The Planes are an Indie Rock outfit from the south coast of England, and after successfully releasing their first professional EP, ‘On Demand’, back in January, the lads are now keen on furthering their development as a band. Comprising of identical twins, Chris and Mike Smith, along with Sam Wardle and Ollie Shaw, the band are set to follow up their EP with a string of gigs and new songs to add the their already weighty backlog of material. Since starting out in early 2011, the band have shared the stage with the likes of Dodgy, The Frank and Walters, [...]
For the second time this week, the Red Sox worked diligently to get back into the afternoon showcase, only for the bullpen to throw it all away. The Red Sox now face another rubber match tomorrow, as they try to get their may back on track. Here are the four bases: First Base: Is Junichi Tazawa the guy? Really? He's been pretty good and all, but check this out. Every run except for one that he has given up has come on the long ball. He now has given [...]
Life Model (formed in 2012) are a 5-piece noisepop/shoegaze band from Glasgow, Scotland. The band mixes classic shoegaze influences such as My Bloody Valentine, Slowdive and Curve with alternative bands such as Sonic Youth, Smashing Pumpkins and The Pixies. The band’s current line-up consists of Sophie Evans (vocals), Chris Smith (guitar), Stuart Warnock (guitar), Joanne McCafferty (bass) and Michael McDonald (drums). Their debut EP will be released digitally and on limited edition cassette on April 1st, 2013 via Viscerality Records. *** Facebook [...]
I struggle to resist saccharine shoegaze at the best of times, so when it comes coated in speckled noise and proves as irresistible as that of Glasgow five-piece Life Model , well, instantaneous seduction is a more or less ineluctable eventuality. And, anticipated April 1st, their eponymous EP succinctly epitomises the adroitness with which they take to unsticking the likes of Sit Still. Seemingly deriving equivalent influence from compatriots Camera Obscura, and littoral jangle stalwarts The Popguns it's as gooey as it is unreservedly raucous, lead vocalist Sophie Evans wryly affirming: "You don't have the best of me" [...]
Ugly Thrash Demon: 2008 - You’re in high school again, in love with the one you can’t have; the beautiful one, the one you’re always thinking of, wishing you’d spent a few more minutes with them. Your friend. You’re always wondering, " How can I have you? Why won’t you be mine?" And it’s like you’re aching but there’s no pain, only the happiness of being in their presence, of even knowing they exist. Oh well. At least there’s still room in your car to pick up your friends; at least there’s still time [...]
The acclaimed acoustic roots/blues singer-songwriter graduated from Ben Franklin High School in New Orleans. Who knew? He returns for his first hometown show since Jazz Fest in 2009. Chris Smither is touring in support of Hundred Dollar Valentine , which is his 12th studio record. The album features the unmistakable sound, which has become his trademark—fingerpicked acoustic guitar and evocative sonic textures meshed with spare songs, delivered in a bone-wise, hard-won voice. [...]
Part one of a three-part look at Neil Young's reinvention of a greatest-hits album, featuring Rush, Three Dog Night, Buddy Miles and more.
In fact, after more than 40 years of recording, Smither is doing something different this time. He has written every song on his new release. Chris Smither's first album I'm a Stranger Here Myself dates back to 1970, a year known for the for the Kent State shootings, Detroit muscle cars, and a time when sweet baby James Taylor and the paranoid Black Sabbath could both be on the top ten best selling records of the year charts. It was a strange time, but Chris Smither was a strange dude so he fit right in. The Crescent City blues [...]
This long, hot, dry summer is coming to its end. So, it's time to look at those songs for your summer's end. Well, I almost didn't have a topic for this week's list. I just didn't think I had one in me. I don't know about anyone else, but this summer has [...]
Teaching Romeo and Juliet to my inner-city ninth graders this past year was an uphill battle with multiple casualties, but I'm quite proud of how effective we found it to start outside the text, with a week-long exploration of pop and mass culture referents, the better to understand which elements of story and structure, character and cast we westerners are expected to retain into adulthood. Indeed, our very first day featured a side-by-side comparison of Taylor Swift's Love Story and Dire Straits Romeo & Juliet - perhaps the two most currently recognizable songs [...]
Paradise of Bachelors is a new specialty record label run by Philadelphia's Chris Smith (aka DJ Mental Feelings) and his buddy Brendan Greaves, who hails from North Carolina; this year, they're ramping up their catalog with reissues of overlooked psychedelic and folk nuggets, beginning today with the eponymous 1969 long-player from Plant and See, a ... Continue reading
Veteran Chris Smither returns with a new take on a very traditional blues. Signature Sounds, 2012 8.5 / 10.0 Chris Smither is as close to a living musical legend as you can get. The only problem is that, outside of the world of blues, no one seems [...]
Loudon Wainwright III - Somebody Else (feat. Chris Smither)
I'm of an age where Tim Hardin 's Reason To Believe is heard first and foremost in the voice of a late-career Rod Stewart - an inauspicious echo for a song so powerful, and so well-covered. But a good coverwatcher learns to spot trends among the liner notes as he gathers in the sheaves. And so, with today's culminating feature, we come to honor a gradual and growing awareness of the work of the sixties and seventies singer-songwriter among a generation of artists and fans born after his rise and fall from grace [...]
Chris Smither: Surprise Surprise [ purchase ] Chris Smither is one of those musicians I learned about on account of my love for Bonnie Raitt's music. On her Give It Up album, she covers Love Me Like a Man from Smither's 1970 album I'm a Stranger Too. On Takin My Time, she does I Feel The Same. I know that bowhowdy has posted about him more than once and there is plenty you can learn from there . Smither has been doing his thing since some time in the 60s and it shows. It's apparent [...]
TEEN IMAGE | Nite Eyes Great music needs rough edges. There need to be elements of, or at least hints of, slight flaws. Perfectionists rarely make perfect songs. ’ Nite Eyes ’, however, the first full track from emerging London artist TEEN IMAGE is unafraid to show its dents and cuts. Mindblowingly rough production only adds to the energy on display here, with an Animal Collective , ‘ Brothersport ‘-esque pulse circuiting the track’s bloodstream. So instead of attempting to decipher any of the lyrics, we [...]
Always an interesting artist with a long and varied career (see Wikipedia here).
The Animals Were Gone- Damien Rice How To Feel- Romantica Organ Donor- Jeremy Messersmith The Chaconne- Dessa Hail Mary- 2Pac Time After Time- Cyndi Lauper There For You- Damian Marley Untitled (How Does It
Chris Smither: Coventry Carol [ unpurchaseable ] As I wrote about earlier this month over at Cover Lay Down , the conceit of the Holiday Classic is confounded a bit by the existence of several historical waves and source-period songtypes which, together, comprise the current spate of familiar tunes for the season, as heard on the radio, in the mall, and at the hearth itself. But though my own tastes generally run to the modern folkworld during the rest of the year, and though [...]
Photo of Ray Davies compliments of the artist Here are this weekend's XPN Welcomes concerts. FRIDAY NOVEMBER 18 Bell X1 is Ireland’s best barely-kept secret. The group, originally known as Juniper, used to feature Damien Rice as its lead singer; unfortunately, it's still often recognized for that fact, rather than for its Talking Heads- and Flaming Lips-inspired fusion of rock and electronic music. Bell X1 is a sensation in Ireland, nominated for Best Irish Band at the Meteor Music Awards three different times. It was also nominated [...]
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