Taking a Short Hiatus

Hi all! I'll be writing my dissertation over the next month and will not be able to contribute to the blog during that time. Just wanted to let you all know that I haven't abandoned it. I'll look forward to reading everyone's posts when I return. Temporarily signing off......

Lissie

Not sure when or where I first heard about Lissie. But somehow I have one of her songs on my computer. Then today I was catching up on a music blog I frequently read and saw Lissie again. Blogger Heather Brown saw her perform at the SXSW festival in Austin, Tx and had this to say about Lissie: "This girl from Rock Island, Illinois has a voice that is even more potent and chill-inducing in person; it’s as if she has the force of a complete gospel choir of large black women lying in her belly waiting to explode through songs like 'Little Lovin’ and 'Everywhere I Go.'" Here are some (ok a lot of) video links to check her out for yourself... (I just couldn't decide which video to put up so I decided to go crazy and post a bunch. Two are covers - Wedding Bells, I think it is a John Prine song, and Bob Dylan's Ramona.)

Riding Home From Work

Great post on Ben Folds. He's come a long way since I was a freshman in college and his first record came out. It's almost like we became adults together. I wish I had seen that show.

Today I was riding home from work and listening to outlaw country on Sirius. They were playing Steve Earle and when the song finished Mojo Nixon came on and was yelling about how they created that station so he could play Steve Earle's Copperhead Road any time he wanted. Then he said "if I want to I can play a black banjo player from North Carolina." The group was called The Carolina Chocolate Drops and the song was really good so after playing with the dog and taking a seven minute nap I searched for them on the net. Needless to say I was pretty damn stoked with what I found. The first is a promo video of them talking about their new record, the second is just a live performance.

Concert Review: Ben Folds

Last night, I had a low key evening planned - play with the dog, do spanish homework, have dinner with a friend, and return to finish homework. Said friend works for a local alternative weekly paper and sometimes covers the music scene. Her boss (& owner of the paper) texted her during dinner and asked if she wanted the two extra tickets he had for the Ben Folds show.

Hmmmmm... Neither of us were very familiar with his music. We both had early mornings the next day. Just a dude and his piano... On a Tuesday night... Sounded like it could be a bit sedate...

But.

The Jefferson, a recently restored beautiful concert venue, was literally just across the street. And the tickets were free. Why not drop by for just a bit to check it out?

The place was packed. The audience members were loyal and enthusiastic (and surprisingly high percentage male). And the dude - the dude can rock a piano. The show was incredibly interactive. The audience did a lot of singing - sometimes voluntary, sometimes Ben Folds divided the crowd and directed beautiful harmonies. The most unusual interactive part was when a stagehand brought out a laptop and a projection screen lit up on stage. Long story short (I didn't know the whole background at the time. Click here and here for links to more of the story), we were logged in to a site called chatroulette.com. The site name is pretty self explanatory. Random strangers log in and are, at random, connected to each other. The connection provides video, audio, and chat capabilities. One box on the screen showed the random stranger. In the lower box appeared Ben Folds at the piano with his audience behind him. Ben improvised and sang to/about the random stranger. There was quite the assortment of random strangers... and the occasional flash of a random penis. It was, well, random. And yet strangely mesmerizing to the entire audience. Who knew surfing the net could be fun with one computer and a couple thousand people. Another "interactive" feature of the show is that he took requests. I really appreciate an artist that listens to what his fans want to hear.

We ended up staying through the entire show and the encore. I was thrilled when he played "The Luckiest" during his encore - I'd heard the song as part of the cool down mix in a class I took at the gym four or five years ago. It's the only Ben Folds song I own and I'd completely forgotten that he sung it and how much I loved it. I also recognized "You Don't Know Me" from radio play. It was great live, especially with the audience singing back up. I didn't really know any other songs but I enjoyed all of it.

Anyway, the night was topped off with yet another text from my friend's boss. Did we want to go backstage? Hell yeah. I'd only been backstage at one other concert. The worst concert of my life. I won't even go into it. I was only there as a good friend - at the concert, I mean. I didn't go backstage willingly - I was a prisoner with no other way home. Back to last night - I assumed it would be 20 or so folks getting a quick picture or autograph, a handshake with a "Great show, man" thrown in. Nope. It was just me, my friend, and her boss hanging out with Ben Folds. While it wasn't an official interview, we had fun throwing out all kinds of questions...

The piano for the show was rented (this had been a subject of debate between my friend and me during the show). He loves to play the drums. Favorite sports are tennis and soccer. His dad got a guitar upon recommendation by his doctor to take up a hobby to de-stress some. Father Folds never made much progress playing but his son Ben took it up quickly. At some point his dad, a capenter, was paid in piano instead of cash by a customer. Talked about his kids. He's a really laid back easy guy to chat with - I could completely see him as an average joe neighbor mowing his yard and then sitting on the front stoop drinking a PBR. We each took a picture with him and called it a night.

Needless to say, I'll be doing Spanish homework after I finish posting this entry.

Jeffrey Lewis

First through Pandora and then through my friend Ben I've been exploring Jeffrey Lewis. I like to think of him as the king of the Anti-folk genre. At least he's the one I like the most. Here is what Ben had to say about meeting him in February:

A MILLION INCHES DELICIOUS

Ben has great taste in music and most other things. Slowly Ben and I have been finding that a guy raised mostly in Wisconsin and a guy raised all the way in New Mexico can actually turn out about the same. That's been neat.

This is my favorite Jeffrey Lewis song. It feels the way I feel when I think about my dad:


#4.3 - Jeffrey Lewis- Roll bus roll
Uploaded by lablogotheque. - Independent web videos.

Laarks

I saw Laarks tonight. Friends of the Daredevil Christopher Wright, who I can't shut up about. Ian, the lead singer/pianist slept in my backyard once. That was nice.

These guys are great. Listen to the drummer. That drummer is especially fucking amazing:

Their Myspace

Justin Townes Earle

Yesterday I wrote about the opener, Joe Pug, at Monday's show. Now, let's get to the main act - Justin Townes Earle. Earle was completely at ease on stage, talking to the audience while rocking vintage glasses and a suit with bowtie. Joined by his fiddler, Josh Hedley, in a 3 piece suit and hat and standing bass player, Bryn Davies, in a flowery dress - the trio almost looked like they could be dropped into the prohibition period, smokey bar scene of a movie. The music was a fun blend of blues, honky tonk, and country -with a tinge of patina, a rough edge, that gave it a sense of sincerity which only made it more enjoyable. I'm a little surprised the crowd didn't break out more dance moves but being a Monday night, I think the audience was a little more sober and sedate than had it been an uninhibited Saturday night show.

Out on a School Night

I tend to go into social hibernation during the winter. Especially on weekdays. But a combination of beautiful warm, sunny weather and the promise of good music inspired me to rally last night and see a show at The Southern, a small intimate venue on the downtown mall in Charlottesville. My friends and I didn't rush to get there on time as we knew there was an opening act - Joe Pug. Upon our arrival I was surprised to be walk in to a quiet but crowded room - an audience fully focused on the stage, and I wondered if we didn't know something that everyone else did. Turns out it would have been our loss if we'd arrived any later and missed the last few of Joe's songs. I can't wait to download some of his music tonight. Earnest, soulful lyrics. Clean, crisp singing and guitar picking.

"Bury Me Far from My Uniform" and "Call It What You Will" were two favorites from last night...

Friday Fun

Latest video from OK Go...



Edited to add this link to a Wired article on the set up and filming for this video.

The Morning Benders

This is a time-sensitive post that falls in the "first listen" and "out on March 9th" categories (see previous posts from Alycia and Brendon). The Morning Benders have an album coming out next week and are streaming the entire thing on their website until the March 9 release. Preview it while you can! I've listened to it several times already - partially because I'm at work and as such, keep getting interrupted by work. Dang you work! Anyway, I'm really liking it and I love the album artwork, which alone might convince me to buy the album.

Check out the group effort on the first track, "Excuses."

Yours Truly Presents: The Morning Benders "Excuses" from Yours Truly on Vimeo.

P.S. You can also download "Excuses" for free on their website.

Best of Bonnaroo Compilation

In my mailbox this morning. Nothing like free music for a good cause.

"JamBase has teamed up with HeadCount and the NRDC Action Fund and put together a FREE “Best of Bonnaroo” compilation to encourage action on climate change.

Download it FREE.

It features live performances by Phish, Pearl Jam, Wilco, My Morning Jacket, Bob Weir & RatDog, Phil Lesh & Friends, Gov’t Mule, The Disco Biscuits and many other artists, most of whom personally handpicked these tracks.
Before downloading the music, you will be asked to email your Senators, the President or your local newspapers about climate change. The music is free no matter what, but the artists hope all their fans join them in taking action on this issue.
You can help spread the word on climate change and share the Bonnaroo compilation
by forwarding this call to action and posting links on Facebook and Twitter!"

LIARS

Oh boy, oh boy, next Tuesday, March 9th is record store day so be sure to go out and show your favorite physical mom and pop shop some physical love. Not only are there all kinds of special limited goodies offered at the shops but there are a bunch of albums coming out that day. Alycia is obviously excited for the Gorillas, and that is pretty exciting, but I have to say the I'm most excited for Liars. I'm trying to think up a poaching pun here, but I think I'll just leave it to your imagination. If you wanted to spice it up a little you could add something about Jane Goodall and something else about the poached gorilla's orphan.

No? You don't like making poaching puns? Suit yourself. Just listen to the new Liars album then. It will make you less of a chump (click on the title of this post.

Or maybe you want to hear Titus Andronicus' new joint.

No? Then what about Broken Bells?

Still no? Frightened Rabbit?

YOU ASSHOLE! I'm not even typing complete sentences anymore. Just listen to the fucking Besnard Lakes. I'm washing my hands of you!

Gorillaz: Exclusive First Listen

I love the Gorillaz and you can hear their new album at NPR for a week before its release. Here are two of my old Gorillaz favorites for your Tuesday work dance party.



Dirty Harry...LOVE this one