February 12, 2009

Explosively fun soul from Miss Fairchild

fairchild-live2

A few years back, I met Miss Fairchild from Nantucket (that sounds like the opening to a great limerick) with this outrageous track off their Ooh La La Sha Sha EP. It sounds like it just shuffled from another decade, with half-steps and then a little side lunge:

Number One – Miss Fairchild

I wore that song out on long runs that summer. In fact, hearing it now makes my pulse race. Lead singer Daddy Wrall has this slyly-knowing croon that’s custom built for songs that make you wanna get up and dance. They aren’t exactly reinventing a genre, they’re rolling around in the good classic stuff and having an immense amount of fun.

To celebrate the release of their new Won’t Be Your Kept Woman EP, Miss Fairchild is back with more free music in the form of an hour-long mp3 mixtape that is just ridiculous, all stomps and claps and hip shakes:

Won’t Be Your Kept Woman Mixtape – Miss Fairchild

The mixtape seamlessly layers their original compositions with everyone from Arrested Development to Bob Dylan, to Dr. John to En Vogue (Free your mind….) to Michael Jackson telling us to “blame it on the boogie.”

Which I do.





kept-woman-coverBUY THE NEW EP:
WON’T BE YOUR KEPT WOMAN















MISS FAIRCHILD SHOWS
2/26 BOSTON: Oliver’s Nightclub at Cask ‘n Flagon
2/27 BROWN UNIV: Brown Underground (students only)
2/28 PORTLAND, MAINE: Empire Dine & Dance

(top photo credit Jodi Goodnough)

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February 11, 2009

Abigail Washburn’s Chinese-Appalachian-1930s blend

Last week, Colorado College (where I work) welcomed back to campus one of its own, Abigail Washburn and the Sparrow Quartet, featuring ten-time Grammy winner Bela Fleck on the banjo, Casey Driessen on the violin, and the marvelous Ben Sollee on cello.

Washburn has a lovely, lilting, strong voice, and her music is a fascinating blend of bluegrass Appalachian, woven with old threads of 1930s Americana and traditional songs, then globally spiced with Chinese melodies and Chinese language. Abigail and I are roughly the same age, so she was at the College long before I came to work there, but she studied abroad in Shanghai and majored in Asian Studies (both are part of my job now in International Programs).

I felt a certain kinship with the journey of discovery she talked about all throughout her concert, remembering the old woman who taught her a song in China, or what the sky looked like where she lived during her time abroad. It was amazing to see how far life has carried her since those days, but how the seeds of her diverse life experiences have germinated in brightly colored ways through her music.

She is a formidable presence live; each member of the Sparrow Quartet seems smiley-in-love with the music they are creating, appreciatively watching the others play, and holding the audience quite spellbound. Seeing as many rock shows as I do, I was amazed that I didn’t even miss the drums. The range of sounds that their instruments sang out captivated my attention completely.

I brought my little boy to the concert with me (he was my plus-1/2 instead of plus-one, we joked, since he’s only 5) and he sat transfixed. As we walked out through the snowy parking lot, he emphatically told me that he’d never ever heard music like that before, and said, “Mama… it made my brain tickle.”

Pretty excellent description right there.

A Fuller Wine – Abigail Washburn & The Sparrow Quartet





BUY: Abigail Washburn and the Sparrow Quartet (2008)



Side note: Ben Sollee also blew me away; I’m a fan of his thoughtful, cello-based solo album Learning To Bend, and after seeing him play with the Sparrow Quartet, I’m itching to go catch him solo with his own songs, and also hear what else he’s got cooking with Jim James (My Morning Jacket).

February 10, 2009

New free Damnwells album! (somewhere between breaking and broke there’s a song to sing)

centurycoversmall1

I fell hard for The Damnwells with their 2006 album Air Stereo, and I’ve been tiding myself over during the wait for a new album with little fantastic demos like “Bastard of Midnight” and alternate acoustic versions of their songs I love. Dezen’s voice has an air of hardy romanticism to it, brilliantly-colored exactly like this Turner painting. It slides and rasps to carry the literate lyrics and musical stories he constructs.

The Damnwells have shifted in formation and members, while lead Damnwell Alex Dezen has moved to Iowa to teach and study fiction and creative writing. But he hasn’t stopped writing songs.  And starting today, they are releasing their newest album One Last Century for free via Paste Magazine. There’s a full-band treatment of “Bastards of Midnight,” surprising bluesy gospel twists on cuts like “Jesus Could Be Right,” and songs that well up with a sadness like “Say.”





I’ve talked with Alex about this new album, and the beautifully freeing feeling they’ve discovered in giving their music away. He wrote a statement about it:


I suppose the hardest thing to explain to people is why I’m giving this record away. “You’re just going to give it away?” seems antithetical to the human brain. “Is this just a bunch of b-sides or something? Some ‘give away’ material you don’t mind releasing into the ether?” No. Quite the contrary. I have never worked so hard or put so much of myself into a collection of recorded songs. It is for just this reason that I want to give it away.

To me it makes perfect sense. I just want people to hear this music, and I don’t want them to have to enter into some kind of contractual agreement with a third party to do so. Download the record, copy it and give it to your friends, lovers, and enemies. Whatever. It’s so hard these days just to get the actual music into people’s houses and cars, let alone their ears. Besides, I know everyone’s broke, maybe I can supply the soundtrack.

So, I just want to give this music away because I want people to hear it. I should have done this years ago. I’m starting over.

Enjoy,
Alex Dezen

DOWNLOAD: One Last Century

Everything – The Damnwells

Somewhere between darkness and wonder is every dream
Somewhere between breaking and broke, there’s a song to sing…

February 9, 2009

Monday Music Roundup

radiohead_thom_yorke_grammy_awards1

Ah, Radiohead, you win.

I did in fact watch most of the Grammys last night in between sorting mail and promo CDs and going through bills. It was that riveting. And just like when I cried last year when Kanye started singing ’bout his mama, I also cried this year when Jennifer Hudson sang (so sad), and just like last year I was also left largely disaffected by the pop music industry in general. Except Radiohead. I actually yelped –out loud– during their performance of 15 Step, watching the faces of the USC kids pound their big drums so ferociously. That is easily the single most electrifying performance I’ve seen on the Grammys. And now I want to travel somewhere, anywhere, and see Radiohead again. Bless their hearts. [watch and listen]

That, and I couldn’t help but noticing in the Memorial montage that a guy named Pervis died this year and I really feel that should be the new hipster baby name because it’s awesome.





La musica nuova:

vox-jaguarsSwagger
The Vox Jaguars

These kids play with, well, a swagger and a band name that sums up what it’s like to be 19 and bursting with confidence. I heard The Vox Jaguars over on Some Velvet Blog, all fuzz and scowl and garage rock, replete with fake British accents asking, “wot?”. They’re also from the coastal town of Santa Cruz, just over the hill from where I grew up. Two are in high school still, which I guess means they go to San Lorenzo Valley or Harbor High. Weird. They have an EP out tomorrow on Anodyne Records, home to the Meat Puppets — and they show fun and promising verve.





bon-iverThe Park (Feist cover)
Bon Iver

There’s a sensual and spine-tingling mournfulness in this cover (from a live session on Triple-J radio in Australia) that reminds me so very much of Jeff Buckley taking on the sweet and mournful sorrow of Nina Simone’s “Lilac Wine.” It’s unexpected, and uncanny.





illinoisMissing Piece
Illinois

This unadorned song sounds like someone sitting up at an old piano on your grandparents’ sunporch, the honeyed notes floating through the air and swirling around with the dust motes. Evocative very much of Ben Kweller’s prettiest numbers, our protagonist wonders here if he is someone’s missing piece. I guess you never know until you try. Illinois is still not from Illinois, but they are giving away all kinds of free music leading up to their new album The Adventures of Kid Catastrophe on May 5th. Check out the other goodness.





beasts-of-seasonsSpirited
Laura Gibson

Redolent with a richness in her warble that feels more at home in the 1930s than today, Laura Gibson‘s music feels very grounded and a bit otherworldly all at once. I’d like to see her play with Elvis Perkins in Dearland because they are some sort of soul siblings and might not know it yet but omg. She is actually on tour in the coming months with Juana Molina and also Fuel favorites Blind Pilot (but only for the SLC stop!). Her new album Beasts of Seasons is out February 24th on Hush Records.





tourart1940 (Submarines cover)
The Morning Benders

Berkeley’s Morning Benders bring their pleasing super-sunny pop harmonies to Denver next Saturday, and in a charming little gesture with their tourmates The Submarines, they’ve each covered one another’s work and released it for free to the adoring fans. I like the way this song takes a minute to get its training wheels straight and rolling on the merry way, with the hints of Sixties psychedelica throughout.



February 8, 2009

Our reflections flickering just like a Super 8 :: New from David Mead

david-mead1

Sometimes I forget how much I thoroughly enjoy the music of David Mead. He consistently writes some of the prettiest, catchiest, most thoughtful melodies out there today, yet he is chronically overlooked and underrated. Similar to Josh Rouse, both artists have an impeccable ear for the sublime and loan their smooth voices to a variety of styles of albums.

tangerineIf I can try to draw a few parallels here, 2006′s Tangerine was Mead’s 1972 (Josh Rouse’s album, full of toe-tapping organ riffs and danceable pop goodness).

For some reason, this song from Tangerine also reminds me of The White Stripes if they started hanging out with The Partridge Family:

Chatterbox – David Mead

SUCH a fantastic song, as is the whole album.



indianaMead’s 2004 album Indiana also knocked me flat. As the eponymous song would imply, parts of it are about driving through desolate miles of Midwestern landscape, but following a long stint living in New York many of his songs also sing about The City. I listened to this tune non-stop when I was in NYC in October of 2007, and it still makes me feel all wistful and bittersweet inside.

Well midnight has faded to morning, the city can’t keep you with me. ‘Cuz this is an island of vagabonds, a stop on your way to be free…. so take the Queensboro Bridge to the airport; I’ll stay and settle for less…”:

Queensboro Bridge – David Mead



david-meadWith that small primer fresh on your eardrums, let me tell you that David Mead just released a NEW 2-part EP called Almost and Always. His fifth full-length release, it’s a chronicle of  “life after marriage and the promise of things to come.”

The second part is now available as a free download when you tell 5 friends, or a pay-what-you-want type deal. I think this wonderful piano-based melody is my favorite so far, as it chugs along humbly and sweetly, like the train ride it details:

The Last Train Home – David Mead

….we spent the day remembering the city
mixing up our streets and avenues

but now you’re fast asleep and i am so alone
but we’re together on the last train
all the towns repeating
four more stops to go
we’re together on the last train home

catching our reflections
flickering just like a super 8
somerset and chatham
someone in an office working late

and you were softly singing in the kitchen
washing hands and saving him a plate

but now you’re fast asleep
and i am so alone
but we’re together on the last train
all the towns repeating
two more stops to go
we’re together on the last train home….”



GET IT: Almost and Always




[thanks to the formidable mcusa for the tip!]

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February 6, 2009

Eddie Vedder does karaoke at the Best Western in Mesa, Arizona

I hate singing those songs like “Where The Streets Have No Name” for karaoke — those long musical intros will kill ya. What do I do with myself for those 45 seconds? I’ll make awkward conversation with the audience, and shuffle my feet. Maybe let out a “whooo!” of anticipation before the lyrics begin.

He also sang “Yellow S(C)ubmarine” (gotta love the guy in the audience trying to sing “Hunger Strike”), and duetted with a girl for “I Got You Babe.” Vedder is in Arizona for the 2009 Cubs Fantasy Camp.

He loves the Cubbies.

[via]

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February 5, 2009

Dark Was The Night / New National

Curated by brothers Bryce and Aaron Dessner of The National, the Dark Was The Night compilation (Feb 17th, 4AD) is so stuffed full with amazing covers and duets and original songs from so many of my favorite artists, it’s almost ridiculous. The double-disc album benefits the Red Hot Organization, an international charity dedicated to raising money and awareness for HIV and AIDS.

The one track on here that I’ve been most itchin to hear is the new one from The National (although the Dessner brothers’ musical contributions reach further throughout the album, with collaborations with Bon Iver/Justin Vernon above, and Antony heartbreakingly covering Bob Dylan). “So Far Around The Bend” sounds like a time warp to me, like it foxtrotted in from some other era. It is almost jaunty, but with that rich gray undercurrent swirls, and drums thump like a pounding heartbeat.

The Gillian Welch/Conor Oberst duet on “Lua” is absolutely murdering me right now (listen in about a week on the MySpace player, it will rotate through to its day in the sun), and Jose Gonzalez and The Books covering Nick Drake? Really? Sigh. It really is an exceptionally high-quality and eminently listenable collection; the full tracklisting is here.

Aaron Dessner writes more about the process of how this album came to be, and the end results:

As we invited friends and peers to contribute, our collective social awareness became apparent: anyone that had the time was willing to donate their time and their music to the Red Hot cause. But there were many different stories behind each song: some we had heard live and knew had to be on the record (The Books “Cello Song”, My Brightest Diamond’s “Feelin Good”); close friends whose arms we knew we could twist enough to give us special tracks (Arcade Fire, and Sufjan Stevens); bands we asked who were too busy but had solo projects or side projects they could include (Dave Sitek of TV on the Radio and Jonsi Birgisson of Sigur Ros); songs we had always imagined certain artists singing (Cat Power’s “Amazing Grace” and Antony’s “I Was Young When I Left Home”); and dream collaborations (David Byrne and The Dirty Projectors, Feist with Grizzly Bear and Ben Gibbard, and my own song with Justin Vernon of Bon Iver).

In the end, there was enough great music to produce two discs–one dark and homegrown with almost classical arrangements of folk themes; the other more bright and evocative of the best of independent rock music at the beginning of the 21st century. “Dark Was The Night” and the Dore illustrations for Milton’s Paradise Lost, which make up the art imagery in this booklet, evoke a “fallen” world of struggle, but also the capacity of art to inspire us to rise above the obstacles put in our path. Our nights may be dark, but music gives us inspiration and hope of brighter days to come.

Why Fuel/Friends fled Blogger

commiepics

Several months ago, good friends of mine who have passionately and thoughtfully blogged about music alongside me for the last few years started receiving notices that posts alleged to contain “illegal” music were being completely deleted from their Blogger sites. Gone. No warning, no chance to remove music or contest the deletion.

Many of the songs were originally posted with label or promo company permission, even encouragement. Many of the illegal posts were old, and thus contained dead links, so it was all a bit pointless. One guy had even posted a long and well-written interview with a band that had provided some free demos to fans. They went on to get signed to the majors; he went on to find the post vanished into the ether, along with all his hard work and creative writing.

This isn’t okay with me. I truly pour myself into this site and writing genuine words about the music I love,  in what I hope is a thoughtful and engaging way. The thought that I could wake up to find parts of it totally gone – well, it freaked me out.

My friend Jeff Weiss (from Passion Of The Weiss) wrote an exhaustive article for the LA Weekly that ran yesterday, all about Google’s censorship tactics. It seems a bit like the left hand not knowing what the right hand is doing, and oft-well-intentioned bloggers losing their work in the crosshairs. I’m happy now here, in my own fifedom (with the irreplaceable help of the guys from DayJob), and on my own server. I feel regretful that Google has taken to these tactics without a full understanding of how not all music bloggers are 13-year-old kids posting links to the full new pirated Fall Out Boy album. I watch with curiosity to see how long it takes all facets of the industry to get whatever new paradigm we are crafting here together.

(In the meantime, when we go to jail, um… can we share a cell?)

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February 4, 2009

I can still remember how that music used to make me smile

bh-surf

Yesterday marked the 50th anniversary of Buddy Holly’s death (along with Richie Valens and the Big Bopper) in a plane crash in an Iowan cornfield, on the way home from a concert in Clear Lake’s Surf Ballroom.

Better than I could say it, this eloquent story blazes with warmth and vibrancy as it fleshes out Holly’s last days, and is well worth your time.

Radio newscast of the breaking story – KLGO Radio
Dearest (demo) – Buddy Holly
Heartbeat – Buddy Holly
Three Stars (tribute song to Holly, Valens, Big Bopper) – Eddie Cochran

OOOH WHEEE OOOH, I LOOK JUST LIKE BUDDY HOLLY (COVERS)
Well…All Right – Albert Hammond Jr.
Blue Days, Black Nights (on MTV Unplugged) – Chris Isaak
Everyday (live) – Pearl Jam
That’ll Be The Day – The Quarrymen
(early Beatles)
Words of Love – Jessica Lea Mayfield


RELATED: Buddy Holly On Line One

And Geffen Records just released a 2-disc collection of Buddy Holly’s demos and garage recordings called Down The Line: The Rarities.

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February 3, 2009

First ever Song-Off! (makes me weak in the knees)

footer1

I have a friend out in them hills o’ Utah named Dainon who is a competitive chap in the best way. One of his joys is listening to fabulous music and then hosting song-offs with various other blogger friends. The concept is simple: on the same day we both pick a song (perhaps around a common topic) and you vote which one you like best, and then I win in a haze of glory. See — easy.

Since this is the short bleak month of February, punctuated by nothing but a big hot heart in the middle, our theme for this first Song-Off is love songs, specifically those that make you weak in the knees. This song, my contribution, not only makes me weak in the knees but it also makes my heart ache, and sometimes a lump forms hard in my throat.

Tidal Wave – David Gray

This song is about that amazing, spine-tingling moment where you know you’re in deep (and probably done for) but all you can manage is half-sentences remembering. Ever since your fingertips…. All your favorite eyelashes . . . Comin over Waterloo, dreaming of your hands. It is a tidal wave, every time. Maybe that’s why we keep doing it.

 

Ever since your fingertips…
Ever since your eyes…
Talking with the light on
Bluer skies

Even if I wanted to
How could I explain?
Coming through my head now
This tidal wave

All your favorite eyelashes
All your bluest skin
Bring them and I’ll meet you in
That room again

Even if I told it true
Why should they believe
Coming through my head now
This tidal wave
Tidal wave

Coming over Waterloo
Dreaming of your hands
Want to run away now
Foreign lands

Even as I lie with you
Listen to you breathe
Coming through my head yeah
This tidal wave
Tidal wave
Tidal wave

 

Dainon has made his selection here (I don’t know what he’s picked, as of this writing) and yeah, he is one of the next to the last romantics so I’m sure it’s good. But the question is….which love song is better? Vote here or there, we’ll tally them collectively.

But no, seriously. Can we please skip February 14th this year? Like a leap year, we’ll just vault over it.

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Bio Pic Name: Heather Browne
Location: Colorado, originally by way of California
Giving context to the torrent since 2005.

"I love the relationship that anyone has with music: because there's something in us that is beyond the reach of words, something that eludes and defies our best attempts to spit it out. It's the best part of us, probably, the richest and strangest part..."
—Nick Hornby, Songbook
"Music has always been a matter of energy to me, a question of Fuel. Sentimental people call it Inspiration, but what they really mean is Fuel."
—Hunter S. Thompson

Mp3s are for sampling purposes, kinda like when they give you the cheese cube at Costco, knowing that you'll often go home with having bought the whole 7 lb. spiced Brie log. They are left up for a limited time. If you LIKE the music, go and support these artists, buy their schwag, go to their concerts, purchase their CDs/records and tell all your friends. Rock on.

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