Widescreen Music
As the dog days of summer wind on, my thoughts have turned to the disc that I have been obsessed with since its release last May. Pala by St Albans, Hertfordshire band Friendly Fires is an astounding record that achieves what I continually look for in good music: creating nostalgia for a time that never was.
Their first offering (the self titled Friendly Fires) is still played heavily in my house, in my car, and on my iPod even three years after its release. Whether it’s a long run (inside or out), a van ride with the kiddos, or 2AM at the club, Friendly Fires fits any mood or setting. I tried my best to curtail my expectations for their second album but it didn’t matter. Pala is fucking stunning and it has become the soundtrack for my summer, taking its place along their debut in continued rotation.
“If we had an manifesto for this album” says Friendly Fires’ singer and bass-player Ed Macfarlane, “it was a simple one; make an exciting, colorful pop record”
“Our goal is to make vibrant, widescreen songs” adds guitarist Edd Gibson. “but they must retain a spontaneity, have an energy and mysticism around them.”
Achieved, lads. Very well done.
Here is live version of my favorite track from the record which will likely be my Track of the Year. I’m not ashamed to admit I well up a little every time I hear it simply from how amazing this song is in both theme and style.
The Friday Five: August 12, 2011
Friday Five : ‘frī-(,)dā,-dē ‘fīv : On the sixth day of every week, I hit the shuffle button on my iTunes, then share the first five tracks and thought for each track. Sometimes there is a playlist involved, occasionally we’ll have a guest, but most of the time it’s just me. The rest is up to you, our friends and readers! Fire up your media player of choice and share the first five random track of your shuffle in the comments.
The Five:
“After the Love Has Gone” by Earth, Wind & Fire (from The Essential Earth, Wind & Fire, 2002)
My favorite example of The David Foster Key Change™. Truthfully, while this may be quiet storm pap at its sappiest, its still one of my favorites.
“Pop-Eye Stroll” by The Mar-Keys (from The Complete Stax-Volt Singles: 1959-1968, 1991)
The Complete Stax-Volt Singles is probably the most intimidating box set in my library. A staggering collection of classic funk and soul, the box is a basically the encyclopedia of great music.
“All Hell’s Breaking Loose” by KISS (from Box Set, 2001)
I never really cared for Lick It Up era KISS.
“Two Weeks” by Grizzly Bear (from Veckatimest, 2009)
I still don’t know how to pronounce the title of this record, but I love it.
“Feel So Good” by Mase (from Bad Boy’s 10th Anniversary… The Hits, 2004)
Today’s Friday Five is sort of akin to MXC’s “Sinkers and Floaters.” This right here is what they call a sinker.
What’s on your shuffle today?
It’s Good to Leave Home
If you find yourself with an extra half hour today, you should really listen to the Ramones 2nd album, 1977’s Leave Home. I’ve been getting back in the swing of things after more than two weeks of vacation, and yesterday, in the midst of catching up with my backed up work email, I stepped back, took a deep breath, turned up the speakers, and cranked Leave Home.
“Glad To See You Go”, “Suzy Is A Headbanger”, “California Sun”, “Pinhead”, “You’re Gonna Kill That Girl”, and my album favorite – “Gimme Gimme Shock Treatment”… a therapeutic tour de force of headbanging rock n’ roll NY punk.
It does the body good.
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Leave Home on Amazon / Spotify
—If you can’t spare half an hour, surely you can spare a minute and 35 seconds?
“I was feeling SICK, losing my mind, heard about this treatment by a friend of mine…”
A North Woods Blessing
The debut album from a new band is always something special. When it is a band from my hometown, it’s even more exciting. If that disc completely blows away all my expectations, it’s shovel to the head stunning.
Having listened to The Worst Is Over Now by the Twin Cities’ American Revival several times over the course of the last week, I must admit that the above description massively understates the wonder and beauty of this disc. Maybe it’s my new found love for alt-country or the soulful, widescreen voice of lead singer Thomas Pendarvis but the 11 tracks on this record have overwhelmed me with a blessed North Woods melancholy that I am praying endures forever.
During the second track on the disc, “Boogabear,” Pendarvis croons, “I make the couch into a bed so I can rest…I’m so tired…fighting the battle of who could care less,” and I can smell the 25 year old fabric that has heard far too many arguments. The John Bonhamesque drumming of Jeremy Krueth snaps us immediately into this world during the intro of the song and we are instantly propelled down a dusty road filled with broken hearts.
Of course, the opening track, “King Kong,” sets the stage for all of this.
You can always do what you want to do
Hell, you can always say what you want to say
You can always lie if you wanted to
Turn yourself into somebody newIt’s every girl or every boy…everywhere…that has fallen in love for the first time or out of love for the last…
The characters that make up the tapestry of The Worst is Over Now are woven with great clarity and detail by the band. The themes of the heartache and loneliness that results from failing or failed relationships resonates throughout the entire album. Instead of making me wallow in the muck of it all, I feel comforted…just as I do when I listen to the blues…in knowing that the gutting that I have felt in my life is shared by a universal connection of far too many people slump shouldered over a bottle of beer.
Yet, heartache is not the only theme prevalent on the album. In many ways, “Virginia,” “Singapore Blues,” and “Poza” all intimate the sacred journey that each of us takes during our lives. This all comes to a zenith during the best track on the record, “Austin,” a personal saga that relates a Homeric quest for the one that got away. But this festival anthem (if there ever was one) begs the question: is the lamentation over a girl or a city? It’s not clear and that’s what is so magnificent about it.
It’s the mystery of the journey…
For those of you who live in the Twin Cities, American Revival’s CD release party is Saturday, August 20th at the Ritz Theater in Minneapolis. Information about this event can be found by clicking on this link.
For outside the Twin Cities, friend American Revival on Facebook and download music from there.
Check out this video of “Poza” from a recent concert performance.
Triple D Playlist (more Deer Tick, Dawes and Delta Spirit)
To make sure I leave no stone unturned in my music geekitude, I’m now a premium subscriber to both Spotify and Rdio. You’d think I’d have all the bases covered for any song or album I’d like to hear, and for the most part, that’s true. There are still some holes though. Spotify, surprisingly, has no Delta Spirit and none of the three Deer Tick full lenghts. So I turned to Rdio to craft a special “Triple D Attack” playlist.
This playlist features Dawes, Delta Spirit, Deer Tick, with a healthy smattering of Middle Brother songs. Let’s just say I’m knee deep in a Triple D phase.
Song numero uno on the playlist below is “Dirty Dishes”, a song that is so beautiful and tortured and perfect that I just can’t stop listening – and it’s been months.
In Dawes news, many of you have probably heard about the recently announced tour with Blitzen Trapper. If you’re here with me in Arizona, they’ll be stopping in at the newest music venue in town, the Crescent Ballroom in downtown Phoenix. It’s a much needed mid-size venue that hopefully will attract a lot of talent. Dawes & Blitzen Trapper will be there Monday, October 10th. My ticket is secured, and I can’t wait.
Delta Spirit just helped kick off the opening day of Lollapalooza on Friday. The good folks at the Audio Perv already have the webcast up (all tunes I saw live last week in Newport).
So here’s the Rdio playlist. Always worth the 7 day free trial to check it out…
The Friday Five: August 5, 2011
Friday Five : ‘frī-(,)dā,-dē ‘fīv : On the sixth day of every week, I hit the shuffle button on my iTunes, then share the first five tracks and thought for each track. Sometimes there is a playlist involved, occasionally we’ll have a guest, but most of the time it’s just me. The rest is up to you, our friends and readers! Fire up your media player of choice and share the first five random track of your shuffle in the comments.
The Five:
“A Boat Like Gideon Brown” by Great Big Sea (from Sea of No Cares, 2002)
“One Slip” by Pink Floyd (from A Momentary Lapse of Reason, 1987)
“Enemies With Benefits (feat. Tonedeff)” by CunninLynguists (from Oneirology, 2011)
“Spanish Eyes” by Madonna (from Like a Prayer, 1989)
“Shame” by Depeche Mode (from Construction Time Again, 1983)What’s on your shuffle today?
Recap: My 2011 Newport Folk Festival
The last couple of weeks has been a whirlwind of activity for me and my family. It was our first vacation out East as a family – stops in Boston and NYC, and our first visit not only to the great state of Rhode Island, but to the storied Newport Folk Festival.
Staying in town at the Newport Harbor Hotel, right on the water, made for an ideal location. Especially since it’s located right across the street from the Newport Blues Cafe, where Deer Tick & Friends entertained all weekend.
On Saturday, we took the water taxi across the harbor to Fort Adams State Park, where the festival is held. On Sunday, we unwisely chose to drive our rental car. Yeah, not recommended if you don’t like sitting in a parking lot for an hour.
At any rate, the festival itself was a blast for all of us. The only down side was that I missed a lot of acts I would have loved to see, but there were conflicts with other artists. So sadly, I I completely missed Elvis Costello (who brought along the Imposters), Emmylou Harris, the Cave Singers, Mavis Staples, Trampled by Turtles (speedgrass!), among a few others.
But what I did catch made up for it. Here are some of my top moments from my first, and not to be my last, Newport Folk Festival:
M. Ward | A lot of people would question my sanity for attending the Newport Folk Festival, and missing Emmylou Harris’s closing set. But it had to be done, because M. Ward was stacked up against her, playing inside the Fort Adams Quad. Matt Ward roped me in a few years ago when I heard Post-War, and when he came out on stage alone with his guitar, and – after an instrumental warm up – launched into Post-War’s “Eyes on the Prize”, I knew I’d made the right decision. The first 30 minutes or so of M.’s set was very intimate, and about as downtempo as it can go. “Poison Cup”, a slowed down version of Bowie’s “Let’s Dance”, “Sad, Sad Song”… and one of the highlights of his set, a cover of Daniel Johnston’s “Story of an Artist” – a song I was not familiar with, but was absolutely moved by, especially with M.’s flourishes on piano. Dawes joined in for the last few songs of the set, including spirited versions of “Never Had Nobody Like You” and “Roll Over Beethoven”. There’s something very zen and calming about M. Ward. It was a great set.
Delta Spirit [Full set on NPR] | Having discovered Delta Spirit’s music early this year, and going cuckoo for their latest release, History From Below, their set at Newport was my #1 must see of the weekend. Matt Vasquez and the band did not disappoint. Only 4 of the 13 songs in the set actually came from their latest album. Half a dozen came from their first release, Ode To Sunshine, and the rest were new tunes. The band has been recording their third full length this summer in a Woodstock, NY church. The live tunes from ‘Ode’ were great for me – I haven’t spent near enough time with the album, and the songs were great live. In particular, “Trashcan” and the set finale, “People Turn Around”, the anthemic chorus having the whole crowd singing along. What a great band.
Pete Seeger in the Lego ® Duplo KidZone tent | With my wife and two young daughters in tow, we quickly discovered the shaded comfort and entertainment of the Lego Duplo KidZone tent (ideally placed next to the Magic Hat Beer Pier!). Among the arts & crafts & Legos was a small stage for short performances for the kids while the main stage was between acts. The primary act “in residence”, if you will, over the weekend was Elizabeth Mitchell & You Are My Flower. They welcomed such guests as The Low Anthem, Freelance Whales, and the PS22 Chorus from Staten Island. But we were also treated both days to the legendary Pete Seeger – 92 years old and still going… It was a privilege to sit front & center with my kids and listen to stories and songs from a folk icon like Pete. Among other tunes, we were treated to “She’ll Be Comin’ Round the Mountain”. I captured some of it…
Middle Brother [Full set on NPR] & Dawes | As the clock ticked on Sunday afternoon, it was time to uproot the family from the KidZone tent and make our way within the walls of the Quad to catch Middle Brother’s set. For the uninitiated, Middle Brother is made up Taylor Goldsmith (Dawes), John McCauley (Deer Tick), and Matt Vasquez (Delta Spirit). Their debut record, Middle Brother, was released earlier this year. I’ve gotta say, I hadn’t spun the album too many times up to this weekend, but after hearing the songs live (with Dawes as the backing band – these boys are busy), I’ve gained a newfound appreciation for the album. The set was loose, wild and fun – no surprise with this cast of characters. My favorites: “Portland”, sung by McCauley (a Replacements cover), “Blood & Guts” sung by Goldsmith, and “Middle Brother” with special guest Jonny Corndawg. The emotional peak came between Middle Brother and M. Ward’s sets, when Dawes performed a couple of their own tunes (since they were backing both acts, there was no equipment change needed). The song was “When My Time Comes”, from their first record North Hills. With McCauley and Vasquez joining into sing, and the knowledgable crowd eating it all up, singing along at full tilt, it was truly a moving moment – a highlight of the weekend.
The Felice Brothers [Full set on NPR] | This band from the Catskills definitely has their own unique thing going. And with their latest album, Celebration, Florida, they’ve really taken off into another realm, with a really creative bend of folk and electronic sounds. So it was cool to see them live on the main stage. The opener, “Murder by Mistletoe”, set a perfect tone. Mellow, mysterious, and featuring the vocals of singer Ian Felice – a voice that probably gets compared most to Bob Dylan, but has another edge to it as well.
Carolina Chocolate Drops [Full set on NPR] | I got up nice and close for this set on the main stage. The CCD’s are an old time string band keeping traditional African American music alive – we’re talking 19th and early 20th century African-American music. Bringing that 21st century flair is a new member, beatboxer Adam Matta. He teamed up with singer Rhiannon Giddens for a scatting / beatboxing exhibition they called “diddlybox”. It was cool to hear that interspersed among the old time jug n’ banjo tunes like “Baby Ain’t Sweet” and “No Man’s Mama”. Rhiannon has a beautiful, powerful voice, and the other main Chocolate Drop Dom Flemons is a character, interjecting lots of humor into his performance. Cool stuff.
PS22 Chorus | I have to mention my kids’ favorite. PS22 Chorus is made up of 20-30 5th graders from a Staten Island school. They sing contemporary hits, with a few of the boys and girls taking lead and really belting out some impressive vocals. Our family favorite was their version of Adele’s “Rolling in the Deep”. Not only did PS22 play the Harbor Stage, but they also made it over to the KidZone tent where my kids sat front and center and watched them perform, including “Rolling in the Deep” – a song that firmly implanted itself in our brains all weekend.
David Wax Museum [Full set on NPR] | This was one of the pleasant surprises of the festival for me. DWM combine American and Mexican folk music, with guitars, a horn section, violin, and even a young dancer in a traditional Mexican dress performing a zapateado – basically on top of a mic’ed box, tapping the percussion with her feet. Lots of latin rhythms, and a very fun, high energy performance to take in.
It was the first sellout in the history of the festival, 10,000 people strong. Walking around, I sensed not only a very easygoing, friendly vibe, but also the sense that I was surrounded by avid music lovers like myself. I sure do love being among the like-minded – those who live & breathe every note of the music they listen to.
Newport was an A+ experience, one I hope to repeat some year soon.
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NPR Music, God bless it, has most of the weekend’s performances available for streaming right here.
Newport and the three D’s (Dawes, Delta Spirit, Deer Tick)
I’m just back from an epic family vacation that took us from the Valley of the Sun to Boston, then to New York City, and then on to Newport, Rhode Island for my (and my family’s) first Newport Folk Festival.
First off, it was great to have the opportunity to meet some of the people I’ve gotten to know through this web site, and through the internet music community I’ve been immersed in for the last several years. In Boston, I met Mike Heyliger, denizen of Popblerd. In NYC, I met my Ickmusic collaborator Michael Parr (who, unbeknownst to many, I had never met), his lovely wife Christine, and Dennis Corrigan aka @IrishJava. And finally, in Rhode Island, I met up with Ken Shane, senior music editor of Popdose, who was also behind the Newport Folk Festival’s social media presence, handling NFF’s Twitter & Facebook postings throughout the festival weekend.
As I expected, meeting these folks was nothing like meeting a person for the first time. Say what you will about the internet, but you really do come to know people through mediums like music blogs, Twitter, Facebook, Rdio, Spotify, and whatever social platform Google is trying lately (Buzz, +, etc.). It’s a connection of the like-minded: the shared passion for music, and its marriage with technology in the 21st century. These are exciting times to be a music fan – of course, all of this access to music and those who perform and follow it can be overwhelming, to say the least. But it sure is fun to navigate through it all with people like these folks. So Mike, Michael, Christine, Dennis, Ken – great to meet you all in person. Now you all know what a sexy beast I am in real life.
So in Newport, the music portion of the vacation took hold. My family, they’re good sports. They know that I’ll do my best to work in a music angle to every outing, near or far. This summer, it was the Newport Folk Festival. Highest on my list of must-see’s were Delta Spirit, Middle Brother, and M. Ward, backed by Dawes. Over the last couple of years, I’ve gone rather bonkers for the “D” trifecta: Deer Tick, Delta Spirit, and Dawes.
Although Deer Tick wasn’t on the festival bill, by no means did that suggest they’d stay quiet for the weekend. The band is from Providence after all. Much to my delight, John McCauley and the band announced three late night gigs at the Newport Blues Cafe – Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Best of all, the club was right across the street from our hotel in Newport. So, for me, the Folk Festival weekend ended up being bookended by two raucous late night gigs featuring Deer Tick and friends…
I missed the early acts on Friday, but when I rolled in at 10:30, Deer Tick was just taking the stage, and they didn’t stop until 1am. They played originals and some cool covers – a few Nirvana tunes (DT has an alter ego called Deervana, and have played entire Nirvana sets billed as them); Bob Dylan’s “Tonight I’ll Be Staying Here With You”, Sam Cooke’s “Bring It On Home To Me”, and some – uh- others that I didn’t have the foresight to tap into my iPhone (damn Blue Moons).
Deer Tick during Friday’s gig Sunday’s gig was extra cool, featuring an opening set by Dawes, and appearances by Delta Spirit’s Matt Vasquez, M. Ward (for a brief guitar solo on the last tune of the night, “La Bamba”), Joe Fletcher, and my new favorite, Jonny Corndawg – a wild, young countryfied singer from Virginia – and a close bud of the Deer Tick clan. His debut is due later this year, but he does have a Daytrotter session under his belt, and is featured here on Songs: Illinois (I didn’t get him either, Craig, till I saw him perform).
The closing sets of my Sunday Newport Folk Festival were Middle Brother, Dawes, and M. Ward. I’ll have more about the festival itself soon in another post, but the good vibe that was evident in MidBro and Dawes’ sets continued on to the Newport Blues Cafe on Sunday evening. It’s so interesting to note the contrasts between the three “D” bands themselves, and the front men from each who make up Middle Brother. You have Taylor Goldsmith of Dawes – the introspective, sensitive one. You have Deer Tick’s McCauley – unrefined, raw, gritty, laid back, taking it all as it comes. And then there’s Delta Spirit’s Matt Vasquez – wild, carefree, and caretaker of a primal scream that can shake the rafters. Matt was clearly the MidBro member feeling the least amount of pain on Sunday night. Everyone was having a great time, but Matt was having a GREAT time. His lead vocals on two Nirvana covers backed by Deer Tick (“Negative Creep” and “Senseless Apprentice”) were a highlight – whipping the small club into a crowd surfing frenzy.
Delta Punk: Matt Vasquez with Deer Tick 
Matt Vasquez with Deer Tick Although the festival itself had its great moments- and I’ll cover them soon – it was the two late nights with Deer Tick & Friends that really made my weekend extra special. I was seeing Deer Tick for the first time, and on their home turf. The opening song of their debut album, War Elephant, is “Ashamed”. I liked the tune as is, but seeing it performed in Newport on Friday and Sunday, with the crowd wailing out in unison, “Ohhh–oooh-Ohhhhhhhh”, was one of those thrilling moments that make the live music experience so great – and make the songs you hear on the album so much better.
Sweet! It’s on YouTube. This captured it perfectly, because, well, this was it:
After Friday’s gig, I went up to John and thanked him for a great set, and since he’s a huge John Prine fan (like myself), I thanked him for keeping Prine’s music out there as well.
Telling him I came all the way from Arizona, John replied, “Welcome to my home state.” It sure was a great welcome, and ushered in a hell of a weekend in Newport, Rhode Island.
The Friday Five: July 29, 2011
Friday Five : ‘frī-(,)dā,-dē ‘fīv : On the sixth day of every week, I hit the shuffle button on my iTunes, then share the first five tracks and thought for each track. Sometimes there is a playlist involved, occasionally we’ll have a guest, but most of the time it’s just me. The rest is up to you, our friends and readers! Fire up your media player of choice and share the first five random track of your shuffle in the comments.
The Five:
A quick Friday Five for all you patient girls and boys. It’s also the first Friday Five shuffled up from Spotify!
“Cold Day in the Sun” by Foo Fighters (from Skin and Bones, 2006)
“Tame” by Pixies (from Wave of Mutilation: Best of Pixies, 2004 )
“You Left a Long, Long Time Ago” by Willie Nelson (from One Hell of a Ride, 2008)
“Down incognito” by Winger (from The Very Best of Winger, 2001)
“Not the Red Baron” by Tori Amos (from Boys for Pele, 1996)What’s on your shuffle today?
U2 at TCF Bank Stadium 23 July 2011 (Or How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Survive A Miserable Show)
After a long delay of one year (due to Bono injuring his back), U2 finally got to play their massive 360 Tour show in Minneapolis at the new home to the Minnesota Golden Gophers, TCF Bank Stadium. As you can see by my photo, the set was massive!
My friend Heather and I got there at the tail end of the Interpol set and we scoped out the stadium. I had never been there before and am now looking forward to taking my son to a Gopher football game at some point in the future..hopefully this fall!
Once we took our seats, I knew straight away that we might be in some trouble with the couple sitting next to us. They both seemed ripped to the tits on some sort of intoxicant and the woman proceeded to get overly friendly with me almost immediately. Normally, I don’t necessarily mind this but she was dumber than a sack of hammers. I tried to avoid eye contact with her but she kept doing odd things like putting her head on my shoulder for no reason whatsoever. The guy with her just laughed and, sadly, was even less intelligent than her. He reminded me of one of the characters from Idiocracy if that gives you an idea of what I was dealing with right before the show started.
At about 9pm, the lights went down and the woman with the attraction to my shoulder proceeded to scream at the top of her lungs, “WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.” And that’s exactly how many “O’s” it was. It seemed to go on forever.
She did this for the entire show. Every fucking song…but hey, that’s show business.
As she was piercing my inner ear drum, I settled in to enjoy the lads from Dublin for the seventh time in my concert going career. The first few songs were from Achtung Baby and they sounded great. As they were doing “I Will Follow,” the rain started to come. At first it was just a drizzle but by “Pride” it was pouring. I had brought a rain coat but it really didn’t help. Within about five minutes, my Chucks were filled with about an inch of water and between that, the screaming idiot next to me, and the fact that my view of the stage was blocked by a spot light tower, I was miserable. To get an idea of how hard it was raining, check out the video below.
I started to wonder if I was pulling a Murtaugh but quickly dismissed that notion as I love being at shows at First Ave with all sorts of craziness and problems. Perhaps it was the ginormousness of the show or the aforementioned problems but I just wasn’t into it. Sure, there were bits and pieces of coolness. “Zooropa” was wonderful and brought back many memories of my life during the early 90s. “Scarlet” was a rare treat as October is one of my two favorite U2 albums (the other being The Unforgettable Fire). During “One” we all got to see a home movie (on the huge screens) of U2 cavorting in a Trabant in East Germany during the Achtung Baby sessions in 1990-91. That really was mega!
For the most part, though, it sucked. But that was OK. Sometimes you have to have a miserable show to remind you how great the other ones are. They can’t all be perfect and a craptacular one every so often really sets the perspective. Even with all the bullshit, the show last night was still better than the Pop show in 1997.
And does it really have to be all about me? Heather was a ball to hang out with throughout the whole evening and I saw some other friends over the course of the night who were a blast. They all had fun…which is very important to me. Even the woman next to me made me laugh when, after her 89th “WOOOOOOOOOO” resulted in a few cold Scandinavian stares, she remarked, “Hey, I have lungs people!!!”
My left ear understood that all to well. It’s still ringing.
