First of all, I’m sorry I haven’t kept up with this blog. Excuses excuses blah blah blah.

Anyway, last night I saw a concert so incredible that I just had to write about it.

I’ve been a fan of Ola Podrida for a while now after learning about them from one of the many music blogs I frequent. I fell in love immediately with their lush, hypnotic sound. David Wingo (a film composer who has designed the scores for Snow Angels, Great World of Sound, and other movies) fronts the band, along with four of his friends, including Andrew Kenny of American Analog Set.

They sounded much better live than recorded, if that is even possible. They opened with “Photo Booth” and followed with the lovely “Jordanna.” Their songs are folky and twangy and made the crowd close their collective eyes and just sway along with the notes. They finished with “Cindy”, my very favorite.

Next up was Memphis, a band I wasn’t as familiar with. They were very good too. Singer Torquil Campbell is also the frontman of the amazing band Stars, which I didn’t know until after they performed. Campbell is a very intense performer and really got into it.

While the two opening bands were awesome, the headliners Apostle of Hustle was amazing.

Photos here.

Lucky you, because I recorded and uploaded all four songs she played to YouTube, and ripped the audio so you can play the the live tracks on your iPod (to save, right click and then click Save Link As)

AUDIO:

Fidelity
On the Radio
Man of a Thousand Faces
That Time

Click “more” to view videos and photos.

VIDEO:

On the Radio

Man of a Thousand Faces (unreleased)

That Time

Fidelity

1. Chocolate- Snow Patrol
2. 99 Red Balloons- Goldfinger
3. Your Big Brown Eyes and My Big Broke Heart- The Russian Futurists
4. Bridge and Tunnel- The Honorary Title
5. A Sentence of Sorts in Kongsvinger- Of Montreal
6. California- Phantom Planet
7. The Way We Get By- Spoon
8. Hear Me Out- Winterkids
9. Flathead- The Fratellis
10. Hi-Ya!- Headlights
11. 100 Degrees- Shout out Louds
12. Hot Topic- Le Tigre
13. Get Over It- OK Go
14. My Sharona- The Knack
15. Bohemian Like You- Dandy Warhols
16. Are You Gonna Be My Girl- JET
17. Black Horse and the Cherry Tree- KT Tunstall
18. Pretty Vacant- Lady Sovereign
19. Big Girl (You Are Beautiful)- Mika
20. Phantom Limb- the Shins

I’ll be posting my interview with Ivan of the Rosebuds soon.

1. Me and Mia- Ted Leo & the Pharmacists
2. Henrietta- The Fratellis
3. The Jessica Numbers- The New Pornographers
4. Mary Ann- Cities On Fire
5. Sukie in the Graveyard- Belle & Sebastian
6. Dakota- Stereophonics
7. Jenny- I’m From Barcelona
8. Julie-Anne, Patron of Thieves- The Skygreen Leopards
9. Come Back Margaret- Camera Obscura
10. Helena- Nickel Creek
11. Isabelle- Gregory and the Hawk
12. Anna Lee- Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin
13. Delilah- The Dresden Dolls
14. Stephanie Says- Emiliana Torrini
15. Alison- Mme Kim
16. Cindy- Ola Podrida
17. Clementine- The Decemberists
18. Miss Marie- The Midnight Hours
19. Naomi- Neutral Milk Hotel
20. What Sarah Said- Death Cab for Cutie

To the Bright and Shining Sun- The Walls
Cindy- Ola Podrida
Hanging Marionette- The Appleseed cast
Palimend- Benoit Pioulard
Your Big Brown Eyes and My Big Broke Heart- The Russian Futurists
Bridge and Tunnel- the Honorary Title
A Sentence of Sorts in Kongsvinger- Of Montreal
100,000 Fireflies- The Magnetic Fields
Now. Now.- St. Vincent
So Post All ‘Em- YACHT
Cleanse Song- Bright Eyes
Homemade Bombs in the Afternoon- A.C. Newman
The Bronze Beached Boys- PAS/CAL
Each Year- Ra Ra Riot

Clapter: Songs featuring handclaps

1. Bad Education- Tilly and the Wall
2. Hand Clapping Song- The Meters
3. Ruby Blue- Roisin Murphy
4. Chelsea Dagger- The Fratellis
5. Hi-Ya!- Headlights
6. Sister Jack- Spoon
7. Late Great Cassiopia- Essex Green
8. San Francisco Song- Camera Obscura
9. Her Morning Elegance- Oren Lavie
10. Cookie Machine- PacoVolume
11. A Song to Pass the Time- Bright Eyes
12. A Sweet Summer’s Night On Hammer Hill- Jens Lekman
13. N to the ICE- Lucky Lucky Pigeons
14. Go Outside Again- Magenta Skycode
15. Open Your Heart- Lavender Diamond
16. Kissing the Lipless- The Shins
17. Mushaboom- Feist
18. Before I Knew- Basia Bulat
19. Saltbreakers- Laura Veirs
20. The Tallest Man, the Broadest Shoulders- Sufjan Stevens
21. I’m Glad I Hitched My Apple Wagon to Your Star- The Boy Least Likely To
22. I Left the Light On- Madeline Adams
23. Jumpin’ Jean Luc- We All Have Hooks for Hands

New short interview with the lovely Chantal of the band Morningwood (you may have heard their song “Nth Degree” on a recent car commercial)

&& listen to them here

Where did the name Morningwood come from? Was it from…errrr… morning wood, or is there a deeper connection there?
It has multiple meanings, we love double entendres, if you look you will find them all over our place.

Your music has exploded this year, from being in car commercials to MTV. What’s it like having so much exposure?
It doesn’t feel like there is much exposure, perhaps I am in the eye of the storm, but at least I can pay my rent this month.

Where did inspiration for your hit song “Nth Degree” come from?
It’s about politics, just joking, it is about band love or something to that extent.

What is your music process like—from the beginning to the end of a song?
music then lyrics and melody
or subject then music and lyrics and melody.
it varies all over the place.

What was it like being on Capitol Records? How did they discover you?
Being on capitol is like being in the current royal family, for both the negative and positive aspects.

How did you all meet?
from our bio:
Claret, who grew up in New York, is the youngest member of the group at 24. She met Pedro Yanowitz at a birthday party in 2001.
” he spontaneously asked everyone to take turns singing a birthday song on the spot,” remembers Yanowitz. “When it was Chantal’s turn I thought she’d pass because she doesn’t play an instrument, but she launched into a song she wrote when she was sixteen with no accompaniment and her voice just blew everyone away. You could hear a pin drop. I was hooked and Morningwood was born that night.”

What’s the most difficult part of working together as a band?
Well, it is really just pedro and i, and I live in Los Angeles now, so getting together is harder, we have been through a lot together, so as long as we are friends we shall continue.

Chantal, you said in an earlier interview that you’re “out for blood” when you’re in a competition. What did you mean by that?
I try to pretend that I am not competitive but I finally realized I am, when I compete I become strategic, fair, and ruthless, is it impossible to be all 3? perhaps.

Is it hard getting away from all the Wallflowers references, since bandmate Pedro was formerly in that band?
Strangely enough, no one ever mentions the past bands at all, so we never ever had a problem with it or getting away from it. We aquaint old bands like ex girlfriends, they are a part of your life, but now you are in a new relationship.

I heard you formerly attended film school and wanted to direct music videos. What happened to that?
I’m in morningwood. Everything happens in due time.

Since I’m seeing Emily Haines on Jan. 12th, here are some Emily Haines songs, from her solo project, Emily Haines & the Soft Skeleton,  and her other group Metric. This is mostly for Kales. Enjoy. These will only be available for two weeks.

Emily Haines & the Soft Skeleton- Crowd Surf off a Cliff
Emily Haines & the Soft Skeleton- Reading in Bed
Emily Haines & the Soft Skeleton- Our Hell

Metric- Monster Hospital
Metric- Hustle Rose

& Purchase “Knives Don’t Have Your Back”

in my current playlist:

Aloha
Arizona
Arms
Band of Horses
The Boy Least Likely To…
Busdriver
Cinemechanica
Cold War Kids
Crystal Skulls
Destroyer
Emily Haines & the Soft Skeleton
The Envy Corps
Final Fantasy
The Format
The Futureheads
THe Girls
The Gossip
Gregory and the Hawk
Grizzly Bear
Guillemots
Heartless Bastards
Hot Chip
Island
Isobel Campbell
The Knife
Lambchop
Look Mexico
Los Campesinos!
Low Lustre
Malajube
Man Man
Maps and Atlases
Maritime
Matthew Sweet
mewithoutYou
Morningwood
The Panda Band
Portugal the Man
Regina Spektor
Russian Circles
The Russian Futurists
Silversun Pickups
Sleeping States
Sound Team
Sunset Rubdown
Swan Lake
Talkdemonic
TV on the Radio
The Whitest Boy Alive
Xela
Xiu Xiu

Meredith Godreau of Gregory and the Hawk was nice enough to answer some questions for us over here at Fanterview. Gregory and the Hawk is a indie/acoustic ‘band’ out of Brooklyn, NY, although Meredith insists that it it be categorized as “blues” : D

 Visit her Myspace 

&& Purchase the Boats & Birds EP

Where did you come up with the name Gregory and the Hawk? Who is Gregory? What does his hawk have to do with it? 
I picked the name because in addition to having  a personal meaning for me, it has a sort of storybook quality to it and i liked that.  Then people started thinking I was two people.. and one of me was a boy!  But maybe there’s some truth to that.  I’ve been thinking of just shortening it to GATH.  That’s what I call it in my head.

How have websites like myspace and purevolume affected your popularity?
First they asked for my name and location.  Then they asked for my email.  Then they asked me my favorite foods.  When I told them “cinnamon and sugar,” they baked a pie and gave everybody a piece.

Are you currently trying to find a label, or going to stay independent?
I try to keep enjoying guitar, playing shows, sharing my music, and going to see my friends play no matter what.  And then I try to stay prepared in case an opportunity comes around.  It would have to be a very small label with other musicians I respected because I’m not about to do it for the money.  I think about it a lot though, and I honestly don’t have an answer.

Your title song , “Boats and Birds”, is simply gorgeous- both haunting and melodic, like a dream. What was the inspiration for this song?
Thank you, that’s such a nice compliment.  I guess that one’s about love & some of the sadness associated with it, like most songs.

On average, how long does it take you to write a song—melody & lyrics?
Well, it varies of course. Some I write in an hour, others I work on for months.   I keep and play probably 1 out of every 10 songs I write.  Maybe 1 in 15.  or 20.  Recently it takes me longer because I’ve been trying to make my guitar parts more difficult for myself so I can improve.  And melodies that are more difficult to remember.

Not much is known about you, Meredith. Tell us a little bit about yourself- your childhood, etc.
I just wrote a whole story about me being born as a dolphin and spending years as a karate-fighting recluse, but it wasn’t true so I erased it!  I prefer not to talk about myself that way.  As a dolphin.

How did you get started creating music and writing songs?
I used to take lessons on piano, violin, and viola.  At the beginning of high school I got some ideas for songs.  I was fortunate enough to get a guitar and I worked from there – sometimes writing with a couple of girlfriends, but eventually worked just on my own.

What bands/music groups have influenced your music?

Liz Phair, The Blake Babies, Joanna Newsom, Diane Cluck, and Nick Drake.  And, you know, pretty much everything else too.  Friends’ music especially.

Currently, what are you listening to?
Paper and Sand, Diane Cluck, Pinback, Frente, Toby Goodshank, Cara Satalino, The Baby Skins, Chris Meyer, Crowded House, The Presidents of the United States of America, Schwervon!, Silver Jews

Besides music, what types of things are you particularly passionate about?
Good food and a nice drink.. But I can’t cook, I just eat.  I’m a sort of gourmand I suppose.  Recently me and my friend Andrew have been totally obsessed with this one lunch special at a Thai place in town.  You get a spring roll and some rice.  I don’t know if you can call that a passion, but we like it.  We probably like it too much.

I’ve heard and read from several people that your music has “saved their lives.” What’s it like having that kind of impact on people?
Good, and awesome!  I like that a song I wrote to make me feel better can do the same for another person, though I never respond if someone tells me that.  I think by then it has nothing to do with me.

What’s next for Gregory and the Hawk? Is there another album coming up? If so, what can you tell me about that?

Hopefully by the spring I’ll have gotten my newer recordings done and I’ll have enough moolah to press something and release it, but I’m playing it by ear right now.  It’d be great to tour too because I’ve been playing mostly new songs at shows and haven’t had too many people to share em with.  That’s all I can say.  I haven’t decided on a name for the album yet either so I will do that.