Jon Hopkins is a classically trained musician who creates electronic music that expands the genre off the dance floor into the environment of real experiences and memories. He is not above using the piano he's played since eight or sounds such as fingers tapping on a desk, salt and pepper shakers or a cheap tambourine. When I interviewed him during Moogfest 2010, he couldn't help remarking about the Muzak piped into the hotel lobby. Hopkins has worked on film scores (The Lovely Bones, Monsters) and collaborated with Brian Eno, King Creosote and Coldplay, but he is not above lying on his studio floor in order to truly experience his creations before putting them into final production.
"Open Eye Signal" is the single off of Hopkins' latest album, Immunity (out June 4 through Domino Records). It paves the way with patience, allowing the track to build without resistance. The video is filmed by Aolfe McArdle of Colonel Blimp productions, who saw the song as "a singular journey" enlisted skateboarder Chris Chann in California. McArdle explains, "I liked the idea of a city kid taking us on that journey... just one day suddenly deciding to escape his life and see more of the world in the only way he understands."
Washed Out's Ernest Greene is ready to release his second full-length album next month, letting loose a single "It All Feels Right" that I already have on heavy rotation. His critically acclaimed debut EP, Life of Leisure (2010), practically coined the term chillwave and the song "Feel It All Around" can still be heard during the opening credits of Portlandia. I caught the band during the tour supporting 2011's Within and Without, a fave album that was a top ten pick for the year and the write up for this concert is one of my most read posts ever.
The new album, Paracosm (due out August 13 via Sub Pop Records), is filled with the synth magic expected of Washed Out and more. According to Sub Pop, Greene employed over fifty different instruments for the new songs, including a collection of old keyboards (Mellotron, Chamberlin, Novatron and Optigan). "I've grown as a songwriter to the point where I want to have more involved arrangements, and that's really hard to do with sampling," says Greene. "These machines were kind of a happy medium: the sounds have a very worn, distressed quality about them, much like an old sample. But they also offer much more flexibility because they're playable." Greene has relocated from the city life of Atlanta to Athens, but returned there to record again with producer Ben H. Allen (Animal Collective, Deerhunter and Gnarls Barkley) at Maze Studios.
Available now is the single, "It All Feels Right," which opens with a shiny bling of sound until moving percussively into a sunny groove. In the lyric video, blissful thoughts are conveyed beyond the buried vocals, from "the sun comes out" to "music's playing loud," while deeply colored flora spin and turn. The cheery crowd noises brings in a human element as the song comes to a close. Greene says: "I knew from the beginning I wanted this record to be optimistic, very much a daytime-sounding album. I think the last record felt more nocturnal in some ways. This one I just imagined being outside, surrounded by a beautiful, natural environment."
Paracosm Track List: 1. Entrance 2. It All Feels Right 3. Don’t Give Up 4. Weightless 5. All I Know 6. Great Escape 7. Paracosm 8. Falling Back 9. All Over Now
I was asked to serve as a judge for a
"Battle of the Bands" on June 9 at the Arch Street Teen Center in
Greenwich, CT. The event raised money for the Mangold Music Foundation,which provides instruments and lessons
to sick and underprivileged children. Charlie Mangold, a friend from growing up in Old
Greenwich, recently established the non-profit to reach out to
young musicians that have the drive but not the access in order to learn how to play music. He recently delivered guitars and ukuleles to the Sloan-Kettering Pediatric Ward in NYC and gave private lessons to the children there. As his literature explains, a donation of just fifty dollars puts an instrument into the hands of a child who might not even have the opportunity to experience the gift of music.
Eight local bands were featured in the showcase,
with ages ranging from the tweens to early twenties. The wide range of genres
surprised me, although the classics are still considered classic (there
were two Led Zeppelin covers). It was really interesting to see how these bands
described themselves: alternative + jazz, light rock (when I actually thought things
sounded more like dance punk), and light grunge as apposed to just grunge (isn't
that an oxymoron?) We were given cards to rate each band on a scale from
one to five for originality, musicianship, stage presence and overall performance.
There were also a few lines on the bottom for "notes" which I
quickly renamed "helpful suggestions." As the only woman on the
four-person judging panel, I was also probably the only one who used smiley
faces in the comment section. (It was just very easy to feel to maternal
towards all the musicians, as it reminded me of happy days having my son's band in the basement!) I disregarded my regard for any particular genre, and
instead tapped into my performance past as a dancer plus all those countless
concerts as a music fan, along with Tom Jackson's "On Stage Success"
method. (I've seen him in action twice and even interviewed the guy for PopMatters last
June).
Judging panel in action with video guy Paul Seymour in back
When everything was tabulated, thankfully there was
a clear winner. The group, Waiting for Sam, is an alternative jazz
quintet of high schoolers with a lead singer that embodies a soulful voice reminding me of Joss Stone. They won a generous $250 gift card to Greenwich
Music and a day of recording at the Carriage House Studios in Stamford, CT.
In second place was that light rock band called Front Row and in third
was the light grunge band Bittersweet. Congrats go out to all the bands! Check out Paul's video
compilation below and for more info visit the organization's website mangoldmusicfoundation.org.
Left to Right: Trombonist Vinny Nobile (The Trummytones, BimSkalaBim, Pilfers, and Less Than Jake), Ray Foote, Co-Founder of Big Foote Music and Sound NYC, Sarah Pyles and Charlie Mangold of the Mangold Music Foundation, me and Joe Summa of Greenwich Music
It has happened again -- a gunman with mental health issues killed family members (his father and brother) before loading up with rounds of ammunition and going to a school to see how much damage he could do with an AR-15 assault rifle (five victims dead, more injured and countless others affected emotionally by the randomness of the act). This played out at Santa Monica College last Friday afternoon, after I was listening to my fave online radio station KCRW hosting a high profile, unique dj session by Radiohead and Atoms for Peace's Thom Yorke and Nigel Godrich on the weekday "Morning Becomes Eclectic" program (12 pm to 3 pm EST). KCRW's Twitter and Facebook updates over the weekend focused on the shooting, instead of the usual music news and NPR headlines. Then today there was a thank you for the fan of the of radio station who left sunflowers by the door and an announcement of a vigil to be held later this afternoon. Another unfathomable, scary and all too familiar ritual following a shooting, bringing to mind the recent tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School, plus unfortunately many other acts of gun violence across the country. Something has to change...
Also today, KCRW's "Album Preview" program has posted Rogue Wave's fifth album, Nightingale Floors (out June 4 via Brushfire Records)for streaming during the week ahead. Frontman Zach Schwartz (a.k.a. Zach Rogue) has an easiness about his vocal delivery, with a classic pop songwriting approach for his indie rock band that is based in nearby Oakland, CA. I have already picked the first single, a gem of a tune called "College," for my next playlist. Take a listen at the link here and be sure not to click out of the listening session early -- there's a nice hidden track at the end.
Track List:
1. No Magnatone 2. College 3. Figured It Out 4. Siren's Song 5. The Closer I Get 6. S(a)tan 7. Used To It 8. Without Pain 9. When Sunday Morning Comes 10. Everyone Wants To Be You / Ready, Steady, Go (Hidden Track)
As reported by Rolling Stone yesterday, Beck is working on not one, but two new albums of new songs to be completed soon. One will focus on acoustic material, while the other will continue the progression of the musician's path since 2008's Modern Guilt. Both albums will be self-released after years with Universal Records.
In the meantime, a stand alone tune called "Defriended" can be found online. It begins with a simple electronic buzz until building with ebbs and flows of disjointed sounds, plus wavering vocals over Beck's signature twang. Take a listen below or on YouTube, and check out Beck's summer tour plans -- in case you can be in the same place at the same time.
7/2 Paris, France – Days Off Festival at Cité de la Musique (special acoustic set)
7/27 Wantagh, NY – Americanarama at Nikon at Jones Beach Theater (special acoustic set)
7/28 Newport, RI – Newport Folk Festival (special acoustic set)
8/2 Boston, MA – Bank of America Pavilion (full band/electric show)
8/4 Brooklyn, NY – Celebrate Brooklyn at Prospect Park (full band/electric show)
Hot Chip is back with a new one-off single, "Dark and Stormy," to be released July 22. The solid five-minute tune pulses with a driving dance beat as expected from the U.K. indie pop band, with enough electronic blips and squiggles to keep things interesting. Harmonized vocals explain how "We made our own love, nobody helped us," before calling out a smooth mating call of vowels. It's the first song since last year's album, In Our Heads, also recorded with Mark Ralph at Club Ralph studio in London.
The band will be busy this summer together and with separate DJ gigs, which includes a stop August 2 at Lollapalooza in Chicago (the only U.S. date however!) Listen below or on YouTube.
Meric Long and Logan Kroeber (Photo via Polyvinyl Records)
The Dodos are back with a new single, "Confidence," from their forthcoming album Carrier, which is coming out August 27 through Polyvinyl Records. This San Franciso duo of Meric Long (guitar/vocals) and Logan Kroeber (drums/backing vocals) may be lumped under in indie rock genre but their influences are found much further outside that spectrum, from West African Eve drumming and progressive metal to country blues fingerpicking.
I interviewed Meric Long after their last album, No Color, in 2011, after seeing them at Terminal 5 with The New Pornographers, performing a larger-than-life opening set that exploded from the stage. He discussed how each of the four albums since the band's forming in 2006 had been quite a different experience, yet always focused on a percussion-centric sound. "Confidence" continues in that vein, with guitars strumming in a rhythmic way until the drums enter. Long's sweetly mellow voice is still front and center above the fray, even when it all lets loose. Stream the song below or on the label's SoundCloud page and check out the fun teaser video for the album.
