Basia Bulat, Oh, My Darling

Hey there everyone! It's Charlie here! I apologize for not writing anything since the beginning of August. Summer just really took its toll on us and we couldn't find the time to sit infront of the computer and write. I myself was piled with an overwhelming amount of foreign movies from friends that I had to watch. And also spent the majority of summer taking medium format fotos. But we have a new season ahead of us, one of my favourites actually, so Anne and I are going to try and build up on this and post more and more.

I'll be introducing you guys to some artists I've been listening to for awhile now that I think will fit perfectly into this coming autumn season. Although her album hasn't released yet here in the U.S, I've been enjoying some of Basia Bulat's released singles since last spring. I knew I found something good the moment I heard her voice. Basia Bulat, who's based in London, Ontario (yes another good act from our neighbours up north) will be worth your time. You can easily compare it to the big names out there, such as Chan's voice, Feist, and Regina Spektor. But like the artists I just mentioned, Basia can stand her ground and easily set herself apart from the crowd. She has a voice that will stick around in your head for awhile, and is a nice companion for this coming autumn season. That's a good thing!

So what else is there to do after aquiring a good voice, well take a good band with you to back you up. A support band with violins, guitars, ukelele to back that magnificent voice of hers does the job. Who knows when we'll see her and her band here in the States. She's been touring all of Canada and Europe lately and will be touring Canada again this autumn, but we have two lucky cities in the east, Chicago and Minneapolis who'll get the chance to see her. As for her debut album, Oh, My Darling well it's out in the UK already and it comes out in Canada on the 18th. But if you don't wanna wait and don't mind paying a little bit more, you can go to Rough Trade's site.


Stream + Download + Purchase

Before I Knew | Basia Bulat

I Was a Daughter | Basia Bulat

Links:

» Basia Bulat's Official Site
» Basia Bulat's Myspace
» Live Performance courtesy of B(oot)log
» Purchase the CD from Rough Trade

-Charlie

Greetings from New York...

For those who don't know yet, a little over a week ago, I left the grassy green lawn suburban town of Spring, Texas for another type of greenery, the Village aka Greenwich Village aka New York aka the city of the world and I'm sure there are other names it falls under.

I came here with two suitcases full of clothes, extra long twin sheets, and a carry on that held all the CDs that I couldn't part with, I also brought a natural curiosity for what New York's music community would offer me. Of course, the main reason I am here is to attend college, Parsons the New School for Design, one of the eight divisions of The New School and I'm majoring in direct entry photography. Four hours of sleep is considered lucky or so the upperclassmen say, lucky me.

I haven't been to any shows yet, but I've already bought tickets for Rilo Kiley at Webster Hall on the 23rd and Beirut at the Wordless Music Series on the 24th. Hopefully soon though, I'll unearth some New York bands that are worth digging for.

So right now I'll have to work with the ones I do know that reside in my new home, they're all in Brooklyn really, and I guess we'll see if I find any or not in these next oh...four years.
(hint: this is the time + place to namedrop any bands, venues, restaurants, record stores, upcoming shows, anyplace, event you love that reside, take place in New York/Brooklyn.)

Download + More:

See Her, Seer | Inlets

Eastbound | Ola Podrida

The Way To Here | Au Revoir Simone

Easier | Grizzly Bear

~anne

Singled Out: A Sunday Smile by Beirut

There is no mistaking that familiar voice sailing along the swells of brassy, golden horns. The mouth it originates from moves swiftly, dragging out the last syllables of select words, or are those really words? They're more like sounds, cries of emotion that can't be tied down by wholly confining pre-established vocabulary, but freely delivers its message through its sheer volume and it lifts even the heaviest of hearts. We hear it fed through a megaphone, an audio trick that we've heard before, making his voice sound even more foreign and faraway than it already is.

The lone voice belongs to of course, Zach Condon, the one who brought us last year, The Gulag Orkestra, an album that for most of us ventured into unfamiliar territory that was filled with the hearty sounds of Balkan brass orchestras and made trumpets more than just mere solo decorations within songs, but centered the particular brass instrument in the spotlight and most likely inspired a mousy haired youngster out there to leave the finger-blistering guitar in the closet for a shiny, promising trumpet along with a much needed spit cup.

And yes this is one of the new songs off of the October 9th-slated album, The Flying Club Cup and it's called "A Sunday Smile". You may have heard it already from watching the Take Away Show presented by La Blogothèque, which Zach Condon preformed with one of his musical influences, The Kocani Orkestra. Without them, The Gulag Orkestra would probably never have existed, seeding its gypsy sounds within Condon, but this time for the new album, the seed was planted by the late musician and lyricist Jacques Brel.

From start to finish the song plays out like a circus affair, a towering Jack in the Box with the handle winding round and round, accordions squeezing the summer air and stretching to reveal a painted design like a flag unfurled caught in a breeze. The album is said to be the result of French influences both culturally and musically and the visual inspiration for Condon this time around was the photograph that is now gracing the cover of the album.

Beirut right now is somewhere in Brooklyn rehearsing for their upcoming tour that will hit off at Brooklyn's Masonic Temple on Sept. 20th, following two more New York dates and making their way to the somewhat major American cities before leaving on a jet plane to spend November in Europe.

I confess, I cannot even begin to describe how excited I am about The Flying Club Cup. The only thing that could possibly be better than the new album releasing, would be seeing Beirut themselves on Sept. 24th at the Wordless Music Series in New York at the Society for Ethical Culture venue.

If you're even doubting if it's worth to see them live, oh which is surely a crime, you had better watch the Take Away Show that features Condon with The Kocani Orkestra playing the reprise of "Siki Siki Baba" (scroll to the last video) and then you'll wish you were there just like I do every time I watch it and that whatever you did on July 30th, 2007 would never have topped standing in the Parisian venue, La Flèche d'Or and being part of the audience that happily sang and swayed as one. And if you are already convinced, you had better watch it anyways. It's the best live show footage I've seen in years, Vincent Moon is a mad hand-holding cameraman genuis!

Stream + Download + Purchase:

A Sunday Smile | Beirut

Links:

» Beirut's Official Site
» Pre-Order The Flying Club Cup
» Beirut's Official MySpace
» Beirut's Tour Dates
» La Blogothèque presents: #60.9-60.10 Beirut + The Koncani Orkestra playing "A Sunday Smile" (video)
» La Blogothèque presents: #60.1 Beirut + The Kocani Orkestra playing "Siki Siki Baba" reprise (video)
» YouTube: Zach Condon singing "Knife" by Grizzly Bear (video)
» The Kocani Orkestra's Official Site
» Wikipedia: Jacques Brel

~anne