Kemp Ridley (CD Release Show)

The Tarlatans

The new album from Kemp Ridley is aptly titled Learn Again. It is an album that took a long time to make, and an album that saw changes in each members life in the process.

The talk around town four years ago was that Cayla Fralick needed a band. A talented singer songwriter with a pitch perfect voice, all she needed was a supporting cast. Fralick dropped off the map for a couple of months and the next thing you know Kemp Ridley was formed. It wasn’t exactly easy early on though. The band was mostly rewriting Fralick’s solo material and had yet to perfect the dynamic of writing as a band. Something a lot of bands never learn to do. The shows early on were rough, and spotted with as many little mess ups as there were high moments. The growing pains exacerbated by the fact that Kemp Ridley was made up of five full time college students. The one thing that was always obvious was their potential to stand out. They are charming heady musicians. The reason they won St. Patrick’s Day Battle of the bands, and played high-profile shows opening for Hootie and The Blowfish in Charleston and at the main stage of Fall for Greenville. All they needed was an album. An album that represented who they really are.

September 2011 is when it started to happen. A successful Kickstarter campaign and a still anonymous donor opened the door for their first album, Learn Again. An album waiting to be made. Waiting for Kemp Ridley to find comfort in being a band. The actual recording process was slow. Working with Eric McCoy at Archer Avenue Studios was a huge advantage, but being seniors in college, applying for jobs, and playing shows while recording was a challenge. A challenge that they overcame to make this album that is so representative of them. Learn Again is filled with its ups and downs. Animated songs like “Honey, Honey” sit beside more deliberate songs like “Small and Quiet”. It’s a natural balance that they didn’t try to fight. The five members of Kemp Ridley personality wise, are characters. They are funny, sometimes goofy, and wear their sense of humor on their sleeves. Whether it is through their Kickstarter videos, promo shots, or nailing a Rage Against The Machine cover, they don’t shy away from a laugh. But that’s not all they are and they make that obvious too. With members getting married, starting full-time jobs, starting higher education, or working on a SceneSC IPA Brew, Learn Again could be Kemp Ridley’s Swan Song. Or it could just be the beginning.

Chaz threw together a few tracks (including a new Toro Y Moi tune, “Hood Dreams”, and a new Les Sins track, “Fetch”) for an episode of electronic tastemaker Andrew Meza’s BTS Radio podcast.

Hit up the comments with your thoughts on the mix and/or Toro and/or Chaz and/or why you [should/shouldn't] listen to curated playlists.

TUNEAGE:

Bullion – Family
Mo Kolours – Mini Cultcha (Beautiful Swimmers Remix)
Kareem Moser – OS2009
Wolf Muller – Lagerfeuer Tanz
Stephen Farris – Feel 4
Julio Bashmore – Battle For Middle You
Matthias Reiling – Bubble To Bubble
Les Sins – Fetch
Mosca – The Way We Were
Todd Rundgren – Sometimes I Don’t Know What To Feel
Blank & Kytt – Cassette Thing
Toro y Moi – Hood Dreams
C.Z. – Throw Some 1′z
Danny Brown – Drinks On Me
Rick Ross (feat. Stalley & 2 Chainz) – Party Heart
Azizi Gibson – Boushie Champagne

Download

(via Cory Free to David Ballou)

5 Points Pub of Columbia will play host to two three-piece tour-de-forces tomorrow night. Civil Twilight is making a stop in the capitol with special guest, South Carolina’s own Heyrocco.

Rock 93.5 Presents Civil Twilight w/ Heyrocco at 5 Points Pub.

Doors at 8 PM

Tickets $9.35

Limited student tickets available for $5

Heyrocco is popular amongst the Charleston music scene and, although very young, they’ve more than proven that they can keep up with their fellow Charlestonian musicians. They’re playing a few shows around the South over the next couple of months, presumably in support of their recently released album Comfort, a record with a lo-fi sound that leaves quite the impression. Lead singer Nathan’s voice is strangely awesome in that it’s vibrato-driven, unique, and ridiculously compelling. The harmonies that support his voice in many of their songs work well with it and add an air of maturity beyond their years to the tracks.

Civil Twilight is also a power trio from the South, but not the sweet tea-drinkin’, gun-toatin’ South that immediately popped into your head. They hail from Cape Town, South Africa and are touring the east coast in support of their new album Holy Weather. Civil Twilight’s music has been featured in popular television shows One Tree Hill, House, and The Vampire Diaries as well as blockbusters I Am Number Four and Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles. The talented triad has also opened for Evanescence and Three Days Grace, two big names in the alt-rock world of the early 2000′s. Their new album is amazing, and I’m very much so looking forward to seeing them and Heyrocco dominate the stage at 5 Points Pub.

Check out the above video of Civil Twilight performing “Letters From The Sky.” Listen to and revel in those accents, guys.

Check out the festival’s schedule right here

About a week ago, the Manchester, TN-based festival announced its schedule for the crazy weekend about to happen. Until I looked at the schedule I did not realize how many good bands are playing at Bonnaroo this year, but man, there are a lot. There are also a whole lot of bands playing at the exact same time which is frustrating. But Jake Causey and I will both be there to supply fantastic reviews of all the bands we see and I am sure we will see a lot of them.

I got to listen in on a fantastic press conference featuring Jack Antonoff from fun. and Leslie Feist regarding Bonnaroo and they had some great things to say about Bonnaroo and festivals in general. One of my favorite parts of the interview was when Jack said “I think everything about Bonnaroo is strange”. I’ve never heard a truer statement. Bonnaroo is the strangest, most magical thing that happened to me last year. Last year I volunteered at the festival so I was on that farm for a whole week. I’m pretty sure I did not even truly exist after being there for that long. I am very excited to see what being there for just the weekend is like. I’m sure I will have a lot more energy to check out as many bands as possible.

Jack Antonoff is both the lead guitarist for fun. and the singer and lead guitarist for the band Steel Train. During the conference he mentioned a number of times how his 2005 performance was “probably [his] favorite experience of all time”, and he’s been playing music for a long time, so that’s a pretty big deal. He mentioned that he has an unparalleled excitement for this year’s festival and that fun. are going to stray from what they usually do at their shows. He wants to have “the best show of the year” with surprises for everyone watching.

Feist also mentioned how excited she was for the show due to music festivals’ unpredictability. She mentioned how sometimes – since the band do not get soundchecks – the sound completely does not work at festivals and it keeps the band on their toes throughout their set. I for one am very excited to see Feist. I saw her back in 2008 and it was a magical experience. Her voice is something else.

Bonnaroo 2012 is almost sold out so if you were postponing buying tickets, I would do it right now! I am already packing and preparing for the festival. I’ve got about 6 liters of sun screen, a tanktop, and some gym shorts. I think I’m good. Personally I am looking forward to see Radiohead, Michael Kiwanuka, Ben Howard, Alabama Shakes, and obviously fun. and Feist. Last year’s festival was one of the most memorable experiences of my life and I am hoping that this year will be even better.

You can buy tickets, check out the lineup, and find all the information you need on Bonnaroo’s official website.

It was a glorious Wednesday night at 5 Points Pub. Cara Salimando started the evening out with a quiet bang with her performance. Her set was simple, and that’s exactly the way it should have been. Her voice is airy and beautiful; all it needs is a piano or a ukulele to back it up and I feel like anything more would have lessened the specialness of it, at least in this particular venue. Some standout songs are “Dust,” “Commonwealth,” “Dream,” and my personal favorite, “The Way We Are.” I feel like she was letting us read her diary, it all felt very personal and intimate. Cara’s one of those rare birds that lays it all on the keys, does is well and doesn’t sound like a whiny damsel with a broken heart. Not only is she a fantastic musician, she did a great job of communicating with the audience and making us feel like we were all best buds. She played amazingly as it was, but knowing that she had a split finger being held together by super glue and was performing on next to no sleep made us all appreciate her just a bit more. “Commonwealth” was the last tune in her set, a quiet number that left a big impression. It was obvious that the song moved many of us, and I was kind of sad to see her leave the stage, but I’m sure there will be many more opportunities to see her play in the future.

William’s set up was simple and very homey: two beautiful guitars, a couple of tables, and a lamp. A lamp. I felt like I was getting ready to watch a show in my own living room rather than at a venue. I’m not going to lie, when he first hopped on stage and began playing the beginning chord to “Pour Yourself A Drink,” my first thought other than “Ooo, the hair” was “Wow, he’s not as tall as I thought he’d be.” Anyway, he continued playing the same chord, saying he wouldn’t stop unless we all moved closer to the stage, so of course we did. That’s the great thing about knowing how to play an instrument well—it gives you power. After the opening song he went on to play an unreleased song that “actually already is kind of released thanks to the Internet,” called “You And I Against The World,” a romantic ballad that literally had my heart melting and pooling on the floor around my feet. After taking a huge dose of “Grandpa’s cough medicine,” he played a cover of John Lennon’s “Working Class Hero,” as well as the very pop/alt tunes from his most recent release Walk The Talk— “Compromising Me,” “Girl You Shoulda Been a Drummer,” “You Never Give Up,” and “Oh, Love!” the last of which I especially enjoyed. William’s solo music is a force in and of itself; there are so many different aspects to it that work together to deliver the best possible sound to our eager ears.

Then came the old The Academy Is… favorites like “Classifieds” and “Down and Out.” Even though he didn’t mention the band by name, it was nevertheless amazing to hear him play these songs; there are many bands that have broken up and feel that it’s some sort of taboo to perform those songs on their own. The fact that William chose to perform these songs kind of gave us some weird unofficial confirmation that the band came to an end on peaceful terms.

I’m not sure what exactly I was expecting to come next but it most certainly wasn’t Rick Astley’s “Never Gonna Give You Up” booming on the monitors while William tuned his guitar and adjusted his harmonica holder. Yes, we were all Rick Roll’d by William Beckett, but I honestly didn’t mind. In the words of the man doing the rolling, “Seriously, how could you be mad about being Rick Roll’d?” After the silliness ended he brought Cara back to the stage to back him up on Ryan Adams’ “Come Pick Me Up.” This cover made me mentally sigh and say “Ah,” it was the perfect song for them to sing together. I thought the show had peaked with this song, but oh no, it did not. As soon as William said, “I was surprised that someone asked me to play this song…. It’s called ‘After The Last Midtown Show,’” I had to hold my breath. Suffice to say that song is very special to me…I wasn’t expecting him to play it at all since he hadn’t at any of his recent shows. It was a very emotional five minutes, to say the least. He closed the set with “Great Nights,” a very fitting song off of his upcoming EP about going out with a friend and seeing an entirely different side to them that you didn’t necessarily want to see. Before playing the song he explained the logic behind staggering the releases of his EPs in such a way that we didn’t have to wait months upon months for a full length record when we could just get four songs every three months, “leaving a trail of bread crumbs” to a full album’s worth of songs.

I thought I had an idea of how great William’s voice is, but until I heard him live, as in the sound waves going directly from his mouth to my ear, I didn’t truly appreciate how amazing his voice actually is. He has so much talent, energy, and dare I say swagger, it’s impossible not to be entranced with his performance. He connected with his audience in such a way that isn’t possible in larger venues. He embraced the intimacy of the venue rather than shying away from it whereas many other musicians might have been intimidating by how personal the space felt. William sang incredibly and made us all feel as if we were a part of something special. If you have an opportunity to see him on the last few dates of this tour or even on his stretch of shows in July with Relient K and Hellogoodbye, definitely take it.

Check out William Beckett’s Facebook for more tour details.

Win Free Tickets

While the event Saturday is free, the kickoff Friday night featuring Midtown Dickens is a special ticketed event. Tickets are available at their website. We will also be giving 5 tickets away. All you have to do is share the event on Facebook and tag the SceneSC Facebook page. We’ll keep track of you and pick the winners early next week.

The Columbia Museum of Arts Craft Bar Happy Hour, where you can show your crafty creative side, is growing into the inaugural Craft Bar Happy Weekend. The first weekend of June, The Columbia Museum of Art will turn into an all day craft market bringing together artists from across the Southeast to show off their handmade goods.

To kickoff the event in style, Craft Bar Happy Weekend will have a special preview night Friday June 1, from 6-9 where audience members get first dibs on crafts in the handmade market. There will also be a special performance from Durham indie-folk band Midtown Dickens.

Midtown Dickens new album Home has them doing anything but staying at home. The band has a national tour lined up playing select dates with high profile bands including Neko Case, Blitzen Trapper, Bowerbirds, and South Carolina’s own Shovels & Rope.

The new album plucks its way through banjo and guitar lines, reminiscing on childhood and visions of the North Carolina countryside. There is a realness in the lyrics and the vocals that make Midtown Dickens both endearing and believable. On Home Kym Register and Catherine Edgerton  effortlessly jump from singing minor songs like “Apple Tree” to the more quirky “Crocodile Mile”, a reminiscent song about the great slip and slide, and “Volcanoes (Covered in Snow).” Midtown Dickens has a knack for making simple beautiful.

Modern Man in Clemson, February 2012

Last night, Greenville shoegaze(y) act Modern Man kicked off a mini-tour across the Palmetto State at the Radio Room. This weekend they’ll be playing in Columbia, Myrtle Beach, and Charleston. Dates & details are posted below.

The band self-released its second LP, Eyes No, earlier this year. It’s available in various disc formats at shows (along with sweet tees) and as a Name Your Price (NYP) download via bandcamp.

Their set last night didn’t get started until about 1:00 am, but the band was on point throughout. The crowd was a decent size for a Wednesday, but in my opinion Modern Man is worthy of a bigger audience.

For those in the capital city tonight, it’ll be a tough decision between a great lineup at New Brookland and MM at Conundrum. It’s always good to have options, though.

Wednesday, May 23 @ Radio Room – Greenville, SC w/ Last Remaining Pinnacle, Knives and Daggers
Thursday, May 24 @ Conundrum – Columbia, SC w/ Last Remaining Pinnacle
Friday, May 25 @ Soundhole – Myrtle Beach, SC w/ Last Remaining Pinnacle, M is We, Cement Stars
Saturday, May 26 @ Tin Roof – Charleston, SC w/ Last Remaining Pinnacle, bully pulpit

I don’t have a list of my top five favorite bands with South Carolina connections. If I did, though, Washed Out would probably be one of them. It blows me away how much notoriety Ernest Greene’s bedroom recording project has garnered him in the last three years or so. ”He’s so hot! I love him!” my friend Remy told me. Unprecedented attention for a former USC library employee.

Washed Out, (c) Andrew Harris

Ernest Greene bathed in the angelic haze of the spotlight as he delivered the gospel of chillwave to a packed house. He spent most of the night off to the side, while his wife took center stage, playing keys. (At least she looked like his wife. I think her name is Blair. Blair, the mystery girl on the cover of Life of Leisure.) The bassist and drummer were back in the shadows, nearly invisible.

Washed Out crowd at the Music Farm, (c) Andrew Harris

On the LP Within and Without, the sounds of Washed Out remind me of the warm sunlight that finds its way through a tree’s leaves, into the coolness of the shade. Greene’s vocals swirl around and seem to evaporate away. But there is melancholy in the music, too. The band’s appearance on stage made that impression well.

With his hair disheveled and shaggy, and the way he had his dark shirt buttoned up to the collar, Greene looked reminiscent of Robert Smith of The Cure. His wife’s hair was up, and she wore a white collared shirt underneath a black vest. A gender neutral outfit, like she worked at a restaurant too expensive to put prices on the menu. Conscious or not, I saw these wardrobe decisions as a subtle nod to New Wave, a movement that  has inspired a lot of chillwave music.

At the Music Farm last Thursday, Washed Out led off with a couple of songs from older material; stuff I hadn’t listened to very closely. But “Amor Fati,” the third song in the set, I recognized (as did everyone else). Greene and co. played a few more tunes from Within and Without and a few more things that were unfamiliar to me.

Initially, I intended to copy down every song in the set. It didn’t take long to give that up in favor of letting myself enjoy Ernest Greene’s voice pulsing through massive speakers. But in the middle of the crowd, not many low frequencies made it to me.  Ernest and Blair seemed over-emphasized in the mix. A prejudice similar to their prominence under the stage lights.

Washed Out, (c) Andrew Harris

From where I stood, I could see how the humid Charleston air had put curls in Blair’s hair. But I couldn’t see sweat on Ernest Greene’s face, or get a good look at his expressions when he would sing with his eyes closed. I couldn’t get close enough to capture any of that on film.

Washed Out would really be better in a smaller setting, where the melodies would be softer and the rhythms less muddy. Given the size of the venue, though, there was chemistry among the band that made the experience seem a lot more intimate than it was. I felt it most when Ernest joined Blair during the middle of the set, and the presumed man and wife stood back to back at center stage, playing privately written songs to a crowd of strangers.

It wasn’t just the the band’s wardrobe that reflected the heavy influence that New Wave has had on Greene and the genre he helped create. It seems like Washed Out is drifting away from the “bro, let’s chill” vibe of chillwave toward a sound that suggests a chill in the air and calls for blue lights and dark clothes.

They played two songs for an encore; which two, I don’t really know. The song used in the Portlandia intro might have been one of them. By that point I had had a couple of beers and I was busy trying to work my way to the front for photos. (Side note: if anyone knows a photography major who was at the show, thank her for snapping a few frames for me. I couldn’t catch her name. I think it started with a J.)

I didn’t walk into the Music Farm until shortly after 10:00 pm, but it was 10:30 before the opening act, Airbird, started serving trancy dance/electronica to the hungry masses. A solo project of Joel Ford (Ford and Lopatin), the group’s live lineup consisted of Ford handling bass/laptop duties and a heady Kenny Powers look-alike on the drums.

Airbird, (c) Andrew Harris

Tight drum beats underneath frenetic electronic drones made Airbird a complementary appetizer for Washed Out. At one point, I couldn’t tell if a looping sample was calling out for “freedom” or “Freebird.” I didn’t really mind, though. It sounded good.

Airbird is touring with Washed Out this month in support of their upcoming EP, Trust, set for release on May 29 on Mexican Summer. (Nerd Alert: Before Washed Out was with Sub Pop, the Life of Leisure EP was released on the same label.)

Between sets everyone took a break to visit each other or the bathroom or the bar or the patio for a smoke. I realized that I’d never been to a show full of so many people dressed so f@#$%ing fresh. Everyone there was someone who has good taste. But the ones on stage, they were the ones who know how to make what tastes good.

The Sea Wolf Mutiny
Today the Moon, Tomorrow the Sun
Octopus Jones
Forest Tourist

Price: $5 Over 21 / $8 Under 21
Genre: Indie / Rock / Alternative

Coming up on the one year anniversary of the release of their first album The Last Season, The Sea Wolf Mutiny are still tweaking their live set and growing as a band. Over the last couple of months they’ve added another guitarist in Phil Windsor (Ghosts of the Great Highway) and a new drummer in Michael Crawford (Calculator, Nick Bays.) For a band with songs as dynamic as theirs, these additions have taken their live show to a new level.

For someone like me that goes to a lot of in town shows, one thing that’s always fun to do is going to see a band outside of their element in another town. Recently I had the opportunity to see The Sea Wolf Mutiny play in Rock Hill, for a large crowd of people who didn’t know them. A band from Columbia, with skeletons on their shoes and an odd-looking piano, the crowd didn’t know what to expect. They opened with “Fear and Trembling” in a dark retired courtroom. A song that sounds like the theme song for the Ghost of Christmas Past opened the crowds ears and caught their attention like the snap of fingers. From here on lead singer and pianist Bobby Hatfield had the crowd in control. He runs out, he becomes one clapping with them and makes them feel his excitement.  A year ago The Sea Wolf Mutiny wasn’t there yet with their live show. Now they have something special on their hands.

Today The Moon, Tomorrow The Sun Clemson Spring Fest

Atlanta-based Today The Moon, Tomorrow The Sun open with their synth heavy hook driven rock n roll. Their latest album Wildfire stays on the dark side of pop, with the intense electronic parts translating to a heavy live show.

Octopus Jones and Forest Tourist open. These bands are the light.