Give away love and give it for free

The combination of Hurriquake week and DIY kitchen renovations has made it a little tougher than I'd like to give Seabass Says the right amount of attention.  I had planned on putting together a post to recap the Silopanna Festival, but good ol Irene thought differently.  So instead of seeing Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings, Fitz and the Tantrums, Matt and Kim, and a handful of other bands with and without the word "and" in their titles, the concert was canceled and my wife and I secured outdoor furniture, gathered our candles, readied the ice, and rode out the storm with a few good books.

Now that the power is back on, we're neck deep in kitchen reno and you'll have to bear with my lack of posting.  Without further ado, here's a great hip shaker of a song to take you into the long weekend.

Gotye- Learnalilgivinanlovin

Don't Push Me Out

A couple of weekends ago, my wife and I made our last trip to Borders.  I have to say I was sad to see it go.  As I was mourning the loss of the book store on Facebook, a friend threw out the line "click and order is the new brick and mortar."  Call me old school, but I've always preferred the experience of tactile browsing to clicking and scrolling.  I think I'll always choose a good paperback over a matte digital screen.  Just as I'll probably always prefer purchasing something with liner notes to downloading mp3s.  So as a little goodbye to a place where I've spent many hours throughout my life browsing and relaxing, here are the Avett Brothers performing "Laundry Room" to start their set recorded live at Borders.

Avett Brothers - Laundry Room

Pulling Up The Covers: The Civil Wars

I've decided to start a series of posts highlighting some great covers.  I'd like to start by pointing the spotlight at The Civil Wars.

The simplicity of the Civil Wars' performances (just the duo on stage with nothing more than a guitar and sometimes a piano to hide behind) lays their songs bare.  They take an approach to their covers that strips them down to the core and presents the songs in a completely reimagined way.  It is easy to tell that this isn't done just for the sake of saying, "hey everybody, look what we can do!"  John Paul and Joy project a reverence for the music they are playing and treat the songs they cover with great care.  See for yourself:

The Civil Wars - Disarm (cover)



The Civil Wars - I Want You Back (cover)

Eternity Will Smile

I've vowed to get at least 1 post a week up for Seabass Says, even if that means I have to cut down on the verbosity.  Nothing wrong with brevity, right?

So, in short, I love what the folks at La Blogotheque do with their "Take Away Show" series.  There is a great organic and relaxed feel to the staging and execution of the songs, and the bands really seem to buy in to the whole concept.  I've also loved everything I've heard so far from the band Typhoon.  When I saw that Typhoon had done a Take Away Show, I figured it was something worth sharing.

Iron & Wine: The Two Sides of Sam Beam

It has been a long, long time since I've typed up a proper post for Seabass Says.  I blame the following factors: An increasingly heavy workload, vacation, work, kidney stones, procrastination, and work.  I'm back to shake off the rust (I'm sure I can still manage to mix some metaphors and throw in some asides), though, so here goes.

Way back in April, my wife and I had the opportunity to see Iron & Wine twice in one week (we probably could have gone to the other show in our area, but we opted not to be greedy with our Sam Beam consumption).  On the last Wednesday of the month, Iron & Wine played to a sold out Ram's Head Live in Baltimore.  We got there early enough to snag our preferred spot in the center of the mezzanine section and listened to The Low Anthem help up settle in for a great show.  We had seen an Iron & Wine show before, so we thought we knew what to expect, but when no less than 10 people took the stage (including the wonderful Marketa Irglova on backing vocals), we were a little thrown.  Sam had found himself a small musical army (with horn section).  What followed was nothing short of a fantastic show, but for anyone only familiar with the early, whispery tunes from "The Creek Drank The Cradle" and "Our Endless Numbered Days," the mix of aggressive folk rock and progressive jazz must have been jarring.

Sam's Army:

This is the Iron of Beam's music.  There has been a steady progression from The Creek up through the recent "Kiss Each Other Clean" in the music of Iron & Wine.  Sam has given his formerly stripped down sound layers of colorful clothes and the occasional gaudy jewelery.  I'd say you can officially call Iron & Wine and band now, instead of just Sam Beam.  Obviously, he's still doing the heavy lifting in writing and recording, but on stage, there was a great looseness and willingness to experiment that Beam seemed to revel in.  For example, check out the  energetic version of "House by the Sea" that bled into "Woman King" (which ended with a bit of a marathon jam session that left Sam surprised to see the crowd still along for the ride):

Iron & Wine - House by the Sea (with transition to Woman King)


Then on Friday, we got the Wine.  Local independent radio station WRNR got Iron & Wine to perform for their running Private Artist Showcase series that takes place at our favorite venue, Ram's Head On Stage.  The only way to get a seat at a Private Artist Showcase is to win passes from RNR.  My wife was lucky caller number 10 earlier in the week, so we were in.  There's a really great vibe to the Showcases.  They happen in the middle of the day and when the doors open, the lucky three hundred or so attendees stroll in, find a seat, order a beer, sit back and relax.

Beam only brought about half of the Iron & Wine army with him to the Showcase.  They played arrangements that matched the relaxed afternoon setting perfectly.  Instead of the jam sessions and bells and whistles that adorned Wednesday's performance, Sam eased off the gas and gave us something to sip and savor.  It wasn't quite vintage stripped down Iron & Wine with Sam, his guitar, and his sister's backing vocals, but a healthy blend of the rawness of that set up and the full on wall of sound of a full band show.  The is what "Tree By The River" looked and sounded like from my seat (apologies for any problems with focus and sound quality...I'm still trying to figure out my wife's camera):

Iron & Wine - Tree By The River



Here's a much better look at what the Showcase looked and sounded like, interspersed with some of RNR's interview with Sam Beam:

Build a rocket, boys

Dear patient reader,

If you've been here before and were wondering what the heck happened over my unannounced hiatus, I'll get to that explanation sometime soon.  Here's part of the cause:

I felt obligated to come check in today because I was using KCRW's Morning Becomes Eclectic back catalog as my office background music and "Lippy Kids" from Elbow's most recent effort, "Build A Rocket Boys" came on and floored me.  Here you go:

Elbow - Lippy Kids

Josh Ritter performs for NPR

I just came across this today and I'm overcome by the need to share.  Josh Ritter is fantastic.  The NPR Tiny Desk Concert series is really cool.  The combination is nothing short of fantastically, really cool, even if it took the good people of NPR 2 months to post it.

Josh Ritter - Tiny Desk Concert

The embed code I tried for this wasn't working, so follow the link to NPR's site.  Dig around the other Tiny Desk Concerts while you're there.  There are a good number of quality shows.

Slow burning crimes keep us up through the night

Hi there.  Its been awhile, hasn't it?  Sorry for the break in posts, but sometimes a man is too busy to fit blogging into the schedule.  Now on to the good stuff...

It was probably in the neighborhood of a year ago that my friend Murph shot me a simple "check these guys out" message and pointed me in the direction of Philadelphia's talented East Hundred.  My first impression while listening to "Slow Burning Crimes," the first track off of 2009's "Passenger" album, was that the band has a very lush sound.  I think that can be attributed to the somewhat sweet and accessible female lead and the almost playful sounding keyboard.  Upon subsequent listens, however, I began to notice the underlying simmer and growl of the guitars.  Then I read up on the band a little.

In short, "Passenger" is a break up album.  To complicate things, "Passenger" is a break up album revolving around the relationship between two of the band members.  I can't imagine how tough it was for the band to watch the relationship break down, work everything out, record a high quality album, and come out of the process stronger for it.  To me, the album is a collection of simmering and longing all wrapped up in a appropriately rough around the edges musical package.  "Slow Burning Crimes" sticks out as the cream of the crop, but other songs, such as "Deadpan" shine just slightly less (that made sense to me and I don't have time to think of a better way to say it, so I hope you, dear reader, can handle it).

You can stream the album for yourself at East Hundred's website.  Also, they have "Slow Burning Crimes" available for free download.  Check them out and keep tabs.  Based on my limited exposure to East Hundred, I feel like they could be a band on the verge.  Much like the guitar work on "Slow Burning Crimes," this band seems like they're barely contained and ready to break out.  According to their website, East Hundred in currently about halfway through recording "The Spells," the follow up to "Passenger."  If "Passenger" is any indication of where this band is heading, get aboard.  It should be a good ride.

East Hundred - Slow Burning Crimes

While there's nothing to confess, please pay attention

Last Tuesday night, my wife and I (and a half full Black Cat, which isn't a big venue in the first place) took in a show headlined by the new and percussion-less matt pond PA.  It has been year since we've been able to get ourselves out to a matt pond PA show, but I feel like the wait was worth it.  The band surrounding Matt Pond has been different each of the three times I've seen him in concert.  The first time I saw matt pond PA was in a hookah lounge that might have fit 50-100 people.  The show was energetic, sweaty, and all sorts of fun.  The second time I saw the band, they had been playing much bigger venues (bigger than 50-100 person crowds, at least) on the heels of the inclusion of a couple matt pond PA songs finding their way onto the TV show "The OC".  That second show featured a decidedly more reserved Matt Pond than the man I saw at the hookah lounge.  As I tried to put into words in my previous matt pond PA post, it was almost as if Pond was recoiling from the effect of his brilliant early work.  I said before that I see "The Dark Leaves" as a return to form and to what I see as a centered Matt Pond.  Obviously, I don't know the man and I can only speak to my interpretation of the music, but - in short - I really like what I'm hearing these days.  The show on Tuesday was a reflection of what I hear on the most recent album, a confident Matt Pond flexing some serious songwriting muscles.

As I mentioned at the beginning of this post, the current iteration of Pond's band is lacking a drummer.  They played a setlist that featured songs from the entire timeline of matt pond PA albums, but some songs, as Matt admitted "would suck without a drummer."  The songs they did play, however, were given room to breathe without the drums upping the urgency.  Often, Pond would put down his guitar and the songs would be stripped quite bare, with only a guitar and cello to hold them together.  There was a warmth in the cello that I'm not sure I've ever noticed on the albums or live.  I'd like to think that the lack of drums allowed the cello to really shine, but it could just be that I've never really listened for that warmth in a matt pond PA performance before.  Ultimately, I'm sure people's reactions to the newly tweaked sound from the band will vary, but my wife and I are firmly on board.  In a moment of what I'll believe to be sincerity during the show, Matt confessed that this is the hardest he's ever tried.  Also, as you'll see in the video below, he said its the most fun he's ever had.

I apologize for the shaky moments in the video, but I was holding the camera in one hand and my pint in the other.  Its the best I could do.  Also, I'm not tall, so you'll have to deal with some heads in the way of the band.  During the previous song, I had decided that I'd record the next song and was pleasantly surprised when that song happened to be "New Hampshire" from the fantastic album, "Emblems" and that show opener, Rocky Votolato (yes, it was a solid show from opener to encore), came up on stage to round out the band.

matt pond PA with Rocky Votolato - New Hampshire




here's a little bonus footage my wife grabbed of Rocky Votolato performing "White Daisy Passing" with matt pond PA as his backing band:

The Medicine That Everybody Wants

I'd rather spend money on concert tickets than a trip to the doctor's office any day.  Live music may be the ultimate elixir.  This past Saturday, my wife and I made the drive into DC to catch the final show of Grace Potter & the Nocturnals' winter tour.  It had been awhile since our last concert outing, we were itching to see a show, and the party that the Nocturnals were throwing hit the spot completely.

GPN set out to finish the tour off in style and hopefully melt a few faces in the process.  Their version of southern rock can range from scorching guitar driven grooves to tender organ work and we got the whole spectrum.  The crowd was on board from the moment that the band took the stage and Grace warned us "You're in for it."  I can't think of anything insightful to add.  You'll just have to check this band out for yourself whenever you have the chance.  They are well worth the price of admission and when they're done with you, you'll feel rejuvenated and ready to take on whatever the world throws at you.

Here's an overexposed phone picture from our spot above the soundboard:

And here's Grace Potter and the Nocturnals closing out their set with "Medicine" (best video and sound quality I can find from the show...we managed to bring a camera with a dead battery):

Human Resources is going to thank us for this later

How's this for a good time...Fitz and The Tantrums performing "MoneyGrabber" for KEXP on a Tuesday afternoon.  "MoneyGrabber" was the last song I heard on my drive into work yesterday and it made a Monday seem bearable.  Fitz is right when he's talking to the crowd.  If everyone listened to this kind of soul stirring soul before and during the workday, HR wouldn't have a thing to worry about.

Fitz and The Tantrums - MoneyGrabber

I wait for something good, for something great

We got a peek of spring weather recently here in Annapolis.  I think it officially gave me the itch for a new season and better weather.  Until the sunshine really rolls in to stay, I'll just have to make due with some warm music.

I was reminded of this song the other day and I'm having trouble getting it out of my head.  There is an undeniable joy in the music of Ben Kweller and I can't think of a better way to visualize it than this video for "Penny on the Train Track" of his grandmother dancercising to the song.  Enjoy...

Ben Kweller - Penny on the Train Track

We've got a lot to learn from each other. We have got to stick together.

You know that Magic 8 Ball result, "All signs point to..."?  For me lately, all signs are pointing to Ra Ra Riot.  I'm a little late to the party by music blogging standards, but that's all right.  I've at least made it to the party.  Maybe with a little over indulgence, I can play catch up.  You see, Ra Ra Riot seems to be around every corner for me these days.  I had heard "Boy" and thought it was worth learning a little more about the group and the other music they've put out.  Last Friday, I made a visit to Annapolis's (or is it Annapolis'?) new record store, Ka-Chunk!! Records (fellow Annapolitans, go check it out so I'm not the only one keeping the store in business), got my hands on Bon Iver's "For Emma, Forever Ago" on vinyl (I think the vinyl format lends itself well to Bon Iver's sound, but that's a subject for a different post...also, I think I'm digressing too much) and stumbled across Ra Ra Riot's sophomore effort, "The Orchard."  An impulse buy and an afternoon of work later, I went home to attempt to straighten up my house before friends came by and put my new records on for some cleaning accompaniment.

Ra Ra Riot's "The Orchard" starts off innocently enough, as the title track's ebbs and wanes on the strength of the string section coupled with the smooth vocals and meandering bass line.  There are a few points in the song that give a nice little taste of what is to come.  Like any solid opening song, it says "Welcome to the album, we hope you enjoy your stay."  Then the drums and staccato bass of "Boy" kick in...now, I'm not normally the most dancy of music listeners, but when "Boy" and some of the other bouncier Ra Ra Riot songs are playing, I just can't help myself.  There is an infectious energy to the music that just dares you not to join in.  "The Orchard" is strong front to back, too.  In addition to the catchy hooks of "Boy" and "Too Dramatic" that reel you in and let you know you're in for a really good ride, songs like "Do You Remeber" and "Too Dramatic" anchor the back end of the album and leave you wanting for more.

Since I was cleaning up during my first listen, I was just hearing things on the surface.  What really strikes me about Ra Ra Riot's music is the surprising complexity and depth of their arrangements.  I only say surprising because the depth coexists happily with the consistently catchy pop melodies that pepper most of the album.  "The Orchard" is a very well balanced collection of songs.  Melancholy, urgency, joy, sorrow, sweeping sound vistas, quiet little ruminations...I'm amazed that so much of the emotional spectrum shows up in the instrumentation and lyrics of the only 40ish minute running time of the album.  For Ra Ra Riot, I think that the sum is much greater than the parts.  As it is said in their song "Oh La" for their first album (in a different context, but I'll just go ahead and shoehorn it in here), "We've got a lot to learn from each other.  We have got to stick together."

I mentioned earlier that allsigns point to Ra Ra Riot.  The musical guest on last Friday's Jimmy Kimmel Live (a repeat of the January 20th show) was Ra Ra Riot.  My favorite radio station then replayed their Ra Ra Riot private artist showcase on Saturday and Sunday.  Then just yesterday, I learned that the band will be making a stop in Baltimore at the beginning of March.  Something tells me that I should make an effort to get out to that show.

Ra Ra Riot - Boy



Ra Ra Riot - Oh La

More Ned Ryerson than you thought you could ever handle

Someone put this together from one of the most rewatchable comedies of my lifetime.  I can't quite explain why exactly, but I really enjoy it.



BING!

Who is Joe Grass and where can I hear more?

The other day, I was looking through the YouTube offerings from LaBlogotheque and came across the following haunting, melancholy take on "God Only Knows" by a fellow named Joe Grass:



My immediate thought was the title of this post, "Who is Joe Grass and where can I hear more?"  His website, http://www.joegrass.com/, only offers the promise that a new website is on the way.  I can only hope that new website arrives soon and carries with it news of a Joe Grass tour making its way into the USA and stopping somewhere in my vicinity.  Until then, I'll just have to hope the internet has more of these clips to be found.


JOE GRASS - We Waited from Mitch Fillion (southernsouls.ca) on Vimeo.

January Hymn

As many of my friends and I recover from the aftermath of last night's football game that saw our beloved Steelers claim the AFC Championship, I offer up this little gem from the Decemberists' recently released "The King Is Dead."  Winter held a tight grip over the northeast this morning and as Colin Meloy wonders on "January Hymn"

     April all an ocean away
     Is this the better way to spend the day?
     Keeping the winter at bay

"January Hymn" is a small song about lost love with the usual amount of great songwriting imagery we've come to expect from a Decemberists song.  I'll just go ahead and let Mr. Meloy tell the story himself:


Colin Meloy Plays New Songs at Make It Pop! (#1 of 2) from opbmusic.org on Vimeo.

Punching the time and climbing life's long ladder

Sorry for the last couple of posts being a bit short on the rambling (but never short on good quality music).  I've been locked in the never ending battle between work and everything else I'd rather be doing.  Work is winning, but I'm about to turn the tide.  In the meantime, every good person owes it to themselves to take in the fantasterifficness of Ray LaMontagne and The Pariah Dogs playing a barn.  If anything, you absolutely must cheack out "Henry Nearly Killed Me (It's A Shame)" (starts about 6 minutes in with Ray rocking a harmonica).

Iron & Wine on Daytrotter

On January 25, we'll all be able to get our hands on the latest collection of the wonderful music bouncing around Sam Beam's head.  Until then, we can go over to Daytrotter and let them serve us an appetizer before the inevitably juicy main course.  I haven't listened to or watched the Daytrotter session yet.  I'm downloading it as I type.  I have enough confidence in Mr. Beam that I'll just blindly recommend that anyone who might stumble across this blog should listen to as much Iron & Wine as possible and rush out to the store (if you're into CDs and liner notes like me) or click your way through your digital music venue of choice an the 25th for the new album, "Kiss Each Other Clean."  I've only heard one song off of the album so far, the happier, darn near bouncy, less whispery "Tree By The River."  It'll be interesting to hear if the rest of the album is infused with the energy of "Tree By The River" or if we'll be treated to more of the simmering passion of much of Sam Beam's previous work.  Regardless, I'm excited (as if you couldn't tell).

Go.  Download.  Watch.  Enjoy.

A Seabass Says Interview: Drew Kennedy on Self Employment and Songwriting

I'm very happy to present the first ever Seabass Says interview.  If you've been here before, you may have noticed that the name Drew Kennedy has made an appearance or three.  As I've mentioned before, Drew is an old friend carving out a place for himself in the music industry and the Texas scene.  Next week, Drew and company will head into the studio to record the forthcoming "Fresh Water In The Salton Sea" and the world is invited to watch (read the details on Drew's site or just drop by the ustream feed when it goes live).  Before recording the album and between shows, rehearsals, sleep, hom life, booking shows, and whatever else he's juggling these days, Drew was kind enough to exchange emails with me over most of December.  I'll warn you that this is a long read (over 8,000 words), but I believe a good one (I have to thank Drew for approaching this in such a candid way).

I'll throw this up front, so you don't have to wade through too many words to get a peek at what "Fresh Water In The Salton Sea" has in store for us:

Drew Kennedy - The Captain and the Highway

On to the interview -->

Next Year, Baby

I don't think I have anything worthwhile to say about the New Year that hasn't been said before.  Early January is a great time of ambition and starting anew.  I'm a big fan.  Here's to '11 being everything you hope it can be.

To ring in 2011 here at Seabass Says, I'll turn it over to Jamie Cullum reinforcing that the piano is, in fact, a percussion instrument.

Jamie Cullum - Next Year, Baby