Crazy energetic Brooklyn quintet MiniBoone are coming to Philly tomorrow for Pilam’s Human BBQ. To get you all properly excited for their set (730ish) I tracked them down to find out a little bit more about what fuels their music making ways.
TWIAPC: You guys really charged out of the shoots on the tails of your album release in January, popping up all over the blogosphere. Clearly you didn’t appear outta nowhere; what is MiniBoone’s history as a group?
James: Craig and Doug were in a group before. That group broke up, but the two of them kept writing music together. They asked me and then Taylor and then Sam to join their new group one by one. I had my own group during all of this and quite ridiculously my group had 80% of the same members (Doug, Craig, and Sam). So one day, Taylor had the common sense to say “hey, why don’t we join the two groups.” Taylor is a smart boy.
Craig: Doug and I made a whole record as a duo before we were a five-piece, but we sent it mostly just to our friends. It formed the basis for some of the songs we’re performing now. “Big Changes” was the first thing we recorded as a five-piece and it sounds way better, and we’ve been pushing it a lot harder.
TWIAPC: Your music is infused with pure pop energy how do you guys ensure that is conveyed in your live show?
Sam: It feels really lame to stand still while playing a MiniBoone song. So we don’t. Lots of running and jumping around, banging on things, screaming along. All of the little flourishes and ornamental noise on the recorded songs that might be too subtle to come across live we try make up for with extra craziness. Onstage, I like to imagine myself as a hyperactive 4 year old covering MiniBoone.
James: Yes, Sam is totally nuts on stage. I never really realized it because I am always also going nuts. But one day I saw a picture of Sam on stage, and I was like whoa.
TWIAPC: As we head into summer and people begin amassing their sunny playlists I’m sure Big Changes will be featured in a number of those. What music would be on Miniboone’s playlist?
Doug: Oh man! Summer Jams are my favorite type of music ever, which is one reason I wanted to call the song “Summer Jam”, “Summer Jam”. I love this question.
Collectively, we will be listening to the following this summer:
Gene Pitney’s Greatest Hits
Phil Spector’s Greatest Hits
Major Lazer
Lagos Disco Inferno
The new Robyn EPs that we are anticipating to be great
Music that cannot even begun to be imagined, and other future music
Preservation Hall Jazz Band
Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings
The new Big Boi record
Lots of Freestyle
Journey
James Brown Singles Collection Volumes 1-8
That air horn sound that all the hip hop DJs use all the time
TWIAPC: Your video for “Cool Kids Cut Out Of The Heart Itself” features you all in various stages of hair play. Where did the idea come from?
Sam: “Hair play” sounds sort of like an icky fetish…Anyway, this winter we realized we were close to developing ZZ Top amounts of facial hair between us, so that seemed like a good starting point for a video. We had a bunch of ideas of where to go from there, but after a couple weeks of debate we just decided to make a list of all the funny things we could think of to do to our faces and spent a day squatting in a warehouse, with our friend Jesse behind the camera, shooting and making a really, really disgusting mess. Seriously, by the end of the night we were literally up to our ankles in shaving cream, skittles, confetti, fingerpaint, fake blood, hair and other assorted items, mostly from the dairy case or the dollar store.
TWIAPC: I take from the <3 over Brooklyn you draw a lot from your homebase. Are there any other factors, geographically or otherwise, that influence the music you make?
James: Right now most of our songs are about growing up in the suburbs and falling in love. So those.
TWIAPC: Any plans for an extended tour?
Craig: As soon as we sell James’s grandpa’s Grand Prix and buy a van, we’re hoping to drive all over the place. Right now we’re just sticking with little weekend jaunts along the East Coast. We’d love to be an opener for some other band if they will take us with them. I hear MGMT is doing a world tour?
Let me begin my introduction to the music of Kate Miller-Heidke with a profession of total swoonage for the brand of delectable witty pop she is creating. Her new album Curiouser came from a burst of inspiration. Working with her husband Keir Nutall to unabashedly exploit her “experimental, hooky, unashamedly pop” charm. She dosen’t strive to be too obtuse with her orchestrations but doesn’t shy away from indulging in a good bit of wit. Some of the tracks, “Can’t Shake It,” have a strong electronic component that plays well with her strong distinct voice.
Miller-Heidke isn’t cutesy; she has total confidence in her pop sensibilities which gives her the room to be playful. She has some fun poking fun at Facebook with her live cut “Are You F*#king Kidding Me.” Yet proves she can slow things down as well with “The Last Day On Earth.” She has had a following in her native Australia for a while but with this gem of an album she is trying to earn her place in American hearts. From the looks of her video’s she knows how to give a stellar live show too! She is playing Philly Sunday [at World Cafe Live] then moving on up to New York to play with Ben Folds. Get out and get atter.
Saintseneca are a gang of Ohioans that have come together by chance to stomp, fiddle, strum and warble. The product is most enjoyable. Although there music rolls out with a backwater ease it would be doing them a great disservice to suggest their isn’t a lot of skill that goes into their music. Far from it; in fact, I’d say the skill is in making it sound so easy.
There is a lot going on in their arrangements – at various times you’ll hear violin, banjo, dulcimer, hand claps – but the center point are the groups vocals. Lead Zac Brown has a very unique voice that, when standing on its own, triumphs over the instruments but when the group harmonizes it all bleeds into lushness. They have just released their first EP Grey Flag on Paper Brigade and hopefully they’ll be touring soon to support it.
Another fresh act out of Ohio these four fellas are taking a note from mid-ninties alternative acts and putting an aussie new wave spin on it. A solo project that has grown organically to include a three other like-minded musicians. The group, in this incarnation, is still relatively new but seems to have found sure footing in where they want their sound to go. Come On Caboose’s guitars are the heart of their arrangements from which simple bass lines and punch drums take their lead. Lyrically they are also a step ahead of the average young band. Dynamic verses and subtly catchy choruses are sung primarily by Coran Setter but boosted at times by the others. The still have some work to do on carving out their own recognizable place in the indie market but their new album Wave Maker is a good step in that direction.
Last week I finally got to see two acts I have been really digging for a while now; Philly’s Charles Latham (aka Death Panel) warmed the Northstar Bar stage for Nashville’s Tristen.
Up first with a genuine dose of anti-folk humble-pop was Charles Latham who, depending on the minute, also goes by Death Panel. He is but a man on a stage with a guitar but his songs evoke the presence of a variety of characters from the objects of his affection to the voices in his head. His lyrics are often self-depreciating vignettes – sometimes literal to an awkward degree- and always delivered with a choir boy honesty.
When you see Latham live the candor of his anti-folk approach is central to his performance. He possess the musical skill to play catchy guitar riffs and the fact that he has chosen to pair what otherwise could easily be another radio friendly indie track with lyrics about rejection and hard ons that are disarmingly alluring. Giving each song a quick intro he professed his performance theory of “flying without a net.” To a certain extent the social discomfort expressed in his songs is constantly present on the stage but after a few minutes I warmed to the discord and balls out attitude conveyed by Latham. It was the perfect way to start pulling folks in from the bar for the rest of the evening’s line up. He has a new album out soon and while the record doesn’t possess the awkward charm of his live set it does demonstrate his skill at writing some damn catchy tunes.
Tristen sneakily took the stage next and with little warning jumped directly into her brand of retro twang. Accompanied by another guitarist and a bassist on stage the set was a pared down version of the lush tracks you can hear on her excellent tour EP Deceivers Are Achievers. Without the additional instruments Tristen proved the flexibility of her vintage vocals. At times simple and childlike, as on “Special Kind Of Fear,” and at others she really let loose belting out the words with a raspy twang that just blew me away.
Her stage presence is modest and shy. It took her a few songs to really look comfortable on stage but once she did a playful hue was cast on the entire set. She was clearly at ease with her backers and the three of them knew how to manipulate the material just right so that, despite being a smaller group than I was expecting, the songs maintained their quirky appeal. The addition of a ukelele for a few songs broke the guitar centric arrangements up a bit and added a tone of variety. Tristen’s strongest asset is her voice and it was plenty strong to carry the show but ultimately I would love to see her with a full band so that the softer more subtle channels in her voice could contribute the nuance heard on her EP. I think we can expect greatness from Ms Tristen especially if she really pushes her vocal boundaries.
Welp, here we are facing a beautiful weekend here in the North East and after this week I am plum tuckered out. I have lots of goodies for you in the next few days but I thought I would bring this week to a close by sharing some bits from my in box that caught my eye.
I can’t tell you how bummed I am I missed Lookbook’s stop in Philly. They make the kind of revving pop music you should be pumping on beautiful spring days. They released their new single “Over and Over” this week and a video to really drive home how awesome they are.
Lookbook – Over and Over from Bo Hakala on Vimeo.
Fresh for your weekend dance mix DJ duo Philadelphyinz have dropped House Of Yinz a mix “inspired by Doug Lazy, the Jungle Brothers, Sugar Bear and a lot of other rappers who made uptempo jams with bad puns on the word “house” on their albums in 1991.” It packs a six track wallop you’re sure to enjoy.
[MP3] At The Park (Skinny Friedman remix)
The concert calendar has some new exciting additions for you to check out. Chief among them next weekend’s Human BBQXXXII presented by Pilam. The line up is a mixed bag of awesome. If you haven’t see Pink Skull or Anamanaguchi they’re worth the price of admission but with BBQ included I can’t imagine a valid excuse not to come early and catch These United States, Netherfriends and The Extraordinaires, amongst others. These are the kind of event’s Spring was made for so get out there and enjoy.
And finally to round out this random wander through my in box I give you Koot Hoolmi’s Hall & Oates cover project The Dark Side Of Hall & Oates. There is really no other place to file this other than in the curious and unexpected file. Koot Hoolmi is an artists collective who decided to cover the famous duo’s classic hits using unusual harmonies, minor key digressions and, of course, Tuvan throat singing. The result is interesting enough to give it a full listen and if you like the taste go buy the full tribute over at CD Baby.
Oh, the Swedes. How do they manage to continually produce refreshing musical acts? Perhaps it is the water or maybe a government that supports the arts. The Mary Onettes have the mystery ingredient in spades. They have two well received albums to their name, the self titled 2007 release and last November’s Islands which marked a real maturation of their airy indie pop. Layering reverberant guitars with echoey vocals and using classic synth it a little up tempo punch. The group’s arrangements evoke a sense of detached reflection while lead singer Philip Ekstrom infuses them with the perfect degree of cool emotion. There is an undeniable classic 80′s pop feel about their work but, especially on the new album, the group has maintained the essence of the retro sound while adding a reverent but evolved indie sensibility.
They will be kicking off their US tour here in Philly on the 19th at Mar Bar.
The Canon Logic knows a thing or two about assembling all the right pop elements to create catchy songs without sounding formulaic. Their new album FM Arcade is riddled with strong guitar riffs, accessible (ie singable) harmonies, exuberant piano lead melodies and even some hand clapping. The single “Nights At Armour Mansion” lends a nod to pre-boy band male led pop of the late eighties while “Dead Man” has a jangly indie flavor about plutting them toe-to-toe with their fellow Brooklyn indie rock bands. The tracks stand alone, each with their own distinct appeal yet the album, when played straight through, has its own cohesive ebb and flow. I’d bank on greater experimental works to come this new band.
They’re coming to Northstar Bar on April 9th with Freezepop, Plushgun and Pants Velour.
[MP3] Nights At Armour Mansion
I love it when the stars seem to align and a band appears on my radar like buck shot from assorted sources. Numerous folks have praised their experimental tunes; one person calling my attention towards the unusual arrangements of voice, mechanized noise, banjo, glockenspiel, piano, etc another excitedly claiming them as their favorite new musical discovery. After listening I must agree that they aren’t afraid of trying out some new shit and for the most part with an incredible rate of success.
The Philly group is seven strong which not only provides a lot of energy to their work -and I can only imagine a lot of varied inspiration- but a lot of sources for sounds. On tracks like “Dear My Body…” and “Rabbit” they rock a subdued psych-folk vibe with chanty group vocals; the kind of music you’d find in a mumblecore flick. On others like “The Turn Around” they dabble in tweeish electro pop territory. It’s clear their interests are sorted and they’re attempting to explore as many of them as possible however, while it is really enjoyable for the most part, I’d like to hear a clearer purpose to their music making. But that is what a sophomore album is all about. For now, I like where there coming from and I am excited to see where they will go.
They’re contributing their track “Female Wrestler (less urban version) to Edible Onion‘s forthcoming compilation A Cure For The Broken Hearted while their own album People Songs came out March 23rd.
Austin natives Octopus Project are well known for the inventive musical endeavors. Their lone show at SXSW, a project called Hexadecagon, took their own standards up a notch. The piece, written for an eight-channel sound and eight-channel video system, was presented twice in back to back sets under a tent in the parking lot of Whole Foods. The line was crazy long as people waited to see what exactly a this experiment would look and sound like. After two hours we got our wristband for the second set and managed to get a nice spot close to the stage with great views of all of the various instruments – electronic and elsewise- that OP use in their electro-pop arrangements.
The stage was set in the round so all eight-channels surrounded the entire audience and the video was projected on the tent’s ceiling. Watching as they got themselves organized it was easy to get the sense of how complicated this show was. Once the whole thing began though the complications were entirely masked by the precisely executed combination of audio and visuals. The group created every aspect of the show themselves (with the help from a few friends) from the videos that played overhead to programming the systems needed to fully maximize the surround sound effects. Before each track played all the machinations were triggered and without missing a beat the band would launch into the good old fashioned electronic orchestrations.
Octopus Project’s music alone is enough to leave you breathless but wrapped up and presented in this magnificent manner made it most unforgettable. They use traditional instruments -drums, guitars and bass – as well as electronic – synths, samplers and a theremin- to create a meticulously choreographed sonic dance. The physicality of their combined playing styles only served to further the visual element of Hexadecagon.
Toto’s bouncing attack on the drums has a manic grace about it that countered Yvonne’s precise manipulation of the theremin. Amidst the busy-ness of the other instruments and the flashing of the movie above she was the embodiment of calm, adding visual continuation of the slow dips and rises created by the instrument. The music was written to maximize the presence of the surrounding speakers and as a result contributed a very distinct energy to the piece. Each surround sound effect was timed to correspond to the abstract images in the projections, where you stood in the room defined your experience. Hexadecagon was the most comprehensively conceived live show I have ever seen on such an intimate scale. I doubt it would be replicable but I sure hope Octopus Project continues to attempt such feats in the future.
There are few greater feelings than taking a chance on a show and having it totally blow you away. This is how I felt after watching Megaphonic Thrift play at Habana Calle on Wednesday night. We chose to hit up this set after hearing praises from many well respected South By goers. Putting aside plans to go to Cheer Up Charlies to see an excellent line up [Best Coast, Fluffy Lumbers and Cloud Nothings] we went the official showcase route to see MT’s late night set.
I really had no idea what to expect having not heard of them nor their music before that day. All I knew was that the Norwegian super group was made up of members from CasioKids, Low Frequency In Stereo, Stereo 21. A bit of knowledge that doesn’t really lend itself to establishing sonic expectations except that whatever they sounded like it was going to be intelligent.
The room was small but amped for a space at least three times it’s size, another unexpected touch. The reason for the plethora of amps was made perfectly clear the instant the set began. Megaphonic Thrift are loud. Really loud. The quartet use nothing more that wickedly lush guitars, throbbing bass and smashing percussion. Being loud is easy; how Megaphonic Thrift manipulates all that audible weight to create a malleable piece of music that doesn’t overwhelm is not. I liken it to an artists use of negative space. They create a mass of sound from which they carve a distinct rhythm and even some crisp lyrics when necessary. The resulting music is beyond satiating, it is a masterful presentation of restraint in the name of greatness.
The guitars carried out a noise pop initiative while creating visceral harmonies with the undulating bass and crashing drums. The vocals, which are definitely of the shoe gaze variety, are excellent but don’t attempt to equal the presence of the instrumentals. When Richard Myklebust or Linn Froekedal did sing they worked into the arrangements never really pushing to the front instead simply lending to the complexity of the material.
At 35 minutes the set was over far sooner than I would have liked; I could have easily blissed out to much more. Immediately after they were finished everyone in the room seemed to be left in a bit of a daze as the energy released by Megaphonic Thrift’s set still hung in the air. Now, looking back over all the shows I saw (with the exception of one) during SXSW – including the buzz band sets and those I was really excited about- nothing really compares to my first Megaphonic Thrift experience.
I have since gotten my hands on their full catalog Decay Decoy and A Thousand Years Of Destruction and their recorded material is just as superb. Obviously without the intense sound factor the songs sound very different but even when coming out of your headphones the music is a step above most other bands attempting this sort of intelligent music making. They don’t have plans to be back in the US anytime soon so, you’ll have to make due with the albums but I will most certainly be seeking them out the next time they do make it back on this side of the pond.
thanks to Ryspace.com for the live recording
Over four days I was inundated with enough stimulai to keep my little ADD self fully satiated. Going in I wasn’t really sure what to expect other than late nights and lots and lots of music. While both proved to be major themes it was the little things that really made SXSW a wonderful experience.
For those of you who aren’t familiar with Austin let me tell you it is a town that sincerely and rabidly supports live music. There is a concentration of venue space that is astounding and during SXSW even the Whole Foods (the best Whole Foods in the entire world if you ask me) hosts shows. Even though the venues vary widely when it comes to quality each definitely had it’s own quirk factor. It is because of the existing live music culture that permeates Austin that a music festival of this magnitude is not only possible but really enjoyable. My favorites were:
The French Ligation Beautiful outdoor park with Austin skyline in the background was a lovely setting to see The Antlers. If Saturday hadn’t be horrendous I would have loved to see Frightened Rabbit here as well.
The Longbranch Inn Quirky to a T. With the best tie dyed taxidermy I have ever seen. It was, hands down, the best place to catch Grooms, The Beets and Sisters.
There were a lot of local-ish groups that made the trip down to Austin as well and it was nice to be able to watch them perform in a whole new context. The mounting time on the road seems to have improved the Free Energy fellas’ comfort on the stage. Lead singer Paul’s voice was a little more ballsy and fit the rest of the group’s rock energy.
Bridges & Powerlines were incredibly tight,proving there is real potential in them thar guitars. It was fantastic to see Drink Up Buttercup pull people in from other rooms during their show at Purevolume. They are rapidly accelerating towards mass awareness and their harmonies and playing are improving in lock step. Finally, Dinosaur Feathers played a whole slew of shows and debuted new material all to really enthusiastic audiences.
Little Thing #3: New Discoveries
As you wander form showcase to showcase you can’t help but get sucked into new acts. The amount of music available at all hours is pretty much a music junkies dream. Hearing Explode Into Colors in the open lot near Cheer Up Charlies was spectacular. This high energy dance rock group hold nothing back and their mixed bag of influences sucked me in immediately. Props to them for also continuing on to MtyMx gathering in Mexico. Tobacco is insane. Literally pulled me in from off the street with some gritty, sorted, funky beats. I only got a small taste but hopefully they’ll be through Philly to support their pending album (featuring Beck which isn’t half bad).
Little Thing #4: The Clear Mobile Network interviews
While I was in Austin I did a few interviews for the Clear Mobile Network live TV coverage of SXSW. What I didn’t know going in was that the studio was a giant plexiglass room on the back of a truck that would drive around Austin while I did my interviews. It was a surreal experience. During one hard right while Matthew Perryman Jones was singing all the mics fell over and while stopped at a stop light a woman got out of her car to take a picture of me, Jared Mees and Megan Pierce of the Grown Children. Thankfully the interviewees were most excellent (stay tuned for extended write ups) and on the whole it was a pretty unique experience. [see the view from the couch]
Little Thing #5: The People
The absolute best part of SXSW was meeting so many people with whom I’ve tweeted, gchatted, emailed or spoken with over the phone but hadn’t yet met in person and spending time relaxing and hanging out with my extended music family. To now have had in person conversations with some of these folks as well as made some silly music centric memories with them made the week spent in Austin one I will not soon forget. Already looking forward to next year.
Tomorrow I’ll post my reviews of the best shows I saw at SXSW 2010.
It Gets Your Body Movin’ – Suckers (Live at sxsw 2010)
There were a seemingly endless array of options for entertainment while in Austin. I managed to partake on quite a few of them and I’m working on more detailed write ups of the highlights but I thought I would share some pics from a good number of the shows I saw.
More to come…
