I Hope Your Ears Bleed » Lessons From Late Night

Lessons From Late Night

Nathan — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 15:35:09 +0000

Here is the next installment in our series “Lessons From Late Night” where we attempt to school you in the way of good music, through live performances from late night television. This past week, “The Late Show with David Letterman” was really solid. It started off a little rocky with a Kelly Clarkson performing a track off of her new album, “Already Gone.” It may be a just another mediocre break-up ballad from an American Idol winner, but this girl can really sing. But don’t worry it gets better from here.

On Tuesday David had Wilco performing one of my favorites off of their new self-titled album with Feist joining Tweedy on vocals. It was a great performance, that finds the band sounding better than ever.

Wilco & Feist – You And I (Live on Letterman)

Wednesday marked one of the more historic performances in the past year. Paul McCartney returned to the Ed Sullivan Theater where he played atop “The Late Show” marquee, 45 years after his first appearance with the Beatles. I’m not quite sure why they didn’t just wait til the 50th anniversary to do this big shin dig, but it seemed to be a pretty exciting event either way. The streets were packed with screaming fans, and Paul and the band sounded great. Here is “Band on the Run.” Head over to Youtube and search for “Paul McCartney Letterman” if you want to see the rest of the songs he performed.

Paul McCartney – Band On The Run
On Thursday Dave had Grizzly Bear performing “Ready, Able” off of their newest record, Veckatimest, which is becoming one of my favorite albums of the year.

Grizzly Bear – Ready, Able
Friday wasn’t quite as strong as the middle of the week, but it was still a great performance by a band that I have really been getting into lately. I wasn’t a huge fan of this performance. This was definitely not the track I would’ve liked to hear them play. But their new album, Fantasies is really strong and I definitely recommend it.

Metric – Help I’m Alive

Iron & Wine Cover New Order’s “Love Vigilantes”

Nathan — Sat, 30 May 2009 13:08:02 +0000

So I love cover songs. It is one of the greatest joys to hear an artist take someone else’s song and make it his own. Now I know I have promised this before, but I really mean it when I say to you this time that I plan on bringing you a new great cover song every week. So to start it off, this week I bring you a new Iron and Wine cover in honor of their new album that came out last week. Here is a performance by Sam Beam and his sister of New Order’s classic song “Love Vigilantes” on Late Night w/ Jimmy Fallon. Once again Beam has managed to pull off the impossible by taking someone else’s song and making it much better than the original.

New Order – Love Vigilantes

Lessons From Late Night: Ray Lamontagne

Alex — Sun, 12 Apr 2009 13:32:34 +0000

When in search of a musical artist that is head and shoulders above all other counterparts, Ray LaMontagne does not disappoint. Armed with a guitar, beard, and a truck load of God given talent Ray has been on the gold paved road in a sea of solo artists whielding a wide array of styled love songs. His smooth, raspy voice accompanied by melodious guitar offers up a perfect combination, sure to spread love and happiness wherever played. Add the horn sounds of big band and you have, “You Are the Best Thing,” off of LaMontagne’s newest album “Gospel in the Grain.” This performance on The Late Show with David Letterman, illuminates all of the talent Ray LaMontagne has been blessed with. Be sure to enjoy and share this with those you love.

Hailing from Long Beach, CA, utilizing the sounds of british bands, and add a heavy dose of Freddie Mercury (Queen) inspired singing styles and you have the Cold War Kids. Performing “Relief,” off of their second and newest album, Loyalty to Loyalty, this grungy, dark song truly illustrates what separates them from all of the pop music being produced today. With heavy use of keyboard, drums and no guitar, it provides a great foundational beat, partnered with the very different vocal styles of lead singer Nathan Willett; you have their performance that showcases who the Cold War Kids are on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. I have personally been impressed with all of the work the Cold War Kids have created, enjoy this great performance! I hope it causes more interest in listening to the great music the Cold War Kids have become known for.

The Late Night Guide: Cold War Kids, Ray Lamontagne

Alex — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 01:23:26 +0000

Here are this week’s performances of the week to either: set your DVRs to record, make sure to be near a television, or catch on online.

Wednesday 4.1.2009: Ray LaMontagne on The Late Show with David Letterman.

Friday 4.3.2009: Cold War Kids on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon.

I greatly anticipate these performances this week, I hope they do not disappoint and we will make sure to post links and share our thoughts after each performance.

Enjoy!

Lessons From Late Night

Alex — Sat, 28 Mar 2009 23:41:16 +0000

Hello I Hope Your Ears Bleed world! My name is Alex “Ceach” McEachin and I have been blessed to begin a new series entitled “Lessons from Late Night” in which I will review notable performances that take place on the many late night shows.

In this inaugural post I would like to draw attention to the newest late night show, Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. I have begun following his show closely after taking over for the legendary Conan O’Brien. I have honestly been pretty impressed with how well he has assumed this new role. I love how he has gone to great lengths to become relevant by embracing all of the new cultural and technological norms such as Twitter and Facebook (although it seems the show tries too hard at times). And I am especially impressed with the musical guests he has been able to line up thus far. The debut show, that aired March 5, 2009, included the legendary artist Van Morrison in which he played “Sweet Thing.” The two performances I would like to highlight are Glen Hansard of The Frames performing a cover of “Hair Shirt” by R.E.M. on March 12, 2009; a very intimate performance of a man and his Mandolin. The second is Vampire Weekend on March 18, 2009 debuting a brand new song, “White Sky.” This song will be included on their new album that will hopefully be released this coming fall. I bring attention to each of these notable performances so that you may venture over to hulu.com and watch them for yourselves.

We have embedded the March 18th episode so that you can watch the Vampire Weekend performance right here, right now. This is truly one of the best late night performances I have ever seen. For those of you who have been living underground for the past year and have yet to hear their debut album, you must go out and get it immediately. You won’t be disappointed. Unfortunately we couldn’t find a video with just their performance, so what you have here is the entire episode. But if you want to jump straight to Vampire Weekend’s performance, just click on the second to last white dot at the bottom of the video. Unfortunately the Van Morrison performance is no longer available, but if you head over to hulu.com, you can find the Glen Hansard performance and many more. I hope they bring you as much joy as they brought to me. I hope your ears bleed and maybe even your eyes a little with these amazing performances. More to come soon.

Vampire Weekend – White Sky

Van Morrison – Sweet Thing