Archive for Folk
Concert Review: Le Loup in Paris (with Video)
February 26th, 2010 • 1 comment Concert Review, Folk, Rock, Video
Tags: Le Loup, Paris
Le Loup, The Wolf in English, is Jim Thomson, Sam Simkoff, Robby Sahm, Michael Ferguson and Christian Ervin. Their most recent album, Family, was released on Hardly Art in September of 2007, a record label started by the founder of Sub-Pop, Jonathan Ponerman. Read more »
Commentary: Musician for our Generation
January 1st, 2010 • Commentary, Folk, Hip Hop, Op-Ed, Rock
Tags: death cab for cutie, eminem, jay-z, kanye west, Lil Wayne, mgmt, Radiohead, red hot chili peppers
Looking back in time, every generation has a small handful of bands and singers with which they are culturally linked, such as the Beatles and Bob Dylan for my parents’ generation and Bruce Springsteen, who gave a voice to the subsequent generation. Up until the present because it was extremely expensive and difficult to record and distribute music, it took real talent just to get an LP pressed, but digital technology has really changed the playing field. Popular music now transcends the confines of a single genre.
So as I sit at home watching the various New Years countdown specials, I started to think about who is the musician or band that defines my generation in music as many of the performers put in front of me I had never even heard of. So I wondered, in 2050, when I will be 63, who will the kids talk about as being emblematic of music of the late 1990s and early 2000s? Read more »
Concert Review: Fanfarlo and Freelance Whales (with Video)
December 27th, 2009 • 1 comment Boston, Concert Review, Folk, Rock
Tags: fanfarlo, Freelance Whales, T.T. and the Bear's, Weathervanes
Fanfarlo and Freelance Whales played in Boston at T.T. the Bear’s on December 17. Despite the fact that London’s indie-pop group Fanfarlo headlined, several Bates kids and I actually made the trek to see the openers, New York’s Freelance Whales.
Freelance Whales is Judah Dadone, Kevin Read, Doris Cellar, Jake Hyman and Chuck Criss. They were recently signed onto Frenchkiss/Mom + Pop Records, and in my opinion deserve a lot more recognition than they’ve garnered so far. The group is rapidly gaining momentum considering the limited time they’ve been together.
Their show was a great success, and the packed, enthusiastic crowed they played for is a testament to the close following they’ve acquired. Read more »
Editor’s Picks: 30 Best Albums of the Decade
December 24th, 2009 • 1 comment Commentary, Electronic, Folk, Hip Hop, Op-Ed, Rock
Tags: Amadou & Mariam, Animal Collective, Bjork, Bon Iver, Brian Wilson, Bruce Springsteen, David Sanford & The Pittsburgh Collective, DJ Danger Mouse, Fleet Foxes, Gregory and the Hawk, Gui Boratto, Jens Lekman, Jonsi and Alex, Lil Wayne, M83, Noah and the Whale, Phoenix, Radiohead, Ryan Adams, seabear, Sigur Ros, Sin Fang Bous, Spoon, Sufjan Stevens, The Arcade Fire, The Hold Steady, The Shins, TV on the Radio, Yeasayer, Yelle
With the impending end of the first decade of the century looming in the distance, all one can do is take a look back at the last 10 years in music and create another list, this one ranking the best 30 albums of the last decade (With a sentence of explanation for each).
1. The Arcade Fire – Funeral
This album made baroque pop cool again, something that seemed unachievable after the Beach Boys fell apart.
2. Ryan Adams – Gold
Gold is alternative country at its very best, chocked full of sublime instrumentation and sentimental lyrics.
3. Bruce Springsteen – We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions
The Boss sings Pete Seeger and brilliance results; there is something fantastic about the combination of Springsteen’s voice and Seeger’s lyrics.
4. Yeasayer – All Hours Cymbals
All Hours Cymbals is an album for the decade lyrically, thematically, and instrumentally.
5. Jonsi and Alex – Riceboy Sleeps
Jonsi and Alex’s post-rock/ambient masterpiece is an album to listen to all the way through (8+ times) to really catch it’s flavor. Read more »
Editor’s Picks: 10 Best Albums of 2009
December 21st, 2009 • Commentary, Electronic, Folk, Op-Ed, Rock, Top Ten
Tags: 2009, Animal Collective, au revoir simone, best albums, Fuck Buttons, Grizzly Bear, Jonsi and Alex, Karen O and the Kids, Noah and the Whale, Phish, Phoenix, The Avett Brothers, Top Ten
Now, just 10 days remain in the decade, and as such, another top ten list is in order. This time, I am looking at what I think are the ten best albums of the past year.
1. Jonsi and Alex – Riceboy Sleeps
This is one of the finest ambient albums ever made. This album is both enigmatic and idiocyncratic; it really grows on the listener such that it may be true that each time one listens to it, Riceboy Sleeps feels like a whole new album. Despite being produced by Sigur Ros lead singer Jón Þór Birgisson and his boyfriend Alex Somers, this album has a unique quality to it that fans of post-rock should hope continues in the future with Jonsi’s upcoming solo release, Go, which is due out early in 2010
2. Phoenix – Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
It’s light and poppy; it’s deep and lyrical; it’s Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix. This album is about contradictions and while that might not normally make for a stellar album concept, French rockers Phoenix have really produced a piece on indie-pop gold in this, their fourth full-length studio album.
3. Animal Collective – Merriweather Post Pavilion
Delightfully weird, as one should come to expect from the Animal Collective, Merriweather Post Pavillion is a tour-de-force of the dream-pop scene, which is developing in and around Baltimore of all places. Read more »
Editor’s Picks: 10 Best Songs of 2009
December 15th, 2009 • 4 comments Commentary, Electronic, Folk, Hip Hop, Rock, Top Ten
Tags: Karen O and the Kids, Matt and Kim, Mum, Noah and the Whale, Passion Pit, Phoenix, Regina Spektor, The Lonely Island, Top Ten, Weezer, Zee Avi
With just 16 days remaining in 2009, and the music calendar winding down, its time to look back at the year in music as I provide you with my picks for the 10 best songs of the year.
2. “All is Love” (Where the Wild Things Are) Karen O and the Kids
3. “Rome” (Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix) Phoenix
Video: Noah and the Whale – 10/22/09
October 28th, 2009 • California, England, Folk, Video
Tags: Noah and the Whale, San Francisco, Swedish American Hall
Noah and the Whale perform “Give a Little Love” at the Swedish American Hall in San Francisco, California – October 22, 2009
Album Review: Noah and the Whale / The First Days of Spring
October 6th, 2009 • 2 comments Album Review, England, Folk
Tags: Charlie Fink, Cherrytree, Indie Folk, Noah and the Whale, The First Days of Spring
When the name Noah and the Whale first appeared to me, it was from a friend of mine in the United Kingdom who knew of my love for indie folk and thought that this band from southwestern London might make a good addition to my burgeoning iTunes library. The band, whose name is not a mismatch of famous stories from the Old Testament, has yet to receive much major recognition in the United States, despite the fact that their first single, “5 Years Time” reached the UK’s top ten singles. Noah and the Whale’s first album, 2008’s Peaceful, The World Lays Me Down, with dreamy pop-like compositions and traditional acoustic/folk instrumentation was by no means perfect, but showed some potential for this band to rise as potential titans of the indie folk scene. Read more »
Photo Gallery: Iceland Airwaves 2008
October 28th, 2008 • Electronic, Folk, Iceland, Photo Gallery
Tags: FM Belfast, Fuck Buttons, Gus Gus, iceland airwaves, Reykjavik, seabear
Several members of the WRBC Board of Directors made a visit to the nation of Iceland to attend the annual Iceland Airwaves Music Festival in October 2008. The festival included performances from over 100 bands, including many Icelandic acts and several prominent international performers. Read more »
Video: Seabear – 10/17/2008
October 18th, 2008 • Folk, Iceland, Video
Tags: arms, iceland airwaves, seabear, the ghost that carried us away
Seabear plays the song “Arms” from the Album “The Ghost That Carried Us Away” in Reykjavik, Iceland