There’s a couple nice little cheap music promotions going on around the internet that I wanted to pass along incase anyone has missed out.
First of all, as you’ve most likely heard, Paste Magazine is having a bit of a financial struggle with the current recession so they’ve been running a Save Paste Campaign hoping to get some donations to help cover the lack of advertiser support. A $25 dollar donation gets you over 100 rare tracks from bands such as The Decemberists, Neko Case, She & Him, Of Montreal, and The Avett Brothers to name a few. Paste is one of the coolest, most well put together mags out there covering more than just music such as movies, books, and really anything cultural significant in the arts. Click here to check out the promotion.
This other promotion isn’t very well known but it is still pretty dang cool none the less. Polyvinyl needs to clear some space so they can save over 10,000 records from getting trashed when a few of their warehouses are forced to close down. They’d like to move those records back to their office but they have to move some of their other stock out that they currently have sitting around the office. So, depending on how much you donate, they’ll give you some pretty cool CDs/DVDs. Some of the artists include Mates of State, Rainer Maria, Of Montreal, and Architecture in Helsinki. The $50 deal includes 26 CDs and 2 DVDs which is a pretty sweet deal. Heck the $10 deal will get you the Mates of State DVD and a CD each from Rainer Maria & Architecture in Helsinki. But I couldn’t stop there…that $50 deal was too good for me to pass up. Head here to see for yourself.
Over at All Songs Considered, the latest Tiny Desk Concert was posted today and it’s none other than Birmingham, AL native and former Azure Ray member Maria Taylor performing a very cool 3 song set list. The first couple songs are from her latest album, LadyLuck, which is actually one of my pleasant surprises of the year considering I wasn’t expecting much after 2007’s disappointing Lynn Teeter Flower, a follow up to her impressive debut 11:11. But her songwriting skills have come full circle and really shine through on LadyLuck and it may be the most personal of all her heart on sleeve releases. It’s a very intimate set and actually used no amplification at all…pretty sweet. Oh, and while reading the little intro to the set, I found out that Azure Ray is planning a reunion tour and a new album…so that was kind of a cool nugget to slip in there.
To this day, one of my favorite concert going experiences was seeing Maria’s entire family get up on stage and play along as she closed out her set for a show back when she opened for Bright Eyes in B’ham at the Alabama Theatre (she was dating Conor Oberst at the time). It was cool seeing the entire Taylor clan up on stage rocking out and clearly enjoying Maria’s homecoming concert (brother Macey is part of Oberst’s Mystic Valley Band, and sister Kate has a burgeoning solo career). Anyway, I definitely recommend spending 10 minutes of your day by giving her Tiny Desk Concert a listen, and while you’re there, check out some of the other live concerts NPR offers.
This isn’t exactly the kind of post I figured I’d use this blog for, but when one of the greatest musical icons EVER dies, I think a post is pretty necessary. First of all, yeah, the guy had a tough adulthood with all sorts of controversies and bizarre moments that to an extent overshadowed his brilliance as a artist and performer, but this is a music blog so that’s what I’m going to talk about…his music. It’s hard to really add any more to what has already been said all over the news about Michael, but I will say I truly think what Michael Jackson did as a performer is underrated, especially by my generation and younger. He was a transcendent superstar, and those don’t come along very often…I can think of maybe 3 or 4 from the last half century…maybe. He was the first big superstar of the MTV generation and took it by the reigns. I still remember as a kid watching MTV do a yearly (or so) countdown of the greatest videos of all time, and “Thriller” was a no brainer to be #1 every single time. Clearly Jackson was immensely talented as an artist, but where he really stood out was as a performer. Off the stage he was a very shy and quiet guy but he felt at home on the stage. Despite all his troubles, there was no denying his passion for his fans and how much he truly appreciated and loved everyone of them. In this day and age, I don’t know if there will every be another artist that puts that much passion and energy into his performances, but anyone that does, has MJ to thank for leading the way. Of course, he was a musical icon dating all the way back to his Jackson 5 days and beyond bringing us some of the greatest and most memorable American tunes ever, not to mention his dance moves which were groundbreaking, but he was also a cultural icon and up until a few days ago, a living legend.
I’m reminded of a Simpsons episode where Michael Jackson guest starred in one of the classic episodes from the series. He didn’t want to receive credit for guest starring so a sound alike received credit, but it was revealed later that it actually was Jackson in the episode. Seventeen years later and of all the different guest stars The Simpsons have featured on the show, I don’t think anyone has or ever will top Jackson’s appearance. Enjoy this song from that episode (note: I believe the sound alike did actually sing this song while Jackson did the spoken word voice-overs in the episode, but you get the gist), and go watch some MJ videos…they shouldn’t be too hard to find.
[“Happy Birthday Lisa” – The Simpsons :: Season 3, Episode 1]
In a bit of the coolest news I’ve heard in a long time, the rumors of a Sunny Day Real Estate reunion were finally confirmed today with the announcement of a tour featuring all the original band members coming this fall! I made mention of a possible SDRE reunion a few weeks ago in my little blurb about Jeremy Enigk’s new album, but this is pretty much the best Enigk/SDRE post I could ever hope to make. It sounds like they’ll be mainly playing songs from Diary and LP2 which each will also be re-issued by Sub Pop Records on September 15th to celebrate the reunion. Whether you call them emo, indie, or whatever, (they’re emo by the way, like it or not) there’s no denying that Diary was one of the most influential and defining albums of the 90’s and is easily one of my favorite albums of all time. Click here for the news article complete with tour dates. You can go ahead and count me in for that October 3rd Atlanta show.
“Do you remember when 21 years was old?” sings Thomas Mars on “Countdown”, one of the many great tracks from the fourth (and best) album from French pop-rockers Phoenix. It’s in this simple lyric that he maybe provides the best example of the sense of nostalgia that seems to carry Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix from just a fun danceable indie rock album, to a career defining work of art. You have to love a French band who writes and records all their music in English (thanks guys!), but what’s more impressive is that this is band who has not only mastered an American genre such as the NYC garage-band revival made popular by The Strokes, but also taken it to a level that similar American bands (like…The Strokes) have stalled to get to. Joining “Countdown” as album standouts is the best 1-2 punch of the year in “Lisztomania” and “1901” which open the album with two of the best tracks released in 2009 and are a great introduction to the rest of the tightly-constructed tunes that make up the disc. And while Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix may not be as in-your-face nostalgic as say, M83’s Saturday’s=Youth or The Pains of Being Pure at Heart’s self titled release from earlier this year, it’s still hard to listen to the album and not get some sense of sentimentality for times gone by. It’s in the ambient electronics heard throughout, it’s in the lyrics, but nostalgic or not, Phoenix have created a great album that should appeal to all fans from those of indie-dance to NYC garage-rock, and really just anyone who wants to listen to catchy pop-rock by a band who has subtly put itself in rarefied air.
It’s safe to say that I’m not the only one who loves all things “phenomenal”. I also have a strong place in my heart for handclaps in music, as well as (some) bands. So it stands to reason that I would love a band called The Phenomenal Handclap Band. And while, I’m not ready to make that kind of lasting commitment, I am pretty smitten over this NYC supergroup set to release their eponymous debut album next week. I got a hold of the advance release digital version and it’s certainly living up to the expectations garnered by the band ever since the group made their first appearance last summer and became one of the talks of this past year’s SXSW. The Phenomenal Handclap Band is a fusion of soooo many genres but what stands out the most is easily the discofunk throwback sounds of the music. It’s a psychedelic listening experience and I can’t imagine how fun their live show would be. I’m not even going to try to go into further details with reviewing the disc as this genre(s) is nothing I’m familiar with at all. Their breakout track “15 to 20” is already making its rounds as a summer classic (although there are better tracks), one of the many reasons it’s hard not to classify the album as the quintessential summer jam record.
[“You’ll Disappear” – The Phenomenal Handclap Band]
As far as I’m concerned, 2006’s Yellow House was a decent album, with a few songs, most notably “Knife” and “On a Neck, on a Spit”, that blew the listener away and at least put Grizzly Bear on the map. But, for me, it was a bit overrated as the album was devoid of many memorable moments and was, well, boring. A beautiful album yes, and it was certainly evident that there was something there that hinted at Grizzly Bear’s talent and potential, but as a whole, I put the album on the back burner and never really felt a need to come back to it. Enter In Ear Park, the 2008 release from Grizzly Bear’s sister band Department of Eagles. Led by Daniel Rossen and featuring 2 other Grizzly Bear members, I surprisingly felt a much greater connection with this release and considered it one of the best albums of the year, just barely missing out on my top 10. There were elements on this release that I felt could benefit Grizzly Bear, but who knew if that would ever happen, so in essence, I became a fan of Department of Eagles more so than of Grizzly Bear.
I didn’t pay any attention to Grizzly Bear news, including their Friend EP release in 2007, but knew they had a new full-length album in the works for 2009 and was sure I would at least give it a listen. My first sense of excitement surrounding the new release was hearing “Deep Blue Sea” on the Dark Was the Night compilation (also featured on the Friend EP as a Dan Rossen home recording) and noticing hints of what I hoped Grizzly Bear could become and despite the fact that “Deep Blue Sea” would not be featured on the new album, the hype for Veckatimest continued to grow. The album leaked in early 2009 to horrible quality, but continued to generate buzz. So here we are, three years after Yellow House and with a fantastic side project release in between, Veckatimest finally has its day, and alas, the foundation laid by Yellow House has been built upon to create an epic release, easily Grizzly Bear’s masterpiece, that is sure to go down as one of the year’s best and the album that takes Grizzly Bear to a new level.
After a week long debate with myself on whether or not I wanted to make the Saturday night trek down to Atlanta to catch the TV on the Radio and Grizzly Bear show at The Tabernacle, I finally caved in on Thursday and bought my ticket. I didn’t want to look back on this opportunity and regret passing it up, and when all was said and done, I was very happy with my choice. The day started out a little rough as about 30 minutes outside of Greenville, they guys I was with realized their gigantic, bright red, Live Nation provided tickets were still sitting on the kitchen counter. Luckily, since we left early enough hoping to enjoy some dinner and drinks before the show, we had plenty of time to turn around and go pick up the tickets, albeit that cut our pre-concert festivities short. About 4 hours after we originally left Greenville we finally made it to dinner at a fine “delightfully tacky” eating establishment close to The Tabernacle when the next bit of rough news came through that Dirty Projectors was no longer opening the show. This was a bummer, as Bitte Orca had just been released to rave reviews and talks of the fine show they put on had us all excited…oh well. There was no time to harp on the bad news though, as we were about to enjoy a fantastic show from a couple Brooklyn acts and two of the best bands going today. (No pics from the show though…sorry.)
Grizzly Bear
Grizzly Bear took the stage around 8:20 and started off with “Southern Point”, their fantastic opener on Veckatimest (album review coming soon!). This was honestly one of the highlights of the set for me as the song is instantly recognizable and really got me even more pumped about the upcoming set than I already was. The rest of the show featured a good mix of some of the highlights from Yellow House as well as all the fan favorites from Veckatimest. I was standing on the floor level to the right facing the stage and didn’t have a great view of the whole band but was able to see everything if I shifted my head a little to the left every now and then to see by the noggin of some fella and his girlfriend who got there about halfway through the set only to stand right in front of me and promptly ask me if they had already played “Knife”. Yep, they sure did…better luck next time. Meanwhile, the piano was just starting up for “Two Weeks”, so I told them at least you didn’t miss what’s maybe their best song. My best unobstructed view was of drummer Christopher Bear and I enjoyed watching him throughout the set as often times drums are the most underappreciated part of a band. So it was nice to see what he brought to the table and I went away impressed with his playing. I would loved to have heard more from Grizzly Bear as by the time “While You Wait for the Others” closed it out, I wasn’t really ready for them to be done, but they were just the opener so considering that, it was an amazing hour long (or so?) experience. A venue like The Tabernacle compliments their music perfectly being a band built quiet harmonies and not nearly as loud as what was about to follow.
TV on the Radio
Things started to get a good bit more crowded on the floor level in preparation for the TV on the Radio set and we actually ended up losing our spots and had to move back about 15 feet, but it wasn’t that big of a deal. I was impressed at the amount of people at this show. The last (and first) show I went to at The Tabernacle was to see The Hold Steady and Drive By Truckers last fall, but that crowd was nothing compared to this which is actually kind of cool considering TVotR and Grizzly Bear are a couple northern acts and the show in the fall was headlined by true Alabama bred southerners Drive by Truckers. Good for you Atlanta! As TVotR took the stage, the first thing I noticed was the awesomeness of Kyp Malone’s beard. That thing is crazy and looks even more amazing seeing it person. I felt that the sound was a bit off for pretty much all of the set as TV on the Radio has to be a pretty tough band to get everything sounding perfect with the amount of stuff they have going on (just ask SNL). The vocals were muffled a bit, and the guitars just weren’t that crisp, but the energy and stage presence they brought to the set, highlighted by Tunde Adebimpe’s hand gestures and bouncing around the stage, was easily enough to overlook the slightly less than desired sound quality. And who knows, it may have just sounded like that from where I was standing. The band really hit it’s stride about 3 songs in during “Halfway Home” which is one of the many standouts from Dear Science,. But the absolute highlight of the entire night, for either band, was the best song TVotR has done (and will probably ever do) in “Wolf Like Me”. It was clearly the crowd favorite and what many had come to hear. And the band knew it too, as they gave their best performance of the set. Maybe the only thing that can rival that was the 2nd song of the encore, “A Method” which featured some members of Grizzly Bear. When all was said and done, the resounding feeling I was left with from the set was something every concert should do and that’s give you a feeling that life is good. Damn good. And while we may not quite yet be in the “Golden Age” TV on the Radio sings of, for a few hours one Saturday night in Atlanta, it sure as hell felt like it.
How about a song from each band? Well, here ya go. No, these are not live versions.
So while I was on vacation, visiting places like this and this, the Orioles were making loads of changes to their roster and actually put together a nice little string of victories. Of course, as soon as I returned home the O’s reverted back to playing poorly which leads me to think that for the O’s benefit I should either: a) stop paying any attention to the team, or b) get paid by the Orioles to go on many more vacations across the globe. I’ll go with b) as long as the O’s are up for it.
Matt Wieters finally got the call
Anyway, during the 10 days I was out of the country, the Orioles called up the already legendary and #1 prospect in all of baseball Matt Wieters, another member of the calvary in David Hernandez (he’s since been optioned back to AAA), and less heralded pitching prospect Jason Berken. To make room for Wieters, Chad Moeller was placed and waivers and eventually sent down to AAA. Hernandez was called up to fill the rotation spot of Koji Uehara who had to be placed on the DL with a strained left hamstring, and Berken took the rotation spot of Adam Eaton who was finally cut after putting up an ERA of almost 9 (!) throughout the first month and a half of the season. Oh, and to go along with those moves, former closer Chris Ray was sent down to AAA to get his problems corrected, and Lou Montanez was lost until probably September with torn ligaments in his right thumb. So yeah, lots of moves. Meanwhile, Luke Scott was activated off the DL and responded by winning the AL Player of the Week after hitting 6 homers and driving in 14 runs while hitting .444. Oh, and while all this was happening, Nolan Reimold was solidifying his spot as the O’s leftfielder and putting himself in the AL rookie of the year race. Whew! So man, I missed a lot while I was gone, but lets break it down a little:
My long overdue first Auburn related post is going to be short but sweet. The talk of the Auburn nation this week (other than losing players to the MLB draft, and Alabama’s latest penalties from the NCAA) has been the US News & World Report article titled “Best Places to Live 2009” which mentions none other than Auburn, Alabama as one of those top 10 places. This just strengthens my long held amazement of how anyone in their right mind (athlete or not) could visit Auburn and still decide to attend the University of Alabama and have to reside in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. And really, this article takes that notion up a notch to wondering how anyone could visit Auburn and want to go ANYWHERE ELSE…but I digress. This certainly is a cool recruiting ploy for the coaches to use out on the recruiting trail this year. War Damn Auburn.
First of all, as you’ve most likely heard, Paste Magazine is having a bit of a financial struggle with the current recession so they’ve been running a Save Paste Campaign hoping to get some donations to help cover the lack of advertiser support. A $25 dollar donation gets you over 100 rare tracks from bands such as The Decemberists, Neko Case, She & Him, Of Montreal, and The Avett Brothers to name a few. Paste is one of the coolest, most well put together mags out there covering more than just music such as movies, books, and really anything cultural significant in the arts. Click here to check out the promotion.
Posted by Hawkins 
A Round of Sound 