Category Archives: Jam of the Day

December 10, 2009 · 8:21 PM

Jam of the Day – Hoping for Change, Dear God

Today, three Senators, John Kerry, Democrat of Massachusetts, Joseph Lieberman, Independent of Connecticut, and Lindsey Graham, Republican of South Carolina sent President Obama a letter outlining their plan for a climate change and energy bill that they believe can win the necessary votes (60) to push the bill through next year. They timed this proposal to ensure that the delegates that are attending the United Nations climate change conference in Copenhagen know that the U.S. Senate is serious about getting a climate bill passed and enacted. According to the Times “The Kerry-Graham-Lieberman proposal sets a greenhouse gas emissions reduction target “in the range of” 17 percent below 2005 levels by 2020, the level contained in a bill passed by the House earlier this year.” It’s encouraging that these Senators are working together on this bill but the U.S. needs to make some major changes soon, before it’s too late.

Another collaboration that is still maintaining their status as our favorite (and folkiest) of the year, are Jim James (or Yim Yames as he is referring to himself these days), Conor Oberst, M. Ward, and Mike Mogis, who together form the Monsters of Folk. Many of the songs on the album are stellar but my favorite of the moment is the first track, “Dear God.” There is something very seventies and soothing about this jam. The boys of Monsters of Folk are soliciting entries for homemade videos for “Dear God.” The winner will receive a prize including $5,000, Final Cut Pro software, a signed Gibson Guitar and the winning video will be featured on monstersoffolk.com. I just checked and I don’t see anything up there yet so get your submissions in!

Monsters of Folk – Dear God:

-Melissa

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December 9, 2009 · 11:21 PM

Jam of the Day – Old Becomes New

There was a major blast from the past last week when this year’s Grammy nominees were announced. Daryl Hall and John Oates (Hall & Oats) ended up with a nomination (for pop performance by a duo or group with vocals) for “Sara Smile,” a 34-year-old track from their self-titled fourth album. They were nominated for a live performance of the song from the 2008 album Live at the Troubadour. This nomination for Hall & Oates that puts them alongside fellow nominees Bon Jovi, Black Eyed Peas, the Fray, and MGMT was a big surprise to many, including Hall. If they do win, it will actually be their first Grammy. In an interview with the Times where he was asked for his reaction to the news, he explained that the song “defines me as a songwriter, on my own. I’ve sung that song thousands of times, and I’ve never sung it the same twice. It’s a song that in its simplicity has a lot of flexibility built into it. It evolves, and it remains timeless. I use it as the centerpiece of any show that we do.” I mean it’s a good song and all but listen here and see for yourself if it resonates with you in 2009.

Another Grammy nominee this year, Bon Jovi just announced that the opening act for their February, 2010 tour will be Florida’s own Dashboard Confessional. For Dashboard Confessional’s new album Alter the Ending, front-man Christopher Carraba is joined by a full band, a departure from some of the more earnest singer-songwriter tunes he has been known for. Dashboard Confessional is playing tomorrow night at the Middle East is Boston and this Friday at the Highline Ballroom but the shows are sold out so you’ll have to check them out when they open for the Bon Jovi tour this February. Check out the first single off of the album, “Belle of the Boulevard,” below.

Dashboard Confessional – Belle of the Boulevard:

-Melissa

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November 23, 2009 · 9:50 PM

Jam of the Day – What Do This Kid and Animal Collective Both Want? Sky

Francisco Hernandez Jr., a 13 year old from Brooklyn with Asperger’s syndrome, recently spent 11 days living in the subway system of NYC with “a MetroCard, $10 in his pocket and a book bag on his lap,” according to the Times. Francisco went into the subway so that “no one would yell” at him, at home or at school. After being found on Oct. 26, a lot of discussion has centered around how he could have possibly gone undetected for so long in the subways and subway stations, even though the cops were supposedly on the case. Few seem to doubt that had this been the son of a white lawyer in Manhattan, say, versus the son of Mexican immigrants in Brooklyn, the length of the search may have been shorter. But in any case, welcome back, Francisco.

So what would you want after being stuck riding around in the subway eating potato chips and bottled water for 11 days? Sky? Then Animal Collective has got a song for you. Following the release of Merriweather Post Pavilion earlier this year, which is widely considered one of the best records of the year, you might expect the band to take a break. Instead, the boys announced that they were releasing a new EP in December, called Fall Be Kind, consisting of a couple of songs they wrote around the same time as the songs for Merriweather but didn’t have time to flesh out. And then they also secured the first ever legal sample of a Grateful Dead song, for the second song on the EP, “What Would I Want? Sky.” I haven’t been able to get it out of my head yet.

I know this “video” is just a still of the cover art, but I wanted to post the album version because it sounds really great in stereo. Give it a minute to build and resolve and then you’ll see what I’m talking about.

Animal Collective – What Would I Want? Sky:

-Drew

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November 19, 2009 · 10:44 PM

Jam of the Day – Feeling Swell In These Arms

The audience at The Swell Season‘s first of two concerts at the Wiltern Theatre in Los Angeles last night was lucky enough to catch a surprise special guest performance. How I Met Your Mother‘s own Jason Segel joined Once‘s Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová on stage and sang an original song/personal ad with a refrain calling out the digits of his phone number and referencing the cameo made by a certain body part of his in Forgetting Sarah Marshall. Apparently, Segel became friends with Hansard and Irglová after he and friend Paul Rudd sent them wine in a restaurant one night and hilarity, I’m sure, ensued.

The new album by The Swell Season, Strict Joy, is excellent. Like their previous efforts, their songs are dreamy, wistful, melancholy, and hopeful all at once. The Swell Season’s Glen Hansard, originally from the Irish band, The Frames, and Marketa Irglova, a classically trained Czech pianist and vocalist, are accompanied by many musicians on their tour including violinists, cellists, guitarists, keyboardists, drummers, and a brass section. My favorite new song on Strict Joy is “Maybe I Was Born To Hold You In These Arms.” This live version is another Tiny Desk performance from NPR and, in lieu of their usual accompaniment, they ask those in the room to mimic the sounds of the instruments.

The Swell Season – Maybe I Was Born To Hold You In These Arms:

-Melissa

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November 18, 2009 · 10:00 PM

Jam of the Day – Riding Green Boards on Rogue Waves

I came across an article today in the Times about a new branch of the $7.2 billion surfing industry (who knew?) that really surprised me. I found it interesting that a community that has always been so in-tune with their environment is coming to the recycled materials movement so late in the game. Although there are plenty of organizations out there (like the Surfrider Foundation) that are looking after the oceans and the beaches, the toxic industry of making surfboards, surf gear, and all the waste generated from broken boards etc. had not gone green. Until now. Green Foam Blanks, a company that makes recycled polyurethane blanks (the foam core of surfboards) was recently started in San Clemente, California by surf industry veteran Joey Santley and Steve Cox. As the Times explains, “Polyurethane surfboards are made with a carcinogenic chemical compound and Green Foam aims to reduce demand for new polyurethane by recycling the considerable amount of waste produced when shaping a surfboard from a slab of foam. Old surfboards can be recycled as well.” I think these guys have the right idea. Better late than never. Santley is even mounting a guerrilla marketing campaign to get recycled surfboards in the hands professional surfers and celebrities to build awareness.

Also making waves in Cali today, Oakland’s own Rogue Wave announced the release of their new record Permalight, set to drop in early March, 2010. Their new tour dates to promote the album will start in February. They will be here in NYC (playing the Music Hall of Williamsburg) on the scheduled date of their record release, March 2nd. They have a bunch of great jams from their last album, Asleep at Heaven’s Gate, but the most fitting for today is the ethereal “Eyes.” The odd menagerie of dolls starring in this video are even on a beach!

Rogue Wave – Eyes:

-Melissa

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November 17, 2009 · 8:34 PM

Jam of the Day – Vampires Surprisingly NOT Interested in Drinking Blood

In case you haven’t seen a billboard, bus shelter, television show, magazine, newspaper, or taxi tv lately you may not have been bombarded with the news that the sequel to the latest in the line of tween sensation movies, Twilight, is coming out this Thursday. I may take some heat for this, but I couldn’t even get through twenty minutes of the first movie. Regardless of my opinion though, it was a huge hit so I guess sometimes I just don’t have my finger on the pulse.

Some other young Vampires making news around the world today are Columbia’s own Vampire Weekend. Their tour has taken them to Tokyo and Australia this week, before they’re back stateside in December playing a bunch of shows on the West Coast. They won’t be back in NYC until mid-January, just when their second album Contra is set to drop. Given that “Horchata,” the first single off the album, is named for a semi-obscure Latin American rice-milk beverage and uses the word “balaclava” instead of the more widely accepted “ski mask,” I think it’s safe to say that people are either going to love or hate the esoteric license that they are taking with their lyrics. Judge for yourself people, the video below includes them all.

Vampire Weekend – Horchata:

-Melissa

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