W♥M (Archive)

Mirah at the Cedar Cultural Center, Minneapolis (16 May 2014)

photo: The Cedar Setlist Goat Shepherd Oxen Hope Gold Rush Turned The Heat Off Fleetfoot Ghost No Direction Home Hallelujah (Thao & Mirah) Radiomind Rubies and Rocks (Thao & Mirah) 24th St Mt. St. Helens -- Encore -- LC Little Cup (Thao & Mirah) Tour Dates 05-18 Bloomington, IN - The Bishop* 05-19 Columbus, OH - The Basement* 05-20 Philadelphia, PA - Johnny Brenda's* 05-21 Brooklyn, NY - Music Hall of Williamsburg * 05-22 Allston, MA - Brighton Music Hall* * w/ Loamlands, Led To Sea Read More Mirah This is the truth, but I went to see Mirah and Thao a few years ago and I absolutely love Mirah's voice. I don't know what it is about it, but I can just listen to her sing all day.… Led to Sea Seattle-based violist, Alex Guy, goes by the stage name Led to Sea. The exciting news is that she's touring with Thao & Mirah (and you know we love Thao here). …

Mirah was sick at her show at the Cedar Cultural Center in Minneapolis on Friday, May 16.... but as they say in 'showbiz', the show must go on.

Mirah at Evanston Space, Chicago (05/14) photo: Dolly

Dolly mentioned that Mirah was coming down with something at Mirah's appearance at Evanston Space in Chicago on Wednesday, but she was still in fairly good spirit as she got off the stage and danced with the audience. I've seen Mirah before, and at her finest, she is an amazing performer, but unfortunately, the cold affected Mirah's show at the Cedar in Minneapolis. Mirah still gave it her best, despite her affected vocals.

Led To Sea

Opening for Mirah was Led To Sea, aka L. Alex Guy (who would later appear as Mirah's backing band). Although Guy is performing by herself with just her violin, she create this bigger sound using live loop recording. Near the end of her set, she noted how cold Minneapolis was... adding that she wonders how Minnesotans survives the cold here. "I picture penguins huddling in a circle to keep warm," Guy said.

Loamlands

Loamlands took the stage next, playing more traditional 'rock' songs, starting with "Keep on Walking." Many of their songs are about ex's, and I can tell that singer Kym Register survived some bad relationships.

I can also tell that Loamlands weren't used to the quiet sit-down audience, with Register commented, "I can feel tonight is the night for a good old fashion crowd surfing," right before launching into "Something New."

Mirah is currently touring in support of her latest album Changing Light, out now. Although Mirah was sick, she was surprisingly quite talkative and engaging with her fans. After someone in the audience responded a suggestion about drinking some tea with lemon, Mirah instantly responded, "Believe me, I've had lots of tea with lots of lemon."

Setlist

When the band started playing "Little Cup" (after "Oxen Hope"), after singing the first few lines, Mirah stopped the music with "Sorry, this is not going to happen. Forgive me, please, I just can't finish this song." Shortly afterward, someone in the audience brought Mirah a mug of tea, hoping it would help her vocals. Maybe the tea helped, as Mirah would later play "Little Cup" as a bonus song on the encore.

Mirah also understandably also skipped "I Am The Garden" and struggled with the sound feedback, so she moved her equipment about one foot to her left, away from the center drums.

While this was not one of Mirah's best shows, you still have to admire her for giving her best, where most artist (like Morrissey) would have canceled their appearance. Hopefully Mirah recovered from her cold and the rest of her tour goes well.

Mirah at the Cedar Cultural Center, Minneapolis (16 May 2014)

vu () ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com/weheartmusic

What about Bobby?

BOBBY
bobbytheband.com

BOBBY joins other one-named people like Thao and Mirah on the road this June. I've previously mentioned this girlie tour via Led to Sea, but I might as well mention the tour dates again (see below).

Honestly, I don't know much about BOBBY, but that's probably just how they like it: elusive and strange. I thought I read it's lead by Tom Greenberg and features members from Mountain Man (an all-girls band). I suppose all the mysteries will be revealed when I see them at the Cedar Cultural Center this June 2^nd.

Free download of "Groggy".

Tour dates with Thao & Mirah:

Jun 2 - Minneapolis, MN @ Cedar Cultural Center Jun 3 - Chicago, IL @ Empty Bottle Jun 5 - Toronto, ON @ Lee's Palace Jun 7 - Cambridge, MA @ TT The Bear's Place Jun 8 - Brooklyn,NY @ Music Hall of Williamsburg Jun 9 - Philadelphia, PA @ First Unitarian Church Jun 10 - Washington, DC @ Black Cat Jun 11 - Chapel Hill, NC @ Local 506 Jun 12 - Asheville, NC @ Grey Eagle Jun 13 - Atlanta, GA @ The Earl		Jun 14 - Nashville, TN @ Mercy Lounge Jun 15 - St Louis, MO @ Off Broadway Jun 16 - Kansas City, MO @ Record Bar Jun 18 - Denver, CO @ Hi-Dive Jun 19 - Albuquerque, NM @ Launchpad Jun 20 - Phoenix, AZ @ Rhythm Room Jun 21 - San Diego, CA @ Casbah Jun 22 - Costa Mesa, CA @ Detroit Bar Jun 23 - San Francisco, CA @ Great American Music

BOBBY LONG
bobbylong.info

Bobby Long is a British singer/songwriter, who signed with Dave Matthews' record label, ATO Records.

His latest release is called A Winter Tale, recorded in London and produced by Grammy-award winner Liam Watson (The White Stripes). You can preview what he sounds like with a free download of "Penance Fire Blues" via Spinner.

Here is his tour dates:

May 19 Webster Hall New York, NY
May 21 9:30 Club Washington, D.C.
May 26 Wabe Berlin, GER
May 27 Backstage Munich, GER
May 28 Arkadas Theater Cologne, GER
May 29 Sinkkasten Frankfurt, GER
May 30 Logo Hamburg, GER
May 31 Verve Bielefeld, GER
June 1 100 Club London, UK
June 2-5 Mountain Jam Music Festival Hunter, NY
June 10 8 PM "The On Tape Lounge" at Bonnaroo Manchester, TN
June 11 3 PM "Sonic Stage" at Bonnaroo Manchester, TN
June 24-26 DMB Caravan Atlantic City, NJ
July 8-10 DMB Caravan Chicago, IL

BOBBY BIRDMAN
bobbybirdman.com

Bobby Birdman hatched in San Diego, but flew the coop and is nesting in Los Angeles. I am told that he's laying "new s**t" on June 21^st, a 7" called Don't Walk Away, via K Records.

Don't Walk Away was recorded at Dub Narcotic Studio, in Olympia WA (with Selector Dub Narcotic, aka Calvin Johnson). You can listen to Calvin's Dub Walk here.

Listen to the A Side:

Bobby Birdman - Don't Walk Away

He recently wrapped up his tour with YACHT (another favorite K artist of mine), and unfortunately, I think he may have cancelled his Minneapolis appearance.

Birdman's been busy with a bunch of music-related projects, such as remixing Young MC's "Fastest Rhyme" and compising music and sound installations for Geoff McFetridge. He's also contributing tracks to YACHT, Ben Butler and Mousepad, among others.

BOBBY V
www.bobbyvmusic.com

Last March, Bobby V announced that his album, Fly on the Wall, landed on the top 10 of Billboard's Top 200 album (debuted at #4 on the Hip Hop and R&B Chart)!

What's interesting to note is that Bobby V covered another famous 'Bobby', Bobby Brown's "Rock Wit'Cha". The song definitely helped the album reach its top ten status.... especially because Bobby Brown gave big approvals on the cover song.

Fly on the Wall was released March 22^nd, via Capitol Records and Blu Kolla Dreams label.

vu () ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ podcast.weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com/weheartmusic

Thao and Mirah with The Most of All at the Cedar Cutural Center, Minneapolis (7/1/10)

Tour Dates 07/03/10 The Bottleneck Lawrence, KS* 07/05/10 Hi Dive Denver, CO* 07/07/10 Urban Lounge Salt Lake City, UT* 07/10/10 Mississippi Studios Portland, OR 07/17/10 Edgefield Troutdale, OR 07/18/10 Paramount Theatre Seattle, WA 07/19/10 Biltmore Cabaret Vancouver, BC 07/20/10 Bing Crosby Theatre Spokane, WA 07/23/10 Verdi Club San Francisco, CA * with Mirah Read More Thao and the Get Down Stay Down http://weheartmus... There's a lot of buzz around this singer, Thao Nguyen and the Get Down Stay Down (seriously, jus...

Fellas, if you were wondering where all the women were on the night of July 1^st in Minneapolis, they were all at the Cedar Cultural Center to see Thao Nguyen and Mirah Zeitlyn.

Opening up for them were These United States (official / myspace), a band that I almost considered writing an article with The Presidents of the United States. They seem to have a love and history for Dinkytown in Minneapolis, as Jesse Elliott awkwardly deliver these stories between songs. One thing is for sure, they were certainly happy to be there that night as they've admitted that they've played some "sh** dive bars". Mirah and Thao and the Most of All, all joined These United States on stage to do a jamboree epic end song.

So, I'll try and quickly summarize Thao and Mirah for you, if you're not familiar with their music. To me, the two artist are somewhat different. I'll give you some examples, Mirah's work seems to be about nature and the Earth, while Thao's music are somewhat biographical, and lately, more fun/dancy. Even the two's singing style are different: Mirah is more melodic and quiet, while Thao's singing style is erratic. To hear them singing each other's songs, in an almost cover lover lovefest, it's so weird to me.

 

Thao Nguyen - Feet Asleep

Often the songs are done as duets, like on "Feet Asleep", which Mirah started, but Thao ended the song with the second stanza. I've never really thought the song needed another singer, but it really works live.

The highlight of their set, was definitely their finale, "Gone Are the Days", dubbed "the Disco song". This is just an amazing song, done live. Everyone, including These United States were on stage, singing, laughing, dancing, and having a great time.

♥ Thao and Mirah

♥ "Gone are all the Days"

Mirah - Gone Are All the Days (Disco Mix)

Mirah

I would also like to take this opportunity to mention that you can get this special disco mix of "Gone Are The Days", as well as five other remixes (Instrumental Mix, Doulgeris remix, Vox Only, Shawn Parke Remix, and Reduced Instrumental) as the first of K Records' very special Zip-Pak service. I've previously mentioned that it's $50, but you get about 50 EPs (this new service replaces the monthly singles club that were popular in the 90s).

If you're a Mirah collector, you'll want to pay attention to the two exclusive remixes, Shawn Parke (which, incidentally had a silent 45 seconds at the end) and Reduced Instrumental, which is only available as part of this massive 120mb download. Personally, I can't get enough of "Gone Are The Days" and each remix, with the exception of the instrumentals, does it correctly by not distracting from Mirah's beautiful vocals. I've heard too many remixes that gets it wrong by just putting techno beats and totally destroying the vocals. And as much as I like disco, I'll have to say that the Doulgeris remix is probably the best among the bunch.

Next week, July 8^th, the K Singles Zip-Pak will feature Electric Sunset, a band that I'm not familiar with, but I'm definitely going to check it out. And that's really the point of the K Singles club, for you to discover K's other bands.

 07/03/2010 17:17:44 ♥ vu () ♥ thaomusic.com ♥ myspace.com/cmonmirah