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However much time I spend on, with, in, about and around music, and that is a lot of time, it still happens. Amazing, beautiful, breathtaking, awe inspiring music still manages to be out there, entirely outside of my realm of existence. This frustrates and scares me to no end, knowing there just simply isn’t enough time in the day to be on top of it all. Damn you Last.fm, Pitchfork and Stereogum, must you be so infinite?
And so it was, not too long ago, I was at friend CR’s house and he was playing me some tunes. “You don’t know him??” he asked in disbelief, “you’ll love this!”. What he played me was Trouble by Ray LaMontagne. I was gobsmacked. That voice! Frankly this man could sing the Chinese take away menu to me and I would still quiver with delight.
I was very excited to learn that he had a new album coming out: Gossip In The Grain. Before I even got my hands on the album it happened: I was overtaken. This is what happens when I’m going about my business, quietly loving a specific song or artist that (I very ignorantly think) not many people have heard of yet, and all of a sudden there it is: prime time on mainstream radio. All day every day. I know this is horrible music snobbism, but tell me you’ve never felt that way about any song?
Well I suppose it was to be expected, with that magnificent single You Are The Best Thing. It’s still Ray, just in a less drug-stained more Motowny sort of jacket. I was glad to find out though, that not the entire album is quite so smoothed out, although considerably more so than its predecessors Trouble and Till The Sun Turns Black. God forbid he’ll be casually mentioned in the same sentence as Gavin DeGraw and James Blunt.
Let It Be Me could have sat well between the songs on Trouble, except for the abundant but lovely string arrangement. Things get really interesting with I Still Care For You, a haunting and dreamy song that you just know will end up accompanying a Grey’s Anatomy scene where Meredith and McDreamy are as always doubting their relationship.
Ray’s funny ode to Meg White is actually a pretty rockin’ tune, even with it’s sugary sweet harmony singing. And who could resist Ray suggesting to to ride your bike along the sea side with him? He’s definitely intent on making the album a varied experience as it then switches to the bluegrassy Hey Me, Hey Mama, which sounds like it could be over a hundred years old, and Henry Nearly Killed Me (It’s A Shame), a nice and gritty blues romp. Title track Gossip In The Grain is a wonderfully mellow closer, is it finished already?
All in all I would say Gossip In The Grain definitely didn’t have the same gobsmacking effect on me as his earlier work. I do miss the punch-in-the-gut rawness of songs like Jolene. But it’s a great album that will definitely bring Ray LaMontagne to a much wider audience, and isn’t that really what making music is about? I’ll have to put my snobbism aside and share him with the rest of the world then. Luckily I’m getting a chance to do so in Paradiso next February.
As there are no videos for the new songs yet, here’s a “fan clip” for the gorgeous I Still Care For You:
Thanks to speesmees
Having arrived at the venue rediculously early, we got great seats in the beautiful main room of the royal theatre and waited patiently. The room soon filled up to the very brim and there was a very warm welcome for Glen Hansard as he took to the stage by himself, with that beat up old guitar in hand.
As he did in the film Once, he started the set off busker style, standing on the edge of the stage and singing Say It To Me Now straight from the gut. I’m always amazed when I see him sing live how he manages to pull that intensity out of the bag every single time. After that Marketa Irglova and “The Swell Season band” (the other Frames) came on stage and gave a wonderful set with some new songs mixed in.
Marketa’s very unassuming presence is deceiving, it’s her clear vocals and piano lines that give the Swell Season songs great warmth. Particularly when her gentle voice and Glen’s raw emotional voice are put together on songs like When Your Mind’s Made Up and the Oscar winning Falling Slowly, it’s goosebump inducing stuff on stage. New songs such as Go With Happiness (Glen: “This song is about how sometimes you need to let go of someone and you want to wish them the best in life. Go now, good luck, take it easy. And wouldn’t it be great if we were actually able to do that.”) and a song Marketa sang by herself (the name escapes me) were equally captivating and Glen’s rambling introductions were charming as ever.
The audience was blown away by Leave, another song showcasing Glen’s tell it like it is style. And towards the end of the set fans of The Frames were treated to an awesome version of Fitzcarraldo. Even as I’m typing this now I’m still trying to take it all in, what a rare delight of a show in that beautiful venue. I can safely say I wasn’t alone in this opinion as the audience gave a lengthy standing ovation. Here’s hoping there will be a new album out soon.
When Your Mind’s Made Up (thanks to feetinas)
We caught the tail end of a set by Chad VanGaalen, Canadian DIY pop songsmith, who was performing with the band Women. I had never heard his material before but was instantly impressed and intend to check out much more than the two songs we were lucky enough to catch. Flemish Eye has kindly put up two mp3 downloads from his new album Soft Airplanes, be sure to check out Willow Tree.
Next stop: the main event, the biggest source of festival buzz, the gig to see: Fleet Foxes. The place was packed well before the band took to the stage and expectations were high. Before they started playing they apparently had to wait for some technical stuff to be sorted out, and frontman Robin Pecknold broke the ice by remarking “Well, this is a good time to akwkardly stand and stare at each other”.
The first two or three songs were strung together, making it a bit of a muddle and leaving the audience unsure if and when they were supposed to clap. I was a bit weary at this stage, but there was no need. After those ten minutes Pecknold joked “As we only have limited time we’ll just play our greatest hits”, but it did instantly pick up from there. The beautiful White Winter Hymnal, Your Protector, Tiger Mountain Peasant Song and Ragged Wood spring to mind as some of the stand out songs for me.
For whatever reason I was surprised by the easy going nature of the band and their funny remarks during the set, perhaps because the songs all seem so clean cut and earnest. At one point the band left the stage except for Pecknold and as he stood fidgetting with his guitar for a while he said “And now for my twenty minute guitar solo”. All laughs aside, he then gave a breathtaking solo performance of Oliver James.
For me, the Fleet Foxes album has probably been the one album in 2008 that grew on me the most. It has slowly seeped into my subconscious and I love it dearly now. It’s going to be very interesting to see what these mesmerising hairy lads will get up to next.
Oh for the joy of music festivals, I do love them so. Even the ever so slightly uppity and sophisticated Crossing Border, which mainly gets this vibe from the rather posh venue: the royal theatre in The Hague.
I started the evening off with the delightful and somewhat Arcade Fire reminiscent Ra Ra Riot from Syracuse, New York. They were great fun to watch live on stage, really giving it their all. A very lively show, great poppy songs with singer Wes Miles’ smooth and relatively high pitched voice pleasant to listen to. The nowadays seemingly fashionable incorporation of cello and violin didn’t feel at all forced and really added to the music.
thanks to axelman247
We then peeked in on Rachel Unthank and The Winterset, who I had only seen before during the Mercury Music Prize show. I was curious if all of their stuff was really that folky, and actually, it was even folkier. There were songs of laddies and there was clogg dancing. Yes you read it right, clogg dancing. It was interesting and the small room they played was packed, but we didn’t last long.
We also payed a brief visit to Van Dyke Parks and Inara George, whose delicate songs and lush orchestration were perfectly set in the grand main room of the theatre. And we stopped by an interview with Louis Theroux, who also managed to jam-pack the foyer he was in.
Although I do like mr. Theroux, I was getting very impatient: time to move in order to catch the beginning of the band I’ve been waiting so long to see live for the first time: Death Cab For Cutie. What a treat! The band seemed to be very relaxed and enjoying themselves, despite the odd technical glitch. I was lucky enough to be served a wonderful double whammy in this my first DCFC gig: the beautiful little gem of a song that is I Will Follow You Into The Dark, immediately followed by the majestic I Will Possess Your Heart, with that amazing 4,5 minute build up.
thanks to axelman247
For the old school DCFC lovers they threw in some Transatlanticism delights such as The New Year, Title and Registration, The Sound Of Settling and the title track perfectly finishing up the encore: “I want you so much closer…”. I was more than satisfied, but dit miss Tiny Vessels and Lack Of Colour, my two personal favourites from that album. However, no complaints on the festival front, can’t wait for Crossing Border part two tomorrow!
I gladly leave you with all 8,5 tantalising minutes worth of the eerie (see the lyrics below) I Will Possess Your Heart by Death Cab For Cutie.
How I wish you could see the potential
The potential of you and me
It’s like a book elegantly bound
But in a language you can’t read just yet
You got to spend some time, love
You got to spend some time with me
And I know that you’ll find love
I will possess your heart
There are days when outside your window
I see my reflection as I slowly pass
And I long for this mirrored perspective
When we’ll be lovers, lovers at last
You got to spend some time, love
You got to spend some time with me
And I know that you’ll find love
I will possess your heart
You reject my advances and desperate pleas
I won’t let you let me down so easily
So easily
You got to spend some time, love
You got to spend some time with me
And I know that you’ll find love
I will possess your heart
[UPDATE: watch this concert on Fabchannel]
(pictures courtesy of budding pop photographer EB)
Despair and confusion. That is how my life long friend EB described her first encounter with Cold War Kids at Paradiso tonight. Rough around the edges, but fulfilling.
I have to say I agree completely. There’s something equally disturbing and exciting about Cold War Kids’ ramshackle brand of doom and gloom. It’s not often you find yourself fiercely toe tapping and head bobbing to dark tales of alcoholism, disfunctional families, isolation and anxiety, but that’s exactly what I was doing tonight.
Right at the start at the show they played the wonderfully wry We Used To vacation, followed by a string of excellent tracks from the new album, Loyalty To Loyalty. I was particularly taken with I’ve Seen Enough (immediately followed by crowd pleasing Hang Me Up To Dry, a clever two song power house to lift the middle of the show) and Dreams Old Men Dream. The latter was probably the stand out track of the night, for which I’ll gladly suffer the ear bleed it’s noisy guitar sound caused, thanks to our position near the speakers.
What I found a bit off-putting about the whole experience was Cold War Kids’ apparent preference for playing entirely in the dark or with a few measly lights on them at most. They took this to the extreme by playing Robbers in a pitch black Paradiso, except for two torches which the band members used to search the audience. Although the band seemed to get more and more into the swing of things as the gig went on, the whole lack-of-light situation created some distance between the band and the (quite passive) crowd.
However, as the main set drew to a close with the very catchy Hospital Beds, a personal favourite, both band and audience seemed to have finally warmed up to one another and the encore was very well received. The band whipped up a bit of a frenzy for the last song of the night, Saint John, using anything at hand for percussion, including a wine bottle. The choice of song was very befitting the end of a Cold War Kids concert. As Nathan willet sang “Old Saint John on death row”, it seemed some sort of warning that we’ll all face our comeuppance in the end.
The Fabchannel registration of the concert should be up very soon, but in the meantime you can make do with the first single off the new album Loyalty To Loyalty:
Cold War Kids – Something Is Not Right With Me
The setlist:
1. Every valley is not a lake
2. We used to vacation
3. Mexican dogs
4. Something is not right with me
5. Every man I fall for
6. Robbers
7. Coffee Spoon “Ok this is a brand new song that you’ve never heard before, it’s called cofee spoon.”
8. I’ve see enough
9. Hang me up to dry
10. Relief
11. Dreams old men dream
12. Welcome to the occupation
13. Quiet, please!
14. Hospital Beds
- – -
15. Loyalty to loyalty
16. Saint John
This morning (or rather: last night) I witnessed a strange but wonderful circus. At 5 AM, in a zombie-like state of semi-sleep, I joined approximately 1200 people in the Kurhaus in Scheveningen for the “Election Breakfast”, to watch the results of election day come in live. Just as we walked up the grand staircase into the beautiful main hall of the Kurhaus, we were met by a large cheering crowd: Barack Obama won the race.
First we watched McCain’s gracious speech, a shining example of how to accept your defeat with dignity. Then there was just enough time to stock up on bagels and donuts before Obama took to the stage. Quite the sight: this majestic hall full of people, cheeks filled with breakfast buffet goodies, staring up at Barack Obama and drying the odd tear during his powerful speech.
One of the things Obama said really struck me:
“It’s been a long time coming, but tonight, because of what we did on this date in this election at this defining moment, change has come to America.”
This is clearly Obama’s subtle but unmistakable reference to the civil rights movement through one of the most beautiful and poignant songs ever written: Sam Cooke’s A Change Is Gonna Come.
When you hear Sam Cooke sing “It’s been a long time coming, but I know, a change is gonna come. Oh yes it will.”, you can’t help but be moved. Sadly, Cooke never lived to see the significance his song would come to have after it’s posthumous release in 1964.
Congratulations Obama and thank you for the little Cooke reference you snuck in there, it provides me with the perfect excuse to pull this glorious golden oldie out of the dusty archives:
Sam Cooke – A Change Is Gonna Come
