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Ben Kweller at Music Millenium

It's been a good long four and a half years since the first and last time I saw Ben Kweller open for Dashboard Confessional at the Crystal Ballroom, attended with my first real photopass. Tonight before headlining the same stage himself, he played an in-store at Music Millennium-one completely unique to ones I've seen before.

At precisely six p.m., Ben Kweller took center stage-both literally and figuratively. Standing in the center of the amassed crowd and not on stage, with an acoustic guitar, Ben Kweller began his twenty five minute set at Music Millennium by soliciting requests. He quickly engaged the audience in his first song 'Family tree' by dividing those in attendance in three to assist in the trio of "You Are"s.

Later after asking for requests once again to close his set out, the two most prominent songs called for were both piano driven. Never fear as Ben Kweller is here. After a piano was pointed put, sitting in the corner of the unused stage amid boxes and bags alike and outfitted with a huge poster of his face, Ben made his way up to it. Music Millennium's owner and another staffer helped him clear away the debris and after a brief intermission of sorts and the compromise that he'd play standing up Ben began 'Falling'. At the end of the great rendition he took a bow, blew a kiss and was off to converse with the many patrons who turned out.

Listen to 'Falling' live at Music Millennium with a few annoying camera clicks interspersed within.
'Falling' Ben Kweller Live MP3

Phoenix: Not Actors

Phoenix opened their September 25th set with 'Napolean Says'. Only once during their set did they ask people to dance and even then they didn't have to. The only other concert I've been to with that much dancing has been Scissor Sisters, and this Phoenix audience surely gave them a run for their money. Soon 'Long Distance Call' and 'Run Run Run' followed. Mid-set they played arguably their biggest track to date 'Everything is Everything' and amazingly it didn't receive that much more applause or screams than the songs before or after it as everyone seemed to be a massive fan of the band rather than one attracted to the gig by only one song.

For instrumental 'North', which they transitioned into directly after, lead singer Thomas Mars laid down on his back on the stage for the song's entirety.
At one point someone threw a bra on stag, which Thomas quickly grabbed.
In between songs, there was not much talking. At the end of many they'd first thank the audience in English, then offer "Merci Beaucoup'
They completed their regular set on 'Funky Squaredance' and after a pause they played a two song encore uncredited in the set list that seemed not entirely planned unlike most other bands' encores. A real highlight including them singing Happy Birthday in French to their drummer-first asking permission from the audience if it was okay before then performing into their encore.

By the end it seemed as though Phoenix were Everything to Everyone and made their final exit amid audience cheers of "Viva la France!"
Seriously-since when did Portland become Glasgow in terms of best audience?-minus all the beer bottles being thrown

Snow Patrol Square Pants

Taking to the stage with a backing track, Snow Patrol instantly launched into 'Spitting Games'. Three years ago this was the song everyone screamed for on the bands' first sold-out US tour. The song that everyone sang along to and was held until further into the set. Clearly not the case anymore. Snow Patrol quickly played 'Wow' and 'Chocolate' in quick succession, before dedicating 'It's Beginning to Get Me' to the audience. With a rare day off the day before, the band went about town, shopping at local stores and lead singer Gary Lightbody's shirt alluded to and going to Kell's. This then segwayed into him dedicating the next track 'Headlights' to his mother's own brew. And then the moment most of the audience was undoubtedly looking forward to, the band played the ambiguous 'Chasing Cars' letting the audience sing the majority of the tune without lead Gary. It's amazing how Grey's Anatomy can change a band's biggest song.

While the rest of the members stayed predictably silent, Gary playfully entertained all in between several of their songs. At one point he believed that he'd heard a request from a native Glaswegian and then proceeded to provide his own impression of the accent. Later from squeals from the balcony, he took that the girls were asking him to take his pants off. That lead to a dialogue that would rival any stand-up routine-at least one from a half-funny, but endearing-to-the-point-of-making-up-for-any-shortcomings Irishman. He insisted on how skinny his legs were- detailing among other things that he uses foam and polystyrene to make them appear normal.
Gary apologized profusely at regular intervals during their hour and a half long set for Snow Patrol's repeated failure to perform in Portland, canceling their June date due to palyups and their August waterfront date due to travel restrictions that eventually left them stranded in Oslo.

Returning to rapturous feet stomping after closing their set to 'You're All I Have', they returned for a two song encore of 'Open Your Eyes'-featured in this week's edition of Grey's Anatomy and 'Tiny Little Fractures'. Gary's uncontrollable giddyness was easily viewable inside of every camera's viewfinder. Being a rare act to allow cameras into the Roseland, Snow Patrol got what they welcomed-certain instances made it seem as if every attendee had a camera in part to spontaneous flashes and that arms were raised with cameras in every direction. Surprisingly their set didn't include lead single 'Hands Open', but it's absence did not disappoint as the entire evening felt like a celebration, even bringing the balcony to stand up.

Augustana lalala Live

With enough applause to make one believe they were in fact the headliners, Augustana took to the stage at the Roseland this past Saturday. Playing to a half capacity crowd, everyone was fully engaged, and the non-stop clapping and shrieks continued through out their set. The first half of their time spent on stage was reminiscent of driving down a country road. Playing with a mass of guitars, and the occasional inclusion of a multitude of other instruments including the harmonica and mandolin, Augustana were able to effortlessly achieve a blue-grass affect on their pop.

They proceeded to invite the welcoming audience to dance with the tune 'Love Me', introducing it as "a song for lovers."
Very complimentary of Portland, the band mentioned the city during songs and also in between, also becoming involved in back and forth banter with an over-zealous audience member.
After addressing Snow Patrol as "omnipotent, omni-sexy, and omni-hot," regarding their imminent arrival on stage, Augustana's set took a turn for more hard-rocking territory in the final three songs. The band don't embody the proposed excesses of rock and roll in the least, delivering their music with a glossy sheen even in the live atmosphere. It says something when presumably the only fault that can be found in a band is the fact that they are the extreme anti-thesesis of displeasing in every way.

While earlier in the set lead singer Dan Layus had been very Keith Murray-esque-channeling the We are Scientists' front-man not only in coif fringe, but in posturing and demeanor, he carried their set to a very Chris Martin-esque close in front of his piano center stage with 'Boston'.

Chillax Podcast

Chillax:
To chill and relax simultaneously.

Tracklist:
1. C-86 Is Killing My Life - Parenthetical Girls aka (((GRRRLS)))
2. Backyards of Our Neighbors - Au Revoir Simone
3. Goodbye Girls - Broadcast
4. Staring at the Sun - TV on the Radio
5. La Ritournelle - Sebastien Tellier
6. Jolly Jolly Jolly Ego - The Dirty Projectors
7. Calm Down - Psapp
8. On a Neck, On a Spit - Grizzly Bear
9. Naive - Lily Allen
10. Boy From School - Hot Chip
11. Among Dreams - Ariel Pink
12. Knife - Grizzly Bear

Download Podcast (in MP3 format)

C-86 Is Killing My Life - Parenthetical Girls aka (((GRRRLS)))
I was inspired to seek out Parenthetical Girls on two occasions. One being the inclusion of a photo on Y.A.C.H.T's blog and the other being a review in Willamette Week who gave a gleaming review in spite of Zac Pennington's Mercury Affiliation.
What is C-86? Check it on wikipedia

Backyards of Our Neighbors - Au Revoir Simone
Discovered on a podcast/playlist on the Swish Blog. From New York, they top the Like in hot girl trios and the fact that they seem to like to hang out in libraries only makes them rock more. Oh and they are really good at interpreting ink blots as songs. This song is infectious. I became addicted to it on first listen-kinda like the line in the Subway's 'Oh Yeah'- "when I'm with you, it feels so easy". When listening to this it feels so easy.

Goodbye Girls - Broadcast
Michael, Michael, Michael-'Michael' needs to get out of my head so I will attempt to push it out of my head with another Broadcast song. Broadcast hail from the UK, sing it out on Warp, and need to extend their touring so I can see them, preferrable against a backdrop of graffiti. A former flatmate of mine in Glasgow was named Michael. To say we didn't get along would be an understatment, yet I would walk around the flat singing "Michael". I'm sure he thought I was extra out of my mind given any previous night before I would be screaming at him to turn his Bush-bashing country music down at 4am. Do you understand what a horrible combination that is regardless of whether you agree with the first and tolerate the latter? Especially at 4am!
Nathan/Brace Paine recommending 'Typing Pool' in the Metro as his Broadcast track of choice, but hey-let's diversify further and pick a track I have never listened to before.

Staring at the Sun - TV on the Radio
Discovered in the indie section of mtv.com in early 2004. This song/that site changed my life. While I don't browse it anymore, I discovered TVotR and Of Montreal on it among many other notables. This was the moment I truly became enraptured with indie.
Bon voyage: I love how so may of MTV's ads feature macbooks and much of their audience is young, hip, cool ie mac users, yet none of their online programming is compatable with macs.

La Ritournelle - Sebastien Tellier
La Ritournelle means the Old Story in French. This song could not be more romantic. After reading the interview Tom Vek did with 'Sup I really began questioning in what instances remixes have improved the song and in which point they were pointless. In regards to pointless, no remix will ever top Daft Punk's remix of Franz Ferdinand's 'Take Me Out'. My favorite remixes in which I like them so much more than the original is the remix of Moloko's 'Sing it Back' (track two on the "single"/ten song remix cd of the same song), Digitalism's remix of Mystery Jet's 'Can't Fool Me Dennis', and Metronomy's remix of this song. I love how this song has been remixed by just about everyone under the sun. In some distant world my goal is really just to release an album of just one song being remixed over and over.
Tracking this track down was as hard as I imagine a man hunt in an un-lit catacomb would be.
Related entry: Presets are the one! (or two)

Jolly Jolly Jolly Ego - The Dirty Projectors
This track reminds me of the animated movie Fantasia crossed with Antony and the Johnsons.
Discovered on myspace after repeatedly seeing his name pop up. Included in this podcast courtesy of Song of the Day on Salon.com

Calm Down - Psapp
The track right before Grant's favorite on their disc. Haunting and inspiring. I want to write a book based on it. We'll see
Related entry: Psapp (and that's a silent "P" at the beginning)

On a Neck, On a Spit - Grizzly Bear
"You can't go home again
Each time it's different"
I keep searching and it's so true.

Naive - Lily Allen
Related entry: Oh my god!- Lily Allen

Boy From School - Hot Chip
I totally didn't even like this at first. I think I must have been comatose-that's the only thing that could explain it. It was soooo hard getting through the video for it, but instantly upon it's end I had to listen again and listen again I did and then I fell in love with "We try, but we don't belong" that basically sums up my continued moves in search of finding my place-something I highly doubt I'll ever attain.

Among Dreams - Ariel Pink
This basically destroyed an accquinatncy I had with an certain Italian waited at Mono in Glasgow. After he described the music he liked it sounded like Ariel may be a good fit-dead wrong. He was so turned off by Ariel, but whatever-this man is a genius as far as I'm concerned and this track is so beautiful. I used to listen to it at Leigh's place every night. He wasn't crazy for that. So he'd get on his other computer and we'd just keep turning the volume up to drown each other out only he had two speakers, so he had an unfair advantage.

Knife - Grizzly Bear
Related entry: Grizzly little thing called Love

Vocab web round-up:
Chillax on Wikipedia

Chillax on Urban Dictionary

Hot Club de Paris Walk the Interview Plank

Hot Club de Paris-the off topic interview

I've seen many a blog triumph this Liverpool trio and upon hearing 'Shipwreck' included in a Swish Blog podcast I am ready to too. Ahoy-here comes Hot Club de Paris' Paul ready to conquer the States, not ready to rock an eye patch. . . yet. Behold

Tell a creative story about a ship wreck, with this picture taken in Bowling Scotland as the basis:

"There was this ship, and like, all the crew like left in dead odd circumstances and like, no one knew where they went but like, some dude boarded the ship and found that the crew they must have like, got off the ship not long ago and he scratched his head and wondered how they did it. Or something."

Know any good pirate jokes?

I do actually:

"Captain Blackbeard was mortified at how middle class his new parrot was when it started squawking "PIECES OF AFTER EIGHT, PIECES OF AFTER EIGHT". I read that in Private Eye. I was then mortified at how middle class I was for doing so."

If you had the option to wear a gold plated eye patch for a week, would you wear it?

"Probably not. We're not really hip enough to accessorise."

What was the worse thing about the canceled dates for the Semifinalists and Jeremy Warmsley tour?

"The worst bit about cancelling the dates was that we didn't play any of the shows on the tour apart from the one in London."

Who are you favorite new bands in Liverpool right now?

"There's a new band called Go Faster who are fantastic [Ed.-yes they are fantastic]. Other bands that are amazing include SSS, Down and Outs (who Matthew from our band used to be in), Do Idea, Walk the Plank, Arms, Voo and 28 Costumes."

How did the deal with Moshi Moshi come about?

"They assembled the band through a series of auditions."

How did you pick your name?

"We had a list of names:

The Zutons
The Coral
Ladytron
Echo and the Bunnymen
Dead 60s
The Beatles
Hot Club de Paris

It turned out that there wasn't already a band from Liverpool called Hot Club de Paris, so we went with that."

If Hot Club de Paris were a breakfast pastry which one would you be and why?

"I'm afraid that I can't think of anything witty in response, I'm afraid. I'd be shit on Blind Date."

Any plans to conquer the States?

Yes.

Do you have any favorite blogs?

No. I'm not even sure what the internet is, yet.

What are your favorite Moshi Moshi releases?

"The first Hot Chip album is great, Tilly and the Wall are wonderful and the Architecture in Helsinki album is thoroughly astonishing. The release we're most excited about however, is Danananakyroyd's debut 7" "Totally Bone". They are currently the best band in Britain. No mess."

'Shipwreck' Hot Club de Paris MP3

Hot Club de Paris myspace:
http://www.myspace.com/hotclubdeparis

Jose Gonzalez "Live Sessions"

Recorded live at Bumbershoot in Seattle in early September, Jose Gonzalez's live renditions of tunes off of Veneer sounded just as brilliant as they do on record (and on commercials). Previously while still living in Glasgow I missed him perform at the Oran Mor right after the bouncy ball commercial that stole my heart. (Side note: I used to live in San Francisco and one day as a kid outside of the aquarium a seagull stole my bouncy ball.) Then I missed him again in Portland headlining a tour with Psapp due to not being of age, but they did let me in long enough for me to see him perform an Animal Damage song alongside Psapp's live members. This time in Seattle, I finally caught him live and the show was a treat!
I interviewed him too before his set and will post the audio shortly. He didn't speak English too well, which was apparent in his set too, but none the less, regardless of a lack of meaningless conversation between songs he delivered a fulfilling set full of Kylie covers and the like and below are three tracks from the set- 'Heartbeats', 'Lovestain', and a bonus snippet of 'All You Deliver', complete with nicely cued Seagulls.

Heartbeats (live at Bumbershoot) MP3

Lovestain (live at Bumbershoot) MP3

All You Deliver (live at Bumbershoot) MP3

Seattlest Jose Gonzalez Bumbershoot live review

Arctic Monkeys Blast from the Past!-Mercury Prize Interview

Listen to them predict their Mercury Prize luck back in July 2005.

I recorded this interview with Matt and Andy before their gig at King Tut's in Glasgow on July 31st 2005. This is one of my favorite interviews, not only because of the heights they soon achieved, but also because of the many topics and opinions we touched on. Where else would I have found out they were a Blink 182 cover band when they started? And the fact that Laurence Bell of Domino approached them just as they were signing on the dotted line with another label. And ask them if they'd do a Les Savy Fav and release an album like Inches. Or that they found out about their record deal offers via text at work? Listen to me gawk at them pulling crowd of 1000 ha! They kind of were too when we talked about the album's release date. My times have changed. . .

Download Mercury Music Prize segment (MP3)

Download Entire Interview -25 minutes 52 seconds (MP3)

Two notes:
I posted the audio on the Arctic Monkeys forum and wow did they hate me! They didn't seem to realize that I, the poster, was the one on tape, but they really hated my American accent, and hated all the yeahs and uh huhs.
And yeah-if you listen to the full interviews-I know a lot of people have heard of Les Savy Fav, but none of their core fans at the time

NME: Arctic Monkeys win 2006 Mercury Music Prize

Oh no they Didn't: Looking heinous chic at ceremony

Related entry: 'Catch It'- Caught it and jumped on a bandwagon too. . .

Oh Mystery Jets I adore you!

So Mystery Jet's best song is finally coming out as a single-their final one off the album at that. Skipping them supporting the Futureheads at QMU in May, and then again with Semifinalists, I first saw them at the NME Awards tour in Glasgow in January, but only half caught their set as I was arguing with the We Are Scientists' tour manager over getting the photo pass that I had already arranged, but wasn't on the list for. The next night I saw them in Edinburgh and actually got to watch them a bit and they were fantastic, mostly because I really attached to their song 'Diamonds in the Dark'.
A little over a month later they set about doing an in-store tour and it was the most magical in-store performance I have ever witnessed! Here is a video I shot of them performing 'Diamonds in the Dark' at Glasgow HMV. Wanna know all about the magic? Click the vid, and then read the commentary about it on youtube from me and another person who was there.

Now of course it's not easy to buy a single in the States like it is in the UK, but there's itunes, and I will attempt to utilize ordering it online from a store so I can have a physical copy in my hands. And it's been extended to EP length, the other tracks on the disc have been recorded by Erol Alkan! Yay!-Mystery Jets are getting trashed!

Good Bye Hope of the States

Words cannot express what this band means to me, and not even so much the band, but the ideals of it's members.

The break-up note Sam has left on their message board depresses me on so many levels, but also makes me beam with pride"

"Firstly I would like to apologise for the elapsed time between this information becoming public and any personal announcement to yourselves.  However we had no idea that a passing comment between friends/associates etc would fly so far into the public domain so please, don't believe all ye read and give us a bit more credit. . . And you all know that a cockrock stage announcement is not really our way!"

"To know that maybe we were one of "those" bands to someone, anyone, is genuinely the highest praise I could ever wish for. . . When we are all old miserable granddads we can all tell our grandkids about that band we were in, with pride because we feel we did it right. We have nothing to be ashamed of and I wonder whether many bands can say the same thing."

But how did this sneak in there?  Say it ain't so Sam

"Sometimes life is more important than silly rawkanroll bands....not often but sometimes!"

The reason I respect them so was after an interview that stretched for two hours with Sam and remains the longest and most intelligent interview I've had yet with a band or a member.  It's also one of the most rewarding conversations I've had with an individual in the past few years. 

I would do pull quotes from the feature I wrote on them for Toaster, but I don't think it'd justify the band.  Instead I'll simply note that they created special records for their tour to hand out to audience members with the hope of them making five copies of each to distribute to other fans they come across online, but to mail them instead of file share them as it was a more "romantic" concept.  After believing the records would only take a couple of days, two weeks later they finished making those records with just one hour before their flight for the start of their North American tour. 
They typically had projections at shows, but when performing at one festival the projector couldn't make it to the stage so they had type2error sit at the front of the stage with notepads scribbling out drawings and quickly throwing them out into the audience for the duration of the set. And on yet another occasion when their equipment broke and they delivered a less than stunning performance at the V Festival, they invited everyone around back of the stage to perform an acoustic set at which point fencing fell over, the police came in to calm the crowd and ended with Sam sitting way far apart from the guitarist Ant, singing into a loud hailer that a kid held up for him while a crowd of 200 sat cross legged in appreciation. 

Picking up a copy of Nylon, there was a portion of the short interview dedicated to one member recalling his call to his mom after he'd joined the band.  He told her he had bad news and she asked whether he'd gotten a girl pregnant.  He replied "No, worse-I've joined a band with Sam."

Picking up a copy of the Fly, the mag had a feature on the band after their failed-ish US tour where the discussed the magical moments, such as stepping out of the bus and encountering people to play ukulele alongside.

The band was magical to put it simply.  I think I have listened to their debut maybe twice, but have recounted their words infinitely.

NME: Hope Of The States confirm split

Admire his shoes at Popstarfeets

Myspace: Possible new path?