We get boatloads of e-mails on a weekly basis promoting a variety of bands. Some are home runs and others don’t capture our attention. There hasn’t been a more interesting story than that of Ryan Costello of The OaKs. Post 9/11, Ryan set off to Afghanistan and wound up working with the locals in effort to advance their agricultural doings. At night he would pull out his acoustic and pen songs based on his daily experiences, which I’d imagine were exhausting, exhilarating, and a bit frightening at times. It’s such a great story, worthy of a post on its own, but the music on Songs for Waiting delivers as well.
When Costello returned home, he hooked up with college buddy, Matthew Antolick, and started framing out the tunes. What they have done where is put together a unique and lush album that is full of layers of instruments. At some points it just drifts by you and gives you a nice easy feeling. Other points are so lovely that it just makes you stand up and take notice. Its a real nice balance and adding in Costello’s engaging voice makes for quite the enjoyable listen.
A couple of my favorites are “Masood,” “War Changes Everything” and “The Heart Is a Lonley Hunter,” which has a nice jazzy jam mixed in there. If for nothing else, check the album out for the good that Costello has tried to instill in the world today. I’m pretty sure that when you get there, the music will win you over.
From previous album, Our Fathers and the Things They Leave Behind:
Are The Moldy Peaches Sellouts?
0 Comments Published by oz May 16th, 2008 in Music Video, Music Musings.
I am not a Moldy Peaches fan by any stretch of the imagination. I do enjoy following the changing music marketplace to see how bands will earn more money or enhance their living, however. To earn additional revenue with much less effort than touring, many cut licensing deals with network television to feature their songs in shows like Scrubs and Grey’s Anatomy and others, like Band of Horses and Wilco, allow big brands to use their tracks in commercials and other advertisements. I think all of us music fans have decided that we don’t consider those scenarios to be “selling out.”
Remember? We discussed this.
The Moldy Peaches, however, have completely rewritten their “hit” song “Anyone Else But You” from the movie Juno to suit the needs of Atlantis Resorts. You can view it at Rolling Stone. Let’s ask ourselves - Is this selling out? At first glance, I think we’d all say yes. But let’s dissect it a little bit further.
The Moldy Peaches can’t sing, they don’t have a band, and from they can’t play guitar all that well. Seems to me that there is a serious lack of talent, which is unsustainable in any career. Call it what you will but instead of “selling out,” I prefer to call this “cashing out.” It’s like winning the lottery. Their stock will never be higher and they need to milk this one-hit wonder for all its worth and then dissolve into the abyss (Say hello to Biz Markie for me!).
The new, re-vamped song is catchy though…
“Let’s go ride a couple of dolphins, or maybe play tennis or do some golfing…bum bum-bum-bum bum-bum-bum bum-bum-bum-bum…” Sorry, I’ve got to go call Atlantis to book my trip before this deal expires.
Here are The Moldy Peaches on The View. Yes, that’s right. No, not Letterman or Conan. The View I said.
It’s been awhile since I ranted. On Tuesday I had a softball game that was canceled, so instead of going out drinking, I came home to see my kids before bed. I walked into the bedroom and to my horror, my wife and kids were watching American Idol. I was in shock. I think I would rather walked in on her with another man. She told me it was the first time and that she doesn’t normally watch it, but I’m sure Elliot Spitzer used the same line of defense with his spouse.
I prided myself on never having watched a minute of American Idol. The whole concept of the show makes me ill. And it’s not because of the choice of music . Find me at a bar in Wrigleyville post Cubs game and 10 beers deep, and there’s no one singing “Since You Been Gone” louder.
But there we were, in this awkward moment not wanting to make eye contact with one another. We started putting the kids in PJ’s and the first ass-clown trotted out on stage. He was the “rocker guy.” Yikes! He sure was a bad boy. His hair product may cost more than his Les Paul. He fired up a Nickleback cover or something similar. Girls screamed and people were holding up signs. I was mortified. To say that it sucked would be an insult to the word suck. Then Simon, Dawg and the washed up 80’s pop princess babbled on about this, that, and the other thing.
Next up was a young (hot) girl who did her best Beyonce impression. Yawn. And then the tour-de-force. Some young guy came out and covered “Longer” by Dan Fogelberg. I remember being forced into listening to that song as kid and going into fits, banging my head against the window. And that was that. I couldn’t watch it anymore. I was hyperventilating at this point, breathing into a brown paper bag.
So that was my first and last encounter with the American Idol phenomenon. Here’s my verdict - It’s a joke. It lacks soul or feeling and it’s completely packaged. I feel sad that this is where the majority of American people now look to find their next pop star.
Free Album Download: Tall Firs - Too Old to Die Young
0 Comments Published by oz May 15th, 2008 in MP3's.
Brooklyn NY band, Tall Firs along with label Ecstatic Peace Records, have released Too Old to Die Young for free download. It’ll only be available for one week, so grab it quickly. It’s a mellow album with lazy vocals that will appeal to your rainy day senses.
Download Tall Firs - Too Old to Die Young Here
Upcoming Tour Dates:
July 2 Sunset Tavern - Seattle, Washington
July 13 Towne Lounge - Portland, Oregon
July 15 Cafe Du Nord - San Francisco, California
July 16 21 Grand - Oakland, California
July 17 The Crepe Place - Santa Cruz, California
July 16 TBD - San Luis Obispo, California
July 19 Mountain Bar - Los Angeles, California
July 25 WMUC - College Park, Maryland July 26 M Room - Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
July 27 Sundazed @ Bar - New Haven, Connecticut
Exclusive HearYa Video: Port O’Brien - I Woke Up Today
2 Comments Published by oz May 14th, 2008 in Music Video, MP3's.
It’s no secret that HearYa has a huge crush on Oakland-based band, Port O’Brien. Lead singer Van Pierszalowski and the gang have recorded a series of videos to promote yesterday’s release of All We Could Do Was Sing and funneled them out to a few websites to post exclusively for their readers (Spin posted one yesterday). We feel honored to be selected and more honored that they gave us “I Woke Up Today” which Van calls Port O’Brien’s “national anthem.”
I don’t have enough good things to say about the album. As for the video, it was filmed at Lake Merritt in Oakland, CA and it looks like they found some random folks to help with the tribal-chant chorus. I especially like the fierce intensity in the tall guy. He has perfect choir form and I’m sure is quite the Christmas caroler. I also enjoyed Van’s intro with various pronunciations of HearYa.
Watch the video…
imeem produced the videos and you can find them all here.
Buy All We Could Do Was Sing at CD Baby or iTunes.
Media from All We Could Do Was Sing:
Port O’Brien - I Woke Up Today
Also check out:
Our Port O’Brien Live Session.
Our Review of All We Could Do Was Sing.
Our Review of The Wind and the Swell
It’s Tuesday, the day many consider to be the worst day of the week. If you’re in Chicago and would like to brighten up your evening, make a trip to Schubas tonight to catch Matthew Ryan. I saw him at SXSW 2008 at the Go Entertainment Showcase that we sponsored and he played solo, acoustic to a packed house at Scoot Inn.
He’ll be stopping in for a HearYa live session before the show, so we’ll have some live tracks posted in the coming weeks. I’ll also be working up a review of his new release, Matthew Ryan vs. The Silver State which has been playing in my headphones for the past two weeks.
Visit Matthew Ryan on MySpace.
Here’s a video of “Jane, I Still Feel the Same”:
Other upcoming sessions: The Modern Skirts and The Acorn.
Also check out our last session with Justin Townes Earle if you missed it.
Awhile back, I heard that a band called Firewater had signed to HearYa label favorite Bloodshot Records. I was not very familiar with the band or its inspiring force, Tod A and what I had read and the couple of tunes I heard on MySpace didn’t get my juices flowing at first. Then at the Bloodshot BBQ at SXSW, as I was drinking my free Shiner beer and reveling in the Ha Ha Tonka set, Firewater emerged. It took only one tune for me to state to my buddy, “Damn, these guys are awesome.”
The unique sound on Firewater’s new release, The Golden Hour, comes from Tod A’s three year odyssey through the Middle East. He played and recorded with a whole host of musicians, utilizing a number of instruments that until the recent success of Balkan Beat Box and Gogol Bordello, were not very familiar to the indie crowd.
Their sound reminds me of one of my favorite Pogues tunes, “Turkish Song of The Damned.” Actually, although Tod A has all his teeth and is not Irish, his delivery reminds me of Shane McGowan. It’s not the sound so much but more his attitude as songs seem to be delivered with a bit of sneer.
The lead track “Borneo” is a foot-stomping rabble-rouser that is made whole by backing vocals that are more like chants than singing and they mesh perfectly with Tod A’s sneering delivery. “6:45 (This is How It Feels)” slows things down and Tod A sings of a long, exhausting day and you can almost see him resting on the streets of Istanbul.
If you are a looking for a phenomenal mish-mash of punk, gypsy, ska and Middle Eastern sounds (and probably a few that I am forgetting) look no further. The Golden Hour is a blender of genres.
I found another gem on XM Radio’s Cross Country station the other day on a drive home from work. It’s rare to find an Irish-Country tune, but that’s just what Charlie Robison’s serves up in this track, “John O’Reilly.”
The song tells the story of an Irish immigrant fighting his way through Hell’s Kitchen, earning his keep from the gambling Italians. Why the picture and video from Snatch? Listen to the song and you’ll see. The story has a similar ending.
Here’s a great verse from “John O’Reilly”:
I fought in New York City and I fought the Jersey shore
My gut stayed full of whiskey and my bed stayed full of whores
They called my right a cannonball and my left they called the same
I left em’ all lyin’ half in blood and half in shame
Happy Mother’s Day to all you mothers.
Here’s the stuff we talked about this past week…
The Battle Royale - Scream Scream
The Battle Royale - Let’s Leave
Joe Pug - Call It What You Will
The Explorers Club - Do You Love Me?
Flashing Red Lights - Endless Salt
Flashing Red Lights - Strings and Brass
Jim James – Smokin’ from Shootin’ (live solo from SXSW 2008)
Jim James & M. Ward – Chinese Translation (live from SXSW 2008)
Josh Ritter – The Temptation of Adam
The Whigs – Right Hand on My Heart
Stuff we didn’t talk about…
The Constantines - Time Can Be Overcome (courtesy of I Am Fuel, You Are Friends)
Joseph Arthur - Rages of Babylon
Joseph Arthur - Nothin’ 2 Hide
Who’s in your fantasy supergroup?
12 Comments Published by Drinking Buddy May 9th, 2008 in MP3's, Music Musings.
When I was a young boy, I came up with a game called “Create Your Own Fantasy Supergroup”. My two friends who liked music and I would sit around discussing who we would hand select to create the ultimate band. You got to choose one from each of the following categories:
• Lead Singer
• Lead Guitar
• Rhythm Guitar
• Bass
• Drums
• Miscellaneous musician - this could be anyone that plays an instrument of any kind, excluding skin flute.
• Miscellaneous performer - this could be any performer you want – they don’t necessarily have to play an instrument.
Feel free to get weird.
For example, it could be M.C. Hammer dancing off to the side of the stage in hammerpants with suspenders over his nipples and his dental hygienist glasses. Or it could be Mario Lopez, playing Greg Lougainis in a made-for-TV movie, emphatically nailing can-opener after can-opener into a small pool just behind the stage. Both are performers. Both are eligible for the supergroup.
Back when I was a youngster, I usually went with the likes of Eddie Vedder, Carter Beauford, and Todd Park Mohr. Today, I’m still a big enough douchebag to think about this sort of thing. Here’s my fantasy supergroup as it stands today:
Band Name: The Cockslingers
Lead Singer: Jim James, My Morning Jacket. The non-sexual man-crush runs deep.
Lead Guitar: M. Ward. I don’t like squealing guitars and 3 minute solos. I do like M. Ward’s playing style. Here’s why.
Rhythm Guitar: Josh Ritter. Couldn’t leave him out of the band.
Bass: Brian Reyes, The Little Ones. The bass player needs to be jolly. Never has there been a jollier guy than this guy. He reminds me of someone whose nickname would be “Buddy” or perhaps “Tippy”.
Drums: Julian Dorio, The Whigs. The first time I saw him play he was wearing all white. He looked like a complete assneck. But he delivered the goods and can shred drums. That was also the day we at HearYa met Shirk and we began our path to fame and golden-fleeced loins of glory.
Miscellaneous musician: Stephen Kellogg on kazoo. If anyone has seen this guy on the kazoo, you know what I’m talking about. Plus, hey man…it’s like, hey man, somebody’s got to draw in the high school babes.
Miscellaneous performer: Jewel yodeling topless.
Who’s in your fantasy supergroup? Comment and win my favor.
Here are some free mp3’s from The Cockslingers:
Jim James – Smokin’ from Shootin’ (live solo from SXSW 2008)
Jim James & M. Ward – Chinese Translation (live from SXSW 2008)
