Music

The Trillions

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I have to begin this post by saying thank you to RVA Magazine, because the RVA Music Festival has proven to be the gift that keeps on giving. Not only did I have an incredible time on Sunday, September 11, walking between the two main stages, enjoying some of Richmond’s best home-grown music, I also walked away with a gluttonous haul of merch. If you’re a regular reader of You Hear That, you may already know about my raging merch addiction. True to form, I did my fair share of business at the merch tables at the RVA Music Fest, and even though I’m enjoying all of the spoils, I’m a bit concerned, because The Trillions are threatening to claim squatter’s rights to my car’s CD player. I’ve been listening to an advance copy of their new full-length album ever since I bought it at the festival. I can’t stop. The truth is that it’s not up to me any more, because some of the songs on the still-unnamed album are solidly stuck in my head, underpinning what might be the band’s greatest achievement: writing guitar lines, lyrics and melodies that your brain begs to hear again. From the sweeping chorus of “Win Some Lose Some” to the descending notes that open, and reappear in, “Calm Down” to the fact that saying the words “You Gotta Be Kidding Me” instantly makes the song start playing in my mind (I’m completely serious. It’s like saying “Beetlejuice” three times… Michael Keaton WILL show up), there are so many moments for which “catchy” is not a strong enough word. Add to these moments an abundance of driving rhythms, an almost supernatural aptitude for choosing guitar sounds that enhance the notes they’re expressing and an exceedingly beautiful song in “What, When, Where,” and you have a sophisticated and rewarding album that’s extremely hard to put down. Check out their performance of “Calm Down” from the RVA Music Fest below, and click here to grab your advance copy of their new album.

The Trillions — “Calm Down (live at the RVA Music Fest)“

Dale Earnhardt Jr Jr

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“Have you seen ’em live?” is a question that’s getting more and more difficult to answer. On one level, it’s a basic yes or no question about whether you’ve dragged your physical being out to a music venue to see a band perform. Why complicate something so simple? Well, because chances are, if you want to find out what a band’s live performance is like, you can do so right this very second by going to YouTube. Of course YouTube isn’t the same as being there yourself, with the lights a-flashin’, bass a-thumpin’ and that tall guy inevitably swooping in to stand in your line of sight, but the interweb does make it possible to see and hear how the potential energy of studio tracks are transformed into kinetic energy onstage. This transformation is particularly intriguing for bands that use samples in the studio, as Dale Earnhardt Jr Jr does. That’s why I was so excited when I saw this video of “Nothing But Our Love” from their recent set at the Austin City Limits festival. The song bursts out of its studio seams with a spectacular final sequence, adding aggressive dashes of spice to a dish that previously thrived on its sweetness. With this clip in the back of my mind, I gleefully dragged my physical being to the Southern in Charlottesville, VA last night to get the full, lights-bass-tall-guy, Jr Jr experience. It was an incredible show of talent, showmanship, jackets (my enjoyment of their costumes and marketing knows no bounds) and production savvy. It’s no surprise that these two are involved in the remix community — onstage and off they make one smart musical decision after another, carefully managing instrumentation, samples and harmonies to maximize the impact of each song. We were treated to a booming version of “We Almost Lost Detroit,” an extremely catchy new tune and, as I’d hoped, the evolutionary ending to “Nothing But Our Love.” Did already having seen this ending on YouTube spoil the moment? Not even a little. It was glorious. Check out the ACL performance above, the studio version below, and buy their album It’s A Corporate World here.

Dale Earnhardt Jr Jr — “Nothing But Our Love“

Fionn Regan

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The End of History

Everyone loves a good mix CD. Just as their tape-based ancestors did, mix CDs let you discover new artists, revisit old favorites and revel in anticipation as you wait to find out what the next track will bring (my wife grew up in a household where you weren’t even allowed to glance at the hand-written track listing until you’d heard the CD all the way through once). Plus, there’s no better window into the soul than what the mix maker chooses to include [Rob Gordon nods in agreement]. So what if you had to make a mix CD to give to… wait for it… the Queen of England AND President Barack Obama? What would you put on that bad boy? Well, if you’re the Irish Association of Songwriters, Composers & Authors working in association with First Music Contact and Culture Ireland, you’d put a little Fionn Regan on there! I first learned about Regan when TwentyFourBit, one of my favorite music blogs in the whole world, posted a link to an outdoorsy solo performance of the title track of his new album, 100 Acres of Sycamore. I was struck right away by how he made difficult things — intricate finger-picking, lyrics rich in metaphor, sitting against a tree in what appear to be some pretty tight pants — seem so effortless. Moments afterward, Wikipedia told me about how the aforementioned Irish cultural organizations included Regan’s song “Put A Penny In The Slot” on a compilation album that was designed to give “the gift of Irish music” to Her Royal Highness and the Barackstar when they each visited Ireland earlier this year. A single listen was enough for me to hear why this song and its writer were placed in such a venerated position. His lyrics are remarkable not just for their insight but because they take small pictures with big meaning, zooming in on detail in a most beautiful and arresting way. Listen to “Put A Penny In The Slot” below to see what I mean, and buy his album The End of History here. And if you’d like to hear what else was rocking the Air Force One sound system on the way back from Ireland, you can check out the rest of the IASCA mix here.

Fionn Regan — “Put A Penny In The Slot“

Avett Brothers

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I and Love and You

Driving up Staples Mill yesterday, I caught an unfamiliar time-chunk (I believe that’s the technical term for it) of NPR, and I heard something that didn’t fully hit me until I was halfway through last night’s Avett Brothers concert at the Charlottesville Pavilion. It came from an interview that cellist Clancy Newman did with Performance Today for their series about how musicians practice. Newman said sitting down to play his cello is so sacred that he never practices with scales or exercises, only pieces of music that carry “emotional meaning.” In that way, he can be sure that each of his performances will tap into his passion and his instrument’s emotive power. At first it seemed a little over the top… until I watched Joe Kwon. Kwon is the cellist for the Avetts, and he is not your average sit-and-stay cellist. He spent all of last night’s show upright and dancing, playing with his cello tucked under his chin as he accumulated broken strands at the end of his bow. It was a sight to behold, not just because of the difficulty involved, but because his eyes-closed, engulfed-in-the-music passion couldn’t be constrained by a chair, or a space, or the tensile strength of horsehair (Really? They still use actual horsehair for bows? That seems weird. I also feel, as a former A-HEM [straightens tie] middle school violinist, I should have known that without asking Wikipedia.) You could see the same quality in Scott Avett, whose deluge of enthusiasm is too much for a single instrument (he often pounds a kick drum as he strums his banjo) and in Seth Avett, who moved with every beat of every song, played his acoustic guitar like the strings would never snap (two did during the course of the evening), and absolutely screamed select song lyrics along with his brother. The two frontmen even did a short set around a single microphone, without any other amplification, as if the sound system itself could not conduct all of their musical energy. It was a phenomenal display, and it helped me understand what Clancy Newman meant in his interview. For Newman, it’s careful reverence. For the Avetts, it’s unbridled irreverence. But the Avett Brothers scream, play cello and pound on deconstructed drum sets with the same passion that’s so strong in Clancy Newman that he doesn’t even want to touch his instrument sometimes. That is such a beautiful thought, and it was a true gift to see it come to life before my eyes last night. One song the Avett Brothers played that I think embodies this thought particularly well is “Head Full of Doubt/Road Full of Promise,” from their latest album I and Love and You. Listen to the song below, and grab the album here.

The Avett Brothers — “Head Full of Doubt/Road Full of Promise“

White Laces

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The music gods giveth, and the music gods taketh away. I learned this lesson the hard way on May 11, 2008, when my friend Coyle and I, Radiohead tickets in hand, inched northward on I-95 towards Nissan Pavilion in a driving rain and an astounding amount of traffic, only to watch the entire duration of the show tick by on the cruel, green-blue-numbered digital clock that was built into the dash of Coyle’s Jeep Grand Cherokee by Satan himself. Turns out, the rain had washed away one of the venue’s main entrances, and along with it, my dreams of seeing Radiohead for the first time. I still haven’t seen them. Le sigh. I don’t know exactly why the music gods punished me that day (My closet top-40 habit? Accepting requests for “Freebird?” Downloading mp3s with Kazaa in college?), but I do know why they were pissed at me this past Sunday — waiting until the last minute to print my RVA Music Fest tickets. As I scrambled to find a working printer, I had flashbacks of that May evening, not just because I was running late, but because I was filled with excitement as I rushed to see another band for the first time: White Laces. Thankfully, there was no Radiohead repeat. The music gods were in a giving mood, and I made it in time to see the last three songs, which were worthy of every bit of the anticipation. Not only did I get to experience how sublimely weighty “Sick of Summer” feels in person (this song has a transfixing gravity to it — the drums and bass had me mesmerized all the way through to the final explosive moments), I also got to hear a really cool, winding, stopping, starting new tune that I learned will be included on a 7” single the band is recording this weekend at Mystic Fortress studio in Roanoke. I can’t wait to hear that one again, and I can’t wait for the 10” record coming out in mid-November that will feature one of my favorite White Laces tunes of all, “Hands In Mexico.” Check out the song’s delectably sinister video above, listen to “Sick of Summer” below, grab their self-titled EP here, and learn from my mistake — never wait until the last minute to print your tickets. The music gods don’t like it, and printers are pure, unadulterated evil.

White Laces — “Sick of Summer“

PJ Harvey

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You know what’s crazy to think about? England. And not just because the Prime Minister’s Questions is a real thing. What’s crazy is how so many of the most important bands are English. It’s bonkers. The Beatles. Led Zeppelin. The Rolling Stones. The Who. Radiohead. Or as I like to call them, Beatledzeppelingstondiwhohead. I could list many more, but you get the idea. Moral of the story? We must keep an eye/ear on them Brits. A great way to do so is The Mercury Prize. It’s given out to the best British album of the year, and I found out about it when Thom Yorke’s Eraser was nominated a few years back. The award show itself is amazing — this year’s included performances by nominees James Blake, Elbow, Metronomy, Ghostpoet and a wild one by winner (for the second time — she won in 2001, as well) PJ Harvey. If you like autoharp and antlers made out of feathers, this is your JAM. Given that I’m just starting to listen to her music, this fragile yet forceful rendition of “The Words That Maketh Murder” is quite the captivating introduction, and I’m excited to learn more about why some of my favorite musicians were so congratulatory in the wake of the ceremony (Jason Isbell tweeted his approval by saying “Screw you to the world for not already giving her EVERY prize we have”). Check out the video of her performance above, listen below and buy her Mercury Prize winning album Let England Shake here.

PJ Harvey — “The Words That Maketh Murder“

O Brother, Where Art Thou?

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I’ve been doing some serious unplugging lately. Between the 4-day, post-Irene power outage and this past weekend’s trip to Chincoteague Island, which has a very high pony-to-Wi-Fi ratio, I’ve been forced to pause, ignore Twitter and reconnect with old musical friends. This was especially important when the power was out, and I needed something that would be comforting in the midst of a crazy storm and its aftermath (for me, “unplugging” still involves listening to music with a battery-operated iPhone speaker dock. I seem to have some technology addiction issues). Where did I turn? The O Brother, Where Art Thou? soundtrack, for one. More specifically, the 10th anniversary deluxe edition, which just happened to be my last iTunes purchase before things went crazy. Lighting candles and listening to old favorites like “Down to the River to Pray” and “Po Lazarus,” plus the 14 new tracks that didn’t make the original edition, felt less like weathering a power outage and more like stepping into a time machine with Alison Krauss, Norman Blake and Gillian Welch, bound for Depression-era Mississippi. After a while, Irene-era Richmond didn’t seem so scary. Take a listen below to one of the newly released tracks — the Cox Family’s rendition of “Keep On the Sunny Side,” and buy the deluxe version of the O Brother, Where Art Thou? soundtrack here.

The Cox Family — “Keep On the Sunny Side”

Kanye West

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The lights are back on at You Hear That headquarters, and I couldn’t be more excited, relieved and guilty at the same time, since so much of Richmond is still without power. With this ambivalent joyfulness in mind, I can think of no better day to observe Kanye West’s obsession with lights. It’s no secret that Kayne is both fascinated and tortured by fame, and lights embody the disorienting scrutiny under which he lives. His last three albums have included songs with “lights” in the title — Graduation’s “Flashing Lights,” 808s & Heartbreak’s “Street Lights,” and My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy’s  “All of the Lights” — but the most recent example goes the farthest in establishing a relationship between lights and the pitfalls of fame. “All of the Lights” paints a terrifying picture of light, with a frantic chorus and Rihanna ratcheting up the intensity. It’s clearly evidence of a person in distress, but it’s also an astoundingly good song. It’s hard to know what do to with that as a listener, but that’s what makes Kanye so brilliant — when he releases an album, you’re not just hearing songs, you’re hearing how Kanye is doing. Join him on his emotional roller coaster by listening to “All of the Lights” below and buying My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy here.

Death Cab For Cutie

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It’s been almost 3 days with no power, thanks to hurricane Irene. Without evening interweb time, You Hear That is a boat without oars, so there’s only one thing left to do: quick-post a song about darkness! Here’s my all-time favorite darkness-related tune, Death Cab For Cutie’s “I Will Follow You Into the Dark.” Sure the void he’s talking about is actually death, and the darkness I’m experiencing is just a neighborhood without electricity (except for the a-holes next door with a generator. Richmond Playlist — you know what I’m talking about), but when you’re creeping up on 72 hours without power, you’re allowed to be a little melodramatic. Check out the video for “I Will Follow You Into the Dark” above and download the album, Plans, here.

Read It Later Roulette

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I’m on earthquake watch tonight. The biggun happened on Tuesday afternoon, but I slept through both of the subsequent early-morning aftershocks. As I try to stay awake long enough for tonight’s edition, I thought I’d try something totally new — Read It Later roulette. If you don’t use Read It Later (or something like it), it’s an incredibly useful and simple tool (it’s a plugin for many browsers, my iPhone Twitter client uses it as well) that lets you add links to one central list for future perusal. It’s great for when you don’t have time to freely surf the world wide web of information by day, and great for keeping up with music news. Without further ado, let’s play! The following are links I stumbled across at some point today:

Apparently, Kate Miller-Heidke, whose song “Are You Fucking Kidding Me” still has me rotflmao-ing, once sang in an opera about Jerry Springer, which she calls “sheer brilliance” (the opera, not Springer). I think she’s brilliant, and I’m excited she’s recording an album in October! Read an interview with KMH at the Village Voice.

I hope Pearl Jam plans to update the liner notes for their next best-of album, given that the true spelling of some key lyrics to “Alive” have been unearthed. Thank to you Dale Earnhardt Jr Jr for documenting this important archival discovery on their Twitter feed.

St. Vincent released the video for new song “Cruel,” in which she has the worst kids and husband ever. Let’s find Annie Clark a better family, because she seems like a nice lady to me. And if anyone can think of what commercial(s) the husband is from, PLEASE leave a comment. It’s bugging the hell out of me.

Kanye performed a 20-minute version of “Runaway” in Portland, and Rolling Stone posted a fan video. Just when I was ready to cry senseless self-indulgence, he brings the free-form epic to a close by pointing out that he “had the nerve to play you this song.” That is why Kayne is the best. Never ever change, Yeezy.

Lastly, music blogs asploded (and I nearly spat out my lunch) last Wednesday when James Blake cryptically announced a collabo with Bon Iver. The gorgeous tune is called “Fall Creek Boys Choir” and it just made it’s way online. I would like to place an order for an entire album of that. Kthx.

So, still no aftershocks, but I’m going to bed. I need my sleep — hurricane watch is on tap for tomorrow…