Tag: music

music mondays: thao and neko

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I need another weekday that starts with M.

Okay, maybe I just need better time management. Sorry I kind of suck at actually doing this on the designated day. On Mondays, I go straight from work to volunteer teaching ESL (because I am incredibly altruistic by nature, high-five!) and now that it’s dark out by the time I get home, I mostly just want to eat a block of cheese and watch the most recent episode of Bones on some sketchy Euro website. I promise to do better.

Anyway, this week’s Music Monday (Wednesday) is brought to you by GIRL POWER. On Saturday, I saw Neko Case at the Newport with opener Thao and The Get Down Stay Down. I got to see Thao earlier in the year at Summerfest, and was really excited to see she was coming back with Neko. I have to say, I liked her set at Summerfest better, but it really had to do with the venue and the crowd. Summerfest was outside with a bunch of people who had been day-drinking, and even though they didn’t know the songs, they were still fun. Saturday’s crowd was essentially all Neko fans who were like, “Ugh, we’re just here for Neko, someone quiet this girl down. I wish I was the moon, etc.” But, Thao rocks out no matter what, and it’s awesome. She plays guitar, banjo, AND the lap steel, for which I am always a sucker.

thao

ICYMI, her single this summer was We the Common (For Valerie Bolden), and not only is it a fun song, it’s actually about something real. In interviews, Thao has explained that the song was inspired by Valerie Bolden, a woman serving a life sentence in California. Thao spent time volunteering with a women’s prison and became an advocate for the rights of prisoners. It’s a great song, but my favorite track from We the Common is City. She’s so good at mixing the hard and soft.

She also has a letter at the beginning of the most recent McSweeney’s Quarterly (about an uncomfortable trip to the doctor), so that adds to her likability.

Alright, I’ll talk about Neko now. Overall, I like her new album, The Worse Things Get, The Harder I Fight, The Harder I Fight, The More I Love You. (Sidebar, if you think that’s a long album name, go have a chat with Fiona.) In interviews for the album, Neko has spoken a lot about how she’d been depressed after the deaths of her parents and grandmother. I appreciate how literal she got (there’s a track called “Where Did I Leave That Fire”) but it’s not just an album of downer songs.

So I didn’t really know what to expect from her live show, and had to transition myself a bit after rocking with Thao. Plus, during her first song, she told someone to put their phone away.

Later, she kinda apologized and backpedaled a bit, but still didn’t want anyone snapping pics. She gave some explanation about camera phones having lasers that focus on her face, causing her to lose her place and forget lyrics. Look, I’ve taken enough selfies to call bullshit on that. Just say it’s annoying to have people constantly taking pictures, please just put your phones away. I think it’s annoying too. And while I wanted to snap a pic (the backdrop was pretty snazzy), I just didn’t. NBD.

Back to the music. She played a good mix of new and old songs. She and Kelly Hogan had some fun banter. I was really hoping she would play Nearly Midnight, Honolulu, which is this incredibly haunting yet beautiful song. I didn’t expect them to play it, since it’s just a cappella, but I hoped.

I was really impressed by how relaxed she seemed while her voice boomed in this sublime way. She killed with Night Still Comes, which is another favorite of mine from the new album.

No shots of Neko to share, but the grey streak in the front of her crazy red hair left me thinking of Bonnie Raitt, and how Neko would crush I Can’t Make You Love Me.

music mondays: a great day for pop music

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haimAlright guys. Here’s the deal. I’m in love. With HAIM. Their album, Days Are Gone, came out today and you should go buy it right now. But let me confess something before we go on. When I first heard their single, Forever, I liked it but was a little put off. I just thought it sounded too much like a Gloria Estefan song, or some other old pop song, but I could never nail it down.

I have since realized the error of my ways. HAIM is like gloriously, awesomely updated 80s and 90s pop music. I have missed good pop music since approximately 2002, when Justified came out (but we will get to that later). Now, HAIM isn’t definitively a pop group. According to Wikipedia, they are a ROCK BAND. I would call them pop-rock. But if you read any reviews of them, you’ll be sure to notice the frequent comparisons to 80s era Fleetwood Mac, or The Bangles, or some good 90s R&B. THOSE ARE ALL THINGS I LOVE. So naturally, I found myself enamored with HAIM.

The group is made of three sisters from LA and a drummer. Fun fact: baby Haim and I share the same birthday (different years). Their parents formed a family band when the girls were still in school. How awesome is that? And their band was called Rockinhaim, hilarious. Anyway, these girls have been playing music together for a long time and it shows.

So, I’ve been listening to their EP, eagerly awaiting the release of Days Are Gone, and the day is finally here. NPR has been streaming the album, so if you aren’t willing to drop $7.99 at iTunes, go take a listen. I really love this whole album, but if I have to pick some favorites, Honey & I is way up there. It’s like Vampire Weekend meets Wilson Phillips in the best way. The album closer, Running If You Call My Name, is also one of my favs. It’s more atmospheric and I think shows the reach that their sound has.

Okay, shift gears a bit. The other good news for pop music is today’s release of The 20/20 Experience: 2 of 2. Honestly, I haven’t listened to the whole thing yet, but I do like Take Back the Night, and trust that in the reign of terror Miley has on pop music, JT will always be better. He definitely has a case of “artists make better art when they’re sad” (don’t even try to tell me Cry Me A River isn’t one of the best pop songs ever), but he’s still the current king. And also, JT + Timbaland forever.

Addendum: After listening to all of part 2, I’m really disappointed in it. This is a great example of the failed double album. As a friend of mine put it, part 2 just feels thrown together. Instead of wasting energy trying to put out two albums, he should have put everything into making one really solid album. The songs on part 2 don’t even work together. Some are really clearly pop tracks, like Not A Bad Thing (which I actually don’t hate), others are hip-hop infused and some are heavier, like Only When I Walk Away (which I do hate). And then. AND THEN THERE IS THIS COUNTRY SONG IN THE MIDDLE. Don’t be fooled, Drink You Away may not sound completely like a country track, but bro, it is. I mean, it’s called Drink You Away. I was also really hoping for shorter tracks on part 2, I don’t know what the fascination is with 8 minute pop songs. COMMENCE CRYING OVER THE END OF JT’S POP CAREER.

Nah, I still got your back, JT, but I expect more from you.

music mondays: ani, typhoon, and a surprise.

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Well, it was a full weekend of live music, and in varying settings too. A couple weeks ago we won an actual prize for winning pub trivia – Ani DiFranco tickets. So I knew we were (most likely) doing that on Saturday. And I’d bought tickets to see Typhoon at the Wex Sunday night. But first, a SURPRISE.

A few weeks ago, Parker said he might have something for us to do on September 20, but he prefaced this by asking just how bad my motion sickness is. (I can barely ride in the backseat of a car without feeling nauseated.) So I told him I could take some Dramamine and hope for the best, still not knowing what potentially nausea-inducing activity I’d agreed to.

So Friday rolls around, and I get in the car unaware of our destination. Two hours later we’re in the southeastern Ohio city of Marietta, walking down to the riverbank of the Muskingum. (Confession, I didn’t know what river it was.) As we get closer to the river, I realize what we’re doing – WE’RE TAKING A RIVERBOAT CRUISE. Awesome. But I started looking around and noticed some people wearing 40s era themed outfits. I’ve never been on a riverboat, so I didn’t know if this was a regular thing, like how a handful of people actually dress up for Ladies 80s. As I stepped onto the boat, a woman handed me a flyer:

flyer

It was a floating riverboat concert with Pokey LaFarge! COOOOOOL. I realized some of the people I’d seen dressed up were band members. They play jazz/ragtime/country/music you’d hear on a riverboat and wear stylized clothes from the 40s. Check out the website. There were more non-band members dressed up, so it’s still unclear whether people just dress up for riverboat rides or they are big time Pokey fans. Regardless, it was a really unique and fun event. (Also, I didn’t feel sick!)

pokey

On to Saturday night. Truthfully, I’ve never listened to Ani DiFranco, unless someone puts one of her songs on a mix for me. But we still wanted to go check it out. Overall, it was a good show, despite knowing only a couple of her songs. She didn’t really pick up speed until the last half hour, and she only played for about an hour and twenty minutes. If I was a diehard fan and had paid $30 plus service fees, I may have been disappointed with the length of the show. Still cool to see a legend of the singer/songwriter world.

And finally, Sunday night. I was really excited when I saw that Typhoon was coming to the Wex. Usually their ticket pricing is reasonable and it’s a nice change from other music venues. Sadly, this show was in their “black box” set up, which is not my fav. If you haven’t been to a show like this, let me explain. In the black box set up, everyone is standing on the stage. The curtain is drawn, so you don’t see the auditorium, and there is a smaller stage set up at one end of the real stage. So in one aspect it’s interesting because it creates this intimate setting, but that’s also its downfall. NO ONE TALKS OR MOVES AROUND. Now I’m not saying I want people to talk through a whole set, but I mean that people are silent. It’s weird.

Anyway, I only recently heard Typhoon. Their second album, White Lighter, came out in August. I love the whole thing. Typhoon would probably be labeled “indie rock”, which is basically not a description, but they’re hard to categorize. There are 11 band members, with horns, two sets of drums, violins, guitars… And they actually sounded really good live. I’m always impressed when a band with a lot of members can still sound cohesive.

typhoon

The lead singer and songwriter, Kyle Morton, was bitten by a tick as a kid and contracted Lyme Disease. Many of his songs are about growing up with this illness, and themes of mortality are common. Typhoon’s songs are often anthemic, in a good way (not in the party anthem way). My favorite off of White Lighter is Dreams of Cannibalism (I don’t know about that video though), but Young Fathers is also up there. They put on a really great show; I’d go seem them again tonight if I had the option.

music mondays. the inaugural post: alt-j and lord huron

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In an effort to write more consistently, I’ve been trying to think of columns, if you will, to have on my blog. I asked the Twittersphere for suggestions, and my friend Kristen said FAVORITE NEW SONG. (She actually said favorite song of the moment, and didn’t say it in all CAPS, I just did that for emphasis.)

So, say hello to MUSIC MONDAYS. I’ll probably broaden beyond just a favorite song to talk about albums and any live shows I may have seen recently.

It has turned out to be a great day to kick this off! Two of my favorite bands from 2012 are touring together. I mentioned both Lord Huron and Alt-J in my post 2012 in favorites. I got to see Alt-J at CD102.5 Day in March and they were sooo good. Lord Huron came through town in June, but I had another commitment and couldn’t make it. That these bands are touring together but not coming to Columbus was a terrible blow to my musical soul. (Note: I don’t have any personal musical ability, just (IMO) excellent musical taste.)

So last night Parker and I started looking at the tour dates to find something close enough for us. Turns out, they play in Chicago tonight, but it’s sold out. After scouring Craigslist and StubHub, we changed our focus to the Detroit show on Tuesday night. Also sold out.

Meaghan: This is THE WORST!
Parker: I will look on Facebook like a smart person and see if there is any info about the show and more tickets.

So, Parker finds the FB page for Royal Oak Music Theatre and GUESS WHAT?! They are doing a contest for two tickets to the show. To win the contest, you had to comment on their FB post describing why you deserve to be there and tag the friend you are bringing. At that point, all the posts were pretty lame, lacking in creativity, and (in your best Gretchen Wieners voice) those people totally did not deserve to go!

Parker writes his post, explaining how Alt-J and Lord Huron were the stars of his summer road trip playlist, and wouldn’t it be the perfect end to summer to see these bands together? We decide to work on a more involved post for me that will use the track titles.

It’s Tuesday morning and I’m looking at the track titles from An Awesome Wave and Lonesome Dreams. We’re both concerned that this is going to be too corny. Parker tweaks and adds to what I wrote, and this is what we came up with:

It would really be Something Good if you fulfilled my Lonesome Dream of seeing these bands Tessellate at Royal Oak! This would be my first trip to your theatre, but if I win I promise I Will Be Back One Day (unless Curly Joe’s vocals Dissolve Me away). It would be my Fitzpleasure to use my second ticket on Parker, who roadtripped to the Ends of The Earth this summer with these two bands topping his most played list. I am not the woMan Who Lives Forever, so help me win something before time runs out. Do it for Matilda. (And, for the record, triangles really are my favorite shape.)

BAM. Musical wordsmithery right there. Of course we won. No one else stood a chance.

So tomorrow I’ll be heading to lovely Detwah (that’s French for Detroit) for what I have no doubt will be a memorable groovefest. Look back at my original post for some info on both bands, and if this tour comes through your city, go see them.

the year in music. or, lady singers not named adele.

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2012 gave us some great music from female artists, whether they were new to the scene or had been out of the scene awhile. I was excited for long-awaited new music from both Cat Power and Fiona Apple. Who knows what it means that I love the music made by two women who lean toward crazy and had their own on-stage antics in 2012; just don’t read into it, okay? We had some great debuts from Brits who made it over to the States this year, and new electronic sounds. Here are my favorites.

Cat Power: Even though her Instagram and Twitter feeds are crazy, and I wish she’d stop bleaching/cutting her hair, I love Chan Marshall. And I LOVED Sun. It is undoubtedly my favorite album of the year. If you’ve read any commentary or reviews on it, this won’t be anything new. It had been 6 years since Cat Power released an album of original material. As a Chan adorer, the first listen to Sun was a bit shocking. Where’s your guitar strumming? You’re using a drum machine? What’s going on here? But then I realized how good Sun was and how much I really liked it. I’m so impressed by her ability to create something vastly different from her traditional sound, without losing herself in the process. Chan did everything on this album herself: wrote all the lyrics, played all the instruments, built a studio and recorded it, and produced the final album. Manhattan is my favorite track off the album, but I should probably showcase something like Cherokee, which is a better example of what makes this album a standout in Cat Power’s discography. The video is super weird, but so is she. Also, if you haven’t see it yet, watch this funny spoof she did of herself.

Fiona Apple: I think everyone who listened to The Idler Wheel… had the same reaction as me: Damn, woman. Maybe Fiona should take 7 year breaks between all of her records. I already liked Fiona Apple, but after The Idler Wheel, I luuurrrve her. I forced multiple people to listen to it who did not feel the same. They responded with scrunched up faces. And I get it, she’s weird and her music sounds a bit off in places. But, here are some of the things I love from this album: the sound of real kids screaming while playing on Werewolf, the fact that she’s just hitting random objects with scissors in Anything We Want, and because she and her sister (who sings the harmonies) recorded Hot Knife without any looping. This album is a knock out. It’s stripped down so you get to hear every little bit, yet still layered and indulgent. It’s too hard to pick a favorite track, but give this live version of Periphery a listen. I saw Fiona I guess 6 years ago now and she was weird and great as ever; wish I could have seen her this year.

Lianne La Havas: Will she be the next Adele? Probably not, but who cares. Lianne La Havas can sing, she can play guitar, and she can write good songs. She’s got a pop accessibility, but still gets grungy and soulful. Plus, her hair rocks (ahem, Allyse, just do it already). The title track Is Your Love Big Enough? provides a great introduction to this new Brit. But Lost & Found showcases her depth with the opening line, “Come upstairs and I’ll show you where all my demons hide from you.” I’m excited to see what all Lianne can do.

Emeli Sandé: Hanif put one of her songs on a mix for me at the beginning of the year. I’m not sure if that was the first time I heard Emeli Sandé, but it was the first time I had her name with the song. I don’t like when she gets more poppy with some songs, we need some good R&B, Emeli! Give My Kind of Love a listen, then check out her stripped down versions of a couple songs on the current. I definitely prefer her live versions over studio. It’s crazy when you hear her Scottish accent in her speaking voice after listening to her sing.

Grimes: I’m usually pretty strict about not liking an artist/band if their lyrics don’t make sense or are impossible to understand. (It’s the main reason I don’t like Sigur Ros. deal with it.) But, I LOVE Grimes. I listened to a lot more electronic/synth stuff this year, including Grimes, AKA Claire Boucher. Videos of her live performances are incredible. I’ve listened to/read some interviews that she’s done, and she explains that her songs and lyrics are so personal that she doesn’t really want anyone to understand what she’s saying. In a way, that sounds like a cop out. Why become a musician if you don’t want anyone to hear what you’re saying? But Grimes is way more than the words she is saying, it’s the sound she’s mixing and the work she is doing too. Would love to see her live some day.

Purity Ring: Another group who made me listen to more electronic stuff this year. Okay, so Purity Ring is a duo that includes a guy and girl, but I’m keeping them over here in the lady post. Purity Ring played at Ace of Cups this fall and I still mourn the loss of missing this show. Because I didn’t know anyone who was going, I figured it’d be fine to buy my ticket at the door. I was wrong. The show sold out, and after waiting in line awhile I left super bummed. Watching that video hurts me a little, knowing I won’t get another chance to see this group in a small setting before they blow up.

Solange: I was stumbling around YouTube while bored at work when I came across the video for Solange’s Losing You. I didn’t hear the song before seeing the video, and that’s probably the true reason I like this song. I haven’t listened to anything else she’s done (I’m not even sure if she has an album out?), but you guys, this video is awesome. Cheers to the Solo Dance Party. You go, Solange.