I think I mentioned before that I find it interesting that this October has marked my busiest month thus far into my foray into music journalism yet it's been my most quiet month here on The Hot Half Life. Nary a day has gone by that I haven't ventured out of my hole to some of my favorite Chicago haunts like Schubas, The Empty Bottle, and now Lincoln Hall.I haven't mentioned Lincoln Hall before but it's been in the forefront of my mind since early in the summer when I visited the Daytrotter studios and David Bazan. (The wonderful session I got to sit in on is available here although it is sadly lacking Bazan's mind blowing cover of Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah".) When the conversation turned to touring, David and his manager informed me that Bazan would be playing the new Schubas venue that was opening up in the fall. I was immediately excited by the prospect of seeing one of my favorite artists of all time at a new venue owned and operated by my favorite Chicago concert joint of all time.
Earlier in the week, I got to catch new favorites Dawes open up for Langhorne Slim at Lincoln Hall and the place definitely lived up to my expectations. When I walked in, I heard Okkervil River's "Our Life Is Not A Movie Or Maybe" playing over the speakers and, as we all know, nothing makes Amber feel at home like a good Okkervil River tune. From the atmosphere to the sound quality, from the delicious tater tots to the staff, Lincoln Hall delivers. (In regards to the staff, they really might be the nicest venue employees I've ever encountered. Very good people are running the place.)
The next night, I got to return to Lincoln Hall for the aforementioned Bazan show which not only marked my first time seeing David backed by a full band (which added an extra meaningful, fuzzy layer to tracks off Curse Your Branches) but it also marked Lincoln Hall's first sold out show. I was more than happy to be a part of the crowd and I'm certain that once word starts to travel of how gorgeous and amazing Lincoln Hall is, many more sold out shows are to come. Those occurrences alone would make it a notable week in my hot half life but add the following to the mix and you've got one happy, tired Amber on your hands:
- The day before Dawes and Langhorne Slim at Lincoln Hall, I jetted over to the Metro to see The Get Up Kids and Kevin Devine. Sure, The Get Up Kids were headlining but it's no surprise that I was there for the opening act. You can read what I thought of Round 6 with Kevin at Radio Free Chicago and yes, my review does give slightly more attention to Mr. Devine and the Goddamn Band than the recently reformed Kansas legends. I would apologize but... I don't really have all that much to be sorry for.
- Also, excitingly, my interview with the awesome Roman Candle went live at TRACER. Producing one of my favorite albums of the year, Roman Candle have been building a steady amount of buzz since the release of their debut album and getting to hang with them at Schubas was an awesome experience. The more people I meet in the music industry, the more surprised I am at home kind and down to earth everybody is. Roman Candle is no different. What makes them special, however, is their authentic brand of alt-country and the fact that at the core, the band is comprised of family (Lead singer Skip, his wife Timshell, and his brother Logan). If I could be any one other than myself for a few days, I would probably choose Timshell. Just as talented as she is adorable, people like Timshell give me hope that functioning relationships can exist in the music industry! Roman Candle is a breath of fresh air. The band seems to be taking it easy for the time being but you'd best believe that next time they hit the Midwest, I'll be in attendence and you should be too.
The month is starting to wind down and the end of October brings another visit to Lincoln Hall to see the Great Lake Swimmers and a road trip to DeKalb to check out those lovable scamps, Miniature Tigers, not to mention another change of scenery for this Hot Half Life showrunner. The impending onslaught of free time that my move will bring already has me brewing up new blog ideas including quite a few mixes. (I'm tentatively dubbing November the month of A Mix A Week.)
Alright, let's get one thing straight: I neither condone nor appreciate the Twilight phenomenon. I have read the books so I have very real reasons behind my dislike for the series and to keep this blog from becoming a twelve paragraph rant about the feminism and morals of Twilight, I won't go into it, you'll just have to trust me on the fact that Twilight is not a good thing. A few months back, when it was first announced that the soundtrack to the second installment of the film quartet would featuring Thom Yorke, Death Cab for Cutie and Grizzly Bear, I was alarmed and slightly put off. However, when it was announced that Sea Wolf, Band of Skulls and Bon Iver would also hold featured spots, well, I started to come to terms with the fact that the New Moon soundtrack was going to make it's way into my regular rotation.
I didn't want it in my iTunes library and I certainly didn't want to like it but it was apparent that I had no choice in the matter and after hearing the soundtrack in full, it became apparent that I had no choice. As a lover of indie music, resistance was futile. Sure enough, I, albeit begrudgingly, quite adore the soundtrack to New Moon.
Gone are the poppy, angsty, punky sentiments that plagued the soundtrack to the original film (Note: The inclusion of Iron & Wine made up for the overuse of Paramore) and they've been replaced by an all star cast of indie darlings. The most mainstream things you'll find on here is by far Death Cab and Thom Yorke and while it has been quite a while since I've listened to the radio by choice, I'm pretty sure that neither of those artists are top 40 favorites.
There's nary a misstep out of the fifteen songs here but, interestingly enough, I find the most widely publicized tracks to be the least interesting. I'd take Lykke Li's beautiful, atypical ballad "Possibilities" over Grizzly Bear's sleepy "Slow Life" any day. Unsurprising is the fact that Sea Wolf's "Violet Hour" is one of the most solid songs in this collection but what is surprising is the fact that it's also one of the most upbeat tracks here. Even the more mainstream Killers hearken back to their less-obnoxious Hot Fuss days on "White Demon Love Song", a nice reminder to why I liked the Killers in the first place.
Noteworthy are Band of Skull's "Friends" and Anya Marina's "Satellite Heart" as well. Band of Skulls are a band that I've paid little attention to in the past just because other music has consumed my life so feverently. After the hook laden catchiness of "Friends", however, they're definitely going to get a revisit from me in the near future. Marina, on the other hand, delivers a Lykke Li style ballad and sounds not unlike what Emily Haines of Metric would sound like if she traded in her piano on her solo album for a gently finger plucked guitar.
I imagine the New Moon soundtrack will be a great gateway album for adolescents everywhere. I know that if I were 12 currently, I would be finding myself starting a torrid love affair with most of the bands mentioned above and it makes me happy to know that somewhere, there's a awkward preteen that is looking for Sea Wolf's White Water White Bloom at her local FYE based upon the strength of "Violet Hour". I must admit that I'm slightly curious to find out how these songs are incorporated in the film. When I watch a movie, I like to think that the songs playing are the songs the characters would be listening to at the moment, ala Garden State. I have no trouble imagining Edward Cullen brooding to Black Rebel Motorcycle Club's "Done All Wrong" or the most adorable vampire in the series, Alice, listening to "Friends" while carting Bella's mournful self around Washington. I do, however, have difficulty imaging any of the werewolves preferring Muse to, say, Nickelback or Kings of Leon. Face it, those "wolf pack" boys are total bros. And I've yet to find a bro who relates to the lyrical sentiments of Ok Go.
Is it sad and silly to mourn the death of a musician years after the fact? I remember years ago, I told a friend that I was embarrassed to be upset about my neighbors death. He was older and died of cancer but he was so damn cool. I had every reason to be sad he was gone but the reason I was embarrassed was because there were so many people who knew him far better than myself that had the rights to the sadness I was feeling. I felt like a fraud. My friend snapped at me and told me I had every right to feel as sad as I did and I should feel lucky that I had the capacity to feel such sadness about someone I barely knew.
The same sort of applies to Elliott Smith. I guess I said it best this time last year when I said that the day Elliott Smith died, for me, is more sad than the day John Lennon died. After all, I wasn't born when John Lennon died. I don't remember coming home from school and checking my e-mail and seeing a message asking if I'd heard about what happened which, up until then, I hadn't.
It's sad because no other musician had ever touched my life the way Elliott Smith had and no matter how much I may love Okkervil River (or Kevin Devine or Bad Veins or Dawes for that matter), it's just not the same because Elliott came into my life when I was lost and didn't know who I was. It's part of being young. But instead of turning to the dreadfully named 'emo' culture (I fear I'm a bit too old for that trend) or the grating immaturity of pop punk, I was lucky enough to walk into the record store on the right day and get the right recommendation and it changed my life.
The thing I have to refer back to is the Beatles documentary, All Together Now. Specifically, the scene in which Olivia Harrison and Yoko Ono are talking about their late husbands and Yoko says that the saddest thing is that John is just a voice. But the lives these voices affect live on and we carry a bit of them with us. I've got lyrics to Happiness on my arm. The show runner of Everybody Cares Everybody Understands, Chad, named his son after Mister Smith. Kevin Devine covers Elliott regularly and he cites him as a major influence, as does nearly every musician I sit down and talk with. Ian Metzger of Dear and the Headlights, Sean Bonette of Andrew Jackson Jihad, Blind Pilot, Daredevil Christopher Wright... And those are just some of the people that have talked to me about Elliott's impact on music.
It wasn't his time and it's not fair he's gone but we've got songs and all the memories attached to those songs. And that'll do for now. Elliott Smith - A Fond Farwell
If you aren't familiar with Elliott Smith, then you're probably reading the wrong blog. But I do have this piece of advice: Delve into his back catalog and start with From A Basement on The Hill.
It's been a rough couple days, blogging-wise. In fact, it's been a rough couple days music-wise for me in general. I've been pouring over tons of new releases, writing quite a few reviews, transcribing interview after interview and going to dozens of concerts (Just take a look at what I'm up to this week via my Chicago Concert Lowdown over at RFC) but it's all been... A little lackluster. Lately, I've been going through my ipod and agonizing over what to listen to because I've heard it all a dozen times. It's left me longing for something new.
Arms is Todd Goldstein of Harlem Shakes fame and is garnering a nice bit of attention for his forthcoming CMJ stint as well as the release of his debut full length, Kids Aflame, later this month and from what I've heard of the album, Arms dersves all the buzz that's about to come his way.
Tracks like "The Frozen Lake" and "Tiger Tamer" are clever, well composed bits of indie rock bliss that are consistently unpredictable all the while being driven by Goldstein's smooth, melodic voice. There's something cinematic about the whole affair; not cinematic in a big budget, summer blockbuster sort of way but cinematic in an understated, self-aware indie flick with characters falling in love, falling out of love, and trying to un-fuck-up their lives while wearing obscure band shirts under plaid button ups and those ironic hipster glasses that have become so popular. As a psuedo-hipster who's trying to un-fuck-up her own life (which isn't really that fucked up, I'm just being a bit dramatic for affect), Arms is the perfect autumn soundtrack.
"Kids Aflame", for instance, is three minutes of magic. I understand that statement is situational and there are tons of outlying factors here that make me feel like listening to Arms is the audible equivilant of opening my eyes outside without sunglasses on the first warm day of the year but I truly believe Arms is something special. Listen for yourself and eagerly await Arms inevitable tour with me.
I'm a familiar face to the Bad Veins crew by now but the one fixture in my life that isn't is my best friend, Sara. After months of hearing me rave about Cincinnati's finest duo, Sara finally got to see what all the fuss was about October 8th at The Empty Bottle.
Bad Veins might be one of those bands you have to see live to fully grasp. Sara, by her own admission, didn't understand why I was freaking out about them at first. In my tenure with Sara, whenever I freak out about something, she usually loves it. Bad Veins was a slow burn for her though, gradually growing on her over a few months. Her love for them culminated, in my opinion, at The Empty Bottle, sometime between "Gold and Warm and "The Lie", while getting confirmation of the fact that they really do make their orchestrated, multi-layered songs sound just as perfect on stage as they do on the album, thanks to their trusty reel-to-reel, Irene.
I think that there's a moment with every band someone falls in love with that it just clicks and they realize they're listening to something special. Midway through set opener "Found", I was reminded what that moment was for me. Right before the two minute and thirty second mark on "Found", the layers of finely crafted instruments and Benjamin Davis's fuzzy, impassioned vocals cut away to reveal a gentle and triumphant melody and listening to it for the first time felt slightly like a revelation. I'd been going through a huge acoustic kick at the time and hearing gorgeous songs that were noisy and perfectly crafted was refreshing to say the least. Sure, I've listened to that same songs upwards of 100 times but even after 100 listens, it's still beautiful and at the Empty Bottle, it was probably the most beautiful it's ever been.
Sara wasn't my only friend in attendance. The awesome Tankboy was there shooting the set for the Chicagoist. Those are just a couple of his brilliant shots above and I recommend you check out the whole set here.
Playing what might be the best show I've seen them bust out on my turf thus far, Bad Veins are currently on tour with The Subjects and as if the bill wasn't good enough at that, the whole shebang is sponsored by Daytrotter.
If you missed them on this outing (or last month's tour with Division Day, or any their brief, ill fated stint with Now Now Every Children, or any of the countless other times they've hit the Windy City), it seems that the guys will be spending the majority of November taking a much needed break but you can rest assured that it won't be all that long before they hit the road again. Few bands have the work ethic that Bad Veins does.
It's interesting that for as busy as I've been, there has been no Hot Half documentation of such. That's sort of a tragedy because man, has it been crazy in Hot Half HQ, with nary a breather between the last week of September and today.I wish I'd have taken the time out of my nights to post about all the amazing songs I've heard and bands I've met but as I didn't, here's what you get: Five paragraphs, one on each artist I've fallen madly in love with recently and a sweet tune to accompany it.
October 1st brought the triple threat of Sea Wolf, Sara Lov and Port O'Brien to a sold out crowd at Schuba's. I was lucky enough to catch the lineup once more in Ohio on the 7th which was thrilling because I'd been looking forward to seeing those three bands together since I first caught wind of the tour and I don't think it's much of a stretch to say that Sea Wolf, Sara Lov and Port O'Brien together is the best bill of 2009.
Sara Lov was a pure joy, going the Bad Veins route of performing sans backing band and using a unique approach to backing tracks instead. Sara doesn't use a reel to reel, she uses a record player and she uses it to great affect, perfectly bringing her album sound to the stage, driven by her heartbreaking lyrics and saccharine vocals. My friend and concert accompanist for the evening surmised that Sara Lov reminded him alot of Eisley's Sherri Dupree, albeit a more mature version who's been through some serious traumain her life, and I think that's an accurate description.
Editor's Note: This song has been getting a sickening ammount of spins here at Casa De Amber as of late. You might remember my summer mental health mix. If I were to make a fall mix of the same nature, this song would go the route of fun.'s "Be Calm" and have a featured spot.
Late last month, I was lucky enough to snag a phone interview with Sara's tour mate, Sea Wolf, which you can check out over at Radio Free Chicago. White Water, White Bloom became one of my favorite records of the year upon my first listen and Alex Brown Church and company brought a great approximation of the material to Schuba's. Blending tracks such as "O, Maria!" and "Wicked Blood" with songs off his debut, Sea Wolf was in great form, even tossing "I Made A Resolution" on the set list, a track off Sea Wolf's first EP. After the show, bassist Ted Liscinski told me that he felt it was the best Sea Wolf show ever. While I don't have anything from the past to compare it to, I trust Ted's opinion on that because all around, it was a great show.
Sandwiched in between Sara and Sea Wolf were California's Port O'Brien, a band I not only got to see twice with Sea Wolf but also headlining the Daytrotter Barnstromer kick off date in Iowa and each time, they stole the show. Bringing an electric shot of live energy to their folk noir music, Port O'Brien are not only a super band but they're also super people, which make them all the more fantastic. Even without knowing how swell they are however, Port O'Brien could still win over even the most skeptical of concert goers because they let the audience play cookware during their set closer, "I Woke Up Today". Is there anything more fun than being encouraged to play pots and pans at a concert? Well, possibly being encouraged to play pots and pans at a concert in a barn.
It seems like a veritable life time ago that I saw Dear and the Headlights at Reggie's, what with everything that's happened between September 16th and now. You can read a review of my adventure at Radio Free Chicago and my conversation with lead singer Ian Metzger and keyboardist Robert Cissel at TRACER.I get to meet alot of interesting people and one of the most endearing of these has been Dear and the Headlight's Ian. Smart, informative and welcoming, Dear and the Headlights was the stuff of legends if only for the reason that I got some sweet album recommendations from Ian. As I say on Tracer, if things had gone differently for Dear and the Headlights, they may very well be the darlings of indie music, with their Okkervil River-ian vocals, wordy, witty lyrics and country tinged sound. They've been playing the Warped Tour circuit and catering to the pop-punk crowd but one day, I'm hoping they'll break into the indie machine and score an opening slot for Wilco. (I understand it's strange to think of Warped Tour alums playing with Wilco but I swear, this would work!)
One of the bands that Ian told me to look into was Dawes. I immediately did and I sure do hope it doesn't compromise my integrity to say this but I am in love with Dawes. And not in a small way, either. My love for Dawes actually has me wondering how inappropriate it would actually be to close out my inevitable Dawes interview with the question "Will you marry me?" (It's quite inappropriate. I'm tempted nonetheless.) You see, my adoration for Dawes has grown rapidly over the past month and it breaks my heart to have missed their tenure on Daytrotter's Barnstormer but guess what? Dawes comes back to the Midwest! And not only does Dawes come back to the Midwest, but Dawes comes back to the Midwest with Langhorne Slim! It makes sense that two of the best acts in folk today will be sharing the stage and from what I've heard about these Dawes fellows, attendees of the tour shouldn't be surprised if the guys steal the show, Port O'Brien style.
My name is Amber and I'm a girl who writes about songs. You might know me better as the Editor In Chief of Radio Free Chicago, where I proofread, dictate, review, and ramble. I love music and I love my life.
Earlier in the week, I got to catch new favorites Dawes open up for Langhorne Slim at Lincoln Hall and the place definitely lived up to my expectations. When I walked in, I heard Okkervil River's "Our Life Is Not A Movie Or Maybe" playing over the speakers and, as we all know, nothing makes Amber feel at home like a good Okkervil River tune. From the atmosphere to the sound quality, from the delicious tater tots to the staff, Lincoln Hall delivers. (In regards to the staff, they really might be the nicest venue employees I've ever encountered. Very good people are running the place.) 
- The day before Dawes and Langhorne Slim at Lincoln Hall, I jetted over to the Metro to see The Get Up Kids and Kevin Devine. Sure, The Get Up Kids were headlining but it's no surprise that I was there for the opening act. You can read what I thought of Round 6 with Kevin at Radio Free Chicago and yes, my review does give slightly more attention to Mr. Devine and the Goddamn Band than the recently reformed Kansas legends. I would apologize but... I don't really have all that much to be sorry for.
- Also, excitingly, my interview with the awesome Roman Candle went live at TRACER. Producing one of my favorite albums of the year, Roman Candle have been building a steady amount of buzz since the release of their debut album and getting to hang with them at Schubas was an awesome experience. The more people I meet in the music industry, the more surprised I am at home kind and down to earth everybody is. Roman Candle is no different. What makes them special, however, is their authentic brand of alt-country and the fact that at the core, the band is comprised of family (Lead singer Skip, his wife Timshell, and his brother Logan). If I could be any one other than myself for a few days, I would probably choose Timshell. Just as talented as she is adorable, people like Timshell give me hope that functioning relationships can exist in the music industry! Roman Candle is a breath of fresh air. The band seems to be taking it easy for the time being but you'd best believe that next time they hit the Midwest, I'll be in attendence and you should be too. 
