Tag Archive for 'interview'

The gods too are fond of a joke

Published
by
gregor
on March 11, 2008
in announcement, new stuff and shows
. 6 Comments

deadmeadow.jpg

for daniel lanois fans, daytrotter’s gonna have a live interview from sxsw with the man @ 11.30 am central time. he’s got a new record and movie coming out entitled here is what is. you can order a super special deluxe version or purchase and download it via his site.

where will i be

daniel lanois site

am i the only one not really understanding the appeal of vampire weekend? they are 07/08’s clap your hands and say yeah, or whatever they’re called. what am i missin?

you wanna go to sxsw but dont have tix, dont have cash, dont have a place to stay? if you answer no to at least one of em then your prayers may have been answered. the men of lucero and record store today are running a contest that the grand prize winner will get a two night stay in a hotel, 4 vip tix, $200 and a shitload of other stuff. visit this here page for more info.

caspian’s the four trees came out last year, but i just recently decided to check it out. if you were feeling a little underwhelmed by the last explosions in the sky record, then the four trees will treat you kindly. very cool stuff.

asa

caspian site / myspace

speaking of records i am totally diggin, dead meadow’s old growth is more than filling my insatiable hunger for soundtracks to long, hazy, drunken summer days. old growth is not as bombastic as their previous stuff, but is more apt to create an atmosphere rather than smashing one into pieces. heres a couple off old growth.

im gone

what needs must be

here they are playing in bristol, uk on 8.15.07. slip into some headphones and turn the shit up. its a soundboard, btw. thanks to the original taper!

1. greensky, greenlake

2. babbling flower

3. new song numero uno still working on the title

4. good moanin

5. such hawks such hounds

6. new track numero dos (see above)

7. at her open door

8. aint got nothing

9. what needs must be

10. everythings going on

11. heaven

12. sleepy silver door

what needs must be

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hey flathead! chop, chop.

Published
by
gregor
on December 17, 2007
in fm broadcast
. 2 Comments

jlekman.jpg

jens lekman on swedish radio, 10.10.07

1. intro #1

2. into eternity

3. intro #2

4. friday night at the drive in bingo

5. interview (in swedish)

6. higher power (fades out to news update)

7. intro #3

8. the opposite of hallelujah

9. a postcard to nina

10. interview (in swedish)

11. a sweet summer night on hammer hill

12. interview (in swedish)

13. interview (in english)

14. i saw her in the anti-war demonstration

15. interview (in sweedish)

16. you can call me al

17. interview (in sweedish)

18. shirin

19. lonlov

20. outro


oh, luke!

Published
by
gregor
on December 14, 2007
in new stuff
. 0 Comments

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if i had a second top ten list, or maybe just extended my current top 13 to say 20, polynya’s debut would definitely be residing somewhere on either list. for the past 4/5 months its been one of my go-to records that i have really found an appreciation for since my initial listen. first listen unfurled some pleasant surprises, but as i delved a little deeper with each repeated listen i found that the its more than just a nice arty/poppy record. the group dynamic, especially the vocal interplay, is way beyond the scant 5 years they have spent as polynya. check em out! great stuff, here’s hoping for more in 08.

luke was kind enough to sit down and answer a few hard hitting questions that i regurgitated from previous interviews.

cd: first, for those that arent familiar with polynya could you do us a favor and fill us in on who you are, where you are from, where you been, where you’re going, etc.

luke berchowitz: We are a five piece: Amelia (drums/vox), Andrea (keys/guitar/vox), Luke (guitar/vox), Thom (bass), and Pat (keys). Although all of our members either live in Durham (NC), Carrboro (NC), or Brooklyn, I would consider ourselves a Chapel Hill (NC) band b/c that’s where we play and it’s also where the radio station is (WXYC). Pat and I DJ at the station. We’ve been writing, playing, and recording for about 5 years. We focus on writing and recording, but we do play out from time to time. We are working on a new set of compositions that are pretty much complete and we’re going back to the studio in the next month. We also do a lot of lo-fi bedroom style recordings, which are helpful in figuring out the final arrangements. We have started our own label and we do everything ourselves from the recording/art/web programming/publicity/distribution and anything else you could think of.

cd: is it pronounced poly-ana?

lb: It’s Puh-lin-knee-ya

cd: one thing that i really dig about the record is that it doesnt sound like it was recorded in 2007. it reminds me quite a bit of the early - mid 90’s -which just so happens to be my personal favorite musical era. was this by design or just happenstance or am i really just stuck in the early - mid 90s?

lb: We had no intentions of recording to sound any specific way. We only wanted to capture the compositions as well as possible. Thom and I always fight a battle of lo-fi (which I prefer) and hi-fi (which Thom prefers) styles. Thom knows way more about recording and engineering than I do, so we usually do things his way. But, lemme tell you, we love some early 90’s and that’s when Thom cut his recording chops, so it’s no coincidence. MBV, Lush, Slowdive, Ride, Pulp, DM-Violator etc. are all huge influences on our recording strategy.

cd: outside of the musical world, what are some of your collective influences that have maybe helped define either yourself and/or polynya?

lb: I’d say that the Dada movement has had a big impact on our aesthetic because we like it so much. The whole idea that there is no distinction between what is and isn’t art and that chance can have as much impact as deliberation, all those modes of thought are integral to our style. Paul Klee has been a monumental inspiration for various reasons which I
could go into later. Amelia teaches art at an alternative K-12 school, and has a one-year-old so I know that kids are a big influence on her. Andrea studies complexity and randomness in art so all those guys from Dada to digital are big. We have absolutely no agendas outside of creating art that pleases us. We make it and let the chips fall where they may. A lot of us read comics. Science is a bit of an influence too, can’t escape that.

cd: when i need to fall asleep i usually start day dreaming about what records i would have love to been a fly on the wall during the making of - exile on mainstreet and bee thousand being two of my most favorite. what record would you have loved to have been witness to the making of?

lb: Oh jeez that’s a cool question. I’ll go with The Fall: This Nation’s Saving Grace. I’m sure there were a lot of high-fives during the making of that one. Runners up would be Can:Monster Movie and Bowie:Heroes. I’d love to see how those people work.

cd: what are you putting off today that you wont get to tomorrow?

lb: Exercising. Organizing my shit. Getting back on track with sleep. The usual.

old west

where am i

sweatshop


i was born a poor black child

Published
by
gregor
on October 2, 2007
in paul westerberg, shows, swivel chairs and wooden shjips
. 20 Comments

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for you smokers out there. am i the only one to have a thousand lighters, but never one actually on my persons? its just a given that i never have a lighter and i since i dont actually carry money on me, i refuse to debit a buck for one. i have been trying to quit so you would think that the absence of a lighter would be a sign, but its not.

ex-varnline and all around awesome guy, anders parker is playing tonight at the earl. he’s got a new live record out called 14th and division: live in portland, oregon august 2.2005. its awesome, by the way, and can be purchased through his site, on his current tour and maybe on itunes.

tell it to the dust

anders parker site / myspace

there’s something strangely comforting about jeremy grites and jason brown’s swivel chairs. i cant quite my get head around them just yet, though. they must have been raised in the 80’s cause their is something about their guitar tones that leads me to believe they nurtured their brand of rock/pop on the cassette tape. they just dont sound like a band from the 00’s and maybe its cause i have been listening to a bit of xtc lately, but brown’s plaintive delivery on “afterthought” is quite andy partridge-esque. pretty cool stuff…

afterthought

10 g (say so)

swivel chairs myspace

i love spacerock. plain and simple. sadly, there arent too many groups tripping down that road worth mentioning now-a-days. out the other side of my mouth, san francisco’s wooden shjips travel and as far as i am concerned, own that road. they got a new self title record out now on holy mountain records.

i highly recommend that you listen with whatever kind of headphones you may have.

we ask you to ride

lucy’s ride

wooden shjips site / myspace /holy mountain

i dont know you, but when i want to dive into the westerberg book of songs i more often than not reach for his solo rather than replacements stuff. its a strange phenomenon though cause his best penned words, i think, can be found on much of the replacements records, but i find myself connecting more to the “grownup” paul. even if at the time, i was kinda down on a few of his solo records, most notably eventually and suicaine gratification, cause i wanted him to be stupid, drunk and 20 forever. i was probably projecting some of my own shit about growing up onto him in some weird way.

here he is playing and being interviewed by former del fuego, warren zanes @ first ave on 9.23.07. thanks very much to the original taper!

EDIT: TRACKS TAKEN DOWN AT REQUEST OF ORIGINAL TAPER

Continue reading ‘i was born a poor black child’


im a teacher, not a holiday inn

Published
by
gregor
on September 29, 2007
in shows and taj mahal
. 6 Comments

in terms of cool, no one, not even mr dulli, comes close to taj mahal, in my opinion. everything he does sounds absolutely effortless. he cant be just pinned down as a “blues” artist cause he combines so many styles into one cohesive art form and again, all effortlessly. just listen “why did you have to desert me” and try to deny its coolness.

here is taj playing at ultrasonic studios in hemstead, ny on 10.15.74.

this can now be found here.

1. intro

2. going up to the country and paint my mailbox blue

3. good morning little school girl

4. blackjack davie

5. why did you have to desert me

6. interview

7. further on down the road you will accompany me

8. stealin

9. instrumental

10. johnny too bad

11. take a giant step


if you cant join em, fuck em

Published
by
gregor
on February 9, 2007
in tunes
. 5 Comments

brokenwest.jpg

i am feeling real bitchy/catty/petty tonight for no apparent reason. my feelings bring to mind how mr costanza must have felt during the opening festivities of festivus. i got a real problem with the people or actually one particular person at merge. i will preface this by saying that merge is probably my favorite label and i hold no ill will towards the blind higher ups, but their publicity department leaves something to be desired. being a former publicist for 8 years, i know a little something about the game and how its played. granted, i am no stereogum, aquarium drunkard or my ol’ ky home, all great sites in their own regard, but this little edge of the blog-o-sphere does pretty ok for itself. i am about to burn a bridge but i really dont care, its not like they have done anything for me. so about two months ago, i had requested a couple of interviews from the lady publicist at merge. i was told one artist would be available and the other two were questionable. fine, i can deal with that. i went through the trouble of typing up a few questions and sent them over. i didnt expect a quick reply but we are going on three months and have yet to hear anything. at this point i aint expecting anything, but you know what? just out of professional courtesy, an email saying “hey the artist(s) dont have time, sorry” or “your questions suck, so go fuck yourself.” either/or would have been sufficient. i am a big boy and can handle rejection, but silence is not necessarily golden in this case. how difficult is it to send an email stating either of the above scenarios? its not difficult let me tell you. i used to do it just about everyday. at least people know where they stand. i dont know if its some fucked up indie rock ego trip, or just plain laziness. whatever it is, fuck em. i dont need em. i am not on any one’s mailing list so quite frankly i dont feel compeled to lightly suck on the fingers that feed me.

with all of that bullshit being said, i will not hold it against los angeles’ the broken west, who recently signed to merge. their debut i can’t go on, i’ll go on chaulk full of jangley pop brilliance. usually when you describe a record as such there is something a bit pussified about it, but the broken west have created a “dudes” version of the jangley pop genre. i cant go on, ill go on is very reminiscent of the power pop invasion of the mid 80’s and 90’s which included bands like teenage fanclub, one of my personal faves, red kross, matthew sweet, another favorite, and big star. the broken west is not re-inventing the wheel here, but they are definitely adding another spoke that is really quite difficult to resist. if this doesnt end up in my top ten of the very young year, i would be really suprised.
they are touring as we speak, and will be in athens @ the 40 watt on 3.20. check out their myspace page for details.

so it goes

brass ring

“down in the valley” live


four questions for ben nichols and lucero in atlanta 9.9.05

Published
by
gregor
on December 1, 2006
in shows and tunes
. 7 Comments

lucero_1.jpg

if you frequent this page with any amount of frequency you have probably come to understand or at least tolerate my very manly love affair with lucero. if you dont know what i am talking about please use the search function, or see this drunken review/love letter of their new record, rebels, rogues, and sworn brothers. without much further ado here is my interview, albeit brief, with ben nichols, lucero’s frontman.

following the interview is a show from atlanta on 9.9.05. its a damn shame that shows from the recent tour are so hard to come by.

CD: When I first heard Rebels, Rogues and Sworn Brothers, which is phenomenal, my knee jerk reaction was that it was going to alienate a lot of diehard Lucero fans that had grown accustomed to a certain Lucero ?sound.? Keep in mind; this was a knee jerk assessment of the record. After playing the Lucero catalogue front to back, several times, I realized that there really is no definitive Lucero sound. Each record has its own vibe. So, what drove you down the musical path that makes up Rebels? Did working with David Lowery play any role in the recording, or did he take a hands off approach?

BN: We pretty much knew what direction we wanted to go in before we ever went to Richmond. We knew we wanted to continue in a more Rock & Roll direction. I think that is something that’s been there all along, and has been gradually asserting itself more and more. It was really the addition of Rick Steff, the keyboard player, that allowed us to really flesh that sound out. And you’re right… there is no definition for the Lucero “sound”. That’s one of the things I like best about the band. We aren’t tied down to any one genre or type of fan. That freedom is nice. Freedom to do things the way you want is important.

CD: As I watched Dreaming in America I found myself wondering why bands in your position, at least at the time, keep on going. Have you ever gotten to the point where you just wanted to say, ?fuck it,? pack it in and call it a day? Or, as clich? as this may sound, is it truly the music that keeps you going?

BN: We kept going ’cause we had nothing else to do. Even if we weren’t committed to the band, each of us in the band had already kind of personally committed to a lifestyle outside the normal realm of things. We weren’t giving up internships at law firms or corporations to do this, because we weren’t gonna lead a normal life with or without the band anyway. And yeah… the music is what makes you feel good. Being a part of Rock & Roll still kicks ass even if you’re not successful. Don’t ask me to define successful.

CD: You tend to write quite a bit in the third person, which tells me either A. you are hiding something or B. you come across a lot of messed up folks. Which one is it? Or, none of the above? I should mention, that I identify with just about everything you write, so what does that say about me?

BN: I decided pretty early on to keep stuff as simple and straight forward as possible. I think most the stuff in these songs is stuff that most of us can relate to. Obviously I relate to it. Some songs just work better third person, even if it is a factual set of lyrics based on myself. Kinda like talking to yourself. And no…we’re not that messed up.

CD: I find myself having a lot of free time during the day when I should be working. During these moments, I find myself day dreaming about either winning the lottery or what record I wish I had the talent to be a part of ? which usually goes back to either Public Enemy?s It Takes a Nation of Millions or GbV?s Bee Thousand. In your quiet times what do you dream about or if that?s too queer is there any record that you wish you had recorded?

BN: Daydreams for me usually involve a front porch and a lake and a bottle of bourbon and my girl. Sounds pretty simple but that stuff is hard to get on the road. And I don’t have a front porch or a lake even when I am at home so…that stuff sounds good all the time. Born to Run and The Band’s second record.

1. across the river

2. aint so lonely

3. tonight aint gonna be good

4. raisin hell

5. kiss the bottle

6. nights like these

7. sixteen

8. sweet little thing

9. that much further west

10. slow dancing

11. bikeriders

12. chain link fence

13. i’ll just fall

14. blue and gray

15. joinin the army

16. last night in town

17. little silver heart

18. my best girl

19. anjalee

20. tears dont matter much

21. nobodys darlings

22. the last song

23. the war

lucero, of course, is on tour. so, check their tour page for when they are coming to your town - tonight they are in austin and tomorrow in baton rouge.