popwreckoning

When coming up with a theme for this brand new feature of mine, I couldn’t help but think about all the open mics I’ve attended in the last year in Seattle and the surrounding area. One of them being at the Conor Byrne pub. If you live anywhere near Seattle, you may have heard of it – but if you don’t, I’ll fill you in.

Conor Byrne open mics are every Sunday night, in the heart of the laid-back Seattle neighborhood of Ballard. One band you may have heard of – the Head and the Heart – got their start there just over a year ago, and look at where they are now! So clearly Conor Byrne brings out some amazing musicians – including Damian Jurado, Tony Kevin Jr., the Local Strangers, Johnny Unicorn, and many others I can spend hours talking about.

One band that recently started playing Conor Byrne in the last few months is Bainbridge Island’s St. Paul de Vence, compiled of Benjamin Doerr as lead songwriter, Mike Sievers, Alex Malloy, and Justin Froese. The band plays lovely folk songs lined with banjo, ukulele, and accordion. Like the band’s name, St. Paul de Vence’s music has a French feel – filled with beautiful melodies and lyrics filled with history and longing. Perfect for a lazy summer night, and I love it.

Doerr says his songwriting began as a way to tell his grandfather’s story, “in particular his war experience in the south of France, where he grew up under German occupation and fought with the Free French to liberate his country,” Doerr writes on the band’s Facebook page. 

The first night I met Doerr was the first time St. Paul de Vence had played at Conor Byrne, and one thing I can say about this particular open mic – everyone there is incredibly nice and supportive and it feels like a community, even after playing there just once. As my boyfriend and I were leaving the pub, we passed by Doerr to tell him how great they were – and they were great. Doerr thanked us graciously and handed us both a little band flyer for their Bandcamp page.

Since that night, I attended one of their first shows in the U-District in Seattle about a month ago, the band released several music videos made by local filmmakers, and they’ve recently released their second EP, also on their official Bandcamp.

So why am I writing this right now?

St. Paul de Vence’s new EP, For Hummingbird, Heron, and Honey Bee, is available for a ‘pay-what-you-want’ on their Bandcamp page – so you can donate however much money you want to help pay for the band’s full-length this fall, or stream it and download it for free! I suggest donating just a little bit, because this band needs to put out a full-length. I heard plenty of amazing songs at their headlining show in Seattle last month that deserve to be properly recorded.

And hopefully St. Paul de Vence can follow a similar road as Seattle’s newest sweethearts the Head and the Heart. They have all the grand songwriting and awesome talent to warrant it.

For the full set of photos I got from their show last month, go here.

And for now, here’s a video from the show at Q Cafe last month I took.

Upcoming shows for St Paul de Vence are as follows:

Sept. 1 – Tractor Tavern – w/ Tony Kevin, Jr. and Sean Flinn & The Royal We
5213 Ballard Ave NW
Seattle, WA 98107
$6 | 21+
9pm

Sept. 16 – Q Cafe – w/ Noah Gundersen and Zach Fleury
3223 15th Avenue West
Seattle, WA 98109
$TBD | all ages
8pm

For more information on this wonderful band, visit St. Paul de Vence’s website at http://www.stpaulband.com

Also, while you’re at it, check out St. Paul de Vence’s first EP, When Our Boys Have Been Buried, which is also awesome.

Keep your eyes open for more ‘Fantastically Local’ columns in the coming weeks!

Founding members of iconic British rock band The Verve, Nick McCabe and Simon Jones reveal the first material from their new project The Black Ships. They will be joined by Mig Schillace (Portishead, Goldfrapp) and Davide Rosse (whose string compositions have been used by The Verve, Coldplay, and Goldfrapp). You can download the entire debut EP Kurofune here for free.

Their first live appearance will take place at Kings College, London on Thursday June 2nd. Limited tickets available here.

Here’s what Nick McCabe has to say about the new project/EP:

“You just know when things are right. The four of us met in various circumstances and each meeting was accompanied by this feeling of “we’ve absolutely got to do more together”. And here we are. The joy of music: what does that really mean? Living and breathing it. Obsessing about detail whilst discovering the beauty in chance, and then doing what is necessary to give it life. All the peripheral activity, traditionally taken out of your hands in service of the big organisations of yore becomes a joy in service of the music. It is undoubtedly the hardest work we have collectively put into any band, but the satisfaction is already huge.”

Seattle’s Campfire OK is set to release Strange Like We Are and they’re sharing the title track as a free download now. Who doesn’t like free stuff?

Download “Strange Like We Are” from here. It’s a fun indie folk jam with a building melody line that is sure to have you singing along by the end. You can also check out a video of the band performing the song below.

If you like this song, the rest of the album will be available February 1 on various forms. They’ll also play a hometown CD release show on February 5 at the Columbia City Theatre.

If you’re a fan of cheery piano rock that’s Ben Folds-esque, Chicago’s This Is Me Smiling is the perfect band for you.

And you have no excuse to not listen because you can check out the band’s new album for free!

Only Uphill is an album that the band spent two years making Despite some personal challenges and a hiatus, the band has come out stronger than ever with an album full of witty lyrics and catchy hooks.

Download Only Uphill for free here and if you like what you hear, donate!

There’s a trend sweeping through indie music: amazing multi-part harmonies. You know that sound that Fleet Foxes and Local Natives tapped into with the simple instrumental layerings of a catchy drum beat and guitar riff enriched with beautiful harmonies like you are gathered around a campfire with friends singing folk songs together? Yeah, that’s the trend I’m talking about and I hope it never stops.

The latest group to really catch my ears has been Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. Their single, “Vocal Chords” has quickly risen to the top of my most played list.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. just released a remix EP, My Love Is Easy: Remixes Pt. 1. As a special bonus, they’re offering up a remix of “Vocal Chords” for free download.

Download “Vocal Chords” (Diego and the Dissidents remix) here.

The EP will be followed by their full length debut in Spring 2011.

My Love Is Easy: Remixes Pt. 1

Track Listing
1. Nothing But Our Love (Kasper Bjørke Remix)
2. Vocal Chords (Deastro Remix)
3. Nothing But Our Love (Prussia Remix)
4. Vocal Chords (Diego and the Dissidents Remix)

Today on Twitter, The Decemberists‘ frontman Colin Meloy announced the title of the group’s upcoming album, The King Is Dead.

The album will be released January 18, 2011.

You can download a free track from the album called “Down By the Water” here.

Cali rapper P mixed Edward Sharpe into his own rap song, “Brother.” A steady beat combined with the surprise addition of Edward Sharpe’s harmonies on the chorus make this a chill summer track for hot nights cruising around town.

Check the track out below, download it here, then hear more from P on his Myspace.

. “Brother” – P feat. Edward Sharpe

Mother Culture is ‘calling out’ and this is one of those bands where you’re not going want to ignore that call. Mother Culture is a Kansas City band implanted from Omaha that boasts melodic group vocals over syncopated beats and catchy guitar riffs. Lyrically, they sing songs reflective about societal consciousness. They recently released the Sold Your Voice EP with two b-sides for free download here.

Sold Your Voice begins with the titular track in a whirling guitar riff that becomes the backbone for the album. This riff creeps back in not just again in this song, but on the EP; for example, fast forward and listen just before the five minute mark on “Even Artichokes Have Hearts” and you’ll catch the band driving the musical phrase back into your brain. “Sold Your Voice” continues building bigger and bigger off that riff with speeding synth lines, big drums and back and forth vocals from Jessi Lu Rud and Justin Hayes as they repeat, “They’re calling out.”

So what exactly is Mother Culture talking about when they repeat “they’re calling out?” It all comes down to the other thing Mother Culture drives into listener’s brain aside from that guitar riff: a message of societal and cultural awareness. Mother Culture can almost be brutal in some of their lyrics about how mechanic society and how robotic people have become such as in “Paper Dolls (with Plastic Parts)” or the when they sing lines like “Pray and pray and pray, but your hearts retreating and growing cold from the self-defeating lies that keep you bleeding from the soul,” in “Even Artichokes Have Hearts.”

They’re beautifully heart-breaking songs at times, but don’t think they’re a dark, despairing and depressed band even when singing of lost mental battles such as in the piano-driven song “There’s an Empire in My Head.” Listen to their EP or catch them live, and you’ll see: their positiveness is as contagious as Jessi’s dance moves.

The whole EP, the band is simply staying true to their name, like a mother culture works to have a great impact on other cultures and its people, Mother Culture the band is working to change society, too. At least, they had an impact on me…

Track Listing:
1. Sold Your Voice
2. Paper Dolls (With Plastic Parts)
3. Even Artichokes Have Hearts
4. There’s an Empire in My Head
//Additional B-Sides//
5. Cancer for Commerce
6. Hanging on Like Lemmings

Be sure to check out our interview with Mother Culture here.

Jenny Lewis of Rilo Kiley and her man, Johnny Rice, whom you may have already seen open for her, have a new project and new tour.

Tickets are already on sale for several of these special Jenny and Johnny shows; full dates are below. Unfortunately, this means we’re going to have to wait even longer before we ever get new Rilo tunes.

For a free track download of Jenny and Johnny visit: www.jennyandjohnnymusic.com.

Tour Dates:
9/1 Santa Cruz, CA @ Rio Theater (on sale Sat 6/26 @ 10a)
9/2 San Francisco, CA @ Great American Music Hall (on sale Sun 6/28 @ 10a)
9/3 Oakland, CA @ The New Parish (on sale Sat 6/26 @ 10a)
9/5 Portland, OR @ Doug Fir Lounge (on sale Sat 6/26 @ 10a)
9/6 Seattle, WA @ Bumbershoot Festival (on sale now)
9/8 Salt Lake City, UT @ The State Room (on sale Fri 6/25 @ 10a)
9/11 Omaha, NE @ The Waiting Room (on sale Sat 6/26 @ 10a)
9/12 Minneapolis, MN @ Cedar Cultural Center (on sale Fri 6/25 @ Noon)
9/13 Chicago, IL @ Lincoln Hall (on sale Fri 6/25 @ Noon)
9/14 Cleveland, OH @ Beachland Ballroom (on sale Fri 6/25 @ 10a)
9/16 Washington, DC @ Black Cat (on sale Fri 6/25 @ Noon)
9/18 Boston, MA @ Agganis Arena (opening for Pavement – on sale now)
9/19 Brooklyn, NY @ Williamsburg Waterfront (opening for Pavement – on sale now)
9/21 Hoboken, NJ @ Maxwell’s (on sale Sat 6/26 @ Noon)
9/22 Philadelphia, PA @ Trocadero Theater (w/ Superchunk – on sale now)
9/23 Carrboro, NC @ Cat’s Cradle (on sale Sat 6/26 @ 10a)
9/24 Athens, GA @ 40 Watt Club (on sale Sat 6/26 @ 10a)
9/25 Nashville, TN @ Mercy Lounge (on sale Sat 6/26 @ 10a)
10/3 LA, CA @ Palladium (opening for Belle & Sebastian – on sale now)

Eels is offering up a taste of the new Tomorrow Morning album by offering up a free download of “Looking Up.”

Download “Looking Up” at www.eelstheband.com. The album is said to be the “brightest and most overtly uplifting work of the EELS’ fourteen year career.”

Look for Eels on tour beginning August 3 and for Tomorrow Morning to hit stores August 24.