Arctic Monkeys Live

Be Your Own Pet and The Arctic Monkeys : Live at Avalon in Boston 5-13-07

So I'll start off by saying that I originally had high expectations for this show. Those high expectations then turned to fear that I was hoping for too much and that I would be severely let down. Thankfully, they were actually met and exceeded last night.

I was a little late getting to the Avalon thanks to traffic, but luckily, the bands were even later getting started. It got kicked off with Be Your Own Pet THRASHING through Bunk Trunk Skunk (available below for your thrashing pleasure) and about a half hour of material from their debut album as well as a couple new songs. To be honest, I'm not sure that the crowd knew what to make of the group. There was some muted cheering between songs, but the crowd was about as animated as a corpse. Seriously. Take a listen to Bunk Trunk Skunk and tell me if it is a song that you can listen to while standing still. The crowd was just there. No arms pumping in the air. No bodies jumping up and down. Nothing. Thankfully Jemina Pearl had enough energy to make up for the crowd with no pulse. I was simply amazed at how petite she was while at the same time just getting crazy up on stage. I don't think she stood still for a second. Jemina, accept my apologies from the city of Boston - next time they'll know what to expect and we can feed into what you're pumping onstage.


Be Your Own Pet - Bunk Trunk Skunk : Be Your Own Pet

Be Your Own Pet - Wildcat (live) : Be Your Own Pet (available via iTunes album download)

Visit their website and become their friend on MySpace.

After a reasonably short break, the Arctic Monkeys took the stage. I'll say that the boys sounded just as good live as they do on album, especially for how loud their show was. Vocals were dead on and front and center, while the rest of the band were still getting their groove on. Although the crowd needed to be jump started when BYOP were on the stage, they finally came alive for the Monkeys. I apologize for the fuzzy pictures above (thanks Becca for the much better pictures), but having gotten there late, my spot in the crowd was less than enviable, and it only got worse once people started pushing to get forward once the boys started playing. Their set lasted for a little over an hour, and from as best as I can remember included the following (not in the order listed - if you were there and I missed some (which I'm sure I did), let me know):

From their last album:
I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor
Still Take You Home
Dancing Shoes
Bigger Boys And Stolen Sweethearts
When The Sun Goes Down (Scummy Man)
From The Ritz To The Rubble
Fake Tales Of San Francisco
A Certain Romance
The View From The Afternoon

From their latest album:
If You Found This It's Probably Too Late (off the Brianstorm EP)
Brianstorm
Teddy Picker
D is for Dangerous
Balaclava
Fluorescent Adolescent
This House Is A Circus
The Bad Thing
Do Me A Favour
If You Were There, Beware

As you can see, they played quite a collection of crowd favorites from the last album as well as some new ones. At this point I would normally post some songs for you to jam to while reading this post, but I'd rather not anger the Monkeys' management - we all know they can be a little touchy about that sort of thing. Instead I'll tell you to pick up their newest album, Favourite Worst Nightmare (as if you don't have it already!), and catch them live if they haven't already sold you their show near you.

Visit their website, their label Domino Records, and become their friend on MySpace.

Again, super special thanks to Becca for taking the time to send me the pictures and add a few songs to the setlist that I missed!

K'naan - Straight out of Somalia

Originally hailing from Mogadishu, Somalia, K'naan ("traveller" in Somali) fled to Toronto at age 14 to escape the horrifically unstable situation in that country. Upon arrival in Canada, he learned to speak English, as well as his ability to rhyme, through listening to rappers such as Nas and Rakim. Since then, he's used what he's learned to make some incredibly powerful and socially conscious music.

Start out with one part Bob Marley, and another part of Fela Kuti, and mix in some Fugees for good measure and you'll get a sense of what K'naan is bringing. Through all of the blending and melding of sounds though, he keeps hold of his roots and uses his music as a vehicle of protest against his home country being torn apart from the inside.

His debut album, The Dusty Foot Philosopher, is tentatively scheduled to be released in the US in July, but if you can't wait it is already out in Canada (it actually won the 2006 Juno Award for Best Rap Recording) and is available as an import. In the meantime, enjoy the following live songs to get a flavor of his afro-flavored beats.

K'naan - In the Beginning (live)

K'naan - Be Free ( live)

K'naan - Soobox (live) (watch the video)

Catch K’naan at the end of his Mind Control North American Tour:

5/15 Toronto, ON @ Phoenix Concert Theatre
5/17 Windsor, ON @ Chrysler Theater
5/18 Atlanta, GA @ The Roxy
5/19 Saint Petersburg, FL @ Jannus Landing
5/20 Orlando, FL @ House of Blues

Visit his website and become his friend on MySpace.

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Bob Marley and the Wailers - No Woman, No Cry : Live!

Fela Kuti - Suffering & Smiling : Music Is The Weapon Of The Future

The Fugees - Vocab (Refugees Hip Hop Remix) : Fugees: Greatest Hits

Great Northern winner

Just wanted to take a break and congratulate Amanda for winning a signed copy of Great Northern's new album, a pair of tickets to see them in Boston on June 13th, and a t-shirt to wear and get the band to sign for her hopefully. Her answer to the entry question of where north would she like to go was Helsinki, Finland. I have to be honest with you, I don't know a darn thing about Helisinki.

Architecture In Helsinki - Pet Sounds : Do It Again: A Tribute To Pet Sounds

Enjoy the show Amanda and let us know how it goes!

Visit Great Northern's website, their label Eenie Meenie Records, and become their friend on MySpace.

6 down, 9 to go

So as I mentioned a few posts ago when talking about The Honored Guests, I have the great honor of being a graduate student. One of the incredibly enjoyable benefits of being one is the end of the semester final paper. The end of the semester 15 page paper. The end of the semester 15 page paper with 7 outside sources. (please note intended sarcastic tone) In this particular case, it's about the environmental writer Barry Lopez and man's connection with nature in this increasingly technological world (for example me writing this blog).

So, with that in mind, please forgive the lack of posts for the last few days, as well as for the next few days. Because I know your ears still need music to listen to, regardless of my higher education requirements, enjoy the following.

Lou Barlow & His Sentridoh - Natural Nature : Lou Barlow And His Sentridoh

Mates Of State - Nature and the Wreck : Bring It Back

Sarah Vaughan - I'm Gonna Sit Right Down And Write Myself A Letter (live) : At Mister Kelly's

Say Hi to Your Mom - They Write Books About This Sort of Thing : Discosadness

This Mortal Coil - Nature's Way : Blood

True Story!

"What is that? A Twisted Sister pin...on your uniform????"

In case you don't know, my real world job (while not moonlighting as a blogging rock star) is as a 7th grade teacher. One of the teachers on my team, we'll call her Ms. R to protect her identity, doesn't have that good of a rapport with the students. In fact, I would go so far as to say that it is downright crappy.

Anyway, during the middle of the morning, our students have a 10 minute break to eat a snack, grab the books they need for their next classes, and socialize in general. Sometimes teachers will take away this break and require the students to stay in their room as punishment for various infractions. Ms. R tends to keep the same boys in for 10 minute break fairly regularly.

This is where the story gets good, so stick with me if you've made it this far (I know there is a lot of background info to work up to this). SO, last week, several of the boys who feel that they are being unfairly picked on decide to break out with Twisted Sister's 80's anthem We're Not Gonna Take It...at full volume...refusing to quiet down. Ms. R, not knowing how to deal with the rowdy group and probably fearing for mayhem similar to what happens in the video, ends up calling up the school resource officer (otherwise known as a cop) to break up the crew and take them down to the principal's office.

True story.

Twisted Sister - We're Not Gonna Take It : Still Hungry

Serena Ryder and her roots

From the title of the album, If Your Memory Serves You Well, you can tell that Serena Ryder is taking a look back at the past. That in itself is not such a rare thing for a musician to do. Most will list a handful of artists that inspired them and helped them formulate their own sound when asked. What is rare in this case is that Serena is paying homage to them on her major label debut and some of the songs date back as far as 70 years! In the liner notes, Serena explains:

I've been singing songs seven times my age since I was seven years old. I am a songwriter, but that didn't happen by itself, it happened with the inspiration of great songs, amazing songs, songs that over and over withstand the test of time, these songs, Canadian songs... and a few written by yours truly (tucked at the end to give you a taste of what's coming next to me.)

Don't think that simply makes the album Serena's exercise in Karaoke. She's got a voice that's absolutely dynamite, fiery and full of soul and spunk, and she uses it to approach these songs from some widely different angles. In some she exudes a bluesy dimension, in others she gets a hint of a twang, goes gospel here and there, and at least one point (in Some of These Days, written by Shelton Brooks and recorded by such artists as Louis Armstrong and Billie Holiday available below - Serena slows it down and adds a sultry edge compared to Louis' jumping version, although she does start the track with the fuzzy hiss and crackle sound reminiscent of the records Louis would have recorded on!) even displays a huskiness similar to the latest foul-mouthed vixen, Amy Winehouse (minus the expletives and with toned downed innuendo).

Some of the other songs Serena re-imagines include Leonard Cohen's Sisters of Mercy, Bob Dylan's This Wheel's On Fire, and Good Morning Starshine (from the 1967 musical Hair).

The album is rounded out with three of Serena's own songs, and while I won't denounce any of them as unworthy, there is a somewhat different feel to them than the first eleven tracks. I'm not sure if it's their structure or the lyrical development, they're just different...not better, not worse, again - just different. I've included one of them, Just Another Day, below (which includes a snippet of Serena at 7 singing Buddy Holly's That'll Be the Day at the end), as well as one from her first album, Unlikely Emergency, for you to compare.


Serena Ryder - Some of These Days : If Your Memory Serves You Well

Louis Armstrong - Some of These Days : Hot Fives and Sevens

Serena Ryder - Just Another Day : If Your Memory Serves You Well

and another original from her first album...

Serena Ryder - Daydream : Unlikely Emergency

Visit Serena's website, her label EMI Canada, and become her friend on MySpace.

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TOUR DATES
5/7 Living Room New York, NY
5/9 Mercury Lounge New York, NY
5/11 Tin Angel Philadelphia, PA
5/12 Star Hill Charlottesville, VA
5/13 Jammin’ Java Washington D.C.
5/15 Center for the Arts Univ Buffalo, NY
5/18-20 Non-Comm-vention Louisville, KY
5/22 The Mint Los Angeles, CA
5/23 Hotel Café Los Angeles, CA
(Opening for Xavier Rudd for all the following)
6/16 Bonnaroo Manchester, TN
6/17 Madison Theatre Cincinnati, OH
6/19 Park West Chicago, IL
6/20 First Avenue Minneapolis, MN
6/22 Gothic Theatre Denver, CO
6/25 El Rey Theatre Los Angeles, CA
6/26 House of Blues San Diego, CA
6/29 Roseland Theatre Portland, OR
6/30 The Showbox Seattle, WA

Swati - birth of a star

In case you're planning on traveling to India anytime soon, here's your Hindi language lesson for the day: swati - birth of a star. Swati is also the name of a talented New York City native who released her debut album, Small Gods, on May 1st.

Amazingly, Swati began her musical pilgrimage with the trombone. Thankfully, she's since switched to a twelve string guitar fitted with only eight. At some points she snarls with estrogen-powered angst a la Ani DiFranco; in others she sings with a delicate voice reminiscent of Jewel's earlier work. At all points she sings with a personal flair.

Have you ever bought a new CD and while listening to it you come across a song that you've never heard before but when you do you keep rewinding it and listening to it over and over? That was what happened to me when I first listened to Blackjack, the first song below. On it's surface, it's about the card game where your goal is to reach 21. Delving deeper reveals a song written about a one night relationship Swati had with a prostitute and her search for a deeper connection with another individual. It really speaks to the inner need in all of us to find that soul in the world with which to share our lives.

Blackjack

i got a prostitute
in an atlantic city bar
she said what would you like to do
you look kinda normal but you still got NYC all over you

just hold my hand when the six card drops
hold my hand when the money runs out
dealer's got blackjack

she said don't you got no friends
i said yes ma'am but today i'm sick of them
well don't you got no lovers
i said no ma'am i'm always chasing the hearts i can never have

so just hold my hand when the six card drops
just hold my hand when the money runs out
dealer's got blackjack

monday i called my summer love
i said please see me i need to talk about stuff
she blamed it on the dopamine weirdy
and gently sent me on my way
tuesday i called my first love i said please see me i need to remember who i was
she said you're definitely not the same person today
i love you anyway
so now here i am sitting with you at the all you can eat buffet
you got your hand resting gently on my knee and i'm pretending that i've found me
an unconditional love from a stranger

at the end of the night
i said i'll drive you home
please say mexico
she said you're driving real fast
i said i'm sorry ma'am am i making you nervous
she said oh no oh no
drive faster faster faster

and hold my hand when the six card drops
hold my hand when the money runs out
just hold my hand when the six card drops
hold my hand cause the money’s run out
baby’s got blackjack.

In addition to Blackjack, check out her cover of Bruce Springsteen's I'm on Fire.

Want to know more about her? Check out this interview with Swati and this one as well.

Swati - Blackjack : Small Gods


Swati - I'm On Fire (Bruce Springsteen cover) : Small Gods

Visit Swati's website, her label Bluhammock Records, and become her friend on MySpace.

Speak Hindu? Head over to eMusic recorded in Hindu (at least that's what I believe it is) for a couple of tracks Swati recorded pre-Small Gods.

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Other interpretations of I'm On Fire

Tori Amos - I'm On Fire (live) : VH1 Crossroads

Heather Nova - I'm On Fire (live) : Wonderlust

See Great Northern in Boston

Sweet intricate melodies and the male and female vocals of Solon Bixler and Rachel Stolte playing counterpoint to one another soak through this album from beginning to end. Behind them are waves of lush orchestrated sounds that weave in and out providing a large, loud but crystal clear backdrop. Welcome to Trading Twilight for Daylight, the debut album from Great Northern.

Solon and Rachel, long time friends from Silver lake, CA who had both played in separate bands previously, formed the nucleus of the band, and later brought aboard drummer Davey Latter and bassist Ashley Dzerigian. Rachel says, “There isn’t any specific formula for crafting a song – the song will just tell you what it has to be. It can stem from an emotion, which then evolves lyrically or otherwise. Ultimately, when you listen to a song in your bedroom with headphones, it should be able to take you away, maybe on a little journey.”

Listening to the album tends to evoke a couple of emotions that tend to dwell in time: looking back on relationships, looking back at places, and piecing together the present. From the opening delicate piano strokes of the first track, Our Bleeding Hearts (available below), it starts...

Here is a song for the only one
that you know that you never knew
you're still looking for.

This desire to examine the past permeates the album. From Telling Lies:

Bending backwards
to look behind
pushing forward, closer in time

And later in the album, you come across City of Sleep (a hauntingly sparse arrangement)...

follow through
reach behind me
see if you remember me
come with me
to that place where
we remember what to be

Is the question ever resolved? Pick up the album on May 15th (it's scheduled date of release) to find out for yourself.

In the meantime, here's a chance to win the following:

• a signed copy of the album, Trading Twilight for Daylight
• a Great Northern t-shirt
• a pair of tickets to see them live in Boston with Mary Timony on June 13th

Simply leave a comment (or e-mail me) with your name, e-mail, and where you would want to travel that's north of you. I'll pick a random winner sometime next Saturdayish and notify them via e-mail.

Great Northern - Our Bleeding Hearts : Trading Twilight for Daylight

Great Northern - City of Sleep : Trading Twilight for Daylight

Visit their website, their label Eenie Meenie Records, and become their friend on MySpace.

Mary Timony - Friend to J.C. : Ex Hex

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Tour dates:

May
10 San Francisco, CA - Popscene
15 Los Angeles, CA - The Echo [Record release show]
25 Vancouver, BC - TBA *
26 Seattle, WA - TBA *
27 Portland, OR - Holocene *
28 Eugene, OR - Indigo District
29 San Francisco, CA - The Independent *
30 Los Angeles, CA - Troubadour *
31 Long Beach, CA - The Prospector

June
01 San Diego, CA - Beauty Bar
04 Denver, CO - Larimer Lounge
06 Minneapolis, MN - Varsity +
08 Chicago, IL - Shubas +
09 Toronto, ON - Lee's Palace [NXNE]
10 Montreal, QC - Divan Orange
11 Buffalo, NY - Sound Lab
13 Boston, MA - Middle East +
15 Brooklyn, NY - Union Hall

+ = w/ Mary Timony
* = w/ Loney, Dear

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Other Points of the Compass

The Fiery Furnaces - Up In The North : Gallowsbird's Bark

Boogie Down Productions - South Bronx : The Best Of B-Boy Records

Denison Witmer - East from West : Happy Birthday Denison (original version on Are You A Dreamer?)

R.E.M. - How The West Was Won And Where It Got Us : New Adventures In Hi-Fi

Midnight Movies Winner

Congratulations to Daniel (a self professed nerd) for being the lucky winner of Midnight Movies' latest release Lion the Girl and a MM t-shirt to wear while listening. You just have to love it when a nerd wins...it makes you feel like you're in a John Hughes movie.

He gave props to Pirates of Silicon Valley, a docudrama about the early days of personal computers and the rivalry between Apple and Microsoft, as his favorite late night movie to watch. Talk about a riveting, action-packed, edge of your seat kind of movie...I heard completely unsubstantiated rumors that they originally tried to get Arnold Schwarzenegger to play the role of Steve Jobs. OK, so maybe I made that up, but if you're a tech-weenie like Daniel and haven't seen the film yet, rent it, stay up way too late to watch it in the early AM hours, and don't forget the popcorn.

Wally Pleasant - She's In Love With A Geek : Songs About Stuff

Baby Gramps - Cape Cod Girls : Rogue's Gallery: Pirate Ballads, Sea Songs, and Chanteys

Sufjan Stevens - Dear Mr. Supercomputer : The Avalanche: Outtakes and Extras from the Illinois Album

Ben Lee - Apple Candy : Awake Is The New Sleep

Hosting The Honored Guests

Hailing from Chapel Hill, NC, The Honored Guests first formed back in 2003 and released their uniquely titled first album, Iawokeinacitysleep, in 2004. According to the information that I've found on the band, it made a huge splash on college radio all across the country. Since I haven't been a college student in quite some time (I'm currently a Graduate student, but that hardly qualifies me as a college student - no dorm parties or visiting college bars with a fake ID) I'll admit that I didn't hear it but being a guy who looks at a pint of Guinness as half full (another reason I'm not a college student - no pitchers of Labatt's Blue for me), I'll believe the hype and move on from there.

Fast forward from their debut in 2004 to May of 2006, when the band released their second album, Tastes Change. Then, FAST fast forward to last week when I first got a chance to listen to it.

Tastes Change sort of drifts in to focus with the first short cut, The Race is Long, slowly building up into a dreamy trancelike state that eases you into the album, starting out with the words, "Take your time... ." From this gauzy tune the Honored Guests float us into track two, Say You Will (offered below), which takes off like a bullet. The song presents some dramatic tempo shifts, getting you moving, and then alternately backing off. It also fronts some vocals by Russell Baggett, lead vocalist, that are twisted and altered very reminiscent of Bono in U2's song Zoo Station. The pace slows down for the next few tracks into the band's seemingly natural flow, although the band loves to play with Russell's voice in quite a few of the songs.

A little over half way through the album, one comes across an instrumental track, Boxing Gloves, fairly rare in these days, but certainly welcome. Following that a track that builds up the be one of the biggest sounding of the album and also has my favorite title of the album: If You Lived Here, You'd Be Home By Now. It reminds me of my time living in Boston and the large billboard in front of the condos at the end of Storrow Drive with those exact words. Notice I say biggest sounding, by which I don't mean loud.

The album ends with a song that feels like a melding of much of its parts. It Takes A Lot Of Looking, the final cut, starts off very in a very ethereal sort of mood, building up volume over a few minutes, and then grooves in and out of the Guests' sound. Its intensity builds up to increasingly higher crescendos and eventually those crescendos give way to silence, and then after a few quiet seconds, the album ends with an instrumental coda.

So what is the Guests' sound you might ask? The group doesn't use any odd instrumentation to try and hide behind other than an odd glockenspiel here and there (but hey, who isn't using a glockenspiel these days?!?!); most of it is fairly straight forward guitar, bass, and drums. That's not to say it's formulaic though - the group just prefers to stick to the meat and potatoes but is skilled enough to spice them up. The album as a whole has a mellow feel to it that pulls you in and carries you along. I don't want to imply that the whole affair puts you to sleep, rather it's a languid journey (in the dreamy and delicate sense) from beginning to end.

Experience the tracks below, pick up their last album Tastes Change, and then be prepared for their next album, which they're in the studio now working on and is tentatively scheduled to be released in the fall.


The Honored Guests - Say You Will : Tastes Change

The Honored Guests - Summer Snow : Tastes Change

and one from their debut album...

The Honored Guests - Postmarked : iawokeinacityasleep

Visit their website, their label Breakfast Mascot Records, and become their friend on MySpace.

Aqua-Winner

Congratulations to Mike for being the winner of the an Aqualung prize pack. He chose the lovely, invisible jet flying, bullet blocking bracelet donning, lasso of truth twirling, ultra-patriotic skimpy outfit wearing Wonder Woman as his favorite super hero. Soon, he'll be jamming out to Memory Man while wearing an Aqualung t-shirt and hoodie and reading Ragged magazine! Maybe he could send us a copy of his famous Wonder Woman picture to post! It's here! Check out Mike's wife Jill (she's on the right) with the super-heroically beautiful and kid friendly Wonder Woman circa 1979 in Cleveland, OH!

It's not too late to enter to win a copy of Midnight Movies' latest Lion the Girl. A winner will be chosen at random on Friday for that (and there's only one person entered so far, so your odds are pretty good).

Here are some Lynda Carter inspired songs for Mike (and Jill):

Buddahead - Invisible : Live From Bonnaroo 2003

Radiohead - Bullet Proof...I Wish I Was : The Bends

Amy Miles - Lasso : Dirty Stay-Out

Flogging Molly - What's Left of the Flag : Drunken Lullabies

Looking forward to Feist

So I hate to boast or rub it in any one's nose, but I got tickets to see Feist play on her first US date for the tour: June 8th in Northampton, MA. Not only did I get tickets, but I got GOOD tickets; I'm not going to need my binaculars for this one. All I want to say about that is I am STOKED! As much as I love Feist on album, her live performances take it to a whole nother level. As a general rule, I tend to enjoy live music more anyway, but this is really a show that I'm looking forward to.

Opening for her is Grizzly Bear, a band that I know nothing about. Luckily, I have over a month to educate myself about their music and tune my ears into their sound. Any suggestions for me? Should I start with their debut or skip to their second album Yellow House?

Feist's new album, The Reminder, comes out today, and you best believe that I'm going to be purchasing it via iTunes so I can get it into my iPod as fast as possible. Opening up the album is the song So Sorry, a song that I've absolutely loved since finding it on rbally (who disappeared, then was reincarnated, and is now missing again... we miss you). Here's the live version for you to enjoy:

Feist - So Sorry (live) : Live at Park West 1-27-06 (studio version on The Reminder)

"sometimes i find that it helps if you say...
i'm sorry,
two words that i always think
oh after you're gone
when i realize i was acting all wrong"

Visit her website, her label Cherry Tree Records, and become her friend on MySpace.