Si esto fuera Stereogum esto sería una Premature Evaluation de las suyas, pero de momento aquí somos un poco más modestos y nos limitaremos a darle un espacio al nuevo disco del dúo francés Herman Düne, Next Year In Zion, que ya corre por la mitad de blogs y foros del mundo. Teníamos curiosidad para ver en qué afectaba la marcha del tercer miembro del grupo, André Herman Düne, mudado a Nueva York y convertido ahora en Stanley Brinks, y estamos en disposición de afirmar que ésta ha sido la separación más fructuosa que el anti-folk recuerda.

Y a pesar de que no hay ningún pildorazo como 'I Wish I Could See You Soon' o '1, 2, 3 Apple Tree', del anterior Giant (Source Etc., 2006), Next Year In Zion entra y es bastante mejor que aquél. De hecho, el álbum respira calma y tranquilidad por todos los poros y tiene el mismo efecto narcótico que el Dank U de Brinks, publicado hace unos pocos meses. Next Year In Zion se publicará este martes en Francia, así que si no pueden aguantar por tenerlo en las manos en un momento siempre pueden plantarse en Perpiñán y en noviembre y diciembro estarán girando por el país vecino.

Esta vez viene con su nueva producción "Alphabutt" que saldrá en el 9 de Septiembre, cuenta con la participación de su hija Panda y tres niños más. El disco tiene un formato de grabación Lo-Fi y está dirigido a niños, aunque con letras poco convencionales y muy al estilo de Kimya, pero ello no quiere decir que no pueda ser disfrutado por otros.

El disco ya esta rodando por internet y este es el listado

Kimya Dawson - Alphabutt (2008)

1. Little Monster Babies
2. Alphabutt
3. Bobby-o
4. Louie
5. Smoothie
6. I Like Bears
7. Seven Hungry Tigers
8. Happy Home (Keep On Writing)
9. Wiggle My Tooth
10. I Love You Sweet Baby
11. Pee-Pee In The Potty
12. Uncle Hukee's House
13. We're All Animals
14. Little Panda Bear
15. Sunbeams And Some Beans

Anteriormente a este lanzó un EP al cual llamó Alphabutt E-pee, donde se encontraban 9 de estos temas y ademas cada edición era hecha a mano y lo recibián aquellos que fueran a sus presentaciones. Originalmente este disco vendría con un libro, pero por cuestiones de tiempo desistió de la idea, mas sin embargo probablemente lo publique luego.

Aquí un video del tema Alphabutt

After being pushed back the album, Peaceful, the World Lays Me Down, was released on Monday (11/08). Unsurprisingly in HMV today i found it listed at number 10 in the album charts.

In case you were wondering, this London-based indie-folk foursome's name is an obscure cinematic reference too convoluted and pretentious to go into here. Apparently, Noah And The Whale don't like being labelled as 'twee', but that really is the first word that will come into your head when you hear the ukulele, recorder and whistling refrain of their catchy hit ditty, 5 Years Time. Even so, the superficial chirpiness of some of their music is leavened by some ambitious brass and string arrangements and enough lyrical depth and ambiguity to make Peaceful, The World Lays Me Down more than the collection of simple love songs it initially seems to be.

The band were originally most noteworthy for having launched alt. folk singer Laura Marling on her solo career. By the time they released this debut album, she was no longer a group member, although her backing vocals haunt much of it – a definite bonus – making you wonder whether she'll continue to moonlight with them.

The acoustic quintet are led by 21-year-old Charlie Fink, who has been hailed as a rising star of the anti-folk genre. With a voice best described as an acquired taste, hovering somewhere out over the mid-Atlantic, he's both the most distinctive thing about Noah And The Whale and the most difficult thing to get used to. But he does have a certain way with a tune. Early single Shape Of My Heart has a nagging melody, while both Give A little Love, the near-epic title track and the reflective closer Hold My Hand As I'm Lowered are similarly sturdy constructions which almost seem at odds with the band’s
rather lightweight image.

New songs would have been welcomed by older NATW fans as at least half have been taken from past releases. Even so, what it does produce is definitely worth a listen - or 10.

[audio http://themusickid.com/full_cds/Regina%20Spektor/11.11/02%20Rejazz.mp3]

Regina Spektor is a Soviet-born American singer-songwriter and pianist. Her music is associated with the anti-folk scene centered on New York City's East Village. Spektor has said that she has created 700 songs, but that she rarely writes any of them down. She has also stated that she never aspired to write songs herself, but songs seem to just flow to her. Spektor's musical style has drawn many comparisons to fellow singer-pianists Tori Amos and Fiona Apple, as well as the vocal stylings of Björk.

Next: Carina Barroca

Der Comic Zeichner und Singer-Songwriter Jeffrey Lewis hat anscheinend eine ähnliche Vorstellung davon, was einen songdienlich spielenden Gitarristen ausmacht wie ich. Bei seinen Auftritten lässt der Absolvent des New Yorker Purchase College gelegentlich die wenigen "Jesusakkorde" von einigen seiner Lieder durch beliebige Konzertbesuchern auf der Gitarre spielen.

Das er sich jedoch anscheinend meistens an die Devise von Mike Patton "If you want to make experimental music, don’t experiment on stage" hält, beweisen seine ausgeklügelten und einstudierten Songstrukturen. Auch wenn seine Lieder oftmals beliebig und improvisiert wirken; sie sind in der Regel auskomponiert und gut einstudiert.

Ein schönes Beispiel dafür ist der beeindruckende Song Williamsburg Will Oldham Horror. Schon vor über drei Jahren erschien die "Hommage" an Will Oldham aka Bonnie "Prince" Billy auf der Platte City And Eastern Songs. Auf dem Album, welches der Musiker zusammen mit seinem jüngeren Bruder Jack auf dem englischen Indie-Label Rough Trade veröffentlichte, wechseln sich rockige Indie-Songs mit sogenannten Anti-Folk Nummern ab. Williamsburg Will Oldham Horror repräsentiert dabei die akustische Seite und ist so etwas wie ein humorvolles Manifest für eher mäßig erfolgreiche Musiker um die 30.

Das zugehörige, an Originalschauplätzen in Williamsburg und Manhattan von Mark Locke gedrehte Video, zeigt neben Cameo-Auftritten von Biff Rose and Tuli Kupferberg von der New Yorker Band The Fugs, eine den Songtext sehr gut illustrierende Geschichte. Das Video könnt Ihr Euch unten anschauen und nicht vergessen die Lyrics mit zu beachten:

Just in-case the name isn't familiar, Jeffrey Lewis is an American anti-folk singer/songwriter and comic book artist from New York and all around awesome guy.

We had the pleasure to catch up with and ask him some questions!

You're currently very busy supporting the likes of British Sea Power in America and Steven Malkmus & the Jicks in Europe. Firstly how are the shows going? And what’s it like to be supporting artists that are very different to what you do? is it a case of trying to win over the crowd every night or do you get a lot of hard-core fans coming to just see you?

All of this touring in 2008 has been my busiest year ever, but because I generally do all my tour-booking myself, which takes a lot of work and emailing and organizing, I can never say "no" whenever some band offers to take me along on a tour that I don't have to organize, all I have to do is show up and play and get paid!  Well, pay is usually pretty minimal on these support tours, most of the time I can't afford to take my full 4-piece band and I've just been switching it up, like the Super Furry Animals tour I did solo acoustic, the Mountain Goats tour I did with the full band, the Cribs tour I did as a duo with Helen (my keyboard player), the British Sea Power tour I did solo, the Los Campesinos tour I did with the full band, and the Steven Malkmus & the Jicks tour I did as a duo with Jack (my brother and bass player).Most of the time I prefer to not even notify my own fan base and email list about these support tours, because a big part of the "pay" for doing these sorts of tours is that you get to hopefully play each night to venues full of people who have never heard of you, and thus make new fans.  The more of my own fans that come to these shows, the less room there is for new ears in the room, and besides all of the ticket prices are more expensive than my own shows would be so I feel bad if my fans pay more to see me than they normally would have to. 

It's always great to play to totally new audiences, the element of surprise is really on my side because of all the unusual things that are mixed into my sets on different nights, like the ‘History of Punk on the Lower East Side’, the spoken word pieces, the illustrated songs, the mix of quiet folk songs and loud garage rock songs, the History of Communism stuff, the re-arranged covers of Crass songs, the comic books, it's quite different to perform all of these sorts of things to an audience that's already fans, I always feel more pressure to constantly come up with new material to not make the fans hear the same stuff too often, whereas playing as a support band to new audiences I can feel a bit more confident that even if I don't play a particularly good set that night at least a new audience will hopefully be vaguely wowed by the jumble of elements, at worst.  Once the element of surprise is gone, I have to rely more on the quality of my songwriting itself, which I can do but like I say it's a bit more pressure on me.  And then of course, if I play a crummy set as a support band no one particularly cares, you're not who they paid money to see anyway.  As a performer onstage it's a like a low-risk gamble with potentially a high payoff if you succeed.

As an accomplished artist how do you balance time between your music and your art? Do you consider yourself one or the other?

I certainly know more about the craft of making comics than I do about the craft of making and recording songs, for me music is more about seat-of-the pants inspiration which might be there or might not be there, and comics and art are more reliable for me.  It's hard to balance the time because comic books take so much time and focus to create, and touring doesn't leave much of this kind of time available. It's a problem I haven't quite solved.

How do you feel about the whole Anti-Folk tag that you often branded with?

It's not something I consciously set out to be, I'd never heard of Anti-folk when I started playing shows, but I do think that it makes sense for me.  I would almost go so far as to say that it makes more sense for me than for most other performers who have been tagged with it!  I think the music that I make has a hard time fitting into a "singer songwriter" definition, or even an "indie rock" definition, "Antifolk" actually fits better, despite (or because!) nobody quite knows what it means. 

What kinds of musicians inspired you, or still inspire you, to write music? Also same goes with your cartoons.

With music I think I'm often inspired by people who are able to make top-notch mind-blowing material without any of the tools or skills that most people would think you need to be at that level of artistic awesomeness.  Like, most people would not think of the musical or vocal skills of Lou Reed, Daniel Johnston, Mark E Smith of the Fall, Jonathan Richman, other people like that, they are not considered "world class" in terms of technical ability, but that never stopped them from making some of the most moving, imaginative, important music I've ever heard.  

I think it's inspiring because it really shows that the most important thing you can do as an artist is follow your own personal path, and not worry about whether you're "good enough".  Everybody is "good enough" at being themselves.  For comic books I suppose I have a similar taste for an element of "effortless perfection" although I do have a higher level of appreciation for the pure craft and technique. 

How do you feel about illegal downloading? Do you feel the impact of it?

I probably feel a positive impact from it, if anything.  There've been tons of times when people tell me they have become my fan or have come to my shows because they stumbled across something on the internet, somebody suggested they check out a link to one of my videos on Youtube, or something like that.  Mike Watt, famous for his words of wisdom for independant bands, once said everything in the music biz breaks down to the two categories of "fliers and gigs".  The more widespread your "fliers" are, the more people pay to come to your gigs.  Seen in that light, downloads and Myspace and Youtube and albums themselves are all just "fliers" that hopefully get people to your shows wherever you play in the world.  And, unless you're the Beatles, shows are the most direct and important way to make a living.  

Do you have any more records in the pipeline?

Lots of stuff, but not sure what'll become of it.  I've got about 20 songs that were recorded well over a year ago, before I even finished the Crass album, and a bunch of new songs that i haven't recorded yet.  Then I've got these 25 "low-budget videos", the illustrated songs which are mostly songs that are not on albums and are only performed along with the illustrations, and some work was done on making a DVD of all of this audio/visual material but it's yet another unfinished project on the backburner.  

Doing all of this touring in the past 9 months has really pushed all of this stuff further into the background unfortunately.  I really hoped to at least have a new single, if not a 6 or 7 song EP released by early September, but I don't know how realistic that is right now, none of the recordings are finished and it's already the end of June.  One thought was to make an EP or even a full album concentrating on the band material that my brother Jack contributes, a lot of the more rockin' stuff that we do is material I co-write with my brother, sometimes these songs are like 90% Jack's, and it might be a nice change of pace to do a release that focuses more on this end of our band's spectrum. 

What’s your favourite type of tree?

Symmet-tree.

The last time I did acid I didn't go insane, did I take it correctly?

Probably.  Like I say in "No LSD Tonight", "I know it can be cool and fun, I'm just a bad example."

[audio http://rapidshare.com/files/127897339/02_Video_One__I_Saw_A_Hippie_Girl_On.mp3]

Download Once I Saw A Hippie Girl-Live by Jeffrey Lewis

Tragically Un-Heard Of:
Crazy For Jane

The only band pairing that is more disgustingly sweet than a hetero married couple is the brother and sister duo. Such a bond is acceptable only if the sibling duo makes interesting music. Similar to the Fiery Furnaces, the German based Crazy For Jane, push the boundaries of wordy pop music. Their music is always enchanting as they boldly make atypical pop structures work for those beholding short attention spans. Stringing together narrative stories atop of acoustic arrangements intertwined with a bit of jazz, classical and anti-folk, Crazy For Jane is a band for those who are desperately romantic at heart. Their stories are tales of the lovesick, playful romantic encounters, tongue twisted riddles and imaginative colorful imagery found in everyday life. They have released two albums, Desperate Serenade (2006) and Watermelon Cloud (2007) and have frequently toured the USA and Europe. As they prepare for an August tour of their homeland, Germany, Brother Phillipp Conrad and sister Josepha Conrad were kind enough to answer some questions for Tragically Unheard Of.

Listen: "Do You Have a Jane?"
[audio=http://gaycondo.files.wordpress.com/2008/07/crazyforjane_doyouhaveajane.mp3]

What is the story behind your band name, Crazy for Jane?.

Phillipp: Josepha came up with the awesome band name, Crazy Jane Meets the Family... I said, that's too long, how about Crazy for Jane. Josepha said, OK, that's catchy!

Josepha: Philipp and I are both love Yeats and he has this character called Crazy Jane. So it started with Crazy Jane, but both of us soon realized that "when you start looking for Jane, she appears everywhere."

Was there music in your family while growing up?

Phillipp: Our dad always played songs for us on his guitar. Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton, never-ending Blues with improvised lyrics. This was our typically after-breakfast Sunday ritual. Josepha and I didn't sing together much growing up, but we were both members of the same advanced choral ensemble (although years apart), so around Christmas, we'd always sing two-part harmonies to songs we learned.

When did you decide you would play music together as brother and sister?

Josepha: Crazy for Jane started when Phil asked me to play a show with him opening for Tony Decker from Great Lake Swimmers. We had never thought of ourselves as musicians or that we would form a band together. We had both written a few songs and when we played them on that first show of ours it felt really good even though we were shitting in our pants.

Is it easy, difficult or gray working together as siblings?

Josepha: Being siblings and having a project together, sharing a muse, that is Jane, is really an awesome thing. It is going on an adventure with my favorite person in the world. I know Philipp since the day he was born and he is amazing.

Sometimes I feel like we share one brain, or that we can tap into a common brain. Of course we also want to kill each other sometimes, but more than anything we are committed to each other.

Even tough fights have not rocked our Crazy for Jane boat. Right now Philipp is living in Vienna finishing his B.A. and I am sure if we weren't siblings that would be the end of Crazy for Jane. But because we are tied in so many ways, it is not hard to imagine Crazy for Jane beyond this time.

Your songs are extremely complex stories that deal with the minute aspects of everyday life, fantasies and love. Do you collaborate on lyrics?

Phillipp: Josepha writes almost all the lyrics. Sometimes I'll suggest a better word, or something...

Josepha: Even though I wrote most of the Crazy for Jane songs, they become totally transformed when Philipp absorbs them and takes them through his world of guitar playing and harmonies. I have tried to play some of these songs without Philipp and they simply don't work without him.

Where do you write your lyrics? In your head? On paper?

Josepha: I do write lyrics on paper. Sometimes little frazes will come to me on a walk or while hanging out, but I never shape this stuff in my head. I usually get out pen and paper or the computer. I love writing on the computer. The clack clack clack always makes me feel very productive.

Are your words works of fiction or brush with reality? Has anyone ever thought a song was about them?

Josepha: Philipp often thinks songs are about him and there have also been friends that have thought certain songs are about them. But that probably has to do with that often songs are about particular people or particular events. I did write this song called "This song is about you" where I mixed many little details about different people I know to create a broad feeling of paranoia and sense that this song is in fact about you, I mean about them.

Do you have any songs you are particularly proud of? Why?

Josepha: Songs that I am particularly proud of are: The Circus and Memory: A Portrait. They are also songs that I always feel very transported by when we perform them.

Phillipp: I'm particularly proud of Everything Strange. I wrote all the music for that. Also The Ship. The song Desperate Serenade is also all mine (including lyrics).... At the end of the day, we both shape the songs

Listen: "Meow, She's a Black Cat"
[audio=http://gaycondo.files.wordpress.com/2008/07/crazyforjane_meow.mp3]

Your music is quite eclectic in range, mood and instrumentation. Do you hire studio musicians to play the additional parts or are they friends?

Phillipp: Everybody who worked on the recordings are friends. The only people we hired were the studio/technicians. We do our best to pay our friends what we can, but we work with people with whom we have a connection.

Who are some of your musical inspirations? Any "Tragically UnHeard Of" favorites you have met in your travels?

Josepha: Tomi Simatupang and Ben Montgomery are Philipp and my big musical inspirations and we have been extremely lucky to play shows with these two amazing men and to record with them and to share a friendship with them. I am not sure if they are "tragically unheard of" but they are definitely musicians/songwriters to pay attention to because they are awesome. "Watermelon Cloud" was also recorded with them and with some very old friends from Chicago whom we grew up with.

Any plans to take additional members on tour or do you prefer to work closely as a duo?

Josepha: In a perfect Crazy for Jane world where the laws of geography do not apply, we would all be on stage together serenading you and Jane. Philipp and I also have an older sister, Anja, who is a wonderful musician and singer and we would also love to have her and all her lovely kids with us. Our dad also sings on both albums and whenever we can we drag him on stage. So in many ways we are not really a duo. We are simply the core.

Josepha, I have heard you say that you would prefer to be someone's secret rather than have your music be famous. What makes you take this angle?

Josepha: A secret has a certain energy. Something that gets passed between friends, something that travels strange ways. Like the game telephone. Of course we want to reach people and we want to be out there sharing our music, but fame is something that can be a lot of hype and can take the energy out of your hands and into a strange consumer obstacle course. We have been lucky that we have been able to travel a lot and play a lot of shows and record and we have been able to make up our own rules as we go and hang out with friends. Philipp likes the idea of taking helicopters and I do hope that one day we get to be on a helicopter ride together. It would just be so fun to watch his face.

How would you both describe success as a band? As individuals?

Phillipp: We find the band a great success. People who come to our shows thank us for our work. People who listen to our songs get inspired. People have fun when they see our energy on stage. They get lost in the words, and take hold of the melodies. I wish we could play more.

Josepha: I never thought I would ever be in a band, make music, or even play an instrument, it seemed too far away to even have fantasies about, so when I think about success I feel like in many ways I am already way beyond anything that I would have dared to imagine for myself. I do hope Philipp and I keep being able to tour together and write songs together, that would be amazing.

You have toured all over Europe and America. What are your favorite countries/regions to play?

Phillipp: The Czech Republic was great fun. The people were very thankful for our presence, even if they didn't understand the lyrics.

Josepha: England would be great because they speak English and it does feel really good when the audience actually understands all the words we sing. I particularly loved touring the States with Philipp even though these were our hardest tours also. Talk about sibling craziness. Some of those drives were very long and we didn't always have cozy places to stay and often we would get very grumpy. But there were some shows that I will never forget like playing at High Energy Constructs in L.A., the Dearborn House in Seattle, or at a pizza place called The Rimrock Patio in Torrey Utah.

Where are some places you would like to travel to play music that you haven't been to yet?.

Phillipp: We would love to travel to Japan, England, more of France, anywhere really....

Josepha: I would love to go the Japan with Philipp. We have always talked about how much fun that would be. We love everything Japanese.

Any plans for a new record? What's next for Crazy for Jane?

Josepha: Our next goal is to work on our new album "Crazy Jane meets the Family". We are playing some shows together this June and July and going on a mini tour in Germany in August and hopefully we will find time to work on some new songs.

In the past, Truax's music has been described as "steampunk" and it's as good a term as any.  His bizarre homemade instruments, spread around the stage, are strange Victorian-looking creations cobbled together out of old gramophone horns and pram wheels, and they are played with a 'just get up there and do it' punk spirit.
When Mother Superior, his drum machine, breaks down, no-one is sure whether the 10- minute break while he fixes it is genuine, or just a clever way to introduce the interval.

Either way, he spends the entire time at the back of the stage, tinkering away until the pulley-powered percussionist is back on her metaphorical metal legs. The singer likes to interact with the crowd, and even in the a fairly confined space ohe weaves through the audience, standing on tables, chairs, even the bar at one point, all the while shining a fairytale full moon on to the ceiling using a torch attached to his guitar. While most of Truax's songs have a stream of consciousness foundation where melody is just an afterthought and  lyrics that often sound like an exercise in free writing, each song is completely compelling.

Even if some of his music is more than a little impenetrable, you have to applaud the sheer eccentricity and audacity of Thomas Truax.      Mike Shaw

]]> http://globeglauber.wordpress.com/?p=44 Fri, 20 Jun 2008 20:45:05 +0000 globeglauber http://globeglauber.pt-br.wordpress.com/2008/06/20/retour-vers-le-futur-61-diane-cluck-a-la-compilotheque-mardi-010708/

photo < © mike white - deadlydesigns

le 1^er juillet - un an jour pour jour après avoir fait jouer jeffrey lewis à la ferme du biéreau - je co-organise le concert de diane cluck, une musicienne un moment associée, comme lui, à la scène "anti-folk" - il y a pas mal de temps, en 2001, jeffrey et diane enregistrèrent ensemble un cd-r de trois chansons…

j'ai retrouvé la date sur internet: mon envie d'un jour organiser un concert de diane cluck date du 16 avril 2005. ce soir là, dans la petite maison des jeunes "le gué" à woluwé, nooni et anne-lise organisent un de leurs festivals "dictapop" avec une petite affiche assez éclectique où l'on retrouve un ou deux groupes rock anglais aujourd'hui oubliés mais aussi un set de dj elephant power et les encore-frères brûleurs de planches herman düne. diane cluck n'est même pas prévue, même pas mentionnée au programme: elle tourne avec herman düne, joue et/ou chante avec eux (pour les détails, ma mémoire se brouille) et, pour notre plus grand bonheur, andré, david et neman ont réussi à lui trouver une petite faille horaire pour lui laisser chanter quelques chansons à elle…

très très vite, diane cluck magnétise notre attention. il y a sa musique, et tout particulièrement sa voix, bien sûr… mais aussi, quelque chose de l'ordre de sa présence sur scène, de la manière dont sa musique émane de son corps. si souvent, ce genre de chansons acoustiques "folkisantes" sont portées par des musiciennes assises, voire quasiment recroquevillées sur elles mêmes, qui semblent très marquées par le poids de l'introspection. ce soir-là, on avait devant nous une femme paraissant frêle au premier regard mais qui, une fois debout sur le devant de la scène, irradiait un vrai engagement, une façon de regarder droit devant elle et de ne pas baisser les yeux. du coup, dans la salle, même quelqu'un comme katia du cinéma nova, qui n'écoute pas ce genre de musique chez elle et qui était plutôt venue écouter elephant power ouvrait des yeux grands comme ça! un grand moment, d'excellents souvenirs…

depuis, j'ai écouté trois albums de la dame (dont un sur voodoo eros, le label des coco rosie) et même si je les apprécie, je n'ai jamais vraiment retrouvé à cent pour cent le magnétisme de ce concert si particulier…

diane cluck ~ faustine hollander
mardi 1^er juillet – 20h – 5 eur
la compilothèque
50 quai des péniches – 1000 bruxelles

je retaperai régulièrement sur le clou promotionnel ;
du coup, je suis économe en liens aujourd'hui… d'autres suivront!

lien 1 [vidéo de i'm your here i am – live à brooklynn en 2002]
lien 2 [presque 1h de radio – morceaux live et enregistrés, interview – au micro de david garland]

Ontem à noite aconteceu uma das poucas apresentações do Chris Garneau no Brasil. Não conhecia o músico, fui no show depois de ouvir só uma música. Piano, violoncelo, acordeon, letras deprecivas, mas uma voz muito gostosinha. Um toque de Elliott Smith e Yann Tiersen. Simplesmente fofo, e de tão pequenininho dá vontade de carregar no chaveiro.

No maior estilo Música de Bolso, essa é a 'We don't try':

E essa é a cover do Elliott Smith 'Between the bars':

***Agora saiu a versão Música de Bolso de verdade, no volume 48. Confira aqui***

Leslie Feist is a canadian singer-songwriter. She performs as a solo artist under the name Feist, and as a member of Broken Social Scene.

Links:
http://www.listentofeist.com/
http://www.myspace.com/feist

XBN is hosted by Blog Talk Radio, at least for now, and the majority of shows features interviews of compelling persons by XBN staff. But, I just couldn't help myself and had to do a music show, especially since we have been licensed to play some kick-ass tunes.

My first show featured Midtown Dickens, The Future Kings of Nowhere, The Potatomen, Red Collar, The Queers, Endless Mike and the Beagle Club, Girl Talk, Eberhardt, and Beloved Binge. You can find links to each artists whosse music I played by clicking on the XBN music tab at the top of the page, or click here.

I learned a lot doing the show, and even more when I listed to it. Next time will be much much better. (I'm an obsessive perfectionist, and I'm not sure it's possible for it to ever be perfect. But I'll continue to try!) I see that I got several callers during the hour, and I apologize for not being able to take your calls during the show.

If you're in a band and you'd like to get your stuff played on XBN. Shoot me an email at xbnmusic@gmail.com. If possible, try to send me an mp3 file as well. If I like what I hear, then I'll put it on air in a future broadcast. (I'll also announce album and tour info, if provided.)

Here is his website.

Eu confesso. Eu não sou das mais entendidas de música. Fui criada a base de música de rádio, músicas do arco da velha da minha vó, e até CD das Sete Melhores da Jovem Pan. Minha educação musical é próxima ao zero, nunca aprendi a tocar um instrumento, no mínimo a flauta doce na pré-escola e a nunca atendida vontade de aprender a tocar violão.

Essa minha história de escrever sobre música foi muito mais um hobbie que eu passei pro blog do que um assunto que eu realmente manje, por isso confesso: eu não sei lidar com as tantas categorias da música de hoje em dia. Me lembro bem que quando eu era mais nova as coisas eram bem mais simples, ou era pop, ou era rock, ou era eletrônico, ou era sertanejo, ou era samba/ axé, e mais uma ou outra coisa. E só.

Agora é um tal de new-pop-rock-eletro-punk-anti-folk que eu já nem sei mais. Por exemplo, as categorias dos meus posts, em NUNCA sei se coloco um ou outro, ou crio um novo. Não que isso seja necessariamente ruim (aliás, adoro essa variedade toda), ou que as coisas deviam ser encaixadas em categorias quadradas, mas o que mais me incomoda é que como categorizar as minhas preferências musicais? Eu já nem sei falar do que gosto mais. 

Essa aflição me atingiu recentemente quando coloquei Mark Ronson pra tocar no Last.fm e o site me põe como artistasimilar o Kanye West (Kanye West! odeio esse cara!). Juro que para mim é juntar banana com maçã, mas será essa a lógica?

Isso é Mark Ronson, com o cover de Radiohead "Just":

E isso é Kanye West, com o Daft Punk em "Stronger":

If you have ever flipped through a Portland weekly music section this past year, it ain't no surprise that The Builders and the Butchers won the "Best New Band" poll ran by the Willamette Week. We all saw it coming...and I'm sure recent recording sessions with members of The Decemberists didn't hurt much. I really should have put my money where my mouth was and bet on TBATB's inevitable success. Not to say they don't write good songs and put on a fun, interactive live show... In fact, I'm actually listening to them right now.

But...
I tend to root for the little guys/gals, anyways.
Here is how I voted:

(ps. read how the WWeek Best New Band poll works)

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Chores
Listen to "Wine Buzz (live at Holocene)":
[audio="http://gaycondo.wordpress.com/files/2008/05/14-wine-buzz-live.mp3"]
I was flabbergasted that Chores didn't get an honorable mention in the polling. WTF? They have been pretty hot this past year and always put on a high energy live performance. They are also really smart as they proved in the Tragically UnHeard Of spot I did with them a few weeks ago.

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Slutty Hearts
Listen to "Beep":
[audio="http://gaycondo.files.wordpress.com/2008/05/beep.mp3"]
Discovering Slutty Hearts is the best local music find this year! They are only two people but manage to play like a 3-4 piece band! Get this: live, they have two minimalist drum sets...one is just a kick drum and the other is a floor tom, crash and snare and they both play them together making the sound of a full kit WHILE they play guitar and keyboards and sing. With a platonic pairing of one guy and girl singing sweet melodies over anti-folk ballads, it is hard not to fall in love with them....and get an urge to do something slutty.

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Autopilot is for Lovers
Listen to "No One Will Know":
[audio="http://gaycondo.files.wordpress.com/2008/05/07-track-071.mp3"]
Featuring past/present members of The Builders and the Butchers and receiving a lot of attention from the WWeek over the past 6 months, I was shocked that Autopilot is for Lovers didn't make the Top 10. Too bad, because this band is effing amazing and deserves all the admiral ears they can get! They play sullen, back woods folk music that is reminiscent of early, still drinking and agitated Cat Power. Guess what? Autopilot is for Lovers has a brilliant new album on Stereotype. NOW GIT AND GO GET IT!

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John Sutherland
[audio="http://gaycondo.files.wordpress.com/2008/05/02-track-02-3.mp3"]
Unfortunately, John Sutherland didn't have a chance at winning WWeek's "Best New Band" because well, he's not a band. He's just one guy that is severely talented at finger picking guitar. He makes insanely beautiful compositions that often span over 10 minutes. His style is perfect for a rainy day sitting on the porch drinking wine or used as a soundtrack while driving through the country with someone you love.

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Sick Sick Sister
Listen: "Devilfruit"

[audio="http://gaycondo.wordpress.com/files/2008/05/05-devilfruit.mp3"]

Sick Sick Sister has come a long way over the years and the current lineup is hot. Gnarly, girl-grunge-grit that flashes me back to the days when I LIVED for Hole's "Live Through This".

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The WWeek only lets you vote for 5 bands tops but here are some others I would have voted for if I had more options and if I had known they existed at the time

1. Purple Rhinestone Eagle - Purple Rhinestone Eagle just moved to Portland not too long ago so they need to do more time before they get crowed "Best New Band"....but after that time is spent y'all better lay some money down!

2. Grandpa's Ghost Stories - featuring an all star queer lineup, GGS, just played it's first secret show...watch part of it here. They blend metal with catchy vocal melodies....think Pat Benetar meets Black Sabbath.

3. Porches - I so would have voted for this band if I had known they existed at the time! Porches makes covered-wagon pioneer music that will make young men cry into their beards:

 I'm so glad YOU found out about this totally underground, indie, straight to DVD release first and like it more than everyone else.

"This award winning movie is mine because i found the gem in a really secluded corner shelf of Blockbuster"

"i'll increase my wit by quoting hyper synthesized dialogue."  

"You're...like...the coolest person ever. And you don't even have to try." "Awww, why aren't all boys like that!"

"Anyway, sorry i can't jab more fyrtle myrtles, but i've heard there's a new line of flannel jacket at Sears!"

"Sigh, <3 Pauly Bleeker <3"

After an adorable romp through teen pregnancy, The Juno Soundtrack actually was a gratifying and very likeable, anti-folk, lo-fi record, exploiting Kimya Dawson and others. 

And I did like the movie, just not as much as you.

A previsão é de chuva e frio e, para melhorar, solzão na segundona pós-feriado. Bom, pelo menos é o que prevê o The Weather Channel para a São Paulo.

Menos mau pra mim que vai ter que escrever umas 50 páginas de monografia no mínimo durante esses quatro dias.

Eis músicas para diversão nos dias pestilentos:

Patty Griffin - Rain

Travis - Why Does It Always Rain On Me

Beatles - Rain

Eurythmics - Here Comes The Rain Again

Lots of fantastic acts have give us permission to use their tunes. This week I got the ok from international pop-punk veterans The Queers, and Flav & Mass Giorgini, as well as master DJ Girl Talk and local heroes Midtown Dickens, Future Kings of Nowhere, Eberhardt, Red Collar, and Beloved Binge.

Johnstown, Pennsylvania residents Endless Mike and The Beagle Club also gave their permission, and O left them out of the lists above because I have something extra-special to say about them. Ok, I actually have a few things to say about them:

1. "Mr. Miller's Opus" is one of the best songs ever. Confirmed.
2. They will be touring soon, with a 15 piece band.
3. I will see them again on June 11th, in Chapel Hill.

My colleague Jill has garnered approval from several artists as well. Her outstanding work was my inspiration. I hope you get a chance to listen to our radio program. And, if you dig our musical interludes, then show the artists that you appreciate their support!

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-the management