Tag Archives: New York

Forward Announces Headliner

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bird-car

Hot off the presses and thanks to a tip from fellow WUD Music member Ethan Berlin, Forward Music Fest announces the 2009 headliner, Andrew Bird at Overture Hall. Madison’s finest Pale Young Gentlemen will open. This announcement can only mean more great things to come for the fledgling festival.

It’s no secret that Madison loves Andrew Bird.

On another note, I have a great story about Andy Bird, or rather his backing band that I need to share.

Two weeks ago when I was finishing up my shift at Pete’s Candy Store and having a drink at the bar, a bearded and trucker capped man looking a little road weary sits down next to me. He orders a Guiness and a shot of Jim Beam, looks at me and offers me a shot of Jim Beam. I take it. We get to talking. He plays drums in a band and I ask him “Which band?” He says “Andrew Bird.” And I do a double take and say, “Wait, you’re Dosh, aren’t you?” He says, “Yeah, Martin Dosh.” I reminisced about past Andrew Bird performances I had seen including Bird and Dosh’s performance at the Union Theater in Sept. ’07. The rest of the backing band shows up and we do a little talking and a little more drinking. It’s about 2:45am at this point. The bar is closed and we head down the street to the band’s tour bus and continue to drink until about 4am. After kindly being promised 2 spots on the guest list at fucking Radio City Music Hall for the show the next day (Thursday, June 18), I stumbled to the subway and eventually made it home around 5am for a night’s rest. Sure enough, the next day Ethan and I show up at Radio City with spots on the guest list in the Orchestra. It’s a crazy story to believe but it happened.

Forward will announce more acts on July 8 and I’m excited for what’s to come. The weekend of Sept. 18 and 19 should provide many stories for festival goers and build upon last spring’s surprises such as the Diplo after-party (engineered by Forward’s own wunderkind Wyndham Manning) and the impromptu apartment crash by U-N-I.

diplo_madison

uni_mad_71

Here’s to future unexpected brushes with fame.

Stay up to date with Forward happenings at their new website.

-Patrick

Englishman

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englishman

I didn’t really know what to expect.

Each night when I go to my 2nd job running sound at Pete’s Candy Store I usually know that I’m going to here fairly average, local music (not that it’s a bad thing) but Englishman, the unassuming trio from Lexington, KY, took me and the 20-odd folks crammed into the tiny back room by surprise last night.

From the onset, Englishman got the most out of the humble Pete’s soundsystem and filled every nook and cranny with smooth and subtle instrumentation (reminiscent of Other Lives) helped along by Matthew Duncan’s piano playing. Justin Craig’s slightly chiming, mostly shimmering guitar complemented lead man Andrew English’s acoustic strums. Everything was working for them and the music provided a brilliant backdrop for English’s haunting voice, which sounds similar to John Darnielle without the rough edges and borders on Colin Meloy without the pretense.

I couldn’t picture English singing any other way or saying anything else. That is one of the truly refreshing aspects of Englishman- the honest and endearing lyrics. I could go through the songs and pull countless phrases that the listener can latch onto. It’s true originiality, sentimentality and maturity. This band is nothing but good.

Although I didn’t know what to expect, I’m going to hedge a bet and say that the listening public should expect to hear more from Englishman in the near future. On the horizon are a Daytrotter Session, opening duties for Deer Tick and Dawes in Lexington plus more dates across the southern US in early fall.

-Patrick

Beach Fossils

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beach fuck

Things have been pretty quiet around here lately. I think everyone is headlong into their summers and with that our Web 2.0 is neglected (except here).

I wanted to quick comment on New York’s own latest lo-fi noise maker to rear his head above the din of the rest, Beach Fossils. See Real Estate or Desolation Wilderness for reference- a lot of reverb-soaked guitars and vocals and themes of lazy days, stoner nights and summer. It is no secret that I’m a fan of Real Estate and Beach Fossils continues where my love affair with them has left off- a perfect foray into your summer activities. Look at the song titles: “Vacation,” “Daydream” and “Lazy Day.” As if those aren’t telling enough.

On “Vacation,” Dustin Payseur’s vocals are tinged with a watery delay that justifies his name and his obsession with well, the beach. It must be hard for this young Brooklynite to satisfy his tropical urges. He’s got The Rockaways and not much else (I guess he could swim at Coney Island). Maybe that’s why he sings “I’m getting on that bus / got to get out of town” and then concludes “I might not come back home.” Sounds like the musings of a displaced and restless twenty-something.

Beach Fossils is sure to make a lot of waves this summer, at least amidst the concrete of New York. He recently played Todd P’s Unamplified Acoustic BBQ at Fort Tilden Beach with Ponytail, Phosphorescent, Real Estate and a slew of other bands and is set to play the Captured Tracks/Woodsist Festival in Bushwick over the Fourth of July weekend.

Here’s some other Beach Fossils press:

No Pain in Pop
The Fader
Chocolate Bobka

-Patrick