that we can get our ordering locked in and receive the discount.

How does shipping work?

If you place a preorder containing items with multiple release dates, your order will ship after the latest release date in the order. We typically ship new preorders within 5–10 business days of their release. However, delays can occur due to late arrivals, damages, or other unforeseen issues. We make every effort to secure replacements for damaged books, but this process can extend the turnaround time by several weeks.

Can I combine multiple orders into a single shipment?

Yes, Golden Apple Comics offers a combined shipping option for buyers with multiple orders. This allows you to add additional orders at discounted shipping rates. You’ll pay our standard shipping rate on your first order, and for subsequent orders, you can select the combined shipping option to reduce costs.

Please note that when choosing combined shipping, delivery times will vary depending on the number of books, the latest release date in your order, and how frequently you place orders.

HOW TO USE GOLDEN APPLE COMICS COMBINED SHIPPING

What grade is guaranteed on preorder books?

For preorder books, we strive to ship copies that are Near Mint (NM) 9.4 or better. While we understand collectors seek the highest grades, we cannot guarantee 9.8s on every book, as this is not always realistic. Printing imperfections and production variances make it impossible for every book to achieve a 9.8 grade.

What cover is gauranteed on preorder books?

Our listings use stock photos provided by publishers. These images may display unfinished artwork—such as sketches or virgin covers (without trade dress or logos). If a cover is a virgin variant, it will be clearly stated in the title.
If the title does not mention a virgin cover, the final product will include logos and trade dress.

It is industry standard for publishers to provide preview images to retailers before release. These previews often do not include logos, but the final printed product will.

Do you ship preorder books bagged and boarded?

Yes, all standard-sized comic books are shipped bagged and boarded. However, exceptions include items such as hardcovers, trade paperbacks, manga, and large-format or oversized books.

What if my preorder book is damaged?

We take great care in screening all books for damage and packing them securely to ensure they arrive in the best possible condition. However, despite our best efforts, a small number of books may still sustain damage during transit. If you encounter any issues, please email us at gappleorders@gmail.com, and we will be happy to assist you.

Can I cancel or return my preorder? 

We do not accept cancellations, returns, or refunds on presale items. Any item sold before its official release date is considered a presale. All sales are final.

 

Hardcover (HC), Trade Paperback (TP), Softcover, Manga and Book Preorder Policy

Items including but not limited to Hardcovers (HC), Trade Paperbacks (TPB/TP), Softcover (SC), Manga, Graphic Novels (GN), box sets are ordered at the time when a customer places an order. They will be shipped after they arrive from the publisher. We do not guarantee ship dates on HC, TPB, SC, GN, Manga or Box Sets.  Typical turnaround time on these books is 1 - 3 weeks after the order is placed on nonpreorder items.  On preorder items the release date is stated in the title and items will ship after that stated date.

Orders for these items are not refundable.

Refunds Policy

If you have a problem with your item that is damaged or missing please email us.  We can offer a refund or exchange if we have stock.  Refunds will be issued within 5 business days back to the account you paid with Paypal, Credit Cards, Bank Account etc.  Refunds cannot be sent to alternate accounts.

We do not accept returns for any of the following:

No cancellations, returns or refunds on PRESALE items.  Any items sold BEFORE the release dates are considered PRESALE.  We will not refund ratios (IE 1:10, 1:15, 1:20, 1:25, 1:50, 1:100, 1:200, 1:500 or any other type of ratio) for any reason.  We will not refund any other PRESALE books. We place orders based on your orders. If you are ordering presale books we are paying for your books months in advance to secure copies specifically for you and we cannot return them for a refund.  If you are ordering signed books, CGC/CBCS graded items that are preorder, please do allow plenty of time for delivery. 

No Cancellations or refunds if you select our combined shipping option and do not qualify for a free shipment.  Please review our SHIPPING POLICY for more details.  Minimum purchase for free shipping is $100.  Combined shipping orders must total over $100 to qualify for a free shipment. If your order is less than $100 you will be billed for our flat rate shipping - $6.99.

No cancellations on in stock books.  Any in stock books that cannot be shipped immediately due to them being in orders with PRESALE items will not be refunded.  In stock books with no PRESALE items in the order will ship ASAP when the order is ready to fill. 

No refunds or returns on accurately described items.  Books without a stated grade will be offered as NM 9.4 or better with no guarantee of 9.8s.  We use industry standards to grade including Overstreet, CGC and CBCS standards.  Not familiar with grading check out the following references:

CBCS Comic Grading Scale

Overstreet Comic Grading Standards

We will not accept returns or exchanges any book with out a stated grade where they would be NM 9.4 or better books.  We cannot promise 9.8s on every book, that's not realistic.  Printing is imperfect and does not allow for every book to be 9.8. 

If the entire print run has similar defects like minor spine dings, bindery issues etc then you will be shipped what we receive unless there is a reprint announced in a timely manner by the publisher.  Then you will be given the option to receive the reprint.  In the cases where the entire print run has defects we only promise 9.2 or better.  

Please note that the following defects may be allowed in NM 9.4 as long as there is not an accumulation of defects.  

bindery defects like minor to moderate corner tears, white along the edge of the spine, covers that are offset from the pages (common on cardstock covers) - bindery defects may not affect the grade much if at all

printing defects like a slight color rubs on the back covers, small wrinkles in the paper that were present on the paper rolls prior to the books being printed, paper that is "wavy" from the printing process

printer lines or grooves, they some times run the entire length of the cover or just part of the length.  These are from print rollers.  Usually on cardstock or foil covers.  

Printer Line On Comic
Printer Line On Comic

2 - 3 small color breaking spine dings or minor non color breaking spine dings

This specific photo example was also a line wide issue, every copy had the same problem. 

Spine Ding Color Break On Comic
Spine Ding On Comic
another example of a printing defect, this time its a white line on the edge of each book, this was on every issue of this specific book as well:
printing defect on comic book

Shipping Policy

PRESALE ITEMS - All PRESALE items have release dates stated in the title of the listing.  These items will only be available to ship AFTER the item has been released and is in hand.  Presale release dates are subject to change without notice.  We do not guarantee release dates set by publishers or manufacturers.  If you purchase multiple presale items your order will not ship until after the last item is in stock.  Presale items will ship within 5 - 10 days of us receiving them if your entire order is ready to fill.

IN STOCK ITEMS - All in stock items will ship with in 5 - 10 business days of the order being placed in most cases.  If you place an order for a presale item that is going to be released or the release of the presale items has been delayed that will delay your shipment.  If your order contains both PRESALE and IN STOCK items, your order will not ship until after the last item is in stock.

PREORDER BOOKS INCLUDING TPB, HC, SC, GN, Manga and Box Sets - Items including but not limited to Hardcovers (HC), Trade Paperbacks (TPB/TP), Softcover (SC), Manga, Graphic Novels (GN), box sets are ordered at the time when a customer places an order. They will be shipped after they arrive from the publisher. We do not guarantee ship dates on HC, TPB, SC, GN, Manga or Box Sets. Preorders for these items are not refundable.

COMBINED SHIPPING - Golden Apple Comics offers buyers a combined shipping cost option across multiple orders.  Our combined shipping option allows you to add additional orders with free shipping. There is a 30 book, montly minimum for combined orders. This amounts to approx $120 - 150 minimum to get a free shipping. Please only use this option if you plan to place multiple orders.  

You pay our standard shipping on your first order.  On orders after that you can select our combined shipping option to combine your orders and get free shipping. 

When you select combined shipping, shipping times will vary based on the number of books, the final release date for an order, and frequency of orders. 

HOW TO USE GOLDEN APPLE COMICS COMBINED SHIPPING

SPLIT SHIPMENTS - Split shipments are done as a courtesy or as part of our combined shipping system. If you do not qualify for a split shipment you will be subject to shipping charges.  Please email us to request a split shipment.

IN STORE PICK UPS - Local pick ups will be filled as the items are available.  We will email customers when the pick ups are filled, and let them know the items are being sent to the shop.  We will partially fulfill your in-store pick-ups so you do not need to wait for the entire order to be available to receive items from your order.  Please allow 48 hrs from the fulfillment email for your order to arrive at the shop for pick up.

INSURANCE - Orders are shipped with insurance for both parties protection.

SIGNATURE CONFIRMATION - Orders may be shipped with signature confirmation at our discretion based on both our insurance and payment processors requirements to be covered and insure delivery to the customer.

Please see our RETURNS AND REFUNDS policy for more details.

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