Blown away by Brandi Carlile

A friend gave me Brandi Carlile's debut cd about a year ago, and while I liked it well enough, especially the song "Happy," I felt like the production sounded too generic and the songs were perhaps a little too similar to each other to distinguish the album from the other legions of female singer-songwriters then in heavy rotation (it was the summer of KT Tunstall, Anna Nalick and the like.)

But last night, I had the opportunity to see Brandi Carlile live at Shank Hall in Milwaukee, and all I can say is... wow. You absolutely must see her live to fully appreciate her. The show was far-and-away amazing, definitely in my personal top 10. (Which, given the number of shows I've been to, is saying something.)Even more incredible was the fact that Carlile performed almost the entire show without a guitar - a finger injury earlier in the day prevented her from actually playing on most of the songs. So we, the attentive and enthusiastic audience in this tiny venue, were treated to an unparalleled demonstration of the amazing power of Carlile's unique voice as it rose stunningly over her band.

They played songs from both the debut album and the newly released The Story. "Fall Apart Again," a solid track from the first album, absolutely blew me away live. Another standout was the lovely three-part harmony of "Josephine" from the new album. She chose to both open and close the show with covers - Dylan's "The Times They Are A-Changin'" and Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah" respectively (though I suspect Jeff Buckley's rendition was fresher in Carlile's mind) - and both were inspiring when filtered through that distinctive voice. Another cover, CCR's "Fortunate Son" was a scorching rocker that sounded amazingly fresh.

She's obviously a skilled live performer - she did everything right last night. She mixed up the set with the perfect blend of rockers, ballads, and covers with a twist; she led an audience sing-a-long during one song; she bantered just enough in between songs that we felt like a part of the process but kept the pace moving; and most importantly, she gave it EVERYTHING she had.

And it blew me away.

(To get an idea, check out the clip below. Carlile performs "Fall Apart Again" live in LA.)

HOTT on the BBC

Just posted a new LTF playlist (at right) called "HOTT on the BBC." It's a collection of all the latest hits in the UK right now, including songs by Brit songstress Amy Winehouse, current darlings Arctic Monkeys (their album was just released there last week,) and local heroes Lily Allen, Mika, Just Jack, Calvin Harris, the Feeling, Take That, and Mark Ronson. Manic Street Preachers are currently #1 on both the singles chart and the album artist chart at hmv.co.uk - make sure to check them out.

I couldn't resist throwing a couple of my traveling songs in there as well - hence the Richard Julian and the Wilco, with which I am more and more obsessed every day.

So grab a crumpet and a cup o'tea and enjoy the playlist! If you get a chance, let me know what you think!

Back from the UK with much to share

I have recently returned from a jaunt to London with a few new artists to share. I will start with the incomparably stunning Nerina Pallot. Her voice is reminiscent of the ethereal beauty of Patty Griffin, but with more hooks to the music. Her newest album is still an import, called Fires, from which I heard the song Sophia on a UK compilation called Just Great Songs...

To listen to this exemplary song, visit her MySpace page. I love the spareness of the song, just her amazing voice (hence the Patty Griffin comparison) and a piano. Or, if you prefer, watch the video below.



Seriously lovely, no?

Etown radio archives

My friend Aleka recommended the nationally syndicated radio show E-town to me a few weeks ago, and I have to admit, at first I was intrigued mostly by the name (Cameron Crowe's movie "Elizabethtown" is my favorite movie of all time.)

Their mission statement is a little touchy-feely ("E-town's mission is to educate, entertain and inspire a diverse audience, through music and conversation, to create a socially responsible and environmentally sustainable world") but the concept is pretty cool - they bring in musicians from a wide variety of genres and give them a stage and a microphone. It's sort of like the unplugged version of Austin City Limits.

If you're in the same boat as I am and none of your local radio stations carry the show, you can listen to it as a podcast on the Web site. Even better, if you register with the site, you get access to past archives, where you can check out live performances from Martin Sexton, Rickie Lee Jones, Calexico, Susan Tedeschi/Amos Lee, Bright Eyes, Cowboy Junkies/Madeleine Peyroux, Buddy Guy... and that's all just this year!

You know I can't resist live, acoustic sets by my favorite musicians.

The British Influence

Ok, so I have an apology to make to the United Kingdom: When I was last there (in 2001), I thought their music scene was dead. All they had to offer was whiny, maudlin, self-indulgent, low-energy alternative pop. Think Coldplay, Travis, Aqualung. The genre was so saturated with second- and third-rate music-making that the term "Britpop" had taken on connotations that absolutely made me cringe.

But in the past five years, the British music scene has rebounded beautifully. I don't know exactly what started it, but suddenly there was Joss Stone's incomparable Soul Sessions, and then the undeniably funky debut album by Little Barrie. There was the truly unique and majestic beauty of Imogen Heap's Speak for Yourself. And now, just in 2007, we've had Mika, Jamie Lidell, the Guillemots, the Feeling, Lily Allen, Field Music... the list goes on and on. (For direct links to the MySpace pages of these bands, click here.)

The most recent British album to tickle my eardrums is James Morrison's Undiscovered. The soul popper is one of Starbucks's latest darlings, but don't be put off by the commercialism - the folks at Hear Music have incredibly adroit taste in music and this is the real deal. Check out a 3-minute intro to his CD (with lovely shots of London in the background) here.


Or check out a couple of live, acoustic performances Morrison did for AOL's Breakers series below. (If for no other reason, check it out for the pretty, pretty guitar.) For more live James Morrison, visit his MySpace page.

Prince and the lo-fi revolution

Just learned via Page-a-Day Calendars that Prince's 1988 smash hit "Kiss" was actually a demo!

"Warner Bros. didn’t want to release this at first because 'it sounded like a demo,' arranger David Z told writer Per Nilsen. It does — because it was a demo, laid down by Prince on cassette, fooled with by Z and the band Mazarati, and reclaimed by Prince the next day."

Although nobody would ever accuse Prince of being understated, I believe that does make him sort of a lo-fi pioneer.

Blogotheque's Take Away Shows

While researching my love of the Guillemot's "Annie, Let's Not Wait" I discovered the French blog Blogotheque and their UNBELIEVABLY cool Take Away Shows (or Concerts a Emporter, en Francais.)

The concept is simple and genius - armed with acoustic instruments and one video camera, hipster bands record live, on-the-street versions of their songs. Blogotheque describes it this way: "Sessions are always filmed as a unique shot, without any cut, recorded live. We usually haven’t much time to record them, so the groups have to be spontaneous, to improvise, play with what they have with them, and with their environment, whether there’s a public or not."

The results are amazing. In "Annie," the Guillemots use only a guitar, an upright bass, drumsticks on a variety of found objects, and a small choir of hand clappers (oh yeah, and an old typewriter.) The result is other-worldly.

"Made-Up Love Song," another Guillemots gem, begins with lead singer Fyfe Dangerfield singing alone, wandering aimlessly, bard-like, through the streets of Montmarte, until he stumbles across his band members on a back stairwell and the song really takes off. (Bonus here is the look on the pedestrian's face as he walks right through this impromptu concert.)

The Shins episode does a nice job of demonstrating the truly impromptu nature of the series. I've also included a link to the Cold War Kids take-away performance of St. John, just to remind you of the power of rhythm.

SO SO SO SO cool! Can't wait to see what's next in the Take Away show series!

YouTube link: Annie Let's Not Wait - The Guillemots

YouTube link: Made Up Love Song #43 - The Guillemots

YouTube link: Cold War Kids - St. John

YouTube link: The Shins - Turn a Square, The Past and Pending, Australia