CD Picks

Hall of Fame

  • Bands I've Seen Four Times or More:
    • Arcade Fire
    • Nicole Atkins & The Sea
    • Beck
    • Bloc Party
    • Blur
    • The Brunettes
    • Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
    • Death Cab for Cutie
    • The Decemberists
    • Doves
    • The Duke Spirit
    • Editors
    • Feist
    • Franz Ferdinand
    • French Kicks
    • Gorillaz
    • Grand National
    • The Grates
    • Immaculate Machine
    • Langhorne Slim
    • Les Sans Culottes
    • Love Is All
    • Kaiser Chiefs
    • Mates of State
    • Kate Nash
    • The New Pornographers
    • Northern State
    • The Parlor Mob
    • Phoenix
    • The Pipettes
    • The Puppini Sisters
    • Radiohead
    • The Rakes
    • Ra Ra Riot
    • The Roots
    • Salt & Samovar
    • Secret Machines
    • The Shins
    • Sons & Daughters
    • Bruce Springsteen
    • Supergrass
    • They Might Be Giants
    • Tilly & The Wall
    • The Tings Tings
    • Vampire Weekend
    • Yeah Yeah Yeahs
    • Yo La Tengo

Guitar Pick Recipients

  • Recipients of the MusicSnobbery.com Guitar Pick
    • Damon Albarn
    • Nicole Atkins
    • Win Butler of Arcade Fire
    • Laura Cantrell
    • Inara George of The Bird & The Bee
    • Dave Hollinghurst of Nicole Atkins & The Sea
    • Ivan Howard of The Rosebuds
    • Dev Hynes of Lightspeed Champion
    • Sam Isaac
    • JayMay
    • Jay Jay Pistolet
    • Alex Kapranos of Franz Ferdinand
    • Langhorne Slim
    • Sondre Lerche
    • Emanuel Lundgren of I'm From Barcelona
    • Moby
    • David Moltz of Salt & Samovar
    • Peter Morén of Peter Bjorn & John
    • Keith Murray of We Are Scientists
    • Kate Nash
    • Carl Newman of The New Pornographers
    • Jack Peñate
    • Juanita Stein of Howling Bells
    • Anna Ternheim
    • Katie White of The Ting Tings
    • Björn Yttling of Peter Bjorn & John

The Music

    • Air
    • Arcade Fire
    • Arctic Monkeys
    • Ash
    • Athlete
    • Nicole Atkins & The Sea
    • Avalanches
    • Basement Jaxx
    • Beastie Boys
    • Beck
    • Belle & Sebastian
    • Bentley Rhythm Ace
    • Beta Band
    • Bloc Party
    • Blur
    • BR5-49
    • Broken Social Scene
    • The Brunettes
    • Neko Case
    • The Charlatans
    • Chemical Brothers
    • Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
    • Cornershop
    • Graham Coxon
    • Daft Punk
    • Danger Mouse
    • Death Cab for Cutie
    • The Decemberists
    • De La Soul
    • The Delgados
    • Dizzee Rascal
    • Doves
    • Editors
    • Elastica
    • Faithless
    • Fatboy Slim
    • Feist
    • Flaming Lips
    • Franz Ferdinand
    • Gorillaz
    • Gotan Project
    • The Go! Team
    • Grand National
    • Groove Armada
    • The Guillemots
    • Hard-Fi
    • PJ Harvey
    • Interpol
    • Chris Isaak
    • Ivy
    • Jesus & Mary Chain
    • Joy Zipper
    • Kaiser Chiefs
    • Kings of Convenience
    • Kraftwerk
    • Leftfield
    • The Libertines/Dirty Pretty Things
    • Luna
    • Luscious Jackson
    • Madness
    • Magnetic Fields
    • Manic Street Preachers
    • Man or Astroman?
    • Massive Attack
    • Mates of State
    • M83
    • M.I.A.
    • Moby
    • Morcheeba
    • Van Morrison
    • Morning After Girls
    • My Bloody Valentine
    • My Morning Jacket
    • New Order/Joy Division
    • The New Pornographers
    • Oasis
    • Of Montreal
    • Oingo Boingo
    • Olds 97
    • Beth Orton
    • Pavement/Stephen Malkmus
    • Phoenix
    • Pixies
    • Portishead
    • Postal Service
    • Primal Scream
    • Prince
    • Prodigy
    • Public Enemy
    • Pulp
    • Radiohead
    • The Rakes
    • The Raveonettes
    • Razorlight
    • R.E.M.
    • Rilo Kiley/Jenny Lewis
    • The Roots
    • Royksopp
    • Saint Etienne
    • Secret Machines
    • DJ Shadow
    • The Shins
    • Sleater-Kinney
    • Sons & Daughters
    • South
    • Southern Culture of the Skids
    • Jon Spencer Blues Explosion
    • Spiritualized
    • Bruce Springsteen
    • The Smiths/Morrissey
    • Stars
    • Starsailor
    • Stereolab
    • St. Germain
    • Stone Roses
    • The Streets
    • The Strokes
    • The Sundays
    • Super Furry Animals
    • Supergrass
    • They Might Be Giants
    • Tosca
    • Travis
    • A Tribe Called Quest
    • Underworld
    • U.N.K.L.E.
    • U2
    • The Verve/Richard Ashcroft
    • We Are Scientists
    • The White Stripes
    • Wilco
    • Lucinda Williams
    • XTC
    • Yeah Yeah Yeahs
    • Zero 7
    • All the classics that a person like me should have in his collection

July 01, 2009

Out of Office Reply: MusicSnobbery.com On Assignment

_42435376_wimbledon_416 Thursday: Breakfast at Wimbledon with Strawberries & Cream, drinks with my favorite peoples, maybe catch the Laurel Collective at The Wilmington

Friday: Stand in line for two hours for gates to open for Blur show. Pray for it not to rain.

Saturday: I'm going up the country, baby, don't you wanna go.. Pray for it not rain at Hob Farm Festival.

Sunday: Try to smuggle Harrods tea and 20 CDs from Rough Trade through customs.

I'll be back here Monday to tell you all about the Blur show. Thighs Wide Shut will have have coverage of the first show. Then I'll delve into the Hop Farm Festival coverage. I also should be ready to announce the next MS.com Presents @ Joe's Pub show.

Be well, Happy 4th of July.

June 30, 2009

Slow Club Ready Debut Album, Yeah So?

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Slow_clubIn a couple of weeks, Charles and Rebecca drop their long-awaited debut album upon the peoples. Yeah So? features some previously released singles (When I Go, Because We're Dead) and a bunch of new tunes. Funny enough, the song that introduced me to the duo, Me and You, did not make the cut.

1. When I Go 
2. Giving Up On Love 
3. I Was Unconscious, It Was A Dream 
4. It Doesn't Have To Be Beautiful 
5. Because Were Dead 
6. There Is No Good Way To Say I Am Leaving You 
7. The Trophy Room 
8. Dance 'Til The Morning Light 
9. Come On Youth 
10. Sorry About The Doom 
11. Apples And Pairs 
12. Our Most Brilliant Friends 
13. Boys On Their Birthdays 

Slow Club make a quick stop in New York to play the free South Street Seaport series on August 7.

This is their latest video, "It Doesn't Have To Be Beautiful"
 

Previously:

Hop Farm Festival: No Sponsors, No VIPs, No Shit!

Sheep,%20Cliff%20Kent%20UK I'm leaving for London tomorrow for the big Blur show. Obviously, it's a major deal for me, but I do have two other nights were Blur does not factor into my activities.

Thanks to the Howling Bells crew, they pointed me to the Hop Farm Festival happening this upcoming weekend in Kent. The site is located 55 miles to the east of London. The idea behind the festival is simple: No Sponsorships. No Branding. That's something I can support. The festival capacity is 20,000 and according to this report, they've got some creative ways to sell tickets.

I got a look-see at the Saturday line-up and it's not some no-names bands, they got some big names.

  • The Fratellis
  • Echo and the Bunnymen
  • The Pigeon Detectives
  • The View
  • Florence and the Machine
  • Noah and the Whale
  • Howling Bells
  • The Joy Formidable
  • The Sunshine Underground
  • Datarock
  • The Twilight Sad
  • The Good The Bad
  • Bell X1
  • White Denim
  • Let's Wrestle

Festival_guide_2009_113085_5 I consider this opportunity full of WIN! I'll get to see Florence two days in a row, hang with the Bells and get my first look at The Joy Formidable in live form. Plus, the Sunshine Underground is on the bill. I saw three years ago at KOKOand they blew my friggin mind. Unfortunately, they had a chance to have a go at in the U.S. At the same time, I saw the Pigeon Detectives, who give me a head ache.

As for the headliner, the Fratellis, they went out of flavor with me after that second album. It was a big fat dud. I haven't seen them since their NYC debut at Mercury Lounge. Since then, they are big deal in the UK and a little bit over here. Consider my curiosity peaked with them being the main draw.

Echo and the Bunnyman should be fantastic. I'm hoping the go on around sunset.

The festival is from UK promoter Vince Power, founder of Mean Fiddler and a driving force behind the Reading Festival. Now, he organizes this festival, Benicassim Festival in Spain and will be opening new venues in London.,

I'm excited about covering the day. Too bad I won't make Sunday's lineup with Editors, Doves, Paul Weller, Ladyhawke, Mystery Jets, Kissy Sell Out, British Sea Power and Rumble Strips.

My other option was to stay in town and cover Wireless Festival with Basement Jaxx, The Streets, Dizzee Rascal, Does It Offend You Yeah?, St. Etienne, Jack Penate, Phenomenal Handclap Band, Frankmusik, Japanese Popstars and Fanfarlo to name a few. I figure an easy trip to country would be a good way to celebrate the fourth of July with the people we broke free from. Go figure.

The forecast -- Friday: 78, 60% Rain/Thunderstorms. Saturday: 74, 20% rain. Bloody hell! 60% chance of rain. No fair.

June 29, 2009

After Four Years, Engineers Return With New Album

Enginners I thought they had gone off the face of the earth -- a one and done band. Hark, do I hear the epic soundscapes of Engineers? The follow-up to their 2005 self-title debut comes out next week in the U.K. Entitled Three Fact Fader, the album took two year to record and complete...

Four years after the release of their landmark debut, the band return with their epic second album--Three Fact Fader. The 13-track album was produced by the band along with Ken Thomas (Sigur Rós, M83, Maps) over a period of two years, with the final tracks being completed earlier this year. It comes packaged in stunning artwork by legendary music photographer Tom Sheehan.

Following the rapturous reception that greeted their mini-album Folly in 2004 and debut Engineers the following year, it’s taken them a long time to build their epic second album, Three Fact Fader. After initial recording sessions, Engineers became unwitting victims of record company restructuring and the album was left in limbo, unfinished until the band reconvened earlier this year, largely motivated by public support.

There you go, public support from people like you. Now, we all get tote bags. That debut was a stunner with amazing production that makes Sigur Ros sound like a bunch of kazoos.

Here's the tracklisting:

1. Clean Coloured Wire   
2. Sometimes I Realise 
3. International Dirge
4. Helped By Science
5. Brighter As We Fall  
6. Hang Your Head 
7. Crawl From The Wreckage   
8. Three Fact Fader   
9. Song For Andy   
10. Emergency Room  
11. The Fear Has Gone  
12. Be What You Are   
13. What Pushed Us Together

Here's hoping they return to the U.S. the only time I ever saw them was when they opened for Bloc Party in 2005 at Webster Hall. In the meantime, take a listen to "Brighter As We Fall"


A MusicSnobbery Milestone -- 2,000 Comments!

Issac Fireworks! Confetti! Streamers from the ceiling! I've been waiting patiently on my hits counter to hit a magic number. Finally today, I hit 2,000 comments from people like you -- the lovers, the haters, the enlightened and the misinformed. I do know that other blogs get 2,000 a day, but my little one man operation, it's a little something something. It's a nice that you come to share your opinion, agree or disagree.

This post is 1,708 so I'll reach the 2,000 mark maybe by the end of the year.

As for the lucky 2,000th commenter who wasn't me or a spammer, it goes to Kathy who has some harsh words for Ben Folds and his fourth marriage. It's from a post from last year.

"Frankly, I'm disappointed in him.  I thought he had finally found something special with Frally. While I've been his friend since high school, I'm thinking I need to be in Frally's corner on this one. No doubt the man is a genius but that is never an excuse to be an extreme asshole."

Yup, these are my readers.

Au Revoir Simone / Findlay Brown / Lights @ Bowery Ballroom: The Best Rainbow Ever

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Saturday night, I took refuge inside Bowery Ballroom. The ladies of Au Revoir Simone provided a great retreat from the crazy week and the even crazier week ahead.

Heather, Erika and Annie return to their NYC homebase after a lengthy four-week U.S. tour. The threesome are touting their third full-length album, Still Night, Still Light. The new album is very much in the Au Revoir realm, with cosmic imagery and romantic hopefulness.

I've always felt that the band is the soundtrack the life of the shy girl you knew in grade school. I'm reminded of the girl in the M83 video for "Don't Save Us From The Flames". The girl who gets picked on during the soccer games, rides her Huffy around the woods and is constantly daydreaming. Also, amidst the lo-fi electronic beats is an awesome sense of wonder.

Seeing the band live with their multiple keyboards, electronic drums and sequencers is actually rather invigorating and spunky. They operate the middle-ground between the techno dance beats and ambient trance music. I reminded of those pre-programmed rhythms on the old organs in the piano store in the mall. When I was kid, I use play with the Casio keyboards in electronics department and go through all the beats like samba, salsa, meringue. That's what Au Revoir Simone feel like to me. Although, they add many more elements, most importantly their quiet, little girl on the verge of maturity vocals.

To conclude the show, they brought out the opening acts, as well as local band The Antlers, for their Michael Jackson tribute. The groups did a smooth 70s pop style cover of "Man in the Mirror". You need to acknowledge the passing of the great gloved one. I had four conversations that night all about MJ. It's seems we'll be in a state of disbelieve for a little while longer. Then Billy Mays today! Crazy!

In any event, the chickies were super-excited to back home. They talked about seeing the most awesome rainbow driving in from Cleveland. You see, you have to take happiness from the little things in life, like rainbows, cinnamon cookies, scratch-n-sniff puffy stickers and fresh socks from the dryer. There's you're pull quote from this post, "Seeing Au Revoir Simone is like putting on fresh socks from the dryer, very comforting."

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U.K.'s Findlay Brown is a nice discovery from the night. He tagged along for the tour with A.R.S. He has a classic pop sound with a voice that reminded me of George Harrison, Roy Orbison and Richard Hawley. He has a cool swagger about him with tall hair and a bow-tie and suit. His songs are big production numbers with choirs and strings. That wall of sound effect on his debut album, Separated By The Sea, comes from one of the hottest producers in the past few years, Suede lead singer Bernard Butler (Duffy's Rockferry).

The funny, or maybe awkward, thing about the guy is that his sense of humor reminds me of David Brent from original, The Office. He was trying to get his monitors adjusted, attempt to make a joke then mumble something while laughing. At one point he grabbed his crotch and cackled and I thought, "Yup, that's a Gervais move."

To add to his set, he jumped into the crowd for his last song to do a rousing Elvis-style jam among the people. Now, that's a guy who had confidence.

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Opening the night was local act, Lights, who are not to be confused with a Canadian band also called Lights or another local band called Francis and the Lights. This Lights is a funky, psych-y three piece who play dark, sexy disco music that would fit into the 70s New York night club scene. Think Blondie but heavy on the dirty glam chic.

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June 26, 2009

Michael Jackson, Look What You've Done

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Don't you feel bummed out in the last 36 hours?

Everyone is trying to wrap their head around the life of Michael Jackson. How are we suppose to be feel? Sad that we'll never see him again? Angry with the 15 years of decline -- artist and personal. Grateful for the joy he brought to the world? I just don't know. The definite book on the life and career of Jackson will never be written. We'll never know what went wrong. Heck, we might know how things when right in his height of popularity in 1980-1987.

For every positive thing I think of about the man, I can think of something sour. He was the best performer of his time, and the most polarizing man. Every time you saw him in the past 15 years, you just laughed and scratched your head.

I do know this, the Michael Jackson that we loved, the man who made Thriller, the boy who sang his ass off, a true artist who defined his times, left us a long time ago.

When Dangerous came out, that was the beginning of the end. He looked off. He took this "me and against the world" attitude. He wasn't evolving as an artist, he was disintegrating before our very eyes. Why does he look white? Why are best friends 10-year old boys? A pedaphile? Why is he wearing gold plated shin guards? Why does he sound like a little girl? Why is touring Europe but avoiding America? It just defies explanation.

Somewhere around the Dangerous album, we lost him. He went into another dimension, and with every action we laughed like "ohhhh, Michael Jackson is being Michael Jackson." Now that the man is dead, those late night talk show jokes don't seem too funny. 

In the end, I want to remember him for the man who moonwalked across the stage and made some of the best music in history. I just can't.

St. Vincent @ The Bell House: I Was Suppose To Be There, But I'm Sure It Was Great

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Ohhh, boy. Was that a *Adjective* show? Can you believe she played a cover of *song* by *artist*.

After her great performance on Letterman, St. Vincent played a more intimate show at Brooklyn's Bell House. The place was *adjective*. Even though some *slur* *verb* all over the place, it was still a *adjective* time.

The Setlist:

  • Some Song
  • Some Song
  • Some Song
  • Some Song
  • Some Song
  • Some Song
  • Some Song
  • Some Song
  • Some Song
  • Some Song
  • Some Song
  • Some Song
  • ENCORE: Some Song
  • Some Song

I saw her last year and Bowery. Just read that post.

Joking aside, I had to deal with an emergency. $12 I won't get back. All is well.

Here's that Letterman performance, with my buddy Clare on backing vocals.

June 25, 2009

Camera Obscura / Anni Rossi @ Webster Hall: If Looks Could Chill

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Oh, I'm going to get nasty comments for saying that the show was dull.

Love Camera Obscura's music. It's a nod to classic pop from the mid-60s. I've always pictured their music being played on a vintage television and they are on some variety show. The boys are wearing powder blue suits and the ladies are in their cotillion dresses. They all play "Lloyd" with a twinkle in their eye, then they bow at the end.

Hearing their music can be enchanting ... BUT! they are so lethargic live. Their uptempo songs seem to be played two notches slower than they should. Tracyanne Campbell comes off as tepid and can't hit all those impressive highs and lows in their best know songs. I've seen them before and I don't remember them being so disappointing.

The setlist:

  • My Maudlin Career
  • Swans
  • Tears for Affairs
  • Teenager
  • The Sweetest Thing
  • James
  • Honey in the Sun
  • Let's Get Out of This Country
  • 80s Fan
  • Books Written For Girls
  • French Navy
  • Come Back Margaret
  • If Looks Could Kill
  • ENCORE: Tougher Than the Rest (Springsteen cover)
  • Lloyd, I'm Ready To Be Heartbroken
  • Razzle Dazzle Rose

Maybe I'm expecting more than what Camera Obscura is capable of delivering. It's not like I want speakers to get knocked over, rock star posses or witty, playful banter. I just want to feel some excitement from the band. What we get basically is the new album and some old favorite played for us in a straight-forward manner. I'm looking for some kind of dynamic -- something that will bring me greater joy above what I hear on record. The band comes out and plays competently, but that's about it.

Looking back at the last time I saw them at Brooklyn's Warsaw, they did fiddle about with the slow songs before getting to the exciting stuff. After about 50 minutes, things finally got interesting with "French Navy," which went right into Come Back Margaret. "if Looks Could Kill" is my favorite song from them. It's has a Wall of Sound/Brille Building giddiness. It's a good compliment to their sad sack lost love songs, but at least those tracks from the new album are given a little twang to them.

I'm still going to listen to their albums and pass them along to my crew. I wanted to walk away feeling the same excitement I get from listening to some of their songs. Instead, I felt the show had to many lulls of emotion. Not every song has to be pop perfection, but those soft songs should have a feeling of wonder or poeticism. Instead, you see them and in my head I hear, "Waahhh wahhhh meeeeh blah"

In the end, listen to them on record. The new album, My Maudlin Career, isn't  very different from their break-out, Let's Get Out of This Country. If loved that, you love the new one. if you liked Camera Obscura live, then you saw something I didn't see.

As a side note, what's with you people seating down on the floor? How old are you, 8? I know reading all your tweets on your iPhone is tiring, but stand up so people can walk around like normal people. Geez.

And this has been another edition of cranky blogger.

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Chicago's Anni Rossi knows the correct way to be an opening set -- keep it at twenty minutes and make it count. The viola-player's style is to keep the songs at around two minutes. They are little quirky pop ditties played with a drummer. She has a cover of Ace of Base's "Eyes of Stranger". If she never told us it was a cover, I would have thought she wrote it. I would said, "That's a cool interesting song." In the end, I never knew Ace of Base was inspiring today's indie artists.

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June 24, 2009

Get In a Line Dance with the Soul Train YouTube Channel

Soultrain7Pure, unabashed gold with the official Soul Train YouTube channel. I can gaze upon the many fashion choices of Don Cornelius. Most importantly, you watch how the youth of 70s danced their ass of on television. It made American Bandstand look like Sit and Be Fit.

Today, the line dance is mostly relegated to drunken weddings when Uncle Fred bribes the DJ to play "Funkytown". Then eventually, the line dance becomes more of a circle.

On Soul Train, it was a show staple and looking at it now, the music with the 70s afros and bellbottom is amazing. I need to learn some of those dances and find my authentic leisure suit.

On their YouTube dances, you see those line dances, as well as performances and interviews with the the greats like James Brown, Al Green and Aretha Franklin.

Here's a clip on those dances. You can spot Fred "Rerun" Berry in the mix during "Love Train"

And here's a clip of Aretha performing "Rock Steady", one of the great songs featured in the Qur'an of MusicSnobbery, High Fidelity.

And if anybody wants to start a Tumblr page of the fashions of the 70s, and then turn it into a book deal, I'll start you out

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June 23, 2009

FoxNews.com Invaded By Gay Woman Against Rape

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Click above image for larger photo.

You gotta love the folks at FoxNews.com. Their website is high comedy, sometimes bordering on The Onion, but they are serious.

This morning I'm checking on my friends of Fox & Friends, when I look on their homepage. It might not be obvious with all their usual news coverage, but look at their TOP VIDEOS

Foxnews_crop_video So you have Graphic Content: Marines Firefight. Okay that's important news and giving the kids warning about the bloody shed. then you have everybody favorite celebrity chef Emeril. BAMM! Then there's WTF?????? Is that what I think it is?

I truly thought somebody hacked in and photoshoped in the lead singer of GWAR into the homepage. In actually, they have a video on Oderus Urungus next to the hot issues of the day. God, I love 24/7 news channels and their poorly monitored websites.

If you remember, Red Eye also featured Fucked Up lead singer Damian Abraham. Well, I guess they really are fair and balanced. Golf clap.

Anna Ternheim / Lia Ices @ Joe's Pub: What Have They Done

Anna_Ternheim1 

Tonight, I'm back at Joe's, this time seeing a show for a change.

First, let's introduce some familiar face in the photo above: (starting for the left) the subject of this post Anna Ternheim, Sharon Van Etten, Cat Martino, Clare Muldaur and Ron Burgundy. "Hey everyone! Come see how good I look."

Ladies and gentleman, your new favorite super-awesome singer-songwriter you'll be hitting the repeat button on goes by the name Anna Ternheim.  She is an enormous talent, as evidence by tonight's performance. Her voice has a slight hint of her Swedish accent. Like any good performer, she can put you under a spell and captivate you with that effortless voice. It's unworldly, then you add in a slight echo effect and it becomes almost church-like. If I could put some sort of animated .gif of me bowing to her, I would.

She has a down-to-earth, but graceful presence on stage, where she can crack a joke and then move into her new material, including "What Have I Done" and "Black Sunday Afternoon". She threw in two fantastic covers. First it was a stripped down, ambient version of Broder Daniel's "Shoreline". Then, and I'm pretty sure she was reading my mind, ended the show with Fleetwood Mac's "Little Lies". I was thinking today I've seen more live Fleetwood Mac covers than any other artist and wouldn't you know it, Anna whips out the Mac cover.

Her being of Swedish background, her music does have a wintry feel. On the way home, I was listening to Kings of Convenience and realized that Scandinavian artist know how to put you in a thoughtful and mellow mood. You see what happens when they have universal health care? Creativity follows. With Anna's set, her musicians were used sparringly but to great effect. The trio of backing vocalists almost stole the show where they joined in for a mic-less interlude. Thinking it about now, I'm still impressed with Anna's set.

Anna comes from the Bjorn Yttling cavalcade of stars. The guy can do no wrong. He produced Anna's third upcoming album Leaving on a mayday. Obviously, Bjorn has fantastic taste in artists and can craft stellar songs with a funky beat as evident with his work with Lykki Li, Shout Out Louds and The Suzan. Anna explained tonight that some of the songs on the new album have a beat, but would play them acoustically. The album comes out via Verve on August 11.

As a side note, yeah, she's not shabby looking. Then again, she is from Sweden, producer of fine candy fish, oiled massages, affordable, flat-packaged home furnishing and tall blonde woman. It's also important point out that she relocated to New York, and so that means me and her can get tea and crumpets or whatever they do in New York.

Another note, two of my favorite ladies were on back-up duties tonight. Clare of Clare and the Reasons has been busy finishing her second album. It's out in October and features a guest spot from Shara Worden. The big deal is this Wednesday, Clare will back-up St. Vincent when she plays on Late Show with David Letterman. Then, Sharon just got back from a European tour with Great Lake Swimmers. She'll be at City Winery drinking fine whites and reds and performing on June 29th.

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Opening the set was local gal Lia Ices. I've been keeping tabs on her because she was in a great local band that's no more called The Marina. She's been crafting her eloquent songs that range from chamber-pop compositions (light on the pop) to Cat Power-styled forceful soul tunes played with gusto and lots of piano. Check out the tunage on her myspace page.

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June 22, 2009

Moby's New Album Features A Familar Singer

Moby-wait-for-me-cover My main man Moby returns to your ears this summer with a new album, Wait for Me, his follow-up to last year's disco dancing Last Night. The man is at the point in his career where he can do anything he wants to musically. This album is much more ethereal and trance-like than his last. Last Night was an album about going out and having a good time. This one is about staying in, from my perspective.

He wrote and produced the album at his NYC home studio. Along for the ride are mostly local singers and musicians. One singer of which, when I found out she was working with Mobes, I was besides myself. It's Kelli Scarr of Salt & Samovar, who lent her vocals on "Walk With Me". Moby was impressed with her vocals during the S&S set at my 3rd Anniversary show last year. I introduced the two and next thing you know, they are making beautiful music together. I am biased but it's my favorite track on the album. Finally, after four years of blogging, I finally make a difference in somebody's career.

Also featured on the album is Amelia Zirin-Brown, Starr Blackshere, Leela James, Melody Zimmer and Hilary Gardner.

I let the man speak for himself about the impetus of this record: "I started working on the album about a year ago, and the creative impetus behind the record was hearing a David Lynch speech at BAFTA, in the UK. David was talking about creativity, and to paraphrase, about how creativity in and of itself, and without market pressures, is fine and good. It seems as if too often an artists or musicians or writers creative output is judged by how well it accommodates the marketplace, and how much market share it commands and how much money it generates. In making this record I wanted to focus on making something that I loved, without really being concerned about how it might be received by the marketplace. As a result it's a quieter and more melodic and more mournful and more personal record than some of the records I've made in the past."

There are U.S. tour dates in the work, with Kelli performing on the tour in Europe as we speak. In the meantime, here's the video that David Lynch animated for Moby. It's for "Shot in the Back of the Head".

In other news, sadly, Moby's cafe, Teany, on Rivington on the Lower East Side suffered from an electrical fire yesterday. Nobody was hurt, but the place was badly burned and is out of commision for a while. His business partner Kelly Tisdale runs the place and will let the people know what the story is soon.