The other day I got that kind of email that music bloggers love to get… an email from an artist’s management saying, “Hey… you know, I’ve noticed from your blog posts that you like xyz… and I think you might like some of my client’s stuff. Want to check it out?”… and you actually do love the client’s stuff.
(Side note: to management… if you’re going to approach music bloggers, make sure that you’ve actually read the damn blog. I can’t tell you the amount of times I’ve got emails about artists I’ve already posted about, or one that even said “Hey, I sound like Howie Day. You probably won’t know his stuff, here’s a link”… Srsly? Ahem. Rant over)
The point is, that in this case the email came from Shannon over at Brick Wall Management… and not only did she do everything right, but the client she thought I might like was Ari Hest.This is the kind of email I love getting. Where management has actually got my tastes damn spot on.
Um. Ari freakin’ Hest? Only someone I’ve been a fan of for ages… around 6 years or so, I would say, ever since I first heard “Aberdeen” from “Come Home” way back in the day. So of course, I was thrilled when Shannon told me that Ari’s just dropped a new album, entitled “Twelve Mondays”.
After listening to the album for about an hour, I twittered: “Just been sent the new ari hest album to review. there’s a song on here that’s possibly the best thing he’s ever done, in my opinion.”
Yeah. It’s that kind of album.
Official music video for “Dead End Driving”, from the new Ari Hest album, “Twelve Mondays”
First off, some more background on “Twelve Mondays”:
Back in 2008, Ari started out a trailblazing experiment called “52“. Basically, what “52” entailed was recording (and releasing) a new song every week. Fans then voted on their favourite tracks, and twelve of those were collected into the album, “Twelve Mondays”.
That such an album could have come out of “a song a week” project is, quite simply, astounding, and only hints at Ari’s songwriting prowess.
Oh… and the best thing Ari’s written? Well, the whole point of the “52” project was that different songs would appeal to different people. So you should probably head here to purchase the entire album to decide for yourself.
For my money though, “The Weight” will go down as an all-time Ari Hest classic.
Soeveryone’sstilltalkingaboutTheDamnwells‘ latest release, “One Last Century”, which was released through Paste Magazine (for free) on Tuesday. And why wouldn’t they still be talking about it? It is, quite simply, one of those albums. An album that was written just for you.
Alex Dezen has always had that special knack. A kind of effortless personality that connects with the listener, in a very personal way. And I think that this album, finally, is opening that up to a wider audience.
Well, no… the reason I’m revisiting the topic is that today, Alex sent me the “exclusive track” that I’ve heard whispered. The b-side title track of the album, “One Last Century”. And I can’t stop listening to the damn thing.
It’s beautiful.
Rarely a song comes along that, for some reason, I can’t write about. But this is one of them. It simply knocks me over. I’m the feather, and Alex’s voice the breeze. I’m not sure where it’s taking me, but I can’t wait to find out.
So of course I had to share it with all of you. In keeping with Alex’s vision for this album… spread it around. Tell your friends. This song needs to be heard.
What the hell are you still doing here, reading this post? Get going!
Ok, ok, so you’re after more information. Then I would suggest checking out my past Damnwells posts, as Lord knows I’ve sung their praise often enough on this blog. In those posts you can check out the documentary featuring them and their trials, an homage post to the band or two, and numerous liveshows.
Over the last month or so, I’ve been involved in building up The Damnwells official site again, which had somewhat fallen into disuse (apart from the forums, which unfortunately were lost in the changeover). Anyway, over that time I’ve gotten to know Alex from the band, and listened to his visions for this new record, “One Last Century“. After being dropped by their label (not once, but twice), they decided it was time to do this their way. To get the music heard, finally. When the guy talks about this album, it’s like there’s a light shining on you, you know? Like the world could be this way, if we just hope.
I want to see that hope justified today.
Spread the word, in whatever form you can. Call your friend up and tell them. Send an email to people you know who like kick-ass music. Send an email to people you know who like crappy music, and need to be educated. Send an SMS to random numbers. Drop flyers where you can, and then run away. If you have a blog, then blog about it. Use your social media profiles to mention it. For those of you on twitter, tweet it. Whatever you can do, let people know about this record.
I want to see The Damnwells succeed. I want to see this model succeed. Artists are waking up to the fact that they need to embrace new ways of marketing their material, but it’s ultimately up to us, the consumer, to control the way that market goes.
I’m not going to review the record today. Suffice to say I’ve been spinning it again and again the last week or so, so that tells you how much I’m enjoying it. But today I’d like you to listen to it, without any of those damn “music blogger preconceptions” floating around in your head. Maybe in the next week or so, I’ll manage to grab a few moments of Alex’s time, and ask him to put down a few words about this record, from the recording process to the final release. But for now, I just want you to listen to it. So go here and get it now.
Bugger. You know, I go offline for a few days, and I miss out on all the cool emails. A few days ago, Tim from the All-Leo Digital Agency (who have a super cool website, by the way) emailed me to let me know that one of their acts, One EskimO, would be performing a live gig at ‘The Big Night’ at Proud Camden, 7pm on Tuesday 10th February, and would I like two free tickets to give away to the readers of Burgo’s Music Blog?
As I say… buggeration. It’s the 9th of February today, and far too late to set up a giveaway/competition for free tickets. But that doesn’t mean I can’t spread the word about these guys in the meantime.
Although I hadn’t heard of these guys before Tim’s email, in the short time that I’ve had to listen to some of their material, I have to say that One EskimO have certainly impressed me. Their tunes are that ambient kind of music that perfectly complements a bed time cuddle with a new partner. You know the kind I mean. That first couple of cuddles with a new partner in bed, where everything could still be slightly awkward. Where you’re still trying to figure out how to be completely comfortable around each other. And god, why are there suddenly all these awkward silences? We were fine at dinner. Wow, this would be so much better if I at least had some music on, so there wasn’t all… this… silence. They’re that kind of perfect music.
From their press release:
One eskimO is a unique musical creation that combines gorgeous animations and beautiful music.
The unique musical band One eskimO is produced by Rollo (Faithless). One eskimO is a 4-piece band headed up by Kristian Leontiou. His fantastic musical sound is then added to a series of 10 animations charting the adventures of eskimO and his band – the giraffe, monkey and penguin.
‘The eskimo, the giraffe, monkey and penguin decided that they would all head out and travel above the seas, past the moon and the planets and venture out through the stars. They would travel together on the eskimO’s special ark. For this was no ordinary ark, this was a dream ark…’
One eskimO’s soft musical tones are already attracting attention from both a younger and older audience. The fantastic animations were produced by Passion Pictures (the team behind the highly successful Gorillaz), and have already won a 2008 British Animation award.
Below, a live video of the band performing their upcoming single, “Kandi” (which is simply gorgeous), and below that, the official video for their “Hometime” track, which shows off the animations.
All in all, if I was in the area, I’d go and see these guys tomorrow. So, if you are… why don’t you?
Get ready. Spread the word. It’s going to be awesome.
****
Side note: even though it says that I was the author of that announcement on thedamnwells.com post, it was actually Alex who posted that himself, with no help from me. He’s picking up WordPress really quickly, from a standing start. So go comment over there and make him all proud and shit.
Maybe it’s just because I’m having some personal issues right now, but this new single from Little Birdy, “Brother”, from their upcoming album, “Confetti” is one of the most soul-rending songs I’ve ever heard.
The track also features Australian music legend, Paul Kelly on harmonica and backing vocals.
“Confetti” is due out in May. If this track is anything to go by, it’s going to be a must-get.
****
PS. I know I haven’t put up a Ryan Adams post of the Cardinal’s show at the Tivoli the other night. Sorry, I meant to, but shit got in the way, y’know? And to be quite frank, as you may see by the brevity of this post, I’m finding it kinda hard to write right now. Sorry.
Last night, I had probably the most visceral experience of my life, watching Bon Iver perform live at the Tivoli in Brisbane. To call it sublime would be an understatement.
It was over two years ago (side note: how fast is time going these days? I mean, honestly…) that the dulcet tones of Justin Vernon first made their ways to my ears. I managed to catch the tail end of the Hazeltons days/post DeYarmond Edison days, but really – if I’m honest – I was probably only fully hooked when I first heard Skinny Love. It’s a cardinal sin to admit something like that, when you’re a music blogger (especially considering the strength of the Hazeltons era), but that’s the moment when I realised that this was… different. That there was something transcendent in this music. So when the news made its way to me that Bon Iver would be performing at the Tivoli, I knew I would be going.
And man, am I glad I did.
Bon Iver performing live at the Tivoli in Brisbane
The gig was a sit down affair, which was a first for me at the Tivoli; but it complemented the night perfectly. First up, I have to talk about the crowd that was there that night. I’ve now been to more than my fair share of gigs at the Tivoli; but last night had, without a doubt, the best crowd of any gig that I have been to there. You always take a slight chance, in my opinion, with gigs at the Tiv: it’s such an intimate, beautiful setting, but sometimes you can get some really belligerent concert goers there (for some reason, they always seem to crawl out of the woodwork for the Ryan Adams gigs)… but last night, the Tiv was packed to the rafters with appreciative music fans. And it was an atmosphere that Justin and co. were definitely feeding off. For probably the first time, I truly believed an artist when they said, “You guys have just been the best audience”.
Because they were.
I’m getting slightly ahead of myself though. First up was the opening act, and for the life of me I could not hear the girl’s name. (update: @lexiphanic mentions in the comments below that the opening act was McKisko). This didn’t surprise me, as it was the same girl who opened up for Sophie Koh and Howie Day at the Troubadour last year, and I had the same trouble then. Regardless, “Performer X” has certainly improved since that last performance, but I was still left… cold, with her performance. There’s an attitude of avante-garde “raw emotion” to her stuff, but it comes across as a facade; too calculated, an “art school pastiche” for me to really believe it. I can hear there’s talent there, but I think this girl still needs a year or two to find herself, and I really hope she does.
After “Performer X”, it was time for Bon Iver to come on… and with an unassuming, “Hey everybody”, Justin and co. launched straight into Flume; and what a killer opening it was. I managed to catch a few videos of last night, and made sure I got the opening number; so here, below, is Bon Iver opening the night at the Tivoli, with “Flume”.
After that opening, the crowd simply fell, and fell hard, for Bon Iver.
There was just something in the air, that give and take between performer and crowd that meant the energy was simply electric, and unlike anything I have ever felt before. Nowhere was that connection better displayed than in the third song Bon Iver played, “The Wolves (Act I & II)”. (By the way, we all know my love for that tune as I featured it back here. Check out the video).
Justin introduced the song by asking the crowd to sing along with the band… and how we all did! The sheer emotion running through the crowd as we all sang, “What might have been lost…”, and the screaming towards the end was a sheer visceral moment that I think I will always remember. If ever emotion took hold of me, it was in that tune, and I was screaming along unashamedly as the song closed. I managed to get the whole thing on video, but unfortunately because of the noise levels towards the end with everyone screaming (in that last two minutes), it slightly turns into a sheer wall of sound; so you can’t quite hear what really happened that night. But trust me when I say it was beautiful.
Anyway: below, Bon Iver performing “The Wolves (Act I & II)”, live at the Tivoli.
Truly, truly magical, and a moment I will take with me for years to come.
Justin Vernon performing re: Stacks, solo at the Tivoli in Brisbane
After that, I have to admit, the night passed in a bit of an ecstatic blur for me… while I’m normally quite good at making a note of the setlist, that night I kind of blissed out and slacked in that duty a bit. However, for those who are interested, here is the set list as I recall it; that said, I’m sure there might be some errors or omissions in this, so feel free to drop a line in the comments if I’ve got something wrong below, and I’ll be sure to update the post.
Bon Iver at the Tivoli in Brisbane, 17/1/2009 setlist
1. Flume
2. Lump Sum
3. The Wolves (Act I & II)
4. Beach Baby
5. Blood Bank
6. re: Stacks
7. For Emma
8. Lovin’s for Fools (Sarah Siskind cover)
9. Babys (and yes, they do spell it that way. Check out the Blood Bank release)
10. Skinny Love
Encore
11. Creature Fear
Highlights of the set for me? Well, apart from the obvious answer of “Everything!”, I’d have to go with the previously mentioned “Wolves”, “Blood Bank” (which I featured back here, by the way, and which had an insanely frenetic guitar line at the end), and the solo rendition of “re: Stacks”. Unfortunately I didn’t manage to get the entire performance of “re: Stacks” on camera, but I did manage to get just over 5 minutes of it, so I’ve included it below. The vulnerabilty of that man, lit up on stage is breathtaking.
And, of course, where would we be without mentioning “Skinny Love”? Sheer fragile beauty, combined with powerful, ravaging emotion (watch that floor tom being beaten towards the end of the track… that’s the very definition of cathartic music, in my opinion). In other words, the performance was perfection…
All in all, I can say this, without any fear of hyperbole… Bon Iver at the Tivoli was one of the best gigs I have ever been to. Without a doubt, without hesitation. I look back on this post, and I know that no matter how many times I rewrite this, I’ll never be able to truly convey the magic that transpired there that night. It was simply too big, too huge to post about. Those that were there will no what I mean when I say that. So really, all that’s left to say is thanks; so thanks to Justin and Co, for sharing that perfect night with us. We hope you come back soon, because until then… we’ll be waiting.
Bon Iver performing live at the Tivoli in Brisbane. Come back soon guys…
