Tag: indie rock

City and Colour | Coachella | 4/12/14 (PHOTOS)

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Though I hated having to leave CHVRCHES‘ set early, there was another band taking the Main Stage that I didn’t want to miss: City and Colour.  City and Colour is the acoustic/folk stage name of Canadian singer-songwriter Dallas Green, who previously was the lead guitarist and vocalist of the post-hardcore band Alexisonfire. As an aside, did you know that the name City and Colour is derived from Dallas (City) Green’s (Colour) name?

Truth be told, I wasn’t all too familiar with City and Colour’s discography, but having done a bit of research before attending the festival, I discovered that he had released 4 studio albums, 3 of which landing in the top 3 (two hitting number 1) of the Canadian Albums Chart, with his latest 2013 effort, “The Hurry and the Harm“, peaking at number 16 on the Billboard 200.

The music’s gentle grace swept over the crowd that had gathered for his set, and was given a much needed reprieve from the craziness of the past 24 Coachella hours. Truthfully, it was a the perfect set, at the perfect time. It reminded me of the time I saw Andrew Bird’s midday Coachella set in 2012; how the music enveloped me really put my mind at ease.

Dallas Green heads back up to Canada for a series of performance, but I recommend checking out City and Colour when he stops by in your town. Well worth it.

 

City and Colour Setlist Coachella Festival 2014 2014

 

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CHVRCHES | Coachella | 4/12/14 (PHOTOS)

Chvrches, a trio from Scotland, is band that got a lot of praise from critics in 2013, and its easy to hear why. They debut album, “The Bones of What You Believe”, is an album that is sonically precise, bringing back to life the late 80s, synth pop sounds of Depeche Mode and Erasure, and the lead vocalist, Lauren Mayberry, is … well … cute as a button with an equally cute voice.

As their set was during the middle of the day, I didn’t get to experience the light show that usually accompanies their live performance that I’ve heard so much about, but it really didn’t matter. The music carried their set and I enjoyed the half hour that I was able to watch.

Lauren Mayberry was easy to photograph. Her natural beauty makes it easy for the camera to find a shot, no matter the angle. Ironically enough, my favorite two shots of her are the ones that some, perhaps, may not think are the prettiest. Rather, one is a close up shot of her squinting in the sun, reaching for notes a song (above), and another is a close up candid of her on stage when she stepped  away from the mic and the wind caught her hair as she caught her breath. What do you think?

 

CHVRCHES Setlist Coachella Festival 2014 2014

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White Lies | Coachella | 4/12/14 (PHOTOS)

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When I googled “White Lies” to check out some of the music videos they had out, I was immediately drawn to their sound. “There Goes Our Love Again” and  “Bigger Than Us” were the first two videos I found, and I quickly put a check mark next to their name to remind me that they were a band that I needed to see perform live at Coachella.

I got to the photo pit in the tent they were performing about 15 minutes before their set was to start, but they had fans already waiting at the railing; several wearing White Lies t-shirts. Though some critics may not fully appreciate their music, it was obvious to me that their fans thought otherwise. Personally, I liked their music. Though they may not be breaking any new barriers with their musical style, what they have recorded and released is something darkly lush and rings familiar … at least to me.

I’m glad I had the opportunity to catch them at the festival. Hopefully, they’ll come through Los Angeles in the future for a club gig. I’d pay to see that.

White Lies Setlist Coachella Festival 2014 2014

 

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Drowners | Coachella | 4/12/14 (PHOTOS)

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The Drowners are a post-punk band from New York City whose music, critics write, is heavily influenced by the Smiths, the Strokes and the Arctic Monkeys. Since I like the Smiths, the Strokes and the Arctic Monkeys, I decided to check out their set at Coachella.

I enjoyed the music in their set as it was catchy and upbeat, and I can imagine them doing well picking up fans through steady touring/gigging. They’ve opened for bands like Arctic Monkeys, The Vaccines and Foals, so I have the feeling that they have a good idea of what they are doing.

I had a bit of a battle with the lighting for their stage show, and I didn’t feel like I was able to capture many clean pics to share, but check ’em out and let me know what you think!

I wasn’t able to find their setlist online, so if any of you Drowners fans know what it was, please let me know in the comments so I can add it to the body of the entry!

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Woodkid | Coachella | 4/11/14 (PHOTOS)

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When I go through a lineup to decide which bands I want to check out, I make sure that I at least watch a video or two on youtube of the act’s music. When I googled Woodkid, I found some videos that immediately caught my attention. The videos were visually stimulating, sharp and stark, mostly in black in white, but what kept my attention was the music. Heavy instrumentals and booming drums, with a contrasting voice that was smooth and subtle.

Woodkid’s stage production, like his music videos, had the black/white effect. All of the players in the band were wearing black, with gothic images projecting on the screen behind him, and the bright white light that shone down on him not only gave me the opportunity to snap some pretty decent photos, but also gave the performance a highly dramatic effect.

Woodkid’s performance was the surprise of my Friday. I’d keep my eye out on Woodkid and his music. With the right type of exposure, I can imagine him doing big things state-side.

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Broken Bells | Coachella | 4/11/14 (PHOTOS)

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Brian Burton p/k/a Danger Mouse caught my attention back in 2004 when he released “The Grey Album” which combined Jay-Z’s vocal performances from “The Black Album” with instrumentals from the Beatles’ “White Album”.  That project blew my mind, and I’ve been following his musical output since (Gnarles Barkley with Cee Lo Green, his work on the Gorrillaz album “Demon Days”, etc). James Mercer is the founder and lead singer-sonwriter of the indie rock group The Shins and I’m proud to say that I have most of their albums.

When they joined forces back in 2009 to form the side project Broken Bells, it immediately caught my attention. When they were announced as an act at Coachella, I made a point of it to circle it on my schedule as a band I couldn’t miss.

The set design was simple with Danger Mouse on one side of the stage and James Mercer on the other. I was relegated to the side of the stage James Mercer was on while taking pictures, so I couldn’t get a great shot of Danger Mouse. Behind them a video screen played simple designs becoming their musical tone. It was a great, soothing set, and if they ever tour Los Angeles in the future, I’d hope that they play a venue like the Hollywood Bowl or The Greek. Whatever the venue, however, I’ll be sure to buy myself a ticket.

 

Broken Bells Setlist Coachella Festival 2014 2014

 

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HAIM | Coachella | 4/11/14 (PHOTOS)

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My guilty pleasure? Wholesome pop-rock that sounds like it could have come from the mid to late 80s. That’s why I decided to check out HAIM’s set at Coachella. Having heard a lot about their music, I’ve been wanting to purchase their debut LP “Days Are Gone” for a while now, only to resist the temptation because it seemed like every time I was at the record store, there were girls half my age hanging out by that section of the record rack.

Early technical difficulties aside, their set exhibited a clean, upbeat rock-pop sound. They also spent a good 5 minutes doing what I believe was an impromptu jam which flexed their chops as musicians that could shred with the best of them. That earned my respect.

I was impressed, and I certainly wouldn’t mind catching them perform in a more intimate venue at some point in the future. I guess I’ll just have to suck up my machismo for now, pick up the album the next time I’m out buying records.

HAIM Setlist Coachella Festival 2014 2014, Days Are Gone

Note: Let Me Go was on the setlist, but wasn’t played due to time constraints

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Valerie June | Wiltern Theater | 3/25/14

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One of my favorite albums of 2013 was Valerie June’s “Pushin’ Against A Stone”. Produced by Kevin Agunas and Dan Auerbach (the Black Keys), it was album that caught my ear with its seamless mix of roots, blues and folk sung by a voice that seemed to have decades of earnest life lessons behind it.

Valerie June’s voice is unique. It’s a voice that you can’t confuse with another singer’s voice. She is … for lack of a better comparison … what Erykah Badu is to neo-soul/hip hop music. A voice so raw and sincere, singing music so traditional yet new, I found it hard not to fall in love with it upon my first listen, and have been telling my friends since that hers is a voice that will likely stand the test of time.

It was a week after I purchased tickets to see Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings when I found out that Valerie June was added to open the show … and I was ecstatic. At first, it seemed like an unlikely pairing, but upon retrospect, because both artists’ music styles are essentially modern-day approaches to “classic” styles of music, I figured the promoters knew what they were doing assuming that their audiences would be more knowledgeable and appreciative because of the historical slant to the music.

Valerie’s set was short but sweet. Clocking in at just over 30 minutes, it was charming mix of acoustic and band-backed versions of her songs, mostly coming from her latest release. After it was all said and done, I found myself wanting more. Not only that, but I decided then and there that if she would ever perform in a more intimate venue like the Bootleg Theatre, I would be the first person in line.

As an aside, while waiting in line to get into the venue, I noticed a woman with flowing dreadlocks and large sunglasses walk by me. It was Valerie June and I quickly asked the couple behind me to hold my spot as I caught up to her and asked her to autograph the LP I had packed in m bag. I assured her that I wouldn’t draw any more attention, and as we walked around the corner (she was heading to the artist entrance to get ready for her set), I pulled out the LP and professed my adoration of her “Pushin’ Against A Stone”. Her gorgeous smile made my day.

I also asked about her father, mentioning that my own father had heart surgery several weeks ago as well. Our conversation was brief, but in those few minutes I felt like I connected with her on a human level, which only made me appreciate her performance that much more that evening.

Unfortunately, the Flickr slideshow below is not available on mobile devices. If you are on a mobile device, please click THIS LINK to get redirected to the set of photos. If the slide show below isn’t working, then Flickr has disabled their embed option for WordPress and hasn’t yet updated their HTML code, which totally BLOWS! If you can see the slide show below, hooray!

 

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Forest Swords | The Roxy | 3/18/14

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Opening for How To Dress Well at the Roxy was a music producer from Liverpool, England named Matthew Barnes, know by his stage name, Forest Swords. I hadn’t put two and two together before, but as it turns out he produced How To Dress Well’s 2012 single “Cold Nites”. In digging up a little history of his discography, I discovered that his 2010, debut EP “Dagger Paths” received rave reviews across the board; named FACT Magazine’s #1 album of the year, given 8.4 rating on Pitchfork and called “one of 2010’s finest underground records” by NME. Critics have even compared his musical stylings to current stand-out recording artists like James Blake and Bon Iver. If that isn’t high praise, I don’t know what is.

If you are at all interested in music by Portishead or Massive Attack, you need to hit up his Soundcloud account to get a taste of what he’s all about.  I’ve embedded his track “Miarches” below for you to check out:

Backed only by a bass player, he performed a set of dark, brooding, atmospheric instrumental creations that had the audience mesmerized, caught in a hypnotic dreamscape. I realized that I was hooked to his music as I caught myself humming made-up melodies to his instrumentals. I immediately started wondering why I haven’t heard more of his production for other recording artists.

After the evening’s music ended, I made my way to the merchandise booth to purchase some music. Matthew was there shopping his wares and I made some small talk with him asking him whether he’s produced for others. He indicated that he had taken a break from music for a spell and was just focusing on his own projects for the moment. If I were a betting man, I’d put a few dollars on that changing sooner rather than later.

Unfortunately, the Flickr slideshow below is not available on mobile devices. If you are on a mobile device, please click THIS LINK to get redirected to the set of photos. If the slide show below isn’t working, then Flickr has disabled their embed option for WordPress and hasn’t yet updated their HTML code, which totally BLOWS! If you can see the slide show below, hooray!

 

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Scars on 45 | Hotel Cafe | 2/28/14 (Photos)

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Scars on 45, a band from England, happened to be playing an early set at the Hotel Cafe when I went there to catch another band play. I hadn’t heard of them before, but for an early 8pm set, they definitely had the room packed with their fans.

Currently signed to o Atlantic Records’ Chop Shop Records label, Scars on 45 achieved some success when their single “Heart On Fire” was featured on the season 8 soundtrack to the popular television show , Grey’s Anatomy. They released an album in 2012, which Amazon.com ranked as number 7 out of 50 “Best Albums of 2012”.

They played a solid set and their adult contemporary, pop-rock sound reminded me a bit of Fleetwood Mac. Towards the end of their set, after thanking the appreciative crowd, they recalled a bit of the band’s recent history, finishing with a smile that they were all back where they were when they began, working on music in the same small room they started off in.

I wasn’t able to get any video of them performing, but I’ve included their hit “Heart On Fire” below, and the only photos I could take at the venue with my point and shoot (I should have brought my DSLR!) are of the vocalists of the band (Danny Bemrose and Aimee Driver). Enjoy.

Unfortunately, the Flickr slideshow below is not available on mobile devises. If you are on a mobile device, please click THIS LINK, to get redirected to the set of photos. If the slide show below isn’t working, then Flickr has disabled their embed option for WordPress, which totally BLOWS! If you can see the slide show below, hooray!

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