Vibes blog

I’m a simple dude. T-shirts and flip-flops. No video games or HBO. Haven’t changed the filter in the Brita since 2007.

Not many assets, either. I’m a renter with a thrift-store living room. Got a mattress with no headboard. Admittedly, other than the truck, the most valuable possessions in my name might just be a fifth generation iPod classic and its Bose docking station.

For a guy with secondhand sofas, you can imagine the extent to which my world was flipped when the iPod suffered a ‘hardware issue’ late this summer. Hell, give me a completely empty house, high quality stereo sound and shuffle mode (and maybe a beer) and I’m content. So this was bad news. (more…)

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I highly doubt that German composer Richard Strauss was a big college football fan, but when it comes to slapping a game face on 80,000 crazed fans for kickoff, the man’s got skills.

The 2009 college football season is upon us, my friends, as South Carolina travels north to N.C. State for a season-opening showdown tonight on national television.

Now, I pledge no allegiance to the Gamecocks (more of a Hokie guy), but there’s no better tune than Strauss’ “2001: A Space Odyssey” theme to incite near-riots at major college football stadiums.

It’s a tradition down in Columbia, and even though tonight’s game is in Raleigh, I thought I’d share with all you hybrid music lovers / college football aficionados out there. After all, no matter who you root for, it’s game time.

I’ve mentioned it before in this blog – the right piece of music can provide the perfect backdrop to any emotional sports scene. I immediately recall the subtle guitar work in Any Given Sunday, drifting and building over Al Pacino’s halftime speech, or “New Noise” by hardcore band The Refused in Friday Night Lights.

The end of Rudy? No question.

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It’s here, finally. International Left-Handers Day. Roughly 93 percent of you may not give a shit, but then again it’s not your time to shine, now is it?

Maybe I’m really excited because I’m really, really left-handed. Watch me do anything with my right hand and you’d assume that my applesauce had been laced with muscle relaxers.

Honestly, I didn’t even know this celebration existed until this morning. But nonetheless I thought I’d pay tribute to some of our most prominent left-handed musicians, dead or alive.

Notable left-handers

Jimi Hendrix

Kurt Cobain

Paul McCartney

Dick Dale

Omar Rodriguez-Lopez (The Mars Volta)

Iggy Pop

Tim Armstrong (Rancid)

Phil Collins

Carter Beauford (Dave Matthews Band)

Babyface

Iggy Pop

David Cook

There’s a ton more if you care to research, including tip-toein’ Tiny Tim (ukulele), Billy Ray Cyrus and, for what it’s worth, Eminem.

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First impressions don’t get much better than Jonathan Stewart’s first dance with the Queen City and Carolina Panthers fans last fall. As a rookie, the first-round draft pick made quick work of NFL defenses, teaming with good buddy DeAngelo Williams to form the league’s fiercest rushing attack.

Turns out the dude can make beats, too. Stewart the musician spent his first offseason putting the finishing touches on a new production company, Heart Grab Productions, which he launched with biz partner Titus Jackson in the spring.

The Vibes Blog recently caught up with Stewart, now sweating through two-a-days at camp in Spartanburg, to talk a little music.

PS: NFL star-turned-hip-hop producer appears to be the road less traveled. Talk about the decision to launch Heart Grab Productions.

JS: The decision was simply to bring awareness to the idea of letting people hear my music. I enjoy making and playing music.

You started on the keys. How long have you been making music?

I’ve been playing the piano by ear since grade school, and I’ve been making music for about two years. (more…)

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Alex Turner and his bandmates may come off as pricks, but I’ve never cared. Since their brilliant 2006 debut, Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not, Arctic Monkeys have been one of my favorite bands and have built quite the global following with its brand of abrasive, witty Brit-punk.

That said, I was bummed to learn the Sheffield, England-based quartet won’t even graze the Southeast during their 2009 U.S. tour. A major disappointment. I caught them for the first time at Coachella in ‘07 and again later that year after a four-hour trek to Atlanta’s Tabernacle.

The more intimate set was unbelievable, possibly best of the year for this guy. Perhaps it was too intimate, however, and that’s why they’re not coming back (the audience paled in comparison to the hordes of sing-along followers at Euro festivals).

Regardless, since this year’s a wash, I’ll be sneaking peeks today when the band streams a live performance of its new, Josh Homme-produced album, Humbug, online at 4 p.m. EST this afternoon. The record doesn’t drop for another month (Aug. 25), so I’m looking forward to an early look at their new stuff.

Given the East Coast timing of the set, it’d only be fitting for Arctic Monkeys to sneak in an old favorite, “The View from the Afternoon,” the opener on its first LP.

To check out a preview of the show, click here.

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I really like this concept. About once a month, Daryl Hall invites musician friends to play music with him at his home in rural New York, videotapes the jam sessions and features the videos as Webcasts on his site, “Live from Daryl’s House.”

If you go to the archived episodes, you’ll find some really interesting guest collaborations, including sessions with Nick Lowe, KT Tunstall, Chromeo, Eric Hutchinson, the Bacon Brothers, Travis McCoy (Gym Class Heroes) and the Doors’ Robby Krieger and Ray Manzarek. In the most recent episode, which premiered July 15, Hall invites the Plain White T’s into the studio of his restored Revolutionary War colonial.

You don’t have to be a huge Hall & Oates fan to enjoy these online shows. The sound quality is excellent and there’s some fun banter in between songs, when the artists trade trips on how to play each other’s tunes. There’s usually a fair mix between the guest’s stuff, Hall’s solo work and classic H&O.

As for the future of the show, there seems to be some question marks since it was reported this week on real estate blogs that Hall’s 245+ acre property, including the guest house where the show is filmed, was for sale for $16 million. We’ll see. Hopefully it sticks around.

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Typically, you see concert tours schedule a break for the bigger holidays, but there are indeed some live music options if you’re headed to the Carolina coast for the Fourth of July.

Myrtle Beach seems to have the best stuff with the Edwin McCain Band and Sophie B. Hawkins playing tonight at the House of Blues in North Myrtle. Singer/songwriter Corey Smith, who recently opened up the new Fillmore here in town, visits the HOB on Friday evening.

Funk rockers Ten Toes Up has three dates scheduled in the band’s hometown of Murrells Inlet, S.C., including the Hot Fish Club (July 2) and Spud’s (July 3-4). Soul Function plays the Boathouse on Sunday night.

Charleston has a few shows on the calendar as well. If you like the Windjammer in Isle of Palms, check out The Design tonight, The Blue Dogs tomorrow or Playlist on Saturday. The New Mastersounds has back-to-back gigs scheduled at The Pour House (July 3-4), while Kevn Kinney serves up a double dose of gritty folk at Red’s Icehouse in Mount Pleasant (July 2-3).

I’ve never been to Fiery Ron’s Home Team BBQ on Sullivan’s Island, but it just sounds awesome. Guilt Ridden Troubador is there tonight, WILX tomorrow and T-Model Ford & Gravel Road on Saturday.

Not much in Wilmington, it appears. The New Mastersounds are at The Soapbox on Sunday, July 5.

If you’re making the longer trip to Hilton Head, you can see Gary Pfaff tonight at Wild Wing Café. Or, if you’re headed to the Havelock, N.C. area, country singer Darryl Worley performs at the Havelock Recreation Center this evening.

Oh and wear sunscreen.

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With the electro / dance rock wave surging toward tsunami status thanks to thumbs-up releases by grizzled vets Animal Collective and hot-shit rookies Passion Pit, look for Discovery to capitalize on the momentum.

Discovery is a two-man, collaborative effort from members of last year’s buzz bands, pairing Vampire Weekend keyboardist Rostam Batmanglij with Ra Ra Riot lead singer Wes Miles.

Ra Ra Riot, whose album The Rhumb Line is one of my favorites from last year, performed at Davidson College in April and was impressive in their role supporting Death Cab For Cutie and Cold War Kids. Great lineup, awesome show.

Look for Discovery’s July 7 release, LP, on XL Recordings. VP’s Ezra Koenig makes an appearance, as does Angel Deradoorian, who was in town on June 11 with her band Dirty Projectors (opening for TV on the Radio at Amos’).

For now, try “Osaka Loop Line” or “Swing Tree” on the band’s web site.

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With the high vendor prices at Charlotte music venues stirring debate this week – see Lynn Farris’ post from earlier this week or Sarah Aarthun’s rant here – it was refreshing to walk into a show last night and see things the way they’re supposed to be.

First, by now most of us are aware of the $11 beers that angered so many at the new Uptown Amphitheatre’s debut on Saturday evening. If you’ve made the trek north to the Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre this season, you’ve seen the same thing. Inflated prices on food and band merchandise as well.

Enter an old staple, NoDa’s own Neighborhood Theatre. Last night, on the verge of releasing its third album, indie darlings Band of Horses was in town to debut some of its new stuff in front of a keenly attentive, sold-out crowd. The show was great, but there were a few other elements in play that really made for an enjoyable concert for us fans. (more…)

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Last year at Bonnaroo, I had a chance to meet Guy Burwell, an illustrator and designer renowned for his work on concert posters. Seeking refuge from the summer sun in a festival art tent, Burwell’s My Morning Jacket four-color screen print caught my eye.

It was brilliant. And until he introduced himself, I had no idea the proud father of the masterpiece was standing right there beside me. (more…)

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