Heap finds TV, film a comfortable fit
By Chris Nixon
For the San Diego Union-Tribune
January 19, 2006
Take a look at the best movie and television soundtracks from the past few years, chances are you'll see Imogen Heap's name pop up more than once. From "The O.C." to the new "Chronicles of Narnia" movie, the 28-year-old British musician's beautifully crafted, down-tempo electronic music is finding its way to more listeners.
While Heap's breathy voice seemingly is permeating all forms of media, she's still a widely unknown commodity on radio stations and pop charts.
"For whatever reason, I've never had that much luck on the radio," admits Heap during a recent conversation from her London flat. "No matter how commercial I think a song is, it doesn't get picked up. The 'Garden State' album was a big success. That song is probably Frou Frou's most famous song but it never gets played on the radio."
The British chanteuse has scored spots on soundtracks like Zach Braff's movie "Garden State" ("Let Go," as one half of the duo Frou Frou), the "Music From the O.C. Mix 4" disc ("Goodnight and Go"), the excellent "Six Feet Under, Vol. 2: Everything Ends" soundtrack for the HBO series ("Lonely Little Petunia") and most recently the blockbuster fantasy film "The Chronicles of Narnia" ("Can't Take It In").
So why does her music fit so well with cinema, large and small?
"Sonically you can get away with a lot more when you have visuals because you are not just concentrating on the music," muses Heap. "You can be a bit more daring with TV and film than you can on radio."
After growing up in Essex, England (outside of London), the classically trained pianist released her first album, "I Megaphone," in 1998 before teaming up with producer Guy Sigsworth in Frou Frou. Named from the French slang term meaning "the rustling of a woman's skirt," Frou Frou signed with Island Records for 2003's "Details."
Nestled between the sleek pop sounds of Frou Frou and the stripped down trip-hop of Heap's 1998 debut, the vocalist's 2005 disc "Speak for Yourself" finds the middle ground between her previous recordings.
Complete with keyboard-driven melodies and intricate string arrangements, the album contains 12 tracks of thoughtful electronic pop. After working with producers on her first two albums, Heap created "Speak for Yourself" as a completely solo project, filling the roles of performer, engineer and producer.
"I've always wanted to do a record on my own," says Heap. "I bought all this gear for the studio with the intention of doing as much as I could on the record. I wanted this record to be me. "
The entire disc is filled with solid songwriting and musicianship, but the standout track is the a cappella "Hide and Seek." Heap uses the vocoder technology to add a layered metallic tone to vocals, creating a striking effect.
"It's one of those rare magical occasions where a song comes out of nowhere and you don't have to spend four months deciding on a lyric," says Heap. "It just arrived on a plate. I plugged in my vocoder and I plugged in my keyboard into my harmonizing thing. It just came out and there it was at the end of four and a half minutes."
Just as she created the album, Heap performs solo live. Taking full advantage of technology, she manipulates computers and keyboards to re-create her songs onstage: "It's me with my mixing board, my keyboard, my laptop, hard drive with loads of strings loaded on it, my harmonizer, a sequencing box I can play base lines on and make loops on."
Heap also uses an instrument called the Array Mbira, an African thumb piano designed by San Diegan Bill Wesley. The unique device incorporates a five-octave range, and can be used to trigger other sounds through MIDI technology (Musical Instrument Digital Interface).
Despite all the gadgetry, Heap's performances are passionate and intimate affairs.
Chris Nixon is a San Diego writer.
Monday, January 23, 2006
Friday, December 23, 2005
NYE 2005: Magic shows
If you're looking for a great New Year's party, one of these events should do the trickBy Chris Nixon
For the San Diego Union-Tribune
December 22, 2005
Whenever New Year's Eve crosses my mind, I recall a quote from Billy Crystal as he ponders the meaning of "Auld Lang Syne" in "When Harry Met Sally": "I mean, 'Should old acquaintance be forgot'? Does that mean that we should forget old acquaintances, or does it mean if we happened to forget them, we should remember them, which is not possible because we already forgot?"
The ancient Scottish tune "Auld Lang Syne" translates to "Times Gone By." Whether we understand the lyrics to "Auld Lang Syne" or not, New Year's Eve is a time to reflect on the good memories we've experienced and to create a few new ones.
If you like live music to ring in the new year, San Diego has one of the best New Year's Eves in recent memory. Local legends (Karl Denson), national upstarts (Hasidic reggae band Matisyahu), international favorites (Mexico's Kinky) and the traditional family celebrations (First Night) are on the schedule.
Here's a rundown of the shows we'd go to if we could:
KARL DENSON'S TINY UNIVERSE
The San Diego jazz-funk band the Greyboy Allstars sent shock waves through the local music scene by providing an organic alternative to the electronic danceable acid jazz of the 1990s.
Led by saxophonist Karl Denson, the Allstars' live shows were packed with funk jams and extended solos – not the noodling jam band style. Denson and his cohorts drew inspiration from James Brown, Maceo Parker, Fred Wesley and the Horny Horns.
The Allstars continue to play a couple of times a year, but Denson devotes much of his time to his own band, Tiny Universe. In 2002, KDTU released "The Bridge," an excellent album featuring Denson on vocals along with the band's trademark funk sound. Tiny Universe currently is working on a studio album, so expect Denson to bust out a few new tunes at this 'Canes gig in Mission Beach.
Dinner packages are available. And, as a side note, our best wishes go out to Allstars co-founder Robert Walter and his family, displaced from New Orleans in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.
KINKY & B-SIDE PLAYERS
Self-described as "electro-Latin organic fusion," Kinky has molded a style equal parts hip-hop, pop, rock, disco, funk and electronica. Rising from the Mexican music Mecca Monterrey, the quintet formed in 2000 experimenting with electronic rock heavily influence by techno and DJ culture.
Gilberto Cerezo (vocals, guitar, turntables), Ulises Lozano (keyboards, vocals), Carlos Chairez (guitar, vocals), Omar Gongora (drums, vocals) and Cesar Pliego (bass, vocals) released their infectiously funky self-titled disc in 2001, followed by the more mainstream "Atlas" in 2003.
I saw them at Coachella a few years back and they reminded me of a guitar-slinging Nortec Collective – half live instrumentation, half DJ sampling. Joining Kinky at 4th & B downtown will be San Diego's B-Side Players, mixing splashes of reggae and salsa with steamy politically charged rock.
MATISYAHU
Did I hear that right? A Hasidic reggae singer? Yes, I did. Matisyahu is not a gimmick, this guy has serious chops.
Born Matthew Miller in West Chester, Pa., Matisyahu blends Jewish spirituality with Jamaica's all-ready-heady reggae music. Backed by a razor-sharp band that includes Aaron Dugan (guitar), Josh Werner (bass) and Jonah David (drums), Matisyahu scats, raps and beatboxes with amazing dexterity.
The band's 2005 release, "Live at Stubb's" (recorded at the Austin, Texas, club of the same name), exemplifies Matisyahu's skills with the mike. Those lucky enough to have tickets to this sold-out Belly Up show have a treat in store.
BIG NIGHT SAN DIEGO
This sprawling New Year's celebration is like a First Night celebration for the big kids. You have theme party rooms to choose from: Mardi Gras, Vegas (mock gambling), HiBall, 1970s and '80s retro, hip-hop, electronic dance, dining room, chill-out room and a fireworks viewing zone.
For the price, this is probably your best New Year's Eve bargain: There's a food buffet and all drinks are included, plus bands (Lady Dottie and the Diamonds, Rookie Card, Common Sense, Flock of '80s) and DJs (Jon Bishop, Miss Lisa, Happee, Kid Krazzy and Mike Czech) for just over $100.
If you want to shell out another $50, you get access to the V.I.P. section, with its own casino, its own lounge and upgraded drinks and food. Fireworks will help ring in the new year, and discounted rooms are conveniently available at the venue – the Sheraton on Harbor Island – so no excuse to drink and drive.
THE MOTHER HIPS
After forming in 1991 at Chico State in Northern California, these four guys spread the good word about the Mother Hips through constant touring and excellent sunny pop songs by Tim Bluhm and Greg Loiacono.
Ten years later, the band had found a devout following throughout California and beyond, but tired of the road. The Mother Hips split up to pursue solo projects (check out Bluhm's 2003 EP "The Soft Adventure").
After a hiatus of five years, the Mother Hips' heavenly harmonies and neo-psychedelic rock return in the form of the 2005 EP "Red Tandy." Bluhm (guitar, vocals, keys), Loiacono (guitar, vocals, keys), Paul Hoaglin (bass) and John Hofer (drums) know how to put on a great show, drawing on their many years on the road.
FIRST NIGHT ESCONDIDO
With First Night San Diego taking the year off in 2006, Escondido's New Year's Eve celebration marks the county's only family-oriented First Night. Buttons ($10 before Christmas and $15 after, free for kids under 6) will get you into 12 stages of music and theater, including everything from classical music to puppet shows.
Stretching from Grape Day Park to Escondido City Hall and the California Center for the Arts, Escondido, this alcohol-free event is absolutely crammed with more than 100 performers, including musicians, magicians, stilt walkers, jugglers and puppeteers. The evening finishes off with a midnight fireworks display.
Thursday, December 08, 2005
Pet sounds: It's all about the Bunnymen
Echo & the Bunnymen's long march continues at House of Blues
By Chris Nixon
For The San Diego Union-Tribune
December 8, 2005
In the 1980s and stretching into the early 1990s, England began cranking out a particular style of alternative rock that called for chiming guitars, emotive high-tenor vocals, compact jangly rock tunes.
Along with bands like U2 (up through 1983's "War"), the Church and the Cure, Liverpool's Echo & the Bunnymen led a pack of British bands forging a new sound that spawned a generation of kids wearing eyeliner with hair in their eyes (think Ally Sheedy's character in "The Breakfast Club," but with more makeup).
Known for its unusual name and the distinctive vibrato-filled vocal style of Ian McCulloch, the band's roots were in the meeting of singer McCulloch and guitarist Will Sergeant as teenagers in Liverpool. The group – sick of answering mundane questions about the Bunnymen name – made up a story about the band's drum machine, "Echo." The tall tale made a lot of music journalists a bit red in the face after the news came out.
"Yeah, that story is rubbish," Sergeant has said about the fictional story of the band's naming. "We used to tell the press we got the name from the drum machine, but that was just to shut people up, you know? We just wanted a name that was completely different, and Echo was just a word we liked. Now, Bunnymen, there was an idea behind that, of these weird, spirit, bunny things that, like, existed only in folklore. There's one on the cover of our first single, 'Pictures on My Wall.'"
Fueled by strong support in the UK and on American college radio, word began to spread quickly about Echo & the Bunnymen. Mixing neo-psychedelic dreamy eclecticism and solid songwriting from McCulloch and company, the band scored Top 10 albums in the United Kingdom (1981's "Heaven Up Here" and "Porcupine" and 1984's "Ocean Rain") while gaining a foothold in the American market.
Plucking crisp guitar lines – awash with delay and reverb much like the early work of U2's the Edge, Sergeant created sonic landscapes while McCulloch's lyrics and voice set Echo & the Bunnymen apart from the glut of 1980s New Wave British bands.
The band's 1987 eponymous album – featuring songs like "Lips Like Sugar" and "Bedbugs and Ballyhoo" – gave the guys from Liverpool their biggest audience yet. The release afforded the opportunity to work with one of the band's heroes: Doors organist Ray Manzarek.
McCulloch left the band in 1988 to pursue a solo career and released a couple of solo discs ("Candleland" in 1989 and "Mysterio" in 1991). Original drummer Pete de Freitas died in a 1989 motorcycle accident. Sergeant and bassist Les Pattinson forged on with new lead singer Noel Burke and released "Reverberation" in 1990 to little popular response. "Candleland" produced a hit in "Proud to Fall" (it reached No. 1 in the United States on the Modern Rock charts), but in retrospect it feels empty without Sergeant's deft guitar licks.
Echo & the Bunnymen's cinematic songwriting style found it's way to the big screen along the way, most memorably in "Pretty in Pink" ("Bring on the Dancing Horses") and "The Lost Boys" (with the remake of the Doors' "People Are Strange"). Later, "The Killing Moon" found its way into 2001's "Donnie Darko," along with 2004's "The Girl Next Door."
In 1997, the surviving Bunnymen (McCulloch, Sergeant and Pattinson) reunited to record "Evergreen," which found the band stumbling through 12 over-orchestrated mundane tracks. Said McCulloch of joining his mates again: "It's not so much a reunion as the second half of a very long march."
Echo & the Bunnymen took a more stripped down approach in 1999's "What Are You Going to Do With Your Life?" The album exhibits a strummy carefree attitude to the band's brooding early work. On 2001's "Flowers," McCulloch and Sergeant revisit their 1960s psychedelic influences, evoking the Animals and the Doors.
From the sparkling, glistening high guitar notes of "Stormy Weather" – the first song on Echo & the Bunnymen's 2005 album "Siberia," the English band recaptures the ethereal alternative pop music of it's heyday in the 1980s and 1990s.
All the while, McCulloch's voice provides depth and contrast to the four-minute pop songs. Twenty-seven years after first creating Echo & the Bunnymen, McCulloch and Sergeant still know how to make songs that sound relevant and sincere. The two bring Echo & the Bunnymen to the House of Blues tomorrow night for a trip down memory lane.
"The only way for me to live forever is through great songs," McCulloch said a few years ago. "And that's what I intend to keep doing during my songwriting life – just to go for timeless greatness."
Chris Nixon is a San Diego writer.
The essential Echo & the Bunnymen
"Crocodiles" (1980, Sire): First albums are always fascinating to revisit, like finding yourself at an archaeological dig excavating the roots of an ancient civilization. If the band sticks around long enough to develop its own sound, you can trace it all back to the debut disc. In "Crocodiles," we find Ian McCulloch searching for his trademark vocals. Sergeant's great guitar lines are almost absent, smothered by layers of pianos and keyboards. Songs likes "Do It Clean" are dead ringers for a U2 cut. This is not the greatest Echo album, but an interesting study nevertheless.
"Heaven Up Here" (1981, Sire): The band's second album finds the four guys from Liverpool sliding into their trademark sound, a real emotional performance from McCulloch. A truly varied record, songs sway from crystalline ballads to sharp-edged New Wave funk a la early Talking Heads. Seemingly all of a sudden, McCulloch's voice has gained a high, haunting timbre. "Heaven Up Here" remains an excellent snapshot of English New Wave.
"Ocean Rain" (1984, Sire): The heavy orchestration of the opening track, "Silver," marks a new era for Echo. But Sergeant's guitar work and McCulloch's gloomy lyrics help offset the floating harmonies, especially on tracks like "Crystal Days" and "The Yo-Yo Man." "The Killing Moon" stands the test of time due to the eerie mix of bittersweet harmonies and lyrics like Under blue moon I saw you / So soon you'll take me / Up in your arms / Too late to beg you or cancel it / Though I know it must be the killing time / Unwillingly mine. Also check out the 1985 greatest hits record "Song to Learn & Sing" for an excellent compilation of Echo's early material.
"Echo & the Bunnymen" (1987, Sire): Like a refrain that tumbles around in your head for years, whenever I think of Echo & the Bunnymen I hear the chorus of "Lips Like Sugar." The thumping beat of "Bedbugs and Ballyhoo" follows a close second. This album is so accessible it's almost too much, all wrapped up in 1980s pop sensibilities. But the self-titled disc still yields a few timeless songs through all the production.
"Siberia" (2005, Cooking Vinyl): Using a phrase like "return to form" turns my stomach, but I'm tempted in describing "Siberia." Gone is the angst of "Heaven Up Here." The fire died out a long time ago. Instead, we get crystal-clear production that doesn't get in the way of a quality collection of songs. McCulloch sounds sharp and Sergeant is riffing in top-notch fashion. This is easily the band's best disc in 20 years.
– CHRIS NIXON
By Chris Nixon
For The San Diego Union-Tribune
December 8, 2005
In the 1980s and stretching into the early 1990s, England began cranking out a particular style of alternative rock that called for chiming guitars, emotive high-tenor vocals, compact jangly rock tunes.
Along with bands like U2 (up through 1983's "War"), the Church and the Cure, Liverpool's Echo & the Bunnymen led a pack of British bands forging a new sound that spawned a generation of kids wearing eyeliner with hair in their eyes (think Ally Sheedy's character in "The Breakfast Club," but with more makeup).
Known for its unusual name and the distinctive vibrato-filled vocal style of Ian McCulloch, the band's roots were in the meeting of singer McCulloch and guitarist Will Sergeant as teenagers in Liverpool. The group – sick of answering mundane questions about the Bunnymen name – made up a story about the band's drum machine, "Echo." The tall tale made a lot of music journalists a bit red in the face after the news came out.
"Yeah, that story is rubbish," Sergeant has said about the fictional story of the band's naming. "We used to tell the press we got the name from the drum machine, but that was just to shut people up, you know? We just wanted a name that was completely different, and Echo was just a word we liked. Now, Bunnymen, there was an idea behind that, of these weird, spirit, bunny things that, like, existed only in folklore. There's one on the cover of our first single, 'Pictures on My Wall.'"
Fueled by strong support in the UK and on American college radio, word began to spread quickly about Echo & the Bunnymen. Mixing neo-psychedelic dreamy eclecticism and solid songwriting from McCulloch and company, the band scored Top 10 albums in the United Kingdom (1981's "Heaven Up Here" and "Porcupine" and 1984's "Ocean Rain") while gaining a foothold in the American market.
Plucking crisp guitar lines – awash with delay and reverb much like the early work of U2's the Edge, Sergeant created sonic landscapes while McCulloch's lyrics and voice set Echo & the Bunnymen apart from the glut of 1980s New Wave British bands.
The band's 1987 eponymous album – featuring songs like "Lips Like Sugar" and "Bedbugs and Ballyhoo" – gave the guys from Liverpool their biggest audience yet. The release afforded the opportunity to work with one of the band's heroes: Doors organist Ray Manzarek.
McCulloch left the band in 1988 to pursue a solo career and released a couple of solo discs ("Candleland" in 1989 and "Mysterio" in 1991). Original drummer Pete de Freitas died in a 1989 motorcycle accident. Sergeant and bassist Les Pattinson forged on with new lead singer Noel Burke and released "Reverberation" in 1990 to little popular response. "Candleland" produced a hit in "Proud to Fall" (it reached No. 1 in the United States on the Modern Rock charts), but in retrospect it feels empty without Sergeant's deft guitar licks.
Echo & the Bunnymen's cinematic songwriting style found it's way to the big screen along the way, most memorably in "Pretty in Pink" ("Bring on the Dancing Horses") and "The Lost Boys" (with the remake of the Doors' "People Are Strange"). Later, "The Killing Moon" found its way into 2001's "Donnie Darko," along with 2004's "The Girl Next Door."
In 1997, the surviving Bunnymen (McCulloch, Sergeant and Pattinson) reunited to record "Evergreen," which found the band stumbling through 12 over-orchestrated mundane tracks. Said McCulloch of joining his mates again: "It's not so much a reunion as the second half of a very long march."
Echo & the Bunnymen took a more stripped down approach in 1999's "What Are You Going to Do With Your Life?" The album exhibits a strummy carefree attitude to the band's brooding early work. On 2001's "Flowers," McCulloch and Sergeant revisit their 1960s psychedelic influences, evoking the Animals and the Doors.
From the sparkling, glistening high guitar notes of "Stormy Weather" – the first song on Echo & the Bunnymen's 2005 album "Siberia," the English band recaptures the ethereal alternative pop music of it's heyday in the 1980s and 1990s.
All the while, McCulloch's voice provides depth and contrast to the four-minute pop songs. Twenty-seven years after first creating Echo & the Bunnymen, McCulloch and Sergeant still know how to make songs that sound relevant and sincere. The two bring Echo & the Bunnymen to the House of Blues tomorrow night for a trip down memory lane.
"The only way for me to live forever is through great songs," McCulloch said a few years ago. "And that's what I intend to keep doing during my songwriting life – just to go for timeless greatness."
Chris Nixon is a San Diego writer.
The essential Echo & the Bunnymen
"Crocodiles" (1980, Sire): First albums are always fascinating to revisit, like finding yourself at an archaeological dig excavating the roots of an ancient civilization. If the band sticks around long enough to develop its own sound, you can trace it all back to the debut disc. In "Crocodiles," we find Ian McCulloch searching for his trademark vocals. Sergeant's great guitar lines are almost absent, smothered by layers of pianos and keyboards. Songs likes "Do It Clean" are dead ringers for a U2 cut. This is not the greatest Echo album, but an interesting study nevertheless.
"Heaven Up Here" (1981, Sire): The band's second album finds the four guys from Liverpool sliding into their trademark sound, a real emotional performance from McCulloch. A truly varied record, songs sway from crystalline ballads to sharp-edged New Wave funk a la early Talking Heads. Seemingly all of a sudden, McCulloch's voice has gained a high, haunting timbre. "Heaven Up Here" remains an excellent snapshot of English New Wave.
"Ocean Rain" (1984, Sire): The heavy orchestration of the opening track, "Silver," marks a new era for Echo. But Sergeant's guitar work and McCulloch's gloomy lyrics help offset the floating harmonies, especially on tracks like "Crystal Days" and "The Yo-Yo Man." "The Killing Moon" stands the test of time due to the eerie mix of bittersweet harmonies and lyrics like Under blue moon I saw you / So soon you'll take me / Up in your arms / Too late to beg you or cancel it / Though I know it must be the killing time / Unwillingly mine. Also check out the 1985 greatest hits record "Song to Learn & Sing" for an excellent compilation of Echo's early material.
"Echo & the Bunnymen" (1987, Sire): Like a refrain that tumbles around in your head for years, whenever I think of Echo & the Bunnymen I hear the chorus of "Lips Like Sugar." The thumping beat of "Bedbugs and Ballyhoo" follows a close second. This album is so accessible it's almost too much, all wrapped up in 1980s pop sensibilities. But the self-titled disc still yields a few timeless songs through all the production.
"Siberia" (2005, Cooking Vinyl): Using a phrase like "return to form" turns my stomach, but I'm tempted in describing "Siberia." Gone is the angst of "Heaven Up Here." The fire died out a long time ago. Instead, we get crystal-clear production that doesn't get in the way of a quality collection of songs. McCulloch sounds sharp and Sergeant is riffing in top-notch fashion. This is easily the band's best disc in 20 years.
– CHRIS NIXON
Chitty chitty bang bang bang: !!! in ND
For !!!, funk music still 'charges us up'
By Chris Nixon
December 8, 2005
Three repetitive sounds: "Chk chk chk" or "pow pow pow" or "uh uh uh." You could add "jump, jump, jump" or "jam, jam, jam" to the list. Take three one-syllable words and fill in the blank. The pronunciations are endless and endlessly amusing, much like the improvisational music of !!! – an eight-piece punkish funk band based in Brooklyn, N.Y., and Sacramento.
With a catalog packed with 20-minute dance-inducing jams, the name !!! – taken from the subtitles of the film "The Gods Must Be Crazy" – reflects the octet's outsider mentality. The band combines pieces of punk, funk, DJ culture, retro disco, indie rock and jam band, yet its doesn't fit into any of those scenes.
Transcending genre, !!! creates an atmosphere ripe for audience participation in the form of movement, whether it's people simply jumping up and down or engaging in more traditional dance steps.
"Ultimately, I want the music to make people jump out of their skins when we're playing," said guitarist Mario Andreoni from his hometown of Sacramento. "Whether that means somebody is totally going bonkers or somebody's trying to reach for (stuff) up in the sky, it doesn't really matter to me."
While growing up in Sacramento, the eight band members – John Pugh (drums), Nic Offer (vocals), Allan Wilson (percussion, horns), Tyler Pope (guitar, keys), Justin VanDerVolgen (bass, sound), Dan Gorman (percussion, horns), Jason Racine (percussion) and Andreoni – earned their musical chops playing in punk or rock bands. But, eventually, the guys wanted to make music similar to what they heard filling the dance clubs they haunted.
"When everybody first started, it was all punk music," remembered Andreoni. "But everybody in the band is such a huge music lover. When we were teenagers we always went to the clubs or we always wanted to go to the clubs. We all danced. It wouldn't matter what kind of music we were dancing to, that's what was always on our minds."
Taking elements of early Talking Heads (when that band was a herky-jerky funk band), percussive world music, funk and soul with punk-rock energy, !!! forged its own sound.
Since its inception in 1997, the band has released two full-length discs (a self-titled debut in 2000 and "Louden Up Now" in 2004), along with numerous 12-inch extended play singles and remixes. !!! shares band members with the dance-rock bands Out Hud and LCD Soundsystem.
While the music ranges from indie-inspired disco to noisy experimental rock, funk is the common thread through all !!! music.
"Making funky music is just part of what we do when we get together," said Andreoni. "When we jam and just have fun playing off each other, that's generally what happens. There's still so much that can be done with funk and dance music. So it's still something that charges us up and it's always on our minds."
Citing world music and DJ culture as major influences (Andreoni name-drops Afrobeat originator Fela Kuti and DJs Rub and Tugs specifically), !!! draws upon percussion-driven music from all genres. That's probably why you'll see most of the band pick up a cowbell or various other items to beat on during extended drum breaks in its fiery live sets, including Monday's show at the Casbah in Middletown.
"I think that 75 percent of the band is frustrated drummers," Andreoni said. "After our first drummer left the band – who was just an amazing drummer – we all filled in the blanks while we were jamming. Also hearing as much world music as we do, a lot of the percussion-heavy Brazilian music was a touchstone. After we heard that stuff, we decided we needed to be a seriously percussive band."
Chris Nixon is a San Diego writer.
By Chris Nixon
December 8, 2005
Three repetitive sounds: "Chk chk chk" or "pow pow pow" or "uh uh uh." You could add "jump, jump, jump" or "jam, jam, jam" to the list. Take three one-syllable words and fill in the blank. The pronunciations are endless and endlessly amusing, much like the improvisational music of !!! – an eight-piece punkish funk band based in Brooklyn, N.Y., and Sacramento.
With a catalog packed with 20-minute dance-inducing jams, the name !!! – taken from the subtitles of the film "The Gods Must Be Crazy" – reflects the octet's outsider mentality. The band combines pieces of punk, funk, DJ culture, retro disco, indie rock and jam band, yet its doesn't fit into any of those scenes.
Transcending genre, !!! creates an atmosphere ripe for audience participation in the form of movement, whether it's people simply jumping up and down or engaging in more traditional dance steps.
"Ultimately, I want the music to make people jump out of their skins when we're playing," said guitarist Mario Andreoni from his hometown of Sacramento. "Whether that means somebody is totally going bonkers or somebody's trying to reach for (stuff) up in the sky, it doesn't really matter to me."
While growing up in Sacramento, the eight band members – John Pugh (drums), Nic Offer (vocals), Allan Wilson (percussion, horns), Tyler Pope (guitar, keys), Justin VanDerVolgen (bass, sound), Dan Gorman (percussion, horns), Jason Racine (percussion) and Andreoni – earned their musical chops playing in punk or rock bands. But, eventually, the guys wanted to make music similar to what they heard filling the dance clubs they haunted.
"When everybody first started, it was all punk music," remembered Andreoni. "But everybody in the band is such a huge music lover. When we were teenagers we always went to the clubs or we always wanted to go to the clubs. We all danced. It wouldn't matter what kind of music we were dancing to, that's what was always on our minds."
Taking elements of early Talking Heads (when that band was a herky-jerky funk band), percussive world music, funk and soul with punk-rock energy, !!! forged its own sound.
Since its inception in 1997, the band has released two full-length discs (a self-titled debut in 2000 and "Louden Up Now" in 2004), along with numerous 12-inch extended play singles and remixes. !!! shares band members with the dance-rock bands Out Hud and LCD Soundsystem.
While the music ranges from indie-inspired disco to noisy experimental rock, funk is the common thread through all !!! music.
"Making funky music is just part of what we do when we get together," said Andreoni. "When we jam and just have fun playing off each other, that's generally what happens. There's still so much that can be done with funk and dance music. So it's still something that charges us up and it's always on our minds."
Citing world music and DJ culture as major influences (Andreoni name-drops Afrobeat originator Fela Kuti and DJs Rub and Tugs specifically), !!! draws upon percussion-driven music from all genres. That's probably why you'll see most of the band pick up a cowbell or various other items to beat on during extended drum breaks in its fiery live sets, including Monday's show at the Casbah in Middletown.
"I think that 75 percent of the band is frustrated drummers," Andreoni said. "After our first drummer left the band – who was just an amazing drummer – we all filled in the blanks while we were jamming. Also hearing as much world music as we do, a lot of the percussion-heavy Brazilian music was a touchstone. After we heard that stuff, we decided we needed to be a seriously percussive band."
Chris Nixon is a San Diego writer.
Thursday, November 17, 2005
Night&Day: Getting down with DM
Depeche Mode's formula for longevity: 'You really have to strive to find something new and the challenge has to be in the work'
By Chris Nixon
For The San Diego Union-Tribune
November 17, 2005
Orchestral Maneuvers in the Dark. ABC. Adam and the Ants. Duran Duran. While these bands dominated charts in the 1980s on both sides of the Atlantic, British trio Depeche Mode (which translates as "fast fashion" or "fashion dispatch" from French) emerged as a darker alternative to the era's pretty boy dance music.
DM eschewed the fashionable New Romantic scene (despite often getting thrown in the same category), drawing upon Goth and industrial for lyrical and musical inspiration. The band's trademark sound resulted in thinking people's dance music. That's a theme the band has tried to maintain throughout its quarter century of making music.
After 25 years and 19 full-length albums (including "Best Of" compilations and remix albums), the trio of vocalist Dave Gahan, multi-instrumentalist Martin Gore and keyboardist Andrew Fletcher have weathered the pitfalls of fame, fortune and the music industry to release its 11th studio album in 2005, "Playing the Angel."
"The sheer fact that we've managed to achieve as much as we have in the 25 years that we've known each other (is amazing)," said Gahan via the band's Web site depechemode.com. "We have sort of survived that, you know. I would have thought, out of all the kind of bands (in the '80s), this would have been the one I'd have put money on not to still be around. We've probably got a lot more in common with bands like U2 and R.E.M. than we have of any of our peers that we came up (with), just with sheer longevity. I think you really have to strive to find something new and the challenge has to be in the work."
The early years
Depeche Mode's early days focused on the songwriting of Vince Clarke, which resulted in the happy-go-lucky sound of DM's first album, "Speak and Spell," released in 1981. When Clarke left the band (later to form Yaz and team with Andy Bell in Erasure), Gore took over the principal songwriter's chair (though he had written two songs on the debut "Big Muff" and "Any Second Now").
With Gore at the songwriting helm and Gahan developing a more powerful vocal style, Depeche concentrated on a more serious sound still suitable for clubs. Albums like 1982's "A Broken Frame" and 1983s' "Construction Time Again" exhibited the band's synth-driven sound, but 1984's "Some Great Reward" – with the hits "People Are People" and "Master and Servant" – found an audience in the United States.
Tackling issues of race ("People") and alternative lifestyles (S&M in "Master and Servant"), Gore's lyrics provided emotional depth to the band's early sound: full of metallic, chirping '80s keyboards and faux hand claps.
"Music for the Masses," released in 1997, marked a turning point in the band's artistic development and started to realize DM's full potential as an alternative tour de force.
Songs like "Never Let Me Down Again" and "Strangelove" showcased Gahan's fully evolved voice. As a band that relied heavily on technology in the 1980s, its early songs can sound dated 20 years later (while still providing kitschy guilty pleasures).
But "Music for the Masses" is genuine enough to stand the test of time.
Highs and lows
The 1990s found Depeche Mode exploring edgier musical territory. With the help of producer Flood (who updated the beats and stretched the band sonically), DM created in the early 1990s two of its best albums: 1990's "Violator" and 1993's "Songs of Faith and Devotion."
"Personal Jesus" and "Enjoy the Silence" (both from "Violator") remain among the group's finest songs, and both found a huge audience in the States and abroad.
After the commercial and artistic highs of the early 1990s, the later part of the decade found the band in disarray. Multi-instrumentalist Alan Wilder left in 1994. Struggling with drug addiction, Dave Gahan attempted suicide in 1995 and suffered a heroin-cocaine "speedball" overdose in 1996. After rehab, Gahan cleaned himself up and has stayed sober for the past nine years.
"All I really saw was blackness," Gahan told Rolling Stone recently. "I was kind of a goner. That was the start of me trying to do something different with my life."
Despite releasing 1997's "Ultra," Depeche Mode went separate ways in the subsequent years. Gahan and Gore explored solo careers, while Fletcher started his own label.
Dealing with the past
Most Depeche Mode zealots fall clearly into one of two categories (and aren't afraid to tell you): 1980s fan or 1990s fan. And for good reason: the band's sound changed dramatically in two decades. Since 2000, Depeche Mode has sought to find the common ground between the two eras while still exploring and finding new sounds.
Bjork producer Mark Bell pushed the trio in new electronic directions on 2001's "Exciter," full of pitter-patter beats and swirling keyboards. Despite the artistic accomplishments, the disc bitterly disappointed commercially. Longtime fans rejected the album (due to the new sounds) while others viewed DM as simply a nostalgic oddity.
On this year's "Playing the Angel," Depeche Mode enlisted producer Ben Hillier (Blur, Doves) to combine all the band's past incarnations into one album.
"Angel" sheds the atmospherics of "Exciter" and reunites the group with more danceable beats. "John the Revelator" finds Gahan crooning at his best, while Gore busts out his guitar again on "Suffer Well." Gahan also pens a few tracks for the first time on a DM album, a major point of contention in the past.
Said Gahan (via depechemode.com): "No matter what you put into the pot, it becomes Depeche Mode."
Chris Nixon is a San Diego writer.
THE BEST OF DEPECHE
After releasing nearly 20 full-length albums and countless EPs, singles and remixes, digging through the Depeche Mode catalog can be an overwhelming experience. But when you boil it all down, DM produced five great albums representing different stages in its career.
So here's Depeche Mode 101, a handful of discs worth the spin:
"Some Great Reward" (1984): Depeche Mode's fifth album serves as a snapshot of the band's early years, giving U.S. listeners their first taste of DM's early synth-driven sound. Singles like "People Are People" and "Master and Servant" brought Depeche's alternative (socially, lyrically and musically) dance sound worldwide.
"Music for the Masses" (1987): Darker, slower, more Goth and less dance party music than "Some Great Reward," DM's ninth album lays on the minor synth chords while giving Gahan free emotional range to accentuate his dramatic vocal style. The album represents an important step in the band's development, moving away from dance floor beats and toward more artistic expression.
"Violator" (1990): Combining the darker themes of "Music for the Masses" and Depeche Mode's earliest experiences creating dance tracks, this album pieced it all together. Thought-provoking enough for the headphones and rhythmic enough for the clubs, this disc struck a chord with youth and turned into DM's most successful album, spawning such hits as "Enjoy the Silence" and "Personal Jesus." Though still primarily fueled by synthesizers, the album has a more organic feel. Case in point: Gore's exploration of bluesy guitars in "Personal Jesus."
"Songs of Faith and Devotion" (1993): Both touched by the expert production of Flood (Nine Inch Nails, U2), "Violator" and this album represent an artistic high-water mark for Depeche Mode. This release finds Gore reaching for his guitar more often than ever before. The result is a brooding and harder-edged sound, juxtaposing guitars and Gahan's pained, plaintive vocals (the singer would attempt suicide two years later).
"Playing the Angel" (2005): Just released, this marks the first DM release since the downtempo atmospherics of 2001's "Exciter" (an experimental outing well worth a listen). Depeche Mode's latest record returns to the well that sprung "Violator" and "Faith and Devotion": smart electronic dance music. Instead of desperately trying to escape DM's past triumphs, "Playing the Angel" embraces them.
– CHRIS NIXON
By Chris Nixon
For The San Diego Union-Tribune
November 17, 2005
Orchestral Maneuvers in the Dark. ABC. Adam and the Ants. Duran Duran. While these bands dominated charts in the 1980s on both sides of the Atlantic, British trio Depeche Mode (which translates as "fast fashion" or "fashion dispatch" from French) emerged as a darker alternative to the era's pretty boy dance music.
DM eschewed the fashionable New Romantic scene (despite often getting thrown in the same category), drawing upon Goth and industrial for lyrical and musical inspiration. The band's trademark sound resulted in thinking people's dance music. That's a theme the band has tried to maintain throughout its quarter century of making music.
After 25 years and 19 full-length albums (including "Best Of" compilations and remix albums), the trio of vocalist Dave Gahan, multi-instrumentalist Martin Gore and keyboardist Andrew Fletcher have weathered the pitfalls of fame, fortune and the music industry to release its 11th studio album in 2005, "Playing the Angel."
"The sheer fact that we've managed to achieve as much as we have in the 25 years that we've known each other (is amazing)," said Gahan via the band's Web site depechemode.com. "We have sort of survived that, you know. I would have thought, out of all the kind of bands (in the '80s), this would have been the one I'd have put money on not to still be around. We've probably got a lot more in common with bands like U2 and R.E.M. than we have of any of our peers that we came up (with), just with sheer longevity. I think you really have to strive to find something new and the challenge has to be in the work."
The early years
Depeche Mode's early days focused on the songwriting of Vince Clarke, which resulted in the happy-go-lucky sound of DM's first album, "Speak and Spell," released in 1981. When Clarke left the band (later to form Yaz and team with Andy Bell in Erasure), Gore took over the principal songwriter's chair (though he had written two songs on the debut "Big Muff" and "Any Second Now").
With Gore at the songwriting helm and Gahan developing a more powerful vocal style, Depeche concentrated on a more serious sound still suitable for clubs. Albums like 1982's "A Broken Frame" and 1983s' "Construction Time Again" exhibited the band's synth-driven sound, but 1984's "Some Great Reward" – with the hits "People Are People" and "Master and Servant" – found an audience in the United States.
Tackling issues of race ("People") and alternative lifestyles (S&M in "Master and Servant"), Gore's lyrics provided emotional depth to the band's early sound: full of metallic, chirping '80s keyboards and faux hand claps.
"Music for the Masses," released in 1997, marked a turning point in the band's artistic development and started to realize DM's full potential as an alternative tour de force.
Songs like "Never Let Me Down Again" and "Strangelove" showcased Gahan's fully evolved voice. As a band that relied heavily on technology in the 1980s, its early songs can sound dated 20 years later (while still providing kitschy guilty pleasures).
But "Music for the Masses" is genuine enough to stand the test of time.
Highs and lows
The 1990s found Depeche Mode exploring edgier musical territory. With the help of producer Flood (who updated the beats and stretched the band sonically), DM created in the early 1990s two of its best albums: 1990's "Violator" and 1993's "Songs of Faith and Devotion."
"Personal Jesus" and "Enjoy the Silence" (both from "Violator") remain among the group's finest songs, and both found a huge audience in the States and abroad.
After the commercial and artistic highs of the early 1990s, the later part of the decade found the band in disarray. Multi-instrumentalist Alan Wilder left in 1994. Struggling with drug addiction, Dave Gahan attempted suicide in 1995 and suffered a heroin-cocaine "speedball" overdose in 1996. After rehab, Gahan cleaned himself up and has stayed sober for the past nine years.
"All I really saw was blackness," Gahan told Rolling Stone recently. "I was kind of a goner. That was the start of me trying to do something different with my life."
Despite releasing 1997's "Ultra," Depeche Mode went separate ways in the subsequent years. Gahan and Gore explored solo careers, while Fletcher started his own label.
Dealing with the past
Most Depeche Mode zealots fall clearly into one of two categories (and aren't afraid to tell you): 1980s fan or 1990s fan. And for good reason: the band's sound changed dramatically in two decades. Since 2000, Depeche Mode has sought to find the common ground between the two eras while still exploring and finding new sounds.
Bjork producer Mark Bell pushed the trio in new electronic directions on 2001's "Exciter," full of pitter-patter beats and swirling keyboards. Despite the artistic accomplishments, the disc bitterly disappointed commercially. Longtime fans rejected the album (due to the new sounds) while others viewed DM as simply a nostalgic oddity.
On this year's "Playing the Angel," Depeche Mode enlisted producer Ben Hillier (Blur, Doves) to combine all the band's past incarnations into one album.
"Angel" sheds the atmospherics of "Exciter" and reunites the group with more danceable beats. "John the Revelator" finds Gahan crooning at his best, while Gore busts out his guitar again on "Suffer Well." Gahan also pens a few tracks for the first time on a DM album, a major point of contention in the past.
Said Gahan (via depechemode.com): "No matter what you put into the pot, it becomes Depeche Mode."
Chris Nixon is a San Diego writer.
THE BEST OF DEPECHE
After releasing nearly 20 full-length albums and countless EPs, singles and remixes, digging through the Depeche Mode catalog can be an overwhelming experience. But when you boil it all down, DM produced five great albums representing different stages in its career.
So here's Depeche Mode 101, a handful of discs worth the spin:
"Some Great Reward" (1984): Depeche Mode's fifth album serves as a snapshot of the band's early years, giving U.S. listeners their first taste of DM's early synth-driven sound. Singles like "People Are People" and "Master and Servant" brought Depeche's alternative (socially, lyrically and musically) dance sound worldwide.
"Music for the Masses" (1987): Darker, slower, more Goth and less dance party music than "Some Great Reward," DM's ninth album lays on the minor synth chords while giving Gahan free emotional range to accentuate his dramatic vocal style. The album represents an important step in the band's development, moving away from dance floor beats and toward more artistic expression.
"Violator" (1990): Combining the darker themes of "Music for the Masses" and Depeche Mode's earliest experiences creating dance tracks, this album pieced it all together. Thought-provoking enough for the headphones and rhythmic enough for the clubs, this disc struck a chord with youth and turned into DM's most successful album, spawning such hits as "Enjoy the Silence" and "Personal Jesus." Though still primarily fueled by synthesizers, the album has a more organic feel. Case in point: Gore's exploration of bluesy guitars in "Personal Jesus."
"Songs of Faith and Devotion" (1993): Both touched by the expert production of Flood (Nine Inch Nails, U2), "Violator" and this album represent an artistic high-water mark for Depeche Mode. This release finds Gore reaching for his guitar more often than ever before. The result is a brooding and harder-edged sound, juxtaposing guitars and Gahan's pained, plaintive vocals (the singer would attempt suicide two years later).
"Playing the Angel" (2005): Just released, this marks the first DM release since the downtempo atmospherics of 2001's "Exciter" (an experimental outing well worth a listen). Depeche Mode's latest record returns to the well that sprung "Violator" and "Faith and Devotion": smart electronic dance music. Instead of desperately trying to escape DM's past triumphs, "Playing the Angel" embraces them.
– CHRIS NIXON
Britt Daniel ditches gaming for spooning
Spoon counts on its skillful sonic mix
By Chris Nixon
For the San Diego Union-Tribune
November 17, 2005
Before strapping on a guitar full-time for his band Spoon, Britt Daniel worked for Austin, Texas-based computer game maker Origin Systems, composing sonic moods and background noise for games like "Wing Commander" and "Ultima."
"It was a great job," said Daniel during a recent phone call, sounding worn out on a tour stop in Asheville, N.C. "I was making sound effects for video games; that was my first experience with (computer recording software) ProTools."
After departing from a company whose motto was "We Create Worlds," Daniel spent the past decade creating his own world with Spoon. Filled with details like syncopated hand-claps, intricate strings and the occasional beat-boxing, Spoon recordings overflow with studio minutiae and aural niceties. Still, at its core the quartet's five full-length albums are well-crafted indie rock albums.
The band's first two albums – 1996's "Telephono" and 1998's "A Series of Sneaks" – featured less ear candy and more guitar-drums-bass rock. While both records contain aggressive tracks and a punkish guitar sound, they have their mellow moments ("Agony of Laffitte") and a sense of humor ("Laffitte Don't Fail Me Now").
"Sneaks" almost didn't see the light of day after Elektra killed the album's release for lack of a commercial hit in the disc's 16 tracks. Elektra's loss. Spoon self-released the album, then signed with indie label Merge Records for the three albums since.
"Girls Can Tell" – released in 2001 – found Daniel, drummer Jim Eno, bassist Joshua Zarbo and keyboardist Eric Harvey stretching out. The album added more atmospherics and keys while centering around Daniel's gritty vocals. "Kill the Moonlight" followed just a year later in 2002, recorded as "Girls Can Tell" was in Eno's studio in Austin. Mike McCarthy (... And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead) helped to create both records, contributing production skills.
"Moonlight" marked Spoon's crowning achievement (to date), ditching rhythm guitars for more sparse composition. The space allowed for more sonic experimentation, giving more weight to Daniel's vocals and lyrics. After an intense touring schedule, the band would have to wait another three years before releasing its next studio album.
You been gone so long, Daniel sings on "The Beast and Dragon, Adored," the opening track from Spoon's 2005 release "Gimme Fiction." Where you been for so long? / I went to places unknown.
Actually, Spoon went on the road, a place where Daniel has difficulty writing songs.
"We've basically been touring a lot (for the past three years)," said Daniel. "I have two four-tracks I use: one at home and one on the road. But it's hard to write on the road. The one at home gets used more."
The new Spoon album displays a penchant for distorted, atonal guitars solos ("My Mathematical Mind" and "The Beast and Dragon, Adored"), but adds strummy acoustic guitars to even out the sound. While not as experimental or edgy as the previous two albums, "Gimme Fiction" stands as a solid collection of tunes performed by a band with passion.
As Daniel sings on "The Beast and Dragon, Adored": I got a feelin' it didn't come free / I got a feelin' and then it got to me / When you don't feel it, it shows they tear out your soul / And when you believe they call it rock and roll.
Chris Nixon is a San Diego writer.
By Chris Nixon
For the San Diego Union-Tribune
November 17, 2005
Before strapping on a guitar full-time for his band Spoon, Britt Daniel worked for Austin, Texas-based computer game maker Origin Systems, composing sonic moods and background noise for games like "Wing Commander" and "Ultima."
"It was a great job," said Daniel during a recent phone call, sounding worn out on a tour stop in Asheville, N.C. "I was making sound effects for video games; that was my first experience with (computer recording software) ProTools."
After departing from a company whose motto was "We Create Worlds," Daniel spent the past decade creating his own world with Spoon. Filled with details like syncopated hand-claps, intricate strings and the occasional beat-boxing, Spoon recordings overflow with studio minutiae and aural niceties. Still, at its core the quartet's five full-length albums are well-crafted indie rock albums.
The band's first two albums – 1996's "Telephono" and 1998's "A Series of Sneaks" – featured less ear candy and more guitar-drums-bass rock. While both records contain aggressive tracks and a punkish guitar sound, they have their mellow moments ("Agony of Laffitte") and a sense of humor ("Laffitte Don't Fail Me Now").
"Sneaks" almost didn't see the light of day after Elektra killed the album's release for lack of a commercial hit in the disc's 16 tracks. Elektra's loss. Spoon self-released the album, then signed with indie label Merge Records for the three albums since.
"Girls Can Tell" – released in 2001 – found Daniel, drummer Jim Eno, bassist Joshua Zarbo and keyboardist Eric Harvey stretching out. The album added more atmospherics and keys while centering around Daniel's gritty vocals. "Kill the Moonlight" followed just a year later in 2002, recorded as "Girls Can Tell" was in Eno's studio in Austin. Mike McCarthy (... And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead) helped to create both records, contributing production skills.
"Moonlight" marked Spoon's crowning achievement (to date), ditching rhythm guitars for more sparse composition. The space allowed for more sonic experimentation, giving more weight to Daniel's vocals and lyrics. After an intense touring schedule, the band would have to wait another three years before releasing its next studio album.
You been gone so long, Daniel sings on "The Beast and Dragon, Adored," the opening track from Spoon's 2005 release "Gimme Fiction." Where you been for so long? / I went to places unknown.
Actually, Spoon went on the road, a place where Daniel has difficulty writing songs.
"We've basically been touring a lot (for the past three years)," said Daniel. "I have two four-tracks I use: one at home and one on the road. But it's hard to write on the road. The one at home gets used more."
The new Spoon album displays a penchant for distorted, atonal guitars solos ("My Mathematical Mind" and "The Beast and Dragon, Adored"), but adds strummy acoustic guitars to even out the sound. While not as experimental or edgy as the previous two albums, "Gimme Fiction" stands as a solid collection of tunes performed by a band with passion.
As Daniel sings on "The Beast and Dragon, Adored": I got a feelin' it didn't come free / I got a feelin' and then it got to me / When you don't feel it, it shows they tear out your soul / And when you believe they call it rock and roll.
Chris Nixon is a San Diego writer.
Thursday, November 10, 2005
Localese: Tristeza and The KneeHighs
By Chris Nixon
For The San Diego Union-Tribune
November 10, 2005
After co-founder Jimmy LaValle left Tristeza in 2003 to concentrate on his project the Album Leaf, the end seemed near for the local faves. But original members Christopher Sprague (guitar), Luis Hermosillo (bass) and Jimmy Lehner (drums) instead added Alison Ables (guitar) and Sean Ogilvie (keyboards) and forged ahead.
On "A Colores" (Better Looking Records, four stars), the band's third full-length studio album, the San Diego-based quintet expands upon its legacy. Intertwining guitar laces effortlessly with Lehner's percussive musings and atmospheric keyboards. Tristeza will celebrate the release of the album at the Casbah, 2541 Kettner Blvd. in Middletown, on Dec. 2 ($10; casbahmusic.com).
San Diego is woefully underrepresented in the hip-hop game. Straight outta Serra High School, hip-hop quartet the KneeHighs proudly represent the city on its new release "Global Warming" (self-release, three stars). Name-dropping B.A. Baracus and Blu Blocker sunglasses, three MCs and one DJ unite to spread the good about San Diego, sunshine and party vibes throughout their 10-track debut disc.
On tracks like "America's Finest" (Welcome to the streets of San Diego, welcome to the sunny side of life) and "All Around the World" ("Now we bring it back to Cali with the sun on my face, now we run it like a race because there's ladies in the place"), the MCs exhibit excellent flow, and GarGar lays down smooth, funky tracks while espousing the benefits of living in this town of ours. So if you dig on the hip-hop, check out the KneeHighs next time they grace a local stage.
Chris Nixon is a San Diego music writer. Localese, a monthly column focusing on new local music releases, runs the second Thursday of every month in Night&Day.
For The San Diego Union-Tribune
November 10, 2005
After co-founder Jimmy LaValle left Tristeza in 2003 to concentrate on his project the Album Leaf, the end seemed near for the local faves. But original members Christopher Sprague (guitar), Luis Hermosillo (bass) and Jimmy Lehner (drums) instead added Alison Ables (guitar) and Sean Ogilvie (keyboards) and forged ahead.
On "A Colores" (Better Looking Records, four stars), the band's third full-length studio album, the San Diego-based quintet expands upon its legacy. Intertwining guitar laces effortlessly with Lehner's percussive musings and atmospheric keyboards. Tristeza will celebrate the release of the album at the Casbah, 2541 Kettner Blvd. in Middletown, on Dec. 2 ($10; casbahmusic.com).
San Diego is woefully underrepresented in the hip-hop game. Straight outta Serra High School, hip-hop quartet the KneeHighs proudly represent the city on its new release "Global Warming" (self-release, three stars). Name-dropping B.A. Baracus and Blu Blocker sunglasses, three MCs and one DJ unite to spread the good about San Diego, sunshine and party vibes throughout their 10-track debut disc.
On tracks like "America's Finest" (Welcome to the streets of San Diego, welcome to the sunny side of life) and "All Around the World" ("Now we bring it back to Cali with the sun on my face, now we run it like a race because there's ladies in the place"), the MCs exhibit excellent flow, and GarGar lays down smooth, funky tracks while espousing the benefits of living in this town of ours. So if you dig on the hip-hop, check out the KneeHighs next time they grace a local stage.
Chris Nixon is a San Diego music writer. Localese, a monthly column focusing on new local music releases, runs the second Thursday of every month in Night&Day.
In N&D: Staind's Aaron Lewis
Family shifts Staind frontman's outlook
By Chris Nixon
For The San Diego Union-Tribune
November 10, 2005
'I'm still scared, afraid of failing, anticipating the ride to end before the wheels begin to move sings Staind songwriter and vocalist Aaron Lewis in "Run Away," the opening track from the band's 2005 release "Chapter V."
The 33-year-old singer doesn't wear his heart on his sleeve: He vents his innermost insecurities and angst in his lyrics and in his songs.
"It's the only way I'm able to express my feelings and emotions to that extent," said the even-keeled Lewis during a recent phone call from the unlikely tour stop of Guelph, Ontario, Canada. "I tend to internalize everything and overflow after a while. It's usually the overflow that is the lyrics to the next record."
For Lewis, the ride is really just beginning. With wife Vanessa, the couple gave birth to a daughter, Zoe, in 2002 and most recently added another girl, Nyla Rae, this summer. The family lives in the idyllic confines of the Berkshires in Western Massachusetts, serving as a backdrop to Lewis' familial lifestyle away from Staind. The concept of family and fatherhood has completely shifted his perspective on his music and his life.
"Having kids changes your perspective on everything," said Lewis, currently on tour with Chula Vista's P.O.D. and Taproot on the Fall Brawl Tour, which lands at SOMA on Tuesday. "For me – and I hope it's not just me – having kids answered all the questions of 'What's the point?' Now I know what the point is. I know the whole reason I'm here in the first place. That is to make sure that my kids are prepared to go off into this world when the time comes. That's the only real responsibility that I have in life."
In a decade, Lewis' band Staind has elevated itself from regional heroes to internationally known rock stars. When Lewis bumped into guitarist Mike Mushok at a keg party in the band's hometown of Springfield, Mass., the duo had no idea their 1995 chance meeting would evolve into a powerhouse rock group. Along with bassist Johnny April and drummer Jon Wysocki, Staind recorded the self-produced 1996 release "Tormented" within a year of Lewis and Mushok's meeting.
Crunching guitars and Lewis' pained vocals drove the band's sound, catching the eye and ear of Limp Bizkit frontman Fred Durst. Durst championed Staind's cause, leading to the band's 1999 major-label debut "Dysfunction." But 2001's "Break the Cycle" propelled the four guys from western Massachusetts into the pop culture limelight.
Riding the crest of the nu-metal wave (along with Limp Bizkit and Linkin Park), singles like "Open Your Eyes," "For You," "Fade" and, especially, the semi-acoustic track "It's Been Awhile" shot up the charts.
"It's kind of funny, but in my life as a musician it kind of made it more difficult," Lewis said. "Now, everybody on the other end of things – record labels, radio stations and everything else – have that success (of 'Breaking the Cycle') to compare everything else to.
"Even though every single record we've put out has gone platinum or better, that one record ensured that every record after it – even though they all went platinum – were viewed as a failure."
"Breaking the Cycle," 2003's "14 Shades of Gray" and "Chapter V" have debuted at Billboard's No. 1 spot, but record sales isn't the reason Staind stays alive.
"Our fans are the only reason we're still here," Lewis said. "Casual listeners come and go; that was made very apparent on 'Break the Cycle.' Your true core fan base is really what decides whether it's time for you to come or whether it's time for you to go. We have some pretty amazing fans, and I think we appreciate them more than they know."
Chris Nixon is a San Diego writer.
By Chris Nixon
For The San Diego Union-Tribune
November 10, 2005
'I'm still scared, afraid of failing, anticipating the ride to end before the wheels begin to move sings Staind songwriter and vocalist Aaron Lewis in "Run Away," the opening track from the band's 2005 release "Chapter V."
The 33-year-old singer doesn't wear his heart on his sleeve: He vents his innermost insecurities and angst in his lyrics and in his songs.
"It's the only way I'm able to express my feelings and emotions to that extent," said the even-keeled Lewis during a recent phone call from the unlikely tour stop of Guelph, Ontario, Canada. "I tend to internalize everything and overflow after a while. It's usually the overflow that is the lyrics to the next record."
For Lewis, the ride is really just beginning. With wife Vanessa, the couple gave birth to a daughter, Zoe, in 2002 and most recently added another girl, Nyla Rae, this summer. The family lives in the idyllic confines of the Berkshires in Western Massachusetts, serving as a backdrop to Lewis' familial lifestyle away from Staind. The concept of family and fatherhood has completely shifted his perspective on his music and his life.
"Having kids changes your perspective on everything," said Lewis, currently on tour with Chula Vista's P.O.D. and Taproot on the Fall Brawl Tour, which lands at SOMA on Tuesday. "For me – and I hope it's not just me – having kids answered all the questions of 'What's the point?' Now I know what the point is. I know the whole reason I'm here in the first place. That is to make sure that my kids are prepared to go off into this world when the time comes. That's the only real responsibility that I have in life."
In a decade, Lewis' band Staind has elevated itself from regional heroes to internationally known rock stars. When Lewis bumped into guitarist Mike Mushok at a keg party in the band's hometown of Springfield, Mass., the duo had no idea their 1995 chance meeting would evolve into a powerhouse rock group. Along with bassist Johnny April and drummer Jon Wysocki, Staind recorded the self-produced 1996 release "Tormented" within a year of Lewis and Mushok's meeting.
Crunching guitars and Lewis' pained vocals drove the band's sound, catching the eye and ear of Limp Bizkit frontman Fred Durst. Durst championed Staind's cause, leading to the band's 1999 major-label debut "Dysfunction." But 2001's "Break the Cycle" propelled the four guys from western Massachusetts into the pop culture limelight.
Riding the crest of the nu-metal wave (along with Limp Bizkit and Linkin Park), singles like "Open Your Eyes," "For You," "Fade" and, especially, the semi-acoustic track "It's Been Awhile" shot up the charts.
"It's kind of funny, but in my life as a musician it kind of made it more difficult," Lewis said. "Now, everybody on the other end of things – record labels, radio stations and everything else – have that success (of 'Breaking the Cycle') to compare everything else to.
"Even though every single record we've put out has gone platinum or better, that one record ensured that every record after it – even though they all went platinum – were viewed as a failure."
"Breaking the Cycle," 2003's "14 Shades of Gray" and "Chapter V" have debuted at Billboard's No. 1 spot, but record sales isn't the reason Staind stays alive.
"Our fans are the only reason we're still here," Lewis said. "Casual listeners come and go; that was made very apparent on 'Break the Cycle.' Your true core fan base is really what decides whether it's time for you to come or whether it's time for you to go. We have some pretty amazing fans, and I think we appreciate them more than they know."
Chris Nixon is a San Diego writer.
Friday, November 04, 2005
Emily Haines measures Madonna vs. Kim Gordon
Metric system: Add chops to sharp lyrics
By Chris Nixon
For The San Diego Union-Tribune
November 3, 2005
'It would certainly help if more girls bothered to be good at their instruments," says Emily Haines, the shapely singer of the Canadian quartet Metric, regarding the stereotypes attractive females face in the music industry. "And there's lots of guys who don't bother either. But it amazes me that it's still pretty revolutionary to have the desire to participate in the musical world and actually want to be judged on the same basis as your peers."
Wielding a Moog synthesizer in one hand and her sharp wit in the other, Haines manages to shred the stereotypes perpetuated by the Madonnas of the world – both in her lyrics and in her quotes from a recent interview during a tour stop in North Carolina.
"The phenomenon of Madonna, my whole life being told that she is someone to admire, is so discouraging," says Haines, whose model good looks take a back seat to her skills as a musician and songwriter. "For me, there is no meat to her music. And then you have someone like Kim Gordon. She's there to play the bass and that's what she does. She's a very attractive, very sexual, very happening woman. The trick is to do what you're standing there to do, and then you won't be a model who sings."
Far from just a singing model, Haines manages to cover a wide spectrum of topics in her lyrics: art, culture and inner battles. As the lead singer and keyboardist of Metric, the 30-year-old artist creates beautifully sad songs sped up and wrapped in layers of chiming pianos and Moog synthesizers.
With her partner, guitarist James Shaw, drummer Joules Scott-Key and bassist Josh Winsted, Haines and Metric released 2003's "Old World Underground, Where Are You Now?" Produced by Michael Andrews (who teamed with Gary Jules for "Mad World" on the Donnie Darko soundtrack) and recorded in Los Angeles, "Old World Underground" twists and turns its way through 10 tight packages of infectious nu-wave-influenced indie rock. And Haines' lyrics are sharp and smart: "Old world underground I never knew you / But I've seen your face everywhere / There was a farm before we tore / The small town down / Multiply divide."
After gaining moderate attention for their excellent debut disk, Haines and Shaw relocated to Toronto to record the follow-up album. Instead of employing a producer and buying time at an established studio, the pair decided to rent a space in an older building by the tracks in Toronto and create their own studio space.
"We got this space above a bank," recalls Haines. "Streetcars go around the building constantly, so we were afraid the sound would leak. There were a lot of ways it could've gone wrong. We really wanted this to be a good record. We wanted to step it up, you know?"
The result, this year's "Live It Out," packs a punch, fueled more by Shaw's guitar than Haines' keyboard.
"That's what you get when the guitar player produces the record," laughs Haines. "But I like it; I felt it was a more natural recording. I really enjoyed working with Mike Andrews, but a lot of the extra nu-wavey stuff was a result of his vision for the band and how he makes music. But we were going for something a little different."
The sound may have shifted, but the lyrics remain rife with razor wit and intelligent introspection: "Promiscuous makes an entrance / Her mouth is full of questions / Are we all brides to be / Are we all designed to be confined / Buy ourselves chastity belts and lock them / Organize our lives and lose the key / Our faces all resemble dying roses / From trying to fix it."
"My songwriting has also adapted more to the group," says Haines, who will play the Casbah Saturday. "I was really writing with these guys in mind this time. The point of being a musician is to always be getting better. I think we feel like we've all grown as players and we just wanted to enjoy what we were playing."
Chris Nixon is a San Diego music writer.
By Chris Nixon
For The San Diego Union-Tribune
November 3, 2005
'It would certainly help if more girls bothered to be good at their instruments," says Emily Haines, the shapely singer of the Canadian quartet Metric, regarding the stereotypes attractive females face in the music industry. "And there's lots of guys who don't bother either. But it amazes me that it's still pretty revolutionary to have the desire to participate in the musical world and actually want to be judged on the same basis as your peers."
Wielding a Moog synthesizer in one hand and her sharp wit in the other, Haines manages to shred the stereotypes perpetuated by the Madonnas of the world – both in her lyrics and in her quotes from a recent interview during a tour stop in North Carolina.
"The phenomenon of Madonna, my whole life being told that she is someone to admire, is so discouraging," says Haines, whose model good looks take a back seat to her skills as a musician and songwriter. "For me, there is no meat to her music. And then you have someone like Kim Gordon. She's there to play the bass and that's what she does. She's a very attractive, very sexual, very happening woman. The trick is to do what you're standing there to do, and then you won't be a model who sings."
Far from just a singing model, Haines manages to cover a wide spectrum of topics in her lyrics: art, culture and inner battles. As the lead singer and keyboardist of Metric, the 30-year-old artist creates beautifully sad songs sped up and wrapped in layers of chiming pianos and Moog synthesizers.
With her partner, guitarist James Shaw, drummer Joules Scott-Key and bassist Josh Winsted, Haines and Metric released 2003's "Old World Underground, Where Are You Now?" Produced by Michael Andrews (who teamed with Gary Jules for "Mad World" on the Donnie Darko soundtrack) and recorded in Los Angeles, "Old World Underground" twists and turns its way through 10 tight packages of infectious nu-wave-influenced indie rock. And Haines' lyrics are sharp and smart: "Old world underground I never knew you / But I've seen your face everywhere / There was a farm before we tore / The small town down / Multiply divide."
After gaining moderate attention for their excellent debut disk, Haines and Shaw relocated to Toronto to record the follow-up album. Instead of employing a producer and buying time at an established studio, the pair decided to rent a space in an older building by the tracks in Toronto and create their own studio space.
"We got this space above a bank," recalls Haines. "Streetcars go around the building constantly, so we were afraid the sound would leak. There were a lot of ways it could've gone wrong. We really wanted this to be a good record. We wanted to step it up, you know?"
The result, this year's "Live It Out," packs a punch, fueled more by Shaw's guitar than Haines' keyboard.
"That's what you get when the guitar player produces the record," laughs Haines. "But I like it; I felt it was a more natural recording. I really enjoyed working with Mike Andrews, but a lot of the extra nu-wavey stuff was a result of his vision for the band and how he makes music. But we were going for something a little different."
The sound may have shifted, but the lyrics remain rife with razor wit and intelligent introspection: "Promiscuous makes an entrance / Her mouth is full of questions / Are we all brides to be / Are we all designed to be confined / Buy ourselves chastity belts and lock them / Organize our lives and lose the key / Our faces all resemble dying roses / From trying to fix it."
"My songwriting has also adapted more to the group," says Haines, who will play the Casbah Saturday. "I was really writing with these guys in mind this time. The point of being a musician is to always be getting better. I think we feel like we've all grown as players and we just wanted to enjoy what we were playing."
Chris Nixon is a San Diego music writer.
My Morning Jacket: Broemel fits nicely
MMJ carries torch for Southern rock
By Chris Nixon
For The San Diego Union-Tribune
November 3, 2005
The young upstart who signs a major label deal (in the band Old Pike), the hired gun playing sessions in Los Angeles (after the major label dumps the band) and even an aspiring actor, they're all part of My Morning Jacket.
Guitarist Carl Broemel, who has played varied and various roles during his musical career, is playing a different role now: He's creating music in MMJ, one of today's most promising young bands.
"A part of me died when my first band got signed and broke up," said Broemel from Boston as My Morning Jacket prepared to play a show at the Beantown venue Avalon. "I had a band called Old Pike in Indiana; we made a record in '98. I thought we were going to go out and conquer the world, the five of us, and make the music we wanted to make. After Old Pike broke up, I approached music as more of a job.
"After a while, it was really wearing thin and I wasn't even sure if I wanted to play. I almost gave it up and got a day job until I got the call (to audition for My Morning Jacket). It's almost fulfilling the original promise of Old Pike with this band: the five of us going out and doing as much good work as we can."
My Morning Jacket – a five-piece band from Louisville, Ky. – gained initial exposure with 1999's "The Tennessee Fire" and 2001's "At Dawn," both on independent label Darla. The group's brand of strummy, harmonic Southern rock caught the eye of Dave Matthews' ATO label, which promptly signed the quintet.
Critical acclaim came after 2003's "It Still Moves," a moody collection of 12 tunes drawing on such classic influences as Lynyrd Skynyrd and Neil Young. Fueled by the songwriting and semi-falsetto vocals of Jim James, MMJ asserted itself in the forefront of a Southern rock revival started by bands like Drive-By Truckers.
As incessant touring in support of "It Still Moves" wore on, original members Danny Cash (keyboards) and Johnny Quaid (guitar) decided to quit the band. After their departure in January 2004, the band questioned whether to continue. Frontman James – along with original members Patrick Hallahan (drums) and Two-Tone Tommy (bass) – held auditions in hopes of finding the right fit. The first two musicians to walk in the room were Broemel and keyboardist Bo Koster.
"They had never really played with musicians who weren't friends of theirs from Louisville," said Broemel. "I think it was an awkward situation for them and an awkward situation for us. (But), for whatever reason, it felt right."
Newly rejuvenated with Koster and Broemel on board, My Morning Jacket sought to record a new studio album. Quaid's grandparents farm on the outskirts of Louisville had served as the birthplace of MMJ's previous three studio albums. Now, the band searched for a new beginning.
With the help of producer John Lackie (Pink Floyd, Radiohead), the band ventured north to the hills of upstate New York (Allaire Studios) to lay down tracks for its next record.
This year's "Z" finds My Morning Jacket stretching out from its Southern rock roots while never allowing the past to completely disappear from the rearview mirror.
"I don't think there's any method or formula to what we did," said Broemel. "Jim wrote a bunch of killer songs and we went in and tried to make them real."
Chris Nixon is a San Diego music writer.
By Chris Nixon
For The San Diego Union-Tribune
November 3, 2005
The young upstart who signs a major label deal (in the band Old Pike), the hired gun playing sessions in Los Angeles (after the major label dumps the band) and even an aspiring actor, they're all part of My Morning Jacket.
Guitarist Carl Broemel, who has played varied and various roles during his musical career, is playing a different role now: He's creating music in MMJ, one of today's most promising young bands.
"A part of me died when my first band got signed and broke up," said Broemel from Boston as My Morning Jacket prepared to play a show at the Beantown venue Avalon. "I had a band called Old Pike in Indiana; we made a record in '98. I thought we were going to go out and conquer the world, the five of us, and make the music we wanted to make. After Old Pike broke up, I approached music as more of a job.
"After a while, it was really wearing thin and I wasn't even sure if I wanted to play. I almost gave it up and got a day job until I got the call (to audition for My Morning Jacket). It's almost fulfilling the original promise of Old Pike with this band: the five of us going out and doing as much good work as we can."
My Morning Jacket – a five-piece band from Louisville, Ky. – gained initial exposure with 1999's "The Tennessee Fire" and 2001's "At Dawn," both on independent label Darla. The group's brand of strummy, harmonic Southern rock caught the eye of Dave Matthews' ATO label, which promptly signed the quintet.
Critical acclaim came after 2003's "It Still Moves," a moody collection of 12 tunes drawing on such classic influences as Lynyrd Skynyrd and Neil Young. Fueled by the songwriting and semi-falsetto vocals of Jim James, MMJ asserted itself in the forefront of a Southern rock revival started by bands like Drive-By Truckers.
As incessant touring in support of "It Still Moves" wore on, original members Danny Cash (keyboards) and Johnny Quaid (guitar) decided to quit the band. After their departure in January 2004, the band questioned whether to continue. Frontman James – along with original members Patrick Hallahan (drums) and Two-Tone Tommy (bass) – held auditions in hopes of finding the right fit. The first two musicians to walk in the room were Broemel and keyboardist Bo Koster.
"They had never really played with musicians who weren't friends of theirs from Louisville," said Broemel. "I think it was an awkward situation for them and an awkward situation for us. (But), for whatever reason, it felt right."
Newly rejuvenated with Koster and Broemel on board, My Morning Jacket sought to record a new studio album. Quaid's grandparents farm on the outskirts of Louisville had served as the birthplace of MMJ's previous three studio albums. Now, the band searched for a new beginning.
With the help of producer John Lackie (Pink Floyd, Radiohead), the band ventured north to the hills of upstate New York (Allaire Studios) to lay down tracks for its next record.
This year's "Z" finds My Morning Jacket stretching out from its Southern rock roots while never allowing the past to completely disappear from the rearview mirror.
"I don't think there's any method or formula to what we did," said Broemel. "Jim wrote a bunch of killer songs and we went in and tried to make them real."
Chris Nixon is a San Diego music writer.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)