"Half Acre" ~ Hem

My friend Doug introduced me to this band during a recent LEGO building session (LEGO is cool, don't let anyone tell you otherwise.  We were working on this Great Wall of China display for the Cranberry Library.)  Sorry, that's a bit of a non sequitur, but it's a true story.

Anyway, the band plays an incredible Americana style of music, of which this song is the archetype.  Simple, yet poignant, lyrics sung by a fantastic vocalist over beautiful instrumentation evocative of the heartland come together for a tune that will keep you hitting repeat.  The band admits to being influenced by Aaron Copland, and if you're familiar with his work you'll hear the similarities... hmm, I should post some Copland sometime... at any rate, have a listen:

If you like this track, you can find a different song on the band's website, available for free download (yeah, sorry, bait and switch... that song is also good but I felt like posting this one.)

"A man is walking on the highway

A woman stares out at the sea

And light is only now just breaking..."

5-2-12 - "The Affair" ~ Be Honest, Ruth Bryan!

I stumbled upon Be Honest, Ruth Bryan! through The Ballard Sessions, which are Seattle's version of Pittsburgh blog Draw Us Lines' Echo Chambers.  The trio of ladies from the Northwest bring some haunting harmonies and exquisite instrumentation, and in a bipartisan spirit, let a couple of dudes play along as well.


Citing influences like Fleet Foxes, Sufjan Stevens, The Beatles, Simon & Garfunkel, Death Cab, Hans Zimmer, and Itzhak Perlman lends credence to my notion that this group of musicians is legit.  If you're into those sorts of things, you just might also like this band.


This track is pretty self-explanatory, but I'll give you a few brief thoughts nonetheless.  The point of view makes for quite the intriguing take on the story.  Dads don't like it when married men fool around with their daughters.  Heck, dads don't like it when any men fool around with their daughters.  And arpeggios in minor keys are a double-edged sword, but when done well, they can really hit the spot:


(Ballard Session)

(recording via Bandcamp)

"In the mornings it's quiet,

I guess even the dead need sleep..."

"And we, oh, we are not free

We are the ties we make...

(...we are the ties we break...)"

1-29-12 - "Love You Now" ~ Madi Diaz

A lot of times, I go with the upbeat, catchy single when first posting an artist on this site.  I was tempted to do the same with Madi Diaz, but I'm going a different direction (I can always post more of her stuff later.)  My buddy and I basically just discovered Diaz by checking the Club Cafe concert calendar and reading a writeup in the Pittsburgh City Paper, and dropped by her show last Wednesday.  It was a near miss, as we both had had a lot going on and were not really in the mood to go out to a midweek show, but we sucked it up and ended up having a great time.


Diaz has a voice that grips you, and her partnership with guitarist/songwriting collaborator Kyle Ryan manages to fill the stage and the room like an aurora fills the sky.  Diaz uses a synthesizer to flesh out the sound while playing acoustic guitar, creating a rich background for the vocals.


This song relays the emotions of a somewhat one-sided relationship; Diaz wants more but her counterpart displays inconsistent maturity and fails to put forth the effort to develop a deeper connection.  The gentle indie-pop chording sets the foundation for the crescendo of emotion as Diaz wrestles with the delicate situation and exhorts her lover to go all in.


Live at Club Cafe:

Solo performance live in studio:

Album version (you can find the whole album on madidiaz's youtube channel - well worth a listen!):

"So am I fighting a boy, or am I fighting a man

which side will I see when you show up again

the man don’t wanna tell me but at least he’ll try

'cause the boy ain’t hanging 'round tonight..."




EDIT 2-1-12 - get Madi's new album, Plastic Moon, on Amazon for $5 throughout the month of February.  It's legit.

12-17-11 - "Go Outside" ~ Cults

I suppose it shouldn't be shocking that a band by this name would put out a video based on one of the most chilling events in recent history - a mass suicide/murder by a group of people following a fanatical and charismatic leader.  The video's production is impressive, seamlessly inserting the band members into footage from the cult.  You can read a bit about the making of the video here.

Despite the depressing nature of the video's subject matter, I find the song itself encouraging.  The ultimate message is to live life to the fullest, not to "hole up" or "stay inside and sleep the light away..."  Take advantage of opportunities to see the world, spend time with loved ones, and don't take the little things for granted.  And especially, don't let negative or slothful people get in the way of your own enjoyment of this beautiful world.  At least, that's what I'm getting out of the tune...  

Just the song, without the NBC News commentary and whatnot:

Bonus:  The band is featured in a new holiday episode of Yo Gabba Gabba!, which apparently airs on Nick Jr. tomorrow evening.  So if you enjoy this song, be sure to tune in for that and trip out whilst watching a children's program... you know, if you're into that sort of thing.

"Yeah I know what's good 

Exactly those things night cannot behold..."

11-18-11 - "Great DJ" ~ The Ting Tings

Quickie tonight.  This one may not be for everyone, but as always, I urge you to give new things a shot, because it's good for you.  Although technically this song isn't brand-spanking new, but rather a few years old...


The Brit-pop duo cranked out a catchy tune, a little on the repetitive side, but in a fun way.  And the video is... interesting.  How do you make a cheap yet somehow awesome vid for a song?  Two parts white people, one part deliberately terrible choreography, one part your cousin's videography skills:

"Your folks got high at a quarter to five..."

11-4-11 - "You Guys Are Gonna Wake Up My Mom" ~ Field Mouse

A few months ago, I saw a pretty swell show at Thunderbird.  I already told you a bit about it, as it featured local Pittsburgh favorites Big Hurry and new to me but quickly growing on me These Animals.  However, I hadn't gotten around to posting about the third band... until now.


Field Mouse, like These Animals, hail from NYC... Brooklyn, to be precise.  Field Mouse, like Big Hurry*, are a four-piece group with two dudes and two chicks.  Unlike Big Hurry, the chicks are lead vox and bass, rather than vox and drums.  Unlike These Animals, Field Mouse are a single specific species.  Their tunes could be classified as "dreampop", and in fact have been so classified.  This one's a new one, quite engaging, with lyrics worth pondering, and lo and behold, you can get it FREE on Bandcamp:





"all the fires I start
I'll put out on my own..."


* - more correctly, Big Hurry was a four piece outfit half comprised of ladies and half comprised of dudes.  But then Andy moved deep in the heart of Texas, and now the ratio is 2 / 1.  But hey, I was going based on the way things were in August, and trying for literary effect!
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EDIT 11-10-11:


OH SWEET, there's a music video all of a sudden!

10-22-11 - "Little Something" ~ Big Hurry

I've waxed eloquent about Big Hurry on a few previous occasions.  The point of this blog is to celebrate music, specifically music that I enjoy, and I very much enjoy this band, so there you go.  I hope you likewise enjoy this band, and some of the others that I post, although I realize that musical tastes differ.  That is why Nickelback are still making albums.


Friday night was the celebration concert for the release of Big Hurry's new EP, "Sink Or Swim."  It was a pretty high-octane show, kicked off with some DJ action, followed by a smokin' quartet of Brooklyn-based indie rockers, These Animals.  Then, the Big moment arrived - Big Hurry's set, complete with four catchy new tunes that comprise the EP.

They led off with new tune "Ordinary", then immediately dropped into "Little Something":

The tune starts off with a sweet little rhythm riff, then gains momentum as leading lady Kelly Tobias brings you the truth in lyrical form.  And when I say "gains momentum", I mean that's what the song is about - starting small and making something out of nothing, working your way to the top.


Of course, I can't help but direct you to yet another wondrous acoustic performance as captured by Draw Us Lines and featured in their Echo Chamber sessions.  Dani Buncher's percussive efforts on this track are mind-blowing, and the stripped down version allows the ladies' vocals to permeate your consciousness:

"Hey, we started back in the golden age
when clouds weren't Pittsburgh gray..."


For the record, while I support the use of "Pittsburgh gray" (if you've lived here, you know exactly what Kelly is talking about with that phrase) in the lyrics, our city is more than just a perpetually overcast steel town.  We may not have cloudless blue skies 24/7/365, but the city's glory does shine brightly in the sun on numerous days throughout the year.  Just don't want any out-of-towners getting the impression we're like Seattle where it rains year-round (oh wait, that's a stereotype too).


FREE download of this track available on Bandcamp: http://bighurry.bandcamp.com/track/little-something


EDIT (11-19-11): it seems the above link is no longer free, but now there's a FREE download of the remix on Bandcamp! (and you should just buy the album anyway, because it's schweet!)


PS - Check out Hugh's exclusive look into a Big Hurry practice session from a few days before this show:  Image of the Day - Little Something.  Hugh, of course, is another guy in Pittsburgh who takes much higher quality concert photos than I could hope to capture.  You should definitely take a look at some of his fine work.

10-11-11 - "Fixed" ~ Stars

Oh, just some Canadian indie pop rock for you tonight...

Live performance:

"touch turns into fisticuffs..."

10-9-11 - "What The Water Gave Me" ~ Florence & The Machine

Continuing the recent trend of quickie posts inspired by having XM radio and/or being within range of some good stations in the Seattle/Vancouver areas, here's another track I heard during my travels this weekend.


Florence scares me a little, and I'm not sure what to make of The Machine, but this song is gripping.  The minor chord progression and lyrics will haunt you, but not in a bad way.

"Lay me down
let the only sound
be the overflow..."

10-8-11 - "Gimme Sympathy" ~ Metric

(if anyone's keeping score, this is my second late post in three days... I blame Canada.)

The Peak came through with a bunch of good tunes during my time in Vancouver, and here's another one. A little bit electronic, a little bit pop, a little bit egocentric...?

And of course you know by now that if there's an unplugged version, I'll add it for good measure:

"After all of this is gone

who would you rather be,

The Beatles or the Rolling Stones...?"

10-7-11 - "Big Blue Wave" ~ Hey Ocean

Another one from 100.5 The Peak.  Local Vancouver band Hey Ocean! are on form with this track, and hey, David Beckham is in the band!

...wait that's David BeckINGham in the band, not the soccer player... my bad.  But he's pretty cool too!


Anyway, the song is just swell.  Catchy and hopeful, this fits the bill of indie rock-pop brilliance.  And I found an amazing acoustic version as well, which brings out the harmonies and emotive depth in a spectacular way...


Recorded:

Acoustic Awesomeness:

"Sing until you have no voice
sing because you have no choice
sing until you float away
our love is like a big blue wave..."

10-6-11 - "Lights" ~ Ellie Goulding

So I made it 9 months without missing a daily post (although a few came an hour or two past midnight EST.)  But due to a combination of travel, a late night at the Penguins-Canucks game in Vancouver, and a crappy computer that wouldn't connect, I didn't get to post yesterday.  So here's yesterday's song, retroactively.


Heard it on 100.5 The Peak, Vancouver's awesome radio station, whilst driving up from Seattle.  One of a plethora of great songs they played, many of which will likely show up here in the coming days.  This trip is in some ways a mirror of the trip which originally inspired me to start this blog, and this station played a role in that.


This track is from a British songstress and is a bit on the dance/techno side, but it's enjoyable and has some interesting lyrics...

"...the queen has been overthrown..."

10-3-11 - "Star Witness" ~ Neko Case

Once again, WYEP on the drive home comes through with a song that just caught my ear.  I'd heard of Neko Case before, primarily as part of The New Pornographers, but hadn't heard much of her solo stuff, and certainly not this moving track.


It's said to be about a shooting, and with or without that context, it gets me thinking...

And here's a pretty cool live version:

"rolling off in a crooked line

to the chainlink lots where the redials dive…"

9-18-11 - "Photograph" ~ Donora

My first experience with Donora was growing up in the Monongahela Valley ("Mon Valley" or simply "the Valley" for those fortunate souls who live there).  It may be that I'm the only one in the world amused by this, but Donora is three miles from everywhere.  At least, there were a few green and white highway signs that said so scattered about the Valley.  Interesting that all of these signs happened to be erected at points 3 miles from a certain town...


But enough about my strangely-wired brain.  Let's talk about the band whose name is derived from this great town.  Donora (the band) has overtaken Donora (the blue collar coal town) in fame, at least according to a Google search, and that's saying something, considering such folks as Stan Musial and Ken Griffey (senior AND Junior!) were born there.  They're baseball players, in case you didn't know - and pretty good ones, in their respective days.


I'd heard a lot about the band, but hadn't really heard them until their CD release show on Friday.  Fellow Pittsburgh rockers New Shouts were part of the celebratory concert, which made me that much more interested to attend and finally see what the hype was about.  I was pleasantly surprised by the other opener, Way Yes from Columbus, and New Shouts brought Casey on stage during their set for a fun and catchy rendition of one of the tracks from Donora's new album (but we can't talk about that yet - it's a secret!).



"Photograph" is one of the tracks that jumps out at me from Donora's first album, which I picked up at the show.  Their music is primarily lighthearted pop rock with some fun synths and loops, and this track is no different.  However, if one wanted to read into the lyrics, one could surmise that there are underlying intonations regarding the fleeting nature of human existence and emotion.  Change often comes (for good or bad), and we do well to cherish our experiences in memory, learn from the mistakes and look back on the good times to cheer us up in the bad times...

Not from the show I attended, but here's a live performance from a concert (which, unfortunately, I missed) earlier this summer:

"It was supposed to last forever

Every feeling we ever had

We said we'd remind each other

When we'd forgotten the lives

The lives we had..."

9-2-11 - "You, Me, And The Bourgeoisie" ~ The Submarines

Here's an example of the evils of the big corporations being used for good... sort of.  I'm not gonna lie, I heard this song on an iPhone commercial a few years back; might never have heard of the band otherwise.  Ironically, the song is all about not falling prey to the lifestyle-driven "keep up with the Joneses" mentality that is so prevalent these days.  But in conjunction with my "don't judge a band by its genre" policy, I believe there's no wrong way to get your music out there.


As you might guess since it was used in a commercial for a product aimed at the young, hip crowd, the song is super catchy.  But along with the hook, there's a healthy dose of food for thought.  What is truly important in life?  Is it money, cars, climbing the corporate ladder?  Or perhaps is there something else to which we should dedicate our pursuits...?

"We're not living the good life
unless we're fighting the good fight..."

8-29-11 - "The Parting Glass" ~ The Wailin' Jennys

One of my best friends is embarking on a cross-country journey to start a new job in Tacoma, Washington.  Jake's last night in Pittsburgh was last night, and after countless "guys nites" and hangouts over the past several years, and having him share a house with me and some other great guys for the last year and a half, it's going to be pretty strange not having him around.  We had a big farewell party on Saturday which was well-attended, but perhaps even more special was a more intimate gathering last night, with just a few close friends sharing one last conversation and one last drink.


This song is actually from the point of view of the one leaving friends behind, but it expresses the feelings well.  The Celtic tune and lyric date back to the 1700s, and numerous artists in the modern era have sung it.  I think I like this version best.  The somber tone evokes the sorrow of leaving a loved hometown and cherished friends and family, and the a capella harmonies are exquisite:

Live version:

No matter how sorrowful the parting, however, we can take joy in knowing that our friend is moving to another great place, where he will have a rewarding job and surely make new friends, and that we'll see him again.  Also, we now have an excuse to go to the Pacific Northwest, not that an excuse is needed to go to a place that awesome...


"but since it falls unto my lot
that I should rise and you should not
I'll gently rise and I'll softly call
good night and joy be with you all..." 

8-9-11 - "Treat Me Right" ~ Grace Potter & The Nocturnals

OK, so Hartwood Acres free* summer concerts are pretty flippin' sweet.  Josh Ritter and David Wax Museum were great back in June, and Grace Potter & The Nocturnals brought it this past Sunday.  Here's a video I shot of one of the most rockin' songs I've ever heard played solely on acoustic guitars (x3!)!

(yea, they segued into another song and I just kept filming... a cover of Bill Withers' "Grandma's Hands"... it's all good stuff so roll with it!)

And here are a few photos that hopefully capture some of the energy Grace and the band brought to the show (oh yea, she plays a Flying V AND a Hammond B3 ~ my kind of woman!)

Wow, could I have used any more parenthetical exclamations in this post? (I think not!)


"I'm at the end of a tunnel but there ain't no light..."
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* - except, of course, for the hassles of driving there, sitting in traffic, and parking... if you go, go EARLY and take a picnic and just enjoy the evening.


PS - sorry for the late post; Youtube took forever to upload my video so I had to go to bed.  But hey, it's still August 9th in Hawaii... or at least somewhere in the Pacific Ocean near the International Date Line... I think... anyway, sorry.

7-29-11 - "Save Your Breath" ~ Big Hurry

Any day you have a chance to move a sofa with a pull-out mattress down a fire escape AND see Big Hurry in concert has to go down as one of the better days it is possible to have on this earth.  Turns out the other two bands were legit tonight, too (The Long Time Darlings and The Harlan Twins - we'll likely talk about each of them some time soon).  BH brought the energy tonight to a packed and sweaty house at Brillobox, and it was good to see their full electric set after they hit an acoustic home run a few weeks ago at the Draw Us Lines birthday bash.

(photo from the acoustic set 7-9-11)

I got to talk to a few of the band members, and they're pretty swell folks.  Additional evidence can be found here (a hilarious interview after a recent show they played in NYC).  I gotta say, I'm disappointed they weren't able to resurrect "Found Out" for me after I asked them about it at the last show, but I'm holding out hope that it will resurface at a future show.


It's hard to pick just one song to highlight when you love them all, but I'm going with Save Your Breath tonight.  


"Save Your Breath" (bandcamp)


Acoustic "Echo Chamber" version, courtesy of Draw Us Lines (you gotta love the way Dani does percussion for their acoustic stuff; I know my drummer friend Jake does!):

oh hey look a remix too: "Save Your Breath / Left of the Dial mix" (bandcamp)


three for one tonight, don't you feel special?


"we depicted awful scenes in bright red chalk..."

7-8-11 - "When We Were Young" ~ Turning violet Violet

I've been waiting almost two months for this.  DrawUsLines finally posted the Echo Chamber session of Turning violet Violet.  I fell in love with this band after hearing their acoustic versions of this song and Pink Sky on a Saturday afternoon back in May, and seeing their full set at Brillobox that evening.  Well, honestly, I was pretty much sold as soon as Jake told me the band's name - I love me a good Roald Dahl reference!

This song had better be on TvV's upcoming album, because it blows me away every time I listen.  This acoustic version features accordion and viola (NOT a violin, don't let Sarah P catch you calling it a violin), and drops some heavy lyrics, the meaning of which which I won't presume to interpret for you.


Click to watch on Vimeo, since blogger won't let me embed the vid here:


"When We Were Young" (acoustic Echo Chamber session)

"and well-dressed men remember the score

as we roll through the floor

my bed made of leaves, an old shot rings out..."

Be sure to check out their Bandcamp and blog; you can download a free track or three if you ask nicely!  You can also hear a few other tunes on myspace, like their facebook page, and follow them on twitter, if you're into that sort of thing.  Ain't the internets great?


(sorry if that many links seems like overkill, but hey, they're a sweet band and I really think you should check them out!  Just tryin to give you options.)

6-7-11 - "Spiderwebs" ~ No Doubt

Going with a fun one from the days of our youth.  Well, my youth... I don't presume to know the age of the reader.  Anyway, it's just a fun ska-ish tune about getting over a dude who keeps calling, or maybe it's about the way technology has permeated our society to the point where "helpful" and "useful" things become a nuisance or even a curse...

"Communication, a telephonic invasion..."