Give a little whistle!

i thought some of you might like this, it is pretty fun after all.
if you guys haven't heard "young folks" by peter, bjorn and john yet, i highly recommend it! i've been whistling it for 2 days straight now! it's so awesome!

yousendit link to download

WHISTLE IN! - a delightful mix cd featuring the art of whistling
compiled by sfh

1. Peter, Bjorn and John - Young Folks
2. Apollo Sunshine - Strange Things
3. Monty Python - Always Look on the Bright Side of Life
4. Peter Gabriel - Games Without Frontiers
5. Paul Simon - Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard
6. AIR - Alpha Beta Gaga
7. Lovin Spoonful - What a Day for a Daydream
8. Pat Benatar - Love is a Battlefield
9. The Bangles - Walk Like an Egyptian
10. Beck - Sissyneck
11. Andrew Bird - A Nervous Tick Motion of the Head to the Left
12. The Seekers - Georgy Girl
13. Mama Cass - Dream a Little Dream of Me
14. Bobby McFerrin - Don't Worry, Be Happy
15. The Tremeloes - Here Comes My Baby
16. Guns 'N' Roses - Patience
17. Gilbert O'Sullivan - Claire
18. The Shins - They'll Soon Discover
19. Clap Your Hands Say Yeah - Love Song No. 7
20. Scorpions - Wind of Change

Best of 2006!

Top 10 albums of 2006:

1. Belle and Sebastian - The Life Pursuit
2. Scissor Sisters - Ta-Dah
3. Beirut - Gulag Orkestar
4. Raconteurs - Broken Boy Soldier
5. Danielson - Ships
6. Regina Spektor - Begin To Hope
7. The Minders - It's A Bright, Guilty World
8. Band of Horses - Everything All The Time
9. Tapes N Tapes - The Loon
10. Destroyer - Rubies

Top 5 eps of 2006:

1. BRMC - Howl Sessions
2. Voxtrot - Mothers, Sisters, Daughters, & Wives
3. Pas/Cal - Dear Sir
4. Sambassadeur - Coastal Affairs
5. Dr. Dog - Takers & Leavers

Best cover art:

Beirut - Gulag Orkestar

Jarvis Cocker - Jarvis

IFD at Athens Popfest 2006!

Ideal Free Distribution @ 40 Watt in Athens, GA 8.12.2006


More Popfest videos all recorded by Chris Yetter.

Athens Popfest 2006 scrapbook.

Optical Atlas has posted the Athens Popfest 2006 Scrapbook and it's quite delightful. There are quotes from both Tony and I included. The Ideal Free Distribution was lucky enough to play the Popfest (duh.) and there are some pretty pictures and comments about our set included as well. It's like reliving the whole weekend all over again!
Seriously, good work, Jeff. I appreciate all the hard work and love you put into OA.

Put on my worried shoes...

Daniel Smith & Sufjan Stevens - "Worried Shoes" song review


“Worried Shoes” originally appeared on Daniel Johnston’s 1983 album Yip/Jump Music. During the period of this recording, Johnston would sit in his room, hit record on his tape deck and start playing. He recorded every tape live; there was no dubbing and certainly no editing. Obviously, the quality of these recordings is awful; it’s so lo-fi that my spoiled ears can barely make out Johnston’s song and on this track in particular the only accompanying instrument is some sort of primitive chord organ. Yet, the song prevails despite its many disadvantages. The raw emotion of Johnston’s lyrics cuts through all of the fuzz and is truly impressive.
Knowing Johnston’s history and struggles with mental illness, I can only assume he wrote this song from a personal perspective. “Worried Shoes” is a sad and desperate song, which illustrates his helplessness in going down a road he knew was going to be detrimental and unpleasant but simply being unable to stop himself. It wasn’t until Johnston found himself in a hopeless position, with no friends and no one to turn to that he literally sees a ray of hope. “I looked around and I saw the sun shining down and I took off my worried shoes.” The song ultimately ends on a positive note with Johnston declaring, “I've got a lot of walking to do and I don't want to wear my worried shoes.” With the subsequent organ gaining momentum and a round of whistling, you almost believe him.
Daniel Smith and Sufjan Stevens’ cover of “Worried Shoes” is quite beautiful as well but succeeds in a separate manner. The two have added some beautiful and interesting instrumentation (no surprise there) and appropriately understated vocal work; the harmonies on the backing vocals are breathtaking. The uniqueness of Smith’s vocals really mimics Johnston’s in a way. It draws that extra attention to the vocals and makes the song more interesting. With their advancements “Worried Shoes” has really been elevated to a completely different level. They have basically made the song into the best it could have been if performed by someone other than Daniel Johnston. Smith and Stevens could never hope to achieve the emotional greatness of Johnston but have really succeeded in developing the technical aspects of the song.
Smith and Stevens’ cover of “Worried Shoes” is going to be featured on I Killed The Monster, a compilation of 21 artists covering songs of Daniel Johnston. Second Shimmy Records will release the compilation on October 10th, 2006; all proceeds from the disc will go to a fund for the care of Daniel Johnston. Until then, the track can be streamed strictly through Danielson’s myspace page.


Stream "Worried Shoes" at Danielson's myspace page.

New NEW Melody Function demo!

We at The Melody Function and Ideal Free Distribution are doing all that we can to bring the people more sleigh bells. I believe it's what the world needs now.

Melody Function - Something I Know

New Melody Function demo.

A new Melody Function demo, "Simple Sounds", was completed just last night. It's possible there will be a few slight changes to come but it is basically finished for all intensive purposes. This song is one in the series of Tony's Mexican rock opera. All of the rock opera songs were written in Am and are very dark and booming. Lots of droney feedback with psychedelic guitar riffing but, as always, they still contain that bit of pop to pull you out of the psychedelic k-hole, the flute in this case.
It's funny, when I listen to this song I hear explosions going off in my head (mostly during the in-between verse riffing) yet the lead line is a flute. Now THAT'S a good song!
Tony and Joe have been working on a new Zombies-esque organ based song that is going to be delightful. I'm excited.

Melody Function - Simple Sounds

Make me armored for the places I've been.

Scourge Of The Sea – Make Me Armored review
4 out of 5


Scourge of the Sea formed in 2004 and is comprised of Justin Craig, Andrew English and Robbie Cosenza. With their debut album, Make Me Armored, they single-handedly inspired the legendary Alias Records (American Music Club, Archers of Loaf, Yo La Tengo, etc) to awake from their slumber and release their first album in a decade.

Make Me Armored was released late last month and has since topped their local independent music stores’ bestseller lists week after week. I don’t know if it’s their modest, but not too precious pop songs, or the fact that they are very cute and charming fellows, but everyone loves to support these guys. The album features 10 finely tuned pop songs ranging from the slightly delicate “Waterwings”, the light and folky “Hookers”, to some harder fare with “Chocolate Chips”. “Chasing Roses” exemplifies English’s best vocal work and is one of the album’s most complex and intriguing songs, alternately hopeful and haunting. The vocal and guitar melodies contained within the song are perfectly complimentary and are so seamless that your ears will be smiling for days after listening to this song.

The songs are all arranged beautifully with complimenting tambourine hits and intriguing keyboard melodies in addition to the traditional drum, bass and guitars. The instrumentation on this album sounds so well put-together and the arrangements just make so much sense that it’s hard to believe these songs haven’t existed for thousands of years already. In addition, the lyrical abilities of these guys are infinite. What really catches my ear and warms my heart is when I hear English sing tender words like “I don’t need to smoke with a fix like you”, “…and I loved your lips on your overbite” or when Cosenza mentions his “waterwings and a cable knit sweater”.

With such striking imagery and coordinating harmonies, Scourge of the Sea may be putting bands like the Fruit Bats out of work.

English and Cosenza alternate writing credits and vocals, each singing lead on their own creations. English tends to take his listeners by the hand and sing in their ears while Cosenza seems as content standing in a corner yelling at the top of his lungs. Cosenza’s songs are not as intimate as English’s but certainly no less heartfelt. Showcasing two such different vocalists adds a layer of significance and versatility to the band as a whole; they aren’t limited one type of vocal. It’s almost as if they can be two bands in one, which only makes listening to them that much more interesting.

Scourge of the Sea - Out of the Trash
Scourge of the Sea - Smitten Kitten

Hooray for Sunday

The Minders and Marbles
The Dame in Lexington, KY
8.20.2006


Robert Schneider has been releasing material under the Marbles moniker since 1992; this is hardly a new endeavor. Schneider’s last Marbles release, Expo, came out in March of 2005 after which he did a nationwide tour with Clem Snide showcasing his newest brand of Casio-infused, ELO-inspired, dancetastic music across the land. These shows were being played specifically in support of the new album and there was an entire choreographed stage show that included Schneider performing as a spaceman with a giant boombox and essentially karaoking to his own songs. However, the show at The Dame on Sunday night was different; there was no new album to perform and no expectations placed on Schneider apart from warming the audience and readying the stage for old friends The Minders.

Schneider played an acoustic set of songs that ranged from the Apples’ debut album Fun Trick Noisemaker, the only other Marbles album Pyramid Landing (And other favorites), to the upcoming and highly-anticipated Apples release New Magnetic Wonder. I’ve seen Schneider perform many times, with all of his various endeavors but I have never seen a more comprehensive set. It was a wonderful treat to hear “Tidal Wave” and “She’s Just Like Me” sung onstage; I’m impressed Schneider still remembers them. I imagine such a low-stress show really gave him the freedom to play whatever he wanted to. In fact, many of the songs he did play were requests or suggestions from the audience; Martyn Leaper himself requested “Pine Away”.

Schneider is indeed a true performer; he never fails to entertain, not even when he stops mid-set to check his text messages.


Headlining the show was the Denver, CO based band The Minders. The Minders are close friends of Robert Schneider and, in fact, Schneider was sort of a founding member of the band. He was there from the get go and has been involved with the band, producing albums/songs, and contributing musically since its creation. The Minders produce exactly the kind of sounds that pop into one’s head when they think of the Elephant 6 collective. Googley-woogely pop goodness, with an obvious 60’s psychadelia influence. Martyn Leaper, the band’s premiere singer songwriter, has a great sense of melody and structure. His songs flow perfectly, with a mysterious lead guitar tone or a piano integrated at just the perfect moment, just the right amount of flare. The Minders’ new album It’s a Bright, Guilty World finds the band at the closest they’ve ever come to living up to their seminal debut Hooray For Tuesday, the pop album that is so perfect that not even its creators can top it.


The band’s performance was a perfect representation of their sound altogether. High energy, bouncing around, and all the stuff that makes you want to dance it! The set primarily featured songs from the new album but also included some extra surprises like a cover of the Syd Barrett song “Lucifer Sam” (from Pink Floyd’s Piper at the Gates of Dawn), “Now I Can Smile” and the show’s closer “Hooray For Tuesday”. The band itself is very tight and they seemed well rehearsed, which is pretty par for the course considering they’ve been touring with Of Montreal for the past month, playing in a new city every night. Leaper invited Robert Schneider onstage to play two songs with the band, the fuzz guitar track “357” and the classic “Hooray For Tuesday”. Both times Schneider was playing with the band it was evident how happy they all made each other; they seemed to be simply rejoicing in one another’s sheer presence. By the end of “Hooray For Tuesday”, on which Schneider assisted on tambourine and filling in the backing vocals, which he himself sang on the recording, it seemed that the band didn’t want to get off the stage any more than we wanted them to. It was an elating experience.

Arthur Lee

Love, Arthur is standing on the staircase in the glasses.

rip.

The Return of Little Mac

This is so funny, I can't even see straight.

Don't you stop.

The Minders – It’s A Bright, Guilty World review
release date: 7.18.2006
3.8 / 5


The Minders released their debut album Hooray For Tuesday in 1998. Since then, everything they do is measured by how it lives up to that collection of songs; it’s such a perfect pop album that any band would have difficulty matching it.
Certain tracks throughout their career have threatened to knock “Hooray For Tuesday” off of its pedestal. Older songs like “Build” and “Black Balloon” are The Minders at their most simple and pure and more recent songs like the striking “Young and With It” still resonate years later. The Minders have never had a problem writing a great pop song; they just never seem to be able to release a whole album’s worth of them. Not to say that their albums are bad necessarily, they just generally lose focus about halfway through.
Their latest release, It’s a Bright, Guilty World, finds Martyn Leaper (The Minders’ premiere singer songwriter) at his most proficient and deliberate since HFT. It includes classic, pop songs such as “Don’t You Stop” and “Jenny” that are so catchy and delightful that you feel as if they’ve been playing in your head forever. Alongside these pop gems are other more introspective, thorough tracks like “In The Middle of Your Love” and “Remember, Remember”. With the inclusion of such songs it’s evident that Leaper is becoming a more sophisticated songwriter.
Musically, lyrically, and intellectually The Minders are finally gaining the momentum and drive fans have been yearning for since the great and wonderful Hooray For Tuesday.

Oh, you're so silent Jens.

Jens Lekman
Southgate House Newport, KY
7.25.2006


“We are going to play exactly 12 songs tonight,” Jens Lekman said to the crowd as he and his 6-piece, all-girl band took the stage at the Southgate House on Tuesday night. This introduction to Lekman was the first hint at securing him as the most self-assured, soft-spoken shy guy I’ve ever seen.
The stage setup was endearing, with Lekman front and center and his band surrounding him; it was as if he was floating in a soup bowl of fashionable ladies. Lekman is a great storyteller in and out of song. After playing “Black Cab”, he regaled an interaction he once had with a fan concerning his experiences with the song, and just stopped right in the middle of “Do You Remember the Riots?” to tell us its history. We were also treated to an a cappella version of “Tram #7 To Heaven”, sang by Lekman as he replaced the broken A string on his guitar. While this may sound as if it would feel somewhat forced, it was actually the complete opposite. In fact, it even left me wondering if all of Lekman’s clever remarks, as well as that broken string, weren’t all painstakingly planned.
With various EPs and the full-length When I Said I Wanted To Be Your Dog, Lekman has a plethora of beloved songs to choose from. The setlist wandered throughout his discography including older tracks dating back to the 2003 Maple Leaves EP to a couple brand new songs, one of which was entitled “A Postcard To Nina” and told the story of Jens masquerading as his friend Nina’s boyfriend as she hid from her parents the fact that she was a lesbian.
About six songs in, a young, fair-haired fan approached the singer and prompted him to urge the crowd closer to the stage, in front of the oppressive chairs and tables. Everyone quickly obliged, as if we had been simply waiting for Lekman’s permission to do so. He now immediately says, “We’ve almost played all of our dance songs,” then thought for a moment, “You can probably dance to this,” and began “Pocketful of Money”. Indeed, we danced. Next, Lekman informed us he had brought our Christmas presents, while his keyboard player emptied 2 garbage bags of balloons into the crowd as the band launched into the triumphant “You Are the Light (by which I travel into this and that)”. It was a joyous occasion as the audience and band alike batted rainbow-colored balloons around the room throughout the course of the song.


Well, we actually managed to squeeze a 13th song from Lekman that night. Though, being the gentleman that he is, he didn’t leave the stage without making sure we understood that he would sing no more songs onstage but if we wanted to hear anything else to just ask and he would sing it for us. Lekman satiated us for the last time with an acoustic rendition of the clever, honest “Maple Leaves”. The crowd was enthralled and suddenly the rest of the band appeared out of nowhere on the 2nd floor balconies, on either side of Lekman with horns and shakers and guided us through to the conclusion of the song and the evening. It was simply magical.
I left that show loving Jens Lekman more than I ever knew I did.

Jens Lekman - "You Are the Light (by which I travel into this and that)"

Electrified. Evolve.

Dressy Bessy
The Dame in Lexington, KY
7.18.2006


Dressy Bessy are one of the many Elephant 6 spin-off bands; they formed in 1996 and since then having been playing their pixy stix brand, straight up power pop across the land.
Dressy Bessy are a wonderful live band; their magic truly lies not in their music but onstage. Between the band’s striking vintage duds and lead singer Tammy Ealom’s dancing it’s a visual sensation. Honestly, it doesn’t even matter that the band is playing some of the most tightly wound pop songs you’ve ever heard, Ealom wins you over just by a wink of the eye or a leg-kick. Even if you aren’t a fan of their pop music, Dressy Bessy has so much charm that it spills over onto the floor. It’s impossible to resist Tammy Ealom’s leg kicks and the ever-present smile on John Hill’s face. Just try.


The set was varied and would have pleased any fan, songs ranged from old favorites such as “I Saw Cinnamon” and “Just Once More” to newer hits from their 2005 album Electrified like “Second Place” and the title track. Each and every song was played with as much fervor and intensity as the one before it. The band conveyed such energy that it permeated the whole club and had more than half the crowd dancing along with them; it was impressive.
Charmingly, the band seemed to be having as much fun as everyone else because once they finally stopped, they answered the crowd’s pleas for an encore before even leaving the stage. Dressy Bessy like to keep everyone happy and they’re quite good at it.
One of the best things about DB is their commitment to touring. I can rest assured that after loving them tonight, I won’t have to wait too long before I can love them some more.

Six Organs of Admittance review

Six Organs of Admittance / Eyes and Arms of Smoke
The Dame in Lexington, KY
7.13.2006

It’s not easy for me to describe the Lexington, KY band Eyes and Arms of Smoke. Onstage they are two guys, and one girl, Robert Beatty, Trevor Tremaine and his wife Sarah, looking almost huddled together on the left hand side of the stage. Though, considering how sparse their music is it seems natural for them to want to stand together. I can’t imagine Sarah all the way on one side of the stage with just a mic and a cabasa in her hand waiting for her cues. She would seem too lonely. The band’s music is one part noise, one part art project, and one part drone. Parts of songs sound like actual songs and then others like sound effects of a horror film. Eyes and Arms of Smoke aren’t necessarily much to watch. There isn’t a lot of movement onstage aside from a few hops from Trevor here and there but, truthfully, they convey their music in such a way that you’re less concerned with watching as you are with listening anyway.
I was unsure of what to expect from a live show from Six Organs of Admittance. This is a band with several albums varying in degrees of experimentation. What I was afraid of was that I was going to have to sit through an entire set in which the band played one 45 minute song that may or may not even contain lyrics. Luckily, this was not the case. When the band took the stage they immediately began playing, they were (purposefully) playing out of time and seemingly making up this introductory jam on the spot, relying on physical cues to indicate changes in the song. The band appeared almost oblivious to the crowd before them, interacting with one another throughout their set and only addressing the audience once to simply thank them and the opening bands. However, this did nothing to hinder the experience of seeing them live and perhaps even added an air of mystery to the three stoic men onstage.
SOofA’s frontman, Ben Chasny, has a charisma about him that I wasn’t anticipating. Seeing this person from whom this voice emanates is compelling enough, but he is also very captivating to watch. He is very physical onstage, thrashing about during upbeat, loud songs, and sometimes trying to manipulate his bass player’s sound by going up to him and pushing on his fretboard with his shoulder. Every sound the band is making is mirrored in some way by Chasny’s movements.
Ben Chasny ended the set by himself, playing the only encore song alone. It was a slow song that showcased Chasny’s beautifully solid and dark vocals. An unexpected but great way to end a colorful set. With Six Organs of Admittance sometimes there is chaos but when you strip all of that away you are always left with the beauty.

Eyes And Arms Of Smoke - "Black Hoists of Dawn"
Six Organs of Admittance - "All You've Left" music video

Syd Barrett

rip

Thee American Revolution song review

Thee American Revolution – “She’s Coming Down”


On July 4th Mr. William Shears, the mastermind behind the band Thee American Revolution, sent the Elephant 6 weblog, Optical Atlas, his band’s new track, “She’s Coming Down”. According to Shears, this is the very first American Revolution recording. Knowing that, it’s easy to see that the vision of Thee American Revolution is clear; this song makes it evident that TAR want their audience to perceive them in a specific way. They're telling us what to think and feel about their music; it's all done for us. This is heavy, rough, sweaty, psychadelic rock music and you're gonna like it that way!
Proof of this comes in the first few seconds as the song intentionally dates itself with the initial guitar strum, heavy and deliberate, very like “Wild Thing” by The Troggs. Schneider’s vocals are marred and much more drawn out than most of his fans are used to (not too unlike Reg Presley’s). It’s refreshing (if anything about this music is) to hear his vocals utilized in such a novel way.
The remainder of the song is comprised of extended lead guitar, sounding as if it’s being played through a busted amplifier, droning swirls of psychadelia, the ever-present deadened tambourine, and is concluded by a piano/organ played by Shears himself.
If Andy Warhol were still in The Factory today overseeing those seedy, over-intoxicated parties, he would want Thee American Revolution to be playing every one of them.

Follow link to Optical Atlas post and mp3.

mostly the Desdemona Festival

Upon my return to the blog world I found the template to the old Everything Is blog to be extremely annoying and it was totally stressing me out. So I had to get rid of it. I don't really care for any of the Blogger templates so here we have: White. I'm totally into white these days anyway; it's so mod. How can you go wrong really? It's white! Anyways, I'll probably personalize the look of the new template but for now, this is pretty okay with me. Anything beats the cheesy one I had before.

So, I attended portions of all three days of the Desdemona Festival in Cincinnati weekend before last. I started writing my review of the festival for Harmonium but couldn't force myself to finish it. I couldn't make myself bullshit anymore. The festival itself was lovely, Sawyer Point is a beautiful park and perfect for an event of that nature, the people in attendance were all totally happy to be there, nice and great crowds, the people putting it on were all so gracious and all of that. But the only thing that was almost entirely unimpressive was the music. And frankly, that shocked the shit out of me. I mean, it wasn't like there were a bunch of local bands playing all day and then a big headliner each night, not at all. At least 3/4 of the bands that played the DesFest were big name indie acts and/or blogger favorites. For me the weekend began with the Apples In Stereo Friday evening and then ended with The Walkmen closing the festival on Sunday night and, overall, those were the two bands that performed the best all weekend. Most of the others (specifically The Stills, Radio 4, We Are Scientists, Enon, Annie) just lacked content and personality. Even the Walkmen were somewhat awkward in the outside pavilion. Though I have to point out that We Are Scientists are great performers; they had the personality and charisma to charm the crowd of indie rockers that Sunday cracking jokes and acting like heathens. After their first song there were a bunch of people walking up from another stage whose set ran long and the bass player told them, "Don't even fucking bother," which was totally funny. Unfortunately, their music sucks ass. The lyrics to their single "Nobody Move, Nobody Get Hurt" are the worst I've heard since I stopped listening to popular r&b in middle school. "My body is your body / I won't tell anybody / If you wanna use my body / Go for it, yeah." What the hell is that? And that's the gd chorus so you have to hear it like 50 times and let me tell you, it embarrassed me each time. I would bury my vocals under the instrumentation of my lyrics were that shitty.
Let me clarify though, that I don't think this was the fault of the organizers of the DesFest; these bands are popular. I blame uneducated music fans for liking this crap.
But that's a-whole-nother tangent I don't feel like getting into at the moment. Sigh.
Here is my unfinished review and some amateur pictures I took:

Desdemona Festival
Sawyer Point in Cincinnati, OH
6.23-5, 2006



Despite what preconceived notions people may have, Cincinnati is a perfect place to host a music festival like Desdemona. It's a good central location for bands to travel to, it'’s beautiful (as long as you'’re in the right spot), and very user-friendly. I attended all three days of Desdemona and not once did I have trouble parking nor did I ever have to walk further than a block to get to Sawyer Point Park, where the concert was being held.
Sawyer Point is right on the Ohio River and is a mile long. ItÂ's strikingly beautiful how there are vast, green fields sandwiched between bridges signifying your entry to Kentucky: "“Where education pays!Â"
There were 3 stages with shows staggered between them, starting every hour on the hour, from 4-10pm each night. 29 bands total, and only one band, locals The Sundresses, cancelled. From what I have heard there were next to no problems with the crowds (no fights, etc) and only one case of the dreaded technical difficulties during Rogue Wave's set on Sunday.
I arrived in Cincinnati on Friday night in time to catch The Apples Is Stereo, the VHS or Beta dj set, and Ghostface. The Apples In Stereo played, perhaps, the most enjoyable set of the entire weekend for me. They sounded immaculate; there was something about the sunlight and the air that day that complimented the Apples sugary sweet pop songs perfectly. I may never want to see them play a show indoors ever again. Another thing that made the Apples sound so good was the fact that they didn'’t try to get too loud. Sometimes you don'’t need to turn it up to 11 and luckily The Apples get that. Their set was a mixture of older favorites ("The Rainbow"”, "“Go"”, "“Strawberryfire"”, "“Ruby"”, etc) as well as new songs from their upcoming album, New Magnetic Wonder, such as "Skyway"”, "“You Gotta Play Tough, My Love"” and "“Open Eyes"”.
After the Apples In Stereo were finished there was a dj set by Craig Pfunder and Mark Palgy of VHS or Beta. These guys have been djing for years now, mostly in their hometown of Louisville, KY, and they seriously know their stuff. There is a secret to getting a bunch of indie rock kids to dance and these guys are certainly in on it.
The Friday night headliner was definitely the most unusual act of the Festival, former Wu-Tang member, Ghostface. I'm the first to admit, I'm not a hip-hop or rap fan. The only reason I knew that Ghostface was even in the Wu-Tang Clan was because he and his two hype guys were trying to get the crowd to chant about them. "“We say '‘WU!'’ You say 'TANG!'’ "WU!"” "“Err...Tang?"” However, my favorite hype generator was the question, "Where all my weed smokers at?" It may have taken a couple songs but the crowd definitely got into Ghostface and were all holding up their lighters and cell phones in response. It was certainly a fun and interesting way to end the first evening of the festival.
Saturday was blessed with weather as beautiful as the day before and I arrived at the park as the New York band Cousin was performing on Stage 3. I don'’t think I had ever seen the trio in the daylight before and it brought a much different feel to their set. It certainly wasn'’t as at home in the sunlit park as The Apples In Stereo's set the day before, but that's probably an extremely unfair comparison. Lead singer, Raze Regal, always performs in a suit and I imagined that he must have been sweating his ass off as he screamed into the mic during the band's single, "The Girl I Knew". Cousin is always energetic and always fun. They didn't let the heat stifle their set and bassist Peter Klein was extra festive in all white and wearing a crown of dandelions.

...

Apples In Stereo


Cousin


stellastarr*


Enon


Annie


We Are Scientists


Chris Cain of We Are Scientists - "Don't even fucking bother..."


Fiery Furnaces


Radio 4


The Walkmen


Hamilton Leithauser of The Walkmen

i write stuff.

March, huh? So you say you haven't felt like posting since last March and even then it was just a photo of Damon Albarn?? For shame.
Yes, it's true; I lost interest in the blogging. I even lost interest in reading most other blogs as well. I still read you ain't no picasso daily; because, let's face it, Matt blogs so often that he pretty much covers all the bases. There's also Optical Atlas; being an E6 friend it's crucial for me to keep abreast of all new happenings in that circle. Really, that's about it. But this may mark me getting back into the game here.
I recently began writing for the music website Harmonium. Reviews, previews, witty anecdotes, etc. I may also start contributing to other publications as well and thought that it would make a lot of sense to also post my musings here. Because I can. Pictures too. So, here's the most recent:

Late B.P. Helium / Thee American Revolution
The Dame in Lexington, KY
6.26.2006



The mere existence of Robert Schneider’s new band, The American Revolution, is no secret. However, details about the band are being left intentionally vague. Through a series of dropped hints, their song “Subscriptions to Magazines” being featured on a local compilation, and two deafening performances, some of us have gotten a chance to put some of the pieces together. The band performs as a trio; however, whenever Robert refers to the band he lists only himself and his brother-in-law Craig Morris as members, but also points out that there is a separate mastermind at work, guiding the band in the direction of his choosing. A man Robert addressed as “Billy” and thanked halfway through TAR’s set.
As far as the music itself goes, it has been described as “super fuzzy lo-fi psych-pop”, “retardo rock”, and “acid rock”. Think perhaps Deep Purple meets The Stooges meets (early) Pink Floyd. The music is very heavy and psychedelic and would be best accompanied by a fog machine and a liquid projector.
While this is all true, Schneider and Morris are still pop masters, and these sensibilities come through even in their TAR songs. The droning, distorted guitar lines never fail to fade long enough to hear a handclap or two and the songs contain excellent vocal melodies sung by Mr. Schneider himself.
There are very few TAR recordings; the band probably played every song they know onstage Monday night. They kicked into a magnificent psych-pop tune entitled “She's Coming Down” and while sounding as if all the fuzz may implode the speakers, it was all too perfect. The band played about nine or so more songs before closing their set with the favorite “Subscriptions To Magazines”, which Schneider claims he and Morris didn’t even realize was a rip-off of “Smoke On The Water” until after they had recorded it. But honestly, it didn’t matter if no one there knew any TAR songs by heart; it didn’t matter that some people didn’t know who Robert or Craig (lead guitar) or Otto (drums) were. If they happened to wander into The Dame in Lexington, KY on the night of the 26th they got their asses blown out by Thee American Revolution and that does matter.
One day everyone is going to know about this band and they won’t be playing to crowds of 20 anymore.



The Late BP Helium is the moniker under which Brian Poole performs and records. It may seem as if a self-proclaimed acid rock band would not be the most logical choice to precede the pop-rock, kazoo wielding Poole but, in actuality, they’re not far off from one another. B.P. has always been an experimental musician, manipulating and moving vocals around, not shying away from incorporating any type of instrument (no matter how un-pop they may be), and even perhaps including an unnerving chant into a track. Having played with Elf Power and Of Montreal, B.P. is also a connoisseur of delightful pop songs and is no stranger to the sweeter side of things, much like Schneider himself.
The Late BP Helium performed to, perhaps, the smallest crowd they had ever seen Monday night. It may be hard to imagine a band such as LBPH live, as opposed to banging on chicken wire in a studio somewhere, twisting knobs and recording themselves in bathrooms in order to get the sound that they do. BUT it’s certainly not a difficult show to watch. LBPH were magnificent and rocked socks off throughout the bar. Granted, there weren’t many socks in attendance but still.
The songs are filled out by guitars, guitars, guitars. B.P. and touring guitarist Casper Fandango (of Casper and the Cookies) could even be seen playing their instruments with their mouths at various points in the evening and B.P. even invited Schneider and his wife Marci Mars onstage to play percussion on “Candy For Everyone”. All of The Late BP Helium's songs have such a momentum to them, it makes you feel as if you're being thrust through the air while actually you're glued to the spot, transfixed and unmoving.
In the past I have claimed Late BP Helium to be an updated version of the Velvet Underground and they more than solidified this grandiose declaration with their performance Monday night. The only thing I’m left wondering is why B.P. spends so much time touring with other bands and not doing this full time.

Beetlebum

I almost forgot how attractive Damon Albarn was. Well, then I saw this picture.



Whew.