Posted by Leilani Polk on May. 26, 2009, at 3:55 pm
As an addendum to my recent column, “Traveling to see music without losing your money (or your mind),” I’ve put together this small group of shows and fests that provide some good selections for music-motivated travel. If you haven’t already made travel plans this summer, here are some of your best bets.
Grizzly Bear and TV on the Radio Saturday, June 13, The Tabernacle, Atlanta
If you wanna go, get your tickets now — it’s a Saturday night co-headlining bill featuring of two of Brooklyn’s most hip and beloved bands, both with recent albums — Grizzly’s just-released Veckatimest, TVOTR’s fantastic Dear Science from last year — so the show will most definitely sell out. I would be at this show, front row, if I wasn’t just returning from a music-motivated vacation that same Thursday.
The Decemberists (pictured) with Andrew Bird and Blind Pilot July 18-19, Edgefield, Portland, Oregon
The chamber rock quintet only comes as close as Atlanta and plays that date on Wednesday, June 3 — not at all convenient for a road trip unless you plan on taking that week off. But the tour also includes this appealing Saturday-Sunday run in Portland, and with whistling singer/songwriter Andrew Bird, and Portland’s own indie pop duo, Blind Pilot. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by Vinyl Fever on May. 5, 2009, at 12:13 pm
NEW RELEASES in VINYL: Akron/Family – Set ‘Em Wild, Set ‘Em Free Their musical vocabulary runs deep – it’s not just Jimi Hendrix, Neil Young, and The Grateful Dead that inform this record; the band feels at home and self-assured. With limited outside assistance, the trio has made a focused, powerful and unified work. This is the new psychedelic rock.
Beastie Boys – Check Your Head4LP BOX An ultra-deluxe 4 LP 180HQ vinyl version packaged in a fabric-wrapped hardcover coffee table book case and limited to 2000 copies.
Chimaira – The InfectionPicture Disc
Elvis Costello – Complicated Shadows b/w Dirty Rotten Shame 7″
Looks really cool and retro. “Complicated Shadows” is on the album but the flip side, “Dirty Rotten Shame” is an exclusive song for this piece. This was supposed to be out for Record Store Day, but production was delayed.
Fleet Foxes 7” – Mykonos b/w False Knight Onthe Road “Mykonos” is the centerpiece of the Sun Giant EP released last spring and included with the popular vinyl version of the band’s debut, Fleet Foxes. Beautifully packaged in a gatefold sleeve, the single is backed with a previously unreleased cover of the traditional folk ballad “False Knight On The Road,” made popular by Steeleye Span and Richard Thompson.
The Horrors – Primary Colours Their debut, Strange House, was as controversial as it was celebrated, landing them on the cover of NME in their native England. Produced by Geoff Barrow (Portishead) and noted video director Chris Cunningham (Aphex Twin, Bjork). ‘‘Genuinely, gloriously deranged.” –The Onion
Killing Joke:
• Brighter Than A Thousand Suns
• Fire Dances
• Killing Joke
• Night Time
• Outside The Gate
• Revelations
• What’s This For? Limited edition 2-LP sets.
Mastodon – Crack The Skye Finally on vinyl! Regular and limited, double 45-RPM deluxe edition.
Bob Mould – Life and Times
Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band – Outer South While touring in support of last year’s debut, Conor Oberst, Conor and the Mystic Valley Band began writing new songs. The result is the first album credited to this group. Oberst’s songwriting and delivery remain an engaging presence, but the addition of songs by Taylor Hollingsworth, Nik Freitas, and Jason Boesel make for a multi-textured and colorful collaboration. The Mystic Valley Band also includes Macey Taylor and Nathaniel Walcott.
Posted by Leilani Polk on Dec. 19, 2008, at 6:32 pm
I’ve written different variations of the following caveat for years, but I think it establishes an important distinction: The following is a list of my favorite albums of 2008. This is not to be confused with what’s important or hip or widely acclaimed by the critical community. If some of the titles below happen to be important or hip or widely acclaimed by the critical community, it is purely by chance.
1. My Morning Jacket: Evil Urges (ATO). 2008 was the year I finally got pulled into My Morning Jacket’s orbit. It started with their appearance on Saturday Night Live and continues with Evil Urges, a rock album that I still don’t know quite what to make of, other than it constantly fascinates and delights me. Jim James and his Louisville compadres wantonly hop around through different styles — bracing riff-rock, terse funk, jam-band ooze, sweet balladry, twang, power-pop, neo-folk, prog and more — and somehow make it all sound so perfectly at home.
2. Al Green: Lay it Down (Blue Note). A lot of artists tried their hand at the vintage soul sound this year, but the master schooled ’em all. Coproduced by Green, ?uestlove and keyboardist James Poyser, Lay it Down lovingly evokes Green’s early-’70s heyday, with the easy sweep of the grooves and organic arrangements that allow the singer ample room to rifle through his whole bag of signature techniques: the shaping of a line, the slipping in and out of falsetto, the melismatic flourishes. Younger vocalists Anthony Hamilton, Corinne Bailey Rae and John Legend go to school with the professor and end up getting good grades.
3. Shelby Lynne: Just a Little Lovin’ (Lost Highway). One of the best singers of her generation, and certainly one of the lesser appreciated, caresses a program of songs made famous by the late Dusty Springfield. Backed only by a bare-bones quartet of veteran studio musicians assembled by producer Phil Ramone, Lynne carries the entire affair, singing the likes of “Anyone Who Had a Heart,” “You Don’t Have to Say You Love Me,” “The Look of Love” et al with subdued radiance. Lynne and company transform all of the tunes into sexy ballads, and overall the vocalist puts her firm imprint on these time-tested gems.
4. Firewater: The Golden Hour (Bloodshot). Tod A., singer, songwriter and one-man brain-trust of Firewater, wandered through India, Pakistan, Turkey and elsewhere, recruiting local musicians along the way and recording them with a single microphone and laptop. The results are an astounding fusion of punk-infused rock with indigenous Eastern sounds, anchored by Tod A.’s rag-and-bone voice and angry, sardonic lyrics. Overall, The Golden Hour sounds as rugged as the artist’s trek. Read the rest of this entry »
OK, here’s my list. Look for the CL music team’s Top 10 album lists to be posted Dec. 22-24, to coincide with our Top 10 issue that streets Christmas Eve.
Also, I’ve been seeing M.I.A.’s “Paper Planes” popping up on other best-of lists. The song topped my 2007 tally, so I decided to leave her off this year’s – or else the Sri Lankan sensation would have definitely given Weezy a run for his cash money.
1. “Mr. Carter,” Lil’ Wayne (pictured) w/Jay-Z
Lil’ Wayne, the self-proclaimed greatest rapper on earth, lives up to the claim on this amazing free-word association with a world-class hook. Weezy’s distinctive Nawlins locution is wonderfully raspy as he bounces from brilliantly wacky pop-culture references (”Hector Camacho Man Randy Savage”) to outstanding boasts like: “Two words you never hear, ‘Wayne Quit?’/ ‘Cause Wayne win, and they lose/ I call them April babies, ’cause they fools.” Jay-Z’s guest verse is boss, but it’s Weezy’s dramatic delivery and mad genius lyrics that make this song my top pick for ‘08.
2. “Highly Suspicious,” My Morning Jacket
Genre-hopping rockers My Morning Jacket’s foray into funk is a stone-cold winner. Frontman Jim James pulls a Prince, singing falsetto about sexy mysteries like “peanut butter pudding surprise” – without a discernible hint of irony. Oh, yeah, and the thumping, make-you-wanna-hump backbeat is irrepressible.
3. “Slapped Actress,” The Hold Steady
This isn’t the first song in which the indie rank’s fiercest bar band name-checks Ybor City, but it is The Hold Steady’s finest. And that’s saying something considering the gutter glory of “Killer Parties.” On “Slapped Actress,” the band has concocted a guitar-centric, articulate rush of adrenaline that rises and falls like a first-rate arena-rock offering – minus the gloss and lyrical goofiness.
It’s that time of year again. Time for holiday hoopla. Time for yuletide cheer. Time for year-end best-of lists, especially if you’re that endangered species known as a “working music critic.” This occupation makes me nervous these days. But I love making lists. And mix CDs. Especially for my siblings.
My younger sister Beth is graduating from college in a few days. I can’t make the flight to Colorado. But I’m sending some custom-made CDs with my mom and my other sister Alli to give her. I burned Beth new albums she would like. I then decided to go ahead and tally my favorite songs of 2008, which took about 2.5 hours and several more glasses of wine. I have a print piece on the topic due at 2 p.m. Thursday.
I came up with a working list of 43 tunes tonight that will be whittled down to a nice round number for my music feature that streets Dec. 17. It will be online earlier than that. I stole the word “streets.” And use it whenever I can.
Here are the songs I put on a CD for my lil’ sister. She’s a nurse now. I’m very proud of her. Beth’s chosen profession will come in quite handy for me. My lifestyle is, well, reckless. It worries her. That’s the flip side to having a blood relative in the medical field. I must sound awful. But she understands.
Beth and I dig many of the same artists. That’s one of the numerous advantages of being the eldest child: You play a significant role in the music tastes of your younger siblings. At least I did. That makes me happy. My siblings and parents make me happy. Good music makes me happy. And several other people and things. But enough of that. Here are the tunes.
Posted by Eric Snider on Nov. 19, 2008, at 2:41 pm
Uber-cool Seattle band Fleet Foxes cut this seven-minute-plus video in an echoey abandoned room in Paris Grand Palais. Lots of natural echo, which is part of Fleet Foxes’ signature, cool a cappella vocals and then a bit of sparse instrumentation. If you’ve not yet gotten hip to Fleet Foxes, this is a nice little primer.
The Late Show with David Letterman, CBS
