Josh Ritter Conquers ‘The World’
Photo credit: Brian Stowell
When your music draws frequent comparisons to that of Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen, Paul Simon, and Bruce Springsteen, you must be doing something right. Continue reading…
Watchlist vol. 6: Phantogram
Once in a great while you hear music that just makes you feel cool.
Every time it comes on, you feel like you should be walking in slow motion, dark shades on, gliding into a room as all eyes fix on you. Maybe you’re wearing an old, black, leather jacket and flicking a cigarette as smoke billows from your mouth.
There are only a handful of groups in recent memory that have given me that feeling: Autolux, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, and Leonard Cohen, to name a few. And now, thanks to their new album, Eyelid Movies, Phantogram have joined those hallowed ranks. Continue reading…
Poetic Memory: Boomsnake (List)
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Gabriel Rodriguez of San Diego’s Boomsnake initially met our Poetic Memory request with skepticism. In his own words, “I naturally become enthralled or influenced by the artist more than a record…I like becoming immersed in the creator: to view the world from their perspective, whatever it may be.” He adds, “The major influences of my life are probably those of most music listeners. Yes, I delve deep into the obscure, but those are not ‘life’ influences.”
For Rodriguez, though, the bottom line is this: “I enjoy music. All forms of music. If you put on ‘Thriller’ at a party, I’ll be dancing; ‘War Pigs’ at the bar, I’ll be drinking happily; ‘Sex in the Kitchen’ while making out, I’ll get freaky.”
Rodriguez’s list chronicles records that “strike the very being of the listener; records that play as if they were written for you.” His Poetic Memory is below. (more…)
Poetic Memory: Chris Hickey (List)
Chris Hickey has recorded with musical luminaries like Joe Henry, Michael Penn, and Indigo Girls, and he’s a former member of the bands “Uma” and “Show of Hands”. Now, he’s released Razzmatazz, his third solo effort.
One highlight of Razzmatazz (among many) is Hickey’s tribute to Jack Kerouac. He says, “I’ve only recently discovered Kerouac and I agree with Allen Ginsberg when he said that Kerouac’s work is ‘The most sincere and holy writing I know of our age.’” Hickey does the man justice with “Kerouac” (MP3).
The album was written in song-a-day fashion over the course of three weeks, and the result is “16 songs, vocal & guitar, recorded on a hand-held voice recorder…so, for better or worse, it’s sketchy, low-fi, quirky…but it might be charming or something.” It’s been listed listed as a New and Noteworthy on release on iTunes. You can purchase it here (iTunes).
We recently sat down with him to talk Poetic Memory (below). He used his own formatting when he sent us his list, and we decided that it works best that way. Enjoy! (more…)
Poetic Memory: Boy Without God (List)
Fact: there are more albums in existence today than ever before, and, as more albums are released in the future, that number will most likely increase. We, the intrepid writers for Owl&Bear, stand at the frothy frontline of this constant deluge of new music, bravely filling buckets with the good stuff and presenting it as sweet sustenance to our parched readers. We perpetually receive music from PR people, begging us to check out undiscovered artists, and a lot of it is, quite frankly, underwhelming. But once in a while we come across a diamond in the rough, something that grabs us by the ears and doesn’t let go. And so it happened that, mere seconds into hearing “If You” (MP3), I became a fan of Boy Without God.
Hailing from Massachusetts, famed home of the sassy Congressman, Boy Without God is the solo project of multi-instrumentalist Gabriel Birnbaum. His new album, Your Body Is Your Soul, which sounds like Neutral Milk Hotel if they’d been fronted by Johnny Cash, has been on constant rotation in the Owl&Bear offices lately and is shaping up to be one of the best albums of the year. Birnbaum was kind enough to share his influences with us for our newest installment of Poetic Memory.
Poetic Memory is a regular Owl and Bear feature in which musicians disclose their influences—whether it’s albums, songs, artists, or something random. If you’re interested in being featured here, send us an email. (more…)
See Leonard Cohen in Concert for Free
If you missed out on Leonard Cohen’s stellar San Diego performance earlier this month, you’re probably not feeling too good about yourself. And if you blew your second chance to see Cohen this month—at last weekend’s Coachella festival—you probably feel downright awful. But don’t worry, because—even though you don’t deserve it—you now have yet another chance to experience Mr. Cohen in concert. Well, sort of.
For this week only, the nice folks at Pitchfork are streaming Cohen’s Live In London concert film for free. The concert film, included as a DVD companion piece to his recently released live album of the same name, proves that the remarkable Cohen is still at the top of his game.
So sit back, turn out the lights, set the video to full-screen mode, and pretend you’re enjoying the unmistakable crooning of the great Leonard Cohen in person. How many more chances do you need?
[Video has since been removed.]
Review: Leonard Cohen; April 7, 2009 at Copley Symphony Hall; San Diego
The setting at the Copley Symphony Hall is not unlike Leonard Cohen himself. With its stained-glass windows and walls of intricately sculpted marble, the building seems as though it should house sermons rather than symphonies. But at the center of the basilican architecture lies the stage itself, lit in smokey reds and swanky purples that would feel more at home in a brothel than a cathedral. The juxtaposition of the sacred and the profane has long been a tenet of Cohen’s distinguished career, which has been as defined by prayer songs like “If It Be Your Will” as it has by the lurid recounting of trysts with Janis Joplin.
How to Hug Your Independent Record Store
“Indie record stores,” says Chrys Hansen of Modern Music, the Caribbean’s most visited record store, “are where you go when you first realize there’s a whole new world of music for you to explore.” The Internet notwithstanding as perhaps one’s first stop when searching out what the world has to offer musically, Hansen’s words ring sentimental and otherwise true.
Independent record stores, unlike the CD sections of Wal-Mart and Best Buy, often feature carefully procured selections of good popular music and local and alternative groups that are either too vulgar or not Hoobastank-y enough for other outlets. The quality of independent record stores is only enhanced by the personal touch offered by the staff.
Leonard Cohen to Build a Tower of Song in San Diego
Leonard Cohen has seen the future, and it is busy. The legendary singer/songwriter/poet/novelist has recently emerged from a fifteen-year absence to embark on a North American tour that includes a stop at San Diego’s Copley Symphony Hall on April 7th.
Tickets go on sale to the general public on March 2nd, and can be bought here. They’re a little on the pricey side, but how often do you get to see a living legend perform?
Mr. Cohen will also bring his songs of love and hate to this year’s Coachella festival, where he’ll be playing alongside Paul McCartney and Morrissey, who are no slouches either. But if you can’t make it to any of his tour dates, you can console yourself with the forthcoming double-CD and DVD set Live In London, set for release on March 31st.
You can also listen to his recent Beacon Theatre performance here, thanks to NPR’s All Songs Considered.
The remarkably active 74-year old has also been making the media rounds lately. The New York Times recently wrote a nice piece about Cohen and the unfortunate circumstances that prompted his new tour, and The New Yorker just published a great new poem of his, which you should read right now.
Tour dates after the jump.
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