THE MUSIC MADE ME DO IT

Wednesday Night, Wolf Parade Changed My Life

This past Wednesday night I saw Wolf Parade play First Avenue. No, strike that. I saw them ROCK First Avenue. Yes. Rock. In fact, as I sit here writing this short post three days later, I can't quit listening to them on iTunes and I keep replaying bits from the show in my head.

Their set list bounced in between songs from Apologies To The Queen Mary and At Mount Zoomer perfectly to create a soundtrack to the evening that cascaded into an encore that left me wired and starving for more. I can't remember the last time I left a show so energized. Standouts from the night were certainly the closing of the main set with "Kissing The Beehive" and the second to last song of the encore, "I'll Believe In Anything."

A friend I've made through Twitter put it perfectly, "They're just a straight-up killer rock band -- the kind that makes you realize as you're watching them that you're raising your fist and hollering like you did when you went to your first great rock show as kid." Their energy and passion for their music is contagious. You can feel it as they play.

The close of the iTunes review for Apologies To The Queen Mary says, "Have you heard of Wolf Parade? They'll change your life." With a slight change, that statement becomes pretty true for what I experienced on Wednesday night...

Have you seen Wolf Parade live? They'll change your life,

The National - About Today (@ Spin)

Over time, The National has become a band I greatly appreciate. Each time I listen to them, I seem to hear something new - finding a new layer to a song or sensing deeper meaning to the lyrics. Anyway, really enjoyed this track and video, so thought I'd share here.

via The "Music Always Gives Me A Lift" RHC Blog

 

Editors - Smokers Outside The Hospital Doors

The Interpol video earlier in the week had me listening to them some, which made me also listen to Editors a bit. That led me back to this video, which I quite enjoy. Anyway... here you go.

Interpol: Rest My Chemistry Video

found

Fleet Foxes

My latest favorite addition to the music library? Without a doubt, Fleet Foxes. They're getting great write-ups and deservedly so. I know I can't stop listening to them.

As many are noting, they're being tied into The Long Tail of Band of Horses, My Morning Jacket and Grand Archives, but that's not really a fair comparison at all. An article in The Stranger states that they "grew up on their parents' records—Crosby, Stills, and Nash; The Beach Boys; the Zombies; Joni Mitchell; Simon and Garfunkel—and they wanted to make music that was more true to those roots."

Their EP, Sun Giant, is five songs full of gorgeous harmonies and lush melodies that leave you craving more. Thankfully, they've got a full-length album coming out June 3rd. Currently they're on tour in Europe and will be coming back to the States in late June, hitting the Twin Cities on July 20th (according to their MySpace page).

For my friends reading this in San Fran, Denver, Chicago, Boston & New York, here are your dates:

San Fran: June 26

Denver: July 22

Chicago: July 17 & 19

Boston: July 14

New York: July 9 & 10

As a last bit/treat, here's a video of them covering Fleetwood Mac's "Dreams" in 2006...

Latest Listenings

Time to catch up...

Got to see Bon Iver at the Turf Club a while back. If you ever have the chance to see them, do it. While the number of songs they have are relatively few at the moment, the passion with which they play them is plenty and Justin Vernon is quite the humble and talented musician.

The other night, I went to First Ave to see a "Best of Local Music" show and caught Romantica and The Alarmists. Two very different bands, both putting on solid performances.

Listening-wise, like many others I've been giving Santogold quite a bit of airtime as well as Vampire Weekend. Those two took me a bit to get into, but that's not the case with these next two. Handsome Furs and Miracle Fortress, both hailing from Montreal, grabbed me almost immediately.

Handsome Furs is comprised of husband/wife duo Dan Boeckner, from Wolf Parade and Atlas Strategic, and short story writer, Alexei Perry. Miracle Fortress is the creation of Graham Van Pelt, and for live shows, he brings along drummer Jordan Robson-Cramer of Sunset Rubdown and Magic Weapon, guitarist Jessie Stein of SS Cardiacs and The Luyas, and keyboardist Adam Waito of Telefauna.

Other enjoyable new (to me) finds include Alcoholic Faith Mission, Kelpe, and Crystal Castles.

Spring Is Getting Closer, Right?

Just a video to make me look forward to warmer weather and maybe some fun on the water.

Oh, and Tokyo Police Club is touring. They're playing Varsity Theater here in Minneapolis on May 6th and for my friends in Denver, they're playing Bluebird Theater on May 22nd.

Grand Archives (Live)

Last night The Jealous Girlfriends, Grand Archives and Most Serene Republic played The Entry. It was one of the very few times I have ever seen all three bands on one bill. I have to say I enjoyed all of them, but by far the highlight of the evening for me, as it appeared to be for many others as well, was the Grand Archives performance in the second slot.

Being a fan of Mat Brooke's two prior bands, I had been looking forward to a full-length album since first reading about them in Pitchfork last year. Then when looking through the show listings for various venues in town back in January and seeing that they were coming to town, I was a bit excited.

While all of the band members harmonize on vocals in addition to playing their instruments, it was primarily Mat and Ron Lewis (formerly of Ghost Stories, Joggers and Mines) leading the charge on vocals with Mat taking the lead most often. The same was true for their interactions with the crowd which were humorous, self-deprecating and genuine.

The band played through their songs at a good pace, having fun being on stage and truly enjoying playing their music for others to hear. It was my first time at The Entry and I fell fortunate to have been able to see them there. At the end of their set, everyone in the audience was asking for a couple more songs, but being in the second slot and out of time, the guys were unable to oblige. We'll just have to wait for another time, and likely a larger venue, to hear more of them in person.

Since getting The Grand Archives back in early February, it has been on heavy rotation. Now after seeing their live show, it will only continue to be so. (As a matter of fact, it's playing right now in a mix with Band of Horses, S and Carissa's Wierd in my iTunes.) If you don't have The Grand Archives yet, take a listen to one of the below places where it's streaming and if you're into it, support these guys by purchasing it at your favorite music store or site. They're very deserving of it in my opinion.

Related note 1: My photo set from last night.

Related note 2: Video of Most Serene Republic singing (Oh) God here.

Related note 3: A great review and Flickr photo set of the CD launch party for Grand Archives at The Triple Door in Seattle, which included opening performances by Mat's former Carissa's Wierd bandmates, Jenn Ghetto (S) and Sera Cahoone.

Related note 4: An article from the Seattle Times when the band was first getting noticed that's a good read.

Grandarchives.com | MySpace | Last.fm | iTunes | Amazon

Mat Brooke

Nine Inch Nails - Ghosts I-IV

As I'm sure you've heard by now, Nine Inch Nails have released Ghosts I-IV exclusively via online ordering. The main page reads:

Nine Inch Nails presents Ghosts I - IV, a brand new 36 track instrumental collection available right now. Almost two hours of new music composed and recorded over an intense ten week period last fall, Ghosts I - IV sprawls Nine Inch Nails across a variety of new terrain.

Trent Reznor explains, "I've been considering and wanting to make this kind of record for years, but by its very nature it wouldn't have made sense until this point. This collection of music is the result of working from a very visual perspective - dressing imagined locations and scenarios with sound and texture; a soundtrack for daydreams. I'm very pleased with the result and the ability to present it directly to you without interference. I hope you enjoy the first four volumes of Ghosts."

What's most interesting to me is the approach Trent took to selling this. You can download the first nine songs for free, or pay $5 for download only of all 36 songs plus extras, $10 for download plus two CDs and extras, $75 for a deluxe edition or $300 for a limited edition ultra-deluxe edition. For the downloads on the paid versions, you have the option to choose high-quality MP3s, FLAC lossless or Apple lossless files - all of which are DRM-free. (On the free download, you only get the high-quality MP3, DRM-free version.)

At first glance, they're not doing too bad so far. If my math is correct, they've collected $750,000 alone from the $300 version that has sold out. Personally, I opted for the $5 version. Along with the 36 tracks, I got a 40-page PDF booklet along with some digital goodies - wallpapers, banners for putting it on blogs, MySpace, etc. and a few .jpgs.

One of the coolest things they did in my opinion, is that when I loaded it to my iTunes, each song came with a different image for the album art. I think Trent is doing some very intriguing things in exploring all the ways in which he can interact with the fans of NIN and get his art in front of more people. Definitely one of the artists to keep an eye on in the digital space.

Liam Finn Rocks the 400 Bar

Liam Finn stepped into the headline slot at the 400 Bar last night and took full advantage of his opportunity to play a longer set. He was to play the second time slot, opening for Pela, but due to an unfortunate accident, was moved into the spotlight. (Sorry to hear about the accident Pela. Hope Billy heals quickly.)

Supported on stage by his good friend EJ Barnes, Liam played a mix of songs off of his album, I'll Be Lightning, along with a few spontaneous jams (one based on saying the word "Minneapolis" in various tones and looping them). I had somewhat of an idea of what I was going to see, but was still very impressed with Liam's show.

Liam primarily played the guitar and drums, along with the Theremin at times. EJ supported him on vocals while playing tambourine, autoharp, cymbals, cow bell and the wood block/temple block (I think). Both used pedals and loops to give the songs much more dimension and character.

I would describe his performance as raw, unpredictable, melodious electricity - well on his way to becoming lightning. His interactions with the crowd were fun, humorous and very uncensored. He even got the crowd to yell out the "C" word near the end.

He is an incredibly talented musician and a gifted performer. Getting to watch him croon a slower song one minute and then rock out the next; moving between recording loops for the guitar to hammering on the drums with unbridled passion for the music, was quite an incredible spectacle. (I would have to say that my favorite moments were those when he was going crazy on the drums. You can't help but be affected by his energy.)

If you have a chance to catch Liam live, I would recommend you do so. The live version of his songs become much bigger than what you hear on his album/CD and the little spontaneous surprises make it even more enjoyable.

Related: Some great photos of last night's show can be found here. My lesser quality ones can be found here. More from other recent shows here and here.

Provided he continues on this tour without Pela, you can find his next live dates here.

(A note to my friends in Denver - he's scheduled to play Hi-Dive on Monday, March 10.)

LiamFinn.tv | MySpace | VIRB | Last.fm | iTunes | Amazon