Thao with the Get Down Stay Down Get Sacked
The first thing Thao with the Get Down Stay Down ever saw in San Diego was a pair of dangling balls.
Last November, the band came to town to play a show and, upon entering the city’s limits, were treated to a memorable sight. The pair in question was hanging off the back of a pickup truck—I’m just going to go ahead and assume it was a Ford F150—and the image of the swinging Bumper Nuts™ quickly burned itself into the unsuspecting band’s retinas. San Diego may be known worldwide for its beaches and burritos, but it is our balls that Thao with the Get Down Stay Down will forever remember us for. (more…)
Poetic Memory: The Old In Out (List)
San Diego’s music scene offers plenty of options. Want gorgeous jazz vocals shimmering with old-timey charm? We’ve got Erika Davies. Need a mainlined dose of fast, endlessly catchy powerpop? We’ve got The Powerchords. Have a hankering for exquisitely depressing tales of heartache, complete with eerie saw-playing? We’ve got Black Heart Procession. But if you’re looking for a band that rocks so hard they’ll shatter your pint glass, you need look no further than The Old In Out.
Blending the raunchiest elements of blues, garage rock, and psychedelia, The Old In Out are a hailstorm of loud guitar, sledgehammered beats, and sneering swagger. We recently had the opportunity to pick drummer Christopher James Carrol’s brain about what inspires him:
“I’ve found that inspiration comes from within and without. Everything and anything from a cool movie to seeing a great art show to watching the sun set, or reading a good book on a rainy day afternoon. The things that truly influence me are the things that create whole new worlds to peer into: worlds of mood, color, and shape that challenge and unlock new doors of understanding.”
We’ve been fortunate enough to obtain Poetic Memory lists from lots of musicians in the past, but his is definitely one of the more eclectic ones we’ve seen. Carrol’s multifaceted nature is also apparent in his music; in addition to his work with The Old In Out, he also drums for up-and-coming prog monster Shapes Of Future Frames. Carrol’s Poetic Memory can be found below. (more…)
Polysics Invade San Diego
San Diego is a great place to see live music, but there isn’t always a synth-heavy, eccentric, Japanese spaz-punk band around when you need one. In a gracious effort to fill that void, Tokyo natives Polysics will be playing the Casbah on January 30th.
Citing Devo as a major influence, Polysics are truly a sight to behold. With their orange jumpsuits, science fiction glasses, and synchronized robotic movements, the hyperactive quartet put on one of the most bizarre and exciting shows around. The band’s self-described “technicolor pogo punk” is a thrilling spectacle, made all the more enthralling by front man Hiroyuki Hayashi’s boundless enthusiasm and slippery grasp of the English language. (more…)
Review: The Silent Comedy; January 17, 2010; Bar Pink, San Diego
Few bands in San Diego inspire the kind of rabid devotion that the Silent Comedy enjoy. From their Prohibition-era wardrobes and Old West mustaches to lead singer/bassist J. John’s manic ramblings, the band have struck upon a winning combination of musical chops and good-natured theatricality that has earned them a passionate following. Celebrating their return to San Diego at Bar Pink after a brief but hectic West Coast tour, the Silent Comedy were greeted by a characteristically packed house. And, from the raucous opening song “Poison” onward, the band had the crowd exactly where they wanted them. (more…)
Blood Red Shoes Get Fired Up (Video)
Rock and roll has seen its share of great duos in recent years—The White Stripes and The Kills being among the best—but no other band attacks the senses with as much raw power as Steven Ansell and Laura-Mary Carter, better known as Blood Red Shoes. The Brighton, England group’s 2008 debut, Box of Secrets, was a cherry bomb of a record that dripped with raw, dangerous sexuality. The fast and furious album’s bloody hooks and visceral appeal landed it a spot on Owl&Bear’s world-renowned Best of 2008 list, and we’ve been waiting anxiously for its follow-up.
But now the wait is over. Out on March 10 through V2 Records, Fire Like This contains ten highly combustible tracks from the band. Those eager for a sampling of the album can go to the band’s official website, where they’re streaming a new track every week until its release. “Light It Up”, “Colours Fade”, and live favorite “Keeping It Close” had previously been posted to the site, and the band just today added the red-hot “Heartsink”, which the group describes as “a pop song that we tried to destroy from the inside out”. Those inclined to join the band’s newsletter will be rewarded with a free download of “Colours Fade”. (more…)
Drew Andrews Celebrates His ‘Birthday’
Let it never be said that Drew Andrews can’t multitask. The multi-instruentalist’s best-known gig, San Diego flagship electronic act The Album Leaf, are set to release their fifth full-length album, A Chorus of Storytellers, on February 2nd through Sub Pop records. Andrews also plays in the side project Via Satellite with fellow Album Leaf member Tim Reece. He’s even written two novellas, The Shepherd’s Journals and Lella, both of which are available as free downloads from Feedbooks. But when Drew Andrews isn’t dividing his time between those worthy endeavors, he devotes his energies to his best project yet: Drew Andrews. (more…)
The Builders and the Butchers Return to San Diego
When The Builders And The Butchers come to San Diego, they show up to play. The band’s Casbah performance last February was a fever dream of apocalyptic backwoods folk voodoo that had even the most uptight hipsters in the crowd unfolding their arms and busting a move. As if to prove that lightning can indeed strike the same place twice, the group will be returning to the Casbah on Saturday, January 16th. (more…)
Jason Segel with The Broken West – ‘Dracula’s Lament’ (Video)
The Late Late Show’s Craig Ferguson celebrated his 1000th episode on Tuesday night, and he did it in style. Save for the occasional scantily-clad backup dancer, the show consisted entirely of puppets. As if that weren’t cool enough, Ferguson also enlisted the aid of the always-game Jason Segel, who performed his “Dracula’s Lament” ballad from Forgetting Sarah Marshall.
In keeping with the puppet-only theme, Segel’s backing band was hidden, but if they hadn’t been you would’ve seen that they were Merge Records band The Broken West. The group fleshed out the song admirably, tweaking it with lush instrumentation and a rock and roll backbeat absent from the Marshall version. We’re not exactly sure how a band gets a gig playing backup for Jason Segel and a puppet vampire, but we do know we want their agent. Check out the festivities yourself—the song starts around the one-minute mark—in the clip above.
Jason Lytle Gets into the X-Mas Spirit
When Grandaddy broke up in 2006, it could have spelled the end for front man Jason Lytle’s career. Fraught with tension and years past their prime, the group had already parted ways by the time their final album, Just Like The Fambly Cat, was released to faint fanfare. Lytle disappeared from the public eye, abandoning his hometown of Modesto, CA for the quietude of Montana.
But, in 2008, he quietly reemerged to sign a solo deal with ANTI- Records. The resulting album, Yours Truly, the Commuter, finally answered the question of exactly what Lytle had been doing with his time since the band split; he had been getting his groove back.
Yours Truly is an outstanding record, every bit as good as classic Grandaddy works Sumday and The Sophtware Slump. It maintains the moody longing fans have come to expect, but marries it with exquisite production and a transcendent atmosphere of hope. The album is easily one of this year’s best, and marks the first chapter in a creative renaissance for the songwriter. So, to celebrate his comeback year in style, Lytle has just released a surprise EP as a Christmas gift to his fans. (more…)
Lay Low – ‘By And By’ (Video)
Welcome to Iceland Appreciation Day at Owl&Bear—or “Owl och Björn” in Swedish, which we assume sounds pretty close to Icelandic—where we spotlight up-and-coming musicians from the subpolar island country. Incidentally, Iceland boasts a population of 320,000 and its popular dishes include liver sausage and cured ram scrotum. You heard me.
Okay, it’s not actually Iceland Appreciation Day, but we did just run a story on Seabear, so I figured I’d roll with it. Our next artist to be featured from the land of the great Strokkur geyser is Lovísa Elísabet Sigrúnardóttir, better known as Lay Low.
The Patsy Cline-inspired singer/songwriter has already developed an immense following in her homeland, claiming the country’s top-selling original album last year with her debut, Please Don’t Hate Me. Lay Low will be turning her sights on the US with the release of her new album, Farewell Good Night’s Sleep, on March 9th, to be followed by an extensive tour. (more…)
The Paddle Boat – I Wonder if the Water Ever Tires of the Sea? (Review)
When The Paddle Boat first began to play shows in San Diego, no one knew quite what to make of them. Their hushed aesthetic tended to be too quiet for bars and their century-spanning influences too diverse for easy categorization, but the band nevertheless built a reputation as one of the city’s finest live acts. Seasoned performers though they might be, the band’s recorded output has until now been sparse, consisting of only the four songs from the self-titled EP they released earlier this year.
In its eleven brief minutes, the EP demonstrated that The Paddle Boat were able to flourish within the recorded idiom, utilizing savvy production to add dimension to their already rich sound. But it remained to be seen how the band would fare over the course of an entire album. Now, the group has released I Wonder if the Water Ever Tires of the Sea?, their full-length debut and the true test of whether The Paddle Boat can be as enthralling a recorded band as they are a live one. (more…)
Boy Without God Never Sleeps
Boy Without God’s Gabriel Birnbaum isn’t just godless; he’s also restless. The overachieving singer-songwriter released Your Body Is Your Soul earlier this year, a captivating album propelled by Birnbaum’s insightful lyrics and creaking baritone. But while other musicians might be content to rest on their laurels, Birnbaum is already at work recording his follow-up to Soul, entitled God Bless the Hunger.
As if putting out back to back full-lengths weren’t enough, Birnbaum is also releasing two free EPs of material recorded in between those albums. The first EP, Eight Delicate Olives Slowly Chewed at Midnight, is already available as a free download from the Boy Without God blog. The second EP is due for release in a couple of months. Here’s what Birnbaum has to say about Olives: (more…)
Shout Out Louds Get To ‘Work!’ (Video)
Shout Out Louds came storming out of the gate with their 2003 debut, Howl Howl Gaff Gaff, one of the finest records in a year rife with great music. Unfortunately, the Swedish band stumbled a bit with their follow-up, 2007’s overly-polished Our Ill Wills. With its high-production sheen and Cure-esque posturing, the sophomore effort was listenable but frustratingly sterile and derivative. Thankfully, the band seems poised to return to their former glory with the upcoming album Work!
Set for release February 23 on Merge Records, the album forgoes ornate strings and percussion in favor of a more stripped down sound. Work! is produced by Phil Ek, who has done right by bands like The Shins, Fleet Foxes, and Band of Horses in the past. The first video from the album, entitled “Walls”, gives further cause to be excited; its driving guitar, inviting vocals, and perfectly placed piano leave no doubt that the band is in fighting form. If you like the song, you can download an MP3 of it here.
The band will be playing a special album-release show on March 1st at the Music Hall of Wlliamsburg in Brooklyn before embarking on a tour for most of 2010.
Theresa Andersson – ‘Birds Fly Away’ (Video)
If you’ve ever seen Theresa Andersson live, chances are you’ve fallen in love with her. The one-woman-band brings so much intoxicating energy to her performances that it’s impossible to not be taken in by her talent and charm. For those of you who haven’t had the pleasure of seeing her in concert, some live clips can be found in the new video for “Birds Fly Away”, the latest single off her Hummingbird, Go! album.
Directed by Miranda Penn Turin, the clip sets Andersson against the backdrop of her New Orleans hometown, and the still-ravaged-looking locale adds a layer of bittersweetness to the proceedings.
Andersson will be performing at a benefit concert at the New Orleans Contemporary Arts Center on December 9th, after which she’ll head back into the studio to begin work on her as-yet-untitled new album. We’ve got the video for you after the jump. (more…)
Get Three Avett Brothers Albums for Five Bucks Each
Okay, so this is the part where I talk about how much we at Owl&Bear love the Avett Brothers and you, unimpressed by the witty and/or articulate manner in which we’ve elected to express our ardor this time around, roll your eyes and think something like, “Oh come on, you guys always write about how much you love the Avett Brothers and not only is it getting old but, quite frankly, I’m starting to question your sexuality.” So, rather than beat you over the proverbial head with declarations about how great the Avetts are, we’ll just cut to the chase. This time.
Starting today, you can download three Avett Brothers albums—Emotionalism, Four Thieves Gone, and Mignonette—on Amazon for the trifling pittance of five dollars apiece. While Four Thieves Gone and Mignonette are no slouches, the crown jewel of the bunch is surely 2007’s Emotionalism, which shines as a terrific introduction to the band and their greatest achievement to date.
The albums are on sale until Friday as part of Amazon’s Black Friday Deals Week, as are works by artists like Andrew Bird, Bon Iver, Matt & Kim, Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, Radiohead, Califone, Built to Spill, Okkervil River, the Decemberists, Islands, and Neko Case. And if you already own all those albums, then congratulations: you’re almost as cool as us, but still only half as cool as the Avett Brothers.
‘Whoever Said That Three’s a Crowd Can Go to Hell’ (Video)
In an unexpected crossover, Jason Segel, the charming star of Forgetting Sarah Marshall, I Love You, Man, and TV’s sorely missed Freaks and Geeks, joined The Swell Season on stage in Los Angeles last night to tickle the ivories and some funny bones. Performing a song expressly designed to make Swell Season groupies have sex with him, Segel took Marketa Irglova’s advice and included as much personal information in the song as possible. Segel’s Hail Mary pass included, among other things, giving out his home phone number to the crowd, bragging about his celebrity status, and insisting that no special effects were used in his full-frontal scene from Sarah Marshall. Check out the hilarious clip above.
The Magnetic Fields Get ‘Real’
The Magnetic Fields are their own worst enemy. Beginning with 1991’s Distant Plastic Trees and ascending through classic albums Holiday and The Charm of the Highway Strip, the quality of the band’s output finally crescendoed to dizzying heights with 1999’s ambitious, unparalleled opus 69 Love Songs.
The monstrous album was so brilliantly exhaustive, and set the bar so impossibly high, that any followup from the band was destined to feel inconsequential by comparison. Songwriter Stephin Merrit sidestepped that problem by making his post-69 works, 2004’s I and 2008’s Distortion, intentionally microscopic. Whether it be by starting all of his song titles with the same letter or dousing his compositions in uncharacteristic amounts of fuzz, Merrit has relied on thematic gimmicks to help neutralize high expectations. (more…)
Charlotte Gainsbourg – “Heaven Can Wait” (Video)
It’s hard not to love Charlotte Gainsbourg. Even the film Antichrist, with its disturbing imagery, rampant misogyny, and charming genital mutilation couldn’t lessen our love for the lovely lady. She may not be the only indie musician/actress out there, but she is the only one who does both things well (take that, Deschanel). The ambidextrous Gainsbourg has once again put on her songwriter’s cap for her forthcoming album IRM. Her gorgeous debut, 5:55, was produced by none other than the great Nigel Godrich, but this time around Gainsbourg has enlisted Beck to produce and cowrite all the songs.
The star-crossed pairing has just yielded its first video, the Keith Schofield-directed “Heaven Can Wait”. Beck’s vocals feature strongly in the song, lending further weight to the idea that the record is a Gainsbourg solo album in name only. In the surreal clip, mundane interactions between people and bizarre creatures are interrupted by bizarre bouts of food fetishism and sudden acts of violence. IRM will be available stateside on January 26th via Elektra, and the smart money says it’ll be a good one.
Cloud Cult Reissue Two Albums, Record New One (MP3)
Cloud Cult have been riding high lately. Their two most recent albums, The Meaning of 8 and Owl&Bear favorite Feel Good Ghosts (Tea Partying Through Tornadoes), have marked a creative peak for the band, the hard-won result of ten years of touring, seemingly insurmountable hardships, and a recorded output far too large to shake a stick at. The Minnesota band even took a victory lap with last year’s No One Said It Would Be Easy, a documentary that chronicled the ebbs and flows of the group’s career.
It seems that Cloud Cult haven’t quite finished turning their collective eye toward the past, because they’re re-envisioning, remixing, remastering, rearranging, and finally rereleasing two of their older albums. On December 8th, the previously out-of-print They Live On The Sun (2003) and Aurora Borealis (2004) will be reborn, Siamese twin-style, as a double disc reissue with bonus tracks. The home-recorded albums have been given a welcome shot in the arm thanks to the remixing and remastering process, and fans of the band’s more recent output will be well served to find out how the band got to be so darn good. Here’s some info: (more…)
Review: Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros; November 3, 2009; Belly Up Tavern, San Diego
Alex Ebert sure does like to reinvent himself. First a rapper, then the flamboyant front man for the goofy post-glam Ima Robot, Ebert has reformed himself once again—this time as the messianic mastermind behind Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros. In the persona of Edward Sharpe, he presides over a dedicated troupe of musicians/followers who create alternately sentimental and moody rock reminiscent of 60s hippie-folk and Ennio Morricone film scores. (more…)
Review: Noah and the Whale; October 21, 2009; Casbah, San Diego
The first thing you notice about Charlie Fink is how young he looks. With his curly, tussled hair resting atop an angular but cherubic face, Fink hardly seems like the person responsible for the world-weary outlook and deep, creaky vocals that have come to characterize Noah and the Whale’s sound. Of course, the band’s music wasn’t always grim—it used to be as youthful and fresh as Fink’s appearance. (more…)
Win Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros’ ‘Up From Below’ on Vinyl (Contest)
Last month we described Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros as sounding like Arcade Fire minus the glum pretentiousness. And while that was meant as a compliment to Sharpe and Co. at the time, things have changed since then.
In the past few weeks we’ve given the band’s debut album, Up From Below, dozens of listens, and it turns out that the Los Angeles collective is much more than a pleasant reminder of another band’s glory days. Fronted by Ima Robot’s Alex Ebert, the eleven-piece band mixes rustic 60s pop with infectious melodies and childlike innocence to create songs that stay in your head—and, dare we say, your heart—for days on end. And, since the only thing we at Owl&Bear like better than good music is good music on vinyl, we’re happy to report that the album has just been released in the wondrously waxy format, and we’re giving it to one of you for free.
For a chance to win the LP, simply comment on this post and include your email address in the form (your email won’t be visible to the public). The winner will be chosen at random on November 15, 2009.
Also, be sure to listen to their exuberant ballad “Home”, which is easily one of the year’s best songs. We recently featured it on Podcast vol. 126, and it’s also available for download here.
Finally, the band is touring the States right now, so be sure to catch them. Dates are below. (more…)
Frightened Rabbit – “Swim Until You Can’t See Land” (Video)
Frightened Rabbit, the lads responsible for Owl&Bear’s 2008 Album of the Year, are back with a video for “Swim Until You Can’t See Land”, the A-side off their new 7-inch single. It’s great to hear Scott Hutchison’s quivering brogue again, and you can mark us down as officially excited for the band’s upcoming album. The elegant clip goes to show that you don’t need high-concept ideas or quirky animation to make a captivating video. Sometimes you just need a great band, a great song, and some flashlights.
Poetic Memory: The Moviegoers (List)
In the 1960s the average band enjoyed fame for a couple of months, if that, before people’s attention shifted to the next rising (and soon to be falling) stars. Being a one-hit wonder wasn’t a failure, it was the norm, and accomplishments by bands like The Beatles and The Kinks were rendered all the more impressive by the fact that any kind of longevity was exceptional, and enjoyed by only a small percentage of groups.
Not much has changed since then: nowadays most bands—particularly in the realm of indie rock—still amount to little more than passing fads, soaking up their proverbial fifteen minutes of fame before succumbing to irrelevance. But one thing that has been accelerated by the internet is that entire genres seem to rise and fall in the space of a few months, leaving up-and-coming groups scrambling to tap into the next sound du jour and ride the Wavves waves of recognition before they fizzle out.
Then there are bands who are content to just create great music. Unfazed by meaningless trends, they place emphasis on great songwriting, captivating melodies, and a distinctive but inviting sound. They may not get drooled over by Pitchfork (and if they do, it’s only so long until P4K’s drool runs dry and the inevitable backlash begins), but they do create a body of work that speaks for itself, and will outlast the one-MP3 wonders that permeate the blogosphere. San Diego’s The Moviegoers are one of those bands, and though they may not auto-tune their vocals or mangle their guitars with lo-fi crunch, they do create moving and memorable songs accented by rich harmonies and understated confidence. And that never goes out of style. (more…)
