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Preview: Ben Harper and Relentless7 @ Pier Six Pavilion (2010.04.20)

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MP3: Ben Harper and Relentless7 – Under Pressure (Queen cover) from Live from the Montreal International Jazz Festival (2010)

How this so-called “Campus Consciousness” Tour, featuring Ben Harper and Relentless7 and opener Alberta Cross wound up at Pier Six Pavilion on the biggest stoner holiday…well, the only stoner holiday of the year…is beyond me. I mean, who wants to “Burn One Down” in the Inner Harbor?

The last time you may have seen the Relentless7 (of which there are four) was when they were awkwardly backing up Ringo Starr on the Daily Show. Their performance was admittedly not awe-inspiring, probably because they were playing the songs of Ringo Starr (inexplicably a frequent guest of the band). But Ben Harper and Relentless7 will definitely be an exciting act live, which is especially impressive because Harper often plays seated.

Relentless7 is a more rock-oriented group than previous bands Harper has toured with, and their album White Lies for Dark Times thankfully takes more chances than Harper’s adult-contemporary hits from the early part of the 00s. You’ll hear lots of intriguing guitar meandering, some shifting drum patterns, and Harper’s typically incidental lyrics. No, they aren’t a band I listen to all the time. But the best songwriters on record aren’t necessarily the best performers. Take Arctic Monkeys, who I love to listen to on record, but I was a bit disappointed with their unilateral approach live. Ben Harper and Relentless7 are a band that thrives on their live shows, on the flux and unpredictability of real-time performance. Harper is a singularly joyous and charming showman. His concerts are fantastic specifically because they branch out into so many different styles from their blues-rock origins, from funk to hard rock, to pop, to folk, by turns imbued with the spirits of Bob Dylan, Led Zeppelin, Blues Traveler, Parliament, or (perhaps needless-to-say) Lenny Kravitz.

Alberta Cross is the opener, and for some reason they always remind me of the Verve when I hear them. The songs have the same wandering, spacey, barely held together quality, but Petter Stakee is a far quirkier singer than Richard Ashcroft. His voice occasionally takes on a Cedric Bixler-Zavala-like timbre. The songs share some of the Mars Volta’s unhinged volatility while lacking their diamond-cut production and dadaist lyricism. I hadn’t listened to them before, but they are a band playing well beyond their years at the moment. With an opening spot for Ben Harper, they probably stand to increase their cachet. Their imagination on record is admirable and they deserve more than a passing listen.

Livewire: Matmos @ 5th Dimension (2010.03.26)

Photos & words: Greg Szeto

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MP3: Matmos – Complete Live Set

Matmos are a Puckish pair of experimental electronic troublemakers who played a fully quadrophonic set at this show, opening for UK trio Konk Pack and like-minded locals Leprechaun Catering. Fortunately, I think the set still translates very well after compression to 2 channels. They also swelled their ranks mid-set by recruiting a host of friends who layered real live instruments into their musique concrete offerings, including drums and most notably, local experimental catalyst John Berndt‘s saxophone. Matmos once again proved their deft compositional chops, and stand atop the hill as one of a select few experimental musicians who can get a crowd thinking as easily as they get them moving.

Total time: 44:07

Recorded by:

David Carter(carteriffic@gmail.com)

Album Review: Double Dagger – Masks EP (Thrill Jockey)

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MP3: Double Dagger – Pillow Talk

Double Dagger continues to strain my objectivity. My experiences, both live and recorded, are steadily forming a mountain of good will that probably abolishes what little critical credibility I have in the first place, leaving only awe-struck fawning. Still, I can’t resist saying a few words about their latest (highly enjoyable) EP.

Three of Masks‘ five tracks were recorded along with the rest of 2009′s More at the Current Gallery in early 2009, and it certainly feels like More v2.0 in some ways. They’ve clearly taken their sound by the reins by springboarding off their maturation with More, and seem to be settling into their ideal balance of acerbic and soothing elements. However, they’ve taken a step back to more spartan, lo-fi production and song structures here. The result is an EP that hits less like a masterful and adventurous recording (More) and more like their off-the-rails live show, which isn’t a bad thing.

Read the rest…

NoVo / Nouveau: Live Audio, Day 1 – Out Of Your Head (2010.03.02)

Photo credit: Heather Van De Mark

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  1. MP3: Intro
  2. MP3: Improv 1
  3. MP3: Improv 2
  4. MP3: Improv 3
  5. MP3: Improv 4
  6. MP3: Improv 5
  7. MP3: Improv 6

Download the entire set in FLAC.

Out Of Your Head – Set One

Personnel: Cam Collins-sax; John Dierker-bass clarinet; Brent Madsen-trumpet; Alan Munshower-drums

sax left – sennheiser 421
sax right – sennheiser 421
trumpet – sennheiser 441
kick – shure beta52
snare – shure sm57
overheads – shure sm81s
room – at4033

Recorded by Matthew Leffler-Schulman & Alex ChampagneWindup Space
Mixed by Matthew Leffler-Schulman @ Mobtown Studios

Live Review: Arctic Monkeys, Sleepy Sun @ Rams Head Live (2010.04.07)

Looking back, Arctic Monkey‘s rise to prominence with their 2006 fastest-selling debut makes a lot more sense than Susan Boyle’s similar honors. People had just gotten used to finding out about music from the Internet. The Arctic Monkeys were young, irreverent, and most importantly, British. What’s more, the band was enjoyable to people you wouldn’t normally see together at a concert: pop-punkers and indie kids, aging hipsters and tweens, mods and rockers. All in all, 2006 was a pretty great year for them.

The boys from Sheffield have maintained their swagger for the ensuing three, churning out consistently high-quality albums and a slew of exciting EPs in between. Last year’s Humbug was supposedly a bottom-heavy, Americana influenced deviation from the course, although the most apparent difference was in Alex Turner’s longer hair than in any shift in songwriting. They’ve rocked tighter and better than most of their indie-major contemporaries, and although Wednesday was the first time I’d seen them live before, I had heard that their style translated into a fantastic stage show. Read the rest…

One Track Mind: Sri Aurobindo – “Soul Vibrations of Man” / “Don’t Know”

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  1. MP3: Sri Aurobindo – Soul Vibrations of Man
  2. MP3: Sri Aurobindo – Don’t Know

Sri Aurobindo are back again, this time with a release on Bmore Musically Informed‘s new imprint Friends Records. Cave Painting being their second full-length release, they really stepped up to the plate, delivering on expectations of a vital brew of psych goodness. The sound throughout the album oozes a primitivist feel, something less rooted in the realm of mind-altering psych and more in the ritualistic. You can easily imagine these songs soundtracking the Sris as a tribe, hovering around a billowing blaze barely contained by a stone circle.

Lead single “Soul Vibrations of Man” is a slice of classic psych, the blown out bass guitar line playing the foil to the lofty and crisp quality of the elevating guitar melody. Arinoldo’s vocals ring as if echoing through a metal canyon, and you get a solid sense of expanse and a bit of wonderment. “Don’t Know” roars to life with the rumbling storm of bass and rhythm guitars, a bed for the wailing the lead guitar to slowly percolate through. The doors are blown open when both guitars and bass tear into epic freakout solos near the halfway mark, gradually drifting off and dissolving into muffled, noisy moans. Easily my favorite track on the whole LP (aside from maybe the highly infectious “My Luv Is Stoned” with its ebullient, titular shouts).

Local psych enthusiasts already know they will love this (and most any) outing from the Sris, but this release manages to provide enough edge from other influences to make them sound much more unique than a simple homage to a genre. They continue to wrangle some fantastic guitar and bass tones (probably due in no small part to studio whiz Chris Freeland), yet this go-round they have crafted their most distinctive and cohesive offering yet. A blast to listen to, Cave Painting sounds ripe to give them broader appeal, something well-deserved and perhaps overdue.

Read the rest…

NoVo / Nouveau: Live Audio, Day 5 – We Used To Be Family (2010.03.06)

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  1. MP3: We Used To Be Family – Rose
  2. MP3: We Used To Be Family – Choco Taco
  3. MP3: We Used To Be Family – This Shit Is Bananas
  4. MP3: We Used To Be Family – Jerkface Shipley
  5. MP3: We Used To Be Family – Who The Fuck Is Harold?
  6. MP3: We Used To Be Family – Smokestack

Download the entire set as FLAC.

We Used To Be Family

kick – shure beta 52
snare – shure sm57
overheads – shure sm81s
guitar amp left – shure sm57
guitar amp right – shure sm57
cello – di
violin – di
trumpet – at4033
tom – sennheiser 421
center stage – apex 460 tube (set to omni)
stage – mxl 990 (angled at 45 deg in towards the middle of the stage on top of pa)
mid room – oktava 012 (x/y)
back room – AT boundary

Recorded by Matthew Leffler-Schulman & Alex ChampagneWindup Space
Mixed by Matthew Leffler-Schulman & Alex Champagne @ Mobtown Studios

Video: Jason Urick – “Fussing & Fighting”

Jason Urick – “Fussing & Fighting”
Directed by Mark Brown
Password (if still locked): fussing

Thanks to the kind folks at Thrill Jockey (especially Paco Barba), we’re happy to premiere the video for the title track of Jason Urick’s new EP, “Fussing & Fighting.” Jason took a few moments to enlighten us on the EP: Read the rest…

NoVo / Nouveau: Live Audio, Day 5 – Moscow Telephone (2010.03.06)

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  1. MP3: Intro
  2. MP3: Driven Revelry
  3. MP3: Lo-Fi
  4. MP3: Mia Farrow
  5. MP3: End Theory
  6. MP3: Entierre El Toro
  7. MP3: King Alcohol

Download the entire set in FLAC.

Moscow Telephone

kick – shure beta 52
snare – shure sm57
overheads – shure sm81s
vibes – at4033
guitar amp left – sennheiser 421
guitar amp right – sennheiser 421
bass – DI
center stage – apex 460 tube (set to omni)
stage – mxl 990 (angled at 45 deg in towards the middle of the stage on top of pa)
mid room – oktava 012 (x/y)
back room – AT boundary

Recorded by Matthew Leffler-Schulman & Alex ChampagneWindup Space
Mixed by Matthew Leffler-Schulman & Alex Champagne @ Mobtown Studios

NoVo / Nouveau: Live Audio, Day 5 – Holy Fingers (2010.03.06)

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  1. MP3: Sunbleached
  2. MP3: Untitled
  3. MP3: Desert Amps
  4. MP3: The Brazen Bull
  5. MP3: The Trees Bowed Deeply And Roared
  6. MP3: Watchtowers Burning
  7. MP3: The Bell Jar
  8. MP3: The Yearling

Holy Fingers

Download the entire set in FLAC.

kick – shure beta 52
snare – shure sm57
overheads – shure sm81s
guitar amp left – shure sm57
guitar amp right – shure sm57
tom – sennheiser 421
center stage – apex 460 tube (set to omni)
stage – mxl 990 (angled at 45 deg in towards the middle of the stage on top of pa)
mid room – oktava 012 (x/y)
back room – AT boundary

Recorded by Matthew Leffler-Schulman & Alex ChampagneWindup Space
Mixed by Matthew Leffler-Schulman @ Mobtown Studios

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