Keeping some things private doesn’t deny our humanity or our identity; in fact, it affirms who we are, and what we ought to be as humans. It just shows respect to the others around you, and to your audience, not to subject them to that kind of stuff.
So the other day I found this site, Daytrotter.com. Some of you may already know about it, but I’m new here.
Anyhow…I was incredibly impressed with the concept of this site/blog. They have musical artists of many types–from obscure to famous, and everything in between–come through their studio in Rock Island, IL. The artist or band will play a few of their songs, live-in-studio–and then Daytrotter does some minor mixing (no editing) and gives away the mp3s of the session on the website.
Yes. Gives them away. With the artist’s full permission.
The whole site has this amazing vibe of providing organic, un-tampered-with versions of the artists that come through. Daytrotter even creates original artwork portraits of the artists, rather than using photographs of them. All of it designed to present the artist as unpolished, raw, and real. None of the studio tweaks; just the artist–and the art.
The result is sometimes less than perfect–but that’s what they’re looking for. On the other hand, sometimes this format captures some of the most honest and powerful live renditions of your favorite songs that you would ever hear. And you get to download them for free. Because that’s how Daytrotter rolls.
Don’t take my word for it; go check it out.
.I must admit I’d never heard of The Rural Alberta Advantage before today. Their website is unassuming, no hype. Their concept is simple and uncluttered. They don’t promote their act by sheer hype. But they are going everywhere (they were even in Denver last summer).
The clip below is a live, backstage, after-the-show spontaneous moment by one of the bandmates, Nils Edenloff, in San Francisco. The other two had already left.
Sometimes in music, it isn’t the most innovative, experimental thing that knocks you off your feet. Sometimes it’s just the pure, simple emotion of the moment.
The surprise of the evening was the opening act, a newer band simply called “Churchill.” To tell you the truth, at first, they seemed the most unlikely candidates to win over an indie rock crowd. The four guys and two girls opened their set with “Please come my way, Lord/Please come my way”, in gospelly four-part harmony underlaid only with a bass/snare drumbeat.
Huh? I thought I was at a rock concert, I thought. This looks and sounds like something from my old youth group. But that impression only lasted a moment. From there, they launched into an innovative jazzy sound that still sounded a bit gospelly-bluegrassy, but very, very cool. And things only got better from there.
Based on hearing this one performance, and their freshly-released EP–I’d say Churchill’s strongest asset at the moment is that they have an incredibly solid drum/bass combination. These two instruments form the backbone of pretty much any modern band, and the strength of these pieces (or lack thereof) can make or break a band. That said–this band has one of the strongest backbones of any new band I’ve ever heard, and it gives them a great foundation to build on.
Another thing they have going for them is their songwriting. The tunes are memorable, great melodies, great lyric. I know a song is good when it stays in my head. Their stuff stayed there for days.
Their weak spot–at least that evening–was the vocals. Where the drums/bass were on the mark, the vocals drifted a bit. I say this guardedly because their vocals were much stronger on the EP–so I know they are capable. For whatever reason, it didn’t always translate into their live performance. Whether that’s a consistent issue can’t be determined until I see them play again.
And I would definitely go see them again.
If you’re following this blog (thank you if you are), you probably can already tell that good music excites me. So does real potential. I see in Churchill, not a band who has arrived–but a band that is certainly on their way. They have the raw materials, the oomph, to take them places–the potential to really become something special.
Churchill is a band to watch–and I’m going to look forward to watching how things go for them.
OOMPH scale: 7.5
I showed up at her concert here in Denver last Saturday night, at the Fillmore Auditorium. I wrote a full concert review on Examiner.com, so I won’t repeat all that here–just go read the review when you’re done here. The house was packed, and I felt like a sardine standing there among so many excited fans. Regina put on a great show, and I truly enjoyed the performance.
But I actually spent most of my time in that concert hall–and a lot of time afterward–marveling at just how popular she is. Not everyone knows Regina Spektor, but those who are fans are really fans. And I’m left sort of scratching my head at what it is about Regina that packs places like the Fillmore with ecstatic twenty-somethings who can sing her wordy, quirky songs word for word.
It isn’t that I don’t like her, because I do–a lot. I just wonder why everyone else likes her.
I mean, if you think about it–and if you don’t know Regina Spektor, you wouldn’t think about it at all, but if you did–there doesn’t seem to be anything about her success that is according to formula. Russian-born and classically trained, she doesn’t really fit the image of a modern-day pop star. She wears a dress–I mean, one that actually covers her–and she sits at a real piano with a couple of string players and a drummer, and she writes and sings these quirky songs with lots of staccato vowels that remind me of a little girl making up funny-sounding stuff while playing in a sandbox. Sometimes she even purses her lips a little when she sings so it sounds a little bit like Shirley Temple. And people just eeet-eet-eet-eet it up.
Truth be told, I think if Regina Spektor had tried to make a go of this ten or fifteen years ago, she probably wouldn’t have got very far. She would have had to pick a genre instead of blending seven or eight of them together, and she probably would have had to let someone else pick her clothes (or lack thereof) and write her some formulaic pop songs–or maybe she wouldn’t have made it at all.
But these days, it’s the very fact that Regina Spektor defies categorization that seems to make her so popular. She is what she is, and she’s very good at it. And there’s no doubt she has stage presence. I mean, just coming out on the stage with that winning smile, courtseying to the cheering crowd–she had me at “Thank you soooooo much!”
My point is, we’re living in a time when we kind of don’t want things to fit in a neat little box anymore. We like stuff that can’t be labeled, that crosses boundaries and genres. And more and more, that includes music. It’s the perfect cultural climate for someone like Regina to come on the stage and just be who she is. And there’s something about her personality that makes people relate–especially the girls, but really all of us, in a way. It’s a blend of the geekiness we all wish we weren’t ashamed of with the boldness we wish we had, set in a young woman who seems surprisingly normal. Her songs are sometimes funny, sometimes poignant, and sometimes highly introspective–and we sing along because we wish it was us who thought of them. It’s a connection I don’t think would ever happen if she were shoved into the bigger-than-life superstar image. And so, a generation inundated with hype finds themselves falling in love with an understated kind of music remarkably similar to what our parents (and–gasp!–grandparents) used to listen to…because it’s presented in a fresh way that appeals to the postmodern sensibilities of our time.
So maybe we love Regina because we see ourselves in her. Maybe it’s as simple as that.
If you’re a Regina Spektor fan…what is it that you love about her?
As usual, there is much live music to choose from in Denver this weekend, including lots of local talent. Here are a few of the more promising prospects, to help narrow the search.
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 6
The Rouge, a local indie band with a growing following, will be playing at the Marquis Theater tonight at 7:30 PM, along with The Still City, Snake Rattle Rattle Snake, and Churchill. This is all-ages event! Tickets are $10 each, available from Soda Jerk Presents. The Marquis Theater is located at 2009 Larimer St. in Denver.
Swallow Hill presents Solas, touted as one of the best Irish/Celtic bands around, at the L2 Arts and Culture Center, 1477 Colombine St. in Denver. Also appearing is Alaskan bluegrass band Bearfoot. Tickets are $25 for Swallow Hill members, $27 for non-members, available from Swallow Hill. Show starts at 8:00 PM.
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 7
Regina Spektor has made quite a splash in the music scene in the past couple of years with her unique brand of acoustic alternative music. She’ll be appearing Saturday at the Fillmore Auditorium, 1510 Clarkson St. in Denver. Tickets are $32, available from livenation.com. Service charge may apply. This is a show for ages 16 and up; start time is 8:00 PM.
Local Americana-folk band Jonny Woodrose & the Brokenhearted Woodpeckers is having a CD release party at Larimer Lounge, 2721 Larimer St. in Denver. Also scheduled to appear are Tailored Rags, The Widow’s Bane and Murcureria. Cover charge is $7.00; show starts at 9:00 PM. (Jonny Woodrose is scheduled to start playing around midnight. Count on ages 21 and up for this show.)
Also remember…this weekend is the start of Denver Arts Week! Support the arts by supporting your local musicians.
