Vinyl Notes

This weekend I’ll be traveling with my partner in crime to Seattle for the sold out Bumbershoot Music & Arts Festival. Just looking at the breadth of this festival strikes fatigue in my bones. From comedy and theatrical performances, to short form films and literary arts, to music, Bumbershoot is a festival of all things art. With a history dating back to 1971, Bumbershoot is one of the largest music and arts festivals in the world.

Tanya and I are, of course, going for the music. We’ve both marked out a tentative schedule for the festival and while I have no doubt our schedules will be very similar, I also know that there will be hard compromises. The festival is very well planned out in though, with a diverse line-up of both independent bands as well as some bigger names thrown in for good measure.

An interesting mix up

The line-up on the Mainstage for Sunday includes Keysha Cole, T.I., Black Keys and Stone Temple Pilots. Talk about complete polar opposite sides of the spectrum. I must see Keysha Cole live to determine if her voice is just as grating in person as it is on the radio. T.I. tends to make songs specifically for the radio in order to lure people to the more substantive music on his LPs. The STP show conflicts with Tapes n’ Tapes, so I might have to convince Tanya to pass on STP.

Sure to Rock?

I’m thoroughly expecting Black Keys, Offspring and Paramour to put on super rockin’ sets. Fall of Troy is a fun band to watch and it looks like Bumbershoot is their last tour stop before the head back into the studio to record their next album. Ending the music segment of the festival with Death Cab For Cutie was definitely a great way to mellow it out before people head home. Here’s my tentative schedule for the weekend.

Saturday

Neko Case
Barcelona
The Fall of Troy
Estelle Beck
Saul Williams

Sunday

Keysha Cole
Black Keys
Lee "Scratch" Perry
Tapes n’ Tapes

Monday

Paramour Offspring
Flobots
Del Tha Funky Homosapien
Death Cab for Cutie

You can visit Tanya will be posting her ideal schedule sometime this week for comparison. Check in with us at Culture Critics for daily festival wrap-ups. See the official schedule Bumbershoot schedule here. We are open to suggestions for covering other sets, but remember that our time is limited.

Amy Winehouse may be a train wreck, tabloid queen but her talent is real. It bothers me to no end that she is more infamous than she is famous. Her voice is brassy and rich, raw and emotive.

It wasn’t "Rehab" or "Back to Black" that made me a fan of Winehouse’s music, it was hearing songs from Frank when her voice was more harmonious as opposed to the dissonant tinge she too on with Back to Black. But I digress…

When I finally decided to really sit down and listen to Amy Winehouse, one of the first songs to catch my attention was "Tears Dry on Their Own." I found the peppy rhythm and arrangement juxtaposed with the sullen lyrics fascinating.

The chorus was especially despondent and up-beat as she describes the sun going down on her world as her love walks away.  Amy’s voice is defiant and the background singers go "oh-la-la-la" as she sings:

He walks away
The sun goes down
He takes the day, but I am gone
And in your way
Is this blue shade
My tears dry on their own

Its almost as if she wants to be nonchalant about the affair, but her heart and brain have not come to an agreement. She tries to talk some sense into herself but to no avail:

I don’t understand
Why do I stress the man
When there’s so many bigger things at hand
We could have never had it all
We had to hit a wall
So this is inevitable withdrawal

Even if I stop wanting you
And perspective pushes through
I’ll be some next man’s other woman soon
I cannot play myself again
I should just be my own best friend
But I fucked myself in the head with stupid men

And back to the happy "oh-la-la-las" as Amy laments that she and her lover are history and the sun has set on their triste. The song ends suddenly as Amy declares agonizingly that her tears dried on their own.

It’s been years since Goodie Mob has recorded or graced the stage together. Word is that that the Atlanta hip hop group are reuniting. In fact they made their first appearance together since 2006 at the Tabernacle in Atlanta, GA.

In an interview with HipHopDX, Cee-Lo said that the reason Goodie Mob’s project has taken so long to come together is the five part considered a threat to the establishment. He likened Goodie Mob to the Black Panthers, all but calling out artists whose music he considers to be detrimental to hip hop culture.

…When we all come back together as Goodie Mob it’s [gonna be the same] way the Panthers had to come back in to clean up their communities. So we’re probably not gonna make some good friends with the trappers and shit. And I’m not trying to knock nobody’s hustle but there has to be a balance. There’s no us anymore, no one else brave enough to pick up that torch and carry it even further. And [southern Hip Hop] is suffering because of it. But it’s suffering on such a scale that they even recognize it themselves. You may not even have to call their names out. I may not even have to do it because they do realize what a travesty it all is.  [source]

He goes on to talk about the concept of playing it safe to make money versus being genuine and go against the grain.

Everybody’s trying to feed their families, so there are certain things you have to do to play it safe. But what I love about Goodie Mob was that we weren’t doing it for any money at all. That’s how genuine it was. It was activism more than it was entertainment. I never felt like I was tap dancing for anybody. I’m anti-establishment in that way.

It would be nice to see what sort of evolution Goodie Mob has made since their 2004 release, One Monkey Don’t Stop the Show. Cee-Lo is going to be very busy, working on his solo release, touring with Gnarls Barkley and working on a Goodie Mob project. Speaking of Gnarls Barkley, I’ll be catching them live at the Austin City Limits festival as well as Bumbershoot in Seattle Labor Day weekend. Woot!

HT

You know why I love being a music writer? I get to sample music from new artists, have an excuse for keeping a constant feed of music in my ears at all times, and one of the best of all perks is covering live events.

It is my pleasure to announce that I will be covering both the Bumbershoot Festival in Seattle as well as the Austin City Limits Festival.

Back in May, I posted my seasonal music festival guide and began sending out for press credentials to those closest to me. I got decline for a few, but two festivals are better than none, and I’m super excited about visiting Seattle and Austin to see a bunch of great bands.

A potential schedule and festival preview for Bumbershoot are forthcoming, And in just a couple of weeks, I’ll be heading to Seattle!

Check out my Fall Music Festival Guide at ShePlaysMusic and come back for VinylNotes’ coverage of two of the season’s hottest music festivals.

On a long drive from Harbor City to the Valley, I popped in Kissey  Asplund as an alternative to completely rocking out. My taste in music may be eclectic, but when I’m driving I like the music loud, abrasive and super high energy. But I digress…

Having never heard of Asplund before, my aunt began asking me questions trying to get an idea of what I think (my family may not like my music, but they respect my analysis). I told her that I liked Kissey’s style but that her voice was not that great.

“That’s interesting,” said my aunt. “I wonder why it is that Americans put so much emphasis on vocal ability as opposed to the quality of the content.” (more…)

I noticed a bit of an (accidental?) meme running through my feedreader and decided to share with you, dear readers, some of my favorite things.

Favorite Band: Right now I am really digging Nico Vega. I’ve raved about Aja’s voice on more than one occasion, and their show at the Viper Room was the best concert I have been to in my life (no I’m not exaggerating). This underground band out of LA has landed a place on my list of all time favorite bands, joining the ranks of Nine Inch Nails, Outkast, and the Raconteurs. I’m also listening to Gnarls Barkley, Kid Sister, Lykkie Li and The Last Shadow Puppets

Favorite Movie: I’ve been a Tarantino fan since Reservoir Dogs, I’m surprised when people who seem to be movie fans, don’t like his movies. To each his own…Kill Bill kinda came out of no where, but as soon as I saw it, no other movie has replaced it as my favorite. Aside from the obvious creativity and QT signature dialogue style, I could not resist Uma Thurman as the baddest femme fatal since Foxy Brown and Cleopatra Jones. One of my favorite scenes is when Elle Driver and Beatriz Kiddo duke it out in Bud’s trailer. Check it out: (more…)

Gnarls Barkley broke out hard with the debut single “Crazy,” and earned critical acclaim with St Elsewhere. It was like they literally started a craze. The song was in high rotation on practically every radio station, became a standard for Las Vegas lounge performers, and sparked other strange and creative remakes:

All things considered though, “Crazy” is arguably the duo’s biggest hit, the buzz surrounding which, may well have been the peak of the musical careers of both Danger Mouse and Cee-Lo Green, in terms of celebrity.

Granted Brian “Danger Mouse” Burton (of The Grey Album fame) and Cee-Lo Green (of Atlanta hip hop group Goodie Mob fame) are successful artists respectively. However, prior to working together, they had been largely underground successes, who had toiled in virtual obscurity for years, and developed cult followings. With their powers combined, they blew the minds of music fans with their genre bending, soulfully dramatic, innovative style.

(more…)

If you follow this blog (hi mom!) you may have noticed things have changed a bit. Well, when Know More Media closed it’s doors, they passed they gifted me Vinyl Notes. I’ve made the necessary transfers, but the design is still a work in progress.

If this is your first time seeing this blog, welcome, stick around, experience my music blogging compulsion.

It’s been a few weeks since my last update, but you know…in transition and all. I will be getting back into the groove, posting here, at Listen In Music, Convicted Artist Magazine and ShePlaysMusic.

As one door closes, another door opens…

Until next time.