Show Review: O'Brother/Junius Coheadlining Tour

The choice of venue can give both positive and negative consequences for a show. The choice of a tiny venue above a bar may have given a very large sense of intimacy for the crowd watching O'Brother, Junius and Black Clouds, but the other aspects were definitely harmed. The vocals were mixed way too low throughout the show for each of the bands, and the crowds were mostly calm and quiet. But all of the three bands showed off their superior music abilities and blew away everyone listening with their technical prowess.

Live Review: Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds, Newcastle Arena, 23/02/2011

It's taken a while, but now that the waters have finally settled following Oasis' acrimonious split it's pretty clear which Gallagher has emerged on top. While Liam has spent the past year toiling away in medium-sized venues with his mundane Beady Eye project, older brother Noel has dived straight into the arenas on his first full tour since the breakup, with this packed Newcastle date doing much to confirm that enduring popularity. The promise of old Oasis classics has no doubt helped his cause, but the same could be said of the runaway success of his Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds album, which kick-started a long overdue solo career back in October. As well as being met with a wave of critical approval, the record also achieved the improbable in that it toppled Adele from the summit of the UK's album chart, if only temporarily - and it was that success which rendered this show so much more than a mere nostalgia strip.

Artist Spotlight: Craft Spells

Only three months into 2012, and already it is shaping up to be a pretty eventful year for Brookyln-based independent label Captured Tracks. Jack Tatum and Wild Nothing are getting ready to drop their sophomore full length, Beach Fossils is working on new material, and just yesterday, Craft Spells announced the release of a six track EP, entitled Gallery, due out May 15th. Like Jack Tatum of Wild Nothing and Dustin Payseur of Beach Fossils, Justin Vallesteros started Craft Spells within the confines of his bedroom. Vallesteros moved from California to Seattle following an overwhelmingly positive reaction to his first track, "Party Talk". In his bedroom in Seattle, with equipment borrowed from friends, Vallesteros recorded Craft Spells' debut album Idle Labor, released by Captured Tracks in March of 2011. Idle Labor was one of the strongest debuts of any act of last year, being a nearly flawless hazy barrage of catchy guitar melodies, beats, and fun, nostalgic songwriting. And now after a considerable amount of touring with his band that he formed to promote Idle Labor, Craft Spells have just released their first single following the debut, "Still Left With Me". The single features a much darker tone than the poppy whimsicality of songs such as "Scandinavian Crush" and "After the Moment", but still features a similar production to Idle Labor, despite the transition from bedroom to studio. But the change shown on the track is indeed promising, and makes Gallery easily one of my most anticipated releases of this year. "Still Left With Me" can be streamed from Captured Track's Soundcloud below:

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Artist Spotlight: Born With Stripes

At a risk of sounding hyperbolic, it really is a long time since I've heard a song that's excited me as much as Born With Stripes' solitary tune 'You Stole The Laces From My Shoes.' It's not the song of the year, or even the month for that matter, but what it does succeed in is packing an optimal dose of unequivocal joy into two blissful minutes of pure guitar pop perfection. We're deep into February - by my reckoning the coldest, most miserable month of the entire year - and yet this sublime cut still managed to fill me not only with excitement ahead of the impending summer, but also the immense sense of optimism that comes with it.

Album Review: Maker - Mirrors

Album Rating: B+

If there's one thing worth taking away from Mirrors, the first full-length from Springfield, MA locals Maker, it's the young band's already obvious mastery of their craft and sound.  Every track found here resonates with the confidence and purpose of a band that's found their niche in the modern pop-punk scene, with the album as a whole easily meeting and exceeding the present-day standard.  Taking cues from tour-buddies in Crucial Dudes and The Story So Far, as well as drawing some obvious influence from now-defunct Jawbreaker and even early Brand New, Maker combine the vitality of passion-driven songwriting with the accessibility of beefed-up choruses, driving their product home with the familiarity and modesty of your favorite local band.

Album Review: Earth - Angels of Darkness, Demons of Light II

Album Rating: C+

For fans of drone, no band can beat out Earth in terms of prestige.  For the past several years the band has been a defining force in the genre, creating classics such as Earth 2 and Phase 3.  But after an extended (almost decade long) hiatus, Earth returned as if they'd never left.  However, with this advent came a shift in sound; a subtle attraction towards a more melodic presentation.  This has peaked with the band's one-two punch of Angels of Darkness, Demons of Light.

Album Review: Take One Car - It's Going To Be A Nice Day

Album Rating: A-

Take One Car writes music that embodies power, to say it in simple terms. They're a pretty simple band from upstate New York, just four guys making music, but what they accomplish in this respect is so much more than music. The new release is a great blend of alternative, indie rock, post-hardcore, and a nice dash of post-rock, balancing some heavy guitar riffing with a good portion of mysterious ambiance, and profoundly metaphorical lyrics reverberate throughout. It's Going To Be A Nice Day is broad enough to cover genre stereotypes and appeal to many, but their sound is ultimately a concentrated, perfected blend of aural pleasure that stimulates the senses and sets emotions reeling.

Album Review: Fighting Fiction - Fighting Fiction

Album Rating: B

With such a multitude of bizarre sounds and obscure genres prevalent in music nowadays, it can occasionally be refreshing to hear a band that revels in simplicity. With nay an innovative bone in their body, Fighting Fiction exemplify this approach to making music, but to this point their lack of creative expansion hasn't proved prohibitive in the slightest. They don't bother indulging in any forms of self-serving pretense or outlandish experimentation, they merely play the type of anthemic, heart-on-sleeve punk rock that they've presumably grown up enjoying, and for the most part it's a pretty great proposition for the rest of us too. Repeatedly delayed, yet no less welcome, this debut full-length provides an engrossing showcase of that back-to-basics ethic, and with a little luck could see the Brighton quartet become a big hit among those who share their ideology.

Interview With Jukebox The Ghost

Jukebox The Ghost has been slowly gaining popularity over the past few years or so. In addition to touring with Ben Folds and Barenaked Ladies, the band also played on Letterman. They most recently wrapped up a tour with Jack's Mannequin, and are planning to release a new record in 2012. All of Jukebox The Ghost sat down with me at the penultimate date of their tour with Jack's Mannequin, and we discussed timetables for the new album, new quirks on the album, the differences between opening and headlining, the origin of donuts, and much more, which you can read below.

The Daily Blair: Who Is The Best Modern Musical President?

We all have strong opinions on who was the best President, who was the worst President, what Presdient really caused the current economic crisis, what President caused the Great Depression, who was the best economic President, who was the hottest President, what President was the best Commander-In-Chief, which President got laid the most, and the classic "which President was the best at getting stuck in the bathtub?" debate.

But I have never really heard a discussion or debate about who the best musical President is/was. Meaning I have never heard an argument about what President had the best albums come out during his tenure. So below I have compiled a list of the best albums to come out during each modern Presidents era (post World War II) and you get to decide who the best modern musical President is.*

*Best albums are all from besteveralbums.com*

HARRY TRUMAN
1945: Bing Crosby: Merry Christmas
1946: Lester Young: Prez Conferences
1947: Charlie Parker: Bird & Diz
1948: Mitt Jackson: Mitt Jackson
1949: Lennie Tristano: Crosscurrents
1950: Edith Piaf: Chansons Des Cafes De Paris
1951: Thelonious Monk: Genius of Modern Music: Volume 1
1952: Hank Williams Sings: Hank Williams With His Drifting Cowboys

New Muzik Monday (2/20/12)

So, I loved the feature that Blair did two weeks ago so much that I'm turning this into a weekly thing. Hopefully we'll get a different staff member every week to make this post, so you get the variety that we usually have in  - Give Up The Ghost. Basically, we'll do little summaries of albums that have come out in the last few months that we're really digging lately. So just read and listen.

1. Hospitality - Hospitality
Early Rating: B
Check It Out

I hate to say it, but the only reason I checked out this album was due to the fact that it was released on Merge Records. But I guess it's really just proof that pretty much everything Merge puts out is worth listening to. Hospitality's debut record is fantastic. It's all you could ask for from female led indie-pop goodness, including the sweet vocals of Amber Papini, instrumentation including a wide variety of saxophones and horns, and an endless amount of catchy hooks. Tennis, Wild Flag, and The Dum Dum Girls all come to mind when listening to Hospitality, and it should be very easy for Hospitality to soon join that group of very noticeable acts.

Album Review: Memoryhouse - The Slideshow Effect

Album Rating: B

After dabbling in ambience and dream pop, it should come as no surprise that Toronto based band, Memoryhouse, have once again reinvented their craft...albeit only slightly.  And while the lush melodies and relaxed beats of The Years made for a wonderful release, the band displayed a need to project themselves further than the confines of the devisive "chillwave" scene allowed.  Thus, The Slideshow Effect came into being; an album that truly shows that Memoryhouse are indeed a band who are not afraid to explore and expand.

Album Review: Cheap Girls - Giant Orange

Album Rating: A-

It seems as if there is nothing all that extraordinary about Ian Graham and he perfectly well knows it.  Even now in fronting the third full-length from Lansing's Cheap Girls, Graham still chooses to wail out his stories and discontentment from the far side of the trio's never-waning sonic wall, knowing that the syllables he shouts will be as lost in the hazy production as he is in his own mind.  He did so all throughout Find Me A Drink Home, steadily distancing himself from the world around him but failing to sever the ties for good.  My Roaring 20's was but a reiteration of the same graceless shortcomings, this time camouflaged behind sunnier track titles and beefier choruses that maintained the self-destructive disposition of their predecessors.  Though it could have easily picked up where album-ending confessional 'One & Four' left off, Giant Orange comes off as the optimistic counterpart to more jaded previous offerings.  And wouldn't you know it, sunny is a damn good color for Cheap Girls.

Album Review: Sharon Van Etten - Tramp

Album rating: A-

Her work may have passed largely under the radar to date, but there can be no doubting that Brooklyn songwriter Sharon Van Etten has assembled an impressive assortment of admirers. Indeed it would be rather easy to mistake the credits for this third LP as a roll call of modern indie royalty, with Justin Vernon, Sufjan Stevens and every member of The National receiving nods among many others, while the latter’s Aaron Dessner also handles production duties. Critics will no doubt argue that such name checking equates to little more than a well-connected promotional ploy, but upon repeat listening to Tramp it becomes clear that she's gathered such an illustrious book of contacts purely through artistic merit.

The Daily Blair: Monday Fun Day

Below is a transcript of a conversation between myself and our fearless leader Casey Whitman about the new fun. album Some Nights. We discussed the bands new modern sound, the albums breakthrough potential, the detractors of the album, the future of the band, and if Some Nights will be the best album of 2012.


THE CHANGE IN SOUND
Casey Whitman: So, the new fun. album has gotten some mixed opinions. The album definitely has a new sound than the old one, especially from the instrumental and production standpoint. At least that's my opinion. What do you think?

Blair Chopin: People always give bands a tough time when they change a successful sound. Kid A was just noise but two years later was a classic album, The Age of Adz was "stupid" but now it is stupid enough to define a generation, and Sgt. Pepper's was hippie garbage but now most people think it is the greatest album of all time. So people just take time to adjust to sounds, especially when a band is changing from a successful sound. No one is arguing that Aim and Ignite was a classic album. People need to realize that this album is Magic Johnson playing center and not Michael Jordan playing baseball. It might be different, but it is still just as good and if not better as the old version of fun. The album is basically a modern Aim and Ignite, and that means that fun. is probably going to be one of the biggest bands in the world. And we need more bands with the talent of fun. in the mainstream.

Live Review: Brand New, O2 Academy Newcastle, 16/02/2012

Oh what I'd have given to see Brand New two years ago... It's not that I think they've gone downhill, or that they've even grown off me, but nowadays I just don't feel the ritualistic need to listen to their music every single day as I used to. Each of their songs still lies permanently ingrained inside my head, and although the love affair continues it's fair to say that the phase where I was completely reliant upon them has passed. Still, two years late or not, Thursday night finally marked my first live experience of one of my favourite bands - although I must admit I went into it with more than a little pessimism. Would their performance still have the same effect on me as it would have 24-months ago? Would their setlist place too much emphasis on certain corners of their discography, and most importantly, would they be able to match the immense emotional impact of their studio recordings?

Album Review: Pepe Deluxé - Queen of the Wave

Album Rating: A

A Dweller on Two Planets and its sequel, An Earth Dweller’s Return, were released to bewildered readers in the early 20th century and soon gathered a rather niche cult following, mostly due to surreal nature of both books and the bizarre instances surrounding their creation. Work started on the first book when a child genius’ hand was possessed by a dark power, forcing him to write continuously until the feeling slowly ebbed away (a convincing story, I know). These initial demonic scribblings soon evolved into a tale of futuristic technology, black magic, heroes and villains: all set, for the most part, in the mystical, aquatic city of Atlantis. On discovering these books, Pepe Deluxe took the only logical step in deciding that they were perfect material for a pop-opera concept album. The result is Queen of the Wave, the most ambitious and aggressively bizarre album we’re likely to see this decade. Confining itself to only the key points in the story, instead choosing to focus on indulging in the sheer madness of the source material, Queen of the Wave demonstrates Pepe Delux at their best: splicing an alarming multitude of genres while keeping a renowned sense of charm and narrative.

Artist Spotlight: Wild Nothing

Brooklyn based independent label Captured Tracks is currently the home to some of the most interesting and prominent bands in modern jangly, shoegazy whateverness. Wild Nothing, the brainchild of Virginian Jack Tatum is probably the most notable of these groups, amongst peers such as Beach Fossils and Craft Spells. The band's 2010 debut Gemini, recorded by only Tatum alone in his bedroom, was released to much critical acclaim, and is personally amongst my top favorite albums of the past five years. Tatum's catchy, nostalgic pop tunes such as "Summer Holiday" and "Chinatown" simply demanded to be played nonstop and stole the hearts of C86 fans everywhere. And now Tatum and company have returned with a new track from Wild Nothing's currently untitled sophomore effort, titled "Nowhere", accompanied by "Wait" as a b-side, to be officially released on vinyl on February 21. Listening to the two tracks makes it very apparent what changes the band has gone through. The leap from bedroom to studio was definitely more than enough to bring Wild Nothing to the next stage in their evolution, adopting a more twee sound, with the help of Twin Sister's Andrea Estrella. It sounds a lot like the music of Craft Spells and Beach Fossils has rubbed off a fair amount on the band, adopting similar production styles. It is still not entirely clear what Wild Nothing is going to pull off on their second album, but the follow up to Gemini is personally one of my most (if not my most) anticipated release of 2012.

Check out Wild Nothing on Facebook.

Album Review: Cursive - I Am Gemini

Album Rating: A

Cursive is one of those bands that has thrived through a couple of generational musical shifts, editing their sound and adapting it to reflect their own personal lives. A couple of stops along the way were the instrumentation around cellist Gretta Cohn in The Ugly Organ, to the facade of perfection portrayed on Happy Hollow. However, I Am Gemini absolutely tops all of those prior releases. The album is ominously light, and airily dark. Lyrically, there are many references to angels, demons, and detailed metaphors to suit the mood perfectly. Musically, the album is wonderfully creative, with each song being individualistic, but blending into one another with immaculate ease, to a place where the separation of tracks is undifferentiable, or more so, unimportant. I Am Gemini brings a whole new Cursive to the table, and with it, a perverse tragedy that redefines the detail and beauty of the concept album.

Live Review: Dropkick Murphys, Glasgow Barrowlands, 11/02/2012

Everyone has a touchstone band - one that truly turned them onto music and thus changed their life forever - and for me, that band was Dropkick Murphys. First introduced through my dad back in 2005, that first listen to The Warrior's Code began a chain reaction which eventually led me to current favourites such as For Emma, Forever Ago, The Midnight Organ Fight and In The Aeroplane Over The Sea. My listening habits have changed almost beyond recognition along the way, but the Boston punks remain firmly among my favourites, and in a family where any given note can cause a scrap they're a rare example of a band that we all share a complete undying love for. With no Newcastle date, then, a Welford clan visit north of the border was on the cards, with Glasgow's famous Barrowlands Hall providing the venue. Drunk Scots, Celtic punk and seven foot giants in kilts; what better way to spend a weekend?!