For those of you out there in young bands, here’s a lesson from Val Loper of Bear Hands on how to chug a beer onstage and still be on point with your bass line entrance:
Check out the whole clip for “High Society” on the EV2BK.com YouTube channel.
-Drew
Filed under Music, Performance, video
Everyone has been saying for years that print media, particularly book publishing, is a dying art form. But, for those adept at using new media to get people excited about books, (like the creators of the Amazon Kindle) there is hope. Today, the publisher Hachette Audio will begin releasing on iTunes a serialized version of a new book “Transition” by Iain M. Banks, a day before the book’s hardcover release. The abridged versions will be broken down into 23 episodes, uploaded two days a week for 12 weeks. This is the first attempt by a publisher to give part of the book away for free with the hope that listeners will like what they hear and be willing to pay for more. If they have enough impatient people on their hands, this could work. As Anthony Goff, publisher and director of Hachette Audio and Digital Media, explained to the Times “the promotion began with the book’s publication there on Sept. 3, and where the free episodes are the eighth-most downloaded podcast on iTunes; the full-length version is the 11th best-selling audio book.”
Another attempt to keep an old-school art form current and fresh is happening tomorrow night, when L.A.’s hip-hop duo People Under the Stairs play at the new Knitting Factory. The two MCs, who has released five albums since 1998, was called “one of the best acts in hip-hop’s underground” by Spin Magazine back in June after playing amped-up gigs at Bonnaroo and Coachella. They have been able to hold on to their old-school sound, partly because the beats, chorus, rhymes, and scratching, are all done by PUTS’ members Thes One and Double K themselves. According to their MySpace page, their new album, Carried Away, was also produced old-school style and was recorded entirely on reel to reel with tons of rock samples, distorted vocals, yelling, drum machines, etc.
The album is due out in early October, but today’s Jam is from their 2002 release, O.S.T. (Original Soundtrack). Ease into the week with a listen…
People Under the Stairs – The Breakdown:
-Melissa
Filed under Jam of the Day, Performance
Brooklyn’s own indie-pop trio Elizabeth & the Catapult are performing tonight at the Music Hall of Williamsburg and we’re stoked to finally check them out. Musicians Elizabeth Ziman, Dan Molad, and Pete Lalish formed the band back in 2004 and just released their first full length, Taller Children, in June of this year on Verve Forecast. The album as a whole is an exceptional mix of intimate, effortlessly soulful vocals, pop melodies, jazz twists, and textured acoustics.
Ziman has a voice, with hints on Nina Simone and Ella Fitzgerald, that sounds like she has been singing for much longer than her 27 years would suggest. She was trained as a classical pianist and started to focus on vocal training as a teenager. She went to the Berklee School of Music on a scholarship to study classical composition. There, she met drummer and fellow Berklee student Dan Molad at a party during their final semester, and they began performing together soon after. Guitarist Pete Lalish, another Berklee student, later joined the band and they moved to Brooklyn in 2005. Using Molad’s home studio, the band financed, recorded, and produced their first EP, Elizabeth & The Catapult back in 2006.
There are a lot of great tracks on Taller Children including “Race You Home,” “Right Next to You,” “Apathy” and the albums namesake, “Taller Children.” I also found a really great video of them covering “Coconut” by Harry Nillson at their last show in NYC, the CD Release party for Taller Children at Joe’s pub back in June. In the video they are joined onstage by the Muppet costume-wearing, subway-performing-sensation Xylopholks.
Today’s Jam is not on Taller Children, it is called simply “New Song” for now, but it will hopefully be on their next release and we’ll be sure to ask them about it tonight.
Elizabeth & the Catapult – New Song:
-Melissa
Filed under Jam of the Day, Performance
Whether or not you will like Providence rock band Deer Tick hinges on how you feel about lead singer John McCauley’s voice. His raspy, booze-soaked sound makes it seem like he’s been around since the 60’s and probably kickin’ it with the likes of Bob Dylan and Tom Waits (judging by his vocals), but he’s actually really young. Deer Tick’s new album Born on Flag Day, was just released in late June on Partisan Records and is being supported by a new tour that kicked off this past Saturday at the Bella Terra Festival in Barrington, MA.
McCauley started the band as a solo project in 2004. Dennis Ryan soon joined the band on drums along with Christopher Dale Ryan on bass and Andrew Tobiassen on lead guitar. Deer Tick’s music is a combination of blues, folk, and grungy country. They released their first studio album, War Elephant, in 2007.
In May 2009 they were the very first band profiled on BriTunes, a new online-only music interview series hosted by NBC Nightly News anchor Brian Williams. You can watch his short but pretty cool interview with the band here.
They are playing tonight at the Prospect Park Bandshell with Grace Potter & The Nocturnals and Jones Street Station, so if you like what you hear, go check them out and rock your way into the weekend.
Dear Tick – Easy:
Also check out “Smith Hill,” the second single off of Born on Flag Day, below.
Deer Tick – Smith Hill:
-Melissa
Filed under Jam of the Day, Music, Performance
The second annual All Points West Festival kicked off today in Liberty State Park, NJ. If you’re headed over on the ferry for one, or all, of the days get excited cause it’s sure to be a weekend of excellent music. Each day has a pretty incredible lineup (although Sunday’s is the best) and many ev2bk favorites including Jay Z, The Fleet Foxes, Vampire Weekend, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, St. Vincent, Coldplay, MGMT, Lykke Li, and the Black Keys are set to perform.
Sure to be a highlight on Sunday are English alt-rock band, Elbow. The band formed back in 1990 and lead vocalist and lyricist Guy Garvey, bassist Pete Turner, drummer Richard Jupp, guitarist Mark Potter, and keyboardist Craig Potter have released four studio albums and four EPs since. Rumor has it that the band is named after a line in the BBC TV mini-series The Singing Detective where a character says that the word “elbow” is the most sensuous word in the English language, not for its definition, but for how it feels to say it? Having just said it aloud a few times I have to say I surprisingly agree. Seriously, try it, you’ll see what they’re talking about.
Elbow has a really innovative sound and Garvey’s voice is hauntingly unshakable. Since winning the 2008 Mercury Music Prize for their fourth album, The Seldom Seen Kid, it seems like they are finally having some much deserved commercial success. These guys not only sound hot recorded but really on point live, as you’ll see below.
Elbow – Mirrorball:
-Melissa
Ed. note: Thanks to our San Fran correspondent JVM for her song recommendation.
Filed under Event, Jam of the Day, Performance
Last Thursday, Brooklyn band, Hollands played a midnight show at Fontana’s. I got to sit down with the lead singer and guitarist, John-Paul Norpoth, before the show. Norpoth shared his ruminations on their first EP, Faces, now available on iTunes, and the band’s focus on the September release of their second EP, Mother.
Norpoth is the only current band member who contributed to Faces. He wrote it in ’03 and ’04 and recorded it from ’05 to ’07. It was originally a side project that he worked on while he was in the band Butane Variations. Although proud of the record, Norpoth seemed anxious to move away from it and eager to concentrate on the new direction that the band is taking with their sound. He described Faces as being “dated stylistically” in comparison to where their sound is now. Revtone Digital Music, an online distributor, was the driving force behind the release of Faces, though Norpoth was at times hesitant about the delayed release of his old material when the band is so focused on the new.
There are four core members of the band, John-Paul Norpoth on guitar and vocals, Jim Robertson on bass, Jannina Barefield on violin, and Kenny Grohowski on drums. Barefield was not in attendance at the performance, leaving it to the three boys to put on the show. Norpoth has a classical music background; he studied at the New School with all of his current bandmates. Norpoth and Barefield sometimes play smaller duo gigs minus the drum and bass. Additional jazz and string musicians frequently join the core band members, to create what Norpoth described as their desired “broad musical sound.” Norpoth explained, “In addition to our rhythm section, sometimes we play with an organist/pianist and three string players… The band can grow to be quite large. The songs work in all settings and I guess I like to fit the venue with whatever seems necessary.” For the intimate space at Fontana’s, the three-person band was just the right fit.
After performances by experimental ambient-rock band Venice is Sinking, and urban-Americana band And The Revelers Fell, the headliners of the evening, Hollands, took the stage just after midnight. They opened with an energetic drum-driven cover of Gillian Welch’s “Look at Miss Ohio.” “Over and Out,” from Faces, a rollicking rock jam, kept the energy high while Norpoth reassured the crowd, “It’s late but we’re going to keep you up.” Later in the set, they slowed things down with the sonic, rock-a-billy jam “Lungs of Steele,” showcasing Norpoths’ melancholy, wistful vocals, but kicked it back into high gear when Grohowski started “Strong Arm” with a rhythmic punch, and they really hit their stride. Despite a broken string and guitar switch before the more delicate “Coughing Boy,” they picked it up in the second half when Robertson’s memorable bass line came in and led into another standout track “Goldie Hawn.” They closed the show with the psychedelic, airy, “Air Conditioned Heart,” a perfect song to enjoy on a long summer night.
Check out a couple of the songs from Faces here:
Strong Arm:
Coughing Boy:
You can preview more of their upcoming stuff on their myspace page.
Hollands has a sound that is simultaneously nostalgic, current, and timeless. They span musical styles and decades with influences as varied as classical music, Wilco, the Flaming Lips, and Paul Simon. On “Air Conditioned Heart” Norpoth’s wronged, bluesy vocals are featured on a folk-rock track that sounds like the Grateful Dead and Arcade Fire joined forces. Hollands is a band to watch. We are looking forward to the September release of Mother, and, having heard just the trio, I’m anxious to check them out when they have a fuller band.
They are touring in upstate New York for the rest of the month before they return to perform at Pete’s Candy Store on August 21st.
-Melissa
Filed under Music, New, Performance, Show
East Village to Brooklyn 