Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds live @ BBC Radio 2 (full concert)
Setlist:
(It’s Good) To Be Free
Mucky Fingers
Everybody’s on the Run
Dream On
If I Had a Gun…
The Good Rebel
The Death of You and Me
Freaky Teeth
Wonderwall
Supersonic
(I Wanna Live in a Dream in My) Record Machine
AKA… What a Life!
Talk Tonight
Don’t Look Back In Anger
Encore:
AKA… Broken Arrow
Half The World Away
(Stranded On) The Wrong Beach
Jack Peñate is a London-based songwriter who put out one of my favourite albums of 2009 (Everything is New) and absolutely floored me when he opened for Miike Snow in Vancouver — although sadly, he hadn’t been heard from much since. The three year silence finally ended yesterday when he posted a link on his Twitter to a video of him performing a new track, “No One Lied,” by himself at home — and my god, did it ever strike a chord. Just a few hours later, Jack tweeted that he heard DJ Zane Lowe had already aired the track on BBC Radio 1. Jack’s new album doesn’t have a title or release date yet, but expect to see it hit the shelves sometime in 2012. It will be interesting to see what kind of transformation this song goes through in the meantime.
mp3: Jack Peñate - No One Lied (live) (2012)
mp3: Jack Peñate - Pull My Heart Away from Everything is New (2009)
Last night I hit up the Electric Owl on Main Street to check out new local buzz band Good for Grapes. The young Surrey-based band recently garnered some attention when they won a contest to open for Vancouver favourites Mother Mother (listen: “Wrecking Ball”) at the Commodore Ballroom.
After hearing a couple tracks from Good for Grapes, I had expectations for last night’s gig, but nothing could have prepared me for their frenetic, foot-stomping performance. Despite forming less than a year ago and all being between the ages of 17 and 19, Good for Grapes come across as if they have been playing together for over a decade. So far they have released just one EP and a few random tracks, including the very Mumford & Sons-esque “Skipping Stone,” which has been getting some play on local radio in recent weeks. Stream it below, sample a couple tracks from the EP, and then buy it on iTunes. This band is definitely going places.
Skipping Stone by Good For Grapes
mp3: Good for Grapes - A Worthier Man from Good for Grapes EP (2011)
mp3: Good for Grapes - London Fog from Good for Grapes EP (2011)
Stream another track “Oh Dear” here and check out a live performance of “Little Carmichael” below:
Also on the bill at The Owl last night were Coquitlam boys Young Pacific and The Oh Wells, an a-dorkable Vancouver band fronted by Sarah Jickling whose sweetness and charm evokes that of Zooey Deschanel. Their 2011 EP takes its name from a lyric in the song “Is It Too Late to Apologize,” when she sings to a boy: sorry I’m not that girl from Transformers / sorry that I cannot fix your car. At the show she dedicated the song to “anyone who has ever tried to hide their dorkiness from someone”. Yup, we’ve all been there. Grab the Not that Girl from Transformers EP here.
mp3: The Oh Wells - Is It Too Late To Apologize from Not that Girl from Transformers EP (2011)
*UPDATE* Head over to The Polyphonic Pixel to check out my friend Max’s photos of Good for Grapes’ and The Oh Wells’ sets.
A couple nights ago The Avett Brothers appeared on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon to perform a cover of Bob Dylan’s “One Too Many Mornings,” banjo and all. A version they “recorded” with the late Johnny Cash (ahh, studio magic) appears on Chimes of Freedom: The Songs of Bob Dylan, a new Amnesty International album set to be released on January 24th. Stream the track below and feel free to order the four-disc collection or digital download here.
Johnny Cash feat. The Avett Brothers - One Too Many Mornings
The original, which appeared on Dylan’s third album, The Times They Are A-Changin’, alongside some great renditions by David Gray and Joe Henry.
mp3: Bob Dylan - One Too Many Mornings from The Times They Are A-Changin’ (1964)
mp3: David Gray - One Too Many Mornings (live) from A Thousand Miles Behind (2007)
mp3: Joe Henry - One Too Many Mornings from the I’m Not There soundtrack (bonus track) (2007)
Finally, a video of Cash and Dylan dueting on the track circa the Nashville Skyline era:
Yup, I could definitely listen to this song for the rest of my life.
There’s a new Bruce Springsteen song out today. BRB while I listen to this all day.
mp3: Bruce Springsteen - We Take of Our Own from Wrecking Ball (2012)
The Boss’ 17th studio album, Wrecking Ball, will be released on March 6th. It marks the E Street Band’s first release since the death of iconic saxophonist Clarence Clemons. We’ve heard the album’s title track before — “Wrecking Ball” is in reference to the demolition of Giants Stadium in his home state of New Jersey. Springsteen debuted it when he played the final concert at the football stadium in October 2009 (video) and he later released the live recording as a single.
“Land of Hope and Dreams” is another familiar title — it’s an old E Street concert staple that has yet to appear on a studio album. Clocking in at over nine minutes, it’s an epic that Springsteen says he wrote in the style of Bob Dylan.
mp3: Bruce Springsteen - Wrecking Ball (Live at Giants Stadium) (2009)
mp3: Bruce Springsteen - Land of Hope and Dreams (Live) (circa 2000)
Wrecking Ball tracklisting:
The E Street Band is touring Europe through July, so North American dates can probably be expected in late summer and fall. Fingers crossed he makes another stop in Vancouver so I can get my fingers on that Fender Telecaster again (best moment of my life, hands down).
A few years ago I put together some of my favourite Springsteen covers. Check it out here.
It seemed odd to me that I have never done a post on Kathleen Edwards — probably my favourite modern-day female singer/songwriter — until I realized that the last time she released a record was in 2008, a year before I even began writing this blog. Four years is a long time to go without a Kathleen record, but it sounds like the extended break did the Canadian songstress some serious good.
Today marks the release of Voyageur, Kathleen’s fourth full-length album, and what sounds like her strongest effort since 2003’s Failer (a desert island top 10 disc of mine for sure — get that shit). Since 2008’s Asking for Flowers, Kathleen got a divorce from her longtime collaborator Colin Cripps and subsequently started up a relationship with Justin Vernon of Bon Iver; it needn’t be said that Voyageur certainly isn’t lacking any emotional punches. Edwards and Vernon produced the album together and you can hear hints of Bon Iver in songs like my personal favourite, “Chameleon/Comedian”. That isn’t to say that this album isn’t very much Kathleen’s own, however; what I love about her records is that they always give a glimpse inside both her head and her heart in a deeply personal way that many other artists wouldn’t be comfortable enough to share with their listeners.
mp3: Kathleen Edwards - Change the Sheets from Voyageur (2012)
mp3: Kathleen Edwards - Chameleon/Comedian from Voyageur (2012)
mp3: Kathleen Edwards - 12 Bellevue from Failer (2003)
Check out this mini-documentary on Voyageur including an interview with Justin Vernon:
Hey, remember that time I went to Sasquatch four years ago and Bon Iver covered a Kathleen Edwards song? Who would’ve guessed they would end up together… (*mushy thoughts*) Is it really horrible of me to hope that they eventually break up though? I mean, how awesome would those two break-up albums be?! Just sayin’…
It’s been five whole years since The Shins released Wincing the Night Away. I will always remember the day that the album came out because it was the year that I graduated high school and my friends and I held a private listening party for ourselves (yeah, we were the cool kids). From the opening notes of “Sleeping Lessons,” I immediately knew it was going to be one of those albums that stuck with me for a very long time, and it certainly became the soundtrack to the spring that I graduated. Then, The Shins mysteriously fell off the face of the earth.
Yesterday, frontman and principle songwriter James Mercer finally unveiled the first single from The Shins’ new album Port of Morrow, entitled “Simple Song”. I suddenly found myself thinking back to the release of Wincing the Night Away, and realizing how much I, and the world around me, have changed since then. Needless to say, there’s a significant difference between being 17 and being 22. I got a message from one of my friends who was in attendance at our little listening party back in 2007 — she pointed out that she managed to enter and graduate university in the time that it took for a new Shins album to be written, recorded, and released. So what was James Mercer doing all this time?! He at least gave us a Broken Bells record to help fill the void, but there’s just something special about a Shins album that can’t possibly be compared.
Port of Morrow comes out March 20th on Mercer’s own label Aural Apothecary. It’s about effin’ time.
mp3: The Shins - Simple Song from Port of Morrow (2012)
mp3: The Shins - New Slang from Oh, Inverted World (2001)
mp3: The Shins - Gone For Good from Chutes too Narrow (2003)
mp3: The Shins - Sleeping Lessons (RAC Mix) (2007)
mp3: The Shins - We Will Become Silhouettes (The Postal Service Cover) from Such Great Heights EP (2003)
Remember what Natalie Portman said in Garden State? “You gotta hear this one song… it’ll change your life, I swear.”
Well, another year has come and gone. Whenever I take time to reflect on the records that affected me in the the previous twelve months, I am always amazed at how much music I managed to consume — and yet, it is never enough. Year end lists make me realize how much music is being made in the world and how I will never have enough time to listen to it all. But it doesn’t hurt to try, right?
Here are the albums of 2011 that made me smile, dance, cry, run faster, or lie on the floor staring at the ceiling late at night. There is no way to know how many of these albums will still be in my regular rotation ten years down the line, but I’m certain that the songs within them will forever remind me of the year that I turned twenty-two.
THE ANTLERS
Burst Apart
mp3: Every Night My Teeth Are Falling Out
mp3: Putting The Dog To Sleep
BELL X1
Bloodless Coup
mp3: Hey Anna Lena
mp3: The Trailing Skirts of God
BOMBAY BICYCLE CLUB
A Different Kind of Fix
mp3: Lights Out, Words Gone
mp3: Leave It
BON IVER
Bon Iver
mp3: Holocene (watch: video)
mp3: Beth / Rest
CHIDDY BANG
Peanut Butter and Swelly (mixtape)
mp3: Too Much Soul
mp3: Heatwave
COLD WAR KIDS
Mine Is Yours
mp3: Out of the Wilderness
mp3: Louder Than Ever
CUT COPY
Zonoscope
mp3: Need You Now
mp3: Hanging Onto Every Heartbeat
THE DECEMBERISTS
The King is Dead
mp3: Don’t Carry It All
mp3: This Is Why We Fight (watch: video)
FRANK TURNER
England Keep My Bones
mp3: I Am Disappeared
mp3: If Ever I Stray (watch: video)
GOTYE
Making Mirrors
mp3: Somebody That I Used to Know (feat. Kimbra) (watch: video)
mp3: Eyes Wide Open
GUILLEMOTS
Walk the River
mp3: Walk the River
mp3: I Must Be A Lover (watch: video)
HANDSOME FURS
Sound Kapital
mp3: Serve the People (watch: video)
mp3: Repatriated
HEY ROSETTA
Seeds
mp3: Yer Fall
mp3: Bandages (watch: video)
JAY-Z / KANYE WEST
Watch the Throne
mp3: Otis
mp3: That’s My Bitch (feat. Justin Vernon)
M83
Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming
mp3: Midnight City (watch: video)
mp3: New Map
NOEL GALLAGHER’S HIGH FLYING BIRDS
Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds
mp3: Everybody’s on the Run
mp3: If I Had A Gun… (watch: video)
THE RURAL ALBERTA ADVANTAGE
Departing
mp3: North Star
mp3: Tornado ‘87 (watch: live session)
WASHED OUT
Within and Without
mp3: You and I (feat. Caroline Polachek)
mp3: Amor Fati (watch: video)
WE ARE AUGUSTINES
Rise Ye Sunken Ships
mp3: Book of James (watch: video)
mp3: Chapel Song (watch: video)
YOUNG GALAXY
Shapeshifting
mp3: We Have Everything (watch: video)
mp3: Cover Your Tracks
YOUTH LAGOON
The Year of Hibernation
mp3: Montana (watch: video)
mp3: Seventeen
‘Like’ Music vs. Misery on Facebook
Last night in a bout of insomnia I impulsively watched The Art of Flight, a new snowboarding documentary that follows pro boarder Travis Rice and his friends around the world as they search for the best powder that they can possibly find, often in the most remote of places. Featured spots include British Columbia (my home!), Patagonia, Alaska, Romania, Wyoming, and Austria. As you’ll see from the trailer above, it’s both visually stunning and heart-stoppingly terrifying. I think that I was holding my breath for the entire 80 minutes.
The added bonus to The Art of Flight is that is boasts a great soundtrack. It features some of my favourite songs of the year, as well as an early Okkervil River track that never fails to rip my heart out. It’s a stellar film in itself, but The Art of Flight also acts as proof of how a well-selected soundtrack can significantly enhance a viewing experience.
mp3: M83 feat. Zola Jesus - Intro from Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming (2011)
mp3: The Naked & Famous - No Way from Passive Me, Aggressive You (2010)
mp3: Apparat - Ash/Black Veil from The Devil’s Walk (2011)
mp3: Okkervil River - Westfall from Don’t Fall In Love With Everyone You See (2002)
Zaac Pick, one of my favourite local singer-songwriters, has just released a new EP entitled Whitewater. You can (and should) purchase it here. If you do so before Tuesday, you’ll also receive the bonus track “Finding Christmas”. Sample the EP’s title track below — it’s been stuck in my head for days. Recommended for fans of Mumford & Sons and all that folksy goodness.
mp3: Zaac Pick - Whitewater from Whitewater EP (2011)
Video of Zaac performing his song “Bad Dream” inside a Vancouver antique shop:
mp3: Zaac Pick - Bad Dream from Fierce Wind (2009)
