M.I.A's "Y.A.L.A." Video Is Kinda Awesome

She's an interesting gal, M.I.A. It would be easy to think she'd be on board with the YOLO craze, yet a track off her new album proclaims you can keep the party going....eternally. Samsara or no, "Y.A.L.A" (You Always Live Again) has her glammed up and rhyming 'contreau' with 'poncho'. It's just kitschy enough to make you cringe and just interesting enough to make you listen again.

Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros + Thievery Corporation September 18th, 2013, Cuthbert Amphitheater Eugene, Oregon

It was a time-warping evening as summer floated away in Eugene. Thievery Corporation feels like they have been around forever but keep coming up with new sounds. Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros are relatively new, but sound so timeless it could be hard to pinpoint in which decade they toured. Together, the unlikely duo made for billing with a richness that Eugene rarely sees.

Whether you know it or not, there's an 82% chance you've made out to the warm, spacey beats of Thievery Corporation. Most dedicated listeners will scoff at the mention of “Lebanese Blonde” becoming popular from Garden State and for that reason, I was glad to hear it played as the second song. One of the difficulties of putting on a live show with Thievery's repertoire is the the diversity of the musicians that have contributed. It was a special treat, then, to find that they had a number of vocalists and MCs tagging along to make the live versions just as good as the album versions. Two female singers joined in (most unofficially dubbed 'pink tights' and 'peacock pants') sounding more like fallen angels than humans. “La Femme Parallel” was gorgeous and sounded both foreign and safe. “Vampires” and “Radio Retaliation” reminded even the stoners on the grass that there was intelligence behind the sleekness. 

Once the sun had set, Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros took the stage. If getting everyone together from Thievery Corporation on tour is akin to the logistic nightmare of taking the Brady Bunch on a road trip, getting the Zeros all in one spot is the ultimate hat trick. Jamming and hugging since 2007(ish), vocalist Alex Ebert created the alter-ego/persona of Edward Sharpe while in rehab. The revolving cast of a dozen musicians that make up the Zeros include “Crash” Richard, Christian Letts, Seth Ford-Young, Josh Collazo, Orpheo McCord and Nora Kirkpatrick (who, savvy culturalists will identify as Esther, Dwight's girlfriend on NBC's The Office). The voice that holds the show together, though, was Jade Castrinos. Bundled in an oversized, fuzzy jacket and a smile that wrinkles her nose, Castrinos's rich voice played duet with Ebert as easily as it joined the choir in backing up the others when it was their time to shine. Since Edward Sharpe is as fictional as Ebert's undershirt, it dawned on me as “frontman” Ebert humbly went to offer a verse of “I Don't Want to Pray” to the audience, a trumpet, a bass and other various Zeros, that maybe he only borrows the namesake attributed to him. Taking requests from the audience and trading smiles and high-fives across the stage, it seemed like anyone could take a turn wearing the name. The bright lights and psychadelic background of the show, the coeds and aging baby boomer hippies dancing together, the current in the air of fall, for a sweet moment, we were all Magnetic Zeros.

Matt Pond + Jake Bellows + Tyler Fortier September 3, 2013 Cozmic Pizza, Eugene, Oregon

Let's talk for a minute about dancing. Little kids do it and it is adorable. Middle schoolers look delightfully awkward. But as we falter into adulthood, our dance style often becomes a bellweather of our self-worth. Those that dance, that let out all the stops with their twirls and prancing, may incur judgment but they number of fucks they give is exactly zero. Zero. The people that hold back and are openly embarrassed—they get the wrath of mockery as well, but it can jeopardize their level fun. Why do we care? Dancing is an individual activity, there are no rules and yet society makes us feel we are doing it “right” or “wrong”.

The opening acts for Matt Pond illustrated the more awkward end of this equation. Tyler Fortier and Jake Bellows both did solo acoustic sets and would be hard to tell apart. Both seemed slightly nervous, sang about the lost loves and nature, and chattered awkwardly with the audience. It was nothing new in the world of music, nor was it done to the best of their abilities. They seemed too aware of every word and note and one misstep could lead them to paralyzing self-consciousness.

Matt Pond is no stranger to the road, in fact, it could be argued that his touring is just as well-known as his albums. There's been recent buzz about him dropping the “PA” from the band name, but here's the rub—people who listened to his music understood it was his evolving vision the whole time. When he took the stage at Cosmic Pizza with other musicians alongside him, it felt just like the last time I saw him play. He has a knack for finding great musicians to play with and this posse was no exception. Backing up his recently released “solo” album, The Lives Inside the Lines of Your Hand, “Bring Back the Orchestra” was played with vibrancy and exuberance. Still a little dorky and lovable, Pond seemed aware but unfazed by the chatter from the audience. Where he opening acts would stumble, he soared and proved that to get better at anything (singing, playing, the proverbial dancing) you have to keep going, and do it without fear.

The Blow is Baaaaaaaaaaaaaaa-ack!

The Khaela Maricich and Melissa Dyne project, The Blow is popping out another album in mere weeks! After wearing out our friends and family by saying "pardon me but wasn't that your heart" and making endless remarks about deli aisles, we finally get new material to etch into our sweet brain meats. This album, titled The Blow (we'll tell them to work on album names) comes out October 1 on Kanine to fight the fall doldrums.

Maybe you should follow them on twitter?

!!! + Ra Ra Riot September 4, 2013 WOW Hall, Eugene, Oregon

Before the show started, Kaitlin, our delightful photographer, and myself were discussing how some music is less accessible. She cited Snoop Dogg a la the 1990s with his murder scandal. “I'd rather get murdered by Snoop Dogg than punched by Chris Brown now-that guy is just a joke.” Other than being born in the 80s, Kaitlin showed the manufacturing of “celebrities” in current media are left emitting the same bland aftertaste. Those that refuse to be formed by hype machines pay a steep price for keeping their soul—radios are reluctant to play them and success means surviving on the fickle waves of the indie and college radio seas.

Ra Ra Riot has proved to be a name to know, producing a blend of pop and rock that assaults but not insults. They Syracuse-formed band could be a cousin of Los Campasinos!, what with their girl on violins and cellos and angsty but catchy tunes. Wes Miles sported an amazingly pink shirt to sing in, while the bejeweled violin made it seem that Rebecca Zeller was sometimes snuggling a misshapen disco ball. There really isn't a good reason Ra Ra Riot hasn't had more success, they're catchy songs and aloof stage presence are not foreign to an audience—where they differ is the thought and execution of the music (in that they do both). Playing to a small crowd, the band played a full set and I had to remind myself a few times that this wasn't even the main event.

Seafarers worth their salt know !!! as the dance-party of a band with a funny name. Though hipsters don't enjoy looking vulnerable, it is worth it to explain the punctuation (if one doesn't know it is pronounce 'chk chk chk') for they are put out solid albums and amazing shows. During the first song, the vocalist Nic Offer hopped off the stage and went dancing with audience members. This delighted and terrified the girls near me; but when a good looking fellow wearing skivvies starts to dance with you, it is your American duty to dance right back. With his curly locks, stinky tee shirt, undies and loafers, Offer didn't treat Eugene like a lame tour stop,

more like we were a crowd of VIPs who got to hang with the band.

After the initial jam, a general sense of giddiness set into the crowd. A guy I would have considered a 'bro' or the 'I never dance' type fully busted some moves in front of his friends who were clearly stunned. But the guy didn't care because no valid human would stand still during “Californiyeah”! The night solidified for me just how good their album Thr!!!ler is, and thanks to Offer's instructions, I'll be working in my jazz hands whenever I hear my favorite song from the album, “Even When the Water's Cold.” It was also good to see Mario Andreoni get love from Offer and the audience, he's definitely the coolest cucumber on stage but is responsible for the most hip shakes. !!! may not be breaking into the top 40 any time soon (though I would support that), but in the wide open sea of music, they are on the best party boat afloat.

Beach House, Dustin Wong McDonald Theatre, Eugene, Oregon September 29, 2012

I admit it has been a long time since the McDonald and I have spent an evening together. But if anyone was going to reunite us, it would likely be the indie darlings Beach House. And while Beach House was headlining and I admittedly had a girl-boner over seeing them, it was Dustin Wong that I expected to steal the hearts of the youth painted in eyeliner and flip flops.

Dustin Wong might be someone you've never heard of, and when he walked on stage wearing a gigantic cardigan only a bingo-going grandma could love the crowd responded tepidly. But tucked between two frat gentleman in the front row (really?), I knew better. He gave us a sheepish wave, popped his Converse off, and sat on a folding chair. The first staccato sounds from his guitar were simple and deceiving; until he looped them and began to build. Armed with pedals and a vision most of us lack, Dustin continued compounding sounds to create songs of surprising depth and warmth. Tweaking a guitar here and there is no big feat-any bedroom rocker can get a pedal on eBay-but to have multiple going at once and piling on the sounds to make something better than a wall of noise is tricky.

The crowd fell quiet, trying to figure out what exactly was going on, and on the way, fell in love. Occasionally, Dustin would stand up and sing into the mic for an extra layer, reminding us of the single human responsible for the complex and lovely songs. Near the end, the crowd began to clap along, and Dustin looked up a few times as if in disbelief. “You really like it,” he seemed to be asking. “Oh hells yes,” the audience replied, keeping the beat through the song. After his set, as he was packing up to leave, a girl yelled “you were SO good!” and he blushed. Both gentleman next to me asked who had just played and upon being given the name, went about looking Dustin up on their phones. One must give credit to Beach House for supporting such an inspiring and gentle force.

When the lights dimmed for Beach House (an extended 45 minutes later), some of the stars had fallen out of the crowds' eyes. But what had been lost in momentum was gained in pleasure of seeing Victoria Legrand slink onto the stage and take her place behind the organ. Alex Scally and touring drummer Daniel Franz were steps behind her, and they took a moment before launching into “Wild,” off their recent release, Bloom.

There must be some special deal singers have with the universe; they can get the box set of a big voice, big hair, and big shoulder pads. This isn't the first time a paper-thin singer has been anchored by shoulderpads—nor will it be the last. Probably not the most chatty musical group, the anxious crowd made due with the bare minimum of contact from the band. Which, while a taciturn band helped the dreamy atmosphere, seemed to keep Beach House from really connecting with the crowd.

Interview: Dustin Wong

Dustin Wong just might have an indie rock resume to kill for: Born in Hawaii, raised in Japan, of Chinese and American Heritage, ex-member of Ponytail, solo artist with a million pedals. And to top it off, he was cool enough to talk to us. Makes it hard to hate him, don't you think?

Currently touring with Beach House for his album "Dreams Say View Create Shadow Leads" which dropped in February, he chats about the sounds of youth and making stripped down noise rock. Check more out about Dustin here.

love/hate: How has your creative process changed since going solo?

Dustin: It feels like working on a painting. The length of the loop determines the size of the canvas and my octave pedal and distortion determines the color and textures. The delay pedal kind of works as a straight edge and grid.  It feels a lot more intuitive to me then ever before.

love/hate: Growing up overseas, do you feel you had access to different sounds that most Americans don't get?

Dustin: The cicadas sound different in Japan and even the trains sound different too.  They sound almost like modular synthesizers. The inside of the train is fairly quiet, people are very quiet and keep to themselves, to the point that you could start feeling their thoughts... The pachinko parlors and arcades have extraordinary noises too.

love/hate: "Dreams Say..."was a different creation process for you. What inspired you to go with a different approach?

Dustin: I wanted to document the piece as close to the way my live performances are. So I went directly from my pedals into my laptop input. But now I'm realizing that there are more efficient ways of recording purely from a direct input. The way electricity is used the sound itself can change foe the better or for the worse. I'm still learning and refining this process.

love/hate: What, if anything, are you listening to and loving these days?

Dustin: I've been really enjoying music made by William Eaton. He made his own guitars with harps and zithers integrated into the instrument.  He gets these very beautiful harmonic overtones and undertones.

love/hate: What are you plan for 2013? More music? Touring?

Dustin: I'm working on the next record at the moment, the structure is about 95% done, I just need one more song! I'm going to try and record this at an actual space. Not much planned for 2013 but I'll be playing with Zs in January in Tokyo. Will be taking things step by step!

Kate Bush - 50 Words for Snow

Kate Bush
50 Words for Snow
Anti/Epitaph
Released 11.21.11

8.8



Kate Bush's album arrives like the first true gift of winter--deep and complex enough to last us through the chilly cold season. The first listen of "50 Words for Snow" turned into a three hour marathon, with each song growing and forming more nuances at every listen. By the time spring rolls around, we'll have these songs imprinted on our hearts.

These songs are deceptively simple, "Among Angels" is just Bush and a lonely piano, but they are are meaty in flavor and tone. Her vocals are haunting and composed, she never screams, but there is a perfect tension that reigns across the tracks. The tracks are lengthy (each clocking over six minutes), and this gives Bush the time to fully explore and express her visions.

Said visions indeed include snow, but also about the wildness of the primal. "Wild Man" brings to mind a man adept at surviving among the animals in the frigid wilderness. Such a man is risky to love and even more treacherous to be with. "Snowed in at Wheeler Street" is a duet of the contained frenzy of two lovers that both need each other and burn each other out. Their cries of "I don't want to lose you again" are heartbreaking and doomed.

This is the kind of album early Tori Amos fans would kill to hear; a rich tapestry of sound giving way to a complex heart. "50 Words for Snow" speaks to the quiet and empty places in life, gently shining a dim light in dark corners as not to scare the beasts that live there.