Tag: Indie

Categories
Vinyl

Vinyl love: The Decemberists “Castaways and cutouts”

(Vinyl Love is a series of posts that quite simply lists, describes, and displays the pieces in my growing vinyl collection. You can bet that each record was given a spin during the drafting of each corresponding post.)

Artist: The Decemberists
Album Title: Castaways & cutouts
Year released: 2002
Year reissued: 2011
Details: 180 gram

The skinny: If you’re following me on Instagram or Twitter or are friends with me on Facebook, you’d know that I’ve been attending Ottawa’s CityFolk festival this week – five days of live music outdoors is always fun – but tomorrow’s headliner is icing on the cake for me. I’ve seen The Decemberists live twice before (and Colin Meloy solo once as well) but it’s always a rollicking great time. And although they likely won’t play much from their debut, “Castaways & cutouts”, it’s still one of my favourites of all their great albums. Ghosts and legionnaires and sordid reasons to eat your collard greens (see below) and crooked French Canadians. What’s not to love?

Standout track: “A cautionary song”

Categories
Live music galleries

Live music galleries: Father John Misty [2012]

(I got the idea for this series while sifting through the ‘piles’ of digital photos on my laptop. It occurred to me to share some of these great pics from some of my favourite concert sets from time to time. Until I get around to the next one, I invite you to peruse my ever-growing list of concerts page.)

Father John Misty @ Bluesfest

Artist: Father John Misty
When: July 11th, 2012
Where: River Stage, Ottawa Bluesfest, Ottawa
Context: Josh Tillman left his post as drummer for Fleet Foxes in 2012 and released his debut album under the moniker Father John Misty in April. I loved the psych folk extravaganza of “Fear fun” (and still consider it my favourite of his albums) but wasn’t at all expecting how great he’d be when I saw him live three months later. His touring band was also very good but unfortunately, I could not find out much about them online (and so could only provide the names of the few I could identify). Josh Tillman was particularly hilarious between songs, spouting random zingers, like when he pointed out a volunteer holding a question mark placard denoting “Information” and quipped that he loved the kid’s existential sign. It was a short set in all but I’ve seen him twice more since and am looking forward to seeing him a fourth time this coming weekend.
Point of reference song: “I’m writing a novel”

Josh Tillman aka Father John Misty
Jeffertitti Moon and Benji Lysaght
unknown touring drummer for Father John Misty
Josh Tillman and Benji Lysaght
unknown touring guitarist and keyboard player for Father John Misty
Josh Tillman on the tambourine
Categories
Tunes

Best tunes of 2011: #27 Noah And The Whale “Life is life”

<< #28    |    #26 >>

It’s Sunday and I’m on a mini-holiday. So I’m not going to go into an all out rail against Pitchfork, that taste-making, music-reviewing website that sometimes feels like its trying too hard to keep its taste-making credentials intact. But I will say this: if I didn’t listen to all the albums for which they have given rotten reviews, I might be missing out on some of my favourite albums.

Noah and the Whale’s debut, “Peaceful, the world lays me down”, for instance, was given a lowly 2.6 rating out of 10, the reviewer calling it “twee pop you might order in a kit”. For my own part, I guess I must have a soft spot for generic, derivative schlock, because I actually quite enjoyed the album.

Thankfully for me and scores of others, the indie pop band out of Twickenham either has thick skin or never did read the article. I say thankfully because they continued on, releasing three more albums before finally calling it quits seven years later. By 2011, though, Laura Marling and Doug Fink, brother of frontman Charlie Fink, had both left the band and Noah and the Whale’s sound had changed quite a bit. They had dispensed with the ukuleles, banjos, and glockenspiels, and really, the folk pop sound that was so prominent on the debut and then, added synths and crisp production on their third album, “Last night on earth”.

“Life is life” is the opening track and third single released off this third album. The mechanized sounding beats that open the song are definitely no longer twee, nor are the synthesizers. However, the handclaps and crowd vocals still signal that this is Noah and the Whale. A rousing number, it’s a third person observation on the act of scrapping everything to start anew. “Left his house at midnight, resolute and young, in search of something greater than the person he’d become.” Perhaps it’s a little heavy-handed and obvious but it’s got a great beat and energy to spare. And of course, it’s cheerful, like a lot of their work, and sometimes, that’s just what you need.

Almost like a Sunday morning, on a mini-holiday. Cheers.

For the rest of the Best tunes of 2011 list, click here.