So I was doing sound for a concert a short while back that turned out to be a nice little surprise. You know those concerts you go to where you end up liking the opener way better than the headliner. Well, I was lucky enough to have one of those recently. Though L.A. locals, The Rescues, put on a decent show, my hat goes off to openers Lady Danville. The three piece, consisting of a piano, cajon, guitar and three part harmonies, nailed it. Their take on pop folk was refreshingly smooth and quite The Dodos-esque. I wouldn’t be surprised if these guys took off by the end of the year. They are still unsigned and only have one self-titled, five song EP out right now, but some shows with Anberlin and Jack’s Mannequin later in the year should give them a nice boost. Plus, they are super chill and some of the easiest guys to do sound for, big plus.
Mark my words, or rather my wife’s words: Needtobreathe won’t stay “Christian” very long. Their last two albums were released by Word Records and Atlantic Records, both owned by Warner Music Group. So, technically the band is not solely “Christian” even now, but nonetheless the statement still holds. This is not to say that the band members won’t remain followers of Jesus Christ. It is more a commentary on CCM as a whole. It sucks. But there is hope and that hope is Needtobreathe. They told the 1,000 or so people in attendance on several occasions that they were a rock band and they proved it repeatedly. Thus, word will get out and these five guys will eventually have a following of people who don’t sit in pews and carry Bibles.
We arrived in the middle of their first song, “The Outsiders,” and they were already jamming. Two electric guitars, one bass, one set of drums, and a rocking keyboard. It wasn’t a creative mix of instruments, but great googly moogly did they mix well.
They have been a band for nearly eleven years now and it showed. They didn’t talk much, except to thank the audience. Appreciation was expressed for the attendance because as Bear Rinehart said, “We’ve played plenty of shows with eleven people.” The band’s maturity was something that might go unnoticed by a novice show attendee, but it was obvious to anyone who has seen one too many immature artists pop off about politics, spout some ridiculous joke, or just mumble about something because he or she feels that its artsy. Thankfully, none of that was on the menu. Needtobreathe simply played and played well. Their timing was spot on, maybe save one instance in a jam session. The fact that they nailed nearly every transition and tempo change was a testament to their maturity and skill as musicians because they changed pace a fair amount of times. They still had to look at the drummer for the ending blasts, but I got the idea it wasn’t so much for timing as it was that they were just communally experiencing rock music. Either way, they killed the beginning, middle, and end of every song. What more do you want of a rock group?
They covered The Beatles and Ben Harper and put them into one medley: “Better Way” and “Get Back.” The Beatles cover was a nice throwback; the Ben Harper inclusion made me smile for the next three songs. I’m always glad when artists, especially Christian, pay homage to talented artists. And let’s be honest, no one is more talented than Mr. Harper.
The most captivating song of the night, however, was, as expected, “Washed by the Water.” I wasn’t looking forward to it leading into the night because I knew it was their most famous song. It’s like John Mayer playing “Your Body is a Wonderland;” it’s cliché and gets all the irreverently annoying eighth grade girls to scream. And Christian eighth grade girls are even more irritating. All that said, as the night progressed I realized that these were musicians and a simple crowd-pleasing, generic performance of the song wouldn’t be enough. Sure enough, they saved it for last and belted it sans sound system. He sang, “Daddy was a preacher,” then half the crowd started singing along and the other half shooshed them. “No reason to get hostile with anyone,” Rinehart said as he stopped singing. “But, I can’t sing over all of you so shut up.” (jokingly, of course) And they did, for the most part. He began again. Two acoustic guitars and just Rinehart’s voice pounding out the words. Notes were strained and sometimes hard to hear in the back, but that little chapel’s roof got blown up by one man’s unamplified voice. It was soul and it was real.
By the way, Needtobreathe is a blend of Kings of Leon and Band of Horses. If you don’t believe me, buy a 12 dollar ticket to their show.
So I know that just this past weekend I was raving about the folk cover of MGMT’s “Kids” being one of the best things I had heard this year, but I have already found something to take it’s place. A couple weeks ago Passion Pit released a deluxe edition of their stellar 2009 album, Manners and I foolishly paid no attention. If any of you have yet to purchase one of the catchiest pop records of the past decade, go ahead and take advantage of this deluxe reissue. Along with the hook-laden tracks that made up the original record is a “stripped down” version of both “Sleepyhead” and “Moth’s Wings” and then a kick-ass version of the 90′s hit, “Dreams,” by the Cranberries. Apparently “Dreams” has become a staple at their live shows as of recent. The song was recently featured on NPR’s All Songs Considered and can be heard below.
*Quick note, I’ll be switching the nomenclature of these to the date of the releases that week (Tuesdays). Somehow this coincided with 4.20, tee hee.
Erin McKeown has two of her songs for download right now. One really good one, “Minneapolis,” and an okay live version of her song “Cosmopolitan.” She’s like a little more poppy and more folksy Ingrid Michaelson.
Matthew Mayfield (on tour with NeedtoBreathe) has one of his, “Fire Escape,” for free to download right now. I’m pretty sure Matt Nathanson’s musical embryonic cell split and this guy came out. Seriously, they are completely interchangeable, so if you like Matt…
How long have you been a fan of José González? You know the Swedish guy with most Swedish of all names? Oh, only since 2008′s In Our Nature. Then you probably haven’t heard of his previous band Junip. Well, they are coming out with a new record this year and just put up a single, “Rope an Summit,” free to download if you join their mailing list. Check it out. It is José + a full band.
Single of the Week: “If I Die Young” – The Band Perry (3.9) If I haven’t already told you, I’m not a huge fan of country. It’s kind of hard for me to get in to any of it. Every once in a while, though, I find a really happy or ridiculous one that sucks me into country’s dark void. This is one of them. Maybe not the most innovate music (I’m fairly certain you can sing T. Swift’s “Should’ve Said No” over this song perfectly), but the lyrics are my muse.
Discover Download: “Odessa” – Caribou (3.8) You know you are cool when you can name your song something from either ancient Greek or Roman literature. You are even cooler if you can name your band after Canadian wildlife. Basically, sounds like an electronic version of a King of Convenience song. Good enough for me.
Video of the Week: “The Getaway” – Athlete (3.5) An above average (just barely) video to a fairly decent song. It sounds like an O.A.R. single with Chasen’s lead singer as frontman. Nothing brilliant, but something I’ll most likely be keeping in my library.
Canción de la Semana: “La Pastillita” – Chino & Nacho (2.1) Translated this means “The Pastillita,” seriously I tried two different websites and this is all I got. Anyways, typical Reggaeton. I found myself yelling “uh!” and “sí” a lot.
So I was doing sound for a concert a short while back that turned out to be a nice little surprise. You know those concerts you go to where you end up liking the opener way better than the headliner. Well, I was lucky enough to have one of those recently. Though L.A. locals, The Rescues, put on a decent show, my hat goes off to openers Lady Danville. The three piece, consisting of a piano, cajon, guitar and three part harmonies, nailed it. Their take on pop folk was refreshingly smooth and quite The Dodos-esque. I wouldn’t be surprised if these guys took off by the end of the year. They are still unsigned and only have one self-titled, five song EP out right now, but some shows with Anberlin and Jack’s Mannequin later in the year should give them a nice boost. Plus, they are super chill and some of the easiest guys to do sound for, big plus.
