Irish-born San Diegan Del Currie, also known as Zoo Seven, has been writing music and working in the industry since the 90s, but he only recently released his debut solo album. Called Lifesaver, the album is a rich and layered work that easily showcases his talent and self-professed love for melody and harmony. You can download the entire thing for free over at his website.
We asked Del to tell us about his influences, and he happily obliged. It’s a little different from what you might expect, but it’s nonetheless interesting. Check out Del Currie’s Poetic Memory below. Continue reading…
Every July the hairs on the back of my neck stand up and my heartbeat quickens. I can sense the gathering of nerds from all over the globe. It’s a mecca for the most hardcore geeks. I’m talking about San Diego Comic Con. It is the Super Bowl for the sci-fi/fantasy/horror/pop-culture fan in all of us. Between the days of July 22-25, the San Diego Convention Center houses thousands of vendors selling toys, statues, costumes, video games, movies, memorabilia, and of course comic books. Continue reading…
In the early 2000s, art/folk/experimentalists Califone played a few shows in which they improvised accompaniment to silent films. The sessions were documented in the Deceleration series, and though the discs are quite good, they seemed like a different side of Califone, rather than a natural path.
Enter 2009 and All My Friends Are Funeral Singers. Tim Rutili set out to make a movie using only cell phone cameras. Things changed, ideas grew, and a feature film was born. This time, it had a Califone soundtrack and Califone stars, and the film itself had the Rutili touch. Funeral Singers is a remarkable, wildly imaginative film that — along with the band’s 2009 album of the same name — sees Rutili at a creative high point. All My Friends Are Funeral Singers premiered at Sundance, SxSW, and Sarasota film festivals. Paste magazine called it one of the highlights of Sundance, a “whimsical movie…full of fascinating characters…directed with a light, deft touch.”
To win a copy of All My Friends Are Funeral Singers, just comment below 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 July 12, 2010.Califone tour dates are below…
Even if “Lean On Me” has been played a billion times, it doesn’t change the fact that it’s a great song. And even though Bill Withers basically retired from music in 1985, the fact that he’s a great songwriter remains.
Aside from the numerous Grammys Withers has won since his retirement (thanks to re-recordings and samples taken from his songs), little news has come from the Withers camp — until now. On May 11, filmmakers Damani Baker and Alex Vlack released “Still Bill,” a documentary about their quest to track him down. Continue reading…
Sparrow and the Workshop are the latest indie folk offering from across the pond. Comprised of Jill O’Sullivan (vocals/guitar), Gregor Donaldson (drums/vocals), and Nick Packer (bass), the Glasgow three-piece churn out soft, ambling ballads with ominous undertones. The lovely Ms. O’Sullivan was kind enough to provide us with a list of some of her favorite musically inspiring films:
This is a list of films I have seen throughout my life that have inspired me to go out and either a) buy the soundtrack, or b) buy music by nearly every artist on said soundtrack. I also think people might like to check these films out. This is by no means a list of the best movie soundtracks ever, because I haven’t seen enough films to have anything resembling authority on the matter. Okay, so here is the list in no particular order…
To find out how O’Sullivan gets from Jim Jarmusch to Winnie Cooper in four moves — after a quick stop in Finland — check out her Poetic Memory below. Continue reading…
