Apr 18 2008

Road Trip To Memphis

Category: Uncategorized — dryvetyme @ 08:27

Well, I’ve saved these pictures and this post for the entire week, mostly because I wanted to crop all of the pictures appropriately and process through the events of the trip. Suffice to say that my road trip to Memphis, TN over April 11th-13th, 2008 was one of the better 3-day weekends I’ve had in awhile. Four friends, one car, a few highways to travel, a few sights to see, and innumerable great conversations to have. We spent most of Friday traveling to Memphis, Saturday was marked by two amazing tours, and Sunday was a day for decompression as we drove home. We listened to some great blues on Beale Street, reveled in the rock ‘n roll ambiance of Sun Studio, rode a trolley car around greater Memphis, ate lunch at the historic Arcade Restaurant, and reverentially reflected in the National Civil Rights Museum. At the end of the day Saturday, we made our way to Hope Presbyterian Church to hear Andrew Peterson sing and Donald Miller speak. All in all, a trip for the books. Thanks to my wonderful traveling companions for being willing to tolerate a little bit of testosterone in their weekend. Enjoy the pictures!

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Apr 11 2008

Doctors & Dealers - Confessions of a Drunken Mind

Category: Uncategorized — dryvetyme @ 00:40

Doctors And Dealers
Confessions of a Drunken Mind
Bluesong; 2008

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What makes DIY music so compelling is that it’s hard not to be impressed with the artist’s dedication to their own interests and their own musical direction. As integral as producers can be to the recording process, they can prove to be equally as detrimental to ensuring that the artist’s vision for his/her own music is preserved and communicated to the masses. So, when one has the opportunity to be exposed to the brand of indie piano-folk being crafted by Swedish singer-songwriter Sparrow, recording under the moniker of Doctors & Dealers, it can be a rather blissful experience. And on her international debut, Confessions of a Drunken Mind, she presents a focused, yet playful collection of songs detailing her and her friends’ struggles with substances both liquid and solid. Calling to mind the stylings of an early Regina Spektor and the abstract aural aesthetic of an early Björk, the record is filled with sweet, seemingly innocent vocals, delicately flowing piano lines, fingersnaps, and other assorted sounds, all self-recorded in a home studio. With standout tracks that include “Brown Horses,” “Snow Child,” “My Mother Was A Dancer,” “Steve McQueen,” and “Deal With The Devil,” this is an enchanting debut album that fans of smart, minimalist piano pop should not miss.

Apr 10 2008

History - Ghosts In The City

Category: Uncategorized — dryvetyme @ 10:43

History
Ghosts In The City
24 Hour Service Station; 2008

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Keyboards and synths have been in and around popular forms of rock music for generations now, mostly because the piano is the foundational instrument of all Western music. However, there was a time and there have been assorted musical trends that eschewed and mocked the use of the piano, mostly because it took actual musical training to play the instrument. Pianos weren’t cool or edgy and they certainly weren’t easy to pack into a van along with guitars, basses, amps, and drums for a tour across the country. Yet, the piano has made a distinct comeback in recent years, from indie rock bands seeking to broaden their sound to metal and hard/postcore bands hoping to borrow some atmospherics from progressive rock.

So, when Orlando five-piece History embraces the piano on their debut record Ghosts In The City, they do so with gusto. Not only did they bring in a keyboard to round out their musical fervor, but they chose to dedicate an entire roster spot to a guy who plays a Moog. That’s right – a Moog is being used, not by some over-hyped, trendy dance-rock band, but by somewhat technical post-punk band. While the group’s overall aesthetic isn’t all that original, they are rather spirited in their presentation: ardent male lead vocals, glittering female high harmonies, chunky chord progressions, spot-on rhythm section, and (don’t forget) two keyboards. With great tracks like “Horn of the Unicorn,” “She Spit In My Cup,” and “Far From Being An Obstacle” leading the way, History has made a solid sonic contribution to the echelons of hard-edge bands implementing a keyboard with some semblance of efficacy.

Apr 09 2008

Look Mexico - The Crucial Collection

Category: Uncategorized — dryvetyme @ 01:03

Look Mexico
The Crucial Collection
Lujo; 2008

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If you were to take all of the issues, complications, and concerns that most people have with B-sides records, roll them up into a single package, and toss in factors like band youth and song scarcity, you might come close to the frustrating sensation that is the early-career retrospective. This is typically a collection of a group’s songs from before the time a group achieved any sort of notoriety, so unless you’ve been a hardcore fan of the band since the very beginning, you’ve never heard these tracks. And, more often than not, that might prove to be a good thing. Thus, the problem with The Crucial Collection from Look Mexico is that, while it’s easy to see in these tracks how the band has grown musically in the past 3 years, they really aren’t very good. This Tallahassee, FL-based band put out a very solid debut record in 2007 entitled This Is Animal Music, but, since the music there is light years ahead of what’s contained in this compilation, it’s confusing as to why they would want to muddy the waters with this release. Had this come out in five or so years, after three or so full-lengths, this would be an acceptably quaint anachronism – “Look at how far they’ve come!” – but, at this juncture in their history, Look Mexico should be looking forwards, not backwards. One has to wonder whether or not the band or the record label was behind The Crucial Collection, because while there are some diamonds to be found (”Oh, The Things I’m Gonna Do For My Country” and “Guys, I Need A Helicopter”), one has to search through a great deal of rough.

Apr 07 2008

Neva Dinova - You May Already Be Dreaming

Category: Uncategorized — dryvetyme @ 00:17

Neva Dinova
You May Already Be Dreaming
Saddle Creek; 2008

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On many levels, it’s proven to be refreshing that indie rock has embraced the sounds, textures, and themes of classic country-folk music. There’s a certain concentration of honesty and warmth present in country music that is absent in much of modern pop and rock. Nevertheless, Telecasters, brushed drums, mournful vocals, and melancholy lyrics have seen so much action in the last few years that they’re running the risk of becoming over-exposed and passé. Yet, while one can only take so many lame, hipster-ish attempts to recreate The Boss’s Nebraska while using Cash, Nelson, or Williams as a muse, it’s always easy to hear when it’s been done well.

Comprised primarily of Omaha natives Jake Bellows and Heath Koontz, Neva Divona has released such an album in You May Already Be Dreaming. Newly signed to Saddle Creek, the band utilizes many of the same sonic palettes as their label and regional contemporaries, doing so with a due diligence and due reverence befitting gentlemen who are beyond their years. The band possesses an organic feel that is rooted firmly in the appropriate fundamentals and rudiments of the country-folk sound, instinctively knowing when to let the music float by in whispers or careen headlong with vigor. Whether we’re discussing the brooding tones of “Clouds,” the dream-inducing “Tryptophan,” the careful reminiscing of “She’s A Ghost,” or the majesty of “Apocalypse,” Neva Divona has created a solid record that merges country and indie with a degree of finesse and style that more fans and bands should come to appreciate.

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