THE BAEBLE BLOG

  • When the Delgados amicably went their separate directions back in 2005, fans of the band’s sublime pop vision could have only felt as if they lost a rare and special group to hang their hat on. After all, the band did play the part of forerunners to the Scottish pop renaissance…a scene that later blossomed in Glasgow with the likes of Belle and Sebastian and Mogwai. Call them the one time epicenter if you’d like.

    Of course that was then, and this is now. And the lovely thing about the here is now is the return to form of founding member Emma Pollock. Last month the Scottish charmer released Watch the Fireworks (4AD); a collection of songs that finds Pollock “clearly in her comfort zone…both vocally and musically” (Pitchfork). To top it all off, Pollock is also opening a slew of dates with the New Pornographers. Not too bad for a ten year pro who suddenly finds herself starting off again, so to speak. – David Pitz


    We had a chance to catch up with Pollock last week at Webster Hall, as well as film her performance for a sold out audience. Stay tuned to Baeble in the coming weeks for this exclusive footage.

    Emma Pollock Continues Her Tour w/ New Pornographers
    Oct 31 2007 - New Orleans, LA - House Of Blues
    Nov 1 2007 - Houston, TX - Warehouse Live
    Nov 2 2007 - Dallas, TX - House of Blues
    Nov 3 2007 - Austin, TX - Waterloo Park
    Nov 4 2007 - Lawrence, KS - Liberty Hall
    Nov 5 2007 - Englewood, CO - Gothic Theatre

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    Photos: Emma Pollock:: “Live at Webster Hall” – NY, NY
    Emma Pollock on MySpace

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  • Usually on Saturdays, I’m doing one of two things: I’m on my way home to get ready for a night with friends or on my way home to relax with some good books and maybe watch some sports. This night it was the latter. So I left the library at around 7:00 pm and decided to walk home for the hell of it. It looks like I picked the right time (or wrong time depending on your perspective) to check out the new release from rapper Sole whose collaboration with the band Skyrider resulted in the titled mentioned above. KEEP READING- Stephon Johnson

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    Sole and the Skyrider Band on MySpace
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  • If your sister's wedding conflicts with the next time Band of Horses are in town, send her a card. Bands this in demand don’t play all too often (though, they will be returning to play Terminal 5 next week). The group’s October 20th performance as part of the Sub Pop CMJ Showcase at the Bowery Ballroom must have left at least a hundred yearning young folk in the cold, praying that maybe they’ll find a way through the doors in time to see the lights dim and hear the crowd roar.

    Those who did were treated to a great rock band circa 1972: jeans, boots, shirts, and beards. Flanked by an impressive armada of guitars, Ben Bridwell is a commanding presence propped up behind the pedal steel. Leaning into the microphone, Bridwell asked, "Hi there. How are you?" The electric atmosphere that followed provided the answer to that question. This was the first time I had ever seen Band of Horses live, and it is safe to say I went into the show a bit naive. Those low fidelity MP3's on MySpace from which I had become a fan of pale in comparison to the band’s live sound and presence. Throughout the performance, it was all too easy to feel the passion of Bridwell's voice…the melodies seemed to flow right through my veins with every word.

    Song after song, Band of Horses holds one captive to their epic soliloquy. Even after two hours, and two encores, I felt invigorated to hear more. Live, the band’s performance brings another dimension of intensity and awe to their inspiringly gifted songs. Band of Horses offer good old fashioned, or perhaps new fashioned Rock 'N Roll. And if you don't own their records, redo your budget for the week and work in an extra fifteen dollar line items for Band of Horses' newest Sup Pop release Cease to Begin. - Jeffrey Swart

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    MP3: Band of Horses:: “Is There a Ghost” – from Cease to Begin
    Band of Horses on MySpace
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  • “Super Group” may be the cringe worthy label that has been all too aptly applied to New Pornographers ever since they formed back in 1996. But the band’s performance last Thursday at NYC’s Webster Hall proved that it’s not just household names that set them apart from many of their peers. Granted, the evening did mark one of the few occasions to check out the full ensemble of musicians associated with the band...Carl Newman, Neko Case, Dan Bejar, John Collins, Blaine Thurier, Kurt Dahle, Kathryn Calder, and Todd Fancey…recreating live material from Challengers, Twin Cinema, Electric Version, and Mass Romantic. But by flooding the spacious stage with up to thirteen musicians at a times, showing off their famously seasoned sound for a brawny hour and forty-five minute set, and bringing Gordon Gano on stage for a Violent Femmes' cover during the encore, the band proved their reputation comes by way of their unselfish, willingness to provide an entertaining, autumn evening for 1800 friends. – David Pitz



    Amazingly, the band gave us the opportunity to both interview them, as well as film this memorable show. Stay tuned to Baeble in the coming weeks for exclusive footage.



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    Photos: New Pornographers:: “Live at Webster Hall” – NY, NY
    MP3: New Pornographers:: “My Rights Versus Yours” – from Challengers
    New Pornographers on MySpace



    - Photography by Maureen Pitz
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  • When an intensely, pondering poet, draped in a broken-in hollow body guitar and spewing red and raw vocals, as if choking on the sun-baked mud and dust of his subject matter, teams up with a hold no cheap shots (at least behind the kit) kind of drummer…himself awash in sweat, fighting off the rush of blood from his own battered fingers…the live result can only be something that tip toes on the overwhelming. Such is the case with Adam Stephens and Tyson Vogel.

    Though the two childhood friends hail from San Francisco, Two Gallants’ performance on Tuesday at the Blender Theater at the Gramercy would have one believe they were bred on an utterly authentic, rural ruggedness. I suppose it’s due to the way their agrarian blend of folk, blues, country, rock, and punk conjure up apocalyptic dust bowl images…think The Grapes of Wrath if you have to. And if you don’t rely on such a picture, just know that such intense, tom tom driven folk thrash can set Midwestern hay bails ablaze all the way from New York City. - David Pitz

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    VIDEO: Two Gallants:: “Live at the Gramercy Theater” – NYC, NY
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  • Come next weekend, Josh Rouse may just fancy himself a country mouse in a rather splendid house. That’s because the ‘70s pop leaning singer-songwriter is coming to NYC to play a set of shows at the Gramercy Theater with former Azure Ray member Maria Taylor. It’s bound to be a beautiful show, and Baeble wants you to see it. So we’ve teamed up with our friends over at Nettwerk to orchestrate a hook up. That’s right…just send a quick EMAIL with your full name and “Josh Rouse” in the subject line and you may be on your way to see the show. We’ll draw the lucky winner of a pair of free tickets to the show this Friday afternoon. Why? ‘Cause we are pretty darn fond of you, the loyal Baeble Blog reader. - David Pitz

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    Josh Rouse on MySpace
    Maria Taylor on MySpace
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  • While best known for his melodic guitar strumming and knob turning, producing ways in Death Cab for Cutie, Chris Walla plans to go all Postal Service this winter, stepping away from the band for just enough time to release his debut solo release. Titled Field Manual, Walla will release the record on January 29th on long-time label Barsuk Records. And like a lot of albums these days it seems Walla isn’t afraid to get a tad political (and for good reason...read on). From the official release… - David Pitz

    “In addition to the expected difficulties he encountered attempting to approach his own work with the necessary detachment of a producer [difficulties which led Walla to enlist the help of Canada-based British ex-pat (and Midnight Oil / The The producer) Warne Livesey], the project hit an unexpected snag when a data hard drive containing critical album files was confiscated by U.S.Customs. The drive was held "to be analyzed" for several weeks on its way back into the U.S. prior to final mixing of the album. (Apparently the U.S. government is unfamiliar with FTP sites, and believes that physically transporting hard drives across the border is the technique of choice for foreign individuals trying to move sensitive information into our country. Brilliant.)

    Interestingly, a strong political thread runs through the record's lyrics; Walla takes more than a few shots at U.S. policy, both at home and abroad, and challenges at least one senator to find the exit door... For whatever reason, the drive has still not been returned, and so Walla is working with his original tapes and a back-up drive (during his breaks from the studio where he's currently producing a new Death Cab record tentatively slated for release in late spring or early summer of 2008) to re-apply the finishing touches on the album.“
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  • Club 8 — the duo consisting of Karolina Kornstedt and Johan Angergård — is another band that could be submitted as evidence that the Swedes were blessed with some sort of uber-developed indie-pop gene that the rest of the world somehow missed out on. Their newest album, The Boy Who Couldn’t Stop Dreaming (Labrador Records), presents a masterclass in how to craft lovely and affecting songs, without ever veering into preciousness or pretension. Keep Reading - Claire Orpeza




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    MP3: Club 8:: “Jesus, Walk With Me” – The Boy Who Couldn’t Stop Dreaming
    MP3: Club 8:: “Heaven” – The Boy Who Couldn’t Stop Dreaming
    Club 8 @ MySpace
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  • CMJ has come and gone, and judging by the half hazy and dead feeling afflicting many in the office this morning, I’m not sure if that is entirely a bad thing. In past years, the annual blitz of bands on NYC have sent us jettisoning from club to club, taking queues from perfectly timed schedules in order to slam down the perfect kind of rock cocktail night after never-ending night. From the Mercury Lounge, down to the Knitting Factory, to hot damn…got to haul it over to Brooklyn by midnight! As Baeble contributor Jason Newman put it, “CMJ can be a Sisyphean task of frustration. For many, the festival is marked as much by what they missed as to what they saw.”

    That’s why we decided to stay put, so to speak, for this year’s event, and let the talent find us. Teaming up with our friends over at The Fader, we set our cameras up in an empty storefront in the Lower East Side for a four day run of performances by the likes of Cut Off Your Hands, Cool Kids, HEALTH, Dragons of Zynth, Atlas Sound, White Denim, Drug Rug, Yeasayer, Wild Light, and The Checks (to name only a few).

    In addition, we also hustled over to the Bowery Ballroom Thursday evening in time to catch the sold out World’s Fair Showcase, featuring performances by British Sea Power, Pela, 1990s, Tiny Masters of Today, The Grey Race, and Stardeath and the White Dwarves. Stay tuned to Baeble over the next coming weeks for exclusive footage from these CMJ showcases. – David Pitz


    The Checks...


    Atlas Sound...


    Guitar Hero...


    Party People...


    Baeble's Allison Hagendorf Gets To Know The Checks...


    Drug Rug...

    - Photography by Maureen Pitz

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    Photos: Baeble Does CMJ:: “Live at the Fader Sideshow” – 10/19-10/20/07 - NY, NY
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  • Yesterday Jason Newman kicked our CMJ preview (which, by the way, starts today) off with an extensive list of bands worth seeking out on namesake alone. While this is a perfectly reasonable way to plan your week, today’s list focuses on those acts that bring both the buzz and the wares to prove it to NYC this week. To the lists!

    Baeble’s CMJ Picks – Talent/Buzz Edition

    Tuesday, October 16



    Dragons of Zynth/Celebration
    11:00 p.m., Union Pool, 484 Union Ave., Brooklyn
    The Skinny: Both heavily buzzed-about New York bands share the same artsy-meets-straight-ahead guitar rock style in the vein of TV on the Radio and Yeah Yeah Yeahs. (Both bands are produced by TVOTR’s David Sitek.) Dragons of Zynth also play Mercury Lounge (217 Houston St.) on Saturday at 9:00 p.m.

    Wednesday, October 17

    Fool’s Gold Tour w/A-Trak, Kid Sister, DJ Mehdi, Kavinsky
    All night, Hiro Ballroom, 118 Ninth Ave.
    The Skinny: This one will definitely via for biggest ratio of hipsters to normies at the festival. Kavinsky and Mehdi rep Ed Banger, the Paris label known primarily for Justice and Uffie. A-Trak is perhaps best known as Kanye West’s touring DJ, but has long been known as one of the world’s top turntablist. And Chicago’s Kid Sister rhymes over bouncy, electro-funk that fits in perfectly with her deejaying counterparts.

    The Wildbirds
    8:00 p.m., The Delancey, 168 Delancey St.
    The Skinny: You’re forgiven if you think these guys are Kings of Leon when you first hear them. Really, the only difference is that these guys are from Wisconsin instead of Nashville, but they have Southern dirtbag rock nailed cold. And yes, we mean that in the most complimentary way.

    Black Ghosts
    11:00 p.m., The Delancey, 168 Delancey St.
    The Skinny: UK’s Black Ghosts, formed by Simon Lord (The guy who sang the original “We Are Your Friends” for Simian before Justice flipped it into the anthem of the year), make their U.S. debut at this heavily-anticipated show. Check for their debut EP out later this month.


    Robbers on High Street
    11:30 p.m., Mercury Lounge, 217 E. Houston St.
    The Skinny: It seems that New York’s ROHS have finally broken out of the “Spoon Jr.” comparisons with their recently-released Grand Animals, which melds the unashamed pop of Beatles-era Paul McCartney with the darker, acerbic material of Beatles-era John Lennon. Their live show is still one of the most high-energy rock shows today.

    Thursday, October 18

    Benzos
    7:45 p.m., Blender Theatre at Gramercy, 127 E. 23rd St.
    The Skinny: Benzos have been kickin’ around NYC for a minute now, blending atmospheric downtempo and drum and bass with driving guitar-rock. With a nod to Kid A-era Radiohead, they’re worth getting to the Gramercy early.


    Tiny Masters of Today
    9:00 p.m., Bowery Ballroom, 6 Delancey St.
    The Skinny: For those who loved School of Rock but think Smoosh is too cute, we present Tiny Masters of Today. Ivan is 13. His sister Ada is 11. And they rock. OK, maybe it’s age-relative, but they still rock. Do they get drinking wristbands at shows?

    Simian Mobile Disco
    12:00 a.m., Music Hall of Williamsburg, 66 N. 6th St., Brooklyn
    The Skinny: One of the most buzzed-about shows of the festival, Simian Mobile Disco was born from UK rock band Simian and with the release of this year’s Attack Decay Sustain Release, were successfully able to break from the “band that Justice sampled” title.

    St. Vincent
    12:00 a.m., Knitting Factory Main Space, 74 Leonard St.
    The Skinny: Singer-songwriter Annie Clark’s Marry Me became a blog favorite upon its release earlier this year. We don’t know if she’ll bring her band for this show or go solo (most reviews lean more favorably towards the former), but worth checking out.

    Friday, October 19

    Drug Rug
    7:00 p.m., Bowery Ballroom, 6 Delancey St.
    The Skinny: Baeble favorites Drug Rug combine blues, folk and lo-fi sounds that recalls both Elephant 6 and classic 60s & 70s vocalist duos (Everly Brothers, Sonny & Cher, etc.) without those decades’ sappier moments.

    Devin the Dude
    10:00 p.m., B. B. King’s, 237 W. 42nd St.
    The Skinny:A perenial favorite among the hipster set, the Texas rapper weaves hysterical storytelling with a laid-back, stoner flow. Picture Andre 3000 meeting Too $hort.


    Sons & Daughters
    12:00 a.m., Bowery Ballroom, 6 Delancey St.
    The Skinny: The Scottish band released one of 2005’s best albums with The Repulsion Box, an album full of bar-ready songs about death, murder and love that made many critics’ Top Albums list. Their second album, The Exit, comes out next January.

    Illinois
    12:00 a.m., Midway, 25 Avenue B
    The Skinny: Baeble favorites Illinois update the best of old-school roots rock and Americana with a modern touch. Think a harder-rocking Son Volt over Bob Seger.

    Z-Trip
    12:30 a.m., Studio B, 259 Banker St.
    The Skinny: Bay Area DJ Z-Trip pioneered mash-ups before it even had a name and is known for electrifying, party-friendly sets that incongruously match [random band 1] with [random band 2] and have it all make sense on the dance floor.

    AIDS Wolf
    1:00 a.m., Knitting Factory Main Space, 74 Leonard St.
    The Skinny: A few CMJs back, we walked into the damp, dark basement of New York’s Lit Lounge to see a bunch of guys playing abrasive, primal rock in the audience (the band is known to immediately ditch the stage to play directly in the crowd.) It was hot, sweaty, disgusting and a beautiful CMJ moment.

    Saturday, October 20


    Justice
    9:00 p.m., Terminal 5, 610 W 56th St
    The Skinny: This one probably doesn’t need any more hype than it’s already gotten. The Ed Banger bellwethers have been the hot shit duo du jour and their shows are more raucous parties than actual DJ sets. With an extended family and friends partying behind the decks with them and egging them on, Justice are not the DJs you watch to check their technique. They’re the DJs you do shots and make out to. - Jason Newman
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  • Last month Architecture in Helsinki sent our hearts a racing with news of a massive month long tour of the states. Baeble’s Eric Silver checked out these street jivin’ Australians last Thursday, as they made a stop at NY’s Blender Theater.

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    Thursday night saw a visit from our friends from down under, Architecture in Helsinki, to the Blender Theater at Gramercy. With doors opening at 8, the first supporting act to grace the stage was drummer/singer duo Panthers (my friend Josh's reaction to the band name pretty much summed up the band: "Not 'The Panthers'?? Just 'Panther'?"). Their set didn’t really go much beyond a lot of percussion, a little singing, and apparently a bass line laid down by an invisible bassist that was nowhere to be seen on stage.

    Next came Swedish trio Lo Fi Fnk, three youngsters who could have been Hanson minus the grooming, and didn't seem to come from the Stock-rock school. They sounded like a rehashing of Depeche Mode circa 1981. They managed to put together a sound that got people moving, though they had a few strikes against them. To start with, two out of three band members were wearing the shirt of the band. Obviously not honors students from Stock Rock U. By far more egregious was the synth player who wore short shorts and danced more than he played, and obnoxiously at that.

    AIH took the stage at 11, after setting up their own instruments (that's grassroots), and began a set that pretty much started and ended as a party. They're a motley crew to look at collected together, lead singer Cameron Bird looking like he'd just come back from a late-running chem lab experiment, the guitarist/yeti who may have never had a haircut in his life, and Kellie Sutherland looking like an extra from the opening scenes of Muriel's Wedding (and that's not to play the Aussie card--that's just the first thing that came to mind).

    The set was comprised of many songs from the new album, Places Like This, as well as from the previous two albums. Throughout the performance many band members would switch up, as seems to be the new trend for dynamic acts like this, usually with one musician playing what I like to call the "flex" position, moving around picking up whatever instrument is needed at the moment. For those who are familiar with the music, AIH delivered on the fun, fast-paced vocals, the tribal island chanting, and the steam engine pace that they infuse into many of their songs. The true gem, however, was the brass section, which came together with their crisp ska hook, completely edging out the competition for prime status in “Debbie”. It was so surprising and remarkable that even Bird felt the need to comment on how great it was to have a full brass section play on the song for the first time since recording it.

    One of the other great elements was the band's general rapport with the audience. Too often we are forced to listen to our favorite bands chatter to fill up space, just because their mikes are on, and most of it is pretty forgettable, and a little tedious. AIH displayed the kind of wit and fun that comes across in their music, and they tended to be pretty funny, even though I couldn't understand half of it through their accents. Other highlights from the show include chill-inducing "Hold Music" and "Heart it Races" (mark my words, they will get VERY tired of playing this song at some point, so hear it live while you still can), as well as a cover of a song from the soundtrack to Crocodile Dundee (seriously), "Live it Up", which they notified us was a number 1 hit in Australia in 1985. How can you not like these guys? - Eric Silver

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    MP3: Architecture in Helsinki:: “Heart It Races” – from Places Like This
    Architecture in Helsinki on MySpace
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