Why it is fun to pay $20 to sit in the back and bullshit with your friend

I went to see Owl City at the Bowery Ballroom on Tuesday, September 15th but I couldn't tell you the setlist, I don't have pictures or any video footage and I didn't really take stock of the crowd. However, I did have a really good time even if I spent $20 to have background music. I had a great time because one of my closest friends was visiting and since I already had the tickets I took him. He also happens to be one of my favorite music nerds, one of the first people I tell when I have a new musical discovery. We have grandiose conversations that turn into debates about our favorite songs and bands and have done so for years. While we don't always agree - he always needs a band to have a 'sense of urgency' and I can take a lot more singer/songwriter and experimental indie rock - we always have a great time. So this is why I did not pay attention to you Owl City, sorry. I don't think you cared that much because you were clearly thrilled to see Taylor Swift doing her gawky/baby giraffe arm waving dance to most of your songs up in the balcony with a few friends and a beefy bodyguard. Congratulations on the sold out show in the U.S., you are following in the footsteps of other Euro boy band acts like Aqua, you should be grateful. We also congratulate on providing a perfect first date scenario – dark, not too loud you can’t hear each other but don’t talk too much because the rest of the crowd is into it, and there is a fucking string section which always plays into your sentimental side. What I can tell you about Owl City is the hilarious comments both of us fired at each other from the back bar aka the bourbon soaked peanut gallery: - Owl City, aka ----, looks exactly like Todd, the creepy artist brother in Wedding Crashers. We called him Celebration the entire night. - After a few songs Owl City said ‘I have a bit of a cold so I want everyone to sing.’ To which we reply, ‘You pay us then.’ At this point we realized we should stop trying to focus on the concert and revert to the back bar to entertain ourselves and stop destroying date night for the people surrounding us. - A new addition to an ongoing joke we have – “Just a girl and her piano, just a boy and his laptop.” - Owl City would do a great job of playing the soundtrack to a Volvo commercial. “Conservative but fun loving, expensive but popular, safe for kids, recommend driving if you live in a college town.” Robin Williams always said a radical conservative was a Volvo with a gun rack, which reminded us both of our favorite Robin Williams jokes, which filled up at least 20 more minutes of chat time during the concert. - I say, pretty loudly in the direction of our Euro boy band leader “Hey, how do you put this dresser together.” Friend joins in, “I love the new Birchwood line.”

Foresighting The XX and Family of the Year as two bands that will get BIG

I am calling it now - The UK band The XX and LA/Silverlake band Family of the Year are going to be big and popular by the end of the year. Both don't have that much information out about them and are newcomers but the buzz has been hitting me wave after wave and I am continuing the trend. I will have official confirmation of how good both bands are when I see them back to back on October 20th and October 21st when they come to New York.

Right now The XX are killing all over Europe, playing some of the dates with Florence & The Machine, which is another band I have really been into. The band is comprised of two boys and two girls from South London, they are only twenty but have producing abilities well beyond their years. Their sound is kind of like Massive Attack, Thievery Corporation or Hot Chip but more lyrical and they have that distant, slightly creepy, spacey sound down perfectly. It is perfect music to play while you are chilling with friends, bumping around the house doing little tasks or while getting some action (which makes sense since the tracks are chockablock full of sexual references). Their influences clearly come from R&B; they garnered a wave of buzz from covering Aaliyah's Hot Like Fire. These are the influences they list on their MySpace page: Aaliyah to CocoRosie, Rihanna to The Cure, Missy Elliott to Chromatics, The Kills to Ginuwine, Pixies to Mariah Carey and Justin Timberlake to Tracy + the plastics. Check out The XX album in the playlist on the right side of the screen - Intro, Basic Space, and Heart Skipped a Beat are my favorites. Also, look them up on MySpace for more tracks and other cities they are playing in November and December - http://www.myspace.com/thexx.

Family of the Year is a brand new find. I was told about them by their manager that lives in New York this past week. They are about to self-release their EP Where's The Sun on September 22nd, which is pretty incredible given that they have had such a huge response to their music even though they don't have an official album out yet. Ben Folds just asked Family of the Year to open for him on a few upcoming dates. The band is comprised of four guys and two girls; they describe their sound as 'post-teen spirit' and claim such influences as Chumbawumba, Barenaked Ladies, and System of a Down. They aren't on itunes or lala.com yet but you can hear several tracks on their MySpace page - http://www.myspace.com/familyoftheyear. They only have a few gigs in New York and LA up on their page but stay tuned, it is about to be packed with appearances. You will all have your chance to see them in a small venue the first time around and I suggest you take it. We all have stories about liking a band and not seeing them the first time around and the next opportunity you have is a big venue full of more late to the party teeny boppers than you can stomach.

Check out these other newcomers to my rotation:

Fitz and The Tantrums - good old soul with a modern twist a la Amy Winehouse or Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears. Their album title is genius Songs for a Breakup Volume 1.

YACHT - like The XX but a bit more pop, get up and dance.

The Antlers - a darker Explosions in the Sky at some points, a dash of Radiohead and pinch of Yeasayer.

Ramona Falls - Menomena side project. Good, creepy rock.

Finn Can Live in My House

- I peed my pants a little when he looked directly at me while I was taking this picture.

Have you ever seen a concert by yourself? I have come close a few times, such is the life of the avid music fan that always buys two tickets first and then finds people to go with later. My friend Evan once saved me from having to see Cat Power by myself at the 9:30 Club in D.C. - a fellow music fan, he understood and allowed me to give him the extra ticket as his upcoming birthday present (which kind of makes me sound like a selfish asshole now that I think about it). Anyway, I officially went to my first concert alone on July 30th - The Veils at the Mercury Lounge. You want to know what? It didn't even fucking matter I was by myself, Finn Andrews (frontman, songwriter) and Company were that good. I do have friends and there was a plan - my friend Jenny unfortunately moved to Chicago before we could see the band she loves so much and can be credited with bringing me into and my replacement friend bailed last minute - I am talking while I was walking to the venue I got the 'I have to bail' text. RUDE! (I am channeling Bon Qui Qui from Mad TV - 'Seccurrrityy!', watch it on YouTube, it is some funny shit.)

However, I sold my extra ticket, used bourbon for a little confidence, and marched right up to the front to watch The Veils. I had my camera and pen and pad and looked the part of the music journalist - take notes if you plan to go to a concert solo, this was a good idea. I was only a few feet from the stage because I wanted to see what Finn was going to do, he has a reputation for being a bit erratic onstage, singing with possessed passion and sweating his ass off. Here is the set list I ripped off the stage at the end:

My personal favorite going into the concert was The House She Lived In, because it is so much fun to sing. However, Calliope, Sun Gangs, and The Tide that Left and Never Came Back were killer songs live and have been solidly stuck in my head since. Here is a video of Jenny's favorite song - Sit Down by the Fire. To provide a little context, the video starts out while Finn is explaining that couples always think it is a love song (just like they do with U2's One or The Police's Every Breath You Take - I think these are the same couples that wear matching outfits on a vacation to Disney World childless). He always tells them it is explaining the death of a relationship, when everything is burning there is nothing left to do but sit down and watch it, get a little warmth from it when it is cold all around you. Good story, great song, but maybe don't listen to it when you are in that early post-breakup phase, might be kind of brutal for you.

Finn Andrews was born in London but spent part of his life in New Zealand, making him a Property of the Monarchy (POM) through and through. He has a thing for Sylvia Plath, the band name is said to have taken their name from the Plath poem A Birthday Present and has a song called Death & Co. which another poem title. The band members have changed a few times, I think for the better because the bassist Sophia Burn is hot and brings a good sound to the band. I would get their most recent CD Sun Gangs and work your way back, or download the songs from the set list. Either way, take note that this is a band du jour of mine.

Stay tuned for my tales from seeing the Kings of Leon at Red Rocks on August 9th! Here is a hint - it was from the 6th row just left of center - closer to the bathroom and beer tent.

Music and The Scarlet Letter

Did I ever tell you my favorite story about music and education?

It has to do with Fiona Apple, Hester Prynne, A midterm test, A ponytailed teacher that was the product of a northeastern liberal arts college, and me getting a big, fat f***ing A. I didn't think so.

I was dropped kicked into the deep end of English literature like most sophomore high school students. It was painful at times, mostly because of the weight of the Norton Anthology of American Literature I had to carry around all year or maybe because I had a huge crush on a guy in my class at the same time I was battling a little acne, had to get glasses, and at 5'9 couldn't fit in anywhere. 

We spent the better part of the first semester reading through and dissecting Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter (1850). I loved the book and so did my teacher Mr. Cze...(I have never been able to spell his name correctly, it is not to protect his privacy, consider that a bonus for him). Now I will save you from my summary of the plot and characters and get to the music part of it . That said, here is a link to Sparknotes if you want to brush up - I am looking at you the entire back row of baseball players that only perked up when they heard Hester Prynne spelunked the minister - http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/scarlet

After that much time on the book everyone knew the bulk of the midterm, a few short essays and one long essay, was going to be about The Scarlet Letter. None of us were prepared for the actual question of the long essay.

The question, though a little muddled by my own hard living memory was:

Below are the lyrics to the modern song 'Criminal' by Fiona Apple. Argue how the lyrics do or do not explain the main plot in 'The Scarlett Letter'. Cite specific examples and character references.

Criminal 

by Fiona Apple 

I've been a bad bad girl I've been careless With a delicate man And it's a sad sad world When a girl will break a boy Just because she can Don't you tell me to deny it I've done wrong and I want to Suffer for my sins I've come to you 'Cause I need Guidance to be true And I just don't know Where I can begin

What I need is A good defense 'Cause I'm feelin' Like a criminal And I need To be redeemed To the one I've sinned against Because he's all I ever knew of love Heaven help me For the way I am Save me from These evil deeds Before I get them done I know tomorrow brings The consequence at hand But I keep livin' this day like The next will never come Oh help me but Don't tell me to deny it I've got to cleanse myself Of all these lies till I'm good enough for him I've got a lot to lose And I'm bettin' high So I'm beggin' you Before it ends Just tell me where to begin What I need Is a good defense 'Cause I'm feelin' Like a criminal And I need To be redeemed To the one I've sinned against Because he's all I ever knew of love Let me know the way Before there's hell to pay Give me room to lay The law and let me go I've got to make a play To make my lover stay So what would an angel say The devil wants to know...

Now I think part of the reason why I got so excited for this question and still reference it as one of my coolest stories while being edudimacated as well as the teacher that left a profound impression of me is that I knew the song by heart already - I wholly subscribed to the Fiona Apple vibe, it blended in nicely with the Sarah McLachlan and Tori Amos in my repertoire. Like I am always saying, OWN IT - own what you like.

I knew that song, I sang that song in a car both with friends and solo, the video of the song by Mark Romanek is still one of the coolest and was on MTV all the time (videos on MTV, the novelty). That said, I didn't ever combine my music tastes and pastime favorite as a source of true education, at least in the traditional sense I knew education to date. As a result of combining the two, I think Mr. Cze... not only got proof that I had read AND comprehended the book but how I could relate to it, he got me to be a little bit more personal with my formal private school writing. That was just the beginning of making music a key subject in life, a source of my continuous education.

P.S. - Fiona Apple IS Hester Prynne, only without the red meat, cream, potatoes, and seamstress abilities.

Lillian Gish as Hester Prynne

Fiona Apple in the 'Criminal' Video, Demi as Hester!

Note to self - it was fun writing that and you should NOT have put it off for over a month. Writing is fun, not work, at least for now.... Stay Tuned!

So Here is What I am Listening to...

Hey everyone,

At the request of many people I have built a new playlist and posted it on the right hand side of the page. You can listen to it for free on www.lala.com, I love this site and you should all check it out and start saving a lot of money because almost everything on the web site is free and you can buy an entire album for .80 cents or the actual mp3 files and move them to your itunes or wherever you keep your music.

I hope your summer is as rocking as mine. Next up, working behind the scenes for the Wanderlust Festival in Lake Tahoe July 24-26!

Here are the songs for you, check them out at will:

1. 'French Navy' by Camera Obscura

2. 'Dimestore Diamond' by Gossip

3. 'Eet' by Regina Spektor

4. 'Burial' by Miike Snow

5. 'Paradise Knife Fights' by Vampire Hands

6. 'Folding Chair' by Regina Spektor

7. 'Fools' by The Dodos

8. 'Ramona' by The Pains of Being Pure at Heart

9. 'Four Letter Word' by Gossip

10. 'No Fun' by Vampire Hands

11. 'Always the Same' by The Legends

12. 'Quiet Little Voices' by We Were Promised Jetpacks

13. 'Dance Anthem of The 80's' by Regina Spektor

14. 'Cape Canaveral' by Conor Oberst

15. 'Lights & Music' by Cut Copy

16. 'Shout Me Out' by TV on The Radio

17. 'Baby I'm Just A Fool' by Spiritualized

18. 'Dog Days Are Over' by Florence & The Machine

19. 'Transliterator' by Devotchka

20. 'Mexico City' by Jolie Holland

21. 'You And I' by Wilco

22. 'Seven Wonders' by Fleetwood Mac

23. 'Good Times Roll Pt. 2' by RJD2

24. 'Howl' by Florence & The Machine

Concerts I have recently attended or will be attending in July/August:

As always, I highly recommend checking to see when these bands are playing in your area. I wouldn't steer you in the wrong direction:

- Dr. Dog

- Phosphorescent

- Matt & Kim

- Pains of Being Pure at Heart

- Kaki King

- Dirty Projectors

- Magnolia Electric

- The Veils

- Sons of Sons

- Animal Collective

- Friendly Fires

- Kings of Leon

There is Nothing Left to Say...

I am sorry for the few of you that are disappointed that I did not post about the death of Michael Jackson's death. Sorry, I was on vacation and more importantly I just can't - every single angle has been covered and I admit that I am already at the stage where I am more interested in the funny jokes I am hearing about Michael Jackson rather than absorbing every intimate detail of his final days or key elements of his biography.

However, I am happy to buy any of you a $3 signed MJ poster from the guys around Penn Station, a $10 airbrushed shirt of MJ during the Thriller days from the table at the 116th Street 1 stop outside of Columbia University or head up to Harlem and take a video of the people still mimicking MJ's moves outside of the Apollo Theatre for you. Also, given my proximity to Chinatown in NYC I could get any of the above at wholesale, just let me know.

R.I.P Michael Jackson

P.S. - Do one of you know when it is bedtime in Neverland?

P.S.S. - Go find the answer to that joke

Patriotic Songs - A Factual Tribute

Happy 4th of July! I hope everyone had a laid-back, food-filled, fireworks in the background, more sun than rain holiday. I hope Canada Day on July 1st was equally successful!

I am dedicating this brief entry to one of my best friends NS (for confidentiality). I pride myself on having friends that have wonderful and diverse quirks (obsessed with the number 3, afraid of birds, eats hummus everyday, avoids making left hand turns, loves face cakes - cakes with screened faces of the recipients, etc) and my favorite quirk of NS's is her love of patriotic songs. NS and I met at work, she sat right next to me and trained me. Within two days of working next to her I caught her humming You're a Grand Old Flag - at 9:00 am in the middle of August. As our friendship developed far beyond just work colleagues I realized she LOVES any and all patriotic songs year round. Therefore, even though the 4th of July has already come to pass, go ahead and whistle or hum any patriotic song you can remember.

Side note - I got the lyrics off of the Boy Scouts web site and they have almost all patriotic songs lyrics, so random: http://www.scoutsongs.com/categories/patriotic-songs.html

Facts about You're a Grand Old Flag:

- George M. Cohan wrote it in 1906 for his stage musical, George Washington, Jr.

- The song was first performed at Herald Square Theater in New York City

- It became the first song to sell over a million copies of sheet music - I am crediting this to middle school bands and the Boy Scouts

- Cohan originally named the tune You're a Grand Old Rag, a quote from a vet he encountered. However, so many people objected to referring to the U.S. flag as a 'rag' that Cohan changed it

You're a Grand Old Flag

by George M. Cohan

 

You're a grand old flag, You're a high flying flag And forever in peace may you wave. You're the emblem of The land I love. The home of the free and the brave. Ev'ry heart beats true 'neath the Red, White and Blue, Where there's never a boast or brag. Should auld acquaintance be forgot, Keep your eye on the grand old flag.

You're a grand old flag, You're a high flying flag And forever in peace may you wave. You're the emblem of The land I love. The home of the free and the brave. Ev'ry heart beats true 'neath the Red, White and Blue, Where there's never a boast or brag. Should auld acquaintance be forgot, Keep your eye on the grand old flag.

Phoenix! Phoenix!! Phoenix!!!

6.22.209 - Terminal 5 - New York, NY - Amazing Baby (pass!) and PHOENIX (Yes please!)

The French band Phoenix has really been causing headlines since debuting their newest album Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix. However, this has been a tour de force band for years, trust me (this is their fourth album + one live album). For those of you that really like the movie Lost in Translation, you have already been exposed to a Phoenix song - Too Young is on the movie's soundtrack. That is because lead singer Tommy Mars has been dating the director of the movie Sofia Coppola for several years; they have a daughter together and live in Paris. As if Sofia's life could get any worse, seriously, I feel bad for that Coppola.

I am settling for the ability to have seen an incredible show put on by Tommy and crew this past Friday. I ignored the four avenue walk to Terminal 5 which might as well be in the Hudson River; I bypassed the sold out crowd waiting in long lines for drinks and I battled the Francophones to get as close to the stage as I could; I had to concentrate hard but I blocked out an introduction to the evening by still bald DJ Matt Pinfield from WRXP 101.9 AND the mediocre opener, Brooklyn band Amazing Baby. I will admit that the guitarist for Amazing Baby was pretty damn good and entertaining, partly because he was a true hard rock hair band guy that didn't seem to know he was in an indie band where the lead singer and the drummer wore headbands. 

All the typical New York annoyances slipped away when Phoenix came on right at 9:45pm and pounded out three great songs in a row - Lisztomania, Long Distance Call (love this song), and Consolation Prizes. That got the crowd near Jonas Brothers decibel level and they stayed enthusiastic for Phoenix even through a few weird instrumental songs in the middle of the set, even Tommy Mars left the stage for a song. However, in their defense it was pretty cool electronic pop and it is what Europe loves them for, they are often compared to Jamiroquai,  but the U.S. only knows their lyric-friendly songs so it was a classic case of jumping on the band wagon. By the time Phoenix came back on the stage for the encore you could tell they were fucking loving controlling that big of a crowd in the U.S., so much so that they shed their too cool French air (think Robin Williams' impersonation "Here the baby is smoking. Does that piss you off"?!) and smiled and thanked the crowd and just let us scream for a bit. 

If you are new to the band here are a few little nuggets:

- They are from Versailles, the same place as Air and Daft Punk. In fact, they got their start as the backing band for a few Air songs. 

- Their first two singles came out in 2000 and are still two of my favorite songs of theirs - If I Ever Feel Better and Too Young.

- They were the soundtrack for a Dior Homme fashion show

- They have lyrics that are easy enough to pick up after a few listens, catchy and fun to sing. The lyrics are also smart enough to not be disappointed when you learn the lyrics enough to translate what the songs are actually about. For example, I absolutely love the Kings of Leon and my cousin and I both love their song Soft, but go learn the lyrics and then you can tell me what it is about and see if you keep singing the lyrics out loud.

So go see Phoenix. They are coming to almost every town near you (except for you Seattle, take it up with the band). New Yorkers they are coming back around in September to play Central Park with the too hot too handle for their first album, Passion Pit.

It was a great concert and a great night, even if it ended with me standing under a sign that said Western Beef. Don't ask, New York is weird man.

The first 90 seconds if Phoenix's setlist - the song is Lisztomania

Phoenix Setlist:

Lisztomania Long Distance Call Consolation Prizes Lasso Napolean Says Funky Square Dance Rally Girlfriend Armistice Love Like a Sunset Run Run Run  Too Young Sometimes in the Fall Rome

ENCORE:  If I Ever Feel Better 1901

David Byrne in Virginal White, in Public, with Interpretive Dancers

... this is how I spent my favorite Monday of 2009. On June 8th, David Byrne and Company (dance and music) played a free concert to kick off Celebrate Brooklyn, a summer concert series in Prospect Park in Brooklyn. He had everyone onstage wear white, play white instruments, and not only keep good rhythm but demonstrate rhythm via dancing. 3 dancers ran on and off the stage performing interpretive dance/ballet/acrobatics; at one point they danced while sitting on office chairs and David participated in the choreography. They were David's New Age sprites.

Mr. Byrne is currently on a year-long world tour performing the music he has created with Brian Eno throughout his career along with a few Talking Heads favorites like Once in a Lifetime (my favorite song in 8th grade) and Burning Down the House - phew because I am pretty sure 67% of the people would have said the show was only fair if he had not played that gem. Side note - does anyone really know the words to that song, really?

David greeted the very diverse, very Brooklyn crowd by saying, "I'll be your waiter tonight. My name is Dave and here are the specials." He then launched into Strange Overtones, one of my favorite songs from their recent album and tour title 'Everything that Happens will Happen Today.'

I read up on David Byrne and had no idea the versatility of this artist: Obviously the creative force of the Talking Heads; he directed and starred in the cult movie True Stories; partnered with Twyla Tharp for a Broadway show called The Catherine Wheel; he won an Oscar for best composition in the The Last Emperor and has been featured on multiple soundtracks; he is the founder of Luaka Bop which is a world music record label; he launched an internet radio station called Radio David Byrne; he is also a visual artist with several installations both to his name and anonymously, including designing bike racks in 2008 in Manhattan and Brooklyn.

AND he manages a web site where he frequently posts personal comments http://www.davidbyrne.com/. Permission to feel like a lazy schmuck granted.

Go see David Byrne because he is the coolest and most versatile 57 year old guy on the planet. He can still sing, dance, and entertain, and you will be surprised by how many of the songs you will know even if you don't think you know his Brian Eno collaborative work because it runs consistently through his career. So buckle up for a good summer ride. I am jealous of you Coloradans that have the luxury of seeing him at Red Rocks on June 20th.

My final note is a personal comment that David Byrne posted on his web site in July 2007. I think it sums up the current situation/dying of the traditional music business. My thoughts exactly:

"There was another piece in the Times today about yet another 20 percent drop in CD sales. (Are they running the same news piece every 4 months?) Jeez guys, the writing's on the wall. How long do the record execs think they'll have those offices and nice parking spaces? (Well, more than half of all record A&R and other execs are gone already, so there should be plenty of parking space). They, the big 4 or 5, should give the catalogues back to the artists or their heirs as a gesture before they close the office doors, as they sure don't know how to sell music anymore. (I have Talking Heads stuff on the shelf that I can't get Warner to release.) The "industry" had a nice 50-year ride, but it's time to move on. Luckily, music remains more or less unaffected — there is a lot of great music out there. A new model will emerge that includes rather than sues its own customers, that realizes that music is not a product in the sense of being a thing — it's closer to fashion, in that for music fans it tells them and their friends who they are, what they feel passionately about and to some extent what makes life fun and interesting. It's about a sense of community — a song ties a whole invisible disparate community together. It's not about selling the (often) shattered plastic case CDs used to come in." - David Byrne

Thanks to lala.com for bring the factual goods to the table this time around.

Why I spent $193 Dollars Today...

I will tell all of you, tell you proudly, that today I was 1 of 2 people I know that spent $193 on two prime seats to see the Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring supported by a full orchestra at Radio City Music Hall on October 10th - bring your hobbit garb! Howard Shore's original and Academy Award winning score will be conducted by Ludwig Wicki and you know this German is taking the task seriously; he has done this job a few times now which puts me at ease. Side note - Howard Shore was the first band leader of Saturday Night Live - how far this Canadian has come.

Apparently, performing the musical score to a film is very, very difficult and non-stop the entire length of the three hour movie. So the price of my ticket includes getting to see an entire orchestra 'exercise'. I grew up loving the story of the Lord of the Rings series, my dad was a huge fan, and Peter Jackson's films made it even better. I thought the culmination of my love for this series was visiting several of the locations they shot the trilogy in New Zealand but I now say with confidence that this is going to be the coolest AND simultaneously the fucking nerdiest thing I have ever done, spent money on, or admitted to. You can buy tickets secretly and join me on October 10th, a Saturday night, or the Friday before on October 9th at Ticketmaster.

Get even more excited once you have tickets by seeing some of the clips that are on You Tube.

Music placement in TV shows, commercials, and movies has become a very big business in the past few years and has helped to turbo launch the career of many bands/musicians. This nerdy blog is a little shout out to the instrumental music in movies which is pivotal to developing the mood of a scene effectively throughout multiple mediums. I can only imagine how difficult it is to compose music that will help to translate and build emotion, culminate a plot, essentially develop a scene beyond the visual and spoken word. So kudos to you Howard Shore, and to you Ludwig, and let us not forget you Mr. 4th chair tuba player. I will be enjoying your work from the Orchestra Seating area on October 10th; I may or may not be dressed like the chief of the Nazgul. PLEASE do not mess up, I will notice, hold it together the entire time because the music that goes with the sound of Boromir's demise will be pivotal to my and my party's enjoyment.

Good journey until then.

Be the first to listen to the new Wilco album!

This just in from Digital Music News:

*Wilco is now streaming its upcoming album online, a reaction to a recent leak.  Wilco (The Album) is available on-demand on wilcoworld.net, or, as many have already discovered, as a free download across the web.

Click HERE to start your listening bliss!

This album is not due out until June 30, 2009 so you're welcome.

WILCO

Album Tracks:

1. Wilco (the song)  2. Deeper Down 3. One Wing 4. Bull Black Nova  5. You And I featuring Feist  6. You Never Know   7. Country Disappeared   8. Solitaire   9. I'll Fight   10. Sonny Feeling  11. Everlasting Everything 

My quick thoughts:

I think it is a little pretentious to be a band called Wilco, call your album Wilco, and have your first song called Wilco where the chorus is 'Wilco, Wilco, Wilco, Wilco...'

The song 'You and I' is cute and simple and featuring indie chart topper Feist.

If you have been a fan of Wilco for awhile and really liked their sixth album from 2007 Sky Blue Sky then you will really like this album; though a lot of other bloggers think it is more like their fifth album A Ghost is Born. My favorite is still Yankee Hotel Foxtrot; the song Jesus, etc. is one of my go to songs for every occasion.

Info on Wilco for beginners:

They are an indie rock band with definitive and consistent streaks of alternative country; they are from and still based in Chicago. They formed in 1994, most members of the band came from the band Uncle Tupelo. Jeff Tweedy is the lead singer, songwriter, and unstable star of Wilco. He has cleaned up his act in the past three years and can now be counted on to show up and put on a good show; displaying solid frontman skills while maintaining relative sobriety. Wilco (The Album) is their seventh studio album so it is safe to say they have their sound down, they know their fans, and they are beloved by their record company.

The Pomegranates are in season

Let me first apologize Pomegranates. I think you guys are absolutely great; I thought this when I first saw you at The Bell House back in February when you played with your buddies the French Kicks. I see nothing but good things coming your way; which was evident by the scene of label scouts (I can pick those earplug wearing soda sippers out anywhere now but it took some practice!) on May 13th when I last saw you play at the Mercury Lounge (Houston & Essex for the you virtual visitors of NYC or the Upper West Side). So why have I waited 15 days to post my praises? I can only say this - I am an asshole. Sorry, life got in the way - my new nephew says hello though! Here is a short but sweet plug for you guys. Good luck finishing up your tour and thanks again for my 'Poms Not Bombs' shirt.

The Pomegranates is a Cincinnati quartet that  formed in late 2006 and just released their newest album Everybody, Come Outside! on April 14th, 2009; their debut album Everything is Alive came out in May 2008. I first heard them on my beloved online radio station Woxy.com, formerly "97X--Bam!--The Future of Rock & Roll" famously stated by Dustin Hoffman in Rain Man.

I think they got it right when they called themselves 'art-pop denizens'. The band consists of:

Joey Cook

vocals + guitar + keys + percussion + bass

Isaac Karns

guitar + bass + sampling + vocals + keys

Joshua Kufeldt

electric guitar + vocals

Jacob Meritt

drums + percussion

Jacob stays steady on the drums and has a style that makes me think he used to play in the house band down in Fraggle Rock. The other three are very active throughout their set, switching instruments, changing stage positions, singing different parts on different songs, picking up a loudspeaker here and a tambourine there. 

They kicked off their set with Sleepover, one of my favorites, then rolled into Coriander, the album's first single. By the time they got to playing the title track Everybody, Come Outside!, everybody was enjoying themselves, including the Pomegranates and that is the way to tell when a band is comfortable in it's own skin and has come into a groove of their own creation. The band explains their new release as "A conceptual album of sorts, weaving an interesting tale of a man who leaves home, only to be abducted by a time traveler... Each of the 11 tracks add to the mystique, as well as reveal a bit more about this unusual tale." Translation: creativity, art, and drugs are in abundance in Cincinnati.

Here is a taste of their sound. Check them out further on MySpace and look for them in the future, you will find them.

I want Kate Havnevik to play the soundtrack for all my jubilant moments

Two things happened this past Monday night (5/11/2009)

1. I saw Kate Havnevik play for the second time. She played at The Living Room this time, the approachable Lower East Side music haven where Norah Jones got her start.

2. Just after Kate finished her set I became an aunt for the first time to a healthy baby boy that was born in Boulder.

Now I could elaborate on what a pile of happy mush I was and how I embarrassed myself on the street crying on the phone with my mom or how the bouncer congratulated me on the way out but I will save you from that.

I want to focus on how Kate presented the best kind of music to be playing why a big life moment happened. She has that beautiful, ethereal voice and she sings with such earnest, really connecting with the crowd, that she creates a whole world that you are privileged to go visit. I admit several of her songs are not about the jubilant moments in life but the way she puts together a song - everything from the lyrics, her vocal range, the combination of electronica and live band - Kate makes the point that those heart crushing moments are also beautiful. I think that is the gift that Scandinavians have mastered well; Kate hails from Norway but is half-POM (property of the UK monarchy).

Most music interviews describe her sound as a combination of Kate Bush, Bjork, and Joni Mitchell. They also inform us that music supervisors of TV shows love her; the O.C., West Wing, and especially Grey's Anatomy. The mega hit show (where Katherine Heigl hysterically resuscitated a deer to kick-off the second season) has featured 6 of her songs, put her on the soundtrack, and asked her to write a song specifically for the second season finale. 

What I will tell you is that she is enchanting in between songs. She engages with the audience, tells little jokes and stories that gives you the impression she is completely comfortable talking to anyone anywhere. She knows how to select musicians that compliment her sound wonderfully but what is even more impressive is her use of technology to manipulate her sound, loop her voice, and bring to the table a song that is a full meal though it is really just a bunch of little Kates singing at once.

Kate's next gig is at The Living Room again on May 27th so that gives all you folks in the area plenty of time to check her out on MySpace, buy her CD 'Melankton' and recruit friends that also like being ahead of the musical curve.

Kate's next album is due out in the Fall but her new single 'Halo' just came out on May 2nd!

Photos 1 & 2 by Vicki Dawe

I just want to make it clear how great looking Kate Havnevik is. She has the rare ability to look great while singing her face off and having her face convey real personailty