popwreckoning updates

Jeff Buckley - Grace Around the World
Interview with: Jenn Alva, Girl In A Coma
Butteryfly Boucher @ World Cafe Live, Philadelphia
Photo Essay: Jane’s Addiction @ Starlight Theater, Kansas City

Posted: 02 Jun 2009 01:51 PM PDT

When I was in college…or trade school….my friend Steve and I would make each other mix CDs, forcing our incredibly different musical tastes on each other. At the time, I was fixated on Mazzy Star, Jump, and Atlanta singer-songwriter Bain Mattox. There would be one song by each of these artists on each CD I made Steve. Similarly, Steve would always have his obligatory Bowie song, and the obligatory Jeff Buckley song. And that obligatory Jeff Buckley song changed everything for me.

The first Jeff Buckley song I ever heard was his cover of Van Morrison's "The Way Young Lovers Do" off of the Live at Sin-e album. I remember driving around Wyandotte, Michigan in my mother's Honda Accord, blaring the hell out of this song on repeat, windows down in December. I played it for anyone who was willing to listen to it. I was amazed by everything he did. The complete transformation from Morrison's more structured version to Jeff Buckley's abstract, passionate rendition. The scatting, the tone of his voice… my God, the RANGE of his voice! I was beyond curious about what else this man had to offer. I was also broke and unable to purchase every album he had ever contributed to.

Not long after that, I met a guy named Zac. He was a friend of my brother's girlfriend at the time and was visiting from Texas. Within five minutes of meeting he nicknamed me Sass and we completely bonded. We were at the bar where my brother's girlfriend worked. The band was done playing and the owner was playing the requests we shouted to him over the PA. All of a sudden, there were some long, loud, dissonant accordion notes filling the bar and Zac grabbed me by the hand, demanding that we go dance. The song was slow and beautiful and sad and dramatic and I had never heard it before. Zac, however, was singing along with every word. I asked him what it was, and he looked me in the eyes and said, "Sass, don't tell me you've never heard Jeff Buckley!" As we finished dancing to "Lover, You Should Have Come Over", I knew something big was happening in my life…musically speaking.

Christmas followed, and my best friend Tracy, ever the observant one, presented me with a copy of Grace. After the first strains of "Mojo Pin", I couldn't get enough. I became obsessed. I researched and Wiki'd and downloaded and YouTube'd and collected as much Jeff Buckley knowledge as I could. I was so upset that it had taken me so long to discover him, that I felt I had lost time to make up for. Save for my friend Gibbie, who a) was always down to discover new music with me, and b) was just as amazed (though not as emphatic) as I was with his skills, everyone around me was getting sick of hearing the album.

I wanted to discover every little secret the album had to offer. The exhalation you can hear at the beginning of "Hallelujah". The way you can feel everything that he does when he sings "kiss me, please kiss me. Kiss me out of desire, baby, not consolation," on "Last Goodbye". And I don't know if you've ever really paid attention to the background harmonies during the gospel style "it's never over" section in "Lover, You Should Have Come Over", but at one spot in particular, right in "all my blood for the sweetness of her laughter," there is the most glorious note that makes me woozy every time I hear it. For me, it's the most important note on the whole record. Because of this album, I finally understood how people could just lie on their bedroom floors and just LISTEN to music.

So, this year marks the 15th anniversary since Grace was released. I didn't realize this until a few days ago when I saw an advertisement for a Jeff Buckley video on Myspace. I was kind of pissed at first, until I realized that today, June 2nd, Legacy Records re-released what is possibly my #1 album of all-time. And not just slapping a sticker on it that says "Special 15th Anniversary Edition!" It's called Grace Around the World. It has a DVD. It has never before seen TV performances from the U.S., UK, Germany, Japan and France. A CD that goes with it that has audio versions of all of these live performances and 2 unreleased tracks. And there's also a documentary called Amazing Grace: Jeff Buckley with interviews and all sorts of goodies. And I'm talking like an 8-year-old when I describe it because I am beyond excited. I must have this. Maybe his mother, Mary Guibert, will read this and be so touched by my words that she'll send me a free copy (because I'm still broke and I named my cat after her son). It's a Jeff Buckley fan's wet dream.

Jeff Buckley may no longer be with us, but his music, however, is. It's been a major influence for me and for so many others. And if you're unfamiliar with his work, it's not too late for his music to be an influence to you. Start with Grace at top volume while driving at night. Move your way up to Sketches for My Sweetheart, the Drunk with a hot bath and a glass of wine. Get stoned and listen to Live at Sin-e. And be willing to let the music change you. As he told us in "Lover, You Should Have Come Over," "it's never over." And he was right. Jeff Buckley will never be over.

Jeff Buckley: website

Grace-Around The World Deluxe Edition (CD/DVD+DVD Documentary Amazing Grace: Jeff Buckley)
Price: USD 19.99
11 used & new available from USD 19.99

August 16, 2008 — Sara Bareilles, Counting Crows, Maroon 5 @ Susquehanna Bank Center, Camden NJ (0)
December 12, 2007 — My Top Five: Covers (4)
June 1, 2009 — Kat Edmonson @ World Cafe Live, Philadelphia (0)
May 28, 2009 — Under Cover - The T-Pain Experience (0)
May 21, 2009 — Canadian Invasion @ North Star Bar, Philadelphia (1)
May 21, 2009 — Keane with the Helio Sequence and Mat Kearney @ DAR Constitution Hall, Washington D.C. (0)
May 20, 2009 — Under Cover - Bruce Springsteen “I’m On Fire” (1)
May 13, 2009 — Under Cover: Bruce Springsteen, The Remix (4)
May 6, 2009 — Under Cover: The Get Up Kids collection, Part II (0)
April 29, 2009 — Under Cover : The Get Up Kids collection, Part I (1)

Interview with: Jenn Alva, Girl In A Coma

Posted: 02 Jun 2009 09:44 AM PDT

In 2006, three heavily tattooed, well-coiffed, Latina girls from the Lone Star state, made a big enough splash at New York’s Knitting Factory that audience member Joan Jett signed the punk rockers on the spot to her label, Blackheart Records. In 2007, Girl in A Coma released the critically acclaimed, Both Before I’m Gone. Since then GIAC has toured consistently, supporting acts such as Tegan and Sara, Social Distortion, Frank Black and even Morrissey, to whom the girls have often been compared. Their sophomore release Trio B.C. drops today, June 2nd and I had a chance to talk for a few minutes with the very busy Jenn Alva between video shoots and record release parties about the meaning behind the cryptic new album title, the details on their upcoming tour, and the band’s endearing affinity for 90s alt-rock.

Reni Papananias, Popwreckoning: Hi Jenn? It’s Reni from Popwreckoning. How are you doing?
JA: I’m good, we’re actually at the college radio station here and they’re not quite ready for us.
PW: Oh, what radio station?
J.A.: KSYM, it’s the local college radio station here.
PW: Nice, are you guys playing or doing an interview?
JA: We’re doing an interview today because tonight is our CD release party. It’s exciting.
PW: Yeah, definitely. So what’s going on at the CD release party?
JA: We’re playing at this place called Jack’s Patio and it’s all sold out which is awesome.
PW: Congratulations!
JA: Thank you, yeah so we’re going to play and debut the new merch that we have. We tend not to play too much in San Antonio, maybe once every two months or whatever. We don’t want our fans to go away if we play too much!

PW: Right. So tell me about the new CD. I’ve only heard a couple of tracks and I really like it.
JA: Well, it’s called Trio B.C. and it’s an homage to the girls’ grandfather, he’s the man on the cover and his band was named Trio B.C. and he was a big inspiration to the girls, and he was kind of like my grandfather, too so…

PW: I love that name by the way!
JA: Yeah, it’s interesting, huh?
PW: It’s kind of fitting.
JA: Right. So, a lot of these are new songs, and we’ve been dying to put out a new album, so you can see our progression just a bit. The album before was written during a time when we had just started the band and this is all kind of new and fresh. I don’t know, we like it a lot and we’re not tired of it yet. It’s really good I think.

PW: I definitely like it, I feel like you guys have evolved on this record. In what way would you say your sound has changed since the last record?
JA: This is different because we all tend to listen to the same music, music brings us together, and we’ve just been hooked on our 90s music a lot. Everything that Nina listens to she’s influenced by Sonic Youth, Smashing Pumpkins, and this record is kind of like what’s going on in our life right now, and that’s why the music sounds like it does. I think her lyrics are just getting better and going through a lot more experiences she started the band very young, like 12, 13, and she’s 21 now, so…

PW: I think you guys have a very mature sound, her voice and the music itself.
JA: Thank you.
PW: It has a dark, older feel to it, which I like. So, I actually saw you guys when you opened for Tegan and Sara in October of 08.
JA: Oh, what city?
PW: New York, Terminal 5.
JA: That was fun.

PW: You guys were great. How was that tour? I know you guys have been out with a lot of really great people. Do you have a favorite tour? I know you did the True Colors tour and have been out in support of Morrissey.
JA: Yeah, each one was great for it’s own different reasons. It was pretty wonderful to start with a big tour like Morrissey because it really kept us in this state of being like thankful. We like to call that tour like a “Boot Camp” almost. When you tour, you never know what the artist’s personality is like, and all you want to do is just do a good job. With Morrissey we tended to stay out of his way. We did what we had to do and then we ran to our dressing rooms and you know, I think it paid off because he appreciated that we kind of left him alone and he talked to us when he wanted to.
Going on the next tour, it was kind of the same thing. But with Tegan and Sara they were definitely like, “don’t do that with us! You guys can hangout whenever you want to.” Not to say that Morrissey is not, but they are definitely down to Earth and it was just a great experience, each one. We like to be ourselves around these people but at the same time show that we’re going to back off a little.

PW: Will you guys be headlining your own tour for this album?
JA: Right! We are. We joined up with Miss Derringer. She’s got a great voice and it’s sort of this rockabilly sort of dark kind of band and it’s going to be good for us too because it’s really nice to join up with a band that you enjoy and that’s kind of similar to you. It’s going to be fun. They’re from LA. We’re going to do a couple of months.
PW: Will you be stopping in New York?
JA: Yes, of course!

PW: Oh! Tell me about the video shoot you just did.
JA: The song is called “El Monte”. It’s a love song with a reality twist at the end, and yesterday we did “Static Mind”, and that one we wanted to keep random because you look at a lot of these 90s videos and that’s what we love about them; some of them were random, some of them were artsy when it was time to really appreciate a CD and to also really appreciate a video, too. So, we just had fun yesterday. We worked with Jimmy Mendiola again for both videos. He’s a good buddy of ours: we work well together.

PW: I’ll definitely look forward to that. Thank you so much. Good luck tonight!
JA: Thank you.

Trio B.C. is out on Blackheart Records today, June 2nd, 2008.

Girl in a Coma: website | myspace

Trio B.C.
Price: USD 13.98
19 used & new available from USD 5.10

May 22, 2009 — Free Stuff Friday: Win Girl in a Coma’s sophomore album “Trio B.C” (1)
February 18, 2009 — Living Things, Afentra’s VD Party @ Midland Theatre, Kansas City (0)
May 24, 2009 — Kaki King @ Grasslands Gallery, Brooklyn (0)
April 7, 2009 — Des Moines’ 80/35 Festival Announces Partial Line-Up (0)
March 31, 2009 — Airborne Toxic Event with Henry Clay People and Alberta Cross @ Black Cat, Washington D.C. (0)
March 30, 2009 — SXSW:Music on the Fly (3)
March 25, 2009 — Morrissey with Red Cortez @ Warner Theatre, Washington D.C. (0)
February 25, 2009 — Under Cover: The Killers (1)
February 14, 2009 — Morrissey - Years of Refusal (3)
December 31, 2008 — Most Anticipated Albums of 2009 (1)

Butteryfly Boucher @ World Cafe Live, Philadelphia

Posted: 02 Jun 2009 07:55 AM PDT

Butterfly Boucher’s ( pronounced like “voucher”) fans are nothing if not loyal, especially considering it’s been nearly 4 years by the crowd’s estimate that she’s been in Philly. It was amazing to see a decent sized turn out of fans singing along to an act most people probably aren’t too familiar with.

But then again, this is a woman who’s worked side by side with none other than the great David Bowie. She’s bound to have a niche group of die hard fans.

Regardless of her fanbase size, she was in town promoting her new album Scary Fragile, out today. Armed with a couple guitars and a boss loop station pedal, she carried through her songs old and new for just under an hour. Though an energetic performer, I thought the addition of backing tracks that sounded as if they were made on a cheap Casio diminished the performance slightly. One would hope that in 4 years time, you’d be able to put together a bit better stage presence. But either way, the songs hopefully sound better on her new record.

Butterfly Boucher: website | myspace

June 1, 2009 — Kat Edmonson @ World Cafe Live, Philadelphia (0)
May 21, 2009 — Keane with the Helio Sequence and Mat Kearney @ DAR Constitution Hall, Washington D.C. (0)
April 20, 2009 — SXSW Interview With: Roxy Epoxy & The Rebound (0)
April 17, 2009 — SXSW Interview With: Miles Zuniga of Fastball (3)
March 6, 2009 — Win a pair of tickets to see Bell X1 and Harlem Shakes in Philly! (0)
February 25, 2009 — Under Cover: The Killers (1)
December 18, 2008 — Philly’s R5 Productions Holiday Punk Rock Flea Market (0)
December 17, 2008 — Under Cover: Showdown Edition… Part 2 (4)
December 11, 2008 — The Night The Buzz Stole Christmas: Eagles of Death Metal (0)
December 4, 2008 — Philadelphia’s Winter Solstice Benefit Party (2)

Photo Essay: Jane’s Addiction @ Starlight Theater, Kansas City

Posted: 01 Jun 2009 08:56 AM PDT

Concertgoers in Kansas City filled the Starlight Theater to see the original lineup of Jane’s Addiction, including Dave Navarro (and his Louis Vuitton strap) on guitar and Stephen Perkins on drums. Frontman Perry Farrell rocked out in a gold lamé suit while drinking a bottle of La Crema wine.