Also from last week, check out this video of Dawes performing a great live rendition of “When My Time Comes” at Webster Hall from their show with Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeroes at Webster Hall on July 22, 2010.
This ultimate sing-along track is from the band’s debut album, North Hills, which was released last August on ATO Records (co-founded by Dave Mathews). You can download the track free from the band’s website.
Dawes – When My Time Comes (live):
-EV2BK
Last Friday, Bear Hands and Darlings played a free show at The Whitney Museum as part of their ongoing Whitney Live music series.
Here are a couple shots of Bear Hands playing “Golden,” from their EP of the same name. We’re also excited to let you know that the band’s forthcoming LP will now officially be titled Burning Bush Supper Club, and is set to be released on Cantora Records in the US & Canada on November 2, 2010. Get ready folks!
-EV2BK
Last night, I was one of the lucky ones. I was able to see Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros perform to a sold out crowd at Webster Hall. Feeding off of the energy of the jumping, calamitous crowd, they played one of the most engaged, boisterous shows I have seen in a long time. While they do have a reputation as a band that is best enjoyed live, inviting a quarter of the crowd onstage with them towards the end of the set takes audience interaction to a whole new level. They sounded amazing, Webster proved to be an ideal venue for their loud, jangly, folk rock sound. Dawes started the night off right with a stellar rendition of their single “When My Time Comes” before being joined on stage by some members of the Zeros to cover Joe Cocker’s cover of the Beatles’ song “With a Little Help from My Friends,” the theme song from The Wonder Years. It was the perfect summer show.
They are playing another show at Webster Hall tonight but, unfortunately, this one is sold out too. If you don’t have tickets yet, get out there on the street and try to find them, believe me it’s worth the effort. If you can’t get in, you could always go check out Dawes who are headlining at Maxwell’s tonight in Hoboken.
-Melissa
Filed under live, Music, Performance, Show
As an accompaniment to our interview with Common Prayer from earlier today, this jam is from the band’s June release There Is A Mountain. The video was recorded at the Truck America festival earlier this year by Foglight Films.
Common Prayer – Us vs. Them
Or, check out the recorded version here.
-EV2BK
Filed under Jam of the Day, Music
We talked with Jason Sebastian Russo and Alexandra Marvar of Common Prayer before they kicked-off their first official UK tour and asked them a few questions about their EP, their performances at the Truck Festivals, and their favorite venues in NYC.
EV2BK – Your debut album, There is A Mountain, just came out digitally here in early June. How long did the album take to put together?
Common Prayer – (Russo) It took a lifetime to write, but 6 days to record. We did 95 % of the tracking in a barn in a small English village then brought it back to Brooklyn to mix. Which we did in 2 days, max.
(Marvar) And then I sang into a mic set up in Jason’s bedroom in Greenpoint. That took… a couple hours. Though yes, there were years of unwitting subconscious preparation for both parties I’m sure.
EV2BK – We love the off-kilter Americana sound of “Us vs. Them.” What inspired the song?
Common Prayer – (Russo) This song was inspired by the most time-honored tradition in pop music, failed love.
(Marvar) It inspires me.
EV2BK – You guys have a big tour that kicks off very soon in the UK, is this your first tour across the pond?
Common Prayer – (Russo) Yes! Well, we played the 12th annual Truck Festival last year, but it was before we were called Common Prayer… This is our inaugural UK tour.
(Marvar) That said, the storage-container recording studio inside that cow barn on Hill Farm is already pretty familiar with us, and we’ll be visiting it again early in the tour for rehearsals with our English constituency and other shenanigans.
(Russo) We are very excited.
(Marvar) Fact.
EV2BK – What songs do you most look forward to playing when you perform?
Common Prayer – (Russo) My fave is “Marriage Song” because it has these bad-ass breaks that we do a three-part harmony over. Either that or Alex’s whistling solo at the end of “Us vs. Them.”
(Marvar) At times it is a whistling duo or trio, which I prefer. But my favorite is definitely also “Marriage Song,” because I get to bang on garbage and blow a marching band whistle.
EV2BK – You’re playing the Truck Festival in the UK again this year, and I know you played in the first US version of the festival, Truck America, earlier this year up in the Catskills—Can you tell us a little about that festival?
Common Prayer – (Russo) The folks that founded Truck fest (particularly two very musical brothers Joe and Robin Bennett) were instrumental in the making and recording of our album. We used the aforementioned barn studio on Hill Farm, also the site of the Truck Fest. The Truck Fest is a great example of a family-run “indie festival” — it’s held on a farm in a small, ancient village every year, all about community, with little to no corporate sponsorship… Rather grassroots.
(Marvar) This spring’s Truck America was it’s first venture on “patriot shores.” I have [an] apartment in Kingston, NY (near the Catskills), and Jason has significant ties to the music scene there as well, so we were likely suspects to help our friends at Truck bring their operation stateside. For year one, I’d have to call it a smashing success. Everyone from the Sadies to Mercury Rev to Here We Go Magic to… well… us.
EV2BK – Is there any band you are looking forward to meeting there or seeing again?
Common Prayer – (Russo) I like Fucked Up. I managed to be in a small room with the singer one late night and he is an smart entertaining guy. Also, I am looking forward to seeing my brothers band – The Silent League – because it’s always fun to see family in weird situations.
(Marvar) Since SxSW, I have become sort of obsessed with an electronic act called Active Child. Glad he will be present. Brooklyn’s own Holly Miranda will be around and even though we’ve never met I feel a kinship with her because we will be Brooklynites at Truck. Jason and I are also both excited to see Neil Halstead. He was our musical hero in the 90s and he is our UK record label hero in the now. We’re also playing a show with him in London right before Truck.
EV2BK – Jason, Common Prayer has a very different sound than your other band, Hopewell, what inspired the shift?
Common Prayer – (Russo) Hopewell has a lot of history – which is a positive thing – we’ve lasted longer than most bands ever dream of lasting, but I wanted to explore the songs that were coming out of me that wouldn’t fit in the trajectory of Hopewell. Common Prayer was the way I could manage to write whatever song came into my head, without worrying where I would put it or what I would do with it.
EV2BK – When is your next show in NYC and what has been your favorite venue to play at here so far?
Common Prayer – (Russo) Next up is a Johnny Leather showcase at either Union Hall or the Bellhouse, and then we are opening up for our pal Nicole Atkins in September at one of our favorite venues that we won’t mention yet because the bill is not yet all set.
(Marvar) Glasslands is one of our favorite venues. (Hint, hint!)
* * *
We’re looking forward to seeing Common Prayer this fall when they are back in NYC. In the meantime, we’ll see what we can do to put in a good word over at Glasslands.
-EV2BK
11) Skee-Lo – I Wish:
Skee-Lo may not be doing much these days, and certainly didn’t have any other hits that even approached the level of “I Wish,” but it’s also not hyperbole to say that this track is one of the original, Real McCoy “Jamz of the Day.” Remember when it was the Jam of the Week on MTV for like 13 weeks in a row or something back in 1995? It took Coolio’s “Gangsta’s Paradise” to knock Skee-Lo from the top dog position. Let’s reminisce together:
12) The Roots – How I Got Over:
If you haven’t heard last month’s ninth studio album from The Roots, How I Got Over, then do yourself a favor and pick it up now! The title track “How I Got Over” picks up right where “The Seed 2.0” did back in 2002 with a smooth Cody Chesnutt vocal hook and driving beats from ?uestlove and the rest of the crew.
13) Broken Bells – The High Road:
Danger Mouse and James Mercer team up as Broken Bells for some revamped psychedelic rock classics riding against a hip hop backdrop on their recent release. And for further summer jams reading, check out Danger Mouse’s “Endless Summer” playlist that he put together for New York magazine’s June issue.
14) Darwin Deez – Up In The Clouds:
Darwin Deez is a bit hard to classify, mostly because of the silly hairband/hairdo combo, but this track and video definitely live up to DD’s self-described style on myspace, “indie rock with a side of calisthenics,” if by calisthenics he means dancing. Right now he’s on tour in Europe and elsewhere through November, but when he gets back in town you can be sure to catch the Deez at many local shows around the city’s various boroughs.
15) Snoop Dogg – Who Am I? (What’s My Name)
The breakout solo smash from Tha Original Doggfather himself, Snoop Doggy Dogg. Break out a 40, turn the volume up, and start rolling the dutch, because it’s about to get G-funky up in here!
-EV2BK
Filed under Music
East Village to Brooklyn 