Mystery Song

I was reading the Guest List: Best of 2008, where artists choose their favorite albums or tracks of the year, on Pitchfork. The very last entry was M. Ward's, who I really enjoyed at ACL.

His list:
1. Becky Stark "Ocean and Ground"
2. Fleet Foxes "White Winter Hymnal"
3. T-Pain (ft. Lil' Wayne) "Can't Believe It"

I've definitely heard #2 and #3 (and love them). But who is Becky Stark? I searched on hype to hear her track, but nothing came up. I searched her name, but only 3 songs appeared, none of which were "Ocean and Ground." I did an itunes store search. No luck. This started to frustrate me. I did a google search on her name and found she is a member of the band Lavender Diamond. I hype searched this and still no luck. I think the song's made up.

Anyways, I listened to some Lavender Diamond tracks, and I totally dig it. The lead singer, Becky Stark, has a fabulous voice, a simple one that possesses a clarity like that of Karen Carpenter or Jenny Lewis. I like the tracks "You Broke My Heart" and "Open Your Heart." (Seems "heart" is a common theme...)

Christmas Music

Two points on this topic:

-About half the radio stations I like in Waco have changed to Christmas tunes.

-David Crowder started Sunday's service off with Feliz Navidad.

What has this world come to???

Bonnaroo Debacle

I've always found Kanye West annoying. Just like I find the Beastie Boys annoying. Not that I'm dogging their music style or creativity- I just find them annoying as people, not artists.

That being said, when I was on Digg earlier today and saw a link titled "The Top Ten Reasons Why Kanye West Is a Douche" I had to read further. I agreed with most of the list, but what I found most interesting were the posts people had left under the "top ten." Multiple people were complaining about what happened at Bonnaroo 2008.

Now, I haven't kept up with Bonnaroo since I last attended in 2006, but this festival is by far the most personal to me. Anyone who attends this festival loves music... well, and most love drugs and the 60's... but everyone loves music. Not the kind of "love" that you see from most people at other festivals. These fans know the life history of any major rock musician, the key the song is written in, side projects, obscure recordings, the background story of why songs were written. They're intense fans. They intimidate me.

Reading what Kanye did (demanding he would be the last show of the night, refusing to start until all other artists stopped playing, making fans wait almost 2 hours to begin his set, etc) infuriated me. It's bad enough to do that at any festival, but that should never be done at Bonnaroo.

My conclusion: I have lost respect for Kanye as a person and as an artist. The Beastie Boys still annoy me.

All About the Atmosphere

Atmosphere can either make or break a show. Don't believe me? Maybe you should have seen Delta Spirit and Dr. Dog at the Parish in Austin. Being hot and unable to breathe at a show? Not fun. (Ok, festivals excluded- simply because it's expected). I have been following Dr. Dog since the summer of 2007, shortly after their release of "We All Belong," and I had the chance to see them at Siren Fest when I lived in NYC for the summer. The atmosphere was perfect. Dr. Dog was great. At 2007's ACL I was able to see them a second time when they were a sudden addition to the festival's lineup. Again, a great show (and breathing, even in Austin's insane heat, was possible). At the Parish I was really excited to hear Dr. Dog's new stuff, but the heat forced me to do something I've done only once before in my life- leave early. Maybe if the Beatles came back for a reunion tour I would have suffered through it, but that level of discomfort is rarely worth seeing a show.

I've already seen Delta Spirit since (at this year's ACL), and I'm sure Dr. Dog will be back in Austin again.

I Judge People by Their Musical Taste

A typical question I ask within the first 30 minutes of meeting someone...
"What are your top 3 bands?"

A recent answer...
Guy: One Republic (Pop, but pop I enjoy. Wonder what else he's got in store)
Guy: Dave Matthews (Solid band- great live act. It's getting better...)
Guy: Nickelback (Stomach dropped)

Please visit: http://www.thewebshite.net/nickelback.htm

Foreign Records

The coolest European (or anywhere for that matter) souvenirs I've been given:

Vinyl Recordings of:
"Flight of the Conchords" by Flight of the Conchords
"Gold" by Ryan Adams
"Being There" by Wilco
"You'd Better Look Out Below" by Arcade Fire
"Dark Side of the Moon" by Pink Floyd

American Bang

I stumbled upon American Bang today and listened to the four songs they had on MySpace.

Songs:
Move to the Music
Traffic
The Stones
Jeepster (T Rex cover)

American Bang, of the self-described "southern-fried garage-rock" genre, remind me of a mix between Kings of Leon and Jet. This is one of the many shows I'm looking forward to at ACL in September.

SXSW Recap: Part Two

Guest Appearance by Ben Harper.

Rumors started to circulate: Ben Harper would be sitting in on Tom Freund's set Thursday night. Thursday night before work, we were at The Tap Room listening to Sixpence None the Richer (who were playing their first show in five years) when a fellow volunteer confirmed the rumor-- Ben Harper was doing a sound check at Pangaea. We left quickly and were fortunate to catch the back half of the sound check.

Ben, who produced Tom's soon-to-be-released album, played slide guitar through the whole set.

Afterwards, I was determined to meet Ben. Amy was too... so she walked over with me.

Actual conversation:
Me: Sorry to interrupt, but it was a pleasure to hear you tonight.
Ben: Thank you so much. I'm glad you enjoyed the show. I'm Ben. (Extends hand to me and Amy. We all shake hands.)
Me: Nice to meet you. It was great to hear you again-- I haven't heard you live since high school.
Tom: When was that? Last Year? (We all laugh.)
Me: Back in 2004 when you toured with Jack Johnson.
Ben: Thanks for helping out. It means a lot.

We then proceeded to carry out Ben and Tom's guitars downstairs, where they were loaded up.

National Record Store Day

We were fortunate to be in Austin for National Record Store Day. After a quick lunch at Whole Foods we headed across the street to Waterloo Records. There were boxes filled with records outside- 2 for $1. Instead of sifting through the boxes searching for a gem, we went into Waterloo and opted to purchase at least one vinyl to celebrate.

My choices:
Son Volt-- Straightaways
Whiskeytown-- Strangers Almanac
John Mayer-- Continuum

Amy's choices:
The Strokes-- Is This It
The Arcade Fire-- Funeral

SXSW Recap: Part One

It would be difficult to sum up my entire SXSW experience in one post, so this will be the first of several posts.

Amy, JC, Ben and I had the pleasure of working at Pangaea, a club that recently opened in Austin. We lucked out with a great stage manager, club managers and crew... oh yeah, and MUSIC.

Pangaea Line-up:

Wednesday Night:
Bruce Robison
Bonnie Bramlett
Daniel Lanois
Blue Mountain
The Felice Brothers

Thursday Night:
Richard Julian
Salvador Santana Band
Tom Freund
Brett Dennen
Men
Perry Farrell

Friday Night:
The Airborne Toxic Event
Christopher Denny
Jon Foreman
Nicole Atkins
The Vines
Robyn

Saturday Night:
Planningtorock
Jacques Renault & Justin Miller
Still Going
Holy Ghost!
Digitalism

Of the above bands, the only two I knew off the top of my head were The Vines (my dad bought me their CD my senior year of high school) and Robyn (think: "Show Me Love," circa 1997). Upon further investigation I also knew Perry Farrell (lead singer of Jane's Addiction), Jon Foreman (lead singer of Switchfoot), Nicole Atkins (singer-songwriter from NYC), and Salvador Santana (son of Carlos Santana). I knew I'd be in for a treat.

Question: Who?

Answer: http://2008.sxsw.com/music/festival/alphalist/

it's official.

My last college spring break will be spent volunteering for SXSW in Austin. I'm excited to hear up & coming bands. Many of my current favorite bands have played SXSW previous years.

Take 2006 for example. Artists included:
*Arctic Monkeys
*Jose Gonzales
*Cat Power
*Belle and Sebastian
*Jamie Cullum
*Neko Case
*Nickel Creek
*Of Montreal
...just to name a few.

Downside? I am volunteering 4 nights and am committed to one specific venue, so there will be several shows I'll have to miss out on. But hey, music at the cost of volunteer hours? Beautiful.

Cover or Composer?

What do most people think of when they hear "When the Stars Go Blue?" Tim McGraw? Bono? Cary Pierce? Tyler Hilton? The Corrs? Phil Lesh? ER? One Tree Hill? Who actually wrote this frequently covered song? Ahh, Ryan Adams, the ultimate songwriter.

Speaking of covers and Ryan Adams, he does one of the greatest covers I've ever heard- Oasis' "Wonderwall." He changes the tempo and emotion of the song-- in my opinion he makes the song much better (and I am an Oasis fan). If you're into songs Ryan Adams has covered, you should also check out his version of "Is This It?" by the Strokes.

never too late for resolutions

My resolution? See more live shows. It becomes quite difficult to blog when I'm not seeing any new music (the last post was far too long ago).

I always complain about having to drive to Austin or Dallas for shows, but I was fortunate enough to start my music year in good old Waco, TX. Jon McLaughlin and Matt Wertz played the annual Omega Kids concert, which all proceeds go to Kenya. Last year Dave Barnes and Andy Davis played. Not only was I able to stay in Waco, but the tickets were only $15.

Jon McLaughlin played first, opening with "Industry" as I had imagined he would. Immediately I loved the vigor with which he played. He was concentrated on the force and passion of his songs- not on note and pitch perfection. Between every song, he had several witty remarks. He said something like, "I'm going to play some new songs that I've been working on. You won't know them. And if you do... that's creepy, because I've never played them for anyone." The new songs had more of a jazz flare to them. McLaughlin played solo with a grand piano (he said he hadn't played on a piano that nice in a long time). This allowed the songs to sound similar to the ones off "Songs I Wrote and Later Recorded." On a side note, McLaughlin was just nominated for an Oscar for his performance of "So Close" in the Disney movie Enchanted.

Unlike Jon McLaughlin, who I have been following for a couple years, I had only heard two Matt Wertz songs (he played both). Wertz entered the stage wearing a shirt unbuttoned halfway down his chest. I had flashbacks to the first (and only) time I saw Gavin DeGraw-- "Oh, here comes the rocker who thinks he is the man." He began playing alone, and I must admit that he plays a mean rhythm guitar. The band entered half-way through the first song and the sound significantly improved. Wertz and his band had a lot of energy and actually managed to get the stuffy Baylor crowd dancing. I didn't know it was possible. My favorite song of the night was "Wesley, Why?" a heart-felt song about the death of his grandfather.

Great show. Both are worth seeing.