We at IHYEB recently had the chance to do a little web interview with Neil Fridd, the frontman of Terror Pigeon Dance Revolt. This is what he had to say:
IHYEB: What artists have been your biggest influences over the years?
Fridd: Jason Anderson, The Knife, Xiu Xiu, and more recently, Mississippi Records Tape Series Volume 15: “I Learned it All the Hard Way”
IHYEB: If you had to sum up your reason or purpose for making music, what would it be?
Fridd:How many people do you know who don’t like some kind of music? I can think of one dude I know who doesn’t like music and he’s tone deaf. It’s the grand unifier! The universal language whatever majig! How rad is it that making that can be your job?! That there’s some dude I’ve never met in japan who’s fucking bobbing his head to “Snowday!” That fucking rules!!! That’s the best job ever! It’s validation, that all these things I think and feel and think are important enough to put into song are felt by other people, and that they agree with them to the degree that they would come ot our shows and sing them with me, it’s reassuring, maybe I’m doing okay here…
IHYEB: What do you think of involving politics in music?
Fridd: For it. Have you heard the song “Thoughts Thinking About Themselves Under a Projector Witha Cracked Mirror and an Unfocused Lense” by Phlegm?
IHYEB: When writing a song, how much do you base what you write on how it will present in a performance?
Fridd: At first it was not at all. I’m writing our second album now, and I guess there’s a bit more of a conscious “oh yeah, this will be fun to chant with a bunch of sweaty kids!”
IHYEB: Do you dig Stevie Wonder?
Fridd: Dude, Sir Duke is my jam!!! It’s interesting that you bring him up…I was blasting that in the car last night and woke up this afternoon thinking that I’d really like to have him play my wedding…Steview Wonder and Jens Lekman seem like the best wedding bands…
IHYEB: Which comes first in terms of song writing: drums, lyrics or chord progression?
Fridd: Totally depends. Usually it’s some lyrics and scraps of melody that I keep singing over and over until it’s more fleshed out and then I find the chords under them. But that’s only about 50% of the time I’d say. Sometimes I come up with a rocking drum beat or killer bass line first. Depends…
IHYEB: I get the feeling that a lot of musicians have forgotten that music is supposed to be fun. Do you feel that is a revolution you are trying to start or just something that is innate?
Fridd: I would accept “a revolution that we’re a part of” but claiming to be the founding fathers of it seems ridiculously arrogant and ignorant. It was definitely a reactionary creation, a response to going to way to many fucking boring concerts at the Bowery Ballroom. I remember thinking it was such a treat when i went to a show there where people actually went nuts (the only one I can remember is an Akron/Family concert like 4 years ago. It was epic…) I wanted to make a band where that got to happen every time. It was a conscious decision but also something innate: It was what felt right, deep down somewhere in my chest.
IHYEB: The name. It’s terrible. Why?
Fridd: I was in high school. Get over it. U2, The Black Eyed Peas, Radiohead, are these good band names? No. Once a bunch of people like your music it doesn’t matter. The only good band name I know is Nero’s Day in Disneyland, and it’s taken.
After nearly two and a half years in the making, Infinite Arms reveals some noticeable advances in Band of Horses’ already expanding creativity. Appropriately, the five-piece group took this creativity and ran in new directions. Just before the release of their last album Cease to Begin, the band relocated from Seattle to lead singer Ben Bridwell’s native South Carolina; and this new physical direction inevitably brought about new musical directions. Band of Horses has abandoned their catchy indie folk roots for a more wholesome Dixie drawl. Their third album carries a brooding – almost homely – feel to it. Written by Bridwell in a cabin in the Minnesota wilderness, the dozen songs making up Infinite Arms fluctuate between nagging sadness and giddy hopefulness.
A look at perhaps the worst track of the album, “Evening Kitchen,” ironically displays just how far this band has come. The song is at best heartfelt and at worst just mediocre, not necessarily skippable though; this speaks volumes of how much effort Band of Horses has thrown into this one release. The songs with the most country influence include “Factory,” “Older,” and “Neighbor.” The Southern undertones strangely seem to add to the songs’ quality instead of taking away from it. Clear splits from the widespread melancholy are “Dilly” and “NW Apt.” These tracks keenly echo the group’s alt-rock origins, forming distinctly optimistic breaks. One song sticks out for odd reasons; it is a bit difficult to take “Blue Beard” seriously when the polyphonic breakdown sounds too much like the hilarious Anchorman rendition of “Afternoon Delight”. The all-important best song though is a tossup between the first single, “Compliments,” and the title track, “Infinite Arms.” Although the former is catchier and better written, the layering techniques and genuine nature noises throughout the latter show telltale signs of higher production skills and focus.
Formerly insulted as “Fleet Foxes plus reverb,” Band of Horses can now claim a truly unique sound. Any listener can hear in this new sound a heightened love for nature. These five men are no tree huggers, but with their move to the South came a deep harmony with all things outdoors. The fact that the band assigned a separate Chris Wilson nature photograph and hand-drawn illustration for every single song exhibits their fresh attention toward image and detail. With focus and natural talent comes amazing results. Although not infinite, Band of Horses’ abilities will take them far.
One of my favorite songs of 2009 finally got a video created for it. This is what the band had to say about this long-awaited video: “This video for ‘Home’ is a collection of some of our favorite memories over the past few years. We hope it feels like Home wherever you are watching this.” The video definitely does just that. It is very warm and inviting. I absolutely adore this song from beginning to end. The line in the chorus, “home is when I’m alone with you,” might be a little cliche, but it’s such a nice and very true sentiment. Last weekend I had the house to myself, for my wife was on a short little vacation to Maine with one of her best friends, and it’s not that I was miserable, I just wasn’t very comfortable. It didn’t feel like “home” without her here. Sounds sappy, I know. But it’s a fun and catchy song, and a now we have a great video to accompany it.
The line-up for this year’s Austin City Limits Music Festival has finally been an announced. I’m not gonna lie, I am a little disappointed. They have still managed to garner a big list of artists that I would love to see, I am pretty underwhelmed by the choice of headliners. While I have respect for the Eagles and can appreciate their past contributions to the music world, they are not the kind of band that I want to camp out in front of their stage in anticipation all weekend. In fact, if I am able to attend the festival this year, I will probably leave before their set so I can get back in time to save a vacation day from work. The Flaming Lips, The Strokes and Phish were all decent choices. I don’t love either of those groups albums, but I think their performances will be a ton of fun for all in attendance. While the other two (Muse & M.I.A.) definitely deserve an invite, I think they were pretty poor choices as headliners for festival of this caliber. While it doesn’t match up to Bonnaroo’s stellar line-up, it is still a pretty great one overall, and well worth the trip if you are able to get your hands on a weekend pass (which I believe are already sold out).
Here is a look at the rest of this year’s line-up.
ACL Music Festival 2010 Line-up
The Eagles
Muse
Phish
The Strokes M.I.A. Flaming Lips LCD Soundsystem Spoon Vampire Weekend Norah Jones
Band of Horses Monsters of Folk
Deadmau5
Sonic Youth Gogol Bordello
The National
Robert Earl Keen
The Black Keys
Broken Bells
Slightly Stoopid Yeasayer
Pat Green
Rebelution
Beach House
The Sword Matt and Kim The XX
Portugal. The Man
The Temper Trap
Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeroes
Girls
Ryan Bingham & The Dead Horses
Local Natives
Gaslight Anthem
Lucero
Devendra Banhart
Blues Traveler
The Soft Pack
Gayngs Amos Lee
Robert Randolph & The Family Band
Ozomatli
Richard Thompson
Martin Sexton Manchester Orchestra
The Almighty Defenders Miike Snow Mountain Goats
Bear In Heaven
Mayer Hawthorne
Midlake
Foals
Switchfoot
Cage The Elephant
JJ Grey & Mofro
Kinky Angus & Julia Stone
The Morning Benders
Hockey
White Rabbits
David Bazan
Asleep at the Wheel
Trombone Shorty & Orleans
Avenue
Nortec Collective
The Very Best
Beats Antique
Blind Pilot
GIVERS
Dawes
Band of Heathens
Charlie Mars
Two Door Cinema Club Lissie
Sarah Harmer
Constellations
T. Bird and the Breaks
Chief
Frank Turner
Those Darlins
Carolyn Wonderland
Kings Go Forth
The Relatives
The Ettes
Qbeta
Mynamisjohnmichael
Basia Bulat Balmorhea
Dan Black
The Jane Shermans
The Kicks
Ponderosa
Two Tons of Steel
Caitlin Rose
SPEAK
Run With Bulls
Maxim Ludwig
Gospel Stars
Heavenly Voices
Wesley Bray & The Disciples of
Joy
Jones Family Singers
Ashley Cleveland & Kenny
Greenberg
Buddy & The Straight Way
Travelers
Ruby Jane Smith
Verve Pipe
Frances England
Jellydots
Elizabeth Mitchell
Okee Dokee Brothers
Tom Freund
School of Rock
Q Brothers
What are your thoughts? Is this line-up up to par, compared to years past?
We at IHYEB recently had the chance to do a little web interview with Neil Fridd, the frontman of Terror Pigeon Dance Revolt. This is what he had to say:
