The Philly-based power punk band Swearin’ is one of the groups that was born after the break-up of P.S. Eliot, a much-loved indie rock band from twin sisters Katie and Allison Crutchfield. While the Crutchfields have gone their separate ways — Katie with her solo project Waxahatchee, and Alison with the noisier Swearin’ — both share an honest lyrical sentiment with songs that reflect on restlessness and crumbling relationships.
Ryan Lott is a classically-trained musician and composer who has written for films, television ads, and dance companies in New York. But since his stunning 2008 debut as Son Lux, At War With Walls & Mazes, Lott has been making lush and experimental songs that blend new classical, rock, electronic music in fascinating and ambitious ways.
Continue reading Son Lux: A Vivid And Arresting Musical World
Bassist Ben Allison is one of jazz’s best “glue guys,” a versatile musician’s musician whose presence in the liner notes enlivens practically anyone’s recording. But it’s as a composer and bandleader where his idiosyncratic musicianship truly shines. Allison has been banging around a good while at this point, with a resume that includes numerous awards (seven SESAC Performance Awards) and notable citations in places like DownBeat Magazine‘s Readers and Critic’s poll. (He even composed the theme for WNYC’s program On The Media.)
Continue reading Ben Allison Turns To The Jazz Cosmos With ‘D.A.V.E.’
There’s plenty to unpack in the wry, confessional lyrics of the Speedy Ortiz — the solo-moniker-turned rock band of singer and guitarist Sadie Dupuis. With lines like “Spent the summer on crutches and everybody teased / except for this one friend I almost forgot” (“No Below”), Dupuis lets us in, revealing her distinctively sharp point of view — equal parts hilariously self-deprecating and brutally honest.
Continue reading Speedy Ortiz: Hilariously Self-Deprecating And Brutally Honest
Beck hasn’t put out a new record since 2008’s Modern Guilt. And sure, that’s a long wait for fans eager for new music, but the ever-inventive songwriter has been far from dormant: From his diverse production work and Record Club video series, to last year’s sheet music album, Song Reader, Beck’s remained as creative and productive as ever.
And this summer, he resurfaced in a big way, playing a run of acoustic shows in New York and at the Newport Folk Festival and (finally!) dropping a few new singles on his own record label, Fonograf. Now, Beck has released his third new single, “Gimme.”
With “Gimme,” Beck completes a trilogy of stand-alone songs that, when heard all together, seem tonally and musically linked.
In June, there’s was wobbly and chopped electronic beats of “Defriended”
And, in July, the sparkling, dreamy pop of “I Won’t Be Long.”
And now there’s “Gimme,” a short percussive-driven track featuring heavily-filtered, robotic-sounding vocals and essentially indecipherable except the titular words “gimme.” And with plenty of sonic noises filling out the corners of the mix the weirdest one he’s put out.
None of these tracks will appear on Beck’s forthcoming, so far unannounced full-length album (and possibly two albums) due sometime before the end of the year. And while these three songs may — or may not — serve as an indication of what’s to come, with a musician like Beck, it’s always fun following him no matter what direction turns.
Amid the rumble of traffic, crowded streets, and general persistent din of big city life, it can be challenging to find a moment of calm in New York. So it seemed like a peculiar choice when the enigmatic singer-songwriter Bill Callahan said he was interested in playing in a community garden for a Field Recording video WNYC’s Soundcheck co-produced with NPR Music. You could easily envision Callahan’s plaintive music and deep, detached voice getting lost in that noisy clutter.
But in fact, the lush 6th & B Community Garden in the East Village was just the spot for Callahan’s intimate and eerily transfixing performance. Recording previously as Smog, and now simply under his own name, Callahan writes dark, frequently anguished songs inflected with a bleak sense of doom. And yet, there’s actually a surprisingly warm, pastoral quality to his words, and a comforting voice in his sly delivery.
Surrounded by a rich canopy of greenery, ornamented flower beds, and even a small pond full of turtles, Callahan quietly finger-picked “Small Plane,” a song from his new record Dream River (out Sept. 17). And while sounds from just outside the garden’s tall gates trickled in, all those distractions of the city just outside the gates melted away.
There’s no denying there’s a spiritual quality to the music of Anna von Hausswolff. Much of this can be attributed to the fact that the Swedish singer and musician plays the pipe organ, an instrument that fills cavernous church sanctuaries and holy spaces with rich layers of sound. But it’s also her songs on this year’s superb record Ceremony, that take on an otherworldly transcendence mixing moody orchestrations with engrossing, almost poppy melodies.
So when Soundcheck had the opportunity to film von Hausswolff in New York City, as a co-production with NPR Music’s Field Recordings series it was only natural to seek out a pipe organ in a church that could accommodate. Filmed and recorded inside the spacious and regal Christ Church — a United Methodist church on Park Avenue — von Hausswolff’s rendition of “Funeral For My Future Children” is outright stunning.
Amidst the ornate decorations and glowing candles, the stained glass windows, and simply the sound of the of organ as it swelled and enveloped the entire room, von Hausswolff’s performance showcased the nuanced beauty of her voice and the epic power of the instrument.
Here’s a project I did last month with guitarist extraordinaire Marnie Stern, from her apartment in the Upper East Side in New York.
While releasing only three records between 1969 and 1973 before its implosion, The Stooges remains one of the most influential and ahead of its time bands ever. And its fearsome lead singer, Iggy Pop — famous for his commanding bare-chested performances, self-mutilation and unpredictable stage antics — is one of rock’s most iconic stars, laying the foundation for punk rock. Still, even at 66, it’s astonishing to think that someone who’s lived as hard and for so long as Iggy Pop is just as explosive and enduring.
After reforming in 2003, the band has seen a resurgence that’s culminated in both highs, like in March 2010 when the Stooges and Iggy Pop were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and lows, when Ron Asheton died in 2009. Now with a new album, Ready To Die, Iggy And The Stooges are reforming again.
Continue reading Iggy And The Stooges: Not Quite ‘Ready To Die’
It’s a rarity for rock bands to last as long as The Flaming Lips have, and practically unheard of to remain as artistically relevant. But over a constantly shapeshifting, nearly 30-year lifespan, Lips’ frontman and spiritual guide Wayne Coyne and company have proven time and again they’re not your typical rock band. Case in point: While The Terror — the iconoclast Oklahoma City band’s 13th record — is technically its first “proper” album in roughly four years, The Lips have been as productive and creatively curious as ever.
Continue reading The Flaming Lips: An Unpredictable Journey Leads To Unrelenting ‘Terror’