Three Benson

A Quick Note

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 17:40:00 +0000

There is a lot going on musically in Albany these days. Actually, there probably has been for a while, but I worked a lot of stupid jobs and was kind of missing out on it. Mercifully, I don't work for any stupid jobs anymore, so I can go see lots of people play lots of instruments and it's a good time.

About two weeks ago, I went to a free show at the Muddy Cup. Some of the bands that played are well known and good so I won't waste space going into it here. However, one band definitely worth mentioning that I hadn't seen before that night is The Luxury Flats from Hudson, NY. They have a mellow-ish indie rock feel and they sounded great live. I really liked the vocals a lot, this band is very listenable. Also, some of them had the sweetest facial hair I have seen in a while (but that really has nothing to do with anything).

On St. Patricks day, I went to see Dunbar play with a band called Barons In The Attic at the Moon and River cafe in Schenectady. Barons In The Attic have been playing together for maybe three months now and for being together for such a small amount of time they sound more put together than you would think. They're still working out the kinks that all new bands have to deal with which just comes with time and experience. This band has a folky sound and would definitely love any support so check them out.

To wrap things up, there are a lot of really good shows coming up, which I will conveniently line up for you in a list-like format:

Sgt Dunbar is playing with Beware The Other Head Of Science at Kings Tavern in Saratoga on March 29th. I can't go, but people who can may want to consider it.

On April 3rd at 8 pm a bunch of newer bands will be playing a showat CDFI; these include littlefoot, The Majestic Moose Club, Blood, The Hoborchestra, and Ryan Starks. Suggested donation is three dollars.

Then the night after (April 4th) you can go see the Scientific Maps play at Valentines with The Red Lions (sweet!) and ladystein. I'm not sure how much that costs but I would assume it costs something. Either way, you should go.

April 11th is another show at CDFI that will have a whole lot of bands playing at it. One of these bands includes Jeneric, who have just finished working on a new album called In the Parlor with The Moon (which has really great album art).

Before I end this blog, I would like to thank Josh for telling me that band was called Perkaisie. Thanks Josh!

I'm going to remember February 15th for a long time

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 02:28:00 +0000

So, why am I going to remember February 15th? Two reasons: 1) I rode my bicycle into a moving vehicle (don't worry, the injuries were negligible) and 2) I saw Neutral Milk Hotel's "In the Aeroplane Over The Sea" covered in it's entirety with an exuberance that I like to think Jeff Magnum would have approved of.

Ok, so the reason I hit a moving car on my bike was a mix of being cut off, riding much too fast in slush, and the brakes not working properly. After hitting the car and exchanging a mixture of "wow I'm really surprised but ok!" gestures with the people in the vehicle, I hopped back on my bike and rode to Valentines. There was no way I was going to miss this.

Unfortunately, I missed both Littlefoot and Stacey Gets Drunk, but arrived in time for the third band of the night, who's name, I am sorry to say, escapes me. I heard it said several times during the set but I just never really HEARD it. (If you know what I mean.) I did manage to catch that they are from PA somewhere. I think I want to say Lancaster? I am probably making this up. If anyone still reads this blog, my most sincere apologies. Feel free to let me know the correct information. Mysterious name and mysterious origins aside, this band was really good. They were very tight and put together, there was definitely some nice harmonization. Whoever they were, I liked it.

After their set, everyone eagerly waited the few minutes it took Dunbar to get set up. After a few opening questions, comments, and thankyous, Alex Muro informed the audience that the band (and a few guests) would be playing the album straight through, no stopping. With that, Dunbar promplty started playing The King Of Carrot Flowers Pt. 1, and as everyone in the venue sang so loud you could barely hear the vocalist, you just knew the entire set would be an experience you wouldn't forget for a long, long time. Every song was solid, Muro sang with his usual energy and enthusiasm that worked perfectly for the songs he was the lead in, I thought this especially true for Holland, 1945. Oh Comely was covered by Aaron Smith from Scientific Maps and it was really well done. People would join in at some parts or mangle the lyrics, but Smith managed to get through some of the distractions (some people thought he was done once or twice) and cover the song beautifully. His inflections were pretty much right on with Magnum's. All the other members of Sgt Dunbar added significantly to the performance (I could name them all here, but at this point, most people reading this know who they are and furthermore, know they are an essential, talented part of Dunbar) ; their brass section has always been great and this time I think they were in excellent form. What is so awesome about Dunbar is the numerous amounts of instruments every member can play and you could tell everyone cared a lot about making these songs sound as good as they did.

The other good part of the show was definitely the audience. Everyone there obviously knew and loved the lyrics to "In Aeroplane Over The Sea" as well as Sgt Dunbar and the Hobo Banned did. I still run into people who (nearly a week and half later) tell me how awesome they thought that show was. One girl told me how she had the album but it broke and she had forgotten to get a new one until she went to the show that Friday. The next day, she and her boyfriend went to pretty much every media store in the Albany area until they finally found the last copy of the record somewhere in Colonie. Others simply remembered how much they love In The Aeroplane Over The Sea, listened to it again, and gained a new perspective or appreciation for it. To me that album will always be timeless, every time I listen to it I forget that its been ten years since it came out. The lyrics still feel as fresh, stirring, and meaningful as the day I first listened to them.

I think that's what that night at Valentines was all about.

Bri Smith and Jes Seamans are Best Friends Forever

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 02 Feb 2008 18:14:00 +0000

About two months ago, I had a phone conversation with a good friend of mine. After talking about the usual silly things that people talk about on the phone (like stuff you're doing with yourself and whatever happened to that recipe you said you would give me?) somehow our mutual disillusionment with music these days came up. While I won't go into this issue on here, one of the end results was me asking him whether he had been to any good shows lately (which is one of my favorite ways to listen to music these days) he mentioned seeing an act called "Best Friends Forever." Chuckling initially at how much their name made me think of fifth grade, I hopped on the old myspace and gave this Minneapolis based band a listen.

Bri Smith and Jes Seamans have been best friends for nearly 13 years. After listening to their songs, I kind of want to be friends with them too. Their songs are poppy, fun, and about old dead guys they think are really cool, like Abraham Lincoln and Dwight Eisenhower. The lyrics are silly in a fresh way, there aren't many people are walking around writing songs about how good they would be at being Lincoln's wife. The lightheardedness of "My head in front of your head" and "Eisenhower is the father" kind of made me think of a less produced, girl fronted Of Montreal, the energy is very similar. "handpocket" is about almost dying and being embarrassed about it and "ghost song" is..ghosty. Best Friends Forever is? are? a lot of fun. Give them a try, and you might find yourself feeling the urge to write your own songs about cool dead people.

http://www.myspace.com/bestfriendsforeverandfriends

RPM Challenge; Take 2

noreply@blogger.com (Jen) — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 16:42:00 +0000

Write and record 10 songs or 35 minutes worth of music. And this year you even have 29 days instead of 28 to do it in. Oh Leap Year. What would we do without you?

February 1st begins the kick off of the third Portsmouth, NH based Record Production Month (RPM) Challenge. 2008 marks RPM Challenge's second year on a worldwide scale.

This is your excuse. This is your every reason for locking yourself in your bathroom and recording until you turn to the water pipes for percussional inspiration. This is your excuse to learn how to play the trombone...just because you can. This is the time when you don't have to feel guilty about calling in sick to work...because you will be sick, you will be very very sick. Only the sickest are the strongest to survive the RPM bug.

Who's crazy enough to write AND record an entire album in one month? Last year it was 850 bands worldwide. With one and a half days to go there are 1414 participating artists signed up from places like Vermont to Texas from England to Uruguay from Shanghai to Australia from Norway to Turkey from Latvia to South Africa.

Come February 29 we'll see how many of these bands will overcome the self imposed boundaries musicians so often inflict upon themselves. How many will brave the sleepless nights, the broken instruments, the used up harddrives, the inband bickering, the music filled nightmares. Who will be strong enough to survive?

Will you?

Sign up here:
http://www.rpmchallenge.com/

Metroland's Best tonight at Valentine's

noreply@blogger.com (Jen) — Sat, 19 Jan 2008 16:01:00 +0000

You know that can of peas that has been sitting in your cabinet since you bought it in the canned vegetables aisle of Price Chopper when you said to yourself:

"Peas are good for me, I should eat more peas," and then you went back to your drafty dusty home sweet home and placed them on your very own cabinet shelf, where they still sit now because you just couldn't think of anything decent to cook with peas?

Well now you can take that can of peas and do something good with it.

Don't eat it!

Bring it to Valentine's tonight and get into a fabulous show for cheaper than if you hadn't brought that can of peas with you.

Rock out all night long at the Metroland Food Pantry Benefit, featuring some of the Best Bands of 2007 as voted in the Metroland.

upstairs catch

SCIENTIFIC MAPS, KNOTWORKING, SARAH PEDINOTTI, SEAN ROWE, ASHLEY POND &
SGT DUNBAR & THE HOBO BANNED

plenty o more music downstairs too.

All Heavy, All Mighty

noreply@blogger.com (Tim) — Sun, 13 Jan 2008 21:38:00 +0000

"It Must Be You That's Making Me Feel Like This Wet Dog"

It was many moons ago that I sent Wildebeest a message, asking for the track listing of the handmade, sharpie texted CD that he left at my house, since the only thing inside the case was a panoramic, photocopied picture of a herd of steer with a poem on the back.

He had come to play a show with local luminaries We Are Jeneric at CDFI in Albany, but got lost, and somehow found his way to Valentine's where there happened to be a Sgt Dunbar show that night. He asked if he could play his homemade chimes in the parking lot between sets. Of course he could, and he could also set them up in front of the stage and play with us, we said, which he did. It was magnificent, and his musical acuity instantly became evident to everyone present. It was one of my favorite sets, and he had a lot to do with it.

That night he slept at our couch, like a lot of the people do that I post about here, and the next morning we drank coffee and ate toast in the sun on the porch. Also magnificent. He appreciated the shower and orange that were offered to him, and left his CD on our table in exhange.

It's called "All Heavy, All Mighty" and is filled with impressive blues guitar riffs, intricately timed melodies, varied instrumentation, and a continuous but not overwhelming meloncholy. It's at times similar to alt-country Bright Eyes, other times you hear the likes of Big Bill Broonzy or Leadbelly, and it all ends with a Dylan-esque folk song with an accordion instead of a guitar.

It's this last song, "I Don't Believe" that caused me to take so long to post this. I began to write an entry, which turned into a short story, which then turned into a longer than short short story, which I then felt the need to edit over and over since I am in no ways a writer and therefor unconfident in such ventures. If you are interested in reading it however, you can do so here. It goes somewhat chronologically through the song, and listening to the song first might help make more sense of the scattered story. Be easy on me, it's my first time.

"All Heavy, All Might" is an 8 track disc that you could probably get from him if you asked nicely. He also has others recordings of varying styles, some on tape, that you could also probably get from him. You can do so on his myspace or at shows.

mp3: Wildebeest - I Don't Believe (That We Have Met)
mp3: Wildebeest - Host and Hostage

Wildebeest Myspace

A Poet Named Revolver

noreply@blogger.com (Alex) — Tue, 20 Nov 2007 17:34:00 +0000

I read lots of music blogs, I spend way too much time on the internet but despite that the music I listen to most is usually recommended to me by people I know and trust in real life. I got A Poet Named Revolver Meets Gruesome for my friends in Bloomington, IN's Dust From 1000 Years last time they stopped through Albany on tour. They left me with a stack of cds from bands they had found while on the road and this album came at the top of their list of recommendations.

When I got the CD it was just a burned copy so I didn't know any of the track names (I still don't know most of them) or what the record was called or what the art looked like. I listened to it a couple times without thinking about it and found that I had songs stuck in my head but I couldn't figure where they came from. It took me a couple weeks to stumble upon it again and find that these were the songs that got stuck in my head(ex meadows in particular). The album is one part the microphones, a half part at the drive in a good dose of Simon Joyner. There is an immediacy and desperation in the songs that really take you into another world for a while, for example the fade in opener ExMeadows puts the listener on the run from what seems like the end of the world. Postwar Pop takes a more folk but yet abstract approach to the end of a city.

Unfortunately A Poet Named Revolver has already decided to call it quits. We think its a shame but are glad for the one record they did make, it is awesome, you should listen to it. You can buy it from here.

mp3:Poet Named Revolver - ExMeadows
mp3:Poet Named Revolver - Postwar Pop
Myspace

Yo La Tengo + Broken Social Scene Live at Cornell

noreply@blogger.com (Alex) — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 05:54:00 +0000

As usual I was running late to see Yo La Tengo and Broken Social Scene(presents Kevin Drew), but I did get to drive down rt 89 on the way which had a very pretty if somewhat dark view of Cayuga Lake the whole way. I highly recommend it, I bet its even better in the day time.
I'd like to admit before I start really get into this post that I've never really listened to either of these bands all that much despite both of them being somewhat iconic in the indie rock world and the fact that this show provided the one chance to see them together on what are otherwise separate tours, seemed like a good opportunity to check them both out.

I missed the beginning of Yo La Tengo's set and by the end of it I felt like that wasn't all that I was missing. I really just don't get whatever it is that they were getting at in there set which ended with about a six minute songs who's lyrics were mostly "Lets talk about nuclear war, yeah". Thats not my main gripe though, mostly the set seemed to me just sort of uninspired. In my past experience though bands don't get signed to Matador Records or last more than twenty years for nothing and I am willing to bet I really am missing something here, so I would ask you dear reader to please help fill me in. If I was going to put one (of the fifteen) Yo La Tengo records on my mp3 player to give my self a chance to see what they are all about which one would it be and why?

Broken Social Scene on the other hand who I also didn't know too much about before hand was awesome. They put on a rip roaring show all the way through (there were no ballads and no female members, I don't know if there was any correlation) and got the whole crowd to hug itself, literally. Their new record Spirit If is quite good and I have also since been directed to their classic You Forget it in People which I would also recommend.

Mt Eerie live at Bard

noreply@blogger.com (Alex) — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 18:46:00 +0000

After my ride got pulled over by a cop on the way to pick us up for Mt Eerie last monday we were running late & worried we would miss the beginning of the show. Fortunately or unfortunately depending on how you look at it, Phil's car broke down and after a string of bad luck he showed up at the packed hall at around 11pm looking exactly like he does in this picture.

He had just sold his trusty tour mobile for 100$ to a mechanic and had a rental car he could barely fit all his gear and merch in. He had admittedly had a really bad day and after telling everyone about it he announced he was going to do an all request show!!! Everyone started spasticly screaming the names of songs. Having not seen him before he played the best hour and a half set I could have hoped for including a slew of my favorite old microphones songs off the Glow Pt 2, including I want wind to blow straight into the glow part 2, the moon and he ended with sing along versions of I can't believe you actually died and Human Human. Lucky for me I had my handy mp3 player to record the whole thing.

I've heard that he rarely plays stuff off the glow pt 2, I'd be really interested to hear from anyone else who has seen him on this tour about what he played when you saw him.

mp3: I want wind to blow + The Glow Part 2 (live @ bard 11/5/07)
mp3: Solar System
mp3: Great Ghosts
mp3: 2 Blond Braids

You can check out his new expensive(60$) but worthwhile album/picture book/disc over at pwelverumandsun.com .

Here are a couple of my recordings i have mastered a little, if you are interested in getting the whole set drop me an email at am3081 at gmail dot com.

Anathallo, Your happy makes me go...

noreply@blogger.com (Jen) — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 20:22:00 +0000

It has been a long hiatus since I last visited the 3 Benson blog. And although this visit will be short, I could not pass up on the opportunity, for I felt it more of an obligation, to write about Anathallo, that seven member band that filled my ears with melodies and harmonies sweeter than any sweet joy this past Sunday eve at Valentine's in Albany. Anathallo hails originally from Michigan, so I hear, and now is based out of Chicago. They have but two shows remaining on this tour, as listed on their myspace page: October 30th in Holland, Michigan and November 9th in Muncie, Indiana.

You can find some of their music at their myspace:

www.myspace.com/anathallo

But don't even think you can begin to understand this band by listening to their recordings. Their studio recordings can't capture half of the energy these guys and gal emit from the stage. You can't see the giant marching band drum that is played more like a sport than an instrument. You can't experience the chills from their sometimes seven part harmonies, for though they harmonize nicely on the recordings, it's nothing like seeing them do it flawlessly live.

Their recordings don't show off what incredibly talented musicians these guys are either. Though the recordings of their multi-part songs melt and flow into one another in true indie fashion, where melodies end abruptly only to introduce an even more meandering and melodic section of the song, coming from seemingly out of the blue, we all know how handy recording instruments are at aiding in these effects. To see these songs pieced together live with all the skill of a conducted orchestra, that still has the energy of a band of friends goofing off on stage, is something to grin until your cheeks hurt at, shake your head in awe at, have band and choir teachers everywhere pointing out to their students that "this is what you can do if you stick with it", and send musicians everywhere back to the drawing boards.

If you could take Belle and Sebastian and put them in a blender with a choir and a school band, you would get Anathallo. They are talented, they are spellbinding.

See them live.

If You're Not Happy Where You Are, You'll Never Be Happy Where You Go

noreply@blogger.com (Tim) — Sun, 23 Sep 2007 22:41:00 +0000

It's A Crab's Life

If you tuned in back in March, then you may have caught a story about Jon of the Atom's life in Groton, New York. In that cold and blustery month he was a mad scientist; stirring his dark stew, adding frog lips and hog hair to his steaming cauldron. He was on the brink of a remarkable new musical discovery, or was it aural hysteria?

Sometime around mid-May he opened the door, the fresh country air poured in and overwhelmed him. He gathered a few necessities and headed for the hills. After a short trek he built a shelter of twigs, and traded in the maniacal steps of a scientist for the slow amble of a mountain recluse. He played Elvis and Hank Williams songs in his cabin to the attentive ears of the local fauna. Squirrels, foxes, deer, sparrows and chickadees were all regular sites around his abode and soon they joined forces to help Jon create his latest masterpiece, "Critical Mass: Flying Things vs. Crawling Things".

He would stumble into town now and then, with a new moustache and view of the world. The folks there never expected to see him but we're never surprised when they did. They knew he was harmless, and only wanted to trade his wares for a few kind words, a whiskey sour, and a good nights rest on the couch.

I heard rumor that he will most likely release his new creation upon the world in 2011, most likely the day of the apocolypse. I traded two Little League baseball bats, 16 cherry tomatoes, and a bail of twine for a copy of the disc, and I believe it was well worth it, though I've now resorted to using brooms and pears to get my baseball fix.

You can find some good things to trade to him for his new disc, or go to his Myspace and ask politely for one, though none of the songs from the album are up as his songs as of now, he doesn't get very good wireless in his twig hut.

JOTA's Myspace

mp3: Jon of the Atom - Ducks Flying By
mp3: Jon of the Atom - Moths at the Bug Zapper

Disclaimer: This post went no where and was entirely made up. He was never a mad scientist (to my knowledge), and (to my knowledge) has never been any sort of wilderness recluse. He lives somewhere in mid-Western New York, and occasionaly sleeps on my couch. Flying Things vs. Crawling Things has been on a steady rotation in my room. I hope you enjoy.

Animal Collective: Strawberry Jam

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 17 Sep 2007 06:03:00 +0000

Other blogs are probably writing better reviews on this album than I ever will, but seeing as how I haven't posted in a while ( and there isn't anything else that I've listened to that has been worth writing about) here we are.

I've always felt like the fairest way to review Animal Collective is to have a rather ambivalent attitude towards them; most people you ecounter or either Animal Collective fanatics or they don't have the patience to sit and down and figure out what this band does. Speaking as an ambivalent listener (in all honesty I can typically take or leave AC) Strawberry Jam is probably the most accessible record from these guys to date. However, they are good enough at what they do to maintain the eccentricities and complex time signatures that have earned them so much respect in the music world. This album is much more poppy than their previous work and differs a lot from their last release. Feels was very spacey and introspective, Strawberry Jam has a much more jubilant, melodic vibe. The songs are almost (dare I say it) catchy. Longtime listeners will appreciate the fact that Animal Collective have not lost their original sound at all when making this record, they've really just enriched it and taken it another direction. What I've always found interesting about AC is how they really don't sound like anyone else, it's as if they come from another dimension, all of their songs could very easily be songs from a distant planet. Animal Collective is one of the very few bands that successfully pushes the creative borders in a way that keeps one interested without getting too annoyed with their pretentiousness. (Because lets be honest, of COURSE they're pretentious.) Avey Tare's vocals only add to the very surreal feel of the band, sometimes his voice can be hard to really get into, but I think it meshes with what this group is all about very well.

Regardless, Strawberry Jam is a good album, it has something for both the faithful listener and the newbie. If you want to read a more specific review of this band I'm sure you will figure out a way to do so, all I am really trying to say here is that I think this a record that truly deserves a listen. Love them or hate them, Animal Collective is a band that consists of some of the most innovative talent of the current music scene. Give them a try if you haven't already.

http://www.myanimalhome.net/

http://www.myspace.com/animalcollectivetheband

The Ants go Marching

noreply@blogger.com (Alex) — Thu, 06 Sep 2007 03:11:00 +0000

Mirah And Spectratone International - Community

I saw Mirah in chicago this summer and along with playing all of my favorite songs that she has ever written she played small snippets from her new album Share This Place and asked the crowd to guess what each song was about. Community the first song on the album is a beautiful meditation on selflessness and community. Ants of course can't think, well at least about themselves but as a group do some really impressive things. The wonderful wisdom of having no wisdom.

[Website][Myspace][Buy]

Memories of a Muddy Cup Open Mic

noreply@blogger.com (Jen) — Tue, 21 Aug 2007 14:42:00 +0000

It didn't dawn on me the first time I went to an open mic at Muddy Cup that the event was in its infancy. I was new myself and felt like an outsider looking in through gigantic windows while old friends strummed guitars, sat on couches, and sipped mocha lattes like they must have been doing there for centuries.

It didn't dawn on me that attending that Open Mic would change the course of my life's events forever, for I stumbled upon the Muddy Cup Open Mic somewhat by accident -or perhaps it was the forces of musical fate that were having their way that day. Either way, the Muddy Cup lured us into it's grasp, and hasn't let go.

Having grown up in Albany, yet only having just returned after a long hiatus, Eric and I forced ourselves to the streets, looking for something to do one August evening back in good ol' 2006. Eric decided to surprise me by taking me out to see a film about farmers playing at the Madison Theatre. But, as often occurs when Eric surprises me by trying to take me out to an event, we realized upon arrival that we had arrived on the wrong day...it's kind of a cute quirk of his, his dyslexia. Silly numbers.

But instead of taking our newly purchased champagne colored Honda Station wagon (which at the time had only 187,000 miles on it instead of the 194,000 it does now.... they grow up so quickly!) all the way back to Altamont so we could sit beside the energy of the unfamiliar ghosts we had just moved in with, we decided to grab a cup of joe at the coffee shop next door.

Before we even made it inside a giant poster on the window caught our attention.

MUDDY CUP OPEN MIC MONDAY
SIGN UPS AT 8:00

"Can we go Jenny? Can we?"

I was hesitant about making a mental note of the date and the time, it was rare that I had a positive experience at the various open mics I'd ever been to. I almost wanted to leave it up to Eric to remember the details, and hope his dyslexia would rear it's ugly (but, on occasions like this, helpful) head. I couldn't help the painful images entering into my brain. Memories of open mics rushed back in a flood of crooning, self depricating, and off time strumming musicians that shattered my calm, sprinkled on top were crass bathroom comedians and dark eyed "the-world-is-at-its-nearest-end-at-this-very-moment" poets. I shuddered.

But surely, this open mic would be different.

"Excuse me, sorry to bother you, but we need to set up here." I looked up to find myself engrossed in my book, sitting at the table on the Open Mic stage. How dreadfully embarrassing. I had "freshman" written all over my face. I was so busy feeling akward I didn't notice how akward everyone else looked. It's like the first day of class when you're so busy feeling stupid about studying your class schedule that you don't notice that's what every one else is doing too.

I spent the rest of the night in a haze of dark roast aromas, the drone of tuning guitars, the energy of caffeine-high-wracked-nerves, and attempted to read the same paragraph of my book over and over and over again.

Had we gotten in over our heads?

Suddenly Eric was on stage singing...and dancing?

"I can't believe that it's August, I can't believe we can fly. I can't believe I can't believe, and I have no good reason why. I feel like I am enlightened and I'm in over my head."

And the next thing I knew, from the corner of my eye I spotted these crazy hobos, who by the third verse were singing along...

"Whoo hoo, Whoo hoo. Yeah we're in over our heads. Whoo hoo, whoo hoo...
Yeah, we're in over our heads."

Muddy Cup Open Mic celebrates its one year anniversary...sometime around now.
The weekly event is more popular than ever, having just been voted 2nd best open mic in Albany, with an average of over 25 acts signing up each Monday.

Sometimes it feels good to be in over our heads.

Kudos to you Josh & Tom.

www.myspace.com/muddycupopenmicnight

www.muddycup.com/albany

Open the Book to Page France

noreply@blogger.com (Pete) — Tue, 31 Jul 2007 02:59:00 +0000

For at least the last eight months I have been hearing the band's name being thrown around or praised a number of times and I finally took some initiative and sought out some of their music. Although Page France have just released an album titled "... And the Human Telephone", their 2005 release "Hello, Dear Wind" is the one I chose to listen to. Or did it choose me? Either way, to my pleasant surprise, I was instantly keen on their melodies made for humming and lyrics which caught my ears with sonic fishing hooks. Each song floats along, sometimes sleepily, other times merrily, with the vocalist (and "brain child") Michael Nau's smooth and earnest lullabies (akin to Ben Gibbard) backed by an acoustic guitar and various added elements and instruments that can't help but work so well together. There's a somber yet joyful air to the music of Page France. This inability to settle feels appropriate for the over riding theme of religion and the main man upstairs J.C. "Jesus" even has a star role as the title of track two. Many allusions and blatantly biblical references are found throughout "Hello, Dear Wind", which with other artists can be sore to listen to, when you start to feel like your mother is in your headphones nagging you to go to church again, but Page France are not preaching. Without the reinforcement of being a firm believer I found solace in knowing Page France is asking the same questions we all do. My favorite line that puts it all in perspective is found on "Dogs" where Nau confesses "I'm not sure what happens when everything here ends, but I hope it's like they say, and I hope it never ends..." To be realistic, sometimes one must come to terms with and embrace the universality and absolute influence of the Bible which has been repeated, retold and transformed through various works in time. The imagery of the roaring lions, gushing streams, hearts of gold, swinging chariots, trumpets calling, and dancing animals playing in a band sounds more like a party than a sermon.

"Hello, Dear Wind" is warm and bright. There are tambourines and bells, hand claps and backing female vocals and songs that I feel I've heard times before, and wish I'd written myself. Fifteen tracks sounds intimidating at first, but Page France are nothing short of a pleasure to listen to, fall asleep to or sing along to, loudly. I find comfort in knowing that Michael Nau has brought all of his friends on this record to share them with us. Although I have read that tidbit of information somewhere else, those loud noises that only friends can make when spending time together is what makes this record great. The album's opening and closing songs together culminate with the repeating lines of "we will become a happy ending.." and I don't know what I feel when it's all said and done, but this one sure is a keeper.

http://www.pagefrance.net/main.html

http://www/myspace.com/pagefrance

Rock Plaza Central and More, Albany, July 19th, 2007

noreply@blogger.com (Eric) — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 02:20:00 +0000

Sitting in a bohemian victorian living room, building off of a joyous burst of imaginitive one ups, I became a music reporter amidst the quiet reflection that follows a good giggle.

I turned to Fiona, Scott and Blake, the violinist, bass player and percussionist of the band Rock Plaza Central and asked the question: "So what did you guys think when Chris first came to you and said, 'guys I've got this great idea, let's make an album about steel horses'?"

They all laughed.

It was 2:30am and in the other room were various members of Sgt. Dunbar & The Hobo Banned, Big Frank's Corey Hough, and My Friend Peter, blasting away a Langhorne Slim tune, hootin and hollerin through big banjo choruses. This was the big party we'd been planning since the hobos told us that RPC would be coming southeast to Albany for July 19th. Here we were in the Kirk House, christened that night "The Railroad", being joyful with Rock Plaza Central.

The question about steel horses was the first time we had talked about Rock Plaza Central all night. Conversation to this point had covered a swath of topics from the Quebecois and the history of their desire for independence, to Andrew Bird and his Bowl of Fire, the secret society of ghosts, Magritte, and sprial dynamics.

The question made the room laugh. After a series of jokes I can't remember and probably a long hilarious story by Blake I would doubtful do justice to, Fiona said, "But seriously it just kind of happened without us realizing it." She went on to say something about the songs being written on stage and the story unfolding before the eager band.

Scott jumped in with his response to my question, nodding his head in sarcasm, "Okay. I am an excellent steel horse.... Are you fucking kidding me?"

"I was the last person to come on board," Fiona admitted.

Scott went on describing the band's less than enthusiastic initial response, "But then I realized, 'that's brilliant! what a brilliant allegory!'"

Throughout the night Fiona complemented the shear musicianship of her fellow band mates and we got to witness it first hand as members of the band each played songs from their individual musical endeavors.

The Valentine's show was the mood setter. The anticipation upstairs was contagious. A good number of Albanians turned out for the Thursday night bill headlined by RPC, with local bands Sgt. Dunbar and the Hobo Banned, Margan and the Red Lions, and My Friend Peter opening.

My Friend Peter started things off, playing an endearing set of longing songs to an attentive crowd. His nervousness was friendly and witty and his delivery polished, at one point even singing the first lines of an Otis Redding song without the help of a starting pitch or a chord on the guitar.

Margan and the Red Lions debuted an exquisite set of original indie jazz pop songs. They played maybe five or six songs and sounded extremely tight for it being their first public performance of this set of songs. They had me thinking of Andrew Bird and Cake with Margan's vocal and piano leading the way.

Next Sgt. Dunbar and the Hobo Banned took the stage. They rambled and clammored and strummed, horned, sawed, and drummed through a set of rawlicking indie folk songs. Their melancholly optimism, their melancholly joy, left the upstairs of Valentine's pulsing in anticipation.

So when Rock Plaza Central took the stage and started plucking the opening notes of "I Am an Excellent Steel Horse" the crowd welcomed them with such vocal exuberence that lead singer Chris Eaton was visibly astonished.

The entire upstairs seemed to sing "I am an Excellent Steel Horse!" in unison. This followed the same for "My Children Be Joyful!" and "I Want to Be a Shining Example hull hull!" and the show started to feel less like a rock or folk show and more like gospels and churches full of hymning believers.

Their affirming, reasurring choruses are full of joy and positivity but not too far beneath, one cannot miss the melancholly of wounded faith. Their sing alongs sing like idealistic realistic outbursts overlooking a deep inner disbelief.

Rock Plaza Central's closer, the show's climactic anthemic finale, "We've Got Alot to Be Glad For!" found an a cappela chorus of chanting singers both onstage and off repeating the line over and over as the moment kept building on.

Cancel your plans for Thursday...

noreply@blogger.com (Jen) — Tue, 17 Jul 2007 17:37:00 +0000

Unless your plans for Thursday include moseying on over to Valentine's on New Scotland Ave. in Albany to catch the show of the summer.

You've seen the bill.

And if you haven't, it's right there---->

To get an overview of the performing artists, conveniently, all you need to do is surf this blog (amazing):

Sgt. Dunbar and the Hobo Banned was featured on May 15th in the blog, "First I Was Their Fan" which was closely followed by My Friend Peter on May16th: "First I Was Their Fan: Part Two." The Canadian headliners Rock Plaza Central are found on April 23rd "The World Was Hell to Us."

But that leaves out one act worth not being left out...Margan and the Red Lions.

I thought I'd best give these folks a listen and I was left feeling thoroughly satiated.

Margan and the Red Lions sounds like Andrew Bird dancing in the snow between gypsy cobwebs...but not old and creepy cobwebs...beautifully spiderly crafted cobwebs that leave you sitting and pondering just how long it took that little spider to weave that web of silk. Margan and the Red Lions site influences ranging from Sylvia Plath to Beethoven and sing about glass windowpanes in the morning and winter roses.

I was especially struck by the image of someone's hair having grown since when they last said goodbye...mine tends to do that.

But don't take my word for it. Not about my hair, but about the bands, although my hair will be present at Valentine's on Thursday as well.

And in the mean time break all the rules of concert etiquette. Get out your Sgt. Dunbar t-shirt. Listen to your Rock Plaza Central CD on repeat. And listen to it while parking your car on New Scotland Avenue just before the show. And especially, have your Rock Plaza Central CD playing at the after party that Rock Plaza Central is invited to. Study all participating bands' myspaces. Be a real geek. For a change.

www.myspace.com/rockplazacentral

www.myspace.com/thehobobanned

www.myspace.com/myfriendpeter

www.myspace.com/theredlions

Bark, Hide and Horn (and worms)

noreply@blogger.com (Tim) — Thu, 12 Jul 2007 03:59:00 +0000

All the men call me Ham, the first space chimpanzee

So according to Eric there were no worms in North America until an English ship dumped soil into Jamestown (happy 400th birthday New World) so that they could grow tobacco... or something to that effect. This greatly paraphrased, second hand piece of information comes from a National Geographic printed at some unkown time to me.

However, I do know that Bark, Hide and Horn, a folk rock band from Portland Oregon, found inspiration in National Geographic's from 1957-1967.

"Folk-rock" is a bit of a generalization that I stole from their myspace. What I hear in the songs is the unpredicability of early Modest Mouse, some well done electronic pop, some formulaic yet immortal country progressions, and melodic folk with a shimmering trumpet.

Chris Eaton of Rock Plaza Central worried that RPC's new album "Are We Not Horses?" might come off as a bit too cooky for people, being a concept album about robotic horses that think they are real horses. BHH's theme for "Treasure of the Everglades" comes off as even more cooky because the songs are written from the point of view of the different animals showcased in the magainze dealing with various bizzare circumstances. But don't let the silliness of the following playlist synopsis turn you away, the music is beautiful and original and another step toward the masterpiece of the first decade of the second millenium.

The BHH myspace playlist will include: a plea to Jane Goodall from the suicidal astro-chimp Ham, the prettiest song about snail sex you've ever heard, a spider madly in love with his latest catch of fresh fireflies, a freed honey ant slave who was doomed for sacrifice, and a grizzly out for revenge on the naturalists who took his lover away from him.

If ants and snails could make music like this; so bursting with desperation, fear, anger, vengence, and sorrow, more people might realize that we'll be sad when they're gone.

sorry, no mp3s, available, go here: http://www.myspace.com/barkhideandhorn (I'd suggest "The Treasure of the Everglades" as a first listen, it's a superb song)

now to play golf in the house

Hunting for Red Hunter

noreply@blogger.com (Jen) — Tue, 03 Jul 2007 17:02:00 +0000

I'd like to meet Red Hunter. I think he could teach me a lot about life. Mostly in a reassuring kind of a way. Red would sit down with me on a swingset that first we would build and say "you're alright girl." And then he would pick me a wildflower from the field and I would tuck it in my ear and I'd feel just that much better about life.

The Red Hunters of the world are hard to find, and when you do find them, you hold on to them tight, and don't let go, because it's hard these days to find the people who are doing what they love because they love it, and encouraging others to do the same....not only just encouraging them, but actually helping them to get there, nudging them along, giving them piggy back rides, and picking them wildflowers that smell of approval.

Red Hunter is an ordained Shaker Priest, and wants to get certified as a Unitarian minister too because "there's a lot of rad gay people out there and I want to marry them all."
Red Hunter is the brains behind the indie label Whiskey and Apples where he is committed to helping to promote outsider friends. And Red writes most of the songs for his band Peter and the Wolf.

Peter and the Wolf's new album Experiments in Junk is just out, and with it comes the tour of spooky places that Red so likes to play. I'm sure there's more than a few graveyards in there, and probably a few lake islands, accessable only by canoe. The first part of the tour will be traveled by sailboat.

Although the song "Windows" sounds like it was recorded on a cellphone, Red admits that "Jaywalkin" actually was, while crossing the street in Manhatten...apparently talking on your cellphone while crossing the street is illegal in Manhatten, but I guess playing the ukelele on your cellphone and crossing the street isn't. And if it is, Red don't care.

I feel the positivity oozing.

Whiskey and Apples:

http://www.whiskeyandapples.com/

Check out this great interview with Red:
http://austinist.com/2006/06/22/austinist_interview_red_hunter_of_peter_and_the_wolf.php
Whiskey and Apples blog:
http://www.whiskeyandapples.blogspot.com/

Noah and the Whale

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 03 Jul 2007 15:48:00 +0000

Here it is. My usual summer slump. Where everything I usually listen to begins to bore me but I'm not bored enough to bother trying downloading some client that will let me download more music. Of course, this means perusing myspace. Which is really the only thing that silly site is good for nowadays, unless you are fourteen and you want everyone to believe you are twenty six. Fourteen year olds aside, one day while I was still in my pajamas at four o'clock in the afternoon reading a bunch of useless articles and myspace cruising I stumbled upon this pleasant sounding folk band from London. I tried looking for more information on Noah and the Whale but I couldn't really find any. I am pretty sure they are one of those bands which has a consistently shifting number of members, but I could be wrong. They have that unproduced quality that immediately makes one think of a bunch of dudes sitting around making music and playing at the local venues. Basically, if I lived in London this is probably a band I would be going to see on a regular basis.

I'm not sure what immediately grabbed my attention. Perhaps it was just that good old accordion sound in the song Jocasta. Perhaps it was the violin part in the song Rocks and Daggers. Maybe it was the way the lyrics manage to be straightforward without being clumsy. I'm not quite certain. All I know is that I'm glad I decided to listen to Noah and the Whale.

http://www.myspace.com/hatracket

Albany gets Even(s)

noreply@blogger.com (Alex) — Fri, 29 Jun 2007 15:49:00 +0000

In a mostly unpublicized show which I briefly mentioned before, the Evens (Ian MacKaye and Amy Farina) played in the basement of the Howe Library in south Albany and the place was filled with all kinds of people. You could see 3 year olds and 60 year olds dancing to the same music. This was probably one of the best/most attended shows I've seen in Albany in ages. Ian and Amy put on a great show, despite not being the young punk rocker he might have once been Ian MacKaye is still a great front man with an anti-establishment swagger that had the entire room screaming at the top of their lungs, "The Police will not be excused, the Police will not behave". Ian's ramblings about how the people have the power even though the musicians have the instruments to the full room served to show me what a large population of music fans exists in Albany, sometimes it just takes a legend to get them all in the same place.

mp3:Cut From the Cloth [Buy]

Spring Time is Over, But it Can Still Kill You

noreply@blogger.com (Jen) — Wed, 27 Jun 2007 14:12:00 +0000

I haven't had the pleasure of listening to Jolie Holland's entire new album "Springtime Can Kill You," but every song I have heard sounds as though it could have been plunked anywhere onto her sophomore release "Escondita" and would fit marvelously.

"Escondita" came out in 2004 and still, I rarely put it back in its case. Instead I plop it upside-down on the CD player because I know it won't be long before I'll be reloading it to listen.

"Escondita" has been that way for me ever since I bought it. Yes, I bought it. I rarely by CDs anymore, instead hunt for their slightly more inexpensive vinyl counterparts. But I couldn't afford not to buy "Escondita".

Like "Escondita", "Springtime Can Kill You" is off of the Anti label, keeping good company with Elliott Smith, Tom Waits, The Frames; that Irish folk-rock band I was introduced to while living across the pond, and Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds; another band whose music I met in my travels. (Knowing the music of Nick Cave deserves an entire blog in and of itself. It was shown to me by my former boss in Bangkok, a New Zealand bloag who ate enough fruit cake and smoked enough cigarettes to give himself diabetes (that's his diagnosis, not mine). His wife had died ten years ago and still he sat at open mics, shoes off, legs crossed, crooning Nick Cave's music, intermixed with his own, through the gap in his one tooth. The songs cronicled death, loss, suicide, overdoses, and more death. He was quite the jolly chap. Apparently he was friends with the Bad Seeds. Somewhere along the way they had a falling out... this is where the story gets a bit fuzzy, I think in part due to the fact that I was intentionally left out of this classy conversation. So I'll leave this open for a possible future blog....ehem...Eric).

But I seriously digress.

Jolie Holland.

Jangly guitars, drunken trumpets, saloon pianos, lyrical elixers, rail-side drum brushes, and her voice, tainted with the sweet scent of cordials. It really sounds like she's been sitting around sipping cordials. I'd like to sip cordials with Jolie Holland. And I think you should too.

www.jolieholland.com

www.myspace.com/jolieholland

Try and find a world where there's no parents just daughters and sons

noreply@blogger.com (Tim) — Wed, 27 Jun 2007 04:05:00 +0000

...We offer the best of luck and our sincere hopes that you will conclude this record still if full possession of your life.

Anyone that I've talked to about music/songwriting knows that one day I hope to create a bona fide noise band album, akin to The Music Tapes 1st Imaginary Symphony for Nomad. To me it seems like such a challenge, but I'm guessing a lot of people might disagree with me. That's not music. And now for my overly dramatic response:

I admit that I don't put on a noise album as background music at a party, and honestly I don't really put a noise album on that much at all. It's tough to listen to, it's not something that you put on to kick back and have a beer to after work. It takes some effort, there's so many things to listen to in the recordings, it doesn't instantly give off a feeling or emtotion that is easily recognized by the listener, and worst of all you can't sing or dance to it.

As Julian Koster (Neutral Milk Hotel, Olivia Tremor Control, Chocolate USA), the majority shareholder of The Music Tapes, says, "Because The Music Tapes were more 'places' than recordings to me, they didn't have to follow the same rules and structures as the records I bought in stores. They could be as detailed as I wanted to make them. They could form stories, or landscapes of a world I imagined to be better than our own, for me and my friends to visit."

And that's what happens. Instead of listening to an album while sitting at my desk, I am listening to the din of a world that I am in, there's no music. Kickballs, vacuum cleaners, kazoos, and a perpetual lo-fi hiss become the neighbors upstairs, the helicopters landing on the roof of the hospital, and the drone of an oscillating fan.

Here are some mp3s that more closely resemble records that you buy in the stores than some of the other tracks on The First Imaginary Symphony for Nomad, the only officially released LP which was put out by Merge in 1999. Elephant 6 released two rare 7" Music Tapes records and Julian self-released a 7", The American Phoam Rubber Co. Symphony Orchestra Proudly Presents the 2nd Silly Putty Symphony for Edison Wax Cylander, but good luck trying to find any of them.

I have recently discovered that you can download the First Imaginary Symphony in it's entirity here.

mp3: The Music Tapes - Song for the Death of Parents

mp3: The Music Tapes - All Tomorrow's Parties (Velvet Underground cover)

mp3: The Music Tapes - A Warning! (1:32)

* the picture used is of Julian Koster and a 7 foot metronome, a staple member of the live Music Tapes

What kind of animal is a turtle anyway?

noreply@blogger.com (Alex) — Sat, 23 Jun 2007 03:34:00 +0000

Turtle Dove is the sometimes stage name of one Gabriel Quison, who sometimes plays by himself and sometimes plays with other people. He makes music just to make music, not so anyone will like it, which they do anyway. His myspace page is rather frequently updated with new different tunes. Like really different. For example currently at the page you can find a game boy style dance tune, an old school fuzzed out blues jam a really pretty lo-fi poppish tune and a beautiful little lo-fi folk peice called I don't know that word. Although the music is all over the place the feeling and the recording are rather consistent which makes it interesting to keep up on Turtle Dove's newest song cause you never know what the next one is gonna sound like but it will probably be worth listening to. Unfortunately you can't download any tracks or I would have one for you here but you can listen to them on his myspace:

http://www.myspace.com/cigarettetricks

Turtle Dove is coming to albany and will be playing a set for this months art opening at CDFI headquarters 383.5 Madison avenue.

Architecture In Helsinki Back With More Music?!?!

noreply@blogger.com (Eric) — Wed, 20 Jun 2007 20:20:00 +0000

Looks like an old underground favorite of mine is poised to release an album soon.

The Music Collective/Band Architecture in Helsinki, whom I first heard about through a friend in exchange for information about Os Mutantes, has a new song posted on their web page http://www.architectureinhelsinki.com/. The song, and its accompanying video, are apparently "out" now. Where they are out and what kind of out they're intending to be outting I'm not sure. But I decided to do a random drop by on their webpage and was freakin pumped to see this song and video sitting there.

Heart It Races is going to be a hit somewhere. It's a great melodramatic pop song full of great hooks and melodies and that ridiculously delicious doo wop bass line: "Bome... Bome... Bome... Bome bud dum bud dum," if it weren't so damn cool it might be annoying. I guess that's a great way of describing Architecture in Helsinki's acid indie techno pop. Almost annoying but mind poking cool.

Their last two albums were excellent. Full of ear worm songs that are easy to get addicted to.
Their sophmore album "In Case We Die" expanded on the sounds and ideas of their debut "Fingers Crossed" and Heart It Races appears to be another step forward in their upward progression toward quirk pop sophistication. The best news is that their new album "Places Like This" should be available soon.

Give this song a listen and if you like it go for the entire catelogue, it's fun.

Some AIH Music: http://www.myspace.com/aihmusic