Notable Occurances in Indie, Amber-Style.

Earlier this month, when I, in a daze of excitement, posted that my interview with Tim Kasher of Cursive was my first interview to make it's way to TRACER Magazine, I mentioned briefly that I was fortunate enough to get to hear Cursive play a cover of the Cure's Lovecats but I didn't get to go in to detail of how supremely awesome it was.

Now, I don't have to.

The good folks at everyone's favorite music blog, Daytrotter, have just posted a follow up session with Cursive that consists of two Cursive originals, a David Bowie cover and... Lovecats!

Fun fact! This Daytrotter session was recorded the same day I got to interview Tim!

Another fun fact! If you and your best friend/ex-roommate go on an internet search for a "lovecat" picture to accompany your blog post about Lovecats, she will send you this...



If you feel at once scared, a little turned on and incredibly put-off by the cat, Sara and myself... Well, I don't blame you.

Also, another fun occurance in my hot half life... My second interview is up on TRACER with a wonderful trio from Wisconsin, The Daredevil Christopher Wright, which you can read here, if you are feeling so kind.

If you haven't heard the Daredevil Christopher Wright, I can pretty much guarantee you've heard their good friend Justin Vernon of Bon Iver who worked with the guys on their cd. The results are organic, catchy and smart. If you're in my future homestead of Ohio, you'll have the opportunity to find out for yourself via the Midpoint Music Fest this weekend while I languish away in the doldrums of Chicago.

It occurs to me as I post a glorified link to my other journalism ventures that some of you may get tired of my tireless self promotion. But hey, what this comes down to is my enthusiasm about my job. That's something I hope I never lose.

& by the by, if you think I've been enthusiastic thus far, just wait until my forthcoming interview with Dear and the Headlights is posted. To say I'm in love with them a little is an understatement. It would be more accurate to say that Dear and the Headlights has joined the ranks of Okkervil River, Bad Veins and Kevin Devine as modern acts I truly adore. Don't worry if you haven't heard of them. I'm compiling a list of top ten reasons you should care about Dear and the Headlights as we speak.

A Good Barn is Hard to Storm.

Those of you keeping track know by now that my love of Daytrotter is something that's been well documented here at The Hot Half Life. Over the summer, Team Daytrotter hosted the first Daytrotter Barnstormer tour which saw such swell acts as Snowblink, Local Natives and Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin bring their tunes to various barns across Iowa and Wisconsin.

Well, this fall, Barnstormer is back. Running from October 8th until October 13th, Barnstormer is once again making its way from Wisconsin to Iowa with a potential kick off gig on the 5th (if you all show your support by twittering Mr. Daytrotter himself @RealDaytrotter to let him know if you'll attend!)


The dreamy Snowblink will be making a return appearance and we'll also get the pleasure of Christopher Denny, Suckers and Maritime but what I'm most looking forward to is the inclusion of Dawes (formerly Simon Dawes) who I was only recently introduced to by a great fellow with awesome taste and hearing Dawes made me feel like I was uncovering a buried treasure of being let in on a great secret. Dawes is not to be missed regardless but Dawes in a barn with the Daytrotter crew? You'd be silly not to go.

Here's the lowdown of where and when the tour's gonna be taking place, just in case you're too lazy to click that above link:

October 8th - Milwaukee, Wisconsin: Turner Hall Ballroom: 1032 N. 4th St.

October 9th - Lodi, Wisconsin (15 mintues north of Madison, WI): W 12420 Highway 60
(The noteworthy part about this date is that there's a pumpkin patch and a corn maze! How cool is that?! Dang cool, you say? I agree.)

October 10th - Maquoketa, Iowa: BARN SHOW #1: Codfish Hollow Barn, 3437 288th Ave.

October 11th - Green Island, Iowa (Near Bellevue, IA): BARN SHOW #2: Mooney Hollow Saloon Barn, 12471 Highway 52

October 12th - West Liberty, IA: BARN SHOW #3: Secrest 1883 Octogonal Barn, 5750 Osage St.
(This was the barn I hit up last time around. It's quite the sight.)

October 13th -Johnston, Iowa: BARN SHOW #4: The Simpson Barn, 6169 Northglenn Dr.

I was lucky enough to experience Barnstormer 1.0 in West Liberty, Iowa and plan on jamming my Ford Focus to capacity with some swell friends this time around for at least one of the above listed dates to storm some barns after a nice pit stop at a gas station for a 24 pack of cheap beer. Like I mentioned in the subject line, a good barn is hard to storm. Thankfully, we've got Daytrotter to show us the way and give us awesome tunes to drive there to.

(For the first Daytrotter, my roomie made a mix of only Daytrotter sanctioned artists and this time, I plan on upping the ante by making a mix of only Daytrotter sessions. I may have already begun to compile the best of featuring some of my favorites.)

The Hot Half Life Helps Bazan Buy A Van... And You Should Too!

I was recently going through my wardrobe, wondering what on earth was missing. Between mini-dresses and tee shirts advertising my adoration for various bands, something just wasn't right. Then, suddenly, it dawned on me! I only had ONE shirt with a van on it!

The Hot Half Life Showrunner survived the Daytrotter Barnstormer Tour. She knows this because her shirt says she did.

It's probably obvious to everyone that a twenty-something single girl's life isn't complete unless she owns multiple shirts with vans, advertising something she's done.

Thank goodness for the wonderful David Bazan for not only making one of my favorite albums of the year but also rescuing me from this wardrobe crisis by peddling this tee in exchange for donations!

David Bazan's about to embark on his first US tour with a full band for quite some time. Before then however, he needs to acquire a van. This is where you come in. If you support his cause by tossing a $20 bill his way, you get a coupon for $5 off anything at his merch booth as well as this sweet tee.

It's a win win situation for everyone but in less than a week, this endeavor is going to be over so you should probably click here now and get your shirt before it's too late.

Oh, Cursive is so cool

Earlier in the summer, I got the chance to sit down with one of my favorite living musicians, Tim Kasher from Cursive.



When I saw in spring that Cursive had announced a stop in the not-entirely-far-away Dekalb, Illinois, my first plan of action was to snag an interview and within ten minutes of my request being fired out, I had a solid eight questions for Tim. I had, after all, been listening to Cursive for upwards of ten years now which made the whole endeavor very daunting, to say the least.

After one of the most solid rock shows I've ever seen (which included not only a good portion of my favorite Cursive songs of the decade but also a stellar and unexpected cover of the Cure's Lovecats), I sat down with Tim with high expectation and even more prevelant worries - What if I wasn't good enough? What if I asked the wrong questions? What if Tim, mid-question, stood up, exclaimed the interview was over and left me in tears? Not only would a great interview be lost but one of my teenage heroes would forever be tarnished. When I was introduced to Tim, however, I was taken aback... Because he is incredibly nice.

Open, honest and accommodating, Tim is currently vying for the top spot on my hierarchy of memorable interviews with Kevin Devine. (Tim did, afterall, interrupt me mid-question to tell me he liked my shoes. If it seems like I'm fangirling a bit here, that's because I am.)

It's no secret that I recently got a new gig at TRACER Magazine and today, my interview with Tim went live.

It's fitting, to me, that my first piece to go up at TRACER Magazine is my interview with Tim and while it doesn't look like Cursive's heading back to the Midwest in the near future, reading my interview with him might tide you over.

(Additionally, Radio Free Chicago is not forgotten in my daily life - Hit up RFC for recent articles on new tracks by both Sea Wolf and Ola Podrida.)

Goodbye August, Greetings September!

August started and ended well for me but there was this whole section in the middle, somewhere after Kevin Devine's acoustic set in Dekalb and Roman Candle's amazing show at Schuba's on the 30th, where everything got stressful and muddled and resulted in my current status of taking a short "mental health vacation".

It's no surprise I was pleased to see August end because, well, if I could sum up the month in one song lyric, I'd plagiarize the Hold Steady and say that killer parties almost killed me but the best part of the start of September isn't the fact that I can leave the stress of the summer behind but the fact that the first week of the month has offered some of the best releases of the year.

It's no secret that any friend of Kevin Devine is a friend of mine and seeing as I was introduced to AA Bondy via Devine's cover of American Hearts, Bondy's been poised to win me over since the beginning. With the release of his sophomore album, When the Devil's Loose, Bondy shows the hushed talent of artists like M. Ward without being remotely derivative with his timeless folk music. Progressing since the release of his first album, Bondy shows a lot of promise. It might be because I'm so fond of quiet folk music and alt-country that all of this week's noteworthy releases strike a chord but Bondy is definitely worth checking out if you haven't already.

AA Bondy - A Slow Parade

Who else remembers discovering Hot Water Music as a teenager and falling at least a little bit in love with front man Chuck Ragan? It's no secret that Ragan's been releasing some stellar folk music in the past few years, first with 2007's Feast or Famine and now with Gold Country. With tracks such as Rotterdam, Ragan delivers an another strong album. Sure, a lot of punk front men form acoustic side projects but Ragan's solo work exceeds both Thrice's Dustin Kensrue and Alexisonfire's Dallas Green in both complexity and maturity. Ragan will be touring extensively this fall as part of the fantastic Revival Tour which is also going to feature such recent favorites as Jon Snodgrass and Austin Lucas.


Chuck Ragan - Rotterdam

I've talked about what to expect from David Bazan's Curse Your Branches earlier in the summer and the album does not disappoint. As a long time Bazan fan, I'm incredibly biased and I know this but I doubt it's a stretch to say that Bazan has, more than ten years after the release of Pedro the Lion's first album, made the most affecting album of his career. Bazan's strong point has always been talking about morality and the struggles of being human without being remotely preachy and this is showcased to a perfect degree on songs like the album opener Hard To Be and the title track which all means that Bazan is currently vying for with Kevin Devine and Bad Veins for my top album of the year.


David Bazan - Hard To Be
(At the artist's request, this track was taken down. But that doesn't mean it's any less amazing! Stream it on Bazan's myspace or stop being cheap and shill out the $.99 on iTunes at your earliest convienience.)


Each of these artists is touring extensively to promote their new releases so check out those myspaces for more info. While AA Bondy doesn't hit Chicago until later November, exciting news is that Ragan and Bazan play on the 24th and 25th of October respectively. Coupled with Kevin Devine on October 21st and 22nd and Langhorne Slim's just announced October 23rd date, that home stretch of October is shaping up to be the most exciting five days of my life.

The Hot Half Life Appreciates Other Forms Of Media... Featuring Alan Ball!

Let's, for a second, hear it for Alan Ball.

Earlier today, I was at Yoga with my friend Rachel. Amidst the mid-'90's adult contemporary our instructor insisted on spinning (I heard more Sheryl Crow in those 2 hours than I have in the previous 25 years of my life), her ipod shuffled on over to a wonderful song by Sia called Breathe Me and I immediately recalled the wonderful final scene of Ball's five season HBO masterpiece, Six Feet Under.


The first time I saw Six Feet Under was in a hotel in Maryland. It was one of the earlier episodes from the first season and, as I recall, my family got HBO shortly thereafter primarily to watch Six Feet Under and every Sunday night for next five years were, when the show was in season, spent on my couch in front of the television. I don't even own a television now, nor a couch, and while my life's changed drastically, my admiration for Six Feet Under still remains. It may have something to do with the fact that I seriously courted the idea of becoming a mortician for some years but above a career, Six Feet Under was about real people with real problems. One of the best written shows on television, Six Feet Under deserved all the acclaim it received and one of my very favorite things about it, and Alan Ball in general, is the way he utilizes music in his projects. From Coldplay's A Rush of Blood to the Head in a promo to Interpol being played in a record store to Claire Fisher and her art school friends sitting on the floor of her room singing along to the refrain of Death Cab for Cutie's "Transatlanticism", even if I didn't like the particular artist or song, the music was always utilized in the best of ways. It's something that's translated to Ball's most recent project for HBO, True Blood.



Dealing with the same themes of love, sex and death that Six Feet Under was all about, True Blood's musical langscape mostly leans on country tunes that match the show's Louisiana backdrop. True Blood's first season had me hooked upon first viewing not because of those songs however and not because the cast is full of compelling, attractive characters (I'm fond of Eric so far as the vampires go although Sam does rank as my favorite True Blood gentleman) but it won my over completely because if you listened close, the background music included Wilco, Cat Power and my very favorite Josh Ritter song, "Still Beating", not to mention every episode starts with Jace Everett's stellar "Bad Things". It's the sexiest country tune I've ever heard and it plays while backwoods imagery flashes accross the screen mixed with the occasional vampire references ("God Hates Fangs", anyone?)



If there was a battle royale of "Music Used To Great Affect HBO"... Well, Flight of the Conchords would doubtlessly win. But between the other two contenders we talked about here, the use of Sia in the finale scene of Six Feet Under pushes it over the top.

Every episode of Six Feet Under started with a death that the Fisher Family Funeral Home tended to and it was only fitting that the final scene showed the demise of every Fisher the show's last season didn't already claim (Rest in pease, Nate Fisher), all done pitch perfectly to Sia's Breathe Me.