2010 is shaping up to be a bumper year when it comes to new music for me, especially compared to last year. I've really been digging new artists (Fanfarlo, The Drums) as well as new releases from others (Vampire Weekend, Gorillaz, The National and Goldspot). Some of these may have come out last year but I feel like they've really started hitting this year…not to mention that Arcade Fire and The Walkmen have new records upcoming! I created a mix on 8tracks, "handcrafted radio", with some of my favorite tracks from these records. Enjoy!
Great New Music: Fanfarlo, Vampire Weekend, Goldspot, Noah & The Whale, Blind Pilot
2010 is off to a good start in terms of new music for me. Actually some of the albums I’ve been listening to were released last year but, for whatever reason, I’m getting into them now. Below are the records I’ve been listening to most of late. You can listen to a mix I created on 8tracks of some of the tracks by clicking the play button at the bottom of this post:
Reservoir (Fanfarlo): I saw Fanfarlo play University of London a few weeks ago (hat tip to gig mate Anjali). I bought the album the next day and it’s been on heavy rotation since. The singer’s voice reminds me of Zach from Beirut while the instrumentation and arrangements evoke Arcade Fire. My fave at the moment.
Contra (Vampire Weekend): No sophomore jinx for these guys. Contra is a strong second effort and, possibly, better than the first. They’ve retained the VW sound but are experimenting as well. I dug their use of Auto Tune on a couple tracks. Who says it’s only for T Pain!
And The Elephant Is Dancing (Goldspot): I discovered Goldspot a few years ago on KCRW’s morning show. Their album, Tally of the Yes Men was getting a lot of attention although it never quite took off. This is also their second effort and I’m digging it. More stylized than the first – evocative of 60s psychedelic rock at times – but I like the arrangements and the voice. I’ve been playing their first album a lot too and it stands up to the test of time. Get them both.
The First Days of Spring (Noah & The Whale): I’d heard of these guys – they’re from Twickenham, which isn’t far from where I live – and finally picked up this, their latest record, and their last one, Peaceful The World Lays Me Down. Different sounds with the new one being a bit darker than the first. I think I prefer the first one but the new one is growing on me. Regardless, count me as a Noah & The Whale fan.
3 Rounds and a Sound (Blind Pilot): I heard them on WXPN’s show and liked their alt-folk kind of sound and harmonies. Another keeper.
Two Great Broadband Music Video Shows
I just came across two great Web-only music video series:
Black Cab Sessions: They get artists to do a song in the back of a London black cab, often after they've just played a gig. It's great to see artists like Lykke Li and The Walkmen in such a stripped down form. I like the touch of having the cabbie do the intro.
The Takeaway Shows: In a similar vein to the Black Cab Sessions, and in their own words: "Every week, we invite an artist or a band to play in the streets, in
a bar, a park, or even in a flat or in an elevator, and we film the
whole session. Of course, what makes the beauty of it is all the little
incidents, hesitations, and crazy stuff happening unexpectingly.
Besides, we do not edit the videos so they look perfectly flawless,
instead we keep the raw sound of the surroundings. Our goal is to try
and capture instants, film the music just like it happens, without
preparation, without tricks. Spontaneity is the keyword.
The Take away shows exist since April 2006. There was Chryde, who
wanted to shake things up and find another way to share music, and
there was Vincent Moon, who wanted to film music differently. Chryde
offered Moon to go and film musicians in the city, Moon seized the idea
and glorified it. Since then, other directors across the world joined
this project, and we plan to extend it worldwide."
I love seeing bands up close and stripped down. In the case of the latter, I like the story behind the shoot that accompanies every post and the unguarded moments – like Zach Condon of Beirut walking the streets of Paris. The Sigur Ros performance in the Paris cafe is surreal and spectacular. This is what the Internet video is all about.
[Hat tip to my gigmate Lisa for pointing these out to me.]
Getting The Led Out
I’m a big Led Zeppelin fan. Their music was practically the soundtrack to my middle school and high school years. The band are reuniting for a special concert tomorrow night for a tribute to the legendary founder of Atlantic Records, Ahmet Ertegun. There was a special lottery for tickets to the event. The O2 Arena probably holds 20 – 30 thousand people whereas 20 million people applied for tickets to the event.
I wasn’t able to score a ticket to tomorrow night’s show, nor am I willing to pay the 800 – 1,000 Sterling that is the going rate for such tickets. But my friend Markus was kind enough to bring me to the short but sweet soundcheck that the band did this afternoon. They sounded great. Despite the high stakes for such an event, the band looked relaxed and like they were having fun. They played No Quarter and it was cool to see Robert Plant, cup of tea in hand, go to the floor to greet some friends and take the band in. At the end they posed with the production crew for a group photo — lots of people involved in a gig of that scale.
I’m sure tomorrow night’s concert will be amazing. I’m just hoping that they decide to go on a proper tour next year!
Duran Duran At The Lyceum
I was lucky to be able to see Duran Duran perform last night at the Lyceum Theatre in Covent Garden. They played a number of nights at the Barrymore Theater on Broadway in NYC but this was their one London gig making it all the more special. For the first set, they played all the songs on their new album, Red Carpet Massacre. It has been critically well-received and involves a collaboration with Timbaland and Justin Timberlake. My favorites are Skin Divers and Falling Down. VH1 was taping the concert and apparently something went wrong during the first set so the band came back on just minutes after the first set to play Skin Divers again. They were good sports about it and the crowd went wild. I’m sure that version had much more energy than the first time ’round. 
There was an all-electronic second set followed by a 3rd set of classics like Rio and Notorious with Girls On Film as the encore. Great stuff and I dare say you’ll be seeing more of them in the New Year.
Merge Records: The Indie Label You Need To Know
Merge Records is a little-known indie label based in North Carolina. And yet their acts consistently churn out great records. Three of my favorite acts, Camera Obscura, M. Ward and Arcade Fire, are on Merge (at least for their US distribution). I hear the new Spoon album is supposed to be a good one but am reserving judgment as I’ve only heard it once. Regardless, like Matador Records or 4AD, I’ll pretty much give any Merge album a shot because I trust their musical tastes.
Facebook’s Music Platform
A number of outfits wrote about the rumor of a music platform that Facebook is developing with respect to profile pages, streaming widgets, etc. Yes, it does make a lot more sense than any sort of music store — selling recorded music is just a bad business to be in these days. Valleywag thinks it’s bad news for iLike. But iLike will be fine. Yes, they’ll need to adapt. But their mission is all around optimizing social music, whereas it will be hard for Facebook to have a laser focus on the problem. Also, the Partovi brothers [disclosure: Ali is a friend of mine], are world-class entrepreneurs who know a thing or two about being nimble and dealing with competition from incumbent platforms. In fact, as paidcontent writes, iLike’s widgets will be among the ones going on the pages. FWIW, I think Bebo also has a good platform for musicians as does Virb, although both are somewhat more closed than MySpace. I look forward to the offering from Facebook.
Peace One Day Concert
I was lucky to be able to attend the Peace One Day Concert last Friday. Peace One Day is a NGO founded by filmmaker Jeremy Gilley, which Brightcove is proud to be a supporter of. In his words:
I founded Peace One Day in 1999 to document my efforts to create an
annual day of global ceasefire and non-violence with a fixed calendar
date. In 2001, POD achieved its primary objective. United Nations
General Assembly resolution (A/Res/55/282) was unanimously adopted by
UN member states, formally establishing an annual day of global
ceasefire and non-violence on the UN International Day of Peace, fixed
in the global calendar on 21 September – Peace Day.
This culiminated in a benefit concert at the Royal Albert Hall with performances by Corinne Bailey Rae, Kate Nash, Marc Almond, James Morrison, Yusuf (Cat Stevens) and Annie Lennox. What a wonderful event. It was 3 hours but didn’t feel that long. Having short sets from the performers interspersed with messages from the speakers was a good format. Corinne Bailey Rae and Yusuf were the highlights for me – they have wonderful, sweet voices, which sounded great in such an exquisite setting. However, Annie Lennox was the one the crowd most wanted to see, and she delivered with an energetic, passionate set. Congrats to Jeremy Gilley and the Peace One Day team for pulling off such a memorable event.
A Nice Summer Evening With Camera Obscura
I was fortunate to be in NYC last night to see Camera Obscura play at the South Street Seaport Festival. The Festival has hosted free outdoor shows all summer long and it was a pretty cool scene to hear great music framed by a couple of ships (one of them named "Baroque" if memory serves) with Brooklyn in the background. I’ve been listening a lot to the last Camera Obscura record, Let’s Get Out Of This Country, which I think is their best one. They’re Scottish and are heavily influenced by Belle and Sebastian — a great thing in my book. They have a very happy sweet, mellow sound with tinges of melancholy — some call it twee pop. The album has been the perfect soundtrack for my spring and summer (along with Neon Bible and Post-War). Fred Wilson is digging them as well.
Good New Music
Back Numbers – Dean & Britta. This is the new record of Dean & Britta of Luna fame. I’ve listend to it a few times and I dig it. Great gift for your valentine this Feb 14.
Van Morrison At The Movies: Soundtrack Hits. Just got the advance copy of this one and love it so far. It’s basically a greatest hits album but has some great live versions of some of his songs, like Moondance. I just wish Tupelo Honey was on this record.
Living With The Living – Ted Leo & The Pharmacists. Just got this one too and like it so far after the first listen. Looking forward to more.