Archive for March, 2008

Zach Williams

Published by
billy
at March 27, 2008 in live, zach williams, indie, music and mp3. 4 Comments

Zach Williams is an extremely talented artist currently living and performing in New York City. I’ve long had a deep desire to see Zach succeed in making a living in the music industry, although I’m not sure it will ever happen. He’s incredibly talented, affable, congenial, and puts on a welcoming live show {or so I’ve heard from multiple personal friends who’ve attended a live set of his}. He crafts music with the same care a master sculptor puts the finishing touches on a master work; each piece is cleverly formed and flows seamlessly from one part to another. His music is filled with blues, folk, melancholy, longing, and truth. He seems destined to be atop playlists from indie brats to slow jammers. But for some reason he’s not. For some reason his voice is not catching on, and I cannot seem to find the reason.

In September of 2006 I first discovered Zach Williams when he was supported by a band called The Ramparts. I put him on one of my now forgotten EA mixes alongside artists such as Joseph Arthur, Ben Folds, and Sufjan Stevens, all of whom I truly believe he could hold a stage with if given the chance. At that point in his life he was living in Florida and playing local shows down there. Since then he decided to move to New York to become serious about music and for awhile almost gave up on it altogether. Luckily for you, and for me, he hasn’t stopped yet. And hopefully, and I hope you’ll agree after listening to these tracks, he won’t stop for a long while.

mp3 : Zach Williams - Down to the Blood (Live at Rockwood Music Hall
mp3 : Zach Williams - Hospital (Live at Rockwood Music Hall)
mp3 : Zach Williams - Names that Fell (Live at Rockwood Music Hall)
mp3 : Zach Williams - Mountain Water (Live at Southpaw)
mp3 : Zach Williams - Dirty Feet (Live at Rockwood Music Hall)
mp3 : Zach Williams - Fears (Live at Rockwood Music Hall)

If you’ve never listened to Zach Williams before I would recommend starting with the tracks Names that Fell, Dirty Feet, and Fears as they do a good job of covering the breadth of Zach’s talent. For those of you interested in more by Zach you can check out his myspace, his site, or other posts that I’ve written that have to do with Zach Williams by clicking here. You can also purchase his music on CDBaby, iTunes, or Amazon. Finally, for those of you in the area, Zach is playing a show on April 12 at Maxwell’s in Hoboken NJ and I wholeheartedly endorse going to see him play live; you will not be disappointed.

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I Make This Sound

Published by
billy
at March 26, 2008 in i make this sound, indie, music and mp3. 1 Comment

Don’t take this picture as an accurate description of this seven piece band from the west coast. I can’t imagine they take themselves this seriously and as such I’m chalking this uber serious pose up to a good sense of humour salted with a penchant for irony.

Regardless of whether or not you agree with my interpretation of one of their press photos {other shots included the playful gang holding balloons in a park getting buckets of water thrown on them} I’m sure you’ll agree that their second EP, Staring At Yourself (iTunes), is worth a listen. Through the five tracks on the album I Make This Sound succeed in creating a sound that is at once moody and bouncy. It’s almost as if they’ve captured the melancholy of life and set it to dancing, which is exactly what you’ll find yourself doing for most of the album. They create an infectious blend of west coast romp, indie pop, and at times I would swear they’ve listened extensively to a lot of classic southern rock {listen to the chorus on One, Two, Three!}.

mp3 : I Make This Sound - The King and Queen
mp3 : I Make This Sound - One, Two, Three!

I think more bands should utilize their entire cast on vocals as it sounds like these kids do on The King and Queen. There’s just something about a backing chorus of voices that makes it feel as if we’re all involved in this narrative.

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The Joy Formidable

Published by
billy
at March 25, 2008 in dance, joy formidable, remix, indie, music and mp3. 4 Comments

I’ll admit it, usually I stray away from the most hyped path. I don’t really associate with the most popular of all popular artists {I need to reserve some indie credibility} and many times I don’t even like what everyone else is calling the most influential band since The Beatles {you know, that one band your roommate just won’t let go of until you’ve heard every terrible minute of their twenty seven minute debut self-recorded opus to pet names}. But on rare occaisions there exists a band who has massive hype and yet retains a lot of their musical integrity {these guys don’t even have a website, only a myspace. What more could you want?!}.

I’m not entirely certain who these three kids from London remind me of. There’s a trace of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs {if they were happy all the time} and a dash of The Dodos due to their penchant for sounds built from the ground up on bombastic drums and walls of guitar. One thing can easily be said though, their name accurately depicts their sound. This trio creates an infectious blend of sounds that, and I write this with a straight face, could be described as inducing formidable joy {akin to the joy found on the latest Of Montreal album for those of you still musing}. But that’s enough, just listen to these tracks.

mp3 : The Joy Formidable - Austere
mp3 : The Joy Formidable - While the Flies
mp3 : The Joy Formidable - The Butterfly’s Last Spell (Stegosaurus Remix)

I really can’t pin down the familiarities I hear in these tracks {the first two are from what will most likely be their debut album and the third is a remix by Stegosaurus from Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs, or TEED}. There seem to be glimmers of everything from Shout Out Louds to U2 to Pete Yorn. It’s as if they took the best part of dance, pop, rock, and a truly live sound, put it in a blender, pushed the button marked fun, and ended up catching it all on tape. It’s just brilliant, and oh so much joy.

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RF Maston

Published by
billy
at March 24, 2008 in rf maston, folk, indie, music and mp3. 5 Comments

On RF Maston’s info page they explain his debut album, a self recorded, self mixed, self mastered, self etc., effort called The Future, as “a focused collection of timeless songs and hauntingly familiar melodies- combining dreamy bedroom folk with jangly indie pop, R.F. Maston has cultivated an original sound all his own.” I agree with the proclamation that this is dreamy bedroom folk and/or jangly indie pop but I draw the line when they claim this sound is uniquely his own. Now don’t read me wrong, I’m not knocking this sound, I’m just purporting that the reason it sounds hauntingly familiar is that if you’ve ever listened to Page France or Michael Nau’s solo work it’s a fair bet you’ve heard these sounds before.

Luckily for me, and hopefully for you, I really love the early sound of Page France {before Michael went off the nasal voiced deep end as of late} and this effort by Thousand Oaks based RF Maston is a good example of what plucky dreamy modern folk can sound like.

mp3 : RF Maston - The Future
mp3 : RF Maston - Two Eyes

I really like this style of music although it’s strange that both Micahel Nau {of Page France} and RF Maston both sing an almost too nasal tenor over the top of folsky kiddie indie rock {there really is no better way to genre define it}. Also, and totally unrelated, I think if you have a second you should head over and read the blip about how Bottled Water Drinkers are the New Smokers.

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Josh Ritter

Published by
billy
at March 20, 2008 in folk, album, josh ritter, indie, music and mp3. 0 Comments

After loving, some might say adoring, his break through smash hit Animal Years, my mind entertained massive amounts of skepticism when I heard that Josh Ritter was releasing a follow up to that critically and popularly loved album. Apparently that was coupled with the fact that I got his newest album, The Historical Conquests of Josh Ritter (iTunes), at about the same time I got the newest albums by long time favorites Sigur Ros, Radiohead, and Shout Out Louds. Somewhere in that muck the latest Josh Ritter disc simply failed to make an impression.

Let me tell you about the wrong place to try and experience The Historical Conquests of Josh Ritter for the first time. Imagine you have just driven to Florida in a rental car that now reeks of dudeness and cheeseburgers and in which you’ve spent almost a full twenty four hours. Granted you spent the night lounging in a hotel room, watching Discovery Channel miscreants blow things up {for science!}, and drowning your pathetic existence in a quarter gallon of ice cream mixed with a half bottle of Kahlua, but it’s still the same car that was known as your tomb on wheels. Do not try to experience Josh in this setting. Anything that goes on the stereo that isn’t at once familiar and sing along friendly is going to get a bad rap.

Instead listen to this album in a safe place where you’re comfortable and able to hear all the intricate melodies and rapid fire lyrics which fill The Historical Conquests of Josh Ritter from beginning to end. Whether he’s idolizing his mythical love interest or talking about falling in love in a missile silo you’ll love every second of this indie rock folk treasure.

mp3 : Josh Ritter - The Temptation of Adam
mp3 : Josh Ritter - Wildfires

The Temptation of Adam is the aforementioned track that details falling in love in a missile silo. It’s a beautiful narrative and it rests comfortably as track four on the album. Wildfires hails from a bonus disc for The Historical Conquests of Josh Ritter and it comes off sounding a bit like a b side {which it is} and a bit like a lost gem that only needs a little polish to make it on side one.

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It’s My Birthday and I’ll Blog If I Want To

Published by
billy
at March 18, 2008 in xbox live, halo 3, love is a mix tape, standard, twenty six, one tree hill, dawson's creek, theme song, gary portnoy, editorializing, bushmills, the oc, qwerty, life, sigur ros, twf, gossip girl, cheers, music, the world forgot, heman, super powers, rock star, blog, birthday, orco and mp3. 4 Comments

I always wanted to be Heman {or Orco, it was always a toss up}. We all want to have super powers of some sort. That’s the sole reason anyone has ever been a rock star. Ever. It’s the closest we get to real life super heroes {even Hollywood doesn’t come as close as the local bar act who gets up there every weekend and hammers through a set that they just know is the best music on the planet}. Bear with me on this post, it’s going to be a bit out there {I mean honestly, I led with Masters of the Universe}.

I really hate blogging using someone else’s computer. Or at least when that computer is a futuristic computer with a hard as beans to use keyboard. Honestly, sliming down the height of each key in no way makes it faster or easier to type. I wish they would standardize the location of all extraneous which fall outside of the standard QWERTY arrangement because no one should have to suffer the amount of backspace whiplash I’m incurring upon my right hand. But really, let me rant, it is after all my twenty sixth birthday today {TWF will be two years old in about a month}, so I think I deserve a little self indulgence this day. Especially considering that so far I haven’t seen a single real friend of mine {about eighty percent of them live hours and hours away}, I spent all day substitute teaching a kindegarten class {which I do find to be wicked amounts of fun, but not really in a birthday-centric way}, and I played around on my guitar for awhile wondering if a gift certificate I just got to a local guitar store will go towards an amp or a ukelele. But back to my main point, the standard layout of all keyboard keys. We have standards for USB 2.0, Blu-Ray, Divx, mp3, ad naseum, but we can’t all agree on where the delete button should be placed in relation to the backspace? Is there some global conspiracy of CEO’s scheming to permanently hook all of there first time customers on their specific arrangement of keys so that they’ll never move on and buy a new/better/Asian brand?

Just to let you know that’s not all that goes on in my mind. I’m seriously trying to write an epic song about the life of a snowflake {I contemplated writing an entire concept album about the life of a snowflake from snow to water to river to ocean to evaporation to snow, but I’m not Sigur Ros and I don’t have the talent to create soundscapes. Yet}. I also finished reading an excellent book, Love is a Mix Tape, which spins an interesting weave of music history, mix tape making history, love, grief, and loss. Basically it’s everything I ever wanted a two hour read to be. It has music and it has melancholy; what more could I possibly want? {Well I guess I could ask for more useless uses of the semicolon but I believe I’m covering my need for those in this post}. I agree with the statement that love is a mix tape. I think that in the end love is really the desire for someone to know you completely and still desire to sit across from you at a diner {sitting next to each other is for the bus or the front seat, nowhere else}. And a mix tape allows you to take things that you passionately love, sometimes secretly, put them together in an order that you think is perfect and shamelessly shove it into someone else’s life, hoping that they too will think that it is great. It takes a lot of daring to put together a mix tape and even more moxie to give it away {and maybe even more to hope that it makes a difference}.

So tonight I’ll probably sit at home, play some video games on Xbox Live {halo3 seems to be my drug of choice as of late - and I’m decent at it}, and watch the latest episode of One Tree Hill {only because Dawson’s Creek had the worst ending of a series ever, The OC was rightly canceled, new episodes of Gossip Girl haven’t started to air yet, and I’m hoping One Tree Hill will redeem the high school drama genre in the end}. Last weekend I threw a killer party with loads of friends, drinks, and some fire thrown in the mix. I remember staying up until four, we finished a bottle of Bushmills, and there was generally a lot of fun passed between good people {so don’t go thinking I’m doing something lame for my birthday, I already had most of my fun}.

And, yes, this still is a music blog although over the past week or so I’ve been editorializing like it’s my job. But in a sense this is my job {I currently average, after expenses, -2 dollars a month on running this little slice of heaven so I reckon I’m functioning about as well as most other business in the US}. Here’s a song that I love and I hope you love it to. It always brings back the best of all memories, however I’m currently remembering them, and I hope it hits a warm spot in your life too.

mp3 : Cheers - Opening Credits

This is the song from the television show called Cheers. If you’ve never heard of the show you better either live across the pond, be under the age of 13 {in which case it’s obvious your parents don’t care about you, I mean you are reading this blog, so go watch Cheers, it can’t hurt}, or be on your way to the closest retailer to fix this mistake in your life. I recommend season one and season two. They’re both classic. I also opted to include the actual opening credits for the show as opposed to the original song by Gary Portnoy. The full track is simply too lame and doesn’t go near as far as the theme song at conjuring up wonderful memories.

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Memoirs of a Blogger : Langerado Day 4

Published by
billy
at March 17, 2008 in grace potter, langerado 2008, government mule, minus the bear, of montreal, ani difranco, national, festival, indie, music, josh ritter, live, langerado, shout out louds and mp3. 7 Comments

“Don’t take too many mushrooms” was the soundbyte afforded me by the middle aged security guard as he patted me down on the last day of Langerado. It was a freezing cold morning, but the biting ants {see picture above} didn’t seem to mind one bit as they scavenged for pieces of foot on and around my flip flops. It’s no small wonder I didn’t contract a rare and incurable disease from the combination of soaking rain, freezing cold nights, and vicious ankle-biting attack ants. And although at times I felt like calling it quits and packing my life back home to the frozen north I knew in my heart of hearts that Langerado wouldn’t be complete without one last day of great music.

First for the day was Josh Ritter and he and his compatriots took the stage dressed as if they had just stepped off the set of a Hollywood spaghetti Western. Throughout his set, which included fan favorites from both Animal Years and The Historical Conquests of Josh Ritter, Josh had a peculiar stage presence that reminded me hauntingly of Ben Folds. Simply put they both genuinely appear to love preforming. Josh was all smiles, jokes, and laughter and he easily held me captivated for the full hour.

mp3 : Josh Ritter - To The Dogs or Whoever

I put this song up for two reasons. First of all he played it live and didn’t miss a word in the rapid fire lyrics. Secondly it serves to illustrate the point that he sounds more like Dylan than Dylan’s own son. I know everyone looks for the next Dylan like we look for the next Jordan, but there are eerie similarities betwixt these two singer/songwriter fellows. Also during their set Josh and band stopped a song before the final verse, let out a scream, and ran around the stage akin to a chinese fire drill, whereupon they randomly picked up other instruments and finished the song.

for more : site myspace amazonmp3 itunes

After Josh was done I hustled over to catch the last half of Shout Out Louds. They’re just a classic foreign band. They look like they’re European, they play music which sounds like it could have originated in California or New York, but for some reason you can just tell that it comes from some nether region of this earth. At once familiar and yet somehow fresh, new, and invigorating, Shout Out Louds tooled through a playful set and kept hearts happy, feet tapping, and heads bobbing.

mp3 : Shout Out Louds - Tonight I Have to Leave It

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After both of these fun shows I was forced to sit through Grace Potter and then Government Mule. Both are easily passable in a live setting {unless maybe you’re on strong hallucinogenics, but in which case I reckon watching the latest Keanu Reeves movie would be great}. After these two abysmal sets it was on to see Minus the Bear whom I first wrote off as simply minus the talent. It’s possible I was bitter due to the lack of fun I’d had for the previous hour or so, but it was hard to listen to a set where it wasn’t possible to tell the end of one track from the beginning of the next. I must confess that over time they began to grow on me a bit and I would say they sound far better when they slow life down and let the vocals shine through the wall of fuzz and allow their bass and guitar to duel through dance rock riffs.

Next up was Ani DiFranco and I’ll admit I was going to her show full of skepticism and dread. I’ve never been a huge fan of her style of music which probably has something to do with being force fed some of her discs during my college years. However cautious I was she stripped me immidately of all my tension and took the stage full of positive energy, a wildly infectious laugh, and an easy manner of relating to the crowd that had us all agreeing with her no matter what she said.

mp3 : Ani DiFranco - As Is

She played a lot of classic DiFranco songs as well as peppering her set a bit with new songs she’s been working on in her new town, New Orleans, with her new baby. She claims she’s trying to escape the white person songwriting dillema of always whining about life, but try as she might to write happy songs there’s still a twinge of melancholy that runs through her work. One of her newer songs contained a lot of imagery about toxic mold, flooding, and the devastation of New Orleans as well as reference to a man with a monkey for a face circling above in his air conditioned helicopter whistling Dixie and pretending everything was ok {I’ll let you decipher who she was referencing}.

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After DiFranco’s encore I had just enough time to get to the Of Montreal show for the last twenty minutes or so and I’m slightly disappointed I missed seeing their entire set. I caught the last few minutes of some random buzzing guitar work before the band launched into a massive rendition of the etheral soundscape that is The Past is a Grotesque Animal. They began to play as Kevin Barnes disappeared off the stage only to emerge a full six minutes later inside of a shaving cream filled coffin. I had always heard a show by Of Montreal was a spectacle, but this went beyond even my wildest dreams. After emerging from the white goo he proceeded to sing his way through the remainder of the song before thrashing around on the stage, spraying the immediate area like a splash from Shamu, before jumping off the stage and hugging his die hard fans in the front row.

mp3 : Of Montreal - The Past is a Grotesque Animal

Although the studio version of this song is almost a full beefy twelve minutes in the live setting the took this song to epic proportions letting it romp out a lengthy sixteen distortion and fuzz filled dance/pop/rock minutes.

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Last up for my festival tour was The National on the Chickee Hut stage. Although a festival often allows people to discover new bands and catch a slice of their live set there are times when the strict hour long performance time can feel like it’s limiting a band a bit too much. This was especially true of The National. Even though they were the last band to preform on that particular stage they weren’t even afforded an encore. An encore I must say they were well due. The ripped through favorites from both Alligator as well as The Boxer and they proved beyond a doubt that Paste Magazine was justified in choosing these boys as having created the best album of 2007.

mp3 : The National - Fake Empire
mp3 : The National - Mistaken for Strangers

Although they played on a smaller stage to a smaller audience than some of the more seasoned acts at the festival I would put the performance by The National on par with veterans such as Ben Folds or R.E.M. There was a sense of passion on the stage that night that isn’t always found in the midst of a hectic touring schedule. I would definitely see them play again live and would recommend it to anyone reading this little blog. Their studio albums are solid from start to end, but their live set takes their talent and passion to a different level entirely; it is simply a show that must be seen.

for more : site myspace amazonmp3 itunes

Langerado was a wonderful festival filled with chance encounters, stranger than life occurrences, and some solid music from day one to the closing acts. It is a great festival that I would be more than willing to attend again and would recommend whole heartedly to anyone who can catch it next year. Maybe I’ll see you there. In other news I met some folks down there that I thought I would mention. First of all I hung out with some bloggers/workers from a new online music retailer called Grooveshark. Secondly I met a blogger who was there with her husband {who made his bachelor party buddies go with him to SXSW last year to catch Arcade Fire instead of going to Vegas for stippers like they wanted} who works for a blog called Melody Makers {which might be found here, but I’m not entirely sure where the blog actually is located}. And finally I had a chance to talk to a Paste Magazine intern and I thought I would mention, again, that they are still the best music magazine currently in publication.

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Memoirs of a Blogger : Langerado Day 3

Published by
billy
at March 14, 2008 in pnuma trio, blitzen trapper, dr dog, matisyahu, rem, langerado 2008, festival, indie, music, live, ben folds, langerado and mp3. 0 Comments

It was only 3:30 in the morning when the entire camp was awakened by a massive tornado of rain that was blowing through tent city. There were shouts called out between various occupants, alligators were sworn at, and generally we all feared for our lives as rain was blown sideways through every conceivable gap in our tents, sleeping bags, and lives. Eventually the torrential rain abated but not before thoroughly waking us all up and leaving us a bit soggy for the remainder of our sleep.

Luckily we had another massive day of music to dry our soggy souls. Even though there are always rotten apples at any festival, at Langerado there were more than enough stages to find what your heart was looking for.

First on the list for day three was a band from Portland who goes by the name Blitzen Trapper. Before this show I had never heard any of their music and I came away from their set feeling like they had grown on me throughout the hour. They play a slightly odd concoction of rock fused with southern sensibilities. It’s as if they took the current trend of channeling mid 70’s southern rock and filtered it through distortion pedals. They sound best though when they leave these trappings behind and use three part harmonies and acoustic instruments to create a more subtle sound.

mp3 : Blitzen Trapper - Wild Mountain Nation

for more : site myspace amazonmp3 itunes

Next up I caught a slice of the set by dance/techno/electronica musicians Pnuma Trio. Most of their music was too long, boring, and largely forgettable so I quickly moved down the line to hear a few songs by Dr. Dog. Although I didn’t have time to catch their entire set it was a nice change of pace for the festival to hear some quirky yet mellow indie rock.

Ben Folds was next on my list and I had been looking forward to this performance ever since I saw Ben play a solo show in Indy a few years ago. At first I was a bit anxious that I wouldn’t appreciate Ben with a band backing him, but with the bass guitar filtered through a weird Radiohead style distortion and the drums keeping Ben’s songs {both familiar and new} clipping along Ben once again one my heart as the consummate performer. He’s happy, affable, and filled with charm as he hammers on the keys and sings songs we all love to sing along to. Even if that song is allegedly written alongside Dr. Dre.

mp3 : Ben Folds - Narcolepsy

He played a lot of songs from his upcoming new album which he announced is fully recorded and just waiting for a final mastering. Hopefully we’ll see that album soon. One of his new songs was very popular live as he announced a new style of music saying, “This song is panchromatic… a pan lid goes in the piano, and then I hit a distortion pedal.” Upon saying this he held up a tin pan lid, placed it directly on the strings in his Baldwin and banged away creating a uniquely Ben Folds style of music.

for more : site myspace amazonmp3 itunes

After a quick break for a delicious peanut butter {always crunchy} and jelly it was back into the festival to catch the set by rapper/MC Matisyahu. Although I spent most of his set desperately trying to figure out if his accent was Jewish or Reggae in origin there is no doubt in my mind that he has impressive talent. His band deserves a lot of credit as well as they play a variety of genres of music to back him {and their lead guitarist is simply sick}. Matisyahu danced around the stage a lot, throwing peace signs, and holding self deprecating stereotypical rapper poses as the masses snapped photos and cheered.

mp3 : Matisyahu - Dispatch The Troops

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And finally, after a full day of cold sunshine and excellent music it was time for the second larger than life act of Langerado. R.E.M. packed out the main field and Stipe and company emerged to a massive cheer. Michael came out for the first two songs wearing a fluorescent green Obama shirt which he eventually shed and threw to the crowd. Only it didn’t make it beyond the photo pit {due partially to the wind and partially to the fact that he’s really old}, but upon realizing his error Stipe quickly asked the press to kindly throw the shirt out to the fans {for which we all loved him immensely. The press is privileged enough without free schwag from R.E.M.} They played an equal mix of old favorites alongside much of their upcoming album while Stipe kept our eyes riveted on him as he interacted with the crowd. The man embodies what it means to be a front man. He makes personal connections with individuals in the audience, appears to always be making eye contact, he points, poses, and dances around all the while wearing the most demure grin that I have ever seen.

mp3 : R.E.M. - Losing My Religion
mp3 : R.E.M. - Walk Unafraid

I’m not sure if their new album will be able to stand up to the rest of the R.E.M. music canon. For their encore they played through three new songs, followed by Man On The Moon, and it was hard to feel as involved in their new record as we all are with their more timeless work. I suppose only time will tell. Michael Stipe left us with his standard farewell at the end of an excellent show and we were all sad to hear, “We are R.E.M., this is what we do… thank you,” as they walked into the night.

for more : site myspace amazonmp3 itunes

And so ends day three of Langerado. The crowds trudged home in hopes that the storms had finally passed by and we could all find one full night of rest before the last day of shows.

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Memoirs of a Blogger : Langerado Day 2

Published by
billy
at March 13, 2008 in walkmen, american bang, g love, chk chk chk, beasite boys, built to spill, shool of rock, langerado 2008, indie, music, rap, live, festival, langerado and mp3. 8 Comments

I woke up today around 6:30 in the morning. It was strange wandering through the tent community with just a hint of the dawn peeking over the horizon. It was as if all the energy of the festival was asleep, peaceful, for this brief breath of time. There was no music thumping through the grounds, no one was even stirring, except for me. For some reason I was awake and restlessly treading the Florida grass beneath my still weary feet. But it was beautiful and it served to drive home in my mind something that had been sitting on the edge of my consciousness for awhile. There is a certain pervasive dichotomy apparent throughout Langerado. There are hippies and hipsters, bloggers and real media, jam bands and indie rockers, Beastie Boys and R.E.M., addicts and scenesters, freezing rain and sunshine, soft woven melodies and freak out dance rock. Yet here we all are, set to enjoy another day of music and sunshine and in this moment it is apparent that Langerado wouldn’t be the same without all of these opposites crammed together on one site.

First on the list for day two was American Bang. They might have had the American part down {they sound a lot like mid 70’s alt/folk/southern rock revival}, but they seem to have lost the bang somewhere down on the road. They were best when they were aping currently relevant music such as The Strokes, RHCP, or Kings of Leon, or when they put some swagger in a few songs and came up with a sound similar to Rolling Stones. Other than those few moments though they fell short of the musical energy put forth by the School of Rock All Stars. Their set consisted of a bunch of straight up 70’s sendups, featuring songs by Dusty Springfield, Hendrix, Joni Mitchell, and Van Halen to name a few. They might need a bit more polish and panache, but their set rocked. Hard.

Next up was Matt Pond PA. Until I saw them preform live I never realized a) how good they are, b) how effortlessly they make music, c) just how much they have in common with bands like Band of Horses and Weezer {in an undistorted sort of way}, and d) how much front man Matt Pond looks like the character Desmond on LOST {and their lead guitarist, Steve, really looks like a young Daniel Farraday}. When they played they sounded great, but when a technical issue arose during their set {Matt later told me that both a guitar and an amp broke simultaneously} their set disintegrated into nervous laughter and bad jokes. Luckily they eventually got extra equipment working and they continued to have heads bobbing along to their breezy style of indie pop.

mp3 : Matt Pond PA - Halloween

I thought they were at their best when they were playing as if no one was actually watching them. During one song some beach balls were floated about and Matt, in true despair, looked to his drummer and mouthed “Not the beach balls.”

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Next up, and on the same stage, were The Walkmen out of New York City. I’ve been a fan ever since I picked up a copy of Bows and Arrows on a trip through Beijing a few years back and I was definitely looking forward to hearing their somewhat legendary live sound. For all the hype I was not disappointed in the least. The channeling of Dylan continued on and off throughout their show and oh my is it brilliant live. They simply exude a type of rock star cool that permeated the depths of the hot Florida sun. Their recording process translates beautifully to a live set and, simply put, they killed it hard for a full hour. You could not fit a more complete three album set into an hour long show {especially considering they included new songs from their upcoming studio release}. They were good enough that even Matt Pond and ANR were in the audience to catch their show.

mp3 : The Walkmen - Louisiana

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After The Walkmen I walked over and caught a terrible live set by G Love. Maybe it’s just too much Special Sauce for me to handle, but I thought his show sounded flat, boring, repetitive, and a bit too much like a bad version of Kid Rock.

Next on the list for the day was !!! {aka Chk Chk Chk} and, simply put, holy shit. I have never had that much fun at a live concert before. It was non-stop energy from the opening beat to the closing of their sweat drenched show. The entire show was laced with infectious, no holds barred, crazy dancing and there wasn’t a moment during which front man Nic Offer stood still or took a breather. If you’ve not had the chance to see !!! yet I recommended it. Nic’s dance moves and antics on stage can only be described as a spastic mashup of later day Michael Jackson mixed with Napoleon Dynamite. Honestly, after watching this set I’ve come to realize that I will never need to do drugs, all I need is another !!! fix.

mp3 : !!! - Must Be The Moon

During part of their set Nic made fun of the festival’s hippie-centric masses by saying “If I’d have known it was this kind of festival I wouldn’t have cut my hair.” After a chorus of well deserved boos he replied “No no, we like you guys…. kinda.”

for more : site myspace amazonmp3 itunes

From there it was a brief stop at the Built To Spill set which was equal parts R.E.M., Death Cab, and TV On the Radio, as long as it was pure guitar driven sonic bliss. I couldn’t stay long though as their set was due to run up to the start of the Beasties and I wasn’t going to miss the Boys’ opening song.

The last act for the night, well my night anyway, was the always famous three MCs and One DJ. After keeping the crowd waiting a healthy seven minutes Mix Master Mike {who by far is the one person who’s aged well in this mix} took the stage and scratched the masses into a crescendo of anticipation. From that point on, though, it was Ad Rock, Mike D, and MCA who owned the stage and our hearts. They blasted through favorites like Body Movin’, Money Making, and What’cha Want then slowed their frantic set list down a bit {as both they and the crowd caught their breath} by playing a few songs off of their latest instrumental album. Whether they were spittin rhymes or playing their instruments the Boys were on the top of their game and even though they look old {especially my favorite MCA} they brought the noise to Langerado. Of all the shows during the festival this was easily the most packed event of the weekend.

mp3 : Beastie Boys - Ch-Check it Out
mp3 : Beasite Boys - Body Movin’

For their encore they came out and ripped through Intergalactic, Ch-Check It Out, and ended by brining the house down with Sabotage. Upon finishing they thanked the crowd and Ad Rock mumbled “elect a democrat” while Mike D kept repeating something with the phrase of “one last summer y’all” embedded into it. Who knows, maybe this is the last tour they’ll take before officially signing off?

for more : site myspace amazonmp3 itunes

Day 2 is over, but there are still two more days to come. What a brilliant fest.

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Memoirs of a Blogger : Langerado Day 1

Published by
billy
at March 12, 2008 in that 1 guy, awesome new republic, palominos, les claypool, dark star orchestra, golem, langerado 2008, festival, indie, music, live, dance, langerado and mp3. 6 Comments

How can one describe in words an experience like a musical festival? I believe it would be akin to asking a new father to describe the joy of having a healthy baby or putting a microphone in front of a person watching a sunset unfold and forcing them to describe the event for thousands of people millions of miles away. This is the feat that I am struggling with. How can I accurately describe something that truly needs to be experienced; how can I convey the thrill of a festival through mere words? Whether I find a muse to guide me through this four day blogathon or not will be for you to decide. Remember this as you read, these are simply words, to know how much fun it is to experience Langerado you’ll have to attend it yourself next March.

{the following consists of excerpts taken from my journal during Langerado 2008}

Who agreed to drive twenty plus hours just to go to a music festival? I know we somehow scored free media passes to this event, but this drive is brutal. I’ve just driven, pretty much all at once, from northern Indiana to the southern side of Atlanta. For those of you who live outside the glories of middle America that’s roughly twelve straight hours behind the wheel. At least I had the music of Cloud Cult to keep me company as my traveling buddy desperately tried to get some rest on the passenger side. When at last my turn to sleep came I jumped in the back seat of our rented car and died for about four hours. Even in the cramped quarters of a Chevy Malibu sleep still felt like a cold glass of lemonade on a hot summer’s day.

After twenty odd hours on the road we arrived at our first destination on this little road trip. I’m not sure who’s idea it was originally, but staying in a hotel the night before the festival began might have been the best idea of the entire trip. Some booze, some ice cream, some excellent smokehouse bar-b-que from Jack’s, and a few hours spent watching Discovery before passing out for the night was just what I needed.

The next morning we attempted a trip to the beach only to arrive at the same time as a wicked amount of semi-tropical rain. Not to be dissuaded we sat in the lobby of a hotel watching the rain and reading back issues of Paste Magazine. After watching the rain fail to abate for the better part of two hours we decided it was time to head toward food and toward the festival grounds. Little did we know that we would end up at a scrumptious Gutamalen Eatery on a random side street in the south of Fort Lauderdale. We watched divorce court en Espanol and listened to a man from Honduras regale us with stories of his massive road trips to cities roughly a few hours away. I’m sure in his not-quite-lucid mind he was connecting with us as he flipped the bird to Jupiter Florida {for being so far away} and asked us if he should call his sister so we could get laid. Fortunately we had better things to do that day and on we trekked to the Big Cypress Reservation deep in the middle of the Everglades.

We grabbed our media wristbands and a parking pass for the Chevy before setting up our tent and heading into the festival. The first night was a bit slow for the music schedule so I decided I’d mill about and catch what acts I could, leave the shows I didn’t like, and hopefully find a few gems to share. I dropped by the press tent and met a few fellow grown up kids who, like me, aren’t really making any money writing about music but are doing it nonetheless. Afterward it was off to peruse the five stages of Langerado in the pursuit of entertainment.

First stop was the winner of the Sonicbids voting for who would open the festival. Palominos played a tight set that consisted of entertaining southern rock and they gave me a free CD after the show {which is always an easy way to win over the press. From there it was time to see if Golem were half as entertaining as the Tolkien character which shares their name. Unfortunately I feel as if I would rather listen to Smeagol sing the Songs of Middle Earth than have to sit through another set by Golem. It was that bad

Next it was on to see Les Claypool. I’ve known for awhile that I don’t really appreciate jam bands very much {ever since my freshman year roommate routinely rotated his four Phish albums with the sixteen Dave Matthews Band discs he had}, but Les took my simple dislike and blasted it off into full blown disdain. Honestly, how can anyone not on drugs like this music at all? And to be fair even the overweight and mostly naked guy tripping on acid didn’t seem to care much for the music either. Although he did have a penchant for yelling out clever one liners like “That’s why tits never went out of style, Ryan!” or the clever rejoinder of “I got my acid in 2012″ when someone asked where he had bought his little mind trip.

Fortunately there were two bands on the schedule which totally redeemed the evening and served to set the mood for the remainder of Langerado. And no, Dark Star Orchestra was not one of those bands. Did anyone honestly like The Grateful Dead to begin with?

The first surprise of the fest was a band from Miami called Awesome New Republic. They’re prone to referring to themselves as ANR and they played a great one hour set that contained a clever mix of dance pop and art rock. They had a very passionate local fanbase singing along with a lot of their songs as they played frenetically through songs that kept the entire crowd bouncing and dancing along. It’ll be interesting to hear if their live energy can transfer to a studio album, but if it can be chanelled long enough for a full LP I would say this band will come to be enjoyed by many.

mp3 : Awesome New Republic - Last Drop
mp3 : Awesome New Republic - Wheels No Engines

for more : myspace cdbaby

My favorite act of the night came in the form of the extremely awkward That 1 Guy. He plays a homemade instrument referred to as the Magic Pipe as well as an Electric Cowboy Boot. Although he’s quirky and definitely leaning toward the odd side of the spectrum he plays intense and insanely danceable songs that are filled with heavy beats and clever melodies. He sounds a bit like Beck, Weird Al, and Marilyn Manson rolled into a one man band and he pulls it all off with a straight facing singing songs about raining meat, the fact that the moon is made of cheese, or fruit. {You must listen to his song The Moon Is Disgusting all the way through. The last two minutes are simply gorgeous dance beats. He was also, easily, the one artist talked about the most in the press tent the following day}.

mp3 : That 1 Guy - It’s Raining Meat
mp3 : That 1 Guy - The Moon Is Disgusting

for more : site myspace itunes

Day 1 was over and it was time to return to a tent that had been soaked during the afternoon rainstorm. It didn’t matter though as we were sufficiently filled with the sonic feast we had enjoyed during the glorious Florida sunshine. There really is nothing like a festival, especially not words and pictures.

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And We’re Back: The Results Are In

Published by
billy
at March 11, 2008 in billboard, results, award, national, langerado, music, indie, hey! nielsen and mp3. 3 Comments

Well, I’m officially home from my stint down at Langerado. Suffice it to say that I saw a plethora of amazing artists, along with some not so hot live shows, and generally had a brilliant time. I’ll have a full write up coming in the next few days {along with some music}, but for now I’m still recovering from the festivities as well as the ridiculous forty five hour round trip drive. The song posted below is easily one of the best tracks I heard performed live at Langerado. If you get a chance I would highly recommend catching a show by The National.

mp3 : The National - Mr. November

As some of you know a few months ago the joint venture of Hey!Nielsen and Billboard.com decided to nominate 99 blogs in the pursuit of the best blog in the land. The results were entirely controlled by the masses of voting public and, thanks in large part to your efforts, I was the gracious recipient of top five honors. The winner of the voting frenzy was Daytrotter, followed by Rock Sellout, with myself, Adam’s World, and BBQ Chicken Robot rounding out the top five.

Back in December, after the results were tallied, the team over at Hey!Nielsen asked me to answer some questions. I thought I would post this interview of sorts here on TWF as I doubt anyone will ever visit their site and/or be able to find it once you’re there.

How/why did you start your blog? I started my blog over a year ago as an outlet to share music discoveries with my friends. All through university I was constantly burning mixes for friends, girlfriends, and random acquaintances. For awhile I began distributing these compilation discs through email to my close friends but that format of sharing music was a bit too restrictive for me. Hence The World Forgot was born.

How do you interact with the local music scene? Most of my friends, both old and new, seem to be connected with music in some way. Many of them play instruments, attend shows with me, or are forced to listen to whatever song I think is brilliant at the moment. Where I live right now doesn’t have a superb local music scene but I attend any show I can find.

How do you deal with the issues of posting MP3s? What is your policy or agreement with labels, if any? My theory is that almost all music is available in some format, for free, if a person is willing to look hard enough for it. You can download mp3s, get albums from libraries, record satellite radio, etc. I post mp3s in order to promote albums, musicians, and songs that I’m excited about in hopes that people who download and listen to the music will become excited about that artist as well. As of now I have a rather informal agreement with several small labels who love having bloggers promote music for them.

How is your point of view different that of some of the more well-known sites or more established blogs? My point of view is different in that it is my singular opinion that shapes the vast majority of my blog posts. I don’t have a team of writers working with me so almost every word that goes onto my blog is my actual thoughts about the music. Also, I’m not afraid to say when something is terrible. I get so sick of picking up a music magazine or reading a list of reviews where no album ever gets below a 50-60% rating.

What do you know about your readers? People that read my blog hail from all over the globe. In any given 24 hour period I will get hits from every continent and almost all major developed countries, especially Australia, the UK, and the States. I’m still waiting for someone to visit from Antarctica.

What are your five favorite music blogs? The list could be longer, but here are my top five. You Ain’t No Picasso, An Aquarium Drunkard, Good Weather for Airstrkes, I Guess I’m Floating, and Songs:Illinois.

What do you want to be when you grow up / Where will your blog be five years from now? I’m not sure if I ever do want to grow up. But, if I must, I want to still be passionate. I want to be still discovering things that are new and still caring enough to share them with the people that I love. I hope my blog will still exist to promote and celebrate the great diversity of music that this world creates.

What were some of the first albums that you bought? Do people buy albums? Do they call them albums? The first albums that I bought for myself were Weezer’s first disc, The Blue Album, and the album The Colour and the Shape by the Foo Fighters. I would argue people still refer to them as albums as the format the songs come in {digital, on a cd, tape, vinyl} has become more ambiguous lately. Sadly though I feel most consumers have moved to buying single song downloads, which is a shame, as it’s killing the quality of a lot of albums as bands focus on just a few killer tracks and lose their way through the rest of their album.

What was your favorite live show this year / ever? My favorite show this year was seeing Cloud Cult play at The Legends of Notre Dame. My favorite show of all time was seeing Radiohead play in support of Hail to the Thief.

If you could add a category to a music awards show, what would it be and who would win it? Most Overlooked Band of the Year : Cloud Cult

What’s the next great band everyone should know about? There are two acts out of NYC right now that I feel everyone should listen to. The first being Zach Williams and the second being Wakey!Wakey! They’re both making some phenomenal music.

What band or artist do you absolutely hate writing about? I hate writing about any person who’s currently making music, but in reality has nothing to do with the writing, recording, or creative processes involved in making their album. If they’re just a pretty face to sell albums I usually can’t stand it.

In your opinion, what was the most overhyped story of 2007? Anything to do with Paris Hilton, Britney Spears, or Rhianna. Seriously. Oh, and the whole Kanye versus 50 issue. I mean honestly, in what reality could it be assumed that 50 would sell more albums than Kanye?

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Langerado

Published by
billy
at March 4, 2008 in langerado, festival, live, remix, music and mp3. 5 Comments

Well this is it my friends. This is the last post before I head down to Florida for some much needed {and hardly deserved} relaxation, music, and festival fun. I’ll be traveling with a friend who writes for Stereo Subversion on occasion and if you’re looking for us we’ll be the two white Indiana guys who are camping in a red tent by a rented 08 Chevy Malibu {it’s listed as sandstone in color but I’ll always think of it as old person beige}.  Oh, and did I mention that we’re both ridiculously good looking?

While I’m at the festival, which you can check out here, I’ll have the great fortune of seeing The Beastie Boys, R.E.M., The National, Shout Out Louds, Ben Folds, Josh Ritter, Built to Spill, and The Walkmen. The rest of the festival is icing on the cake as there’s only one slight conflict in that incredible lineup {Josh Ritter overlaps with Shout Out Louds for about thirty minutes, but I’m betting no one starts on time}. The only downer is that Vampire Weekend canceled out of the festival so that they could play on SNL this Saturday night. I must say they traded up a bit; SNL will probably, maybe, kinda, have more viewers than the eighteen so odd thousand that’ll be down in the Everglades with me.

Due to the fact that I’ll be living in a tent and/or traveling for about the next seven days I won’t be able to post anything new for awhile. Don’t worry though, I will be back. In my absence, however, I think you should check out three fine blogs. They should help tide you over and they’ve just been added to my links under Friend and Lovers {on the side there}. I really dig these blogs for various and sundry reasons and I think you’ll like them too {and if not you can always just wait for me to come back and provide you with the wit and sarcasm you’ve come to love… even though in my heart I know you’re only here for the music}. So here they are. Pretty Much Amazing, Music for Kids Who Can’t Read Good, and Hard to Find a Friend.

And even though I’m leaving for awhile you didn’t think I’d leave you empty handed, did you? Here are two tracks that are continuously requested here at TWF. Honestly, I get at least one request a week for these to be reposted, so here they are in all of their remixed glory.

mp3 : Clint Mansell - Lux Aeterna (Full Orchestral Remix)
mp3 : Clint Mansell - Lux Aeterna (Lord of the Rings Remix)

If you’ve been to a theatre in the past five years you’ve probably heard either of these versions of this song attached to a movie preview. It seems ubiquitous and yet no one seems to know what the song is called or where you can find them. So there you go.

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Shout Out Louds

Published by
billy
at March 3, 2008 in shout out louds, indie, music and mp3. 0 Comments

The Shout Out Louds are just a part of the reason I’m excited for my upcoming trip to the festival known as Langerado. Although they are part of the only conflict of schedules that I have {they somewhat overlap with Josh Ritter} I’m looking forward to hearing this idiosyncratic quintet from across the pond preform their style of indie music. I know I’ve included their songs before in some mixes here but this is the first time I’ve ever given them their own post.

Both of these songs hail from their album Howl Howl Gaff Gaff (