Search Results - "Jesse Sykes "
Thursday, February 22nd, 2007
Sexy, sultry, mysterious and a maybe a bit dangerous – whether you think I’m talking about Los Angeles’ Midnight Movies or just their lead singer Gena Olivier is entirely up to you, but the adjectives apply equally to both, inasmuch as the former is defined by the latter.
Some lineup changes between their 2004 self-titled debut and the recording of their follow-up, Lion The Girl (originally slated for a March 6 release but now due out April 24), saw Olivier step out from behind the kit where she had been doing dual duty as drummer and lead singer and she now fronts the band in a more conventional manner, while also playing keyboards. She’s been replaced on drums by Sandra Vu and Ryan Wood is another new addition on bass, with original keyboardist Jason Hammons having departed before work on the new record commenced.
While this move will no doubt disappoint those who believe the singing drummer to be the pinnacle of musical accomplishment, I’ve no doubt it’s played some part in the remarkable growth evident from the band’s debut to the new album. They’ve taken the promising elements of the first record – Olivier’s femme fatale vocals overtop the darkly psychedelic atmospherics – and created a record that succeeds both as a strong collection of songs and an overall immersive mood piece, though that mood is rather like sitting in a loud, crowded club while wondering if someone slipped something into your drink and if so, where can you get more of it? Dream pop for those with unsettling dreams.
Campus Circle and The Rockit talk to Midnight Movies, who play The Hot Freaks at SxSW on Friday, March 16 at 3:30PM inside at the Mohawk and have their official showcase on March 15 at 10PM at the Blender Bar at The Ritz.
MP3: Midnight Movies – “Patient Eye”
Video: Midnight Movies – “Patient Eye” (YouTube)
MySpace: Midnight Movies
Also appearing at Hot Freaks on the Saturday at 3:30PM is Asobi Seksu – Pitchfork has info on their upcoming touring and European release plans. They’ve also released a new video from Citrus for “Goodbye”.
Video: Asobi Seksu – “Goodbye” (YouTube)
eye, NOW and The Toronto Star talk to Jesse Sykes, in town tomorrow night with The Sweet Hereafter opening for Sparklehorse at the Mod Club. What, no one wants to talk to Mark Linkous? Okay, The Phoenix, Seattle Weekly, Seattle New Times and The Westender did – just no one in Toronto. Feel the love, Mark. Feel it.
And some more country chanteuses coming to town – Lucinda Williams at Massey Hall on April 17 and Brandi Carlile at the Horseshoe on May 7. Her new album The Story is out April 3. And completely not an alt.country chanteuse, UK next big thing Mika is at the Mod Club on March 21, tickets $15.
PopMatters wonders why Arrested Development failed while The Office is a hit. And speaking of television, Studio 60 is pretty much dead while reports of Veronica Mars’ demise are hopefully exaggerated.
I finally got that SxSW torrent downloaded and on the iPod. This will be a trip.
Monday, January 3rd, 2005
Welcome back from holidays, everyone. Unless you’re still on holidays, in which case a pox on your house.
Poptones poses their always entertaining Questions Of Doom to “indie-chanteuse” (their words, not mine) Rachel Goswell. She talks about the recent Catch The Breeze anthology, the transition from Slowdive to Mojave 3 and what’s been spinning on her stereo lately (Jesse Sykes and Drive-By Truckers!). There’s also this slightly older but much longer and in-depth interview with Penny Black Music that covers almost the entire history of Slowdive and M3, including the admission that “A lot of Slowdive’s lyrics were rubbish. Why do you think we never printed the lyrics on the sleeves?”
I have to admit, when her long-awaited solo album Waves Are Universal came out last June, I was a little disappointed. The weight of expectation was pretty heavy, what with her vocal contributions on Spoon & Rafter being pretty minimal and her one lead vocal on Excuses For Travellers’ “Bringing Me Home” being so sublime. Hell, even the lead-in EP The Sleep Shelter was pretty good. Yet Waves somehow left me feeling disappointed – it was so delicate and so fey. I guess I was looking for something with the haunting power of the best Slowdive tracks or Ask Me Tomorrow, not the mainly acoustic, pastoral record that I got. However, with time, I’ve been able to appreciate Waves for what it is – a very pretty, if still somewhat slight folk record. I guess there’s something to realizing that her singing Neil Halstead’s songs are something quite different from her singing her own songs. Still, I hope that we’ll be hearing more of her on the new Mojave 3 record due out sometime this year.
MP3: Rachel Goswell – “Sleepless & Tooting”
Filter is streaming the new Doves single, “Black and White Town”, taken from the new album Some Cities out March 1.
The Secret Machines play the Mod Club on February 2, and I’m not just telling you that because Warner Bros. asked me to.
I said I wasn’t going to link any more 2004 posts, but when they’re as great as Brooklynvegan’s best shows of 2004 (complete with photos and live mp3s), I have to make an exception. Just another reminder of why I would probably die of exhaustion in under a month if I lived in New York City.
I went rock climbing last night for the first time, and while I don’t necessarily hurt as much as I’d expected, I am concerned about the fact that my hands are fucked up. There’s little gripping strength in either this morning, which is fine, I expected that, but my left middle finger has no strength in it whatsoever and I can’t even bend it all the way in. There’s no pain or anything when I try, it just won’t do it. Typing is a little hit or miss this morning, but considering I also call my left hand my fretting hand, I’m a little panicked. Someone tell me this will get better in a day or two. Seriously.
This is what I get for trying something new.
Update: I have slowly been getting mobility in my finger back over the course of the morning. Thank GOD.
np – Swervedriver / Mezcal Head
Thursday, October 7th, 2004
The final word has come down on the Son Volt reunion, and it’s this – Jay and the band name are back, but the Boquists and Mike Heidorn are not. They were “unable to reach acceptable business terms” and the Son Volt lineup will now feature all-new players. Says Jay:
“Times change, and so do people, I guess. While I was looking forward to the reunion aspect of working with those guys, it just wasn’t meant to be. It’ll be liberating to get down to work with a different group of musicians. I had always envisioned Son Volt as a vehicle for my songwriting and expected it to evolve over the years. When I reformed the original band this year to record our track for Por Vida it seemed like we might be able to extend that two-day session into two years of recording and touring–but it doesn’t look that way now.
There is naturally much grumbling from the faithful about using the Son Volt name with a whole new lineup (some are calling it “Guns’N’Volts” though I think “Sons’N’Roses” sounds better) – me, I don’t know how I feel about it, necessarily. I’m disappointed that things didn’t work out but what’s in a name, really? I will wait and see what the music is like before giving it a ‘yay’ or ‘nay’. I do think they totally blew it in making the announcement before all i’s were dotted and the t’s crossed – they had gotten everyone so worked up that now it can’t help but seem like a disappointment. The negotiations and breakdown thereof absolutely should not have been done in public, now everyone just looks bad. Regardless, the studio webcam will be going live on October 12, with the album hopefully coming out mid-next year. There will also be an anthology compiling album cuts along with rare or unreleased material coming out around the same time for those still craving a taste of the original lineup.
Fear Of Speed talks to American Music Club drummer Tim Mooney and singer Mark Eitzel in separate interviews about how the reunion came about and the making of Love Songs For Patriots. Apparently Mark is having trouble making heads or tails of cascading style sheets for his website. Love Songs should be out everywhere very very shortly, if not already. Get it. They also have a nice interview with Jesse Sykes. It’s a nice site – why have I not heard of it before?
CNN talks to Paul Westerberg about Folker and the ‘Mats reunion that never was. From Largehearted Boy.
NOW and eye both profile Interpol in advance of their show at The Docks next Wednesday. And if that’s not enough Interpol for you, bassist Carlos Dengler will be doing a DJ set at the Dance Cave that night at 10:00, cover $8.
A couple shows… UK buzzband of the moment Razorlight are at Lee’s Palace November 4, tickets on sale now for $12.50, and The Unicorns play an all-ages Hallowe’en show at the Vatikan (no I don’t know where that is) October 27, cover $8. And some ticket prices – Luna at Lee’s November 7 is $17.50, Matthew Sweet and Velvet Crush at the Mod Club November 8 is $25 (ouch!), Sufjan Stevens at Lee’s November 16 it $14. All on sale now. Doing the math for all the tickets I need to get, including those for other people, and… ow. Better hit a bank machine. Update: Razorlight appears to have been cancelled. Don’t ask me, I don’t know.
np – Sonic Youth / Sonic Nurse
Sunday, September 26th, 2004
First off, I like M Night Shyamalan. Or his films, anyway. I thought The Sixth Sense was terrific (I’m not one of those people who dismiss it and say, “oh I saw right through it in the first 10 minutes” – I don’t like those people), and I believe Unbreakable was one of the cleverest, most original superhero movies maybe ever (granted, it’s a shallow pool of contenders). Signs was kinda weak overall but it was still a very good suspense film, at least technically speaking. So that brings us to film #4, The Village. I won’t bother getting into the plot, most everyone at least knows what the setup this time around was. I’ll just go straight into the post-morten, conventiently broken down into three categories.
The good: Bryce Dallas Howard was remarkable as blind heroine Ivy Walker, especially considering this was her feature debut. Opie’s little girl done good. I though Shyamalan was very effective in keeping the audience guessing about Those Shall Not Be Spoken Of or whatever they were called. The cinematography and technical direction are excellent – the film looks great. And there were no wise little children. BIG plus.
The bad: The dialogue was overly ponderous and unnatural, even for a period piece. Folks from the 1800s would probably watch this and say, “why does everyone talk like they have sticks up their butts?”. Joaquin Phoenix was even more wooden and inexpressive than usual, and that’s saying something. I don’t care if that’s how his character was supposed to be, watching him onscreen was like watching paint watch paint dry. Yes, that’s what I meant to say. And Adrien Brody just annoyed the hell out of me.
The neither good nor bad: The film overall. I should confess that the ‘twist’ at the end was ruined for me many months ago by some jerkwad on the internet who didn’t have the sense to write “SPOILER ALERT” on some message board before blowing it. I had hoped that he was wrong, but nope – I knew what was coming. However, if I HADN’T known the secret of The Village, I probably would have definitely liked it, even though in retrospect much of the explanation is hard to accept. Would I have seen it coming? Who knows. But either way, I think it was still pretty damn clever. Say what you will about his films, whether they’re pretentious, stupid or just dull (and I’ll only partly agree with the first point), he’s certainly one of the more original minds working in Hollywood these days. Ironically, by becoming such a distinctive filmmaker, he’s also getting a bit repetitive. It may be for the best that his next project is an adaptation of Life Of Pi – let him work with someone else’s words for a while. So yeah, The Village. I liked it okay, I guess.
Chart welcomes Jesse Sykes of the Sweet Hereafter to Canada on her first trip north of the border. She plays a free show at the Rivoli tonight.
Rolling Stone talks to a slew of artists who’re taking part in tours to mobilize voters for the upcoming US elections about why they feel so motivated.
The New York Times spends a night on the town with Rilo Kiley. They’ll be painting Toronto chartreuse a week from tonight. Link from LHB.
I was watching Law & Order last night, and in a rare occurrance it wasn’t simulcast on a Canadian station so I got to watch it from the Buffalo NBC affiliate. One observation about American television – gawDAMN you people have a lot of commercials for drugs! I mean, geez – do folks see something on TV and think, “hey, I could use some of that” and go see their doctors like some sort of greengrocer? That’s messed. Seriously.
np – Elvis Costello & The Imposters / The Delivery Man
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