popwreckoning updates |  |
| John Vanderslice and the Magik*Magik Orchestra @ Great American Music Hall, San Francisco Posted: 26 Feb 2009 01:02 PM PST It’s not every day that you roll up into a show and fully expect to bump into members of Spoon waiting for Jack and cokes at the bar and Death Cab for Cutie’s Chris Walla's wet shoes while jockeying for a spot in the pisser. But then again, it ain’t every day that San Francisco’s all analog recording studio — the same blessed old space whose famous rich sound helped turn Ben Gibbard’s act and many more into worldwide indie icons — turns a ripe old age of 10 (technically, 12 [1997 for the o.g. purists] but nobody’s ever heard of a 12th anniversary fundraiser celebration, so bear with us here). And we’ve never one witnessed a 30-piece orchestra accompanying the indie rock maven responsible for it all in singing “Happy Birthday”, so the birthday party for one of indie rock’s most celebrated studio spaces at San Francisco’s Great American Music Hall is an event indeed. Tucked in between metal-roofed industrial buildings on a scruffy San Francisco side street, stuffed floor to rafters with rare mics, giant boards and other rare and vintage 30-year old recording equipment, Tiny Telephone is where, under John Vanderslice’s watchful ear, Death Cab cranked out their top hits, and whose warm, distinct sound is celebrated by other legends of the college radio rotation like Deerhoof, Mountain Goats, Mike Watt (the Minuteman co-founder, duh), and Mates of State. Tonight — after a brief DJ set by a plaid-clad and awfully-bored looking Aesop Rock — it is Vanderslice’s stage, shared by the studio’s aforementioned house band, the 30-piece Magik*Magik Orchestra, replete with strings, woodwinds and a chorus section. Vanderslice, who kicks off an East-Midwest tour with the Mountain Goats next month, has been busy in said studio, recording new tunes for his upcoming seventh album and doesn't play hard to hear tonight. He busts out numbers from the as-yet unnamed LP on acoustic with a two-person backing band on keyboards and drums, and favorites like "Tablespoon of Codeine" from 2007's Emerald City with the full weight of the orchestra behind him, loading lines like "So I said some things that can't be said / About a ritual tower that uses of more American dead / And what happened in September was a fake / But they're chasing demolition or remote control planes" with all the righteous ethereal energy a string section can muster. Whatever sonic magic that it is that blesses music made inside Tiny Telephone - and it does have 'it', whatever it is - somehow makes it across town to the Great American Music Hall, a great space in its own right. The vibe tonight is special: the orchestra is in perfect harmony with the front man, from the cello to the alto tenor in the choir; and every man, woman, child and indie rock star in the audience is smitten from the first note. It’s hard to have a nice, intimate feel-good party with people you don’t know, but somehow it happens tonight. “It feels pretty good in here, doesn’t it?” Vanderslice asks at one point. Yup. Sounds about right, too. Magik*Magik Orchesta: myspace Related Posts |
| Ray Charles - Genius! The Ultimate Collection Posted: 26 Feb 2009 11:52 AM PST Concord Records is proud to announce the CD release of Genius! The Ultimate Ray Charles Collection. This Ray Charles anthology features 21 of his most influential hits and will be available on April 7th. The volume presents Charles' most influential recordings for the Atlantic and ABC-Paramount labels including 1955's "I Got a Woman" plus "Busted," "Georgia on My Mind", "Hit the Road Jack" and "I Can't Stop Loving You", concluding with his signature 1972 rendition of "America the Beautiful". All are digitally remastered from the original tapes. In addition to planning a series of CD reissues, Concord Music Group will make the catalog available digitally for the first time ever. "Georgia On My Mind" :: streaming audio Concord will release several other Ray Charles reissues this year including Modern Sounds in Country & Western Music, Volumes 1 & 2, The Genius Hits the Road, A Message to the People and Genius + Soul = Jazz & More. "Hit The Road Jack" :: streaming audio Tracklisting: Ray Charles: website | myspace  Genius! - The Ultimate Ray Charles Collection Price: USD 18.98 1 used & new available from USD 18.98 Most Commented Posts |
| Darren Emerson @ Ultrabar, Washington DC Posted: 26 Feb 2009 09:58 AM PST Darren Emerson has been a force on the dance scene for the last seventeen years. He started DJing as a teen and soon became a member of Underworld, working with Karl Hyde and Rick Smith on ‘Dubnobasswithmyheadman’, ‘Second Toughest in the Infants’, and ‘Beaucoup Fish’, all while also DJing, producing, and remixing under his own name. In 2000 he left Underworld to release his own material, work on collaborations with artists like Sasha, and start his own record label, Underwater. He’s also released a string of compilations, the latest of which is his third in the Global Underground series, ‘Bogota’, which has led to his current global tour and a stop in DC. Ultrabar is a nice mid-size venue near Chinatown where Darren Emerson was playing the spacious, high-ceilinged first floor. The lighting was great, the sound decent, and around midnight the place was quite full with a 20-something crowd gathered around the long bar and into the seated table service area. Techno-heads these were not, as I’m sure warm-up DJ Dan Sampson found to his chagrin — most of the crowd was happy to relax, chat and pretty much ignore the great music he was playing. Most of those in attendance seemed to be on an average night out and Ultrabar is where they ended up. Mind you, with cover at $20, there are surely more economical places to go to in this town. Sampson seemed a little frustrated with the lack of response, and towards the end of his set the only real movement came when he dropped a remix of “Lady” by Modjo — that got one dancer sliding his feet, but on second look it turned to be one of the many security guards who were making the rounds. No matter, as what I caught of Sampson’s set was great; according to one of the punters he plays a lot in the DC area and I recommend catching him if you get the chance. Hopefully things’ll go a bit better for him then, and random siren noises won’t be dropped into his set by the management to work the crowd up (yes, that did happen, and no, it didn’t work, but it did get a nice face out of Sampson). There were a handful of people there for the music, and they either danced all night or stood by the booth in rapt attention. Emerson came on a little after midnight and played a truly amazing set. It was non-stop all the way; a mix of the progressive that he’s known for and harder edged tech sounds. There were some great build-ups and drop-outs at just the right time, leaving it hard to stand still (indeed, even some of those that had previously stood-still had to start moving around a little bit). Even the people staring at the booth started getting down and there was a hardcore group of around ten who let themselves fall for the groove for the rest of the night. Yeah, sadly the hardcore numbered only ten, and even harder to fathom was how empty the place started getting at around 1am. If Darren Emerson can’t get a crowd in a not-too-big place in DC, who can? Props to him for soldiering on enthusiastically despite the indifference; indeed, he played on with a big smile on his face, gunning for the cameras and dancing with his hands in the air — he looked to be having a great time and the fact that he kept it going for the loyal ten says a lot about what makes this DJ so great — no moodiness here! He only seemed to get looser and looser as the night went on, with some lovely squelchy acid to end things, playing through 'til after the lights came on and the cut signal was given. It was as if the lack of expectations gave him some freedom to mess around (though he kept the mixing very tight) which in turn kept him loosened up and happy — nice. Even a drunken group of hen-nighters knocking on the booth didn’t seem to bother him; instead he drew energy from the little group at the front, who constantly put their hands up and out. By the end they were gathered round the booth, whooping, clapping, and making sure he knew that they fully appreciated the great set he’d just spun. Despite the good time he seemed to have had here, I doubt we’ll be seeing Emerson in DC again. He was begged to return at the end of the night, but he just shrugged his shoulders and pointed to the empty dance floor, telling us to “bring our mates” next time — if only there is one. But when someone of his stature, who’s as good as he is, gets basically no one showing up to see him, why would he waste his time by coming back? Makes me wonder about this town — where are the dance music fans? What would it take to get them out, if they exist? Does DC really have a dance-music scene, or does it only exist in online forums? Do people network here all the time? Which cool person at Ultrabar booked Darren Emerson when they could’ve put on any no-name to the same effect (not that I’m complaining; the more world-class DJs that come to this town the better!)? And why is there a hen-night going on every time I go out? I’ll try to answer these questions in future communiqués. Until then I’m sorry you missed out on Darren Emerson and his great set — even if he never comes to DC again, myself and the other dance-music faithful are very glad we got to see him on his one time here. Darren Emerson’s latest release is ‘Global Underground 36: Bogota‘. You can get a podcast preview here.                  Darren Emerson: website | myspace  Related Posts |
| Harlem Shakes to play Swarthmore College, release “Technicolor Health” on March 24th Posted: 26 Feb 2009 08:05 AM PST Tomorrow night, Harlem Shakes will be playing with Tokyo Police Club at Swarthmore College in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania, just a dozen miles southwest of Philadelphia. Harlem Shakes debut LP, Technicolor Health, drops March 24th on Gigantic Music. Harlem Shakes as we know it were born in 2006, after an earlier incarnation of the band went to college and went nuts. Lexy still sings lead, and Brent still plays the drums (and drum machine), but now Kendrick plays keyboards, Jose plays bass, and Todd plays guitar. The band has toured with Deerhoof, Vampire Weekend, and Beirut, and opened for Wire, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Arctic Monkeys, and various other famous bands with animal names. Burning Birthdays, the band's self-released debut EP, came out in 2007 to wide acclaim, earning generous praise from a wide array of music critics. After extensive touring and a bit of schooling, the band got back together with Chris Zane (Les Savy Fav, The Walkmen, Passion Pit, White Rabbits) to record their first full-length album, Technicolor Health. The result is one of the most quietly ambitious pop albums in ages. To promote the new record, Harlem Shakes kicked off a tour with Tokyo Police Club this past Tuesday, February 24th which will take them through Florida the first week of March followed by an appearance at the Harvest of Hope Festival in St. Augustine. The band will play a few dates with Bell X1 before heading down to Austin for South By Southwest and then a record release party will occur at Brooklyn’s Music Hall of Williamsburg. Head to a show to get a sneak preview of Technicolor Health before picking up a copy on March 24th. Tour Dates: * w/ Tokyo Police Club Harlem Shakes: website | myspace  Most Commented Posts |
| One For The Team Announce new EP, Free Streaming Posted: 25 Feb 2009 02:34 PM PST Minneapolis indie pop trio One For The Team just announced the release of a new EP, titled Build a Garden, due out March 31, 2009. According to the band:
Listen to three songs from Build a Garden, which is available for preorder starting March 1. One ForThe Team: website | myspace Most Commented Posts |
| You are subscribed to email updates from popwreckoning To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
Inbox too full?  Subscribe to the feed version of popwreckoning in a feed reader. | |
| If you prefer to unsubscribe via postal mail, write to: popwreckoning, c/o Google, 20 W Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610 | |
