"She's Not There" Nick Cave featuring Neko Case

Woah, wasn't expecting this one. A much overlooked Zombies hit.

This is a little off, definitely a different feel than the original.

plus ones, December 8, 2010 'Where's the Band?' concert in Cambridge, MA

I didn't attend this show, but I sure wish I did. A number of really stunning artists covering many Saves the Day tunes and a great set by Conley himself.

This girl however did go and wrote about it.

TV on the Radio, Tunde Adebimpe touches Neil Young

Tunde Adebimpe did a really lovely cover of Neil Young's hit off of Harvest Moon called "Unknown Legend." It's just really lovely.

I've been all about the lovely lately.

Beck covers Daniel Johnson's "True Love Will Find You In The End"

"Fools Rush In" She and Him

"Fools Rush In" a lush, attractive version performed by She & Him.

I had the urge to listen to this song last night and I got on a supreme She & Him kick.

Otis Redding "Pain in My Heart" and the Rolling Stones

I know you've heard Otis Redding, but how much do you really know of him?

I'm going to pony up and be the first to say, I really didn't know much about him before today. 

He died at twenty-six in a plane crash after a show in Cleveland, Ohio, the plane crashed in Madison, Wisconsin. Despite his very young age, he had three children and a wife!

So - all those hits, hits upon hits that you know but don't really know well were done by a very young fellow!

His big hit "(Sitting on) The Dock of the Bay" was recorded only a few days before his fatal crash:

"Pain In My Heart"

Stones cover of "The Pain in My Heart" 

Redding cover of "Satisfaction"

"You Don't Miss Your Water" 

Juno Fest with Meaghan Smith and Julie Doiron; Saturday March 26, 2011

Day two, a really great Saturday evening of good friends, food and concerts.

I am completely in love with Meaghan Smith (pronounced Me-gan). She has to be one of the loveliest personalities I've seen on stage in a while and The Drake served as the perfect environment for her folk-jazz sound.

I first dipped into Meaghan Smith after hearing her song "A Little Love" off of her latest release The Cricket's Orchestra (listen for Kid Koala's contributions). You may also recognise her from the (500) Days of Summer soundtrack with a cover of the Pixies' tune "Here Comes Your Man." Although I don't recall it actually being featured in the film.





Smith was absolutely charming live, she has a nice modest character that just radiates and on top of everything, she's got a pretty lovely voice. She played just with a second guitarist which also happened to be her husband, Jason Mingo. She very cutely called him Mingo in the live show. Big fan of her outfit too, go curvy girls!

Apparently, she beat out the Hannah Georgas for the Best New Artist Juno Award. Georgas was the show's headliner. Not bad Meaghan!

I later hoofed my way on over to the Garrison to see the instrumental band Fond of Tigers - endured two tunes and felt overwhelmed by their progressive rock sound. The first tune sounded really ornate, but tight, with no musical heart; The second was messy and unbearable. I left to eat the first burger to reach my mouth in four months at the BQM Burger Shoppe on Ossington. As predicted, it was one of the best burgers that I have ever had, hands down.

Made me way back to the Garrison in time to catch Julie Doiron. We made our way pretty close so I was able to hear the ridiculous, airy things Doiron had to say. Although not everyone is in agreement, Doiron's presence on stage is absolutely charming. She's a warm, flighty person in conversation, but absolutely full of energy in her performance. I have to say, Doiron is someone I really enjoy seeing live for her quirky personality. Furthermore, she plays a huge variety of songs from her large catalogue - you really never tire of one album at her live gigs.

She played a very similar set to the one I saw a month ago at the Horseshoe. She even commented about how she and her drummer - William Kidman. Kidman seems like the kind of person you'd want to be your friend for his musical ability and easy going nature. Doiron was switching and flipping this poor guy around this evening like it was nobody's business. She introduced "I Woke Myself Up" as a song they don't play very often and told everyone she hadn't told William what she was going to play. He played perfectly.

She very casually added they hadn't practiced a bunch of tunes they played. She sort of giggled afterwards for acknowledging that they had practiced, but kept her edge by stating they only practiced five tunes. It's pretty incredible to hear how well Kidman and Doiron make music. Their a pretty bare ensemble with Julie mostly on guitars, she's no guitar hero by any means, but she definitely makes do with what she knows. Seems like a great fit. Kidman is a very talented drummer (although playing the guitar below on that badass Neil Young cover!)

I loved hearing "The Wrong Guy" as the opener again, also off of I Woke Myself Up. It is really exciting to hear the first yelp of this song, a very odd extended singing of the word "I". She really emphasises the personal pronouns in this song in the live show, often pulling away from the mic to sing them. It was really powerful to hear it right from the front. You'll get what I mean after you listen to the tune, just so much energy. If you listen to the recorded version on headphones, the very first "I" flip flops from ear to ear, it gives me the chills.

She played a bit off her latest album including "Tailor," "Heavy Snow" and "Consolation Prize." Not too many, but I've been feeling her older stuff lately for all her melancholy.

She played for well over an hour, the pleasures of playing the headline slot in a festival. Closing off with a four or five song encore, of which she plucked songs from audience requests. The last song I heard her play was the very odd request of "Snow Falls in November." She also fielded two requests for covers they'd played at their last gig in Toronto - "Love Hurts," first recorded by the Everly Brothers in 1960 and most popular by Nazareth.



They also played a really great cover of Merle Haggard's "Reasons to Quit" which carried some kind of significance as a shared tune between musicians. Doiron was introduced to the tune by Phosphorescent, she mentioned she felt the need to make a recording of the song to pass on.



Kidman played a cover of Neil Young's "Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere" with Doiron on the drums.





I left before her last few songs because it was already 1:30am and my poor feet were aching like a pregnant woman's would. She announced to the crowd she was going to play two more, "Dance Music" followed by "Sweeter." I was really killing to hear "Dark Horse," but maybe I was just spoiled to hear her play that in December of last year at the Dakota.

I got a new lens, you can probably tell. Awesome concert photos.

Elephant 6 at Lee's Palace; Friday March 18, 2011

I finally mustered up the interest in writing this note on the Elephant 6 gig.

Elephant 6 is a music collective that consists of artists from Georgia, a surprisingly booming music scene in the 1990s with acts like Elf Power, Neutral Milk Hotel, The Gerbils and a few others to note.

A big weakness of mine entering the show was my lack of prior familiarity with the individuals playing at this show. I, like most people in attendance bought tickets to this show in the slight hope we'd see Jeff Mangum hop out on stage for a very rare appearance. Well, just weeks ago a solo Jeff Mangum show was announced with two gigs in Toronto. Our slight hopes were shattered at that, but still there enough to keep me for the whole four hour set Elephant 6 played last Friday.

I have to admit I enjoyed the first half of the set much better for the musical spectacle, while the second half felt like I witnessed some serious musical wanking. By the end it just felt like an unemotional display of tunes that were slapped together, my mind wasn't in it at all. How indulgent. But for the hope that something amazing would pop up and sheer boredom with nothing else to do on a Friday night, I stuck it out.

I was pretty glad I did because they played an amazing closer with a cover of Sun Ra's jazz insturmental tune "Enlightenment. They smacked on some infectious lyrics on heavy repetition and voila! - the perfect closer. Apparently, these lyrics were regular lyrics that Sun Ra clunked onto live performances of the tune. I can't convey to you how fun this was live, there was just a lot of energy flowing with a song that few people probably knew -

Studio:



Live, pulled from a fantastic French documentary, the video is brief but you'll get the point -



Elephant 6:



What made their live rendition of "Enlightenment" so engaging was the fact that they half way through their twelve or fifteen minute rendition they started playing to play in the audience. It felt like more of a La Blogotheque Take Away Show than it did a ticketed concert at Lee's Palace. Again, I think many people like myself stuck it out for a spectacle finish. Another reason that made me stick was their engaging opener and middle bit. Their opener was a walk up to the stage with vocals and horns from the back of the venue. You found the band scattered through the crowd, it was absolutely exciting and fun. They also took a short intermission between sets to catch a breath, coming back on stage to play a game with the audience and one lucky audience member to ring in the spring season. They were set up with a twenty foot tall blow up snow man and a faux moon that just looked like a coat hanger bent into a circle with paper strewn across. The lucky person was to throw a soft ball at the coat hanger moon and break the paper. I was situated right next to the guy in the band holding up the moon and where the balls were flying. The girl throwing the ball got to go on stage and sing, loads of confidence I'd say! The idea was that she was to request a song they don't know so they'd have to wank their way through. Instead, they just played ACDC's "Hells Bells." An absolutely boring tune, original or cover.

I really also loved the cover of the Kink's tune "Alcohol," one of the few covers I actually latched on to. I'm sure there were more, I just didn't know them! It was the perfect fit for their odd ensemble. Neutral Milk Hotel horn player Laura Carter took the lead on this drone tune:



I thoroughly enjoyed Julian Koster's (the Music Tapes and Neutral Milk Hotel) presence and performance at this gig. I was familiar with him as an artist and his place in the Athens, Georgia, but had never really heard him. He's a little thing with loads of energy, he played practically every instrument on stage with a specialisation in the singing saw. I have never heard anyone play the singing saw so perfectly and with such great range. At half time a friend of mine was telling me about his house tour he did a couple of years ago throughout North America, with four stops in Toronto. This was in support of his album The Singing Saw At Christmas Time. Regret!

Koster was a talker, wasn't charmed by that just because of all the absurdity that was leaving his mouth. Just so off - like his bit on his Romanian roots. His performance was breathtaking and awe inducing:



A scripted bit! I hate finding that the artist says the same thing every show. This was a carbon copy duplicate of my show's performance.

His performance following his Romanian rant (different show):



Scott Spillane, of the Gerbils and horn player of Neutral Milk Hotel also got my attention to with his odd look - heavy beard, silver hair and a Dr. Seuss looking horn instrument. I really stuck (!!) to his tune "Glue" - that was originally done by his band The Gerbils, but covered (successfully) by Netural Milk Hotel.



I really like the original version which they played in the first half of their marathon of show. I was really feeling the singing guitar line following the choruses.



Shows like this one remind me that there's so much I don't know, and so much I need to wrap my head around. It's all very exciting!

Jeff Mangum in August, can't wait.

A great review of an Elephant 6 gig in Phoenix, Arizona.

Sun Ra "Enlightenment"

Sun Ra, born Herman Poole Blout is a jazz artist that made it big in the 1930s. Black man livin' in Alabama in the 1930s.

This song is absolutely stunning. It starts out haunting and steady and evolves into something completely ornate yet not overwhelming.

I heard Elephant 6 do their rendition of it, including chanting lyrics to follow. Absolutely magnificent live.

Michel Gondry, Jon Brion, Charlie Kaufman 'Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind'

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is an absolutely stunning film. I know I'm a little bit behind in acknowledging it but it is a magnificent film. As far as an Charlie Kaufman film goes, I have to say Eternal Sunshine left me with bundles more hope than Synecdoche, New York did. Both these films are very introspective, they look deep at what surface dramas are unable to touch on.

Throughout the film I felt so compelled by Kate Winslet and her acting abilities. I kept thinking back to her role as a German woman in the film The Reader. What a range!

I love these simple movie posters, they remind me of original book covers before the movie cover comes to destroy a book-turned-movie title.

So a few more words on the film - I really adored the soundtrack, not to my surprise in the slightest bit, Jon Brion was the brains behind it. Brion is the amazing producer of many albums I'm sure you have on your ipod - Elliott Smith's From a Basement on a Hill (the original 2001 version, unreleased), Spoon's Gagagdkljfdgagaa (ridiculous title) as well as albums by Keane and Aimee Mann. He's known for his Beatles like production results.

I really dig the atmosphere and environment he created with the tunes from the soundtrack. Especially, the The Korgis tune "Everybody's Got Something to Learn" he re-visioned with Beck.

Okkervil on Big Star

"I'm going to play the first Big Star song I ever loved. I went out and I bought a copy of Third/Sister Lovers because I heard it was cool. I was in high school. I didn't like much of it at first. some of the songs took me years to like. This was the first tune I liked."

In other big news OKKERVIL RIVER are on tour! Making my dreams come true here!

"Baby It's You"

Music by Burt Bacharach with Luther Dixon (credited as Barney Williams) and Mack David (lyrics).

It was made a hit first by the Shirelles in 1961 and then shortly later by the Beatles in 1963. The current music group Tennis regarded it as the song that initially inspired them, it was the version by the Shirelles that did it.

Tony Scherr at the Living Room, Manhattan, NY; Monday February 28, 2011

Happy March! On the last day of February 2011, I warmed up with Tony Scherr at fantastic little venue called the Living Room in Manhattan.

I got to the venue in a sweat, it's hidden at the back of a bar similarly to the way the Piston in Toronto stows away its stage. Funny, the Piston is where I last saw Tony Scherr play!

Have you met Tony Scherr yet? (pronounced "Cher")

If not, you've definitely heard his melodies in the lovely Feist tune "Lonely, Lonely" off of her effortless album Let It Die. She borrowed Scherr's tune of "Sacramento" and gave it facelift, lyric wise. I've never heard him play that song before of my three or four times watching him live.

Tony playing a spot at a Feist Toronto gig at the Rivoli.

Feist's take:

He plays a residency at the Living Room, Mondays at 9pm. You have to reason to miss him if you're in New York.

Seeing him in his native city, he seemed much more comfortable on stage. He had a full band, consisting of a drum and a bass player. Both gentlemen seemed really in tune with Tony, this was very obviously a comfortable ensemble. Tony is incredible on the guitar, he is as animated in his guitar playing as he is singing, if not more so. He has a very odd voice that I think many people would not enjoy listening to. He's also slightly older, late forties/fifties, which make him also a little less accessible to younger people. Note: I'm sorry to be ignorant, because I myself am young and into his music but I can tell you from introducing him to my friends, he isn't a huge hit with my lady friends. He raked in a decent crowd with the house only asking for a one drink minimum purchase per set and a suggested ten dollar donation in the pitch jar. I obliged.

It also seemed like a somewhat regular crowd, happy to see Tony play. Much older of course.

But more on Tony. I find myself not knowing many of his songs at his live show. In fact, I don't know many of his songs at all. I don't listen to him on repeat but I love what he does, he story tells and entices me through his ability to really play. I heard him comment to a friend that he wasn't on he felt really off at the show, he fooled me! He always looks like a really nervous guy through all his banter and his often rustling of sheet music on a stand, on stage. Even after the show in his brief exchange with his friend he was quickly and shakily drinking out of a water bottle with a thousand pounds of gear on his back. Oddly enough on stage, he performs with such effortlessness, definitely something that comes very fluidly to him.

The first time I saw Tony Scherr was at the Dakota, for a very impromptu Jason Collett show four years ago. He bitched a lot about the US at that gig, understandably. I then was reminded of him on the soundtrack to the Ethan Hawke film The Hottest State, not my favourite film as I anticipated, but one of the best soundtracks I have ever come across. He sang the very delicate "You, The Queen." He didn't pen it, Jesse Harris did. I just found this!!!! GOLD:

As you may have gathered, Tony is very loved by Toronto artists.

I had a pint of a beer called Peak Organic Spring Ale which comes from Portland, Maine. A very hoppy beer, too hoppy for my tastes.

Cat Power

A great forgotten friend!

I got into Cat Power in my first year of university. A serious regret was missing her 2006 show at Lee's despite the fact she's known for being a complete social hermit when it comes to performing live. Funny she made her way into a film called My Blueberry Nights featuring not only herself, but Norah Jones and Jude Law. Interesting combo, great soundtrack!

The first album I picked up of hers was The Cover Record released in 2000. Such an odd choice to start off with. I fell in love with the tune "Naked If I Want To." Which later appeared on her brilliant cover album Jukebox as a more upbeat version with a stripped down version included on the bonus disc.

Awesome Artwork! I always thought it looked like pieces of meat, but others say clothes.

Juuuukebox! (video is titled wrong)

I know I ranted about this three years ago but Cat Power, or Chan Marshall turns thirty nine this year! What a babe! I can only hope I hold up this well -

'Phil Ochs: There But For Fortune' and Victor Jara

Phil Ochs: There But For Fortune is a brilliant film that you must see. It was a beautiful time machine back to the '60s.

I got to the venue about ten minutes before the film began. I figured I'd be the only one in the theatre, but I was sorely wrong - huge lineups reaching the entrance of Sonic Boom. I didn't initially notice that I was the youngest person in sight by twenty years at very least. A woman who looked to be in her fifties standing behind me asked me if I knew the music of Phil Ochs. I gave her my honest answer by replying - "I don't know his music very well, but I'd really like to, so this is my opportunity to get familiar." I also added my love for the decade, and admitted to knowing very little of the sixties, although I do consider myself pretty knowledgeable when it comes to that time period. There's just so much to wrap your mind around, it's almost hard to keep up.

What a looker!

I got in and grabbed a good seat. There are perks to traveling solo.

The film was absolutely invigorating. It portrayed the demise of Phil Ochs - an interesting companion to the NOW article thats catch line on the cover was "What Killed Phil Ochs?" An odd question to be asking - almost misleading if you don't know his story. The film does a wonderful job of informing the new Phil Ochs fan. A pal at TIFF this year past got me thinking of how information is presenting in film - does it treat you like a moron by telling you everything rather than letting you do the thinking? This can be applied to both regular film and documentaries. I loved that this film along with the footage of recent interviews showed a split screen between the interviews and old photos of the people being interviewed. It gave context and understanding without blatantly presenting it.

I'm not really sure why Phil Ochs isn't more well known. I asked my music savvy uncle and father if they knew who he was. They both did, but didn't really know much about him or his music. The best my uncle could espouse was that he was a folky artist from Greenwich that sounded like Peter Paul and Mary. I gaged when he drew that comparison, I love "Puff the Magic Dragon" but the purpose of each act's music was very different. Ochs was a true poet and musician, it flowed easy for him. He had a natural interest in politics and current affairs - each song was written to engage and educate, as much as it was for musical enjoyment. Maybe even a bit more of the education than the musical enjoyment.

I believe Ochs really lived, although nearing the end of his life he took a sad decline. Although he took his own life in his mid-thirties, his presence was strong through his activism and desire to see the world. I think his fear and disappointment of the world around him pushed him to his death. From the movie, I gathered he wasn't a very good family man or father. He traveled a lot for his music and pleasure.

I really felt his relationship with the Chilean folk artist and activist Victor Jara. Jara was a victim of the 1973 Chilean coup where Salvador Allende was booted from presidency and replaced by Augusto Pinochet. With Pinochet's move to Office, there were immense changes in the social and political life of Chile. Parliament was shut down suffocating political life and trade unions were banned. His government disappeared 3,000 opponents and arrested 30,000 individuals.

Jara's case was incredibly heartbreaking. Upon hearing an older man's account I couldn't help but feel, feel everything. I took a course on Latin America a couple of years ago and I remember learning about the 1973 coup, but no word was mentioned about Jara.

To summarise what happened far too quickly -

"On the morning of September 12, Jara was taken, along with thousands of others, as a prisoner to the Chile Stadium (renamed the Estadio Víctor Jara in September 2003). In the hours and days that followed, many of those detained in the stadium were tortured and killed there by the military forces. Jara was repeatedly beaten and tortured; the bones in his hands were broken as were his ribs.^[4] Fellow political prisoners have testified that his captors mockingly suggested that he play guitar for them as he lay on the ground with broken hands. Defiantly, he sang part of "Venceremos" (We Will Win), a song supporting the Popular Unity coalition.^[4] After further beatings, he was machine-gunned on September 15, his body dumped on a road on the outskirts of Santiago and then taken to a city morgue where they found 44 bullet shots on his body." Pulled from Wikipedia

Like myself, Phil Ochs took this hard. Jara was someone he had met on his world travels and seriously respected.

Ochs spent a lot of time dwelling on these horrid events. Here's his response to Jara's death -

On September 11, 1973, the Allende government of Chile was overthrown in a coup d'état. Allende died during the bombing of the presidential palace, and Jara was publicly tortured and killed. When Ochs heard about the manner in which his friend had been killed, he was outraged. He decided to organize a benefit concert to bring to public attention the situation in Chile and raise funds for the people of Chile. The concert, "An Evening with Salvador Allende", included films of Allende; singers such as Pete Seeger,Arlo Guthrie, and Bob Dylan; and political activists such as former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark. Dylan had agreed to perform at the last minute when he heard that the concert had sold so few tickets that it was in danger of being canceled. Once his participation was announced, the event quickly sold out.^[97]

After the Chile benefit, Ochs and Dylan discussed the possibility of a joint concert tour, playing small nightclubs. Nothing came of the Dylan-Ochs plans, but the idea eventually evolved into Dylan's Rolling Thunder Revue.^[98] Pulled from Wikipedia

Additional efforts -

The Vietnam War ended on April 30, 1975.^[99] Ochs planned a final "War Is Over" rally, which was held in New York's Central Parkon May 11. More than 100,000 people came to hear Ochs, joined by Harry Belafonte, Odetta, Pete Seeger and others. Ochs and Joan Baez sang a duet of "There but for Fortune" and he closed with his song "The War Is Over"—finally a true declaration that the war was over.^[100] Pulled from Wikipedia

I'm running out of steam here, but Phil Ochs is a real incredible individual. I'd be lucky to accomplish half of what he did.

Some musical enjoyment for you:

Calexico's tune about Victor Jara

Billy Bragg:

Phil Ochs:

The film closed with a tune called "He Was a Good Friend of Mine"performed by Dave Van Ronk. Can't seem to find a nice version by Cat Power:

"Let It Die" Leslie Feist

"Let it die and get out of my mind. We don't see eye to eye or hear ear to ear"

My music soul mate Kiersten Holine:

"Kids" MGMT

MGMT is a band that I recently discovered. The tune "Kids" is played at my work once or twice a day.

It's a total gold mine for covers, far better than the original live. Although none better than the original version recorded:

I was a little hesitant with this one, but surprisingly not entirely let down:

Kind of wish I was at this gig:

and this one too:

"Oh Carol"

First heard this song at a Dan Auerbach gig, where he did a very fitting cover.

I really like the original. It has the sweet sixties sound that it was coming out off with an edge that it was soon to enter in the '70s:

From the Toronto gig I saw him play:

Sunday Morning

I spent a good chunk of my morning uploading CDs. Is there anything more painful than uploadingi and re-uploading CDs onto your computer?

Recently realised that I have far too many CDs that I haven't gotten around to listening to. I'm going to really give them a go this week.

I also did a record swap with a mate and never got around to listening to any of his CDs that he lent me. I'm a flop of record club friend.

I did however find a lovely cover of "Jolene" by Luke Doucet and his daughter Chloe. She must be like twelve!

And I can't help but think of that terrific Eels tune "Saturday Morning" by my subject of this note, although, it is Sunday.

"You Really Got A Hold On Me" The Zombies

I'm a total sap in saying that I love this song. Every version and revisit of this tune I tend to really like. Especially the fusion of Sam Cooke's lovely "Bring It On Home To Me" and Smokey Robinson's "You Really Got A Hold On Me." You can really feel the lust and desire in the blend of the two tunes.