• Indie

    Christopher Owens announces ‘Lysandre’

    October 25, 2012 /

    Christopher Owens, the heart, mind, body and soul behind San Francisco’s Girls, decided to leave (and effectively disssolve) the group back in July with an announcement on Twitter (One, Two, and Three).

    Thankfully, the creative juices are still flowing, and he’s been busy in L.A. recording his first solo album. The word is now out that Chris will be releasing Lysandre on January 15th, 2013 on the Fat Possum label.

    There’s a really nice piece here on Fader where Chris talks about the backstory behind Lysandre. In a nutshell, Lysandre is a French girl he met on Girls’ first tour back in 2008 (supporting their debut, Album). A long distance romance evolved and eventually ended. The album tells the story of the journey.

    I feel like this is the most focused effort I’ve ever made musically; telling a story from one song to the next in order of occurrence, making the album almost like one long song. A little bit like a musical. I’m very proud of it and happy it worked so well. I’m pleased to be able to share it with the world; its story, its music, its universal and classic themes. It’s a coming of age story, a road trip story, a love story. It’s a moment in time that has been captured and brought to life through art. For you, for me, for us. For what it’s worth. – Christopher Owens

    I am so locked into this guy and the music he makes, so count me among those who are very excited about this new record. The first two tracks have been offered up on Soundcloud: “Lysandre’s Theme” (a short instrumental intro) and “Here We Go,” featuring soft acoustic guitar, flute, fuzzed out electric… Time for another listen.

    Here’s the track listing for Lysandre. Pre-Order the album here.

    1: Lysandre’s Theme
    2: Here We Go
    3: New York City
    4: A Broken Heart
    5: Here We Go Again
    6: Riviera Rock
    7: Love Is In The Ear Of The Listener
    8: Lysandre
    9: Everywhere You Knew
    10: Closing Theme
    11: Part Of Me (Lysandre’s Epilogue)

    Keep up with all things Christopher on his web site, his Facebook, and Twitter.

  • Punk

    New Titus Andronicus: ‘Local Business’

    October 22, 2012 /

    High expectations – they’re dangerous.

    I first heard Titus Andronicus on a jog around the neighborhood in March 2011, a few months after they released their 2nd full length, The Monitor. Halfway through the opener, “A More Perfect Union,” I was all systems go, hair standing on end. It was exhilarating (as was their live show a month later). The album was rich with imagery, rage, a continuity and flow from song to song, an abundance of fist-to-the-air-moments, and a full production sound.

    So maybe I can be partly blamed for the high expectations I brought to the table today when I tapped “Play” on T.A.’s new release, Local Business. I strapped on the earbuds and the running shoes and embarked on that familiar jog around the neighborhood, ready for that feeling, that Red Bull-will-give-you-Wings rush that music can provide…

    Wasn’t happening.

    Granted, the opening trio of songs – “Ecce Homo,” “Still Life With Hot Deuce on Silver Platter,” and “Upon Viewing Oregon’s Landscape With Flood of Detritus” – are solid rockers with that familiar angst and anger, a specialty of frontman Patrick Stickles. They’re good, and they very well may grow on me, but where The Monitor had that epic, fulfilling feel to it, Local Business has a garage-y, rushed quality to it.  And, a lot like the (disappointing) album cover, the record’s production sound seems a lot more Do It Yourself and lower quality than the two previous releases.

    I know it’s not really fair of me to rush to the web on the first day of its release to spit out my less than favorable judgment. But dammit, I was expecting more! They captured lightning in a bottle on The Monitor, and I know Stickles has it in him to go to that level again. On first listen, Local Business doesn’t come close.

    → Local Business on Amazon.

    → Titus Andronicus Web Site

    Here’s “Still Life with Hot Deuce on Silver Platter” at Shayz Lounge in Brooklyn. See all Local Business Sessions at locations around Brooklyn here on Pitchfork.

  • Folk

    Fred Eaglesmith – “Betty”

    August 15, 2012 /

    One thing I’ve quickly found about Canadian singer/songwriter Fred Eaglesmith is that he has a hell of a lot of great songs. As I skip around his catalog on Spotify (sorry Rdio, you ain’t stocked on your Fred), I’m constantly floored by another knockout tune. The latest to catch my ear is “Betty,” from Fred’s latest album 6 Volts.

    It’s not only the hard luck story of Fred’s lady, who has skipped town with Fred’s gun, leaving him to wonder what it is she’s running from: “Is it the money / Is it the drugs / Is it somebody that you used to love”; but it’s also the bad ass rhythm and cadence of his vocal delivery. It just sounds so…COOL (for lack of a better word).

    Fred. He’s bad ass.

    Buy 6 Volts on Amazon.

  • Indie

    Grandaddy live at the Independent in San Francisco (8-12-2012)

    August 14, 2012 /

    One of may favorite bands from the 90’s and early 2000’s days of yore is Grandaddy. I consider The Sophtware Slump to be a masterpiece with its futuristic space-pop, bleepy, bloopy and utterly beautiful vibe.

    After a 6 year hiatus, Jason Lytle and the band have reformed for a small tour around California and Europe. As is usually the case, there is no Phoenix date scheduled, so I must live vicariously through the magic of the interwebs.

    This past Sunday, the band followed up their festival appearance at Outside Lands in Golden Gate Park by playing a late night gig at the Independent in San Francisco. A kind person, “cuthere,” recorded the performance (with the blessing of the band). I thank cuthere, and you will too…

    Check out this Stereogum link for pictures from the night.

    Grandaddy
    The Independent
    San Francisco, CA
    August 12, 2012

    01 Intro
    02 El Caminos In The West
    03 Now It’s On
    04 Yeah Is What We Had
    05 Summer Here Kids
    06 Fare Thee Not Well Mutineer
    07 The Crystal Lake
    08 My Small Love>
    09 Levitz>
    10 Chartsengrafs
    11 The Go In The Go-For-It
    12 AM 180
    13 Lost On Yer Merry Way
    14 Jed’s Other Poem (Beautiful Ground)
    15 Laughing Stock
    16 Stray Dog And The Chocolate Shake
    17 Hewlett’s Daughter
    18 Here (Pavement Cover)
    19 (break)
    20 He’s Simple, He’s Dumb, He’s The Pilot

  • Rock

    My Cross To Bear – Gregg Allman’s Book

    July 9, 2012 /

    This one was so good, I almost started it right over again.

    After losing his dad as a very young kid (a senseless murder victim, no less), and then his brother, legendary slide guitarist Duane Allman in 1971 (when Gregg was just 23), Gregg persevered and carried on the musical torch – taking the Allman Brothers Band to greater heights as well as embarking on a successful solo career.

    It hasn’t been easy, obviously. Gregg writes openly about his struggles with drugs and alcohol, his many failed marriages (that’s 6, folks), among them the one and only Cher.

    But it’s all about the music, and thanks to the book, I’m diving deep into Gregg’s solo stuff and some of the deeper Allman Brothers Band cuts. Gregg’s 1973 debut, ‘Laid Back,’ is stellar, as is the The Gregg Allman Tour record, which was recorded on the Laid Back tour in 1974.

    By the way, Mati Klarwein created that trippy Laid Back cover. He also painted the covers for Miles Davis’ Bitches Brew and Santana’s Abraxas records, among a bunch more.

    Great rock n’ roll read. Pick it up…

    Amazon: My Cross to Bear

  • Video

    Brandi Carlile – “Oh Dear”

    July 8, 2012 /

    Oh dear. A rush of goosebumps, the welling of tears in the eyes. That moment when you become aware of a special connection between you and a song, and all external noises and worries go quiet. That moment when every ounce of focus – heart, soul and mind – is between you and the song, and you have the sublime pleasure of reveling in its beauty.

    This a capella performance of “Oh Dear” by Brandi Carlile and her band worked that magic on me when I watched this ACL performance sometime last year. Everything about it is perfect to me: all the harmony parts, the placement of each character in the group, Brandi’s animated expressions… and – her VOICE. Oh dear oh dear. The pristine falsetto, the inflections, and the purity.

    This simply knocked me out.

    (ACL has wiped this video clean from the internet. I’ll get it back up if I find it!)