MP3: Mavis Stapes – “You Are Not Alone” (with Jeff Tweedy)
The R&B legend just released You Are Not Alone, a collaboration with Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy. She plays the Belly Up tonight, November 4. Continue reading…
Tag Archives: wilco
Video: Dawes and the Morning Benders – “When My Time Comes”
Download: Dawes – “When My Time Comes” (M4A)
On November 27 at The Casbah, Dawes will celebrate the end of their epic fall tour. We can’t wait to see them, and we can’t wait to give away two tickets to the show.
The L.A. indie rockers released their debut album, North Hills, about a year ago, and it has received rave reviews across the board. Rolling Stone called them “Rookies of the Year,” Paste called them “Best of What’s Next,” and Daytrotter declared North Hills “hands down one of the finest records of 2009.” It can’t hurt that Wilco heartthrob Pat Sansone appears on the release. They also recently recorded a live session with The Morning Benders (see above).
We’re offering two tickets to see Dawes at the Casbah on 11/27. To enter the contest, just comment below and include your email address in the form (your email won’t be visible to the public). The winner will be chosen at random on November 24, 2010. Full list of Dawes tour dates is below.
Poetic Memory: Gun Runner (List)
After returning to San Diego from Berklee School of Music, Sean Davenport wanted to get a band together, so he got in touch with his old friend Diego Rojano. In late 2009, Davenport and Rojano recruited local songwriter Tommy Graf (guitar) and Carlos Ortiz (drums), and they formed Gun Runner.
Since then, they’ve drawn from a variety of influences — including Wilco, Pavement, and Sonic Youth — to create a unique sound. This year, they released the excellent EP Bad Neighbors, an interesting work that evokes the psychedelic blues of Bob Dylan’s 2007 masterpiece, Time out of Mind.
Davenport’s soulful voice isn’t much like Dylan’s though, and that’s a good thing. Tracks like “Zelda” find him repeating “I can make this all better for you,” as if he’s been telling it to a few beers. Meanwhile, the reverb-laden instrumentation frames his half-drunk delivery. On the nostalgic “2 out of 3,” where choral intro harmonies are juxtaposed against Rojano’s lilting bass and Davenport’s voice, Gun Runner creates a kind of zombie R&B. It’s well worth a few listens, and you can stream it on MySpace or purchase it on iTunes.
Gun Runner will open for Maren Parusel at the Belly Up Tavern on Tuesday, August 31. While you wait, check out their Poetic Memory (below).
O&B’s Guide to Bonnaroo 2010, Part 1: Survival
Since its inception in June 2002, Bonnaroo has become the premiere North American music festival. This year’s outing will be my third excursion to the farmlands of Manchester, Tennessee — I was there for Wilco and Bob Dylan in 2004, and I returned for Beck and Radiohead in 2006.
Each year challenges attendees to survive three days of camping, sweating, and drinking with 80,000 of your strangest friends. So, in part one of Owl and Bear’s Bonnaroo preview, we’ll let you in on a few secrets to surviving a sweltering — but inevitably fun-filled — weekend at Bonnaroo. Continue reading…
Review: Caribou with Toro y Moi; May 20, 2010; Casbah, San Diego
Though you might find the new Caribou album, Swim, tucked in the indie-electronic aisle, frontman Daniel Snaith samples a much wider buffet of genres in a live setting. As you’d expect, you’ll hear him match up against electronic contemporaries like Vitalic, Animal Collective, and even Paul Van Dyk, but a good portion of the show also has the wider influences featured on earlier albums. His previous album, Andorra, had vintage tributes to The Mamas and The Papas (if backed by the relentless drums of, say, Dave Grohl) as well as indie-style jams that evoke My Morning Jacket or Wilco on an experimental kick. Last Thursday at the Casbah, Snaith tied up this diverse palette with a fat beat and dropped it all over a late-night dance party. Continue reading…