Petra Haden

Midway through the last academic quarter I set out to update the world on a few small Petra Haden related tidbits, and since then I have done nothing about it. Also since then, she has only proved herself a busy bee, making this post a little more extensive than originally planned. So here's what our favorite singer/violinist/sellout has been up to lately:

• First, and most importantly. I posted some time ago that Petra Haden recorded a vocal rendition of Brian Wilson's famous piece "God Only Knows" in the same fashion that she vocally recorded the album The Who Sell Out. Since then she has posted her own version of Michael Jackson's "Thriller." Be twitterpatted, be excited, be happy. Listen to it here.


• Petra Haden and Miss Murgatroid have once again come together to record another album. It is unreleased as of yet, but they are seeking someone to distribute the album. If you are out there looking for music to distribute, or just randomly sitting on a large sum of money to support such a venture, good gravy folks, get on it! And you can find more information here. And what the heck, give this track a listen. It comes from their previous album Bella Neurox


• Her official site has been updated extensively, including an announcement for an upcoming concert that's not taking place anywhere near me, so I don't care at all. Not at all... not caring... watch me not care! mumblegrumble... In addition she's posted an extensive discography, including albums for which she provided background vocals. It's really very extensive, and makes me realize that it may be impossible to be a completist with her. However, I myself just snagged up her album she recorded with Crib, and I'm quite delighted by the results. Woot!


• And finally, what would an extensive post about one of my favorite musicians be without the promise of another One Hour / One Band? That's right! I'll be spinning the music of Petra Haden, spanning from her that dog. years all the way up to her most recent releases on KWVA on April 14th. I'll be spinning from 4 p.m. to 5 p.m. and you can listen live at this link or just hang tight until I've posted it up on my blog.

Vacated update

I'm all vacationy. I had hoped to run a few posts during this time and catch up with a few things I've been wanting to write, but now all of that has escapted my brain. I can't even remember what it is I wanted to write about. Once I'm back in Eugene I'm sure the creative juices will flow once more and my memory will kick in.

In the meantime, my brain is completely fried from a very busy, if not very fruitful, winter quarter. I look to the next quarter with equal parts fear, excitement and anticipation. It's a very special combo that leaves my chest in a fluttery sort of fashion on a regular basis. In the coming quarter I will find out how I will spend my summer internship, I will take my final two classes in my post graduate education at the University of Oregon (cuz I plan on taking more post graduate classes again in my future life) and I will conduct a final project to prove my reporting abilities. And those are just the educational goals. I also plan on upping the amount of arts writing I do for such publications as The Daily Emerald, Punk Planet Magazine and NadaMucho.com.

So it's with that in mind that I present the first article I've written in months that you dear readers can actually read. Everything I've been working on lately has been for either educational purposes, or for my internship at a paper that does not post online. So here it is! My review of the Frausdots! Although you must excuse my horrible mistake putting down Mississippi John Hurt when I meant to write Mississippi Fred McDowell. Oh well. It has been corrected in the comments below the article.

Hop on by Nada Mucho's place and read!.

And don't forget to ask them about their famous peach cobbler.

The Pipettes

Few have tried, and even fewer have succeeded so well at capturing the Phil Spector sound today. Even Johnny Boy's near-brilliant "You Are The Generation That Bought More Shoes (And You Get What You Deserve)" had to go as far as nearly stealing the rhythm that made The Ronnettes' "Be My Baby" so brilliant. Hell, Billy Joel will admit outright to flat out stealing it for "Only The Good Die Young." So even those brilliant moments that capture the sound, few have been able to run with it and still create enough music to grab you for a full album.

But now we've got a contendor. The Pipettes, who come adorned in polka-dot dresses ready to handclap their way into your music-loving hearts. 

As I listen to this British trio I'm struck by how far sweeping the sound is. After I get over the initial and obvious Phil Spector comparison, I find myself thinking of everything from The Magnetic Fields, Johnny Boy and The Go! Team to Le Tigre and Julie Ruin, to Annie to... The list just goes on. Bow Wow Wow and Toni Basil? At one moment I even thought of dance music god Annie. in the track "Dirty Mind" I even here the B-52's jumping in singing "Roam if you want to."
The track "Your Kisses Are Wasted On Me" the group opens in a clap your hands "Hey Mickey you're so fine!" stomp, creating a brilliant wall of sound, but soon move into a crooning more melodic chorus ornamented with the backdrop of cheerleader chants of "And you don't know it!"

As brilliant as that track is, and just pure gold in and of itself, what makes the band work is that they don't rely on that one Hey-Mickey-meets-TheGo!Team stomp, but expands away from such obvious and easy track winners. The underlying style that remains even across their dancier tracks, such as "Dirty Mind" is their densely packed weaving of melody, harmony and outright shouting. And somehow they succeed at each of these pop masterpieces in under 3 minutes each.

As for lasting a whole album? I'm probably speaking too soon, because The Pipettes have only given us a spattering of brilliantly packaged singles that look like they were transported to us straight from 1962. Worse yet, most of these singles are out of print, having only produced 500 to 1000 copies each, so we can only dream of holding such precious vynal beauty in our owns hands. But we can look at them, and pictures of some concerts and get general info about The Pipettes at their website.

In the mean time while we wait for them to compile these pop gems into a full album, give these tracks a whirl!

The Pipettes - Your Kisses Are Wasted On Me

The Pipettes - Dirty Mind

KWVA Playlist

I was pretty happy with today's show. Lots of great tracks, LOTS of requests! You guys rule today. Thanks for all the calls!

But the biggest news today in Eugene is the snow! I'll admit, yesterday the cold weather irritated me, and the threats of snow only warranted my violent shaking of fist and insistence that it's March and no longer time for such weather. But now that the campus is dusted with a quarter inch of snowy bliss I'm enchanted by the prettiness of it all and my general distaste for the cold quickly moves aside.

Unfortunately the snow affects broadcast around here, and it set off some unusual alarms and led me to accidentally play The High Dials twice instead of the CD I meant to close with. But that's a minor detail. It was serendipitous since the track I accidentally played was appropriate since it's titled "Winter Ghosts."

(editors note: it's now 11 a.m. and the snow is almost entirely gone save for a few small patches here and there. This kind of weather gets schools shut down for the entire day 'round these parts.)

But as for music, I had lots of stuff I wanted to play today, and I was able to cram it all in there, and by the time I was done I had a stack of CD's that I never got to look through. That's what we call a good morning.

If you find yourself not wanting to sit through 2 hours of music, let me direct you to the second hour starting with Emily Loizeau and ending with Iron & Wine. It was my favorite section of show, even though I enjoyed all the music.

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3

Teenage Fanclub - Save
Sparks - Perfume
The Magnetic Fields - I Thought You Were My Boyfriend (Extended Mix)
Diverse - Ain't Right
His Name Is Alive - After I Leave You
Flaming Lips - The Wand
Ladytron - Destroy Everything You Touch
Dosh - Nothing New
The Double - Idiocy
Belle and Sebastian - Another Sunny Day
that dog. - Retreat From The Sun
Portugal, The Man - How The Leopard Got Its Spots
Adult. - Glue Your Eyelids Together
The Subways - Oh Yeah
Arctic Monkeys - A Certain Romance
Wolf Parade - Modern World
Emily Loizeau w/ Andrew Bird - London Town
Antony and the Johnsons - My Lady Story
Claudine Longet - I Think It's Going To Rain Today
Iron & Wine - The Trapeze Swinger
Tom Waits - Metro
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah - Heavy Metal
Arab Strap - Don't Ask Me To Dance
The High Dials - Soul In Lust
The High Dials - Winter Ghosts

Highlights: Oh so much here! I can hardly decide what to feature here, and surely whatever I don't will just get its own post down the road. Argle bargle! Too tired to decide! Okay, here goes! Highlights of the day:

Dosh my friends, Dosh. I discovered Dosh via Andrew Bird (whom I kind of think is halfway decent) and Dosh has been rocking my world since I picked up Powder Horn after Christmas. His music is dense and loose and beautiful. Rumor has it he and Bird are collaborating on a new album. Oh the excitement of it all! Give this track a listen:

Dosh - Nothing New

The Subways have appeared on the setlist too many times to not get a little recognition. I love this track. There's a small part of me that looks at their oxycuted little faces on the liner notes and feel like I'm much to old even at 25 to like this music. This is an album for the youths, but I can't stop listening to "Oh Yeah." It's just fun music, and it makes me want to move.

The Subways - Oh Yeah

Requests: Thank you thank you thank you for the requests! I've mentioned before my confusion and beffuddlement towards those that hear my show and then request local heavy metal acts. I always grant the requests when I'm able, but I occasionally do it with some confusion and want to ask "Have you been listening?" But today the three requests fell right in place with my set. One caller asked what kind of music I was playing this morning before he made his request. These are the kind of listeners I'm thankful for. You guys rock. Also, it's really nice knowing that there are people out there listening. I learned this morning that one listener listens during his paper route. Here's to all y'alls that's awake this early in the morning!!! If you've got a request for future shows, drop me a line during the show if you're awake, or leave a note in the comments box.

Next Show Should be next Friday unless something else comes along. I'm heading up to Seattle that day, and may try to get a fill in for that morning. I hate to promise a show since I haven't posted since set list since Valentine's Day. Yikes.

Okay, I lied...

So does anybody remember a couple posts ago when I said I'd be writing about music other than that of Andrew Bird, Iron & Wine and Petra Haden? Nobody? Good... So moving on quickly whilst I have you distracted!

There's been a couple Andrew Bird bits that popped up on my radar recently, and I thought I'd share them here. I ran across a new track over at You Ain't No Picasso and in my paranoia that I somehow missed other bits in the last quarter (with school insanity) I did a little searching around, just in case my main man had been up to his old shenanigans without keeping me in the know. I found just a few things that had snuck past my attention, and I've decided to report them to you here.... because I'm obsessed... in possibly an unhealthy way... and I want him to be my best friend... and we'll hang out and have adventures like Hermoine, Ron and Harry... Okay, enough of that! Let's get it a-rollin'!

• Awesome New Andrew Bird Thing #1: The man has been recording with french songwriter Emily Loizeau. You can find the track over at Keep It Coming. It's a pretty nice track. Stylistically it reminds me of Tom Waits' The Black Rider except that it doesn't give me nightmares. But it's a great track, so hop on by and give it a listen!


• Awesome New Andrew Bird Thing #2: During his most recent tour (y'know that one that DIDN'T come anywhere near the west coast?) Mr. Bird has brought a new track into his rotation. It's called "Sychophantitis" and you can SEE it in video form over at Civility In Public Discourse. Megan thought the track wasn't very good, but quickly added "But since it's Andrew Bird, it's already better than anything else in the world so..." Ah... that's why I married that girl.


• Awesome New Andrew Bird Thing #3:For all y'alls that haven't heeded my advice on seeing him live (or for whatever reason just couldn't) there is a site that hosts a number of high quality, well recorded and edited concerts, including one Mr. Bird did at the Paradiso in Amsterdam. It's a great show, and really representative of his live show. It's the next best thing to being right there. Now get yaself over to Fab Channel and listen to it! I can't link direct to the concert itself, so you'll have to search by his name. But it's pretty easy to find. And really, the quality is top notch. Even if you just check it out for a song or two, it's really worth it. It's just amazing to see him put this stuff together live. 

The Oscars

I have no real commentary here about this Sunday's Academy Awards Ceremony. Anything to be said about the impact of the nominees, the winners, the losers and of course the dresses has already been said, and my lay-opinion on the state of film and how it reflects the state of the world will add little to the conversation (although Batman Begins was robbed on all counts, even those for which it did not receive a nomination).

But what I can say is that I was waiting for something truly inspirational to happen at the event Sunday evening, and I have held this high expectation for the Oscars ever since Steven Soderberg won the much-deserved Oscar for direction the year that his films Erin Brokovich and Traffic were up for numerous awards.

Aside from my opinion of Soderberg, which is high, what he said has remained in my memory ever since that evening. I can barely remember what Reese Witherspoon said last night, but I can still remember what Soderberg said five years ago. (although I did go double check the quote online before I reprinted it here).

I want to thank anyone who spends part of their day creating. I don't care if it's a book, a film, a painting, a dance, a piece of theater, a piece of music - anybody who spends part of their day sharing their experience with us. I think this world would be unlivable without art.

I've rarely heard such inspirational words before. Most people when they receive an Oscar thank their family, the nominees. Few have even humbled themselves so much to thank the people outside of the theater for being creative. And few have recognized as Soderberg did, that any one of us can create art as beautiful as anything up for an Oscar.

For my part, I have two friends trying to make their way in the theatre. I have a friend whom I have not seen in some time who is successfully living as a musician. I have three friends on opposite ends of the earth both throwing their hearts into poetry and are, unlike the rest of us who wouldn't dare let our secret verses be heard or seen, presenting it to the rest of the world. My wife knits, beads and crafts like nobody's business. As we walk through craft fairs, she does not shop or purchase anything at all, she looks and says "Hey, I could make that." And she could. Her sister can sit down and whip out a score for a string quartet without even holding an instrument in her hand. I have friends who are photographers, filmmakers and the wholegamutt of creative outpourings. Hell, if you are reading this, more than likely you take a few moments each week to sit down and write something for all of us to read on your blogs.

Me, I dabble around a bit. I write, I sing on occasion, and I've set myself a goal to finish recording a piece I've been working on within the month. And although I might dream occasionally about winning a Pulitzer prize, or hope to be published, or perhaps some random record label will discover something I've recorded, the real reason has less to do with fame and fortune than it does the will to survive, and making the world a little bit more bearable. An photographyinstructorr here at the University of Oregon said that he wanted to be a photographer for a living because he would do it even if they did not pay him.

Brian Andreas said it best.

There are things you do because they feel right, and they may make no sense, and they may make no money, and it may be the real reason we are here: To love each other, to each other's cooking, and say it was good.

Since no one said it at the Oscars this year, here's to all of the people who spend even a small portion of their day being creative, and even more so to those who take your art and throw it out there for all to see. It takes serious bravery to do that. I hope to live up to the graciousness and honor that Soderberg bestowed upon the world five years ago, and I'm continually in awe of those I know that are living it every day.

Track Review: Iron & Wine

So first, a promise, or pact, or whatever you want to call it. In the coming weeks I hope to return to writing about a wider spectrum of artists other than the likes of Andrew Bird, Iron & Wine and Petra Haden. Although they are great, I've been sitting on a few tracks that I wanted to post/review, and lack of time has lead me to only write about my most favoritests ever, because if I only have so much time, I'll be writing about my favorites. But keep in tune.

But in the meantime, I've been meaning to post about this track for quite some time. It was about one year ago that I only owned The Creek Drank The Cradle by Iron & Wine. I read reviews for his second LP Our Endless Numbered Days and I was turned off by the mention of a crisper, more studio sound (which in retrospect I should have expected since his first album was recorded at home). I was afraid that his gentle sound would get lost in overpoduction and foolishly ignored the album.

Then for my birthday a group of us went out to see In Good Company, a cute film about business change in which I decided that Topher Grace might actually be a fairly decent actor, as he some how channeled the anxious intensity of Jack Lemmon a la The Apartment.

Within that film appeared two Iron & Wine tracks that forced me to realize that the new album would be, in fact, quite brilliant, and not lose anything in a proper studio. I was immediately grabbed by the featured tracks "Naked As We Came" and "Sunset Soon Forgotten." But hidden away at the end of the film is a brilliant non-album track called "The Trapeze Swinger."

Now I have admitted to some serious weaknesses in the past. Things that involve some decent violin fiddlin' in general grabs my attention, as does some hushed twangy tunes, as do pretty vocal harmonies. This track grabs two of the three right there and slaps me silly with 9 minutes of all that action, and proves without a doubt just what Sam Beam can do to his songs in the studio.

The guitar line is what you'd come to expect from Beam, but the continual oooo's just really grab you. But the real clincher for me on this track is the percussion. The track starts with a quiet rattling of, I don't know what it is, but it twinkles and rattles randomly and beautifully, along with a light stomping beat clomping along at a laid back stead pace. The percussion ebbs and flows through the track, pulling in new rhythms, dropping others, generally going back and forth.

Halfway through, when you would expect the song to fade, the bass takes on an unusual riff, a female vocalist (Sarah Beam?) hops in and you quickly learn that the song is going to continue for a bit.

Around 6 minutes in my worst fear becomes my absolute delight. Some sort of electronic noise repeats for about 30 second, and my first reaction is "Wait just one second here! Don't go throwing none of that crap into my Iron & Wine" but quickly I see that he won't allow it to take over his song, as it fades out to allow the piano to climb up, in much the same fashion and architecture that the bass had halfway through the song.

As the song climaxes, you almost forget the beautiful ooo's that pulled you into the song, and thank god they fade Beam's voice and the piano to let them back in to lead the song to a close. Thirty second prior to the close, as you're expecting a very slow fade, a pan pipe jumps in, and we drop out completely on the cue of a piano thunk.

This track is a dream come true for fans. My CD player gets tired of my repeating tracks like "Naked As We Came," which clock in under 3 minutes but demand more time in the atmosphere. My first thought was that Beam couldn't keep you content for a near ten minute track, but on the contrary you're only just ready for the song to end when it does. And if you're like me, you probably are tracking back to hear it one, two... or maybe even 10 times. Hopefully you won't annoy whomever you're living with at the time. Luckily my spouse is also transfixed by the lovely sounds of Beam.

And the result of the movie: I've copies and burned Our Endless Numbered Days twice since then, and yesterday I finally went out and picked up my very own legitimate copy of the album, because the fact is, he deserves it.

Now you go download this track, lean back and go "aaaaahhhhhhhhhh..."

Iron & Wine - The Trapeze Swinger

Whatever! Who Cares!?

So Pitchfork announced today that they're hosting a summer music festival in Chicago featuring 36 independent artists on 3 stages for 30 dollars. As I scrolled down their other listings taking note of the tours that are occurring on the EAST side of the country and NOT over here in Oregon or Washington (the states that I call home) we here at Discord/Harmony decided a unified statement was due. To Pitchfork's Music Festival, and all y'alls that's touring on the OTHER side of the country (and that goes for YOU too Andrew Bird!!!!!!) we have this to say:

Whatever man! Who cares about y'alls anyway!

We here in the West Coast already have our own music festival, and we like to call it BUMBERSHOOT! So HA! And we have way more than 36 artists there. Along with a SMALL HANDFULL of independent artists, in past years we've boasted such great mainstage acts as Third Eye Blind, Nickelback and erm.... and a bunch of guys that are not the Roots, pretending to be the Roots (no, really... this actually happened). In addition, Bumbershoot also has the great feature of taking your favorite bands and booking them on separate stages at the same time! Does Pitchfork promise such fun? I thought not. So there! That's all I've got to say to y'alls in Chicago.

In actuality Bumbershoot isn't all that bad, but it involves some weeding through to find what you're looking for, and all too often, it is scheduled for the same chunk of time and you have to choose between going with your friends who want to see Ani Difranco, or standing alone watching a show that they've never heard of while they go off to see Ani Difranco.

That's it! Screw this crap! We're starting our OWN Festival. It'll go somethin' like this:

Mainstage: Saturday: Andrew Bird, Brian Wilson, Petra Haden and Iron and Wine, Sunday: Andrew Bird, Andrew Bird aaaaaaand lemmethinkaboutit... Andrew Bird.

Secondary Stage: Who gives a crap, cuz I'll be at the maintstage.

And OUR festival is going to have free beer, and no drum circles whatsoever! So y'alls just hang tight while we get that going. Once we've got a date and a venue, we'll post it here and watch y'alls flock to our way-cooler-than-Pitchfork's festival.

(stupidmusicfestivalsmumblegrumble)