Warm Beer and Cold Women

Artist - Damion Suomi
Album - Damion Suomi
Released - April 22, 2009 (P is for Panda)

Reviving the same lamentations of post-blues lounge crooners with a dark lager in one hand and a Camel in the other, Florida-based Damion Suomi crafts the same tattered elegance with his eponymous debut album.

Suomi (say it with me - sue-me) carries the same weight under a new brand of Irish folk with the subtle qualities of late nineties alternative and alt-country begging for a deeper meaning and subsequently an answer.

According to fellow P is for Panda label artist, Mike Dunn, he describes Sumoi as, “kind of like Michael Stipe and Billy Bragg having too many beers and playing Woody Guthrie songs.”

And the comparison to Michael Stipe of REM is obvious: if Stipe smoked one too many stogies and drank his weight in Guinness, you’d have Suomi. The resemblance is ephemeral when tracks like Darwin, Jesus, the Devil and Me flourish under a melodic tempo of acoustic balladry set to the thrashings of Suomi’s power-questioning lyrics.

The consistent tone of his album generates an unwavering sense of bled-out relationships, bouts with his creator and bourbon, never outdoing himself and staying true to a foot-stomping riotous bar crowd.

His coarse rendition of the genre redefines where his music is bred. It’s deep, dark and full of righteous Southern influence, creating the rhythmic discord of the common man.

Laced with the cynical ranting of Suomi, his debut album remains simple and uplifting grafting a modern finesse on the traditional while staggering home after last call.

http://www.myspace.com/damionsuomi

Silversun's new album croons to Swoon

Artist - Silversun Pickups
Album - Swoon
Released - April 14, 2009 (Dangerbird Records)

Still heavy on the fuzz, distortion and encapsulating frenzy, Silversun Pickups lavishly delivers their second full length album on Dangerbird Records after a lengthy three year absence.

Following an extensive tour in support of their acclaimed debut Carnavas, the band would come home to neglected relationships with friends and families; although supportive, they would better serve as inspiration for a new album, Swoon.

“We were landing on charts in countries I’d never been too, like Chile and all over South America. Things were changing fast.” Brian Aubert, vocalist and lead guitarist said.

Since their 2006 debut, Silversun Pickups have grown into a tightly focused band encompassing a genre often stagnant in the last few years. Their sound remains trademarked by a murky fuzz heavy guitar accompanied by vocal chord annihilating serenades by Aubert.

Silversun would take Swoon and build a darker and more thematic album, far more diverse and encompassing than its predecessor. From the opening track, There's No Secrets This Year, the band utilizes a formula of melodic songwriting and layered tracking to construct a soaring sound.

The first single, Panic Switch, is chaotic and deliberate as Aubert’s vocals conquer heavy bass lines and the wall smashing drum work of Christopher Guanlao. Brilliantly layered amidst a slew of fierce musical pairings and shrewdly distorted riffs, melody is never lost and remains inherent within every moment.

It's Nice to Know You Work Alone, a makeshift duet between bassist Nikki Monniger and Aubert, makes use subtle drops in tempo to build a mood altering atmosphere - often paying homage to nineties rock deities such as the Smashing Pumpkins and Sonic Youth.

Adding to Aubert's aesthetic vocals and turbulent lyrics, the band eagerly incorporates an entire string section to parts of the album. Now, instead of only passionate melodies stitching atmosphere into a blanket of moodiness, a string section intensifies the feeling of insurgent emotion.

Growing more articulated and mature, Silversun Pickups discovers a beauty within their own abstract melody. Topping off their second album with an avalanche of musings and a swelling of talent, they never stray far from the streets from which they got their name for inspiration, Silver Lake and Sunset Boulevard.

www.myspace.com/silversunpickups

The Twenty: Completed

Every generation has its list of “must have” albums - the decade’s most influential works of genius transcending simple recognition as just an album. Some of these aren’t that album. Yet, they do represent, in my humble and pretentious opinion, albums that still maintain authority in today’s fad-heavy music scene.

(Originally, this was going to be a Top 20, but I spent more time rearranging the first six than writing. So, I just quit and decided to let you be the judge.)

Nirvana – Nevermind – 1991

Despite what I said about Nirvana before, this album is perfectly crafted, as far as grunge can be perfect.

Kurt Cobain did something that only Bob Dylan was able to do – speak to an entire of generation, although the product was drastically different.

Why was it influential?
Nevermind embodied much of what grunge music was; it was filled with angst, unsettled nerves and dug its nails into the scalp of mainstream music.

I HATE how Cobain has become the poster child for depression and contempt. Every high school age kid trying to become a part of the counterculture has a poster of Cobain looking miserable and contempt with a guitar in one hand and his greasy hair falling over his face. Come on kid, if you want depressed check out Elliott Smith – he had issues.

The thing which makes Nirvana different than Pearl Jam is the fact that Nirvana’s music was less about instrumentation, but more about lyrical content. It was personal, yet broad and did something very few can do. Nirvana was the torch holder for grunge and to this day, still impacts music.

Myspace

The Jimi Hendrix Experience – Are You Experienced? – 1967

Who better to be on this list than Jimi Hendrix?

Why is it Influential?
There isn’t much I can say that hasn’t already been said, so I’ll just list accomplishments of the album.

-Has been selected to be permanently preserved in the Library of Congress.
-Has been re-pressed on vinyl, cassette, 8-track, CD and mp3 several times over the years and is set to be released again.
-Every song on the album has been covered by other artists.
-Released three times at the time of its original pressing – U.S., Canada and U.K.

Jimi Hendrix is Jimi Hendrix. It’s amazing.

Myspace

The Flaming Lips – Soft Bulletin – 1999

Ah, the Flaming Lips… what a bunch of weirdoes.

Known for their bizarre, confusing and utterly original shows, the Flaming Lips are significant in brining an abstract, neo-psychedelic sound to the music scene musing artists from all genres.

Why is it influential?
Since its release in 1999, Soft Bulletin has been noted as the Pet Sounds of the nineties. Marrying traditional instruments like guitars, drums and bass with unorthodox usage of strings, synth and various other instruments.

It was a harmonizing factor in the use of oddity and prolific musical integrity within a style of music that is known to be vague and just plain weird.

Myspace

Led Zeppelin – IV – 1971

Come on, you knew it was going to be one here.

Why is it influential?
Quick, think of three Zeppelin songs!

I bet at least two of those came from this album. Although I can’t stand how every 14-year old learning to play guitar learns the intro, Stairway to Heaven is one of those landmark Zeppelin songs and one of their most recognizable. (Yes, I’ve listened to it backwards and it continues to be kind of annoying.)

From the iconic Hermit to my personal favorite Zeppelin song, Going to California, an acoustic dissonance of bleeding lyrics, IV just goes to prove that Zeppelin is both versatile and a freak of nature.

A group of guys from England can’t really make music this good… can they?

Myspace

Sonic Youth - Daydream Nation - 1988

If I had been numbering these, this would have been my number one.

Something happened to music late in the 1980s. I’m not really sure what it was, but music has a tendency to die and evolve over time.

Music has always loved to be dark, offer a sense of realism within an exaggerated world and be the narrative voice of an entire generation.

Some say music died on February 3, 1959 outside Clear Lake, Iowa when a place crashed with Buddy Hollie, Riche Valens and J.P. Richardson on board.

Love died at the Altamont Speedway in 1969 during Gimmie Shelter.

Than, there was grunge, but where did grunge come from?

Sonic Youth’s 1988 release Daydream Nation is essentially one of those albums. Sonic Youth’s album is like The Pixies’ Doolittle album in its expanse of influence.

As the band’s maturation from a noise-rock and punk fusion to a more traditional style of rock, Daydream Nation has been called, pre-grunge.

This album takes credit for being the most influential force in the last 20 years. It has been tagged, noted, thanked and sampled as an album which drove artists to pick up a guitar and play along to Teen Age Riot.

I could go on and on about it, but I won’t… you have one more to go.

Myspace

Beach Boys – Pet Sounds – 1966 and The Beatles – Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Heart Club Band - 1967

Here’s the synopsis of what happened:

After the release of The Beatles' 1965 album, Rubber Soul, Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys went ape-shit, basically.

Taking time from touring with the group to focus solely on a new endeavor, Pet Sounds, Wilson conducted a symphony of harmonies which would be hailed to this day as one of the most influential albums of all time.

This album would simply become known as THAT album. That album that Paul McCartney would give to his children to make sure their musical education would be complete, as if the Beatles weren’t enough.

The album that would bring guitar gods to their knees, "I consider Pet Sounds to be one of the greatest pop LPs to ever be released. It encompasses everything that's ever knocked me out and rolled it all into one." Eric Clapton said.

This would be the album that would inspire the same frenzy of insanity in The Beatles a year later.

After a four month recording session, the Beatles would release Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Heart Club Band during a tour hiatus.

Topping nearly every Greatest Album of All Time Lists, including Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest Albums, Sgt. Pepper’s is a milestone in modern music.

The Beatles would utilize everything the EMI studio had to offer trying to compete with Pet Sounds, who had access to a more advanced recording studio. Although the recording studio in the U.K. was lesser, the band learned to cut corners and use the studio as an instrument; this gave the album a sound specific to them. (I could go into detail about what was in the studio, but just look through websites… the internet is splattered with Beatles trivia.)

The beauty within both albums is the zenith of genuine creative insanity and the kind competition between the geniuses of both bands respectively. I’ll go out on a limb here to say, Pet Sounds was the conception of modern music and Sgt. Pepper’s, its birth.

BB - Myspace

Beatles - Myspace

Pixies – Doolittle - 1989










For those who don’t know, I’m only 22. I haven’t been around for many of the albums on the list… or at least old enough at the time to care. Yet, growing up I was affected by what is essentially the dark ages of grunge (the latter years of the nineties featuring such explicitly vile travesties as Creed) and more importantly the teeny-bopper pop revolution which subsequently sucked the vacuous brain fodder from every fourteen year old girl.

So, it was only natural I deny popular music for much of my life, hence my affinity for the obscure and pretentiousness in music.

The Pixies’ follow-up to Surfer Rosa, Doolittle, hands down is quintessentially the manifestation of everything music has become and will be.

Why is it influential?
There are only a select few albums I could sit here and extol about how amazingly comprehensive and significant they are, playing the part as the immaculate siren song for an entire two decades of music history.

Doolittle is one of those albums.

No other album in the late eighties has been sampled, borrowed from, pillaged and just flat out admired more than The Pixies second studio album.

It’s poetically constructed with hooks imbedded within every thrashing chorus, whip lashing lyrics and impervious moments of now conventional alternative music. It’s become the cornerstone of an entire movement of music.

Splintering the ramparts between thrash punk and indie pop incorporating vehement moments of larynx crushing screams, Doolittle is crafted from the very pool of genius from which albums like Daydream Nation, Revolver and Meriwether Post Pavilion drank and future bands will.

Myspace

Radiohead - Ok Computer - 1997










Needing no introduction, I’ll be skipping straight to the Why is it Influential bit…

Ok Computer, English bred Radiohead’s third album is not just a masterpiece, but is the testing ground of how perfect music can be. Its significance among the world at large is irrefutably and unerringly as important as a human breathing or a plant needing photosynthesis to survive.

If you could compile a 12 track CD with all the technology induced paranoia, the torment revolving life, all the subtle maddening of a decade filled with farcical fads like the Macarena and any other adjective or saying you could squeeze into a digital file…it would be Ok Computer.

The end of the 1990s was an earmark - the hundred dollar bill in the currency of human existence. Ok Computer is like the hidden watermark in the top right corner, often not seen, yet when it is, we’re all inspired by this intentional enigma serving as both security and inspiration to unseen splendor.

Myspace

The Flying Burrito Brothers - The Gilded Palace of Sin - 1969










Another obscure band from back in the day; I was introduced to Gram Parsons by a friend not to long ago. I never realized the man even existed.

Alt-Country by the definition is something like a mixture of country and southern rock, as well as taking influence from all styles of music, but holding dearly to its roots in country.

Hiding behind the scenes of much of country music and music in general in the 1960s, Gram Parsons is sort of a Man Behind the Curtain. Taking part in both The Byrds and The Flying Burrito Brothers, he exemplified musical integrity and would influence musicians for decades afterward.

He would die at age 26 from a drug overdose, followed by a really awkward story involving the transportation of his body.

Why is it Influential?
The Gilded Palace of Sin was never a success, yet to this day is ground-zero for many alt-country and non-country musicians alike. It’s a catalyst by which countless musicians would find themselves reaching towards for when in need of inspiration.

Fusing country and soul, many of the tracks found on the album have been covered and dissected many times over.

Christine’s Tune, an unfairly catchy opening song, makes you realize that these guys were truly on to something and it’s a shame nobody knows.

YouTube

Pearl Jam – Ten - 1991










Pearl Jam formed in 1990, crafted their debut album, and accomplished a feat, in my opinion, that ranks them as the recipient of “The better grunge band”. It’s a simple matter of affairs when it comes to making an album, right?

Why was it Influential?
Needless to say Ten, in more ways than one, surpasses fellow grunge demigods Nirvana’s Nevermind.

My typical rational for saying such things: Pearl Jam is just a better band all around. (Retract previous statement and insert, “Pearl Jam is just a better band all around, if, Nirvana was sans Dave Grohl. Grohl has to be one of the most underappreciated artists of today and easily a certified genius, which gives Nirvana the upper hand.)

Pearl Jam might not have the immense amounts of propinquity of its fans and critics that Nirvana has. Yet, it would not be a stretch of the imagination to say that Pearl Jam, or Eddie Vedder in particular, created a sense of urgency in the song structure unforeseen by many at the time. Later becoming a vice for lyrical content and instrumentation that is more than just an ambiance but like that of well-written novel, is the legacy Ten leaves behind.

Pearl Jam is by no means a pioneer of the genre, nor the inspired concept album, but more likely brought it into the mainstream of a grunge heavy scene by means of speaking less from the ranting of an emotionally damaged kid, but more from an abused youthful perspective and satirical underlying statements.

Myspace

Ramones – Ramones - 1976










According to dictionary.com punk rock is defined as, “A type of rock-'n'-roll, reaching its peak in the late 1970s and characterized by loud, insistent music and abusive or violent protest lyrics, and whose performers and followers are distinguished by extremes of dress and socially defiant behavior.”

I like this definition better… The Ramones.

Bred out of the Borough of Queens, the Ramones would defy music standards and fabricate a style of music, changing the very means by which we see music today.

Why is it Influential?
…it created punk music.

Punk music has been an influential factor ever since the inception of three power chords, strummed with the fervor and antagonism of a group of kids sick and tired of society, stadium rock and politics.

"We decided to start our own group because we were bored with everything we heard," Joey Ramone once explained. "In 1974 everything was tenth-generation Led Zeppelin, tenth-generation Elton John, or overproduced or just junk. Everything was long jams, long guitar solos.... We missed music like it used to be."

So, they just decided to become something more, or less, than everything surrounding them - the product?

A generation of pissed off kids with something to say.

Videos

NWA - Straight Outta Compton - 1988










If you know me at all I can almost guess what ran through you’re head, “What the HELL do you know about NWA? You hate rap.”

Which is true, but this whole purpose of this diatribe on music is the influence is took on modern musicianship and there is no denying that rap and hip-hop are easily one of the biggest.

Breeding the biggest names in rap, Dr. Dre, Ice Cube, Eazy-E and MC Ren, NWA’s roots are buried deep in Compton and stay there. Named one of the most influential groups of all time, NWA has served as the template from which all rap is cut.

Why is it Influential?
Where would rap be without it? This is gangsta rap, pure and simple.

Website

Beck – Odelay - 1996










When Beck released Mellow Gold in 1994 everyone would come to assume Beck would be another of those ‘novelty artists’ that would die off as soon as everyone began hating Loser.

That was until he told everyone, where it’s at.

This is pre-Midnight Vulture, pre-the Information, this is before everyone hated the fact he’s a Scientologist - even though he’s been one for most of his life.
This was back when he held true to a rootsy, quasi-hip hop style infused with acoustic multi-instrumentation.

Why is it influential?
The man won a Grammy for it, that’s why. Plus, Odelay laid the groundwork for a new genre defying movement that would help prove that experimentation isn’t such a frightening thought. He would stitch together genres of music like hip-hop, indie rock and pop like no one else had at this point. He would begin to transcend a genre title and make music that was viral and catchy and be a stepping stone for many artists today. Drum machines really do work when used properly.

Myspace

Nick Drake - Pink Moon – 1972










"Now we rise and we are everywhere." - Quoted on Nick Drake's gravestone in Tanworth-in-Arden cemetery.

Nick Drake is one of those artists who suffered from a Van Gogh syndrome - the one where nobody knew they were submersed in an infinite talent until it was too late. Drake died in 1974, at the age of 26 and Pink Moon would be the last album he would see pressed.

Pink Moon is sparse in instrumentation, but lyrically autumnal, eloquent and completely embodies much darker themes in his latter months of life.

Why is it influential?
Drake’s music is foreboding of a movement of bare folk music focusing heavily on lyrics and melody over a multi-faceted pop extravaganza. It’s quiet, subtle and inherently beautiful from start to finish. It’s timeless and never ceases to inspire writers, musicians, actors and everyone in between that takes the time to respect the power of his words.

Myspace

Jesus and Mary Chain – Psychocandy - 1985










The 1980s, in my opinion, were just too damn weird. Why did everyone think ridiculous hair, scarves and odd colored leather jackets were cool? (That also kind of describes the Jonas Brothers too, but they’re just… *insert your own adjective here*)

In the same vein though, the 1980s bred contemptuous and depressed individuals who loved to be ‘cool’ by being ‘too cool for everything.’ The Cure, for example, was the same way.
The album in question, Psychocandy, is no exception to the rule. It was angsty, freakishly distorted and filled with a sense of knotty contempt for the world outside of the music.

Why was it influential?
Going beyond the superficial look of the band, the music is simply just as wall shattering as it was in 1985. It’s a giant foam middle finger to the world and an expression of the first amendment in a monosyllabic tongue equating throwing a toaster in a bathtub.

Psychocandy’s main contribution to today’s music is its uncanny ability to create something huge without making a huge scene. It’s simple and makes a vast statement: that it’s not just about performance, but about the content and talent needed to be something more.

As stated earlier, they were too cool for mic kicks, windmills and jumping off speakers into the crowd. They’d rather be faint, livid and hate you from under gelled hair. Even more so than the Cure, which is why JAMC makes the list.

Myspace

Beastie Boys - License to Ill - 1986










What hasn’t been said about the Beastie Boys already? They’re limitless in talent? Yes. They’re obnoxious, loud and can destroy a parent’s image of their children? Yes. What’s not to love about the Beastie Boys?

Consisting of Mike D, MCA and Ad-Rock, the Beastie Boys are hailed as an influential hip-hop group spanning two decades of music history. As the first hip-hop group to break, and subsequently top, the Billboard Top 200, the Beastie Boys earned commercial and critical success and have gone on to become a legendary group.

Why is it influential?
There’s just something to No Sleep Til Brooklyn that’s timeless, Paul Revere is simply classic and who doesn't know the words to Fight for Your Right?

Breaking the genre by sampling classics from artists like Wild Sugar, Led Zeppelin and having Kerry King of Slayer lay the guitar tracks on the album, the Beastie Boys debut album had something to offer that no one else at the time could. What is it?

Its success rests on the idea that it brought rap and hip-hop into the mainstream by channeling white kid angst through the fundamentals of urban music. Playing as a conduit to much of where music has ended up, it nevertheless has issued in a new era in music. One that would no only bend genre but seize punk qualities and hoist them on top drum machines with raunchy lyrics, samples and, to this day, still make most parents cringe.

Plus, the album just kicks ass.

Myspace

Bob Dylan – Blood on the Tracks - 1974










This is kind of a scary name to tackle. Everyone has a favorite Dylan album or Dylan song and will fight until broken noses have no more blood or their fingers no longer have any nails left. It’s a dark trail to traverse.

Bob Dylan needs no introduction and there is neither the room nor musical capacity to describe just why Blood on the Tracks is an amazing album. To rightfully describe what Bob Dylan had accomplished for music today is a feat this list won’t go into, but here’s the short version.

Why is it influential?
Dylan’s name is synonymous with lyrics most cannot begin to wrap their head around. It’s lyrically profound and yearning for change. Dylan has proven that he is an immeasurable lexis picnic basket of philosophical, social and political prose.

As Dylan’s 15th studio album, Blood on the Tracks holds dearly the sensibilities of a wiser and more subdued Dylan suffering from a separation from his then wife, Sara Dylan.

“It was gravity which pulled us down and destiny which broke us apart -You tamed the lion in my cage but it just wasn't enough to change my heart.” - Idiot Wind

Blood on the Tracks represented the currency of inspiration and after years of so-so reception from fans and critics, the album rose above and nearly managed to supersede Highway 61 Revisited. This is just one polished album in the ever expanding catalog of Bob Dylan which continues to grow to this day.

Myspace

Elliott Smith – Either/Or -1997










Elliott Smith, although obscure to some, was an extremely talented musician with a knack tightening the cables around an idea to get as much from it as he could without loosing integrity as a songwriter.

After years of fighting off depression, alcoholism and drug addiction, Smith would go on to release several albums from semi-favorable to acclaimed reviews within his lifetime.

In 2003, Smith’s death, surrounded by controversy, was a blow to a scene of fans and friends alike. Ben Folds, a close friend of Smith, would record Late, a song in tribute of his dear friend:

“When desperate static beats the silence up - A quiet truth to calm you down - The songs you wrote - Got me through a lot”

Why is it influential?
Smith’s Either/Or album is a pure example of how lo-fi production value can be a blessing and is representative of music being neither perfect nor Utopian.

Smith didn’t need thousands upon thousands of dollars wasted on simple, dark pop tunes. Between the Bars, an achingly melancholy song only lasting a brief 2:22 is wistful and reflective and perfects his aptitude to be something more than a suffering artist rising from the ashes of nineties demigod, Kurt Cobain's death.

He embodied more than just another misery ridden musician, but one of the greatest singer/songwriters of the nineties who will in the near future recieve the credit he deserves.

Myspace

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers - Damn the Torpedoes - 1979










Damn the Torpedoes is Tom Petty and the Heartbreaker’s third studio album and would be the first non-contractual obligation after releasing themselves from under MCA. As everyone knows, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers would eventually become one of the largest bands to come out of the era and to this day, still rock your face.

Their third album would also set the stage as a leaping off point for the band and would later set the stage for some of the best albums of all time, for example – Wildflowers in 1994.

Why is it influential?
I’m going to take a break here and just say: You’ll know why when you hear it. It’s main reason for showing up on this list is simple: Without it Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers may have fizzled out and the world would be currently sans Tom Petty.

There is a certain amount of nostalgia to it, but there may be something more. The album is stripped down and cohesive as any album ever should be and will be. Damn the Torpedoes is a record which needs to be listened to in one calm sitting and soaked in like sugar over Absinthe.

Myspace

Let me know what you think - I enjoy debates and compliments.

Third Eye Blind - Wilmington, NC - March 27, 2009

I remember buying my first cd.

It was Everclear's So Much for the Afterglow... but the second cd I bought was Third Eye Blind's eponymous debut album. (I have to give myself a pat on the back here for not buying into the late nineties pop machine and sacrificing my integrity for N'Sync's Bye, Bye, Bye. I have two older sisters’ whose grunge filled angst and incessant hair band trivia to thank for that.)

Third Eye Blind is that quintessential late-nineties band continuing to hypnotize with catchy choruses, stitched together flawlessly with a fine tuned mix of upbeat and dark lyrical prose. After releasing their self-titled debut in 1997, they went on to release their follow-up Blue in 1999 and Out of the Vein in 2003.

Finding just one person in this rain dampened audience without a goofy smile on their face after singing along, or at least mouthing the words, to the seminal Semi-Charmed Kind of Life would have been a near-impossible task.

After lighting incense, duct taping a rug to the floor and an intense 45 minute set change, a barefoot Stephen Jenkins and the rest of his revolving band came out on stage emitting a cheesy rock star persona and dressed completely in black.

Initially, the band started with an enigmatic, distorted and fuzz-heavy jam session amping themselves for Non-Dairy Creamer, the single off their newest EP, Red Star. Garnering all the intensity of long-time Third Eye Blind fans, they managed to make a skirt-wearing Goth kid smile and another guy with a pony tail cry.

Neither of those are lies.

After announcing they put the final wrap on their fourth studio album, they headed straight into Graduate, a song most everyone was familiar with. Jenkins emancipated his own brand of unstable energy jumping off and across anything he could find.

They pushed on for over an hour, playing new, old, the obscure and even a little bit of Nelly, meanwhile keeping the crowd moving with extended solos by original guitarist Tony Fredianelli and Jenkins' pure energy.

From stellar guitar and drum solos during Jumper to fan favorites like Motorcycle Drive-by and Slow Motion, 3EB never ceased giving an exuberantly vigorous performance - never straying far from the chart climbing singles that made their career.

www.myspace.com/thirdeyeblind

P.S. -
Dear Wilmington,
Your denizens suck. I've been to a couple on concerts in Wilmingtion and plenty of other concerts in different places, but you guys excell in the business of hoarding assholes. Just a friendly heads-up.

Ben Kweller with the Watson Twins - Cat's Cradle - March 1, 2009

I know, I know… it’s been a while since my last update, but due to circumstances WAY beyond my control, I had to take a little family time followed by the most non-productive week of my life.

I’m starting back with another concert rundown.

I have to give props to the Cat’s Cradle for definitely being one of the best venues in North Carolina. It’s small, it serves Stella Artois, sells old concert posters and most importantly, welcomes incredible bands and artists on a weekly, sometimes daily basis.

To preface this, I wasn’t too familiar with Ben Kweller, although he and his band are amazing musicians; country music isn’t my pretentious-indie-kid forte’.

The show openers, The Watson Twins, were essentially the main reason for attending the show. Having been introduced to the Watson Twins via Jenny Lewis and the Watson Twins’ album, Rabbit Fur Coat, I was instantly intrigued.

Their performance alone was easily worth the drive and money and after a brilliant cover of Bill Withers’ Ain’t No Sunshine, it had to be said, “I’ll take the hot one.”

Despite my limited knowledge of Kweller and his music, he managed to swathe himself in all that is poppy and country, swelling the space with incredibly catchy tunes and a classic country persona. Kweller emits an energy that electrifies a room full of fans and those not yet privileged to be one.

As a known multi-instrumentalist, Kweller only made use of three instruments throughout the night: his guitar, a piano and a harmonica (which was played with one hand while the other played piano). From the ragtime/country fused Gypsy Rose to his exceptionally standard, yet satisfying ballads, Ben Kweller’s show leaves no one unimpressed.

His music, especially that on Changing Horses, may be narrow in scope - his live performance is one that begs for repeat attendees and fans born of his undeniable talent.

www.myspace.com/benkweller

For anyone who cares:

Mar. 13 – Vetiver, Wilmington, NC
Mar. 24 – Third Eye Blind, Wilmington, NC

The Old Ceremony - Cat's Cradle - Feb. 14th, 2009

Who - The Old Ceremony
Where - The Cat's Cradle
When - Feb. 14th, 2009

It's been a while since the release of Our One Mistake, The Old Ceremony's sophomore release, and after finally pulling Walk on Thin Air out of... yeah, you can make up your own joke and insert it here... the band offers fans a spot-on Valentine's Day gift at a CD release party/concert.

The Chapel Hill based pop-noir band has amassed a loyal following within the local music scene, noted for their unique circus-like stage presence and implementation of multiple instruments (ranging from guitar to violin to cello to xylophone to cow bell). The Old Ceremony is a crystal clear example of how music has not lost its integrity.

Playing to a sold-out Cat's Cradle, The Old Ceremony figuratively grabbed the audience, "by the haunches and humped it into submission," with an enamored vitality and surging live show rivaling falling power lines in a circus tent.

With hanging luminaries and Christmas lights in check, TOC boisterously exhibited an eclectic collection of inspired pop/rock jams, channeling everything from a house band at a 1950s sock hop to harmony based world music to Houses of the Holy era Zeppelin - all engineered to melt your face with unexpected jam sessions including violin strumming and xylophone solos.

Album - Walk on Thin Air
Released - Feb. 14th, 2009

Walk on Thin Air is easily the band's most progressive release to date. Throughout the album, vocalist and songwriter Django Haskins fathers conceptually stunning moments and emotionally melting lyrics that never weaken nor falter.

Utilitarian, perfected and lyrically moving moments like those infused within the title track, Walk on Thin Air, are what drive the album to the limits of brilliance. From the upbeat melodies on tracks, Someone I Used to Know and Ready to Go, Haskins limitlessly toys with the concept of masking dark lyrics with cheerful melodies; it’s both provocative and inspiring.

This is an album that anyone can connect with and one in which anybody can find more than enjoyable. It’s expressive, without being cryptic. It’s moving, without being cheesy. It’s minimal, without losing its complexity.

Walk on Thin Air hardly feels rushed and incomplete - it's one of those albums you'll always keep alternating between your CD player and the visor. If anything is apparent at their shows: it's that devoted fans are never far away - showing the same dedication as other notable bands from the Carolinas - i.e. Jump, Little Children.

(And coming from me that's a huge compliment.)

www.myspace.com/theoldceremony

Keep It Hid - Dan Auerbach

Artist - Dan Auerbach
Album - Keep It Hid
Released - Feb 10, 2009 (Nonesuch Records)

Dan Auerbach’s solo album is like that “official Red Ryder Carbine-Action Two-Hundred-Shot Range Model Air Rifle” dad pointed out hiding majestically behind the desk after all the Christmas gifts had been opened.

Assuming, your name is Ralphie and you live in fear of that intangible parent figure incessantly waving their finger at you chanting, “You’ll shoot your eye out!” denying you the happiness of a warm gun after pelting Black Bart right between the eyes.

Yes, that was two references. Yes, for the people who are nice enough to frequent my little site, this is another obscure musician I think everyone should love and admire… because my taste is impeccable and speaks to all walks of life.

Yes, that was sarcasm.

Dan Auerbach is one half of the Black Keys, the soulful, incendiary blues-rock duo hailing from Akron, Ohio, and easily could pass as a love child of Gregg Allman.

Keep It Hid, Auerbach’s first solo album, surpasses being just another solo effort from an arrogant vocalist burdened by a band who refuses to experiment - it’d be especially hard to defend given the fact the Black Keys is comprised of just Auerbach and drummer, Patrick Carney.

In an interview with Paste when asked why he chose the direction that he did, Auerbach said, “It’s like if an actor were only allowed to make a movie with the same cast as the same character for the rest of his life. It’s very strange that people think like that.”

Keep It Hid goes beyond what the Black Keys' exultant fifth album, Attack and Release, managed to do – which was take the staple blues composition, fuse it with a rootsy Southern Rock sound, jam it into an old Peavy amp and render the listener incapable of breathing without an auxiliary ventilator.

Auerbach is best known for his gut-busting guitar licks and two-string chord plucking most apparent in his work with the Black Keys. He’s built a catalog of simple blues-focused, foot-stomping music and kept tightly to the mold for four albums, until the critically acclaimed Attack and Release, which as stated earlier was an absolute triumph.

Beginning with the opening track, Trouble Weighs a Ton, Auerbach eases in with a doggerel acoustic tune - something most Keys fans are not entirely familiar hearing. His soothingly ragged voice discretely burrows its way in, displaying an enthusiasm to, sorry for the cliché, venture out on a limb instrumentally.

Opening with the lyrics, “What’s wrong dear brother, have you lost your faith?” the album boasts the same ambiguous subjects and personally ascetic lyrics which Keys fans love and connect with.

Experimenting does come with its set-backs and everyone is susceptible to making flawed works of genius.

Exhibit A: Mean Monsoon, a Doors-esque track with an opening lick resembling Derek and the Dominos' Layla a bit too much, which can be forgiven, especially given the fact its composition and lyrical integrity are routinely aware that Auerbach is creating a gradient slope of tracks increasingly harder for him to one-up.

“The one thing I didn’t want to do is to try to sound different from the Black Keys,” Auerbach said on his website. It doesn't rely too heavily on the Black Keys sound as much as it expounds on it. He’s still the same Dan Auerbach as always, just somewhat matured, wiser and quasi-evolved in his music.

Keep It Hid touches on the infinite talent engrossing all that is Dan Auerbach, never overstating himself, never denying his abilities. He has yet to tap completely into the azure reserves of his talent though. He’s a guy who creates a reverent sound, adding enough of his soul and complexity into the music to make the album both unyielding and profound.

www.myspace.com/danauerbachmusic

Fleet Foxes

I've mentioned before that Fleet Foxes' self-titled release, "is a bit like petting a unicorn.”

It was referring to the extraordinary conditions that had to take place in order to compose something so rare… After millions of years of intense heat and pressure, two world wars, Scorsese finally winning his Oscar, Global Warming and other minute and sundry events, the conditions were perfect for one such album.

These seemingly disconnected and unrelated things have nothing in common, right? That’s true, they don’t.

This is unerringly why their debut album is like nothing else. It has nothing in common with most music today.

It takes so much more to stand out from the crowd these days. Between globalization and the voluntary loss of personal thought, assimilation just simply happens.

So many aspiring singer/songwriters pay their homage to the perennial '60s rock era, and it's basically expected. The baby boomer generation bred such affluent diversity among its children that naturally it would produce a brilliant impact on music for decades to come.

Too bad everyone does it.

Musicians often rely on past musical exploits to better build on their own talent and it is no more apparent than with Fleet Foxes. The band encompasses an era; borrowing influence from Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, the Kinks and even the Beach Boys –but unlike most, they never become their parent's vinyl collection.

Foxes bring a rustic harmony based melody to a scene populated by synthesized vocals. Bridging the gap between chamber pop, rock and folk, the band's vocal aesthetic mirrors the syrupy pop of groups like, the Beatles and Pet Sounds era Beach Boys. It's the multi-part harmonies that define Fleet Foxes' sound. These choral-like qualities give it an authentic taste of lost talent and a style missing in the midst of a radio recorded fallout.

Fleet Foxes audaciously casts their line into the crowd of music snobs and casual listeners and catching a buzz tailored specifically for them.

After signing to Sub Pop, Fleet Foxes became more than another basement indie band; they surpass genre titles. Hearkening back to early recordings of bands like My Morning Jacket, their sound is similar, but they do it even better.

This Seattle-based band, just a few years out of high school, already has become a band all their own. They’re quickly becoming one of the most buzzed-about bands in America.

Haven’t heard of them yet?

You’re just not listening hard enough.

Front man Robin Pecknold's voice never falters, the warmth in his voice comforts, his songwriting invites and the band creates a wistful affair that begs to never let go.

www.myspace.com/fleetfoxes

Just in case you care:

J. Tillman's name probably doesn't ring a bell and it's okay. Tillman is Fleet Foxes multi-talented drummer, the thing that makes him special is the fact Tillman is an excellent guitar player and songwriter.

Touring the Pacific Northwest and Europe since 2004, he's a commodity nobody knew they wanted.

You can check him out at the usual spot... Myspace.

www.myspace.com/jtillman/

M. Ward - Hold Time

Artist - M. Ward
Album - Hold Time
Release - Feb. 17, 2009 (Merge Records)


“It’s networking." responded a stripper when asked how she ended up in the porn industry.

Matt Ward, or simply M. Ward, is a singer/songwriter from the Portland, Oregon area, embraced by all tiers of music junkies and casual fandom. His slow burn to fame came about after his 2001 release Duet for Guitars #2.

M. Ward’s enigmatic qualities subdued his media attention, keeping him a well guarded secret to the Portland area for a few years. That was until he caught the curiosity of fellow musicians like Conner Oberst, the White Stripes and Jenny Lewis of Rilo Kiley, who would bring him along on tour as their supporting act.

Not only playing solo, he had caught the attention of actress and raspberry-laced vocalist, Zooey Deschanel, and the pair would go on to record as the vintage '60s pop, She and Him. As rumors have it, Oberst is also currently in the works of forming a band with Ward.

Embracing his expressive, deft guitar playing and clever ways of making me feel like my dad when thoughts like, “They sure don’t make music like this anymore,” run through my head, M. Ward is the sort of guy who clinches the imagination and follows each album with a thick haze of satisfaction.

I’m going to preface this with an, ‘I’m sorry’.

Music swapping is a highly lucrative, yet evil deed. Things just sort of happen; it starts off innocent, than the music swapping gives you that bashful look and you can’t resist. Next thing you know you and the illicit music are sitting on the hood of your car while Zeppelin plays softly from your flat stereo system, watching the radio tower flicker in the distance and discussing if Bob Weir of the Dead was really all that bad.

You decide that he is. Afterward, you take music home… and take things slowly.

And don’t act like you’ve never done it… you’re all culpable. Every last one of you has intentionally pirated music whether it is the act of downloading or receiving the aforementioned download.

Hold Time, M. Ward’s sixth studio album, is guilty of being just as addictive and gratifying as his other albums.

For those who are familiar with any of M. Ward’s work, it obvious here that he’s doing something different: it’s less rustic and more pop. In all its continuously feel-good greatness, Hold Time is a step in a different direction, but not in the opposite.

Never Had Nobody Like You, is another retro pop signature of the lunar connection between Ward and guest vocalist, Zooey Deschanel; a track which could easily be slipped onto Volume 2.

Ward’s style both transcends the music itself, but never exceeds its limits. He’s become a pioneer of his own frontier, but on tracks like One Hundred Million Years, a folk/country tune in which any fan of Ward can take comfort, it’s obviously prime Ward - stripped down, idyllic and fills the room with a sense of wonderment.

Hold Time makes well of Ward’s most recent musical ventures, disclosing an evolved sound with the promising ring of his prior albums. He never lets go, never gets ahead of himself. It’s right where it should be.

www.myspace.com/mward

matt pond PA

Consistency is essentially one of, if not the, biggest set-back in music. It's an epic blunder which leaves the listener sitting in a dark room, stuck in a melancholy state, caught between disappointment and rage pondering two things, "Is there a God?!" and "Did I just blow $15 on this crap?"

Failures in recent music history:

Sammy Hagar.
Jimmy Page pimping out Kashmir.
Whoever introduced Paul McCartney to Wings.
Fall Out Boy and the subsequent bands following in their footsteps.
Whoever thought a rap/metal fusion was a good idea.

That short list didn't include bands who thought doing a concept album was a good idea or groups who went disco or those who just recorded a bad album... and there are hordes of them.

It's what happens when you've been with the same band for too long and/or you just decide that pumping out an uninspired album for the sake of annual record sale projections - it's understandable, we'll still love you pre-insert album title here.

It's the same love that drives a Detroit Lion's fan to getting "0-16" tattooed underneath the team logo on their back.


matt pond PA is a band that never changes. It can be a disastrous thing, if it weren't for the fact that matt pond PA produces some of the best music available.

matt Pond PA can be considered many things: chamber pop, baroque, indie rock - basically anything you'd want to. Headed by the eponymous singer/songwriter Matt Pond who, as one might guess, originally formed the band in Pennsylvania in 1998.

Pond plays the role of the revolving door, tossing out band members and pulling others into his lush, textured world of music. The biggest change followed after Pond uprooted himself from Philadelphia and moved to New York City in 2003.

After meeting Brian Pearl (guitars/piano), Dan Crowell (drums), and Steve Jewett (bass) he would create the strongest lineup to date - at least according to the masses. Everything before that is just as vivid and symphonic as their most recent albums - my personal favorite being The Nature of Maps from 2002.

matt pond PA fabricates a moody atmosphere stationed between three, unrelated terms: rapturous, confessional and the abstract form of Newton's Third Law of motion.

Often incorporating other string instruments, such as the cello and the violin, matt pong PA creates a unique sound not often heard in the genre.

As one of the hardest working bands, at least as far as recording - they've released roughly seven LPs and EPs over the past six years. matt pond PA is consistently talented, creating their brand of mellow indie rock.

The only gripe: as the in-house songwriter, Pond is sometimes too innocuous and too vague. Never does it take away from the music, nor does it make it any less tolerable. At times, the lyrics seem to try to convey too much interpretative surrealism that are too inexplicit to make sense. On most occasions though, the lyrics are just too well written to not be recognized.

"Night comes in and takes our light as we turn once again in the sun; we don't have to drift out of sight, as the shadows will fall and run."

Amid dulcet instrumentals and catchy pop choruses, the integrity of the music is never left out in the rain as catchy hooks aren't relentlessly pounded against your head like a caveman trying to play Neil Peart's drum set; they're more overt and it's the kind of music you want to have stuck in your head as you go to sleep.

PS - You can download "The Freeep" legally and free, here.

www.myspace.com/mattpondpa