Mp3s: Sam Champion live in Cambridge, MA
Posted on August 24, 2006 at 10:54 am | No Comments
Sometimes the mere mention of “blogger buzz” in association with a band I haven’t heard yet can be enough to keep me digging around for something different (been underwhelmed by misdirected hype far too many times). I’m not sure that’s the reason I missed out on Sam Champion’s debut disc last year, but I do remember reading more than a few favorable things about ‘Slow Rewind‘ in the wake of its fall 2005 release on Razor & Tie. While they’ve been around and playing out for a few years, what it took for me to finally jump on board was a message from SC singer/guitarist Noah Chernin, who was spreading the word on some brand new summer demos. His personal note was enough to set him apart from the daily dozen promo emails, and three really good new songs sealed the deal. I gladly checked the quartet out when they came up to play TT the Bears in Cambridge a few weeks back.
Here’s their eight song set, posted with kind permission. It includes those three recently shared songs, just one from ‘Slow Rewind’, and four as-of-now unrecorded numbers…
Live at TT the Bears
Cambridge, MA
Thursday, August 3rd, 2006
01. Darlin’
02. So Good To Me
03. Mexican Rags
04. Uncle Drums
05. Heavenly Bender
06. Company Dance
07. Jealous Shakes
08. Be Mine Everyone
Having gone back and spent some time with ‘Slow Rewind’, it’s easy to see why many reviewers jump on the Pavement comparison… there’s an ease to Chernin’s vocals, and a laid back SoCal vibe on many of the songs. They’re an atypical Brooklyn band, for sure. Of the new demos, ‘Heavenly Bender‘ retains that laid-backness for the most part, relying an low-key keyboard-based bounce. I get bit less of that feel from the other two songs, instead a more structured energy, and I’ll share one of ’em below.
And as you’d hope it would, their live show kicked that energy up a notch, adding more vocal urgency and some truly impressive guitar playing (sometimes you just can’t beat dueling Gibsons). As the rest of the band held things down, guitarist Sean Bones was able to weave all over ’em with some fine lines and well-placed feedback. Definitely a band that ranks better than such an early opening slot, but I’m thinking that’ll change when they hit Boston again.
The new stuff has me really looking forward to what could be a self-released followup, which they’ll be recording at an upstate NY barn/studio in late September, with a possible tour to follow shortly after. Catch them next at The Annex in NYC on September 21st.
Some SC links…
From the ‘Sam Champion Summer Companion’ demo (which the band has been giving out free at shows), here’s an MP3: ‘Be Mine Everyone‘ Their MySpace page, where you can stream the other two summer demos, another live version of ‘Be Mine Everyone‘, and a demo of ‘We Will Awaken‘ from a 2005 EP. Both Gorilla vs. Bear and Seattle-based (and tastefully titled) blog Everybody Cares, Everybody Understands wrote about SC last month, and Very Good Height shared another song back in June. Yeti Don’t Dance wrote up an SC live set back in January, as did Stereogum in May. The man they honor with their name, longtime NYC-area weatherman Sam Champion, just signed up with Good Morning America. So much for his relative semi-obscurity. I smell a Google fight!
the fine print… If anyone has an issue with this live set being made available, just say the word (email link on left). Recorded with a Sony ECM-719 mic and a Sony MZ-RH10 minidisc, converted to .wav and then edited to 192kbps mp3s. Mp3s are made available for a limited time, and are not reposted once removed.
The Race Is On Again
Posted on August 18, 2006 at 5:00 pm | No Comments
So I’m sitting here streaming the soon-to-be released Yo La Tengo disc, “I Am Not Afraid Of You and I Will Beat Your Ass“, thanks to the “Beat Your Ass Season Pass” pre-order promo being offered at Insound. Only took a day or so to get the registration email after I ordered up, and in addition to this early stream, they’re granting access to a digital booklet on August 25th (“An interactive QuickTime booklet with album art, photos, liner notes and extra doo-dads.”), an exclusive mp3 on September 5th, and a second one on the album’s release date of September 12th. So worth it.
Fellow YLT fans have likely found Matador’s preview tracks…
Mp3: Yo La Tengo – ‘Beanbag Chair‘
Mp3: Yo La Tengo – ‘Pass the Hatchet, I Think I’m Goodkind‘
…but for another taste, head to YouTube for a hi-quality live performance of the album’s fourth song…
Another preview stream occupying tons of my headphone-time: Eric Bachmann’s out-next-Tuesday solo record, ‘To The Races‘, which can be heard right now thanks to Aversion. I don’t like to throw the word ‘masterpiece’ around too much, but hell, this one’s a solid candidate. As a longtime Archers fan who first fell for Crooked Fingers with the ltd. edition ‘Red Devil Dawn demos’ disc, the stripped-down Bachmann isn’t too unfamiliar. ‘To The Races’ takes the weary troubador vibe of that rough demos disc, adds the better production and some road-earned songwriting depth to become perhaps his best work yet. I’ll be listening to this for months to come.
Pre-order the album here, and starting today, the first 200 people to do so get autographed copies. And for vinyl junkies, the newsletter says that “a limited pressing of 1000 hand-numbered, vinyl LPs will be available online, at shows, and in a few cool record stores across the country.”
For a recent Bachmann interview, head over here to Aversion, and keep an eye on the brand new EricBachmann.com, which should be fully functional sometime soon. Until then, hit up the Saddle Creek site for tour dates that he’ll be sharing with Richard Buckner, including two area shows at Club Passim in Harvard Square, Cambridge on September 19th. Already got my tickets to the early one.
Since I mentioned Richard Buckner, Toolshed Media is hosting the first mp3 from his upcoming 8th disc, ‘Meadows‘, which arrives on September 12th. The track is a good ‘un…
Unlike Eric Bachmann, who foregoes a full band for solo songs on his latest, Buckner has recruited some great players to back him on ‘Meadows’: Guitarist Doug Gillard (Guided By Voices, Cobre Verde, solo), drummers Kevin March (GBV, Those Bastard Souls, Dambuilders) and Steven Goulding (Mekons, Gram Parker, Waco Brothers), along with producer JD Foster.
On Robyn Hitchcock’s next disc, “Ol�! Tarantula” which will be out on October 3rd, he’s also enlisted some talented guys. The trio calling themselves ‘the Venus 3’ is actually guitarist Peter Buck, drummer Bill Rieflin, and bass player Scott McCaughey, aka 3/4ths of the Minus 5 and half of R.E.M., aka a former Hindu Love God, an ex-Young Fresh Fellow, and a guy who used to play in a bunch of amazing industrial bands. Doesn’t stop there, though: the disc was produced by former Fastback Kurt Bloch and has guest appearances from Morris Windsor (Soft Boys/Egyptians), Sean Nelson (Harvey Danger), Chris Ballew (Presidents of The United States of America), Kimberly Rew (Soft Boys) and Ian McLagan (The Faces). Nice.
Pre-orders get a ltd. edition bonus cd with a couple live tracks (“A Man’s Gotta Know His Limitations, Briggs” and “Underground Sun“), and an exclusive, unreleased studio track (“Embryo Twirl“). The band will hit Japan and Australia in October, and hopefully the U.S. shortly after. Current dates listed here.
Check out an interview with Robyn from early this year here, and grab the first single from “Ol�! Tarantula” at the Yep Roc site…
Mp3: Robyn Hitchcock & The Venus 3 – ‘Adventure Rocket Ship‘
I’ve been listening to the remastered and expanded Sebadoh III disc a lot over the past couple weeks, and while I never quite forgot how good it was, I still feel like I’m rediscovering it. I’m not only psyched about the improved sound and all the extra tracks, but I long ago lost the original’s jewel case and artwork, so I can finally toss that old disc and its generic sleeve.
By the way, the official Sebadoh site has some old live shows shared up (Louisville 1999, Seattle 1993, Dallas 1999, and Zurich 1999). The sound quality on a couple of those leaves a bit to be desired, but they’re all worth a spot check at the least.
If you’re a Midlake fan and missed their live webcast from the Paradiso in Amsterdam a couple days ago, you can still keep an eye on the Fabchannel site under the ‘Pending’ section. As soon as they get clearance (and hopefully they will), audio and video of the show will be officially archived and posted.
Gonna end this quick one by requesting a small favor: I need ya to take part in some very minor objectification… but hey, it’s for a friend! My west coast pal Micki Krimmel is one of eight ladies up for something called “Web Two Point Ooh” over at Valleywag (and yes, there’s a men’s round, too). Now, I don’t know the other nominees personally, but Micki has gotta be the best choice. ‘Cuz Micki rules. So keep an eye here for the next round and vote yer heart out.