The List

I've now assembled my schedule for the South By Southwest Music Conference which begins in Austin, Texas this coming Wednesday the 17th. Last week I included video clips of three bands I had identified as rising to the top of my "must see" priority list. In the end, that list ended up being around 20 artists total, and I'll highlight a few more with video clips while providing links for the others.

Bomba Estereo from Columbia. This is another example of the new face of "world music:"


The Living Sisters, a trio consisting of Wendy Stark of Lavendar Diamond, Inara George and Eleni Mandell:


Vadoinmessico U.K.-based with a unique and wonderful sound well suited for The Cedar:


And these:
Black Prairie (bluegrass side-project by members of The Decemberists)
Delhi 2 Dublin
Dengue Fever
Fishtank Ensemble
Gong Myoung
Johnny Flynn & The Sussex Wit
Longital
M. Takara 3
Natalia Mallo
Quantic
Sharon Van Etten
Son Lux
The Chapin Sisters
The Very Best

These bands get slotted first on my agenda. The schedule is then filled in with choices from my next level of about 80 additional artists that made my final cut, based on such loose criteria as bands that are likely to be available for booking, and music that I think would work well at The Cedar (either by fitting our mission or by playing to the strengths we have as a music venue, ideally both). Of course there are a few things that I just personally want to check out but are not likely to book. And then it all has to fit within a reasonable logistical framework... one band on my list may get the nod over another band because it's three blocks as opposed to ten from the showcase before it.

This is always a very interesting exercise. In many ways it is an intensive microcosm of how the booking decisions get made... there are simply too many options, and we can't do (or learn about) everything. So filters get put in place. When faced with the task of going through a list of 1700 bands, certain compromises must be made. There may be another Kid Koala at SXSW, but I simply can't explore every DJ option to find him or her. So entire categories, like Punk, Metal, and DJs are filtered out. But that's not to say I would never book artists in those genres.

Outside input is invaluable. I would not have learned about, never mind booked, Kid Koala had it not been for both fellow blogger Zuppa di Banjo (whatever happened to him, btw?) and The Current super-dj Mark Wheat recommending that I go see him at the Calgary Folk Music Festival last summer. There are a number of names on my final SXSW list that landed there as a result of suggestions from other presenters, Cedar staffers, board members and volunteers, and a few loyal blog readers. Thank you all!

It's also reassuring that not only will fellow bloggers Angel of Rock and Sgt Pepper be in attendance this year, rumor has it that so will that elusive Banjo guy. The more eyes and ears, the better!

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While I'm gone, I'm pretty bummed that I'm going to miss some upcoming Cedar shows that I'm particularly excited about. On the top of the list, on the 18th, is the fabulous Del McCoury Band. These guys are in a class of their own... outstanding musicianship, great ensemble playing, and a truly classic American sound. I love the choreography of their live show, each member stepping up to the microphone to sing or to solo (and raising their instrument to be better heard). These guys don't use stage monitors because they hone their sound to be such a perfect blend directly from the stage:


Then, after a spectacular throat singing ensemble from Tuva on the 19th, Alash, who blew folks away when they recently appeared in Béla Fleck and the Flectones Christmas show, we are pleased to screen the regional premier of a new "visual album" from director Danny Perez and the band Animal Collective, called ODDSAC, on Saturday the 20th. From the following trailer, and reviews from viewers at Sundance, this promises to be an intense experience:


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With almost each posting, one particularly loyal fellow blogger puts out the bait, and then waits patiently for the reaction. As a result, one week it's taking issue with defining certain music as "shlock" by making my farts don't stink pronouncements such as "the more music I hear, the less I find to dismiss as inferior," only to turn around in two weeks and deliver the verdict that certain music is "laughably pompous crap!" (Ha! Don't you just love it when we are reduced to excrement and flatulence! And isn't the exclamation point always helpful to tip you to laugh at that moment!).

Perhaps I opened this Pandora's Box with my "shlock" review of a recent recording. All art is personal, and we're bound to step on some toes, if not actually offend, with almost any negative criticism of it. But I'd like to propose to my fellow bloggers that somewhere between "shlock" and "pompous crap" we accept that there is a line which should not be crossed in this public forum. We all have opinions, otherwise this would be a really boring read. Some should just stay in private emails to old friends.

I Got Nothin'

Oh, maybe a coupla updates...first, I made it through two whole sides of 'Tales from Topographic Oceans.' Tell you what: I'll leave the reviewing to a faithful Cedar blog reader who did the same and sent me this post mortem: "Hell no. It's still laughably pompous crap!" I'll be charitable and suggest they were attempting to compose rhapsodies. Maybe they succeeded. I really don't know.

Also...watched 'Inglourious Basterds' the other night, and I'd put it at the top of my chart for 2009. Way better than 'American Beauty,' surely, which wasn't even the best movie of its release year. That honor belongs to the movie below, as depicted by Justin Reed.


And finally...at long last I've started to understand the appeal of The Drive-By Truckers. You probably know all about them and can quote chapter and verse...but on the off-chance you don't, a nice starting point is their second-most recent album, ' Brighter Than Creations Dark.' Just a thought: run 'The Man I Shot' and 'The Purgatory Line' back-to-back for openers.

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So let's fire up the blog-o-matic. Hit 'random' on your iPod. What are the first (or next) ten songs that come up? Here are mine:

1. Slowdive -- 'Catch the Breeze.' I remember when I first became aware of the Britpop sub-category 'shoegaze.' In 1992 a co-worker played me Curve's EP 'Frozen.' The opener, 'Coast Is Clear,' knocked me right over. Their first full-length, 'Doppelganger,' finished me off. From there it was on to other practitioners of the category, including Slowdive. 'Catch the Breeze' is from their first album, and is the title track of their career-spanning anthology.

2. The London Metropolitan Orchestra -- 'Sharon.' This is from the score to the movie 'Cashback.' Seen it? No? Got Netflix instant? It's there. Lovely, funny little British rom-com with a surprisingly introspective soundtrack (speckled with the occasional pop song) composed and compiled by Guy Farley. If you do see it, stick around for the closing credits and the track, 'She' by Grand Avenue. Yeah, so it has that Coldplay stadium sound. This is MY iPod. MY guilty pleasures.

3. Citay -- 'Fortunate Son' from their latest album, 'Dream Get Together.' I love this outfit. They fit squarely in the psych-folk category, but with an occasional metal edge that even headbangers can approve of. My minor quibble with this album is that the vocals are a bit more prominent than those in the prior two, but it doesn't detract much from the sound, which is pure aural candy.

4. Smoke Fairies -- 'Sushine.' This British duo offers an update of the Brit-folk sound (Fairport Convention being a logical touchstone) with a dash of bluesier grit. There is quite a buzz surrounding them; they have even been mentioned on these pages a time or two. Our intrepid blogging crew is headed for South by Southwest and are being implored by those who have been left behind to see Smoke Fairies.

5. Nick Lowe -- 'Heart of the City' from 'Jesus of Cool.' Rockpile was my favorite band, ever. That'll do for an encomium.

6. The Handsome Family -- 'A Beautiful Thing' from 'In the Air.' Who doesn't love Brett's rich baritone and Rennie's dark lyrics? If I had to pick a favorite song of theirs, I'd go with 'The Snow White Diner' from 'Twilight,' but there is sure a lot to choose from.

7. Nick Curran & The Nitelifes -- 'Nitelife Boogie.' Curran is yer basic hot T-Bone Walker disciple, although he recently underwent a sound change for his new one called 'Reform School Girl,' in which he demonstrates his love for 50s rock 'n roll, and Little Richard in particular. Fun stuff, this.

8. Yann Tiersen -- 'Les Enfants' from 'Les Retrouvailles.' Tiersen is a French composer best known for his score for 'Amelie.' This album is a standalone that is quite representative of his styles, and includes vocals by Elizabeth Fraser, Jane Birkin, and Tindersticks' Stuart Staples. A recent favorite around Chez Fever.

9. Liz Durrett -- 'Always Signs' from 'Outside Our Gates.' Durrett is a singer/songwriter who also happens to be Vic Chesnutt's niece. Hers is a spare, sometimes haunting sound, although this album has sprightlier moments than her first two. Her second, 'Mezzanine,' hit my Top 10 for 2006. I think she would appeal to fans of Azure Ray and their spinoffs.

10. Eels -- 'Jungle Telegraph.' I remember where I was when I first heard this song: inside Le Virgin Megastore on the Champs de Elysee. Did you see the Nova episode about Mark Everett and his late physicist father Hugh titled 'Parallel Worlds, Parallel Lives?' I'll bet the writers for 'Lost' sure did.

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This would be the logical spot for a flip little closer, but I got nothin.' Cheers.

Digital Economy Bill... Yikes!

So don't be getting sassy online next time you're in England. New rules clamping down on downloads at internet cafes and other WiFi hotspots as well as libraries have British bloggers pissed. Or maybe I should say they have their knickers in a twist. The Digital Economy Bill would penalize free internet providers for any kind of extra-legal file sharing or downloads that happen on their premises. The rave law gone digital?

Near as I can tell, the pertinent section "imposes obligations on internet service providers to reduce online copyright infringement, and allows the Secretary of State to amend copyright legislation to the same end." I'd translate that in Americanish as "We'll come after yer coffee house if some joker downloads a torrent at one of your tables."

(Insert exasperated curse of your choice here. Eye roll optional)

I have to wonder who is behind this one. Not being familiar with any of the members of the House of Lords, (guess I ought to keep up better with the tabloids) I really cannot say whether the sponsor has any connection to the music industry or not.

Ah, yes. Here we are at Westminster Palace, ready to pull the plug on WiFi.

Do you think they really plan to enforce this? I can imagine cops busting in to a quiet university library, shaking down some dweeb with a laptop, then heading over to the circulation desk to pull the plug on their router. British business tech site ZDX UK has a slightly different vision of their future. One of the BBC tech bloggers has links to the actual wording of the bill as well as to some rather charged opinions of it.

In addition, according to the Guardian, the Clause 17 section "gives a high court judge the right to issue an injunction against a website accused of hosting a “substantial” amount of copyright-infringing material, potentially forcing the entire site offline." So would that only work for British sites, or could they go after, say, Pirate Bay or Napster?

Whew! I'll try to keep you posted as things develop over there.

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In an absolutely unrelated topic, while looking for some more Hasna el Becharia tracks to check out (see last weeks post), I stumbled upon this lengthy review of the Musiques Metisses Festival from 2002 linked from the Afropop site. The list of artists at the three day event is mind blowing (Ali Farka Touré', King Sunny Adé, Habib Koite, Cesaria Evora, Lo'Jo, Amadou and Mariam, Hasna el Becharia to name a few) but the hidden gem here is his comments of one of the first European performance of the then-unknown Tinariwen! Here's a link to last year's artist list, just in case you want to keep ahead of the curve in African music. The 2010 artist list isn't up yet, but here's the poster so you can save the dates.

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Jumping around some more, Cedar faves Balkan Beat Box are putting the finishing touches on their new disc, Blue Eyed Black Boy. I'm just not going to say anything about that title. Official U.S. release is April 27, but supposedly early downloads can be had from their website this Thursday, March 11. Of course their politics are always in the right place; the first track out there is called "War Again." Take a listen on their MySpace. They had a nice little making-of vid which I posted a few months ago...being lazy and at the end of my lunch hour just now, I'll just guess you can find it at the link above as well.

Starring Tomar Yosef as The Boxer, Ori Kaplan as The Trainer and
Tamir Muskat as The Gambler.

You can also see cartoon Tomar, Ori and Tamir fend off the bombs of the evil war-monger with brass band power in the "War Again" video on their site. I've never been much into Yosef's rapping, but it's smoother here and the horns really drive this tune.

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In a slightly related note, BBB fans may want to check out this piece by sometimes BBB guitarist Jeremiah Lockwood on his journey to Mali and the Festival au Desert with his band Sway Machinery. He writes thoughtfully about being an "out" Jew in a very Muslim country.

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In another hot off the press note, get yourself psyched for Grupo Fantasma's Cedar show in June by checking out this "making of" vid for their new disc El Existential. They rented a house in North Austin, left all their gear in there for three months, then jammed and experimented and had what looks like a lot of fun. Can't wait to hear the tunes; disc's out May 11.


Prince did not come by, but Meat Puppet Curt Kirkwood did, as did master Latin pianist Larry Harlow.

And that's all the news that's fit to print. Wish our blogging team well down at SXSW next week. I hear out newbie, Sgt. Pepper is also planning to make the trek Austin-wards, along with Main Figurehead and the Angel of Rock. Find some good stuff for us, gang!

Movies and Music

The year was 1999. I had just seen the film American Beauty, and after Magnolia, which I had seen just before, I remember marveling at the current state of American cinema. This was also the year of Being John Malkovich, Dogma, Matrix, the first Austin Powers movie, and Office Space.

At that time, as a member of the recording industry, I was envious that films with genuine craft, depth, and artistic aspiration were receiving mainstream distribution, selling well, and receiving awards (American Beauty won 5 Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director). Meanwhile, the U.S. recording industry was well on its way to the bottom. In particular there seemed to be a complete lack of creativity and aesthetic available in any way via the major recording companies. Independent labels were hurting, and Napster was just coming upon the scene... it was launched in mid-1999, but by the end of the year was only still largely relegated to tech geeks. The internet was not yet being used as a significant distribution point for music. 1999 may have been the last year that the majors controlled the game, and they were clearly blowing it.

Fast forward 10 years. This coming Sunday the Oscars will be presented to the best films of 2009. They've expanded the Best Picture nominations from 5 to 10 films, and I've seen all 10. And there's nothing even close to American Beauty among them. You won't find films of that merit right now in the "indie" cinemas right now either. The independent film business is hurting, especially distribution, and 2009 may be best remembered as the year that Disney, the owner of the iconic independent film company Miramax, downsized that division to a level which virtually guarantees its irrelevance.

Meanwhile, one could argue that the veritable death of the recording business has been great for music. Albums by artists like Andrew Bird, Bon Iver, and Animal Collective are now getting serious radio play, and penetrating the Billboard Top 20. Access to music of all kinds has never been easier... all you need is an internet (or cell phone data) connection. Maybe there was this much interesting music out there in 1999 and nobody had access to it, but that's clearly not an issue now. Maybe the same is true of the film business 10 years later... and it will take a major change in the business model for consumers to have access to the really good stuff...


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I've yet to take my second pass at my SXSW artist list, but as promised here are three that are near the top for checking out:

Smoke Fairies (U.K.)


Efterklang (Denmark)

Link here for the widescreen.


ChocQuibTown (Columbia)

Spiral

Just spent ten minutes wandering around the local Borders store. To the casual eye the place looked okay, but to me it seemed ever-more like a slow motion train ride to oblivion.

I was there looking for the new Tammy Wynette biography, 'Tragic Country Queen.' It came out Tuesday and has been heavily reviewed, but was not on the shelves or in the store computer as having been received. On hold with the publisher? In an unopened box in the back room? Who knows? A helpful store assistant did offer to order one for me.

As music-related books were located near the CDs, I had a look at what remains of those: a couple of short rows of half-full racks, with no rhyme or reason to the stock. Why do they bother? Again: they could have gone in with a dozen or so listening posts stocked only with titles chosen by on-staff music lovers and been a go-to tastemaker. I'm assuming the CDs that do remain are there because there is already too much open floor space and not enough unstocked good-selling book titles remaining to bring in. Or they simply can't return any more CDs to music suppliers they no longer deal with.

Finally, a walk toward the exit brought me to a stock cart holding ten copies of the 2010 Baseball Prospectus, which was not yet on the sports section shelves. This book dropped ten days ago; I had mine in hand the next day. A title like that sells to fanatics who know exactly when it hits; the sales window is approximately street date to Tax day. 20% of that window is gone.

The death spiral accelerates.

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Since the Cedar blog's intramural scrum over the value of music and the state of its digital commerce landscape, I've come to revise one opinion a bit: free is an unworkable model.

The recent announcement that Warner Music would no longer license its content to free ad-supported streamers actually seemed like a bit of sanity, coming though it does from such an unlikely source.

On the heels of that arrived this story out of the Digital Music Forum East conference, in which a market analyst declared that while customizable radio services like Pandora do help sales, free all-you-can-eat music buffets are a sales hindrance.

So while my heart was a bit tugged by the announcement that The Daily Show and The Colbert Report would no longer be available on Hulu's free streaming service, I sorta shrugged and got the message.

I'll continue to beat the drum for paid on-demand subscription services, though. People who will pony up $10-15 per month are, by and large, more serious about their music...and if my habits are any indication, that seriousness still translates to actual purchases.

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My latest needle-dropping jag brought an unusually high hit rate. I could go on about the silly-good retro fun of King Khan & BBQ Show, the solid pop craft of My Robot Friend's star-studded latest, the sweetly sad Dakota Suite, or the unexpected Primal Scream-esque brilliance of The Brian Jonestown Massacre's new one...

For Cedar devotees, though, I'd choose Holly Miranda. She sang in a Brooklyn outfit called The Jealous Girlfriends (and am I alone in wondering just how many bohemian lofts there are per capita in that borough?) and has just released an album called 'The Magician's Private Library.' Singer-songwriter albums are so ubiquitous that special qualities are of the utmost necessity. They're here: atmospheric, often delicate arrangements which suit her voice particularly well, unobtrusive but imaginative production flourishes by Dave Sitek (TV on the Radio), and accessible but somehow inscrutable lyrics and vocals.

Here is a bit of Holly Miranda; more songs from the album can be found here.



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Then again, maybe nothing will do but eight minutes of propulsive Spacemen 3-style fuzz. Mash on Moon Duo's 'Motorcycle, I Love You.' You've been warned. Cheers.

On and Off the Charts

I'm putting this one out there right now...my prediction for the hot festival pick for 2011. Check out these barefoot Germans and their horns in LaBrassBanda. easy name to remember, too. Tuba, trombone, trumpet, bass and drums with occasional vocals. Last fall's Übersee has a funkier sound, but you get the idea of how much fun they're having from this little clip of a more trad Balkan-y sound.


Their other videos can be goofier. There is a long two-parter of one the band members driving a tractor hauling the tuba and drum kit through the countryside followed by the rest of them of mopeds. I'd bet it's funnier in German. This part is funny in English: their MySpace site tag describes them as "Bavarian/Brass/Punk" and another says "Other/Other/Other." One fan wrote from Italy askng if they would tour there and offering the use of his van. Is that all it would take?

They played Rothskilde last summer and are touring their brains out this summer. Let's watch and see if Übersee makes it onto the Euro world charts this spring or they are picked up by WOMEX or one of the other biggies by fall.

Just to save potential loss in the scroll-down, I'll quote Lemez Lovas' Songlines review here.

The Süddeutsche funkateers are back with a bang. For those listeners who were lucky enough to stumble across last year’s Habediehre, it was the shock of the season: a Bavarian five-piece, just three horns, vocals, electric bass and drums, performing their own songs in the local dialect. But what singer Stefan Dettl does with this combination is beyond any expectation: there’s a straight-up pop sensibility as sharp as that of MGMT or any of the latest alt-electro-pop hyphenated genres. And with Übersee, LaBrassBanda might just have delivered the surprise underground hit of the year. Three things leap out: killer US R&B-style grooves and licks; top musicianship; and a totally cliché-free approach. It kicks so hard that it really doesn’t matter if you understand the words or not. Opening track ‘Bierzelt’ sounds like Beyoncé opening Oktoberfest; ‘Des Konnst Glam’ is a swinging blow-out with all the funk of 70s legends Brass Construction; ‘Ringlbleame’ does the same with the added bonus of a hook-laden pop chorus; while on ‘Nanana’, they show they can also play it as sweet and spiritual as a New Orleans shout band. It’s fresh, confident and totally unlike anything else out there. Get onto this before everyone else does.

Tracks from Übersee are not up on Lala or on their MySpace for some reason. Grrr. Find yourself a link to "Des Konnst Glam" (sorry it's only a 30 second-er) and then try to sit still. Here's a Last.fm link, too. No head nodding, no toe tapping, no patting your hand on the desk, no hip shaking, no strutting! IT'S NOT POSSIBLE! There is some kind of pure brass joy blowing out of these tunes.

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In one of my meandering searches to put names and faces to uncredited amazing female vocal tracks, I came across a wonderful interview with the Bulgarian architect Nikola Gruev, getting attention as Kottarashky (four months on the Euro World charts top 20) for his wonderful homegrown sample mosaic Opa Hey. (Regular readers may remember a mention of the disc last fall as I was enticed to listen to "Long Song" over and over while watching football.) I was trying to find out who was the owner of that husky voice in "Long Song" and found out it's from a field recording he made at a wedding!

Well. I guess it might be tricky to track down her solo disc!


The tunes on Opa Hey a a great example of something that doesn't work at all with the 30 second sample. The carefully constructed collages subtly build layer upon layer, a few vocal syllables here, a waft of clarinet there, a sprinkle of trumpet or accordion over there. The rhythm tracks are also carefully built up out of samples from field recordings, though not all from traditional percussion sources. The tunes get more interesting with each listen as your ears and brain tease out another tiny element, carefully placed to create his vision of the next generation of Balkan music. Great, interesting long interview from Bulgarian? German? blogger with stories and maps from his journeys around Bulgaria collecting his sound samples.

Here's the Guardian review if you just can't get enough. There are full length song samples at the first link of his name.

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Another item on some of the the March charts that bears more listening is Algerian-born Hansa el Becharia's new disc Smaa Smaa. Although not bluesy at all, I can imagine this appealing to fans of Tinariwen's more stripped down stuff. Simple, elegant, a weathered yet warm voice, nice female backing vocals over a hypnotic stringed instrument. Here are some samples.
What the heck is that thing she's playing? Maybe it's some sort of gumbri? Acccording to the article in the link above, she's more know as an electric guitar player. She's hitting most of the big cities in Eastern Canada in late July, maybe somebody will catch her at one of the Canadian festivals. Let me know!

Manifesto

Hello out there in cyberspace. This is my first contribution to the Cedar blog after having worked at the Cedar over a year and it is truly an honor to be joining such thoughtful music appreciators on the Cedar’s interweb home. I’m not really one to force other people to read about my meandering personal opinions, there’s enough people doing that already out there on the internet. I joined the Cedar blog so that I could have an opportunity to sit down with some of the amazingly talented artists that come through the Cedar and talk with them about their music. I specifically hope to examine how the wide range of music we host at the Cedar fits into what we’re doing here in this kooky little niche of Minneapolis called the West Bank and further how that ties into national and international trends in music. I’m approaching this contributing blogger role as a musician myself, so much of my focus will be on artists’ approach to their craft and how they see themselves tying in to what we do at the Cedar. I hope that by interviewing different artists every week, from the local level to the international, and posting their responses that my contributions will shed light on effective approaches to handle the multi-faceted music industry of today. Specifically I hope to show how unique the Cedar is in providing such quality of music from such a variety of genres. In these hard economic times when funding for the arts is constantly on the chopping block of government planning, the Cedar has risen to meet budget challenges and has actually seen record growth at a time when other organizations have gone under. I am incredibly lucky to be a part of the Cedar and really feel like something special is happening here. With my limited journalistic talents I hope to document this time in Cedar history like Kerouac did the listless lifestyle of the Beats, like Hunter S. Thompson did the post-60s identity crisis of the Love Generation, like J.K. Rowling did the teen angst and drama of a British wizard boarding school. Stay tuned for my next post when I sit down with bassist Jesse Schuster of local sweethearts Lucy Michelle and the Velvet Lapelles after their recent Valentine’s Day concert.

ONE LOVE!