Celebrating their tenth anniversary is cause for Constantines' Bryan Webb to reflect a little on the band's history, as well as on their newest set, Kensington Heights.  "We're forever, and it feels really good," Webb says. Recorded at Toronto's Halla Music with engineer Jeff McMurrich, Webb says that the record was as much for the city as for the Ontario art-punk band themselves.

"I love Toronto," Webb confirms, "I miss it, and I know the songs on this record are for Toronto. Jeff knew that, too, and helped us figure that out in the making."

As they approached their ten-year mark as a band, Constantines had a little chat amongst themselves about their beginnings, of which Webb says they were "very lucky" early on in their career.

"Coming up on ten years, we were talking recently about how lucky we were to have two particular bands take us under their wings," he explains, "Oneida and Royal City. We toured a fair amount with both bands, and were Canadian label mates with them, too. Royal City taught us how to write songs that expressed the weird little ways we saw the world, and to try and be honest about it, and Oneida taught us to never hold back any energy ever."

They definitely put some of that energy into Kensington Heights, even if the album itself remains somewhat cryptic even to its own band members.

"I don't know how everybody in the band feels about what the songs are about, and it's not the kind of thing the five of us are too likely to talk about," Webb ponders, "for me, they're about our friends and the places we've been together, as a family; but I'd imagine they're about something else to Doug, Dallas, Will or Steve. Like, Steve wrote the lyrics for "Shower of Stones" - and I don't know what the lyrics of that song are really about.  To me, that song is about making a love song that's as energetic, and complicated, and wild as being in love, or wanting to be in love, can be. But I think maybe we're all pretty comfortable not knowing what the specific meaning of any of the songs are to the rest of us. We're not likely going to have a Some Kind Of Monster (ed: the expository 2004 Metallica movie) psychiatry/lyric session any time soon." 

One other thing they're not is a band that's particularly comfortable in the recording studio, in spite of the technical success they do have in producing their tracks. "We aren't really a studio kind of band," Webb says, "and we work through that each time we try to make a record. Luckily, on the last record, we had enough time to chill out and enjoy trying to play at the right tempo, with the right guitar sounds and such. But it still seems pretty unnatural to me, in terms of trying to represent how a band plays together, to put them in a room with a bunch of microphones, or to isolate the instruments and the singer, and to expect to get rock and roll."

For the recording of Kensington Heights, a few more, well, unorthodox methods were used to keep the band relaxed and unaffected by the studio environment - among them pushup competitions while doing backing vocal takes... and snowball fights in the live room.

"Studio magic," Webb smiles.

The southwestern part of Canada where Vancouver Island lies between four straits is an achingly beautiful part of the world. Even though Vancouver is Canada's second most populated island, it's not a place where solitude is hard to come by and the sheer bigness that surrounds - the water, the mountains, the space - inspires inward reflection and maybe even a resignation to the fleeting and by comparison, insignificant nature of life. It's no wonder that the place has grown so many fiddle players, the sometimes mournful, sometimes celebratory but inherently solitary strains of that instrument are the area's natural soundtrack.

Fiddler Kendel Carson was born in Calgary, Alberta Canada and grew up in Victoria on Vancouver Island where she met and joined up with the folk band The Paperboys. Like fellow western Canadians the Duhks - she and Duhks fiddler Tania Elizabeth have been friends since Kendel was 9 -  the Paperboys' music is rooted in various folk musics and flavored by bluegrass, rock and roll and country music.  Kendel's first solo album Alright Dynamite (Train Wreck Records) was produced by legendary rock and roll producer and songwriter Chip Taylor ("Wild Thing"; Angel Of The Morning") who she met in a bar when she walked up to him and introduced herself. The album was released in 2009 to rave reviews for her passionate, emotive playing her sultry voice and equally emotive singing and her sure-handed songwriting. Even though she's not yet 25, Kendel Carson's own roots go deep having started playing the fiddle at an age when other kids are just figuring out how to work the Speak and Spell.

Kendel Carson:    I started learning to read music before I learned to read. My mom put my brother into violin lessons when he was five and I was three and a half and had me come along. I think it was like a group lesson for five to seven year olds. I'd sit on her lap and watch and I think after a couple of lessons, being bored and somewhat precocious I said, "I'd like to do that too." She asked if I was too young and thankfully the teacher said "well she's showing interest; why don't you try?"

And I got, I think I got a 1/32 size which thankfully doesn't make much noise - I‘ve got an older sibling who just hated it for so many years, which I can totally understand - and they let me sit on my mom's lap until I felt brave enough to get up and try it and I started private lessons shortly after that.

When she did work up the courage - and it didn't take long - she attracted the attention of fellow British Columbian and Canadian folk music musician teacher and crusader Daniel Lapp. He made 9 year-old Kendel one of the dozen fiddle players in his BC Fiddle Orchestra.

KC:   I was the littlest one; the bulk of us were between nine and 20 I guess. But I think the oldest guy was about 86. He put it together for the 1994 Commonwealth Games. It was when the Crash Test Dummies were really huge and we were playing right before them and there were 65 thousand people. The number of young fiddle players on Vancouver Island is phenomenal and l lot of that I attribute to him because he's such an encouraging amazing teacher and he's so inspirational.

As a fiddle player I'm lucky because one thing that does go sort of as far back in Canadian culture as it could go is the fiddle and it goes all the way across the country. I don't know tons about it yet but I've been learning.

I think maybe it's just Canada. A lot of the roots bands you hear they grow up on the parries; they grow up where there's a lot of space. You listen to somebody like Kathleen Edwards.  I listen to that first record she made when she was about my age that one called Sailor and I think "geez I wonder where that came from when you're that young."  I'm kind of hoping it has something to with being Canadian because that would make me proud. Beyond that, for how I sing and my attitude, I've been playing music since I was three and a half years old and it's always come right from your soul, from your gut although singing wasn't quite as easy for me as sort of grabbing onto that with fiddle because I started fiddle when I was so young I think it just became instinctive.

Growing up I listened to a lot of Canadian fiddle music a lot of Celtic music and whatever my teacher and I were working on. The stuff that influenced me until the mid teens was the classical and fiddle music lessons. But I have discovered a lot of really incredible music in the last ten years. I grew up in Victoria and there's a huge roots community there. As soon as I was old enough to go see local artists that was a cool influence; to be seeing somebody doing it and learning just from that you know. Things grab you when people are doing it from their heart.

I honestly didn't listen to a ton of stuff when I was little. My brother and I started a band when we were quite young and we spent a lot of time busking in Victoria. It's a big tourist town; you played a lot on the street. So I played a lot of music; I didn't really sit around listening to it.

My folks are music lovers but not in the sense of collectors. They're sort of amateur musicians; very supportive. They encouraged all of the kids in my family to try as many things as possible. My dad really likes the Beatles and the Beach Boys. And there were always some Dylan records around. We had this old jukebox that and it had all that kind of stuff in there; that's one of my fondest memories.

I feel lucky that I got into music so young but I kind of feel like it's also something that may be born into you as well because there are certain kids that gravitate towards music more than others. I've got some friends with young kids and some of them are interested for a minute when you're playing and then they carry on and some of them are like, totally hypnotized; it's like a magnet drawing them.

You hooked up with the Paperboys pretty early on too.   

KC: My brother and I started touring in a band right out of high school and I was jamming with various Canadian groups. I started sitting in with different groups including a renowned Canadian group called Spirit Of The West who I grew up really loving and was one of the first groups that made me realize what you could do with the fiddle beyond just playing fiddle tunes and classical music. They were playing in Victoria and I really wanted to see them live but I was under age. So I had a small connection with their drummer and I called him and he said sure just bring your fiddle and we'll tell them you're with the band. So I did that. And Daniel Lapp used to play with Spirit of the West so I had sort of grown up hearing their stuff and I knew all his fiddle parts so I said to them "who's playing fiddle with you tonight?" even though I knew they didn't have fiddle in their lineup at that point and luckily a couple of them knew what I was about and knew that I wasn't just a kid who couldn't play. They sort of had a huddle about it and said "Yeah. We'll bring you up" so they brought me up for their big Canadian hit "Home For A Rest" ;it's got these wicked fiddle tunes woven throughout it. And it was like one of those moments onstage with this band and I wasn't even supposed to be in the venue! The manager brought me a beer onstage and I'm like "This is wicked!" And it went so good that they said just stay up onstage for all the encores. We became like bandmate kind of friends instantly so now whenever I'm in the same town I play with them.

The guy who plays the whistles and flute and who writes all the songs for them also plays with the Paperboys. He called me and said that the girl that plays fiddle with them might be leaving and that I might fit in well with the group. Unbeknownst to me, at the same time the lead singer of that band had been calling Dan Lapp and asking him who might work as a sub and Dan had also given him my name. So they hadn't even heard me but they hired me for a tour in England and I met the band at Heathrow Airport and I had been given a stack of CDs to learn and no rehearsals no nothing and thus began a beautiful friendship.

You seem to have a pretty cooperative personality

KC:   I think you have to. It bothers me when I see artists who act differently. I don't think I'm owed anything by anybody by this point. I mean I've worked hard and I continue to want to work hard and believe that's why you get anywhere generally not just with music. Maybe because I've done it for so long I think I understand a lot of things about this business. You gotta be flexible and you gotta love it no matter what's going on.

Because oftentimes it's not the most amazing situation in the world you now; you live for the really magic ones. But every night is pretty amazing; the fact that you're out there playing music. I think it's just part of you and I do feel lucky because I got a head start. But I think I would have found music one way or another because I can just tell that's it's what I'm supposed to do. There's nothing else I really want to do.

Ex-Meat Loaf man Mark Doyle returns to his roots

Three chords and the truth, that's the essence of rock and roll; the best of it that is. When it gets you, you stay got. That was the case with Mark Doyle. Then, the British landed the shock troops being the same four Liverpudlians who conquered the hearts, minds, bodies and souls of millions around the planet. First it was their groundbreaking appearances on The Ed Sullivan Show and then it was off to the movies.

Mark Doyle: I saw "A Hard Day's Night" at a local theatre. They had a local band, the Auburn Beatles playing live before the movie and that was it. I always related heavily to John Lennon. He was always sort of my hero even though he wasn't like a lead guitar player or anything.

That was all well and good. Except Doyle was a jazz playing piano prodigy showcasing his talents on hometown and regional TV shows in his native upstate New York while he was still in grade school. He was all set to follow in the footsteps of his father who was also a jazz pianist. It's hard enough for most musicians to support themselves let alone a family. The fact that Mark Doyle's parents were able to do so on the single income brought in by his piano playing dad is made staggeringly impressive when you consider they had thirteen little Doyles to bring up. When it looked like Mark was going to squander his natural gifts and the work that went into honing them, Dad was not pleased. But perhaps remembering his own struggles he didn't completely block his son's ambitions.

MD: My dad had a beat-up acoustic guitar which he bought just so he could understand how to arrange and write for guitar, and that's what I learned on. I finally got an electric guitar and amp; a red Hagstrom with 3 pickups and a lot of switches and a Univox amp.

He spent hours in his room practicing "like a maniac" not even coming out to eat.

And it paid off pretty quickly. His first band, Free Will, was a local hit, opening for major acts in New York and across the border in Pennsylvania. He was barely out of his teens when his next band, Jukin' Bone, was signed to RCA. Their two albums on that label, "Whiskey Woman" and "Way Down East" were called "seminal classics' by the legendary Creem Magazine thought sales didn't match the notices. When the band broke up in 1973 Doyle was already getting calls to work as musician and arranger for a variety of performers including Judy Collins, Cindy Bullens, David Werner, Hall and Oates and singer/songwriter Andy Pratt. During a tour with Pratt in the late seventies a date at the Bottom line in New York led to his biggest and perhaps most tumultuous gig.

In the audience at that night was mega-rocker Meat Loaf along with his producer Jim Steinman. The Loaf was shaken up by Doyle's searing playing and offered him a job on the spot. He had to say no because he didn't want to let down Pratt but opportunity knocked again a couple of years later when he got call from producer Bob Clearmountain.

MD: I had made a few records with Bob. We worked on Cindy Bullens' first album, David Werner's Epic album, and Bryan Adams' "Cuts Like A Knife" album together, and Bob was at Power Station mixing Meat Loaf's "Dead Ringer" album. He overheard Meat saying that he was about to go on tour and needed a guitar player, and Clearmountain said, "You need a guitar player? I know this guy who's great, his name is Mark Doyle" and Bob said Meat practically jumped over the console, saying "You know Mark Doyle? Get that boy on the phone, now!"

So Bob called me, actually tracked me down to a rehearsal space I was at. As it happened I was leaving for NYC the next morning to audition for Foreigner as a keyboard player, and Meat got on the phone and said "You don't wanna play with them, you wanna play with me, boy! What does the gig offer?" etc etc. So I went to Meat's office the next day and signed on, no audition required.

The gig had its ups and down with, as Mark says, most of the details best left for the book. But he got to see the world without having to join the Army and when it ended after about three years he moved to Boston where he hooked up with boy band Svengali Maurice Starr who put him to work as a player and arranger for New Kids On The Block, Tiffany and other acts in his pop stable. By 1994 he was ready to take it back to Syracuse; developing technologies making it possible to do a lot of work from home.

But while boy bands, techno pop, folkies etc. were good sources of income they weren't scratching the primary itch. So, naturally, he started a rock and roll band, Mark Doyle and the Maniacs and as the song sort of goes, began to get back to where he started from. The group's debut "Shake "Em On Down: A Salute to the ‘60s British Blues boom makes good on the promise of its title. The album is a sweat drenched neck vein popping celebration of the British blues-rock that inflamed Doyle's musical passion when he was kid. That meant not just the Beatles but Van Morrison's Them, Cream, Peter Green era Fleetwood Mac and particularly Savoy Brown which featured one of Doyle's biggest guitar heroes, Kim Simmonds.

MD: A bunch of hippie comrades and I made the 5-hour drive from Syracuse to NYC to see Savoy Brown at the Cafe au Go Go. Their opening act was Tyrannosaurus (later T.) Rex, which was then a folk duo with Marc Bolan and Steve Peregrine-Took sitting on the floor guru-style singing blissed-out hippie anthems. The Cafe Au Go Go was set up in the round, with about 10 rows of church pews winding around the stage. We were in the front row, and when the band arrived resplendent in crushed velvet trousers, silk shirts, etc and got a look at the Fender Super-Reverb amps that were being provided for them, an argument started to ensue between the road manager and the club owner, which they took into a private office. A few minutes later, Kim came out and walked right over to the front row where we were sitting and addressed the small audience en masse, saying "To those of you that have come out to see the group, we apologize but we won't be able to play under these conditions."

He walked away, back into the office, and about 10 minutes later (we all stayed put, probably too stoned to move) the band came out and played after all, a killer set. I was hooked. We saw them a few more times closer to home, and after Chris Youlden left and they continued as a 4-Piece for the "Looking In" tour. My band, Free Will, got to open for them at a theater in Wilkes Barre, PA.

Mark would also open for Simmonds and a later version of Savoy Brown when he was band leader and lead guitarist for blues singer Kim Lembo. At a Florida gig they played together for the first time which led to a professional relationship and a friendship that are both going strong. Mark played on and was associate producer for Kim's recent solo album "Out Of The Blue" (Panache records) and there is more planned for the near future.

In the next year Mark Doyle and the Maniacs will be touring in support of "Shake ‘Em On Down." Decades on, the music that Mark Doyle couldn't pull himself away from even long enough to scarf down a home-cooked meal is getting him his best reviews yet.

 

Twelve months, twelve songs, a year of seasonal experiences and as many moods - singer-songwriter Josh Ottum's latest,Like the Season, features his grandpa's painting as the album's cover, and an equally old-fashioned, amiable approach to life itself.

"I thought about liking the season you are in in your life," Ottum explains, "I thought about the sound of certain melodies and chord progressions that evoke a seasonal feeling, whether its spring, summer, winter or autumn.  And finally," he smiles, "I thought about how many times I've said that my last name sounds "like the season.""

Written both in Seattle and in Ottum's hometown of San Diego ("I still go there pretty regularly for summer and holidays - I hope the spirit of that place never leaves me"), the set was recorded by a pair of producers, Jon Ervie and Casey Foubert.
 
"Jon and Casey are both great engineers and great people," Ottum says, "I started the record with Jon, and switched over to making the bulk of the record with Casey at his studio, Metal Camp. Casey has a very good style... it is 1 cup of technical know-how, 1/3rd of a pound of fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants spontaneity, 2 parts historical inspiration, and 4 quarts of good taste. I think I have a "mesh-able" studio personality, trying to keep it laid back, unexpected and fun, so the whole process was very enlightening."
 
Also under Ottum's direction were a quintet of drummers and an entire horn section - both of which helped infuse Ottum's modernized, melodic '70's-pop sound with elements reminiscent of Stevie Wonder and Randy Newman - and it proved to be a bit of a trick to keep them organized and under control in the studio.

"See, a good producer knows how to hypnotize his musicians into thinking they are having fun and doing whatever they want... when really they are on bended knee, filling each request until perfection has been attained - insert sound of deep maniacal laughter here," Ottum laughs. "Seriously though, there was a lot of scheduling and pre-production to figure out who would sound best on what song."

The horns, especially, locked in that '70s sound, of which Ottum says he listened to a lot in high school and college ("you know - the wonder years - the sonics of that era - the instruments produced at the time have retained a commendable level of quality").

"I'm generally pretty relaxed, and the 70's seem like they were a fairly relaxed time," Ottum explains, "patience and emotional sensitivity seem to have been at an all time high."

Ottum's approach to the upcoming winter season is pretty relaxed, too. In addition to a set of West Coast live dates in December, he's got plenty of R and R - and carbs - scheduled for the colder months.  "I'm planning to go snowboarding, make hot cider - and eat baked goods... in a controlled and balanced way," he says.

Olivier Libaux and Marc Collin helm the French musical collective Nouvelle Vague, rapidly and steadily gaining acclaim by revamping New Wave and punk songs as artsy, slinky '60s-style tracks, most often based on a bossa nova feel. Their newest blended effort, simply titled 3, continues to deftly puree the pair's remixes with a wide range of female vocalists from Mélanie Pain to Phoebe Killdeer to Eloisia. And it all started with a little Madness.

"We have many favorite '80s bands," Olivier Libaux says, "like Madness, for instance. We feel also that there are still bands that have been completely underrated, like Wall of Voodoo, Urban Verbs, and Wire. We were big fans of punk and new wave music in the '80s, when we were teenagers; then we turned into musicians, producers, and arrangers."

It may have begun with Suggs and crew, but it would be Joy Division that would be the subject of the pair's first cover attempt. "Nouvelle Vague started with a simple idea in the early '00s," Libaux says, "to try to cover (Joy Division's) "Love Will Tear Us Apart." The idea behind it was 'how will this song sound in bossa nova? What will stay of the songwriting once we have removed the drums, bass, guitar, and the power of Ian Curtis' vocals - and replace them with a warm bossa nova arrangement and a female singing?' It worked perfectly," he continues, "the song was still great. So we worked on other songs too, and were very happy with the result; we kept working on this project, and after a while named it Nouvelle Vague, French for both the expressions of New Wave and bossa nova."

With the '80s making a pretty big return lately on the fashion scene - which is, of course, closely knit with the music scene - Nouvelle Vague are poised to compliment the current trends with their music, even though they were quite far ahead of the curve in the first place.

"When we started Nouvelle Vague in 2002, new wave music was partly forgotten," Libaux says, "a strange thing happened to this music in the '90s - it completely disappeared. The whole situation was unfair. Nowadays, the '80s music is back again, and it's a good thing, I think. In our opinion, the 1977-1983 period has maybe been one of the most creative in the history of pop music, in terms of eclecticism and the creation of new sounds."

Libaux and Collin's own creation of new sounds takes the shape of a "team" of sorts, as Libaux puts it.

"We work with 15 different female singers," he explains, "when we work on a song, we just think about the best voice to interpret it, the best voice, accent, etc. A song is only achieved when it's sung, so we are very careful with the singer."

Libaux further explains that production work for 3 took place in Paris, and that for this particular album, one of the highlights was actually working with some of the original artists who recorded the songs that Nouvelle Vague were reworking, in a kind of Back-to-the-Future scenario.

"That was the great thing with this one," Libaux enthuses, "we worked with Ian MacCulloch, Barry Adamson, Terry Hall, Chris Bailey, and Martin Gore; apart from Martin, who recorded his backing vocals in NYC and sent us the files through the internet, we could meet all the others for real. We had great experiences meeting and working with them; and we heard funny stories - these guys have so much to say - meeting them was unforgettable, as they are just great artists and great human beings."

Great artists who craft great music that stands up on its own - and also via Nouvelle Vague's equally creative remixes, which fans worldwide are getting plenty of chances to hear live.

"We are playing at the moment almost every night," Libaux says, "since last May, we have been on a huge tour; we have already been in many countries, and still have many to visit, so fall and winter will be made of touring."

Good news for American fans, too - Nouvelle Vague have made plans to tour the U.S. this upcoming January and February.

"We already played four great shows last June, in NYC, Washington DC, San Francisco, and Los Angeles," Libaux says, "and can't wait to be back again - we really enjoy staying for a while in your country, and we love to play in the U.S."

"Ben isn't here," La Roux frontwoman Elly Jackson explains with a wry grin, "he's never outside the studio." Jackson settles into her chair to talk a little about how the much-buzzed-about British electropop duo (the other half, of course, being synth player and co-writer Ben Langmaid) get their unique and currently super-trendy sound; equally as trendy is Jackson's signature red hairdo, which lent its name to the band's moniker, La Roux being French for "the redhead."

Dance music and Britpop fans will likely recognize La Roux's first big single, "In for the Kill," which began its run by nudging the UK Singles Chart Top 10, while U.S. music aficionados are more likely to have first heard La Roux's "Bulletproof," the uber-catchy single that's already topped more than one Dance/Club chart.

'80s new wave and pop are obviously two major forces on how La Roux craft their sound, although the duo initially started as an act called Automan, for which they wrote mostly acoustic songs. Jackson - who grew up in Brixton - says that her musical interests began by listening to lots and lots of folk.

"Like Joni Mitchell and Tim Buckley," she explains, "and plenty of '50s rock n' roll, thanks to my dad."

In addition to the acoustic sounds, both musicians were exposed to lots of reggae in their early days - "Eddy Grant was massive then!" she says - although reggae beats are in short supply in La Roux's current music.

These days, it's the synths that are the thing; while Jackson has a solid handle on her distinctive vocal sound, it's Langmaid who utilized his experiences experimenting with keyboards working with the likes of Faithless' Rollo Armstrong in order to bring La Roux's instrumental melodies to life.

"We are definitely influenced by a lot of '80s synth-pop," Jackson agrees, "some of our favorites are Tears for Fears, Yazoo, and Heaven 17."

Jackson explains that the duo, who co-produced their eponymous debut disc, extensively utilize the classic Gristleizer custom audio effects unit when recording and performing La Roux's songs ("we feed Mellotrons, Bontempis (Italian plastic chord organs), and harmonicas through it") - but that no analog instruments at all were used on the current album, which was recorded mostly in Langmaid's living room. "They'll appear on album #2 though," she confirms.
 
Although La Roux don't plan on heading back behind the boards until after they complete their current and extensive schedule of touring - which will take them through the U.S., Australia, the UK, and France well into 2010 - Jackson says that their songwriting will continue to be inspired by one thing ("love"), and that she'll be listening to the new bands that she loves - namely, Glass Candy, Delphic, and White Lies - in the meantime.

And don't worry, La Roux fans - Ben does leave the studio... when it's time to tour.

We sat down with Marcy Playground, who released a new record, Leaving Wonderland.. In A Fit Of Rage, this past summer.  The band, which hit it big in 1997 with "Sex and Candy" from its debut record, has struggled to build upon that instant mainstream sucess, but the new record proves the band is still in fine form.

Check out our interview with the group backstage before a recent show in Seattle.  The band is currently on tour across the United States.

English indie-rock band BrakesBrakesBrakes, as they're known in the U.S. (they're simply Brakes in their home country), have reached the point in their career where it's finally time.

Time for what, you ask? To record a corny Diane Warren song a la Aerosmith? Uh - no. To release a greatest hits CD? Nah, not just yet. To break up? Of course not. After years of gigging, BrakesBrakesBrakes' Eamon Hamilton says it was time to record a live album, both for their fans and for themselves.

"We've played over a thousand gigs now, and we wanted some document of it, more to remember what we were doing than anything else," Hamilton explains, "songs tend to grow and change and improve when you play them so many times, and we wanted to show that in the recording."

The most difficult part, Hamilton says, wasn't the live shows themselves - but picking which ones would be represented on the disc.

"There were so many to choose from, we were a bit swamped at the start," he says, "there was a great audience recording from Edinburgh in Scotland, where all you could hear was the crowd singing and it sounded like a riot - but we ended up concentrating on two recordings we had, The Concorde from Brighton and the Essigfabrik in Cologne. We chose the Brighton concert because it is our hometown, and the sound desk that they have meant that we could separate each track and mix it like an album (each track is live, but it meant we had some control over drum sounds and microphone levels.) The Cologne gig was just a recording straight from the desk - we couldn't mix it or mess with it, and we thought it sounded great, so we used that one too."

Drummer Alex White was the man behind the mixing of the Concorde show ("he set the desk up at the show itself and took the tapes away to mess around with," Hamilton explains), which was recorded onto a digital desk with each track separated and converted into Pro|Tools files and later mixed through a Neve desk in The Metway studio. And the band's sound engineer Ric Peet (who was in band in the '90s called Candyflip) recorded the Cologne show via an iPod stuck into the mixing deck. "We didn't touch it afterwards," Hamilton says, "it is exactly the same as the gig."

Hamilton has not one, but two favorite songs from the live album; "The song "Hi How Are You" was written about watching a band called The Tenderfoot playing at a Brighton venue called The Freebutt, so playing that song in Brighton is always more meaningful, and we nailed it that night," he says, "and I think from the Cologne show, we got "Hey Hey" pretty much spot on."

The band will be getting even more collective live experience as they continue to tour, with UK, European, and Japanese tours all on their schedule, which will keep them busy up until the holidays. But first, they've got to wrap up their slate of U.S. dates, about which Hamilton couldn't be happier.

"It has been too long since we last toured the U.S. - about two years - and we're touring coast to coast," he enthuses, "we're sharing the driving duties and living off road food. We couldn't wait."

Miracles of Modern Science - as their more intellectual bandname might suggest - had more posh beginnings than most up and coming independent bands. Well, until you factor in a little bit of social networking nerddom.

"We started recording our debut EP in our senior year at Princeton," vocalist/upright bass player Evan Younger explains, "Josh (Hirshfeld, mandolin and vocals) was then the social chair of Terrace Club, one of Princeton's eating clubs. We recorded drums in the living room there, and the rest of the instruments in Josh's bedroom. Then once we graduated, we recorded vocals at my apartment and mixed the EP there. Considering it was so piecemeal, and all done on very entry-level digital equipment, we're pleased with how it turned out."

That album also features bandmates Geoff McDonald on cello and Kieran Ledwidge on violin, and Tyler Pines on drums - Pines' role being perhaps the most "normal" as far as the usual band configuration is concerned. Miracles of Modern Science, in a fascinating twist on the usual five-piece indie-rock band, craft their tunes using traditional string instruments, vocals, and drums - nary a guitar or synth in sight, thank you very much.

"Our usual tag line is that we're "a Civil War string band shot into outer space on a giant disco ball spaceship," Younger laughs.

And as for that aforementioned social networking: "Josh and I met on Facebook (eesh) the summer before our freshman year," Younger says, "it was like, 'hey, you like jazz? I like jazz! You like the Pixies? I like the Pixies! You're looking to start a band when we get to school? I'm...' I'm not even kidding. It really was that dorky."

Dorks and nerds, as most clever people now know, are destined to rule the world, of course - Miracles of Modern Science being no exception. With Younger and Hirshfeld both skilled at a variety of instruments, Younger says that they tried a little bit of every genre before settling on their current sound.

"We got to school, met for real, and started writing songs and performing as a duo," he explains, "our earliest collaborations were all over the place in terms of style and instrumentation - mostly campy stuff and genre spoofs: country, electro pop, sea chanties, and the like. At one of our early performances at a campus open mic night, we saw Kieran playing electric violin in a jam band. The band was nothing special, but we could tell Kieran was a rock star, so we asked him to play with us."

The band evolved even further from there.  "Geoff was the music director of my a cappella group (speaking of dorky), and we bonded by geeking over music theory. Tyler was a friend's brother - he had a reputation as a jazz drum wunderkind (he'd won some Down Beat award for being the best high school drummer in America). So when we decided we wanted drums to make our doohickey into a 'real band,' we asked him to join."

And Miracles of Modern Science's string-based rock sound was unintentionally born. "Basically, Josh and I brought  these people together because we thought they were great musicians, and we wanted to hang out and make music with them," Younger chuckles, "not because of any concept we had of a string-based rock band. We didn't settle right away on the all-strings-and-percussion setup, but we found that the mandolin, violin, cello, upright bass, and drums blended in a natural way, whereas the guitar tended to dominate the texture and relegate the strings to a decorative role. So we nixed the guitar, and we haven't looked back."

That's not to say the band is limited to chamber music or minuets - don't be fooled by the instrumentation. Their sound is more reminiscent of a hipper Ra Ra Riot or a happier Arcade Fire - and we say only "reminiscent," because Miracles of Modern Science have really created something that's both hard to pin down and new in its approach, not in small part because of the band members' wide range of personal musical influences.

"Taken together, the five of us listen to every style of music out there," Younger says, "Geoff wrote a thesis on Mahler, but he was raving about a Wilco concert last week. It all comes to the table when we're writing, if not in the most obvious ways. We're definitely influenced by post-rock artists like Talk Talk and Jim O'Rourke - we often indulge ourselves with epic instrumental buildups that push most of our songs past the five minute mark. But we're also obsessed with structure; we always try to make sure any edgy instrumental sections meld with the pop elements into a coherent whole. We're trying to use stringed instruments to their full potential, hopefully making sounds people haven't heard before in a pop or rock setting."

Miracles of Modern Science are still at the close end of their band career, with several of the bandmates still toiling away at full-time jobs; but that is likely to change sooner rather than later. "We're putting together some out-of-state shows for the fall," Younger says, "and we hope to get to do at least a small East Coast tour before the year's over. We'll definitely be recording more soon - we've got four or five new songs we hope to release either as a bunch of singles or another EP. Our budget's still low, but we're trying to branch out into more sophisticated recording techniques and incorporate more analog equipment into the process."

They incorporate a little American history into their work, too, if all of the artistic renderings of none other than Abraham Lincoln on their website and on-the-way disc packaging are any indication. So what gives with the myriad homages to Honest Abe?

"See, we're emancipating strings from their long oppression in rock music," Younger says with a wink of his eye, "just like Abraham Lincoln emancipa... uh... well..."

While most bands toil for years before gathering label attention, Cincy natives Bad Veins skipped many steps on their way to releasing their debut, eponymous album on Dangerbird Records (home of Silversun Pickups).  The excellent record, which is at times reminiscent of the Killers' debut, signals the arrival of an impressive songwriter in Benjamin Davis.

Davis and drummer Sebastien Schultz tour with a reel-to-reel player, which provides the rich sonic backdrop for their songs.  The music itself is  anthemic, at times orchestral, and often punch-drunk with emotional resonance.

Check out our interview with the band below.

"We've got Graham Norwood on guitars, Mike Acreman on keyboards, David Ostrem on bass, Louis Pavlosky on Kazoos and Oboes, and then there's me," Bryan Scary says when asked about his current band lineup. "We recently changed drummers - on the new EP whacks Sir Brian Bauer, but in concert smacks His Majesty Paul Amorese."

Scary, who handles the songwriting duties for Bryan Scary and the Shredding Tears, says that other than the writing, the whole band is equally involved as far as arrangements, production, and "nose-picking." Delightful.

"This is not "Bryan Scary & The Faceless Four,"" Scary confirms, "because in the studio, we all work as a team. The first album was recorded by my lonesome only because I hadn't yet found these gentlemen - a glorified calling card, if you will."

Scary's first album Brooklyn-recorded album, The Shredding Tears (hence his band name), was released almost exactly three years ago, on October 31st 2006. Scary played all of the instruments on the set except for the drums, for which he called in Apollo Sunshine's Jeremy Black.  His newest - sorry, their newest set, Mad Valentines, will be released on October 27th, 2009 - just in time for Halloween weekend - and was recorded in Los Angeles with production by Jonathan Sadoff, with one track tagged on by Brooklyn producer Bryce Goggin.

"The studio sessions were fairly routine, save for occasional lapses into juvenilia," Scary says, "two days in, while wandering around L.A., bassist Davey Ostrem ran into a dessert establishment with the name "Stinky's Corndogs" crossed out on the sign and, hastily scribbled next to it in green magic marker, "Piebald's Pies" written in its stead. So he returned to the studio with a bag of multi-colored rainbow pies of various flavors, each one giving back the image of a sectional pie-chart denoting statistics known only to some lost cult of pastry chefs. The band then obviously erupted into the messiest and most iridescent pie fight ever."

That iridescence was limited to the pies, however, as Mad Valentines the album, in spite of its title, has little to do with the glitter-and-ribbons-embellished holiday itself.

"There's no real or metaphorical Valentine's Day theme to the record," Scary explains, "it's a collection of songs that couldn't be properly slotted into the more rigid conceptual confines of our previous full-length. It was conceived as a palate-cleanser of sorts. However, as they often do, each song ended up describing love, so the name just fell into place."

In addition to the ever-popular love theme, Scary says that a couple of outside albums helped further define Mad Valentines' sound. "While recording the EP, we drove around in a rental car with only two CDs, both playing on repeat: ABBA's The Arrival, and R. Wood's Super Active Wizzo," he explains, "I have to imagine they are the biggest influences on this particular record."

And don't even get him started on the state of today's pop music scene.

"'Pop' is definitely one of those terms that people tend to throw around aimlessly, sort of like 'Socialism,'" he says, "but everybody's got their own definition, their own sense of musical history, and their own green magic markers. In my mind, "I'd Like To Buy The World A Coke" is the only true Pop song."

Hip-hop duo The Knux - aka brothers Kentrell and Alvin Lindsey - were born and raised in New Orleans, Louisiana. Displaced from their home city after Hurricane Katrina, the pair of self-professed "knuckleheads," from where their bandname sprang, moved to Los Angeles, and things started moving forward from there.

The Knux' song "Bang! Bang!" snagged a spot in the promo for TV show Entourage, and the brothers have shared the state with the likes of Nas, The Roots, Lupe Fiasco, Common, and Q-Tip, among others, as well as with The Knux' ongoing DJ and friend, Andrew Bagg, aka DJ Cobra. It's a musical partnership that started early on, when the brothers were in their "little brother" stage.

"Both of us play different instruments, and played in jazz band together at school," Kentrell Lindsey explains, "the rap group didn't happen until later, but knuckleheads was our name in the past."

Their newest release, Remind Me in 3 Days..., was about "...girls, parties, recording, and fun," according to Lindsey; a theme that is set to continue on their second album, "with less parties," Lindsey says. The second disc is reportedly almost completed, and its tentative title is Songs About Girls and Other Shit.

While the albums are what the hip-hop pairs' fans snag for long-term listening, The Knux' legendary live shows keep packing 'em in, as they continue their busy schedule with stops on the Rock the Bells tour as well as additional live shows throughout this fall and winter - but don't expect to just be standing around at a Knux show. "You can expect high energy from our live shows," Lindsey declares, "it's like The Prodigy, Onyx, and Beastie Boys all rolled into one show - stage diving, and a roaring crowd are just a couple of the things you'll see!"

In addition to the live shows, The Knux will be spending their winter putting the finishing touches on their new album, putting together a few short films, and one more thing, according to Lindsey: "Offering up enlightenment for our fans," he grins.

If the music industry relied on traditional resumes in order to sign bands, the members of Punch Brothers would have one of the most impressive resumes in the biz, and thereby no problem snagging that lucrative six-album deal.

Not only are they fronted by former Nickel Creek mandolin player Chris Thile, but the remaining members of the band - Gabe Witcher, Noam Pikelny, Chris Eldridge, and Paul Kowert - have worked and/or studied with everyone from Edgar Meyer and Randy Newman to The Infamous Stringdusters, Bela Fleck, and Beck - and have even contributed music to films like Toy Story, which is currently enjoying animated revival of sorts in theaters.

But now, it's all about the Brothers - currently in the middle of their fall tour, with additional dates booked all the way through March 2010 - and their latest album, Punch, which they released on Nonesuch Records and which includes Thile's musical suite "The Blind Leaving the Blind," which he penned about the emotions surrounding the difficult divorce he went through at the age of 26.

"I trusted people and I thought people would always look out for me as long as I didn't go around screwing things up," Thile explains, "to run into a relationship that wasn't honest led to disillusionment with my upbringing as well as my marriage; I just wasn't prepared for the fact that the world doesn't always have your best interests at heart. But ultimately, the album isn't really about how betrayed I felt, but the effect that that betrayal had on my worldview."

Listeners new to Punch Brothers probably first heard about Thile either through his Nickel Creek work or via his 2006 solo album, which featured his covers of tunes by The White Stripes and The Strokes; now, Thile and his bandmates have taken on a different twist to their sound, which blends pop into bluegrass in an intriguingly cryptic fashion.

Even the band's name has a certain mystique; according to Thile, you'll have to read through the Mark Twain short story "Punch, Brothers, Punch!" to understand its origins.

The album itself is an interesting balance of improv jams and structure, and was recorded at Legacy Studios in New York, where Thile and the band placed three mics up in the rafters of a scoring studio with a 35-foot-high ceiling to allow the sound to interact with the acoustics of the room itself. The highlight, of course, is that aforementioned musical suite, which extends the length of the traditional album track and winds around a range of musical textures and evokes everything from mournfulness to flashes of optimism.

But the interesting question remains - how did a bunch of musically-skilled 20-30 somethings decide to focus on modernizing this old-school form of music, as opposed to forming yet another typical indie-rock band, which Thile says had crossed his mind, even though it seemed too obvious - and unchallenging - a choice?

"Ever since I was really little, instruments like mandolin, banjo, guitar, violin, and bass are what I identified with," Thile explains, "these are very agreeable instruments, so it seems like there are limitless possibilities for them."

In promotion of their fourth album, Fascination, Nashville-via-Austin band The Greencards pulled off a standout performance at this year's hot and crowded Lollapalooza Festival, of which singer Carol Young says they had no idea what to expect.

"All we knew was that this was going to be like no other gig we'd played before," Young laughs, "but it was an outstanding festival for us. The crowd seemed to really enjoy the sound of the mandolin and the fiddle, and they even warmed to our attempt to humor them during the set; they were extremely cool. Funnily enough, we played the most traditional bluegrass festival that we had ever played the night before in Kentucky - so it was a good challenge for the band that weekend to introduce our music to two complete different audiences."

Perhaps the audience simply related to the differences within the band itself. A melding of diverse bandmates and musical styles, The Greencards - who, in addition to Aussie singer Young include fellow Aussie Kym Warner on a myriad of stringed instruments and Brit Eamon McLoughlin on viola and violin - festoon their Sugar Hill Records recordings with an energetic blend of Americana, blues, bluegrass, and a little pop. Their latest album is the band's most experimental to date, and saw them collaborating with Patti Griffin/John Hiatt/Drive By Truckers producer Jay Joyce.

"We recorded Fascination in Nashville with Jay," Young says, "he was amazing to work with. The entire session went very smoothly - Jay is a total pro."

Joyce wasn't merely a pro behind the boards - he also knew how to nudge the band out of any performers' block that they might've run across during their sessions, and in some pretty unorthodox but effective - and amusing - ways.

"There was one occasion when we just couldn't get a take," Young remembers, "the song just wasn't working. So Jay ordered us to take off our headphoens, run up the hill outside his house, run back down, and then go back into the studio, not say a work to each other, and play the song. It worked - that was the take we used on the album!" she laughs.

As far as song goes, Young's faves on this set are "The Avenue," "Outskirts of Blue," and the title track; "and "Davey Jones" is a challenge to play live, and we enjoy that!" she says.

Live shows are what will be filling up The Greencards' fall schedule, as they just wrapped a performance at the Austin City Limits Festival, and are touring throughout most of the fall. But it's not the road itself that Young's drawn to - she prefers the stage to the streets.

"The thing I like best at the moment is playing these new songs," she says, "the songs are still very fresh to me, and I love getting this album out to the people. But the thing I like the least about this tour are the miles between shows - sitting in a van for five or six hours a day can get old!"

You think you know experimental indie music? You haven't heard anything until you've heard Alvin Band. Alternative instruments like the euphonium, bassoon, and kora, step aside. Alvin Band's main man Rick Schaier - also a member of the indie-pop band Minature Tigers - simply uses his own vocal skills to craft musical chords, bass lines, and beats right alongside the "regular" instruments. And you'll have as much fun trying to decipher which is which as you will listening to Schaier's detailed, dense, and unique tracks.

His latest album, Mantis Preying, is Alvin Band's first 'official' release, and brings to mind everything from Of Montreal to Queen, with songs full of layers and dramatic moments. You'll think it took a village to put these tracks together - but in reality, it was all Schaier and that's it.

"There are no other musicians in Alvin Band," Schaier says, "although the other band I play in, Miniature Tigers, plays a few songs live with me during the set."

Schaier also took a low-key approach to recording - probably a little easier to do when you're the only one in the band. Especially when you have nearby access to cheap coffee and a 7-Eleven.

"Mantis Preying was recorded in the bathroom of my friend Charlie Brands' house," he explains, "I was the only one on production duties. I basically lived on Starbucks and burritos for about three months (during the production of the album). After a while, I didn't even want them; I just got them each day out of habit," he laughs.

Schaier, who also "blew his voice out a few times" during the sessions, says that while he spends more time with Miniature Tigers as far as touring and traveling, he likes Alvin Band as it's more of a studio project for him.

"I just like to record music without limitations or thinking about how to pull it off live," he explains.

Schaier says that Miniature Tigers are taking even more of that performance concern right away from him, as they're practicing a few Alvin Band songs for the road in order to add them into the Miniature Tigers set. "Right now we are learning a song called "Gazette Pitch" to play live," he says.

And luckily, both Miniature Tigers and Alvin Band are blending well - probably because both focus on creating rich, playful weaves of sound that complement each other perfectly. "They do work nicely together," Schaier says, "we are hoping to release the next two albums together on the same day."

Leeds band Hadouken! - the band named after a Special "Fireball" Attack in the Street Fighter videogame - recorded both their new EP and their forthcoming second album in Groningen, Holland, with Dutch drum n' bass producers Noisia (Nik Roos, Thijs de Vlieger,and Martijn van Sonderen.)

The process - which took place at Noisia's own studio - involved a lot of travel, with Hadouken!'s James Smith flying out to Holland every other week and staying at a youth hostel across the road from the studio; the rest of Hadouken! joined him towards the end of production for seven days and nights to lay down live instrumentation, writing and recording guitar parts to support the electronic production already in place.

In addition to travel, the sessions also involved a little bit of a gamble - literally.

"We were only there for a week," Hadouken!'s Chris Purcell explains, "the second night, we left James in the studio recording vocals and headed back to Nik's flat for a game of poker. We were led up to their attic to discover a full casino sized poker table - it was ridiculous! Minus a lot of euros later, we staggered back to the hostel. They also took us out to show us the Groningen nightlife - and we ended up being taught how to dance by Nik and Thijs in the middle of a club!"

Perhaps that dancin' found its way into Hadouken!'s new album - their new set is quite different sonically from previous efforts. Their producers apparantly liked the guitar work ("I think Thijs especially was pleased to see some guitars," Purcell says," we had to almost restrain him from making the tracks too metal with lead harmony lines!") - and another notable element are the uber-danceable beats, which Purcell says are a direct result of watching their audiences on their last tour.

"We learned a lot from touring the first album," he says, "not only from performing our tracks and seeing what got people moving, but also from having the opportunity to watch other acts at festivals around the world and seeing what universally got a reaction. We had already decided that we wanted our second album to be built not only for the floor, but also with the live show in mind. The tracks have fewer sections and are more sparse vocally; we wanted to strike a balance between vocal hooks which get the audience singing along and instrumental drops to get people jumping. The emphasis is more on the beats and bass, and you can really hear Noisia's influence in the low end production. The subs really hit you in the face when we play the new tracks live through a full system."

Hadouken! are now road-testing these songs, balancing the next tracks with popular tunes from their first album, and Purcell says they've been "blown away" by the audience reaction so far.

"Ordinarily, it's a little tough playing tracks that people aren't familiar with," he explains, "everyone wants to hear the tunes they know. That hasn't been the case with the tracks we've been playing from the second album so far; one track in particular called "Bombshock" has had such an insane response on the live front that it's become an instant favourite in the live set with everyone in the band."

One thing that is, surprisingly, not a favorite of Purcell's is - wait for it - the legendary band-name-spawning Street Fighter game itself. Could this be the end of his Hadouken! musical career?

"I hate to say it, but I was much more of a Streets of Rage fan in my youth," Purcell laughs, "I think this might be blasphemy... I might get kicked out of the band! I've still got my old Sega Megadrive 2 at home and all of my old cartridges, but no Street Fighter!"

Smith is still a confirmed fan of videogames, though - "James and Alice both have a Nintendo DS and have been known to wirelessly play against each other from their bunks on the bus," Purcell says.

Those bunks got a workout all summer, as the band played a host of summer festival events, and are heading to Tokyo next to serve as opening act for The Prodigy.

"They're a hugely influential act on our sound and we were really honoured to be asked to support at such a big show," Purcell says, "after that we're straight back on tour in the UK, playing events in a bunch of university towns which we're all looking forward to. Hopefully we'll be going over to the States next year; I know we're all keen to go to America to play some shows, so fingers crossed!"

Recorded at 1867 Recording Studio in Chelsea Massachusetts, Mean Creek roped in Aberdeen City's Chris Ryan McLaughlin to produce The Sky (Or the Underground), an easy choice for the band given that McLaughlin fit right in. "He was like the fifth member of the band, and added so much to the recording," Mean Creek singer/guitarist Chris Keene enthuses, "he's the best."

Keene also says that in addition to McLaughlin's contributions, many different musicians have inspired Mean Creek's own music "...the Pixies, R.E.M., Bob Dylan, Nirvana, John Lennon... but there are a lot of writers and other artists who have done the same."

The Sky (Or the Underground), on which Keene was joined by bandmates Erik Wormwood (bass), Aurore Ounjian (guitar/vocals/harmonica), and Mikey Holland (drums/percussion), showcases the folk-rock band's sound, which is reminiscent of Minus the Bear or a more earthy Death Cab for Cutie on songs like "The Patient," "Radio Drought," and "Strange Man."

Keene says that the band's studio process included "giving random tours of the studio, discussing snacks, magic tricks, and Star Trek, and losing our minds at 5 in the morning." But as evidenced by the new set, they made it through all the hard work and long, late-night studio hours, and are now scheduled to promote the new disc with a tour that kicks off this December, and that will include stops in Charlotte, North Carolina (12/8), Washington DC(12/10), and Philadelphia(12/12).

"We will be opening for The Whigs and The Features on their headlining East and Southeast coast dates," Keen says, "we're super psyched! We hope to be touring non-stop to promote the new album; one venue in particular that we're super excited to play is The Fillmore at Irving Plaza in New York."

"We are big fans of The Whigs," Keene confirms, "it's such an added bonus to play with a band whose music you love. Plus, when you work so hard at writing songs, it is really rewarding to play them to people every single night with your best friends - the band - by your side. Playing every night to a different audience, seeing new places, making new friends, and overall, just being immersed in the band and music full time."

"Yeah... the best thing about touring is... pretty much everything," he grins.

"I'm far too self-involved to be adversely affected by the weather, or by a landscape," Ben Frost says in reference to how living in Iceland has - or has not - influenced his music. "That said," he continues, "it's my home - I think its a great place to live and a very nice place to make music. But moving from one side of the world to the other has demonstrated that the idea that Sigur Rós, and by that measure all Icelandic music, is a product of the glaciers and volcanoes is just utter rubbish."

Frost, instead, attributes the unique and distinctive music that exports from this island nation to something a lot less grandiose - a neighborhood of close quarters.

"If there is anything that colors the sound of Icelandic music," he explains, "it's the simple fact that the population is so infinitesimally small that the same people are in ten different bands and all share instruments, and houses."

One of those Icelandic people just happens to be musician/producer/engineer extraordinaire Valgeir Sigurðsson, who collaborates with Frost in addition to such other notable Icelandic artists as Bjork and múm as well as non-Icelandic talents like the Kronos Quartet and Maps. The musical partnership between Frost and Sigurðsson is a strong one that began early in Frost's career.

"Valgeir is the sounding board for everything I do,"Frost says, "we work very well together and have done since the day we met. The most recent time we worked together was on the Draumalandið soundtrack. The collaborations between Valgeir and Nico (Muhly), for example, are much more hands on, but with Valgeir and myself it generally tends to be more objective, much more about appraisal than construction. He had an ear on my new album the whole way along, always sticking his head in the door to make sure I wasn't messing it up."

That new album, By the Throat, features other guests, too, from The Arcade Fire's Jeremy Gara (who contributes drum work) to multi-instrumentalist quartet Amiina to aforementioned composer Nico Muhly. By the Throat is already being acclaimed as a challenging listen that encompasses everything from spiky ambient sounds to chugging heavy metal. But the early reviews and instrumentals might just belie the album's content, as Frost claims that the chorus in the album's first song is "pretty much the most romantic thing I have ever written" - and Frost's two fave musical picks of the moment are a little more on the chill side, too. "My favorite instrument at the moment is a recording of a breathing snow leopard," he says, "and my dream collaborator - that would be Kate Bush."

In addition to the new album, Frost recently completed work with Australian dance troupe Chunky Move on the techno-dance performance show Mortal Engine, which melds music, light, and dance into a spacey metamorphosis; after much work and much preparation, Mortal Engine is set to debut this winter in New York.

"Mortal Engine does its thing in New York at BAM on December 9th, running through to the 12th I believe," Frost confirms, "that a seriously messed up piece. I still cant believe it actually works, let alone touring around! It's pretty well the most amazing thing I have ever seen."

In explaining the band's name, The Audition's Danny Stevens explains that their moniker pretty much encapsulates their band's philosophy on never letting their performance guard down.

"It's always an audition," he says enthusiastically, "no matter when or where you're playing, there will always be someone there that hasn't either seen you or heard of you before. Winning people over one at a time is the name of the game!"

The Audition's latest set, the wittily-titled Self-Titled Album, was recorded with producer and pal Mark Trombino (Blink-182, Senses Fail), and features, among others, tracks "The Running Man," "Stand On Your Feet," and "Sign. Steal. Deliver."

"Recording that album was one of the best experiences of my life," Stevens says, "Mark was such a great mentor and friend, much more than just a producer. We tracked the album at Music Friends studio. Our buddy Carlos owns it and was nice enough to let us invade his house for a month. Every day was pretty interesting; recording an album is one of the most interesting things about being in a band. You get to create an entire song or idea from absolutely nothing. I think that's one of the most amazing things in the world."

Two other amazing things for The Audition, according to Stevens, were touring this summer, complete with "Macbook, cell phone, and plenty of books" - and performing at the big 2009 Australian Soundwave Festival, which also featured sets from the likes of Billy Talent, The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, and Minus the Bear.

"Soundwave was my favorite tour we've ever done," Stevens raves, "it had sooooo many of our friends on it and we got to make a lot of unexpected new ones, which is always awesome. Not to mention it was in Australia in the summer - what could be better?"

The Audition's plans for this fall include tour dates in both the U.K. and Europe, something that Stevens is again looking forward to.  "The crowds are always huge and so excited to be there," he says, "and the bands are all excited to see each other and hang. Its just electric - I like festival shows."

They may have formed the band in Florida in 2006, but these days, lo-fi modern experimental band The Woods have replanted themselves all over America, in a half-dozen different cities, to be exact. But the myriad of moves didn't deter the growth of these talented musicians - instead, a series of cross-country recording sessions resulted in their new short set, The EP Logue, for which The Woods used some unique recording approaches to craft a solid end product.

"Regardless of distance, we still intended to make music together," explains The Woods' principal songwriter and visual artist Ian Dudley, "each of the eleven musicians involved was responsible for recording with whatever was at their disposal. Bass was being recorded in a studio in Los Angeles, while Rhodes was being recorded in a bedroom in Minneapolis, while piano was being recorded in a practice room in Gainesville... and so on."

Dudley says that the atmosphere of the album is partially credited to the wide array of recording environments and equipment, from the nostalgic, more pop feel of the "Place I", to the rambling artistic tracks that comprise the rest of the five-song collection. And, perhaps surprisingly, the long-distance tracking wasn't actually much of a detriment.

"The sessions went well considering we never were in the same room together," Dudley says, "we communicated and rehearsed parts through video chats, and finished parts were dropped onto an FTP."

After the initial tracking was completed, The Woods turned the album over to producer Matt Shane, who mixed and mastered the recording in New York City.

The EP Logue even sprouted a theme along the way. "As indicated by the titles," Dudley explains, "all five songs are short love stories either for a person, a place, or a thing."

Dudley says that "Place I" is his favorite song from the set. "It's about my grandparent's old lake house where I spent most of my childhood summers," he reminisces, "I'm fond of that one on the recording, as well as to perform live."

But like many other bands, The Woods is all set to evolve further - and The EP Logue, according to Dudley, will actually conclude their discography as The Woods. "Hence the name," he says.

Next up, Dudley and his bandmates plan on recording a full-length LP album in a cabin in North Carolina in the summer of 2010 - and will release that set under a new bandname; a tour will follow once the new album is complete; a new band name, however, remains to be decided, so start sending your suggestions in now.

Kleerup - aka Andreas Kleerup - first snagged attention via his collaboration with fellow Swedish singer Robyn, whose single "With Every Heartbeat" scored big on the UK charts. Now, the Stockholm-based producer/drummer - who's remixed the likes of Chris Cornell, The Cardigans, and Just Jack - is promoting his 2009 release, simply dubbed Kleerup, which was recorded with completely DIY methods.

"It was recorded in my flat and it was pretty much just myself and my iPod headphones and laptop," Kleerup says, "you definitely have to keep production costs down. It's funny, I don't think I can actually remember the recording process. It's all sort of a blur. I will be sitting by myself at 1:00 a.m., recording.  I guess the best stories are in my

OnKleerup, he collaborates again with Robyn. "When Robyn and I are working together, it feels like time stands still," he enthuses, "it's like an old Van Halen YouTube video from ‘81 - life isn't bad, you can forget and escape.  I love making music with Robyn."

He also works with as a host of additional singers, and sings himself on several of the tracks, pulling in influences as diverse as Vangelis and The Buggles. Most of the singers this time around (other than Kleerup himself, of course) were women, but Kleerup isn't ruling out collaborating with guy singers as well.

"If I could work with a male vocalist, it would have to be Chris Martin from Coldplay," he enthuses, " I think Coldplay is an incredible band and I love his voice."

While the album process was nicely DIY - keeping things simple - but the process of working with so many people took Kleerup a little longer.

"The whole album took a long time," Kleerup explains, "I think it wasn't until the very end that I actually realized what the concept was. They were all wonderful singers, singing about their experiences, or helping me to express my own.  My hats off to all these women."

As far as the concept, Kleerup says that the themes are many and varied, drawing from life in the forms of (in his own words), "Crap, heartbreak, being tired, longing, revenge, love, taxes, girls. These are all things that inspire me to make music."

More and more music is originating out of Scandinavia, a place that Kleerup says is full of inspired people that push on no matter what.  "I do think that Scandinavia finds its way into my music," he says, "and I think the idea of so much great music coming from Scandinavia is symbolic of life there. You can't keep people down. The music is sad but inspirational, you're taking something bad and turning it into something that's ok - not fabulous, but ok."

Pete Bernhard is packing his suitcases. "I'm going out on tour with The Devil Makes Three this month," he explains, "and I hope to do a more extended solo tour of the West coast this winter."

A solo tour, of course, structured specifically to promote Bernhard's new solo album, Straight Line, which hit stores on September 15th - even though it wasn't really supposed to be a proper full-length album in the first place.

"It was unexpected that it became a full album," Bernhard laughs, "I organized the project just for fun, to see what the songs would sound like with drums, and the next thing I knew we were  recording a record - it was very spontaneous."

Tracked with the help of producer Max Hart, Bernhard initially brought Hart's talents in to assist, and ended up finding a great balance between controlling his own project, and getting unbiased assistance from a second talent.

"I helped out on production, but he (Hart) had a lot of input," Bernhard explains, "I always like to be involved in producing a record, but I think having a designated producer who is not is the band is great."

Bernhard's work with The Devil Makes Three has been something he's been involved with since around 2002. Accompanied by an upright bassist and guitarist/banjo player, Bernhard and The Devil Makes Three craft acoustic music that mixes elements of bluegrass, old-time country, folk, blues, rockabilly, and ragtime into a interesting blend that basically comprises a quirky indie-Americana sound rooted in traditional instruments.

The Devil Makes Three has released four full-length albums as a band, while Bernhard has released one solo album (Things I Left Behind) prior to this one. This particular solo set is also a little different both in that Bernhard plays electric guitar on it, and that it includes drums - and it's also different in that he found he was able to experiment further and push more musical boundaries as far as writing and recording his newest songs.
 
"The songs are not bluegrass or traditional country," Bernhard says, "which meant I could write different kinds of songs and try new ideas." Again, he's not one to pigeonhole himself or his CD collection, though. When asked what he would do if he were forced to only listen to one genre of music to listen to indefinitely, his answer was definitive.

"I couldn't do that. I love all different kinds of music - I don't believe in genres," he says.

During our interviews with Titus Andronicus and The So So Glos last week, we also discovered that the two bands were in the middle of a prank war on their cross-country tour.  Check it out:
 



We invite other touring bands to send us videos of their own prank wars.

Pop’s Peter Pans are at it again with their fourth children’s album, “Here Comes Science,” the followup to their Grammy-winning “Here Comes the 123s.” They Might Be Giants have crafted another batch of memorable tunes to help kids make sense of baffling subjects like astronomy and biology.  The bonus is that some of these songs are catchy enough to entice non-parents to take notice.

John Flansburgh and John Linnell have a knack for teaching without talking down to their audience, and incorporating the sort of zany details that only occur in a child’s brain: witness “The Ballad of Davey Crockett (in Outer Space).

 “I am a Paleontologist” is a zippy, hummable track that will definitely appeal to a wider audience.  Just try not to sing along, I dare you.  Other nuggets include “What is a Shooting Star,” with madrigal-like overtones, and “Why Does the Sun Shine,” that includes a Steve Nieve-like organ riff.  We have road-tested each of TMBG’s children’s albums (how could anyone write a kids’ song better than “Robot Parade”?), and my five year old immediately requested that this CD be added to his playlist.

Fans of “No!” and “Here Come the ABC’s” will want to include this release in their collection for sure.

Taking their band name from the gruesome Shakesperean tragedy, Titus Andronicus plays music that is not nearly as blood-soaked as the play but that is no less visceral in its melodic thrash and wail.  Much like current touring mates The So So Glos, Titus have a gift for gut-wrenching songs that thrill, inspire, and rattle.

Check out our interview with the band below and catch them on tour if you can.

Last week, we caught up with Brooklyn-based band, The So So Glos, who marry the earnest, sloppy energy of The Clash with the off-kilter beauty of The Libertines.  One of the most promising young bands we've come across, the band is currently touring the US with the equally compelling Titus Andronicus.  

In our interview with the band, they described how they started, the challenge of getting crowds motivated, and their recent run-in with the entourage of Britney Spears.   Check out the interview... but also do yourself a favor and purchase the outstanding Tourism/Terrorism.

Among this year's crop of UK-to-America buzz bands is the shamelessly successful multi-cultural indie-pop of South London singer-songwriter Jack Peñate, whose sophomore set, Everything is New, is already making big waves on both sides of the pond. Recorded with Friendly Fires/Bloc Party producer Paul Epworth, the recording process both showcases a fresh side of Penate's musical skills, and also provided him a refuge that made it easier to create sharp, catchy songs like "Tonight's Today" and "Be the One."

"The record was recorded in a glorified shed in Kensal Rise, West London, over the end of last summer and the following winter," Penate explains. "It was a great place to record - nobody else's record plaques on the wall or all the other intimidating things that can be in 'professional' studios. It became like a little haven away from the cold British winter. It was Paul Epworth's shed-slash-studio, and the record was written by me and him alone; it became very insular, which I loved, and we created a great atmosphere in there."

Penate says that the album wasn't so much a theme album as a collection of ideas ranging from the usual romantic scenarios to his own personal journey into manhood. "Yeah, there were definitely a few different themes and ideas that ran through the record," he muses, "the transition from boy to man and how hard it is at my age (25) to know which one I feel like; death and my own fascination with it; yearning for acceptance and of course love.  But I feel that the real thread that runs through it is the sound and production of the record - I wanted it to have an atmosphere that was melancholy and joyous at the same time."

He'll have plenty more to be joyous about soon, considering that he's being sent to U.S. shores for his first ever stateside tour starting in mid-September. He'll be sharing the stage with Swedish dance-rocker Miike Snow, with the tour set to include stops in Philly (9/14), NYC (9/15-16), Toronto (9/23), Chicago (9/25), Portland (10/1), and L.A. (10/4.) Penate's already-extensive experience touring Europe and Asia will come in handy, too, as he says it's given him a much-needed education in How To Be A Touring Rock Star. 

"Touring so far has been a big learning curve," he says, "on my first record I had toured it for a year or so before I recorded it, so the recording and live show were linked very closely. With this record, I wrote the majority in the studio without thinking about how I would play it live, so me and my band have had to work backwards and reinterpret the recordings into the live show. We have learned a lot by doing it this way 'round." That includes hanging in there when things onstage go slightly awry:  "I just got back from Japan playing Summersonic, and during the set the weather started to turn. For the last three songs, a rain storm started, everyone was dancing, then the P.A. blew up with a huge band and the crowd went crazy. I jumped in the crowd at the end, everyone was soaked but smiling - and I'll never forget it."

He's already looking forward to the ol' tour bus for his U.S. shows, as well as to his return to European touring once this initial schedule of North American dates is over with. "I'm really excited for the long drives, going to cities in America that I've heard of but never been to, and hopefully making new fans," he says, "the thing I love best about touring is being able to see the similarities between where I am and where I'm from, and also just to be able to experience places that I wouldn't have been able to if I weren't doing this. I will be touring all winter which I am really happy about, going to new places across Europe and also back home in Britain."

Following in the footsteps of legends like David Bowie, Brian Eno, U2, Nick Cave, and Iggy Pop, glam-rockers Living Things tracked their latest album, Habeas Corpus, at the famed Hansa Studios in Germany, which lead singer/guitarist Lillian Berlin calls a secondary base for the band.

"Berlin is like a home away from home - home being St. Louis, Missouri," Berlin says, "Berlin is vastly different, but we loved the city - and the studio is haunted with many ghosts and devils."

Along with bandmates Cory Becker on guitar and Lillian's siblings Bosh Berlin on drums and Eve Berlin on bass guitar, the new set highlights plenty of Berlin's lyrical views on the current geopolitical world, on tracks like the danceable "Mercedes Marxist," the blues-folk based "Snake Oil Man," and the mohawk-ready punker "Brass Knuckles," all produced by the band themselves along with Michael Ilbert.

Thematically, the new album, which Berlin emphasizes is not merely a collection of singles, entreats listeners, in Berlin's words, to "speak without fear and question boldly" - his usual modus operandi, as Living Things fans will already know. But in contrast to that confident approach, it seems that the recording process was something of a difficult road for at least one Berlin this time around.

"The sessions were hell on earth, but we made it through," Berlin declares, "I am here... the brothers are here... but I would like to erase the memories of creating this record."

Berlin would probably also like to erase some of the other memories accrued throughout the past few years of his band career. Extremely direct with his opinions and songwriting in regards to former President George Bush and the "breaking of the American Dream," the often outspoken performer hasn't always received the best reactions to his public statements; he's been arrested, threatened, and injured. But he's sticking to his (metaphorical) guns in his opinion that even though Bush is long gone and President Obama is now in office, America's still in big trouble.

"I hate to rain on the parade, but we sold our soul for a barrel of oil," he states, "is the American Dream too far gone? Yes, it is. Can it be saved? I am a dreamer, so I would say yes. But the world political arena is not full of dreamers."

Time will tell as to whether Berlin's predictions and opinions ring true or not; for now, the band's simply focusing on crafting more music and hitting the road - always with that Berlin brand of blunt enthusiasm along for the ride.

"We are touring this fall in Europe, and doing preparations for our next record, which we are recording in January. Brothers by blood we are!" he proclaims, "Eve, Bosh, Lillian Berlin and Cory Becker!"

Yoni Wolf, Wolf's brother Josiah Wolf on drums and vibraphone, and "one Mr. John Douglas McDiarmid, who has been playing Rhodes, Casio, and guitar," according to Yoni Wolf, make up the band Why?, which this fall added Mark Erickson on bass and Andrew Broder "on a bunch of instruments." The reasons for all of this hustle and bustle are, first of all, Why?'s fourth album, Eskimo Snow - and secondly, the set's accompanying month and a half long tour, which kicks off on September 26th in New York City.

Beginning with reason #1, Eskimo Snow and the band's previous album, Alopecia (released in spring of 2008) were actually recorded simultaneously at Minneapolis' Third Ear Studio, where the vision to craft two separate albums surfaced on a snowed-in Minneapolis night. Each album has its own feel and tone in spite of being recorded at the same time.

"The differing tones of each album occurred organically," Yoni Wolf explains, "we only chose which songs would be on which records after the tones of the songs were established. The tones of the songs, in fact, dictated which song would be on which album."

Given the albums' recording conditions, it's a wonder anything got accomplished at all, let alone two records; in spite of Third Ear's terrific facilities, both the freezing Minnesota winter and the building itself seemed to be conspiring to make things for Why? more challenging than usual.

"We definitely stayed in that studio as much as possible," Wolf says, "it was cold as hell outside. I don't think it went above zero the whole time we were there. One interesting story is that we were recording ground tracks for "Against Me," and I kept smelling some kind of weird chemical smell or something. No one else smelled it at first (I have an extremely acute olfactory sense) and thought I was being paranoid. But by noon or so it became obvious that something wasn't right, and by 12:30, smoke was visible in the hallway. The landlord of the old warehouse that Third Ear was located in came over and starting pleading with us not to call the fire department, that he would find where the smoke was coming from and take care of it."

"Apparently the building wasn't up to code, and he didn't want the fire marshall coming in there and condemning the place," Wolf continues, "it turns out the smoke was from a smoldering couch in the landlord's office. The smoke got so bad, he couldn't actually make it into his office to put the smolder out. We didn't want to breathe it, but we were on a tight schedule - in the end we opted for life over staying on time. The fire department ended up arriving (I'm not sure who called) and put the thing out, but the building had to air out for 24 hours before we could go back to work."

Talk about an enforced break.

"Since then, the building has been torn down," Wolf concludes, "I'm not sure if the incident had anything to do with it or not. But Tom Herbers, the owner and head engineer of Third Ear, had to dismantle the most incredible collection of gear; it must be all just sitting in storage now."

Luckily, the albums both got completed, and hopefully Herbers has found another (safer) building in which to run his recording studio. And now on to why Why?'s schedule is so busy, reason #2 - the tour.

"Playing shows would be my favorite part of touring," Wolf says, "that, and sampling the vegan cuisine across our "fare" nation. And we are going to Australia and New Zealand this winter after all of the U.S. shows," he continues, "it will be summer there - that fact is awesome and incredible. I have never experienced the summer in the winter. Other than band activities, I will go to movies and drink hot cocoa."

Why? will be sharing their many stages with a plethora of opening acts - Serengeti and Polyphonic, Dark Dark Dark, AU, Mount Eerie, and The Moore Brothers, just to name a few.

"The selection of these bands was a collaboration," Wolf explains, "a group effort by Shaun Koplow, who runs Anticon; Erik Carter, our booking agent; Daniel Gill, one of our publicists; and myself. I'm sure some other folks helped too. It's a group effort."

Americana-Celtic duo Switchback have been doing the DIY band thing from their earliest beginnings 23 years ago in Illinois. Mandolin student Brian FitzGerald - the "elder statesman" of the band, as he'd already been on the road touring - met Marty McCormack, a voice student at the American Conservatory of Chicago (and a member of Star Search band Beyond Blue) through fortuitous circumstances. They were both chosen by legendary master composer Terrence Teahan to join his traditional Irish music group.

It was via Teahan that both musicians learned the old-country techniques of Irish music - and it would be those sounds that would later infuse into their Americana-folk-rock sound when they became a duo in 1993, setting Switchback apart from the pack. "We knew that we wished to make music a full-time venture," Marty McCormack says.
 
They also began their career totally DIY, without working in a "real" recording studio or having proper management; instead, they simply focused and did everything on their own.

"We started out as grass roots as you could get, recording and making cassettes at Brian's apartment," McCormack says, "we'd sell them at shows for $5," In keeping with their Irish musical training, they kept McCormack's bass sound more percussive in tone, and had FitzGerald craft a style on the mandolin and guitar in which he'd carry both the melody line and chords while the duo sang over the mix.

"We are both able to sing and harmonize with each other easily; so the result is very much a full band sound," McCormack continues, "that doesn't mean that we don't enjoy having other musicians play with us, though; when we do bring together our full band, it's an extremely rich sounding experience."

One of those collaborators would soon be Lloyd Maines - both father to Dixie Chicks singer Natalie Maines and an acclaimed multi-instrumentalist and producer in his own right. ("Our first brush with greatness was Maines," FitzGerald says.) Maines tapped Switchback for a studio project, and helped them learn how to add more elements to their music. "I think our latest album is more radio ready album than our previous albums," FitzGerald says.

McCormack and FitzGerald both say that they're "always" working on new recordings, their latest being their Ghosts of the River Folk album that is in-stores this month.

"When we started work on Ghosts, we cut about 22 tracks and decided to move some of them to our next album called Kanoka which we intend to bring Lloyd in on," McCormack explains, "we also have several live albums of concerts we have given in Ireland, Holland and Canada that we are planning to release as well."

In addition to all of this album work, Switchback is stacking up a pretty good list of honors too, from opening spots for Leon Russell and the Moody Blues, to the poignant inclusion of their song, "The Death of William Henry," in a portion of the Illinois Lincoln Highway's 2009 bicentennial birthday celebration of Abraham Lincoln.

"That song is from our last album," McCormack explains, "and it's a song-cycle that centers around a soldier who goes to war, is killed and returned to his family. The emotions of Henry, his wife, his comrades, his community are of course what we were examining, putting a face to the countless people who have died not only in Iraq and Afghanistan, but in all wars. The melody itself is Midwestern folk, with a bit of a bluegrass feel to it; we wanted to create musically the moment of William Henry's death and so, wrote this slow waltz that is his daydreaming about dancing with his wife," he continues.

"The title tells you that he is dying at the same time. It was the simplicity that we were after, that a regular man was having thoughts of love at the moment that an act of violence ends his life. That fits well with the Lincoln site, especially when one ponders the suffering that Lincoln went through with sending men off to death; I like the fact that the organizers of the Lincoln event felt that this song would put a face on those men who sacrificed, and ultimately on the leader that reluctantly committed them to battle." 

Switchback are set for another round of touring, too, on which they'll be bringing along their new songs plus their reliable roster of fan favorites, among them "Apple of My Eye," "Bamboozled," and "Connemara Man." But it'll be where you are in the world that'll determine that night's Switchback setlist.

"Different regions bring out a whole another round of songs - if we're playing a Celtic festival in Iowa or a concert in France for example," FitzGerald says, "the Irish and Dutch fans have more of an interest in our Americana sound, while at our Canadian concerts, the fans there seem to delve a bit deeper into some of our other material, which allows us to play material we don't normally play. We always want to keep bringing all our songs to our fans."

UK Producer James Rutledge has been releasing music for a long time - problem is, he was perhaps a little more anonymous than he wanted to be. "I've been releasing different music for a while," Rutledge explains, "some of it didn't get noticed, and some of it did - but nobody realized it was me."

This month, Rutledge is releasing his newest set of tracks under the name Vowels, another persona that you'll want to take note of so you don't miss any of these innovative tunes. Rutledge's - er, sorry - Vowels' album Pattern Prism is set to hit U.S. stores on September 22nd, and further expands the producer's interest in Krautrock, of which he says the likes of Silver Apples and Black Dice are among those who inspire him the most.

I first got interested in Krautrock when I was living near Manchester ages ago," Rutledge says, "I'd been into obvious modern bands like Tortoise at University and that swept into Kraut. Plus, this guy Andy Votel used to tell me what to listen to," he laughs.

Another guy teams up with Rutledge on this new Vowels project, too - pal Chris Walmsley, who plays the drums on the tracks.

"Chris and I recorded drums in a few project studios really quickly," Rutledge explains, "then built the rest at home on old synths, pedals, and more - then we stuck it all together. Some of the tracks were built from improvising - it was actually done on really basic equipment. We used some shocking mics for some of the drums."

Fans of Rutledge who didn't know they were fans of Rutledge - say, under one of his other previous personas, Pedro, a post-electronica/folktronica project Rutledge embarked upon with collaborator David Cooper - might be surprised to find that the Vowels project isn't the usual chill ambient noise of past efforts.

"The Vowels tracks are much more heavy and freewheeling," Rutledge says, "especially live. People seem to namecheck much cooler bands when describing this stuff. I suppose it reflects a lot of the music I've been listening to since doing Pedro music - a much wider range."

Rutledge will be keeping busy this fall and winter with Vowels, and a whole lot more. "Loads of things," he laughs," More of my own music. I'm trying to finish this really minimal album at the moment. And producing. I have lots of remixes to do and need to find the time to do them."

"When I started doing this, it was just a bedroom-recording project. I didn't want to play under my own name for a few reasons, mostly because I didn't want to sound like Johnny Singer-Songwriter," explains, er, singer-songwriter Michael Orendy, aka Frankel. "I tend to prefer names that are more elusive," Frankel continues, "even if they're single-person operations, like Sparklehorse or The Microphones. Unless, of course, your birth certificate contains an amazing name like Yellington J. Crazypants."  

The name Frankel itself has an equally amusing origin, being as that "Frankel" was the name of an "enormous" retainer that he had to wear in grade school. "A lot of people I know actually call me Frankel, so any alter-ego strategy has clearly backfired," he chuckles.

Frankel's new album, Anonymity is the New Fame, was a mostly DIY effort. "The majority of it was recorded at my home studio and I alone produced it," he says, "while recording this album, I was thinking of it as almost anti-production. It's mostly vocals, acoustic guitar, piano, drums and bass. I suppose there's still plenty of production involved, but I tried to keep it simple."

Mostly simple - except for a couple of friends that he called in to do a little collaborating. "I did some recording at Rob Campanella's studio, The Committee to Keep Music Evil. That's where Kevin Stevens played all the drum parts. He recorded those takes in 2 days, which is unheard of. It's always a great time making music over there. Not to mention the Lava lamps and endless back issues of Mojo."

And, true to form, when asked if he might have any interesting or funny studio stories to share, oh, boy, does he: "Well, they were mostly solo recording sessions with me hitting the record button and running into the bathroom to do a vocal track," he says, "but sometimes I would slip on a banana peel or step on an upside down rake in the process."

Hm. Smarty-pants. Perhaps Frankel's new set should've been called Anonymity is the New Clown School.   

He does know when to tone down that wonderfully entertaining wit and get to business, though, as proven by this record. His new songs are more restrained than previous efforts, but still retain that Frankel drollness. The title track begins with a repetitive piano riff and features Frankel's hushed, measured vocal, while "Faux Science" is all strummy guitars folded into piano with a little hi-hat and Sean Lennon reverb; "Weather Balloon" offers a wonderfully chill feel that befits its floating lyrics. Some of the piano work was from an antique instrument that Frankel loved working with.

"I did an afternoon of recording at a studio in Echo Park called Grandma's Warehouse," he says, "which was to get my greedy mitts on their early 1900s grand piano. It's the most thunderous piano I've ever heard, and I was determined to use it for this record."

And in spite of his predilection for loud pianos and zany instruments, he tried a new approach on this latest set - well, to the best of his experimental ability.

"Sonically, this album seems very different from my last album (Lullaby for the Passerby.) In short, I think this new record is relatively stripped down and quiet," he explains, "sometimes it's just a track of acoustic guitar and a vocal. I couldn't imagine something that exposed on the Lullaby album, which is more of a sound collage. When I was recording Lullaby, I was throwing everything but the kitchen sink into those songs; circuit-bent keyboards, theramins, twirly whirlies, contact mics, stylophone, lo-fi loops, and more. I was proud of it when I was done, but also felt like the songwriting was hiding behind all those layers."

"I was determined to make the next one (what became Anonymity) sound more like a quiet 70s solo album," he continues, "I was definitely keeping in mind the sensibilities of Nilsson and early Lennon and McCartney solo records. That said, I still couldn't stop myself from adding a few layers and odd noises."

Interestingly, in spite of Frankel's effusive personality, he's somehow managed in today's fast-paced, "I want it now" music scene to conduct his music career mostly on his own terms, staying under the radar except for the music itself, and rarely playing live shows. It's a much more low-maintenance approach than most indie musicians' careers - so how does he do it?

"Honestly, I'm not sure how or why that has worked out like it has," he ponders, "I thought for sure that nobody would pay any attention to my music without playing the usual local shows and touring. I always think that I'm totally blowing it by not being out and about, having a Facebook page or Twittering until my thumbs are numb."

But that said - he might surface at a live show some time near you, given his enthusiasm for this new set of songs. Just make sure you're ready to take a break from your Mozzarella Sticks and color-in placemats. 

"I probably will sneak a show or two in," Frankel says, "maybe at a Chuck E. Cheese. when the mechanical band breaks down. It seems like there's more pressure now than ever after such a long time without performing. I'll finally start playing some shows again, and people will say, "that was supposed to be worth the wait? He didn't even have an elaborate cable system to suspend him over the stage. There were no pyrotechnics or inflatable pigs."

Signal Hill are four regular guys with no words to speak – they have no need for a singer, that is.

The 12 songs on the post-rock instrumentalists’ recent full-length More After We’re Gone owe a lot to 90s emo bands like Mineral, Christie Front Drive and Clarity-era Jimmy Eat World, and would make solid converts out of fans of The Album Leaf, Death Cab For Cutie, or Explosions In The Sky – the most overt musical link. 

An avid hip-hop listener during his formative years in Arizona, guitarist Dave Masters’ friends turned him on to Mineral’s first record, Power Of Failing, a musical discovery he claims literally changed his life. 

“I had all these buddies in high school, and they were like, you missed the best show ever – Mineral played!  And I was like, who’s this Mineral band?” he says.  “They made me a copy on a cassette, and it was the greatest thing ever.  Then I started getting into bands like Tristeza and Tortoise, and I was like whoa, this is what I need to do, just beautiful music that’s not getting ruined by some guy who can’t sing.  I kind of knew in my mind that was the type of music I really wanted to play, unless I could find a singer who was just amazing.”

Masters’ enthusiastic love for instrumental music is what set him and his bandmates – guitarist Rishi Arora, bassist Brian Vasallo and drummer Tim Cooper -- down the path of epic, sweeping, and often intense compositions.  Although all 4 members grew up in different cities, Cooper and Masters met in LA, while at the same time Arora and Vasallo were writing songs in San Diego.   3 Craigslist ads and an M83 concert later, Arora was listening to Masters’ solo songs under the moniker Elegant Elephant.

“I listened to Dave’s stuff, which was just very peaceful, beautiful guitar melodies,” Arora says.  “Everything that I dreamed of playing and wanted to create.  This type of music is so nuanced and specific, it’s really hard to find other people that get stoked on the same kind of stuff.”

A shared interest in Tristeza, The Mercury Program, and Death Cab For Cutie’s We Have The Facts And We’re Voting Yes helped cement the songwriting partnership between the two guitarists, and after everyone but Masters tried their hand at lead vocals, the band agreed to “kill the vocals and just write songs.” 

“I think it’s more for the sake of the song,” Arora explains.  “The songs that we’ve written, in my opinion they’re beautiful as is.  If someone says hey, I know this cool singer, I’m willing to check it out.  But so far the music we’ve been writing doesn’t really necessitate a lead vocal.”

Not having a lead singer makes for a niche audience who “get” what the band is trying to accomplish and can appreciate it.   

“When you’re in a band with vocals, people interpret what those lyrics mean.  But when you’re in an instrumental band, what the song is about is completely different for every person,” says Masters.  “I can say that every song we play, I can go like, this reminds me of this, or this puts me back in this spot.”  

And it made the band’s early shows a whirlwind of sound techs and club employees baffled at the idea of an instrumental outfit, so that now they stick to a circuit of small local venues when trying to put together a show. 

“I think people sort of know what they’re getting into when they come to our shows.  But when we play to people that don’t know anything about us, they’re like, where’s your singer??  Oh my god, this is boring,” Masters laughs.

“Being onstage is always a little strange,” adds Arora.  “No one is looking at the singer, because there is no singer.  It’s like, do I look at my shoes?  Do I look at the ceiling fan?  So I just kind of close my eyes and let it take me over.”

A Signal Hill song literally sounds like a group of musicians went into a room, picked up their respective instruments and started to jam with no end in sight.  Most songs start out with one or a handful of guitar riffs, and then the rest of the band adds on. 

“The dynamic changes when you take it from just 2 guitars, to 2 guitars, bass and drums,” says Arora.  “The songs are definitely formed with the 4 of us in the practice space.”

The music is hypnotic and repetitive – the perfect companion for long drives or a quiet morning of forgetting your surroundings – and built in steady layers, each melody building on the last until the song grows and seems to radiate outward. 

One of the best Signal Hill songs, “California Is Too Long,” (from the 2007 self-titled EP), works like a story in 4 parts.  The first minutes rely on intertwined and understated clean guitar riffs, then a second section (subconsciously lifted from the Twin Peaks theme) raises the tension before a brief sound byte of two men talking in a busy train station (during our interview, Masters reveals that contrary to popular belief, the byte is actually Cooper and Arora reading from a pre-edited, original script).  The final minute of the song is a rush towards the finish line, it’s relieving and hopeful at the same time, the sonic equivalent to that final scene of a love story where boy reunites with girl and hopes for one last shot. 

Fortunately, for a band whose sound could very easily err on the side of too much jam and not enough meat, they shy very far away from improvisation.  Once the song is recorded, its form and length is pretty much set in stone. 

“Ever since we’ve started writing, the songs have been so methodical, like this part this number of times,” says Arora.  “It’s completely natural when you’re writing a song, and you get to a point where you feel like it ends.  With a 7-minute song, I guess none of the parts in the middle fit as an ending.” 

Just a few months after releasing More After We’re Gone, the foursome is gearing up for hiatus while Arora heads off to study digital media design at the University of Edinburgh.  In the remaining time before his departure, the guys are planning a small stint in Northern California, and heading back into the studio to record a split 7” with their friends Beware Of Safety.

“We’re gonna take a step back and just think more about the songs,” says Masters.  “We get to the point where we start writing a lot; right now we have 5 songs that are halfway done that we’ve put to the side.”

And once the band is back in session, they’ll have plenty of new stories to tell.

“There’s a ton of room for people’s own perceptions of the tunes.  There’s no barrier of words, where people are trying to fit [the songs] to their personal story,” says Masters.  “Our songs bring me to places of both comfort and fear, and hopefully people are able to connect to them and go wherever it takes them.”

Those of you who haven't been living in a music-deprived cave somewhere will likely have first been introduced to singer-songwriter Lisa Loeb's music through her involvement with the mid-'90s movie Reality Bites, to which she contributed the now radio-standard song "Stay (I Missed You)" thanks to a little push from her NYC pal (and Reality Bites star) actor Ethan Hawke. "Stay..." also put Loeb into the distinction of being the only single to chart at number one from an artist not signed to a recording contract.

Since that auspicious beginning, Loeb has parlayed her quirky, melodic voice and skills for smart songwriting into a long alt-pop career that's included follow-up albums Tails, Firecracker, and Hello Lisa - plus the legendary Purple Tape, a cassette-only collection of simple, acoustic recordings of older Loeb songs. The Purple Tape made the unofficial rounds among Loeb's followers over the years, but never really had a proper release; now, it's available as a double-disc CD, complete with insightful audio interviews about Loeb's early days as a musician on the NYC singer-songwriter scene.

"We'd been talking about releasing the Purple Tape as a CD for a long time, so I'm happy we were finally able to make that happen," Loeb says, "songwriters and long-time fans like listening to the explanations of how the songs were written; folks also talk about the photos and extensive liner notes in the CD artwork."

Now that the Purple Tape has finally had its moment in the spotlight, Loeb's next focus is... to send you to camp. It doesn't matter if you're not twelve years old, or if you live in the middle of a big city - Loeb's new album, Camp Lisa, will take anyone who's ever gone to camp right back to those bucolic, insect-repellent-scented days.

Loeb says that her own childhood camp experiences included "skits at night, water skiing, and jumping on this big water pillow that we called The Blob." Now that she's all grown up, her favorite summer activities include slightly more mature pursuits such as swimming-in-Texas, fireworks, road trips, and outdoor concerts - but her favorite camp songs are still the classics "Love is a Rose," "Grandma's in the Cellar," and "Peanut Butter and Jelly," all of which can be found in modern - dare we say 'campy' - versions on Loeb's newest album, Camp Lisa, a great way to end your summer 2009 and transition into fall.

"Camp Lisa is a collection of traditional and original camp songs inspired by summer camp, although they can be listened to all year round," Loeb explains, "there are a variety of songs ranging from songs you'd sing around the campfire to upbeat songs inspired by real camp experiences, and gross-out songs, too," she laughs.

Recorded in Dan Petty's studio in Los Angeles, Loeb co-produced the set with Petty and Michelle Lewis, and says she had a great time in the studio bringing in a wealth of musical friends in to play and sing on the album. "Some of the friends we picked to work on the album were chosen based on the special instruments that they could play, like Steve Martin playing banjo, Lee Sklar playing bass, and Jay Bellarose playing drums," Loeb says, "we also picked friends we simply wanted to work with, like Nina Gordon, Maia Sharp, and Dave Gibbs."

Loeb's been surrounded by a plethora of friends new and old lately, both in and out of the recording studio. Athough the distinctive musician - and her ever-present stylish eyeglasses - will probably always be associated with the New York City scene, she's now adjusting to a new life in Los Angeles with her new husband, Conan O'Brien music supervisor Roey Hershkovitz. She's also keeping her schedule filled with a variety of projects, which she says will soon include more new music as well as the live shows that her fans have been asking for.

"I do have a couple of albums in the works, but I'm juggling a lot of other projects right now, some of which are non-album related," Loeb explains, "I've been working on a line of eyeglasses, and a series of books that include lots of songs, also written with Dan Petty and Michelle Lewis, as well as activities and recipes. On my honeymoon, we learned about Italian cooking, so I'm continuing to find more projects that are food-related!" she enthuses.

Loeb's food-related, musical, and other projects can all be read about on her official Twitter account, @lisaloeb4real. "I don't have a lot of touring lined up at the moment, since I'm getting settled into L.A.," Loeb explains, "but I'm sure that once my other projects are completed, I'll be keeping busy performing both old and new songs, and touring a lot more."

"I'm not sure how much of our rhythm translates to our feet," Wild Beasts' bass player Tom Fleming says, "though I think Benny, our guitarist, is a natural mover. Chris, our drummer, has a little classical dance training, Hayden likes techno and trance, and I'm a slow, slow hip-hop man."

Perhaps one shouldn't take Wild Beasts' new album title, Two Dancers, quite so literally then. With its theme of "love and of taking responsibility for your actions," the new set, Fleming says, is about what love will do to you, the "dancers" metaphor being more, then, of an indication of the boy and girl that make up a romantic couple.

"It's about how nobody is an island, and the possibility of being stronger for having to go through difficult things," Fleming confirms.

The band recorded the new set on something of an island - "in the middle of winter, in the middle of nowhere in Norfolk, UK," Fleming says, with Richard Formby assisting on production duties. So it's no wonder that frontman Hayden Thorpe quickly decamped to Italy with his girlfriend soon after the recording had wrapped. The band itself is based in Leeds, England, which Fleming says is half rough-hewn rust belt town, and half youthful liberal arts town.

"There are bands sui generis (each with an original sound all their own), so there is no real "Leeds sound,"" he explains, "but there are a lot of like minds."

And speaking of the aforementioned Thorpe, his distinctive, high-pitched falsetto singing voice is a big part of Wild Beasts' sound - "intrinsic to what we do," as Fleming puts it. "He has cultivated that voice to an extent," Fleming continues, "but it is both the way he hears melody, and the way he is most natural singing. He has said that he wants to say ugly, macho things in a beautiful way."

Thorpe, Fleming, and the rest of the band - Ben Little on guitar and Chris Talbot on drums and vocals - will be taking their beautiful and unusual sounds to New York City this month, and then it's on to the U.K. for a series of tour dates.

"We've also got some stuff in Europe, and another overseas-only single ("All the King's Men") in October," Fleming says, "so we're going to try and look as many people in the eye as possible and ask them to decide whether they're coming with us - or not."

It was the summer of 1994 when the founding members of the U.K. indie band Green Is For Go met in school. Richard Blyth was on guitar duties while now-bass player Glenn Harvey tackled the drums - "we would try and jam out some covers of Nirvana or Hendrix. It was pretty awful, to be honest," Harvey chuckles. Blyth met singer and guitarist Paul Andrews at university a year later, and that's when the band really started to gel, writing their own original material and playing some "low-key gigs," as Harvey calls them.

"Over the years we have had several band names, and members," Harvey explains, "after a short break in which Paul scratched his travel itch, we arrived at the current line up at the end of 2007."

All of the current bandmates are from the East London area, the stomping ground of fellow indie-rockers like The Rakes and Bloc Party. The core of Green Is For Go is rounded out by Paul Hayward on drums and vocals and Dean Hayes on keyboards and vocals; sometimes the band even throws in a string section, a couple of "real musician" pals, as the band calls them (Mandy Jodkavelli on violin and Sarah Blyth on cello), for shows. "Our beginnings were at the height of the '90s U.K. Britpop scene, so we did our best to emulate bands like Kula Shaker, Ocean Colour Scene and Paul Weller," Harvey says. But surprisingly, it's bands from the Great White North that are currently influencing Green Is For Go's sound.

"Paul A. and Paul H. are the main vocal melody writers, and are both really into the current Canadian music scene," Harvey says, "bands like Broken Social Scene, Death Cab for Cutie, and The Most Serene Republic. We all have great respect for artists like Nick Drake, Neil Young, and Crosby Stills and Nash too, which I think comes across in a lot of our music. On the flip side, we also have quite a prominent electro/synth element running through many of our songs courtesy of Dean, which when combined with the orchestral-esque string arrangements, makes for a pretty mixed bag - it's quite a tough sound to pigeonhole."

As far as lyrics go, Paul Andrews describes the band's lyrics as "deriving from everyday happenings, from day-to-day observations to world events, but generally quite abstract; they do seem to be often fear-related, and a lot about money... or the lack of it." No surprise there, given both the economy and every band's initial start-up status.

Luckily for fans, Green Is For Go managed to scrape up enough funds to record their debut album with U.S. producer/engineer Tristan Warren, and have already preceded it with their debut single, "Sharks," which is out now in the U.K. and is just about ready for release in the U.S. iTunes store. Harvey commends Warren for "making whatever we throw at him sound superb," but notes that the producer is - well, until this article, anyway - unaware of the band's ambitious plan to bring in a full brass section for the next single. "Sorry, Tristan!" Harvey says jokingly.

"We're recording in a studio complex called The Premises in the heart of East London," Harvey continues, "it's quite an unassuming building from the outside, but as soon as you step through the door and look at the 'who's here?' board that tells you who is recording or rehearsing in each studio, it really is like looking at a Who's Who of the U.K. music scene. Last time we were in we had Gomez, Arctic Monkeys, the Klaxons, and Marianne Faithfull in the studios along from ours. It's a pretty buzzing place... although the 'communal toilet' is best avoided," he laughs.

Once Green Is For Go wrap up a short run of gigs promoting the new single and make a stop at the Mikefest Indie Music Festival, they'll be heading back into the studio for the next few months to complete work on the new album, which Harvey says they are keeping as close to their live sound as possible.

"Too many bands nowadays sound a bit too polished and yet flat on their albums," he explains, "it's almost too clinical-sounding with a ton of gates, compressors, and whatever else poured all over the music. As far as the instruments are concerned, we try and mic up amps where possible to get the character of the sound to come through - even if that means a little bit of hiss and crackle. It all adds to the ambience. We also decided that the feel of the recording was far more important than it being technically perfect - again to try and capture the energy of the live performance - so the more astute listener may hear a few bum notes in the mix." 

Keeping that energy alive via even more live shows is part of the rest of their plan for next year, once the album work is over. Harvey says they've even already got their tour's packing list partially planned - "we'll need a map, since there have been countless times we've got lost trying to find a venue, and not had a map to hand. A mobile phone, to ring the venue and explain we're lost and are going to be late. And an iPod, to drown out the sound of swearing when we get lost." But no worries, Green Is For Go fans - you'll get plenty of chances to see the band perform... even if they're a tad tardy.

"We are currently organizing a festival tour for next summer," Harvey says, "there are plenty to choose from over here in the U.K. - of course we would love to play in America, too. If we did make it over to the US, I think the main attraction would be the open road - miles and miles of highways without a soul to be seen - just driving! It's something you just can't do over here. Well, not without driving off the end anyway."

Musician and painter Ben Knox Miller heads up the trio of multi-instrumentalists that make up folk-rock band The Low Anthem. Miller took the reins again on the band's latest release, Oh My God, Charlie Darwin, which is chock-full of historical references and Americana instruments like banjo and harmonium.

Now kicking off a tour with Blind Pilot that will run through mid-November, we talked with Miller about the band's studio sessions, their new admirer Elvis Costello, and their gradual tip-toe towards Amsterdam.

Ben, who was on production duties with you for your latest album, Oh My God, Charlie Darwin?

Our co-producer was a friend, Jesse Lauter. He has great ears, worked hard, and was very helpful.

Do you prefer to record right in your home territory, as opposed to traveling to other studios?

No - we could record anywhere. It was great for me to record in Block Island, though, as it's a place that's been close to my heart always; a place where I've gone all my life to get away from noise and hustle.

How did the sessions go? Anything particularly interesting or challenging for you guys?

The sessions were brutal, painstaking, emotional and exhausting. We did over 100 takes of "Charlie Darwin." The song waffled between countless genres and attitudes before it found it's quiet home in the upper register. The main tracking room was in the basement, and the drum isolation room was a liquor closet... it's no wonder some of the time was so loose!

Do you feel that the new album has a kind of theme, or common thread?

I'm notoriously awful at answering this sort of question. It's dangerous. You try to talk about the meanings behind this and that and they just slip away before your eyes. The magic of the thing thrives in abstraction. That said, Darwin is a real earth-shaker, and yes, an important recurring theme. 

I understand Elvis Costello is already a fan?

Yes, that was a wild thing to hear. We've never met, but I've spent a lot of time with his records. I don't know how he heard the record, but I think it's pretty rad that he's still out there looking for new music.

How are you enjoying touring so far?

The tour has been a trip. We went out with Joe Pug and Langhorne Slim. (The Low Anthem's tour dates with Blind Pilot begin October 9th in Astoria, Oregon.) A couple of excellent festivals on this run included the Newport Folk and Philly Folk fest.

What are you most looking forward to about your European dates?

Well, the overseas touring has a whole different feel to it, with its pluses and minuses; but Amsterdam has become about our favorite city in the world. We've loved our time there. We're thinking of doing our next record in Amsterdam.

And I understand that when you're not busy on the road, you collect and fix antique instruments - can you tell us a little more about that?

Oh yeah, I'm into old instruments. I spent a summer some time back at Block Island, apprenticing with a guitar and boat builder. He taught me all about instrument building and repair. Though I'm a hack, I love woodwork. I'm especially fond of antique pump organs, which have the most beautiful mechanical innards. Such beautiful design. No amount of brains at Korg or Casio will ever make sounds to compare.

"Our music really does not come to life until it's all four of us together," Takaakira "Taka" Goto says about his band Mono. The other three, of course, being Yoda on guitar, Tamaki on bass, and Yasunori Takada on drums, who complete this Japanese post-rock instrumental quartet. Mono's latest album, Hymn to the Immortal Wind, was leaked to the internet a month before its late-March release date, with the album snagging critical and fan acclaim before it was even officially on the shelves. And it was recorded in only five days - a remarkable feat given the set's intricacy.

"The material was written at my home in Tokyo," Goto explains, "this was the first time we had such a long break, so I was lucky to have a year to span it out. I compose the music at home, and then we meet on a regular basis to see how it sounds together as the four of us."

Recorded at Steve Albini's Electrical Audio Studio in Chicago, taut reins were kept on the tracking process for Hymn to the Immortal Wind, both to keep the band on time and to accommodate a few extra players in their sessions. "We're always kind of on a set schedule, since we travel from overseas," Goto says, "but luckily, the recording session was on schedule too. This was the first time we recorded with a real live 20-piece orchestra, so it was a very new and interesting experience for us; the recording process felt more collaborative, as we were able to communicate with so many set players and a conductor."

Goto explains that he was "pretty nervous" about how the score he wrote would sound with a live orchestra, simply because it was unknown territory for the band as a whole. "But after hearing the first take, we were so excited because it sounded just as we'd envisioned," he enthuses.

"We've always been heavily influenced by classical music, so it was a wonderful experience to do this - and surprisingly very smooth!" he continues, "the chamber orchestra was an amalgam of individual players, accompanied by the conductors Dave Max Crawford and Paul Von Mertens. We didn't encounter many problems at all because everyone was so supportive of the album."

Mono's latest isn't that different from their first release, 2001's Under the Pipal Tree, as far as their approach to music, and it's a formula they perfected early on; piano and strings are the fifth and sixth unnamed 'players' in the band, accompanying Mono's atypical and innovative all-instrumental take on the usual guitar-bass-drums sound.

The experienced quartet can translate this sound live just as well as they can on record, whether they enlist a little extra musical help, or not. "We played our two recent 10th Anniversary Shows in New York with Jeff Milarsky and the Wordless Music Orchestra," Goto says, "it was amazing to have that opportunity, and of course we'd like to do something like it again in the future. However, I wrote these songs so that we could still perform them just as the four of us live, so we will not be bringing any orchestral musicians on this tour."

That tour will see Mono making stops this fall in Washington DC (9/26), Philly (9/27), Brooklyn NY (9/29), Toronto (10/2), Chicago (10/4), and Portland (10/10) among other places - and they positively can't wait to hop on that tour bus.  

"We love touring in the U.S.," Goto raves, "the crowds are so enthusiastic and unafraid to show their emotion.  We're looking forward to meeting them all again. There is an interchanging of energies when we play live that is really uplifting and encouraging - this is why we love to play live so much." 

 

Orpheum Bell's lineup is perhaps one of the most multifarious you might ever see in a popular-music band. Aaron Klein sings and plays banjo, ukeleles, tenor and regulation guitars; Annie Crawford sings and plays violins; Laurel Premo sings and plays banjo, dobro, cittern, and violin; Merrill Hodnefield sings and plays violin, autoharp, and saw; Michael Billmire plays accordian, trumpet, shepherd harp, and mandolin; and Serge van der Voo plays double bass and percussion.

Not ones to just pop into the garage and crank out a few three-chord jams, Orpheum Bell approach their music with a more intellectual and diverse method, and all of these multi-instrumentalists are a core part of crafting that sound.

"We rely on that breadth in our band lineup to develop a vocabulary that works for our songs and propels the music," explains Serge van der Voo.

Van der Voo and Aaron Klein did some musical work together in Chicago, and continued their collaboration when they both moved back to Ann Arbor, Michigan, where the band is now based. "We began collaborating on songs and ideas which eventually led to forming Orpheum Bell a few years back," van der Voo says, "we've played all types of venues; bars, cafes, theaters, lofts, barns, cellars."

Orpheum Bell basically means "theater bell," and their music certainly has a theatrical element to it. Their sound is self-described as 'Country and Eastern,' melding the performers' top-notch musicianship with complex lyrics and intricate arrangements; the songs somehow manage to both harken back to an earlier time (which the band echoes on their beautifully-designed packaging) and evoke a sound that's so new it's difficult to categorize it at all.

"Aaron is the primary lyricist and songwriter," van der Voo explains, "he collaborates with the rest of the band as the songs are being written. Having multi-instrumentalists in the group allows us to experiment with various forms of instrumentation and musical expression, and to try new things as we go."

Orpheum Bell's debut album, Pretty As You, was released in 2007, and the band just wrapped work tracking a brand-new CD with co-producer/mixer Jim Roll. "Our new album, Pearls, will be released this winter," van der Voo confirms, "The 'Hard Money Suite,' a connected three-song narrative on the new album, especially pushed some musical boundaries for us. Finishing our new album is a big effort, too, as we're self-printing the artwork on an old cylinder letterpress using copper plates, power driven ink, and recycled paper. We'll roll the album out in December 2009 at a live show, and bring in a few musical guests to help us make a big night out of the whole thing."

The band's unique dress sense will be making an appearance during their tour dates, as well; their legendary clothing selections for their live shows verges on costume, and is the perfect visual foil for the band's sound. "We like to look (and sound) our best with an appreciation for our current situation, and for what was done well in the past," van der Voo says, "I think Paul Simonon of The Clash said it well: "You can't have the audience dressing better than the band.""