CMJ Report - Day 1
Reporting from NYC, this is Sneak Easy with a short but sweet overview of his trip to The Annex where he caught a few tunes of Sam Champion and the Tiny Masters of Today.
“we decided to skip out on the Sox for a few innings and wander down to the Annex to get the first taste of CMJ. We tried to time it so we could catch a few songs at the tail end of Sam Champion’s set and the first few songs of Tiny Masters of Today, then bolt back to catch the last few frames of Game 4. We actually timed it fairly well. We arrived just after SC had hit the stage. Admission, Bass and Budlight were free courtesy of NME. Finally, after screwing me for years with lousy recommendations for 3rd rate bands (The Thrills are sweeeeeeeet) they pay me back with two free beers. I’d rather have the $25 back they made me spend on an import by the Coral.
Anyway so Sam Champion - I had been hearing a lot of Pavement comparisons, but the only track I ever heard sounded more like the Libertines. I was wrong and the comparisons were right. They sound just like Pavement, or the singer is at least trying to sound like Malkmus, somewhat shamelessly I might add. We sat towards the back and Ivan and Ada from TMOT were sitting right next to us. 9-year-old Ada looked bored and read a copy of Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. Me lady, who is not a Tiny Masters fan (“it’s a novelty act!”), commented that she looked just as she did before a soccer game at that age (ie. I don’t want to be here). I agreed, but at the same time, isn’t acting like you don’t want to be there an integral part of seeing rock n’ roll in New York? Ivan seemed more into it nodding his head along to SC. SC’s last song was the one I knew. It was their best of the evening
Then Tiny Masters played. The place was surprisingly only about half-way full. I was slightly impressed with their record and was certainly curious to see what the kids could do. Well, I’ll say this; despite endorsements from Fred Schneider, Karen O and David Bowie I realized that the kids can’t play. I don’t mean “can’t play” in the ramone-sense like they can’t solo and they don’t know an F-chord – they just really can’t play. They were still mildly entertaining and they certainly looked cool up there. It was just difficult to tell one song from the next. I’m sure they’ll get it together (and I hope they do), but the whole thing smells of a hipster-daddy and not an eleven year old with a stack of Cramps records. We left after the fourth song and went home to see another Red Sox loss. Oh well.”
Check out Tiny Masters of Today on Myspace - Purchase TMOT music
Check out Tiny Sam Champion on Myspace - Purchase Sam Champion music
Fall Foliage Time…
(Photo by Tim Palmer-Benson )
So it’s that time of year again. Get out the mulled cider, the autumn brews and the pumpkin spice beer. It took some time getting here but fall has finally arrived in New England. And thanks to my intuition that this would be peak weekend in Vermont, I rented a 16 person cabin in Southern Vermont for the weekend.
So it’s time to polish off those albums that remind you of the fall. For me, I have a tendency to listen to a lot of bluegrass, alternative country, and basically any and all great singer / songwriters of our past time such as Nick Drake, Dylan, Cohen. As for modern day heroes, Andrew Bird is at the top of the playlist for me around this time of year. I just may blare “Scythian Empire” all the way up to Vermont on Friday.
As for your run of the mug indie / alternative bands, I find myself connecting with Arcade Fire around this time of year. Not that I don’t connect with them any other time of the year but there is something about their deepness that conjures up the heart warming, and homey feel that the fall season embodies. And another band that usually gets a good amount of play time is Radiohead.
And what perfect timing for the release of their 7th studio album, In Rainbows, as I embark on the 3 hour trip north to my fall foliage cabin.
I’ve got a track from the album for your listening pleasure below. It’s not for download because it just wouldn’t make much sense as you can download the entire album for free if you’d like from Radiohead themselves (if this is new to you, then I must divert you to Pitchfork’s page on all this as there is too much to discuss that needs an entire new post from me). While you can get it for free if you’d like, if you’ve got a couple bucks to spare, why not throw them a bone or two - Purchase the digital version or the Box Set at www.inrainbows.com, if you haven’t already done so that is.
The track I’ve posted is “Weird Fishes / Arpeggi“. This was my favorite when I first heard them play it way back during their surprise tour and it’s slowly but surely climbing in the ranks with my favorite on the album. It’s very much in the same vein as Kid A, YES!!!! It’s one of those songs that starts off a bit catchy and then slowly turns in to chaos, but controllable chaos. It reaches a climax and then leaves you hanging with symbols crashing and York whispering sweet nothingness in to the mic. The transition to the following track, “All I Need“, is perfect. In fact, the transition on just about the entire album is perfect. As for the songs themselves, I need more time with the album but it appears to be a grower. In other words, I wasn’t blown away but I was also not disappointed. The more I listen I’m sure the more meaning will come out of each motion, each transition and each lyric.
Listen to “Weird Fishes / Arpeggi” :
Bonus MP3 download - “Scythian Empire” (Andrew Bird, Purchase Armchair Apocrypha)
