Music

David Vandervelde

/ You Hear That?!? / 5 Comments

Daytrotter Session

Yesterday I wrote about Daytrotter Sessions, one of my favorite resources for new music, and I linked to Jason Isbell’s outstanding episode. There’s another Daytrotter artist who is near and dear to my heart, thanks in large part to my sister’s wedding. She got hitched in the summer of 2008 at Architectural Artifacts, an eclectic antique salvage shop that fills a spacious former factory building in Chicago. My sister did much of the planning herself, and I’m not sure how she managed to book him, but David Vandervelde performed. He was awesome, and I haven’t stopped listening since. He’s recorded two Daytrotter Sessions, one on Christmas Eve of 2006 and the other in February of 2009. They’re both fantastic in totally different ways. The first is a full-band celebration, electrified and unleashed, and the second is more intimate, with Vandervelde playing acoustic guitar, accompanied only by bass and a backing percussion track. In both cases, his voice shines above all else, gracefully rising and balancing, as if weightless. Check out “Jacket” from The Moonstation House Band album below, and click here and here for his Daytrotter Sessions.

Jason Isbell

/ You Hear That?!? / 2 Comments

Daytrotter Session

These days, people expect to try before they buy. Particularly with music. It seems reasonable to want to hear a song or two before you head to iTunes to shell out $10 for a band’s album, and there are a zillion clandestine ways to access free music. Today, I’d like to share one of my favorite legitimate ways to get free (and guilt free) new music: The Daytrotter Sessions. Every single day, a nationally touring band that’s passing through the Midwest stops by the Horseshack Studio in Rock Island, Illinois to spend a couple hours recording live versions of their songs. Some of my favorite bands have made this stop, including Vampire Weekend, Bon Iver, Fleet Foxes and many more. In each case, what results is a 4-song live set that’s easy to download straight into your iTunes library, complete with custom album art, done by an in-house illustrator. It’s almost too good to be true, and it’s where I looked when a bandmate recommended that I check out Jason Isbell. He’s a former member of the Drive By Truckers, and I’ve grown to love this Daytrotter session. Isbell is from Alabama, and his story-based southern rock songs sound worn, as if years of touring as a musician have polished his songwriting until perfectly seamless. Check out his song “Streetlights” below, or better yet, download the Daytrotter session.

Sleigh Bells

/ You Hear That?!? / Leave a comment

I knew I loved Sleigh Bells instantly. Not knowing much about the band, I clicked on the NPR First Listen of their debut album Treats, and the first few moments of the opening track “Tell Em” produced such an immediate and adrenaline-heavy reaction, that I’m surprised seeing them live turned out to be more thought provoking than visceral. The group is a duo, comprised of Derek Miller, a guitarist with a heavy metal pedigree, and Alexis Krauss, a former teen pop singer. Together they make gripping, danceable, sample-driven music that’s the closest thing I can imagine to a musical 5-Hour Energy. But the fact that guitar and vocals were the only live instrumentation (with a backing track providing the rest) during their show at the National this past Friday gave me a lot to think about … What happens when you make inventive music that you can’t stage? Do you hire a random backing band to learn the other parts? How do you capitalize on what you’ve created, other than licensing and record sales? I’m still not sure what the answers are, but I do know that I enjoyed the show, I love the album, and I want one of these so bad I can’t put it into words. Check out their performance of “Crown on the Ground” above and see what you think.

Girl Talk

/ You Hear That?!? / Leave a comment

Collaboration Week: Day 5. The Collaborators: Gregg Gillis and Hundreds of Artists. The Album: All Day.

Girl Talk can hardly be called “collaborative,” given that it’s just one guy, Gregg Gillis, working alone, compiling samples from hundreds of songs he’s not licensed to sample. However, I couldn’t resist including him here, because in mashing together artists from all ends of the musical spectrum, Gillis acts as a musical cross pollinator, buzzing from genre to genre, decade to decade, answering questions no one knew to ask, like “What would a Ludacris/Black Sabbath collabo sound like?” The first time I heard Girl Talk, he was combining two songs I did know, Biggie’s “Juicy” and Elton John’s “Tiny Dancer,” but a big part of the enjoyment of his music happens unexpectedly, when you hear a song he sampled and realize, “Hey I’ve heard this before …” It’s a light bulb moment of both discovery and familiarity, because even though you may have never heard the whole song before, you already love a piece of it. His latest effort is called All Day, and you can download it for free here. And check out the video above for a few snippets of his recent show in Richmond at the National.

Nicki Minaj

/ You Hear That?!? / Leave a comment

Pink Friday

Collaboration Week: Day 4. The Collaborators: Nicki Minaj and Everyone. HER Album: Pink Friday. (Editor’s Note: NSFW lyrics run rampant in these links.)

Give it up for the Queen of the Collabo! Guest appearances are the glue that holds the world of hip hop together. Artists appearing on one another’s tracks is a form of currency, both figuratively and literally, which makes Nicki Minaj one of the richest gals around. Kanye West, Drake, Trey Songz, Urshr, Ludacris, Britney Spears … she’s collaborated with nearly every big name the top 40 has to offer, often stealing the show with her distinctive, raunchy and schizophrenic delivery. The fascinating thing about Nicki is that her debut album was received well, but not really well, as if people fell in love with her only in small doses. I think Pink Friday captures her personality perfectly … cutesy one minute, fierce the next, and always captivating. Check out her album, and in honor of Collaboration Week, check out my favorite Nicki guest verse, on “Bottom’s Up” by Trey Songz.

Postal Service

/ You Hear That?!? / Leave a comment

Give Up

Collaboration Week: Day 3. The Collaborators: Jimmy Tamborello and Ben Gibbard. The Band: The Postal Service. The Album: Give Up.

Some collaborations are like one night stands, crazy in the light of day, leaving you wondering, “Did that really happen?” Others are like long, drawn out affairs, where you’re tempted to tell those involved to “Get a room!” But in some instances, lightning strikes, something special results, and a world of possibilities seems to appear. In 2003, Ben Gibbard of Death Cab For Cutie and Jimmy Tamborello, also known as Dntel, worked together from different sides of the country to create Give Up, an album that went on to sell over a million copies, appear in a million commercials, and change my perception of sampling in pop music. Ever since, rumors have swirled about a follow up album, only to be squashed, time and again. I can’t help but think that the Postal Service would be one of my favorite bands, if only they were a band. However, in this case, it’s clearly better to have loved and lost than the alternative. Check out the Postal Service performing “Nothing Better” on Morning Becomes Eclectic in May of 2003.

The Very Best

/ You Hear That?!? / 1 Comment

Warm Heart of Africa

Collaboration Week: Day 2. The Collaborators: The Very Best and Ezra Koenig. The Song: Warm Heart of Africa.

When you have a trusted point of reference, unfamiliar music seems a lot less daunting. I’m a big fan of Vampire Weekend, partly because they wear their African influences on their collective sleeve, and have made an unfamiliar musical tradition seem approachable. Frontman Ezra Koenig took this idea one step further by collaborating with the Very Best on their full-length debut, Warm Heart of Africa. Koenig’s appearance on the title track gave me a place to start listening, and I was handsomely rewarded for taking the chance. The album is brilliant, pairing Malawian singer Esau Mwamwaya’s hypnotic voice with clever European electro-pop production to build a wonderfully diverse collection of songs, some perfect for a crowded dance club, others for an afternoon on the beach. Click below to try out Warm Heart of Africa’s title track, which sounds great, no matter where you enjoy it.

Mavis Staples

/ You Hear That?!? / 1 Comment

You Are Not Alone

Collaboration Week: Day 1. The Collaborators: Mavis Staples and Jeff Tweedy. The Album: You Are Not Alone.

It’s a collaboration celebration! Sometimes they work, sometimes they’re strange, but collaborations are almost always entertaining, and can be a great way to find music you were destined to love. My first introduction to Mavis Staples was the result of another collaboration – the Staples Singers performing with The Band in The Last Waltz – but I hadn’t sought out her solo music until Jeff Tweedy came into the picture. The Wilco frontman produced her latest album, You Are Not Alone, and even wrote two of the songs. It’s outstanding from start to finish, full of tenderness, soul, joy and a heaping helping of Jesus. Who knows if I would have given the album a chance without Mr. Tweedy’s involvement, but I’m deeply thankful these two got together. Check out title track “You Are Not Alone” below, and brace yourself for a heartwarming listening experience.

Dale Earnhardt Jr Jr

/ You Hear That?!? / 2 Comments

It’s NASCAR weekend in Richmond, and that’s got me thinking about Dale Earnhardt Jr Jr. I heard their (fantastic) name at SXSW, but didn’t check out their music until I heard them on Wednesdays Become Eclectic, a weekly feature where the folks at NPR’s Morning Becomes Eclectic showcase up-and-coming artists. I had to hear more, so picked up their Horse Power EP. It’s a powerful example of something I absolutely love: electronic music with a soul. These songs are built on a foundation of drum machines and sampling, but the lyrics and their delivery are charged with emotion, and what results is a beautiful type of art that is simultaneously old and new, organic and synthetic. As if to drive this home, the band even includes a creative, yet faithful, cover of the Beach Boys’ “God Only Knows.” Check out their song “Vocal Chords” below, and if you dig it, head to their website to download a free song called “Morning Thought” from their upcoming full-length debut.

The Indestructible Beat of Soweto

/ You Hear That?!? / Leave a comment

Important Vinyl Update … The Artist: Various. The Album: The Indestructible Beat of Soweto. The Store: Plan 9. The Price: $10.

This might be the coolest picture ever taken. I came across this album cover while flipping through records at Plan 9. My first thought: “Whatever these dudes are selling, $10 is a bargain!” What they’re selling is The Indestructible Beat of Soweto – a snapshot of the diverse urban pop music scene of early 1980’s Johannesburg. This record is totally infectious. Modern influences like jazz and blues combine with a number of African styles, and the result is a 45-minute head-bobbing, day-brightening, spontaneous-dance-inducing party, with a Ladysmith Black Mambazo cherry on top. Should I have expected anything less from an album with such a great cover? The “Unity” visor? Amazing. The red fedora? Home run. The pointing? On point. Take a listen.