popwreckoning updates

“Boom Boom Pow” brings Black Eyed Peas first #1 hit

Posted: 14 Apr 2009 05:35 PM PDT

Catch the video for hit single “Boom Boom Pow”, the first #1 song for the Black Eyed Peas:

Black Eyed Peas: website | myspace

Boom Boom Pow
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April 10, 2009 — Man Man “Rabbit Habits” video, Spring tour (0)
March 13, 2009 — New Franz Ferdinand video for “No You Girls” (0)
March 6, 2009 — Death Cab for Cutie “Grapevine Fires” video, Spring tour! (0)
March 4, 2009 — Ting Tings secret show video, tour dates (1)
February 13, 2009 — Free Music Friday! Valentine’s Edition (0)
February 13, 2009 — Let your Valentine know you make me “Jizz In My Pants” (0)
January 30, 2009 — Peter Bjorn and John Teaser (0)
January 28, 2009 — Ben Kweller on “David Letterman” (0)
January 28, 2009 — Cursive @ the Barbary, Philadelphia (1)
January 26, 2009 — The Ting Tings “That’s Not My Name” (0)

NPR to stream Camera Obscura, St. Vincent, and Jason Lytle albums before release

Posted: 14 Apr 2009 02:20 PM PDT

This month and next, NPR will stream in full the forthcoming releases from Camera Obscura, St. Vincent and Jason Lytle as part of their “Exclusive First Listen” series ahead of each album dedicated release date. You can head to www.NPR.org/firstlisten now to listen to Camera Obscura's My Maudlin Career in full until its release date, April 20th.

Next up, starting on April 20th, you can catch St. Vincent's Actor. St. Vincent is Annie Clark, also known for playing guitar for Sufjan Stevens and recording with The Polyphonic Spree.

Jason Lytle, of the now defunct Grandaddy, releases his debut solo album, Yours Truly, The Commuter, later this year and NPR will stream it in its entirety beginning May 4th. Until then, you can watch Lytle perform a track from the upcoming album, recorded for NPR Music in March at South by Southwest here.

Complete track listings and album information for all featured records are available at NPR Music, where there are also extensive archives of songs, interviews and reviews of Camera Obscura, St. Vincent and Jason Lytle.

NPR Music introduced its "First Listen" series last year, when the site offered its first pre-release album stream: Bob Dylan's 2-CD set Tell Tale Signs, followed by Neil Young's Sugar Mountain and an album from Paul McCartney's project The Fireman. The impact was tremendous, with hundreds of thousands of webcasts of the albums and individual songs.

NPR: website | first listen

February 5, 2009 — Interview with: Kevin Devine, pt. I (2)
January 29, 2009 — Paul McCartney gets the “Colbert Bump” (0)
September 5, 2008 — Amanda Palmer - Who Killed Amanda Palmer? (1)
April 3, 2009 — Interview with: Langhorne Slim @ SXSW (1)
March 19, 2009 — Whispertown2000 @ Red Eyed Fly, SXSW, Austin TX (0)
March 18, 2009 — Stream SXSW Artists In Studio @ KUT (0)
March 17, 2009 — Interview With: Mandy Moore (2)
March 10, 2009 — Paul McCartney Vegas show sells out in record 7 seconds (0)
February 17, 2009 — Sasquatch! Music Festival 2009 Line-Up, Ticket Info (0)
February 9, 2009 — Getting Down with the Grammys (0)

Interview with: Noah and the Whale

Posted: 14 Apr 2009 12:20 PM PDT

Noah and the Whale (promo shot from publicist) The recent surge in mainstream popularity of the folk rock/pop genre is thanks to up-and-coming bands whose strengths lie in heartfelt lyrics and talented musicianship. One band that stood out among the many hopefuls in 2008 was Noah and the Whale, a London quartet whose debut album, “Peaceful, the World Lays Me Down,” reached #5 on the UK albums chart; British music magazine Q gave the album 4 stars. Stateside, the sweet sounds of their sunny UK top 10 hit, “5 Years Time,” provided the optimistic musical backdrop for a 2008 Saturn car commercial. (You know which one I’m referring to: it’s the only commercial of recent memory that featured a ukulele, and I’m sure it had you whistling too.) Before the band headed over to California for an appearance at Coachella before a string of North American dates, drummer Doug Fink of the Whale graciously answered a few questions I had for them from across the pond.

Mary Chang, Popwreckoning: You just completed tour dates in the UK and Italy on the “Club Silencio” tour, which mixed the drama of the cinema with live music. Who came up with the idea?
Doug Fink, Noah and the Whale: Charlie [Fink] had the original idea and many of the subsequent details. Future Shorts, a short film label with a massive network of short filmmakers, helped us flesh out our ideas.

PW: It must have been a major undertaking - was it difficult to prepare for this different-than-usual style of stage show? What did you learn from the experience?
DF: It was hard work that was months in planning. We didn't just design the whole evening from the opening of doors to the exit music, that is the entertainment between and during the music, but we actually filmed a lot of original material ourselves, including a virtual compere, and edited a selection of archive footage, too.
With Future Shorts, we found appropriate independent short films to show, too. So it was a show in the traditional sense. And it meant we had to think about lots of things in advance, the choice of songs, the timing of songs and obviously to connect everything to the visuals. But the truth is we didn't know whether it was actually going to work until the first night. The truth is that we did change some of the interim videos, just made it slightly shorter and direct. It was almost a three-hour epic of interconnectedness initially which is probably quite a big ask for a thousand or so gig-goers. So we know what works really well and what works less well from the evening.

PW: How do you think “Club Silencio” went down with your audiences? Given your band’s love of film, are you planning other cinematic-type adventures?
DF: It was really well received we think. I think some people were initially skeptical about concentrating for nearly 3 hours. But the set itself really interacts well with the visuals, the more introspective moments especially. It's quite an intense synaesthesia.
Charlie has just finished filming a feature-length, hour-long music video for the new album which will be released with the music at the same time. A lot of the first record and some B-sides are being used on a new British film in post-production by a young British film director, The Scouting Book for Boys.
So lots of projects.

PW: For your North American tour this spring, you’re starting off at the Coachella Festival in California, then traversing the country, finally ending up in Washington D.C. the second of May. What are you most looking forward to seeing and doing on this tour?
DF: It's always exciting touring the U.S., the road traveling especially. It isn't glamorous but it's hard fun and you see so much of a massive country. Coachella should be great, and we've never been to Washington as you're well aware. So the capital will certainly be a highlight.

PW: You’ll be touring with the Los Angeles-based Ferraby Lionheart and the Minnesotian violist Anni Rossi on this tour. How did you get to know them, and how did you choose them as your support on this tour?
DF: We get suggestions and propositions for touring all the time. In Brooklyn in February we did a gig with Ferraby and they really know how to play and what they're doing, so that should be cool. And Anni, we actually supported at a gig in Oxford probably about 2 years ago, so when her name was mentioned we said yes to her immediately.

PW: Your debut album, Peaceful, the World Lays Me Down, brought the folk sound back to the masses in a big way. I hear you recorded your new album here in the States earlier this year. What can you tell us about the process of recording it?
DF: Well, we mixed it in New York. Well, Hoboken, New Jersey to be precise. But the recording was at Rak Studios in London. We had a lot of demo preparation and pre-production, so a lot of details, sounds, instrumentation, arrangements, and the songs themselves were all settled before we walked in. So it was really a case of getting exactly what we wanted from the sounds and experimenting a little that way. But the hard yards and the experimentation were mostly done outside the studio. So we were only in there for 3 weeks.

PW: Can we expect the fiddle, ukulele, and whistling, all of which featured prominently in Peaceful…? How will the new material differ from your previous album? What surprises are in store for us?
DF: Although the first record had its melancholy moments, they didn't always translate to the sound of the record. This record is a little more self-aware maybe. Sounds and moods match up a little closer. Some people might say it is more mature, more electrical, more experimental. But it's still immediately our record. Strings do feature heavily, but the electric guitar and piano effects have replaced the ukulele and clapping.

PW: I read on your web site that you recently composed the music for this year’s London International Documentary Festival (LIDF). That’s exciting. How did you get involved with this project?
DF: They knew we were interested in film and asked us if we had anything they might use. Charlie had an instrumental guitar piece that worked really nicely.

PW: What are you guys listening to at the moment? Any sounds or bands you’re especially in love with right now?
DF: Always a toughie - at this very moment I am listening to Beck and getting back into his stuff, Radiohead too I am re-listening to. Nothing very new I'm afraid at this instant. But watch out for Planet Earth and Jay Jay Pistolet.

PW: One last - and purely selfish - question. Can I request “Mary” to be included on this tour’s set list?
DF: I think we may well be able to accommodate that.
PW: Thanks very much for your help. Have a fantastic time at Coachella and on tour - I am really looking forward to seeing you at the Black Cat in May.
DF: See you there. We're really looking forward to it, too.

Tour Dates:
Apr 17 - Coachella Festival / Indio, Ca.
Apr 18 - The Independent / San Francisco
Apr 20 - Doug Fir Lounge / Portland
Apr 21 - Chop Suey / Seattle
Apr 24 - 7th Street Entry / Minneapolis
Apr 25 - Empty Bottle / Chicago
Apr 26 - Magic Bag / Detroit
Apr 27 - Mod Club / Toronto
Apr 28 - Les Saints / Montreal
Apr 29 - Paradise Rock Club / Boston
May 01 - Bowery Ballroom / New York City
May 02 - Black Cat / Washington DC

Noah and the Whale: website | myspace

Peaceful, the World Lays Me Down
Price: USD 8.99
35 used & new available from USD 1.98

December 31, 2008 — Top Concerts of 2008 (1)
December 30, 2008 — Top ‘Ten’ Albums of 2008 (0)
August 26, 2008 — Outside Lands Festival, Day 1 (1)
July 7, 2008 — Beck - Modern Guilt (0)
April 9, 2009 — Duncan Sheik @ The Berklee Performance Center, Boston (0)
March 27, 2009 — Anni Rossi @ Peckerheads, SXSW, Austin TX (0)
March 25, 2009 — Interview With: Marc Walloch, Company of Thieves (0)
February 27, 2009 — Interview with: Project Jenny, Project Jan (1)
February 9, 2009 — Getting Down with the Grammys (0)
February 4, 2009 — Free Manchester Orchestra, Anni Rossi MP3s (0)

The Sam Roberts Band @ Berbati’s Pan, Portland

Posted: 14 Apr 2009 08:57 AM PDT

I can’t believe it has taken me this long to see Sam Roberts. I’ve been a fan ever since I first heard “Don’t Walk Away Eileen” and have looked forward to each new album’s release, pushing them on anyone who might be interested. His music isn’t particularly hip, it’s just sounds good. It’s not quirky enough to have much indie cred, nor grimy enough to be part of the garage rock scene. No, he writes classic, roots-influence rock and roll, with loud guitars, big hooks, and catchy choruses. It’s music that sounds like it should be played in front of large and excited crowds, but even in a smaller club like Portland’s Berbati’s Pan, the band put on a show as if they sold out a place five times the size. And even after years of build up, it was everything I hoped it would be.

Rounder Records finally released Love At The End Of The World in the US just this year, so I wasn’t surprised when they took the stage and ripped through some of the best tracks off that album. They opened with the excellent title cut and then moved into amped up versions of “Fixed To Ruin” and “Up Sister”. While the majority of the songs were just released, they still worked in a couple of my favorites off We Were Born In A Flame, including an awesome version of “Brother Down”. For all his strutting across the stage and performative bombast, Sam Roberts was very grateful that people had come to see him. Apparently, his previous tour through Portland wasn’t as well attended. Maybe he’s finally gaining some traction in the US. After witnessing a set like the one he played that night, it kind of blows my mind that he isn’t more popular.

The Sam Roberts Band: website | myspace