02.27.09
Big Whiskey in Paris and Amsterdam
In memory of the Groogrux King.
Dave Matthews Band finally announced the title of their upcoming album. It’s Big Whiskey and the Groogrux King. I love it! Love it how they managed to use a word previously unheard of in it. “Grux” was a nickname of their late saxophonist LeRoi Moore, so “the Groogrux King” is obviously a reference to him. It’s fantastic that they managed to honor LeRoi in the title in such a shrewd manner.
Earlier this week, the band announced three non-festival shows for Europe in July. I ended up buying tickets to the shows in Paris and Amsterdam! First I thought just to catch the Amsterdam show and maybe a festival date, but noticing that the Paris show is in the famous l’Olympia, which is a very small venue for DMB to play, I just couldn’t miss it. So this year I’m blowing lots of cash by traveling to concerts, but right now it feels just what I want to do.
DMB fans may not have the best reputation in the States, but so far all the European ones I’ve met have been really nice. It’s so rarely when we get to see the band that we are genuinely happy about it when we do. Two years ago I managed to catch an acoustic show by Dave and Tim Reynolds, but not the full band. Now I’m very excited it’s finally happening, and I’m already looking forward to meeting up with other people going to the shows.
This week we also got the first glimpse of the new album. In this video Boyd Tinsley is playing the violin in the studio while Dave is lying on the couch. That sounds like good old style DMB to me, very promising for the new record!
During the years 1999 and 2000, Dave Matthews Band was recording a follow-up album to Before These Crowded Streets, which is regarded as their best work by many. These recordings were never officially released, and an album in a whole another style – Everyday – came to be their next studio album. However, after the release of Everyday, the material recorded was leaked to the Internet and is known by the name The Lillywhite Sessions. The unfinished record is highly regarded by many fans. This is one of my favorites of those songs, called Sweet Up And Down.
02.23.09
Song of the Week #9: Ray LaMontagne – Let It Be Me
Ray LaMontagne at the Olympia in Dublin (Photo by Sarah Carroll)
New England singer-songwriter Ray LaMontagne was already in his mid 20s when he decided to embark on a musical career, and over 30 when his career took off with the debut album Trouble. Since then his raspy voice and laid back songs have brought him far.
Currently, he is on a European tour, playing mostly in Central Europe. Looks like he has become popular here as well, because his MySpace page reports all of this week’s shows as sold out. After some weeks in European winter, he will do a spring tour in North America.
Let It Be Me is a song from Ray LaMontagne’s third studio album Gossip in the Grain, released in October 2008. This video is from a concert at the Tabernacle in Atlanta a few days after the release of the album.
Zee Avi Interview
When I saw Zee Avi’s name on the cover of Brushfire Records’ holiday album, I had no idea what to expect. I was blown away to hear a woman with such a beautiful voice. Now I was delighted to read that her debut album is due out on May 19.
You can listen to her own recordings on her YouTube channel. That’s also how people from Brushfire found her. The recordings are not of very good quality, but that only goes to show how the performance itself matters so much more than the quality of the recording when new artists are presenting themselves. There’s something about this Internet age that someone from a small town on Borneo can get a recording contract with a US label in no time. And that’s very good, it only means we get more talented artists.
This is Zee’s “electronic press kit” on YouTube where she talks about her upcoming album and musical influences, among other things.
02.22.09
Live High by Jason Mraz
Jason Mraz’ latest album We Sing. We Dance. We Steal Things. was generally too much pop for my taste, but I loved the iTunes bonus disc containing acoustic versions of many of the songs. Live High is one of my favorites off the album. It has a nice happy groove and contains typical songwriting by Jason, seeing the world as a wonderful place.
I believe the song also portrays Jason’s relationship with religion well, not letting it restrict you but helping you live life to the fullest. This is – of course – just my interpretation. When people first see the name of the song, they probably think it’s about weed. After hearing it, they might say it’s about God. It’s probably about both, but more than that, to me it’s about observing the beauty of life while not taking yourself too seriously.
People who are into Mraz have probably seen this video already, but why not watch it once more? Jason gives such a nice example how to “live high” by walking on the street in France and performing the song.
02.21.09
Bedside Manor
Steven Page and Ed Robertson of Barenaked Ladies (Photo by Rob Fenwick)
Canadian group Barenaked Ladies is one of those bands that have had many hit songs in North America, but are not mainstream in Europe, apart from the United Kingdom at least. So I haven’t heard their songs over and over again on radio, but rather started listening to the band more recently with the advent of the Internet.
I like their humorous approach to music. Two years ago their singer and guitarist Ed Robertson started videotaping himself playing their songs in his own bathroom. He put those videos on YouTube and called them The Bathroom Sessions. At the time I didn’t remember what Ed Robertson looked like, so at first I thought it was just some random guy covering their songs. Only when I saw their other singer – Steven Page – joining him for a song, I realized who it was.
This is Ed and Steven performing the song The King of Bedside Manor from their 1992 album Gordon.
02.19.09
Dave Matthews Band in Europe
Dave Matthews Band performing at the Gorge (Photo by Joe Quercia)
Dave Matthews Band happens to be the most influential band for me. They are not particularly well known outside North America, so the first time I heard about them was when I was traveling in the state of Virginia, where they are from. They sounded pretty strange to me at first, and it took some time before I came to like them. It wasn’t until I talked to some fans online and saw the Gorge DVD that I got more into the band.
Also the US music scene started becoming much more familiar to me through Dave Matthews Band, other fans recommending artists they like and so on. Dave’s percussive style on guitar also inspired me to pick up the instrument. It has been such a great hobby and gotten me much more into music. Life could have gone down a much different path had I not just picked their album Everyday one winter day at a record store many years ago.
Dave looking like he's just about to do his dance thing (Photo by Paul Parker)
European DMB fans have only gotten live releases after spring 2007, when first Dave toured Europe with Tim Reynolds and then with the band for some shows. This year is looking good as well, first their new album is released on June 2, then the band is heading back across the pond at the end of the month! The first show is going to be opening for Bruce Springsteen at Hyde Park in London on June 28, then four days later at Rock Werchter festival in Belgium. After that there’s over a week until the next announced date at Optimus Alive festival in Portugal that they’ll be headlining on July 11.
Two days before that, they’ll most likely play at Bilbao BBK Live festival in Spain, but it hasn’t been confirmed yet. Hopefully more dates are still coming, there’s some space in between. The band is renowned for playing a big summer tour in the States every year, those dates were just announced yesterday. So far all the Europe dates have been festivals. It’s easy to understand that they want to play festivals in Europe to promote their new record, since they are not mainstream here.
They’re also playing a spring tour in the States. The original release date for the new album was the first day of the tour, but it was postponed to June. It is interesting to see how many new songs they will play on the spring tour. Their last three albums haven’t been received too well by much of the fanbase. About this one Dave has said on Twitter: ‘Listen and listen before you judge. I love it.’ So they are probably trying out some new things. Sounds promising to me.
None of the songs on the album have been leaked to public yet, so nobody knows what to expect. There might be some of their numerous unreleased live songs, or maybe it’s just all brand new. This is one of those live songs that I really like, it’s called Good Good Time. They played it many times during summer 2004, as can be found on DMB Almanac – a great site that lists all the songs and shows the band has played and gives you the setlists.
Update: Three non-festival shows announced for Europe, read more about them here. I’m excited! Seems like the time to see this incredible band is now or never, with the new record coming out and all.
02.16.09
Song of the Week #8: José González – Time to Send Someone Away
José González at Bluesfest in Ottawa (Photo by Ming Wu)
Some beautiful music from Sweden for a change. Unless you knew where he is from, you wouldn’t guess that José Gonzáles – of Argentine descent with a Spanish name – is from Scandinavia, but as far as I know, that’s where he has lived all his live. And to me, his music sounds like coming from a warm place far away.
His first album Veneer (2003) was already quite popular in countries around the world. Time to Send Someone Away is a song from his second album, In Our Nature, released in 2007. In the video below, José is performing the song at a radio station KUT in Austin, Texas.
The video contains nice close-ups of his guitar technique. He’s always using his nylon string guitar (aka Spanish guitar or classical guitar), which gives a softer tone compared to metal string guitar, which is most commonly used by singer-songwriters. Also notice how strong his right hand nails are. It’s a common way to play to pick with your fingernails especially with the classical guitar.
02.14.09
Song for Valentine’s Day
I was listening to Mason Jennings on Spotify, and it just hit me what a nice song Living in the Moment is for Valentine’s Day. This version is with Jack Johnson from Kokua Festival 2008, the song was played as part of Jack’s set.
I’m living in the moment with the friends i love…
02.13.09
Hey Girl
O.A.R. performing in Boston (Photo by Todd Vanderlin)
When I woke from a nap this afternoon, I had no idea at first which day it was. I was afraid I had overslept, but no, it was just a little nap. I’ve been feeling drowsy all evening, but one thing that cheered me up was listening to a good quality recording of an O.A.R. show. Their music is so positive and uplifting, and sounds fantastic especially after it’s been awhile without listening to them.
Hey Girl is an old song by O.A.R. The live versions last usually about 10 minutes. I love the interpolation of Bob Marley’s song Kaya that you can hear that you can on the MSG recording linked above, just fits in so well. This video is from PNC Bank Arts Center in Holmdel, NJ. It’s got a slow start and a different ending, still a good one.
Wishing all the friends of this blog Happy Valentine’s Day! Hey girl come with me and let yourself go…
02.09.09
Song of the Week #7: Ingrid Michaelson – You and I
In 2008, the talented singer Ingrid Michaelson was brought to the attention of many people by opening for Dave Matthews Band and Jason Mraz. She joined DMB on stage to sing Alanis Morissette’s part on Spoon, and with Jason she took the female part on Lucky, which also happens to be his latest single with Colbie Caillat singing the female part.
You and I is a song from Ingrid’s 2008 album Be OK, containing both studio and live recordings. In the album version, the producer of the album, Dan Romer sings the male vocals. In the video below, Jason Mraz joins her to do that! The sound quality is pretty good for a video like that, and Ingrid’s live performances are always a pleasure to listen to.
Oh, let’s get rich and buy our parents homes in the South of France…
