13 posts tagged “festival”
 
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Ceji here. Planning what I want to hit today at what's called the Music Fest. This is my first music festival ever. How do you plan when Aug 9, 2009 12:28 PM
There are so many bands to see? Aug 9, 2009 12:28 PM
Correction: from the Program it looks like everything is going to be on one stage. Fantastic! Main stage has: El Vez Aug 9, 2009 12:31 PM
Steve Poltz & the Rugburns, Buddy Akai, Writer and Presidents of the United States of America. All day! Plus closing bash at The Casbah Aug 9, 2009 12:32 PM
Ceji here. Traffic was kind of ugly so I missed Writer. But I'm here in tine for Avi Buffalo. So far, so good! Aug 9, 2009 2:35 PM
In other news, I forgot my bloody camera. Journalism FAIL. Aug 9, 2009 2:36 PM
Avi Buffalo. Looks 12. Solo electric and he sounds amazing! On another note: funnel cake! Aug 9, 2009 2:40 PM
He reminds me a bit of Ben Gibbard but stronger vox. Gonna see if I can find his CD for you guys. Aug 9, 2009 2:46 PM
Ceji here. Technical difficulties! What's up with the power SDGE? Aug 9, 2009 2:52 PM
Ahhh, we're keeping it semi-local. Avi Buffalo is from the LBC Aug 9, 2009 2:59 PM
And that's it! www.myspace.com/avibuffalo Aug 9, 2009 3:06 PM
Ceji here. In the City Beat Beer Garden airRadio is keeping it funky! Nice! Aug 9, 2009 3:12 PM
Full band plus sax! I think everyone is still hungover because there is no other reason for everyone not to be dancing Aug 9, 2009 3:15 PM
Sorry, irRadio not airRadio. iPhone thinks it's my editor today Aug 9, 2009 3:18 PM
irRadio have brought people out of their houses to stand at the entrance gates to listen Aug 9, 2009 3:25 PM
Steve Poltz and the Rugburns are San Diego music stalwarts. I feel like as long as I've been alive, they've been around Aug 9, 2009 3:45 PM
Hey San Diegans, if you're out here at th music fest come find me! I'm the little black girl with piggies on her shirt! Aug 9, 2009 3:52 PM
Nice sized crowd! Hopefully I can still catch Dynamite Walls =\ Aug 9, 2009 3:57 PM
Ceji here. Only in San Diego will the words "El Cajon" and "Meth" get a laugh out of the crowd. Aug 9, 2009 3:59 PM
A suggestion for next year: a dedicated merch table. I'd love to support these artists but I can't find where to buy their cd's! Aug 9, 2009 4:10 PM
Thank God for hungover bands. Managed to run from Rugburns, grab grub and make it in time for their set Aug 9, 2009 4:14 PM
I feel like if these guys were on The O.C. they would be wicked popular. Dynamite Walls errbody! They're good, really catchy! Aug 9, 2009 4:17 PM
Just a reminded that the close out bash for the North Park Music Thing is TONIGHT at the Casbah. LIGHTS ON will be there! Aug 9, 2009 4:24 PM
Migrating over to catch El Vez...Dynamite Walls are still killing it! Power rock/pop? Big choruses whatever this last song was Aug 9, 2009 4:35 PM
If none of my shots come out, let this one. El Velz is wearing a red leather suit! http://yfrog.com/0t8rfaj Aug 9, 2009 4:42 PM
El Vez meets the Ting Tings! Aug 9, 2009 4:50 PM
Never has Chappelle's Show " White People Dancing" sketch been more appropriate Aug 9, 2009 4:58 PM
Third costume change. Denim catsuits! http://yfrog.com/0qsmsoj Aug 9, 2009 5:07 PM
Right, going to cool off and recharge. Next show that I scheduled to see isn't for 2 hours. AC here I come! Aug 9, 2009 5:30 PM
Ceji here. Pretty sure the hangover that I didn't think I had has been following me around all day. Good times at Bar Pink last night! Aug 9, 2009 6:10 PM
But I think that after Buddy Akai at 5:30, I'm gonna call it a day. Such is having a day job with a 4am wake up time. Aug 9, 2009 6:11 PM
Hey guys, so I think this festival update is gonna be cut short due to a dead car battery =\ WTF mate! Aug 9, 2009 6:29 PM
08/09/2009 21:14:20 ♥ ceji (
/invisiblesparks.vox.com)
♥
sandiegomusicfoundation.org
 Tilly and the Wall ♥ photo by Elizabeth Soda (7/3/09)
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July 4th weekends might not be a great weekend to have a music festival. At least here in Minnesota, everyone goes up to their cabins traditionally for a family get together. Most of the people that I've noticed walking around the festival were young people who overshadowed families and hippies (can someone explain to me the hula-hoops or the "balls in a sock" thing?).
Also, the one factor that put a damper on things was the weather. I realized this is beyond anyone's control, but you would reckon they saw the forecast predictions and would've been better prepared with perhaps a giant umbrella for the audience. Still, despite major contributor and sponsor, US Cellar, attempt to distribute rain ponchos, they quickly ran out in a matter of hours.
For the first day, I only covered the main stage, which included all the artists that I wanted to check out. Although I contemplated on heading over to Modern Skirts and Maps and Atlases.
Towards the end, Matisyahu decided to do a stage dive - but the barrier was far, so the security team was right on top of it, moving the monitors and making sure Matisyahu can jump.
When Stephen Malkmus and The Jicks came on stage, I thought to myself that he "cut his hair". I also thought his drummer looks incredibly like the drummer from Sleater-Kinney - and did get confirmation:
Mendeley @weheartmusic yes she is! http://bit.ly/10Pss3
4:40 PM Jul 3rd from web in reply to weheartmusic
tigerpop @weheartmusic yes! janet weiss rules!
3:21 PM Jul 3rd from mobile web
I was only there to see Flavor Flav, who never made it to the show. For a guy with a clock around his neck, you'd figure he would remember the show started at 9:30pm. Incidentally, 80/35 official twitter notes: "It's unforunate about flavor flav but the show will go on and public enemy will bring it. #8035" at 5:04 PM.
July 4th proved a little more difficult for me, as that day required me to walk back and forth to all three stage. While the stage are not all that far apart, my "slipper shoes" did not offer much support. Here are the bands I did manage to catch:
Iowa's Poison Control Center "got the party started" as their audience sung along, "love, love is the answer, until you get cancer". They are energetic and seems to enjoy playing their duct-taped guitar upsidedown.
They seem more talkative at the festival, always projecting this infectious happy to be on tour (and their performance won over a few new fans who eagerly bought the new album to have autographed). Singer Elizabeth McGrath mentioned on stage much she liked these festival food. Which I can attest is true as she offered some of her deep-fried food at their touring BFF's Girl in a Coma on the next stage.
GIAC's set was essentially the same as a few nights ago, only a bit shorter. I got a chance to say hi to them and mentioned that my good friend Melinda once got lost on the train with them on the other side of France.
Ben Harper and Relentless7's fans are insane. I mean that in a good way. They were so passionate (and drunk) and wanted every opportunity to invade the stage. I saw so many fans turned away from trying to get a closer view in the photography press area. I have never seen that much excitement for any artist at the festival!
We left before the fireworks, so we can get home at a decent hour. Overall, I wasn't looking forward to another night of pitching the tent in the dark and/or with the rain coming down on us... Although it was a lot of fun, it was too much work for me (I'm not a big fan of driving and getting lost). I think next year, I will have someone else cover the show and maybe do the Taste of Minnesota thing next year.
Update: more photos at britrockatthetop.com
07/05/2009 18:07:28 ♥ vu (
)
♥ 80-35.com
♥ myspace.com/8035
♥ twitter.com/8035
You know, the festival is only four days, but it really seem like weeks.
While having every band in the world merge at one place might sound like a great idea... sometime their appearance conflicts with other artists that you also want to see. So one of the biggest problem I had was sacrificing who to see.
Music happens from daylight (probably closer to 10am start) until two in the morning, or even later.
I usually started my day around 8am, working out my schedule for the day. Sometime it's logistics, sometime it's time-issues, but usually I have a full day's worth of stuff to do. I don't follow my schedule to a T, but there are certain items that I absolutely cannot miss (scheduled interviews takes priority over shows).
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- Offline gmail. This worked! I read/did most emails offline and when I was connected, all emails were sent, marked as read, etc.
- iPod Touch, worked like a charm. I was able to grab onto various (free) wifi to receive emails or websurf (maps), etc.
- Austin Convention Center's SXSW wifi stayed up most 99% of the time. Wonderful!
- Cash (ATM) availability
- Blocking off 6th street for pedestrians
WHAT SUCKED
- AT&T Network, apparently everyone in Austin had an iPhone
- Walking......
- Sony Memory Stick not supported on my laptop
- Bands playing 30 minutes or less
- Badges are ridiculously expensive ($600-$700). I think they should make it more affordable, especially since most places don't bother to check for a badge and/or were free. If there was a cover charge, it is usually under $10.
I guess my problems are not really that bad.
DAY ZERO (Tuesday)
Travelling… nothing too exciting. My least favorite state was the one with the road tolls (I think this was in Oklahoma). We did stop in Oklahoma City to see Blackwatch Studios (myspace). We got to hear a few songs from Minneapolis' Cedar Avenue (official/myspace) band from their forth-coming long playing record. The few songs we heard were incomplete, but it sounds really layered with a variety of tracks.
By the way, if the name Cedar Avenue sounds familiar to you, it is because Kristin reviewed their debut album a while back.
DAY ONE (Wednesday)
Getting my barring was hard. I didn't know where any of the streets were. So when people text me: come over to (name of venue), I replied and ask what the cross streets were. Since walking around was my main means of transportation, I ended up crossing out outlier venues immediately.
Wednesday was evening-only, so I mostly went to see some British acts over at Friend's. These guys were all from the London area, with the exception of Liverpool's Wave Machines (official/myspace). These guys creeped me out with their masks that they wore on stage - however, due to heat and comfortableness, they took them off half way into their short set. Also caught a bit of Jay Jay Pistolet (myspace), whose singing voice is very peculiar... it's like he sounds like he's sing out the side of his mouth.
When Mumford & Sons (myspace) took the stage, it was very, very, very crowded. The audience loved them and it's apparent that these guys are going to blow up this year.
The Havana Bar had some Spanish showcase, featuring mostly Mexican bands such as Songs For Eleonor (myspace), Satin Dolls (official), Cosmopolitan (myspace), and Los Fancy Free (myspace). With the exception of The May Fire (official/myspace) and Spain's Capsula (official). We like Spanish acts, so be sure to read more Mexican Summer and my coverage of Los Fancy Free.
DAY TWO (Thursday)
I think this was the big press day, I got to meet & greet Victoria who setup the interview with Solid Gold (myspace). She was kind enough to have me in the Myspace Music event, featuring some artists that I really enjoy: Kate Tucker, Meiko and Ed Harcourt.
To kick off the party was The Real You (myspace), a power-pop band from Seattle, Washington. According to their biography, they've been on constant tour since forming in early 2007 - so I'm sure you'll run into this young band eventually.
I haven't been keeping up with Kate Tucker (official/myspace), but apparently her latest project is with a band called The Honeydove (myspace) - who debuted at SXSW! Unfortunately, I had prior commitments, but I would've liked to have seen her new band play at the Beauty Bar.
Anyway, the nicest bit about her set was that she wanted everyone at the event to get a copy of her last album, "I want to give you my music!"
So if you weren't at the event, you missed out. Hey, maybe you can stop in and say hi to her in Washington:
- 04/05/09 Sunset Seattle, WA
05/21/09 Chop Suey as honeydove Seattle, WA
Meiko (official/myspace) had a guest trumpet player on for most of her set (she requested him on for the rest of show because I guess she felt more comfortable with having someone else with her). She actually started her set with "Piano Song", which ironically just her and her guitar... She made some funny comments, such as "I've never played to a bunch of porta potties before".
You get the impression that she was happy to be there, and maybe it's yellow-iest dress combined with her orange/red dyed hair, but she looks gorgeous.
Ed Harcourt (official/myspace) was very engaging…. During "Until Tomorrow Then", he got down to the audience and walked around, singing and putting his hands around people while everyone was filming and taking pictures. Enclosed is a video evidence.
Harcourt is releasing a new six-track EP called Russian Roulette out on May 5th, but SXSW audience were privy to some of his new songs courtesy of Dovecote Records and Directv. Pay close attention to "Caterpillar", as this is a personal song about his newborn daughter being placed in an incubator as they helpless sit and wait.
Went to an open-door new talent showcase, this was not an official sanctioned SXSW event (you'll find that there are many, many unofficial events), so I don't have a listing of who played at what time. They were all giving away their CDs, but I couldn't bother to pick them up (this would require me to carry around stuff, and I didn't have a hand bag ready). Reminder for next year: bring a man purse.
Also went over to check The Elevaters (myspace) and Rumspringa (myspace) at the Hi-Lo venue. While Elevaters were fun and energetic, it seems the drums/guitar duo of Rumspringa had a lot of problems with their equipment. They had to cut their southern-sounding melodic set short after four (?) songs, quote from the singer, "my shit ain't working."
DAY THREE (Friday)
The busy day. Walked all over town basically. My only out-of-the-way venue was at 3 o'clock to see Superdrag (official/myspace) at Guero's, which I thought was far walking there. I ran into one of our RV family, who we'll call Rose because she looks like a pint-sized Pippettes, complete with dress and all. We walked back across the river so I can make it to my Asteroids Galaxy Tour (official/myspace) interview (this was delayed because of some miscommunication).
Afterward, headed over to Beauty Bar to see Solid Gold play, mustache and all. I can tell the audience was having a good time, especially the girl at the backstage.
Then snuck over to see this punk(ish) band that MTV was covering. I didn't catch their name, but it sounded something like Dirty____ Something. The singer had bleach blonde hair and eye shadows.... and likes to walk around with no shirts on.
Evening was spent mostly at the Scotland show: We Were Promised Jet Packs (myspace), Dananananaykroyd (official/myspace), Camera Obscura (official/myspace), The Proclaimers (official/myspace), Glasvegas (official/myspace), Primal Scream (official/myspace). I was in-out so I did end up missing Glasvegas & Primal Scream, but thanks to Bob for sending in some pictures.
DAY FOUR (Saturday)
Saw a few bands in the daytime at the Press Here Garden Party at the French Legation Museum across the Freeway (this is actually closer than it sounds). The walk there was interesting, and I discovered a no-seating Wendy's on the right side of 7th Street. Yep, I ended up having dinner there since they were making these chicken things that's not available in Minnesota.
I got to the Garden just in time to see Jeremy Jay (myspace), and enjoyed the most of the day with The Soft Pack (myspace) and Diane Birch* (myspace) before heading over to 900 Red River to see Jeremy Jay again.
Listened to Camera Obscura afterwards with those Peelander-Z, as I previously mentioned.
Headed back to the Garden to see Melissa Auf De Maur (official/myspace), who started her set with three cover songs: Nancy Sinatra's "Bang Bang", Danzig's "Devil's Plaything", and The Smiths "Stop Me If You Think You've Heard This One Before". Although the first two went off pretty well, she totally messed up on "Stop Me" - which is understandable because that song has a lot of Morrissey's lyrics and also they had only practiced it the night before in their hotel room.
It wasn't long before people started filling up the seats at the Garden to see Laura Marling (official/myspace). She was joined on stage by Marcus Mumford, I think. He played percussions and sang backup, although I have to say that Marling would've done just fine with her lovely voice and acoustic guitar.
Saw Late of the Pier at the Bat Bar later that night. Since it was being broadcast live on Directv, I think the pressure got to the band and it was just embarrassing to watch. Towards the end, they seem to not be so nervous, and the (rather long) setlist ended with men in death masks coming on stage to carry the band offstage. I don't have Directv, is there a way for non-subscribers to watch this?
Honey Ryder (myspace) was really happy to be Austin, I think this was their first ever US appearance or something. I believe also that their name came from a James Bond girl ? I don't know much about them, but they seem to have a wider audience and following in the UK, where their single "Fly Away" entered the UK Top 40 at #31.
GoldieLocks (myspace) is 75% English and 25% Swedish from Croydon (South London). She raps to DJ Sports (?), who is wearing this Skeletor T-shirt. After the show, she wanted to give everyone in attendance her EP, which actually went pretty fast. As I previously mentioned, keep an eye on this one.
There's no denying that The Gin Riots (myspace) have quite a few hardcore fans here, as evident by a bunch of Gin Riots T-Shirt in the audience.
It's been a few years since The Crimea (official/myspace) toured in the US, so I was happy to be there for them on their second and last SXSW appearance. They were the last band on my list, so it was kind of a relief when it was all over.
And as corrected by superfan Christopher, Tara Blaise shared the stage to sing backup for the band.... Highlight of the show was then Davey Macmanus stepped down and sang in the center of the audience.
* A note on Birch is that she has these incredible legs, but too bad they were well-hidden behind her piano on stage.
03/29/2009 17:50:12 ♥ vu ()
♥weheartmusic.com♥podcast.weheartmusic.com♥news.weheartmusic.com
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08/10/08 Westfair Amphitheatre Council Bluffs, Iowa
08/13/08 Sziget Festival Budapest 08/14/08 Frequency Festival Salzburg 08/15/08 Gambel Open Air Gambel 08/16/08 Highfield Festival Erfurt 08/17/08 Beautiful Days Festival Exeter 08/19/08 Lucky Rijseen 08/20/08 Traum Kiel 08/21/08 Festival Malmo 08/23/08 Reading Festival Reading 08/24/08 Leeds Festival Leeds 09/12/08 The Asylum Portland, Maine 09/15/08 Starland Ballroom Sayreville, NJ, New Jersey 09/16/08 The Electric Factory Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 09/18/08 The Norva Norfolk, Virginia 09/19/08 House of Blues North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina 09/20/08 Headliners Columbia, South Carolina 09/21/08 Amos Southend Charlottle, North Carolina 09/23/08 Varsity Theatre Baton Rouge, Louisiana 09/24/08 House of Blues Dallas, Texas 09/25/08 Verizon Wireless Theatre Houston, Texas 09/27/08 Schnepf Farms (EDGEFEST) Queen Creek, Arizona 09/28/08 Viejas Concerts In The Park Alpine, California 09/29/08 House of Blues Anaheim, California 10/10/08 Knitting Factory Boise, Idaho 10/11/08 Roseland Theatre Portland, Oregon 10/13/08 MacEwan Hall Calgary, Alberta 10/14/08 Commodore Ballroom Vancouver, British Columbia 10/16/08 Bell Memorial Union Concert - Cal State Chico Chico, California 10/17/08 Arcata Community Center Arcata, California 10/18/08 Radisson Hotel Sacramento - The Grove Sacramento, California 10/19/08 The Fillmore San Francisco, California 10/20/08 The Fillmore San Francisco, California 10/24/08 The Pearl - Palms Concert Theatre Las Vegas, Nevada 11/02/08 Academy Newcastle 11/03/08 Barrowlands Glasgow 11/05/08 Astoria London 11/06/08 Academy Manchester 11/07/08 Ambassador Dublin 11/08/08 Academy Birmingham 11/09/08 Academy Bristol 11/11/08 013 Tilburg 11/12/08 Gr Freiheit Hamburg 11/13/08 Tragarn Goteborg 11/14/08 Rockefeller Oslo 11/15/08 Arenan Stockholm 11/16/08 Vega Copenhagen 11/18/08 Huxley’s Berlin 11/19/08 Turbinhalle Oberhausen 11/20/08 Schachthof Wiesbaden 11/21/08 Tonhalle Munich 11/22/08 Z7 Basel 11/24/08 Listhalle Graz 11/27/08 Estragon Bologna 11/29/08 Razzmatazz 2 Barcelona 11/30/08 Rockstar Bilbao 12/02/08 Elysee Montmartre Paris 12/03/08 Limburghal Genk 12/04/08 Melkweg Amsterdam 12/06/08 Cruzan Amphitheatre West Palm Beach, Florida |
I'm sitting here on the couch, waiting for food and listening to the upcoming Bark, Hide and Horn's National Road for review for 8/12, and I swear the guy is singing "leave my belly alone." I can't be bothered to check my iPod to find out what track that is (edit: the track is "This Abdomen Has Flown").
We have a few things coming up, which I'm pretty excited about. Derek is going to handle Tricky - Knowle West Boy for September 9th and Soup will be taking the Deerhunter - Microcastle for October 28th. The big one for me will probably be Noah and the Whale - Peaceful, The World Lays Me Down, the band that apparently Laura Marling used to be in before she went solo.
So basically, some really great, awesome, quality bands that we really love are coming in! You can always figure out what we're reviewing on site.w♥m (check out September 9th - insane, eight albums!) I must really sound like a broken record by now, but if you think you have what it takes to produce a 200+ word article/review, please contact me. At the moment, I have way too much music submitted and not enough dedicated writers.
So today, I will be heading out to the annual Irish Fair of Minnesota (you would think they would put this closer to St Patrick's Day?). I am especially looking forward to seeing Flogging Molly at the event, they're scheduled to appear around 9pm tonight.
If I'm not completely wasted, I might update to let you know how it turned out.
Update: There was a whole lot of walking around yesterday. The event was free, but you had to buy these "food tickets", which are really design for you to spend 6 tickets and have 4 useless tickets left over (so you're basically giving $4 to the event holder). The food and drinks were understandably overpriced as the whole event was free. Yet, for some reason, I still need to complain about my $7 Fish & Chips.
We didn't spend too much time at the Irish craft stuff, but wasted some time listening to Irish storytelling, watching sheeps grazing the grass (not. very. exciting.), and looking at new/traditional Irish photographies and art.
The real attraction for us was the Flogging Molly show, who actually arrived earlier than scheduled. They were very anxious to get on stage and rock out. And it shows, Dave King came on stage with a pint in his hand, dressed in a suit - and launched into "Paddy's Lament", a very rocking song from their latest album, Float.
He made jokes about how they went to the Science Museum and discovered that the only dinosaurs there, were themselves. There were also lyrics changes, notably anytime a location was mentioned, it was changed to "Saint Paul, Minnesota".
After five songs, the mostly young, punk, goth(?), gypsy crowd started getting rowdy and eventually forced me to flee my stage left corner. I had to leave through the front barrier, as looking behind me, there were over 1,000 people staring back at me. I got this sense of enviness as the young folks at the front thought I had been stage diving and wanted to hi-five me, screaming "yeaah man, you raawk!"
Yep, that's me alright, crowd surfer extraordinaire.
I ended up watching the rest of the full set, over 1½ hour, complete with a two-song encore, with three police officers enjoying the show from the back.
Here are the last couple of weeks in music news. You may remember Ryan's post about Pitchfork Music Festival 2007, well it looks like 2008 will be another great year for this Chicago, Illinois-based organization. The Pitchfork Festival 2008 will take place July 18-20th and will feature over forty bands.
I think this Festival is shaping up quite well, and who knows? Maybe in a few years it will rival some of England's more famous Festivals like Glastonbury and Reading.
For a limited time, Pitchfork and eMusic are giving away 25 tracks for free. Since we have covered many of these bands, I have included links to our previous articles below. Grab it now because last year's 2007 Sampler is no longer available.
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01 Mission of Burma: "Academy Fight Song"
02 Boris: "Ibitsu" 03 Cut Copy: "Lights & Music" 04 Jarvis Cocker: "Don't Let Him Waste Your Time" 05 Spiritualized: "Soul on Fire" 06 Extra Golden: "OK-Oyot System" 07 The Dodos: "Jodi" 08 High Places: "Sandy Feat" (7" Version) 09 Mahjongg: "Those Birds Are Bats" 10 Atlas Sound: "River Card" 11 Bon Iver: "For Emma" 12 No Age: "Neck Escaper" 13 Times New Viking: "Drop-Out" |
14 The King Khan & BBQ Show: "I'll Never Belong" 15 Jay Reatard: "My Shadow" 16 Dizzee Rascal: "Sirens" 17 Fuck Buttons: "Bright Tomorrow" 18 HEALTH: "Glitter Pills" 19 Animal Collective: "Grass" 20 Boban Markovic Orkestar: "Balkan Fest" 21 A Hawk and a Hacksaw and the Hun Hangar Ensemble: "Serbian Cocek" 22 Les Savy Fav: "The Equestrian" 23 Elf Power: "Never Believe" 24 The Apples in Stereo: "Energy" 25 Dinosaur Jr.: "Almost Ready" |
All I have to say is: Dinosaur Jr are still together? Far out.
Other news should really come as no surprise: France is banning pirates, Duffy got some mojo, LeAnn Rimes makes her very own "My Little Pony", Beatles song making it onto Rock Band, insanely expensive gasoline prices are causing indie bands to stop touring, and how to make your very own Daft Punk suit. That last story inspired me to actually want to buy these inexpensive neon lights to design my own "Sleeper" logo shirt or something? Weekend project, anyone?
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Links:
www.weheartmusic.com
 Hellapop Festival (May 24th) ♥ Bands: The Definite Articles, Teamawesome!, iji, Tinkture, Hey Three Eyes, The Creepy Crawlies, James Rabbit, Charlie Don’t Surf!, The Paper Orchestra, The Panduhs, Old Hack, Tippy the Vegan, Music from Anteria |
Okay, so I've never been an avid calendar user (too much work!), but lately I've been organizing myself with W♥M Calendar so I know which concert dates to attend and what CDs are being release when. Since I also use Outlook for calendaring, Google does offer Calendar Sync which seamlessly sync both outlook and W♥M calendar (so I can manage offline or online).
I believe the calendar is shared among all the weheartmusic.com users by default (but you can set it to private or "friends only"), so, anyroad, I know someone will be attending Hellapop Festival (May 24). This looks really fun, and I would be there too if I lived in California.
I thought I'd mention two bands doing this festival that I thought looked interesting.
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Tinkture looks like a group of very young ladies, into DIY punk, possibly Riot. I thought "Pyrotechnics" is a very fast and feels very garagey. The vocals has a southern sound to it too. I generally like these DIY punk, as you've probably figured from my various punk articles.
I couldn't help but think of Supergrass's "Alright" when I heard "Farther Away" by Shadow Puppet Theatre. These guys looks very hip and are snappy dressers on top of that. Plus, they seem like they would hang out at all night cafes. They are from Modesto, and consists of singer/guitarist, Adam Bishop, and upright bassist, Jessica Jones.
These are only two of the many, many bands that's attending the Hellapop Festival, so be sure to check them out. That Team Awesome sounds pretty fun, as well as Charlie Don't Surf (which may have stolen their title from Apocalypse Now, but they seem too young to actually have seen that movie - so I vote for Veronica Mars).
Links: myspace.com/popsongromance
www.tinkture.com
myspace.com/shadowpuppettheatre
This may just be an excuse to post as much of my record collection as possible in one post, but at least there's a common theme between them. You may not know him but you're bound to have heard one of the many countless bands he's been involved with; our Rollo has his finger in many musical pies, so to speak. Oh and, you deffinately know his sister. What's with everyone having famous sisters nowadays?
Trip hop festival faves Faithless are probably Rollo's most well known connection as one of three main members of the group, though as the band's permanent producer he's rarely seen onstage with them. Included is Mass Destruction, and no clues needed as to the lyrical content there. Whether it's the anti-Bush message or much more indie-ska-rock feel to the tune I don't know, but it's one of the only Faithless tracks I've been tempted to purchase.
Start of the wildcard stuff is On A Beautiful Day by Skinny. Although having no musical input, Skinny's album Taller from which the track is taken was released on Rollo's record lable Cheeky. The track samples the Wallace Collection's 1968 "Daydream", but you're much more likely to have heard that via an advert featuring I Monster's Dayd ream In Blue, also sampling the same tune and included as it's frankly just better than Skinny's efforts.
And if you don't like any of that lot, there's plenty more Rollo remixes and productions available, ranging from Sarah McLachlan and Simply Red to Robbie Williams and the Spice Girls. But I can't keep posting his stuff forever, so I'll be gone for the day.
The recent spate of hot UK weather (ok, hot here is any time it doesn't rain...) tells me summer's here kids. And while I should probably be posting Grandaddy tracks to celebrate, I just noticed a lack of summery festival gods Basement Jaxx entries here, so I feel I should repair this crime by posting as much as possible... well, some...
I don't have much to say about them really. I'm sure you know who the late 90s UK electronic dance duo are; even the youngsters can't fail to have noticed them harassing the UK festival scene in the past few years.
Anyway, if you don't, here's 2003's Good Luck and 1999's Bingo Bango, incidently one of the first CDs I ever bough. If you need to know more, only wikipedia has the answer. And I'm sure you'll be able to catch them at all manner of festivals later this summer. Now just pray it don't start raining again...
- Christopher
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Tour 21 Sep Northunmbria Uni, Newcastle 22 Sep Met Uni, Leeds 23 Sep Academy 2, Manchester 25 Sep Junction, Cambridge 26 Sep Astoria, London 28 Sep Garage, Glasgow 29 Sep Moshulu, Aberdeen 30 Oct Uni Foundry, Sheffield 02 Oct Waterfront, Norwich 03 Oct Central Station, Wrexham 04 Oct Pyramid Centre, Portsmouth 05 Oct Irish Centre, Birmingham 07 Oct Old Market, Brighton 08 Oct Trent Uni, Nottingham 09 Oct Lemon Grove, Exeter 10 Oct Anson Rooms, Bristol 11 Oct Carling Academy, Oxford 14 Oct The Sugarclub, Dublin 21 Oct Spring & Airbrake, Belfast
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Crammed into the back of a small tent at one of the summer’s last music festivals, Jack Penate affirmed his successful arrival on the indie-pop music scene. The start of his set was greeted by a respectable sized crowd, but as he belted out one song after another, the hoards started to drift into the tent. Penate had pulled off an incredible feat: as the Beastie boys screamed unbearably down the microphones on Bestival’s mainstage, Penate’s energetic jumping-arounds worked an ever-growing crowd in the BBCintroducing… tent into frenzy.
By no means comparable to any of his previous gigs, Penate this time appeared much more confident and with an air of knowing why he was there. Almost entirely gone was the nervous schoolboy, and in his place was a performer who was beginning to believe in his own material. After a fantastic rendition of spit at stars, he nonchalantly suggested playing Torn on the platform to an already worked up audience. But before he allowed them their next song, he casually spoke to his fans: asked them how they were doing (fantastically); and, with voice slightly trembling, remarked how he couldn’t quite believe they had all deserted the headliner’s for him (“aren’t the Beastie Boys on stage now?”).
His uniquely seductive mix of arrogance and a sense of being slightly overwhelmed teased the audience who clearly didn’t want to be anywhere else. The start of Torn on the platform was greeted with cheers from throughout the tent and the queue that was steadily forming outside but even though it was past midnight and the crowd had spent all day dancing, there seemed no intention of going home.
Penate’s diffidence seemed to have a reverse effect on the crowd and as shoulders were mounted to get a better view, and sweat wiped from brows, the audience only demanded more from their star. The set was finished with the forthcoming single Second Minute or Hour and was performed to now a screaming sea of sweaty revellers.
Penate seems to have learnt exactly when his enviable energy is required but also when to remain absolutely quiet and let the naive musician in him reign. This will be the last time Penate is banished to the fringe tent: he has earned his place on the stage with the big boys of the music world. I only hope he can still exude charm performing to such a larger crowd.
Dominic Rampat lives in London and studies at the London School of Economics. This was his first time at Bestival but he recommends it to anyone with a penchant for nearly raw sausages, alcohol, sex, good music and sleeping in tents.
September 16, 2007 2:10 PM
Dom
my♥posts
dom@weheartmusic.co.uk
jackpenate.com
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Tour
11 Oct Chester Playhouse - Chester, NS 12 Oct Astor Theatre - Liverpool, NS 13 Oct Rebecca Cohn Audit. - Halifax, NS 14 Oct Fred. Playhouse - Fredericton, NB 16 Oct Capitol Theatre - Moncton, NB 17 Oct Festival Theatre - Wolfville, NS 18 Oct Confed. Center, Charlottetown, PEI 19 Oct Holy Heart of Mary - St John's, NFLD 22 Feb Rebecca Cohn - Halifax, NS Albums
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Being somebody who is prone to unapologetic bouts of sentimentality, I recently attended two performances by the award winning Canadian singer, Jill Barber. She first came to my attention in 2006 when she was recommended to me by a former lover. Unfortunately, her presence in my iTunes library was short lived as she was removed in the Great Broken Hearted Purge of the same year. While I do not regret deleting the likes of Bush, Pearl Jam and other bands that had crept into my collection due to love, it was with a reluctant soul I erased a few folks and Jill was amongst their number.
Fast forward to Summer Sundae 2007... While traveling down memory lane, exorcising many ghosts along the way, I noticed her name in the lineup of The Musician Stage.
Aside from ticking all three boxes for the perfect woman; the voice of a Siren, the looks of Venus and, of course, she is Canadian. I wanted to know if my old heart could withstand seeing her performance. Would memories of my old love flood back? Am I still broken hearted?
Love songs and horoscopes have a few things in common. If you are looking for answers then you'll find them in both. But be warned; most love songs either never really apply to anybody but the person they were intended for or, like horoscopes, are so general that any weak minded fool could be satisfied with the answer on offer. Unlike horoscopes, love songs are real. Listening to the love songs of Ms Barber, I found enough solidarity to trigger my softer side...
...If I wanted to plunge into the depths of corny review writing (if I haven't already), I would at this point claim that her songs touched my soul and re-awoke my spirit to the joys of love. But while I am sentiMENTAL, I am not a wet and soppy teenage poet. So instead, I will tell you that while listening to her, I had a manly moment, drank a beer and felt compelled to watch a sporting event like Ice Hockey. She has a love song involving Ice Hockey. Unlike a lot of singer-songwriters who touch on love, I managed to find a lot of reality in her songs. For instance, A 7th Minor brought back memories of a girl singing campfire songs to me as we walked from the train station, my hatred of the time zones and the ocean...and how all the songs in the world sometimes cannot mend a heart that is shattered...
A week later I caught another one of her performances at the Green Man Cafe. I turned down the chance to see Seasick Steve and Gruff Rhys who were playing at the same time. I do not regret it.
To demonstrate the impact of her voice, the Green Man Cafe stage was almost deserted when she began and near full by the time she had finished. Songs like Measures & Scales and A 7th Minor converted simple folks drinking at the bar into fans.
I had a little grin on my face and a tear in my eye when she covered Cinnamon Hearts by Matthew Barber, her equally as talented older brother. I remember sharing Cinnamon Hearts one snowy day in Saskatoon. She played the full set with a can of beer by her side and a smile on her face. Hopefully, if she returns to the Green Man next year, they will give her a big stage!
Her UK tour was brief. Like a whirlwind romance, it was over almost as soon as it had started. However, I discovered she supported Tunng as part of the Twisted Folk Tour in 2006 so I am hopefully she will return to the UK and Europe at some point. If you conduct a simple google search, there are plenty of reviews online of her performance on the Twisted Folk tour. To summarise, most of them conclude that her stage presence is "sexy, sweet, seductive and bubbly" before going on to mention that she is bloody good singer and overall musician. Or in the words of Kris Kristofferson, "Jill Barber is a real songwriter... a damn good songwriter."
I am guessing she leaves a trail of love sick fools behind at every gig she plays. While I was not one of those fools, she reminded me of a time I was love in and for that, I am grateful. Am I still broken hearted? Well, this is a music review and I don't really see how answering that would be important.
If you would like to hear more of Jill Barber's music, then I strongly
recommend checking out her website as her full album and EP are
streamed. She really is one of the shining star of the Canadian music scene.
September 3, 2007 03:48 AM
Ryan
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www.jillbarber.com
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