I have a secret weapon. (I have many secret weapons, actually.) His name is Gordon, a long-time reader (going back to my other blog, even) from the U.K. and he tells me about bands, especially those from the British Isles. He told me about Fionn Regan last August and I’ve been pretty obsessed and evangelical since. (Fionn’s playing this Saturday at Cafe du Nord! Go see him!) He also told me about Bat for Lashes months ago. Though I wasn’t as enthralled, I did have a little twinkle in my eye a few months later when the US blogs started talking about her because that was so yesterday to me. (Gordon recently urged me to listen to her album, which releases this week and is streaming in its entirety at spinner.)
In the latest batch of recommendations he recommended Candie Payne (myspace), knowing my predilection for Motown and its ilk. I am pretty intrigued, though this is still pretty premature.
source: promo shot
More than Motown, I’d compare this to things like Nancy Sinatra and stuff you may hear in an Austin Powers sound track. The only thing I can understand in this dutch review is something I was thinking anyway: like something from a James Bond soundtrack. Big, orchestra pop. The sound, though. I didn’t realize people remembered how to make songs that sound like this. Give one of these songs a listen and tell me if you’ve heard any music made in the last twenty years that has production and orchestration like this.
“One More Chance” is a fun and upbeat number, that has a bit of twee (Belle & Sebastian at the very least) in it. I like the vocal melody and the backing vocals.
Looks like it does have a stateside release or amazon’s selling the import for relatively cheap. [Update: the relatively cheap thing is actually an CD single.]
I’ll probably be ordering it soon as I’ve been meaning to pick up some of their stuff and one of their EPs is sold out.
One thing that’s always mentioned about them is that during the summers they work in the Alaska fishing industry. If you like their stuff or not, you should check out their Alaska blog. It’s a pretty interesting inside look into the industry and has some pretty spectacular photos. Also, getting letters in Alaska is “the best feeling in the world”, so you can write them letters.
I don’t have too many examples, but maybe people can add other if they know them. Some bands are named after streets.
Bishop Allen (myspace) was named after Bishop Allen Dr. in Cambridge, MA. This is confirmed in a number of sources including the liner notes to the August EP. I remember walking past this street on the way to a friend’s house in Inman Square before I even knew about this band (quite possibly before the band even existed, or was just forming).
Beulah, I think, is named after Beulah St. in San Francisco. They’re an SF band and Beulah’s about 2 blocks from Amoeba so you’re bound to run across it if you like music and live in the City.
Anyone know of any other bands that are named after streets?? For instance, is the E Street Band named after an actual street? I’m not seeing an E Street in Ashbury Park. Any others?
While I’m talking about both bands, Bishop Allen is actually playing The Independent this Wednesday and I’m definitely going. The Broken String doesn’t hit a sour note. It’s consistently good from song-to-song. (You can do that when you’re picking 10 of the songs from 45 songs (the twelve month EPs from 2006)—you can really weed out the best.)
Miles Kurosky of Beulah had some major shoulder surgery and has been working on a solo album. Latest report was that it was about 70% done. I’m really interested to hear how it sounds.
I did a brief radio show today because another DJ was late. I used it to play some great new stuff and try to sway this week’s KZSU airplay charts in favor of bands like Or, the Whale; John Vanderslice, Bishop Allen, the Morning Benders, the Finches and others. Yup, I’m shameless.
I came up with an idea a couple weeks ago to go to a ball game with some of the other music bloggers from the bay area. Tonight’s 6:05pm Florida Marlins @ SF Giants game will be it. We have Adrian (me!) from ipickmynose, Christian and Ben from The Bay Bridged, Emily and Avery from the Deli SF, Will from New & Used Records and Oz from HearYa. Not all the music bloggers could make it, but we have a decent crew going.
I’ll be live-blogging the game so check back in and hit refresh to catch all the excitement! Bonds is one away from tying Aaron’s home run record, so maybe it’ll be historic.
6:05pm first pitch. foul
7:10pm bonds struck out and he fouled out in his first two at bats.
7:15pm they’re playing ‘young folks’. you can’t away from that song.
7:16pm also american analog set. wow!
7:46 and now ‘pour some sugar on me’! they’re all over the place with the music.
7:48pm barry’s up. the cameras are going nuts! the count’s 3-1. he walked. everyone’s boohing
8:12pm the wave! I love the wave. wooooo.
8:16pm bonds is up again. again with the cameras. he’s twice the size of any of any other player. he pops up right to the catcher on the first pitch.
8:18pm everyone’s making fun/ jealous of me for blogging right now. that’s right: I’m a pariah in a group of bloggers. new low.
8:26pm it’s a sold out game. 43,001. Christian claims he’s the one over 43k. I do not believe him.
8:39pm longest kiss cam of all time. one guy coopted the camera and smooched another guy.
8:42pm Will is working on a sitcom. Very cool.
8:43pm fog is pouring over the edge of the stadium.
8:47pm they’re showing the ‘rally pumpkin’ on the jumbotron. what do pumpkins have to do with rallies?
8:53pm Sweeney’s in to pinch hit. this guy a couple rows down is the world’s biggest sweeney fan.
8:56pm dave roberts is still really fast, scoring on a double from second to tie the game 3-3 in the bottom of the 9th.
9:04pm come from behind win on durham’s rbi single. pretty exciting. 4-3 giants final score. maybe rally pumpkins really do work.
9:28pm leaving, I see a guy with a giants jersey that has “DMB” 44 on the back. who likes Dave Matthews Band and the Giants that much?
I played a few new tunes but then I had a nice hour and change of oldies songs, heavy on the Motown and girl groups. I haven’t had the chance to play any oldies for a while, so it was nice. Initially I didn’t intend to play so much oldies but once I started, it made me happy so I just kept going.
Song obsessions are those songs that we listen to on repeat. I noticed that my obsessions are often a week long. I also thought that other people might have similar obsessions. I’ve collected a panel of a few like-minded individuals and gotten their “song obsessions of the week.” Quite often it’s easy to explain why the song is good; it’s much hard to explain why we’re obsessed. Maybe you’ll become obsessed with one of these.
With him coming down do an in-studio with me this week, there was a lot of listening to Vanderslice’s new album, both because it was new, good and exciting and for “preparation”. I was liking the shear weirdness of the sounds on this one anyway, but he also played it live and I got to hear it stripped down; the songwriting is solid on it as well. f
Thanks to Adrian, I’m actually obsessed with Or, the Whale right now,. Over at HearYa, however, we recently recorded a live session in Chicago with a band called Cracklin Moth. They’ve released two EP’s and have a unique alt-country sound, thanks to Matt Ammerman’s vocals and Rocco Labriola’s pedal steel. “Eulogy for Bashu” is a previously unreleased track that is glued to my ears.
Steven Jesse Bernstein’s overly precise style promotes obsession. This tale is narrated by a man who has divorced himself from life’s social obligations, yet still intensely focuses on those few interactions he can passively observe. The repetitive description of this daily existence immerses us into his routine. Eventually we become as observant and focused as he is, unconsciously becoming the characters in the story. Attentive repeat spins create as many questions as they answer, as seemingly random details are divulged like bait for a too curious prey.
I wasn’t necessarily obsessed with a song this week, but this one always seems to find its way back into heavy rotation for me, whenever I hear it I have to listen to it at least twice. I love the way it basically explodes out of the quiet parts, making me want to air-drum. The breakdown at the end adds a lot as well. It doesn’t waste any time building, which I usually like, but the suddenness of it works here.
Titled after a Philip Larkin poem, this is one of Geoff Farina’s gems. Simple and short, I often find myself listening to it repeatedly. Often, I’ll throw this 10-minute/4 song EP into my car CD player, and not get to any of the other tracks before I get to where I’m going.
Spinner has the full album stream of The Con by Tegan and Sara. It’s produced by the fantastic Chris Walla. It sounds really good and some of the songs are pretty catchy.
Will Oldham (and Zach Galifianakis) star in the new (and hilarious) video for Kanye West’s “Can’t Tell Me Nothing”. It makes me so happy this is official. Stereogum has more background from Zach’s point of view.
Stereogum also has a new (and weird) One AM Radio video for “In The Time We’ve Got”. I never thought I’d see the One AM Radio on stereogum. I do think the kickball=>love video for “Witness” that the One AM Radio put out a couple years ago is better.
As I mentioned earlier, I had an hour yesterday with John Vanderslice on KZSU during which he did a few songs and we chatted a bit. I asked him about the blog videos and the title of “nicest guy in indie rock”. I’m not sure how interesting an interview it was for everyone else—it felt more like JV and I were just talking and it happened to be over the radio than anything else—but I sure had fun.
I’ve know JV for a while, going back to his last appearance on KZSU and we hang out enough that we’re friends, but I didn’t expect him to pull out so many stops as far as the music goes. I’d talked to him just a few hours earlier and had some requests for songs, some of them he hardly ever plays. He seemed reluctant on a couple because he didn’t know how to play them and I told him I understood.
Well, by the time he got down to the studio (literally about 5 hours later) he’d learned both “Peacocks in the Video Rain” and “Dead Slate Pacific”, writing the chords out on his lyric sheets (which is what those links go to). I had asked for “Pale Horse” because I love that song, especially when he does it live with people clapping along, and he brought a never-before-played b-side from Emerald City. (We were walking into the station. “Hey, I brought this Emerald b-side. Would you want to play it?” “YES!”)
[1] The KZSU Clapping Ensemble included me, Isa (John’s girlfriend), Scott and two of Scott’s friends that came down to the studio to watch the in-studio performance called Stuart and Dan.
Big ones for this week include the National/ St. Vincent, Pinback, and Ted Leo.
On sale Thursday, July 26:
9/29 The National, St. Vincent @ The Grand
Pre sale Saturday, July 28:
9/14 Guster @ the Warfield
On sale Sunday, July 29:
9/6 Clipse @ the Independent
9/7 Blue Turtle Seduction@ the Independent
9/7 Butch Walker & the Let’s Go Out Tonites @ Great American
9/14 Guster @ the Warfield
9/21 Hepcat @ Great American
9/23 James Blunt with Joss Stone, Gin Blossoms @ Sharon Meadows in Golden Gate Park
9/27 Arctic Monkeys @ Bill Graham Civic
10/5 Nick Lowe @ Great American
10/6 Frankie Valli &The Four Seasons, Stewie Stone @ Nob Hill Masonic Auditorium
10/8 Turbonegro @ Slim’s
10/13 AC/DShe @ Slim’s
10/24 Josh Ritter @ Bimbo’s
10/25 & 10/26 Pinback @ Bimbo’s
10/26 Ted Leo and the Pharmacists @ Great American
11/4 Tiger Army @ the Fillmore
11/6/ Henry Rollins @ Herbst Theatre
Chuck Klosterman is one of those incredibly sarcastic and self-aware pop culture writers. This doesn’t always turn out well.
The basic premise is that Chuck, a writer for Spin at the time, rents a Ford Taurus to drive across the country to see and write a piece about the places rock stars (or rock-related fires) died: Duane Allman (plane crash site), Lynard Skynard (plane crash), the Stations fire, Buddy Holly (plane crash), Jeff Buckley (drowning), Kurt Cobain (shotgun), etc. That’s all quite morbid. But the book is also largely about Klosterman dealing with his fractured relationships with three girls he’s in various stages with. Klosterman ties all these together in an interesting and funny story.
In the end, I felt like this is what Perfect from Now On: How Indie Rock Saved My Life (my review here) was trying to be: scattered thoughts in a way that the reader can (and wants to) still follow, clever asides, interesting writing about music but also really about something else as well. Now, if instead of talking about the merits of the KISS solo albums, Klosterman was talking about the long term impact of the Archers of Loaf, Pedro the Lion, or Sufjan Stevens, I’d like this book even more.
It was a quick, light and fun read. It was never a chore to read, so count that in its favor. This book isn’t the sort that will make you a better person or win you points for name-dropping at a party (well, depends on the party, I suppose), but it’s definitely a lot better than watching another rerun of Family Guy or whatever (not that I don’t enjoy an episode of said show here and there).
John Vanderslice releases his 6th album Emerald City tomorrow, July 24th. His first appearance after it’s released? With me, on KZSU. That’s right, listen to John Vanderslice do a live set on KZSU at 6pm Pacific this Wednesday July 25th. You can listen online (the new 192kps AAC+ stream sounds gorgeous, by the way) or at 90.1FM in the Bay Area.
Every song from Emerald City is streaming at JV’s myspace page (also at spinner). I got a copy of the album last week (through KZSU) and it sounds very good. It goes back to a more distortion-exploring sound like Cellar Door.
As I mentioned back in May I got to sit in on a rehearsal of Emerald City and it’s just been officially released what that was for: live videos of each song from the album on 9 different blogs. Each recorded with multiple cameras and using the amazing analog audio recording technology at Tiny Telephone on May 26 and 27 and later edited all together. Watching the video, I get a little jolt because two days prior to these recordings I was sitting on those steps between Broecker and Ian Bjornstad and watching them rehearse these tunes. It’s cool to see what I saw now on video for everyone.
I’m going to make a list of where you can find each video, which I’ll update as more are released.
Emerald City live to tape/ video:
Kookaburra (at stereogum) man that Dave Douglas drum beat is so good!
How did you get into this?
I moved to Oakland from Wisconsin almost 5 years ago. Before I moved I was working in a small design studio and doing some side projects like album packaging and t-shirts for friends of mine in bands. When I moved out here I had a couple of short term jobs at design studios or ad agencies, but it was a pretty slow time for everyone so I wasn’t working much. Around this time some friends of mine started booking shows at The Ramp - an all ages venue in Berkeley. They asked me to do a poster to promote each show - which was once a month. Really great shows and I met a lot of people at these shows that I still do work for today.
Are you a musician?
Not at all. I can play a little on the guitar, but definitely not anything to write home about.
Who hires you for jobs? I’ve seen posters for tours and posters for individual shows, leading me to believe that it’s sometimes clubs, sometimes bands.
Most of the time for me it is through bands or management. Occasionally through the venue or a combination of both.
Does the client have any influence on the design?
Most of the time the bands are pretty hands off about it, but I’m always really trying to make something that is appropriate for the band and not just me doing whatever I feel like. It needs to tie in. They are approved so if a band feels I’m way off I’ll try something else.
Take us briefly through the design process for a poster.
A lot of sketching at first. If I’m not really familiar with the band I’m doing some listening and research on them. Once I have an idea I start in on it. Most of the layout and everything is done in Illustrator, but I’m usually basing it off of a sketch I’ve done and scanned in.
Do you design posters based on some fundamental design principles or do you take each one on a case-by-case basis?
It’s definitely a case-by-case, but there are definitely aesthetics that I gravitate towards. The bands drive the posters quite a bit though.
Who do you admire as far as graphics go? Who has influenced you the most?
There is quite a few people, most who have or still work doing design in the music world. Peter Saville being a big one, he designed the Factory Records albums. Jeff Kleinsmith being another - he’s the art director at Sub Pop. He’s designed quite a few records that I own.
It seems your most common non-musical design element is the heart (twoMates of State posters, and posters for American Analog Set, Camera Obscura, Nada Surf, Rainer Maria, if not more). Is there a reason for this? Just that a lot of indie rock songs are love songs?
I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that heart symbol is pretty universal and I’m a sucker for symbols that are bold and universal and it does fit a lot of the bands pretty well.
Do you have a favorite poster that you’ve done? Or a top five?
I like the couple ofposters I’ve done for The Books quite a bit. The first one I did for them may be my favorite poster I’ve done. I tend to like the newer posters more than the older ones, but sometimes I’m pleasantly surprised when I see one of the older prints that I haven’t seen for awhile. Most of the time though I think of what I would have done differently.
if you were playing a show or promoting a show and couldn’t make the poster yourself, who would you ask? Dirk Fowler, he’s a poster designer from Lubbock, Texas. He’s made a few of my all time favorite posters.
And the one that’s going to win me the investigative journalism prize: why are posters 2.5 times as much on your website than at shows? (You don’t have to answer this if you don’t want.)
By the time they are on my site there are not many available. I think it’s a really fair price for a limited edition print.
–
And there you have it. You can buy Small Stakes posters at many shows and at the poster store at the Small Stakes website.
Here are a couple more subdued tracks that I ran into over the last few days. Both are a bit familiar but with some unusual elements.
This Cinematic Orchestra (myspace) track is, well, cinematic. “Familiar Ground” starts with a subdue keyboard and acoustic guitar part. Drums, voices and other instruments all make the song more complex but no less sublime. The shaky voice thing could go either way but works in this song.
Cinematic Orchestra is at Bimbo’s on September 15.
The Octopus Project (myspace) are another band I heard recently. “I Saw the Bright Shinies” is glitchy right off the bat and has a subdued keyboard part. Theremin is the featured instrument of the track, though. Even with glitchy beats and some agitated parts, this track makes me feel like I’m floating along.
Song obsessions are those songs that we listen to on repeat. I noticed that my obsessions are often a week long. I also thought that other people might have similar obsessions. I’ve collected a panel of a few like-minded individuals and gotten their “song obsessions of the week.” Quite often it’s easy to explain why the song is good; it’s much hard to explain why we’re obsessed. Maybe you’ll become obsessed with one of these.
Oh man, I just can’t get past this song. I’ll put on Lights Poles and Pines (which I talk about here) meaning to listen to the album, but I’ll sort of stutter at this song. It’s something about the pedal steel and the great harmony-laden vocals that do it for me.
The flamenco-tinged “Zurvan” begins the album with two minutes of dramatic guitar quotes, suspending the formation of the narrative for a good while. Bishop then transforms these figures into a more organized composition; flurries of notes gradually increase in intensity, and return to the same dissonant cadence just often enough to draw these fragments together.
One songwriting skill that immediately elicits my respect is the ability to lyrically provide one point of view while transmitting a completely different message between the lines. Take Brett Rosenberg’s central character in “My Girlfriend’s Daughter.” As he hopefully describes his designs on his faded paramour’s progeny (including gifts of Kinks CDs and tutoring sessions) we the listeners can’t help but chuckle at his desperately misguided obsession. Or perhaps I should say “we the male listeners,” as females will probably be skeeved out by the inappropriate application of lust from a man over twice his target’s age. And all this within a song sonically worthy of inclusion on I’m The Man.
I saw them play recently at Slim’s, and they were crazy! I love the weird warped vocals in this track (off their latest album Mirrored) and the playful guitar. And of course, the drumming is the center of this band (at the show he was front and center with a 7-foot cymbal…rock!). I really recommend seeing Battles live, it’s amazing watching them recreate their multi-layered songs. This song really makes me bounce around!
I chose White Dove mostly because I spent several days with the chorus running through my head. That doesn’t always mean that I like a song, but in this case, I definitely do.I think White Dove is an interesting case for the new album - clearly
a throwback to the low-fi-hi-fi of Cellar Door, but with some of the tricks that he learned during Pixel Revolt. I especially like the
double-tracked vocals and the background vocal parts during the chorus.
Keep your ears open around 2:10 - I have this gut feeling that he’s not actually using vibrato there, but rather, key-gating the guitars
like he did with the organ on “Dear Sarah Shu.” He’s a tricky producer, that JV.
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