scene&heard

In a time when mass audiences have deemed boy bands obsolete and indie hipsters have condemned mainstream pop as “selling out”, The Last Goodbye walks a fine line between two cultures. On the one hand, the Connecticut-based sixsome is reminiscent of pop years passed, complete with catchy melodies and harmonized choruses. Currently on tour with American Idol star Elliot Yamin, the band stands next to him on the forefront of today’s pop world. On the other hand, there are contradictions to this mega-pop image: lead singer Kurtis John rocks a serious mohawk, they myspace, they hang out with fans at the merch booth after shows. They are the boy-band-with-attitude. They are the quintessential band of mainstream alternative; or the alternative to a mainstream that no longer exists. And just like a pop hit, the more you listen, the more you want to listen; they are your typical guilty pleasure, only a little more bad ass.

Their latest album’s lead single “Pictures of You” – like the band itself, like its spot on the ABC series “Brother and Sisters” – succeeds at being both cliche and poignant. John’s strong voice is the focal point of the song, and the music can be desribed as simple mainstream modern rock. The lyrics comment on the war: “This is the war that’s never won/This is a soldier and his gun/This is the mother waiting by the phone/Praying for her son” government conspiracies: “There is a drug that cures it all/Blocked by the governmental wall” yet still attempts to fall into the graces of the vicarious listener: “Confess to me, all that lies between us/All that lies between you and me.” It is unclear whether this is a genuine flow of ideas or a desperate attempt to become popular with a variety of audiences; but regardless, it seems to be succeeding.

The former lead singer for the 90’s band Semisonic just released his first solo album. Not impressed? You should be. Dan Wilson’s reemergence is brought to you by music executive/super producer Rick Rubin, who was named president of Columbia Records earlier this year.
Not coincidentally, while Rubin was picking up his Grammy award for best producer at the 2007 ceremonies, Dan Wilson was picking up his award for song of the year. Both had collaborated with the Dixie Chicks on their Grammy-sweeping album “Taking the Long Way Around.” Wilson included one song he co-wrote with the Chicks on his own album.
“Free Life,” comes at a perfect time of year, as summer gives way to a gloomy autumn. Wilson’s music can turn a melancholy mood into something a bit more hopeful. It’s perfect for a rainy afternoon.
The thing that gets you is THAT VOICE. Wilson’s calm, unaffected vocals convey a kind of well-worn humility that is both peaceful and profound. There is no straining or striving. Listening to him sing is like meeting someone who makes everyone in the room feel at ease. The intimate quality of his voice allows him to comfortably convey vulnerable sentiments without sounding sappy.
Wilson’s lyrics have a conversational quality, which makes one want to listen closely. The title track is typical of the album in its folkish existential pondering. The songs are concerned with how one should appreciate life and how love can add meaning to it.
Wilson plays many of the instruments himself. The instrumentation has a homemade quality, which matches his casual vocal style. Overall, the music could be tighter in some spots.
The album takes a delightful turn near the end, introducing some pop-inflected tunes. “She Can’t Help Me Now” is a standout. It sounds a bit like what George Harrison might be doing today had he been a better singer, and had his “free life” lasted a bit longer.

Four Stars

Old Campus played host Saturday afternoon to a rare, wondrous phenomenon, perplexing passersby and leaving them staring transfixed at the shiny objects and loud noises emitting from a two-foot raised platform erected in front of Durfee’s.

No, the aliens have not finally landed—although that would have been even funnier than the open-mouthed gapes of said passersby. No, the phenomenon I speak of, friends, is Yale music. And yes, it’s rare—you know that Spring Fling is not music.

An eclectic group of seven student bands and performers gathered on Saturday in a WYBC and YSEC collaboration to bring Yale-a-Palooza to Old Campus, with music ranging from shoegaze to hip hop, and from jazz to experimental.

First to take the stage were the Battlekites, who, after overcoming several minutes of giggling fits, played their pleasant indie/shoegaze tunes to a moderately sized audience consisting of band members’ friends, an equal spattering of upper and lowerclassmen, and the occasional cluster of skinny jeans and scarves—the latter group looking carefully nonchalant, preferring, of course, to divide their attention with cell phones and the occasional cigarette.

The second band to come onstage was called…well, Onstage. Their energetic covers of various jazz and latin beats featured beautiful vocals from Tina Colon ’09 and expertly played saxophone, keyboard, and drums, for a set that brought both the stage and audience to life, and a finale that featured some impressive beatboxing from the saxophone player.

The third act consisted of solo rapper Mustafo’s shameless self-promotion, soul-baring transitions, and worldly knowledge-sharing in between songs. Oh, and he rapped too.

Next up was Unripe Avocado with their experimental blends of guitar, saxophone, and drums, impressive for only a two-person act. Following this, came Strobings, another experimental two-man act, featuring menacing drumbeats and screeching vocals.

Yale-a-Palooza’s sixth act was another solo performance, this time by Noah Lawrence, who together with an acoustic guitar and endearingly sweet sincerity that carried all the way through his set, managed to leave several of his songs stuck in my head throughout the rest of the day.

Last to take the stage were the Flaming Snake Bears, a duo whose steady guitars and vocals, sometimes bordering on blues-rock with the addition of a harmonica, belied their insane name. “Flaming Snake Bears,” I ask you…

Filling in the occasional time gaps between acts was Eddie Quinones ‘08 who, together with an acoustic guitar, vastly amusing facial expressions, and lyrics about “being a wuss” as he once put it, was a suitable and pleasant filler act.

At the end of the day, the four-hour long Yale-a-Palooza was a worthy attempt at bringing good music to an Ivy League campus and a pleasant way to spend a sunny Saturday afternoon for the modest audience that showed up to sit, watch, and rob themselves of any sleep the next night thanks to four hours of not working on those thousand and a half problems sets due this week. Or maybe that was just me.

It’s three in the afternoon and I’m talking to Paul Spatola, lead guitarist for Hurt, and I’m in Staples, scribbling down notes onto a pad of paper that I haven’t bought yet. Hurt is the Los Angeles metal band with 40367 MySpace friends that released their first album, Volume 1, in 2006 to resounding critical acclaim and is now promoting their new album, Volume 2. They logged two Top 15 Active Rock hits with “Rapture” and “Falls Apart”. Outside of the USA, their biggest fan base is in Finland. The winds have blown them across America to Hartford, CT where they are performing live tonight.

SCENE & HEARD: So, what are you guys doing here in Connecticut?

PAUL: We’re just did some radio Friday; we’ve been doing a lot of radio recently- we’ve been trying to do as much radio as possible. We’re doing some soundchecks at the moment and then we’re going to go out and play tonight. Pretty much what we do every day…

S&H: So, what are your major musical influences?

P: I’m actually influenced by everything. I started playing piano when I was five and I’ve been listening to all kinds of music, even classical music, since then. Yeah, I wouldn’t say I’ve got one single influence – I try to pick up as much as I can from everywhere.

S&H: How has the Internet and iTunes affected the recording industry? I’ve noticed that your songs are available on AOL music player…

P: Well, internet music, it’s good and it’s bad. On the good side, the fans can listen on the internet all the time and comment on the message board saying “I love this song” or whatever. But on the bad side, it’s ruining the recording industry. Especially with things like iTunes, people are no longer buying music and records any more, but they’re stealing them.

S&H: Your lyrics are really angry, what are you rebelling against?

P: I don’t really write the lyrics; Jay writes them about personal matters and puts spin on some of the situations he’s been through. We let him do that because they trust him to write his own lyrics. I just concentrate on making the music.

S&H: What’s the craziest thing that’s ever happened to the band?

P: What do you mean crazy?

S&H: Like on tour, for example.

P: Well I can’t think of anything that’s been that crazy, when you get up on stage in front of thousands of people and play music, that’s crazy, y’know, you can’t believe that’s happening.

S&H: You say on your music blog that your music has the “power to save lives”, how would you say that’s possible?

P: I guess people out there that really connect with what we’re saying, they feel like they’re not alone any more. It really helps them through the day because they need that stuff and if our music saves lives, that’s great, that’s what we’re doing it for.

S&H: So, what are you listening to at the moment? What metal bands are good?

P: I don’t really listen to that much metal, I’ve been listening to Bloc Party a lot, they’re great. Yeah, the only metal I really listen to is Slipknot. Otherwise I listen to a lot of classic rock, Zeppelin and stuff. Apart from Block Party, I mainly listen to older stuff.

S&H: And what about the rap scene?

P: I don’t really listen to it; there are some good things but, no I don’t really listen to rap. But if there’s a song with something about it lyrically that’s good, I’m not gonna shut it out, you’ve gotta be open to everything, otherwise that’s ignorant.

S&H: Would you like to expand your music to an international scene?

P: I would love to go international, unfortunately it requires a great deal of planning and money and we’re concentrating on the US at the moment. We hope that we’re going to hit Europe as soon as possible, on our blog; there are fans from Germany, Britain and Finland, places that we’ve never been to before. We ant to bring the live show over there as it’s a pretty different experience and it seems that everywhere except the USA, people are interested in listening to good music and enjoy going to live shows.

S&H: How did the band form?

P: Well Jay was spotted out in Virginia where he played with a band. A PR guy said he liked his stuff but not his band’s and he brought him to LA. He was hooked up with Evan who was a studio drummer and Josh who was a guitarist from New Jersey who called me up when they said they needed another guitarist. We started doing tests and we were signed a couple of weeks later.

S&H: So, does your band have a message for Yale or America?

P: We don’t have a specific message. Jay’s lyrics are different versions of what ‘Hurt’ means, it can be pain, sadness or whatever. Jay doesn’t like to explain his lyrics, he likes to leave them to open interpretation. He wants people to read whatever they want into them. We’re not trying to be political; we don’t have a specific message.

Governor Jodi Rell declared October 2 to be “Bruce Springsteen Day.” The Boss and the E Street Band kicked off the “Magic” tour Tuesday in Hartford – so with citizens making the pilgrimage up 1-91, airwaves crowded by tracks off the new album of the same name and the state officially endorsing all this frenzy, Connecticut was hit hard by Bruce fever.

“Magic” is here to advertise his new album and showcase old hands – even though we were told that last time was the “last time,” Clarence Clemens, Max Weinberg and all the others were back in full force. The crowd was assembled by 7:30, clutching stadium hotdogs, wearing old tour t-shirts that might as well have carbon dated them and skipping the bathroom line for the time being, lest they miss the opening chords of – what would he start with? A new track, maybe? “Magic” itself? Or “Born to Run”? “Born in the USA”? An hour passed; it was getting difficult to keep that breath held in.

And then - ! “Radio Nowhere” – a new song, but one that the entire crowd seemed to know the words to by the end. He was back at it, and man, can this guy perform. The concert went on for a seamless two hours and was – this is the mark of a good show – one where you just couldn’t sit down. Even if you couldn’t dance, you could sway, or raise your hands, or just try to get a tiny bit closer to that god gracing this Hartford stage. Bruce Springsteen was, for the night, an undisputed messiah: Liberating baby boomers from their generational label, liberating listeners from substandard music – liberating a student or two from hours otherwise spent in SML. He’d simply lift up his arms and the entire crowd responded with a salute to the sexiest man this side of Jersey.

The band did a good job of tempering new music with old; though ostensibly designed to promote the new tracks, this tour seemed just as eager to give loyal fans a sampling of those stand-bys well-known and loved. A nod to “Born to Run” (“She’s the One” was greeted with screams of delight) segued neatly with the relatively unknown “Devil’s Arcade” and “Girls In Their Summer Clothes.” These new songs bore the Boss stamp – upbeat, tightly crafted, perfect for singing along to – but were sometimes grounded by a more Americana, down-home element, perhaps a result of his summer collaboration with Pete Seeger. A balance was struck between coherence and variety; nothing seemed out of place – not too pop, not too folksy – but he kept things interesting. The constant switching of guitars between songs wasn’t just some flashy move but really indicated the concert’s breadth.

They left the stage after 90 minutes or so and came back for three or four rounds of encores – a kind of neat microcosm of Springsteen and the E Street Band’s collaborative trajectory. You might think that was the last – and how good it was! A great note to end on! – but then, of course, they come back for more. And more, and more. No one was going to complain about that; the deep, collective rumblings of “Bruuuuuuce” reverberated through the Civic Center until the lights finally came back on and concert-goers left that magic behind and returned to the real world.

Calhoun sophomore Kurt Schneider taught himself piano in eleventh grade, now he’s winning songwriting competitions. Read on to find out what he’s been doing in the meantime.

Scene&Heard: Can you talk about your music career?

Kurt: I had a late start compared with most people; I didn’t know how to read music or play until I was a junior in high school. I started teaching myself piano in eleventh grade and now I’m a pretty decent piano player. Completely self-taught, never taken a lesson.

S&H: When did you begin writing?

K: During senior year, I wrote a couple spoof songs with a friend. Over the summer, I began writing and recording music, and towards the end of the summer, I produced my first song called “Roses on the Floor.” It was a pop song and would be really cheesy if I listened to it now, but it had a fair melody.

S&H: So then was writing music just a logical next step after teaching yourself to read?

K: Sometimes if you have an urge to do something, you just have to do it. Sometimes you just have to create something.

S&H: And now you’re one of July’s winners of the Song of the Year online contest in the electronic category. What was the experience like for you?

K: I just searched on the internet for song contests, but I chose this one because the top songs chosen each month are sent out to record labels and producers and radio stations. So there are immediate results.

S&H: Have you gotten any airtime or positive feedback?

K: Well considering I just won a week ago — but if I did get anything, I’d be shocked. I have no expectations.

S&H: Have you always been into electronic?

K: Well, the reason why that song [“Taken”] isn’t on my CD is because it’s not like anything else I’ve written.

S&H: Then what is your style?

K: Pop rock, folk and a lot of musical theater nowadays.

S&H: Have you recorded at all at Yale?

K: I’ve tried to get into the Morse recording studio, but I got a letter back saying that only Morsels are allowed. But, I mean, what’s the point of having that if students aren’t allowed to use it? I sometimes go to a music lab on Orange and Elm — that’s where I recorded my entire demo.

S&H: Moving away from your music for a bit, do you think there is an interest amongst students in live music on campus?

K: Definitely. I know of some underground live music groups.

S&H: You sing for the a capella group Out of the Blue. Do you think that at Yale a capella takes the place of a known live music scene?

K: No. I mean people go to a capella because their friends are in a capella.

S&H: Have you performed live?

K: I’ve done nursing homes.

Download and listen to Kurt’s award-winning song, “Taken“

    Toad’s kicked off a semester of noteworthy hip-hop acts last night with an impressive performance by a lineup of Rhymesayers artists, including indie superstar Atmosphere.

    Supported by a live band and sporting disheveled hair and a creepy mustache, Atmosphere was in fine form, giving fans unfamiliar but still excellent renditions of his most-loved songs, including “God Loves Ugly,” “Woman With the Tattooed Hands,” and new favorite “Sunshine.” Performing for more than an hour, he gave the crowded venue filled with a surprisingly equal mix of students and New Haven residents a performance well worth the $20 ticket. Although Atmosphere came most alive when singing old favorites, the crowd responded well to his new songs too, particularly the achingly sweet “Music Box.”

    Fans waiting to see Atmosphere, though, had to sit (or rather, stand) through a seemingly unending series of opening acts — 2 hours’ worth.  Mac Lethal, a Kansas City native whose act consisted mostly of listing things he hates — Fergie, Nickelback fans, Republicans—was particularly good, but restless concert-goers had to endure three separate appearances by Luckyiam, a mediocre, top-hat wearing performer whose high point was the beginning of his act, in which he rapped to the theme song from Showtime’s “Weeds.”

    Atmosphere was preceded directly by Seattle’s Grayskul, which consisted of two MCs, a bassist and a DJ. Grayskul had impressive beats but lacked the charisma necessary to justify their hour-long appearance. Still, despite the wait, it was a lineup that provided some memorable moments and appealed to fans of Atmosphere’s work.

    New Haven-area hip-hop fans have much to look forward to in the next few months. After a spring studded with shows with Talib Kweli and Clipse, Toad’s is following with RJD2 on October 17^th, and its “Hip-Hop Live” show November 15^th will feature Brother Ali, Rakim, and Ghostface Killah.

Listen to Atmosphere at http://www.myspace.com/atmosphere

No one likes a backseat driver. Everyone, however, likes cover bands. Cover-to-Cover’s Jake Bruene and Ian Dull are doing their best to spread the gospel.

Scene&Heard: Tell me a little about Cover-to-Cover.

Jake: We had a sweet idea when we were freshman to put together a group that would make it so we could hear some of our favorite albums of all time in a new way. Our first idea was to put together Weezer’s Blue album, but instead of just guitars and drums and bass to incorporate violins and brass quartets, solo piano players. We wanted to branch out from these favorite albums and give each song a new flavor.

S&H: Can you describe the different artists during the Weezer show?

J: We had a violinist and an acoustic guitar player from the Yale Symphony Orchestra do “My Name is Jonas.” We had a beautiful female piano player — very Regina Spektor — do track two, “No One Else,” creating a little bit of irony because the song is about jealous love. A rapper on “The World Has Turned;” a sick band rocked out on “Buddy Holly;” another sweet band on “The Sweater Song;” an acoustic duet on “In the Garage;” one of the best piano players we’ve ever heard on “Say it Ain’t So” take us through a journey of circus music, reggae, sweet, slow Elton John harmony. We had The Battle Kites play “Only in Dreams,” which was awesome — I think they might have thrown together that band for the show, so we like to think we gave them a little bit of a boost. Up until the last day we had a brass quartet from the School of Music on “Only in Dreams,” but The Battle Kites picked it up at the very last second.

(More after the jump) 

The Go! Team’s new release, “Proof of Youth,” is not an album, but a series of sounds that try to become an album, and fail (gloriously). Listening to “Proof of Youth” you are not lifted from your mundane world and given fleeting insight into a universe of beauty. Instead, you witness a band trying to make Music, and failing. The failure is what makes The Go! Team’s music so fun, so honest, and so worth coming back to for this second release.

To understand The Go! Team’s music, you have to first understand its drumming. It is clumsy, loose, and awkward drumming. The drums are too loud and too heavy, and because of this they force themselves to the front of each song, and once there become lost and confused. They try earnestly to keep up with the sounds that swirl around them, to provide a rhythmical anchor for the group despite their own lack of rhythm, but they fail, coming off as sloppy and amateur. In short, they are pathetic imitations of Drums, incompetent, burdened by a human inadequacy that extends beyond the percussion and into the entire album.

(More after the jump)

Yale’s live music scene usually only consists of the lone courtyard serenader strumming his acoustic guitar. Pat Dewechter, James Pollack and Andy Wagner — the organizers of the Bridge, an “open mic” night previously held in the Saybrook 12 Pack — are trying to change that.

Scene&Heard: How would you describe the live music scene at Yale?

Pat: It’s really off the beaten path. It consists of guys who love to play in front of people but only can find that through roommates or in a courtyard, on cross campus — that sort of thing. It’s made up of people who just grab their acoustic instruments, sit out and play.

S&H: Do you think then that Yale students aren’t interested in live music?

James: I’m always surprised at how few shows Toad’s has that cater to Yale students. Maybe there will be one or two a months, and you know, someone may be really into the Bruce Springsteen cover band but I think to have a great venue like that in the middle of campus that’s not doing shows all the time is really detrimental to the live scene here.

(More after the jump)

Check out other performances at the Winter Arts Festival show, hosted by the Bridge in February, 2007:

Andy Lavine

Jon Davenport

Liana Moskowitz and Eliza Schafler

Cain Soltoff

Eddie Quinones

Noah Lawrence

Lauren Russell

Dana D’Amelio