Gregory and the Hawk, Bad Habit

I think it speaks for itself.
http://myspace.com/gregoryandthehawk

Damien Rice in Murray, Kentucky

So after class on Wednesday, me and two other friends piled into a Subaru and headed Northeast for three hours on a mostly two-laned highway stretching through cotton fields, cow pastures, and cute little towns where everyone sat on porches in their rocking chairs. Being from Southern California, it was a very romantic little road trip through my now-resident state of Tennessee. After getting lost on a dark country road (I know, cliche), we made it to Murray State University, where Damien was to play at the Lovett Auditorium. I was surprised to see the venue, big as it was, only slightly more than half full. Not five minutes had passed since we sat down when Damien took the stage with a dark wood acoustic and played "The Professor", a song from his B-sides ep.
The crowd was loud and rowdy (I suppose this is to be expected from a college town venue) but I was incredibly impressed with the performance. I had seen Damien play in Houston over the Summer, and don't get me wrong, it was amazing, but he really surpassed my expectations this time. The band backing him up was the same I'd seen perform with him before with the addition of a tall, lanky electric guitarist. The whole set was all big sound; plugged in, heavy distortion on songs like "Woman like a Man", "Me, my Yoke, and I", and "Coconut Skins". Normally, I prefer an acoustic set to an electric one, but he really pulled it off, really.
He did a couple mellower songs, "Professor", like I said, was just him on acoustic. "Rootless Tree" was a very toned down version, one I'd heard on his KCRW Morning Becomes Eclectic performance, with him on the piano. For the encore, he came out with an acoustic and stepped in front of the mic to play a completely unplugged "Cannon Ball".
One of the highlights of the show was his performance of "I Remember". He introduced the song with a story about a girl he had dated, which he compared to "going to the grocery store and getting a can of peas, and then realizing, it's just a fucking can of peas." What was really different about the song (besides, unfortunately, Lisa Hannigan's voice missing) was a tag he did at the end..."Bang Bang (She Shot Me Down)" by Sonny Bono, a song made famous by the Kill Bill Soundtrack.
My camera was acting funny, so I didn't get any pictures, but I'm posting a video someone else took at the show. Overall amazing performance. If you have a chance to see him, I recommend it highly.


And the Rootless Tree Video:


Set List:
The Professor
Time
Delicate
Volcano
Me My Yoke and I
Rootless Tree
Amy
New Song Sketch (?)
Eskimo
Woman like a Man
Grey Room
I Remember (with Kill Bill tag)
:Encore:
Cannonball
9 Crimes
Blowers Daughter
Coconut Skins (plus big drum off)

New Andrew Bird Video, Imitosis

Our violin-picking scientific-singing friend, Andrew Bird, has released a new video, Imitosis, fromhis most recent album, Armchair Apocrypha. I had the privilege of seeing Andrew Live at the Ladies Literary Club in Grand Rapids, the first show of his Armchair tour, featuring his now-iconic spinning loudspeaker gramophones. If you have a chance to see him live, please please do so, just the logistics of his looping techniques are worth the ticket price.

Beirut Blogotheque Take Away Show

Some days, I really love Beirut, and some days, I just find them incredibly boring and repetitive (kind of like Hawk and a Hacksaw, you know the gypsy thing). Today, it is the former:

BEIRUT - Nantes - from The Flying Club Cup
Uploaded by flyingclubcup

Pretty amazing, huh?

New National Video, Apartment Story

I think the National is one of those bands you don't quite get the first time around. My first impression was "this is yet another band in the vain of the Cure/Depeche Mode/the Smiths/Morrissey/enter hip 80's band name here" and that's why everyone is raving about them. Of course, this is not entirely a bad thing, just you know, we're all mostly looking for something fresh and original (and trying to avoid the stigma that comes with jumping on the bandwagon, so to speak). There is something more to the National though, that caught my ear on a second listen. Besides of course, being catchy, melodramatic indie pop (I mean, how can you say no?), the sound is very simple but very together, and often there is a beauty in the simplicity (we can't all be orchestral Sufjans, nor do we want to be). Coupled and complimented by the same wonderfully simple, self-depreciating lyrics, the National's Boxer is a good soundtrack for a rainy day, in other words.
With that said, the new video:

Home was a Photograph you taped to your wall....

September 7th, 2007 The Beat Kitchen Chicago, IL 9:30 PM

Casiotone For the Painfully Alone with David Bazan of Pedro the Lion.

It was so great to see Owen live for the 3rd time. I was able to pick up an LP of Twinkle Echo to finalize my complete collection of CFTA LP's and also picked up an extra copy of Etiquette. Owen is a sweet guy who collaborates with The Donkeys on several occasions, who hail from San Diego.

Check him out at: www.cftpa.org

CFTPA set list
1)Cold White Christmas
2) White Corolla
3) Nashville Parthenon
4) Scattered Pearls
5) N/A (Everything was so bright...)
6) Young Shields
7) Calloused Fingers Wont make you strong, Edith Wong
8) Bobby Malone
9) Love Affection
10) Toby Take a Bow
11) A Sunday Street
12) Graceland