posted on February 4th, 2010 by Jessica Blankenship
If there’s one musical act that could embody the modern fairytale of the no-name artist-turned-internet-sensation-turned-major-label-golden-child, it would have to be Owl City. The synth-pop project of Minnesota native Adam Young, Owl City went sounds in a Midwestern basement to a MySpace phenomenon seemingly overnight; teenage girls (and okay, boys too) were flocking…and the record industry soon followed, with Young’s project signing to Universal Republic in 2009.
In typical, modern DIY spirit, Owl City’s first two releases (the Of June EP in 2007 and 2008’s full-length Maybe I’m Dreaming) were put out while Young was still unsigned. Lack of major label representation clearly didn’t slow down the hoards of gathering fans; by the time Owl City’s first release on Universal Republic, Ocean Eyes, came out in July 2009, Adam Young’s relatively new project was already sky high. With four wildly successful singles during the latter part of 2009, it only took until December of that year for Ocean Eyes to be certified Gold.
So what’s happening in 2010 for Owl Eyes? Well, January has already seen the latest single, Fireflies, has already reached the coveted “Most Downloaded” spot on iTunes and as of January 24th, it was the #1 single in the UK. Joined by Breanne Duren (background vocals/keyboards), Matthew Decker (drums), Laura Musten (violin), and Hannah Schroeder (cello), Young’s Owl City is currently touring with Lights and Deas Vali.
Never a band to keep its fans out of the action, Owl City has a few ways to be involved, other than seeing them live: first is the obligatory chance to donate to the Haiti relief fund, via Owl City’s partnership with the American Red Cross (details below); second, and on a more lighthearted note, is the band’s offering of a chance for fans to submit their own ideas for Owl City’s next music video, for the song Vanilla Twilight (details also below).
Wu Tang Clan and the Beatles: do either demographic of listeners even crossover? I suppose they do, it’s hard for any type of person to not be in some way affected by the Beatles’ staggering catalog of music that they pieced together in a few short years. In Tom Caruna, the Brighton, England producer who put together this mashup at the tender age of 28 believes there’s a lot of crossover. “Enter the Magical Mystery Chambers” is his 27-song mashup that features such titles as “Save Me Dear” or “Forget Me Not”. Each song features several samples from bands that either covered Beatles songs or demos from the band themselves. The instrumentals and the album are available at his website http://teasearecords.net since early January.
posted on February 2nd, 2010 by Jessica Blankenship
After this month’s earthquake catastrophe in Haiti, celebrities having been going all “We Are the World” like crazy. And that’s not to make light of the disaster, nor to dismiss the outpouring of generosity from Hollywood; the world would probably benefit if those who were flush with good fortune and the power to sway the public used it for humanitarian causes more often. If we always saw this type of success when it came to celebrities getting the public to rally around a cause, well, we’d be so busy calling into telethons that we’d never actually see these celebrities’ movies or buy their albums. But this is beside the point, which is this: famous people have been kicking ass with this Haiti mess. And that definitely includes the music industry.
The latest to kick in their support? Interpol and PJ Harvey, who donated a signed box set of their entire musical catalogue and a stage outfit, respectively, to auctions which will benefit earthquake-stricken Haiti. The auctions, which are hosted by eBay and benefit the OxFam’s Haiti Emergency Respons Efforts, were set up last week by Glastonbury Festival co-organizer Emily Eavis. Among other donated items is an original song by Damon Albarn, a guitar signed by Dave Grohl, and if you feel like really kickin’ out the dough, a chance to have dance masters Groove Armada remix your song. All benefits going to Oxfam.
According to a recent story at the UK’s Guardian, Sigur Rós’ lead singer, Jonsí Birgisson, has expressed the band’s desire to take a break. He’s quoted as saying the band is on an indefinite hiatus and they’re currently “busy having babies,” while releasing solo albums. This comes as slight dig to me, as Jonsí is openly gay. He and his boyfriend Alex Somers released an instrumental album last year under the moniker Riceboy Sleeps. My guess is the rest of the band wants to take a bit of time off from the horror show of the music business and he’s not exactly thrilled.
The band’s six album was being worked on in the studio and rumors said it was very near completion when the members decided to throw away the results and start over. The last known information about the album was posted on the band’s site in May 2009, saying the material was “slower and more ambient,” but now it seems those songs will be lost in the scrap pile. Jonsí told Spinner this week, “We haven’t got another album ready. It was just a rumor. We started to record something, but then we chucked it all away. So I think we are going to have to start it all again.”
Jonsí’s solo album “Go” is scheduled to be released on March 23rd. Unlike Sigur Rós’ albums, where the lyrics are usually in Icelandic, his solo album will be entirely in English, perhaps to gain more of a foreign following. Dates for his solo acoustic tour are likely to be announced in the near future.
While the common practice is for new artists to cover old ones, I find it much more interesting when it’s the other way around. In fact, there are a lot of old crooners that are doing contemporary cover albums lately, look at Johnny Cash’s last few records before he died. Here’s a list of some crazy matchups that could be amazing.
10. Stars’ “Look Up” covered by Joni Mitchell
Joni’s sultry voice is a good fit for this Amy Millan led song off Stars’ album Heart. Hell, anything Joni sings is good enough for me, really.
9. LCD Soundsystem’s “All My Friends” covered by Earth, Wind, and Fire
This song is an intense dance anthem that gets more insane by the verse. Imagine if this group funked the hell out of it? That pounding piano track with some brass and some booty shaking? Yes please…
8. Radiohead’s “Bodysnatchers” covered by Prince
When Thom Yorke’s falsetto comes in near the end, when it gets really into swing, that’s when Prince would step in with some sexiness. He’d probably add like a 10 minute solo to the end of this. If he did one hell of a job with “Creep” why not this song?
7. Arcade Fire’s “Intervention” covered by Stevie Wonder
This song works well with the organ of course, but what about some clavinet? Stevie can sing anything with some intensity, and this bible-based reflection would be a good fit for his touch.
6. The Decemberists’ “On the Bus Mall” covered by Paul Simon
Paul Simon liked to tell stories, just like the Decemberists’ Colin Meloy, though Paul’s were somewhat contemporary. Colin prefers pirates and powdered wigs. Still, this gentle song would be a good place for Paul’s poetic musings.
5. Wilco’s “I Am Trying to Break Your Heart” covered by Tom Waits
Part of the magic of this track originally is Jeff Tweedy’s rough sounding voice, it’s like he just cried for 3 hours and then came in to record. Such a feeling could be duplicated ten fold with Tom Waits stepping in.
4. Hot Chip’s “Boy From School” covered by Sly and the Family Stone
If someone could coax Sly out of his hole long enough to play some music, this Hot Chip standout could get serious funk under it. Hot Chip with a live drummer always gets the heads shaking, as proven each time they steal LCD Soundsystem’s drummer for a show.
3. Iron and Wine’s “Sodom, South Georgia” covered by James Taylor
This song has such an old feel to it that you’d swear it was a cover already. James Taylor could give this song is personal touch by pretty much playing it straight, it already feels like he could have wrote it.
2. Dirty Projectors’ “Stillness is the Move” covered by Aretha Franklin
The Amber Coffman led standout from Bitte Orca already feels like an old R&B classic. Let Aretha get up there and show you how it’s done, Amber. Don’t worry, she’ll kill it.
1. Bon Iver’s “Re: Stacks” by Bob Dylan
While Dylan’s voice isn’t quite as quality as days gone by, the closer to Bon Iver’s beautiful For Emma, Forever Ago is made for Dylan. It’s sparse, but very rhythmic and lyrically driven. The best part is that Dylan would make it a new song altogether, adding his own brand of genius to the already solid track.
Honorable Mentions
Anything by Grizzly Bear covered by The Beach Boys
Jenny Lewis’ “Rise Up With Fists” covered by Loretta Lynn
My Morning Jacket’s “Librarian” covered by Fleetwood Mac
Ida Maria’s “Oh my God” covered by The Violent Femmes
Description:
The Vitamin String Quartet’s tribute to Paramore’s Brand New Eyes reinterprets the band’s punk-pop choruses with exhilarating string arrangements that echo the pent-up emotions after their brush with non-existence. With anthems like “Ignorance” and “Brick By Boring Brick,” mighty cello harmonies complement the cries of tonic violins in this wild instrumental tribute.
1. Careful
2. Ignorance
3. Playing God
4. Brick By Boring Brick
5. Turn It Off
6. The Only Exception
7. Feeling Sorry
8. Looking Up
9. Where the Lines Overlap
10.Misguided Ghosts
11.All I Wanted
12.Decode
13.I Caught Myself
In honor of the 52nd Grammy Awards that are coming up this weekend, we’ve put together a iMix of our favorite grammy nominated tracks performed by none other than, you guessed it, Vitamin String Quartet. Listen out your favorite songs from 2009 reinterpreted with the classy edge and warmth that only stringed instruments can provide.
posted on January 26th, 2010 by Jessica Blankenship
After an 11 year hiatus, Lilith Fair is staged for a comeback in the summer of 2010…and no small one at that (insert obligatory “they are woman, hear them roar” comment). In recent days, the Lilith Fair website has been announcing a steady stream of additions to the line-up of performers, which include Lilith Fair veterans Sarah McLachlan, Emmylou Harris and Indigo Girls, with the expectation of many more to come.
But Ms. McLachlan and company are certainly not stuck in the past; there is a diverse array of female musicians that have come to the surface in the past 11 years and Lilith Fair is hell-bent of getting them all onboard. Some of the newly announced artists include Cat Power (although for the life of me, I can’t figure out why the hell she wasn’t included in the original 3-year stint; she was totally rocking back in those days as well), Loretta Lynn and Heart.
Lilith Fair was originally a traveling music festival that ran from 1997-1999, bringing the world three glorious summers of abundant estrogen. Founded by Canadian musician and super chick-musician Sarah McLachlan, Lilith Fair raised over $10 million during its original run for women’s charities all over North America, not to mention completely kicking the asses of all those late-90s, Spice Girl, “girl power” wannabes; the Lilith crew knew what true female power was all about. And this summer, they’ll be bringing it to us once again.
Full lineup so far:
A Fine Frenzy, Ann Atomic, Ash Koley, Beth Orton, Brandi Carlile, Butterfly Boucher, Cat Power, Ceci Bastida, Chairlift, Chantal Kreviazuk, Colbie Caillat, Corinne Bailey Rae, Donna Delory, Elizaveta, Emmylou Harris, Erin McCarley, Erykah Badu, Frazey Ford, Gossip, Grace Potter and The Nocturnals, Heart, Ima, Indigo Girls, Ingrid Michaelson, Janelle Monae, Jennifer Knapp, Jill Hennessy, Jill Scott, Julia Othmer, Kate Nash Katzenjammer, Ke$ha, La Roux, Lights, Lissie, Loretta Lynn, Marina & The Diamonds, Mary J. Blige, Meaghan Smith, Melissa McClelland, Metric, Miranda Lambert, Missy Higgins, Nneka, Norah Jones, Priscilla Renea, Rosie Thomas, Sara Bareilles, Sarah McLachlan, Serena Ryder, Sheryl Crow, Sia, Sugarland, Susan Justice, Tara MacLean, Tegan and Sara, Toby Lightman, Vedera, Vita Chambers, The Submarines, The Weepies, Ximena Sarinana, Zee Avi
Cities announced so far:
Atlanta, Austin, Boston, Calgary, Charlotte, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Detroit, Edmonton, Hartford, Houston, Indianapolis, London, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, Montreal, Nashville, New York, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Portland, Raleigh, Salt Lake City, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, St. Louis, Tampa, Toronto, Vancouver, DC and West Palm Beach
Ah the 80’s, you simultaneously shame me and make me want to break out into dance. 80’s covers have always sort of been horrible, why is that? I’m guessing that has to do with the overall quality of music in that time period. No one seemed to know what the hell was going on (except Michael Jackson). Here’s a list of some odd covers coming from some odd bands in the last 10 years.
10. Dinosaur Jr. “Just Like Heaven” (The Cure)
Every band has covered this song, but no one makes it their own like Jay Mascis. The amount of distortion and sloppy shredding going on before the lyrics come in is truly inspiring. It’s the most ballsy a Cure song has ever sounded.
9. Kings Of Convenience “Free Fallin’” (Tom Petty)
This is one of those songs that guy at the party who brought a guitar always plays. Luckily, these guys do it so well, that you’re free to smash that guy’s guitar and play this instead.
8. Postal Service “Against All Odds” (Phil Collins)
The first time I heard this cover I almost thought it was an original until I heard the chorus. Postal Service does it so well, adding a good amount of desperation in a way only Ben Gibbard can.
7. She & Him “Please Please Please, Let Me Get What I Want” (The Smiths)
I’m admittedly not a fan of sad British pop music from the 80’s, but I do love me some Zooey Deschanel and I very much enjoy this cover that was set to 500 Days Of Summer’s soundtrack.
6. Band Of Horses “You Make My Dreams Come True” (Hall & Oates)
Come on, you knew I wouldn’t make a list like this without some Hall & Oates, the king and queen of the 80’s (I’ll let you decide who the queen is). This song makes me want to get up and just kick the air.
5. David Byrne “I Wanna Dance With Somebody” (Whitney Houston)
David Byrne makes this song funky, not that it already didn’t have a good rhythm for dancing. I remember my sister all scrunchied up dancing to this song back in the day.
Hearing Ceelo sing this song works, but it’s really all about the xylophone, and Danger Mouse does the Femmes proud here. Yes he can play instruments, no he’s not just a DJ anymore.
3. The Lemonheads “Skulls” (The Misfits)
This is one of my favorite covers of all time, and I’ve spent many weeks attempting to find it after it disappeared from my iTunes. While most of the Lemonheads’ other work doesn’t quite hit me, hearing Glenn Danzig’s song about mounting skulls on his wall sung so sweetly is just perfect.
2. Gary Jules “Mad World” (Tears For Fears)
Thanks to Donnie Darko, Gary Jules came under most peoples’ radars with his whisper soft cover of this totally 80’s hit. This version just makes a bit more sense to me without a lot of overused synthesizers.
1. Tori Amos “Raining Blood” (Slayer)
Yes, this really happened. I actually don’t like Tori at all, she’s very much a diva and is not polite to those she doesn’t know. But, behavior aside, this is one of the more interesting covers of any band ever. I wonder if Slayer enjoyed it?
Honorable Mentions:
Gossip “Careless Whisper” (Wham!)
Boy Least Likely To “Faith” (George Michael)
The Flaming Lips “Borderline” (Maddona)
The Arcade Fire “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun” (Cyndi Lauper)
What are your favorite covers of songs from the 80’s?
In recent years, the amount of bands that have adopted names of animals is quite staggering, which leaves one to wonder if people are just getting lazy or if our animal brothers have begun to inspire us even more. I’m more apt to think it’s the former, but either way here are the best albums from bands in the last ten years named after our furred, finned, and feathered friends.
10. Noah and the Whale “The First Days of Spring”
So when you’re in a band with your girlfriend, and she decides to leave to become even more popular than your band, and she breaks your heart, what’s a guy to do? Write a breakup record and wow people with how deep your songwriting chops can go… obviously.
9. Cat Power “You Are Free”
While most people didn’t really hear Cat Power until she released “The Greatest,” I prefer her darker days where she’d suddenly lose her mind on stage in the midst of playing these very personal songs.
8. Frightened Rabbit “Midnight Organ Fight”
Another very intense, personal record that doesn’t really provide anything new to listeners in terms of innovation, but focuses on very solid songwriting and heart-on-sleeve lyrics.
7. Caribou “Andorra”
Daniel Snaith, known as Caribou, won the Polaris Prize for this 2007 release that shows hints of early Pink Floyd among other influences. Overall, it’s a perfect record to listen to on a long train ride.
6. Tortoise “Standards”
Their best in the last ten years, Tortoise has done a lot for instrumental music since the band’s inception in 1990. Standards is more of a rock album than the band’s others, but it’s got some great songs.
5. Panda Bear “Person Pitch”
Animal Collective’s Noah Lennox gave everyone a glimpse of where his band would be heading when he released this album in 2007. It still sounds like the Beach Boys went into the studio and mainlined acid, but who wouldn’t love to hear those results?
4. Gorillaz “Demon Days”
Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett’s virtual band really hit the mark with this album, a perfect mix of dark dub and rock-based hip-hop that had some great hits. While I usually skip “Feel Good, Inc.” because the radio ruined it for me, the album is a great one to listen to front to back.
3. Fleet Foxes “Ragged Wood”
Robin Pecknold and his band seemingly came out of nowhere and won people over with their beautiful live shows and recordings that sounded like they were singing on a mountain, overlooking some pleasant valley with their righteous beards.
2. Grizzly Bear “Veckatimest”
Grizzly Bear really hit a songwriting stride on their recent album. While at times these guys can sound also like the Beach Boys, though more on amphetamines than hallucinogenics, the talent of each member is astounding when witnessed live.
1. Modest Mouse “The Moon and Antarctica”
There are few bands that have worked as hard as Modest Mouse to get their music out to the masses. While their recent work has seen much commercial success, and for good reason, this 2000 release really sees Isaac Brock at his best, mixing dark lyrical poetry with a sound that would foreshadow future releases and solidify the band as an inimitable force.
Honorable Mentions:
Bowerbirds “Hymns for a Dark Horse”
Freelance Whales “Weathervanes”
Mastodon “Blood Mountain”
Pelican “City of Echoes”
Them Crooked Vultures “Self Titled”
Band of Horses “Everything All the Time”
