Teal waves crashing

This is the view I’ve been enjoying recently, and this morning I went for an exhilarating run along this coast where the whales are spouting and the teal waves are crashing. There are a few really good runs I remember; one was on Victoria (British Columbia)’s coast in May of 2005 overlooking the ocean, my run from this morning will join that memory as one of the finest. It’s humid here, so sweaty after my run, I dove into the ocean and did some swimming while flirting with the power of the waves. It’s good to feel small and part of something so large and unpredictable sometimes. I am coming to the conclusion that learning to surf would be one of the most amazing things ever, and I am tempted. My balance that way isn’t very good though — my tailbone still aches just thinking about the time I tried to learn snowboarding.

I haven’t been listening to much music other than the lush cacophony of birds teeming in all the trees here. I can hear it as I fall asleep and from the moment I start to push out through the haze of sleep in the morning. Just three days removed from my Colorado winter, where nothing breathes or even smiles, my head spins a bit from all the verdant life here.

There was a little bachelorette-type thing last night at the Sheraton, where we were lucky to see some really good middle-aged dancers bringing sexy back on the dancefloor, but the wedding festivities for my relative begin in earnest tonight, with the ceremony tomorrow night. I hope they put a pig in the ground to roast (vegetarians, have at it in the comments). And I think some of us are heading now to the little town of Koloa up the road, where we might just have Lappert’s Ice Cream for lunch. Because I’m on vacation, and I can do that.

Aloha and mahalo

In the bleak midwinter, we all need some sunshine. By the time you read this (by the wonders of modern publish-by-proxy technology) I will be suspended somewhere over the Pacific Ocean, heading to Kauai. I will probably be listening to this mix (on my new noise-cancelling headphones) to wash away the ice and stress of modern life and prepare for some island revelry. I am staying here. Aw yeah.

These tunes capture a slice of the island/surf/sun lifestyle for me, and will be my soundtrack until Tuesday. The mix starts with a lovely little Ed Vedder tune on ukulele, because every single thing about this song is exactly what I would want for my Hawaiian vacation when I close my eyes. Plus it’s my island soundtrack, and there’s a lot of Vedder on my island.

LONELY CLIFFS AND WATERFALLS HAWAII MIX
You’re True – Ed Vedder
Hawaii Five-O – The Ventures
Islands – Cat Power
A Flash of Green – Pollo Del Mar
Sweet Leilani – Chris Isaak
Island In The Sun – Weezer
Torpedo – Hawaii Mud Bombers
Island Life – Ethan Elkind
Surf Beat – Dick Dale & The Del-Tones
Hawaiian Sunset – Elvis Presley
Pipeline – The Chantays
Honolulu – Any Trouble
Gold Finger – Blue Stingrays
Constellations (live at Kokua) – Jack Johnson & Ed Vedder
Liver Splash – The Meters
Surf Rider – The Lively Ones
Oceans (live in Honolulu) – Pearl Jam
Theme From “Endless Summer” – The Sandals
Stay Young – The Farmhouse Band/Shelter surf DVD
Hawaii 78 – Israel Kamakawiwo’ole

ZIP: HAWAII MIX

Be good, kids.

For more Hawaiian music, check this excellent podcast: http://hawaiianeye.blogspot.com/

Into The Wild demos from Eddie Vedder

How in the world did I not consider Ed Vedder’s Into The Wild soundtrack album when I made up my best-of 2007 list? I think it’s a richly nuanced, evocative collection that’s perfectly suited to the weight of the film – you can read my thoughts on it here. Since the finished product is so grand, I was very excited to discover that some of his work-in-progress demos for the soundtrack have made their way onto the internet. Enjoy.

INTO THE WILD DEMOS
Guaranteed (Humming version demo) – Eddie Vedder
Guaranteed (demo 2) – Eddie Vedder [full lyrics jpg here]
Hard Sun (instrumental) – Eddie Vedder
No Ceiling (demo) – Eddie Vedder
Rise (demo) – Eddie Vedder
The Wolf (demo) – Eddie Vedder

ZIP: INTO THE WILD DEMOS

These are from the excellent new Pearl Jam b-sides site http://www.gremmie.net/bsides/

Also — a music video from Eddie? If you haven’t seen it yet:

Rogue Wave’s all over my radar lately

Rogue Wave has been popping up in simply the most delightful places for me in recent days.

First, over Christmas my brother got Season One of the Heroes tv show on DVD so we fed our addiction like crack, watching as many in a row as we could stay awake for (and then having really freaky dreams — at least I did). In the very first episode, they used the Rogue Wave song “Eyes” to great effect, and I was struck afresh by what a lovely little 2:28 wisp of a song it is. It was looping in my head all day.

“Birds pass by to tell me that I’m not alone . . .”

Eyes – Rogue Wave

Then yesterday I saw that the fabulous Daytrotter (which seriously may be one of the best and most innovative DIY music sites out there today) has a new live session with Rogue Wave, including a performance of their unreleased song “Desperate.” It’s a tune that makes me feel like I am floating underwater and looking up at the sun filtering in.

Desperate (previously unreleased) – Rogue Wave

Listen to/download the rest of the Daytrotter set here. Rogue Wave also just announced that they will be supporting Nada Surf on the upcoming European Tour from February 20-March 5th.

Monday Music Roundup

Today is slushy and grey and cold, and twenty degrees or so. In four days I will be on Kauai and I just keep telling myself that when the wind smacks me in the face and takes my breath away (and not in a Top Gun soundtrack kind of way). I am so very tired of having cold hands all the time.

Here are two links worth a click today:
–I heart Nick Hornby and the way he writes about music, this is a documented fact. Check his list of favorite songs from 2007. I hope he writes another Songbook someday.

–Stereogum posted this Celine Dion video last week, and good heavens I think she’s IN-sane, but I laughed relentlessly. Amazing indeed.

Music for the frosty week:

Goodbye Daughters of the Revolution
The Black Crowes
Here’s our first listen to the sounds of the brand new Black Crowes album Warpaint (March 4, Silver Arrow Records). You got your down-home noodling on the steel guitar, the emotive wails of Chris Robinson and some stylistically-appropriate Civil War lyrics about daughters of an unnamed revolution. It just feels good, what with them singing about how we can join the jubilee, running for the gates of the city. And when he sings about coming ’round midnight to her back door, some part of me just really doesn’t think he’s singing about her porch. The Black Crowes will be playing their full new album in seven lucky cities this March, tour dates just announced for those.

Honey Come Home
Murder Mystery
This quartet isn’t sinister as they sound; Murder Mystery is a scruffy group of indie kids out of NYC whose debut album Are You Ready For The Heartache Cause Here It Comes was produced by JP Bowersock (Ryan Adams, The Strokes). With the pleasing jangle and reverb of surf guitar and Buddy Holly, with more than a Stroke of Casablancas’ croon and edge, this song tells the story of an unsure young man who puts his hands on the small of her back, because “you told me you like that” (but he sure doesn’t sound like he ever would have thought to do it himself). Simultaneously evoking school dances and Lower East Side bars, this album charmed me — plus they have a girl drummer so come on, I’m in.

Aubrey
Jake Troth
First the fabulous Mr. Troth made me kinda wish my name was “Caroline,” and now I am thinking maybe Aubrey would be a nice name so that I could claim this song as my own. No such luck. This is a new demo from Jake Troth, I love the way the bluesy opening notes take their time blossoming, hanging sweet in anticipation. And is it just me or do you want to sing the opening lines to Augie March’s “One Crowded Hour” when this cues up? Different songs, but both superb. Oh, and you hipster fashionista, here’s one musician who can also deck you out in finery since he’s studying that business – check out jacob-rogers.com, a collaborative clothing line project that he contributes the artwork to, and each item ordered comes with a free EP of original music.

Balloons
Foals
Their MySpace profile lists Foals as “snotty art school dropouts hungry for the dollar,” and okay, sure I can cop that. I mean, they’re barely 20 and signed to Sub Pop, and we love art school dropouts from Oxford here. The music coming from this dance-punk 5-piece is aloof and cool, but with with a underlying flashes of multilayered musical originality. There are touches of Talking Heads and Devo, as well as more modern nods like Franz Ferdinand. This song is all herky-jerky with an apocalyptic breakdown halfway through, and splashes of a bright pigment accent the rhythmic chaos. I also like how relentless the tune “Hummer” is, listen over on their MySpace. Their full length album Antidotes is due in Spring 2008.

You Cross My Path
The Charlatans
Does anyone really confuse these guys with The Charlatans from the ’60s? Calling them The Charlatans UK seems superfluous to me, the same way my wonderful beloved nubbin of an NYC friend Jenn always says “Airfrenchband” as if it was one breathless word, instead of just Air. ANYWAYS. These Charlatans are winding up their second decade of making music as kings of their own Britpop/alternative fifedom. Managed by Oasis guru/Creation Records head Alan McGee, they’ve decided to digitally give away their first single from their upcoming 2008 album. Thom says everyone is doing it, and when he speaks, people follow. Good.

Stay, and the night would be enough :: U2 in San Jose 4/20/2001

April 19th 2001 was a Thursday night, grey and raining as I recall. I had been working at my first job out of college for about four months and was still getting used to not being a student anymore. Living in a tiny tiny apartment right in the heart of the ghetto next to an Asian karaoke bar, it was downwind from a fish market, with the occasional crazy person attacking the lobby door with a crowbar. Home sweet home.

Upon getting home from work that ordinary Thursday night, I retrieved a phone message from KFOG radio, letting me know that instead of Friends & ER that night, I was going to be seeing U2 in San Jose — winning a contest I forgot I’d entered. Not a bad exchange. On such short notice, everything feels more exciting and more wonderful because you’ve had absolutely no time in your mind to build it up or form any sort of anticipations, you’re just grabbing your coat and heading to Will Call for a night that stuns you in its intimacy despite being shared with 20,000 other people.

The Thursday night show was incredible, U2 are probably the best stadium showmen alive, and I say that having not yet seen Bruce Springsteen. Everything from the into-the-crowd peninsula of the heart-stage setup on that tour, to the surprising range of material they pulled out — all seemed crafted to transcend the artificiality of the arena show and feel, surprisingly, much more like a smaller venue. I was struck by how personal it felt. I left the show much more engaged and blown-away than I had during the fantastic orgy of the Oakland PopMart tour in 1997 with Oasis opening. That was glitz and sparkle, swagger and neon; this was something altogether different.

Thursday night’s set didn’t have a single song that I wish they’d left out; even the radio hits that I’ve heard so many bajillions of times that I (admit it) will often flip the station when they come on, those tunes were invigorated as if they hadn’t been sung over and over for the last twenty+ years. 2001 U2 was a band at the very top of their ever-heightening game. Just listen (for example) to the rev and tug of the guitar breakdown that the Edge inserts into Friday night’s “Where The Streets Have No Name” shortly after the 4 minute mark. It’s like an engine turning over, still ready to tear out of there.

However, the night I was there didn’t include the unique gem that came Friday, one of the reasons that I love this 4/20/01 boot instead: U2 played a wistful acoustic version of “Stay (Faraway So Close)” for the first time ever in the U.S. that night. In fact, they tell me that it was the first time a song from Zooropa had been performed on U.S. soil.

“Stay” is such a different song without the clattery drum beat and the Zooropa-era sheen to it, but I honestly savor the perfect simplicity of this rendition and the way Bono wraps up all the late-night longing with just an acoustic guitar. Similar to the first time Pearl Jam played “Leash” in over 12 years (in Boston, May ’06), I especially get a thrill listening as the crowd catches on to the moment.

Favorite moments on this boot also include a sweetly heartfelt acoustic version of “In A Little While,” performed on the edge of the heart and dedicated to Joey Ramone (who had died 5 days before) saying, “This is a song Joey Ramone loved, and we loved him, so…” Starting from there and going through that 4-song lineup of In A Little While/Angel of Harlem/Stay (Faraway So Close)/All I Want Is You, finishing with the crowd singing along with all that was in them — whew. That’s a pretty unstoppable 15 minutes. And then since I am a complete Achtung Baby pushover, the one-two punch of “Mysterious Ways” and “The Fly” did me in as well. The buoyant “Kite” also saw its live debut this night.

The quality of this boot is excellent; this is the audience recording rather than the soundboard one that is also floating around out there, because I like hearing the crowd noise. Thursday’s setlist had many similarities to this boot below (but I got to see “Even Better Than The Real Thing” and thought I might die of happiness). Since contest winners can’t be choosers, and since it would have set me back $85 to actually *pay* for my ticket to Friday’s show, I’ll have to satiate myself with this fantastic boot. Easy to do.

U2 IN SAN JOSE
4/20/2001
Elevation / Creep (snippet)
Beautiful Day
Until The End Of The World
New Year’s Day
Kite (live debut)
New York
I Will Follow
Sunday Bloody Sunday / Get Up Stand Up (snippet)
Stuck In A Moment You Can’t Get Out Of
Band Introductions
In A Little While (for Joey Ramone)
Angel Of Harlem
Stay (Faraway, So Close) (U.S. debut)
All I Want Is You
Psalm 116 (snippet) / Where The Streets Have No Name
Mysterious Ways / Sexual Healing (snippet)
The Fly
Bullet The Blue Sky / Whole Lotta Love (snippet)
With Or Without You
Pride (In The Name Of Love)
One
Walk On (halle, hallelujah…indeed)

ZIP FILE: U2 IN SAN JOSE (re-upped 2010)

[Thanks to U2Start for a lot of this, and to Otto Kitsinger and The Chronicle for some great photos]

The unfamiliar faces of Matt Costa

As soon as I was about ten seconds into this new video from Matt Costa, I already knew that yeah, I was gonna have to post it. When he steps in front of the panorama of the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk, where I have spent many a 25¢ Ride Night during the long hot summers of my teenage youth, I fell. This brand new video is for the playful lead-off track from Matt’s upcoming second full-length album, Unfamiliar Faces (January 22, Brushfire Records).

“Mr. Pitiful” is the earcatching opener to a bright and largely effervescent album, but a collection that also finds Matt journeying into territory that is a bit deeper and richer. I heard more variation between the songs than in albums past, but he still maintains that enjoyable California vibe.

This video is directed by the Malloy Brothers, and casts Matt as a marionette-like one man band, travelling the well-known beaches, bridges, and thoroughfares of Santa Cruz and San Francisco. I can testify that walking across that train bridge at about the 1:30 mark is a bit unnerving (if it’s the one I am thinking of) because it’s just an open trestle. It made me smile to see it again.

And it’s also a testimony to both of those wacky cities that I love that no one hardly bats an eye at the dude jivin’ down the street wearing a big drum and a bowtie.

MR. PITIFUL – new video from Matt Costa
(click the yellow play circle)

And here’s a bonus Friday goodie for you: a new slowburn song from Costa that feels like an orange sunset to me. It’s one of my favorites off Unfamiliar Faces so far.

Never Looking Back – Matt Costa

Matt is on tour all over the place in the coming months with Johnathan Rice and Delta Spirit supporting.

Re-run: Me on the radio

My guest spot on NPR’s World Cafe with David Dye aired on Tuesday, much to my mom and dad’s delight. After I spent approximately seventeen years trying to find a way to stream it online, I was finally able to hear my sleekly-edited interview late in the evening. Over about thirty minutes, Dye and I chatted about a few of my favorite albums of 2007, and my impressions of the current blog world/digital music landscape.

The conversation was a ridiculously fun one to have, and most of the time I forgot that they were even recording. It is a credit to Dye that he can make jittery first-timers feel so relaxed and get to the core of the matter, which was the slew of great music this year. I didn’t get a chance to cover all my picks, and they cut some of the portions (plus I am kicking myself for not even mentioning the lyric + sentiment that I borrowed the oft-confusing name of my blog from!) — but overall this was something I deeply enjoyed doing.

If you missed it, you can take a listen now:
Heather Browne on World Cafe 01-01-2008

Gonna make a pie with a heart in the middle

This song keeps looping in my head tonight. I just finished watching Waitress which was more complex than I had thought, not just about baking pastries in a small town. Keri Russell plays a waitress with heart in a small town who bakes amazing pies. Her husband doesn’t support her dreams, the joy she finds in creating something small and sweet that makes people smile and brings joy into their day. As her belly grows with pregnancy, something begins to ferment and rise within her as she flirts with the ideas of other roads for her life to follow.

This charming melody is something that she sings a few times in the film while she bakes, a lullaby and a little love song. It’s bluegrass-tinged, a little sugary, and not at all rock and roll, but I’m a sap for good sweet singable melodies for kids, so I ripped this one and already do a pretty mean rendition.

Baby Don’t You Cry – Quincy Coleman
[there’s some good stuff on her MySpace, check it]

In addition to making me hum the Tori Amos song “Waitress” all day (which is not on the soundtrack), the film also included tunes from the likes of Cake, The Bottle Rockets, and these two:

You’re Gonna Get It – Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings [link]
The Electric Love Letter – Langhorne Slim [link]

On repeat to start the year off right: Half Acre Day

Half Acre Day are five guys from Seattle who have been making music for over a decade. I don’t know much about them except for that they appear to enjoy dressing alike, at least two of them are fans of the moustache, and perhaps they once got lost in tall greenery. In addition, their bio talks about mathematical formulae, ossicles oscillating, and toast. I’m a big fan of that last one, and two out of three ain’t bad.

But seriously, take these songs out for a spin. The sounds coming from their MySpace player are absolutely heavenly, and I’ve been listening to them all morning on the recommendation of a reader who saw them play in Seattle and wrote to say that they had “a Grandaddy thing going on.” I hear that, plus touchstones like the Shins and Swimmers and Fruit Bats.

One reviewer called this widescreen indie-pop, which I loved because I definitely hear a charmingly evocative quality here that would fit right into a quirky independent film-festival release. With the chiming melodies, the playful lyrics and intelligent songwriting, these songs have an immediate impact that make my eardrums euphoric.

What a way to start the year; pretty sure that it’s humanly impossible to dislike these songs. If there’s any justice in the world, Half Acre Day could be huge in ’08.

Brown – Half Acre Day
Anemones – Half Acre Day

Buy Fourteen Trips Around The Sun