Five years ago I moved out of the San Francisco Bay Area for the snowy, crisp mountains of Colorado. I absolutely love my adopted home, our vibrant music scene, and the fresh air here, but no foolin' I do often long for my hometown hills. Over the holidays I went to San Francisco for a week to stay at the Noe Valley apartment of friends who were out of town and graciously let me "housesit." It was a part of town I had never stayed in before. When I first let myself into their empty place on [...]
![[Introducing] – Howls](http://cdn.elbo.ws/posts/2779046_lg.jpg)
So EMI got in touch with me a couple of weeks ago looking to start up a "relationship" whereby they'd send me music and if I liked it I could stick up on the site. Fair enough I thought, I doubt I'll get anything other than Katy Perry emails and the like, but it can't do any harm. So they've been sending me music since then and not being into Katy Perry in the slightest, that one's been ignored along with a few others. Thankfully I'm still at the point where I can listen to everything that's being [...]
'Emily' songster Stephen Fretwell (yes, he's done more than that, but it's his masterpiece) returns to Ireland to play four dates down south and one up north. He comes to Academy 2 in Dublin on 4th of June with tickets priced at €16. Tickets for the shows go on sale this Thursday, the 23rd of April. Sunday, 31 May: The Limelight, Belfast Monday, 1 June: Roisin Dubh, Galway Tuesday, 2 June: Cyprus Avenue, Cork Wednesday, 3 June: Dolan's, Limerick Thursday, 4 June: Academy, Dublin Watch 'Emily' live:
[ that's the two-year-old me on the right, celebrating something in fine style - I think it was a cousin's birthday ] Two years ago today I started Fuel/Friends, mostly on a lark, to talk about my passion for music and all the other good things in this world. My how we've grown, and what fun we've had these last two years. I sincerely appreciate each of you guys who stop by each day to see what I have to say, and the attention that you pay to both my writing and my musical selections. It's pretty much [...]
a few weeks back nate from booktapes , who's new to the bay area, asked if a.g. could recommend any songs of, about, or related to san francisco. a few titles were batted back and forth between us, which process inspired the idea for this post. though clearly more robust than what we first came up with, the suite of songs below is far from a comprehensive list. (tony bennett, whose " i left my heart in san francisco " probably rates as the most iconic s.f.-related song, you'll notice has been left off, along [...]
This morning I hopped a plane to New York City for a long weekend visiting three of my best friends from the year I studied abroad in Florence, Italy. I am ridiculously excited. After all those months of spending ridiculous amounts of time together with these gals, seeing mind-boggling beauty and pushing our tenuous edges through hesitant Italian speaking, train rides all over Europe, lots of carbs and gelato and Michelangelo, and questionable Italian dance moves in sweaty clubs, we all went back to our respective lives across the country and the world. The four of us saw [...]
The world is full of disappointing second albums: The Libertines, Justin Timberlake, The Futureheads, The Coral and The Darkness are all guilty offenders. The Pop Cop are hopeful STEPHEN FRETWELL won't be joining the list. It's been three years since the release of his sublime debut album Magpie and its greatness only heightens the nervous anticipation that, God forbid, he might not actually be able to better it. The easy charm of Stephen's engaging live performances belie the dark heart at the [...]
Manchester artist Stephen Fretwell graced my thankful ears with easily one of my top 5 songs I was introduced to in the last year. The slowburn stunner "Emily" is sublimely sad and slightly bitter, one of those bruised and rueful moments of clarity about someone you love(d). But somehow it sounds so winsome, I can't get enough. One reviewer thought (and I echo), " Emily was actually a great, bleak pop song and one of the most beautiful 'fuck you's' I've ever heard whispered on daytime radio ." If you [...]
Take some Springsteen (gravely voiced lyrics), Damien Rice (lamenting love and lovers) and David Gray (some deep, British feelings), and you have a solid Stephen Fretwell . I first heard him on a February KCRW's Morning Becomes Ecletic with Nic Harcourt . (That show is still available at the KCRW website so be sure to check out the acoustic session). He had a few lovely songs, namely 'Whats That You Say Little Girl' and 'Emily', that caputred my attention and led me to his early 2006 [...]
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