Because the patterns they control your mind

Phantogram show at the Music Hall of Williamsburg last Friday. Great show, great visuals, great music.





Holy Phantogram, I'm in L-O-V-E.

Super Soaker 2010

Welcome, they said welcome to the floor

Here's a video of the xx's performance of "Islands" at Cat's Cradle (3/25/2010).



Turtlenecks never looked better.

We'll still be best friends when all turns to dust

All Asians have nimble fingers. They enable us to skillfully play a musical instrument (in most cases, the piano or violin) and are a direct factor in our excellent math skills--our little fingers can dance around a calculator faster than you can say "soy sauce." And Chris Chu confirmed this accurate stereotype (as all stereotypes tend to be) when his fingers slid up and down a guitar that was almost as big as he was. (I caught those fingers in action in the vid below).

Chu's nimble fingers and the rest of the morning benders put on a great show Friday night (3/12/10), playing songs from their new album, BIG ECHO, which hit the shelves just three days before they hit the Local 506. And despite my apprehensions, it was a great show. I mean, let's be honest, the Phil Spector-inspired Excuses performance is a hard one to follow. But the New York-based San Francisco band brought heartfelt chamber-pop of the 60s to Chapel Hill. And even without the dreamy violins and a large choir of friends, the five-piece band was still able to recreate the essence of a "wall of sound" during their delightful closing performance of Excuses. With the help of a loop pedal, Chu's a capella "bah-da-da-da-dums" and the audience (who were singing along at this point) as a stand-in for the choir, they filled the 506 with wonderfully charming music you can't help but sway to, and came pretty darn close to the Yours Truly video. It was pretty magical.
iTunes awarded BIG ECHO the "Indie Spotlight" this week, which means you can get the album for $7.99 and a bonus track free. What a bargain. Get it here.
"Promises"

Rivers, mountains and smoking shirt jackets

Freelance Whales, Bear in Heaven, Cymbals Eat Guitars. All at the Local 506 on Sunday (3/7/2010). What a fantastic line-up.

I was most excited to see Freelance Whales, but I ended up being most impressed by Staten Island band, Cymbals Eat Guitars. There's something about seeing a band live that makes you realize their talent. Maybe it's being able to watch the music being created right in front of you, or maybe it's being able to see the sweat form as Joseph D'Agostino wears himself out for the pleasure of his audience. My friend observed during the performance that this guy didn't play the "band leader" act. And she was right...this guy is no lead singer. Instead, he blends in with his music, creating a cohesive sound for you to get lost in.

I find it hard to believe that Why There Are Mountains is their first, self-released album because of its remarkable sophistication. It's music that'll captivate you with its unpredictably structured rhythms and logically scattered lyrics. They're almost stream-of-consicious-like: "Natural American spirit doctorate/Make love to inanimate objects/Pasteboard decked out in Ikea finery," but it all somehow makes perfect sense. With no hooks, no catchy chorus, it's genuine music that you can drink in. My favorite is "And the Hazy Sea" with its intense crescendos that can only be followed by calming piano or guitar riffs to give you time to reflect. I'm interested to see what the future holds for these guys.

Freelance Whales didn't disappoint either. They've got a really distinct sound, like electro-pop meets folk music and they had a baby named Sufjan+whatever the lead singer from Snow Patrol's last name is. Plus, they've got a wide range of instruments, including a squishy box thing. I chatted with Kevin Read (who plays mostly guitar) to find out the squishy box is called a harmonium.

So how many instruments do you guys have?
Kevin Read: We have drums, bass, guitar, 2 synthesizers, a glockenspiel, harmonium, mandolin, banjo, acoustic guitar...that's about it right now but we have other instruments that we don't bring on tour to save space.

You guys rotate a lot...it's like musical instruments. How many do you play?
KR: I started out playing guitar and bass. I also play mandolin, piano, keys, glockenspiel, banjo, I dabbled with the violin. Every once in awhile I pick it up. If I get good enough I'll bring it on our next tour. And I play drums a little, but it's very amateur--just to keep rhythm.

What defines you guys as a band? What makes you different?
KR: That's a hard question, there's so much music out there. But I think one thing that makes us different is our live show. We do a lot of stuff...like sometimes we do five-part harmonies. I can't think of a lot of bands that do that.

Like at the end of "Generator 2nd Floor" tonight?
KR: Yeah, well the album actually doesn't end anything like that. It ends maybe a minute or 2 shorter than our live performance. Tonight we extended it with an extensive breakdown.

What's your favorite song to play from the album?
KR: I really like "Generator 2nd Floor." And also, probably "Starring." It gives me a chance to do a lot of ambiance stuff. Like I do a lot of bowing of the guitar.

Yeah, tell me about that. I've never seen anyone do that.
KR: Well, a couple of people do it. I know the lead singer from Sigur Ros does it. But I actually got it from watching Jimmy Page. He used to do it back in the day.

Are you a big Led Zeppelin fan?
KR: Huge Zeppelin fan.

What's your favorite song?
KR: "Good Times Bad Times" from their first album. After that it would be "Out on the Tiles" from Led Zeppelin III.

If you were a fruit, which would you be?
KR: An apple. Because you can do a lot with apples...apple pie, apple cider. You can get drunk off an apple.
Chuck Criss: A pomegranate. Because I'm uh... a tasty seed.
KR: You like the difficulty, you give people a hard time.
CC: Yeah...it takes a lot of work and you open it and it's just a seed.

If a song played whenever you walked into a room, what song would it be?
KR: "LA Woman." That's a good song to drink a beer to.
CC: "Sandstorm" would be a good one. It's ridiculous.
KR: Yeah, like you're about to battle karate style.

If the world was going to end tomorrow, what would you do tonight?
KR: What are the premises? Do I have infininte speed?
CC: I'd solve world peace. I'd just be like...guys, just chill out.
KR: I vote streaking through the quad.
CC: Yeah that's probably the best answer. Although, it probably be more like strolling through the quad naked.
KR: Maybe have a cigarette naked.

We do have a beautiful quad here...

I should be writing my poli paper but instead I made this playlist

Listen to the morning benders - BIG ECHO

I've been anticipating this sophomore album from the morning benders ever since I watched Chris Chu and his dainty wrists conduct the opener, Excuses, in this fantastic video:

Yours Truly Presents: The Morning Benders "Excuses" from Yours Truly on Vimeo.

There's still a week to go before BIG ECHO comes out on Rough Trade (3/9/10), but starting today, it's streaming in full for a week from the band's website. Chu had help from Grizzly Bear's Chris Taylor recording the album, whose influence can subtly be heard throughout the album. Especially, in the dreamy Sleeping In--a collision of sounds under beautifully haunting vocals.

Annnnnd we get to see the benders L-I-V-E right here in Chapel Hill (Local 506) just three days after the album drops. What a treat.

Until then, enjoy:

Through every living core, there tolls a chime

Annuals put on a great show, as always, at The Pour House in Raleigh (2/19/10). They played for a jam-packed crowd who Adam Baker graciously thanked between songs for choosing them over the Black Eyed Peas. Fergie or Annuals? Not a hard decision.

I can't say enough about this Raleigh band. I will go as far as to say they're one of the best groups to come out of the Triangle. Ever. Musical genius Baker has crafted a sound that's spontaneously cohesive and soothingly exhilarating. He intricately orchestrates an eclectic range of sound that provides new insight after each listen, whether it's the discovery of lyrical meaning, a subtle guitar riff, or a not-so-subtle farm animal noise.

The result is musical excellence that's unparalleled and unmatchable. Throw in a couple of light-up drums and you've got quite the live experience. Donzel Radford treated us to explosions of neon with every beat. Fun in a drum!

Their new EP, Sweet Sister, is scheduled to come out March 30th. I'm pretty excited about it, especially since they've returned to an independent label after briefly signing with a major label. You can download the fun, slightly electronic opener "Loxtep" here. It's a promising little taste, courtesy of Stereogum.

They played a lot from their last album Such Fun and some old favorites as well. I caught their amazing performance of "Brother":

Feels so good when he screams.

More pics from the night:

The lovely Anna Spence on keyboards.

Zack Oden playing an accordion!

Key component to any show=maracas.

...But You've Always Been the Caretaker

Photo Credit: Carly Bennett

I'm a sucker for suspenders and strange instruments. So clearly I enjoyed The Silent League show at the Local 506 (2/2/2010). Frontman Justin Russo brought out a pretty awesome melodica midshow. You don't see those often. But it's not uncommon to see the orchestral-pop group with an array instruments.

The big band from Brooklyn started their tour just one day after releasing their third album ...But You've Always Been the Caretaker on January 27th, and lucky for us, Chapel Hill was one of the first of the stops.

Here's their performance of one of my favorites from the album:





And here's a FREE Forcefield PR sampler you can download, featuring Neon Indian's remix of The Silent League's "Here a Star."

Commissioner Crotch Buttons

Hip hop producer Rjd2 (Ramble John Krohn) took the stage at Cat's Cradle (1/10/10) sporting a welder's mask and an electronic fanny pack (pics courtesy of Jackie Kolovrat). His hands danced across buttons that crafted solid beats, flowing straight from his nether regions.

From behind turntables or real instruments, RJ performed a wide array of songs, including some of his early classics Ghostwriter and Bus Stop Bitties. He also treated us to some tracks from his new record, The Colossus, out TODAY (get it on iTunes).

Cat's Cradle was one of his first stops on his nationwide tour to promote the record, which is his first release on RJ's Electrical Connections (his own recently founded label). And what a great way to launch the new label. Years of musical experimentation and exploration has culminated in a balance of refined hip-hop created by a mixture of some of his old sampling styles from earlier albums and the right type of vocals (including his own) that aren't as overwhelming as they were in his last album The Third Hand. This album touts his ability to masterfully blend anything from

funky horns to orchestral snippets to soulful samples.

Here's the album's first really awesome video: just your average pill-popping minotaur with anger issues. Who drives a really sweet smartcar.

"Let There Be Horns"