popwreckoning

It’s been ages since a new Wilco album has been an event, but The Whole Love is the album we’ve been waiting for since A Ghost is Born.  It’s exciting, refreshing, and a reminder of what this band does best. It’s bookended by two incredible songs, and between those is enough to spend the next few months digesting.

The first song, “Art of Almost” is a string drenched upbeat pop song. It bops along for six minutes before descending into a panic of noise and guitar solos. It’s the perfect beginning to a fantastic record.

At the end of the record is “One Sunday Morning, a mostly acoustic thing that feels short even at twelve minutes. In the song Jeff Tweedy sings about an overly religious father in a manner that is gripping, and a little terrifying. You can feel the truth leaking out of Tweedy’s voice, even while the song is quiet enough that it might be easily missed. It’s a brilliant prayer of a song that reminds us of why exactly we love this band.

In between those two songs we have the most experimental Wilco record in years.  It could be a result of this being the first record on the band’s own label, but that doesn’t really matter.  Songs like “Dawned On Me” and “Rising Red Lung” are incredibly captivating and the record as a whole is highly recommended.

Mad Rad, Das Racist and The Thermals brought the house down at the free Sasquatch Launch Party at the Showbox at the Market last night, where the lineup to the now four-day festival would be announced.

Put on by Livenation and Sasquatch creator Adam Zacks, the launch party was MC’d by Comedian Todd Barry, who kept the crowd entertained between sets with dry wit and some fake teaser headliners.

“If you love me now, you’ll love when I play a set between headliners Elvis Presley and the Beatles, and tickets are only $7!” Barry proclaimed sarcastically to the less-than-attentive crowd. But I guess that’s what you get when you have a free show.

After Mad Rad and Das Racist played their sets, the lineup was announced in a video like previous years, which was played twice over, most likely so people could get a second look because they were freaking out too much over the Flaming Lips.

So far the lineup includes:

Death Cab for Cutie, the Decemberists, Modest Mouse, the Foo Fighters, Robyn, Wilco, Flying Lotus, Bright Eyes, Flogging Molly, Rodrigo Y Gabriela, Das Racist, Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings, Iron & Wine, The Flaming Lips.Black Mountain, Macklemore and Ryan Lewis, the Head and the Heart, Mad Rad, the Moondoggies, Noah & The Whale, Sam Roberts Band, Secret Sisters, Twin Shadow, Wye Oak, Tig Notaro, Smith Westerns, Rival Schools, Foster the People, Alberta Cross, S. Carey, White Denim, Washed Out, Gold Panda, Dan Mangan, Axis of Awesome, The Globes, Cotton Jones, Jaill, Basia Bulat, Other Lives, The Bronx, White Arrows, Pepper Rabbit, Talkdemonic, Rebecca Gates and The Consortium, The Young Evils, Bassnectar, Pink Martini, Cold War Kids, Old 97′s, Ratatat, Wolf Parade, Chromeo, Guided By Voices, Yeasayer, Beach House, Local Natives, Matt & Kim, Deerhunter, Mstrkrft, Trailer Park Boys, Sleigh Bells, Major Lazer, Skrillex, Fitz & The Tantrums, !!!, Archers of Loaf, Against Me!, The Thermals, Best Coast, CSS, Surfer Blood, Jenny & Johnny, Bonobo (DJ Set), City and Colour, Reggie Watts, K-Os, Gayngs, Tim Minchin, The Drums, The Radio Dept., Young the Giant, The Antlers, Sharon Van Etten, Villagers, Stornoway, Aloe Blacc.

Tickets go on sale on Feb. 14th starting at $79.50 per day and $285 for three-day passes.

Go to http://sasquatchfestival.com/ for more information or to purchase tickets.

Despite just releasing his debut solo album, You And Me, Kevin Barker is far from a newcomer to the scene. For the last few years he’s been recording, touring and collaborating with Devendra Banhart, Joanna Newsom, and Antony and the Johnsons, to name just a few. Now he has assembled an unbelievable group of musicians for You And Me. Produced by Thom Monahan (Vetiver, Devendra Banhart), the album features Pat Sansone (Wilco), Joanna Newsom, Jonathan Wilson (Elvis Costello, Jenny Lewis), Eric Johnson (The Shins), and Otto Hauser (Vetiver, Espers).

In college, Baker became interested in the fingerstyle guitar playing of John Fahey and Bert Jansch. He began to write songs and recorded under the name Currituck County for Teenbeat Records, Troubleman Unlimited, and Track and Field Organisation in the UK. He then moved to Brooklyn where he attended film school at Columbia University and began playing with Devendra, Antony, and Vetiver.

Coming in at just under four minutes, the title track of his new album (listen & download below) is a soft and sweet cut showcasing Barker’s smooth vocals as he sweetly sings, “There’s a dream I see / Running down to the sea / It’s you and it’s me.” A great lulling track, perfect for a snowy Saturday night by the fire with a cup of tea.

Kevin Barker – “You & Me”

You & Me will be released by Gnomonsong in January.

Kevin Barker: myspace

L.A. five-piece Rooney is gearing up to release a new, limited-pressing EP, Wild One and will embark on a national headlining tour beginning November 27 at Los Angeles’ El Rey Theatre, in support. Fans can get a first listen to Wild One as the EP will be available exclusively at these upcoming shows before becoming available at iTunes in early 2010. Only 5,000 EPs will be pressed.

Wild One was produced and engineered by the band, and features four brand-new tracks. The EP was mixed by Dave Trumfio (Wilco, Built to Spill and My Morning Jacket) and mastered by Dave McNair (Willie Nelson, Patti Smith.)

After signing with a major record label and working with some of the music industry’s most esteemed producers since their inception, the band is proud to showcase this collection of songs they crafted entirely themselves. Rooney’s latest offering features some of their best, most inventive and original material to date.

Rooney was signed to Geffen Records in 2002 after independently releasing a series of EPs and demos. They released their self-titled debut in 2003; shortly thereafter they saw significant success with single “I’m Shakin” and a cameo appearance on hit teen drama The O.C. The band has toured with a variety of superstar acts including Kings of Leon, Weezer and The Strokes.

Rooney is Robert Schwartzman (vocals/guitar), Taylor Locke (guitar / vocals), Ned Brower (drums / vocals), Louie Stephens (keyboard / vocals) and Matthew Winter (bass).

Track Listing:
1. Suckceed
2. I Don’t Understand
3. Wild One
4. The Days Keep Going By

Tour Dates:
Nov. 27 – El Rey Theatre / Los Angeles, CA
Nov. 28 – The Glass House / Pomona, CA
Nov. 29 – Slim’s / San Francisco, CA
Nov. 30 – WOW Hall / Eugene, OR
Dec. 1 – Hawthorne Theatre / Portland, OR
Dec. 2 – El Corazon / Seattle, WA
Dec. 4 – In the Venue-Club Sound / Salt Lake City, UT
Dec. 5 – Bluebird Theatre / Denver, CO
Dec. 7 – Station 4 / St. Paul, MN
Dec. 8 – House of Blues / Chicago, IL
Dec. 9 – Majestic Theatre / Detroit, MI
Dec. 10 – Beachland Ballroom / Cleveland, OH
Dec. 11 – Webster Hall / New York, NY
Dec. 12 – Club Stage / Baltimore, MD
Dec. 13 – Middle East Underground / Cambridge, MA
Dec. 14 – The Note / West Chester, PA
Dec. 16 – The Loft / Atlanta, GA
Dec. 17 – Tipitina’s Uptown / New Orleans, LA
Dec. 18 – Meridian / Houston, TX
Dec. 19 – Emo’s / Austin, TX
Dec. 20 – Granada Theatre / Dallas, TX
Dec. 22 – Club Congress / Tucson, AZ

Rooney: website | myspace

read ROTHBURY Day 1 and ROTHBURY Day 2

Son Volt // Ranch Arena
Able to boast a former member of Uncle Tupelo (which boasted Wilco‘s Jeff Tweedy) Son Volt entertained hundreds at the Ranch Arena Stage with their great alt country/folk rock sound that would fit in perfectly on adult contemporary radio. They played many songs off their new record, American Central Dust, which was released on July 7th of this year.

Railroad Earth // Ranch Arena
I only passed by Railroad Earth, also playing Ranch Arena, briefly, but was impressed with what I’d heard. If it weren’t for Zappa Playing Zappa just minutes later at Sherwood Court, I would have undoubtedly stuck around for these guys. Their roots/Americana jam is something worth hearing.

Zappa Plays Zappa // Sherwood Court
My father, typically a few beers in, likes to talk about Frank Zappa and his experimental music and goofy lyrics, most typically quoting “Don’t Eat The Yellow Snow”; “Watch out where the huskies go / and don’t you eat that yellow snow.” After a lifetime of hearing about him, though admittedly never pursuing the curiosity that arose with each of my father’s mentions, I knew I had to catch Zappa Plays Zappa at ROTHBURY. Zappa Plays Zappa is just that: Frank Zappa’s son Dweezil Zappa (he named his other children Moon Unit, Ahmet Emuukha Rodan and Diva Thin Muffin Pigeen. Uh huh.) travels with a touring band covering some of his pop’s best and most memorable material. As previously mentioned, I couldn’t compare what I heard to the originals, but I was absolutely blown away by the band’s musicianship. My interest in both generations of Zappa has been renewed and I fully intend on immersing myself in all that Hot Rats has to offer. Next time I’m able to catch Zappa Plays Zappa, I will be well versed in all things Frank.

The Black Crowes // The Odeum
I once walked by Chris Robinson on the street in New York’s Tribeca neighborhood. It was a hot early summer day and he was dressed head to toe in black complete with signature beard. Until ROTHBURY, this had been my only live experience with the Black Crowes. Needless to say, ROTHBURY blew that experience out of the water. In keeping with the M.O. of the weekend, the Black Crowes’ set was solid, bluesy and jam-tastic.

Les Claypool // Sherwood Court
I hung back in the media tent just behind the Sherwood Court stage where Primus‘ Les Claypool rocked it, but I heard it all crystal clear due to my proximity. I can only assume that Claypool wowed the crowd with his funky licks.

The Dead // The Odeum
My mother incorrectly assumed that I would miss The Dead. Moms. Well I proved her wrong, not just because these headliners didn’t have any competition (no was one was allowed to play during the same time slot), I even went so far as to show up to the main Odeum stage early to secure a decent spot and prepare myself for what was in store. I don’t think I’d ever seen so many individuals in an altered state as I had before and during The Dead’s set. The Dead’s following is one of the most devout I’ve ever come across – many of the people I’d met at ROTHBURY were Dead Heads through and through, following their idols across the country and back, despite ROTHBURY being their only summer performance. While I’m generally completely disinterested in jam bands, I was digging hard on The Dead; they’re simply classic. If you’re ever lucky enough to experience The Dead, do so. While the days of Jerry are before my time, I can’t see how a band could get any better.

Thoroughly exhausted by this point, I skipped out just a touch early from The Dead’s second set and made my way back to camp, a bit altered myself.

Stay tuned for the final day of ROTHBURY.

ROTHBURY: website | interview with

Photos: Jon Gitchoff

After sweating our way through introductions in the brutal Kansas humidity, guitarist Joseph McCaffrey and drummer Michael Fleischmann of New York rock group Nightmare of You sat down to speak with us about the challenges of DIY-record releases in a digital era and the importance of being a touring musician even when it means struggling through 112 degree Midwest weather when your lead singer is sick.

Bethany, PopWreckoning: Let’s start with the new album that comes out in August. What are you guys going for on this album?
Joesph McCaffrey, Nightmare of You: I think it is a natural progression of the sound of the band since its conception about five years ago. It is along the same lines of our releases, but probably more than ever it sounds like our band as opposed to a young band who is wearing its influences on its sleeves. It is more of a comfortable sound that is a part of all of us.

PW: This is your [Michael Fleischmann] first album with Nightmare of You, is that right?
Michael Fleischmann: Yep.
PW: What was that process like getting to working with them on an album finally?
MF: It was a very collaborative effort. It was really easygoing. We took our time with it. We went to the studio and we knew what we wanted to do. We knew exactly what we wanted, so we went for it and we got it.

PW: Why did the album get pushed back to August?
JM: Very simple answer. We ended up working with a distributor known as R-E-D, Red, through Sony, and they do street dates and to meet their deadlines with one-sheets and blah blah blah blah blah, a lot of boring business stuff, long story short, that date was the one most readily available for us through that distributor.
Joshua, PopWreckoning: Do you know if you’re working with Lauren or Allison?
MF: I’m going to say Allison.
JM: I’m going to say Allison.
Joshua: That’s exciting.
MF: We’re not really sure though.
Joshua: It was more curiosity than anything.
PW: With pushing the album release date back, you guys do run into the issue where you have a completed album and then music leaks.
JM: Yeah, it already leaked. It leaked on my birthday.
MF: Happy birthday.
JM: Yeah, right? Fuck me.

PW: What are your thoughts on album leaks?
JM: It is inevitable. It is a double-edged sword. We are flattered that people want to hear our music and anxious to get their hands on it as soon as possible. That’s cool. With any bit of positive feedback we get back, we appreciate it. We just hope that people recognize that we are just legitimately very independent via our band and that we pay for our recordings ourselves. If we don’t sell albums, we’re not going to be able to make that money back and we’re not going to be able to make new albums. We’ve been a band long enough to understand where we fit in—in the music industry and the world. We don’t have any delusions of grandeur or we don’t expect to have solid gold records and crazy sold out tours around the world. We’re just trying to keep doing what we do. It is a pretty modest venture, but with that being said, every dollar that we spend making shirts and filling up our gas tank and making recordings, we work very hard for. We appreciate the people that listen to our music and we only hope that those people are in the position to keep supporting and help the band.

PW: You guys are very D-I-Y. You have your own label—the Bevonshire label. How do you think major labels are and if they even still have a role in the industry?
JM: Oh, they certainly do. The major labels are still very much alive. They might be scrambling and trying to reinvent their business model, as they should. Look at their losses. I know for a fact they’re restructuring their organizations. A band at our level, we were able to work it out. We had a game plan. What do you want to do? We want to tour and make records and play music. That’s a very basic way of looking at it. Then you can delve deeper and say, what are the plans surrounding that like for the release of the album? We want to do radio promotion and a marketing campaign. We want to hire a publicist and get distribution. You have all these things that come into play. That was a cool thing about this album’s process. We did sort of delve into all those areas like a record label would service on album with. It was a great learning experience.
MF: Yeah. Great learning experience. Learned a lot.
JM: It was very cool. It was not the first album that I ever put out, especially on my own. I’ve managed a band that has been in a major label system, we’ve been in a major label system, Mike’s old band was under the Island/Def Jam umbrella and Nightmare of You used to be under the WEA/Warner Brothers umbrella. We got to see, first hand, the roles of particular people, be it the radio promotion or the A&R or the product manager or the publicist or this and that. We got to say oh this is the stoke of this, we can do it ourselves. Ultimately it ends up with each of us wearing a few different hats and having to share responsibility. I think we’re doing a good job covering our bases this time around. Like I said, it is a learning experience. We’ve seen where we had success and where we haven’t and sometimes we nailed it. Hopefully, we’ll be in a position to keep going and make another record and do it even better next time.

PW: Is Bevonshire just Nightmare of You or do you guys…?
JM: Bevonshire Label is just Nightmare of You. I have another company right now that’s Bevonshire Management. Giant Panda Gorilla Death Squad is a band that I manage. They’re a great reggae band from Rochester.

PW: Cool. Let’s go back to the album. What’s the significance of the album title Infomaniac?
JM: Infomaniac is an idea that we kind of had along the way that just as coming from a perspective of social awareness and consciousness in that the day and age we live in and the day and age that we’re living, working, playing music and such, we grew up in a sort of technological age at the sort of advent of a new era. DVDs, internet, computers: it’s a hi-tech society where everyone is interested in consuming these gadgets and simply having them. Now things have changed, in addition to having these gadgets, people are so obsessed with using them just to absorb information. Not necessarily useful or helpful information. Just general information with all the blogs and things like twitter and this and that. I think a lot of people have become so obsessed with knowing tidbits of celebrity lives and knowing everything that is going on: what this person did, what that person did and just almost being a maniac about consuming this information that’s available from the technology that was provided by a previous age. We see this as an age of information and in this age of information, there’s the infomaniac. You’re an infomaniac.
MF: I’m an infomaniac?
JM: You are. Who is always on the website trying to figure out the next newsfeed?
MF: What? No, that’s more, no.
JM: Who is getting the next RSS?
MF: No. That’s more like Perez Hilton followers.
JM: It isn’t a very heavy thing. The album content isn’t about that per se. There are songs that hint on the topic. It was just a sort of like I said, being our own sort of social consciousness given the time and place of releasing the album.
PW: That’s a much better explanation than the only thing I found online for the word infomaniac. I googled and it came up with a Lego Island Video Game character.
JM: Haha, no. Definitely not it.
Joshua: Who did we ask a similar question to talking about the digital connection with the fans.
PW: The Used?

Joshua: Was it the Used? We asked them if in the age of the internet and given the state of the industry, if it is almost a requirement now to be on the internet and connect with your fans?
JM: No. I think that music is bigger than the internet.
MF: You have to hope that it is.
JM: I see examples of it that are reassuring. I look at a band like Wilco.
MF: Wilco is a perfect example.
JM: Here is a band who has built a career out of quality music with many albums and quality releases together and they just created from a grassroots, an organic place: a great musical career. I don’t think that they’ve ever sat on MySpace or Facebook and spent time talking to people. They probably spent 99.9% of their energy focused on the music that they make. I think it has rubbed off on people over the course of time. That is something that we admire. If we are ever lucky enough to end up in the situation that they’re in where they’ve created their own true, real, sincere, music-base then that would be really rad. There are a lot of bands who exist solely off the internet buzz and internet world.
MF: I think you have to split it.
JM: I’m not in a position to say whether it is good or bad. You have to look at it for what it is.
MF: It has helped a lot of people get to the next level, but it is like Joe said. There is true music and it is so right in front of your face.
JM: You could be a band that could have never been heard before the internet, but in this day and age you might have a chance of thousands of people hearing it and that is great. At the same time, you have an over saturation of where do I click next? So you click on that and maybe it is…it is the universe. It is the balance of the universe and we’ll never really find ourselves at the center of it, but we can always continue to try and get there.
Joshua: That was a way better answer than the Used gave.

PW: True. The Used was like, “We know how to twitter.” You know, I must admit, I first came across your band because of some demos on MySpace. So I for one lucked out clicking random links.
JM: Alright, fair enough.
MF: He can’t knock.
JM: Like I said, I’m not in a position to say it is good or bad or right and wrong. It is a bit of all of it. We can only hope that for our particular situation or music as a whole that we fall in the side of the right and not the wrong.

PW: I often feel that out here in the Midwest, I don’t have much of a choice, but to find my music online to keep up.
JM: But then we’re here and we’re from New York and we’re talking in the flesh.
PW: True.
JM: You have to respect bands that get in the van and tour because the summer in the Midwest in 2009, that’s not easy for anybody. It’s not easy for people to come out and see our shows and it is not easy for us to come out and play these shows. If you like music like we like music and he likes music, you have to respect the people that are out there completely working because it is work. We’re doing it because we love it, but not every band is out there doing it right now. A lot of bands are taking a lot of time off and thinking about things. The second you stop selling records, people might stop making music, but that’s not where it is going for us.
Joshua: We are glad you’re here because we get skipped over a lot.
MF: This is a really cool town. I had never been to Lawrence before.

PW: Yeah, I think you guys have always played downtown KC a few times.
Joshua: I’ve seen you once before in KC.
JM: I thought we played Lawrence before at a little café or coffee shop or something. Maybe not. It looks familiar and it feels familiar.
Joshua: Didn’t you say they played Mainstreet?
PW: Yeah, you played Mainstreet Café in Downtown KC.
JM: Mainstreet. Yeah.
PW: Yeah that was headlining, then the other time I remember is opening at the Uptown for A.F.I.
Joshua: I was at that show! So I have seen you.
MF: What was the other one? Mainstreet? I wasn’t around then.
JM: No.
PW: The little Christian venue.
JM: We played there and we stayed there.
MF: Oh yes!
JM: Those people were sweet.
MF: They were so nice.
JM: Creepy little den.
PW: They had just moved when you guys played there. You were one of the first shows at the new place.
JM: That’s when we were figuring out if this was Kansas City, Kansas or Kansas City, Missouri.
Joshua: And if you were there you could throw rocks to either side.
MF: Exactly.
JM: We had a good laugh.
Joshua: They have been working on remodeling that venue, still, since you’ve been there.
MF: It was interesting.
JM: They had all these couches. Three bands just crashed on all these couches.
MF: It was pretty cool.

PW: You guys did a cover of a Cheap Trick song that you had up on MySpace. Is there a plan to do anything with that?
JM: That was actually years ago. And it was really cool and we had so much fun. I’m trying to remember the basis of our doing it. Somebody approached us. It was for a movie or a compilation, and I don’t know if it ever ended up getting used, but somebody came to us and said get in the studio and record this son and we just did it. It was written really cool. We love the song and we love how it came out. Actually, I feel really horrible for not remembering the gentleman’s name from Cheap Trick. Anyways, we put that song up on our MySpace for a real short minute and this Long Island newspaper called “Newsday” wrote a piece on it and said how cool it was yadda yadda yadda. Long story short, the daughter of the guitar player heard the song and a bunch of people contacted him and contacted her and they approved. Cheap Trick gave us the seal of approval on our cover, so that felt good. Anytime that you cover a band’s song, you would hope that they would like it.

PW: Nice. I guess for a final question, I know you guys have no problems saying your thoughts on other bands on stage and kind of going off what we were talking about earlier, is there an act you are just surprised is making it in mainstream or on the radio?
JM: What radio? I haven’t heard a radio in a long time to be honest.
MF: Kanye West. If he went away, I’d be happy. I don’t like that guy.
Joshua: You and I should form a Kanye West union because everybody else does love him.
JM: I’m not going to wish ill will on anybody. I’m just going to say that we’re on tour, our album hits stores Aug. 4, and we love everybody and we’d love people to just enjoy our music and if they don’t, that’s cool too. I’m not going to bash anybody.
MF: Come on. Just a little Kanye. Maybe he’ll fight back.
JM: If you don’t like something, don’t listen to it.
PW: Is it is his music or him as a person? Like the Fray covered “Heartless” and I like that, but I’m still not the biggest Kanye fan.
MF: I don’t like his attitude. He is too cocky. Oh my, that’s a future career right there: Dog walker.
Girl with two dogs walks by.
Joshua: You’re going to be a dog walker if the music doesn’t work out?
MF: Marry her. Live in Lawrence. Get the dogs.
Joshua: You could hang out with Straylight Run. Well part of Straylight Run. John lives here.
MF: Does he really?
PW: Yeah, he’s in the venue.
JM: No he’s not. I got to go say hi to him. He’s my homeboy. I don’t even know he was here. Thanks guys.
PW: Thanks.

Nightmare of You: website | myspace | @ the Bottleneck

Day 3 of Bonnaroo promised to be huge. Unfortunately, after going to bed after 4 am and waking up to the ridiculously humid weather in Tennessee, the only thing I could foresee being huge was my headache. I honestly don’t know how some of those people can show up to this fest and hardly eat or sleep, while drinking and doing drugs and still function enough to make it from band to band. Is there some secret Bonnaroo trick that I was missing as a first timer?

After downing a few Advils and using a water bottle to semi clean up, we made our way back to the main grounds for Day 3. Though it was early in the morning, already ILO and the Coral Reefer AllStars were getting a lot of buzz. And rightly so, turns out this basically was a set of Jimmy Buffett and friends singing his songs. It was weird to see a usual headliner start things off.

So as Buffett was making his way down Margaritaville, Joshua and I made our own visit to Dearland and caught Elvis Perkins in Dearland. I had seen these guys before and they were just as bombastic, if not more. Constantly switching between instruments and tempos, the guys give folk tunes an edge. Just as before, the drummer really impressed when he came out from behind the set with his one man band get up. There was just one sad moment in this set when Perkins tried to get Becky Stark, who was at Bonnaroo on Saturday to perform with the Decemberists, to join him on stage for a song she had performed with them on the record. It must have been too early for Stark because the boys had to play on without her.

Like a ping pong ball, we bounced back to the Which Stage to catch a bit of Heartless Bastards. With a name like that, I was expecting something completely different and was pleasantly surprised by the front woman’s voice rock voice with a bit of a twang.

Bon Iver was next on the agenda and this group was apparently high on the list for many as Drew Barrymore and Justin Long were spotted in attendance. It was a good set to watch and for “Yo La Tengo” the boys in Elvis Perkins in Dearland even came back out to join in the number.

Saturday was a busy day, so Joshua and I had to split up for a bit to catch all the acts that we wanted to see. Having a love for redheads, he went over to That Tent to see indie darling Jenny Lewis who rocked her solo works and was even joined by Elvis Costello for a number.

Meanwhile, I stuck around This Tent for Of Montreal, which I think was the smart move. Their theatrical performance was one set that was not worth missing and whether you like their often high-pitched sound or not, I recommend seeing them at least once in your lifetime. In fact, this performance was so big, I gave it its own post.

We couldn’t miss the legendary Wilco, so Josh and I regrouped to walk over to the What Stage for some Jeff Tweedy action. As we were walking there, I had to stop to see the band that was rocking the Troo Music Lounge. Alas, BrakesBrakesBrakes, we will meet again. With the recent death of a Wilco player, and knowing that Tweedy has a tendency to be a bit more of a curmudgeon than most, I was surprised with how genuinely excited the band seemed to be at playing Bonnaroo. They delivered all the hits and left the crowd pleased, but as usual, there were so many cool things going on at Bonnaroo, it wasn’t long before we were off to see our next bands.

Partly because I knew my mom would kick me if she knew I skipped him, I went to That Tent to see some of Elvis Costello. I guess in this case, mother knew best, because Costello is a classic for a reason. He had me charmed the moment he waved his hat as he walked on stage.

From here I went over to the Decemberists, who were acting out their tale of the Hazards of Love. Not too different than when I saw them a few weeks ago, Shara Worden, really was the brightest of all the gems in that band. Although, I must admit, that Stark wasn’t as wispy and a lot more confident this time around. They ended with a cover of a Heart song.

Meanwhile, Josh was watching the rock storm that was Mars Volta. They were delivering old hits and new songs off their soon to be released album.

Nobody was up against the Boss, so Josh and I regrouped for Bruce Springsteen. Bruce was there to please and which was noticed by the crowd who was yelling “Bruuuce” not “Boooo”, which sound surprisingly similar when chanted by thousands. I preferred the people shouting “Bruceroo” instead. Not only did he bring out all the hits, but he even played requests from the crowd. That’s right, as a response to a crowd request, he even played “Santa Claus is Coming to Town” in the middle of June. If anybody can get away with that, it is the Boss.

Josh and I split again and he went to shoot NIN‘s final show on American soil. A weird mixture of sadness and great joy filled the crowd as they said goodbye to Trent Reznor amid a mix of smoke and stage fire.

I left early to see some of Yeasayer. I walked by a weird circus sort of performance on the Sonic Stage before witnessing the beauty that was Yeasayer’s set up.

Yeasayer played amidst a stage filled with glowing orbs of different sizes. Their indie yelps and synth heavy tunes resonated nicely off the orbs.

Ending out the night was MGMT. This finally explained Drew Barrymore’s strange face paint from earlier as I soon learned that it was actually quite common for MGMT fans to don facepaint for the group a la the “Time to Pretend” music video.

The band played songs from their album, about three new songs and were even joined by Chairlift‘s Caroline Polachek for a few numbers. That Tent was glow stick central as the crowd danced away to the band’s too cool for school rock tunes. If you couldn’t see, which was the main complaint from this packed tent, I wouldn’t worry. The guys weren’t that crazy on stage and mostly just delivered a tight sound.

Another late night, but overall a fun day. Just one more recap to go and loads more pictures. Look out for Day 4…

Bonnaroo: website | Day 1 | Day 2 | Of Montreal @ This Tent | Spotted: Drew Barrymore | Quick News 1 | Quick News 2

In the early 1970’s, the term “singer/songwriter” became synonymous with artists like Joni Mitchell, James Taylor, Jackson Browne and Carly Simon, among others, all of whom just happened to reside in Southern California’s Laurel Canyon. Along with soft-rockers like The Eagles and Fleetwood Mac, these artists wrote intensely personal and lyrically strong pop with shades of folk, rock, and sometimes jazz and country. Their records are meticulously produced: polished, smooth, earthy, and acoustic, and the musicianship was always top notch. Some of these records were phenomenal (Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours, Joni Mitchell’s Blue); some were not, regardless of what Rolling Stones says (James Taylor’s Sweet Baby James, The Eagles’ Hotel California). Times were good. Cocaine, sex and cash flowed freely and the California sun was shining high in the sky. But then came punk rock and the 80s and everything changed.

The last two years, however, have seen an inordinate number of contemporary artists releasing albums hearkening back to the sound and style of those old Laurel Canyon songwriter albums. It’s hard to say when it started or with who, but artists and bands as diverse as Jason Collett, Conor Oberst (aka Bright Eyes), Gonzales (producer of Feist’s The Reminder), Ben Kweller, David Vandervelde, Wilco and She and Him have all recently come down with cases of what I have termed “Laurel Canyon Syndrome”: a desire to recreate in whole or in part the sound of the songwriter-focused soft-rock, folk, alt-country or acoustic music made popular in the early 1970s.

Why? Well, there are numerous possible explanations. Many of the aforementioned artists are now in their 30s (some even their 40s) and grew listening to Fleetwood Mac and James Taylor on the radio, or had parents who would endlessly play their Jackson Browne vinyls while their children unknowingly soaked it all in. For some, those records would come to define what music meant to them. “When you listen to most of the records that really had an impact on you, they always seem to be from a different era,” said Wilco front man Jeff Tweedy in an interview with Pitchfork in reference to Wilco’s last album Sky Blue Sky, and its notable 70s-influenced sound. “I still don’t think that this record sounds as good as that period of music. I still don’t have any clue why. All I’m saying is I feel like we’ve gotten close enough for it to be comfortable to listen to.”1

The Laurel Canyon Syndrome could also be related to the recent indie-folk boom (as seen by the success of Bon Iver and Fleet Foxes last year) in that in both cases modern audiences are turning towards more earthy, acoustic material. “I think it sort of speaks to a larger idea that people are being more and more drawn towards organic sounding music, especially in light of the so-called “digital age”, you know?” said Tony Dekker of Toronto-based folk band Great Lake Swimmers in an interview I did with him for the Dalhousie Gazette. “I think that having music that sounds really organic and that traces its roots back to – not necessarily a simpler time, but something that has been passed on for centuries before the dawn of the recording – I think it allows people to connect with it on a deeper level, I guess.”2

Another possible explanation is that in today’s world of indie rock, for better and/or worse, many bands and artists no longer write songs with the same discipline and emotional resonance with which the Laurel Canyon songwriters debateably represented in its peak form. Jason Collett, in an interview with Scene Point Blank said, “That’s the basic difference. [Broken] Social Scene [note: of which Collett is also a member] tries to take the form of a song and turn it inside out and upside down, I still am attracted to something that’s ultimately a traditional form.”3 In today’s world of indie rock, we don’t have songwriters on the level of Lennon, Townsend, or Dylan: writers who not only knew how to compose a timeless melody, but to accompany it with lyrics that had weight and meaning. Sure, songwriters like Sufjan Stevens and Okkervil River’s Will Sheff may compose lyrically inspired modern semi-masterpieces like Illinoise and The Stage Names, but has either of them – or anyone else of this generation for that matter – composed anything as genuinely moving and foundational as “Won’t Get Fooled Again”, “Imagine”, or “Tangled Up In Blue”?

It seems as though ever since Dylan defined the modern concept of the songwriter in the early 60s, those who want to be taken seriously as songwriters (not musicians, but specifically songwriters) have favored a more acoustic approach that allows people to focus more on the lyrics and less on the rhythm and drive of the music. As things have worked out, many of the serious songwriters of the 60s now sound amazingly dated with the exception of Dylan, Paul Simon and Leonard Cohen. Phil Ochs, Fred Neil, and even Tim Buckley simply sound too troubadour-y for modern tastes, but for some reason “Running On Empty” is still a kick-ass song. So is “Go Your Own Way” and “You’re So Vain” and everything on Court and Spark. Which is probably why we still hear artists trying to replicate the sound of those records. There have always been great songwriters, as there always will be, but it seems as though now, if you want to create an album that’s highly personal, lyrical and earthy sounding, the albums that set the precedent were the ones that came out of Laurel Canyon.

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Sources:
1 http://pitchfork.com/features/interviews/6602-wilco/
2 http://www.dalgazette.ca/?cmd=displaystory&story_id=2927&format=html
3 http://www.scenepointblank.com/features/105

Photos:
Zooey Deschanel and M. Ward of She & Him (top right and left, respectively): Jessica McGinley
Ben Kweller (center): Bethany Smith
Conor Oberst (bottom left): Dese’Rae Stage