popwreckoning

Toronto-based folk singer Taylor Mitchell’s promising career came to a tragic end on this Wednesday due to mortal wounds from a surprising Coyote attack.

It was said she was on a solo hike in Cape Breton Highlands National Park in Nova Scotia. Coyotes, being naturally shy creatures, may have mistaken her for deer or other prey said Wildlife biologist Bob Bancroft. Other hiker’s in the area heard Mitchell’s screams and alerted emergency police dispatchers.

Mitchell had been traveling on her first tour promoting her debut LP For Your Consideration. She was also nominated for Young Performer of the Year honors by the Canadian Folk Music Awards, which will be awarded in November. She has performed in festivals that included Arlo Guthrie, Neko Case and Elvis Costello.

On Taylor’s last post on FaceBook, Mitchell described playing at someone’s home as “a welcome dose of normality after a whirlwind weekend” at the Ontario Council of Folk Music.

Michael Johnston, her Producer of For Your Consideration said he and his family would soon be organizing a celebration of her life.

Taylor Mitchell: website | myspace

We have some bad news. Due to a family situation that is beyond our control, we have to cancel our upcoming tour with New Found Glory, Never Shout Never, Meg & Dia and Single File (we are still playing with the Louisville Orchestra on November 7th). We don’t take this lightly but family has to come first. As this is a last minute development, we are still figuring out what we will do- as soon as we know, you will know. We apologize to everyone who planned on coming to the shows. We will find a way to make it up to you.

–Chris, John, Scott, Mike / Dashboard Confessional

Info taken directly form Dashboard Confessional’s Blog

When I went to the Jackpot Saloon for the national Lights tour, I didn’t know I would come away discovering one of my new favorite local Kansas City/Lawrence artists.

Katlyn Conroy opened and if I didn’t repeatedly confirm that she was a local Lawrencian with my roommate, I would have assumed she was yet another amazing piano singer from California discovered by the Hotel Cafe crew.

When she announced an Anni Rossi cover – an artist I’ve never been able to buy into the hype for – I cringed. Yet Conroy’s rendition was so pretty and (in pitch!) that I thought even Rossi might be worth another try.

Conroy’s voice is absolutely gorgeous and that’s really all you need to know to know she needs to be in your iPods asap. She is releasing a solo album in the next month, I believe, and she has music with another band called Another Holiday.

Stars of Track and Field performed through a haze of smoke and backlit lights for their first Lawrence show ever. They tried really hard to create a rock show atmosphere, but the crowd was dead. Despite the band trying to interact and get the audience clapping or dancing, people would not budge.

It wasn’t the fault of the band. They sounded great as they played through tunes off the new album and older songs – “With You” with its harmony bridge is my favorite both live and recorded…gotta love build up!

I hope they band didn’t take the crowd’s lame enthusiasm level personally, but there sarcastic comments showed them to be at least frustrated with Lawrence, which is a shame because their distorted rock tunes are exactly the type of thing that Lawrence loves. Sorry boys, but for a city with great local music, we don’t have the greatest concertgoers…something I’d like to see change.

Lights is a very bubbly keytar rocking indie pop singer. Her song, “Last Thing on Your Mind,” tipped me (and I’m sure) many off to her talent after it was used in a commercial.

For such a young singer, I’m amazed at the amount of respect and adoration her fans show her. I don’t see many 40 year olds treated the same way. I feel like each band had a completely different audience. When Lights lifted her arms wide in a slow clap, the audience did the same. They smiled, they laughed, they danced all in unison.

Lights claimed she was in a sad mood and having a rough day when she started playing, but she was all smiles for the duration of the set and call me synesthetic, but that was a smile you could even hear when she sang. It was contagious, too, and made it hard not to love her.

Katlyn Conroy: myspace
Stars of Track and Field: myspace | @ monolith 2009
Lights: website | myspace

Google has unveiled plans to launch a “Music Search OneBox” in its Search 2.0, which will offer content from partner sites such as MySpace, Imeem, Pandora, LALA, and others.

It enables searchers to listen to song clips right from Google’s search results page.

The new OneBox should go start going live this week.

It’s like Christmas came early…except it is Halloween, not Christmas. Nonetheless, we’re glad Timber Timbre is giving this present now.

You have until midnight, Saturday, Oct. 31 to download the Toronto group’s breakthrough album Timber Timbre for free on their website! Don’t let the witching hour catch you by surprise and download now.

KCRW says, “Timber Timbre takes on the topic of love but presents it in a cloak of macabre beauty that is perfect for the Halloween season. Songs full of eerie sounds, dark imagery and ghoulish lyrics will make for a spellbinding session on Morning Becomes Eclectic.”

What could be more perfect for Halloween?

Timber Timbre: website | myspace | Timbre Timbre review

Thao Nguyen, the frontwoman of Thao With the Get Down Stay Down, is a new and innovative voice in the indie music scene. We chatted with her over a year ago, but a lot has changed for the Hotel Cafe artist since then.

Listen to editors Nick and Joshua catch up with the songstress.

.“Thao Audio Interview”

Thao with the Get Down Stay Down: website | myspace | @ First Unitarian Church | @ Electric Factory | @ Terminal 5 | interview with | @ Liberty Hall | Bite Sized Review

The Twilight franchise continues branching out, this time with a talent tour. Keyword here is “talent.” That’s right. Bands featured on the soundtrack for the next Twilight movie “New Moon” have a tour and it is hitting Hot Topics across the country.

LA’s Hot Topic in Hollywood & Highland mall will host a kick off party with Death Cab for Cutie, Band of Skulls,  Sea Wolf and Anya Marina.

The other dates on the tour will feature either Anya Marina or Hurricane Bells.

So be sure and check out the New Moon talent if it is coming through your city. Oh, and cast members will be there, too (Fine, the acting isn’t that bad, but I’m a indie snob. What did you expect from me?).

Tour dates and locations:

Nov. 06 -  Hollywood & Highland Hot Topic / Hollywood, (feat. Death Cab For Cutie, Band of Skulls, Sea Wolf, Anya Marina)*
Nov. 10 – Fox Valley Mall / Chicago (Anya Marina)
Nov. 10 – Cherry Hill Mall / Philadelphia (Hurricane Bells)
Nov. 11 – Mall of America / Minneapolis (Anya Marina)
Nov. 12 – Natick Collection / Boston(Hurricane Bells)
Nov. 12  – Westfield Southcenter / Seattle (Anya Marina)
Nov. 14 – Fashion Place / Salt Lake City (Anya Marina)

*to participate in a signing with cast and band members for this date only, you’ve got to go to the Hollywood & Highland Hot Topic at 8 a.m. on Saturday, October 31, where the purchase of a commemorative Twilight Saga: New Moon T-shirt will get you a non-transferable wristband that will guarantee your access to the November 6 signing.

New Moon OST: website | review

I love Detroit. To be more precise it is the music of the city I adore most. The rationale is simple; music is a good conglomeration of influences, but in Detroit you can intimately see the process in motion. You can actively witness the point of creation.

Other great cities have great bands. The music scenes of these cities are steeped in storied traditions, too. Just like Detroit. However, their markets are flooded and, maybe worse, there’s no real connection between the markets and it is in pockets: really good pockets but here, in Detroit, there’s really just one giant pocket—a beautiful, unplanned, refinement of a particular sound.

Watch James and the Rainbros and try not to recall Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels.

The only city to really share this same quality is Memphis.

When Mitch Ryder traveled twelve hours south to record with Booker T & the MGs this point came to the foreground. In one moment the scenes combined. Released in 1969, the Detroit-Memphis Experiment is the culmination of these sessions.

Over the 12 songs, Mitch Ryder’s voice has never had more bite and sneer as the near gospel tones of Booker T & the MGs pour out. The liner notes hint at underlying tension and the past that Mitch Ryder brought with him to Memphis but they also hint towards the feeling of revel that pervades the whole album.

“I Get Hot” might have the best groove in the collection but “Direct Me” captures that same driving force and combines it with Ryder’s most sincere vocal delivery on the album. “Liberty” finds Ryder exploring themes of freedom—but also seemingly singing his contractual difficulties with Bob Crewe.

Following this record Ryder would go onto record the aptly titled, and more successful, Detroit but the Detroit-Memphis Experiment gives a clear musical statement that remains relevant 30 years later.

Tracklisting:
01. Liberty
02. Eeenie Meenie Minie Moe
03. Boredom Listen
04. Push Aroun’
05. Sugar Bee
06. I Get Hot
07. I Believe
08. Direct Me
09. Long Long Time
10. Raise Your Hand
11. Wear and Tear on My Heart
12. Meat

Mitch Ryder: website

Written by Adam Leroy

Sindri Mar Sigfusson, aka Sin Fang Bous (or Sin Fang Blues Brothers as he asked us to call him) looks like an even more baby-faced Beck and is just as cuddly. It’s a rare occasion that I check out a support act as I hate waiting around for the main act to come on (why do they insist on taking so long?), but Sing Fang Bous’ warm and fuzzy sounds were a pleasant welcome to the friendly space of the Black Cat. Low-key retro pop was the order of the day, and, while it wasn’t revolutionary, it was certainly enjoyable, with a refreshingly sparse and pure sound — no unnecessary quirks. Elements ranged from folky acoustic guitar with handclaps to sea shantyish organ sounds, the best tunes being the simpler ones. He ended with “Life,” a song in the epic-indie style, which I found the least engaging. The milder stuff was better, something I’d happily settle down with now that winter approaches and the nights get darker.

In contrast to the simpler pleasures of Sigfusson, Múm are a multi-instrumental band of multi-instrumentalists, with a rotating string and guitar section, at least three dedicated singers, as well as bass, organ, trumpet, laptop, kazoos, mouth-organ, harmonica, and drummer, and some other stuff I don’t know the name of. They were suitably foreign, all wide eyes, cute phrases and smiles, funny clothes and haircuts, just the kind of thing an indie crowd laps up (though perhaps it wasn’t part of the act? Maybe their clothes and haircuts reflect the collapse of the Icelandic economy?). I went in to the show having heard some of the older stuff and expected some ethereal ambient female-led electronica with some good glitchy beats, a bit Sigor Ros, a bit Bjork. What I ended up hearing was a little more down to earth and more along quirky indie lines, apparently a reflection of where the band is now, which is fair enough.

They started out very soothingly, to the point where I began to wonder if their choir-like sound worked well in a space like the Black Cat, with it’s low ceiling and basement vibe (though it’s actually on the top floor). Soft electric slide guitar and mournful trumpet carried on the warm tones from Sin Fang Bous on “If I Were a Fish.” Other early songs made use of the strings and voices supplied by Hildur Guðnadóttir and Sigurlaug Gisladottir and the sound was quite experimental, with good use of the trumpet in particular. Gunnar Örn Tynes seemed to play the role of band leader and whipped out his mouth organ fairly often. He looked faintly ridiculous, but the toy-like sound fitted in well with the overall calming mood of the songs.

Later on things were more uptempo, Múm’s amazing rhythm section working as well as a drum machine to get people’s feet moving. Playground 8-bit beats were layered with shimmery guitar; a cowbell was heard while Guðnadóttir and Gisladottir added theatrical (and somewhat overemphasised) yelps; whale-like bass backed up what sounded like a heavy rock christmas carol. The Orb-like dub and skittery beats of “A Little Bit, Sometimes” were particularly impressive, the overlayed mouth-organ bringing Red Snapper to mind. The electronic side of Múm is definitely impressive, but sadly there somewhat twee indie-rock side is less so — kazoo and harmonica orchestras are amusing, but an extended jam that seemed to last twenty minutes started to grate. Some of the latter dynamics were also predictable — loud-quiet, female-male, fast-slow. It’ll get most of the crowd going but it’s not particularly clever. Having said that “Sing Along” was scary and unhinged which seemed very apt for some reason. Live bird whistles were employed before the song vapourised into a rock lullaby echoing from the 50′s. The encore made up for the somewhat lagging final third of the show. “Green Grass of Tunnel” has that glacial vibe I was looking forward to, and the band stretch it out live into something far more filmic, with elements of the Cocteau Twins and (sorry) Bjork, and some glorious floor-shaking bass.

A bit of a mixed bag then, but something to satisfy most indie-rock fans and even some electronica ones, if they don’t mind their beats a little buried under the avant-garde.

Múm: website | myspace

With sad news, we give you this message was posted on Copeland‘s website today:

Dear friends,

We have come to an extremely difficult decision. It has come time for us to move on from Copeland and follow other paths in our lives. We are absolutely grateful to have been able to make music for as long as we have. In the last 9 years we’ve been able to see parts of the world that we never dreamt we would see. We have shared the stage and built friendships with immensely talented artists. We’ve been afforded the opportunity to make 4 records that we’re extremely proud of. Most of all, we feel honored that people have cared so much for our band and for our art. We appreciate every listener who has allowed our music to be a part of their lives. We want to offer our deepest thanks to every individual who has supported us on this ride. It has profoundly impacted our lives.

To put your minds at ease, we assure you this is not a bitter break up. We all individually feel Copeland has run its course in our lives and it’s time for us to pursue what is next. We couldn’t end things without a proper goodbye, so we are planning a final farewell tour in the US this coming Spring, as well as one final jaunt around the world to some of our favorite countries. We are really excited about seeing you all one more time, and we hope it turns out to be the best Copeland tour ever.

It has been discussed and we are not ruling out the possibility of recording one more album sometime in the future. However, this spring tour will be our last.

From the bottom of hearts, thank you for all of your love and support.

Aaron, Bryan, Jon & Stephen

Copeland: website | myspace | You Are My Sunshine review | interview with: Aaron Marsh | @ beaumont | @ slowdown