Archive for the ‘Sub Pop’ Category

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Sunny Day Real Estate, My Life is Better than It was Before

September 30, 2009

SDRE

On Sunday, October 27th I went to see a show that I have been anticipating for a very very long time. Sunny Day Real Estate is reunited and touring prompting well a founded rumor that they will record new material. I can confirm that they played a new song during the set that Jeremy Enigk said they wrote together for the tour. Now this is the full band folks. What It Feels Like to Be Something On and Rising Tide were recorded without Nate Mendel. They have not really functioned like this together in 14 years. The band was soulful and beautiful; energetic and monolithic in stature.

These guys are true heroes to some, including me, and they did not let their admirers down. I truly wish my good friend and musical partner Mike could have been there. This band was so influential on the music we made together. I wish that my little brother, Josh, who missed out on 2003′s Fire Theft show because the bouncer kicked him out for puking. Seeing Sunny Day with him would have made my conscience feel a little better for loading him up on dirty martinis and then ditching him…on his 21st birthday. I saw this band not simply as a reunion of great musicians, but as a collapsing of time. On Sunday, I stood in Terminal 5 with my wife, but also with my friends from home, my brother, and everyone else in my life who has ever been inspired by this excruciatingly unique and gracious band. It was perfection.

Now I am going to steal an idea from another online site called Prefixmag.com. I have no problem stealing from the blog because of their awful fucking writing as evidenced by this quote:

“The band performed “Seven” from its classic eponymous debut, Diary, which is now 15 years old.”

So this is a double knock on the online magazine. I steal from them, and then I say don’t use the word eponymous when you don’t know what it means. If the band’s name was Diary or the song was named Diary, then the debut would be eponymous. Prefix, stick to 15 cent words or less. If you want to hire someone to review music you have my email.

Sunny Day Real Estate, Seven on Jimmy Fallon 2009

Sunny Day Real Estate, Seven on The Jon Stewart Show 1994

Go to Brooklyn Vegan for an amazing collection of photos and live footage like this:

Sunny Day Real Estate, Circles at Terminal 5

10/9

-FF

Set List *Thanks Brooklyn Vegan*

1. Friday
2. Seven
3. Shadows
4. Song About An Angel
5. Grendel
6. Guitars & Video Games
7. Iscarabaid
8. Theo B
9. New Song
10. 47
11. J’Nuh
12. Sometimes
Encore:
13. In Circles
14. Spade And Parade
15. 48

Music
As Sunny Day Real Estate
Diary- 1994
LP2- 1995
How It Feels to Be Something On- 1998
Rising Tide- 2000

As The Fire Theft
The Fire Theft- 2003

As Jeremy Enigk
Return of the Frog Queen- 1996
The End Sessions- 1996
World Waits- 2006
The Missing Link- 2007
OK Bear- 2009

Tour
09/30/09 7:00 Washington, DC 930 Club
10/01/09 7:00 Philadelphia, PA Trocadero
10/03/09 9:00 Atlanta, GA Center Stage Theater
10/05/09 7:00 Dallas, TX Granada Theater
10/06/09 7:00 Houston, TX Warehouse Live
10/07/09 8:00 Austin, TX La Zona Rosa
10/09/09 7:00 Tempe, AZ Marquee Theatre
10/10/09 7:00 Anaheim, CA House of Blues
10/11/09 8:00 Hollywood, CA Music Box
10/13/09 8:00 San Francisco, CA The Fillmore
10/15/09 8:30 Spokane, WA The Knitting Factory
10/16/09 8:00 Seattle, WA The Paramount Theater
02/20/10 Brisbane, Australia
02/21/10 Sydney, Australia
02/26/10 Melbourne, Australia
02/27/10 Adelaide, Australia
03/01/10 Perth, Australia

Posted in 2009, 9 Points, Frederick Foxtrott, Indie, Indie Media, Labels, Manhattan, Music, Music Review, New York City, Places, Sub Pop, Sunny Day Real Estate, Year | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

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Handsome Furs- Plague Park

May 29, 2008

Plague Park

Handsome Furs
Plague Park
May 22nd 2007
Sub Pop

In order to tie up some loose ends I thought I’d look back to 2007 when married couple Dan Boeckner, of Wolf Parade, and writer Alexei Perry released Plague Park under the moniker Handsome Furs. The band, named for a short story penned by Alexi, toured Europe before Plague Park was even complete. Granted, the Montreal duo had plenty of help in the label and marketing department from their association with Wolf Parade, benefiting from their status as a major buzz band of ’06 and ’07. The signs warning of Handsome Furs potential flaws were certainly imposing. Another successfully crafted record by a husband/wife team only a couple years after Apologies to Queen Mary? Let me guess, guitar riffs backed by synthesized drum sequences. Lay your doubts to rest, for someone who was never quite interested in the Wolf Parade bandwagon, this record will impress. I have had the disc for a while now, but it has only come to my attention as of late that Plague Park should have someone championing it for what it is, a great fucking record.

Those elements beyond guitar and beat machine that elevate Handsome Furs above their initial humdrum grow in your bones the more you listen. What you want to distrust becomes clever and interesting. The sequences become ingenious and you feel cheated because you’ll never get to be the one who thought of it. Isn’t that one of the best compliments you can give; distain because some band claims another inch of creativity from a nearly exhausted cerebral fabric? Boeckner’s voice is intensely woeful, and the lyrics are beautiful. They shuttle from dirge to digital, expending high amounts of energy but quick to slow and return to contemplation. There is never the sinfulness of Eagle Seagull or the synthetic dexterity of Xiu Xiu, but Handsome Furs deals a heavy blow to snobbish ears. Plague Park is an urban memory of rural roots; it is an exhalation of intimate song-craft; it is a great fucking record.

-FF

7/9


http://www.myspace.com/handsomefurs

Posted in 2007, 7 Points, Bands, Canada, Eagle Seagull, Electronic-Phonic, Frederick Foxtrott, Handsome Furs, Indie, Loose Ends..., LP, Montreal, Music, Music Review, Sub Pop, Wolf Parade, Xiu Xiu | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

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Band of Horses- Cease To Begin

December 5, 2007

Cease To Begin

Band of Horses
Cease To Begin
October 9th 2007
Sub Pop Record

Band of Horses might be compared to the bizarro countryesque version of The Beach Boys, and lead singer Ben Bridwell might be accused of washing his vocals with 200 gallons of reverb in an attempt to perfect the recording technique used by My Morning Jacket vocalist Jim James. I say why argue about semantics on this one. Sure there is a mid-seventies pop-rock quality, but the fact of the matter is that Band of Horses wins on this release. Cease To Begin, the follow up to 2006’s Everything All The Time, achieves greatness, in spite of the departure of guitarist Mat Brooke. It is what it is. Critiqued in context, Band of Horses is an easy love affair. They are a good rock and roll band with a romantic spirit and an innocent demeanor.

While Is There A Ghost might best exemplify the stylistic energy created by the band’s music, other tracks like No One’s Gonna Love You (More Than I Do) relate so well to our experiences as imperfect people that it results in a feeling of shared understanding. The first half of Cease To Begin tends to be faster paced with a more solid guitar presence, but it concludes with tender and intimate ballads like Marry Song and Window Blues, which retire the record into quietude. It lulls the audience as the music plays, leaving them content and satisfied.

In comparison with Band of Horses’ debut, Cease To Begin seems to further emphasize the bands southern roots. Band of Horses manages to be a little twangy without the trite themes and purposeless lyrics that so often accompany even the most independent and alternative renovations of country music. Bridwell’s lyrics are smart, they are meaningful, and they augment the radiant melodies that structure every song. Cease To Begin is a sorely needed dose of feel-good rock and roll. Improving on the last, Band of Horses‘ new effort by far exceeds expectations.

7/9


http://www.bandofhorses.com


http://www.myspace.com/bandofhorses

Other Music
Band of Horses EP- 2005
Everything All the Time- 2006
Cease to Begin- 2007

US Tour Dates
12/28 – Atlanta, GA – The Earl
12/29 – Atlanta, GA – The Earl
12/31 – Atlanta, GA – The Earl
01/20 – Charleston, SC – Music Farm
01/21 – Norfolk, VA – The Norva
01/22 – Philadelphia, PA – The Fillmore At The TLA
01/23 – Boston, MA – Paradise Rock Club
01/24 – State College, PA – State Theatre
01/25 – Cleveland, OH – Beachland Ballroom
01/26 – Louisville, KY – Headliner’s Music Hall
01/27 – Newport, KY – Southgate House
01/29 – Nashville, TN – Exit/In
01/30 – Memphis, TN – Hi Tone Cafe
01/31 – St. Louis, MO – Gargoyle
02/01 – Norman, OK – Meacham Auditorium (U Of Oklahoma)
02/02 – Dallas, TX – Palladium Ballroom
02/03 – Austin, TX – La Zona Rosa
02/04 – Baton Rouge, LA – Spanish Moon
02/06 – Birmingham, AL – Bottle Tree
02/07 – Tallahassee, FL – Beta Bar
02/09 – Orlando, FL – Social
02/10 – Orlando, FL – Social
02/12 – Mt. Pleasant, SC – Village Tavern

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Posted in 2007, 7 Points, Band of Horses, Bands, Indie, Music, Music Review, Seattle, Show Alert, South Carolina, Sub Pop | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

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Iron & Wine- The Shepherd’s Dog

November 26, 2007

The Shepherd’s Dog

Iron & Wine
The Shepherd’s Dog
September 25th 2007
Sub Pop Records

I would love to have witnessed the birth of Iron & Wine. Could it have been the moment when Sam Beam, as a teenager learning guitar, first listened to Guinevere off Crosby Stills and Nash’s self-titled debut record? I like to imagine it that way, the education of Mr. Beam’s delicate voice, flowing and illiterating while rhythmic acoustic melodies were built into a chant-like invocation. I’ve been inspired by this record in ways that I am not sure I’ve been inspired in the better part of a decade. While it might be said that The Shepard’s Dog has much in common with Crosby Stills and Nash, make no mistake, Iron & Wine has succeeded in crafting a release of equal measure. It is not passé or derivative. It reminds us of Déjà Vu but manifests itself as a unique and provocative work. It has the mystical and folkish cohesiveness of Led Zeppelin III and the fundamental lyrical beauty of anything W. B. Yeats.

Iron & Wine has produced a record that is both ambitious and progressive. Beam has resisted the temptation to dish out more of the same, yet he has sought to maintain and further define his signature style. The Shepherd’s Dog does not retreat from the ground covered thus far, rather it presses further beyond expectation, illuminating prior work while escaping the bonds of monotony. It elevates Sam Beam, underscoring his place as one of the most sentient and talented singer/song writers of our generation. Iron & Wine avoids contrived floral fakery when constructing his poetics by keeping the lyrics rustic, earthen, and elemental. Without question, The Shepherd’s Dog is an alluring and rare beauty.

American-gothic themes lace throughout the record. Influenced by his South Carolina roots and Austin Texas home, Iron & Wine has created what in literary circles might be termed Southern Magical Realism. The Shepherd’s Dog is something slightly dark yet derived from the hearth and home. Like Van Morrison’s Moondance, there are moments of occultish mysticism and pagan imagery. Mr. Beam develops narratives incorporating kings, queens, witches, and magic and then embeds them within a modern and familiar context. Even with all of its fantastical parts, or perhaps because of them, The Shepherd’s Dog has all the strength and splendor needed to make a genuine classic. It is autumn embodied. It is hard cider and country bales stacked at the pumpkin patch. It is Iron & Wine‘s greatest feat, and one of, if not the best album of the year.

9/9


http://www.ironandwine.com


http://www.myspace.com/ironandwine

Other Music
The Creek Drank the Cradle- 2002
Iron & Wine Tour EP- 2002
The Sea & The Rhythm EP- 2003
Our Endless Numbered Days- 2004
Woman King EP- 2005
In the Reins (Calexico)- 2005

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Posted in 2007, 9 Points, American Gothic, Austin, Bands, Indie, Iron & Wine, Music, Music Review, Sam Beam, South Carolina, Sub Pop | Tagged , , , , , , , | 3 Comments »

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