Shot photos today of Ryan Adams, the manic and brilliant and once-endlessly-prolific songwriter, who has a pretty decent new album of alt-country songs, and a really good short EP of punk bangers. He played a bit of both in the Soundcheck studio.
Category: Photo Gallery
Photo Gallery: Idina Menzel, On Soundcheck
Idina Menzel might be the biggest star I’ve been around in awhile, thanks to a giant body of work on Broadway, appearances in Glee, and this little animated movie you may have seen called Frozen. Oh yeah, and that whole Adele Dazeem thing from the Oscars. Menzel dropped by the Soundcheck studio to sing selections from her latest production, If/Then. I filmed it and shot photos and sorta just tried not to get in the way.
Where’s Mike? Apparently In Everyone’s Instagram Feed
I don’t go to a concert a night or anything crazy, but I do see a fair amount of live music. Last night for instance, I went to two shows at two different venues, and caught all or parts of five bands’ sets. First up was an early show at Mercury Lounge for young U.K. synth pop band Woman’s Hour, and its opener Future Of What. Then, made the short but rainy walk down to Bowery Ballroom for opener Sore Eros, songwriter (and Sharon Van Etten’s longtime guitarist) Doug Keith, and Philly rockers The War On Drugs.
Continue reading Where’s Mike? Apparently In Everyone’s Instagram Feed
Experimenting With GIFs: Son Lux
Spent some quality trial and error time today with live concert GIF-making, this time with the amazing Son Lux (a.k.a. Ryan Lott), who performed at New York’s Bowery Ballroom on Feb. 7. Lott provided a lot of great moments with his gesticulations and arm motions and sometimes-awkward dance moves, but picking the perfect action proved difficult — especially since I originally hoped I could create a more seamless looping GIF. Oh well, next time.
Quilt: ‘Held In Splendor’ A Comforting Patchwork Of Sixties Pop
For the past few months I’ve had Quilt’s music spinning around in my crappy white earbuds. The band’s delicate but enveloping songs have been a calming force when those commutes feel extra long, when the overloaded trains and sidewalks feed claustrophobia, and when I just want to escape. It may sound hokey, but then, it’s right there in the name.
Continue reading Quilt: ‘Held In Splendor’ A Comforting Patchwork Of Sixties Pop
Experimenting With GIFs: Anna Calvi
Shot a snippet of video while photographing Anna Calvi in concert at Music Hall Of Williamsburg in Brooklyn back in November. Thought it would be a good way to experiment with making concert GIF portraits. Here’s my first attempt. Not terrible, right?
Tegan And Sara: Synth Pop And Sticky Melodies
Today we had the identical twin-sister duo Tegan And Sara in the studio to perform songs from this its fizzy synth pop album Heartthrob. I’ve listened to this band for many many years at this point — really loved The Con from 2007. But with Heartthrob, the two are taking things in a much more mainstream radio dance pop direction — which on songs like “I Couldn’t Be Your Friend” and “Closer” really really work. thanks to killer production and sticky melodies that burrow deep into your mind. Hard to do in modern radio pop.
When not making music together, Tegan and Sara Quin have both pursued writing for more pop-oriented artists like David Guetta and Alesso and Carly Rae Jepsen, among others. And you can really tell those collaborations have really sharpened Tegan and Sara’s hooks and songcraft.
“Bands constantly come to us for advice — young artists, aspiring artists, singers, writers, etc,” Tegan Quin said in her interview on Soundcheck. “And I always say, ‘the best thing you can do is go and collaborate with someone else, because you are broadening your horizon right away; instantly you are learning from someone else.’ And I think that that’s the best way to become a good writer.”
These songs are so well constructed to be memorable and singable, which is, no doubt, why Tegan And Sara has expanded beyond its admittedly feverish and diehard fanbase that has been with the band for years, into wider audiences and landing at No. 3 on the charts.
After so many years toiling in the indie rock circles, breaking many ceilings, and slowly building a devoted following, it’s cool to see them finally finding bigger success, while being true to themselves artistically.
We shot video and they gave a really solid interview, which effectively blew up the Soundcheck Web site. I also took a ton of photos which you can see on Tumblr.
Telekinesis, With A Little Help From His Friends At CMJ 2012
“I’d like to thank Merge for getting me off my couch.” — Michael Benjamin Lerner, Telekinesis
At one point or another, we’ve all read about an extraordinary concert in some book, or in Rolling Stone, on Pitchfork, or just on social media and thought “Damn, I wish I was there.” It doesn’t make much sense fretting about missing out if Band X played its entire album front-to-back or Band Y played a surprise show at two in the morning. That’s life, right? Can’t be there for everything. But it is music geek human nature to feel the slightest twinge of regret.
Still, every once in awhile, if you go to enough shows, you luck into seeing something special that will make others seethe in nerd jealousy. For me, last night’s Telekinesis set — at Merge Record’s CMJ showcase at New York’s Mercury Lounge — was one of those times.
Continue reading Telekinesis, With A Little Help From His Friends At CMJ 2012
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.
Photo Gallery: The Joy Formidable @ Black Cat
Despite being in Austin, Texas for South By Southwest, you’d be surprised how hard it is to catch a full set by any one band. With so much to see, you’re constantly shuffling around looking for the next thing to fit into the schedule. And when coupled with all the work I was doing as part of NPR Music’s SXSW coverage, it was easy to miss something really good. Such was the case with The Joy Formidable, who performed several times at SXSW, including a way too short set at NPR Music’s SXSW day party at The Parish (listen and watch that here). I was so busy doing work and meeting people that it was over way too quickly.
Which all brings me to the point of all this. I decided I wanted to catch more from that band, so luckily they stopped by D.C. on Friday, March 25 (after SXSW) to play at Black Cat. Sufficed to say, it was totally great: loud, distorted and full of 90s rock energy.
Here are some photos I shot (along with opener Mona, who were impossibly generic):