Mixtape Friday

Well its been a while since I've posted, but I've been working on my top 20 albums and songs of the year so I'll have those up in the next couple weeks or so.  In the meantime, enjoy a little mix for the weekend before Christmas.  Its not Christmas music (as it probably should be) but its good stuff.

Find it HERE

Mixtape Friday

Another edition of Mixtape Friday.  More of a rock mix this week mixed with some post punk.  Hope you enjoy your weekend.

New Music Tuesday: Sego's EP Wicket Youth

Sego releases their debut EP "Wicket Youth" today.  They've released three songs of the five songs in anticipation for its release, but let's go through each song one by one:

"Your song's.....different....Sego"

1. 20 years tall -- Alright alright we start off with some straight talk dance punk.  Its different and edgy, but its the same different and edgy I heard when I listened to LCD Soundsystem. (Which is a great thing)  The song is like the principal in Forrest Gump, "Your son's.....different...Miss Gump.", but we all know that Forrest falls into wealth and ends up with his long lost passed around girlfriend in the end so he gets the last laugh......just like this song....what?  Anyway, the first track off the the new EP probably defines what the band sounds like and the rest of the tracks will follow suite, right?....

2. Wicket Youth -- ....well not exactly.  The next track is Wicket Youth......which is like taking off my ripped black jeans and putting on my white dress suit from Miami Vice and fighting drug lords while driving the $100k police race boat that they randomly have a budget for ......quite the contrast.  All the edges are as smooth as the keys on a keyboard, and what we have left is very catchy synthpop number.

Harrison Ford digging "Engineer Amnesia"

3. Engineer Amnesia -- We stick with the synthpop tone but dial it back a bit.....instead of Miami Vice we get Blade Runner/Terminator/Terminator 2.  I could very easily see Harrison Ford in his flying car cruising through the clouds with this song blasting as the human race is being exterminated by killer terminators below.

4. False Currency -- I would say this as close as we get to track one.  More straight talk but with less dance punk.  In its place is seemingly chaotic guitars, punchy horns and a steady beat that gets stronger as the song explodes to the finish line.  No bands or movie comparisons because I honestly can't put my finger on what this sounds like.  But the EP definitely hits its climax with that dance beat ending.

"Hey!!.....PARTED LIPS!!!"

5. Parted Lips -- Alright, now this is awesome.  ...its only 1 minute long, kind of the denouement of the EP, and again throws a different flavor into the mix.  I'd say that it sounds a hidden Beck track on the Odelay or Guero album.  Since Beck is my favorite musician this bodes well.  Its offbeat but in the best kind of way  You'll find yourself blurting out the words "Parted Lips" to yourself in a quiet room and yelling it to strangers on the street.


Overall, after all the flavors make the best kind of Kool-aid.  You'll feel really.... Kool.... when listening to it.

Mixtape Friday

Another addition of Mixtape Friday.  Enjoy.

Eyes Lips Eyes Final Show -- The End

At SXSW in the spring of 2011 debuting their music video "Pretty" at the film festival, Eyes Lips Eyes caught people's eyes and ears.  The venues were small, they weren't an official SXSW band, but the small crowds that came were excited about them.  I remember seeing some of the "offical" bands at SXSW and being underwhelmed and wondering why they were selected and not ELE.  If they were just given a big crowd with a big stage they would destroy the other bands with their raw energy alone that they brought.

They finished releasing Blue Red with a song a month until the middle of the summer and then toured into the fall.  When they released the album on vinyl I made a short documentary of the making of the vinyl covers.

I was very tempted to take a couple weeks off and tour with them and take pictures but I could never make it work.  Later on that year they caught the ear of a small label called Roll Call Records.  They finally had some recognition from the nonstop year of touring and releasing singles and videos every month.  The manager Rob set them up with a great producer to put out their next album that was set to release the following year.  They put out a pledge music to raise funds for the recording they did and to release the album.  They hit their goal at the last minute thanks to my sister Jane.  They recorded the record in Seattle in the same studio where Nirvana recorded.  It was exciting to hear of the progress as they were recording and mixing the songs.

Eyes Lips Eyes at the Frost Revival.  Opening for Modest Mouse

The highlight of that year was their invite to open for Modest Mouse at Stanford University.  I was really really excited for that.  Apparently there were some very avid fans from Stanford that were putting together a show and wanted ELE to be on the bill.  This would be in front of a crowd of a few thousand.  I had access to the back stage and got to photograph the whole thing.  It was a lot of fun.  The crowd was big and liked it.  They seemed to be heading in the right direction, with more and more momentum.

Velour show Sept 2012

 Later that summer they released their EP, which was in preparation for the album release the next year.  They played a show that I arranged for my co-workers, which could have turned into a disaster but turned out pretty good and then played a "Cowboys and Indies" show at Velour to a very energetic crowd.  One specific memory from that show is when Spencer and I swapped places for the finale.  We both had big beards, so I put his shirt  and hat on and Spence was playing his guitar in the back while I was acting it out on stage.  No one knew the difference.  I was going crazy, doing all kinds of weird positions and what not and then I stopped playing during the middle of a guitar part.....but apparently people still believed I was playing still.  People came up to Spencer and me afterward and complimented us on how amazing the guitar work was on the last song.  I wished someone had taken a picture of video of it, but it was pretty funny and cool.

 Then after this show...........there was silence.  The album was supposed to come out that spring and there was no word.  Months went past and no word or updates.

Velour Show 2012

Behind the scenes, Tony had gotten married in 2011 and by the end of 2012, news of a baby came.  The newly added obligations to his family took him to Chicago, far away from LA and the band.  Unsure on what was going to be become of the band, the others decided to work on their own projects.  Spencer and Tom started playing in various other bands (SWIMM, The Moth & the Flame) while also writing their own music (Sego), Aaron created his own band/group/entity called Fresh Big Mouf where he produced other bands and groups and also created music out of nothing literally in his Beat Scout project.  I constantly pestered my brother and Tony on when things were going to come back together and continue.  As 2013 came and went, my hope had dwindled that they would ever get back together as a band.  I had heard some of their new songs and I really really wanted to hear them live....at least one more time, but things still looked pretty bleak.  I knew that the momentum that had been building for the last 6 or 7 years was now gone.  They were almost back to square one it seemed if they got back together.  Now, I wanted to just hear them play one more time.  Tony moved back to LA in 2014 and I thought there was a sliver of hope that it was going to happen.  They were able to block out some dates and they planned on their last shows in LA and in Provo.  In the weeks previous they released their album after a long wait.  I had forgotten how much this music meant to me and how juiced up I got when I heard it.


Their final show in LA came.  I flew in for the show and took in all of the prep.  They rehearsed while I was there.  It was a little rough.  I hadn't heard their live performance in a long time, I was used to recordings, so I wanted perfection.   I had requested certain songs to be played of course, but there were only so many they could fit into the set. But the really big reason was they were not in Eyes Lips Eyes shape.  Even though they had been playing in bands, the playing was not nearly as intense as an Eyes Lips Eyes set.  When I asked for them to play Carolina's Cut, Tom's response was "Are you trying to ****ing kill me?".  I think most of the band members were in denial that this was it.  It had been so long since their last show that I think they had finally come to terms with it fading away.  But now that they were doing the final shows, it was like bringing up all the emotions to the surface again.  A lot more emotion had come from Tony.  The other members of the band had been playing in other bands, but Tony had been out of the game for two years.  I could tell that he truly missed going crazy on stage in front of a raucous crowd.  It was a release for him.  The show came and 60 or 70 LA fans and friends showed up.  It's funny what a cheering crowd can do for your nerves.  They sounded pretty great for their first set in two years.  The whole crowd was drenched in sweat as was the band.  I didn't feel emotional as much because I knew the Provo show was still to come.  

I was exhausted from the LA show and couldn't imagine what the Provo show was going to be like.  I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to make it through the whole set.  Provo seemed like a pressure cooker ready to explode when they were starting their set.  They pulled an old trick that they had used in previous shows.  They had a group of 20 or so fans stand on the stage, like a human curtain, to help block the view of the audience being able to see band setting up and to help build up the hype even more.  I can't remember the last time they did that, but it had been years.   They started with a classic of "Soy Sauce Sailor".  The extended intro added more pent up energy.  Everyone had a smile on their face as they grew close to the explosive climax of the intro.  Once that happened everyone jumped off the stage and went berserk. The top of the pressure cooker blew and the whole crowd danced, jumped pushed, yelled and cheered.  I chose to take pictures during the first song, but I had chills the whole time watching the band feed off the energy from the crowd.  The next song was "Sweat Swat Swote", which is a song that destroys me with its 4 1/2 minutes of constant dancing.  I was breathing pretty hard after that song and wondering how I was going to make it the rest of the way.  The next song was "Pretty" and "Don't Blow It" and that was a little bit of a breather.  The second song feature Nate Pyfer who has since helped Spencer with his other project Sego.  He stood and yelled and beat the cow bell with a stone face.  "Lumiere" gave the crowd a little bit of a breather overall since its more of a listener versus a dancer.  The song seemed a little misplaced amongst the other dancers.  This song is about Tony's father (my uncle) who had passed away a few years ago and so I understood immediately why it was being played.  The next song was an oldie, "Hola May" which rocked the crowd into a frenzy.  Cooled off a little bit for the song "Bear Trap".  I really liked hearing that one.  It seemed like forever since I'd heard it.  It has such a strong driving bass line with the perfect amount of accented guitars.  Then came happy and feathery "Hollywood" got the crowd into a bouncy mood especially for the ending chorus when everyone was jumping up and down.  "Ghosts" was next which was a never ending bounce fest......very stressful to the calves.  My friend Jim said his calves were so tired, heavy and tight that he could hardly walk around after the song.  He had to sit out until for a handful of songs to recover for the finale.

Final Show Velour Oct 2014

Then came "Itty Bitty" in which I was skeptical they could pull it off because its a song that requires the band to completely be in sync.  But they pulled it off and sounded awesome.  Its not really a dance song, but more of a sing along song that has a chaotic ending.  Only two songs remained from the main set.  The next was crowd favorite "Never Alone" which by the end became a mini mosh pit.  I was expecting them to talk a little bit more and tell some stories or something.  Spencer shared his thankfulness for being in the band and how great Provo has been to the band.  Tony added his gratitude as well earlier and could tell it was a sensitive issue as his voice cracked a little.  I think they avoided talking to much because they didn't want to get too emotional.  It was the end of an era in Provo music.  Spencer started the jangling intro for "Tickle" and everyone went nuts.  Girls on shoulders of guys, everyone was chanting "hey" and they jumped around.  It was probably the most active and energetic I've seen a crowd at Velour ever.  At the end of the song, Cole Barnson of the Toy Bombs planted a kiss on Tony, which I thought was hilarious.    It was hard to top that ending.  It definitely climaxed there.

Final Show Oct 2014 - Psycho Killer

In the encore, several friends with guitars or just themselves came on stage for "Psycho Killer".  A song that they've been playing since the beginning of the full band.  With that many people on stage it was hard to tell who was playing. It ended up being who ever felt like getting up on stage by the end, but it didn't matter, everyone was having a good time.  I took the song off and took pictures.  I was wanting to capture the amazing site of people everywhere dancing but also wanted to save myself for the last song, "Old".

  Even though the song is my current favorite and I go absolutely crazy for it, I wouldn't have ended with it.  With the amazing energy of Tickle and the chaotic party of Psycho Killer, "Old" seemed anti-climatic since it was a semi-new song.  But now that I think about it.....I believe it was the perfect choice.  I don't know what it is about that song that brings out a lot of emotion from me.  When listening to it in the car I go crazy hitting the wheel of the car.

Final Show Velour Oct 2014

So for the final song in the history of Eyes Lips Eyes, I was determined to go nuts the entire time.  Of course it had an extended intro, Spencer playing a single note.  Just building it up for me like crazy.  Then the bass and drums come in perfectly and start the beginning of the end.  I had tears welling up in my eyes after each time the chorus was sang and then I'd emphatically go crazy during the guitar follow up.  I was shoving and jumping on people and yelling to the top of my lungs and I didn't care at all.  I remember thinking during the final build up that it was so weird that this was going to be their last song.  I let out my emotions in the form of jumping and pushing and yelling to the top of my lungs for the last 20 seconds till my eyes started to go black and I felt like I was going to faint for a minute.  It was a great ending to a band that will always be my favorite.  It was an incredible show that I will always remember.  As I was talking with Cole Barnson afterward, he echoed a thought that I've always had since the beginning.......which was that bands like this don't come around that often....they are rare.  Bands can play loud and go crazy on stage or whatever, but its the way ELE wrote the songs, the way they played the songs and who they were as individuals that drove this unique band into almost unattainable energy during their shows.  The band will now disband officially and pursue their own goals in other bands or in life.  I think they'll always look back at those times as something special......I know I will.

Tony bows after the final song at the Frost Revival, May 2012

Eyes Lips Eyes Final Show -- Part 4

One story that I forgot to mention a couple of posts back was how the band came up with the name Elizabethan Report.  If any of you know Tony, he has a knack of mishearing or misunderstanding people during conversations.  One such conversation had mentioned lesbians at Borders (the store).  Tony naturally asked them if they had just said Elizabethan Report.  They said no and were confused how he had even come up with that based on what they had said.  So there you have it....selective hearing can create bands.

Now to start again from where I left off.  One correction to the previous post, they didn't actually change their name to Eyes Lips Eyes until after they had moved to LA and had been there for a while.  they transitioned from Elizabethan Report to the shorter ER for a while until the actual change to Eyes Lips Eyes.

They first lived in a house in Eagle Rock that they rented for the summer.  They spent their time establishing themselves and writing.  I stayed their for a couple of nights and then went with them on a mini tour.  The first stop was Taft, CA., which is near Bakersfield.  It was a for a funeral ironically.  It was held in the upstairs of a bar.  It was a one of the more weird shows I've ever been to.  I think the band didn't really know if they should enjoy themselves or be more serious.  They had a show two days later in Bakersfield.  They had one friend that lived there that we stayed at that introduced them around to other friends and soon they had a little group of fans even though they had never seen them play.  That is one that I found awesome about the band.  They made friends very quickly and were very likable.  The fans that came a lot of time were not only fans but became good friends with the band.  The Bakersfield show wasn't well attended but those that came were friends that they had met the day before and are lifelong fans.

After the few short months in Eagle Rock they moved to an old factory converted to three big studio apartments on the east side of LA near Chinatown.  It was squeezed between a cement factory and a UPS loading dock.  It was the perfect spot for a band.....with the exception of nearly no privacy.  From there they met the band Kid Theodore (now known as Toy Bombs) who were from SLC.  Both bands had known each other a little while in Utah but neither of them knew that they moved to LA.  They joined forces and toured the country with each other, forming very close bonds in the process.  One particular tour in the fall of 2010 I believe they played in a lot of empty venues, everyone in the tour van was sick or would get sick.  They ended up in a New London, CT.  The tour had been awful up to this point.  They had been barely making any money the whole tour.  This venue was no different, no one was there except for the other band named The Beauvilles.  So the bands just put on shows for each other basically and let out the frustrations of a bad tour.  The Beauvilles loved them as well as their manager.  A friendship that would create a chain reaction of friendships down the road  This was the turning point in their success.

Right before that they had started their conquest to release one song, one music video for the song and one B side each month for twelve months and slowly release the album Blue Red one spoonful at a time.  The first video for the single "Pretty" was a success as it was nominated to be in the SXSW film festival the following year.  The constant amount of music, videos caught a lot of attention and would lead to even better things.

--To Be Continued--

Eyes Lips Eyes Final Show -- Part 3

Shows started popping up with high frequency (no pun intended).  Here are a couple of show posters.  I believe the biggest show of the fall of 2007 was at the Sego Festival.  The Sego Festival was basically a local music and art festival in Provo that ran for a few years.  That year had some big local headliners: Chris Merritt, Fictionist, Neon Trees, Another Statistic, Return to Sender, Mathematics Etc.  Elizabethan Report found its way in one of the headliner slots and played one of the their better shows.  It was the biggest crowd they had played for.

For the next while they focused their attention to putting out their first EP 'Hola May'.  They converged on a cabin just east of Park City and lived there for at least a week, doing nothing but recording.  I made my way up there a few times to see how things were going and to add some background voices and claps.  Months later the EP was released to high praise.  I was really excited because I had listened for months to the songs in concert but couldn't listen to them outside of that, which drove me crazy.

At the beginning of the summer they received a big invitation to play in the North American Music Union in Pittsburgh to compete in a contest of a hand full of other college bands.  The winner to be given a one album deal.  The rest of the festival included acts like Bob Dylan, The Black Keys, The Roots The Raconteurs and Spoon.  All of this was currated by Anthony Keidis.  So there was no way I was going to miss this.  I flew into Washington DC, hung out at a family reunion in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, then drove 9 hours from there to Lake Chautauqua where they were playing a show to a random art colony there.  I then drove from there to Pittsburgh.  There was some nervousness among the band members of what songs they should play.  It was only a 25 minute set so they had to decide which songs would resonate best with the judges and the crowd.  It took a while before they narrowed down some songs.

The other college bands played to some mixed reception.  I felt a little intimidated for them.  Two bands that were invited were French Horn Rebellion and Royal Bangs, both of which currently are successful touring bands.  They went on and I did my thing in the crowd, danced around, clapped and what not and the band came through had an awesome performance.  The crowd really got into it and responded very positively.  After the show they completely forgot to man the merchandise table, which had a good little crowd around it so I ran over and started helping people.

When it came to judgement time, another band was picked but the judges had them as a very close second place.  They definitely made an impression, even the local paper thought they had the best performance.

Things were on a high from that point.  They pushed hard to put out a full length album.  This would be called 'Are you a Murderer?' based a lot on a couple of Tony's relationships.  It was a very descriptive and visceral album.  Much different than the previous EP.  While it had some lighter numbers, there were some darker ones as well.

Months went on after the album where they did played some shows.  I followed them to San Diego, LA, Durango and Telluride CO. for some shows.  During this time they decided it was time to pick up a manager, which is when Alex Jones came into the picture.  A big fan of the band from Santa Ynez (near Santa Barbara), his first order of business was to change the bands name and to have them move to LA.  I had mixed feelings on both.  Even though everyone in the world couldn't pronounce Elizabethan Report correctly, Being a very nostalgic man by nature I wanted them to keep the name, I liked the name.  I also loved having them live nearby, but could understand the need for both changes.

With this move came the end to the Hillary Hathaway era, which ended on a semi-weird note.  The alliance with her was always an unsteady one, so it was not a big surprise to see it happen.  In my opinion, it was needed to happen to further the bands success.  The band contemplated pulling on another female singer; even played another show with one to test it out. In the end it was determined that they would continue on without the extra singer.

Several names were thrown around, like Sweat and Blue Red, but ended up land on Eyes Lips Eyes based on the lyrics of a song that was yet to be released.

--To Be Continued--  

Eyes Lips Eyes Final Show - Part 2

After some years of performing randomly at parties they decided to expand it to a full band in 2004/2005. They added Adam Orton (bass) and Trevor Goss (drums). Their first show as an official band was at a Mexican restaurant.  About 20 people who were mostly friends or family of the band showed up. Tony was so juiced full of energy that on the opening song he proceeded to break the microphone stand after the first 20 seconds.

Performance at OZZ in Provo

After that first show I knew that a lot of people would hesitate to dance to their music, so I took it upon myself to dance the entire show no matter if anyone came up with me or not. (there were quite a few shows where I was by myself the whole time) I remember one show at a place called Steamers, that hosted mostly hardcore metal bands. The ceiling had blood on it from the night before.  The only audience was me, the owner and I think one other person. One thing that I remember telling Spencer a long time ago was to always play a great, energetic show no matter what, as if there were 500 moshing people in the room. For the most part that's exactly what they did. I had to dance around to get them going sometimes of course.                                                                                                                                                            

The picture might actually be from Steamers

This went on for about a little over a year, playing random shows, gaining a following, but not a serious one. Tony would still roam the crowd and try and embarrass and do what he could to make people uncomfortable. He was very energetic, but a bit raw.

 After a while it seemed apparent that they needed a change in order to be taken seriously.  The song writing needed to be sharpened, their performances needed to be tightened and basically needed to start from scratch.  Tony informed the drummer (Trevor) that his services were no longer needed after taking him out for a milkshake. Adam (bass) left on his own. It was back to the original duo once again in the fall of 2006. It would take them a year before they reformed. During this time, Tony and Spencer both wrote. Their approach was more serious, more edgy but still fun and energetic. They met their new drummer Thomas Carroll) the year before when they had played a battle of the bands the year before and he was playing for a different band. He was impressed with the band and agreed to join. The bassist was harder to find. Spencer knew a classmate name Aaron Hatch but hadn't really played bass before. He quickly learned before their first show in the fall of 2007. They also added a backup singer and someone to help compliment Tony, this was Hilary Hathaway.

 Their first show was at a house party. They only had a handful of prepared songs but you could tell that this was different. The crowd responded very positively to it, they weren't confused on what had just happened. They were no longer a joke band. This was very exciting for me personally. The next show that I remember was the battle of the bands at Muse Music in Provo. Their set was packed with people wanting to dance. They first song was Hola May which was on the first song that the full band had written together. It was their most edgy song to date with a driving bass and punchy guitar hook.  They wanted me and another friend to wave some flashlights around at the band which kind of turned out cool.  The crowd thought so as well as they were chosen as the winners.

Their was some reluctance to go full electric acoustic since they had always been acoustic, but Spencer added a little pickup on the original guitar that gave it a very unique sound. He also remained sitting which I thought was really cool and unique. No other band did that. No bands banged the crap out of garbage can, beat to death a little tikes mini piano, use the little piano to beat the garbage can to death and use a diving flipper as an instrument. Their whole approach was very refreshing.

 I went to every show no matter what.  I loved the energy they brought, it was kind of addicting to me.   I've been made fun of for being the "#1 fan" but I didn't really care.  I loved the music.

After the success of the the battle of the bands, it kind of put them on the map as a legitimate band in the valley.  They would often open for other bands and wear the crowd out for the headliner.

                   --- To be continued---

Eyes Lips Eyes Final Show

A couple of weeks ago, the band Eyes Lips Eyes announced their final show, which is Oct 4th at Velour. This has brought a lot of different emotions from me. I am related directly to the band as the guitar player Spencer is my brother and the lead singer, Tony, is my cousin. It was always really cool to have a band that I really enjoyed the music of but also that I knew and was related to. It made the experience very exciting and it didn't help that a lot of the music that they created was fun and the shows they played were some of the more energetic and fun shows I've ever experienced. I'd love to go through the the beginning years when Elizabethan Report was just Spencer and Tony and on through the middle years and on to the end. This is just a short biographical view of the band from my perspective.

 Elizabethan Report was created as joke almost. Tony wanted to start writing as a sort of a college writing project for a class he was taking. Tony was 22 and Spencer was 18, just fresh out of high school in 2002. Already in a band himself, Spencer, an already phenom at the bass wanted to improve his guitar skills. I had received an acoustic guitar for Christmas several years previous and had never used, so Spence scooped that up to use. Spencer and Tony came up with their first song, "BYU Accousa-rock" to play at parties. This was in mockery of the number of
mediocre acoustic-rock BYU bands that littered the area at the time, the use of an acoustic guitar to woo women at parties, and to poke fun at some at BYU's honor code rules. This grew from one song to a few songs with Tony writing all of the lyrics and Spencer writing all of the melodies on the guitar. Tony's lyrics were often morbid, poetic, with a lot of alliteration involved, with odd phrases and words.  Spencer's melodies were fast and aggressive to fill all of the space with no bass or drums.  One song, named "Brassy Fist" had a fun, mellow melody throughout the song until the finale when it erupts into a hardcore death-metal rock ballad growling and yelling at the crowd and then stopping and exclaiming "love" at the end which seemed to always.  My favorite among the early writings was Invasive Orange and Carolina's Cut as the songs seemed to be more lively and a cut above the rest.  Watching Spence play the guitar on Carolina's Cut live at break neck speeds was a sight to see.  As with a lot of live performances, songs are sped up and I couldn't believe he could play and strum so fast.  I was always amazed.


 Instead of just singing, Tony decided to add another element, which was to get in people's faces and make them as uncomfortable as possible. I remember a specific party that was held at my parents house which involved a bunch of my married friends. Spencer and Tony showed up and decided to serenade the group with a song or two. This was a pretty conservative group that wasn't really excited to have Tony licking their faces and grinding up on them. The room had 15 or so people to begin and by the end of their second song the room was empty except for me. There was a lot of apologizing afterward, but I loved it.

 -To be continued-

Mixtape Friday

Its been a while since my last post, but I threw together a mix that I hope you'll enjoy it.  A little sun splashed Indie pop to enjoy the last of the summer weather before the cooler fall weather comes.

Mixtape Friday

Even though I'm no longer in school, its hard not to have some nostalgia when the end of summer is here and school is starting and you look up in the mountains and see some color changes. It was a season of change literally with the weather but also with the new people you would see, the new classes you had, a new grade you were in. It was a really fun time, but it was also a little nerve wracking with all the unfamiliarity and unknown around you. I have a strong association with some music when school started. I've made a mix tape in honor of those seasons of change, which include songs I remember listening to when I was in high school and early college (bear in mind that some of these are guilty pleasures that are only listened to for pure nostalgia reasons) to some that remind me of those times. Boyz II Men, Amy Grant, Paula Abdul, Jesus Jones and REM's Shining Happy People....all of these songs remind me of not being able to go to sleep the days before school (I think i was going into middle school at the time) and the radio station KISN 97.1 played these songs over and over....and over again it seemed.  Anyway, enjoy.

Beck in Concert

Tonight I will be seeing Beck in Concert for the first time.  I've been looking forward to one of his concerts for the past 18 years.  I would consider Beck my musical idol.  His style, his talent, his song writing, just everything about him is awesome.  This is the first time he's toured through Utah in 14 or 15 years.  The last time he was here was in support of the Midnight Vultures tour back in 1999 or 2000 which would have been crazy awesome to see.

I've wondered what my ultimate Beck concert would be if I were to see him live. It appears that he's been playing about 20-22 songs per concert from the previous shows on this tour.  So I've compiled my ultimate Beck concert playlist.  Bear in mind this playlist is not reasonable.  They are simply songs that I would love to hear live.





1.  F###in with my head
2. Mixed Bizness
3. Elevator Music
4. Tropicailia
5. Dead Weight
6. Diamond Bullocks
7. Que' Onda Guero
8. Nicotine and Gravy
9. Hot Wax
10. Soul Suckin' Jerk
11. Jack-Ass
12. Think I'm in Love
13. Bottle of Blues
14. Broken Train
15. The Golden Age
16. Sissyneck
17. Beer Can
18. E-Pro
19. Where It's At

Encore:

20. Devil's Haircut
21. New Pollution
22. Debra

Here is the actual songs if you want to listen to it.  I hope to follow up this post with a concert review.

Mixtape Friday

Well its August.  No matter how long I've been out of school, I still get that feeling of school coming back in session, needing to go buy some new clothes and trapper keepers and pencils and pens.  The carefree days and nights coming to an end.  Nights are becoming a little cooler.....days are shortening.....the fall will be here in a month or so.  I hope this mix helps you reflect on the fun summer and the times ahead.

Summer's over from RubenFarr on 8tracks Radio.

Album Review: Eyes Lips Eyes

Well its been approximately two years since the last release of new music from Los Angeles' Eyes Lips Eyes.  After recording the album, the band had a long hiatus to pursue other individual music projects and tackle life challenges.  They have finally given their fans the long awaited swig of music.

The album 'Place to Be' was put out earlier today and for those that pledged during the Kickstarter for the album they received it a little earlier.


It starts out with familiar song 'Never Alone'.  For die-hard fans, this will be a song heard from years ago when they put out an album on their own.  It kicks into high gear and into new territory with the spastic and fun 'Itty Bitty' with its catchy 'ooo's' and 'aahhhh's'.

Their single 'Hollywood' is their most polished number that has a very catchy and bubbly guitar hook.  Their most recognizable song 'Tickle makes the cut as well with its jangley guitars and sing-able chorus.  The album then shifts into a different gear and drops the happy honey glazed tunes.

The next song, and my favorite from the album 'Old', brings its primal repetitive guitar riff coupled with a powerful driving bass crashing drums that make you want to jump around and throw chairs through walls....in the most positive way possible.  From that description you'd think its some Rage against the Machine rip off, but not so.  Although its not mellow, its not something that's out of control either.  Its theme is more contemplative as it speaks of the natural reflection of one's life thinking that "I'm old, I'm as old as I've ever been........and I'll never be this young again."  Here is the song below.  Take a listen, punch a brick wall with your bare fists.

The surprise of the album was 'Getting Late'.  The song's first five seconds leads you to believe that it will be another mellow pop song until hits the gas and doesn't stop.  Its a song that as dance-able as any out there.  The added element of the cow bell really keeps the party going throughout.

"A-OK is a simple speedy rocker that will have you yelling with the background singers during the chorus.  The final song "Language Lessons", its a late at night driver.  Its not something that you'll fall asleep to, but will keep you going with its echoed thumping bass that keeps the pace.  Mix that with the accented and atmospheric guitar hooks that add flavor and it'll have your foot tapping non-stop.

I've always considered Eyes Lips Eyes to be a live band that you must see live to gain the full experience, but this album you catch some very real glimpses of what that's like and it comes as close as you possibly can.

Mixtape Friday

Mixtape Friday

Its the 4th of July edition of the mix tape.  Its harder than you think to find songs that have American or American themed song names.  I had to add a couple of songs that didn't necessarily have any of the keywords (freedom, america, USA,etc).  But I think it has some great songs on it.  America wins.

Merry 4th of July.

Throwback Thursday

This video is so great on so many levels.  Some of those levels are that Risk Astley looks like he's 14 years old and has a 40 year old man's voice.  The shots of him clapping and dancing by the fence are hilarious.  I can just imagine the director explaining the shot.  "Alright, so we are going to drive by and just dance...clap...shimmy....whatever, but look really cool when you do it.  Which shouldn't be too hard with an all denim shirt and pants and sunglasses."  Then the bar tender who is just cleaning things up? and then these guys just decided to start singing in the room? and then the beat is so strong that he has to show his acrobatic talents to them?  I'm sure many of you have already seen this video and heard this song many times, but I don't get tired of it.  Enjoy.

Whatever Wednesday

Its been a long time since I've posted.  I hate to say that I didn't have enough time since this post took me 5 minutes, but its been busy busy.  The song that I have rediscovered lately is from the Crystal Stilts.  The song Sycamore Tree is from one my favorite albums of 2011, In Love With Oblivion.  It has been stuck in my head for the past few weeks so I thought I'd create an outlet for it.  Enjoy.

Concert/Album Review: Tune yards

tune-yards

I first saw tune-yards almost six years ago at Kilby Court opening for Thao & the Get Down Stay Down.  It was just Merrill Garbus by herself with her electric ukulele and a voice recorder to add layers to the music.  I was quite impressed with her voice and original sounding music.  After she completed her set, I went over and bought one of her tapes (her first album 'Bird Brains' was recorded on tape).  Each tape was hand made and unique.  Fast forward a few years from that and she puts out her second album 'who kill' that is considered one of the best of 2011 by many including myself and has a sizeable following nation-wide.  Fast forward another three years and she comes out her newest album 'Nikki Nack' and she has exploded even more.  Although I think I prefer her previous album over her latest offering, she still strikes gold with the playful "Water Fountain", the smooth "Wait for a Minute" and the more synth driven "Hey Life".  The main complaint about the new album is how she has thrown out the ukulele which I loved in place of more synth.  She does keep the drum fills, claps and percussion however which give each song a very lively fun sound.

I was able to see her last night at Urban Lounge and grab some shots.  This was the first time I'd seen her with a full band.  She sounded fantastic.  Every beat, every clap and every note spot on.  She yelled and pounded the drums as her backup singers/dancers bounced around to the rhythm.  Each member of the band dawned makeup of some sort with colorful outfits and background decorations of different sized eyes.

She played mostly new songs from her new album but splashed in some songs from "Who Kill" as well.  The one song I was hoping she would play was "My Country" which was my favorite song on their last album but I was definitely satisfied with the performance.

Here is their new single, "Water Fountain"

Mixtape Friday

Its Memorial Day weekend, so let's remember music from different decades.  I've got a couple songs covered from the 80's till now.  Enjoy.

New Music from Sego

Today, the band Sego, born and bred from Utah, that now reside in sunny southern California have released their first single today called, "Twenty Years Tall".  The band has been posting regularly on social media eluding to the release for a few weeks now.  The song is much different than the computer voiced preview track they released to help build hype for the release or releases.  This song has edge and keeps you off balance during the verse, but then focuses the chaos to a very catchy chorus.  I'd be curious to what everyone's thoughts are on the track.  Feel free to comment.

Here is their new music video below.

Whatever Wednesday

I've been curious as to the origins of a certain Talking Heads live album called Monkey Business.  My brother brought it as an import and it is very hard to find the original now.  I was able to track down that this was actually a bootleg of a concert, although the sound quality is outstanding.  It is by far my favorite album of Talking Heads music.  Here is the album cover that I was able to track down.

  I'm not one for owning live albums.  For a long time, I hated when bands put out live albums because they didn't sound at all like the recordings.  But this is different.  A lot of the songs are similar to the live album "Stop Making Sense" but after listening to both, I felt and still feel that Monkey Business is the better sounding album and has the most energy with the crowd noises involved.  I'd say "Go take a listen at Spotify" or wherever else you can go listen to music for free, but this is no where to be found.  I will have to post some examples comparing the recording to Stop Making Sense and see what everyone else thinks.

In the meantime, here's "Found a Job" from the famous "Stop Making Sense" film.

Melancholy Monday

Well, this past weekend we had the best weather of the year.  It's hard to come back to cubicles and computer screens and spreadsheets after a weekend like that.  Back to the grind...to the repetitiveness of it all.

This song, Memory Pools by Foxes In Fiction is simple.  It never deviates from the rhythm.  But for some reason its very thought provoking and I can get lost in sea of thoughts while listening to it.

Sego

Sego Sego Sego.....Sego Soon.

An interesting 1 minute clip left by Sego the band on the SoundCloud left a lot to the imagination.  The duo who live in LA but come from Utah leave this mysterious song? message? For us to chew on while we wait for their music to be released.  It'll be interesting to know what kind of music they put out.  From this message, you're not quite sure what it will be like.  Could be synthy rock or could be just plain Rock and Roll or something entirely different than the message/song.    The more I listen to it though I get more and more curious.  They've achieved their goal.

The band's SoundCloud is found here:

SoundCloud - Sego Music

Mixtape Friday

Here is this week's mixtape.  Cool cool cool, ok ok ok ok.

Whatever Wednesday

I heard yesterday that one of my favorite bands of my adolescence, The Sundays have been thinking about a come back and coming up with some new music after a 17 year hiatus.  This is amazing news!
I first heard of The Sundays from my brother Matt, who also writes on this blog.  He was dating his wife at that time and she owned their second album, "Blind" and I decided to "borrow it".  This happened quite often with my brother's or sister's CD's.  I'd borrow them and end up keeping them for a long time.  It wasn't that I'd listen to it a little bit and let it sit there.  I'd listen to them everyday all of the time.  Remember, computers didn't readily have music at your finger tips, if I didn't have the CD, I couldn't listen to it.  Desperate times calls for desperate measures, so I'd borrow them until I could scrounge up enough money to go buy it a store.
Anyway, got a little sidetracked.  I listened to their second album after I got the CD from my brother who was borrowing it from my soon to be sister-in-law.  I snagged it after hearing it during a trip to Yellowstone back in 1994 and they immediately became my favorite band at the time.  I soon discovered The Sunday's first album "Reading Writing and Arithmetic" and listened to it heavily during the summer of 1996.  I played it on repeat when I worked as a courier taking medical records from clinic to clinic.  It also was the main theme during a church youth group getaway.  I listened to the song "Skin and Bones" over and over during that week.....while my friend Ryan played the Mission Impossible Soundtrack over and over, ha!  The album "Blind" doesn't have as many specific memories, but is equally as good as the first.  The combination of Harriet Wheeler's lovely vocals and David Gavurin's crisp dream poppy guitar riffs are incredible.  Their last album was made five years after their second album and wasn't quite as good, but still had some great standouts.
They had initially called it quits due to Harriet and David (who are married) raising their two kids.  One is out of high school now and the other one is just starting high school, so it makes sense that they would start to collaborate again.
If this reunion actually happens, I will fly to wherever they are closest to see them.  They were definitely one of my favorite bands for many years.

Here is the article about their possible reform:

Stereogum: The Sundays

Here is the song "Hideous Towns" from their first album that I love:

Mixtape Friday

Another Friday is here.  Let us sit together in the grass and enjoy a good mix.  Its in the high 60's here, I can't complain about that.....but the train passing by with its horn blaring is loud....I can complain about that.

Mixtape Friday

A great collection of tunes from the 90's that are somewhat obscure from bands that are well known.

Spring to the past - Obscure 90's from RubenFarr on 8tracks Radio.

New Music Tuesday: Gardens & Villa

I first heard about this band from the recommendation of my brother Spencer a few years ago.  But I'd kind of lost track of them since they hadn't put out a new album in such a long time.

I went to SXSW this year and saw their name at some bigger shows and decided to check them out.  They were one of the highlights from the festival and definitely stuck out from the 30 something shows that I was able to see during that week.  This is a shot I was able to grab during a show of theirs.

The albums best song "Domino" starts out with driving synth chords and flute that gives a happy tone to the song.  I wouldn't have thought a flute would be so effective in a song, but they use it wisely and don't go crazy with it.  To see the flute live is awesome.  Their next best song, "Bullet Train" also features the flute but is carried by Chris Lynch's falsetto vocals and a steady diet of crisp drum play and bouncy bass lines.

I hope to see them the next time they come through Salt Lake.

Their new album "Dunes" came out a couple months ago.  Check it out.

Mixtape Friday

Here are some rowdy tracks for your weekend. Let me know what you think of them.  I saw some of these bands at SXSW this year and was definitely not disappointed.

NEW ALBUM REVIEW

PHANTOGRAM - VOICES

All you night owls out there:  are you looking for the ideal album to provide the soundtrack for your hip late-night soirees, your explorations of urban landscapes, or even you solitary ruminations about life and romance?  If so, then Voices has a collection of tunes ideally suited to your needs.  Phantogram takes the nocturnal stylings and trip-hoppy goodness of the band's 2009 release Eyelid Movies (and subsequent EPs), tightens the songwriting focus, and adds a sheen of cinematic style to deliver a stunning set of remarkably catchy songs.

The album starts out strong with "Nothing But Trouble," which establishes the band's M.O.:  propulsive, hypnotic beats; densely layered synths; Sarah Barthel's captivating vocals; undeniably bold hooks.  The opening track's slightly foreboding tone is matched by the excellent follow-up, "Black Out Days," whose soaring vocal hooks knock the ball out of the park.  The mood then lightens on the album's third track, "Fall in Love," which incorporates elements of 70's soul pop to delightful effect.

After such a strong start, one could be excused for wondering if the band has the legs to maintain such a staggering pace until the finish line.  I'm happy to report that the remaining tracks largely match, and in many cases exceed, the standard set by the opening trio, whether it's the guitar-driven "The Day You Died," the rhythmically entrancing and seductively enticing "Bad Dreams," the rapturous keyboard hooks of "Celebrating Nothing," or the languid beauty of "Bill Murray" (which is an ideal candidate for a future Melancholy Monday post).

It's still early in the year; so it's premature to declare that Phantogram's latest will end up as one of three or four best albums of the 2014.  But certainly it will be a contender, and there's no question that Voices will remain a fixture in my late-night rotation for many moons to come.

"Fall in Love"

"Bill Murray"

Melancholy Monday

Well its been a while since my last post.  I got back from SXSW a week ago but it seems like I just got back.  It took me a week to get back into the swing of things.  So last Monday should have been a true Melancholy Monday coming off of that whirlwind weekend, but it was my birthday so it was pretty good.  This Monday seems like I'm truly coming back into the regular long week.

Here's a little diddy by a band that has plenty of melancholy gems.  This one in particular fits my mood perfectly.

 "Illumination" by Broadcast.

Melancholy Monday

Saturday was a lovely day: radiant sunshine, crystalline blue skies, temperatures in the mid-60's. I wore shorts as I helped coach my son's little league baseball team, and a whiff of optimism hung in the air. A mere 36 hours later, however, this is the scene I woke up to:

Nothing like 8-10" of snow to brighten up your St. Patrick's Day! Apparently, this is the third largest March snowstorm on record for the DC region (and the biggest since 1942). Needless to say, the thick blanket of white stuff makes for another Melancholy Monday.

Though today's a bit of a downer, there's reason not to sink into despair. Temperatures should climb back into the 60s within a few days, the official beginning of spring is on the 20th, and most importantly, the NCAA Men's Basketball Tourney gets underway this week (March Madness, baby!).

So my selection for today captures a sense of longing and wistfulness but does so against a backdrop of insistent beats and a propulsive bassline. In other words, it captures a pensive present but hints at better days around the bend. Here is "Blinking Pigs" by Little Dragon.

Little Dragon — "Blinking Pigs"