Category Archives: listen

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Poetic Memory: Jeremy Davenport (List)

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Jeremy Davenport

Jazz trumpeter Jeremy Davenport was raised by a music educator mother and a father who plays trombone with the St. Louis Philharmonic. Despite this, it took a childhood encounter with Wynton Marsalis to truly inspire Davenport; soon, he went on to study at the University of New Orleans with Marsalis’ father, Ellis.

Davenport has toured the world with Harry Connick Jr.’s Big Band, and he now lives in New Orleans, where he’s been a fixture for years. In 2000, he was inducted into the New Orleans Jazz Hall of Fame.

Davenport is a regular player at the Ritz-Carlton in New Orleans, and he recently started a residency in New York. His latest recording, We’ll Dance ‘Til Dawn, was released on July 21; check out “Almost Never“, an MP3 from the album. Jeremy Davenport’s Poetic Memory is below. Continue reading →

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Elvis Perkins Brings ‘Doom’ Upon Us

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Elvis Perkins in Dearland

Elvis Perkins has been good to us this year. In March, he released his non-solo debut, the ominously jubilant Elvis Perkins In Dearland. That same month, he treated some lucky San Diegans to a rollicking, intimate performance at M-Theory Records. And now, just when it seemed that Mr. Perkins couldn’t have anything else up his sleeve for us in the near future, he goes and announces a new EP.

Set to be released October 20th on XL Recordings, The Doomsday EP features six tracks, including the titular song in its Elvis Perkins In Dearland incarnation and a new slower version [MP3]. The EP was recorded in three days at Machines with Magnets in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, and will almost certainly sound “earthy.” Continue reading →

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Poetic Memory: Kissing Cousins (List)

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Kissing Cousins

L.A.-based Kissing Cousins, an “all female sepulchral counter-pop” band led by Heather Bray Heywood, began with a few modest EPs. Since then, they’ve had a song featured on Nip/Tuck and recorded a full-length album, Pillar of Salt. Kissing Cousins recorded Pillar live to tape—a rarity in today’s mostly digital landscape—with the help of Richard Swift. The band used Wilco’s old TASCAM 8-track to record the album, bestowing a second life upon the piece of equipment that has produced some of Wilco’s greatest songs. Kissing Cousins definitely do the machine justice.

Music videos for Pillar are in the works, and the vinyl will be released in July (see tour dates below). For samples, check out “In Too Deep” from Pillar, as well as “Deathhouse“, Heywood’s personal favorite song from the album.

After the jump: 10 bands that influenced Heywood’s songwriting “in some shape or form.” Continue reading →

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Poetic Memory: Wheat (List)

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For this edition of Poetic Memory, Wheat drummer Brendan Harney summed up his intentions better than we could’ve:

The visual aspect of music and images associated with sound, melody, etc. have always played a major role in what we do as a band. So, as I mined that a bit, I started to think about all the images related to music that have greatly affected me throughout the years. Through all of them, none have left such a deep and lasting impression as the images that I looked at as a young boy while I played the records that my mom brought home. I was fortunate to have someone in my life who collected a wide variety of music, and it’s these early images that burned themselves, along with the music of course, into my soul, and continue to influence the way I feel about what great art is really about. Some are the covers of records, and others are from the inner sleeve or gatefold—whichever struck me the most then.

Wheat released White Ink, Black Ink, their first album of new material since 2007, on July 21. Check out their single, Changes Is (MP3). You can also watch the video (above).

Here’s Brendan Harney’s Poetic Memory: Continue reading →

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Poetic Memory: Matthew Specktor (List)

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Matthew Specktor

The 19-year-old narrator of Matthew Specktor’s novel That Summertime Sound has two options: return home to L.A. and a family that hardly notices him; or travel to the Heart of the Heart of the Country—Columbus, Ohio—and come of age.

The novel is set against the Columbus music scene of the 1980s, and Specktor is looking to connect with his favorite band. That Summertime Sound reads like an ’80s music encyclopedia, with references to The Feelies, Hüsker Du, Pere Ubu, and others.

To accompany the novel’s release, Specktor’s website features readings by Morgan Freeman (MP3), Jeremy Irons, Gwyneth Paltrow, and other Hollywood icons. Matthew Specktor’s Poetic Memory is below.

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. Continue reading →