This is sort of our weekly, Kasey Kasem-inspired luddite DIY version of a podcast. Every week, we try to mix it up, offer a little something for everyone: sad songs, funny songs, upbeat songs, quieter stuff, you name it. We’ve designed this as something you can do on your lunch break if you work at a computer (and you have headphones – your boss won’t approve of a lot of this stuff). If you don’t like one of these songs, you can always go on to the next one: every link here will take you to each individual song. As always, the #1 song here will appear on our Best Songs of 2010 list at the end of the year.
1. Norden Bombsight – Raven
Macabre art-rock menace from the Brooklyn band’s brilliant album Pinto – the possibly only song ever to immortalize West Haven, Connecticut.
2. Ana Popovic – You Complete Me
Balkan blues guitar genius. Can’t believe she isn’t better known in the US – amazing stuff
3. Hot Rize – Diamond Joe
The bluegrass classic – the band are back together with a new guitarist after a ten year hiatus
4. The Thrift Store Cowboys – 7s and 9s
Southwestern gothic, Wilco meets the Walkabouts.
5. Open Ocean – Daydreaming
The Cocteau Twins visit Twin Peaks, Washington. They’re at the Convent of St. Cecilia’s, 21 Monitor St. in Greenpoint sometime on 10/23.
6. Jessica Pavone – I Must Have Done Something Karmically to Deserve This
Catchy/abrasive/ethereal violin rock groove – dynamics central.
7. Kyle Eastwood – Andalucia
Clint’s jazz bassist kid – music runs in the family. That’s Jim Rotondi on trumpet.
8. The Salesmen – She’s So Punctual
Funny retro new wave hit by these subversive, theatrical Pac NW rockers.
9. Sister Sparrow & the Dirty Birds – Just My Eyes
Country swing with a Memphis soul tinge. They’re at the big room at the Rockwood on 10/23.
10. Darker My Love – Backseat
Perfect Rutles-esque Beatles ripoff.
September 27, 2010
Posted by theamyb |
blues music, country music, jazz, lists, Music, music, concert, rock music | 80s music, 80s rock, americana, americana rock, ana popovic, ana popovic you complete me, art-rock, avant-garde music, beatlesque, bluegrass, bluegrass music, blues music, classic jazz, darker my love backseat, darker my love band, dreampop, eighties music, eighties rock, highway rock, hot rize, hot rize diamond joe, indie rock, instrumental music, jazz, jessica pavone, jessica pavone i must have done something karmically to deserve this, kyle eastwood, kyle eastwood andalucia, Music, new music, new wave, new wave music, noir rock, Norden Bombsight, norden bombsight four on the lawn, open ocean band, open ocean daydreaming, pop band, pop music, psychedelia, psychedelic music, psychedelic pop, psychedelic rock, rock music, salesman she's so punctual, salesmen band, shoegaze, sister sparrow dirty birds, sister sparrow just my eyes, southwestern gothic, thrift store cowboys, thrift store cowboys 7s and 9s, top ten songs, top ten songs of the week, twang rock |
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“Usually our music is described as brooding, and dark, and melancholic,” Redhooker frontman/guitarist Stephen Griesgraber told the hushed crowd at Littlefield late in their show Saturday night. “This one’s not,” he grinned, and led the atmospheric avant-chamber group into a long, carefree, bucolic, absolutely gorgeous instrumental that he said was about fish. Fluid ripples flying from his fingers as he picked, he eventually ceded the distantly bluegrass-tinged melody to new keyboardist Derek Muro and his Fender Rhodes, the violins of Andie Springer and Maxim Moston managing to be simultaneously animated and hypnotic. It perfectly capsulized the mood they’d set early on and maintained throughout their set. Their latest album Vespers is aptly titled, a still, ambient series of nocturnes. Onstage this time around they took them to a land of midnight sun, imbuing them with a quiet joy.
What’s even better is that the band has started improvising live, with tremendously captivating results. Everyone was using his or her effects pedals, Griesgraber experimenting with drones, loops and sheets of feedback which he’d use to ease the compositions in to the point where a violin or two, or Muro’s organ, would add a texture or a single complementary note or phrase, pedaling or sustaining it depending on what the rest of the band was doing. Bedside, a trance-inducing rondo, got a stretched-out treatment which emphasized both its baroque roots and cinematic sweep. The sheer volume of the songs was one transformative aspect, the band digging in a little for a wider dynamic spectrum than on the album, Griesgraber reaching for a little extra oomph as the strings would swell, Peter Hess’ bass clarinet weaving in and out of the melody when he wasn’t anchoring it with a low drone or a contrapuntal bassline of sorts. At one point, the whole group had their pedals going, Hess tapping on the body of his instrument, adding yet another level of reverberating, pointillistic rhythm while Springer tossed off some sparks with some judicious pizzicato phrasing. Much of what they play could be characterized as horizontal or minimalist, but horizontality doesn’t often offer the opportunity for this kind of interplay or just plain fun. The crowd was rapt all the way through. It would have been interesting to stick around for headliner Kelli Rudick, who was schedule to hit at around eleven, but the threat of a midnight domino effect on the trains (you never know with the MTA – trains on the way there, ostensibly completely FUBAR, were fine) was reason to err on the side of caution instead of further adventure. And Redhooker would have been a hard act to follow in any case.
September 27, 2010
Posted by delarue |
avant garde music, classical music, concert, Live Events, Music, music, concert, New York City, review | ambient music, andie springer, atmospheric music, avant-garde music, baroque music, chillout music, classical music, concert, concert review, derek muro, horizontal music, indie classical, instrumental music, littlefield brooklyn, maxim moston, Music, music review, new music, peter hess, peter hess clarinet, redhooker, redhooker brooklyn, redhooker brooklyn review, redhooker littlefield, redhooker littlefield review, redhooker review, stephen griesgraber |
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