W♥M

BRITPOPCAST #8: In this show, indie dance clubs seems to be the theme. Here are a couple of upcoming dance events in Sydney:

BRITPOP is re-launching on March 27^th at the Gladstone Hotel with a full three hours of David Bowie. Free before 8pm, something to do with zombies, and the rumor from Sally is that they also serve schnitzels.

SONIC CATHEDRAL on March 20^th at The Brighton Bar in Sydney. $10 will get you in the club and "non popular" type songs.

See flyer for more details.

Also, Sally is adopting a dog, via Doggie Rescue.

BONUS: Meet Robin as she embarrasses me with my weird quirks. Let us paint the picture of Berkeley Britpop music scene from the early 90s era. The club scenes from San Francisco and Los Angeles: Popscene, Cafe Bleu, The Underground, Leisure, Bang, etc.

Plus, juicy gossips on Blur and thoughts on the new Gorillaz's Plastic Beach album (which I'll be reviewing soon). We also ended our segment with our love for Riot Grrrls.

NOTE: Due to previously mentioned audio recording program's clipping, the Bluejuice segment did not make it on the final show for #68. We may be re-record it for the next show.

In the meantime, they are kicking off their Ain't Telling The Truth Tour national tour to celebrate their success of being picked up for an ARIA nomination for Breakthrough Song of the Year and the #5 slot on the worlds biggest music poll Triple Js Hottest 100. More details on www.bluejuice.info

03/27/10 One Night Stand Alice Springs, NT 03/31/10 University Of New England Armidale, NSW 04/01/10 Metro Theatre Sydney, NSW 04/02/10 Newcastle Panthers Newcastle, NSW 04/03/10 Doyalson RSL Doyalson, NSW 04/07/10 Roi Bar Albury, NSW 04/08/10 Eureka Hotel Geelong, VIC 04/09/10 Prince Of Wales Melbourne, VIC 04/10/10 Karova Lounge Ballarat, VIC 04/11/10 Sounds Loud Moonee Ponds, VIC 04/15/10 ANU Bar Canberra, ACT 04/16/10 University Of TAS Hobart, TAS

04/17/10 Hotel New York Launceston, TAS 04/23/10 Hi Fi Brisbane, QLD 04/24/10 Coolangatta Hotel Coolangatta, QLD 04/25/10 Great Northern Hotel Byron Bay, NSW 04/29/10 Wollongong Uni Wollongong, NSW 04/30/10 Katoomba RSL Katoomba, NSW 05/01/10 Panthers Bathurst, NSW 05/05/10 The Gov Adelaide, SA 05/06/10 Newport Hotel Fremantle, WA 05/07/10 Prince Of Wales Bunbury, WA 05/08/10 Capitol Perth, WA

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Download this episode at archive.org. If you want an automatic feed to our podcast, headover to podomatic.com and click on the itunes logo (or add manually with the rss).  Alternatively, but less reliable, is via mypodcast.

On this show, Kristen reports on Soundwave 2010 Festival: Faith No More, Big Reel Fish, Placebo, Eagles of Death Metal, and RX Bandits.

Sally & Kristen on Pavement's recent Australia tour. Lots of Pavement love going about.

NOTE: The recording program which I was using started suddenly to ask me to 'register' it, which is annoying because it's now become a nagware. About nearly 30 minutes into recording, the audio started clipping, which made it basically unlistenable. Apologies to Sally & Kristen, as the last segment had to be re-recorded using a brand new software, voipcallrecording, which I will be using in the future. I've already done tests on it, it records in mono at 16hz (not at 44hz as the other software), but it still sounded good to me.

Show #69 will be posted sometime tomorrow, so expect another double-wammy.
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Download this episode at archive.org. If you want an automatic feed to our podcast, headover to mypodcast and click on the itunes logo (or add manually with the rss).

Around this time of the year, I get invites for about 100 SXSW parties and events. The majority of my emails are all SXSW-related, and I'm basically sick of hearing about SXSW (I'm not covering the festival this year). So in an anti-SXSW move, here are some unrelated festivals:

TOTAL BUMMER
www.totalbummer.net
Who: 80+ bands, including Pure Ecstasy, MillionYoung, Truman Peyote, Woven Bones, Vacation Dad, and Many Mansions.
When: March 26-28, 2010
Where: Gainesville, FL

I'm not going to lie, I have not heard of any of these bands that's playing Total Bummer 2010, with the exception of Yip-Yip, which I reviewed last year. It would seem that these are all basically lo-fi underground music, so if you like that sort of thing, for a pre-order ticket of $25 you get over eighty bands and a T-Shirt with Falcor (the dog/dragon from The NeverEnding Story). Pretty cheap, you do the math!

According to the email I've got, in promotion of the event, Total Bummer have released a free compilation, but I could not find any links on the official website... so I hope it's OK for me to repost the link here.

Total Bummer Comp Tracklist

1. "Hemp Scented Body Lotion" - Vacation Dad 2. "Versatility of Movement" - Attached Hands 3. "Money in the Banks" - Smart Growth 4. "Loon and the Lion (GJ Series)" - Levek 5. "I Saw Four Deer" - Totally Nebular 6. "You'll Carry on Real Nice" - Dead Gaze 7. "Atlantean Magenta" - PG-13 8. "Big White House" - Many Mansions 9. "Let it Load" - RUN DMT 10. "Cricket, Spider, Snake, Hawk" - Birdfeeder 11. "Internal Combustion" - Phillip Oskar Augustine

12. "Numbjob" - Truman Peyote 13. "Hallelujah Sea Graves" - Michael Parallax 14. "Ping Pan Band" - Hear Hums 15. "Snow Day Guitars" - Boy in Sleep 16. "Double Dolphin" - Yip Yip 17. "Might Mountain" - Oh Fortuna 18. "Hungry" - Lil Daggers 19. "Metal on Your Skin" - Emily Reo 20. "I Need Love" - Waylon Thornton and the Heavy Hands 21. "Chlorophyl" - Millionyoung 22. "Panoptic Yes" - Prince Rama of Ayodhya

INTERNATIONAL VSA FESTIVAL
www.vsarts.org
Who: Adrian Anantawan, Scott MacIntyre, Melody Gardot...
When: June 6–12, 2010
Where: Washington, D.C.

Just browsing through the press release, they seem to have an emphasis on the International Young Soloist Award Program, a $5,000 prize and the opportunity to perform at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. A pretty big deal for any young pianist, soprano, or violinst.

The finalists for 2010 are 24-year-old South Korean (currently New Zealander) Ju Hyeon Han, Israelian pianist Dotan Nitzberg, singer/songwriter/pianist Blessing Offor, and Minnesotan soloist Aria Stiles.

The big draw for people attending will probably be Scott MacIntyre, who was an American Idol contestant. Those who can't make it to the VSA Festival can stream live broadcasts at www.kennedy-center.org.

PS, I couldn't exactly find out what VSA stands for on their FAQ, but if you were wondering it is for "Very Special Arts". I wish I could unlearn that.

What's coming up:

I asked to cover Field Music (official / myspace) because they are supporting The Clientele on this upcoming tour. Since I liked Clientele, it's assumed that I will enjoy Field Music.

Field Music are two brothers, Peter and David Brewis, out of Sunderland, England and just released a double album this year. I'm almost positive that they'll be playing quite a bit of those 20 new tracks on this tour, which they are kicking off in Minneapolis. If you're going to this show, come say hi!

03/15 - Cedar Cultural Center, Minneapolis, MN *
03/16 -High Noon Saloon, Madison, WI *
03/17 - Lincoln Hall, Chicago, IL *
03/18 - Blind Pig, Ann Arbor MI *
03/19 - Horseshoe Tavern, Toronto, ONT *
03/20 - Il Motore, Montreal, QC *
03/21 - Great Scott, Allston, MA *
03/23 - Bowery Ballroom, New York, NY *
03/26 - Cafe Du Nord, San Francisco, CA
03/27 - Bootleg Theatrer, Los Angeles, CA
03/29 - Casbah, San Diego, CA
04/01 - KCRW Morning Becomes Eclectic performance, Los Angeles, CA


* = w/ The Clientele

Las Rubias del Norte (official / myspace) is a band based out of New York, and generally known for their Latina-music.

Co-found of Las Rubias del Norte (the blondes from the north), Olivier Conan explains: "We use Latin music a little bit like the rest of the world uses rock’n’roll, because before rock’n’roll, there was the clave." (the rhythmic pattern that is the heart of Afro-Cuban/Latin music)

It should be interesting to hear "the clave" in their songs, as they are on a tiny tour promoting their third album, Ziguala.

March 12, 2010 7:30 pm
Joe’s Pub – CD Release Party – New York, New York

March 31, 2010 8:00 pm
University of Dayton – Dayton, Ohio

April 1, 2010 8:00 pm
Morseland – Chicago, Illinois

April 2, 2010 8:00 pm
Legion Arts – Cedar Rapids, Iowa

April 3, 2010 8:00 pm
Cedar Cultural Center – Minneapolis, Minnesota

The Depreciation Guild (myspace) are coming back to Minneapolis. I hope this time they turn up the lights....

They are promoting their new album, Spirit Youth to be out on May 18^th on Kanine Records, which singer Kurt Feldman explains is "is heavy but it’s not very shoegaze. The influence is there, but if you hear an actual 'shoegaze record', it doesn’t sound like us at all."

I'll keep that in mind at 7th Street.

3.17 - 3.20 SXSW
3.22 - Los Angeles, CA @ Troubadour
3.23 - SF, CA @ Bottom of the Hill
3.25 - Portland, OR @ Berbati's Pan
3.26 - Seattle, WA @ Triple Door
3.27 - Vancouver, BC @ Media Club
3.30 - Minneapolis, MN @ 7th Street Entry
3.31 - Chicago, IL @ Bottom Lounge
4.1 - Detroit @ Majestic Theatre
4.2 - Toronto, ON @ The Great Hall
4.3 - Montreal, QC @ Il Motore
4.4 - Cambridge, MA @ TT The Bears
4.5 - Milford, CT @ Daniel Street
4.6 - Philadelphia, PA @ Kung Fu Necktie
4.7 - Washington, DC @ DC9
4.8 - New York, NY @ Le Poisson Rouge

With Serena Maneesh

Zechs Marquise (myspace) is described as a "The Mars Volta sibling band". And fans of Mars Volta, and probalby At The Drive-In, should take note about this North American tour with RX Bandits and The Builders And The Butchers.

03/12 Dallas, TX @ Granada Theatre
03/13 San Antonio, TX @ White Rabbit
03/14 Austin, TX @ Emo's
03/16 New Orleans, LA @ House of Blues
03/18 Ft. Lauderdale, FL @ Culture Room
03/19 Orlando, FL @ The Social
03/20 Orlando, FL @ The Social
03/21 Atlanta, GA @ The Masquerade
03/23 Carrboro, NC @ Cat's Cradle
03/24 Washington D.C. @ Rock and Roll Hotel
03/25 New York, NY @ The Gramercy Theatre
03/26 New York, NY @ The Gramercy Theatre
03/27 New York, NY @ The Gramercy Theatre
03/28 Philadelphia, PA @ The TLA
03/29 New Haven, CT @ Toad's Place
03/30 Allston, MA @ Harper's Ferry *
03/31 Allston, MA @ Harper's Ferry
04/01 Montreal, QC @ Underworld
04/02 Toronto, ON @ The Mod Club
04/03 Detroit, MI @ Magic Stick
04/04 Chicago, IL @ The Bottom Lounge
04/05 Milwaukee, WI @ Turner Hall
04/06 Minneapolis, MN @ Triple Rock Social Club
04/08 Denver, CO @ The Marquis Theatre
04/09 Salt Lake City, UT @ In The Venue
04/10 Boise, ID @ The Venue
04/11 Seattle, WA @ El Corazon
04/12 Portland, OR @ Hawthorne Theatre
04/14 Orangevale, CA @ The Boardwalk
04/15 San Francisco, CA @ Slim's
04/22 Long Beach, CA @ Alex's Bar (w/ Lisa Papineau, Technology, Cast Spells) *
04/23 Pomona, CA @ The Glass House *
04/25 San Luis Obispo, CA @ Downtown Brewing Co. *

* Without The Builders And The Butchers

Here We Go Music (myspace) is celebrating their self-titled debut album on Western Vinyl by doing a national tour.

Secretly Canadian liked them so much that they've signed the band on their label, with a pending sophomore album coming soon. I have agreed to see them in Minneapolis, to hear their "unique sound".

I am going to see if we can attempt an interview, but judging from my busy schedule and the lack of time to listen to their album... we'll see how it goes.

In the meantime, they are touring all across the country, plus the UK later on:

Mar 13 2010 Rock n Roll Hotel  Washington DC Mar 14 2010 Local 506 Carrboro, North Carolina Mar 15 2010 The Earl Atlanta, Georgia Mar 17 2010 Little Radio Party @ Red Eyed Fly Austin, TX Mar 17 2010 Brooklyn Vegan @ Club DeVille Austin, TX Mar 19 2010 Ground Control Agency  Austin, TX Mar 19 2010 Lustre Pearl Austin, TX Mar 20 2010 Scoot Inn Austin, Texas Apr 5 2010 Jefferson Theater** Charlottesville, VA Apr 6 2010 Grey Eagle** Asheville, NC Apr 9 2010 The Social** Orlando, Florida Apr 10 2010 Jax Live** Jacksonville Apr 11 2010 Club Downunder** Tallahassee, FL Apr 12 2010 Republic New Orleans, LA Apr 13 2010 Walters on Washington** Houston, TX Apr 14 2010 The Independent** Austin, TX Apr 16 2010 The Clubhouse** Phoenix, Arizona Apr 20 2010 Urban Lounge** Salt Lake City, Utah Apr 21 2010 Fox Theater** Boulder, Colorado Apr 23 2010 Varsity Theater Minneapolis, MN Apr 24 2010 High Noon Saloon** Madison, WI Apr 25 2010 Metro** Chicago Apr 26 2010 Radio Radio** Indianapolis, Indiana

Apr 27 2010 Lee’s Palace** Toronto, Ontario Apr 28 2010 Petit Campus** Montreal, Quebec Apr 29 2010 Iron Horse Nothampton, MA Apr 30 2010 Maxwell’s Hoboken, New Jersey May 1 2010 Paradise Rock Club** Boston, MA May 14 2010 The Great Escape Festival Brighton May 15 2010 The Great Escape Festival Brighton May 18 2010 The Lexington London May 19 2010 Electric Ballroom* London May 20 2010 Liverpool Sound City Festival Kazimier May 21 2010 Magnet* Berlin May 22 2010 Molotow* Hamburg May 23 2010 Melkweg* Amsterdam May 25 2010 Orangerie* Brussels May 26 2010 La Maroquinerie* Paris May 27 2010 Cafe Rex* Toulouse May 28 2010 Primavera Sound Barcelona Jun 10 2010 Bonnaroo Music Manchester, TN Jul 18 2010 Pitchfork Music Festival Chicago Sep 11 2010 Bestival Isle of Wight * w/ The New Pornographers ** w/ White Rabbits

Silva Screen Records is a record company based out of London, formed in 1986 by MD Reynold D'Silva. D'Silva collected nearly 5,000 master recordings, from original movie soundtracks to cult television shows. In addition to selling soundtrack CDs (and now digital MP3s), I did browse their website to discover that they also license out their music to a variety of commercials. I was tempted to fill out for a free One Stop Music Box (a collection of "163 tracks covering over 40 music styles ranging from smooth jazz to symphonic film to Cuban"), but I thought maybe they'd want people in the movie industry looking to license background music.

Anyway, looking over their website, they do have quite an impressive collection, ranging from The Prisoner to Ennio Morricone to Clint Mansell. I should also mention that some of these are re-recordings, by new orchestras.

So below are some of the music that was offered to me. I should mention that some of these will be very brief and that I'm unfamiliar with many of these television shows (which is regional to Canada and the UK). Since I didn't grow up with these, I have no affiliation to them.

Let's get started, shall we?

MICHEL LEGRAND

Legrand is a legendary French composer, working in quite a few movies spanning over three decades. One of his more famous works includes the James Bond soundtrack to Never Say Never Again (1983).

Some key things before I talk about the actual release: (1) this is the first time in over twenty years that the soundtrack's been reissued for the United States and Canada (reissued 23 February 2010), (2) this was the last Sean Connery's James Bond and (3) Legrand replaced John Berry for this soundtrack (if you recall hearing Kristen rambling about how brilliant Berry is).

With that in mind, if you like James Bond, I would recommend getting the soundtrack. Unfortunately, at least to me, I always feel that soundtracks are generally served as background music. It's the type of music you put on while cleaning or doing the dishes.

However, there are some key songs that stood out for me. First is "Jealousy", a very 70s disco-ey and bass-rich song. It sounds almost funky, and I imagine something naughty in this scene (I have the Never Say Never Again on DVD, but I'm not going to rewatch it right now). The other song that caught my attention was "Bahama Island", because of its very Caribbean-style of music.

Of course, we also have the title track, sung by Lani Hall. I'm not sure if it's also her singing on "Une Chanson D'Amour", but I always welcome vocals when it comes to almost all-instrumental albums.

THE LITTLEST HOBO

Wow, listening to the theme song and instrumental to "The Littlest Hobo" made me wish I grew up in the 70s. Apparently this was originally a Canadian show in the mid-sixties. It got canceled, but came back to CTV in 1979 - and I think this is where the theme song is taken from (hear the original opening theme). The show is about stray German Shepherd who helps random people, similar to Lassie.

Although it's referred to as "The Littlest Hobo theme song", the actual song is called "Maybe Tomorrow", originally sung by Canadian artist Terry Bush, the music is backed by the London Music Works. This version from Silva Screen Music sounds much, much crisper than witnessed here.

Anyway, not much else to add to this one song, except it's a joy to listen to. It's quite perky, considering it's about hobo-ing around and not settling down.


THE ROYAL PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA

I was really looking forward to reviewing this I Hear A Symphony: The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra perform the Classic Hits of Motown because I do like Motown and was interested in hearing what it would sound like on a grander and epic scale that only the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra can bring.

And they brought it.

In some ways, and not in a comical way, I have to smile at these reinterpretations because I'm just not used to hearing these songs with sweeping violins and amazing cellos and brass instruments. I'm assuming if you've ever heard these type of orchestra-style recordings to pop/rock artists such as Oasis, REM, and U2, then you'll feel right at home with this Motown version.

While it's unfair to dismiss these recordings as simply "Muzak" (this is a company that makes music for elevators), I can see why people will think that... although they'd be wrong because these songs are really exciting and bold. Just think of them as if they're music on a classy movie, not some b-movie.

Admittedly, I don't know an awful lot about Motown, and generally only know the hits. For instance, I don't know "Three Times a Lady" by the Commodores, which is a very slow song on the album. Also, I only know Mick Jagger and David Bowie's version of "Dancing In The Street" (the song was a cover of an old Motown artist, Martha and the Vandellas). I did think a lot about Bowie's hips and Jagger's lips though when I heard this orchestra version.

Other than that, you'll find yourself trying to sing to "My Girl", "Just My Imagination (Running Away With Me)", "I Heard It Through The Grapevine", and "Get Ready".

RED RIDING

Released February 23^rd on a two-CD set, this compiles the soundtrack to the British made-for-television trilogy Red Riding (2009). Although I consider myself to being a big horror film buff, I have never heard of these films about the Yorkshire Ripper murders, and they are probably not available on Netflix (correction, Netflix has a listing, but these films are not available for rental yet.)

It would seem that the marketing for this material might be for UK residents, since the trilogy was made available as a video on demand via IFC Film library. So the more people that ends up watching this and finding they love the orchestral soundtrack, that they'll order this.

Each score of the film (1974, 1980 and 1983) were written by different composers, Adrian Johnston, Dickon Hinchliffe and Barrington Pheloung, respectively.

Like I said, since I don't really know the movies, listening to the soundtrack I can only imagine that these movies were very, very moody and very, very dark. There was an exception of "Eddie", as this starts off acoustically and feels like a sixties folk song.

I'm kind of partial to the 1980 soundtrack, due to Dickon Hinchliffe. I think he was part of the band the Tindersticks, who were not exactly a pop group. Their music actually sounds like a foreign soundtrack, which I think Hinchliffe explored further with Red Riding 1980. Check out "Your Answer" and you can definitely hear Tindersticks.

Incidentally, these films were based on David Peace's Red Riding books, and he published a final book called Nineteen Eighty-Three in 2002, which I don't think was adapted by IFC.

If you're interested in purchasing any of these soundtracks, as well as a million others, they are available in both CD and digital formats at Silva Screen Music. Their latest release is Chloe Soundtrack, the movie is not out until the end of the month, but Silva has the soundtrack available for purchase.

Minneapolis-born Paragraphs recently released You Can’t Make a Ghost Without Its Sheet, a six-song EP that resembles something Barret Oliver heard while flying with his Luck Dragon.  Ambiguous and wistful, YCMGWIS channels Fantasia by way of drowsy co-ed mixers; if Bastian grew up, smoked a bowl, and gorged on Boards of Canada, no doubt he’d listen to Paragraphs.

The multi-instruminimalist group is comprised of three fresh faced musicians.  These guys (and gal) look like students at a clean, Midwest liberal arts university.  It’s impressive, then, that a band so young sounds so traveled.  Where today’s youth are hell-bent on being simply loud and loudly simple, Paragraphs ups the creative ante with their complex, rich arrangements.

You Cant Make a Ghost Without Its Sheet is Paragraph’s debut EP.  Besides challenging Yo La Tengo for Album Title Least Likely to Abbreviate, YCMGWIS recalls the rock factor of early Stone Roses in brand new digs, with a little Godspeed! thrown in for dark measure.  It’s difficult to classify this style of music, though critics try.  ‘Ambient,’ ‘experimental,’ ‘shoegaze’…no one adjective entirely fits.

“Let’s Meet Halfway (And Fall Apart)” could make the dance floor sway at night in the right ambient, Ambien-induced context; while “It’s Sunset at Midnight” imagines a Sergio Leone Western panorama through a Tarantino lens.  There’s plenty to admire about YCMGWIS—full, organic compositions (as opposed to the cyber drone of electronica); yet one can’t help wondering if, during an age of hip, frenetic art pop, a band sans hooks and chorus can survive.

In the immortal words of Winston Churchill:  “Never, never, never give up.”  Paragraphs continue to persevere in this Mason Jenningscape, with shows this month at the Triple Rock and Shuga Records in Minneapolis.  Download You Can’t Make a Ghost Without Its Sheet at prgrphs.com.  The EP is free in exchange for a donation towards the band’s next record.  Limited edition, hand-packaged copies will be available at live shows.  More information can be found HERE.

If you live outside of the UK, chances are you've never heard of Sharleen Spiteri and probably not of her earlier band, the Scottish band called Texas.

A few years ago, Spiteri dropped her band and went solo with Melody, an album that's more 60s pop, a la Nancy Sinatra, than Texas' standard eurodiscopop that made them famous in the late 90s (you should also know that the band started out in 1986 as a bluesy, southern rock band - in honor of their namesake).

Of course, the real reason why I was drawn to Texas was because of Spiteri's white hot looks, but I was never an obsessive fan. So I was surprise to find out that Spiteri is back now with another solo album, this time, all movie covers... and as a cover lover, I approve!

I did get a chance to listen to the whole album, which was released last week, and I'll have to say that it sounds more jazz than I expected.  I tend to like the more pop-tracks, like "Xanadu", "Pretty Woman", and "Take My Breath Away" - a number that takes me back to that 80s Berlin song.  I love it, don't you?

Anyway, as you can see from the music video of "Xanadu", Sharleen still looks as amazingly hot as she did in the Hush-era.

Sharleen Spiteri - Xanadu 1 comment

Here are the tracks and what movies they appear in:

Track	Movie	Originally Artist
1. "Xanadu"	Xanadu (1980)	Electric Light Orchestra and Olivia Newton-John
2. "If I Can't Have You"	Saturday Night Fever (1977)	Yvonne Elliman / The Bee Gees
3. "God Bless the Child"	Schindler's List (1993)	Billie Holiday
4. "Between the Bars"	Good Will Hunting (1997)	Elliott Smith
5. "The Sound of Silence"	The Graduate (1967)	Simon & Garfunkel
6. "What's New Pussycat?"	What's New Pussycat? (1965)	Tom Jones
7. "The Windmills of Your Mind"	The Thomas Crown Affair (1968)	Noel Harrison
8. "Take Me with You"	Purple Rain (1984)	Prince
9. "Cat People (Putting Out Fire)"	Cat People (1982)	David Bowie
10. "Many Rivers to Cross"	The Harder They Come (1972)	Jimmy Cliff
11. "Oh Pretty Woman"	Pretty Woman (1990)	Roy Orbison
12. "This One's from the Heart"	One from the Heart (1982)	Tom Waits and Crystal Gayle
13. "Take My Breath Away"	Top Gun (1986)	Berlin

Citizen Cope is famous and he is loved. That's evident at the two recent sold-out show at The Varsity Theater (the beautiful venue is huge, so selling out the place is pretty impressive*). From what I've gathered, most of the people there last night was also at Saturday's sold-out show, stating that it was also quite crowded on Saturday.

The audience was surprisingly younger, about college age, a contrast to Gomez's parental audience. What this generally mean is that it gets rowdier and people tend to drink and act rude and don't mind pushing/crushing you. I couldn't really brave the front and eventually left and watch the rest of the show at a safe distance.

Citizen Cope's been steadily gaining fans since signing with DreamWorks Records, a division of the movie company of the same name. So it's no surprise that you'll find much of Cope's music on television and commercials. From a quick scan, I noticed his music's been used in quite a few HBO shows, so even if you haven't heard of Citizen Cope, you're likely have heard his music.

■ Citizen Cope at the Varsity Theater, Minneapolis 3-7-10

When Cope took the stage at eight, the crowd went nuts. Citizen Cope looks tense and serious, while his backup band looks smiley, but dressed and plays like they belong in a blues band.

He started his set with "Comin' Back", followed by "Let The Drummer Kick". I don't have the setlist (I don't think they actually had any on stage). The rest was a blur, but I do recall hearing "Hurricane Waters" with its catchy line, "I will carry you through the hurricane waters, and I'll remember you in the blue skies". Also, the clear favorite of the setlist was "Son's Gonna Rise", off of The Clarence Greenwood Recordings.

He also did "Healing Hands", from the new The Rainwater LP (released March 3^rd via Rainwater Recordings), which actually sounds a bit reggae towards the end of the song. The song is available as a free download off his website.

The Rainwater LP is out now, as part of Amazon's $5 MP3 album promotion, and be sure to check out the rest of Citizen Cope's tour.

* Doubly impressive is that Cope is carrying the shows by himself, no opening band for support.

At first, I was a little worried that few people will show up to see Gomez, considering that pre-sale ticket prices at the Fine Line Cafe were $25 and that you had to be over eighteen to buy them... but all that was thrown out the window when I heard that the show sold-out while I stood in a huge line outside the venue an hour before the doors opened. I suppose it's not all the surprising, considering the size of the Fine Line (it's tiny) and that many of Gomez's fans would've been with them since their Mercury Prize-winning debut in 1998, and that they're probably all much older and gainfully employed. That's exactly the kind of audience there last night, mid-30's fans... but not older hipsters, more like settled down parents-type.

This audience wholly welcomed and embraced the opening band, One eskimO (official / myspace). They seem really calm and laid back, playing most of their songs from their self-titled album.

"Givin Up", "Kandi", and "Hurricanes" (incidentally this track is not on their album) were the most well-received of the songs played. The later had an extra snare drum as well as possibly their most energetic song on their set. Also, as you can see from the message found on their setlist that they had specific instructions to the soundboard person. As written, they sometime switch out songs, but there was never a point where they seem indecisive on stage.

Apologies for the bad photos on One eskimO, they had insisted on playing a projection movie (the animated Eskimo shorts that is associated with the band). This required very low light, so resulting in poor pictures. Also, it seems kind of pointless for the projected movie, because the way the Fine Line Cafe stage is set up and Gomez's massive drumkit, that you only saw 20% (the top part) of the movie. Still, despite the lack of movie, the audience still loved them.  I'm absolutely sure that they've gained a few fans this night.

The thing you should know about seeing Gomez, is that they love guitars. Three guitarists, over nine visible guitars on stage (there were a few offstage too!).   The other thing you should know is that they seem to have quite a huge following.  One girl said she'd seen Gomez three times in a row on this tour, with Chicago being the best night of what she's seen.

I was also a bit taken back that they had three singers: Ian Ball, Ben Ottewell, and Tom Gray. The three of them rotate through songs and the highlight for me was when they all sang on "Ruff Stuff" with the catch "darling (come back!), I've given up fags and drugs now, baby".

I was told that most of their setlist consists of songs from the new album, which I actually don't have a copy, but from what I've heard, it's good done live. But then again, all their songs are great live - perhaps that's why the band is releasing a series of live albums, with their first called Europe 2009. I saw the cardboard (with a sticker for a cover) at the merchandise table and was told that the band will (or was it have?) sign the album if you buy it. At the moment, the band is offering "Revolutionary Kind" as a free download, so you can check out the clear soundboard recording.

Anyway, they ended their set with "Shot Shot" (but minus the German intro) and "We Haven't Turned Around", both older songs and fan-favorites. By the way, you may recognize the later song from the movie American Beauty.

Normally, I will post one or two photos from my show, but most of these turned out really well, so I'm feeling generous.

PS, since many of their shows have been selling out, they've been adding additional shows on their schedule, particularly in San Francisco and Los Angeles.  If you really want to see them, I suggest buying tickets early.

Gomez - Fine Line, Minneapolis 3-6-2010 (Setlist)z	Gomez - Fine Line, Minneapolis 3-6-2010 (Ian Ball)z	Gomez - Fine Line, Minneapolis 3-6-2010 (Ben Ottewell)z	Gomez - Fine Line, Minneapolis 3-6-2010 (Tom Gray)z
One Eskimo Setlist - Fine Line, Minneapolis 3-6-2010	One Eskimo - Fine Line, Minneapolis 3-6-2010 (Kristian Leontiou)z	One Eskimo - Fine Line, Minneapolis 3-6-2010 (Face)z	One Eskimo - Fine Line, Minneapolis 3-6-2010 (Adam Falkner)z

Air Conditioning School is a long time coming from electro-wiz Chris Heidman (UltraChorus).  Like, eight years coming, which, incidentally, is the shelf life of most indie-ventures. 

As a former member of psych duo, Sukpatch, Heidman dipped his toes in rock music well before braving the depths of electronica.  It makes sense that his current project would be some combination of past and present. 

Air Conditioning School is more Fleet Foxes than, say, Moby circa 90s, yet there’s a lingering pop element that Fleet-pedants tend to shy away from.  Blessed with an ear for fusion, Heidman breeds rich vocals and a triad of melodic arrangements.  The offspring of this holy union is a transgendered beast of sorts, outwardly pretty with knotty innards. 

Heidman describes his approach to Air Conditioning School as “[making] super honest music that is actually played rather than programmed.”  Honest, sure, but his production instincts are not so easily hidden. 

On tracks like “Busymore,” a steady beat ambles the length, energizing an otherwise mellow tune.  Despite its title, “Wake Me Up” similarly soothes rather than arouses.  Heidman emotes, honestly, beseeching the listener/world/universe/symbolic higher being to shake him from his dream state before he a). dies, b). gets older, c). forgets.  The question may be rhetorical, but we have the answer:  “No, Chris, I won’t wake you up.” 

Not if it stifles the charm.

Joining Heidman in spirit and in action are fellow Minneapolis musicsmiths Clara Salyer (Total Babe) on bass and UltraChorus partner, Jeff Lorentzen on drums.  “Wake Me Up” and “Busymore” are available for download at IndieRocket and iTunes.  For more information, visit Air Conditioning School on Myspace.  Also, be sure to check out the Juno-esque video for “Wake Me Up”:  youtube.com.