This is an online music fan zine. Please support music and musicians by going to shows, purchasing CDs, buying a damn T-shirt!
All mp3s are posted here with permission from the artists/labels/PR folks, and for a very brief time. If you have any issues with content on this zine please email me; atartytart@gmail.com I'm addicted to my Iphone, darlins'... I'll get back to you.
If you like what's up here, it'd be nice to know about it, so leave me some comments, eh? You can always post me love notes and CDs and such at: Love Shack, Baby, PO Box 13215 Chicago, IL 60613
Tart on Twitter
And you can find PuppetShow at enjoy.the.puppet.show@gmail.com
Look Out! mp3 Peter Case Whig! … buy it!
The great Peter Case has belted out a new record, Wig!, and Chicago, he’s bringing himself to FitzGeralds’ in the Side Bar Music Room in Berwyn, on Sept. 18. Recorded in only three days, Whig! features dirty, electric blues, really sassy lyrics, the stuff that younger artists work hard to copy. If you don’t already know who Peter Case is, get out there and do your homework. He’s one of the best songwriters of our time, hugely influential, and still going strong! Check his site for full tour details.
This girl group evokes a kind of nostalgic Phil Spector-like feel and yet I know there’s a whole lot more under the surface. What else would you expect from Frankie Rose (Crystal Stilts, Vivian Girls)? I’ve never hid my love for the Jesus and Mary Chain and there’s more than a whiff of that in this track. The tour, as it’s presented so far, ends here in Chicago. And we all know that the last show on a tour is always the best.
Tour Dates
08/27 New York, NY – Cake Shop / Dance Magic Night
09/15 Brooklyn, NY – Glasslands # – RECORD RELEASE SHOW
09/20 San Francisco, CA – Rickshaw Stop ! $
09/21 Oakland, CA – Sugar Mountian ! $
09/22 Santa Barbara, CA – Muddy Waters ! $
09/24 San Diego, CA – Tin Can Ale House !
09/25 Los Angeles, CA – The Smell ! $
09/26 Los Angeles, CA – The Echo – Part Time Punks !
10/18 Chapel Hill, NC – Local 506 *
10/19 Baltimore, MD – Ottobar *
10/20 Philadelphia, PA – Kungfu Necktie *
10/21 – 10/23 – New York, NY – CMJ
10/24 Cambridge, MA – TT The Bear’s Place *
10/26 Rochester, NY – Bug Jar *
10/27 Cleveland, OH – The Spot at Case Western * 10/28 Chicago, IL – Empty Bottle *
! = w/ Hunx and his Punx
$ = w/ Lilac
# = w/ Light Asylum, Minks and Mirror Mirror
* = w/ Woven Bones
Eagle Winged Palace wrote me, describing themselves as “a weird little folk group” and after listening to their new album, Where We’re Coming From, you might find yourself in agreement. There’s a lot of quavering vocals and shaking, sandy, shimmery beats to this. Aside from the obvious Californian, bohemian exterior there’s a real sub-surface of textured etherealness to what Eagle Winged Palace brings to this album. And that is their strength. Strumming guitars and singing a catchy melody isn’t so difficult. It’s layering that onto this other, more interesting thing that caught my ear, and just might catch yours as well.
Matthew and The Atlas comes to us from the UK with a voice you will not forget and a melody that softens that memory enough to make you not want to. He’s recorded an EP, released last April, on Mumford & Sons’ label, Communion, called To The North. I don’t know how it’s passed me by, but I aim to snatch that up very soon. The only US source I’ve found for it is itunes. Matthew & The Atlas // Deadwood by Stayloose
And last, but not least, Anberlin gives away a track off their new album, Dark is the Way, Light is a Place, which I previewed here. Go pre-order it now, it’s great! And they’re coming your way, check their site for tour dates. (Chicago, it’s Oct. 23 at the House of Blues)
Well, Bombadil’s Tarpits and Canyonlands was on my best of 2009 albums list and I honestly still listen to it for the humor of it and the sense of escape in it’s storytelling. Those songs are musically so purely the result of incredible talent AND honesty. Bombadil is a band that hasn’t got to tour much due to some health issues, so a lot of people haven’t heard them. And that’s a fucking shame for what I’ve seen on video only makes me drool. The energy of these recordings would blow me away, live. Well, I could rave about these guys for paragraphs, the instrumentation, the lyrics, the harmonies, the drama of it all and how it literally pulses with life. But I will stop and let you discover or remember for yourself. I will say, this is one of the very few albums of “my music” that my girl enjoys so much that she picks it out of the ipod and plays it herself. That’s saying something!
What I have for you today is a lost track. I’ve stayed in touch with Bombadil, I think I’ve attached myself to just about everyone on their record label, in fact, by now! And I got an email yesterday about “Barcelona,” a track that didn’t make it to the album, Tarpits and Canyonlands. They want to know what we think of it and share their own thoughts on it and why it didn’t make the cut and how it was recorded and written. I don’t know about you, but I always like hearing the behind the scenes stuff of music I love! So enjoy! xo
I’m Pitchfork’d out, my loves!!! It’s fucking hot, sweaty, dirty… and NOT the way I usually like those three words strung together, let me tell you!
But really, the music has been fantastic and as I suspected, I’ve been very pleasantly surprised by some acts that I knew nothing about and very much more impressed by others I thought I knew something about. The first day, the first act, completely won me over. Sharon Van Etten is truly a sight to behold. I had heard her recordings, I have listened to Because I Was In Love a few times in preparation for this and I liked it well enough. I knew she has been getting loads of hype. And when she took the stage, her tiny self absolutely dwarfed by that immense structure, I worried a little for her. She was obviously shaken up a bit to see herself on the ginormous screen but after two songs or so, the music possessed her. (I spoke with a guy who works for WXRT promotions later that day, and we agreed, she is POSSESSED when she sings!) It was chilling how her voice rang out across that stage. We cheered and yelped and jumped up and down to encourage her to do it some more. God, yes… do it some more! Her new songs are magnificent. Go see her. Go buy her new album the second it hits. This is all so much more than the hype can even promise, I swear it.
Other day one highlights included: El-P, who I only heard a few songs, but who impressed me nonetheless (and hip-hop/rap is NOT my thing at all!); Liars, who I saw upclose and personal from the VIP section and the energy was fan-fucking-tastic. Their drummer is amazing, he was truly a pleasure to watch. Bands like that often suffer from having all the focus on the frontman so that instrumentally, aside from having to hang together in a general way, it doesn’t have to do much else. But this version of Liars was tight and fast and very good. I loved it! And as a closer, Modest Mouse just won me over, heads over tails! They reigned over the crowd that night. I heard quite a bit of grumbling on Twitter about them, but this blogger was very, very happy to dance, sweaty and dirty and tired in a field of equally filthy hipster kids at the end of a long day to the music of Issac Brock and band (did we really see Pete Quirk of the Cave Singers playing trumpet up there? Can anyone confirm?) xoxo
Remember that video of Samantha Crain’s, the one for “Santa Fe?” Matthew Milia is that wonderful male vocal you hear on that track and that bearded man you see in that video. He’s the lead singer in this Michigan based band, Frontier Ruckus. I’ve been soaking in their new album, Deadmalls & Nightfalls. It’s poetry winds and twists around to connect the tragedy of Midwestern suburban life to the beauty of all that folk music has brought us with its traditions and storytelling forms. Matthew’s vocals whine and waver in the high notes, along to the musical saw, … the harmonica, … the guitar. He sings of things and people abandoned, lost. It’s as if the economic and cultural devastation of everything around them has bled out into the music of Frontier Ruckus. But it’s a pretty, melodic, pleasantly presented music all the same. You know the minute you hear a song from this album in a mix. Like spoken word, these songs are written to a specific cadence that I can’t help but feel forms the spine around which the instrumentation rests. That in itself, is an interesting enough thing about this album. Add to that the lyrics themselves, which brilliantly tell tale after tale.
Much of Deadmalls & Nightfalls is quietly and slowly doled out, simply given to the listener with guitars, a drum kit not too harshly treated, pedal steel and saw drawing out the long notes, and a vocal-led melody. I don’t fault them for this. It’s a strength; it’s what they’re quite good at. In the vein of Sam Amidon and other nu-folk artists, this has gone both backwards to mine for influences, and forwards to push themes and messages to what matters now. It has most definitely succeeded in this. “Nerves of the Nightmind” fuses a honky-tonk piano/banjo feel with some wonderful Caliexo feeling horns that sweep along a love song to take your breath away. “Spring Terror” has almost won me over to Country music again with it’s traditional melody and beautiful Dobro plucking in counter form. Damn, I hate when that happens. But it’s these nostalgic, weepy tales of woe that turn me every time. I know I’ve heard something of “The Upper Room” in every good folk song of the 60s and when the horns come in so softly it’s achingly sad, just as it should be. All these songs are good. All the lyrics are provoking in thought and nuance. I couldn’t choose the “best” or the “most representative” for you, so I picked a few lines that made me know that Matthew Milia is more than just a singer in a band, and Frontier Ruckus is more than just an indie band.
From “Pontiac, The Nightbrink”
“The firmly fixtured fast food beacons do not dangle, do not weaken, neither does the heart I’m seeking in you.
Mary Lynn you wouldn’t know, for you do too have holy glow, but how am I supposed to show you… you?
Cause your voice through those holy notes marked me like a salted road, chalky white the night forbodes a coming,
Cause your thorat throttled north town boys from the Rochesters and Troys, they will also hear your noise drumming low.”
There’s more, much more to that song, that poem. The words flow out of Matthew Milia like water rushing downstream. They tumble out, far too many words for one song, all crammed in and you must listen to each song so many times to catch them all. And I did. And you will. It’s well worth it. xoxo
Pre-Order Deadmalls & Nightfalls now and you’ll get an immediate download of “Nerves of the Nevermind” (scroll down for tour dates)
Tour Dates
Jul 14 St. Louis, MO @ Old Rock House
Jul 15 Chicago, IL @ House of Blues – Back Porch
Jul 17 Ann Arbor, MI @ Blind Pig
Jul 20 Lawrence, KS @ The Bottleneck
Jul 21 Wichita, KS @ Rock Island Live
Jul 22 Denton, TX @ The Boiler Room
Jul 23 Dallas, TX @ Granada Theater
Jul 24 Lubbock, TX @ Bash Rip Rocks
Jul 25 Albuquerque, NM @ Low Spirits
Jul 31 Echo Park, CA @ Roots Roadhouse at The Echo
Aug 3 Portland, OR @ Alberta Rose Theater
Aug 5 Victor, ID @ Main Street Park
Aug 7 Englewood, CO @ Moe’s
Aug 13 Detroit, MI @ Magic Stick
Aug 20 Wellston, MI @ Hoxeyville Music Festival
Aug 21 Grand Rapids, MI @ Founders Brewing Company
Aug 27 Ontonagon, MI @ Winter Sports Complex – Porcupine Mountains Music Festival
Oct 7 Silk Hope, NC @ Shakori Hills Grass Roots Festival
Oct 8 Greenville, SC @ Downtown Greenville
Oct 21 Baton Rouge, LA @ Manship Theatre
If there’s one thing I like about female vocals in a song it’s sass. There’s a little bit of Bonnie Raitt sass to this young girl and it’s not a bad thing at all. Watch out for Megan McCormick, she’s about to take us by storm. It’s a shame she’s being marketed as a Country singer, I think she’s much, much more. But then that might say more about my attitude toward Country music than her talent, now right? This song ends on that sudden, abrupt note. You’re not quite sure why. But I think the sharp guitar twang and the jab of the snare drum compliments her voice well.
Tour Dates
07.02.10 Iowa City, IA Gabe’s Oasis
07.03.10 Milwaukee, WI The Bremen Cafe
07.04.10 Chicago, IL Private Fundraiser
07.19.10 Nashville, TN BMI 8 Off 8th @ Mercury Lounge
07.28.10 Evanston, IL SPACE
07.30.10 Roanoke, VA Mill Mountain Zoo
08.03.10 Fort Collins, CO Avos
08.14.10 Nashville, TN The Basement
09.14.10 Grand Rapids, MI The Intersection
09.15.10 Ann Arbor, MI The Ark
09.17.10 Newark, OH Midland Theater
09.18.10 Newport, KY The Southgate House
09.19.10 Indianapolis, IN The Vogue Theater
Well, this is fun. I pondered whether or not it was too fun. But fuck it, it’s Monday and we need some fun. Did you grow up with Simon & Garfunkle like I did? You’ll love this then. It’s sweet, it’s a sing-a-long song. And yet “Wishes and Stars” is so goddamned pleasant you want to hear it over and over, even if you imagine it in some chick flick every time.
Tour Dates
Jul 24 2010 5:00P Port Eliot Festival Cornwall, UNITED KINGDOM
Aug 1 2010 8:00P Cambridge Folk Festival – Harper Simon Cambridge, UK
Aug 6 2010 8:00P Belladrum Festival Belladrum, UNITED KINGDOM
Aug 8 2010 8:30P Pocklington Arts Festival UNITED KINGDOM
Aug 14 2010 8:00P Leicester Summer Sundae – Harper Simon Leicester, UK
Aug 19 2010 8:00P City Winery New York
This is one of those quintessential Tart songs. Deadpan delivery, synthesizer-heavy, just a twinge of distortion to the vocals, and a little bit of Magical Mystery Tour to it for good measure. If the rest of this EP is like this single, I’m SOLD! I’m guessing it is, so I’m gonna pitch it at you all. They’re from Brooklyn, of course, where they’re obviously growing good bands in petri dishes these days. Stream the whole thing at their bandcamp.com page (listed above) and let me know what you think. I love this single so much!
Upcoming Shows
Jul 3 2010 9:00P CoCo66 Brooklyn, New York
Jul 28 2010 8:00P Public Assembly Brooklyn, NY
Aug 18 2010 8:00P The Bell House Brooklyn
And lastly, I was gonna call it quits on this post and then I hit this little gem of a folk song and had to end it on this beautiful note. This is the stuff that folk bloggers drool over. It’s no accident that they are touring with Strand of Oaks and The Wailing Wall, two other wonderfully talented artists. Starting out singularly slow and lonely, “Weeds” just never picks up speed and that’s the thing to enjoy about it. The lazy, soothing, swaying of it will just pierce you with it’s prettiness. Sigh… xoxo
Tour Dates
JULY 9 2010 BALTIMORE MARYLAND BARE BLACK EP RELEASE PARTY @ WINDUP SPACE WITH GHOST LIFE, MOSS OF AURA, LOW MODA
AUGUST 5 2010 BALTIMORE MARYLAND @ METRO GALLERY WITH STRAND OF OAKS
AUGUST 6 2010 PHILADELPHIA PENNSYLVANIA @ TBA WITH STRAND OF OAKS
AUGUST 7 2010 LEHIGH VALLEY PENNSYLVANIA @ TBA WITH STRAND OF OAKS
AUGUST 8 2010 BROOKLYN NEW YORK @ CAMEO GALLERY WITH STRAND OF OAKS, THE WAILING WALL, TBA
AUGUST 9 2010 PORTSMOUTH NEW HAMPSHIRE @ THE RED DOOR WITH BELL AND THE BEES
AUGUST 11 2010 MONHEGAN ISLAND MAINE @ THE CHURCH WITH THE WAILING WALL
AUGUST 12 2010 PORTLAND MAINE @ THE APOHADION WITH TIN CEILINGS, THE WAILING WALL, +1 MORE TBA
AUGUST 13 2010 PROVIDENCE RHODE ISLAND @ TBA WITH THE WAILING WALL
AUGUST 14 2010 BOSTON MASSACHUSETTS @ TBA WITH THE WAILING WALL
SEPTEMBER 10 2010 CHARLOTTESVILLE VIRGINIA @ TBA
SEPTEMBER 11 2010 HARRISONBURG VIRGINIA @ CLEMENTINE WITH TBA
SEPTEMBER 12 2010 WASHINGTON DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA @ TBA
I realized that a lot of people don’t remember/know him when I started raving about his new album, In Person & On Stage, which came out May 25th. Well, if that’s the case, don’t fret. This album is the one for you!!! Broken Hearts and Dirty Windows is not just a tribute album, it’s an introduction to what Prine does best — and that is write songs. I grew up singing along to “Angel From Montgomery” and “Paradise.” It seemed that I heard these songs, and others by him, from so many sources; on the radio, on TV, from my father’s record player and later on, in various music collections of roomates and lovers. John Prine has just simply been a part of my life ever since I can remember. Indeed, his debut album in 1971 hit me just about the time I was old enough to remember music clearly. And his songs are certainly memorable. Their lyrics tell stories, their melodies sneak into your ears and snuggle up in your head, comfortably. I know this is, to many folk, Country music. But when I hear it, it’s simply John Prine.
The funny part is, growing up in Pennsylvania, I never realized that he was from Illinois! I never learned that he got his start singing folk music right here in Chicago. It wasn’t until I moved here, myself, at 19 that I began hearing about him again and about all the clubs he and other “new” folk artists played in back “in the day.” So, it’s coming full circle, in a way, for me now, to bring you news of this tribute album. And like my previous post on railcars, this one is also a re-interpretation for you indie kids out there. John Prine wrote so many beautiful, lasting, timeless songs. And artists today owe him a debt that they are quite aware of. They’ve repaid it a teensy bit by doing this album and many of these songs are truly a tribute to the man. I’m honestly so grateful to have received a copy of this from Big Hassle Media. And I’m truly recommending it to you, as something I would buy for myself and for any music lover. John Prine is a gift to us, and he’s given us such a treasure; these songs are only a small glimpse of that. Each group or artist that adds to this album brings their particular talent to the table, their signatures are there and they only add to this man’s work. No one is included for “star power,” or as a favor to anyone. I’ve thought this over and the songs are just matched to each performer so well.
My Morning Jacket sings “All The Best” and makes it the cheery song it really is, with just that bit of bittersweet that lies beneath, peeking out. I’ll be honest, I feared “Angel from Montgomery” wouldn’t live up to the Bonnie Raitt treatment I loved so much. I’m happy to report that Old Crow Medicine Show gave me much relief. The instrumentation is as good as the vocals, and I’ve not stressed enough in this review how important that is to these songs. “Daddy’s Little Pumpkin” is truly given a Drive-By-Truckers lick, and that’s just as it should be for that song fits so perfectly to their sound. Now are you convinced of John Prine’s genius and scope? You should be. I can’t tell you about every song, but I must tell you about one more. It’s one I remember trying to learn the words to, dancing drunkenly to, laughing wildly to. And Those Darlin’s certainly do justice to “Let’s Talk Dirty in Hawaiian” oh yes they do! xoxo
1. Justin Vernon of Bon Iver – “Bruised Orange (Chain Of Sorrow)”
2. Conor Oberst And The Mystic Valley Band – “Wedding Day In Funeralville”
3. My Morning Jacket – “All The Best”
4. Josh Ritter – “Mexican Home”
5. Lambchop – “Six O’Clock News”
6. Justin Townes Earle – “Far From Me”
7. The Avett Brothers – “Spanish Pipedream”
8. Old Crow Medicine Show – “Angel From Montgomery”
9. Sara Watkins – “The Late John Garfield Blues”
10. Drive-By Truckers – “Daddy’s Little Pumpkin”
11. Deer Tick featuring Liz Isenberg – “Unwed Fathers”
12. Those Darlins – “Let’s Talk Dirty In Hawaiian”
crickets… this one starts with crickets and you can’t imagine anything more perfect than that. What eagleowl does best is bring your musical ear down to the ground like it used to be when you were a kid and lay in the grass and listened to the grass grow. They play these emotive, desperately sad songs achingly slowly. The double bass dominates the opening track, ”Into the Fold,” offset by violin and harmonium and guitar. I want to sit in a room and listen to this live so much but alas they are in Edinburgh, as is so much good music these days! There, those are my first thoughts about this delicious EP.
Vocally, this thing gives a similar feel to For The Thoughts You Never Had, (which I’ve played incessantly) in that Bart and Clarissa show both the long, slow, wailing and the peppy side of folk music equally well. “Morpheus” is downright cheery for this band; I might have been fooled if I didn’t know Bart’s voice so well. And it is a rich, chocolatey voice that mixes with those lower tones of the instruments in that way that people describe chocolate as having a “mouth feel.” Do you foodies out there hear that too? Call me crazy, but hearing and taste are sometimes so nearly the same thing for me. So yes, if I had to characterize eagleowl, as a band, I’d definitely color them chocolate, no doubt.
“Eat Hats” is a good instrumental piece, solid and folksy and determined. Again, the opening notes, plucked so deliberately make you pay attention, make your ears tune IN, before taking you down that delicate, stream of a melody, (with it’s fireflies, and ripples, and occasional splashes, as your oars hit the water.) But this last track, “No Conjunction,” … well it’s pushing on ten minutes long for a reason, darlings. It just builds and builds and builds. It’s atmospheric and brooding and heavily delicate. Into the Foldis only four tracks, and like everything that eaglowl does, you feel ripped off at the end, no matter how gently they try to let you down. They’re kind folk, I’m quite sure of it. But stingy, nonetheless. We really must compel them to do more, record more, produce more, by buying up all the copies of this damn EP and convincing them that they’re awfully good. I don’t think you need to be persuaded to do that, it’s quite obvious to me how beautiful this all is. Aren’t you quite sure as well? xoxo
One thing Mumford & Sons have going for them is, well… everything at the moment. Their album, Sigh No More, has gone platinum in the UK, has debuted #2 on Bilboard’s Heatseekers Chart, AND they’ve sold out nearly all their shows on this US tour. They are playing Sasquatch, Telluride, Bonnaroo and Glastonbury festivals (among so many others.) Amazingly, I had the opportunity to chat with Ben Lovett, who sings and plays keyboards and accordion, two days ago from Washington DC, as the band was just getting ready to perform to a sold out show at the 9:30 Club.
I thanked Ben and the band for their efforts alongside the organization Music Matters, to help musicians get paid for their work. (Please do click that link and see how the Music Matters Trustmark works and how you can help by choosing to download from sites that offer legitimate services which compensate musicians.) Throughout our discussion, Ben and I returned to the point that it really is the music that matters and not any profit for the band, something that is a given in the Music Matters Trustmark endeavor.
“The thing that’s annoying me, especially this tour, is what you guys call scaplers,” Ben says. “It’s really frustrating when you meet lovely people outside venues who are fans of the band and they can’t get tickets, and scalpers go and sell them. This guy in Montreal the other day tried to sell me a ticket to our own gig! He had no idea, [who I was] and I was on the edge just… I was just angry… I mean, he wasn’t a fan and it ultimately takes away from musical creativity and it makes it impossible [to continue doing what we do]. I think our common mentality is to make sure that we don’t do anything that is exploitative or questionable. But in decisions we make, we try and do everything we can that is straight down the line. We’re definitely not trying to profit from what we’re doing. And as long as we can keep playing shows and keep having material to tour we’re happy and it feels like our fans are happy. It’s a simple life in a nutshell.”
Certainly the image of Mumford & Sons; the lyrics of their songs which hearken back to a simpler time. The clothing they choose and the lack of pretentiousness in their approach to their fans belies the fact that they do strive for this simpler life. I think this is part of what attracts so many of us to the band and to their music. One of the first songs to really strike me was, the at the time, yet-to-be-released “Sigh No More,” with it’s lyrics borrowed from Shakespearean’s Much Ado About Nothing. I first heard the song on The Waiting Room’s live session and interview back in September 2009 (recorded in May 09) just after their trip to SXSW, before they were signed to a major label, and when no one had even really gone to hear them. In this interview they report people were chanting “What’s your name?!” at some of their gigs! I remember thinking at the time, no one was using eloquent, if somewhat archaic, lyrics like that outside of gospel or Christian music and attracting masses of people.
And masses of people were already beginning to watch this band. By the fall of last year the whole thing had spiraled nearly out of control and in April of this year, fellow blogger friend Matthew over at Song, by Toad was lucky to capture them at the last possible minute to get this wonderful series of audio/video sessions. I asked Ben if they thought they could continue to do these, seeing as they were an excellent way to give fans a very personal connection which profited no one.
“Do people watch and listen to them? You never know when you’re in a room with a couple of people filming something, if people will see it.” he says.
“Oh yes, people come to the blogs for this and I’m quite certain those are responsible for concert tickets and album sales.” I tell him and he seemed genuinely happy to hear it!
I ask him, “What is it about your music that resonates with Americans?”
“It feels too early to tell, we’ve only really hit the East Coast [of the US.] It’s really hard to know why four guys from London would connect with American fans. I think … uh… if we knew the answer, well, an awareness of that probably would be certainly detrimental to who we are, if we knew why people liked us. It’s the same as every relationship in life, we don’t have a formula and we definitely don’t think that we know the answer. We didn’t think our tour was going to sell out at all.”
“It’s better to not know?” I suggest.
“It is better to not know. We don’t analyze our small success so far, we just try and stay focused on making sure we play a good show every night. And when we walk into a room that’s the most important thing.”
“Don’t screw up the process, right!” I laugh.
“Exactly!” I can hear him smiling across the phone line.
By the age of 22 or so, most young men are just graduating college and starting a career. These four Londoners are standing on the brink of international recognition after 3 or so years of touring and performing together. I wonder what the road has taught them so far.
“Life on the road is a lot about people skills to be honest. You meet people working at venues, You meet people promoting what you’re doing. You meet people who are fans of the bands. I don’t think one would be happy if you didn’t like engaging with people. I think we’ve come out of our shells a little bit, to the public world. To really engage with people includes respecting people and choosing support bands that we really like and want our fans to hear. So you’re thrown into this very intense relationship with another band for the duration of a tour. And so we’ve got six weeks with The Middle East on this tour, they’re amazing guys. It’s really interesting. It’s almost what defines a tour [for us] is the support band. That’s who you’re sharing the experience of going from one city to the next.”
And I marvel at this experience and can only be envious of a life spent in the company of so many musicians and so much music. Is that not a music blogger’s dream, darlings?!
I know Mumford & Sons are working on new material. There is a new bluegrass EP to come out later this year. And I have heard that they are doing some new songs in this tour. Certainly being on the road colors any new writing and I ask Ben how it’s going.
“I think, some of the experiences now, it’s not that they’re different,… the relationships have changed, the solitudes have changed. It’s not like a solitude where you’re literally just on your own, you’re in your room writing a song. Sometimes on the road you have to seek that solitude and when you do it’s brief or as a brief as time allows.”
“So you are writing on the road then and not just while you’re at home?”
“The road is our home!”
And then we are cut short, my allotted 15 minutes are gone. No time for the really good questions about music and instrumentation and songwriting. I must ask my final question. It’s one that always elicits an insightful response and usually a laugh.
“If you could come back in another life, as any instrument you chose, which instrument would you be, and who would you choose to play you?”
“Brilliant!” he laughs and pauses very briefly “Definitely wouldn’t be a drum kit.” Then asks, “How many people will know what I say? Probably quite a lot then!”
“Oh yes,” I assure him. (Now make this true, dear readers!!!!)
“I’d like to be a harp played by Joanna Newsom!” and we have a good naughty giggle before saying our goodbyes.
Now go buy a ticket if you can find one. Don’t pay a scalper and don’t go selling your tickets on craigslist for a profit, eh? Do find a way to see the show; it’s going to be fantastic! Mumford & Sons aim to thrill you. I believe they will accomplish their goal with simple charm, brilliant talent, and a genuine love of music.
Tour Dates May 24 2010 8:00P Lincoln Hall *SOLD OUT* Chicago, IL
May 25 2010 8:00P Varsity Theater *SOLD OUT* Minneapolis, US
May 29 2010 8:00P Sasquatch! Music Festival George, US
May 30 2010 8:00P 560 Club *SOLD OUT* Vancouver, BC, CANADA
May 31 2010 8:00P Aladdin Theater *SOLD OUT* Portland, OR
Jun 2 2010 8:00P Slims *SOLD OUT* San Francisco, CA
Jun 3 2010 8:00P The Music Box at The Henry Fonda Theater Los Angeles, CA
Jun 4 2010 8:00P The Music Box at The Henry Fonda Theater *SOLD OUT* Los Angeles, CA
Jun 6 2010 8:00P Belly Up Tavern *SOLD OUT* Solana Beach, GB
Jun 7 2010 8:00P Rhythm Room *SOLD OUT* Phoenix, AZ
Jun 9 2010 8:00P Antone’s *SOLD OUT* Austin, TX
Jun 10 2010 8:00P House of Blues – Pontiac Garage *SOLD OUT* Dallas, TX
Jun 12 2010 8:00P Bonnaroo Music Festival Manchester, US
Jun 14 2010 8:00P The Bluebird Bloomington, US
Jun 15 2010 8:00P Off Broadway *SOLD OUT* St. Louis, MO
Jun 16 2010 8:00P Record Bar *SOLD OUT* Kansas, MO
Jun 18 2010 8:00P Nightgrass at Bluegrass *SOLD OUT* Telluride, CO
Jun 20 2010 8:00P Telluride Bluegrass Festival Telluride, Colorado
Jun 25 2010 8:00P Glastonbury Festival Somerset, UK
Jul 2 2010 8:00P Eden Sessions *SOLD OUT* Eden Project, Cornwall, GB
Jul 3 2010 8:00P Hop Farm Festival Kent, GB
Jul 10 2010 8:00P Oxegen Festival Co. Kildare, IE
Jul 11 2010 8:00P T In The Park Festival Kinross, GB
Jul 14 2010 8:00P Montreux Jazz festival Montreux, CH, SWITZERLAND
Jul 16 2010 8:00P Benicassim Festival Benicassim, ES
Jul 18 2010 8:00P Latitude Festival Suffolk, GB
Jul 22 2010 8:00P THEBARTON THEATRE ADELAIDE, AU
Jul 24 2010 12:00P Under The Supertop @ Perth Esplenade Perth, WA, AUSTRALIA
Jul 28 2010 8:00P Palace Theatre *SOLD OUT* Melbourne, AU
Jul 29 2010 8:00P Palace Theatre *SOLD OUT* Melbourne, AU
Aug 3 2010 8:00P Enmore *SOLD OUT* Sydney, AU
Aug 4 2010 8:00P Enmore *SOLD OUT* Sydney, AU
Aug 13 2010 8:00P Haldern Festival Lower Rhine, DE
Aug 15 2010 8:00P Summer Sundae Festival Leicester, GB
Aug 19 2010 8:00P Frequency Festival St. Polten, AT
Aug 20 2010 8:00P Pukkelpop Festival Hasselt, BE
Aug 27 2010 8:00P Reading Festival Reading, UK
Aug 29 2010 8:00P Leeds Festival Leeds, UK
Sep 5 2010 8:00P Electric Picnic Stradbally, IE
Sep 11 2010 8:00P Bestival Festival Isle of Wight, GB
Nico, Nico, Nico… that’s all you hear in association with Cate Le Bon’s name. And it’s a pity because not many will know anything about Nico with which to label this talented young artist and fewer still will know enough about Cate le Bon to realize just how limiting that association actually is. Her debut album, Me Oh My, came out in 2009 but saw it’s American debut May 4th via The Control Group. I’m finding this album to be mesmerizing in its uncomplicated, unhurried rhythms. There’s an innocence that’s far from innocent about this. It’s too dark and psychologically disturbing to be entirely comforting and yet the harmonica plays and I find it all to be tastefully in tune, melodically pleasing. I guess it’s all really sad and you know how much I love sad music. With just her voice, unfettered by distortion or reverb or any special effects or production to speak of, Cate le Bon creates such a scene, accompanied by guitar and perhaps one or two other instruments. Me Oh My is melodramatic but quietly so. It’s emo in a very avant garde manner. And to this American ear, it’s retro-refreshing. It’s the Nico I wish Nico had been instead of the dismissive, oh-too-sick-of-this-world, nihilist creature that she was by the time fame hit her, despite her tremendous talent. And when the furious bits of instrumental madness are let loose on Me Oh My, Cate le Bon’s genius rises beyond what I’d expect of someone her age and experience. I respect this album for that. Go buy it. You’ll like it. xoxo
Cate Le Bon – Hollow Trees House Hounds from casey raymond on Vimeo.
Tour Dates
May 21 2010 8:00P Stag & Dagger, Swn presents @ Bar Music Hall LONDON, GB
May 22 2010 8:00P Wood Festival Oxfordshire, GB
May 28 2010 8:00P Take a Trip Festival Ystad Carreg Lwyd, Ynys Mon/Anglesey, GB
Jun 26 2010 8:00P Glastonbury Mojo Stage Glastonbury, GB
Jul 21 2010 8:00P Llangollen Fringe Festival Llangollen, GB
Jul 25 2010 8:00P Apple Cart Event London, GB
Aug 5 2010 8:00P Maes B Eisteddfod Genedlaethol Ebbw Vale, GB
Sep 10 2010 8:00P End Of The Road Festival Larmer Tree Gardens, DORSET, GB
Sam Amidon is no stranger to these pages; I’ve written about a wedding song. I often turn to his beautiful Americana/folk music for some quieting down when I’m stuck in traffic or after a long night out. So when I heard about this new album I was like a cat on a mouse. I pounced! I See The Sign surprised me! It pounced right back. Yes, it’s classic Sam Amidon still. His fine as the finest sandpapery voice breathes right into your ear, lazily sometimes, very forcefully at other times. But there’s what sounds like electronic bee bops in this too! And really lush strings. That tickled my fancy a lot. The opening track, “How Come That Blood” features what must be painful finger plucking and interspersed, very modern sounds that offset Sam’s traditional vocals and lyrics. That song alone is reason to buy this record. The juxtaposition of styles is simply brilliant. The next time someone tells me how boring folk music is, this is the track I’ll play them.
The title track, “I See The Sign” gives Sam’s versatility yet another stretch and he’s proven capable again, of course. Smooth and off-kilter, this song slides all over the place as it tells us another horse story. The instrumentation manages to predominate by playing seemingly at random up against more solid and predictable vocals. It’s an interesting composition, full of tension, and one that I find myself listening to over and over. It’s the longest track on the album, I think because it simply needs all that time for the instrumentation to unfold.
I See The Sign is full of horses and brides and mountains and all sorts of emotional disclosures. These are songs that are obviously very meaningful and are sung that way. They’re often hushed and quiet and drift off in the middle a bit. Phrases repeat three and four times. At first glance I See the Sign is pretty dark, even depressing. Going over the record a second and third time reveals the depth of it, lyrically and in the well-placed instrumental flourishes. Thankfully, his cover of R. Kelly’s “Relief,” track 10, brings in some obvious light. It’s one of my favorite songs on the album. All Is Well was a step toward more production and generally a bigger feel. I See The Sign takes him yet another step in that direction without leaving anything that we love about Sam Amidon behind. This artist is evolving into much more than his label of “folk/Americana.” This record is the one that makes me quite certain of that. I always feel like he somehow exists in an alternate universe consecutively with this one. Somehow he has a view to a world of our past where big cities don’t exist and people cling to one another in small communities without modern conveniences. He maybe sings songs of or for those people, but really they’re for us. You just have to listen close to all the parts.
Tour Dates
May 16 – Whale Watching Tour The National Theatre (Þjóðleikhúsið), Reykjavík, Iceland
May 17 – Powiekszenie, Warsaw, Poland
May 18 – w/Coldair Kisielice, Poznań, Poland
May 19 – Re, Kraków, Poland
May 20 – plus Leif Vollebekk South Hill, Bracknell, United Kingdom
May 21 – plus Leif Vollebekk Captain’s Rest, Glasgow, United Kingdom
May 22 – plus Leif Vollebekk Queen Charlotte Rooms, Edinburgh, United Kingdom
May 23 – plus Leif Vollebekk Puzzle Hall, Halifax / Sowerby Bridge, United Kingdom
May 24 – plus Leif Vollebekk The Golden Lion, Ripon, United Kingdom
May 26 – plus Leif Vollebekk Dulcimer, Manchester, United Kingdom
Matthew and The Atlas comes to us from the UK with a voice you will not forget and a melody that softens that memory enough to make you not want to. He’s recorded an EP, released last April, on Mumford & Sons’ label, Communion, called To The North. I don’t know how it’s passed me by, but I aim to snatch that up very soon. The only US source I’ve found for it is itunes.
And last, but not least, Anberlin gives away a track off their new album, Dark is the Way, Light is a Place, which I previewed here. Go pre-order it now, it’s great! And they’re coming your way, check their site for tour dates. (Chicago, it’s Oct. 23 at the House of Blues)
Join the Blue Ribbon Online Free Speech Campaign!