Archive for California
Summer Music: tUnE-yArDs
June 26th, 2010 • Album Review, California, Commentary, Folk, Summer Playlist, Video
I investigated the music of tUnE-yArDs (the moniker of Oakland-based Merrill Garbus) the way I always look at new music that’s been getting a lot of rAvE rEvIeWs: with caution. Obscure bands getting rave reviews are even worse…and I don’t want to be that person who’s touting the next up-and-coming band-you’ve-never-heard-of. But tUnE-yArDs was a pleasant surprise.
Let’s start with the basics. tUnE-yArDs isn’t that obscure. Pitchfork, for what it’s worth, ranked Garbus’ debut effort, BiRd-BrAiNs, as the 44th-best album of 2009, which is no small honor. BiRd-BrAiNs was released on the Marriage label, shared by notable acts such as Dirty Projectors and YACHT. She’s now signed on to the UK independent label 4AD, which she shares with the likes of The Big Pink, TV on the Radio, and Bon Iver.
Bon Iver forms a particularly relevant comparison. Like Bon Iver, tUnE-yArDs’ first album was recorded in a makeshift home-studio with whatever was at hand…which was comprised mostly of Garbus’ ukulele. Interviews with Garbus suggest that she owned significantly less gear at the time of BiRd-BrAiNs‘ recording than she tours with now, meaning that what she’s got onstage is more than what she recorded the album with. The album was mixed with free-for-download software on her home computer. This makes the album super-lo-fi, most likely with one mic for just about everything. This style is important in terms of Garbus’ expression, insofar as the album was more a catalog of her life, a journal of how she felt, than a studio album. Garbus herself calls it a ‘living history.’ Live, tUnE-yArDs reminds me more of Professor Murder, with the live band’s sparse melody section and prolific drumming. Like Professor Murder, tUnE-yArDs has multiple drumkits on stage, and often as many as three people banging on them at once, forming a very rhythm-oriented sound. Also like PM, the bass guitar sits pretty far forward in the mix (it’s half the melody section), and the mildly-distorted bass sound really fills a lot of space. Garbus’ voice sails over it all, with an unabashed, sustain-filled tone.
Bottom line? If you love the ukulele, and can take some real lo-fi, please grab BiRd-BrAiNs for a listen this summer. At least a couple of songs should speak to you. If you hated Bon Iver and can’t stand Professor Murder, a police officer who stopped me recently gave me a rave review of a recent Staind show he was at, so you could probably check that out.
Finding WRBC
March 2nd, 2010 • California, Maine, Video
Tags: Advertising, Google, Listen On, Search On, Search Stories, WRBC
While the Super Bowl is certainly first and foremost a football game, the advertising is also a big reason why people tune into the program. Google, who normally doesn’t waste their time or energy on television marketing put in a really cute advert called “Parisian Love” to this years program, and I have simply been in love with it.
As advertising it sends an interesting and clear message on a pretty low budget and with limited audio, no celebrity faces and little gimmicks. My kudos to the ad people over at Google for creating such a piece.
In a moment of intrigue, I wondered if I could create a similar piece for our humble little radio station. While being a little different, this keeps in the tradition of the Google advertisement. Nevertheless the sentiment is more in line with our little operation here in Maine.
Listen On.
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