I Know Who Made My Bed: Colour Revolt @ the Mercury Lounge

I went to the Mercury Lounge last night to check out Snowden, which is a band I'd already seen live once before about a year ago (also at the Merc, if memory serves). I really like them--their Anti-Anti album consistently goes through periods of heavy rotation in my library--and have been dying for them to come back 'round to the City so I could see them again. But not dying enough, apparently, to wait through a headcount for the Fire Warden (although, honestly, I think the Merc was just trying to pack more people inside). Eyeroll. I guess that's what I get for hitting up Happy Hour beforehand...and on a school night.

However, despite my lameness in skipping out on the band I actually went to see, I did manage to catch the entire Colour Revolt opening set. And it was awesome.

I will admit that I have a sentimental soft spot for Oxford, Mississippi, so when I found out a couple hours before they went on that they are based out of Oxford I was probably irrationally predisposed to like them. But they happily exceeded my crazy expectations with their driving beat and their guitar-heavy sound. [Incidentally, it was probably a good thing that I could only see the lead singer from my particular vantage point because I generally have little patience for bands with too many guitarists (3 guitars and 1 bass in this particular case)...seeing the set up might have changed my favorable predisposition to a more dismissive one. I know, I know...there is no rhyme or reason.]

Since I only really saw the lead singer (and guitar player), Jesse Coppenbarger, I can only comment on his particular performance by mentioning that I was impressed with the sound he pushed out of his seemingly-slight frame. He has a great sense of phrasing and styling.

On a related note: I was excited enough about the show last night that I downloaded their new full-length album this morning (Plunder, Beg, and Curse) and I will say that, although some are quite good, some songs are a disappointment...especially when I had the live versions of these songs fresh in my head. But this is a young band and judging from the performance last night I have to say I'm really excited to see where they go from here.

Every Day is Gettin' Straighter

My sister sent me some tracks to listen to by Rodrigo y Gabriela, which I'm really diggin' these days.  I thought I would share:


Listening to them this evening put me in mind of the man who really sold his soul to the devil, David Rawlings. I've seen him perform twice now with Gillian Welch and I have to say he's unbelievable. One thing I find so amazing about watching him perform is his use of the microphone as a second instrument since his guitar isn't plugged in. The following video is pretty exemplary:


And while we are on the topic of the lovely Gillian Welch, allow me to admit that if Morland had a theme song the following would probably be in the running:


It was the live version of "Time (the Revelator)" that I really wanted to embed in this post, but YouTube doesn't allow you to embed the particular video I wanted. If you haven't had enough check that version out here and stay with it through the end (there's also a short interview before the song starts).

Let's Hear it For the Girl: Morland Needs a Kick in the Rear

(Photo by Rahav Seger via NYT)
As I mentioned a while back, I haven't been going to a lot of shows recently. I attribute this to the fact that I've stopped listening to music. And by that I mean I really haven't listened to a whole song for weeks now. It hasn't really been a conscious thing...I just find that I reach for my iPod less when I'm wandering around and finding myself listening to the city more. And while this might sound romantic and charming, at root I find it makes me depressed and sullen. I'm pretty sure that all this is just a phase but I'm also certain that this anti-music period in my life is something I'm going to have to dig myself out in a proactive like fashion.

In that vein, today I have purchased a ticket to see the Walkmen at Webster Hall in a couple of weeks. If they can't snap me out of it, I'm not sure who will. I've never seen them live but I've always meant to. So instead of making another excuse this time around I just bought a damn ticket. I have also spent a sizable amount of time today "discovering" new music to track down and listen to when I get home. Since a handful of the bands on my list are coming to town soon, hopefully I'll find something in there to get excited about.

I have also added a new feature to my blog, which you can see on the right hand side. This widget allows you, my dearest reader, to send me files directly. Specifically, I'd love some audio files. If you have a song you've been listening to over and over and can't get it out of your mind, I want to hear it too. Send it on over: click the add button, find the file, hit the drop button. Easy peasy.

Together, we can get this blog back on track!! Ha!

Goin' Commerical: Bishop Allen Clicks with Sony

As readers probably already know, I am very fond of Bishop Allen and have really enjoyed seeing them get more attention recently. I'm of two minds about music being used in commercials these days, but when I saw a new Sony digital camera ad on TV last night featuring BA's Click Click Click Click I couldn't have been more chuffed.

I went to YouTube today to find the commercial to share with you all, but when I found their video for the song I had to share that instead. Because it's awesome. So, enjoy:

Listening: Eric Bachmann

My belated post below about the Josh Ritter show I went to a while back brings to mind the fact that I discovered Eric Bachmann there. He opened for Ritter that night and he totally blew my mind. While this will lose me some cred in the eyes of some people, I had no idea who he was but, thankfully, managed to catch his whole set that night because I misjudged the actual start-time of the show. Bachmann was the frontman of Archers of Loaf and currently fronts Crooked Fingers (hence the cred-losing thing: I've never really listened to either of those bands before even though I probably should have).

At any rate, he impressed me so much with his opening set that I bought his album the next day, To the Races (pictured above), and have been listening to it pretty much non-stop since then. Calling it merely acoustic folk seems a bit of a let-down even though that is precisely what is: it's stripped down folk at its best.

If for nothing else, this album should be explored for the opening song alone. Man o'War is lyrically dense and haunting in it's build-up (but those who know me well also know I'm a sucker for a slow-build). It incorporates so much imagery and room for interpretation, in fact, that I'm still unsure as to whether the song is about Man o'War (as the album title would suggest), a man o'war (as the opening line and the references to blue bottles suggests), or a Man of War (as the imagery of the ocean and sinking suggests). Perhaps them all? In my opinion, like similar-in-style Dylan lyrics, it doesn't really matter.

So, if you get a chance, check it out. And I'm talking to you, Boo.