Impromptu

One of the best things about the ubiquity of cheap, high-quality cameras and sound equipment is that we can capture forever all sorts of impromptu street performances that would otherwise be ephemeral affairs. Youtube and Vimeo are gold-mines for this sort of thing, and I could spend hours sifting through them if I had the time. My favorites are the ones that capture a sense of spontaneity -- where the artists just walk in to the space and start playing. I love to see the reactions of the unsuspecting patrons. Obviously most of these are anything but impromptu, but it is still bit of live performance that would otherwise be lost.

Christian Sorensen Hansen makes some lovely high-definition videos that he posts on Vimeo. Here is a great impromptu performance by Campfire Ok:


Campfire Ok at Oddfellows from Christian Sorensen Hansen on Vimeo.

La Blogotheque's fantastic conert a emporter, or take-away show, series is another treasure trove of street performances. Here are just a few of their hundreds of excellent videos from a huge variety of artists:





Pickwick is a band out of Seattle that has generated some incredible buzz with their soulful performances at SXSW and others. Here is a fantastic a capella version of their song Blackout which made an appearance on my best of lists for 2011. It has been making the rounds on blogs for quite some time, but I haven't gotten tired of it yet.



Here is a great outdoor performance from The Head And The Heart brought to you by Germany's Cardinal Sessions.



And finally, a bonus video from Christian Sorensen Hansen. Clearly choreographed, but it's such a lovely version of this fantastic song from Cataldo that I had to include it.


Deep Cuts from Christian Sorensen Hansen on Vimeo.

I'm sure I'll be revisiting this topic some time in the future as I have no doubt there will be no shortage of new performances being captured.

Spring Mix

Awake, thou wintry earth -
Fling off thy sadness!
Fair vernal flowers, laugh forth
Your ancient gladness!
~Thomas Blackburn 

 It's officially spring, both by calendar and by weather, which I'm told is unusual this early here in Cleveland. In celebration I've put together a little spring mix for you to enjoy.

Spring Mix 2012

1. Snow is Gone (Acoustic)  - Josh Ritter

2. Here Comes The Sun Again - M. Ward

3. Yellow Wings - Ferraby Lionheart

4. First Day of My Life - Bright Eyes

5. Spring Wind - Greg Brown

6. Springtime - Annuals

7. This Old Dark Machine - James Vincent McMorrow

8. Winter In The Hamptons - Josh Rouse

9. Blue Skies - Noah & The Whale

10. Sweet Thing - Van Morrison

11. This Tornado Loves You - Neko Case

12. Waters of March - Anya Marina

13. April Come She Will - Simon & Garfunkel

14. First of May - Jonathan Coulton

15. Thistled Spring - Horse Feathers

16. When We Fall In - Sean Hayes

17. Yer Spring - Hey Rosetta!

18. Comfort Inn - Lewis & Clarke

Download the tracks individually or One Zip File

Forgotten Songs - From the archives: Michael Franti

 The weather has made quite the turnaround here in Cleveland lately, and nearly nationwide. It feels almost like summer and the warm temperatures inspired me to pull out some of my old music that had been archived away. There's nothing like a little Michael Franti to remind me of summer weather and most of my favorites of his are from 2003 or earlier. Many of you are probably only familial with Michael Franti from his more recent work like Sounds of Sunshine and the dancehall staple Say Hey (I Love You). Based on those current feel-good summertime hits you might be surprised to hear his previous quasi-militant, social activist music.

Here's one of my favorite's of his called Oh My God from his 2001 release Stay Human:


Michael Franti & Spearhead - Oh My God (2001)


Pretty clear message there and a stark contrast to his more recent work. He also makes a turn towards an almost hard-core sound with this track from the same album.

Michael Franti & Spearhead - Listener Supported (2001)


The entire album is worth a listen. The tracks are interspersed with fictional radio segments referring to the case of "Sister Fatima". Woody Harrelson makes an appearance as Governor Franklin Shane in the radio segments.

My favorite track is a remix from an unknown DJ of the title track, Stay Human. 


Michael Franti & Spearhead - Stay Human (Stereo Sauna remix) (2001)

Here is something from a little later, a live track taken from Australia's Live on The Panel tv show. It features Katie Noonan of the Australian band Elixer. It's a cover of the ultimate social-activist protest song, Marvin Gaye's What's Goin on?


Michael Franti feat. Katie Noonan - What's going on? (2003)


In 2003, Franti released a full album with Spearhead as well as a solo acoustic album of previously released tunes as well as a few originals called Songs From The Front Porch. Check out his acoustic cover of 2001's Oh My God.


Michael Franti - Oh My God (Acoustic) (2003)

An original song from the same album that has become a perpetual favorite of the stoner sect is the excellent Ganja Babe:

Michael Franti - Ganja Babe (2003)

His album with Spearhead, Everyone Deserves Music, also has a few great tracks. You can really hear his progression from 2001's Stay Human towards a lighter, brighter feel. Listening to his older songs, you can really trace out his career ark from his Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy days to his current party music work.

Michael Franti & Spearhead - Never Too Late (2003)

Michael Franti & Spearhead - Crazy, Crazy, Crazy (2003)

The Shins - Port of Morrow

Here is a picture of James Mercer looking like James Mercer. For the most part, the new Shins album, Port of Morrow, is The Shins sounding just like The Shins. For instance, if I told you that the first single Simple Song was a long lost B-side from Chutes Too Narrow I doubt that it would stretch your credibility too far. Please have a listen:

The Shins - Simple Song

Ok, maybe slightly unbelievable. B-side is probably pushing it. More like long-lost lead-off single. It's good, in other words.

Now, for some contrast, let's take a listen No Way Down. While Mercer's trademark timbre and delivery are unmistakable here, there is a bouncy, almost pop-like beat that I haven't from The Shins before.

The Shins - No Way Down


The experimentation with timing and beat continues with Fall of '82 which might as well be a cover of a Squeeze song originally released during the titular time period. Very retro. Yes, I realize that most of the people reading this were not alive in the fall of 1982 but I was and, more importantly, James Mercer was.

The Shins - Fall of '82

And finally, ready for things to get completely off the wall? The title track Port of Morrow leads off with Mercer singing in falsetto, entirely unrecognizable. He sings the majority of the verses in his regular voice, but the effect is vaguely unsettling. Which I think is the point.

The Shins - Port of Morrow


Overall, the album has a much more polished feel than their previous efforts, with more emphasis on electronics and experimentation. Here's to taking chances and evolving.

Out March 20th on Columbia Records. Buy it here.

For fans of: The Shins

Notable New Music

  Here are some songs from some new and upcoming releases that I've enjoyed. Full reviews on these albums may be forthcoming, or maybe not.

Yellow Ostrich - Elephant King

Right The Stars - Airhead (There's The Moment)

Lucy Rose - Red Face

Miniature Tigers - Boomerang

Michael Kiwanuka - Home Again

  The first time I heard Michael Kiwanuka it was in the fall of last year, and I remember thinking to myself "this guy is going to be huge". With the release of his first full-length album, Home Again, that may finally come to pass. He has been drawing praise from many bloggers and the comparisons to Bill Withers, Otis Redding, and Sam Cooke are well deserved. While many of the recent soul-revival artists seem to have one foot in the past and one in the present, melding old and new styles, Kiwanuka has his feet grounded firmly in the musical eras of his influences. Listen to I'm Getting Ready:


I'm Getting Ready - Michael Kiwanuka

Not a single nod to the present in that one, and it is all the better for it. While his voice sounds a lot like the above mentioned artists, I would place his music in the style of Van Morrison or Nick Drake. Check out I'll Get Along which sounds like Bill Withers singing a Cat Stevens song:

I'll Get Along - Michael Kiwanuka

Kiwanuka was raised in the Muswell Hill neighborhood of North London, to Ugandan parents. He is all of 24 years old and I'm expecting great things from him in the future.

Home Again is due out on April 12th domestically on Polydor UK or today in the UK. Buy it here.

For Fans of: Bill Withers, Sam Cooke, Van Morrison, Otis Redding

Forgotten Songs #2 - Aftershocks

  The worst is over, but the after effects will be felt for a long time. The process going from raw, gaping wound to scabbing to re-epithelialization and finally to normal looking skin takes time. They say that time heals all wounds but it's a farce. A simulacrum. It's an umbrella held up against falling debris. Scar tissue is only ever 70% as strong as the skin it replaces. As you'll see below, song-writers are a thin-skinned bunch.

Our first selection is a soft-as-silk acoustic cover of the well known Radiohead tune, High & Dry, by Uruguayan Jorge Drexler and taken from his 2006 album, 12 Segundos de Oscuridad. It is the pleading of the heartbroken-to-be.
High & Dry (Radiohead) - Jorge Drexler (2006)


Teitur Lassen is a singer-songwriter from the Faroe Islands. This song is taken from his 2003 release, Poetry & Airplanes, and describes the emptiness that remains following a painful loss.
Shade of a Shadow - Teitur (2003)


From Sean Hayes' 2006 release, Big Black Hole & Little Baby Star. No explanation necessary for this choice, I would think
Fucked Me Right Up - Sean Hayes (2006)


This was a bonus track on Frightened Rabbit's 2010 release, The Winter of Mixed Drinks, so it may have escaped some of you. Rebounding can be worse than nothing.
Fun Stuff - Frightened Rabbit (2010)


Magnus Tingsek is a Swedish musician. This song appears in solo form on his self-titled 2005 album. This particular version is taken from an Ane Brun album entitled Duets from 2005. The lyrics are actually somewhat uplifting, but belie the melancholy music that accompanies them. I like to think it is sung with irony.
Easier - Tingsek with Ane Brun (2005)



The last is a cover of Swedish band Elias & The Wizzkids' 2006 release. The original is actually quite twee which is amazing considering the soft touch of this cover version.
Young and Hairy - Johannes Mayer (2006)

Anaïs Mitchell - Young Man In America

  Despïte her assertïon ïn the lead off track to her new album, Anaïs Mitchell ïs actually a young woman. Ï had not heard of her prïor to my dïscovery of thïs album, but Ï'm told by wïkïpedïa that she has been makïng the folk rounds sïnce 2006. Of partïcular note, she wrote a "folk opera" entïtled Hadestown that had such lumïnaries as Justin Vernon, Anï DïFranco, Greg Brown, and Ben Knox Mïller as guest stars. Check out thïs vïdeo of her performïng one of the songs from Hadestown, called Why We Build The Wall. Ït's a powerful song, by any rïght, with a strong message of socïal justïce.



Her latest album, Young Man In America, is full of other such songs. Songs with messages, if you will. There's something to be learned from each one, even if I haven't determined yet what that is. She has a high-registered, almost nasally tone -- most similar to New Zealand's Gin Wigmore, or Duffy perhaps -- and she sings with an insistent voice. I find it quite hard to pin down or categorize, in fact. The title track starts out with pulsed strumming guitar and adds layers and layers of different instrumentation which drop out and come back in periodically through the song. She sings as her title character, disaffected with his lot in life but with big plans. It's quite affecting. Take a listen:


Young Man In America - Anaïs Mitchell


Other songs are brighter, with bouncier feels and with seemingly lighter subject matter. The song Venus seems, ostensibly, to be an ode to a statue:


Venus - Anaïs Mitchell

Available now on Thirty Tigers records

As a bonus, check out another song from 2010's Hadestown, featuring Justin Vernon of Bon Iver.


Wedding Song - Anaïs Mitchell feat. Justin Vernon (2010)



For fans of: Gin Wigmore, Erin McKeown, Jesca Hoop

Best of 2011 - Three

Best of 2011 - Three

1. Pumped Up Kicks - Foster The People
2. It's Real  - Real Estate
3. Shuffle - Bombay Bicycle Club
4. Anna Sun - Walk The Moon
5. Climbing Walls - Strange Talk
6. Rose Mary Stretch - Pepper Rabbit
7. Two Cousins - Slow Club
8. Video Games - Lana Del Ray
9. Limit To Your Love - James Blake
10. You Know What I Mean - Cults
11. Somebody That I Used To Know - Gotye
12. Exile Vilify - The National
13. Settle Down - Kimbra
14. Shoelaces - Submarines
15. Do You Remember - Ane Brun
16. Sydney - Brett Dennen
17. Rough Town - Bronze Radio Return
18. Cold Feet - Lunar Lander
19. Second Chance - Peter Bjorn & John
20. Jeopardy - Dan Mangan

Full album download

Best of 2011 - Disc two

Best of 2011 - Disc two

1. Lonely Boy - The Black Keys

2. Badaboom - Tapes 'n Tapes

3. Cradle - The Joy Formidable

4. Bizness - tUnE - yArDs

5. Wildfire - SBTRKT

6. Rolling In The Deep (Jamie XX Remix ) - Adele feat. Childish Gambino

7. Truth - Alexander

8. Progress - Booker T. Jones

9. Money Grabber - Fitz & The Tantrums

10. I Found You - The Alabama Shakes

11. Blackout - Pickwick

12. Hold On - SBTRKT

13. Lotus Flower - Radiohead

14. Ritual Union - Little Dragon

15. The Magic - Joan as Policewoman

16. Little Black Submarines - The Black Keys

17. Me Me Me - Middle Brother

18. If I Wanted Someone - Dawes

19. Chevy Express - Deer Tick

20. Spit - Vandaveer

21. Yer Spring - Hey Rosetta!

Full Album Download

Best of 2011 - Disc one, belatedly.

Here, 3 months late, are my Best of 2011 picks. As usual, they are divided up in some inscrutable fashion that only I am privy to.

Best of 2011 - Disc one

1. We Found Each Other In The Dark - City & Colour
2. Half Moon - Iron & Wine
3. Bad Apple - Scott Matthews
4. Representing Memphis - Booker T. Jones
5. Honey Jars - Bryan John Appleby
6. Helplessness Blues - Fleet Foxes
7. Sparrow & The Wolf - James Vincent McMorrow
8. I'm Getting Ready - Michael Kiwanuka
9. Lovin' You Baby - Charles Bradley
10. In My Dreams (Acoustic) - James Morrison
11. Million Dollar Bill - Middle Brother
12. Two Lovers - The Rural Alberta Advantage
13. Ohio (Damien Jurado) - Strand of Oaks
14. Deep Cuts - Cataldo
15. Always Like The Sun - Release The Sunbird
16. The A Team - Ed Sheeran
17. I Can't Make You Love Me/Love In The Nick Of Time - Bon Iver
18. Make You Feel My Love - ortoPilot
19. Ho Hey - The Lumineers
20. The Golden Age & The Silver Girl - Tyler Lyle

Full Album Download


Stay tuned for disc 2 and 3 which will be posted tomorrow and the next!

Damien Jurado - Maroqopa

  Damien Jurado makes lo-fi folk music with a deep undercurrent of emotion. He has an interesting process, often sampling field recordings and found sounds. His latest album Maroqopa is something like his twelfth full release in 15 years and the quality remains strong for someone with such a prolific career. Amazingly, he just seems to be getting better.

I've been curious as to what the album title means, since google comes up short. It's possibly an alternative spelling of "Maricopa", which may refer to cities in Arizona or California or even a Native-American language. Either way, he's put out more of his signature folky, singer-songwriter-ey sound. Damien has this capacity to sound so plaintive and earnest while singing about the most heart-breaking of topics. Every note is handled with casual precision and evocative grace. My favorite from the album is the track Museum of Flight.

Don't let go

I need you to hang around

I'm so broke

And foolishly in love

Damien Jurado - Museum of Flight



I've been a sucker for Oooh's lately, it seems like, and this track lays them on. Thick. If it had some violin it could be an Andrew Bird song.

Damien Jurado - Working Titles

Available now on Secretly Canadian

For fans of: Andrew Bird, Josh Ritter, Ryan Adams

Plants and Animals - The End of That

  Plants and Animals are a band out of Montreal, Canada. They play the kind of twangy, rootsy Americana (Canadiana?) that Delta Spirit is often accused of playing. But then they also play meandering folk, or straight up rock, and sometimes what sounds like indie-pop. Achieving that kind of varied sound is a sign of talented musicians and a fertile, creative song-writer. Their latest album, The End of That is all over the board as well, leading off with this number which is a slow build to a graceful conclusion.

Plants and Animals - Before


It's a good sign when I can't even get past the second song on an album when making selections for blog posts. This next one is track #2 and is more in the twangy Americana way than the previous. There's also a sense of humor in it that reminds me of Wilco.

Plants and Animals - The End of That

Buy it now on Secret City Records


For fans of: Wilco, Mother Hips, Horse Feathers, Ryan Adams

Forgotten Songs

  Spotify, you're a double-edged sword. There I am, happy as can be, discovering new music and enjoying myself when out of nowhere comes a song from 2004 that sends me reeling into waves of nostalgia and what can only be adequately described by the Portuguese word, Saudade. Bastards!

But it did give me an idea for a weekly blog post. In it I will highlight songs from years past that either predated my yearly compilations, were discovered after the fact, or were passed over at the time and regretted later. 

To start off this week is a song from Stephen Fretwell from his 2004 release, Magpie. In the fine tradition of English balladeers, Stephen sings longingly for an imagined New York City that he and his love can escape away to. 

Stephen Fretwell - New York

Next up is a song from perennial favorite The Damnwells from their 2003 release, Bastards of The Beat. In it he sings about his plans to shelter his love from all of the bad things in life. The poignancy of the song is from his realization that this is a futile hope and, in the end, impossible. 

The Damnwells - I Will Keep The Bad Things From You

Next is a song from Norwegian artist Thomas Dybdahl from his album Science, originally released in 2006. He sings about his plans for the coming year and his lowered expectations. 

Thomas Dybdahl - This Year

Bell X1 is an Irish band, made of the remaining members of Damien Rice's erstwhile band Juniper. While not achieving the fame of their former bandmate, they've been putting out albums consistently for many years which is more than we can say for Mr. Rice. This song is about facing the coming day even when you know it's going to be bad. 

Bell X1 - Bad Skin Day

And that's it for now!