WaterCoolerGossip

Islands mixing debut album Return To The Sea in Jamie Thompson's bedroom.

Islands are going to be playing again in New York at Webster Hall. The number of band members seems to change but the last time they played the Knitting Factory with Nick Diamonds (Nicholas Thorburn) on vocals, J'aime Tambeur (Jamie Thompson) on drums, and Patrice Agbokou on bass. There was also another guitarist, one/two string players, and a clarenetist. Their new album is called Return to the Sea and is out on Rough Trade in the UK. Nick describes the album as having "some dancehall influences, some calypso….It's more diverse and sprawling and ambitious."

I was going to post some mp3s but I found these great links instead:

Islands tracks ( I recommend Swans or Rough Gem)
Unicorns tracks ( I recommend Jelly Bones or Ghost Mountain)

[pic and quote via wikipedia]

Posted by 3xWes at 12:19 AM | Permalink

Broken Social Scene played a 20-song set Saturday. The show was great except the encore was a bit drawn out. "Its All Gonna Break," which was the last song, ended for what seemed like five minutes. It was quite amazing to hear their songs with the full band, which on Saturday was: six horns, two keyboards, three guitars, a bassist, two drummers, the two girl singers that don't play instruments, and somebody always shaking something.
More pics after the jump.

Posted by 3xWes at 01:27 AM | Permalink

I saw Colin Meloy at Town Hall Thursday. He played mostly Decemberists stuff. Highlights were "We Both Go Down Together," "Engine Driver," "Shankhill Butchers" (a new song about a gang of killers with knives), and "Apology Song." He also did a few songs with John Wesley Harding from his Shirley Collins cover EP. He had a six string and a twelve string on stage. A table with a lamb statuette named Erick, a skull named Sheryl, and a schooner ship named The Maya Angelou was also on stage for company. He told a couple of stories and even asked for some visualization of a campfire in the desert while he played “Bandit Queen” during the encore.

A really good story and more pics after the jump.

Best of all, he told the extended back story to "Apology Song." For those who don't know, this song is about a bike he was borrowing from his friend Stive (Steven in the song) who was in England for a few months. The bike, Madeleine, is stolen and Colin writes this song, which he played over the phone, to make good with his friend. A year or so goes by, Colin is back in Missoula Montana and ran into another friend who is riding the bike. Apparently, this guy found the bike a week ago in a dumpster. Colin commandeers the bike, against the will of his friend, and takes it back to Portland to bestow the bike to her rightful owner. There is a big surprise party to unveil Madeleine’s return. Everybody is happy until a few months later when Colin is helping his friend Stive move. The bike was on a rack attached to the back of a big van, which Colin happened to be driving. There were some problems parking the van and he backs up into a car, crushing the bike. Now the crumpled bike hangs in Stive's house as a reminder of the whole debacle.

Posted by 3xWes at 12:27 AM | Permalink

I went to the third show of Miguel Mendez's residency at the Knitting Factory on Wednesday January 26th. He played a good acoustic set. Damon McMahon also played an accoustic set to open. I wrote a review over at BrooklynVegan's blog. Go look for it. These are some pics that aren't over there.


Miguel Mendez

More pics after the jump.

Scott Lenhardt on bass, Robbie Lee on keyboards, and Miguel Mendez on guitar.
(Not Pictured: Andy Macleod on drums and guitar)


Damon McMahon

Posted by 3xWes at 12:13 AM | Permalink

Colin Meloy, sans The Decemberists, has set out on tour with his acoustic guitar. If he comes to your city, you can get a copy of the new Colin Meloy Sings … EP. This time he is covering songs by English folk-singer Shirley Collins. He will be in New York at Town Hall this Thursday, the 26th. Both Laura Veirs and Amy Annelle will open.

Interview excerpt and tour dates after the jump.

Last week the SF Weekly caught up with him for an interview. Below is an excerpt:

This is just your second solo tour, right?
Yeah. When I first moved to Portland it was pretty much all I was doing, but since the Decemberists started I kind of stopped doing any solo dates, and I've kinda been missing it a little bit. I did it last year around this time and it was really fun, so I figured I would head out again.

You've got this new Shirley Collins covers EP — are you a longtime fan of her work or is she more of a recent discovery?
I guess kinda recent. Maybe a year and a half ago I was reading something about British folk and it mentioned Shirley Collins, so I started investigating. I heard a song and I loved it so much that I bought the box set, and I was immediately enamored of her.

Do you think fans of your music would naturally gravitate toward her stuff?
Maybe, I dunno. There's a song she did called "Turpin Hero" that's about Dick Turpin, who was a legendary highwayman in England in the 18th century, and it's pretty funny, so maybe that kinda fits in with what I do. I think some Decemberists fans might be interested in her. But also I just love the songs and love her arrangements, so it's kinda just for my own satisfaction.

Langhorne Slim played a rowdy set on Friday at Rothko. His bluegrass tunes are a throwback to the heartbeak Americana of Doc Watson and Hank Williams, plagued by the vices of women, drinking, and dancing. Despite all the sorrowful lyrics, Slim exudes charisma and energy on stage, which is escalated by the stand-up bassist hollering along with the chorus. The show was an unearthing and shaking of musical roots not common to New York, but more kin to juiced-up Delta blues or Appalachian folk.

More photos after the jump.

Posted by 3xWes at 07:30 PM | Permalink