Listening Party: November 2009 Edition

November 14, 2009 | in Music | 1 Comments Share

This month's Listening Party: smaller bands that deserve attention, an up-and-comer, and a guitar legend funkin' it up.

What's This All About?

Ever notice how you associate songs and artists with certain people? Music discovery can be a social experience; we find new music through friends, and gain a greater appreciation when we discuss what we're listening to.

Listening Party is an experiment—an attempt to recreate the discovery and discussion process via blog post. Each month we'll pick a handful of songs, then talk about what's great about them while listening. Come, queue up the playlist and listen along—and don't hesitate to add your comments about the music, too!

The Participants

Breeder/rocker Ri O'Laughlin, A.K.A. Music Savvy Mom; music connoisseur and scotch aficionado.

Hella Sound proprietor John Frenette, A.K.A. @HellaSound. Runner, musician, raconteur. John put the "i" in "fun".

This Month's Playlist

Download this playlist from iTunes and listen along.

The Listening Party

0:00 (Get ready to hit "Play")

John at Hella Sound: alllllrighty....
4....
3....
2...
1...
[PLAY]
John at Hella Sound: So these guys are (I guess) a Chicago band. And would have been right up my alley when I lived in Chicago. I feel like I missed out on them. I think they broke up, but now they're back together...
Anyhoo... Very whitey boy math rock, with a tint of Husker Du I think.
MusicSavvyMom: Question: Math Rock? Heard of it—notsomuch understanding it
John at Hella Sound: Check out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Math_rock
John at Hella Sound: What do you think? Lot of layers and textures
MusicSavvyMom: I'm guessing Math = very technical...layered
Well, while I like it...
okay, don't shoot me, but...it strikes me as rocked up dentist office music
John at Hella Sound: LOL
MusicSavvyMom: *ducks and covers*
John at Hella Sound: alright....
John at Hella Sound: NEXT!
John at Hella Sound: very Beatles, by way of Radiohead
MusicSavvyMom: I love the drums in this one—makes me think of a desperate run through the jungle
John at Hella Sound: I can see that
MusicSavvyMom: Beatles? you get Beatles? Well, I see how the harmony might get you there
John at Hella Sound: well, Beatles sound-wise—I can hear how carefully they made everything sound perfectly dirty
MusicSavvyMom: Almost a military cadence, then the harmonies juxtaposed throw it off, I think
John at Hella Sound: the bass sound a little, the piano sound
MusicSavvyMom: yeah, his voice is a hair overly edgy
John at Hella Sound: he's young—he'll grow out of it
lol
MusicSavvyMom: Youthful angst—sigh
John at Hella Sound: where are they from, do you know? I've heard their name a lot recently
MusicSavvyMom: Columbia, MO
John at Hella Sound: interesting
MusicSavvyMom: but now Brooklyn
John at Hella Sound: NEXT!
John at Hella Sound: okay, I love this song—like MGMT, but soooooooo dirty
dirty/noisy
I think they have a handle on building these nice little songs, with these great little payoff choruses
John at Hella Sound: that's a cool chorus I think
in the meantime, there's still that sludgey, buzzy bass
MusicSavvyMom: It's almost as if the chorus is all that's holding it back from becoming a full on rocker, y'know?
John at Hella Sound: sorta almost this weird interlude
MusicSavvyMom: for instance—totally unexpected
John at Hella Sound: right
MusicSavvyMom: from grunge metal to school choir and back
John at Hella Sound: right—all jammed through a synthesizer. They definitely carefully consider song structure—another one of their songs has these interesting angles
his voice....with that weird whiney distorted sound doubled behind it
John at Hella Sound: oh oh oh oh oh oh
MusicSavvyMom: lol...I like this one. Definitely needs more plays...almost like I want to get through the synth to hear him better
John at Hella Sound: (although I like how the synth covers everything...)
John at Hella Sound: NEXT!
MusicSavvyMom: Annnnnd...Cage the Elephant!
MusicSavvyMom: just saw these guys Sunday
John at Hella Sound: oooooh
MusicSavvyMom: Holy Schnikies
John at Hella Sound: I like this
okay, I'm an ass for this, but I hear Artic Monkeys
they'd probably kill me for saying that
MusicSavvyMom: LOL! No—but I refrained from telling him
MusicSavvyMom: This kid—the lead singer—is a combo of Kurt Cobain and Shannon Hoon
John at Hella Sound: meaning he's dead already? ZiNG!
MusicSavvyMom: he's ALL OVER the stage—totally
John at Hella Sound: I also get almost a Lenny Kravitz vibe, almost. Strangely.
just a great live performer?
MusicSavvyMom: yeah—well, great? ENERGETIC...
John at Hella Sound: this is a good sounding rock track. I like how they put this together
MusicSavvyMom: The lead guitarist is lightning fast
they're really young—I think good things are coming
John at Hella Sound: NEXT!
John at Hella Sound: okay...I whole-heartedly apologize for slapping down a 6:46 song on ya, but...
MusicSavvyMom: Hey, if it's worth it, no worries—so far, so good
John at Hella Sound: so John Scofield is this legendary jazz guitar player
and Medeski, Martin & Wood are this sort of funk trio
poof, they make an album
John at Hella Sound: I love his phrasing with the guitar, how things are so vocal and yet have this sort of natural.... grit
the drums sound real live, really sharp
MusicSavvyMom: I can absolutely see me playing this in the kitchen—y'know, when I'm sliding around in my socks, getting my "cook" on?
John at Hella Sound: LOL!
HOTTENTOT!
MusicSavvyMom: (Well, I AM a Mom...it's what I do!)
John at Hella Sound: I do that too ;)
...except we just have cats
John at Hella Sound: the organist has this great, glurpy gutteral sound, too on the keyboard
MusicSavvyMom: I love the picking on the guitar... you can really hear the staccato
John at Hella Sound: yeah, he's brilliant
John at Hella Sound: we're heading into this bridge-like part... his tone changing and evolving the whole time
MusicSavvyMom: And the feeling of the song is building...
John at Hella Sound: yeah... big build up
John at Hella Sound: with blues players and some jazz players, I really like how you get this sort of dialogue out of their lines—like they're arguing with something
MusicSavvyMom: Great description—arguing! Like he's barely holding back
John at Hella Sound: ...referencing the main theme
then a big breakdown
MusicSavvyMom: But with more energy
John at Hella Sound: drum solo... love the way his snare sounds
MusicSavvyMom: Yeah, this cat is cool.
John at Hella Sound: like you're right next to it—no gating, not all chomped down and compressed
compared how this sounds to, say, Van Halen's drummer, who sounds like he has a tee-shirt laying on top of his snare
MusicSavvyMom: LOL
John at Hella Sound: seriously—just dead
MusicSavvyMom: Well, no question this is sharp—or maybe crisp is the better word
John at Hella Sound: right—natural
John at Hella Sound: another guitar tone change
MusicSavvyMom: Sheese, I feel like I should be drinking something cooler than a beer
John at Hella Sound: in the meantime, the guitar player hasn't repeated a line the whole time during his improv. Just blows me away
John at Hella Sound: the very end—those 2 hits: "BOM BOM"
so good
John at Hella Sound: NEXT!
John at Hella Sound: ooooooooh
wow
MusicSavvyMom: I LOVE this—hubs hates his voice
John at Hella Sound: wow wow
MusicSavvyMom: I guess you either do or you don't
John at Hella Sound: it's like a male Tegan & Sarah
MusicSavvyMom: right?
MusicSavvyMom: I LOVE it—this is way more complex than it seems at first blush
John at Hella Sound: this is ridiculously charming
and totally captures a vibe
MusicSavvyMom: It's melodic, but has a great beat...
then his voice cuts right through it all
John at Hella Sound: John Denver would approve, and I mean that in the coolest way possible
because John Denver was really pretty damn cool
MusicSavvyMom: Not sure how, but he manages to get me to listen to ALL of it...the drums, the guitar, the voice, the words
MusicSavvyMom: LOL! Hey, JD was awesome
John at Hella Sound: hell yeah.
MusicSavvyMom: This cat just played at ACL Fest
MusicSavvyMom: and I believe was at SXSW
John at Hella Sound: the bass is all warmth
just sits nicely below everything
MusicSavvyMom: *sigh*
John at Hella Sound: this is pretty fantastic
MusicSavvyMom: Yay! Glad you liked it!
John at Hella Sound: FIN!
John at Hella Sound: well that was cool
any closing thoughts?
John at Hella Sound: I think Hooray for Earth and Deer Tick are about as different from each other as a 2 of the same species can get
MusicSavvyMom: Well...I have to say that of the three...I'm thinking I liked the Scofield the best!
John at Hella Sound: wow! that surprises me.
that whole album is cool tho...
MusicSavvyMom: Now, let me be clear—not something I could listen to often, or for sustained duration
but as a "blast of cool"...I dig
John at Hella Sound: lol
MusicSavvyMom: And yes—Hooray for Earth and Deer Tick definitely stretch to the ends of the genre
John at Hella Sound: I listen *mostly* to instrumental music. I'm finding this to be unusual.
MusicSavvyMom: Damn, I should have thown in some Townes Van Zandt on you
John at Hella Sound: hmmmmm... never heard any of this
MusicSavvyMom: I LOVE Townes Van Zandt—WHAT??
NEVER HEARD?
omg
John at Hella Sound: It'd be cool to have ya back in the future, if'n ya got the time. and the headphones and beer
MusicSavvyMom: All three are normally at the ready—would love to. :)

Tags: Listening Party, music, bands

-->

Comments

THIS is an awesome idea! I love this idea. Cage is one of my favorite new bands out there =)

Starrlight | November 16, 2009

Let’s keep it polite and on topic. Email address is required but will never be shared, sold or used for nefarious purposes.

Premium Running Music. Workout Fuel.

Give the Gift of Music

Music For Your Run

Blog Categories

Blog Archives

Connect with Us On: