Harmony Baking in the Sun

Have you ever sat/stood in the sun for 8 hours+ and listened to live music? Then how can you consider yourself a DIE HARD fan...I know some of you are thinking..."I never said i was a DIE HARD spinmaster" and to those I say "oh ok then...I apologize" Folks let me tell you about some of the things I saw. I saw nonstop music in front of my very own eyes and not only from where I sat. I saw it from around the world SIMULTANEOUSLY.

A performer would end their 20 min set...and as the stage would revolve to reveal a whole new set of equipment we would be shown a performance happening in London, Australia, or Beijing. I have to say I found myself at times...dare I say it...Overwhelmed. I could not believe that there was all this music Going on. The show kicked off in Australia at about 9:30 PM in the US on July 6th. And it was a revolution that the world really needed. I'm not sure how many people were really affected by the performances. I don't know how many people will change the error of their ways. The american Public I know doesn't really like to listen to anything. So we'll see what happens in the course of the next three years.


Anyways back to the music. I must say I have never seen the likes and varieties that were on stage in front of me before. There was easily something for everyone. KT TUNSTALL opened for the NEW YORK/NEW JERSEY crowd. She carried herself very well I thought not easy opening first in-front of giants stadium sized crowd. From what I remember TAKING BACK SUNDAY was the next to perform and they unfortunately played all new tracks. Which was a little disappointing but in an effort to save the world it's all about the HITS! No matter how long a history you have people will only respond to you if they can hear you on the radio. KEITH URBAN certainly surprised me, with his cover of GIMME SHELTER. It was a duet with Alicia Keys and wouldn't be the ONLY time in the WORLD that the song would be covered. Because we were shown a DUET from africa later in the day by ANGELIQUE KIDJO and JOSS STONE. Which was definitely more soulful and had some real authentic african flavor to it. Both renditions were amazing and did the stones proud but the New York version had the pace that really livened up the crowd. Even with the likes of AKON and LUDACRIS that followed I was more or less satisfied with. I found myself entranced with everything they had to say and do. I wasn't necessarily blown away but nor was I ready to throw my bag of tomatos...that I...somehow got through securtity....I just told em it was an ongoing compost pile and to NOT LET ME IN with them they'd be killing the earth "YOU DON'T WANT TO BE THE ONE THAT DESTROYS THE EARTH DO YOU?" Boy did they back down...imagine that on your resume. "the guy who destroyed the earth"

Wow anyways it was time for some alternative acts. So instead of spreading them out and giving them their own time and place they squeezed them and put em back to back. AFI was strong Davey Havok's Vocals had never sounded better. While wearing pants that he painted on he proclaimed his ideals and things he's been doing to save the world. Telling us that he has been a veagan for about 10 years now. GOOD FO HIM. FALL OUT BOY who I was surprised to see on the bill and also more surprised all their 14 year old fans were able to afford to $50+ tickets. Anyways Pete Wentz had his classic effort to try and steal the show yet realized he probably couldn't so decided to do some self conscious speeches saying "We'll just get out of your way...and we'll make it quick" Clearly he felt the tension of performing in front of the world. I would be a little nervous too if this band of my came from nothing and has evolved into a cultural teen popper phenomenon WHICH SEEMS like overnight, but the boys in Fall out boy definitely did their homework and put in the many sleepless nights that make up ROCK AND ROLL.

Now my order's gonna get a little funky here because I'm not quite sure who came out next but I think it was John Mayer who played a pretty motivational set. And provided us with faces of shock and horror as he twanked around on his rattle-trap guitar. I'll admit he can play, and he seems like a nice guy. BUT MARK MY WORDS I will NEVER PURCHASE AN ALBUM...he was good listen to his music folks. MELISSA ETHERIDGE I feel came out next and provided the WORLD with her tribute song that came with the movie AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH. This might have been the defining moment of the day. That really channeled everybody's INNER HIPPIE she had a good half hour set it seemed that dragged on for way to long full of speeches and spoken word that easily motivated and tied together the whole reason why we were there. And was the only person to make use of the BIG BAR of WIDESCREEN TV's in the center of the stage to provide lyrics for the whole crowd...because lets be honest none of us know and Melissa Etheridge songs...unless you consider the chorus to "Come to my window" a song.

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MORE TO FOLLOW LATER

A CONCERT FOR A CLIMATE IN CRISIS//// ALLITERATION COOL!

Favorite Things: Blood Red Shoes!

A month and no updates, what the hell is wrong with me?! Well, I have just the thing to make it up to you I swear. Laura-Mary from Blood Red Shoes' Favorite Things. Hailing from Brighton, England this intrepid twosome, comprised of Steven Ansell and Laura-Mary Carter has created some of what I humbly feel to be the best rock music in recent memory. I had the distinct honor of seeing them live the other week at the Highline Ballroom, in what I'm about 90% sure was their first stateside show. Sorry to sound like just another run of the mill music writer. I really do love them a lot though. They have that ineffable spark of whatever the hell it is that makes me shut up and take notice and/or start dancing. Speaking of dancing that is exactly what the crowd at that show didn't seem to want to do much of. But screw them, I'll post a clip of the show at the end of this post so you can see just why not dancing, or in some other way moving around, was a knuckle-head decision. And without further ado, here are Laura-Mary's responses to our little questionnaire (and as a side note she chose not to answer all the questions as everyone this is sent to is welcome to do)....

Laura Mary
Band: hood

Book: what a carve up! by jonathan coe

Movie: harvey (with james stewart)

Color: red

Animal: penguin

Artist: benjamin shadbolt

Poet: samuel beckett

President/Prime Minister/ Royal Family member: hugo chavez

Food: aubergine (eggplant!)

Phobia: insects getting into your ears

Word: plinth

Place: paris

Musical Term: sforzando

Childhood toys: the ghostbusters house


Thank you so much Laura-Mary, and Steven if you by any chance read this we'd love to hear from you too! And as promised as your reward for reading the whole post heres a video of them playing their new single "its getting boring by the sea" live at the Highline Ballroom. You cant see Steven very well, but I'm rather impressed I was able to find a video of it at all. Appréciez.

Favorite Things Rewind: Mates of State

So this is a pulled article from an old "Static" issue that appears to be from Nov/Dec 2003 (I say appears because apparently they weren't into dating things back then at the station). At any rate they somehow managed to get replies from both Kori and Jason of Mates of State. The questions are written exactly as they were in the old zine, and without my updates and modifications, which also explains errors in grammar like "fictitious character" but ahh well. With that, keep in mind that both Kori and Jasons answers are circa 3+ years ago and will likely have changed somewhat since then.

First up, Kori:

Band:
no favorite.

Book:
The Red Tent. Anita Diamant

Movie:
Annie Hall

Color:
Lt blue or Red

Animal:
Siamese Cat

Artist:
Diane Arbus

Poet:
Auden

President (or Royal Family Member):
FDR

Food:
lemons

Phobia:
lots

Song of the moment:
Not Earned (Palomar)

Song of Your Own:
Separate the People

Fictitious Character:
"President" Bush

Word:
word

Place:
Huahini, Tahiti

Number:
4 or any multiple of it, esp 16

One Hit Wonder (song):
Come on Eileen

Childhood Toy:
tape recorder

Famous Quote:
you are what you eat

And now for Jason...

Band:
Too many good ones to have just one favorite

Book:
The Favorite Game by Leonard Cohen

Movie:
Wild Strawberries by Ingmar Bergman

Color:
Silver

Animal:
the Lynx

Artist:
Dali

Poet:
Auden

President (or Royal Family Member):
William

Food:
Shalimar

Phobia:
Failure

Song of the moment:
Baby- O's Mutantes

Song of your own:
Gotta Get a Problem

Fictitious Character:
Bugs

Word:
HMS. DBLCHBS

Place:
France

Number:
13

One Hit Wonder (song):
Outta My Head

Childhood Toy:
Ducky

Famous Quote:
Shit or get off the pot

Irving Plaza: Electrelane and The Blow

Greetings and salutations from Boulder, Colorado. I'm back home visiting family and as my car doesnt work and I am stuck in the house, so I decided I should get some blogging done. I'm starting to realize I think about blogging alot more than I actually post them. On the plane ride here I was editing blog posts in my head that I had been meaning to post for days. So, now I'm trying to remedy this.

Tuesday night was the Electrelane and The Blow show that I kept talking about. I thought I was an Electrelane fan before but now Im a total convert. They were better than I ever would have expected live. And, can I just say, I have never in my life seen a girl look more f#$!ing bad ass in a dress than lead guitarist Mia Clarke. Hard as I tried I couldn't come up with a pic to illustrate exactly what I mean. But here's a shot of her last year wearing a Ramones shirt... just as good. Choice in clothing aside, Clarke's guitar prowess really surprised me. Mind you I knew the band was good but I wasn't expecting to leave the show with another guitar hero. Whether it be delivering a deliciously clever and complicated riff, banging the guitar into her amp to create feedback noise, or coaxing it into a madcap run of scratches and wails, she did not for a second crack that calm exterior you see above. Which of course made the bad-assery all the more awesome. And yes, I did just say bad-assery. Verity Susman also impressed me with her multi-instrumental talents. She seemed just as comfortable behind the guitar as she did the keyboard and approached them both with a sort of barely contained ferocity. She was especially impressive behind the keyboard durring the first few songs, and I couldnt tell whether to look at her or Clarke.

Khaela Maricich of The Blow, was also a force to behold as she preformed without her recording partner Jona Bechtolt. It takes serious nerve to get up on stage by yourself without even an instrument to hide behind and entertain a group of people not necissarily there to see you. But of course, that is exactly what she did. She was funny, exuberantly quirky, and never stopped moving. She was so good in fact I almost really just dont know what to say. So instead here's a clip of the genius at work from a show in seattle earlier this year.

In my search for more info I came across this really good article about the blow from Fader magazine, that contains some really nice photos (like this one) of the band taken by Jason Nocito. Jason Nocito. So check that out.

In summation the only thing missing from the evening was our dear Tender Forever. Seems to me that would have made it a perfect concert. But we can't have it all and it was DAMN good anyway. Also I promise to start ranting about more than just these four bands. Really I do.

Favorite Things: Tender Forever

Once upon a time WSVA had a zine. It was a paper zine, yknow... old skool. It was called Static. Xzyqunity basically is Static only with a cooler, more original name that has nothing to do with WNYU and is, of course, on the web. At any rate Static, it was recently discovered, used to have a feature called "Favorite Things" which was basically a short list of questions, "the kind of list that would be fun to read but not take up too much of their busy rockin' lives or scare them off." We've decided this was a brilliant idea and have begun to send out bands a slightly updated version of the original questionnaire. I'll be posting the reply's as I get them and possibly adding a few of the old ones cuz they can be really interesting.

So I'm really excited, cuz the very first response is from Tender Forever! (whom I have previously ranted and raved about)
Heres what she had to say....

Band: I LOVE CODY CHESNUTT!!!

Book: i started recently to read Middle Sex. I kind of want to say that it is my favorite one, like everything i do at the moment is better than what i was doing one month ago, you know what i'm saying?

Movie: E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982) by Steven Spielberg / Freaks (1932) byy Tod Browning


Color: i'm always looking for things that are not appearing natural. Surprising things. I guess the surprising colors are the NEON ones. Totally unnatural, abusive of your eyes but magical. I LOVE THEM.

Animal: my best friend Valerie. She has a band called Squeeze Me i Squeak. She is a tiny mouse. She is my favourite.

Artist: I love anyone that can take me out of reality. Anyone.

Poet: Calvin Johnson.

President/Prime Minister/ Royal Family member: It's hard to choose a favorite politician. They are not something i could ever make up my mind about. But if there was one it'd be Segolene Royal.

Food: cheese, cheese, cheese

Phobia: loneliness, no man's land

Song of the moment: Ain't got no / I got life of Nina Simone.

Song of your own: MAKE OUT

Word: "Enormément"

Place: Olympia, Washington / Sevilla, Spain / Bordeaux, France.

Venue: I love playing in unusual places. I think my favorite was the museum of communication in Charleston, South Carolina. It was amazing to play in the middle of old HUGE videos cameras and holograms and first jukeboxes.

Number: Billions.

Musical Term: When you're on tour, you hear so many of them that sometimes it gets hilarious to think back on what you said. Every sentence pronounced in the venue at soundcheck is surrealist. Also all the vocabulary that labels use, or booking agent or who ever is involved is supernatural. My personal favorite one is "JAM SISTER!"

One hit wonder (song): Women eye, "no" by Why?

Childhood toys: wood sticks, mud, plastic boots, motor oil, ponds, my brothers, my boyfriends and a frog.

Quote: "we never know" Calvin and i on tour in our van.

No Shouts, No Calls

Ok so clearly I have so far failed at getting my cohorts to start posting. Matt (aka SpinMaster) has been freaking out about the new Arctic Monkeys so with any luck I can get him to put some of his excitement into a blog post form. Heres hoping.

I on the other hand am flipping out about the new Electrelane album "No Shouts, No Calls" Which finally hit American shores today. So, admitedly, I'm a little late to the party on this one. I mean sure I got this album early but it is, in truth, my first Electrelane album. That being said I cannot currently speak to this album's place in their discography and history or growth as a band. I will say that after hearing this album all I want is more more more. So naturally a rapid devouring of their previous releases is soon to come.

I have become totally enthralled with "No Shouts No Calls". Its songs span a broad range of styles and topics yet they all sound part of a larger whole. They fit. There's a lot of play with melody and tempo, especially in the instrumental tracks. Songs will start out fast, suddenly get slower and then gradually speed back up. It's not that electrelane is seeking to break standard music theory rules, more that they are seeking to experiment with the limits of a pop song. See what it can bear. The songs are also amazingly dynamic in their tone, and almost all can be interperated as either melencholy or hopeful, depending on their mood of the listener. I tend not to read other peoples reviews of albums so I don't really know if what I'm saying is the general consensus or not, and really I don't care, because this album to me speaks of lovers being seperated, of the places in-between motion and stillness, migration and home. Add to that skillful musicianship and wonderfully haunting and ethereal voices and you have yourself a damn good record. At least I think so.

For more Electrelane info checkout their website. And if you want to see them live they are playing next tuesday, the 15th, with The Blow and hopefully Tender Forever.