Super Furry Animals skipped the 'homogenized' path to 'make a detour' into rocking performance art
By Chris Nixon
For the Union-Tribune
January 31, 2008
In the Super Furry Animals' decade and a half of molding pop gems, the Welch band has demonstrated a willingness to color outside the lines of regular rock formulas and hop off the paths provided by the music industry.
“The whole climate of the music industry is changing, isn't it?” admitted Super Furry guitarist Huw Bunford, aka “Bunf,” during a recent interview on his holiday break in the United Kingdom. “It looks like music is going down a homogenized, one-size-fits-all avenue. So, you either go down that road or get off and make a detour.”
Advertisement Sidestepping is the norm for these rock outsiders. For starters, the band's first EP release holds down the Guinness Book of World Record bragging rights for longest album title, the hopelessly verbose “Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch (In Space).”
They're one of the few rock bands to sing in Welsh to gain notice in the States (although they mostly sing in English these days). They released a single titled “The Man Don't Give a (Expletive),” which uttered a certain swear word beginning with the letter “f” more than 50 times. Despite no radio airplay, the song reached No. 22 on the U.K. charts.
They scored a cameo from the king of British pop, Paul McCartney, to perform on the 2001 album “Rings Around the World,” then asked Sir Paul to merely chew carrots and celery into a microphone. They produce entire concerts in surround-sound.
DETAILS
Super Furry Animals
When: Saturday, 9 p.m.
Where: Belly Up Tavern, 143 S. Cedros Ave., Solana Beach
Tickets: $18-$20
Phone: (858) 481-8140
Online: bellyup.com
In general, Super Furry Animals don't play by the rules. The band simply sets the rulebook on fire and calls it performance art.
After exploring the nooks and crannies of epic pop anthems in their 2005 opus, “Love Kraft,” these Welsh provocateurs decided to boil down their sound into a dense of wall of psychedelic pop.
“ 'Love Kraft' was a big, indulgent album full of beautiful, sweeping, panoramic songs,” recalled Bunf. “But they weren't short, sharp, in-your-face songs. After we played them live, we realized we'd missed out on some of the shorter songs. We craved a short album. So, this is our shortest album with our shortest song on it.”
Opening with the 43-second snapshot “The Gateway Song,” the rapid-fire delivery of their latest disc, “Hey Venus!,” drips with dense production, Beach Boy harmonies and an ability to stretch the bounds of the pop song format (akin to the work of Phil Spector, McCartney and Brian Wilson four decades before). It has a total length of just under 37 minutes with the longest track (the sweet mellow ballad “Let the Wolves Howl at the Moon”) logging in just under five minutes.
After departing Epic/Sony Records, Bunf and the boys signed a new deal with Rough Trade Records, home of British Sea Power and Belle & Sebastian and the U.K. distributor of American and Canadian acts like Arcade Fire and The Hidden Cameras. Rough Trade honcho Geoff Travis requested the more compact version of Super Furry Animals he heard on the band's albums from the late 1990s.
“This time around, we decided we wanted to do a pop album,” said Bunf. “It was half commissioned and half our own decision. When I say half commissioned, our new record company took far more interest in what we were doing than (our old label) Sony did. This is quite a different experience. So (Travis) said he really liked our early pop albums, and he asked us to do one of those. We said we'd give it a crack.”
Super Furry Animals' cult status is slowly finding a foothold in the U.S., with word of mouth spreading from SFA's elaborate stage shows. The last time through San Diego in 2005, the band played the newly opened House of Blues in support of “Love Kraft.” Complete with a video collage of the entire tour and intricate animation, the large screen served as a backdrop for the band's spot-on recreations of their catalog.
Lead singer Gruff Rhys sported a space helmet with a hole in the top for his microphone. Each band member took turns singing lead. The biggest eye candy came from the iridescent, glow-in-the-dark jumpsuits donned by the entire band.
Look out this time around for suede suits with intricate embroidery matching the “Hey Venus!” album art by Japanese artist Keiichi Tanaami when the band plays the Belly Up Tavern in Solana Beach Saturday night.
“It's always difficult when you go off touring for a long time,” said Bunf. “But that's the nature of the beast, and we're lucky we're doing it. It's great, because you get to do things that other people would love to do. You've got to remember that at the end of the day.”
Super Furry Animals' lineup
Gruff Rhys – vocals, guitar
Huw Bunford – guitar, vocals
Guto Pryce – bass
Cian Ciaran – keyboards, guitar, vocals
Dafydd Ieuan – drums, vocals
Discography
“Fuzzy Logic” (1996, charted No. 23 in the U.K.)
“Radiator” (1997, No. 8 in the U.K.)
“Guerrilla” (1999, No. 10 in the U.K.)
“Mwng” (2000, No. 11 in the U.K.)
“Rings Around the World” (2001, No. 3 in the U.K.)
“Phantom Power” (2003, No. 4 in the U.K.)
“Love Kraft” (2005, No. 19 in the U.K.)
“Hey Venus!” (2007, No. 11 in the U.K.)
RENEWING THEMSELVES WITH SOLO PROJECTS
It's been two years since the last Super Furry Animals album, a time when the band members took time to explore music away from the group decision-making process of the band and the scrutiny of record labels.
Lead singer Gruff Rhys recorded an album of acoustic pop songs titled “Candylion” on Rough Trade in 2007. Keyboardist Cian Ciaran has a side project called Acid Casuals, which released its debut, “Omni,” in 2006. Drummer Dafydd Ieuan formed a group “The Peth,” which recorded during the hiatus.
But the most interesting of the Super Furry Animals solo projects comes from guitarist Huw Bunford. He sculpted atmospheric “soundscapes” from pieced-together field recordings. Taken from airports, trains, buses and backstages during SFA's travels around the world, the ambient snapshots are an audio diary of Bunford's travels.
“I'm interested in field recordings right now, finding music in everyday (activities) on the streets,” said Bunford, whose recordings can be heard at dublab.com. “I use the opportunity of traveling with the band to record. I'm lucky enough to go to places like all over America and Europe and Japan. Instead of a photo journal, it's a sound journal.”
With all the activity away from the band, some might begin to worry about the band's long-term prospects. Bunf sees it as another outlet for creative minds.
“A lot of people might think that it's the beginning of the end, you know?” said Bunford. “But it has more to do with the necessity of keeping mentally sane. It's liberating to be able to do things on your own. You can record something in two days and put it out by the end of the week. With a record company, that kind of thinking doesn't compute.”
– CHRIS NIXON
Thursday, February 07, 2008
Catching up: Four-months of articles
I know. I know. It's been a long time. I'm sorry about that. I don't really have a good reason, besides maybe that I don't get paid for this and money-generating jobs always win out over a labor of love.
So here it is: The four-month catch-up post with all the stories I've published since Sept. 27, 2007. Sorry it's taken so long.
From Oct. 4, 2007:
Natasha Khan: Teacher learns a few things
By Chris Nixon
For the Union-Tribune
October 4, 2007
Back before the whimsical album, the spooky videos and the accolades, Bat for Lashes' Natasha Khan must have been the perfect nursery school teacher.
With her angelic voice, sweet demeanor and a head for the fantastic, the 27-year-old art-student-turned musician probably kept the young Brits transfixed for hours.
“I was constantly telling stories,” remembered Khan during a recent conversation from London. “To have 20 kids with their mouths wide open listening to stories about witches and monsters and robots, it was a lovely environment to be in.”
Surrounded by creative young minds, Khan toiled in her bedroom, turning her stories of witches and monsters and robots into songs: “I think it affected my creative process, being among 5-year-olds all day long. They had this playfulness and joyfulness along with these extreme emotions and animalistic tendencies.
DETAILS
Bat for Lashes, with Chris Chavez
When: Monday, 8 p.m.
Where: House of Blues, 1055 Fifth Ave., downtown
Tickets: $9-$11
Phone: (619) 299-2583
Online: www.hob.com
“I'd worked in factories and offices and sort of all-encompassing, mindless jobs that really drained my creative spirit toward music. Being with children is such a good environment to be in, because you feel like you're really helping society and you're educating these young human beings.”
A few years later, Khan would emerge from her bedroom with a handful of songs that would become Bat for Lashes' debut “Fur and Gold,” an album full of the singer's flights of fancy. With the help of producer David Kosten and violist Abi Fry (also of British Sea Power), the album's layers of rich textural strings and quiet organic songs are spliced with splashes of electronic sounds. During the record's hushed and muted moments, Khan's voice sounds brittle and fragile. But she can also be coy, as in the nod to 1960s pop in “What's a Girl to Do.”
In the stripped-down video for the single “What's a Girl to Do,” Khan rides a bike down a dark remote street. When the chorus arrives (filled with Wall of Sound drums offset by spooky harpsichord), BMX riders appear out of nowhere with big animal masks on (bunnies, lions and bears), following Khan and doing stunts in unison. The video is creepy and surreal and sweet at the same time, which says a lot about Khan's aesthetic (which includes a penchant for dressing up in elaborate robes and Cleopatra headdresses).
On the “What's a Girl to Do” video, Kahn said: “It basically was 22 hours of riding my bike. They had to black out the other riders, and then they had to appear and do jumps with masks on that they couldn't see out of in the rain. l had a huge smile on my face through the whole thing, because we were in the middle of a pine forest, riding our bikes on a deserted road with my music echoing through the forest.”
On the strength of “What's a Girl to Do” and the bittersweet stomp and clap pop of “Priscilla,” “Fur and Gold” earned a Mercury Prize nomination (Britain's top music award), edged out by Klaxons' disc “Myths of the Near Future” and their self-described brand of “acid-rave sci-fi punk-funk.” Even though critics embraced “Fur and Gold,” Khan had a rough transition from nursery school teacher/bedroom musician to professional artist.
“I found that really challenging: the kinds of intrusion you feel and also in terms of pressure you feel being an artist,” admitted Khan. “Before when I was writing music, I was doing it for myself. It's a very private and personal, intense experience. And now all these people are looking at you and expecting things from you.
“From the business side of things, you're viewed as a commodity and in terms of your moneymaking prospects. It really got to me. I felt kind of poisoned for some time. And I still try to keep the business side and the creative side totally separate.”
Along with Fry, Khan will be joined on Bat for Lashes' first major tour of the United States by Caroline Weeks (piano, guitar, autoharp) and Lizzie Carey (guitar, percussion, violin). During the tour (which stops at House of Blues Monday), Khan will be writing material for her band's second album: “I don't think you're ever fully satisfied as an artist. You want to keep going and peeling back the layers to your truest creative self.”
Chris Nixon is a San Diego music writer.
From Oct. 11, 2007:
Growing under the 'Blacklight'
Rilo Kiley's 'restless personalities' show growth as artists
By Chris Nixon
For the Union-Tribune
October 11, 2007
It's pop so good your mom will love it – if your mom has good taste in pop music.
Blake Sennett's mom probably does.
Her son – a former child actor who played bit parts on “Melrose Place,” “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” and “3rd Rock From the Sun” – grew up in San Diego and now writes songs, sings and plays guitar for the L.A.-based pop band Rilo Kiley.
“It was a good place to grow up,” said Sennett, who grew up near Mission Bay and attended La Jolla Country Day School. “San Diego has some good vibes. It can be kind of a lazy town. It's a good place to go and exhale. Although every time I go down there, it's different. I don't recognize it much these days. I come down there sometimes to see my mom.”
After sowing some wild musical oats with sweet sorrowful acoustic country music and sunny indie pop, Jenny Lewis (vocals, keyboards), Sennett (guitar, vocals), Pierre de Reeder (bass guitar, keyboards) and Jason Boesel (drums) have rejoined for another go-round with Rilo Kiley.
DETAILS
Rilo Kiley, with The Bird and The Bee and Grand Ole Party
When: Tomorrow, 7 p.m.
Where: SOMA, 3350 Sports Arena Blvd., Midway area
Tickets: $22
Phone: (619) 226-7662
Online: somasd.com
Since the L.A.-based band burst onto the scene with 2004's scarily beautiful album “More Adventurous,” Lewis drifted away to release a disc of classic bittersweet country twang with Jenny Lewis & the Watson Twins (reaching into the spooky American hillbilly songbook) while Sennett dabbled with pretty, breezy indie rock in The Elected.
“(Solo projects) just kind of happened along the way,” said the 31-year-old Sennett, a producer and songwriter as well. “I know I had a bunch of songs that weren't being used (in the band), so I recorded them. My friends encouraged me to put it out, so I did. It all kind of happened naturally.
“Because we're restless personalities, we'll always have other projects,” added Sennett with an eye down the road. “I think we always have little plans, Jenny and I.”
Lewis and Sennett have reunited for RK's 2007 release “Under the Blacklight.” Sounding like a happy-go-lucky Neko Case, Lewis' vocals sound stronger than ever, while Sennett's songwriting has grown with his time in The Elected.
“Jenny and I respectively went on tours during the recording of the album,” recalled Sennett. “So it took a minute to get back in the swing of things. We had to feel each other out in terms of where we had been artistically and emotionally in the last year. But once we got rolling it was the most pleasant and educational experience I've had recording.”
With perfect production from Jason Lader and Mike Elizondo (Dr. Dre, Eminem, Fiona Apple, Alanis Morissette) and squeaky-clean songs, Rilo Kiley's sound is classic pop tailor-made for radio airplay.
Sennett on Lader and Elizondo: “I felt like I learned a lot from those guys. They were real hands-on kind of producers. So that was fun, to let go of the reins. I personally just tried to say 'Yes' as much as possible, no matter what. I learned that from Mike Elizondo. He's such a positive person. His answer for everything was 'Yeah, let's try it.' ”
Rilo Kiley's major label debut brims with sunny pop, like the whispery boy-girl vocals of “Dreamworld” and the happy-go-lucky sing-along chorus of “Silver Lining.”
But Sennett and Watson aren't stuck on one channel: The quartet drops the strummy pop in favor of driving drum beats and rock guitar riffs on “Moneymaker.” With guests Jackson Browne and Alex Greenwald (of Phantom Planet), along with James Valentine and Mickey Madden from Maroon 5, “Under the Blacklight” leads smirking indie rockers away from sadness and sarcasm toward happier artistic expression.
But is it too pure and pretty and poppy and beautiful and perfect? Nope, it's just the kind of music you want to take home to mom.
Chris Nixon is a San Diego music writer.
THE MAKINGS OF A GRAND OLE PARTY
With barely two years together as a trio, Grand Ole Party is a San Diego success story in the making.
While other bands have moved away from San Diego to find their fortunes (see: The Rapture), Grand Ole Party came to our barrio by the border to establish themselves.
After meeting at UC Santa Cruz and hanging out in the Bay Area for a time, singer-drummer Kristin Gundred, guitarist John Paul Labno and bassist Michael Krechnyak relocated to San Diego.
In less than two years here, Grand Ole Party was nominated for Best New Artist at last year's San Diego Music Awards and won the award for “Best Alternative” band this year.
Produced by Rilo Kiley's Blake Sennett, GOP's debut disc, “Humanimals,” is full of raw rock and funk along with Gundred's powerful vocals. The album led to an opening spot on Rilo Kiley's latest tour, which stops at SOMA in the Midway area tomorrow night.
Sennett on Grand Ole Party: “A friend of mine saw them in Los Angeles, and said, 'I think you should check them out. I think you'd like them.' I went to their MySpace page and listened to their demos. They were so cool I drove down to San Diego and saw them play at The Casbah. They were great. I guess after the show I asked them if they wanted to make a record, so we made a record together.”
– CHRIS NIXON
THE SUNNY POP BAND CALLED RILO KILEY
Lineup
Jenny Lewis – vocals, keyboards, guitar, bass guitar
Blake Sennett – guitar, vocals
Pierre de Reeder – bass guitar, keyboards, guitar, vocals
Jason Boesel – drums, percussion
Discography
“Take-Offs and Landings” (2001)
“The Execution of All Things” (2002)
“More Adventurous” (2004)
“Under the Blacklight” (2007)
From Oct. 25, 2007:
'We knew instinctually how to make music'
By Chris Nixon
For the Union-Tribune
October 25, 2007
Artists often describe the moment of creation – the flash of inspiration that seemingly flows through them rather than from them – in passionate, revelatory language.
For sisters Tegan and Sara Quin, the 27-year-old identical twins had their quasi-religious experience in the basement of their Calgary, Canada, home. They were a couple of teenagers who stumbled upon their stepdad's old guitar. With acoustic in hand, they intuitively knew how to play and write songs.
“I'm not a religious person, and I really struggle with the terminology to describe this because people always laugh,” admitted Sara Quin. “We knew instinctually how to make music. We somehow knew that we would be able to succeed. There was a relaxed faith in what I was doing. As soon as I picked up the guitar, I started writing songs. To this day, when I write songs, it's still this very strange chemical reaction that I can't really explain.”
The chemical reactions coming from Tegan and Sara make the sisters one of indie rock's best songwriting duos. After the discovery of the acoustic guitar, all the pieces naturally fell in place for a career in music.
DETAILS
Tegan and Sara
When: Tuesday, 8 p.m.
Where: Spreckels Theatre, 121 Broadway, downtown
Tickets: $30
Phone: (619) 235-9500
Online: Ticketmaster.com
“We created our own scene because we were too young to be a part of any other scene,” remembered Sara, whose effervescent personality comes through in her music and lyrics. “We played in garages and backyards and basements. We made our own demo tapes and my mom copied the album artwork at her work. Even then, when we were our own little community, I never thought it was going to substitute being a teacher or a lawyer or a social worker. For Tegan and I, the career was built around us before we knew we even had one.”
Through a 12-year run, the musicians recorded five albums of indie pop brimming with swirling keyboards and mingling of sweet harmonies. With the early days in Calgary in the review mirror, the sisters now live on opposite sides of Canada, Tegan in Vancouver and Sara in Montreal, adding logistics to the already difficult process of song creation.
They send each other stripped-down versions of song ideas, feedback flows from Vancouver to Montreal and back again, and a song is shaped via long distance.
Most demos are recorded in portable home studios, and they sound like it. Capturing ideas is more important than sound quality. Normally, demo tunes are later polished in a pro studio space.
That's how Tegan and Sara pieced together albums, until they met Chris Walla. The 31-year-old Death Cab for Cutie guitarist signed on to produce Tegan and Sara's 2007 release, “The Con,” and he brought a few original ideas to the table.
First, Walla wanted to pick the 14 best songs from the possible demo songs and put them in the order they would eventually appear on the record. He additionally wanted to record the songs in order, creating a concept album feel to songs that were created independently.
Finally, Walla pulled selected vocal and guitar from the demos and used them in the final album mix. With the help of star-studded guest spots that feel natural and unpretentious (from The Rentals' Matt Sharp, Jason McGerr of Death Cab for Cutie, AFI's Hunter Burgan, Kaki King and Walla himself), the album crackles with inventive pop songwriting and spot-on musicianship.
For those planning on attending Tegan and Sara's Tuesday show at Spreckels Theatre downtown, expect lively banter and stories between songs, a trademark of their two-hour shows: “I just want the people who like our band to like us as people. I don't want them to just like our music.”
Chris Nixon is a San Diego music writer.
From Nov. 1, 2007:
Yo La Tengo a happy-go-lucky, serious band
By Chris Nixon
For the Union-Tribune
November 1, 2007
Yellow tango or Yo La Tengo?
The Jersey band Yo La Tengo gives a nod to their beloved Mets by claiming their name from a classic baseball story: It's 1962, and Latino players start to make their mark in Major League Baseball (foreshadowing the Latino explosion of baseball in the 1990s).
New York Mets outfielder Richie Ashburn (also known as “Whitey” for his hair color) learns to communicate in Spanish with Venezuelan shortstop Elio Chacón during pop flies into shallow center field, perfecting the phrase “Yo la tengo,” or “I have it.”
During a fly ball, Ashburn calls off Chacón by yelling “Yo la tengo,” only to get leveled by left fielder Frank Thomas (aka “The Big Donkey”). After the play, Thomas – obviously not a Spanish speaker – asks Ashburn, “Why are you talking about 'Yellow Tango'?”
Tengo or tango? After 23 years trolling the underground music scene, you'd think people would have it straight by now. Especially after the transcendent 2006 disc “I Am Not Afraid of You and I Will Beat Your Ass,” the trio's sixth release on Matador.
DETAILS
Yo La Tengo
When: Sunday, 7 p.m.
Where: Museum of Contemporary Art, 700 Prospect St., La Jolla
Tickets: $23-$35
Phone: (858) 454-3541
Online: mcasd.org
But the baseball story fits with the band's tongue-in-cheek, inside-joke indie rock mentality. At its core, Yo La Tengo is a band that doesn't take itself too seriously, but its music is serious stuff.
After almost 25 years, the Hoboken, N.J.-based husband and wife team of guitarist-vocalist Ira Kaplan and drummer-vocalist Georgia Hubley have lived just below the radar of mainstream media, but are well-known among name-dropping music geeks. With 15 wildly diverse albums and a sense of unadulterated adventure at every turn, it's a career that's deserving of more notice.
From the opening sonic assault of “Pass the Hatchet, I Think I'm Goodkind” stretching almost 11 minutes, to the sparse ambient landscape of the eight-minute instrumental “Daphnia” and all indie pop points between, “I Am Not Afraid of You” remains one of the most infectiously bipolar albums released in the past few years. It's also one of the best.
Along with bassist James McNew, Kaplan and Hubley feel equally at home in the whispering harmonies and Byrds-like harpsichord-inflected guitar riffs of “The Race Is on Again,” the new-wave-buzzing keyboards and clickety-clack bongos of “The Room Got Heavy” and the Ramones-esque lightning quick pop punk feel of “Watch Out for Me Ronnie.”
Laden with horns and strings and all things orchestrated and poppy, the album takes dramatic turns stylistically, yet the big beautiful mess seems to work in its messiness.
Sunday's show at the intimate 492-seat Sherwood Auditorium in the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego in La Jolla will provide longtime fans and Yo La Tengo initiates a chance to know the trio in a different way.
The Freewheeling Yo La Tengo Tour will feature acoustic interpretations of tunes spanning the band's entire career, along with spats of storytelling. Interaction from the audience is encouraged.
Kaplan, Hubley and McNew are known for different set lists every night, along with their extensive catalog of cover tunes at their disposal. So, like the genre-twisting roller-coaster ride of “I Am Not Afraid of You” and the experimentation of Yo La Tengo's entire career, expect the unexpected.
Chris Nixon is a San Diego music writer.
From Nov. 15, 2007:
Lyrics Born is an act born in a cultural mix
By Chris Nixon
For the Union-Tribune
November 15, 2007
From the Bay Area's independent music community that includes Blackalicious, Lyrics Born works outside the “industry.”
Secluded from the music industry machines of Los Angeles and New York City, the Bay Area has featured bands focused on creating their own fan base through DIY marketing and word-of-mouth. Born within the anti-establishment mentality of the 1960s, the Bay Area's music scene works outside the normal music business tracks, allowing for more experimentation and more control for the artists.
Spearheaded by the loose collective and record label known as Quannum Projects, San Francisco and the Bay Area sport one of the best underground hip-hop scenes around: Blackalicious (Chief Xcel and Gift of Gab), DJ Shadow, Lateef the Truthspeaker and Lyrics Born, aka Tom Shimura.
“The Bay Area is just so diverse,” said Shimura in an interview in the midst of his current tour. “There's also no music industry in the Bay Area. There aren't any record companies. So, people out of necessity are forced to create an industry around the music they make. So, you have a lot of diversity and you have a lot of new ideas. It's also culturally mixed and culturally diverse. You're going to get a lot of different influences and a lot of different styles.”
Born in Tokyo, then on to stops in Salt Lake City and Tampa Bay, half Japanese-American, half Italian-American MC Lyrics Born draws on his own diverse background and his Bay Area home base to make his brand of outsider hip-hop.
DETAILS
Lyrics Born, with The Kneehighs and Deep Rooted
When: Tonight, 9.
Where: Belly Up Tavern, 143 S. Cedros Ave., Solana Beach
Tickets: $16-$18
Phone: (858) 481-9022
Online: bellyup.com
The core of Quannum met at UC Davis in the mid-1990s. Since then the collective's members have been using their outsider mentality to create their own take on hip-hop. DJ Shadow explores the arty, ambient side of turntablism. Blackalicious and Lateef expand the rhythmic boundaries of MCs, mixing enlightened lyrics and party music for a potent mix. Lyrics Born takes hip-hop into new territory by shucking the confines of the traditional DJ/MC setup in favor of a live band.
“With the band, you have the freedom to do a lot of different things,” said the 35-year-old Shimura in his deep gravelly baritone. “You can improvise, you can speed up, you can change keys, you can create your own transitions. It's just a different type of energy onstage.”
Lyrics Born's band – vocalist Joyo Velarde (Quannum recording artist and Shimura's wife), guitarist B'nai Rebelfront, bassist Uriah Duffy (who has performed with artists ranging from Christine Aquilera to Whitesnake), keyboardist Mike Blankenship and P-Dub on drums – gives Shimura's music new life onstage, as evidenced by the band's 2006 EP “Overnite Encore: Lyrics Born Live.”
Lyrics Born began his career as half of Latyrx with Lateef the Truthspeaker. The pair released the 1997 classic “The Album,” featuring Lateef's rapid-fire machine gun delivery contrasted by Shimura's laid-back drawl. Both went on to successful solo careers, with Lyrics Born releasing 2003's “Later That Day.” He followed with the remix album “Same !@$ Different Day” in 2005 and a pair of collaborative efforts: “Lyrics Born Variety Show Season One” (2005) and “Season Two” (2006).
In March, Lyrics Born is set to release “Everywhere at Once,” his first album with ANTI-records, the diverse sister label of Epitaph. The disc finds Shimura stretching out even further from his hip-hop roots.
“The new album has some of the best songwriting I've ever done,” said Shimura. “This album was not as much about me trying to show the world how great an MC I was. It's about showing the world the kind of albums I can make and the kind of songs I can write.”
For Shimura, this next step is a continuation of a trend he's followed throughout his career: “I'm always going to try and push the boundaries. I'm always going to try to take it one step further. I'm always going to try to do things that people wouldn't expect. I'm always trying to do things that have never been done before, or at least I've never done them before. I definitely feel like I stepped outside the hip-hop box (on this album), without a doubt.”
Chris Nixon is a San Diego music writer.
From Nov. 22, 2007:
Just plain folk? Nah ...
Sam Beam, aka Iron & Wine, meshes the hippie and the hick and broadens a genre
By Chris Nixon
For the Union-Tribune
November 22, 2007
From flower-power hippies to down-home country farmers to coffeehouse intellectuals, folk music has given Americans a platform to tell stories.
Without all the bells and whistles of more intricate styles, folk allows songwriters the freedom to focus on creating images through lyrics. In folk, blistering guitar solos take a back seat to storytelling and lyrical poetry.
If you hadn't been paying attention to folk music these days, the genre is spreading its wings in many directions at once.
Instead of three-chord formulaic compositions, you're seeing miniature symphonies from artists like Joanna Newsom. Chicago's Califone adds to the folk palette with percussive acoustic tunes and a willingness to dabble with electronic sounds. Operating way outside the traditional folk box, Devendra Banhart pairs his beautiful, nonsensical imagery with his stripped-down songs.
Less freaky than Banhart is Sam Beam, known in the pop world as Iron & Wine. Beam understands the worlds of both the hippie and the hick, drawing on the pastoral quiet of his Southern upbringing while shucking the confines of traditional acoustic folk to bring his music to uncharted territory.
DETAILS
Iron & Wine, with Califone
When: Tuesday, 9 p.m.
Where: 4th & B, 345 B St., downtown
Tickets: $22.50 advance; $24.50 day of show
Phone: (619) 299-2583
Online: 4thandB.com
Ever since his striking debut, “The Creek Drank the Cradle,” (Sub Pop Records) appeared seemingly out of nowhere in 2002, Beam's music has felt like a password, a secret handed from person to person. Which it was until a handful of his songs made it into “Garden State,” the 2004 movie that also made indie superstars out of The Shins.
From his long hair and beard, whispery voice, gorgeous melodies and slightly Southern Gothic vibe, Beam, 33, has cultivated (consciously or not) a bit of a low-key mythos about him.
The only son of a state employee and a teacher, Beam hails from Columbia, S.C., where he seems to have had a dangerously average upbringing, with church, school and the radio all big parts.
“I always loved it, always gravitated toward it,” Beam said of music. “My parents liked the radio and had some Motown records. When I was a kid, I didn't even think about it being a genre of music specific to a time and place.”
Many fans hear something both Southern and Christian in Beam's music. Beam said neither of these things were exceptionally important to him, but that doesn't mean they're not in his work. But he doesn't consider himself a Southern artist.
“Yeah, I enjoy Southern writers, but no more so than Vonnegut or anyone else. I grew up in the suburbs. That's why Spielberg's movies did so well. 'E.T.'s' neighborhood was like everybody's neighborhood. My South was not like Faulkner novels.”
Beam headed to Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond for college, drawn by its fine arts program. Perhaps oddly, he didn't do much with music.
“I dabbled in music in college, jamming with friends now and then, but I wanted to be a painter,” he said. “Like everyone else, I liked movies and started to get into photography.”
He met his wife and ended up in Florida after graduation, going to grad school and teaching cinematography.
“I got a four-track and started to do it more seriously as a hobby,” Beam says of music.
At first, Beam assumed he'd just be trading songs with pals.
“You know Ben Bridwell from Band of Horses?” Beam asked, talking about the Seattle indie rock band that came to prominence opening for Iron & Wine. “His older brother, Michael, was one of my best friends growing up. We would hang out and give each other tapes.”
Bridwell passed Beam's tape to longtime scenester/zinester Mike McGonigal, who included an Iron & Wine song on a compilation to go with his zine Yeti. Soon after, Sub Pop Records came calling.
This was weird for a couple of reasons.
One, Beam says he wasn't exactly seeking a record deal. He had a child and a steady job. Two, Sub Pop was known as the punk rock label that birthed Nirvana and grunge. Beam's music was acoustic, layered on a four-track and mumbled.
“When I saw they were doing The Shins, I was like well, OK,” Beam said. “It seemed like too good a thing to pass up, honestly. I felt like I didn't have a lot to lose.”
Beam had two full CDs of material; he and the label cherry-picked songs, and “The Creek Drank the Cradle” appeared in 2002.
“The thing that struck me immediately about that first Iron & Wine thing, which I reviewed for the Wire, was that it was a very natural blend of the hip and the square,” said influential rock critic Byron Coley, then of the very hip zine Forced Exposure. “It had a very DIY vibe, but it was melodically closer to very mundane sources, like Simon and Garfunkel and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young.”
It was a record that felt deeply personal.
“Sometimes there's bits and pieces of autobio in there, but a lot is just fantasy,” Beam said. “I don't do confessional therapeutic songs. I like to switch around the narrator, try to make it as interesting as possible. But, of course, experiences temper your life, and that's what you draw from in some way. I rarely have a specific point to make in my songs.”
When Beam started touring on the album, the first time he had ever done so, he realized the impact he was making.
“I remember starting to play shows and having people singing the songs back to me, and I was like, 'What the ...?' ” Beam said. “It was really surreal. I was doing this as a hobby, and people were connecting with the songs.”
More records followed, in much higher fidelity, but things took a qualitative leap when “Garden State” was released in 2004. The soundtrack included Beam's version of the Postal Service song “Such Great Heights.”
“Our shows doubled in size,” Beam said.
Chris Nixon is a San Diego music writer. Wire reports were included in this story.
THE ROAD NOT TAKEN: FOLK MUSIC STRETCHES ITS LIMBS
The New Weirdness is at your doorstep, and it wants to you throw out your old Peter, Paul and Mary records. Dreamers and freaks litter the folk scene today, using fanciful allegory and richly layered compositions to blow the dust off the genre.
Here's a brief overview and who's who of the top purveyors of folk music in the new millennium:
Bonnie Prince Billy: Will Oldham – aka Bonnie Prince Billy – writes songs embodying the wave of singer-songwriters revitalizing folk and acoustic Americana music in the past decade: great lyrics matched with a willingness to take folk beyond the formula of three chords and a catchy chorus.
Oldham's been a professional musician for 15 years now, and his songwriting is starting to reach larger audiences as he continues down his artistic path. In 2000, Johnny Cash gave his stamp of approval, recording the Oldham song “I See a Darkness” on his “American III: Solitary Man” album.
Califone: Musician Tim Rutili has said simply: “I hate rock.” His band Califone, more a loose collective of friends than a set lineup, has taken bittersweet Appalachia folk down from the mountain, skipped all the rock clichés and transported it to more otherworldly, experimental turf. It's a landscape of mumbled phrases, wind chimes in the distance and subconscious, atmospheric keyboards, while eerie banjos duel with bubbling blips, beeps and found percussion.
Califone is essentially the band formerly known as Red Red Meat, minus the rock and a member or two. “Roots & Crowns,” the band's 2006 release, is beautiful in the way your grandfather's rusty tools are statuesque and sublime: heavy with iron and filthy, but held with loving hands for long years, filled with world-weary stories.
Joanna Newsom: Newsom is changing the symphonic boundaries of folk with her huge orchestral harp in tow. Born into a family of musicians, the 26-year-old singer-songwriter grew up in the former gold rush town of Nevada City in Northern California. She's been playing the harp for almost 20 years, bringing an Appalachian down-home feel to her indie folk sound.
After gaining a national audience touring with singer Will Oldham, Newsom signed to Drag City Records and released her 2004 debut “The Milk-Eyed Mender.” A beautifully stark album, Newsom shines with her intertwining harp melodies and unique singing style.
She shifted her approach for her sophomore effort “Ys.” The album is an ambitious effort replete with epic, sprawling song cycles ranging from seven to 16 minutes and compositions thick with strings, accordions, mandolins and banjos.
Devendra Banhart: Accented by gentle finger-picked acoustic guitar and his high-pitched wavering vocals, Banhart's songs capture a wistful playfulness and an endearing innocence.
He first came into the national spotlight after his 2002 recording “Oh Me, Oh My,” brimming with 22 tracks with titles like “Roots (If the Sky Were a Stone),” “Legless Love” and “Lend Me Your Teeth.” The long-haired musician has released almost an album a year since his debut: 2003's “Rejoicing in the Hand,” 2004's “Niño Rojo,” 2005's “Cripple Crow” and “Smokey Rolls Down Thunder Canyon” in 2007.
Released on XL Recordings, “Smokey Rolls Down Thunder Canyon” furthers Banhart's Donovan-style mystique with his unique vocals and 1960s low-tech folka pproach. The beauty of Banhart's songwriting comes in the psychedelic imagery and simple, stripped-down approach to songcraft.
– CHRIS NIXON
From Nov. 27, 2007:
Van Halen still rocks the house
Roth proves pipes, chemistry are there
By Chris Nixon
For the Union-Tribune
November 27, 2007
Change, ain't nothin' stays the same / Unchained, you hit the ground runnin'.
When David Lee Roth sang the chorus of Van Halen's “Unchained” Sunday night at SDSU's Cox Arena, it was the moment that summed up the rocky 22-year hiatus since Roth departed the iconic rock band and the recent reunion.
Change means questions: Could Van Halen maintain the technical superiority that set it apart from the high tide of heavy metal bands in the early '80s? Does Roth still have the pipes to hit the high notes? Can Eddie's 16-year-old son, Wolfgang, fill the bass duties of one the best arena rock bands of the past 30 years? And most importantly, how long before the joy ride explodes into a fiery crash?
A lot of Van Halen fans, scorned and scarred by past titillations of a Roth-Van Halen reunion, asked themselves these questions as plans formulated for the current string of dates, Roth's first tour with the band since his departure in 1985. The answers lie in the song: “You hit the ground runnin'.”
When you do, though, there will be times when you stumble. Case in point: During the breakdown of “Panama,” Roth mistakenly thought he was in the middle of “Ain't Talking 'Bout Love.” Or when Roth forgot the words to “So This Is Love?” during the first verse.
But through the two-hour, 10-minute sold-out show, Van Halen showed the musical dexterity and emotional ferocity that made the band the champs of arena rock.
Reprising his role as lead singer after a scattered and unsuccessful solo career, Roth's vocals hit all the right notes. Gen X's answer to the original blond-haired rock god, Robert Plant, the 53-year-old Roth beamed like a birthday boy, strutting and parading around the stage as if he owned it.
Roth was glam before glam was big, admired by head bangers and loved by women (with a healthy dose of ego thrown in). Now Roth needs the Van Halen clan more than ever. And, with the missteps of Gary Cherone and Sammy Hagar in the rearview mirror, the Van Halen brothers need Roth, too.
Eddie, the guitar god whose style of two hands on the fretboard produced the ethereal arpeggios that changed how we view the six-string instrument, looked happy to be onstage with his son, slapping him high fives and giving him encouragement throughout the show. The 52-year-old guitarist also appeared pleased to be sharing the stage with Roth. The two traded call-and-responses during the opener “You Really Got Me,” “Somebody Get Me A Doctor” and “Everybody Wants Some.”
Alex, whose steady drums have laid the groundwork for Eddie's explorations throughout Van Halen's history, anchored the entire show with precision. At 54, he is the band's eldest member. But his age didn't show in the blistering five-minute drum solo midway through the concert.
After the brothers Van Halen fired longtime bassist Michael Anthony in 2006, Eddie and Alex decided to keep it in the family by recruiting Wolfgang to handle bass duties. The young man held his own in the bright lights of Cox Arena, adding back-up vocals and his own take on the traditional VH bass lines.
Van Halen's 24-song set fell into a couple of categories: the covers (“You Really Got Me” and “Pretty Woman”), the pop songs (“Dance the Night Away,” “I'll Wait” and “Jump”) and the essential rockers (“Runnin' With the Devil,” “Hot for Teacher,” “Panama” and “Ain't Talking 'Bout Love). But Wolfgang, who chose the set list for the 45-date tour, added a few gems: “I'm the One” and “Atomic Punk” from the 1978 self-titled disc, “Mean Street” from “Fair Warning” and “Romeo Delight” from “Women and Children First.”
Chris Nixon is a San Diego music writer.
For a complete set list and additional commentary, log on to street.signonsandiego.com.
So here it is: The four-month catch-up post with all the stories I've published since Sept. 27, 2007. Sorry it's taken so long.
From Oct. 4, 2007:
Natasha Khan: Teacher learns a few things
By Chris Nixon
For the Union-Tribune
October 4, 2007
Back before the whimsical album, the spooky videos and the accolades, Bat for Lashes' Natasha Khan must have been the perfect nursery school teacher.
With her angelic voice, sweet demeanor and a head for the fantastic, the 27-year-old art-student-turned musician probably kept the young Brits transfixed for hours.
“I was constantly telling stories,” remembered Khan during a recent conversation from London. “To have 20 kids with their mouths wide open listening to stories about witches and monsters and robots, it was a lovely environment to be in.”
Surrounded by creative young minds, Khan toiled in her bedroom, turning her stories of witches and monsters and robots into songs: “I think it affected my creative process, being among 5-year-olds all day long. They had this playfulness and joyfulness along with these extreme emotions and animalistic tendencies.
DETAILS
Bat for Lashes, with Chris Chavez
When: Monday, 8 p.m.
Where: House of Blues, 1055 Fifth Ave., downtown
Tickets: $9-$11
Phone: (619) 299-2583
Online: www.hob.com
“I'd worked in factories and offices and sort of all-encompassing, mindless jobs that really drained my creative spirit toward music. Being with children is such a good environment to be in, because you feel like you're really helping society and you're educating these young human beings.”
A few years later, Khan would emerge from her bedroom with a handful of songs that would become Bat for Lashes' debut “Fur and Gold,” an album full of the singer's flights of fancy. With the help of producer David Kosten and violist Abi Fry (also of British Sea Power), the album's layers of rich textural strings and quiet organic songs are spliced with splashes of electronic sounds. During the record's hushed and muted moments, Khan's voice sounds brittle and fragile. But she can also be coy, as in the nod to 1960s pop in “What's a Girl to Do.”
In the stripped-down video for the single “What's a Girl to Do,” Khan rides a bike down a dark remote street. When the chorus arrives (filled with Wall of Sound drums offset by spooky harpsichord), BMX riders appear out of nowhere with big animal masks on (bunnies, lions and bears), following Khan and doing stunts in unison. The video is creepy and surreal and sweet at the same time, which says a lot about Khan's aesthetic (which includes a penchant for dressing up in elaborate robes and Cleopatra headdresses).
On the “What's a Girl to Do” video, Kahn said: “It basically was 22 hours of riding my bike. They had to black out the other riders, and then they had to appear and do jumps with masks on that they couldn't see out of in the rain. l had a huge smile on my face through the whole thing, because we were in the middle of a pine forest, riding our bikes on a deserted road with my music echoing through the forest.”
On the strength of “What's a Girl to Do” and the bittersweet stomp and clap pop of “Priscilla,” “Fur and Gold” earned a Mercury Prize nomination (Britain's top music award), edged out by Klaxons' disc “Myths of the Near Future” and their self-described brand of “acid-rave sci-fi punk-funk.” Even though critics embraced “Fur and Gold,” Khan had a rough transition from nursery school teacher/bedroom musician to professional artist.
“I found that really challenging: the kinds of intrusion you feel and also in terms of pressure you feel being an artist,” admitted Khan. “Before when I was writing music, I was doing it for myself. It's a very private and personal, intense experience. And now all these people are looking at you and expecting things from you.
“From the business side of things, you're viewed as a commodity and in terms of your moneymaking prospects. It really got to me. I felt kind of poisoned for some time. And I still try to keep the business side and the creative side totally separate.”
Along with Fry, Khan will be joined on Bat for Lashes' first major tour of the United States by Caroline Weeks (piano, guitar, autoharp) and Lizzie Carey (guitar, percussion, violin). During the tour (which stops at House of Blues Monday), Khan will be writing material for her band's second album: “I don't think you're ever fully satisfied as an artist. You want to keep going and peeling back the layers to your truest creative self.”
Chris Nixon is a San Diego music writer.
From Oct. 11, 2007:
Growing under the 'Blacklight'
Rilo Kiley's 'restless personalities' show growth as artists
By Chris Nixon
For the Union-Tribune
October 11, 2007
It's pop so good your mom will love it – if your mom has good taste in pop music.
Blake Sennett's mom probably does.
Her son – a former child actor who played bit parts on “Melrose Place,” “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” and “3rd Rock From the Sun” – grew up in San Diego and now writes songs, sings and plays guitar for the L.A.-based pop band Rilo Kiley.
“It was a good place to grow up,” said Sennett, who grew up near Mission Bay and attended La Jolla Country Day School. “San Diego has some good vibes. It can be kind of a lazy town. It's a good place to go and exhale. Although every time I go down there, it's different. I don't recognize it much these days. I come down there sometimes to see my mom.”
After sowing some wild musical oats with sweet sorrowful acoustic country music and sunny indie pop, Jenny Lewis (vocals, keyboards), Sennett (guitar, vocals), Pierre de Reeder (bass guitar, keyboards) and Jason Boesel (drums) have rejoined for another go-round with Rilo Kiley.
DETAILS
Rilo Kiley, with The Bird and The Bee and Grand Ole Party
When: Tomorrow, 7 p.m.
Where: SOMA, 3350 Sports Arena Blvd., Midway area
Tickets: $22
Phone: (619) 226-7662
Online: somasd.com
Since the L.A.-based band burst onto the scene with 2004's scarily beautiful album “More Adventurous,” Lewis drifted away to release a disc of classic bittersweet country twang with Jenny Lewis & the Watson Twins (reaching into the spooky American hillbilly songbook) while Sennett dabbled with pretty, breezy indie rock in The Elected.
“(Solo projects) just kind of happened along the way,” said the 31-year-old Sennett, a producer and songwriter as well. “I know I had a bunch of songs that weren't being used (in the band), so I recorded them. My friends encouraged me to put it out, so I did. It all kind of happened naturally.
“Because we're restless personalities, we'll always have other projects,” added Sennett with an eye down the road. “I think we always have little plans, Jenny and I.”
Lewis and Sennett have reunited for RK's 2007 release “Under the Blacklight.” Sounding like a happy-go-lucky Neko Case, Lewis' vocals sound stronger than ever, while Sennett's songwriting has grown with his time in The Elected.
“Jenny and I respectively went on tours during the recording of the album,” recalled Sennett. “So it took a minute to get back in the swing of things. We had to feel each other out in terms of where we had been artistically and emotionally in the last year. But once we got rolling it was the most pleasant and educational experience I've had recording.”
With perfect production from Jason Lader and Mike Elizondo (Dr. Dre, Eminem, Fiona Apple, Alanis Morissette) and squeaky-clean songs, Rilo Kiley's sound is classic pop tailor-made for radio airplay.
Sennett on Lader and Elizondo: “I felt like I learned a lot from those guys. They were real hands-on kind of producers. So that was fun, to let go of the reins. I personally just tried to say 'Yes' as much as possible, no matter what. I learned that from Mike Elizondo. He's such a positive person. His answer for everything was 'Yeah, let's try it.' ”
Rilo Kiley's major label debut brims with sunny pop, like the whispery boy-girl vocals of “Dreamworld” and the happy-go-lucky sing-along chorus of “Silver Lining.”
But Sennett and Watson aren't stuck on one channel: The quartet drops the strummy pop in favor of driving drum beats and rock guitar riffs on “Moneymaker.” With guests Jackson Browne and Alex Greenwald (of Phantom Planet), along with James Valentine and Mickey Madden from Maroon 5, “Under the Blacklight” leads smirking indie rockers away from sadness and sarcasm toward happier artistic expression.
But is it too pure and pretty and poppy and beautiful and perfect? Nope, it's just the kind of music you want to take home to mom.
Chris Nixon is a San Diego music writer.
THE MAKINGS OF A GRAND OLE PARTY
With barely two years together as a trio, Grand Ole Party is a San Diego success story in the making.
While other bands have moved away from San Diego to find their fortunes (see: The Rapture), Grand Ole Party came to our barrio by the border to establish themselves.
After meeting at UC Santa Cruz and hanging out in the Bay Area for a time, singer-drummer Kristin Gundred, guitarist John Paul Labno and bassist Michael Krechnyak relocated to San Diego.
In less than two years here, Grand Ole Party was nominated for Best New Artist at last year's San Diego Music Awards and won the award for “Best Alternative” band this year.
Produced by Rilo Kiley's Blake Sennett, GOP's debut disc, “Humanimals,” is full of raw rock and funk along with Gundred's powerful vocals. The album led to an opening spot on Rilo Kiley's latest tour, which stops at SOMA in the Midway area tomorrow night.
Sennett on Grand Ole Party: “A friend of mine saw them in Los Angeles, and said, 'I think you should check them out. I think you'd like them.' I went to their MySpace page and listened to their demos. They were so cool I drove down to San Diego and saw them play at The Casbah. They were great. I guess after the show I asked them if they wanted to make a record, so we made a record together.”
– CHRIS NIXON
THE SUNNY POP BAND CALLED RILO KILEY
Lineup
Jenny Lewis – vocals, keyboards, guitar, bass guitar
Blake Sennett – guitar, vocals
Pierre de Reeder – bass guitar, keyboards, guitar, vocals
Jason Boesel – drums, percussion
Discography
“Take-Offs and Landings” (2001)
“The Execution of All Things” (2002)
“More Adventurous” (2004)
“Under the Blacklight” (2007)
From Oct. 25, 2007:
'We knew instinctually how to make music'
By Chris Nixon
For the Union-Tribune
October 25, 2007
Artists often describe the moment of creation – the flash of inspiration that seemingly flows through them rather than from them – in passionate, revelatory language.
For sisters Tegan and Sara Quin, the 27-year-old identical twins had their quasi-religious experience in the basement of their Calgary, Canada, home. They were a couple of teenagers who stumbled upon their stepdad's old guitar. With acoustic in hand, they intuitively knew how to play and write songs.
“I'm not a religious person, and I really struggle with the terminology to describe this because people always laugh,” admitted Sara Quin. “We knew instinctually how to make music. We somehow knew that we would be able to succeed. There was a relaxed faith in what I was doing. As soon as I picked up the guitar, I started writing songs. To this day, when I write songs, it's still this very strange chemical reaction that I can't really explain.”
The chemical reactions coming from Tegan and Sara make the sisters one of indie rock's best songwriting duos. After the discovery of the acoustic guitar, all the pieces naturally fell in place for a career in music.
DETAILS
Tegan and Sara
When: Tuesday, 8 p.m.
Where: Spreckels Theatre, 121 Broadway, downtown
Tickets: $30
Phone: (619) 235-9500
Online: Ticketmaster.com
“We created our own scene because we were too young to be a part of any other scene,” remembered Sara, whose effervescent personality comes through in her music and lyrics. “We played in garages and backyards and basements. We made our own demo tapes and my mom copied the album artwork at her work. Even then, when we were our own little community, I never thought it was going to substitute being a teacher or a lawyer or a social worker. For Tegan and I, the career was built around us before we knew we even had one.”
Through a 12-year run, the musicians recorded five albums of indie pop brimming with swirling keyboards and mingling of sweet harmonies. With the early days in Calgary in the review mirror, the sisters now live on opposite sides of Canada, Tegan in Vancouver and Sara in Montreal, adding logistics to the already difficult process of song creation.
They send each other stripped-down versions of song ideas, feedback flows from Vancouver to Montreal and back again, and a song is shaped via long distance.
Most demos are recorded in portable home studios, and they sound like it. Capturing ideas is more important than sound quality. Normally, demo tunes are later polished in a pro studio space.
That's how Tegan and Sara pieced together albums, until they met Chris Walla. The 31-year-old Death Cab for Cutie guitarist signed on to produce Tegan and Sara's 2007 release, “The Con,” and he brought a few original ideas to the table.
First, Walla wanted to pick the 14 best songs from the possible demo songs and put them in the order they would eventually appear on the record. He additionally wanted to record the songs in order, creating a concept album feel to songs that were created independently.
Finally, Walla pulled selected vocal and guitar from the demos and used them in the final album mix. With the help of star-studded guest spots that feel natural and unpretentious (from The Rentals' Matt Sharp, Jason McGerr of Death Cab for Cutie, AFI's Hunter Burgan, Kaki King and Walla himself), the album crackles with inventive pop songwriting and spot-on musicianship.
For those planning on attending Tegan and Sara's Tuesday show at Spreckels Theatre downtown, expect lively banter and stories between songs, a trademark of their two-hour shows: “I just want the people who like our band to like us as people. I don't want them to just like our music.”
Chris Nixon is a San Diego music writer.
From Nov. 1, 2007:
Yo La Tengo a happy-go-lucky, serious band
By Chris Nixon
For the Union-Tribune
November 1, 2007
Yellow tango or Yo La Tengo?
The Jersey band Yo La Tengo gives a nod to their beloved Mets by claiming their name from a classic baseball story: It's 1962, and Latino players start to make their mark in Major League Baseball (foreshadowing the Latino explosion of baseball in the 1990s).
New York Mets outfielder Richie Ashburn (also known as “Whitey” for his hair color) learns to communicate in Spanish with Venezuelan shortstop Elio Chacón during pop flies into shallow center field, perfecting the phrase “Yo la tengo,” or “I have it.”
During a fly ball, Ashburn calls off Chacón by yelling “Yo la tengo,” only to get leveled by left fielder Frank Thomas (aka “The Big Donkey”). After the play, Thomas – obviously not a Spanish speaker – asks Ashburn, “Why are you talking about 'Yellow Tango'?”
Tengo or tango? After 23 years trolling the underground music scene, you'd think people would have it straight by now. Especially after the transcendent 2006 disc “I Am Not Afraid of You and I Will Beat Your Ass,” the trio's sixth release on Matador.
DETAILS
Yo La Tengo
When: Sunday, 7 p.m.
Where: Museum of Contemporary Art, 700 Prospect St., La Jolla
Tickets: $23-$35
Phone: (858) 454-3541
Online: mcasd.org
But the baseball story fits with the band's tongue-in-cheek, inside-joke indie rock mentality. At its core, Yo La Tengo is a band that doesn't take itself too seriously, but its music is serious stuff.
After almost 25 years, the Hoboken, N.J.-based husband and wife team of guitarist-vocalist Ira Kaplan and drummer-vocalist Georgia Hubley have lived just below the radar of mainstream media, but are well-known among name-dropping music geeks. With 15 wildly diverse albums and a sense of unadulterated adventure at every turn, it's a career that's deserving of more notice.
From the opening sonic assault of “Pass the Hatchet, I Think I'm Goodkind” stretching almost 11 minutes, to the sparse ambient landscape of the eight-minute instrumental “Daphnia” and all indie pop points between, “I Am Not Afraid of You” remains one of the most infectiously bipolar albums released in the past few years. It's also one of the best.
Along with bassist James McNew, Kaplan and Hubley feel equally at home in the whispering harmonies and Byrds-like harpsichord-inflected guitar riffs of “The Race Is on Again,” the new-wave-buzzing keyboards and clickety-clack bongos of “The Room Got Heavy” and the Ramones-esque lightning quick pop punk feel of “Watch Out for Me Ronnie.”
Laden with horns and strings and all things orchestrated and poppy, the album takes dramatic turns stylistically, yet the big beautiful mess seems to work in its messiness.
Sunday's show at the intimate 492-seat Sherwood Auditorium in the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego in La Jolla will provide longtime fans and Yo La Tengo initiates a chance to know the trio in a different way.
The Freewheeling Yo La Tengo Tour will feature acoustic interpretations of tunes spanning the band's entire career, along with spats of storytelling. Interaction from the audience is encouraged.
Kaplan, Hubley and McNew are known for different set lists every night, along with their extensive catalog of cover tunes at their disposal. So, like the genre-twisting roller-coaster ride of “I Am Not Afraid of You” and the experimentation of Yo La Tengo's entire career, expect the unexpected.
Chris Nixon is a San Diego music writer.
From Nov. 15, 2007:
Lyrics Born is an act born in a cultural mix
By Chris Nixon
For the Union-Tribune
November 15, 2007
From the Bay Area's independent music community that includes Blackalicious, Lyrics Born works outside the “industry.”
Secluded from the music industry machines of Los Angeles and New York City, the Bay Area has featured bands focused on creating their own fan base through DIY marketing and word-of-mouth. Born within the anti-establishment mentality of the 1960s, the Bay Area's music scene works outside the normal music business tracks, allowing for more experimentation and more control for the artists.
Spearheaded by the loose collective and record label known as Quannum Projects, San Francisco and the Bay Area sport one of the best underground hip-hop scenes around: Blackalicious (Chief Xcel and Gift of Gab), DJ Shadow, Lateef the Truthspeaker and Lyrics Born, aka Tom Shimura.
“The Bay Area is just so diverse,” said Shimura in an interview in the midst of his current tour. “There's also no music industry in the Bay Area. There aren't any record companies. So, people out of necessity are forced to create an industry around the music they make. So, you have a lot of diversity and you have a lot of new ideas. It's also culturally mixed and culturally diverse. You're going to get a lot of different influences and a lot of different styles.”
Born in Tokyo, then on to stops in Salt Lake City and Tampa Bay, half Japanese-American, half Italian-American MC Lyrics Born draws on his own diverse background and his Bay Area home base to make his brand of outsider hip-hop.
DETAILS
Lyrics Born, with The Kneehighs and Deep Rooted
When: Tonight, 9.
Where: Belly Up Tavern, 143 S. Cedros Ave., Solana Beach
Tickets: $16-$18
Phone: (858) 481-9022
Online: bellyup.com
The core of Quannum met at UC Davis in the mid-1990s. Since then the collective's members have been using their outsider mentality to create their own take on hip-hop. DJ Shadow explores the arty, ambient side of turntablism. Blackalicious and Lateef expand the rhythmic boundaries of MCs, mixing enlightened lyrics and party music for a potent mix. Lyrics Born takes hip-hop into new territory by shucking the confines of the traditional DJ/MC setup in favor of a live band.
“With the band, you have the freedom to do a lot of different things,” said the 35-year-old Shimura in his deep gravelly baritone. “You can improvise, you can speed up, you can change keys, you can create your own transitions. It's just a different type of energy onstage.”
Lyrics Born's band – vocalist Joyo Velarde (Quannum recording artist and Shimura's wife), guitarist B'nai Rebelfront, bassist Uriah Duffy (who has performed with artists ranging from Christine Aquilera to Whitesnake), keyboardist Mike Blankenship and P-Dub on drums – gives Shimura's music new life onstage, as evidenced by the band's 2006 EP “Overnite Encore: Lyrics Born Live.”
Lyrics Born began his career as half of Latyrx with Lateef the Truthspeaker. The pair released the 1997 classic “The Album,” featuring Lateef's rapid-fire machine gun delivery contrasted by Shimura's laid-back drawl. Both went on to successful solo careers, with Lyrics Born releasing 2003's “Later That Day.” He followed with the remix album “Same !@$ Different Day” in 2005 and a pair of collaborative efforts: “Lyrics Born Variety Show Season One” (2005) and “Season Two” (2006).
In March, Lyrics Born is set to release “Everywhere at Once,” his first album with ANTI-records, the diverse sister label of Epitaph. The disc finds Shimura stretching out even further from his hip-hop roots.
“The new album has some of the best songwriting I've ever done,” said Shimura. “This album was not as much about me trying to show the world how great an MC I was. It's about showing the world the kind of albums I can make and the kind of songs I can write.”
For Shimura, this next step is a continuation of a trend he's followed throughout his career: “I'm always going to try and push the boundaries. I'm always going to try to take it one step further. I'm always going to try to do things that people wouldn't expect. I'm always trying to do things that have never been done before, or at least I've never done them before. I definitely feel like I stepped outside the hip-hop box (on this album), without a doubt.”
Chris Nixon is a San Diego music writer.
From Nov. 22, 2007:
Just plain folk? Nah ...
Sam Beam, aka Iron & Wine, meshes the hippie and the hick and broadens a genre
By Chris Nixon
For the Union-Tribune
November 22, 2007
From flower-power hippies to down-home country farmers to coffeehouse intellectuals, folk music has given Americans a platform to tell stories.
Without all the bells and whistles of more intricate styles, folk allows songwriters the freedom to focus on creating images through lyrics. In folk, blistering guitar solos take a back seat to storytelling and lyrical poetry.
If you hadn't been paying attention to folk music these days, the genre is spreading its wings in many directions at once.
Instead of three-chord formulaic compositions, you're seeing miniature symphonies from artists like Joanna Newsom. Chicago's Califone adds to the folk palette with percussive acoustic tunes and a willingness to dabble with electronic sounds. Operating way outside the traditional folk box, Devendra Banhart pairs his beautiful, nonsensical imagery with his stripped-down songs.
Less freaky than Banhart is Sam Beam, known in the pop world as Iron & Wine. Beam understands the worlds of both the hippie and the hick, drawing on the pastoral quiet of his Southern upbringing while shucking the confines of traditional acoustic folk to bring his music to uncharted territory.
DETAILS
Iron & Wine, with Califone
When: Tuesday, 9 p.m.
Where: 4th & B, 345 B St., downtown
Tickets: $22.50 advance; $24.50 day of show
Phone: (619) 299-2583
Online: 4thandB.com
Ever since his striking debut, “The Creek Drank the Cradle,” (Sub Pop Records) appeared seemingly out of nowhere in 2002, Beam's music has felt like a password, a secret handed from person to person. Which it was until a handful of his songs made it into “Garden State,” the 2004 movie that also made indie superstars out of The Shins.
From his long hair and beard, whispery voice, gorgeous melodies and slightly Southern Gothic vibe, Beam, 33, has cultivated (consciously or not) a bit of a low-key mythos about him.
The only son of a state employee and a teacher, Beam hails from Columbia, S.C., where he seems to have had a dangerously average upbringing, with church, school and the radio all big parts.
“I always loved it, always gravitated toward it,” Beam said of music. “My parents liked the radio and had some Motown records. When I was a kid, I didn't even think about it being a genre of music specific to a time and place.”
Many fans hear something both Southern and Christian in Beam's music. Beam said neither of these things were exceptionally important to him, but that doesn't mean they're not in his work. But he doesn't consider himself a Southern artist.
“Yeah, I enjoy Southern writers, but no more so than Vonnegut or anyone else. I grew up in the suburbs. That's why Spielberg's movies did so well. 'E.T.'s' neighborhood was like everybody's neighborhood. My South was not like Faulkner novels.”
Beam headed to Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond for college, drawn by its fine arts program. Perhaps oddly, he didn't do much with music.
“I dabbled in music in college, jamming with friends now and then, but I wanted to be a painter,” he said. “Like everyone else, I liked movies and started to get into photography.”
He met his wife and ended up in Florida after graduation, going to grad school and teaching cinematography.
“I got a four-track and started to do it more seriously as a hobby,” Beam says of music.
At first, Beam assumed he'd just be trading songs with pals.
“You know Ben Bridwell from Band of Horses?” Beam asked, talking about the Seattle indie rock band that came to prominence opening for Iron & Wine. “His older brother, Michael, was one of my best friends growing up. We would hang out and give each other tapes.”
Bridwell passed Beam's tape to longtime scenester/zinester Mike McGonigal, who included an Iron & Wine song on a compilation to go with his zine Yeti. Soon after, Sub Pop Records came calling.
This was weird for a couple of reasons.
One, Beam says he wasn't exactly seeking a record deal. He had a child and a steady job. Two, Sub Pop was known as the punk rock label that birthed Nirvana and grunge. Beam's music was acoustic, layered on a four-track and mumbled.
“When I saw they were doing The Shins, I was like well, OK,” Beam said. “It seemed like too good a thing to pass up, honestly. I felt like I didn't have a lot to lose.”
Beam had two full CDs of material; he and the label cherry-picked songs, and “The Creek Drank the Cradle” appeared in 2002.
“The thing that struck me immediately about that first Iron & Wine thing, which I reviewed for the Wire, was that it was a very natural blend of the hip and the square,” said influential rock critic Byron Coley, then of the very hip zine Forced Exposure. “It had a very DIY vibe, but it was melodically closer to very mundane sources, like Simon and Garfunkel and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young.”
It was a record that felt deeply personal.
“Sometimes there's bits and pieces of autobio in there, but a lot is just fantasy,” Beam said. “I don't do confessional therapeutic songs. I like to switch around the narrator, try to make it as interesting as possible. But, of course, experiences temper your life, and that's what you draw from in some way. I rarely have a specific point to make in my songs.”
When Beam started touring on the album, the first time he had ever done so, he realized the impact he was making.
“I remember starting to play shows and having people singing the songs back to me, and I was like, 'What the ...?' ” Beam said. “It was really surreal. I was doing this as a hobby, and people were connecting with the songs.”
More records followed, in much higher fidelity, but things took a qualitative leap when “Garden State” was released in 2004. The soundtrack included Beam's version of the Postal Service song “Such Great Heights.”
“Our shows doubled in size,” Beam said.
Chris Nixon is a San Diego music writer. Wire reports were included in this story.
THE ROAD NOT TAKEN: FOLK MUSIC STRETCHES ITS LIMBS
The New Weirdness is at your doorstep, and it wants to you throw out your old Peter, Paul and Mary records. Dreamers and freaks litter the folk scene today, using fanciful allegory and richly layered compositions to blow the dust off the genre.
Here's a brief overview and who's who of the top purveyors of folk music in the new millennium:
Bonnie Prince Billy: Will Oldham – aka Bonnie Prince Billy – writes songs embodying the wave of singer-songwriters revitalizing folk and acoustic Americana music in the past decade: great lyrics matched with a willingness to take folk beyond the formula of three chords and a catchy chorus.
Oldham's been a professional musician for 15 years now, and his songwriting is starting to reach larger audiences as he continues down his artistic path. In 2000, Johnny Cash gave his stamp of approval, recording the Oldham song “I See a Darkness” on his “American III: Solitary Man” album.
Califone: Musician Tim Rutili has said simply: “I hate rock.” His band Califone, more a loose collective of friends than a set lineup, has taken bittersweet Appalachia folk down from the mountain, skipped all the rock clichés and transported it to more otherworldly, experimental turf. It's a landscape of mumbled phrases, wind chimes in the distance and subconscious, atmospheric keyboards, while eerie banjos duel with bubbling blips, beeps and found percussion.
Califone is essentially the band formerly known as Red Red Meat, minus the rock and a member or two. “Roots & Crowns,” the band's 2006 release, is beautiful in the way your grandfather's rusty tools are statuesque and sublime: heavy with iron and filthy, but held with loving hands for long years, filled with world-weary stories.
Joanna Newsom: Newsom is changing the symphonic boundaries of folk with her huge orchestral harp in tow. Born into a family of musicians, the 26-year-old singer-songwriter grew up in the former gold rush town of Nevada City in Northern California. She's been playing the harp for almost 20 years, bringing an Appalachian down-home feel to her indie folk sound.
After gaining a national audience touring with singer Will Oldham, Newsom signed to Drag City Records and released her 2004 debut “The Milk-Eyed Mender.” A beautifully stark album, Newsom shines with her intertwining harp melodies and unique singing style.
She shifted her approach for her sophomore effort “Ys.” The album is an ambitious effort replete with epic, sprawling song cycles ranging from seven to 16 minutes and compositions thick with strings, accordions, mandolins and banjos.
Devendra Banhart: Accented by gentle finger-picked acoustic guitar and his high-pitched wavering vocals, Banhart's songs capture a wistful playfulness and an endearing innocence.
He first came into the national spotlight after his 2002 recording “Oh Me, Oh My,” brimming with 22 tracks with titles like “Roots (If the Sky Were a Stone),” “Legless Love” and “Lend Me Your Teeth.” The long-haired musician has released almost an album a year since his debut: 2003's “Rejoicing in the Hand,” 2004's “Niño Rojo,” 2005's “Cripple Crow” and “Smokey Rolls Down Thunder Canyon” in 2007.
Released on XL Recordings, “Smokey Rolls Down Thunder Canyon” furthers Banhart's Donovan-style mystique with his unique vocals and 1960s low-tech folka pproach. The beauty of Banhart's songwriting comes in the psychedelic imagery and simple, stripped-down approach to songcraft.
– CHRIS NIXON
From Nov. 27, 2007:
Van Halen still rocks the house
Roth proves pipes, chemistry are there
By Chris Nixon
For the Union-Tribune
November 27, 2007
Change, ain't nothin' stays the same / Unchained, you hit the ground runnin'.
When David Lee Roth sang the chorus of Van Halen's “Unchained” Sunday night at SDSU's Cox Arena, it was the moment that summed up the rocky 22-year hiatus since Roth departed the iconic rock band and the recent reunion.
Change means questions: Could Van Halen maintain the technical superiority that set it apart from the high tide of heavy metal bands in the early '80s? Does Roth still have the pipes to hit the high notes? Can Eddie's 16-year-old son, Wolfgang, fill the bass duties of one the best arena rock bands of the past 30 years? And most importantly, how long before the joy ride explodes into a fiery crash?
A lot of Van Halen fans, scorned and scarred by past titillations of a Roth-Van Halen reunion, asked themselves these questions as plans formulated for the current string of dates, Roth's first tour with the band since his departure in 1985. The answers lie in the song: “You hit the ground runnin'.”
When you do, though, there will be times when you stumble. Case in point: During the breakdown of “Panama,” Roth mistakenly thought he was in the middle of “Ain't Talking 'Bout Love.” Or when Roth forgot the words to “So This Is Love?” during the first verse.
But through the two-hour, 10-minute sold-out show, Van Halen showed the musical dexterity and emotional ferocity that made the band the champs of arena rock.
Reprising his role as lead singer after a scattered and unsuccessful solo career, Roth's vocals hit all the right notes. Gen X's answer to the original blond-haired rock god, Robert Plant, the 53-year-old Roth beamed like a birthday boy, strutting and parading around the stage as if he owned it.
Roth was glam before glam was big, admired by head bangers and loved by women (with a healthy dose of ego thrown in). Now Roth needs the Van Halen clan more than ever. And, with the missteps of Gary Cherone and Sammy Hagar in the rearview mirror, the Van Halen brothers need Roth, too.
Eddie, the guitar god whose style of two hands on the fretboard produced the ethereal arpeggios that changed how we view the six-string instrument, looked happy to be onstage with his son, slapping him high fives and giving him encouragement throughout the show. The 52-year-old guitarist also appeared pleased to be sharing the stage with Roth. The two traded call-and-responses during the opener “You Really Got Me,” “Somebody Get Me A Doctor” and “Everybody Wants Some.”
Alex, whose steady drums have laid the groundwork for Eddie's explorations throughout Van Halen's history, anchored the entire show with precision. At 54, he is the band's eldest member. But his age didn't show in the blistering five-minute drum solo midway through the concert.
After the brothers Van Halen fired longtime bassist Michael Anthony in 2006, Eddie and Alex decided to keep it in the family by recruiting Wolfgang to handle bass duties. The young man held his own in the bright lights of Cox Arena, adding back-up vocals and his own take on the traditional VH bass lines.
Van Halen's 24-song set fell into a couple of categories: the covers (“You Really Got Me” and “Pretty Woman”), the pop songs (“Dance the Night Away,” “I'll Wait” and “Jump”) and the essential rockers (“Runnin' With the Devil,” “Hot for Teacher,” “Panama” and “Ain't Talking 'Bout Love). But Wolfgang, who chose the set list for the 45-date tour, added a few gems: “I'm the One” and “Atomic Punk” from the 1978 self-titled disc, “Mean Street” from “Fair Warning” and “Romeo Delight” from “Women and Children First.”
Chris Nixon is a San Diego music writer.
For a complete set list and additional commentary, log on to street.signonsandiego.com.
Thursday, September 27, 2007
Meter by meter: Metric builds on its fan base, reputation
The Metric piece came out today in the Union-Tribune. You can read a portion of the interview I did with Emily Haines in Q&A form in a previous post. This is the third time I've spoken with Haines. She wasn't her most articulate, sounding a bit distracted. Walking around New York City on a cell phone will do that to you. But she's obviously in touch with the art world, name dropping Olivier Assayas (director of the movie "Clean," which Mteric appeared in) and Guy Maddin (whose films inspired Haines' solo disc "Knives Don't Have Your Back"). And she ended up giving me good quotes for the story, so it all worked out.
One thing I didn't include in the story or the Q&A: She talked a bit about warming up for the Rolling Stones at Madison Square Garden. When I asked what it was like to hang out with Mick and the boys, she said they met, but only briefly. "They run a pretty tight ship."
Here's the story:
Metric, and its fans, gets a gift from the past
By Chris Nixon
For the Union-Tribune
September 27, 2007
Nobody knows which street to take / He took the easy way / What was the easy way? sings Metric frontwoman Emily Haines in her sweetest voice on the title track from the Canadian quartet's long-lost debut disc. In terms of the music business and Metric's steady rise to fame, there is no easy way.
Splitting time between flats in London and Brooklyn, Haines and her partner, Jimmy Shaw, meticulously crafted and assembled the 10 tracks on “Grow Up and Blow Away.” Recorded in 2001, Haines (daughter of poet Paul Haines) and Shaw (who studied trumpet at Juilliard) thought the album would represent the first chapter in their careers as Metric. After six years of sitting on the shelves of the record label Rykodisc, “Grow Up and Blow Away” became the latest chapter instead of the first.
“This work symbolizes the innocent and naive period of beginning to try to be musicians for a living and all of the obstacles that we've encountered on the way,” recalled Haines in a recent phone conversation from New York City as her band prepared for a North American tour. “When I listen to that music, I think of how pure and sweet our vision was of how it could be. Since then, we've really taken matters into our own hands.
“We realized it's probably a blessing that we weren't handed (a contract) and then became recording artists in 1998. When I listen to ('Grow Up and Blow Away'), it's like listening to my little sister that I don't have.”
Metric purchased the album and released it on Last Gang Records this year, giving listeners a glimpse into the early, concentrated version of Metric. Recorded before the addition of drummer Joules Scott-Key and bassist Josh Winstead, “Grow Up and Blow Away” shines a light on Metric's roots. Wrapped in layers of synths and drum machine percussion patterns, Haines' seemingly effortless melodic sense and Shaw's ability to construct songs around her melodies carry the disc.
Along with providing the seeds for Metric's intellectual pop, the project also gave Haines a more realistic sense of the music industry. In other words, there is no easy way: “Those (were) the days that we thought we could just sit in our house and make music and other people would do the legwork for us. We quickly realized that was never going to be a life that we could handle. Instead of listening to people who said that we had to look for someone to help us realize our potential, we just did it ourselves. I'm really glad we made that decision.”
Since the recording of “Grow Up and Blow Away,” Metric has steadily grown a fan base through the infectious keyboard-driven pop of 2003's “Old World Underground, Where Are You Now” and the more guitar-oriented rock of 2005's “Live It Out.” After the disappointment of “Grow Up and Blow Away,” Metric has found itself in a nice groove: opening for the Rolling Stones at Madison Square Garden, the Juno Awards, spots at the Coachella music fest, solid record sales and enthusiastic crowds at shows. Recognizing the dangers of typecasting, Haines didn't want to get stuck in the groove.
“I see it all the time with musicians: You get stuck in a rut,” Haines said. “It's like playing a role in a sitcom. You become a one-dimensional character if the only way you function is in a particular role.”
In the past year, Haines released her first solo record, “Knives Don't Have Your Back” by Emily Haines & the Soft Skeleton, a somber, stripped-down affair highlighted by Haines' compositions on the piano. Winstead and Scott-Key formed the side project Bang Lime and released “Best Friends in Love.”
“It's part of the (band's) concept that everyone should be able to develop,” Haines said. “It just really worked out well this year. It gave everyone a chance to breathe and do some other things. And so coming back to start writing the new Metric record has benefited enormously from that.”
Chris Nixon is a San Diego music writer.
One thing I didn't include in the story or the Q&A: She talked a bit about warming up for the Rolling Stones at Madison Square Garden. When I asked what it was like to hang out with Mick and the boys, she said they met, but only briefly. "They run a pretty tight ship."
Here's the story:
Metric, and its fans, gets a gift from the past
By Chris Nixon
For the Union-Tribune
September 27, 2007
Nobody knows which street to take / He took the easy way / What was the easy way? sings Metric frontwoman Emily Haines in her sweetest voice on the title track from the Canadian quartet's long-lost debut disc. In terms of the music business and Metric's steady rise to fame, there is no easy way.
Splitting time between flats in London and Brooklyn, Haines and her partner, Jimmy Shaw, meticulously crafted and assembled the 10 tracks on “Grow Up and Blow Away.” Recorded in 2001, Haines (daughter of poet Paul Haines) and Shaw (who studied trumpet at Juilliard) thought the album would represent the first chapter in their careers as Metric. After six years of sitting on the shelves of the record label Rykodisc, “Grow Up and Blow Away” became the latest chapter instead of the first.
“This work symbolizes the innocent and naive period of beginning to try to be musicians for a living and all of the obstacles that we've encountered on the way,” recalled Haines in a recent phone conversation from New York City as her band prepared for a North American tour. “When I listen to that music, I think of how pure and sweet our vision was of how it could be. Since then, we've really taken matters into our own hands.
DETAILS
Metric, with Crystal Castles
When: Wednesday, 8 p.m.
Where: House of Blues, 1055 Fifth Ave., downtown
Tickets: $12.50-$14.50
Phone: (619) 671-3700
Online: www.hob.com
“We realized it's probably a blessing that we weren't handed (a contract) and then became recording artists in 1998. When I listen to ('Grow Up and Blow Away'), it's like listening to my little sister that I don't have.”
Metric purchased the album and released it on Last Gang Records this year, giving listeners a glimpse into the early, concentrated version of Metric. Recorded before the addition of drummer Joules Scott-Key and bassist Josh Winstead, “Grow Up and Blow Away” shines a light on Metric's roots. Wrapped in layers of synths and drum machine percussion patterns, Haines' seemingly effortless melodic sense and Shaw's ability to construct songs around her melodies carry the disc.
Along with providing the seeds for Metric's intellectual pop, the project also gave Haines a more realistic sense of the music industry. In other words, there is no easy way: “Those (were) the days that we thought we could just sit in our house and make music and other people would do the legwork for us. We quickly realized that was never going to be a life that we could handle. Instead of listening to people who said that we had to look for someone to help us realize our potential, we just did it ourselves. I'm really glad we made that decision.”
Since the recording of “Grow Up and Blow Away,” Metric has steadily grown a fan base through the infectious keyboard-driven pop of 2003's “Old World Underground, Where Are You Now” and the more guitar-oriented rock of 2005's “Live It Out.” After the disappointment of “Grow Up and Blow Away,” Metric has found itself in a nice groove: opening for the Rolling Stones at Madison Square Garden, the Juno Awards, spots at the Coachella music fest, solid record sales and enthusiastic crowds at shows. Recognizing the dangers of typecasting, Haines didn't want to get stuck in the groove.
“I see it all the time with musicians: You get stuck in a rut,” Haines said. “It's like playing a role in a sitcom. You become a one-dimensional character if the only way you function is in a particular role.”
In the past year, Haines released her first solo record, “Knives Don't Have Your Back” by Emily Haines & the Soft Skeleton, a somber, stripped-down affair highlighted by Haines' compositions on the piano. Winstead and Scott-Key formed the side project Bang Lime and released “Best Friends in Love.”
“It's part of the (band's) concept that everyone should be able to develop,” Haines said. “It just really worked out well this year. It gave everyone a chance to breathe and do some other things. And so coming back to start writing the new Metric record has benefited enormously from that.”
Chris Nixon is a San Diego music writer.
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
Street Scene '07 through the lense, part deux
I wanted to add a few more images from the Street Scene experience.
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah:
Air:
Louis XIV:
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah:
Air:
Louis XIV:
Street Scene '07 through the lense
Here's a collection of images taken over the weekend at Street Scene:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/12209388@N04/sets/72157602159960713/
Also, here are a few favorites from SS'07....
Clouds over Street Scene (day one):
Social D by Greg Meier:
Air by me:
More Air by me:
Spoon by me:
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah:
I should have more by the end of the day, and I'll share them with you as soon as their uploaded.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/12209388@N04/sets/72157602159960713/
Also, here are a few favorites from SS'07....
Clouds over Street Scene (day one):
Social D by Greg Meier:
Air by me:
More Air by me:
Spoon by me:
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah:
I should have more by the end of the day, and I'll share them with you as soon as their uploaded.
Monday, September 24, 2007
Street Scene, Day Two: Redemption, But Too Late?
If you book the bands, they will come. And you know what, people did come on Sunday to Street Scene. Maybe it's not the 50,000 people a night during the festival's heyday, but it's not the doomsday graveyard crowd which shuffled around Coors Saturday either. I'd say a good 15,000-18,000 people attended on Sunday. When you get past all the corporate trappings of the Live Nation-era of Street Scene ($10 for parking, crazy amount of sponsorships and no encores), there were a bunch of positives on Sunday.
First, the booking was much better on Street Scene's second day. Spoon (they should have headlined the mainstage). Steel Pulse (roots rock reggae at its best). Louis XIV (sounding more like a legit rock 'n' roll band than ever). Air (moody and a nice change of pace). Clap Your Hands Say Yeah (awesome indie rock). Arctic Monkeys (bringing British sneer and rock riffage). I didn't even make it to the early stage: Sondre Lerche, Brett Dennen, Dios and Elvis Perkins. (I'll be uploading a bunch of photos all day today). The bands in general were more interesting and better suited to pulling crowds by the scruff of their necks into music fest bliss.
Is Street Scene dead? After Saturday, I thought this was Street Scene's death knell. More eclectic booking on Sunday may have bought Street Scene another year. But please, can we call it something different?
First, the booking was much better on Street Scene's second day. Spoon (they should have headlined the mainstage). Steel Pulse (roots rock reggae at its best). Louis XIV (sounding more like a legit rock 'n' roll band than ever). Air (moody and a nice change of pace). Clap Your Hands Say Yeah (awesome indie rock). Arctic Monkeys (bringing British sneer and rock riffage). I didn't even make it to the early stage: Sondre Lerche, Brett Dennen, Dios and Elvis Perkins. (I'll be uploading a bunch of photos all day today). The bands in general were more interesting and better suited to pulling crowds by the scruff of their necks into music fest bliss.
Is Street Scene dead? After Saturday, I thought this was Street Scene's death knell. More eclectic booking on Sunday may have bought Street Scene another year. But please, can we call it something different?
Sunday, September 23, 2007
Street Scene, Day One: Rain-soaked and lacking punch
When I spoke with Social Distortion's Mike Ness to help preview this year's version of Street Scene for the OC Register, Mike suggested that organizers just move the festival to Tijuana and let it live on streets again. I couldn't agree more. As their early Saturday set drew to a close, Honeycut's lead singer asked "So where's the streets? I thought this was Street Scene?" Exactly.
Instead, this year we have Rob Hagey teaming with Live Nation, filling the lineup with a bunch of whiney emo-pop bands and soaking festival-goers for every penny. Of course, this is me and my mood after walking two or three miles total to avoid paying $10 for parking. I mean, honestly, I can't remember any shows at Coors that I've paid 10 bones to drive by bored teenagers pointing me to dusty lots which allowed me to park 10-15 minutes walk from the front gate. Just when I thought the Coors parking/traffic situation couldn't get worse, they want to charge me for their crappy parking lots and ill-planned mouse mazes they call roads, the closest thing to a street this year's Street Scene will experience.
Inside, I didn't have too many qualms with Coors. The lineup completely sucked on Saturday. I won't go into the horrors of the band Shut Up Stella and Army of Me. On the bright side: B-Side Players were solid and Mad Caddies had their moments. I couldn't stick around for the "headliners" Muse, so I can't report on the mainstage.
The first four hours of Street Scene '07 were a complete bomb. I'm sure more people made it eventually, but I think there were about 5,000 people there through 4 p.m. Years past, this was always the best time to catch Street Scene. The afternoons always afforded get unexpected finds, courtesy of Rob Hagey and his booking crew. And varied too: gospel, blues, Brazilian, jazz, funk, soul, rock, punk. Around any corner, you could stumble on great things spanning a mind-boggling set of genres. Not so this year. Maybe it was all the walking, but I feel simply tired thinking on Saturday's SS experience. Tired of being milked of money, and most of all, tired of all the corporate meddling with San Diego's best music festival.
But hey, the rain was nice. With a clear sky emerging around 3 p.m., I could see the hills of Tijuana in the distance and think: only if...
Instead, this year we have Rob Hagey teaming with Live Nation, filling the lineup with a bunch of whiney emo-pop bands and soaking festival-goers for every penny. Of course, this is me and my mood after walking two or three miles total to avoid paying $10 for parking. I mean, honestly, I can't remember any shows at Coors that I've paid 10 bones to drive by bored teenagers pointing me to dusty lots which allowed me to park 10-15 minutes walk from the front gate. Just when I thought the Coors parking/traffic situation couldn't get worse, they want to charge me for their crappy parking lots and ill-planned mouse mazes they call roads, the closest thing to a street this year's Street Scene will experience.
Inside, I didn't have too many qualms with Coors. The lineup completely sucked on Saturday. I won't go into the horrors of the band Shut Up Stella and Army of Me. On the bright side: B-Side Players were solid and Mad Caddies had their moments. I couldn't stick around for the "headliners" Muse, so I can't report on the mainstage.
The first four hours of Street Scene '07 were a complete bomb. I'm sure more people made it eventually, but I think there were about 5,000 people there through 4 p.m. Years past, this was always the best time to catch Street Scene. The afternoons always afforded get unexpected finds, courtesy of Rob Hagey and his booking crew. And varied too: gospel, blues, Brazilian, jazz, funk, soul, rock, punk. Around any corner, you could stumble on great things spanning a mind-boggling set of genres. Not so this year. Maybe it was all the walking, but I feel simply tired thinking on Saturday's SS experience. Tired of being milked of money, and most of all, tired of all the corporate meddling with San Diego's best music festival.
But hey, the rain was nice. With a clear sky emerging around 3 p.m., I could see the hills of Tijuana in the distance and think: only if...
Over the Rhine at Anthology
I have to admit something: Before my editor at the U-T suggested I write about Ohio band Over the Rhine, I had very little exposure to the husband-wife team of Linford Detweiler and Karin Berquist. In doing research about the songwriting team, I discovered a huge catalogue of great songs, with adept execution on vocals by Berquist and Detweiler on piano and guitar.
My wife Lisa and I haven't made it to Anthology yet, so we were excited to check out this show and this relatively new venue downtown on India and A. Nice venue, but probably too pricy and fancy to really make us feel at home. We got stuck on the second floor standing room only area, with an obstructed view of the stage. Drink prices were hefty ($11 dollars a glass for the cheapest red wine), but the waitstaff was attentive. The sound was flawless, but when you can't see the stage, the experience is like listening to a live CD with an awesome stereo. Over the Rhine are extremely talented and they put on a great show, equally at home with the traditional American songbook and classic country sounds. Detweiler told stories and Berquist was radiant and spot-on with her vocals. At Anthology, it's either pony up for the good seats or stay at home.
Here's the preview which ran on Thursday in the Union-Tribune:
Over the Rhine: Songs shaped by memory
By Chris Nixon
For the Union-Tribune
September 20, 2007
A conversation with Linford Detweiler feels like story time with a reclusive artsy uncle: filled with equal helpings of childlike wonder and hard-earned wisdom.
And the musician's stories lately revolve around his childhood. Specifically, he's been contemplating how our earliest memories can influence the work we chose to do.
“A couple of my friends who are also artists and I have talked about how our earliest memories have foreshadowed what we ended up doing with our lives,” Linford said in an interview from his home outside of Cincinnati, Ohio, an old farmhouse on a sprawling plot of land called Nowhere Farm.
“My friend, Michael Wilson, who is a black-and-white photographer and photographs a lot of musicians, his earliest memory is lying in his bedroom as a boy. When the headlights would go past his bedroom window, these black-and-white shadows would go around the top of his room. He would watch those black-and-white shadows and imagine a circus train going by. He ended up making black-and-white photographs for a living.
“My earliest memory that I can really put my finger on is the sound of a trumpet. So, my earliest memory ended up being reflected in the title of this project.”
Detweiler is telling the story behind the 2007 album “The Trumpet Child,” his 11th studio work in collaboration with his wife, vocalist Karin Berquist. Together, they form Over the Rhine, named for a formerly tough neighborhood (now gentrified) in Cincinnati where the duo lived during the late-1980s: “It was considered a bad part of town and there were a lot of empty buildings. I was really drawn to it because there was a scary beauty down there.”
Since the early beginnings in the 'hood bearing its name, Over the Rhine's career has flown just below the radar of popular consciousness. Despite 18 years and 23 albums (including live recordings, compilations and Detweiler's three solo discs), the couple's brand of quiet coffeehouse country and dark Southern Gothic acoustic balladry never found a foothold on radio stations. Much like the Cowboy Junkies (with whom Detweiler and Berquist have toured), there isn't a radio format suited for well-crafted acoustic music.
But good music usually finds a home. In Over the Rhine's case, home comes in the form of a devout fan base and critical acclaim.
On “The Trumpet Child” – the latest OTR album to garner good reviews – Detweiler and Berquist choose lush horn parts along with bittersweet string arrangements to bring a classic, timeless feel to the entire album.
“We wanted to gather really interesting musicians in a room and really invite people to something that felt like an evening of music unfolding,” said the songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Detweiler. “We wanted to open the American songbook a little wider in terms of our influences on this record and reference a pre-rock 'n' roll era in the music: Cole Porter and Rodgers and Hart, where the language was kind of playful and interesting melodies with horns and strings.”
No matter if hit singles come or not, Detweiler and Berquist will continue writing and singing songs. Not because they need the trappings of pop stars, but because it makes them better people.
“Writing is something that if I stay engaged in, I live my life with my eyes more fully open,” said Detweiler, who performs two shows at the new jazz dinner club Anthology on India Street Saturday. “I think that's what we all battle, this sense of going through life half awake. So, songwriting is something that we've built into our lives that we hope enriches us and helps us to live more soulfully. It helps us to live more intentionally and just to be aware of the stories that we're writing with our lives.”
Chris Nixon is a San Diego music writer.
My wife Lisa and I haven't made it to Anthology yet, so we were excited to check out this show and this relatively new venue downtown on India and A. Nice venue, but probably too pricy and fancy to really make us feel at home. We got stuck on the second floor standing room only area, with an obstructed view of the stage. Drink prices were hefty ($11 dollars a glass for the cheapest red wine), but the waitstaff was attentive. The sound was flawless, but when you can't see the stage, the experience is like listening to a live CD with an awesome stereo. Over the Rhine are extremely talented and they put on a great show, equally at home with the traditional American songbook and classic country sounds. Detweiler told stories and Berquist was radiant and spot-on with her vocals. At Anthology, it's either pony up for the good seats or stay at home.
Here's the preview which ran on Thursday in the Union-Tribune:
Over the Rhine: Songs shaped by memory
By Chris Nixon
For the Union-Tribune
September 20, 2007
A conversation with Linford Detweiler feels like story time with a reclusive artsy uncle: filled with equal helpings of childlike wonder and hard-earned wisdom.
And the musician's stories lately revolve around his childhood. Specifically, he's been contemplating how our earliest memories can influence the work we chose to do.
“A couple of my friends who are also artists and I have talked about how our earliest memories have foreshadowed what we ended up doing with our lives,” Linford said in an interview from his home outside of Cincinnati, Ohio, an old farmhouse on a sprawling plot of land called Nowhere Farm.
“My friend, Michael Wilson, who is a black-and-white photographer and photographs a lot of musicians, his earliest memory is lying in his bedroom as a boy. When the headlights would go past his bedroom window, these black-and-white shadows would go around the top of his room. He would watch those black-and-white shadows and imagine a circus train going by. He ended up making black-and-white photographs for a living.
DETAILS
Over the Rhine
When: Saturday, 7:30 p.m. and 10 p.m.
Where: Anthology, 1337 India St., Little Italy
Tickets: $20-$30
Phone: (619) 595-0300
Online: www.anthologysd.com
“My earliest memory that I can really put my finger on is the sound of a trumpet. So, my earliest memory ended up being reflected in the title of this project.”
Detweiler is telling the story behind the 2007 album “The Trumpet Child,” his 11th studio work in collaboration with his wife, vocalist Karin Berquist. Together, they form Over the Rhine, named for a formerly tough neighborhood (now gentrified) in Cincinnati where the duo lived during the late-1980s: “It was considered a bad part of town and there were a lot of empty buildings. I was really drawn to it because there was a scary beauty down there.”
Since the early beginnings in the 'hood bearing its name, Over the Rhine's career has flown just below the radar of popular consciousness. Despite 18 years and 23 albums (including live recordings, compilations and Detweiler's three solo discs), the couple's brand of quiet coffeehouse country and dark Southern Gothic acoustic balladry never found a foothold on radio stations. Much like the Cowboy Junkies (with whom Detweiler and Berquist have toured), there isn't a radio format suited for well-crafted acoustic music.
But good music usually finds a home. In Over the Rhine's case, home comes in the form of a devout fan base and critical acclaim.
On “The Trumpet Child” – the latest OTR album to garner good reviews – Detweiler and Berquist choose lush horn parts along with bittersweet string arrangements to bring a classic, timeless feel to the entire album.
“We wanted to gather really interesting musicians in a room and really invite people to something that felt like an evening of music unfolding,” said the songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Detweiler. “We wanted to open the American songbook a little wider in terms of our influences on this record and reference a pre-rock 'n' roll era in the music: Cole Porter and Rodgers and Hart, where the language was kind of playful and interesting melodies with horns and strings.”
No matter if hit singles come or not, Detweiler and Berquist will continue writing and singing songs. Not because they need the trappings of pop stars, but because it makes them better people.
“Writing is something that if I stay engaged in, I live my life with my eyes more fully open,” said Detweiler, who performs two shows at the new jazz dinner club Anthology on India Street Saturday. “I think that's what we all battle, this sense of going through life half awake. So, songwriting is something that we've built into our lives that we hope enriches us and helps us to live more soulfully. It helps us to live more intentionally and just to be aware of the stories that we're writing with our lives.”
Chris Nixon is a San Diego music writer.
Saturday, September 22, 2007
Street Scene invading town this weekend
It's not the same festival five years ago or even last year, but San Diego's signature music festival is coming to Coors Amphitheatre this weekend. The lineup isn't as strong this year, and the only street is the one that will be choked with traffic leading to the outdoor amphitheatre in Chula Vista, but Street Scene is here. I wrote previews for both the Union-Tribune and the OC Register, along with a slew of profiles for SignOnSanDiego.com's Street Scene feature.
I'll be there this weekend taking photos and joting down notes.
Here's the Union-Tribune piece:
Stop me if you've heard this one ...
... the Brits are coming! English bands – the Invasion, Take II
By Chris Nixon
For the Union-Tribune
September 20, 2007
It was 20 years ago today, Sergeant Pepper taught the band to play ... actually it was more than four decades ago.
The Beatles stormed America in 1964, launching the first British Invasion on these shores, and Brit bands have occupied the minds of music aficionados on this side of the pond ever since.
Enter Street Scene, San Diego's signature music festival.
As festival founder Rob Hagey skewed the demographic younger every year since 2000, the Brit indie pop quotient has increased. In 2005, Kasabian and Hard-Fi represented. The following year, Bloc Party, Editors, The Futureheads and Nine Black Alps all made the journey to San Diego to ply their wares.
This year, Birmingham's Editors returns, along with Arctic Monkeys, Simian Mobile Disco, Paolo Nutini and Saturday's headliners Muse.
Every year, dozens of new bands come out of England, Scotland or Ireland, renewing the U.K.'s status as a mainstay of indie rock.
“It seems pretty vibrant, pretty colorful,” said Editors lead singer and guitarist Tom Smith during a recent concert stop in New York City. “There's a lot going on. A lot of people talk about the second coming of the golden Brit pop years. But I don't really believe that.”
Smith is right: There can't be a second coming. In fact, pop music from the U.K. never stopped influencing American bands.
British groups don't have the stranglehold on the charts as they did in the 1960s, but a constant stream of young talent continues to pour out of the U.K. And the admiration is mutual on both sides of the Atlantic: “I may not be the best person to talk to, because most of the indie bands that I take to heart or I fall in love with are American,” said Smith.
“I like Klaxons. I think they're a really interesting band. But I love The National's record. I think they're an amazing band. LCD Soundsystem, Arcade Fire, these are the bands from recent times that I've really fallen in love with.”
Arctic Monkeys, sharing the Street Scene bill with Editors this year, rocketed into mainstream success with the 2006 disc “Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not,” the fastest selling debut album in British music history. Despite a general downtrend in record sales for most British bands, opportunities abound for young bands trying to get their start.
“Record sales aren't doing as much as they were 10 years ago,” said Smith, whose own band just released its second record “An End Has a Start.” “But there are more and more people going to shows. A new band on their first record will get to play Brixton Academy in the U.K. now. Years ago, you wouldn't get to Brixton until your second or third record. So, people are hungry for new music and hungry for live music. It's a good time to be in a band.”
It's a good time to be a music fan, too. With touring becoming the driving force behind a band's success, more groups are coming to the U.S. from the U.K. to tour.
“It's so hard to get on the radio here; it's nearly impossible,” said Smith. “So, you have to bring it to the people. We enjoy coming here and we always have a good time. We're aware that we're in the very early stages of the new record here,” he said.
“Of course, we'd like to be successful here. And I think given enough time we feel that American audiences will get it. I don't expect it to happen with this record. Hopefully, we can continue doing what we're doing and eventually take a bite of the big American apple.”
Despite Smith's comments, the Editors have made inroads into the American market. The band's first album, “The Back Room,” was packed with heady New Wave-layered guitars and catchy choruses, reaching No. 14 on the U.S. Heatseeker Chart. And, bolstered by the singles “Smokers Outside the Hospital Doors” and the title track, “An End Has a Start” climbed to No. 1 on the same chart.
More bands gaining early acceptance in their careers makes for a healthier music scene in the United Kingdom, Smith said, and that trickles across the Atlantic to the U.S.
“I can understand when the music fans get disillusioned when there's a new band every few weeks. But if you don't read the NME and you don't take that kind of music journalism to heart and you make decisions for yourself, I don't think it can be a bad thing.
“As in any era of music, if the band is good enough and they have good songs, the test of time will sort the wheat from the chaff. Won't it?”
Chris Nixon is a San Diego music writer.
And here's the OC Register piece (please note that Mike Ness is a morning person, and like to conduct interviews at the crack of 9 a.m. when he's not on tour....Mike Ness!):
San Diego's Street Scene is on the move again
Pushed out of the city's downtown in recent years, the festival takes place this weekend at a new venue in Chula Vista.
By CHRIS NIXON
For the Register
For the past 23 years, Street Scene has gathered together the diverse musical interests of Southern California on the streets and open spaces of San Diego. The festival was originally located on the streets of the then-seedy downtown Gaslamp District and founder Rob Hagey helped define the area as an entertainment destination, bringing in bands such as R.E.M., Ben Harper, Wilco, Wyclef Jean and Black Eyed Peas to name just a few.
By 2005, the Gaslamp and East Village neighborhoods had grown into upscale entertainment districts and residential areas, and the residents weren't happy about loud music blaring through their windows one weekend a year. Forced out of downtown, Hagey moved the festival to Qualcomm Stadium's parking lot. The move provided easy access to the trolley and obviously ample parking, but festival goers complained about enduring the scorching hot pavement and unofficially dubbed the show "Parking Lot Scene."
This year Hagey teamed with the Los Angeles based Live Nation to help promote the show. Street Scene was originally scheduled to take play at the Del Mar Fairgrounds. But the failure to book a big-time headliner and sluggish ticket sales forced the festival south to Coors Amphitheatre. Live Nation owns the 20,000-capacity venue. Street Scene this year will feature over 60 artists on five stages, with headliners Muse anchoring Saturday's lineup and the Killers holding down Sunday.
One thing has been constant through all the changes: Orange County's Social Distortion. Mike Ness and company have played the festival for the past five years, starting in the Gaslamp Quarter, through the years at the stadium and now in Chula Vista.
"It's kind of cool, because it feels like we've become a staple in Street Scene, wherever it's held," said a deadpan Ness.
Like many Street Scene fans who have been visiting the festival over the years, Ness misses the feel of Street Scene when it lived downtown: "I just remember doing it on Friday at 11 o'clock downtown. It was overwhelming. It literally felt like the whole city of San Diego was there standing in the middle of the street. It was like the town square almost. It felt really surreal. I don't know the word for it. It just felt really awesome."
Ness knows what he's talking about on the subject of music festivals; he's headlined many over the years. The 45-year-old singer grew up in Fullerton before forming Social Distortion in 1978. Alongside other young punks like the Youth Brigade and the Adolescents, the band quickly became nationally known in the underground punk scene.
Mixing traditional punk with country and rockabilly influences, Social D found a home on alternative radio stations in the '90s with songs like "Ball and Chain" "Story of My Life" and a cover of Johnny Cash's "Ring of Fire."
Social Distortion started playing Street Scene at the height of its popularity. The festival was drawing over 100,000 people in 2004.
"Unfortunately, things change and you have to adapt," said Ness. "I think it's a great event. And when it finds its final place, I think it will be a long-lasting thing. But it's so important where it's held. To me, if I lived in San Diego I would want to go to a cool place and see cool bands. Unfortunately, stadiums and parking lots are sterile.
"A rock vibe is hard to create. You throw a stage up anywhere and bring in a P.A. system and some lights and you have a show. Technically that's true. But it's always nicer if you have something with a vibe."
Hagey and Live Nation are hoping Coors provides Ness' definition of "vibe." Traditionally, Street Scene's lineup came from all over the musical map: reggae, world music, funk, rock, punk and soul. Since the record setting crowds of 2004, Hagey has booked acts that appeal to a younger demographic: AFI (2004, 2006), Ludacris (2004), the Used (2005), Yellowcard (2004, 2006), Method Man (2005, Kanye West (2006) and Matchbook Romance (2006).
This year's lineup includes a slew of young rock bands that appeal to even younger audiences: Panic! at the Disco, Augustana, The Academy Is…, The Rocket Summer, Brand New Tiger Army and Gym Class Heroes. You also have a select few mainstream hip-hop acts like T.I., Too and T-Pain. Throw in some reggae and world beat (B-Side Players, Eek-A-Mouse, Steel Pulse, Ozomatli, Pepper) and a few annual favorites (Social D, G. Love & Special Sauce, Slightly Stoopid) and you have the general thinking behind this year's Street Scene.
For Ness, Street Scene marks an annual string of shows running through Southern California and the Southwest. No matter the venue, Social D pencils in the music fest every September: "We look forward to it every year. It's nice playing outdoors and the weather is usually pretty nice. It's just a show that we always look forward to."
I'll be there this weekend taking photos and joting down notes.
Here's the Union-Tribune piece:
Stop me if you've heard this one ...
... the Brits are coming! English bands – the Invasion, Take II
By Chris Nixon
For the Union-Tribune
September 20, 2007
It was 20 years ago today, Sergeant Pepper taught the band to play ... actually it was more than four decades ago.
The Beatles stormed America in 1964, launching the first British Invasion on these shores, and Brit bands have occupied the minds of music aficionados on this side of the pond ever since.
Enter Street Scene, San Diego's signature music festival.
As festival founder Rob Hagey skewed the demographic younger every year since 2000, the Brit indie pop quotient has increased. In 2005, Kasabian and Hard-Fi represented. The following year, Bloc Party, Editors, The Futureheads and Nine Black Alps all made the journey to San Diego to ply their wares.
This year, Birmingham's Editors returns, along with Arctic Monkeys, Simian Mobile Disco, Paolo Nutini and Saturday's headliners Muse.
DETAILS
Street Scene 2007When: Saturday, noon to 11:30 p.m.; Sunday, noon to 11 p.m.
Where: Coors Amphitheatre, Chula Vista
Tickets: $65 per day
Phone: (619) 220-TIXS
Online: www.ticketmaster.com
Every year, dozens of new bands come out of England, Scotland or Ireland, renewing the U.K.'s status as a mainstay of indie rock.
“It seems pretty vibrant, pretty colorful,” said Editors lead singer and guitarist Tom Smith during a recent concert stop in New York City. “There's a lot going on. A lot of people talk about the second coming of the golden Brit pop years. But I don't really believe that.”
Smith is right: There can't be a second coming. In fact, pop music from the U.K. never stopped influencing American bands.
British groups don't have the stranglehold on the charts as they did in the 1960s, but a constant stream of young talent continues to pour out of the U.K. And the admiration is mutual on both sides of the Atlantic: “I may not be the best person to talk to, because most of the indie bands that I take to heart or I fall in love with are American,” said Smith.
“I like Klaxons. I think they're a really interesting band. But I love The National's record. I think they're an amazing band. LCD Soundsystem, Arcade Fire, these are the bands from recent times that I've really fallen in love with.”
Arctic Monkeys, sharing the Street Scene bill with Editors this year, rocketed into mainstream success with the 2006 disc “Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not,” the fastest selling debut album in British music history. Despite a general downtrend in record sales for most British bands, opportunities abound for young bands trying to get their start.
“Record sales aren't doing as much as they were 10 years ago,” said Smith, whose own band just released its second record “An End Has a Start.” “But there are more and more people going to shows. A new band on their first record will get to play Brixton Academy in the U.K. now. Years ago, you wouldn't get to Brixton until your second or third record. So, people are hungry for new music and hungry for live music. It's a good time to be in a band.”
It's a good time to be a music fan, too. With touring becoming the driving force behind a band's success, more groups are coming to the U.S. from the U.K. to tour.
“It's so hard to get on the radio here; it's nearly impossible,” said Smith. “So, you have to bring it to the people. We enjoy coming here and we always have a good time. We're aware that we're in the very early stages of the new record here,” he said.
“Of course, we'd like to be successful here. And I think given enough time we feel that American audiences will get it. I don't expect it to happen with this record. Hopefully, we can continue doing what we're doing and eventually take a bite of the big American apple.”
Despite Smith's comments, the Editors have made inroads into the American market. The band's first album, “The Back Room,” was packed with heady New Wave-layered guitars and catchy choruses, reaching No. 14 on the U.S. Heatseeker Chart. And, bolstered by the singles “Smokers Outside the Hospital Doors” and the title track, “An End Has a Start” climbed to No. 1 on the same chart.
More bands gaining early acceptance in their careers makes for a healthier music scene in the United Kingdom, Smith said, and that trickles across the Atlantic to the U.S.
“I can understand when the music fans get disillusioned when there's a new band every few weeks. But if you don't read the NME and you don't take that kind of music journalism to heart and you make decisions for yourself, I don't think it can be a bad thing.
“As in any era of music, if the band is good enough and they have good songs, the test of time will sort the wheat from the chaff. Won't it?”
Chris Nixon is a San Diego music writer.
And here's the OC Register piece (please note that Mike Ness is a morning person, and like to conduct interviews at the crack of 9 a.m. when he's not on tour....Mike Ness!):
San Diego's Street Scene is on the move again
Pushed out of the city's downtown in recent years, the festival takes place this weekend at a new venue in Chula Vista.
By CHRIS NIXON
For the Register
For the past 23 years, Street Scene has gathered together the diverse musical interests of Southern California on the streets and open spaces of San Diego. The festival was originally located on the streets of the then-seedy downtown Gaslamp District and founder Rob Hagey helped define the area as an entertainment destination, bringing in bands such as R.E.M., Ben Harper, Wilco, Wyclef Jean and Black Eyed Peas to name just a few.
By 2005, the Gaslamp and East Village neighborhoods had grown into upscale entertainment districts and residential areas, and the residents weren't happy about loud music blaring through their windows one weekend a year. Forced out of downtown, Hagey moved the festival to Qualcomm Stadium's parking lot. The move provided easy access to the trolley and obviously ample parking, but festival goers complained about enduring the scorching hot pavement and unofficially dubbed the show "Parking Lot Scene."
This year Hagey teamed with the Los Angeles based Live Nation to help promote the show. Street Scene was originally scheduled to take play at the Del Mar Fairgrounds. But the failure to book a big-time headliner and sluggish ticket sales forced the festival south to Coors Amphitheatre. Live Nation owns the 20,000-capacity venue. Street Scene this year will feature over 60 artists on five stages, with headliners Muse anchoring Saturday's lineup and the Killers holding down Sunday.
One thing has been constant through all the changes: Orange County's Social Distortion. Mike Ness and company have played the festival for the past five years, starting in the Gaslamp Quarter, through the years at the stadium and now in Chula Vista.
"It's kind of cool, because it feels like we've become a staple in Street Scene, wherever it's held," said a deadpan Ness.
Like many Street Scene fans who have been visiting the festival over the years, Ness misses the feel of Street Scene when it lived downtown: "I just remember doing it on Friday at 11 o'clock downtown. It was overwhelming. It literally felt like the whole city of San Diego was there standing in the middle of the street. It was like the town square almost. It felt really surreal. I don't know the word for it. It just felt really awesome."
Ness knows what he's talking about on the subject of music festivals; he's headlined many over the years. The 45-year-old singer grew up in Fullerton before forming Social Distortion in 1978. Alongside other young punks like the Youth Brigade and the Adolescents, the band quickly became nationally known in the underground punk scene.
Mixing traditional punk with country and rockabilly influences, Social D found a home on alternative radio stations in the '90s with songs like "Ball and Chain" "Story of My Life" and a cover of Johnny Cash's "Ring of Fire."
Social Distortion started playing Street Scene at the height of its popularity. The festival was drawing over 100,000 people in 2004.
"Unfortunately, things change and you have to adapt," said Ness. "I think it's a great event. And when it finds its final place, I think it will be a long-lasting thing. But it's so important where it's held. To me, if I lived in San Diego I would want to go to a cool place and see cool bands. Unfortunately, stadiums and parking lots are sterile.
"A rock vibe is hard to create. You throw a stage up anywhere and bring in a P.A. system and some lights and you have a show. Technically that's true. But it's always nicer if you have something with a vibe."
Hagey and Live Nation are hoping Coors provides Ness' definition of "vibe." Traditionally, Street Scene's lineup came from all over the musical map: reggae, world music, funk, rock, punk and soul. Since the record setting crowds of 2004, Hagey has booked acts that appeal to a younger demographic: AFI (2004, 2006), Ludacris (2004), the Used (2005), Yellowcard (2004, 2006), Method Man (2005, Kanye West (2006) and Matchbook Romance (2006).
This year's lineup includes a slew of young rock bands that appeal to even younger audiences: Panic! at the Disco, Augustana, The Academy Is…, The Rocket Summer, Brand New Tiger Army and Gym Class Heroes. You also have a select few mainstream hip-hop acts like T.I., Too and T-Pain. Throw in some reggae and world beat (B-Side Players, Eek-A-Mouse, Steel Pulse, Ozomatli, Pepper) and a few annual favorites (Social D, G. Love & Special Sauce, Slightly Stoopid) and you have the general thinking behind this year's Street Scene.
For Ness, Street Scene marks an annual string of shows running through Southern California and the Southwest. No matter the venue, Social D pencils in the music fest every September: "We look forward to it every year. It's nice playing outdoors and the weather is usually pretty nice. It's just a show that we always look forward to."
Matt Sharp comes to town
I wrote a little piece on the real Return of The Rentals (also the name of the band's debut disc) for the U-T, who are in the midst of a comeback bid with a new EP and a new full-length on the way. The leader and former Weezer bassist Matt Sharp and I talked a few weeks ago. He spoke about cleaning out the cluttered tour van, his hiatus from the music industry and his days back in Weezer. The piece isn't my best and the folks at Night&Day chopped the end of the story. My only defense is the story came amongst one of my busiest weeks as a freelancer (five stories due).
I had a chance to check out the show at HOB with my friend Greg. Copeland warmed up, but they were a little too whiney for me. Matt Sharp and The Rentals sounded good, but the crowd was super small and some of the band members looked a bit bored (including bassist/vocalist Rachel Haden, who appeared to be searching for the nearest fire exit during the show).
Anyway, here's the Night&Day piece:
After stepping back, Rentals step forward
By Chris Nixon
For the Union-Tribune
September 20, 2007
After forging a name for himself as the bassist-songwriter in Weezer and the architect behind the retro-keyboard outfit The Rentals, Matt Sharp needed to step away from the bright lights and surreal life of a modern rock star.
So, he packed up and moved to the tiny town of Leipers Fork, Tenn., an hour southwest of Nashville.
“There was a feeling of wanting to be completely disconnected from the whole lifestyle that I had inherited,” Sharp said recently. “I wanted to disconnect from not just the music industry, but everything in general. It was time to rethink things and start over, not just with music, but with life. I wanted to get a better understanding of how to be a better person.”
So, Sharp retreated from Los Angeles to the rural South. He released a solo album of acoustic tunes. He held low-key concerts, using the Internet and postering to promote shows. Little did he know: Stepping away from the mainstream music business for five years would make this year's Rentals reunion that much sweeter.
Sharp first came to the spotlight through the indie rock-gone-pop quartet Weezer, co-writing the band's breakthrough “The Blue Album” along with popular singles like “Say It Ain't So” and “Undone (the Sweater Song).” Much like Kim Deal's success with The Breeders proved her worth to Frank Black and the Pixies, Sharp's achievements with The Rentals shed light on his major contributions to Weezer. While they are a fine rock 'n' roll band, Weezer has never been the same since Sharp's departure.
As mainstream music turned its eyes away from the metal-meets-punk of grunge, The Rentals' 1995 debut disc, “The Return of The Rentals,” marked an embracing of buzzing 1970s synthesizers and stripped-down pop sentiment. When Sharp started The Rentals with drummer Patrick Wilson (also of Weezer), Rod Cervera (guitar), Tom Grimley (keyboards), Cherielynn Westrich (vocals, moog), and sisters Petra and Rachel Haden (daughters of jazz bassist Charlie Haden and members of the indie rock group that dog), he had no idea the band would blow up like it did.
“When we recorded the first Rentals record, we didn't expect that there was going to be any audience at all,” recalled Sharp. “We didn't think it was even going to be released properly: maybe on some independent, maybe on some seven-inch singles. We didn't really have a big picture in mind for it.”
Fueled by the popularity of Weezer's “Blue Album,” Sharp and company found themselves riding a wave of attention.
“But by the time (the first Rentals record) was released, a lot of expectations were put on the album right away,” said Sharp. “The people who worked at the record company really thought it was going to be an instant success. The first Rentals album came out during the pinnacle of 'The Blue Album.' It came out just after 'Say It Ain't So' reached its peak and we'd already had multiple singles in Weezer. So, there were a lot of expectations for The Rentals.”
Along with a new lineup, Sharp is happy to have another crack at mainstream music.
Chris Nixon is a San Diego music writer.
I had a chance to check out the show at HOB with my friend Greg. Copeland warmed up, but they were a little too whiney for me. Matt Sharp and The Rentals sounded good, but the crowd was super small and some of the band members looked a bit bored (including bassist/vocalist Rachel Haden, who appeared to be searching for the nearest fire exit during the show).
Anyway, here's the Night&Day piece:
After stepping back, Rentals step forward
By Chris Nixon
For the Union-Tribune
September 20, 2007
After forging a name for himself as the bassist-songwriter in Weezer and the architect behind the retro-keyboard outfit The Rentals, Matt Sharp needed to step away from the bright lights and surreal life of a modern rock star.
So, he packed up and moved to the tiny town of Leipers Fork, Tenn., an hour southwest of Nashville.
“There was a feeling of wanting to be completely disconnected from the whole lifestyle that I had inherited,” Sharp said recently. “I wanted to disconnect from not just the music industry, but everything in general. It was time to rethink things and start over, not just with music, but with life. I wanted to get a better understanding of how to be a better person.”
So, Sharp retreated from Los Angeles to the rural South. He released a solo album of acoustic tunes. He held low-key concerts, using the Internet and postering to promote shows. Little did he know: Stepping away from the mainstream music business for five years would make this year's Rentals reunion that much sweeter.
DETAILS
The Rentals, with Copeland and Goldenboy
When: Tonight, 8 p.m.
Where: House of Blues, 1055 Fifth Ave., downtown
Tickets: $22
Phone: (619) 299-BLUE
Online: HOB.com
Sharp first came to the spotlight through the indie rock-gone-pop quartet Weezer, co-writing the band's breakthrough “The Blue Album” along with popular singles like “Say It Ain't So” and “Undone (the Sweater Song).” Much like Kim Deal's success with The Breeders proved her worth to Frank Black and the Pixies, Sharp's achievements with The Rentals shed light on his major contributions to Weezer. While they are a fine rock 'n' roll band, Weezer has never been the same since Sharp's departure.
As mainstream music turned its eyes away from the metal-meets-punk of grunge, The Rentals' 1995 debut disc, “The Return of The Rentals,” marked an embracing of buzzing 1970s synthesizers and stripped-down pop sentiment. When Sharp started The Rentals with drummer Patrick Wilson (also of Weezer), Rod Cervera (guitar), Tom Grimley (keyboards), Cherielynn Westrich (vocals, moog), and sisters Petra and Rachel Haden (daughters of jazz bassist Charlie Haden and members of the indie rock group that dog), he had no idea the band would blow up like it did.
“When we recorded the first Rentals record, we didn't expect that there was going to be any audience at all,” recalled Sharp. “We didn't think it was even going to be released properly: maybe on some independent, maybe on some seven-inch singles. We didn't really have a big picture in mind for it.”
Fueled by the popularity of Weezer's “Blue Album,” Sharp and company found themselves riding a wave of attention.
“But by the time (the first Rentals record) was released, a lot of expectations were put on the album right away,” said Sharp. “The people who worked at the record company really thought it was going to be an instant success. The first Rentals album came out during the pinnacle of 'The Blue Album.' It came out just after 'Say It Ain't So' reached its peak and we'd already had multiple singles in Weezer. So, there were a lot of expectations for The Rentals.”
Along with a new lineup, Sharp is happy to have another crack at mainstream music.
Chris Nixon is a San Diego music writer.
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