W♥M (Archive)

A Fine Vaccine

Read More The Vaccines I saw these guys open up for Arctic Monkeys, I have to say "A Lack Of Understanding" sounded great live. I also mentioned that their most energetic song was …

Got a couple of big announcements, today. Surely a September to remember.

THE VACCINES
thevaccines.co.uk

Columbia Records announced today that The Vaccines' second studio album, The Vaccines Come Of Age, will be out September 4th. This follows their critically-acclaimed (and incredible short), certified Platinum, debut What Did You Expect From The Vaccines?.

To get a taste of what's to come, the first single from the new album, "No Hope," is available now for listening on soundcloud.com.

The Vaccines will be around the US in September to promote the album with a few dates (more dates will probably be announced later):

9/10 New York, NY Bowery Ballroom
9/11 Brooklyn, NY Music Hall of Williamsburg
9/13 Los Angeles, CA Troubadour

Read More A Fine Frenzy Alison Sudol, the lead singer of A Fine Frenzy, has a voice. She fills the album with a warm and sultry voice. She reminds me of Brandi Carlile.

A FINE FRENZY
afinefrenzy.com

You may remember W♥M's Alex didn't like A Fine Frenzy's One Cell in the Sea, despite the millions of Frenzy lovers that bought the record based on her hit song, "Almost Lover". I last heard from her via the soundtrack of "What to Expect When You're Expecting" and was wondering what she's been up. Well today, I got the announcement that she's got a new album, PINES, coming out September 18th, 2012, on EMI.

Although the pictures and description of "drawing inspiration from the redwood forests and dramatic landscapes of Northern California and Washington's Cascade Mountains", there is a double-meaning as Alison Sudol explained in her album preview video: "You can spend your whole life wondering about things and you could miss it. I wrote this record to stop wondering. To stop pining."

In addition to the record, there will be a companion book (illustrated by Jen Lobo) and short animated film. Expect to hear more about in July and when the album's released in September.

vu () ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ podcast.weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com/weheartmusic ♥ +W♥M

Loungin' in the Jungle, There Will Be Stories!

This quirky little video called "Loungin'" was sent to us from some self-admitted fans of We Heart Music at Kindling Media.  It’s part of an ad campaign called “There Will Be Stories” for The Star, a hotel and casino in Sydney, Australia, by agency The Monkeys.

I consider myself a technical person, and so I do appreciate the behind-the-scenes work and all the little details that go into a big budget presentation like this.  But I had absolutely no information on who was playing the piano, or what his story was.  I did not have a name for the star of the video.  So I did a little web research, and looking at The Monkeys’ website, the name was Bill Baker.  One more search query and I found his personal website, and contacted him.  After a half dozen e-mails and a phone call, the story all came together.  Quite a personable guy, too.

I’ve mentioned once or twice that I had some training in the classical school of music, so I found it a real treat to talk shop with Bill.  Again, it’s one thing to listen to music, but it’s quite another to actually be in contact with the musicians that create that music, to find out the inspiration, and moreso, to learn about how the creative process came about.  I don’t have a lot of performance experience, but it’s different when you’re a musician, and not merely a passive spectator.  My training started out with the piano, and so talking about the particulars about the piano itself was something I understood.

To speak more simply: there’s not much post-production special effects in the video.  Bill said the piano had the strings removed, and it was literally pulled around on a rope.  There was another rope on the piano bench where Bill was sitting.  I understood what he meant when he said his fingers got tired: he was playing the keys as if he were performing, but since no sound could come out, it was instinctive to play harder, to try to get a sound.

That was the essence of our interview: many auditioned for the ad, but The Monkeys chose someone who is a showman of the old school.  He wasn’t lip-synching or pretending to play as some of the others were.  More so, this was his own interpretation and his own performance.  Maybe you thought of Richard Cheese, like I did.  Bill said Cheese had covered this tune as well in a very similar style, but he hadn’t actually listened to beforehand and wasn’t directly influenced by it.  I laughed when he said that Cheese actually models his style on Bill Murray in that old SNL “Nick the Lounge Singer” sketch.  Here’s the clip, just for reference:

(The piano player there, of course, is Paul Schaffer, best known as the bandleader for The David Letterman Show.)

“Good artists copy, but great artists steal” has been quoted many times, even paraphrased, in art and music schools.  It’s certainly true in the entertainment industry and an example involving Richard Cheese, Bill Murray, and Bill Baker is hardly the only one.

• 
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Of course, I’ll point out too that it was quite a story, how so many things seemed to coincide so perfectly, as if The Powers That Be had chosen Bill Baker for this ad.  He had many kind words for the production staff, including director Steve Rogers.  We’ll have that interview for you in a podcast real soon, so stay tuned.

[Photos by Carol Baker.  Used with permission-- all rights reserved]

 

jaklumen () ♥billbakershow.biz ♥themonkeys.com.au

Girl songs

Please read more Girls Girls Girls articles.

>>>
JAIL WEDDINGS
neuroticyellrecords.com

At one point, Jail Weddings were billed as Los Angeles' "biggest band". Looking over their old photographs, there were at least ten band members. Not quite Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros or I'm From Barcelona, but it's still a good number than the typical rock 'n roll four piece.

Jail Weddings' new single is "(There's Nothing Worse In The World Than A) Crying Girl", from a new EP called Four Future Standards, via the Neurotic Yell label. The CD got released May 21st, while the digital version is coming out June 11th (which sounds a bit backwards).

From my understanding, the band is now stripped down to four key members: Jada Wagensomer (vocals), Hannah Blumenfeld (violin) and Josh Puklavetz (bass) with drums by Mike Shelbourn. I can understand this; I mean it's hard to organize a plan with two people, let alone ten…

Anyway, having seen some large/oversized bands, I have to say that they're best experienced live. Will the new four-piece Jail Weddings live up to that expectation? Let me know, since they're playing nowhere near me.

6.13 San Francisco, CA @ The Hemlock Tavern 6.14 Davis, CA @ Sophia's Thai Kitchen 6.15 Seattle, WA @ Comet Tavern

6.16 Olympia, WA @ Le Voyeur 6.17 Portland, OR @ romtoms 6.28 San Diego, CA @ Soda Bar 6.29 Long Beach, CA @ Alex's Bar

ROYAL HEADACHE
facebook.com

Australia's Royal Headache is coming to the USA in June (they were supposed to be here earlier in late May, but due to visa complications, their first landing is in June 1st in Austin, Texas). They are touring for their self-titled debut album that was released in early May via What's Your Rupture?. They are described as R&B and punk songs, which is quite an interesting mix. See the music video for their song, "Girls", if you need to hear it for yourself.

I think the more exciting news is that they're going to be touring arenas in Australia with the Black Keys in October… so if you're lucky enough to see them at a smaller venue this June - go for it.

06/01/12 Austin, TX @ Scoot Inn (Chaos in Tejas) 06/02/12 Austin, TX @ Club Deville (Chaos in Tejas) 06/06/12 Minneapolis, MN @ House Party 06/07/12 Chicago, IL @ The Burlington 06/08/12 Madison, WI @ University of Wisconsin 06/09/12 Minneapolis, MN @ Triple Rock Social Club 06/13/12 New York, NY @ Cake Shop 06/14/12 New York, NY @ Warsaw (Northside Festival)

06/15/12 Boston, MA @ P.A.'s Lounge 10/21/12 Australia @ Newcastle Entertainment Centre* 10/22/12 Australia @ Sydney Entertainment Centre* 10/26/12 Australia @ Brisbane Entertainment Centre* 10/30/12 Australia @ Adelaide Entertainment Centre* 10/31/12 Australia @ Sidney Myer Music Bowl* * w/ The Black Keys

If things work out, Megan will be making her return to W♥M to cover their appearance at the Triple Rock in Minneapolis.

BRIEFLY:

DAVE EDWARDS & SILVER MEDALLION slavetothecity.com The result of DJ Silver Medallion teamup with Brooklyn producer Dave Edwards is a song called "American Girl". Described as a "huge summer house anthem", which you can hear for yourself on soundcloud.com.

BABY BABY thegospelofrhythmrecordings.com There were no details on this band and I'm too lazy to actually do the research. I am assuming they're from the planet Earth. The problem also is their ungooglable name of Baby Baby. Anyway, their new single is called "Don't Kiss The Merch Girl" which was taken from their debut album, Money, released one year ago in May 2011.

vu () ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ podcast.weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com/weheartmusic ♥ +W♥M

Black Box Revelation on Xbox's Bing Lounge (or Black Xbox Revelation)

Tour Dates 05/30/12 Chicago, IL - Double Door 05/31/12 Detroit, MI - Shelter 06/01/12 Grand Rapids, MI - Intersection 06/03/12 Minneapolis, MN - 7th Street Entry 06/10/12 Manchester, TN - Bonnaroo 06/11/12 New York, NY - Double 7 Club 06/12/12 Brooklyn, NY - Brooklyn Bowl 07/04/12 Milwaukee, WI - Summerfest 07/28/12 Minneapolis, MN - Soundtown Fest Read More Black Box Revelation As for the opening band, Black Box Revelation, I ran into a mutual friend who was rather impressed with BBR. I'm not surprise, seeing as this duo is described …

I'm not a fan of the Xbox, because, if you didn't know, you have to pay this $80 a year "Xbox tax" so you can get online content. I personally do not understand why Xbox fanboys would happily pay that amount (that's the same amount that you can pay Amazon Prime for free movies). Plus, the machine isn't capable of playing Bluray discs, so the Xbox sits in the corner gathering dust.

Once in a while, I like to turn the old Xbox on to see what I'm missing. Not much.

They got rid of their original Major Nelson Xbox videos, which is kind of sad. There are some nice additions though: Amazon Prime finally made its way to the Xbox. Unfortunately, you still need to pay Xbox $80 a year, plus another $80 to Amazon, so the total of $160 a year is not such a good deal.

Anyway, hidden under the "Free TV" for the Zune, I noticed that Xbox is now letting people download music videos under the "Bing Lounge" and the first video I saw was Black Box Revelation's "My Perception" (which was recorded live in 2011). I downloaded the HD video (303mb) and went online to find out more about this Bing Lounge.

"Bing Lounge" is a partnership between Microsoft and KINK FM, most of their recordings are available on bing.com. The actual venue is located in Portland, Oregon and is billed as "the most intimate venue for live shows".

Anyway, since I'm seeing BBR this Sunday (June 3rd), I was glad to see that they are featured on Xbox. A quick note that their album, My Perception, will be out June 12th, via Merovee Records. Expect to see the duo at Bonnaroo (June 10th), followed by David Letterman (June 11th).

vu () ♥ blackboxrevelation.com

Ladyhawke: Anxiety

art by Sarah Larnach Read More Ladyhawke It's no secret, I'm in love with Ladyhawke. Her song made my top 2008 list, and I was lucky enough to catch her on tour a few years ago.

Ladyhawke's new album, Anxiety, is out now (May 29th).

You'll recall that I've been a fan since her brilliant single, "Dusk Til Dawn", that came out four years ago. With the new album out now, we're being treated with a few remixes for her latest single, "Sunday Drive".

Scissor Sisters, Villa, Gigamesh, The Slips, and Willy Moon, are among some of the musicians commissioned to remix "Sunday Drive". You can hear some of the remixes on Modular's Soundcloud. I'm glad to hear that the ones I've listened to, they didn't shy away from using the that wonderful catchy hook, "Please don't go, I need your love".

Although "Sunday Drive" is a solid song, I still think "Blue Eyes" is the best track on the album. I don't know if there are plans on releasing this as a single, but its dance-dumb chorus of "nah-nah-nah-nah" followed by straight fuzzy guitar just sound like it will be a number one radio hit song. I just can't get enough of this song.

I find that the reason why I love Ladyhawke is that all her songs sounds like they are long-loved songs from the 1980. You can tell it's not some hipster ironic retro-thing, this is true love. Anxiety is out now, via Modular Recordings.

For the next few months, she's playing some Australian dates. Expect more dates to be announced later.

06/30/12 River Sessions, Mackay 07/11/12 Union Hall, Dunedin 07/12/12 Foundary - Winterlude, Christchurch 07/13/12 Sanfrancisco Bathhouse, Wellington 07/14/12 The Studio, Auckland 07/17/12 The Billboard, Melbourne

07/18/12 The Metro, Sydney 07/19/12 Cambridge Hotel, Newcastle 07/20/12 The ANU Bar, Canberra 07/24/12 The Bakery, Perth 07/26/12 The HQ, Adelaide 07/28/12 Splendour In The Grass, Byron Bay

vu () ♥ ladyhawkemusic.com

The National: The Rains Of Castamere

If you haven't been keeping up with "Game of Thrones" Season 2, you can skip #8 as nothing happened in that episode. The best episode so far is the one that aired this Memorial Day (Sunday, May 27th), "Blackwater". As much as I like the five or six storylines happening at the same time, it was refreshing to just see one story arc.

I won't give any spoilers, but if you stay for the closing credits, you'll hear The National's song, "The Rains Of Castamere". The song was performed by Bronn and company at a tavern at the beginning of the episode.

And who are you, the proud lord said,
that I must bow so low?
Only a cat of a different coat,
that’s all the truth I know.
In a coat of gold or a coat of red,
a lion still has claws,
And mine are long and sharp, my lord,
as long and sharp as yours.
And so he spoke, and so he spoke,
that lord of Castamere,
But now the rains weep o’er his hall,
with no one there to hear.
Yes now the rains weep o’er his hall,
and not a soul to hear.

Game Of Thrones: Season 2 soundtrack is coming out June 19th, via Varèse Sarabande.

UPDATE: A couple of inquiries about downloading the song, you can look to The National's official Twitter.

vu () ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ podcast.weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com/weheartmusic ♥ +W♥M

Wil Bolton: Under A Name That Hides Her

Read More Antonymes Antonymes is Ian M. Hazeldine, a designer, photographer, conceptualist, and musician hailing from North Wales, UK. The music of "The Licence to Interpret Dreams" incorporates...

If you’ve been reading my articles consistently for a while, maybe you’ll notice I tend to say at least one thing a number of times, when it’s about instrumental music. Things like “this music should be listened to with headphones on” or “it’s something you have to listen to for yourself.” I’ll admit I was tempted to say this when I listened to Under A Name That Hides Her by Wil Bolton.

Incidentally, I did say similar things when I reviewed another album on the Hibernate label, The Licence To Interpret Dreams, by Antonymes: “I give my usual recommendations in that I suggest active listening with headphones.” I’ll add that Under A Name That Hides Her is also very ambient, too. It’s music I could imagine playing at a very low level and falling asleep to. (Perhaps you’ll find it humorous that I am writing and listening to it now because it’s 02:18 and I can’t sleep. It’s very calming.)

The press release I received for this album was actually helpful. I assure you that’s saying a lot, because I’ve read many information summaries on other albums that use flowery language to try to describe the music, more so if it quotes other reviewers. But this was indeed informative.

Despite being a difficult subject to put into words, nostalgia nevertheless attracts a great deal of fascination and is something that every individual can relate to..

..we are pleased to present an album that places nostalgia at the heart of its overriding theme.

It goes on to say that Wil was specifically inspired by guitar bands he listened to in his teenage years, like The Cure, The Smiths, The Velvet Underground, and My Bloody Valentine. That brought a smile to my face as the first two were bands I was introduced to in college (although I’d heard a Cure tune earlier than that, I found) and the others I knew at least by name from other friends.

And then there was an explanation of how the album was created: electric guitar samples passed through effects pedals and loopers. You’ll recall that I wrote about Loop 2.4.3 again recently, who created their percussion-driven music in much the same way. And maybe you’ll remember the conversation I had with Greg Cole (of Octopus Empire), in the Squids and Octopus: Yet More Music Blogs article. We were talking about the superior sound of hardware, analog synths. By comparison, taking an acoustic sound, even an electric guitar-- it makes a difference. Although the backgrounds on Under A Name That Hides Her are fairly digital, it makes the analog foregrounds stand out.

Finally, there’s a fitting explanation of the choice of the album’s title, and how it relates to the theme of nostalgia:

The album title ‘Under A Name That Hides Her’ is a quote from ‘The Space of Literature’ by Maurice Blanchot and is a reference to the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice. It’s a book that Wil read around 15 years ago and this quote in particular has always stayed with him. When working on this album, it somehow seemed to reflect that nostalgic, romantic yearning for something lost that inspired these tracks.

The implication is that although Wil dabbled with digital textures, there was a longing to return to beloved acoustic and analog sounds like that of Robert Smith, Morrissey, and others he listened to in years past.

I leave you with the video that was created for the last track on the album, called “Passing”:

 

jaklumen () ♥wilbolton.co.uk

Wolf Pack

This is part of the When Animals Attack series. The Wolves edition. Since I already previously wrote about Sad Baby Wolf, I just wanted to quickly mention they covered Neutral Milk Hotel's "Everything Is". You can hear the song on Soundcloud.com.

JON DEROSA
jonderosa.com

Jon DeRosa's new album, A Wolf in Preacher's Clothes, will be available this June 3rd on CD and vinyl. The album was produced by Charles Newman who also produced Magnetic Fields. This probably shouldn't be a surprise since DeRosa sang on Stephin Merritt’s opera The Peach Blossom Fan.

If you can't wait for June 3rd, you can hear some of those tracks on soundcloud.com. He's also active in other projects, like Dead Leaves Rising, Pale Horse and Rider, and Aarktica.

Check him out in person:

June 3 Rockwood Music Hall, New York

HEIDI HAPPY
heidihappy.ch

I actually like how the words Heidi Happy sound when I say it. Anyway, her album, Hiding With The Wolves, is coming out on June 5th, 2012. I did briefly sampled some songs - lovely voice!

She's from Switzerland and will be doing a promo tour in North America this summer:

May 31 - Vancouver - The Main
June 1 - Vancouver - Falconetti's (With Timothy Jaromir)
June 5 - Portland - Mother Foucault's Bookshop, *Solo Heidi Happy
June 6 - Portland - Alberta Rose Theatre (Good Night Billygoat)
June 8 - Oakland - The Uptown (With Poor Bailey, Whiskerman)
June 12 - Los Angeles - The Hotel Cafe (Tbc)
June 13 - San Diego - 98 Bottles

vu () ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ podcast.weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com/weheartmusic ♥ +W♥M

Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros at the Cabooze, Minneapolis (05/25/12)

Tour Dates 5/26/12 Milwaukee, WI - Riverside Theatre 5/30/12 Columbus, OH - The LC Pavilion 5/31/12 Nashville, TN - Ryman Auditorium 6/01/12 Ozark, AR - Wakarusa Festival Read More Edward Sharpe Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros recently appeared on David Letterman earlier this month. As you can see from the video, they are a large collective of performers… Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros played to a sold-out Cabooze Outdoor Plaza in Minneapolis last night, May 25th. He's My Brother She's My Sister Opening up was He's My Brother She's My Sister, a real-life brother (Robert Kolar) and sister (Rachel Kolar) band. They were quite good and included a tap-dancer on the bass drum (?). They are coming back to Minneapolis to play at the 400 Bar on July 5th, which we'll probably cover because we like them. They had a short set, starting with "Let's Go". Lots of dancing and they had some Magnetic Zeros on as guest players (drummer came on for a few songs, including "Coattails", and the piano player came on for "Can't See The Stars"). As for Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros, they came on stage with "40 Day Dream". I thought I counted 12 band members, which is a pretty large group. They did all the hits you would expect them to do, from the new one "Man On Fire" (this one got a great response from the crowd) to an extended version of "Home" (which they ended their set with). I thought their new song, "If You Wanna" got the crowd moving, even though most of the audience have never heard it. Singer Alex Ebert explained that this is one of many songs they have written but have never recorded. Highlight for me was whenever Ebert would interact with the audience. He knows how to work a crowd, he's always trying to invade the audience and get a chance to dance with his fans… and the audience loves it. Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros are wrapping up their US tour in a few days. They are touring in support of their new album, Here, which is coming out May 29, 2012, via Vagrant Records and Rough Trade Records.

vu () ♥ edwardsharpeandthemagneticzeros.com ♥ hesmybrothershesmysister.com

Music Podcasts

Here are some music podcasts that I listened to recently.

As you know, to get through the day or when I'm bicycling, I like to listen to people talking about music and technology. I don't really like listening to the other music podcasts, which are essentially playlists or mixes by DJs.

We also do our own podcast called W♥M Radio, which is a mixture of the staff here talking about music with occasional interviews. We are recording #137, hopefully, this Sunday. I am bias, of course, but I like our little radio show.

Anyway, all of these podcasts are FREE, so there's no excuse to not try these out.

>>>
CABINET OF WONDERS
npr.org

Today (May 25), NPR is debuting "Cabinet of Wonders", a six-episode hour long radio program hosted by John Wesley Harding. I actually really like him, I think he's quite clever … and, of course, I cannot get enough of his accent.

It's a variety program, which sounds like it was recorded live in front of an audience. In the first episode, "A Starbucks... Where The Starbuck Used To Be", Harding performs that title song and introduced all his guests with … rhymes. Wow, right? Like some sort of rhyming demon.

Guests include author Haley Tanner, musicians Punch Brothers, author Sarah Vowell, comedian Eugene Mirman, etc. You can see the guests aren't necessary music-related.

Anyway, I had a pretty hard time finding out the RSS feed, so if you want to grab it, it's located at npr.org/rss/podcast.php?id=510300.

THE HIVECAST WITH MATT PINFIELD
mtvhive.com

With Episode #2 just launched, Matt Pinfield sits down with Jack White. I actually haven't listened to the latest interview, but I did listen to #1 with Mark Ronson. It was kind of fun to hear this British guy reflects on how he grew up with old soul records and his brother/sister relationship with Amy Winehouse.

I laughed when I heard Ronson explains how Winehouse was brutally honest. He'll play her a song and 3 seconds in, she's like "Turn it off, don't make me listen to this anymore."

NOTE: Ronson mentioned This Day In Music app, which I reviewed.

If you can't get enough of Pinfield's know-it-all brain, you should listen to us chat about music.

MUSIC WEEKLY
guardian.co.uk

Tired of the BBC blocking all the good podcasts because you don't live in the UK? Thankfully, the Guardian's doing an excellent job on their podcasts.

Music Weekly is the Guardian take on music by hosts Alexis Petridis and Kieran Yates (with regular staff rotations). They do random band interviews, talk about the news, and the production is very professional (lots of music excerpts).

The latest episode "Gravenhurst's favourite folk – and a fistful of festivals" (May 25th), is about the festival season. They talk to Sam Richards, the editor of the Guide's 2012 festival special.

MURFIE
murfie.com

I don't know what a "Murfie" is, but it looks like a record store based out Madison, Wisonsin. They just celebrated their one-year anniversary.

They have a podcast, and I did listen to the latest one, "Interview with Enabler". While metal/hardcore isn't really my cup of tea, I was more bothered by the "cell phone" audio recording. Just to make sure, I listened to "Interview with Charlie Parr", and he also had that "cell phone" audio quality. It just doesn't sound good. But hey, interviewer Kayla sounded wonderful.

I browsed through their podcast, it seems they only do them every so-often, like once a month.

ONSTAGE AND BACKSTAGE
onstageandbackstage.libsyn.com

Book publisher Hal Leonard Performing Arts Publishing Group just launched their Onstage and Backstage podcast. The show will feature authors and celebrity guests discussing the performing arts. The podcast covers theatre, film, television, bands, classical music, opera, and today's music industry.

I grabbed the latest episode, "A (Profound) Guide to Beethoven's Chamber Music!" to check out. I can tell by the stutters of "uh" and "ums" that Victor Lederer, author of Beethoven's Chamber Music: A Listener's Guide, doesn't do public speaking (or he was super nervous).

It's still a new podcast, so it can only improve… but I do recommend some editing in post.

vu () ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ podcast.weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com/weheartmusic ♥ +W♥M