Jam of the Day – 40 Day Dreams of Success

In late October, the L.A. band Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros, a whimsical, ten-member band, were the largest to ever play the Tiny Desk Concert in the NPR Music offices. It’s a pretty cool mini-concert to check out. Lead singers Jade Castrinos and Alex Ebert (who is formerly of electro-pop band Ima Robot) are surrounded by their eight backing players whenever they perform. Ebert, whose sound in Ima Robot couldn’t have been more different, told a somewhat self-serving story to Paste Magazine about the creation of the messianic Edward Sharpe persona, saying “He was sent down to Earth to kinda heal and save mankind … But he kept getting distracted by girls and falling in love.” Whatever you think of the manufactured nature of this back-story, their full-length debut album, Up From Below, which took the Zeros more than a year and a half to record, is really good. However good they sound recorded though, as with similarly-sized bands like Arcade Fire, they seem to be a band that is best enjoyed live. The group is hot in the L.A. press right now, mostly because L.A. is where the group has been playing concerts. With their two shows in NYC next week, they could spread that love Eastward. Their show next Tuesday at the Bowery Ballroom is already sold out but they will be streaming the show live at rvibe.com. They are playing the following night at the Music Hall of Williamsburg but that’s sold out too! It looks like the Zeroes and this dream of theirs may last longer than 40 days after all…

Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeroes – 40 Day Dream:

-Melissa