No Depression Music Festival
Lisa and I were at the No Depression Music Festival this weekend which was nothing short of excellent! Primarily, we went to see Iron and Wine, but left fans of Patterson Hood and Gillian Welch. Gillian played with Dave Rollins who was awesome!
The video below is Kyla Fairchild, founder of No Depression Magazine and NoDepression.com, gives a heartfelt thanks to the crowd.
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Sasquatch Everyday
Barrett Fairchild Wilkowski, son of No Depression Mag co-founder Kyla Fairchild, wore his Sasquatch wristband for a full-year, from festival to festival. Adam Zacks, Sasquatch Music Festival Producer, enjoys the honor of cutting it off last weekend, at the 2009 festival.
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Check it out! My review of Wilco’s Sky Blue Sky is featured on the homepage of No Depression.
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The Wind Cries Mary
There is only one recorded song for which I can claim any credit: in college I wrote the lyrics to music that a friend’s band was playing. The song was called Funk Heft, the band Salamander and they subsequently recorded the song on an album called Catalyst. Click here (and then click the play button) for a listen.
Anyhow, the lyrics included these lines:
Mary, the girl who cries in the wind…
Hey Diva!
“If you can’t dance to this groove,
Then you ain’t got no soul.”
Well, I stumbled across the video below recently and was reminded of that song. Hendrix, man, so smooth…
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At SXSW I was introduced to Taylor McKnight, part of the team that runs one of my favorite sites: Hype Machine. He agreed to answer a few questions…
What are your thoughts on SXSW?
It’s utterly exhausting but the excitement keeps me going. Janelle Monae, Deertick, and The Rural Alberta Advantage all gave me goosebumps.
Just give me a little background…what’s your story, how did you get involved with Hype Machine, etc.
After college, I a few years working at University of Florida and Gawker Media doing web development while simultaneously working on a side project with a friend. Podbop gave you a podcast of mp3s frombands coming to your city that very week, a way to discover bands on-the-go. During that time I became friends with Anthony (who founded Hype Machine back in his dorm room in 2005) who was nearing graduation. I decided to jump ship and join him full time on Hype Machine mid-2007. It’s been a truly awesome experience working on something so exciting with a friend. Both of us have complimentary interests that have helped guide Hype Machine along as we slowly develop the site into a proper company.
What what have you gotten out of the experience…some of the key insights and learnings that you have gleaned from running what, in my opinion, is one of the most kick-ass music web sites out there?
It’s been a complete blast working on something that so many people are so passionate about. I’ve learned to appreciate that users care so much about the site instead of being hurt/annoyed when we change something and everyone complains. The flip side is nobody cares about what we do and we wouldn’t hear a peep.
What are the things that your experiences has yielded that other people in the music or media business could learn from HypeM? And, of course, where do you see music going in the future?
Bringing together what is essentially a bunch of friends (or friends you haven’t met yet) recommending you music is invigorating. Knowing there’s a heartbeat behind every song that ends up on our site, somebody falling in love somewhere around the world makes discovery much more rewarding to me than a computer suggesting I listen to something based on tempo. I hope that the web continues to bring together the voices of the individuals to make all types of discovery (not just music but food, events, travel and more) as entertaining of an experience.
What is the first album that you bought with your own money and what format?
I was a late bloomer when it came to music. My first purchase was No Doubt’s Tragic Kingdom in 7th grade on CD. Back before they turned into a dance club band.
What have you been listening to lately that you’ve been enjoying? Why have you been enjoying it?
Rural Alberta Advantage is something I’ve been digging a lot lately after seeing it on a bunch of Top 10 of 2008 lists. Everybody describes them as a Neutral Milk Hotelesque sound which sits just fine with me since I’ll probably never have the chance to see NMH live. I saw RAA perform during SXSW at a church and it they live up to their album. Another band that I discovered via a Swedish radio station is Fredrik. Not sure how to describe it just yet, but it’s a feast for the ears.
Are you a festival guy? Going to anything this summer?
I’ve done most of the large festivals and nowadays lean towards more of the multi-venue festivals (SXSW, CMJ) than large outdoor festivals. I’ve had incredible experiences at hot sweaty crowded festivals (Pixies/Radiohead @ Coachella, Kanye/Rage @ Lolla) but I’m looking at Pop Montreal and possibly something in Europe in 2009.
Anything else?
One of the deciding factors of which events I’ll probably attend in 2009 will be decided by my side project SCHED* ( http://sched.org ), a scheduling app for festivals/conferences. It’s been taking off lately and is a good excuse to travel to new places!
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My Favorite Record
Had dinner with Adam on Saturday night…as we were walking home we have this conversation:
Adam: Is there ever an album that when you first listen to it you don’t like it that much, but after a few listens you really like it?
Me: Yes, Jack Johnson’s On and On was like that for me … at first, I thought his first album was better, but now it’s my favorite.
Adam: Yeah, I try to keep an open mind … when I first listen to something, I always remember it could end up being my favorite record.
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Janelle Monae
Last fall I saw Jamie Lidell at The Showbox in Seattle. A young woman with whom I was not familiar opened: Janelle Monae.
There’s a lot of ways to critique a musician. The very first question I ask myself when critiquing a musician is, “have I ever heard a sound or seen a performance like this before”? That’s why I like Coldplay—they may not be the best band ever, but I’ve never heard any other band make a sound like they do.
When it comes to Janelle Monae, I can say that I really hadn’t seen or heard anything quite like her spasm of movement and sound. At the time I described her to a friend as a black, female David Bowie. Unique.
Tonight I was hanging out with my good friend Gabe when one thing led to another and we wound up watching the video below. I find it a simply amazing piece of creative work…I am truly impressed by Ms. Monae.
Enjoy!
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As I write this I’m on an airplane heading toward SXSW, listening to the second set of the March 7, 2009 Phish show. This gives me that warm, smiley feeling of delight for two reasons.
First, I was able to download a copy of the show the morning after the performance because Phish has completely embraced technology to make the experience of being a Phish fan more better. I simply cannot express how, as a fan, this is completely awesome. In an age when it’s more and more difficult for bands to make a living selling albums, why doesn’t everyone do this? You’d think that’s the business the record labels would be getting into…perhaps even as subscriptions, but that is a topic for another post.
However, the real pleasure is to hear the band back together again after having split up a few years back. I can understand why—20 years on the road is exhausting. But, it’s also clear through the music why they’re back: they love playing together.
In the spirit of full disclosure, I’m a bit of a homer about Phish. For a long time they were my favorite band. Not that I’m very old, but one thing about age is that it becomes more and more difficult to have a favorite…there are many good musicians and bands and they all touch the soul in different ways. Still, Phish still resides in my own personal Pantheon of Favorite Musicians
I’ve been to a lot of Phish shows…less than 100, but more than I can remember. The best show, or more specifically best set, I’ve personally seen was July 17, 1998 at The Gorge in George, Washington. The first set was rather mundane, although I recall they played Gumbo which a song I enjoy. My brother and I had to drive home that night—a 3 hour drive back to Seattle—and considered leaving at the set break. Alas, we did not have the courage and our cowardice paid off: the second set was as high-energy as I’ve witnessed: Theme to 2001, Mike’s Song > Hydrogen > Weakpaug Groove, Character Zero … I forget the encore. It was a mind-bending performance and I was completely sober!
Anyhow, the show I’m listening to now is solid and enjoyable. Strangely, I started listening to the set by listening to the encore, then starting at the beginning. Odd, I know, but the encore caught my eye: a cover of The Beatles’ “Day in the Life”. I’m not saying it was better than the original, but I’m not afraid to put it toe-to-toe. Pretty damn good, it is.
What…heresy, you say? I’m one who generally belives that pop music begins and ends with The Beatles, so I’m secure in that statement. Should I be? A piece with Van Morisson that I read recently in The New Yorker (Talk of the Town, March 9, 2009) comes to mind:
Joe Turner had stopped coming out of the jukebox. Now it was the founding fathers of rock and roll, in quick succession: Jerry Lee Lewis…Chuck Berry…Bo Diddley…Little Richard…Carl Perkins…Gene Vincent…
Morrison mentioned Wynonie Harris, the ribald singer of the late forties and early fifties known as “Mr. Blues”…Leadbelly…Sonny Terry…Bobby Bland…Lonnie Donegan. When someone grouped Donegan with other practitioners of “pre-Beatles” rock and roll,” Morrison pulled up short.
“That’s a cliche,” he said, adjusting his sunglasses. “I don’t think ‘pre-Beatles’ means anything, because there was stuff before them. Over here, you have a different slant. You measure things in terms of the Beatles. We don’t think music started there. Rolling Stone magazine does, because it’s their mythology. The Beatles were peripheral. If you had more knowledge about music, it didn’t really mean anything. It was meaningless.
Morrison’s perspective caught me off guard; I enjoy the intellectual process of concocting musical ancestry…I like to think of it as “musical etymology”. Yet, Morrison caused me to take pause and realize that the exercise is myopic without the complete picture.
I suppose if there is a moral to this story it’s the old adage that “the more you learn, the less you know”.
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Shout Out to Danny
As I’ve mentioned previously in this space, there was not a lot of music in my home growing up. My parents not really music people, and I was the oldest child which meant that I didn’t have any older siblings to infect me with music ahead of my age.
On the other hand, my best childhood friend, Danny, possessed both of these things: parents who listened to music all the time—his dad even had a guitar!!—and an older brother who infected us with punk.
At Danny’s house there was a stereo downstairs in the basement, and this is one of my most vivid memories: when we were about six we would put ABBA on that stereo. I didn’t know what “abba” meant except that it sort of sounded like “rabbit” and that was comfortable and felt good.
And, I don’t recall actually listening to ABBA. What I do recall is that we would turn the music up to eleven and wait…and it only took a moment: Danny’s mom would shout down the stairs that we needed to lower the volume or we were going to “knock the house down”.
Of the two of us, I was always the more fearful and would think, “we’re gonna knock the house down…we better turn it off.” But the image of a turning the house into a big pile of rubble was both awesome and silly.
“No, let’s turn it up and knock it down,” we would say and laugh and laugh and laugh and laugh. Just the thought had us rolling on the floor laughing. Two six year old boys with power in their hands.
It was blissful and splendid and words can’t express, but it still makes me happy on the inside. If ABBA only knew.
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Snarky 2009 Grammy’s Diary
Welcome to the first ever I Need More Ears Dot Com Running Diary for the 2009 Grammys. I’m here with my trusty assistant, Lisa, who will be manning the Tivo remote and filling me in with all the important celebrity gossip. The Grammys is a four hour ordeal. Wish us luck!
The show opens with U2. Lisa says that she doesn’t need to see Bono dancing like that to which I respond, “He’s 60!” which then results in a brief debate and some online research: he’s 48. Lisa notes that Bono is hugely popular, but we never see him in the gossip press, and we both marvel at how he has maintained his privacy. I wonder who as a bigger ego: Bono or Madonna? I mean, Bono hob-nobs with heads of state. Lisa informs me that Madonna has a new 22 year old boyfriend. Really? What happened to A-Rod.
Whitney Houston comes out for the first award presentation. Seems like awhile since she’s been around. Wait, is she totally wasted?
And we’re off: Jennifer Hudson wins the first award. I mention to Lisa that someone needs to talk to her about her dress, and boom, like that Lisa is wasting no time tonight…we’re crusing through the acceptance speech without even blinking an eye.
Now, Justin Timberlake is giving us a speech which is awful, but Al Green is coming out for a song with Boys II Men and Keith Urban and JT. My goodness, Al Green’s voice is sooooo much better than Justin Timberlake’s.
After a nice performance by Coldplay (with an intro featuring Jay-Z), Carrie Underwood is on. Man, that dress is short. Lisa comments on her huge popularity, but I say she’s still not as good as Christina Agulera which leads to this evening’s equivalent of The Gong Show: the fast forward button. [Hey, was that Nancy Wilson playing the guitar?]
After The Country Award, Coldplay wins for Viva la Vida. Lisa asks me why I like Coldplay and I tell her that it’s because they might not be the best band ever, but they make a sound that is unique…like nobody else makes. At least nobody that I know. And, their songs are catchy too. Plus, I appreciate that they apologize for the Sgt. Peppers ripoff. I wonder if they ripped them off with intention or not? Was it to honor The Beatles, or to claim equivalence? Seriously, this is important to me.
By the way, speaking of The Country Award: is Country music like NASCAR? Huge and hugely popular, but doesn’t get it’s fair share of the mass media?
Anyhow, now we have Kid Rock who better than I expected, but that’s not hard to do. Still, I make Lisa fast forward after hearing a verse.
Miley Cyrus and Taylor Swift are doing a duet. Taylor is cute, and has a better voice than Miley. Suddenly I’m a Taylor Swift fan. Lisa tells me she was on American Idol. That’s interesting: three of tonight’s performers came to us via American Idol–I wonder if American Idol is really finding these talents, or if budding talents are simply using the show as a platform to launch their careers. Anyhow, Miley and Taylor are singing a song about being 15 which feels terribly ackward. I comment that Miley looks ugly when she sings…like she’s taking a poo. Lisa comments that Miley looks like she’s 15 going on 40. My goodness, we’re being real a-holes tonight.
Robert Plant and Alison Krauss win a Grammy for their collaboration. Robert hogs the thank yous…Alison doesn’t even say a word.
Jennifer Hudson comes on and Lisa tells me the horrible awful story about her family. She is absolutely stunned that I didn’t know this information. I tell her that I don’t read People magazine, I just look at the pictures, and that the guy who did those things should be shot which, of course, annoys Lisa. Seriously, though, shouldn’t he be? I mean, I draw the line at harming children. The audience is with her tonight…she gets a standing “O”.
For just a moment, I’m glad Stevie Wonder is blind so that he can’t see that the people performing with him are total idiots. That’s not fair…the Jonas Brothers aren’t horrible, and they are out there doing their thing while I’m sitting here on my arse passing judgement. Still, it’s uncomfortable for me to watch these musicians on the same stage together. I don’t understand it. Lisa just told me that the lead singer used to date Taylor Swift…something else I don’t understand.
Good news! Blink 182 is back! Maybe somebody should have mentioned to these guys that they’re gonna be on teevee and should put on a clean set of clothes.
Kate Perry reminds me of a poor man’s Amy Winehouse, except for I don’t really see Amy in a Carmen Miranda getup. Actually, if you think about it, that’s sort of a funny image. I bet Lisa will fast forward this within 60 seconds.
Yep. We’ve fast forwarded to Kanye. Whatever you think of Kanye, he owns the stage. Lisa thinks this song–the one where he and ?? were nominated for Song of the Year–is good. She’s right. Now they’re presenting an award and, like usual, Kanye can;t get more than 2 seconds without making an arrogant ass out of himself.
Adele just won the Best New Artist. I saw her on Saturday Night Live awhile back. She has a good voice, a catchy song, and a catchy British voice. I wonder if she has more than one song.
Kenny Chesney is introduced by Morgan Freeman. Lisa starts fast forwarding before the first four bars have been played. WTF! I make her go back. ”Really? How long to I have to watch this?” ”Until I find out if he’s good or not.” A verse and chorus pass. ”I’m going to bed” ”Okay, you can fast forward.” I still don’t have an opinion, though.
Record of the Year: Lisa notices that they’re all British. Robert Plant and Alison Krauss win a second Grammy. Maybe this time he’ll let her speak. Nope.
What is going on here? I looked away for a second, and now there is some sort of Dean Martin tribute except for it’s a very, very, very pregnant Mia and Kanye and Jay-Z and some other people. It’s all in black and white, too. I like Mia, but don’t care for this. For those of you keeping score at home, I don’t know what to say.
Ah…what we’ve been waiting for: Paul McCartney and Dave Grohl. She’s Just 17. Classic Sir Paul head bobs. As far as I’m concerned, The Beatles are the sine qua non of pop music…the bar against which all else is measured. Sadly, this sort of feels like a wedding band.
Best Male Pop Vocal: Mayerbag wins with another one of his pop songs. Have you heard is blues music? I wonder why he doesn’t play more of that.
LL Cool J and some other annoying dude introduce Sugarland and Adele. After a little bit we fast forward to Adele…I still have only heard her sing one song. (It happens to be the song that sends Lisa to bed–”I’m seeing double”–so we’re on our own for the duration…responsible for both the keyboard and the remote…this could get ugly.) Anyhow, I like this song, but one thing I notice is that it’s really only a chorus. So, really Adele is a really famous singer who sings one chorus.
[Thank goodness for Tivo. After fast forwarding through the commercial intermission--commercials are just unbearable...how did we live before Tivo?--Gweneth Paltrow is on screen. Of course, without Lisa I had to pause the Tivo to type. Going solo might be harder than I thought.]
Gweneth drools all over Radiohead. Lisa was pissed at me last year for not paying for In Rainbows. Wasn’t that the point…pay what you want? I wanted to pay zero, so I did. Plus, I only listened to it once, so that doesn’t seem so awful. Anyhow, Radiohead sounds good now…they’re doing this crazy thing with a marching band and it’s good. Ultimately, I’m neither here nor there about Radiohead…as someone once said, “The Grateful Dead are like licorice. Not everybody likes licorice, but people who like licorice really like licorice”.
Sam Jackson is on. Do you think anyone other that me calls him Sam?
T.I. and Justin Timberlake. I used to be impressed with JT…he made the transition from boy band to respectable adult artist successfully, he came out of the Britany Spears deal smelling like roses, and makes decent music (plus, he can dance). But, after seeing him in the shadow of Al Green earlier my view of him is forever tainted.
Now we get our annual talk from the industry guy, and here are The Four Tops with Jamie Foxx. Jamie Foxx is a stud. I feel like Kanye is a little boy compared to Jamie Foxx.
Josh Groban. Josh Groban is insanely popular, sells a gajillion albums, but I seriously don’t know one person who owns a copy…not even my mom, but maybe her friend Mary. Otherwise, nobody. Although, I do I wonder if he gets a lot of pussy. Hmmm….is he straight or gay? I’m going to have to look this up.
On the other hand, Josh Groban introduces Neil Diamond. As readers in this space know, I am irrational about Neil Diamond, so by association Josh Groban is my New Most Favorite Artist.
Oh, here’s Mayerbag and Keith Urban playing some blues with someone who I should know, but can’t place. I like it. Keith Urban is sort of interesting. Earlier tonight he was playing soul with Al Green, now he’s playing the blues. Then, Lisa told me he’s Australian, but I thought he plays American Country. Maybe there’s more to Keith Urban than meets the eye.
Without Lisa “on remote” I now have time to look stuff up during the commercials: according to my expert analysis, Josh Groban is straight, but does not get a lot of pussy.
Lil Wayne is up to bat with some names I didn’t catch because I was wondering why Gary Sinise has anything to do with this show. Does he have a show on CBS? Anyhow, I’m excited to see Lil Wayne because I don’t know his music very well, and I want to hear more. Hmmm…something tells me this performance is not a representative sample of Lil Wayne’s repertoire.
Best Rap Album: Who are these jokers? I like the name Will.i.am because it’s a creative use of language (and his music is good too!), but who is this other guy? Nevermind, we’re moving quick…Lil Wayne won. It seems like what happens a lot is that someone performs and then they win an award. I should keep track of that. But, but!, Lil Wayne just gave a great acceptance speech…short, sweet, and genuine.
Robert Plant and Alison Krauss are playing with T-Bone The Producer. Earlier Lisa said she thinks this album is great. More importantly, clothing review: Robert: same as when he accepted the awards; T-Bone: ditto; Alison: seriously tighter dress. At least they’re letting her sing.
Green Day is up presenting Album of the Year. These guys have been around for quite awhile…maybe 10 years or more, and some of their music isn’t bad. But, they’re kind of obnoxious. And the Grammy goes to…
Robert Plant and Alison Krauss. See…there it is again! They just performed and now they’re winning. But, guess what, they’re letting Alison talk now! I guess when you win three awards and there are only two people in the group, they gotta let you talk eventually. Of course, Robert does a bunch of blabbing. Blah blah blah. He’s thanking everyone…they’re putting on music…now T-Bone is talking right thorough the music…I think he’s even thanking me!
And, to wrap it up: Stevie Wonder. I love Stevie, but this is all we’ve got? None of our new faces has the talent to close the show?? Overall, sort of seemed like a stale show tonight. I’ll give it a 7 of 10. Until next year…
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