popwreckoning

Blitzen Trapper: website | myspace

Where’s The Band? is a tour featuring solo acoustic performances by four frontmen of successful groups. Dustin Kensrue of Thrice, Matt Pryor of  The Get Up Kids and New Amsterdams, Chris Conley of Saves the Day and Two Tongues and Anthony Raneri of Bayside will bring Where’s The Band? to the West Coast for the first time in January, performing in Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego and Anaheim.

Tour Dates:
Jan. 7, 2010 – The Troubadour / West Hollywood, CA
Jan. 8, 2010 – House of Blues / San Diego, CA
Jan. 9, 2010 – House of Blues / Anaheim, CA
Jan. 10, 2010 – Bottom of the Hill / San Francisco, CA

The inaugural Where’s The Band? tour in January 2009 included 10 dates in the Midwest, all of which sold out. The four singers sat in during each other’s sets, creating a unique and special event for fans.

A limited number of tickets have been held for Where’s The Band? fans and will be available through an exclusive Ducat King presale that begins today, Thursday, November 5, 2009. General public onsale is the following Thursday, November 12.

Buy tickets at wherestheband.ducatking.com.

Where’s the Band: myspace

I first saw Nurses play at PDX Pop Now! While they played a great set to a packed and enthusiastic crowd, Rotture isn’t the best venue to see or hear a band. The acoustics in the Doug Fir, on the other hand, make it a great place to hear Nurses’ shambling indie rock. And they sounded great, especially the harmonies. The vocals were clear and sharp in all their quirky splendor. Nurses are just three guys, with Aaron Chapman on lead vocals and guitar, James Mitchell on drums, John Bowers on keyboards and electronics. The songs sound like the band pieced together catchy fragments – vocal warm-ups, rhythms, and tinkling piano – to create a casually psychedelic music that feels both imaginative and intimate.

The table of electronics set out in the middle of the stage explains why I couldn’t quite identify all the noises I heard on the album. Throughout the show, Bowers twiddled nobs, tinkled on keyboards and added the occasional vocal harmony. The biggest surprise was that the whistles on “Caterpillar Playground” were actually played on a keyboard. Like on the album, “Manatarms” lurched forward with the layered vocals and a percussive piano, while “Technicolor” shimmered over almost ambient taps and gurgles. Every song sounded playful and deceptively loose and off the cuff, while it was clear from the precision of their playing that the band was a tight and cohesive unit. Although the album is fantastic, I really enjoyed seeing the band pull together all desperate pieces into rich texture-filled songs.

Nurses: website | myspace

Photo by Josh Lovseth

Canadian twins Tegan and Sara have been making innovative power-pop music for ten plus years, and they’ve been doing so on their own terms: navigating the challenges of the music business and following their fearless hearts with grace and conviction. The following interview marks a personal milestone for me in my fledgling career as a music journalist. Tegan and Sara are what got me writing about music in the first place, a secret dream of mine since high school. Their gutsy, heart-heavy music, hilarious stories, and devotion to what they believe in is what inspired me to pick up my pen, or rather, dust off my keyboard and camera and start making art again.

When I found out that PopWreckoning contributor Dese’Rae Stage and I were set to interview Sara Quin, the notoriously shy, enigmatic, hard-to-get half of the duo…uh, in person, you can imagine that my ticker just about plummeted to the bottom of my gut. I was going to meet my muse. We sat down with Sara, in a very slick studio at the Warner Music offices in New York City just a few days after Sainthood, the twins’ sixth studio album was released, and the day before the twins played two sold out shows at New York’s legendary Town Hall theater. We talked about everything from how the girls spent a very busy album release day to the potential difference between an alligator and a crocodile. Needless to say, it was the best nine minutes ever.

Reni Papananias, PopWreckoning: First of all, congratulations on the album.
Sara Quin: Thank you. It’s like having a baby when you put a record out, everyone’s like, “Congratulations!” And I’m like, “Thank You.”
RP: It is a baby…it’s your art baby.
SQ: Yeah…(giggles)

RP: So, tell me about album release day?
SQ: You know, it was great. We had a really early morning. We did a five-hour thing at AOL, where we did like all these skits. We’ve been on Spinner.com all week so we had to do some more skits where we were like acting, and we set up and played four songs, so they can play them on the website, and then we did a little bit more press, and then we did a four and a half hour signing at a bookstore where we saw about five hundred kids, which was great, and then we had a big dinner with the label and the band and then I fell into bed at like two a.m. and I was…beat. It was a long day, but it was great. It feels really exciting. We’ve always had really great release days. It’s really celebratory. There’s a cake involved. I actually had been waiting for this moment for like four months and I was really happy that it had come. It was great. We were charting all day, which was exciting. We feel like there’s a lot of momentum and excitement around the record. I’m just happy. There’s a lot of gratitude.

RP: How was it different from when The Con came out? How have things changed for you this time around?
SQ: You know, it wasn’t remarkably different. When The Con came out we were in Los Angeles, which is where we were this time. We played at Amoeba and literally a thousand people showed up. Literally it was their biggest in-store ever, and it was bananas. It was so exciting and we played and we signed for hours and we basically took over the store for the entire day and it was super fun. There’s nobody else you’d want to spend a release day with than who you’re releasing the album to. So that’s why we always try to do a fan-related thing.

RP: You and Tegan definitely do a lot to stay in connected with your fans. We were curious, in relation to social networking, Twitter in specific, if you feel pressure to engage in that way as artists?
SQ: I mean, I’m not on Twitter, so Tegan, and I am totally talking for her, but my understanding is that she definitely started Twitter when we were sort of done touring and it was more of a personal Twitter and now it’s become totally a band Twitter where she pimps what we’re doing during the day and that sort of thing. We never feel forced into it. The truth is that when we released our first album and we first started touring it was like 1999…2000. The Internet was really just getting going. We were not in any way a buzz band, we had signed a record deal, it was a very small deal, and we were touring and we kept using the word “organic.” “We’re organic. We’re going to organically build a fan base,” and all of these things, but we really had no press or support from television or radio and the internet was truly social networking and the internet was the way that we started to build an audience one by one. And so, we still have a lot of connection to it, just because it’s a way for us to make that connection, and to be as authentic and genuine as we want to be or don’t want to be. When you’re doing television or radio or interviews, you’re really through the filter and the mind of the person interviewing you and there’s something about knowing that our fans want to tap directly in and I’m completely okay with that. After ten years you sort of figure out how to keep what’s for you, for you, and what’s for them, for them. You’re very in control of what message you’re putting out there.
RP: Right.

Dese’Rae Stage, PopWreckoning: I guess that sort of answers that other question we had about where your borders are in relation to your fans.
RP: Right, some artists kind of take it to the extreme when it comes to connecting online…like hosting online Friday night Twitter parties and stuff like that.
SQ: You know, I think each person is looking for something different in the connection they have with the public. For Tegan and I, we’ve always been performers and we’ve always loved to be onstage and entertaining people, but there’s also a part of us that’s really private and I know certainly for me, I don’t have any desire to knock down every wall between me and the person that’s in front of me. And the reality is, it’s not even possible at this point. There’s just too many people. How on Earth could you do it? I mean, I think it depends too on what your personal life is like. I have a huge family, I’m still best friends with the kids I went to junior high school with and I have so many people from my early life that I’m still so connected to. It sounds strange but I’m over capacitated already in my life. Like, I can’t even imagine taking on those kinds of connections, those kinds of intimate connections with strangers, you know? What we do on stage is real and authentic, but it’s done in this way where we truly are performers projecting out onto people. It’s reciprocated in this strange energy way but it’s like…how could I possibly connect to 2,000 people every night? I just can’t. Even at that in-store that we did on release day, I mean, the information people will tell you in thirty seconds is profound…to have someone walk up to you and tell you about a death in the family or something that happened to them when they were a little kid…you…I couldn’t do that every day. I can do it like once a year. (Laughs) I’m like, oh my God…it’s too much.

RP: Well, your music means a lot to people. I mean, people are really connected to it. What do you think it is about you and Tegan that people feel so intimately connected to?
SQ: You know, I’m not always sure. I think society, what we project on television, and on film and on billboards and those things, I think in a strange way is how we want to see ourselves, is how we think we see ourselves or even how we don’t think we see ourselves and I think Tegan and I are, you know, an alternative version of what’s projected out constantly. I think, we, for a lot of women, for a lot of queer people, there’s something nice about, or there’s something calming about, or something refreshing about seeing something that isn’t always in the media or whatever, but then on the other hand, I can only speak from my own experience, from when I was a kid, what resonated with me, was intense for me, like Bruce Springsteen and the Smashing Pumpkins or whatever, what made me feel more connected to them over other bands, sometimes it’s hard to say. Sometimes it’s just because…it’s just because it’s the right time and the right words and the right melody. I think Tegan and I have that combination of maybe the music part and the personal side.

RP: Right. Okay, this is sort of a silly question…I really love “Alligator.”
SQ: Cool.
RP: It’s a really hot track. We were wondering if alligator tears are the same as crocodile tears?
SQ: Yeah, that’s what I actually meant, but I thought the phrase was alligator tears and then very early on, when I sent it to someone, they were like “I think what you mean is crocodile tears” and I was like, crocodile tears doesn’t have the same…
RP: Well, I think it adds to the mystery of the song.
SQ: Yeah. I mean, I think, just phonetically, it didn’t make as much sense to me as alligator. Alligator just fit better and I wanted it to be sort of an R&B type track and alligator the word just was better.
RP: I like it and I think it’s different. I think people are really responding to it.
SQ: Yeah, the response has been terrific. Originally, when we sent all the demos out it wasn’t on the original list, but both Tegan and I were like, “There’s just something about this song.” It kind of hovered in the “B” list area for a while and then when we started recording the album, I was like, “You know, I think we should try this.”

RP: You guys wrote together for the first time when putting Sainthood together. What did you learn from each other during that experience?
SQ: You know, Tegan and I both, and we’ve acknowledged this a lot, but I think we almost have a reverse style or process when we go into the recording kind of…headspace. Tegan is really lyrical, she loves to put together words and ideas and then she’ll sort of build music after that and I’m like, completely the opposite. I will get almost 100 percent done with the instrumental before I even begin to think about melodies and once I’ve sort of figured out melodies, then I’ll do lyrics. So it’s the absolute last thing that I do. So, when we were in the writing process that was kind of awkward. Tegan’s natural instincts…suddenly she was being held back and when we would try to do it her way, I would feel really off balance, and it ended up kind of working to our advantage. I think the music is really interesting and super cool but I wouldn’t want to always write like that. I think there’s something truly satisfying about just working the way you want to work. I wouldn’t want to convert her. I think what she does is great and she should keep doing it.

Insert here a wide, adorable smile and a dulcet giggle, and the best ten minutes ever comes to a close.

DS: Love it.

Tegan and Sara: website | myspace | interview with: Tegan pt. 1, pt. 2 | @ terminal 5 | @ town hall | Sainthood review

Interview by Reni Papananias.
Photo by Dese’Rae L. Stage.

What is there to say about Day 2 of ACL? After such a beautiful Day 1, the rain came and stuck around for the most part of Day 2. When I realized this rain was not going to pass anytime soon, I invested in a poncho. The beautiful Zilker Park was left a muddy mess in mere hours, but festival goers embraced the rain and mud, most opting for bare foot and whatever plastic they could find to shield themselves from the elements.

Starting off my day was Deer Tick who I had heard such good things from coworkers, but I was left underwhelmed, perhaps due to the dreary weather. I made my way to the Livestrong stage to see Alberta Cross (who later received a shout out from Mr. Dave Matthews during his headlining set). The rained eased up as they made their way through their bluesy set, but I had other places to be so I made my way to the Felice Brothers to get a good spot for Grizzly Bear as well and that’s unfortunately when the skies opened and the downpour began. Grizzly Bear pushed themselves rather far back in the stage and didn’t move or interact all that much. So while I appreciate the songs, I left feeling a little mixed on their set.

With a quick jaunt to the media to load up on free snacks on my mind, I made my way back in the rain. Once I was full of Coca Cola and all natural snacks, I braved the elements to see my personal highlight of the day and that was Bon Iver. I had not heard much about his shows, but I was floored at his soulful vocals and haunting harmonies with his backing band, making the rain feel insignificant. After Vernon’s wonderful set on steel guitar, I made my way through the mud to Mos Def. While I was initially disappointed by his tardiness and hiding behind a drum kit for the first two songs, the showman Mos Def I have come to love and respect graced the front of the stage mic in hand working the rain shocked crowd into a frenzy.

After enjoying the wonderful catered BBQ in the media area, I made my way to Dave Matthews Band. Now while I’m not what I’d consider a fan, I do have an appreciation for the sheer musicianship Matthews and gang demonstrate on a nightly basis; I also have to appreciate a cover of Talking Heads “Burning Down The House” While nothing can live up to David Bryne’s vocals on the track, DMB’s version was rather lively and Dave’s dance moves worked the mud-covered fans into hysteria. After their set, I decided to call it a night and waited for my free shuttle back to my hotel to rest up, clean off my shoes (remember, ALWAYS pack more than one pair of shoes) and rest up for Day 3.

Austin City Limits: website | day 1

East Coasters The Walkmen made their way to this year’s Austin City Limits and delivered a rip roaring set that got the crowd roaring on the festival’s first day.

The Walkmen: website | myspace

Stacy Clark, the talented artist praised for her debut Apples and Oranges and recently recognized for the backing vocals on the popular Jack’s Mannequin album, The Glass Passenger, has been hard at work on her second solo album.

She recently announced her separation from Shangrila and is now moving forward to release her sophomore album Connect the Dots independently this January 2010.

In addition to a new album, Clark also plans on releasing new videos, new artwork and a new website.

Check out a new song from Connect the Dots:

.“Anywhere”

Stacy Clark: website | myspace | Apples and Oranges review

“Do you know what ‘moto’ means?” singer Esau Mwamwaya of the Very Best asked the crowd at DC9 Monday night. (I presume he was asking if we knew what it meant in his native Chichewa, the national language of his homeland, Malawi.) The crowd, smiling back at him, collectively shook their heads. “It means ‘fire’!” Funny you mention something incendiary, Esau, because on a cold Monday night in Washington, the “band” from London figuratively lit a fire under the audience at the sold-out DC9 with their brand of African tinged dance music and turned the club into an all-out dance party.

The opener for the night was the Brooklyn-based duo Javelin. Not sure where they got their name – maybe cousins Tom Van Buskirk and George Langford were good at track and field in high school? These days, I imagine the two must be flexing their muscles carrying all their gear around – a whole table full of electronics including several synths and a drum pad, colorfully painted boomboxes they call “boombaatas” that form large speaker totems, and a collection of maracas and cowbells.

Javelin’s brief but entertaining set of pop / hip hop / electronic music at times lifted lyrics from songs of days gone by like Mariah Carey‘s “Fantasy.” Another example: they commandeered the words from the children’s lullaby “Frere Jacques” and turned into something completely different. Who would have guessed that song could ever be so dancey? And with humorous song titles like “Lindsay Brohan” and “Soda Popinski,” you’d have to smile. My faves from the set were “Twyce” and “Vibrationz,” the latter name-checking Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys and Marky Mark (aka Mark Wahlberg when he was a singer way back when). If you’re going to name your song “Vibrationz,” it’s totally appropriate to give a nod to the only two songs from popular culture that also mention such scandalous quivering.

The Very Best is a trio comprised of singer Mwamwaya and the London-based DJ/production duo of Radioclit (Swede Johan Carlberg and Frenchman Etienne [DJ] Tron). I first became aware of them when the title track of their first official full-length album, “Warm Heart of Africa”, was added to the BBC 6music playlist. The song was an instant hit with me, buoyed by the gaiety of vocals from Mwamwaya and guest Ezra Koenig of Vampire Weekend (who incidentally also cowrote the song) and joyous instrumentation. I was a little skeptical how this live exhibition would turn out when Carlberg first came onstage and immediately broke out a large album full of CDs and popped a disc into his Philips player. Thankfully though, my uncertainty quickly dissolved as the band got going.

For the live performance, singer Mwamwaya alternately stood, danced, and interacted with fans directly in front of Carlberg, who played DJ and assumed additional audience warm-up duty for the evening, waving his arms back and forth vigorously to get the crowd going during songs. For added oomph, they even brought with them two energetic dancers, resplendent in jackets that read “TVB” on the back; Mwamwaya proudly announced that the girls had come “all the way from the UK!” “Julia” and “Warm Heart of Africa” from their official first album were warmly received. So was “Tengazako,” a track from their 2008 free-to-download mixtape that featured an obvious sample from M.I.A., causing everyone in the club to do the gun-toting moves that I have only recently learned are requisite when hearing her “Paper Planes.”

Generally, you can expect a headlining act to play for a significantly longer period of time than their opener. Unfortunately for those of us gathered to see this band at DC9, this wasn’t the case. The two of them were clearly not prepared for such a lively reaction from their Washington area adoring fans and as such weren’t equipped to do more than the eight songs they played us. At the tail end of their set, Carlberg asked the audience what song they wanted, and after some random shouts and murmurings, it was decided that the Very Best’s cover version of Vampire Weekend‘s “Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa” would be the tune. After Mwamwaya left the stage, (the crowd didn’t want to let him go), Carlberg stayed behind to spin records, and the audience continued dancing to the pulsating beats on offer. I think if they keep this up, the Very Best could very well be the next global phenomenon.

The Very Best: myspace
Javelin: website | myspace

I first heard these songs at a concert shortly after I interviewed Scotland Barr in the spring. We discussed his recent diagnosis and the album he was writing and recording. At the concert, we chatted about our experiences living in Santa Cruz (my old hometown) and Portland (my adopted home). Although I had been hoping to hear my favorite tracks off of All the Great Aviators Agree, he only played his new songs and I was blown away. The songs were less boisterous, mixing in more ballads with the folk and country rock. When I first heard these MP3′s they were just the teaser for the great double album that the concert promised. I couldn’t wait to hear it in its entirety and was looking forward to a follow up interview upon its release. Then he passed away and the songs changed, suddenly gaining a deeper emotional resonance.

Although Barr said that he’d written most of the songs before his diagnosis, its impossible not to hear a man looking over and assessing the span of his life. “Eyes Like LA” (MP3) sets the tone with warm ringing guitars, plenty of country harmonies, and the offhand but poignant line “They say there’s no way that I could go so soon.” A piano leads the slow and reflective “Rasputin and Me” (MP3), a look back over Barr’s life, through the places he lived and the people he loved. The sentiment is summed up in the line “What really got me, wasn’t how old we’d become, but was how young we used to be.” “Everybody Knows” (MP3) is the most upbeat of the bunch, built around a barroom sing-along-inducing chorus and funky keyboard bridge. The EP closes with the epic “Right Where You’re Supposed To Be” (MP3), a song beginning with the joy of performing and ending in contentment.

The rest of the band is now soliciting donations to help pay for recording and mixing the rest of the album. Judging from these four songs, it’s a worthwhile investment.

Track listing:

Scotland Barr and the Slow Drags: website | myspace | interview

Pop rock artist Matthew Sweet wears many hats. From solo to Sid ‘n’ Susie. Though he is busy touring, PopWreckoning’s Thomas Starks caught up to the artist to talk the tour and his projects:

Thomas Starks, PopWreckoning: Hello Mr. Sweet, thank you so much for taking my call. I know we have a short time so I’ll get right into it. Talk to me a little about this Nov. 6th show at Eddie’s Attic. What’s going on with that?
Matthew Sweet: I’ve known Susanna (Susanna Hoffs) since the early 90’s, we had a few friends in common. When I moved here in 93, I just ran into her more and more. I got invited to a charity show with the Bangles, and I brought up that I liked her voice, we really wanted to do something. So we played at McCabe’s in LA. I played rock shows many years ago there. She invited Mike Myers, before the “Austin Powers” movies. He was still getting a hold of that character. So we all teamed up and started a small group called Ming Tea. That led to a song called “BBC” on the first movie, and then later we penned “Daddy Wasn’t There” on the “Gold Member” movie.

TS: It’s amazing how those small meetings turn into great projects. So is this a tour for you both then?
MS: Oh it’s not even a tour, it’s just a small thing we are doing.
TS: Does it allow you to let loose a bit though?
MS: A little scary cause it makes you naked, but also very freeing.

TS: Now you recently released Under The Covers 2, a collection of covers from the 1970’s. What process went into picking the songs and artists you covered?
MS: We get asked this the most. In the 60’s we were sort of too young, so in the 70’s we had a lot of fun. We NEVER make a list, we think of things as we go, and try doing them. The things we thought the best we couldn’t leave off, that’s what we chose. It got difficult at one point and we ended up having 10 more available on iTunes, bonus tracks.
TS: Which ones stand out to you as your favorites?
MS: The YES song “I’ve Seen All Good People.” We liked Yes when we were kids. Oh and “Sugar Magnolia,” a sleeper one we really liked at the end.

TS: You were able to work with Susanna Hoffs and Lindsey Buckingham on this record. What was it like working with these two?
MS: Well with Susanna, it’s like my sister, I know her so well. Lindsey I had known for quite a while, but not as well. We did a song for a movie all together back in the mid nineties. Then one of Sue’s son’s went to school with Lindsey’s kid, and that rekindled a friendship. At Sue’s B-Day last Jan. we cornered him and asked him to make a record with us. It was chance for us to get him on lead a little more.

TS: You semi-recently produced a group that we’ve become pretty good friends with here at Pop Wreckoning, The Bridges. What stood out to you about this band to take them into your home studio?
MS: It seems like a while ago now. It actually came out of thing in a publishing meeting with EMI, someone said you should produce a “Harmony Group.” Russell played something off of Myspace, and it was them. They write REALLY amazing stuff. They came out, we did a few demos, then they got Capital wanting to sign them, then Capital got shut down! I think they are now with Verve.

TS: So do you have anyone else on your plate in the near future in terms of production?
MS: Only the Bangles and I’ve started my own solo record. I’m gonna try to keep up a little more, go out a little more. I recorded a song for “Men of a Certain Age” with Ray Romano.

TS: It’s so rare to see a true musical affinity and professional appreciation for one’s colleagues.
MS: For me I was “Mr. Hide Out.” I always felt weird and never made a lot of friends, I’ve been there. Once the era of the 90’s passed, around 2001 or 2002, I got pulled into singing harmonies for Columbia. I never had good success writing with others, I had to assert myself. Now I feel really free and fun, although I still have to hustle. When you have that better time and a good perspective, you find out what you care about, it helps me enjoy people more.

TS: I really admire that perspective, it’s in our transitions that we see what is missing. Good for noticing that. Ok, Mr. Sweet, last question, if you could point our reader towards any artist in hopes of getting them to listen to them, who would it be?
MS: Wow, what would I TELL someone to listen too? As far as groups now, I don’t know them that well, I think of people in a genre of music I wouldn’t normally listen too. Blonde On Blonde then Pet Sounds. There are amazing things outside my orbit. I like freakbeat, garage rock stuff. Also it was in 1979 or 1980 that I started high school. That’s when I started to listen to all kinds of things. I wish I would have done that when I was 11, instead of 19. Plus nowadays it’s the internet that really helps us get what’s out there, the internet is sooo massive.
TS: Well then is it safe to say that you would recommend to “Listen to anything outside of your orbit?”
MS: That’s exactly it. Go find it.
TS: Mr. Sweet, I truly appreciate you taking my call and I’m truly looking forward to seeing you and Susanna live.
MS: Well, thank you. We just love this stuff. Have a great day!

Matthew Sweet: website | myspace