Tuesday, January 22nd, 2008
So what with yesterday being fairly quiet thanks to the US holiday, the biggest news was the announcement of the lineup for Coachella 2008, and the general reaction seems to have any excitement of the presence of Portishead and The Verve on the bill being offset by the overwhelming meh-ness of Roger Waters and Jack Johnson resulting in a net net output of raging indifference with a chaser of indignation.
Now Coachella was not and is not on my radar – I’m not a “standing in the desert” kind of guy and not even if the My Bloody Valentine rumours were true (their management debunked those months ago, by the way, saying that the June gigs in the UK would be their first) would I have hopped a plane to wherever the hell Indio, California is. But this press release marks the unofficial kick off of the 2008 festival season and if you haven’t been paying attention, North America’s dance card is looking pretty full.
It used to be that the massive, multi-day festivals were the domain of Europe and the UK in particular, but after events like Lollapalooza and Austin City Limits proved that the massive, multi-day affairs could be successes over here, they’ve been springing up like mushrooms in shit. Consider the North American options for this year (excluding the multi-day, club-hoppy fests):
Langerado: March 6-9 – Everglades, FL
Coachella: April 25-27 – Indio, CA
Virgin Festival: May 17-18* – Vancouver, BC
Sasquatch: May 24-25* – The Gorge, WA
Wakarusa: June 5-8 – Lawrence, KS
Bonnaroo: June 12-15 – Manchester, TN
Virgin Festival: June 21-22 – Calgary, AB
Pitchfork: July 15-17* – Chicago, IL
Lollapalooza: August 1-3 – Chicago, IL
All Points West: August 8-10 – Jersey City, NJ
Vineland Music Festival: August 8-10 – Vineland, NJ
Virgin Festival: August* – Baltimore, MD
Bumbershoot: August 30-Sept 1 – Seattle, WA
Virgin Festival: September 6-7* – Toronto, ON
Osheaga: September* – Montreal, QC
Treasure Island: September 13-14* – San Francisco, CA
Monolith: September 13-14* – Denver CO
Austin City Limits: September 26-28 – Austin, TX
Vegoose: October 24-26* – Las Vegas, NV
Voodoo Music Fest:: October 24-26* – New Orleans, LA
See that? That’s nuts. And I probably missed some (let me know if I did). Some of the dates – those marked with a * – are unconfirmed and pure speculation on my part, but with the exception of V Fest USA, if they fall in line at the same time as they ran last year, that should be correct. The B-more party only ran against Lolla last year so they could secure the Police as headliners – doubtful they’ll do that again, so I’d guess August 16 and 17 is more likely there.
Idolator pondered whether or not the bottom was going to fall out anytime soon, especially with the addition of the two more east coast parties this year with All Points West from the creators of Coachella (via BrooklynVegan) set to take place at Liberty State Park just across the river from Manhattan and with Radiohead headlining and the Vineland Music Festival intended to take place not too far away in New Jersey and on the same weekend, no less.
Now consider that the pool of bands who can and will do the festival circuit each year isn’t nearly deep and varied enough to offer a hugely different lineup from fest to fest – this essentially means that a goodly portion of one festival’s lineup will look an awful lot like the next’s. Even going head to head with another fest as V Fest Baltimore and Lolla did last year doesn’t guarantee diversity – some acts racked up the frequent flier miles playing both and last September, Spoon managed to play ACL, Monolith and Treasure Island. The point being, as more of these crop up in peoples’ backyards, the urge and need to travel diminishes and instead of being events with national appeal, they become more regional happenings. Why fly to Chicago when you can just stay wherever you are and let the big-ass stages come to you? Sure, there’s still the adventure aspect of it all but it all just seems that much less essential. Of course, actually attending the festivals is secondary – it’s the lineup-spotting (and criticizing) that’s the most fun.
Most of the above was just thinking out loud on my part, no grand thesis at work. I’m suspect that if properly run (and the organizers involved have proven they know how to do that), at least these new fests will succeed if not a few more. I doubt we’ll see any Field Day fiascoes anytime soon, but with seemingly every other aspect of the music industry and the economy as a whole trending downwards you have to wonder just how much the market will bear.
Anyway, whether these things continue to propagate or collapse is someone else’s concern. Last year, including the club-hopping dealies, I hit ten festivals in seven cities. That’s just dumb. This year, I’m intending to be more conservative. There’s the in-town ones which are gimmes – CMW (whose schedule is becoming a little fuller every day), NxNE, V Fest and Over The Top but SxSW is the only out of town jaunt currently on the calendar. Though I had a great time at all last year, I’m not committing to Hillside, Wolfe Island or Dog Day Afternoon yet, that’ll depend on lineups and logistics. Pop Montreal is also on the bubble – again, great time but it’s pretty expensive and most of the bands that I can see there make the jaunt down the 401 that same weekend anyways. Odds are one of the big US fests will end up being attended, though which one I’m not sure. There’s actually very few bands out there right now that I would travel to see – I’ve pretty much seen everyone I want to that I can reasonably expect to… Either way, 2008 will involve less sunburn for me. I hope.
Seeing the Coachella lineup, however, has got me wondering about who we might see at V Fest Toronto come September, presumably the 6th and 7th again out on the Toronto Islands. It’s still way early since last year the headliners weren’t announced till mid-March (I remember getting the press release while sitting in a hotel room in Austin) this Drowned In Sound report that The Verve has committed to the UK editions of V Fest makes me think that they might be a good bet for one of the Toronto headliners, assuming the reunion lasts that long. I’m sure the festival circuit is more financially artistically rewarding and while you could debate their stature in the US (they’re noticeably NOT the top-billed act at Coachella), they could easily close out the Toronto festival.
I dunno, sometimes I love festivals, sometimes I hate them. From a photo op point of view, they can’t be beat but getting access and dealing with waivers and contracts and power-mad road managers can also be more trouble than it’s worth. It’s obviously not the same degree of intimacy you’d get at a club or a theatre but there’s something about the sense of communion in sharing the experience with tens of thousands of other fans. But sometimes – oft times – those fans smell really bad and are drunk/stoned/what have you. And then there’s that sunburn thing. And the dehydration thing. And the portapottie thing. And the transportation thing.
So what are your 2008 festival plans, if any?
Oh, you want some music? Well the last stream of Cat Power’s Jukebox – out today – didn’t last too long but here’s another one. Let’s see how long it stays up. She’s at the Kool Haus on February 9.
Stream: Cat Power / Jukebox
Monday, January 21st, 2008
Syracuse’s Ra Ra Riot made the news last Summer for the very worst of reasons – the accidental death of drummer John Pike. That tragedy derailed what had been a bright upward trajectory for the band thanks to the strength of their debut self-titled EP but after taking some time to regroup and recover, Ra Ra Riot is back in gear and rolls into the El Mocambo this Saturday night for their Toronto debut.
The presence of a string section in any band’s lineup usually automatically calls for the use of the adjectives “chamber-” or “orch-” in describing their sound, perhaps with a “stately” or “elegant” chaser. And while there’s aspects of Ra Ra Riot that could be accurately described as thus, it’s the band’s kinetic, New Wave heart that propels this party, all choppy guitars and anxious vocals from singer Wesley Miles overtop song arrangements that are pure pop with maybe a hint of proggish ambition. It’s this blend of crunchy and smooth that makes them immediately appealing while still providing enough substance to remaining engaging over the long term.
Ra Ra Riot spent the latter part of 2007 working on their debut full-length with an eye towards a mid-Spring (April/May) release.
MP3: Ra Ra Riot – “Each Year”
MP3: Ra Ra Riot – “St Peter’s Day Festival” (Daytrotter Session)
MP3: Ra Ra Riot – “Each Year” (Daytrotter Session)
MP3: Ra Ra Riot – “Suspended In Gaffa” (Daytrotter Session)
MP3: Ra Ra Riot – “Dying Is Fine” (Daytrotter Session)
Video: Ra Ra Riot – “Dying Is Fine”
MySpace: Ra Ra Riot
Also on the bill Saturday are locals The Coast, who have been tapped as a potential breakout band for 2008 by both eye and Exclaim! (online citations elude me, take my word for it). They’ve competed work on their debut full-length, to be titled Expatriate, and will be releasing it in early April to coincide with a cross-Canada tour in support. Been waiting a long time for this one and looking forward to hearing some of the new stuff aired out on Saturday night.
MP3: The Coast – “Circles”
MP3: The Coast – “The Lines Are Cut”
MySpace: The Coast
The final band on the bill is The Virgins, from New York City. Don’t know anything about them.
But if you’re interested in one of, perhaps two or even all three of these acts, then rejoice. Courtesy of Against The Grain, I’ve got two pairs of passes to give away to the show at the ElMo this Saturday night. To enter, shoot me an email to contests AT chromewaves.net with “I want to Ra Ra Riot” in the subject line and your full name in the body. Contest closes at midnight January 24.
So last night was the “Trivia” episode of CBC’s Test The Nation on which yours truly was participating and, as any sensible person would expect, Team Blogger took the triple crown winning the overall team game as well as boasting the highest individual scorer Rick Spence of Canadian Entrepreneur and top celebrity team captain, Samantha Bee of The Daily Show. By my count, I scored 56 out of 60, good for a respectable 93.3% and just one question short of the overall lead (which was good for a $5000 vacation travel voucher – second place was good for nothing at all). And the ones I got wrong weren’t necessarily ones I didn’t know but just overthought or otherwise brain cramped on. I was also surprised that the actual quiz questions were easier than the sample ones on the website – there, I only scored around 80%.
Being on the show was certainly not a typical experience for me but a lot of fun. In the holding area where we hung out for some four hours before the show began, it was a mish-mash of all the over 200 contestants from the six different teams – bloggers, backpackers, cab drivers, flight crew, chefs and celebrity lookalikes. Naturally, the celebrity impersonators were the most popular for photo ops and gawking, though the quality varied greatly. Some, like KISS and a few of the half-dozen Elvii were great (though mostly costume), others were just “who are you? Really? No, really?”. And a few were genuinely frightening. Everyone was really nice, though, and took the trash talking (mostly coming from the bloggers) in stride. And, unsurprisingly, the bloggers were the most rowdy (read: obnoxious) team when the show began. It was aired live to the Maritimes and on tape delay to the rest of Canada so even after we were done and headed out to a local pub, we were able to watch the end of the show (and our triumph) on the television.
Woot, bloggers. A handful of photos from the goings-on over at my Flickr, better ones and individual portraits of the victors at Photojunkie.
Saturday, January 19th, 2008
The title of Tift Merritt’s new album Another Country can be taken literally as its source of inspiration, as it was written while the North Carolinan moved to France to recharge and find new inspiration and generally take a break from the music industry following the successes of her first two albums, 2002’s country strummer Bramble Rose and 2004’s more rock and soul-inflected follow-up Tambourine. While neither record was the sort you’d file under “groundbreaking”, they were full of solid songwriting made especially potent when delivered in Merritt’s pure honey twang and another album of such will always be welcome.
Another Country is out on February 26 and in addition to the downloadable track below, there’s additional samples of her new material at her MySpace and. North American touring commences in mid-March. She’ll be at the El Mocambo in Toronto on April 1, tickets $15 in advance.
MP3: Tift Merritt – “Keep You Happy”
MySpace: Tift Merritt
Basia Bulat, currently on tour across Canada and next month across America (where Oh My Darling will be released on February 5.), will be back in Toronto for a show at Lee’s Palace on March 29, tickets $10. Tourmate (and label boss) Hayden talks to The Montreal Gazette about the current tour and why he signed her to his label.
And look for an official show announcement involving Okkervil River before too long – a few dates are trickling out and given those dates and my rough knowledge of American geography, we can expect to see Will and the crew back in town sometime in mid-April… with a tourmate you probably wouldn’t expect. I’ll have that all good and formal soon, but in the meantime check out this Black Cab Session with Will Sheff performing Big Star’s “Big Black Car”. Literal much?
Video: Okkervil River – “Big Black Car” (Black Cab Session)
Dose talks to Stephin Merritt of The Magnetic Fields about the quality of Distortion.
Yo La Tengo’s Ira Kaplan talks to Commercial Appeal.
Daytrotter offers up a session with The Brunettes.
Shots Ring Out rounds up their top 79 music videos of 2007.
Friday, January 18th, 2008
So if you ever wondered what this blog would look like if I stopped going to so many shows and wasn’t actively digging around for new music… well this is approximately it. But I’m starting to get back into new stuff and, hopefully, will have something remotely insightful to offer on some of it before long and the concert calendar will no doubt start filling up as well. So in the meantime, let me keep it in low gear. It won’t last.
And with that, we begin the mighty beard portion of the post.
After a season of upheaval, the Drive-By Truckers return next Tuesday with Brighter Than Creation’s Dark which proves by clocking in at 19 tracks and 75 minutes that, if nothing else, the departure of Jason Isbell hasn’t left the band wanting for material. You can currently stream the album in its whole at CMT.com (yes, that stands for what you think it does), sample just a handful of songs at the band’s MySpace or save one of them to your hard drive to what you will with. AllMusic talked to head Trucker Patterson Hood about the new record, their signature artwork and how it feels having a band now into its second decade of life while An Aquarium Drunkard gets Hood to list off his eleven favourite things about Athens, Georgia. The Truckers are in town at the Opera House on March 19.
Stream: Drive-By Truckers / Brighter Than Creation’s Dark
MP3: Drive-By Truckers – “Zip City”
MySpace: Drive-By Truckers
The Post & Courier offers up an interview with Band Of Horse-man Ben Bridwell containing reminiscences of Charleston and liberal use of the #$%@*-bomb. The Boston Globe also talks to Bridwell. Don’t think I’ve linked the first video from Cease To Begin, so I’ll do that. The new record is pretty and all but has thus far left me curiously indifferent. Perhaps that’ll change with further listens, though I’ll have to remind myself to do so.
MP3: Band Of Horses – “Is There A Ghost”
Video: Band Of Horses – “Is There A Ghost”
Also (relatively) new in the SubPop media vaults – some new AV from Iron & Wine and The Shepherd’s Dog. And The Age has an interview with Sam Beam about, well, basically the entire history of Iron & Wine.
MP3: Iron & Wine – “Innocent Bones”
Video: Iron & Wine – “Boy With A Coin”
If you lived through the grunge boom and bust of the ’90s – and even if you didn’t – the pedigree of The Gutter Twins should make you sit up and take notice. It’s the new project featuring Greg Dulli (The Afghan Whigs, The Twilight Singers) and Mark Lanegan (Screaming Trees, Queens Of The Stone Age) so if you like your rock dark, intense and whiskey-soaked, their debut album Saturnalia (out March 4) should be the answer to your prayers. You can sample a bit of the record at their MySpace and the duo are embarking on a fairly extensive tour in a couple months that includes a stop at the Mod Club in Toronto on March 14th.
Paste reports that Great Lake Swimmer Tony Dekker contributed the score to Song Sung Blue. a documentary film premiering at Sundance next week that follows a husband-and-wife Neil Diamond tribute act. Dekker has also recorded a cover of the titular song that will play over the closing credits.
Decemberists frontman Colin Meloy will release a live solo record – accurately entitled Colin Meloy Sings Live – on April 8. Filter has the complete tracklist, culled from his solo tour in 2006.
Prince Edward Island power poppers Two Hours Traffic are embarking on a cross-country tour next month and stop in at the Horseshoe on February 26.
Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra & Tra-La-La Band has two dates scheduled on June 7 and 8 at Lee’s Palace in support of their new album 13 Blues For Thirteen Moons, out March 25.
And finally, congratulations to The Mohawk – unofficial Hot Freaks HQ in Austin, Texas – for being named “Best Bar In America” by Esquire. And speaking of things both Hot and Freaky, we be cooking up some good (musical) eats for 2008. Just wait.
Thursday, January 17th, 2008
Test Icicles. The name alone was all I needed to decide to completely ignore the short-lived UK trio who broke up in early 2006, just as their popularity was set to either bust out or simply burst. So with that complete indifference in mind, it’s a bit surprising how much I’m enjoying guitarist Dev Hynes’ new incarnation as Lightspeed Champion.
His debut is Falling Off The Lavender Bridge, out next week in the UK and the following week over here, and it’s not at all what I would have expected given his CV. It’s a remarkably polished bit of pop with some serious country influence and orchestral accents, courtesy of producer Mike Mogis, better known as the sven gali of Saddle Creek. Lyrically, things are still a bit on the crude/filthy side but the songwriting sentiments are solid and when delivered with earnest vocals and terrific melodicism and adorned by backing vocals from Emmy The Great, who can resist? Fans of his more anarchic old outfit might be disappointed in Hynes’ new direction but he’s now got my attention.
Lightspeed Champion is coming to North America in March for SxSW but to make the most of the jaunt, he’s doing some additional shows around the continent including one in Toronto on March 4 at the Horseshoe. That’s a Tuesday and Tuesdays are Nu Music Nite so odds are that’s a free show and as good a way as any to get primed for Canadian Music Week. Gigwise has an interview with Hynes about the new record, his old band and his new project. Update: And Pitchfork has the first sanctioned MP3 from the record. Check it out. Update 2: BrookylnVegan just posted an interview with Hynes and pointed to another MP3. Looks like I posted a day too early to link up the good stuff… Update 3: And full North American tour dates at NME. It shall be an acoustic tour.
MP3: Lightspeed Champion – “Everyone I Know Is Listening To Crunk”
MP3: Lightspeed Champion – “Waiting Game”
Video: Lightspeed Champion – “Galaxy Of The Lost”
Video: Lightspeed Champion – “Tell Me What It’s Worth”
Video: Lightspeed Champion – “Midnight Surprise”
Video: Lightspeed Champion – “Midnight Surprise” (short film)
MySpace: Lightspeed Champion
Also coming to town is Ingrid Michaelson with a show at the El Mocambo on February 19, tickets $13.50. Harp talks to the songstress, star of countless television soundtracks and recent Billboard cover girl about her record and the awkwardness of receiving online marriage proposals. The Seattle Post-Intelligencer also has a little chat.
Video: Ingrid Michaelson – “The Way I Am”
MySpace: Ingrid Michaelson
Thanks to Karl for pointing out in yesterday’s comments that MuchMusic is now streaming Cat Power’s Jukebox in its entirety in advance of its release on Tuesday. She’s playing the Kool Haus on February 9. Update: And stream go bye bye. Oh well.
Stream: Cat Power / Jukebox
MSNBC talks to Bob Mould about wrestling, politics, blogging and band reunions (though not his own). His new album District Line is out February 5 and he plays the Mod Club March 10.
eye has published the results of their 2007 music critics poll, to which my submission was essentially this list put in a mostly arbitrary ranking. And in case you don’t feel like clicking, I’ll just confirm what you suspect – Feist uber alles.
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