Tag Archive for 'mp3s'

your recommended daily allowance;

Published on March 18, 2010 in music. 0 Comments Tags: interviews, mp3s, rda, recommended daily allowance, videos.

I need to distract myself from the sad news about Big Star legend and influence on half my record collection Alex Chilton, and press on with the thousand and one things I already have running overdue.

Recommended Daily Allowance might sound more like the back of a box of vitamin tablets than the purveyors of dreamy, enchanting jazz-pop but the trio at the core of this London/Tokyo-based collective – schoolmates Robin Peel (guitar) and Dan Gray (bass), with classically-trained jazz pianist Arthur Lea on keys, would rather you make a habit of their music. Their self-titled debut was laid down in one take with additional musicians including brass, woodwind and strings and takes its name – as does the band – from each member’s initial.

“Rob and I had been in bands together since we were 14,” explains bassist Dan Gray – the two met in Newcastle, hooking up with Arthur through mutual friends in London to form RDA in 2005. “Our first band was called The Matrix, which was an amazing name until the film came out!

“We’re influenced by so many genres of music that we tried to make an album that had a little bit of everything we are into: soul, folk, jazz and prog. We tried to balance this so to speak – a diet of music – our Recommended Daily Allowance.”

Asked what makes RDA different from other new bands, Dan replies: “There are not many 8-piece over the top orchestral pop outfits out there at the minute! We have a really good thing going, there is the core 3 of us who make the up the band, but when we perform live we draft in another 5 musicians which makes an gig a real social event.

“We’ve have had over 30 people play in RDA at one point or another, it’s like a mini cult or something.”

RDA – Picture Club

Guitarist Robin Peel taught English in Thailand for a while before the band got together – an influence that creeps through into the band’s music. “Chang Mai” is about the place of the same name in Thailand, and the album’s final track even features a chorus sung in Thai. Apart from a wide complement of musical influences, with favourite bands at the moment including Field Music, Fringe Magnetic, Dirty Projectors, Lucky Elephant and Sound of Rum. “we are all very much into facial hair, knitwear, Coen Brothers, Jim Jarmusch, Prince, and rock-opera,” says Dan. “We love the idea of actually scoring a full opera for an album. Well, I would…”

Aside from gearing up for the release of their debut, the RDA boys have plenty of other projects to keep them busy. Arthur is an Anglo-German jazz super group called Paragon, while Dan plays upright bass from Greenwich-based folk act Skinny Lister.

Keep an eye on the band’s Myspace for the latest release information.

DOWNLOAD: RDA – I See You

a hazy shade of springtime;

Published on March 17, 2010 in music. 3 Comments Tags: all those heroes, daniel pearson, findlay napier, gigs, hazy recollections, julia and the doogans, mp3s.

Got an email through the other day about the second Hazy Recollections, an afternoon of Scottish nu-folk taking place at Stereo on Easter Sunday. A lineup including the Injuns, Rachel Sermanni and – my favourites – Julia and the Doogans meant that the poster’s pretty springtime colours were sure to get my attention, and a daylight gig reads like the perfect sort of antidote to the morning’s chocolate hangover.

In my case, it’s more likely to be a serious case of coffee jitters, but you get the point I’m sure.

Hazy Recollections was created by local singer-songwriter Findlay Napier and Pearl and the Puppets drummer Blair MacMillan, and it’s only £6 on the door.

Get it on yer calendar!

ALSO! On the subject of singer-songwriters, and in “coolest thing I have heard this week” news, my pal Daniel Pearson sent me his band’s punkish take on Springsteen’s “Dancing In The Dark” and has given me permission to post it here for you kids to enjoy.

DOWNLOAD: All Those Heroes – Dancing In The Dark
LISTEN: All Those Heroes on Myspace
BUY: Daniel Pearson – Satellites from Saint in the City Records

like sparks // like sparks // like sparks;

Published on March 7, 2010 in music. 2 Comments Tags: astrid williamson, kathryn williams, live reviews, mp3s, new albums, the quickening.

I think I’m built to appreciate music that bit more when it’s live, as opposed to on record. I’m sure I have an Astrid Williamson album, somewhere, but I don’t think I was ever really that moved. So when I heard that she would be supporting Kathryn Williams at King Tut’s I wasn’t sure what to expect.

Certainly not this. Put it down to the long blonde hair, the rolling Highlands in her voice or the way the night sky seems to sparkle from her blouse, but I think she could be an angel. She actually mentions that her latest album, 2009′s Here Come the Vikings, is rockier than the songs we are about to hear her performed stripped down on intimate piano or acoustic guitar. Some of them are simple love songs, like lullabies and gingerbread: the stars are beautiful, and you could be my superman. But then there is “Eve”, from the new album: whispery, wicked, sulty; the soles of her shoes like the skin of snakes. At the end of her short set, on audience request, she picks up her guitar and rocks out as much as she can on “This Is How It’s Done”.

“This is a song by The Velvet Underground,” says Kathryn Williams, introducing one of her favourite covers. “I may not be transgender, but I can relate.”

Have you ever seen an eight-month pregnant woman balance a guitar on her bump and go for it? It’s an impressive sight to behold.

The first time I saw Williams live, as part of Celtic Connections back in 2006 or something with just her long-term collaborator Neil MacColl by her side, I was blown away by her fragility and Northern charm. This time she’s brought a full band on the road, the same team who put together and played on new album The Quickening, and they just about fill the stage with an array of impressive-looking instruments including squeezebox, vibes and hurdy-gurdy. “Surrounding myself with talented people in an attempt to look better,” she says in the cutesy, whispery voice with a touch of the self-deprecation that is part of her charm. Hearing “Wanting and Waiting” from the new album, I realise there is more than a little about her that reminds me of the Jane Horrocks character in Little Voice. “Cream of the Crop” is, in that sense, a “sultry lounge singer” moment – lyrics that raise a smile and an incredible vocal performance while vibraphone acrobatics behind her do much to create a big-band type sound.

But again, this is a vocalist who is a much more entrancing proposition live. There are more covers, unsurprising given Williams’ repertoire with previous cover albums (Big Star’s “Thirteen” features, along with “Beautiful Cosmos” by Ivor Cutler); and older songs too, like the delicate “Sustain Pedal” which creates a three-minute window of stillness and tranquility for an encore in the middle of the city. But it is on the new songs that this band comes to life, right from the get-go of “50 White Lines”. The album opener sounds incredible in this sitting, MacColl’s monotone counting sounding like a litany of painted road markings zipping past the windshield on a night drive through Birmingham.

BUY: The Quickening at Amazon.co.uk
DOWNLOAD: Kathryn Williams – 50 White Lines

sooner or later this will feel like home;

Published on March 3, 2010 in music. 0 Comments Tags: courtney love, gigs, hole, jonathan barnes, kasey anderson, mp3s, nowhere nights, the treatable ep.

You may or may not remember, but a little before Christmas I wrote a bit about Matthew Ryan’s latest album, Dear Lover. It got a bit of attention – not least because, uhhh, Matthew actually tweeted it. And usually when I get attention, it means I get free music.

Of course, with it being just before Christmas – and my first Christmas in retail since 2004, at that – actually finding the time to write anything about that music proved difficult. But this is when a phenomenon I have mentioned before, but never actually named – let’s call it iTunes Shuffle Roulette – comes into play. And this song comes on that you’ve never heard before, but it almost feels as if you’ve known it your whole life. And that song makes you want to jump and dance and scream and fight and kiss. That song comes close to being everything you love about music in three minutes of simple chords.

In this case it was “Sooner/Later” by Kasey Anderson, and I couldn’t believe I’d left it so late.

Nowhere Nights, the third album from the Portland-native singer-songwriter, is what he describes as his coming-of-age record, leaving behind the small community in Bellingham, Washington where he spent eight years. “Bellingham Blues” sums up his frustration, with its repeated motif – this ain’t never been my home – setting the tone for the rest of the album.

Nowhere Nights is the sound of escape from the smalltown blues. When it’s up (“All Lit Up”, “Torn Apart”) it’s like a freedom drive down some distant highway, the windows down and Born To Run blaring from the tape deck. When it’s down (“Home”, “Leavin’ Kind”), um, that’s probably a good description of it too.

Kasey Anderson is, I believe, just off the back of a tour with Matthew Ryan himself and if you like the sort of stuff that I like you will love this album.

DOWNLOAD: Kasey Anderson – Sooner/Later
BUY: Nowhere Nights from Red River Records

Also worth mentioning is Jonathan Barnes, whose bluesy, five-song Treatable EP is a gorgeous, low key treat for a late night or a laid-back, rainy Sunday afternoon.

DOWNLOAD: Jonathan Barnes – Swiftly Now
BUY: The Treatable EP from CDBaby.

And I suppose, if I’m writing about music… remember my cynicism about the so-called Hole “reunion”?

Well… I might have tickets to see them, and be ridiculously excited.

I mean, she’s even using the same logo.

I can’t help it. I’m going to be in the same room as Courtney Love. Fairywings and babydoll dresses at the ready!

we had some massive nights;

Published on January 24, 2010 in music. 3 Comments Tags: franz nicolay, mp3s, the hold steady.

Franz and Galen of The Hold Steady, SECC (supporting Counting Crows), May 2009

The Hold Steady’s website reports that Franz Nicolay – keys, red wine and flamboyance – has left the band to concentrate on what I can only assume are his solo projects.

As gutted as I am about this – Nicolay’s onstage persona and mischievous interplay with bassist Galen Polivka was one of the most enjoyable things about my favourite band’s live shtick – Jay has pointed out that it’s not as if he played on the earlier albums and this could see an exciting shift in sound away from what the Hold Steady totally nailed on their last two albums.

All the best, Franz – thanks for the ‘tache, the fun and the memories. This little blog will certainly be paying attention whatever you get up to next.

DOWNLOAD: Franz Nicolay – X-Games
DOWNLOAD: The Dresden Dolls (ft. Franz Nicolay) – Ballad of a Teenage Queen
BUY: Major General at Amazon.co.uk

flirted with you all my life;

Published on January 14, 2010 in current affairs and music. 2 Comments Tags: haiti, jay reatard, mp3s, vic chesnutt.

As is becoming almost standard I was on Twitter when the news about Jay Reatard began to drip down the wire last night; first as rumours and then as sad confirmation. No details yet, just another tragic loss for indie rock. I put down a copy of Watch Me Fall in Princeton because I was already blowing any exchange rate advantage. Carrie Brownstein on Monitor Mix said earlier:

It’s a sad day for music, because we lost a guy who made the kind of songs most of us, in our heart of hearts, really love. We love his music because, before we got all worldly and esoteric in our tastes, all we wanted was for our music to rumble and roar, to give us that teenage feeling forever.

He was vulgar and ragged and loud and incredibly real, and he was only a couple of months older than my boyfriend, and he will be missed.

Jay Reatard – It Ain’t Gonna Save Me

I think it just seemed so surreal so soon after Vic Chesnutt. I didn’t know as much about Vic, just a couple of mp3s here and there that I kinda liked. I didn’t know about his struggles, that he was paraplegic after an accident and prone to depression. I didn’t realise how loudly that ragged voice would speak to me until I started downloading the post-mortem mp3 tributes over Christmas. Today I ordered At The Cut, and marveled at Ewen’s beautiful tribute:

You know that feeling you get when you wake up from a really vivid nightmare? That unmistakeable and horrible feeling of panic and dread. You are calm in your sleeping state, then you wake in a cold sweat before you realise that it was just a dream and a calmness falls over you again. That amazing sense of relief. This record feels like that to me. It feels like a man dealing with pain and suffering and self loathing.

Vic Chesnutt – Philip Guston

And from the little human tragedies to tragedy on a larger scale, don’t forget you can donate to the aid effort to help the survivors of the Haitian earthquake via the Diasters Emergency Committee.

a to z: cinderella’s daydream;

Published on December 29, 2009 in music and photography. 3 Comments Tags: 365days, A to Z, cinderella's daydream, mp3s, the young playthings, yr so fit for me, zuzu's petals.

This entry is part 25 of 25 in the series A to Z

Last two installments in one post, just so I can finish posting this mini-project before the end of the year. Forgive the cheat!

I’m quite proud of what I’ve come up with on this little series of pictures, so I’m going to attempt a little bit of mp3 blogging/self-portrait crossover based around a current music-related sub-project within a project. Follow that if you will, or just download the songs and tell me I’m pretty

Apologies for the frankly dreadful, obvious pun but you try coming up with a creative photograph after the busy weekend I had.

Besides, every time I’ve tried to think of a "Y" song lately I’ve had this in my head.

DOWNLOAD: The Young Playthings – Yr So Fit (For Me)
BUY: Who Invented Love? at Amazon.co.uk

A half-assed final shot as circumstances got in the way – I’ve really enjoyed this little project though, and will be gutted to have to think up ideas for photographs again!

DOWNLOAD: Zuzu’s Petals – Cinderella’s Daydream
BUY: Kicking Our Own Asses: The Best of Zuzu’s Petals at Amazon.co.uk

a to z: last night’s judgement day is this morning’s cartoon;

Published on December 22, 2009 in music and photography. 3 Comments Tags: 365days, A to Z, lettuce and vodka, mp3s, x.

This entry is part 24 of 25 in the series A to Z

224. Last Night's Judgement Day Is This Morning's Cartoon

God, this was totally me post-weekend shenanigans.

X, as I’m sure you’ve suspected, doesn’t really give you masses of choice when it comes to bands. I do have a couple of songs by a Los Angeles punk band called "X", who featured (appropriately enough) on the soundtrack to the first X-Files movie. Unfortunately I can’t pull up either the lyrics to this song or a YouTube video, but this is from their 1997 reunion album Hey Zeus! as well as the soundtrack to Kalifornia, starring David Duchovny, which is why I have the song.

I can’t make out many of the lyrics to be honest, but I got an image of somebody waking up on top of a comic book with a hangover (?!) in my head for the one line I do know…

…and you can take the piss of the bottle of Glen’s all you want.

DOWNLOAD: X – Lettuce and Vodka
BUY: Hey Zeus! at Amazon.co.uk

we’re all bampots now;

Published on December 21, 2009 in music. 2 Comments Tags: list season, mp3s, scotland, scottish bams, the phantom band.

Just when you thought it was safe to get back onto your feed reader: Lloyd of Peenko fame has spent the past few weeks curating some interesting chat among Scottish music bloggy types* and the focal point thus far has been the inaugural Scottish Bloggers and Music Sites Awards (Scottish BAMS Awards). We were asked to submit our top ten album lists, with the overall winners looking a little like this:

1. The Phantom Band: Checkmate Savage
2. Animal Collective: Merriweather Post Pavilion
3. De Rosa: Prevention
4. King Creosote: Flick the V’s
5. Withered Hand: Good News
6. The Twilight Sad: Forget The Night Ahead
7. We Were Promised Jetpacks: These Four Walls
8. Beerjacket: Animosity
9. Mumford & Sons: Sigh No More
10. Camera Obscura: My Maudlin Career
11. My Latest Novel: Deaths and Entrances
12. Malcolm Middleton: Waxing Gibbous
13. The Pains of Being Pure at Heart: S/T
14. You Already Know: S/T
15. Broken Records: Until the Earth Begins to Part
16. The XX: S/T
17. The Antlers: Hospice
18. Sufjan Stevens: The BQE
19. And So I Watch You From Afar
20. Wilco: The Album

Only one of my own Top Ten made the list, which is fine because ~~there’s no accounting for taste~~ it means I have lots of brilliant albums I’m yet to discover.

Andy of our own Phantom Band said of the award: “This makes us feel very honoured because the opinion of people out there giving opinions is what matters most, rather than the financially influenced press. It always amazes me that people would take it upon themselves to go out and champion a band or an album or a band for no material gain, but it gives me faith in human nature. Blogs and reviews have been the only advertising we’ve ever had. Apart from all those people who got online and promoted us, we’d like to thank those little almost-stale doughnuts you get in big tubs from Sainsburys for keeping us fat during the recording. We obviously also have our Producer Paul Savage and the wonderful people at Chemikal Underground to thank for letting us do what we want. These guys are the quiet heroes of Scottish music for sure.”

The chat over the past few days have been brilliant and I’m looking forward to getting to know my fellow bloggers better and hopefully… collaborating on future projects?

DOWNLOAD: The Phantom Band – Halfhound
BUY: Checkmate Savage from Chemikal Underground

[*Participating sites: 17 Seconds; AyeTunes; Dear Scotland; Earz Mag; Elba Sessions; Glasgow PodcART; Hooligan's Lament; Jim Gellatly; JocknRoll; Jockrock; Kowalskiy; Last Year's Girl; Love Shack, Baby; Manic Pop Thrills; My Portis Wasp Says; Off the Beaten Tracks; The Pop Cop; Products of a Gaseous Brain; Song, By Toad; The Blues Bunny; The Daily Growl; The 'Spill; The Steinberg Principle; The Vinyl Villain and Under the Radar.]

a to z: feet on polished floor;

Published on December 15, 2009 in music and photography. 4 Comments Tags: 365days, A to Z, mp3s, one great city, the weakerthans.

This entry is part 23 of 25 in the series A to Z

At this point in my project we were back in the Midlands for the weekend, visiting the in-laws. Jay’s father is in the process of selling up the incredible old house he has been running as a B&B with his wife. I loved this few-hundred year old original Jackfield tile floor, among the many little details I wasn’t able to capture properly as I wasn’t feeling inspired with the camera at the weekend.

DOWNLOAD: The Weakerthans – One Great City
BUY: Reconstruction Site at Amazon.co.uk