As promised, here is the Lions portion of my Lions, Tigers and Bears series. I have a lot of Tigers, it's just a matter of timing at the moment.
Please read more:
Bears,
King of the Jungle, and
Lions, Tigers, and Bears, oh my!.
WASHINGTON
washingtonmusic.com.au
Megan Washington, or just Washington, or just "Washo" as some people are calling her, just made her US debut with her EP,
How to Tame Lions, available on
iTunes this week. She's no stranger here at W♥M, because we like her.
The five-track EP features two hit singles, plus three B-Sides from her 2009 single
How To Tame Lions. I had actually heard all these songs before, all songs are available on her import 2-disc edition of
I Believe You Liar, featuring twelve album tracks and a bonus B-Side disc. However, if you haven't heard of Washington, the
How to Tame Lions is a good start. Not too pricey (under $5), it's a good way to sample an artist, especially when NYLON is calling her "Australia's best kept secret" and ARIA gave her "Best Female Artist" and "Breakthrough Artist" for 2010!
The songs from Washington seems to have a touch of sexuality, but not slutty. That's important for Washington who represents normal people: glass-wearing, smart-but-down-to-earth sort, who is addicted to internet (in particular Facebook). You can relate to her when she sings about love ("
You can be Arthur Miller and I'll be your Marilyn Monroe" from "How to Tame Lions"), anger ("
All that teenage fury. I hope you wrote that down." from "Teenage Fury"), about lack of money ("
All the years of being broke, all the spit and all the smoke, and all the f**king, all the drugs..." from "Welcome Stranger") and I think about sex ("
Do you know what's in my head when I'm below you? Do I know you? Do I make you hum?" from "Sunday Best").
The best track here is "Sunday Best". I'm pretty sure I've played it more than "thirty-one times", the catchy, dancey song will make you say "
Holy s***t, you sure can turn it on!". I was hoping she can turn it on earlier this year, but she canceled the Minneapolis show at the last minute. Oh well, maybe next time.
ARI HEST
arihest.com
I think the name Ari Hest means "commanding lion"? Hest is short for behest and ari, or aryeh, is the Hebrew word for lion. Hest probably won't agree to such meaning, but in either case, he's going to be touring Ireland, in support of his album,
Sunset Over Hope Street, with Declan O'Rourke. I've listed his full tour dates below.
Sunset Over Hope Street was released March 1
st via Downtown Records'
Mercer Street, and marks Hest's first LP in over four years (his last appearance was on Columbia Records
The Break-In in 2007). Despite not releasing a record, he's actually been pretty busy, recording a song a week (52 new songs for his fans last year).
So, I did get a chance to listen to
Sunset Over Hope Street, the outstandingly good song on the album is "Business Of America", which sees Hest fed up with the music industry, singing "
It isn't what you are, it's what you've got. Pay no attention to the dying man, if he ain't got cash, we won't lend a hand... in the business of America, it's the system at work: everybody's a jerk".
The video and single is "If I Knew You'd Say Yes", you can watch on
aol.com. Hest is in the video, blindfolded, while a woman is painting and then burning her work. I also liked the violins/orchestra on "Sunset Over Hope Street", which was a nice change of pace from the typical acoustic singer/songwriter type of songs.
Hest explained the video: "I wanted to show two people unwilling to trust one another, each one having pre-conceived notions of what it means to be committed, and neither of them able to get a read on each other. The dichotomy of the words in paint represent their attitudes. I wanted there to be physical movement involved to show how they aren't grounded. The song is about how difficult it can be to read people, and how ideas begin to form of who people are based only on one's intuition." To be honest, I didn't see that message in the video, but it's fine because Hest said he had a lot of fun making the video, especially with dumping paint on him, over and over again.
Ari is currently on tour for
Sunset Over Hope Street, dates below:
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May 20, 2011 - Brennan Coffehouse - NJ
May 28, 2011 - Union Street Cafe - Berwick, NS
May 29, 2011 - The Carleton - Halifax, NS
June 2, 2011 - Mountain Jam Festival - Hunter, TX
June 3, 2011 - Mountain Jam Festival - Hunter, TX
June 4, 2011 - Mountain Jam Festival - Hunter, TX
June 5, 2011 - Mountain Jam Festival - Hunter, TX
June 6, 2011 - Wexford Arts Centre, Ireland*
June 7, 2011 - Set Theatre Langton, Ireland*
|  |
June 10, 2011 - Nerve Centre 7-8 , Ireland*
June 15, 2011 - Docks Art Centre, Ireland*
June 16, 2011 - Whelan's 25 Wexford, Ireland*
June 24, 2011 - Gonzo Theatre, Ireland*
June 25, 2011 - An Grianan Theatre, Ireland*
July 8, 2011 - Grey Horse Tavern, NY
July 9, 2011 - Acoustic Long Island, NY
* w/Declan O'Rourke
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A HOUSE FOR LIONS
ahouseforlions.com
I Want Us To Be Remembered is A House for Lions' first debut EP was released a few months ago (March 1
st). Sorry I couldn't make it more timely, but it's hard ot write a whole article based on one song. The free song, in question, that they let me download is called "Let Back" (free download at
planetarygroup.com), which sounds a bit like early Radiohead (but critics are coupling them up to Snow Patrol and Ryan Adams). The origin of this song is that it was the first A House For Lions song, by lead singer Daniel Norman. The melodies came to him in a dream and he worked it all out while walking through a park.
A House For Lions' next show is May 27
th, at the Hotel Café in Hollywood, California.
YOUNG REBEL SET
www.youngrebelset.co.uk
Not really given too much to work with this seemingly young-ish band called Young Rebel Set. All I'm told is that they have an album called
Curse Our Love out on June 6
th on Big Flame Records.
The preview track, you can download for free, is called "Fall Hard" at
soundcloud.com.
What I was more interested in is their upcoming release called
Lion's Mouth to be out May 22
nd, which you can hear on their official Soundcloud.
I actually really like the song, the catchy chorus goes:
So I jumped into the Lion's Mouth
just to see what life was really all about it.
And if I'm reaching into the flames, all I am still remains,
oh you'll see what I was all about.
Tour dates below:
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May 20, 2011 - Start The Bus, Bristol, UK
Jun 3, 2011 - SELFRIDGES, London
Jun 5, 2011 - The Empire - INTRO Festival
Jun 8, 2011 - Schillertage Festival, Germany
Jun 9, 2011 - SCHLACHTOF, Germany
Jun 10, 2011 - Museumskeller, Germany
Jun 11, 2011 - Mango Bop Festival, Germany
Jun 12, 2011 - Orange Blossom Festival, Germany
Jun 14, 2011 - Projekt 7, Germany
Jun 15, 2011 - Waschhaus, Germany
|  |
Jun 16, 2011 - ZAKK, Germany
Jun 17, 2011 - Southside Festival, Germany
Jun 18, 2011 - Hurricane Festival, Germany
Jul 14, 2011 - Arms Around The Arena, Austria
Jul 21, 2011 - MONTO WATER RATS, London
Jul 22, 2011 - KOKO CLUB NME, London
Aug 5, 2011 - Stockton Weekender
Aug 6, 2011 - Belladrum Tartan, Scotland
Aug 7, 2011 - Ignition Festival, Newcastle
Sep 9, 2011 - Bestival, Isle of Wight
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WHITE LION
whitelionthemovie.com
I don't have a review copy, so I can't really tell you what the music is like on this soundtrack for this movie called "White Lion". It's probably what you would guess for a movie soundtrack: lots of instrumental orchestral music.
The movie is currently out on DVD and Bluray in the US, the soundtrack, composed by Philip Miller, was released earlier last month (April 26
th), via
Moviescore Media.
Miller has this to add to his work: "While the story is set in Africa, we were keen not to make it sound too ‘indigenous or ethnic African.’ They [the director and producers] wanted me to compose a score that had several strong, classical musical themes that the audience would recognize and remember as they watch the film."
There is little dialog in the film, so the music and image of the animals are what's important in this movie.
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