So… in summary, we have: Michael Cera (from the criminally-under appreciated “Arrested Development“, and, of course, the much-hyped “Juno“); seriously cool soundtrack (including such bands as the Shout Out Louds, Bishop Allen, Modest Mouse, We Are Scientists, Devendra Banhart and Band of Horses)… and, correct me if I’m wrong, but that’s John Cho who pops up near the end of the trailer.
Welcome back to another Live Music Friday here on Burgo’s Blog. For today’s show, I’ve decided to post one of the most requested sets from my readers: Radiohead, performing live at the BBC Radio Theatre, on April 1, 2008.
Long-time readers of this blog might remember that when Radiohead’s “In Rainbows” finally arrived, I was… well, slightly ambivalent about the album. There was something there that didn’t connect with me, as in their past albums. But, despite that, I had the feeling that the album was one which would grow in time.
And, for me at least… I was right.
This set, of Radiohead performing live at the BBC Radio Theatre took place on April 1, 2008, and was largely in support of that “In Rainbows” album. That said, there’s also a smattering of songs from other albums, including “Airbag“, “The Tourist” and “Lucky” (from the album “OK Computer“), and “Everything in its right place” from “Kid A“.
It’s a great live set, and certainly one for all Radiohead fans… not only the completists. The highlight for me comes in the three songs “House of Cards”, followed by “Weird Fishes” – the two strongest songs on the “In Rainbows” album, in my opinion – followed up by a wonderful rendition of “Lucky”. Without a doubt… Radiohead are still one of the most important bands of our time.
Listen. Love. Support.
Radiohead, live at the BBC Radio Theatre, April 1, 2008
This is just a short note to let you all know that there’s a new Tallest Man On Earth song out – see my last post on this dude here – titled “A Field of Birds”… and it’s a killer tune.
The song’s been released as a theme song for the site, Yellow Bird Project; a non-profit initiative that teams up with indie bands to raise money for various charities. According to their site:
We collaborate with musicians in designing a T-shirt, we print and sell them on our website, and all of the money we make goes to charity. Which charity? Each of the artists gets to choose their own. We have three fundamental aims:
1) To make money for charities directly through T-shirt sales.
2) To raise awareness for charity organizations through artists’ endorsement.
3) To raise the profile of the artists we like.
… and seriously, that’s a noble aim. So, if you think a shirt designed by such groups as The National, Hayden, Wolf Parade, Rilo Kiley and many, many more might be your cup of tea, I urge you to stop by their site.
Back to The Tallest Man on Earth’s new tune… it’s a trademark Matsson song. It may be a bit too “duelling banjos, Deliverance style” for some people, but it’s fun nonetheless. A rollicking, bouncing tune with some intricate picking and killer banjo accompaniment… it’s good times.
Welcome back to another Live Music Friday here at Burgo’s Blog. For today’s post – and largely due to the fact that I’ve just watched “August Rush” again – I thought I would post something slightly different; a 2004 show, where guitar virtuoso Kaki King performed, lived at the Ironhorse.
Now, I’m pretty sure this show isn’t going to appeal to everyone. It’s not always “easy listening” music. But, especially if you’re a guitarist, I implore you to listen to this show.
Kaki King is one of those rare musicians who comes along, and you just know there’s something otherworldly there. There’s an emotion, and an intelligence behind her compositions that is few and far between in current music. With a sound that involves fret-tapping, slap bass, percussive guitars and – lately – sound layering and looping, Kaki King is reminscent of Michael Hedges, Preston Reed and Andy McKee. In short… that’s bloody heady company.
In the last 2 years, particularly, Kaki has been getting some major mainstream exposure; not only is her music featured in the film “August Rush” – in fact, she was actually Freddy Highmore’s “action hands” – but she also contributed tunes to the, quite frankly, brilliant “Into the Wild” soundtrack. Add into that mix some major support from the Foo Fighters, and in particular Dave Grohl, and you can see this girl’s ready to hit it large.
While in the last few years, Kaki King has made an obvious effort to step back from the “solo instrumental artist” label that was beginning to attach itself to her – take one listen to her new single, “Pull Me Out Alive“, from her new album, “Dreaming Of Revenge“, and you’ll see what I mean – this show from 2004 was more in her original style. There’s minimal vocals, acoustic guitar… and it remains one of my favourites.
If nothing else, make sure that you listen to the track, “Lies”. It’s pure poetry.
It’s been a while since I put a Tuesday Trio up on this blog, and seeing as I was going through some of the messages to have landed in my inbox lately that have alerted me to new music, I thought: Why not? So, for today’s tunes, we’ll be looking at tracks from The Avett Brothers, Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly & Peter Bradley Adams.
The Avett Brothers – Murder In The City
The Avett Brothers
It was with much joy that I noticed an email landing in my inbox today, reminding me that the new Avett Brothers album, “The Gleam II” – the second release in the Gleam Series – is released into the wild today. The Avett Brothers are… well, hard to classify. Sometimes a little country, sometimes a little city, and other times purveyors of heart-breaking rustic ballads, the band are versatile to say the least. The major drawcard, for me at least? These guys pen honest songs. Songs that don’t hide the truth. And that’s a precious thing, when you find it.
The first taste I’ve had of the new album, “Murder In The City“, is included below, and it’s another stunning tune from the Avett Brothers. Here’s hoping the rest of the album is this great.
Thanks actually go to Gary (via lil’ Sophie) to alerting me to this guy. I’m not sure how Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly has flown under my radar for so long (heh. See what I did there? Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly… has “flown” under my radar? No? Well, please yourself then.) as it appears that he’s had some major mainstream acceptance. I mean, he’s even had tunes on One Tree Hill, that epitome of mainstream bubblegum tunes.
That said, he’s not half bad. Sure, Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly. – aka Sam Duckworth – might sound at times a tad too much like Secondhand Serenade to me, and I’m undecided as of yet whether this is music that might date… but this tune, “Find The Time“, is a rollicking song, with a great refrain that sticks in your head for days at a time.
Thank goodness for labels like Sarathan Records, who actually understand the music blogosphere and reach out to them; it’s a sign that there’s hope for the music industry yet.
Kara from Sarathan Records dropped me a line last week to let me know that Peter Bradley Adams (of the oh so missed band, eastmountainsouth), is due to release his new album, “Leavetaking”, on August 5th; and I’m glad she did. Eastmountainsouth were a truly beautiful band, and I’ve always felt that they were criminally underrated.
The below tune, “Always“, from Peter’s forthcoming album, hints at an album that might have slightly stepped further away from the folk roots of Eastmountainsouth, and more towards a pop direction. I’m not sure how long-time fans will feel about that, but take heart in the fact that some things remain the same; Peter Bradley Adam’s remains a masterful songwriter, and his voice is as achingly beautiful as ever.
Ok. So this is completely not music-related (so if you’re reading this in your feed reader, and you only subscribe for the music goodness, then don’t bother clicking through)… but I would be doing myself a disservice if I were not to post this.
The new Watchmen trailer is out, and it’s got me all in a lather. Anyone who knows me, knows that there are several things that have made my life richer. One of them was Alan Moore’s graphic novel that set the standard for graphic novels… “Watchmen“. It was an absolute apex in the comics form.
And while Hollywood has never been kind to adaptations of Alan Moore’s work… there’s always hope, right?
Check it out below.
(Note: Warner Brothers is taking these down left right and centre, so it might not last long. But the trailers is running before “The Dark Knight” for those who miss out).
Welcome back to another Live Music Friday here at Burgo’s Blog. For this week’s post, I decided to revisit a past Live Music Friday post, from April, where I featured The National live on the Radio Inter Black Sessions. In that post, I mentioned that they had followed up from that show with another show in 2007 for the same radio station… and here it is… The National White Sessions.
As mentioned when I wrote about their Black Sessions show in that previous post, the Black Sessions are “broadcast on the French radio station France Inter, and recorded in front of a live audience“. The White Sessions put out by the station are pretty much the same thing, but without the live audience included.
There are positives and negatives with this; a negative is that, without the murmur of an appreciative audience in the background, the show somewhat loses some of its intimacy. That said, however, the sound quality of this live performance far more than makes up for this.
This show took place on May 7, 2007, and was in support of The National‘s then upcoming release, “Boxer“, and the majority of songs (9 of the 11) are from that album. It really is that when you listen to this band live, that you truly can appreciate their artistry. And Matt Berninger’s hypnotic voice comes across as if he was putting on a private show in your kitchen. Essential “must hear” stuff for any National fans. Highlights for me? Either “Slow Show”, “Racing Like A Pro”, or the simply beautiful “About Today”… but make your own minds up.
This is just a quick post today; but I really wanted to post Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson‘s (henceforth known as MBAR on this blog, as that name is simply far too long to continually type out) new video for “Buriedfed”, the opening single on his self-titled debut which came out last month.
It’s simply an awesome video; a somewhat creepy campfire sing-along, that takes a surreal look at funerals and death. And the actual song itself – a swirling, majestic mix of sparseness and atmospherics – is made all the sweeter in the video by Robinson’s somewhat disarming smile, which lasts the entire song through; all the while talking about burials and failures. It really is… affecting.
Below, the video. Below that, the mp3.
Listen. Love. Support.
And they took her to the doctor To fix her heart, and heal her head She said, “Goddamn, I’m tired of being polite Go save somebody else” – Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson, “Buriedfed”
