This glimpse of brilliance is better than a long look at mediocrity

A couple weekends ago, we picked up Ha Ha Tonka's first album, "Buckle in the Bible Belt."  I sat on it for a few days, as I was a little caught up in work and the Monsters of Folk album.  When I finally got around to giving it a try, I was mighty impressed.  The entry page to their website reads: "Ha Ha Tonka - foot stomping indie rock" and I think that about sums it up.  Their sound is an interesting mix of rootsy folk/country, 3 and 4 part gospel harmonies, and whiskey laden rock.  This is rail drinks and concrete floors type of music and I'm loving every minute of it.  They have a second album - "Novel Sounds of the Nouveau South" - out, too, but I haven't grabbed that one yet (who wants to buy me a gift?).  I think what impresses me the most about Ha Ha Tonka's music is how well the lyrics stand up to the rest of the music.  That may be hard to follow, but I think it is easy for the words to get lost in the raucous nature of this type of sound.  In the same way the Rhett Miller's wordsmithing shines through the Old 97s rocking, I think Ha Ha Tonka nails the balance between rowdy and thoughtful.  For examples of what I'm babbling about, check out these videos from a in studio performance for Chicago's Q101:


St. Nick on the Fourth in a Fervor (from Buckle in the Bible Belt)



Close Every Valve To Your Bleeding Heart (from Novel Sounds of the Nouveau South)



If anyone else agrees with me on the quality of Ha Ha Tonka's music, we're in luck (at least those of us who live in the 'burgh or Baltimore/DC areas).  The band is currently on tour and stopping at the Recher Theater in Baltimore (Towson to be exact) on Dec. 3, Mr. Smalls in the 'burgh on Dec. 5, and the 9:30 Club in DC on Dec. 6.  Hopefully I can make it out on the 3rd or 6th and report back on how the band sounds up close and personal.

Here There Be Monsters

When I first learned about the Monsters of Folk (Conor Oberst, Jim James, M. Ward, and Mike Mogis) supergroup, tour, album, and more touring, I was guardedly optimistic.  I had heard some live recordings of the group, but, to me, those sounded like the guys getting together to play a few of each others' songs and the occasional classic like "Always On My Mind" instead of a band with their own identity.  I wasn't sure whether we'd be seeing a one off fun little side project like the Bens (Folds, Lee, and Kweller) or a supergroup that somehow manages to do something somehow bigger than the sum of its parts like the Travelling Wilburys (Lefty, Nelson, Otis, Lucky, and Charlie T., Jr.).  After hearing the whole Monsters of Folk album (self titled) and seeing some of what these guys are doing live, I'm definitely thinking it'll be the latter.  The Wilburys tailed off after Roy Orbison passed, but with the ages of the Monsters, there is potential for at least a few more albums than the Wilburys put out.

At first glance, I didn't really see how the Monsters of Folk would work.  I imagine the guys are friends and respect each other as people, musicians, collaborators, an so on, but their voices just don't seem like they'd mesh.  You have Ward's lightly Waitsian (that's right...Waitsian) bluesy rasp, Oberst's wavery and sometimes rageful singing, and James's wide ranging dreamy melodies that sometimes sound like a muffled echo.  At second glance and first full listen, I can see why it works.  It seems that they all set aside whatever egos they may have and recorded a truly collaborative album.  "Temazcal" (in the first video below) is a great example of what I'm trying to get at.  The song has this great feeling of movement and wonder powered by Ward's vocals and amplified by James's haunting little pieces of backing vocals.  Like the rest of the album, I think "Temazcal" is at its best when all three of the vocalists are all singing.  Oberst's voice fits in surprisingly well and kind of grounds the song a bit for me.  See and hear for yourself:



Just to show that this isn't one trick pony territory, check out "The Sandman, The Breakman, and Me" where Jim James seems to be finding a nice balance between his early My Morning Jacket vocals and his more recent experimentation. 



There are definitely threads of My Morning Jacket, Bright Eyes, and M. Ward's solo stuff running through the album, but the Monsters definitely have their own unique sound and have managed to create an album that is tough to categorize.  It would be easy to say its folk, but there is a bit more going on than that...almost as if the Monsters are threatening to toss aside the pedal steel and acoustics and just plain rock out.

Where did the blue skies go?

In my last post, I mentioned that I spent a good bit of time on the couch during my day off.  It wasn't entirely my fault.  I had plans to paint my newly build shed (shhh...don't tell my Homeowners' Association), but mama nature didn't think that was a good idea.  I guess she likes the idea of hurricane season clinging on until the bitter end.  The wind, rain, and chilly weather here in Naptown are not making for a good combination.  So to share in my whining, I give you Travis and the situationally appropriate "Why Does It Always Rain On Me?"





In related news, I'd like to brag that my wife and I got to see Travis play the WRNR Private Artist Showcase awhile back.  We got to see the band play a "half-plugged" show for free in a <500 seat space.  It was quite fantastic.

I've been thinking a lot today...

I thought about
The Army

What's that you say?  You've had enough Ben Folds?  Veterans' Day was yesterday?  I know, but I might have dozed off on the couch on my day off instead of doing any number of the productive things I had ambitiously planned for myself (blog post included).  So, in between things at work, I'll put the post together today.  Instead of a Veterans' Day post, I'll just call it a post inspired by the holiday.

Living in Annapolis, I can't help letting my mind wander toward the military.  Usually, its thoughts like, "Man, I can't find parking anywhere.  Oh, yeah, its commissioning week." But sometimes, I'm reminded how much respect the people who put their lives on the line for their country deserve.  Like during the pirate saga (did it qualify as a saga?) that unfolded not too long ago:

Two songs (three, actually, but I'm resisting the urge to post anything related to the Village People) came to mind when thinking about a Veterans' Day themed post.  I'll put the fun one first and end with more of a somber tune at the end.

Ben Folds Five - Army



Iron & Wine - Love Vigilantes (New Order cover)


Side note: I expect that I'll do an Iron & Wine post sometime soon and then probably a bunch of times after that.  Sam Beam is very, very good.

If you were looking for a George Michael cover, you've come to the right place

One of the best moments from one of my favorite concert experiences (that also produced one of my favorite concert t-shirts) was when Rufus Wainwright joined Ben Folds on stage toward the end of Ben's set (Guster headlined the show after Rufus and Ben were through).  I'm not sure if anyone knew of the fun that was about to ensue, but we were all loving it by the time they hit the first chorus.  I remember both guys visibly fighting back laughter and Rufus had to consult a sheet of lyrics a couple of times after almost losing his battle.  Here they are knocking it out of the park in New York:



I've seen Ben Folds 4 times and he's always good for bouncing between his ballads and rockers while sprinkling in some ridiculously fun covers.  This one had one of my friends in tears when we caught a show in State College and I found this one to be pretty impressive when he closed his set amonst strobe lights the last time I saw him (added bonus of a guit-orchestra on the video...I want a guit-orchestra).

Cause its running you with red

I gave blood earlier today, so I can't think of any music more appropriate to mark the occasion than "Blood Bank" by Bon Iver.  The video below is from the sunrise show they played at a cemetery in California.  I don't think a time, setting, and band could ever mesh better than that.  Bon Iver's music is haunting, raw, and intimate.  This is heart directly on sleeve kind of music.  If "Blood Bank" doesn't convince you.  Check out "Re: Stacks", "Flume", and especially "Skinny Love" from the same show.  Watching the footage from the concert leads me to believe that more shows should be held at sunrise.  Why should dusk get to be the only magic hour?

The Music Organization Project: Part I

I'm a big fan of organization.  I sleep better in a clean bedroom with all of my laundry put away.  I work more efficiently with a clean desk and an accurate file system.  The problem is that I'm really good at procrastinating and organizing things is something easy to put off in favor of more enjoyable endeavors.  Recently, I've grown ambitious and decided to get some things in order.  One of those things happens to be my laptop that is currently stuffed full of music.  When I left my two prior jobs for greener pastures, I just dumped every personal file from my work computers right onto my laptop in on big mess of a folder.  Between employment relocation dumps and moving files back and forth between computers and my mp3 player, there isn't much organization to be found on the ol laptop.  So today, I am starting the Music Organization Project, or MOP for short.  I only point out the acronym because of how well it fits.

As I work my way through the various folders and somewhat random files on my laptop, I will be stumbling across music that I've either forgotten about or just plain haven't listened to in awhile and posting about it.  This could take some time.

First up for the MOP is an album by Zero 7 called "The Garden."  I was first introduced to Zero 7 in 2001 or 2002 when I saw the video for "Destiny" on MTV2.  Does that channel still exist?  Do they show videos on it, or just reruns of old Road Rules episodes?  Anyway, I caught the video partway through and was sucked in, making sure I stuck around until the end to see who the band was.  I downloaded a few songs and liked everything I heard.  The music was moody, laid back, and just plain smooth.  I kept tabs on the band, but for some reason skipped out on buying their first 2 albums.  I impulse bought "The Garden" one day in my favorite music store when I read that Zero 7 worked with both Sia (who had been on board on previous Zero 7 recording) and José González on the album.  It turned out to be a good idea and I'm ready to get their new album "Yeah Ghost" as soon as I can.  I'd love to see them live sometime, but it looks like I'll have to wait for the next tour.  The crazy brits are playing 2 shows in my area while I'll be off at a wedding.  I guess I'll settle for the things I find on the web for now.  Here's a video of Zero 7, with Sia (playing backup singer and bartender, apparently) and José González along for the ride playing "Today" off of "The Garden":

Stress relief for a busy Tuesday

On a day when I should be paying attention to who is going to be my new boss (get out and vote, Annapolitans), I'm stuck at my desk dealing with all kinds of things that aren't worth the effort to type about.  In a nutshell, it was a busy morning and a busy afternoon is sure to follow.  A day like this calls for some stress relief, so I think I'll post two videos that always seem to make the world melt away when I watch them.

The first is the video for "Her Morning Elegance" by Oren Lavie.  Lavie's music is great for this time of year.  Whimsical and airy, much like Alexi Murdoch, Oren Lavie crafts some excellent music to daydream to.  With apologies to Ms. Swift and Mr. West, I think this is the video of the year.  Anything that can bring stop motion back to music videos ("Sledgehammer" anyone?) and include a floating cello gets my vote.



The second video is for "Ljósið" by Ólafur Arnalds (if anyone knows how to pronounce that, please let me know).  After hearing this, I'm convinced that I'm developing a potentially unhealthy adoration of Icelandic music.  I'm baffled that my friends don't enjoy Sigur Rós anywhere close to as much as I do and I'm pretty sure I'm going to have to track down Arnalds' new album on vinyl.  I can only assume it will be fantastic.  He is from Iceland, after all.  I'm no expert on classical or neo-classical or whatever music, but to my ears, this song (and video) starts off as rather pretty and builds into something quite gorgeous.

Goose's picks for Goose's birthday: Camera Obscura and Deer Tick, together at last

I mentioned my friend Goose in my last post. Turns out his birthday is right on the heels of Murph's, so I'm sticking with the bday theme for another post. Goose's big day was yesterday, so I missed posting this on his actual birthday, but I had more important things to do yesterday (like grocery shopping...I was very proud of the bag of meat my wife and I brought home).

Before I start salivating over my memory of those strip steaks, I should get back to the point. Looking back, Goose has been a part of some very good music related memories. The only band I've ever been in featured Goose shredding his way through "Voodoo Child (Slight Return)" with a bone chip in his ring finger (dude can play) during a battle of the bands in 10th grade. For some strange reason, the 9th and 10th graders preferred Blink182 covers to our versions of Dire Straits and Hendrix. We still managed to take 2nd place. My only regret is that we talked ourselves out of using the name Scary Larry.

One of my fondest concert-going memories also featured Goose and happened all the way back in 10th grade. The Dave Matthews Band came through Pittsburgh and played back to back dates at the wonderful Star Lake Amphitheater (I know it has a different name now, but it will always be Star Lake to me) on a Thursday and Friday during the school year. Goose and I convinced our parents to let us go to both, even though we had a chemistry test waiting for us Friday morning.

We made it to the parking lot early enough on Thursday to make a lame attempt at tailgating. Goose had come across a tiny, store bought charcoal grill that turned out to be little more than foil formed around a brick of something flammable that sort of resembled charcoal. I think we struggled to light the thing for a good 10 minutes and it probably took at least a half hour to cook the frozen burgers we brought. In the words of a drunken passerby, "I don't know about that grill...but that grill is awesome!"

These days, when Goose and I get together, there is always the obligatory "Have you heard of (insert band name here) yet?" "Yeah, they're great. Have you heard of (insert other band name here) yet? They sound a little like (third band we both know of) and (another band)" conversation. I love those conversations. In a way, this blog is one end of that conversation. So to make it two sided for a little bit, I talked to Goose yesterday and asked for a couple of bands he'd like to see mentioned in my little piece of the internet (yeah, its mine...I'm even thinking of making a flag to stick in the ground). He gave me two excellent suggestions and here they be:

Camera Obscura

The video above is from Camera Obscura's excellent set on my oft visited favorite, KCRW's Morning Becomes Eclectic.  The KCRW set was my introduction to the band and I found myself liking everything that I heard.  There is a cheerfulness to the music without being bubble gummy, if that makes sense.  After repeated listens, I've found that the surface cheerfulness is a little deceptive.  There is definitely a bittersweet quality to the songs I've heard and that makes me like Camera Obscura even more.  It isn't too often you find this much depth behind such a shiny exterior.  Maybe the horns fooled me.  Horns are tricky like that.  Thinking about Camera Obscura's music in terms of my day to day life (brace for the metaphor) keeps bringing me to the recent weather here in Annapolis.  It's just like the crisp fall day we had yesterday.  It was kind of dreary in the morning.  The kind of day that makes you want to find a couch and a TV and a good football game.  But then you remember the errands you have to run and you go ahead and turn off the TV and brave the elements.  And to your surprise, the sun comes out to greet you.  The ground is wet and there is a little hint of a chill in the air, but the sun is still around, clinging to the last few ounces of summer's heat and cheer.

Deer Tick

I have to admit I'm not all that familiar with Deer Tick's work.  I have two Deer Tick songs on my computer and one of them is a Paul Simon cover.  But from between what I've heard from their set on Daytrotter and some poking around YouTube (see above), I think I have a perfect opportunity to forcibly extend my fall weather metaphor.  If Camera Obscura is the sun on a crisp fall afternoon, all bittersweet and nostalgia inducing, then Deer Tick is the last few minutes of dusk, when the all that's left of the sun is some orange tinged clouds and you might need to start up a fire if you want to hang around outside.  I dare you to close your eyes while that video plays and not get a picture of a guy sitting near a fall fire finding his way through a tune after a good pull of moonshine.  I double dare you.