Karli Fairbanks, a country-folk musician from Spokane, Washington, performed at The Grind Coffee House with support from Henry Nordstrom and Cedar City locals Wood-Skin-Steel. Photos are also available on my Flickr.
Archive for the ‘MusicGeek.org’ Category
Melora Creager’s Rasputina metamorphasis
This limited-edition CD was my introduction to Ms. Melora Creager, and what an introduction it turned out to be . The resonant feeling I heard on the first playing sent me off on a web-surfing frenzy that ended with my debit card lying on the corner of my desk feeling violated, and several virtual shopping carts loaded with Rasputina discs on my laptop screen. I’m a willing sucker for pensive, sappy music, and Creager offers that in spades here.
Turns out ‘Melora a la Basilica’ is the pinnacle though, at least for the time being. Creager seems to have found that sweet spot that lies precariously just beyond artistic experimentation and onto the frontier of profound. In pouring through the Rasputina catalog leading up to this solo recording one can clearly hear the slow maturation of sound that culminates in an abandoned warehouse whose walls provide the perfect acoustics for these stripped-down offerings from Creager and second-chair Daniel DeJesus. The two of them leverage the incredible power of the cello to render any ordinary listener into an involuntarily weeping heap of rubble, and the combination exacerbates the experience by doubling the cellos and adding her intoxicatingly strong and emotive vocals to boot. The result is thirty-eight minutes of acoustic and vocal bliss that will either leave you drained or invigorated, and probably both.
All the more amazing considering there is literally nothing new here. Every track on the album is either a cover tune, a remade Creager original from her Rasputina days, or both. Creager appears to have a longstanding talent for making other people’s music her own through innovative covers, but here the lines between original and cover are blurred beyond recognition, and she breathes new and melancholy life into her own songs which benefit from more starkly mature arrangements and outstanding sonic qualities. Honestly, it took me almost three playings before it dawned on me that the opening “Clowns” is actually a cover of the more-famous Goldfrapp original, made here into a poignantly glum character sketch courtesy of her controlled wailing and purposeful string-bowing. The resonating strings barely fall silent before she rips into an inspired rendition of Tom Petty’s “American Girl” that captures, possibly for the first time, that song’ true meaning of a forlorn teen on the brink of suicide.
Other must-hear tracks include an absolutely heartbreaking offering of “Rose K.”, a terribly personal picture of age and decline: “…oh I don’t know why they have taken all my favorite things away; but one thing’s for sure, I don’t know what they were…”; “Rusty the Skatemaker” in which Creager sounds like a mad female cellist channeling Colin Meloy’s muse; and an a cappella rendition of the Eddie Vedder crowd-pleaser “Soon Forget”.
DeJesus’s high tenor vocals and anchoring cello accompaniment quietly complement Creager beautifully throughout, but he projects mightily on “Green Finch/Johanna” from the tragic Sondheim musical Sweeney Todd, yet another cover that demonstrates Creager’s appreciable talent for making thematic connections between songs that on the surface seem to have nothing in common.
I could go on, but considering this is an individually-numbered, 1,000 copy limited-edition in a collectable tin case, you might miss out by delaying any longer in picking it. So go buy the thing now; my copy is number 986 so time is running out. Very highly recommended to dreamers, left-leaning naïve optimists and drama-club geeks.
peace
“Well we’ll all be alone when we sing our final note”
For anyone who has experienced the genre-bending and ranging music of Cerberus Shoal any time in the past decade, this rebirth known as Fire on Fire should come as no surprise. That band seemed to make a habit of reinventing their sound every couple of years or so (or evolving might be a better word). A band that required loyalty and a healthy sense of wanderlust and adventure.
With Fire on Fire they’ve done it again, or some of them anyway, but this time unplugged and firmly entrenched somewhere in a dimension far removed from those musical roots. The trappings now are rough-hewn and varnished implements: guitar, mandolin, fiddle, banjo, upright bass, accordion; plucked, strummed, pressed and purposefully bowed. But bubbling under the surface and woven in the words, that genesis of youth and anger and cynicism and sense of irony and sarcasm blend with newfound purpose like dandelion wine, and into something that wets the palette but leaves behind an aftertaste of bittersweet satisfaction. This is music for folks who may not be ready to stop being contrary and skeptical, but who have matured to a point where those emotions can be effectively channeled into something useful.
Right out in front of the toe-tapping acid bluegrass and new-generation Americana folk instrumental arrangements the band lays out a rich layer of vocal harmonies that’ll keep your ears glued to your iPod or Media Player or car stereo or to whatever portal-to-your-soul of choice this CD happens to land in. I’ve a bit of a soft-spot for sincere folk music (and what folk music isn’t sincere)? But this ain’t folk any more than Neil Young is a country singer. We’ve gone beyond that and more. The dirge-like apocalyptic lament “Sirocco” with its hypnotic fiddle and unrelenting bass lays a trance-like bed on which something akin to a post-apocalyptic and sickly gleeful chant issues forth: “and if we tear this kingdom down (tear it down!), let it be with a deserving and joyful sound”. I suppose this is close to what A Silver Mt Zion might have sounded like if they’d grown up just south of the border instead of on Mile End Street. And with a keener sense of harmony.
The years of experimentation and experience manifest all over this album, from the plucking bluegrass-tinged title track to the Jesus-freak throwback “Toknight” to Colleen Kinsella’s chilling vocals on the accordion tribute “Squeeze Box” to the all-acoustic post-rock (did I just say acoustic post-rock?) “Haystack”. An enchanting closer to a stunningly engaging album. All I can do at this point is hope like hell these guys somehow wind their way to South Dakota USA so I can see them live. Not likely, but you never know.
Concert Photos: Maybelle’s Music Box at The Grind
I’m still alive, people. Don’t worry. Things have been busy on my end — and I’ve been lazy. Shame on me! Anyway, here are some photos of Salt Lake City-based bluegrass outfit Maybelle’s Music Box performing at my favorite coffee shop in Cedar City, The Grind Coffee House. They’re also available on my Flickr profile. More photos from Cedar City concerts will be available
in the coming days.
Politics and Music: Mark Berube
Mark Berube, a Canadian indie musician who performs folk-inflected indie with his group, Mark Berube and the Patriotic Few, discusses his perspective on music and politics. This is the third in a series of interviews with musicians discussing political perspectives.
What role do politics play in your music?
Politics in modern music can very easily have the tendency to be preachy. I avoid this sort of statement as much as I can, unless I really want to put some balls behind something. I prefer subtlety, like “Ojala,” by Silvio Rodriguez, probably one of the most potent and subtle statments made in a song against Castro.
Mark Berube and the Patriotic Few – “Flowers on the Stones” | download
[audio:http://www.musicgeek.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/2008/09/08-flowers-on-the-stones.mp3]
What role do you think music should play in politics?
Music has always been a reference point for society to bounce itself against, or it has been pure escapism. Most of the time it fills an entertainment quota in politics … you only have to look as far as Palin’s use of “Barracuda”. (more…)
Southern Utah: Open Mic Night at The Grind
For eight years, Open Mic Night has taken place at Groovacious, a Cedar City record store; one week ago, Open Mic Night was moved to The Grind Coffee House. The new ownership at the coffee shop has already shown a great willingness to support music in Cedar City, which is a breath of fresh air.
Open Mic Night takes place at The Grind Coffee House and starts at 8 p.m.. Those interested in performing should arrive at 7:30 p.m. such that scheduling can take place effectively with the newly revised night. Entry is free, but visitors are encouraged to purchase product from the coffee house –I opt for the coffee. Go figure.
The Moroccan Mint green tea is nice, too — both iced and hot. Using a good blend is essential, and I’ve never really been served a bad cup at The Grind, though do be sure to ask for another cup to place your tea bag in, or just be sure to throw it away. Leaving the leaves steeping in the water for too long can leave you with a bitter taste.
Photos from Open Mic Night for yesterday, Sept. 10, after the jump.
Review: What Laura Says – Thinks and Feels
What Laura Says
Thinks and Feels
Terpsikshore Records, 2008
What Laura Says opens their second release with a collection, of sorts, of musical styles: “Couldn’t Lose Myself If I Tried” opens with a gentle folk-inflected tune before it transitions (with a door knock, of all things) into an a capella medley, then making a segue into a Ben Folds Five-style piano-romp, complete with the group’s trademark vocal harmonies.
Thankfully, What Laura Says doesn’t keep up this strange method for long, opting to not make such bold breaks in style mid-song but still keeping the music convincingly engaging. “Fashionably Moral,” dark Western mood and all, bursts with acoustic energy midway through the song before settling down again, and the following track, “Illustrated Manual” marks another appearance of some nice piano-based pop — it’s clear that What Laura Says either get bored with a single style of music rather quickly, or they simply wish to showcase a bit of diversity in the music.
What Laura Says – “July 23” | download
[audio:http://www.musicgeek.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/2008/09/july23.mp3]
Music Geek #12: Subscribe with Google Reader, please
Five of you subscribe to MusicGeek.org with Google Reader. One of you is me.
So, let me revise that: Four of you subscribe to MusicGeek.org with Google Reader. Thank you. More of you regular readers should subscribe to this site with some sort of RSS feed reader if you don’t already.
Now, I know you probably want to visit the site to view our lovely ads (which, by the way, make me little to no money — I’m quite certainly not profiting financially from running this site,) but I urge you to subscribe anyway. The formatting might not be quite as nice, but if you read through the brief bit of post and are interested in reading more, it’s a short process to click and read the rest. (more…)