Day: March 30, 2011

Little Scream Perform With Less Scream, More Whisper

I often pick up CDs from the pile to listen to based on the label. Today I’ve been listening to The Golden Record, new album from the band Little Scream on one of my favorite labels, Secretly Canadian. The record is full of big sounds: swooping strings, distorted guitars and thunderous drums, all under Laurel Sprengelmeyer’s gorgeous voice. In addition, Sprengelmeyer plays guitar, violin and keyboards.

The record also contains a fine pedigree of support players: Richard Reed Parry (Arcade Fire, Bell Orchestre), produced and performs on The Golden Record along with a ton of Montreal-based musicians fill out the rest: Mike Fuerstack (Snailhouse), Becky Foon (Silver Mt. Zion), Patty McGee (Stars), and Sarah Neufeld (Arcade Fire, Bell Orchestre). In addition, The National’s Aaron Dessner plays guitar on the lead single, “The Heron and The Fox.”

Check out this extremely intimate video of Little Scream performing “The Heron and The Fox” in the close confines of a small car, buried in snow. It is one of the quieter, more introspective songs on the record, the sound here in this video is definitely more paired down compared to the record. And the setting might make you feel a little claustrophobic at first, but the way their whispered, stunningly harmonized vocals fill up the car will more than win you over.

Little Scream: “The Heron and The Fox” (live) from Secretly Jag on Vimeo.

Photo Gallery: Lost In The Trees @ Black Cat Backstage

I caught one of my favorite new bands of 2010 at South By Southwest on the first night: Lost In The Trees. If you knew about the horrifying childhood that inspired the works, you’d be incredibly surprised how joyful and celebratory the music actually is. And when you catch the band on stage, the humility, and endearing charm of front man Ari Picker is so big and genuine, you cannot help but fall in love with this band.

I decided to catch them again back here in D.C. Monday night at the Black Cat’s Backstage, where a full crowd of people were all captivated. NPR Music was there to webcast the show, so be sure to take a listen. (Also be sure to check out our Tiny Desk Concert with them from last year).

But in the meantime, here are a few shots I managed to take.