Fotofig’s Neighborhood

Athlete: Four piece out of London, England. You’re probably familiar with their 2005 single Wires, which saw them being becoming household names in the UK and even saw them make it to Australia. Unsurprisingly, this wasn’t their first release (Vehicles and Animals was their first full-length album) and hasn’t been their last.

Following the release of Tourist (the album that contained Wires) was the release of the 2007 album Beyond the Neighbourhood. I must admit, this release didn’t make a big impact in Australia and as it seems, didn’t make it into the collection of many, claimed to be considered “a disappointment” by some.

Much like Coldplay, Athlete has been critically acclaimed for their songwriting efforts picking up a Mercury Music Prize nomination and winning an Ivor Novello award for Wires. The band has additional similarities to Coldplay, in that their music it quite mellow and mature; appealing to a slightly older audience than your general indie-pop/rock. If you hate Coldplay though, never fear their music is not quite in that same realm of “ya mum probably likes it”. That is, I don’t think mums would dig Athlete. They still retain that slight edge which will appeal to the kids, but maybe not the ones that think dressing like they stepped out of the 80’s is cool.

To celebrate the upcoming February 2010 US release of the bands fourth full-length album Black Swan (the album was released in the UK in August), the band have recently released an EP entitled, The Getaway.

Black Swan, is not, as you may have thought, a tribute to the state emblem of Western Australia, but apparently, encompasses the events and emotions that the boys from Athlete have gone through. Based around the tale that saw the Black Swan being seen as a mythical animal for hundreds of years, until someone went to Western Australia (obviously) and the metaphor that life is made of up significant events, some of which can be shocking, both good and bad.

Don’t worry, it’s not all sadness and gloom. The first single from Black Swan, Superhuman Touch (which is also on the EP), is quite upbeat and lyrically uplifting. Whereas the EP title track, The Getaway, is less uplifting, but just as heartwarming and emotive lyrically.

To mark the EP's release, Athlete is offering a free download, which is a deal well worth jumping on. So, to get your grubby hands on this freebie you just need to pop along and join the mailing list at http://www.originalsignalrecordings.com/Athlete/us/

You can also download the EP from iTunes at http://bit.ly/10Dcg3

http://www.athlete.mu/

Sally

sally@weheartmusic.com

JUST LIKE CHRISTMAS
We've been receiving a ton of Christmas/Holiday recordings lately. It's really hard to pick and choose what I'll be writing about in the upcoming week. I might as well get on top of some of these recording. Today we have Kill It Kid (killitkid.com / myspace.com) If they sound familiar to you, that's because we've previously mentioned them before.

Their song, "Just Like Christmas" is a cover of Minnesota's own Low. Since we're from Minnesota, this is worth checking out. You can download your own copy in a variety of formats (including flac) over at www.killitkidchristmas.com.

Low's ‘Just Like Christmas’ is a great tune, with an understated lyric and tender sentiment that we felt - with all our festive strength - we could break into a duet and still compliment the narrative. So we put it in front of the fire, filled it with cinnamon, brandy, and cranberry sauce and put some spurs on it!

-- singer Chris Turpin

The band is finishing up their 2009 tour:

12 Dec Play It By Ear @ The Monarch London
15 Dec The Glee Club* Cardiff
16 Dec The Duchess* York
17 Dec Jericho Tavern* Oxford

* with Foy Vance

Speaking killing...

MYSPACE MUST DIE!!
As you know, it's the nature of the business, but I have to use myspace because of its deep roots in music. Anyway, by choice, I am using Firefox 2.0. I tried 3.5, I don't like the way it handles scripts ... and there are some themes and extensions that does not work in the latest version, so yes, I'm still clinging on 2.0.

About a few weeks ago, myspace made this boneheaded decision that it wouldn't let you in if you're using old browsers. It's okay, it's not like I actively use myspace, but as the weeks went on, I realized I had to stop ignoring this problem.

So here is the solution for those of you suffering from the same problem (such as all Mac firefox users, apparently): get User Agent Switcher 0.7.2.

This little extension tells myspace, "I'm Internet Explorer 8, let me in!!". If you want to fool it into thinking you're running Firefox 3.0, add the following in "new":

Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; ; rv:1.9.0.14) Gecko/2009082707 Firefox/3.0.14

That should do the trick.

PS, User Agent Switch is also useful when you stumble upon a "members only" forum. You simply change your agent to "Googlebot 2.1".

Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin at The Bell House, Brooklyn (12/7/09)

In terms of favorite bands with excessively long names, Someone Still Loves You Boris Yelstin is right up there with The Pains of Being Pure at Heart and Suburban Kids with Biblical Names. (Fun Fact: There’s a band called Meanwhile Back in Communist Russia that won BBC Radio’s title for worst band name ever. When you think about it, the Soviet Union is a rich source for potentially awful band names, IE: Lenin’s Mausoleum, Khrushchev’s Thaw, The Gulag, etc. etc. etc.)

Anyway.

SSLYBY at The Bell House, Brooklyn (12/7/09) ♥ photo by Dave

SSLYBY provided a refreshing lack of plaid and/or flannel to the Bell House on Monday night. It was nice to see a band so sincere and enthusiastic, whose only incidental brush with pretense stemmed from the fact that their bassist/drummer bore an uncanny resemblance to Michael Cera. They seemed so affable that one wayward audience member felt compelled to describe them as “the Jimmy Buffet of the indie world.”

They opened with “Pangea,” the jangly first track from their debut album, Broom. However, the jangle did not seem as prevalent live as it does on the album. To borrow a word from Chuck Klosterman’s phrasebook, the songs sounded considerably more “trenchant” compared to their recorded counterparts. This wasn’t necessarily a bad thing, as it gave pop-centric tracks like “Oregon Girl” and “Gwyneth” a slight edge. It also allowed them to turn the bittersweet confection that is “Dead Right” into a slow-burning, thumping number.

Singing duties switched between guitarists, John Cardwell and Philip Dickey, and they invited friends on stage to sing and play the occasional tambourine. The audience was peppered with their fellow musicians/friends, such as Jason Anderson and Paul DeGeorge from Harry & the Potters. With such support, it was only natural that an impromptu audience rendition of Aladdin’s “A Whole New World” should happen. (It did. It was short-lived but sweet.)

They ended the show with “Modern Mystery” before returning for a much-welcomed encore. Say what you will about their clunky name or the curse of USSR-related monikers, but overall, it was a perfectly lovely show. Besides, how many Putin-inspired bands have you heard of lately?

Photos by Dave:

I want to say that gangster rap is out of fashion, but there's still the troubling hip hop songs that addresses women as ho's and bragging rights of doing criminal things. That's why the following artists is spreading their message of love, peace, and understanding.

STATE OF EMERGENCY
billcosby.com

Most people will know Bill Cosby from The Cosby Show or Fat Albert, but did you know that early in his entertainment career, that he released a music album called Silver Throat: Bill Cosby Sings? He also plays drums and bass... so it shouldn't surprise anyone to know that he's the person behind State of Emergency.

Before we continue, let me be clear in one thing: Bill Cosby does not sing on this album. Most of the singing is done by Jace the Great, with some help from Cedric Miller and Brother Haz. It's not clear on the music writing credits, most of the songs are credited to W.H. Cosby Jr (Bill Cosby), William Patterson, Cedric Miller, Jamal Gary (Jace?) and Hassan McMillan (Brother Haz?).

My favorite song off the album is "Dads Behind the Glass", with its refrain "I wish my daddy was home/tired of sitting here all alone/Mommy's not here she's working two jobs". The song also features samples from Bill Cosby and Friends' performing "Ursalina".

Some of the song's message, I can see Cosby writing. Like the constant "Why?" question, or "In a Perfect World", or "Runnin'". But songs like "Where Did I Go Wrong?", about being a Blood gangster, with being the son of a Muslim, I can't see Cosby writing this... but I can feel it's Brother Haz's contribution to this song.

Even if Cosby have little to do with this album, he's involving and lending his name to the project - and for most people, that's good enough. He believes in the project enough to do talk about it and promote it, and I think that's awesome. Though, I would've pegged him as a Jazz guy, considering his love for jazz music, but it's refreshing to see him working in the hip-hop music industry.

State of Emergency is available now at BillCosby.com. There's a variety of packages, but I recommend getting the CD and book (New York times bestseller Come On People: On the Path from Victims to Victors by Bill Cosby and Alvin F. Poussaint) combo.

THE GOSPEL OF HIP HOP
powerhousebooks.com

Having spent all of my holiday reading on and off KRS-One's The Gospel of Hip Hop, I came to the conclusion that, like the Holy Bible, understanding of its message does not come overnight... but through years of practice and study.

If you love hip hop and embrace all of its kulture and lifestyle, then I say this is a wonderful book for your library shelf. This 800+ page hardcover, gold embossed cover, words of wisdom, is well worth its price of $24.95. I have bought more expensive books for less content and value, so take it from me, this is a good deal. Plus, I noticed that your order of The Gospel of Hip Hop via Powerhouse Books will come autographed by KRS-One.

So, this book does not necessary require you to read front-to-back, but you can't just skip around either - considering that it makes sense to read "The First Understanding" vs "The Eighteenth Understanding". What KRS One, who, in the book, refers to himself as the teacha, tries and break down some of the components that makes hip hop - in particular: graffiti art, DJ, emcees, b-boy, and free styles.

The book isn't necessary all about the hip hop culture, but also faith, religion, and, most of all, love. Love to stop the violence, and love to help others in need. I'll give you evidence, this past Thanksgiving, KRS-One practiced his teaching by serving meals to thousands of New York's homeless at the Bowery Mission:

I am participating in The Bowery Mission's Thanksgiving food drive and event because I myself was once homeless, walking these very streets, and spending time with these wonderful people at The Bowery Mission. I depended on them to survive. I am showing up for Thanksgiving this year to not only lend a hand, but hope that I am may inspire others in the Hip Hop community to consider their role towards helping the homeless, and join me by helping those in your community that need help during this holiday season.

I chose the Bowery Mission because it epitomizes the spirit of true human resources, love, care and compassion. I have stayed at many shelters were you are called "the client" and the administration made you feel like a prisoner in a system. At the Bowery Mission you feel at home. Homelessness is a pandemic, and most people do not realize the severity of the situation. You may be homeless one day yourself. I urge the Hip Hop nation to live up to the true nature of our culture and give.

- KRS-One

My favorite chapter from The Gospel of Hip Hop is the Fourth Understanding: The H-LAW. What the H-LAW is an acronym for Health, Love, Awareness and Wealth. For anyone, a healthy body & mind also translate to peace and positive attitude. There's an interesting bit in the section that describes that not all food is life-giving, that everything edible is not food. What follows Health, Love and Wealth, seems pretty obvious. Love is not lust, while Wealth doesn't always mean riches in the monetary sense. The Awareness part, that seems more like Knowledge. KRS-One gives you an example of a normal person and an electrician, who looks at a room with very different perspective. For instance, the electrician, with his knowledge of wiring knows a little more than the average person.

Again, let me be clear: the understanding of all of The Gospel of Hip Hop's teaching and written words does not come overnight. In some ways, this book will require multiple reading. Below, I leave you with a small teaching from the book, which you can apply in any situation:

Disobedience, stubbornness, suspicion, criticism, fear, doubt and/or arrogance toward your teacher only hinder YOUR learning. We must not unnecessarily criticize each other; we must question and always acknowledge our collective development as a young nation.

THE PEACE
hipfolkinc.com ♥ myspace.com

The impossible to search for The Peace, a band out of Vermont, plays what they bill themselves as "hip hop folk" - a combination of their inspiration of music from Dave Matthews and KRS One. At least that's what they describe themselves, personally, in my opinion, I don't believe The Peace to be hip hop (or even folk). They seem like a jam band, their influence is closer to funk and improvisation progressive rock.

The most hip-hop/rappish song on the album is "Heaven", but based on Bobby Kendes' singing style (which actually sounds so much like Dave Matthews), it's not really a hardcore rap song. I did enjoy hearing Kurt Cobain's name drop in that song. And speaking of name-dropping, there's a ton of that on "Rookie And The Vets".

As their name suggest, this album is about zen, harmony, and peace. Songs like "This Is Life" and "Goin To Yoga" are great theme for the album - but some song like, "Racing The Devil", seems conflicting. The thing I remember about the Devil song is that the f-word is censored.

My favorite song on the album is "Seven", I think mostly because I enjoyed the Spanish and can pick out "siete", "por favor" and "callate". Not sure about the last word, I could've sworn he said 'shut up' in the song.

If you live in New York, The Peace is spending some time there. I know they played a few dates prior to this writing. Their next show is at Arlene's Grocery (which is famously not a grocery store) on December 13^th. The Peace's self-titled debut can be bought via hipfolkinc.com. If you don't mind a milder Spin Doctors, you'll enjoy this. If you were looking to Notorious BIG-type, I would avoid.

Below are late entries from The Turf Club! The first entry is written and from Brody (original entry here). Miles sounds like such a friendly guy, he even dropped over Brody's house to play something (see video).

Miles Benjamin Turf Club, St Paul (11/13/09) photo by Brody

Miles Benjamin at the Turf Club, St Paul (11/13/09)

Mark Mallman at Turf Club, St Paul (11/7/09)
As you can see, a special guest star showed up at the end of the set to end it on a bang. Since I didn't attend the event, I can tell you that it looked like a lot of wild energy and fun... I've seen the dude before, he's wonderfully mesmerizing to watch. If I had half his energy, I would explode.

Opening up Mallman were The Magic Castles (myspace) and The Alpha Centauri (official/myspace).

All photos below are from Erik Hess.

This is the latest series in my EPs reviews. I like doing these because I don't think they take that long to listen to these four or five songs. You get the gist of the band, but unfortunately, it's probably not as detailed and explored as reviewing albums.

Also, I am back on reviewing music as I have stopped going out to see live bands. I am still not accepting new music as I still have to clear out what I've already been sent/requested. Apologies to any promises that I may have made.

SARAH ELIZABETH FOSTER
sarahelizabethfoster.com ♥ myspace

Sarah Elizabeth Foster's EP, Gardening From the Ground Up Part 1 from Studio Sarah Records, is the first submission I've received for a 2010 release. Generally around this time, I get a ton of Christmas music offers (which, hey, I will be doing a roundup next week!).

Foster actually has a degree in music, singing French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, and, of course English. While this EP is only in English, it does showcase her classically singing abilities. My favorite song is actually the title-track, "Gardening From the Ground Up". There's something about this love song, from rain drops to the up-beat jazzy tempo, that I really like. This is in contrast to the opening song, "Wake Up", for a song that's about waking up, it sounds like "take it easy" evening song.

While people will automatically associate Foster to 60s girl singers, I think her vocal styles, would actually lends itself really well to modern indiepop music. I'm certainly interested in hearing what part two sounds like. If you live in New York, Foster will be playing tomorrow, December 4^th at Pete's Candy Store in Brooklyn.

FERAL CHILDREN
myspace.com/feralchildrenseattle

Feral Children is a "backwoods" band from Seattle, Washington. Their self-titled EP was a free released on Sarathan Records, while their forth-coming album, Brand New Blood, will be available digitally December 8^th, while a physical release on January 19^th, 2010.

As their name suggest, their music seems, I don't know, wild. Like "grizzly bear", "panda bear, "deerhunter" and "animal collective" wild, and this isn't surprising, considering Scott Colburn (Animal Collective's Feels producer) is their producer on the Feral Children album. Compared to previous bands I mentioned, Feral Children seems more melodic and less experimental. I'm not sure who produced their EP (I rarely get liner notes for digital submissions), but they certainly have that collective-like influence.

I did give the EP a few listens, and not entirely impressed with the singer (is it Bill Cole?). His vocals is very rough, voice cracking comes to mind on tracks like "Saint". While this may possibly be the greatest song done live, listening to it on headphones made me cringe.

Who knows, maybe their album will be much better than the self-titled EP. It is, after all, their first release, I'm sure they'll improve over time. Information on the free downloads, head over to Sarathan Records.

MOJORISING
mojorisingband.com ♥ myspace

I keep mis-reading this band as Major/ising, so I'm not sure if other people might have the same problem reading the name (it's OK people misread W♥M as "we love music" all the time...)

Mojorising recently moved from Los Angeles from Australia. So prices for their EP at $12 on the merch page might seem high, until you realize it's in AUS dollars.

My impression is that this duo makes some really funky music, but with classic rock attitudes (think Jamiroquai). The funk soul translate well on a few of their songs, "She Woke Up To Me" and "Sooth Me And Use Me". The later is very dancey, I suspect it will play well to a live audience. Incidentally if you are interested in hearing the first song, it's available as a free download.

The band is playing a few dates in California:

Dec 20 2009 THE MINT Los Angeles
Jan 10 2010 EL CID Los Angeles

SEA OF BEES
seaofbees.com ♥ myspace

Lara dismissed Julie Baenziger, aka Sea of Bees, as being too "CocoRosie/Joanna Newsom", and really - what's wrong with that ? As expected, Baenziger's vocal style is that of a small cute child. And also cute is the title of the EP, called Bee Eee Pee. This is a collection of four songs and one intermission song.

All of the songs are pretty minimalistic, usually with just acoustic and Baenziger singing. The stand-out track for me is "Willis", because it  does feature a melodic backing music (vs just acoustic alone). Also, the inclusion of the random intro is nice - it explained that this particular recording happens to be the third take.

Julie is doing some winter dates:

Dec 4 2009 Fox & Goose Sacramento, California
Dec 15 2009 Sacramento, California
Jan 26 2010 Matadero Huesca, Huesca
Jan 30 2010 Tanned Tin Festival Castelo, Castellón
Feb 10 2010 TBA w/ Mountain Man, Chelsea Wolfe and Dead Western Sacramento, California

Bee Eee Pee is out now on Bot Bot Records/Digisquad Records, you can find it on iTunes and Amazon.

PS, That's all I can manage today. Check out Ryan as he's retweeting on twitter/weheartmusic. You can see some of the tweets on the right-side of this page. The account is kept active by live blogging by myself, Ceji, and Ryan. Not just a robot account!

This is The Books' last date on their national tour, so they seem very comfortable being on stage. Since this was the Cedar Cultural Center, the audience consists of an older "NPR"-type of crowd. This was one of the most full show I've seen at the Cedar.

Baby Dee ♥ Cedar Cultural Center, Minneapolis (12/01/09)

Opening up for them was Baby Dee (official/myspace), an outrageous soloist cabaret that sings showtunes. Her flamboyant performance style lends itself to not-so-serious songs like "Big Titty Bee Girl (from Dino Town)". She spent most of her set on the piano, before heading over to the ominous harp for two songs. Apparently, this was just a small taste of what's to come, as she's heading back to the Cedar on April 19^th, 2010.

Before her last song, she introduced The Books by telling this joke about next to the dog, a man's best friend is a book. Next because inside a dog, it's too hard to read.

The Books set up two chairs and their movie projector at 9 o'clock. Remember, this is the Cedar, their shows starts early and ends early (no later than 10:30pm). Which its audience is an older (and probably gainfully employed crowd), so they like early shows.

So, back to the Books, they provided the live soundtrack to their movies. Everything is in sync, no technical problems at all. They even went so far as having a one-minute intermission song as they tune up their instruments. The intermission song features anagrams of the word "Immediate". Everything is calculated.

I find that trying to watch the movie and watching Nick Zammuto and Paul de Jong was somewhat distracting. I think they prefer you watch the screen, because watching the duo play isn't exactly that exciting.

The Books ♥ Cedar Cultural Center, Minneapolis (12/01/09)

Most of their songs are instrumentals, usually with samples, so the few songs that they actually sing on (like "Take Time"), I thought those stood out. The other thing about The Books is that they seem to find inspiration in anything and everything. For instance, their song "Smells Like Content" is basically 10 hours of audio recording from Nick's older brother. Their most interesting song, "Cold Freezing Night", are audio loops from Talkboy tape recordings that they found at thrift stores.

As for the encores, which incidentally is predetermined because of the movies that is associated with the songs, they did two songs. The first is a Nick Drake cover "Cello Song", which Paul explained is their only cover they do. It was for the benefit of the Red Hot organization for Aids awareness. If you recall, I've previously endorsed the organization by buying many of their music releases. Their final song is "An Owl With Knees" from their 2005 album, Lost and Safe.

PS, This is my final concert for 2009 (I hibernate during the winter), I would like to thank everybody for offering shows for me to review. I will be able to accept assignments in March-ish 2010, and/or whenever it stops snowing.

Trying to find quality music in today’s market is similar to trying to find real food at an all-you-can-eat buffet:  plenty to choose from but curiously homogenous, like the tapioca is the same color and consistency as the blue cheese dressing.  HOT bands scrounge for retro hooks that they can polish up with a slick coating of synth, while the kids eagerly line up, mouths open.  Nobody really cares that band Y is basically the same as last year’s band X, right down to the ethnic bass player.  It’s all about excess and intrigue: do it big or do it in a way that hasn’t been done before (or do it in a way that hides the fact that it’s been done before).  Naturally, this is any combination of MGMT, Dirty Projectors, Phoenix, Grizzly Bear, et al (think Pitchfork “seal of approval”); or, closer to home, electro-rock wunderkinds Solid Gold (who cried about their lack of fame like little bitches).  Amidst the fleeting charm, occasionally one stumbles across a band that feels new, despite an adherence to classic formulas.  These bands may value tradition over innovation, but boy do they smell like fresh leafy greens. Even if you’ve never heard of them.

Minneapolis duo Bella Ruse self-classify their sound as “indie folk jazz,” but when Joseph Barker plugs in his electric, as on opener “Push On,” the result doesn’t quite fit the categorization.  The sparse, moody guitar and Kay Gillette’s intimate vocals would be as appropriate for a sparse, moody Jim Jarmusch film as for a smoke-filled jazz club.  While “Push On” is Bella Ruse’s standout track, the rest of the EP is quietly pleasing.  “J’ai Presque Peur” is a smooth Pinot Noir toast to Edith Piaf and “Heart of Everyone” jangles along nicely.  When Norah Jones released her debut, I remember being underwhelmed at first, certain that her foray into “jazz” was one clarinet short of Lite FM.  However, after a few listens, I warmed up a bit, mostly because beneath the soccer mom ear-bait, I could detect the slightest shade of melancholy, and this interested me.  Bella Ruse is interesting in a comparable way (they had me at “kind of sad”).  Gillette’s voice calms rather than excites and sure, “Hold Me Close” would probably excite a Meg Ryan character (when she realizes that the Tom Hanks character is The One*); still, revisit “Push On” and convince me there isn’t a little Scout Niblett/Chan Marshall angst beneath the romantic sentiments. 

In his track notes, Barker admits that “Push On” was not an immediate favorite.  In fact, it took Gillette’s persistence and encouragement from fans to convince him that the song had a place on the EP.  Although this baffles me, I also kind of get it.  “Push On” is Bella Ruse’s “Hide and Seek”:  a stand alone track that deviates from an otherwise comfortable style.  There’s a reason why I’ve listened to the song a total of 27 times since I received the EP, except the ‘reason’ is actually a sensation—a slight tingling, milder than goosebumps but equally elusive.  My request for the band is simple: more, please.  More blood, sweat, tears, booze, ultra-lights, magic fairy dust or WHATEVER combination birthed this beauty.  More Pinot Noir, too.

Besides their debut EP, Bella Ruse has also released ‘Twas a Bella Ruse Christmas, a 4-song compilation of Christmas favorites.  Both albums can be purchased digitally at http://bellaruse.bandcamp.com.  For more information visit the band’s official website or e-stalk the pair on Facebook and Myspace.

*Sadly, my Nora Ephron references are dated.  Help.