Author: News on Shuffle

Alyson Greenfield – Upcoming Covers EP + SXSW Appearances

Alyson Greenfield has been a busy bee these past few months. She releases her Only Silence EP 2 months ago, and is now putting the finishing touches on her long-awaited Covers EP. This will include Gangsta’s Paradise, which has been a favorite at her live shows.

She will also be making an appearance at SXSW this year on day 1 of a two-day camp the Lovely Hearts Club is setting up at Uncorked Wine Bar on March 17th. You can RSVP for that here. If you’re in the Austin area, be sure to check her out. And for NYC locals, fear not. The Covers EP will get a proper release. Details on that still to come.

Rick Berry Art Gallery Reception

This weekend I took a trip to Boston for a gallery reception which included art by Rick Berry, a local artist. Even if that name does not sound familiar (which it didn’t to me at first) you may be familiar with some of his work already and just not realize it. That was the case for one person I talked to at the event. Select works include the digital cover for the cyber novel “Necromancer,” paintings and book design for limited edition Stephen King novels, and most recently a collaboration with Amanda Palmer and A.R.T. for their production of the musical “Cabaret,” which included a portrait of Amanda Palmer as the emcee. He also has art books that you can find on Amazon.com. All of the art I saw at this gallery was really quite good. I especially liked the pieces involved with the Cabaret project, but that might have been partially because I was very interested in following that project online and wished I could have seen it for myself. There were a lot of people at the event who all seemed to like the art as well.

This is the part where I would have added some photos, but there were too many to add using Blogger. Total side note, but this blog might be moving to WordPress soon.

A complete set of photos will be available on flickr soon, so pay attention to Twitter for more updates on that. Also, you can find a complete resume of Rick Berry’s work at his website.

And for more information about purchasing paintings, you can contact Sheila@RickBerryStudio.com. She’s very nice and would be more than happy to help with further enquiries.

Edit: I should also point out that the gallery is still open and will be up till March 1st, so if you’re in the area there is still time to check it out and experience it for yourself.

Jukebox the Ghost Interview

During CMJ this past October I did an interview with Ben Thornewill of Jukebox the Ghost. Due to circumstances beyond my control I was not able to finish transcribing and posting it until now. I am very sorry for the delay. Here it is (finally) for your viewing pleasure.


News on Shuffle (NoS): interview with Ben of jukebox the Ghost. So, first question for you is about the album: How different was it working on the new one now that you’ve been kind of established and have a fan base?

Ben: The main difference w/ this record is the amount of time we got to spend on it, and how the time was spent. So instead of doing the first record, doing a record in 12 days, which is how we did the first record, we recorded and mixed, which is crazy in the recording world, we got to spend 40 days on it and really take our time. and it wasn’t 40 straight days, it was like we’d go in during the week and have the weekends off

NoS: it wasn’t biblical?

Ben: It wasn’t biblical no. Making a record it feels like a task of biblical proportions.

NoS: It came out good though. it came out very good.

Ben: I am very pleased with it, yeah.

NoS: Do you listen to your music at all?

Ben: I haven’t listened to the record in a long time actually. You listen to it so much when you record it and so many variations of the songs and the mixes that by the time the record’s out you’re plum sick of listening to it.

NoS: Do you have a favorite song off the album?

Ben: I think the interlude came out really well, and I think, I mean all the songs came out fairly well. I really love the build-up in Summer Sun. It’s only about 10 seconds of material but I think it came out incredibly well.

NoS: On both albums, actually, I really like how a lot of the songs kind of connect to each other and one goes right into another.

Ben: We’re all about that sort of thing.

NoS: A lot of bands right now, because you just mentioned how people don’t listen to CDs anymore, and a lot of bands keep that in mind and just make singles, and you’re one of the few bands I know that still makes albums.

Ben: Yep, absolutely.

NoS: I really, really appreciate that. On the song So Let Us Create, it might just be a total coincidence, but I thought I heard a little George Harrison in there.

Ben: It is total coincidence, and I had obviously heard that song but I don’t think I ever really listened to it until after the fact and then found out it was the same chord progression. It happens. And it’s a different statement of it, but the chords are the same, I hope the key’s not the same. I’m not sure there.

NoS: I don’t think it was. It was similar enough that you could hear it, but it wasn’t like “oh that’s the same song”.

Ben: It was not at all on purpose. It was only one of those after the fact, oh it happens to be the same chord progression.

NoS: Moving on to the tour – how was this one?

Ben: Really good. Full, all around the country and people were at every show and it was really encouraging.

NoS: Do you have a best moment? Worst moment?

Ben: Worst moment was Milwaukee. It was a late show on a Tuesday night. It was 21 up, and there were people there but it was just weird. Some shows are just strange. Highlights are two was in New York, in Chicago it was sold out.

NoS: New York was a great show too.

Ben: New York was a great show too, but there was a tornado and there was some stuff in the way. But Chicago was amazing, and San Fran was amazing. really all around. It was a great tour.

NoS: Obviously there’s a lot of traveling with a tour. What were some ways you guys kept entertained on the road?

Ben: On this stretch for the first time we had wireless internet in the van, which was completely life-changing. So we got to keep up with things. It’s crazy, internet in the van.

NoS: So some of the stuff like the Tumblr and all that you did –

Ben: Almost every single Tumblr or Gumblr review we did from the van.

NoS: I noticed a lot of “loves”

Ben: A lot of loves. It’s hard to hate something.

NoS: So you’re done with the main headlining tour now, right? And next is opening for Guster and Barenaked Ladies.

Ben: We do four shows with Guster coming up next week, and then hit the road for three weeks with Barenaked Ladies.

NoS: How exciting is that?

Ben: I can’t wait.

NoS: Any other bands in the future – if you could tour with a band, it would be…?

Ben: It will never happen but I would love to tour with Vampire Weekend.

NoS: Never say never. Because they will hear that and surprise you. And you will find out that they are huge fan of yours and will want to tour with you.

Ben: That would be really nice.

NoS: That would be really nice. I would totally go to that tour. I dig Vampire Weekend.

So after Barenaked Ladies, do you have any other plans? Or are you just taking a break?

Ben: We have about a week off for Thanksgiving and then we’re back on the road for another two weeks doing another headlining run in a bunch of cities we didn’t hit during this previous headlining tour.

NoS: Alright, so all of those people complaining “You didn’t hit my city”…

Ben: We’re coming back, yep.

NoS: Keep an eye out on the website, which came out really good.

Ben: Thank you

NoS: It was under construction for a long time, but it was worth the wait. Speaking of “online” – a lot of promoting with bands now is social networking – Twitter, Facebook, all that stuff. But then you find that it’s hard to keep a separation between the public band stuff and then the personal –

Ben: yeah, the line definitely blurs, especially with Facebook. I haven’t taken myself down yet, and I get friend requests pretty much every day from fans, and it just is what it is. But I keep my friends and my stuff in one place, and the band stuff is somewhere else.

NoS: And then, the people that are friends with you on Facebook – Do you find that a lot of times you’ll get comments on photos or something from people that you haven’t necessarily even met yet? Does that get kind of weird?

Ben: Not photos. I mean, when I do big postings about like, like when we did Letterman I got tons, and half were from close friends and family and half were from strangers. But that’s stuff meant for the public.

NoS: Last question – What’s your favorite music, artist, band, whatever that you like to listen to? And do you think that you are influenced at all by them?

Ben: Influence is such a funny thing. Yes, I do think, I would say – the last artist I really fell for was St Vincent. That’s close to a year and a half ago now that I really fell for this band. And it’s not like I emulate or try to write songs that sound like her, but I use – somewhere in my subconscious is the stuff that she does and knowing how she does it. And I use that sometimes as a reference point. But I think you’d be hard-pressed to dig into a song and find a quote-on-quote influence directly related to St Vincent.

NoS: Thanks a lot.

Ben: You’re welcome

Best of 2010

Instead of doing a list of my top albums for this year, I thought I would just mention some notable releases. I will say that my favorite album this year, without a doubt, was Jukebox the Ghost. April Smith and Kids of 88 probably come second and third respectively. (But then I look at Arcade Fire and feel like maybe they should be third instead). See, this is why I don’t do “top” lists. It gets tricky. As for the rest, I just really enjoyed them but couldn’t possibly rank them in any order. Josh Ritter was especially good for helping me get through quite a few papers and exams. A few I’ll admit I didn’t get a chance to hear in their entirety, but I heard enough to feel comfortable mentioning anyway.

Albums:
Jan 12 – Contra by Vampire Weekend
– Of the Blue Colour of the Sky – OK Go
Feb 23 – Songs for a Sinking Ship by April Smith and the Great Picture Show
March 2 – Smoke & Mirrors by Lifehouse
March 9 – The Monitor by Titus Andronicus
March 16 – Habits by Neon Trees
March 30 – Evelyn Evelyn by Evelyn Evelyn
April 13 – Congratulations by MGMT
Virtues by Amber Pacific
April 27 – Love It To Life by Jesse Malin
May 4 – So Runs the World Away by Josh Ritter
June 15 – American Slang by The Gaslight Anthem
June 29 – We’ve All Been There by Alex Band
Aug 2 – The Suburbs by Arcade Fire
Aug 3 – Hear Me Now by Secondhand Serenade
Aug 16 – Sugarpills by Kids of 88
Sept 4 – Everything Under the Sun by Jukebox the Ghost
Sept 14 – Hurley by Weezer
A Thousand Suns by Linkin Park
Sept 21 – Hands All Over by Maroon 5
Sept 28 – Lonely Avenue by Ben Folds & Nick Hornby
Oct 19 – Come Around Sundown by Kings of Leon
Words, Words, Words by Bo Burnham (comedian)
Nov 22 – Danger Days: The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys by My Chemical Romance
Dec 7 – Wonders of the Younger by Plain White T’s

Top Concerts:
Did a quick count and I have seen Jukebox the Ghost almost every month this year. That is really impressive (not only for me, but for them coming to NYC that often). Of course, being my favorite band, they are on my top concerts list, but I would hate to have to pick which time was the best (secret show at Pianos? cd release? opening for BNL?) so I’m just going to say for the bajillionth time that this band is AMAZING live and you should go check them out and experience their awesome for yourself.

Moving right along…

Other contenders this year include:
Alex Band Aug 6th @ Highline
Josh Ritter Aug 8th on Governor’s Island
Yula and the eXtended Family Sept 2nd @ Highline
Titus Andronicus & Free Energy Sept 25th @ Webster Hall
the first annual Tinderbox Festival Sept 26th @ Southpaw
The World/Inferno Friendship Society’s Hallowmas Oct 31st

That last one especially was a night to remember. The band went almost the entire year without playing, so it felt almost like a family reunion being there. The day was filled with great music, plus I met loads of new and awesome people that I still talk to thanks to the magic of the inter-webs. Also have to say CMJ this year was especially good. It was a crazy week that completely wore me out, but it was oh so very worth it. Also worth it was going to see Ben Folds Dec 14th at Beacon Theater despite just getting over being sick. He and Josh Groban rank in my list of people who are too talented for words. Speaking of which, I also saw Josh Groban do a short set at the Apple store in Soho. That should go on the list too. See, there were just way too many great shows to list them all. It’s just one of the many reasons I love New York so much.

Well, that about wraps up another year in music here. Did I skip over any of your favorite albums? See any shows that I was unable to attend? Feel free to add your 2 cents in the comments section below.

Linkin Park – A Thousand Suns Review

Linkin Park has always been one of those bands that makes us wait a couple years in between albums, but also always delivers solid material that is well worth the wait. A Thousand Suns is no exception to this. They still keep their rap-rock style mostly, but there are some deviations from that as well. The many different styles are balanced very well here though, keeping things fresh and interesting. And even though the genre may be the same, this is definitely not just a rehashing of their previous work. You can tell Linkin Park worked hard to make sure this was different than anything they had done before. For one thing, each song blends almost seamlessly with the next, creating a more fluid experience. This isn’t to say every song sounds the same. No, each song is it’s own thing, but while also being part of a larger whole. The work that was put into the album is most evident, however, with their single “The Catalyst” which was created in a very unique way.

I thought the idea of having the fans help contribute to this song was cool and different and really made it so they became part of the music.

Personal favorite: While “Catalyst” is a great song and constantly gets stuck in my jukebox of a brain, gotta say I really loved “Iridescent” – both musically and lyrically.

Do you feel cold and lost in desperation
You build up hope, but failure’s all you’ve known
Remember all the sadness and frustration
and let it go, let it go

The song builds then releases to “Fallout” and finally transitions to “Catalyst.” The album then concludes with “The Messenger,” which is both beautiful and rough at the same time. The lyrics and message are sweet, while the vocals are emotional and raw. Personally I think these last few songs combine to make for a perfect ending to an already exceptional record.

When you’ve suffered enough
And your spirit is breaking
You’re growing desperate from the fight

Remember you’re loved
And you always will be
This melody will bring you right back home

Runaway Dorothy – The Arc Review

I discovered Runaway Dorothy through the wonders of Twitter. Somehow their album made its way into my iPod, and even though it didn’t fit my typical listening pattern, I still enjoyed what it had to offer. “And what did the album offer?” you ask.

Well, instead of the alt rock I usually listen to, The Arc is 46 minutes of alt country with somewhat of a Counting Crows vibe. It makes sense that the Crows promote this band so much. I could definitely see Dorothy opening for them and keeping the audience pleased. For the most part songs are slow, and laid back, but this feels relaxing instead of boring. The lyrics are simple yet meaningful. There are also some sweet harmonies on “With You.” Like I said, this normally isn’t my favorite genre, but this album is solid and had me thoroughly impressed. I can only imagine that fans of this genre would only love it all the more.



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My Chemical Romance – Danger Days: The True Lives Of The Fabulous Killjoys Review

From the introduction and first song on Danger Days I knew two things: 1) this album is going to be a lot of fun, and 2) but only if I don’t listen to it as a My Chemical Romance album. Through further listening though it would seem that, yes, the sound is different on this album, but there is still just enough of MCR infused in it to be recognizable to old-time fans. It’s not exactly the same as their older material, but that’s ok. It’s closer to The Black Parade in that it’s a concept album with a story attached to it. This time we are following the band’s alter egos, the Killjoys, in their adventures. The first single “Na Na Na” is also the first song on the album, and introduces us to our cast of characters. The rest of the album takes us through the story, set to (mostly) high tempo music. The best way to describe it would be glam rock, a fusion of rock and pop that blends to make for something less dark than previous albums the band has released.

Final thought: While the single may leave you scratching your head as to what to expect here, I say give this one a chance and you might be pleasantly surprised. It might not be what you expect from MCR, but it’s got enough good elements in it to be worth a listen.

Ben Folds @ Beacon Theater (12/14)

On December 14, 2010 I had the opportunity to see Ben Folds make magic happen at Beacon Theater. Unfortunately, this was also when I first started dealing with what became known in my house as the-illness-that-never-dies. This is my pitiful explanation for why this review is appearing almost 2 weeks after the event took place. Proof it was a great show though, or I would have simply forgotten about it and moved on to other things. So, without further ado, I present Ben Folds: Live @ Beacon Theater.

Picture it: It’s a freezing cold night in New York City, you’re sick and cold, but Ben Folds is playing in your city. Of course you go, even though you should stay in and rest up, but it’s Ben Folds (!). How do you say no to the chance to see possibly one of the greatest musicians of our time? You don’t. You brave the cold and wind and keep telling yourself it’s fine because it’s mostly just subway ride anyway. Reasons I love Beacon Theater: an exceptional venue that is also quite convenient to get to. But I digress…
The show itself was everything I could have asked for. Ben Folds has a lot of things going for him. He’s an extremely talented musician both vocally and on the piano (and isn’t too bad on the drums either, for that matter). He also has a great relationship with his audience, keeping things entertaining all the way through an extended set that somehow doesn’t drag in the slightest. Top moments of the night included the story of how Ke$ha’s single “Sleazy” became the cover song of the tour (it happened to be the #1 song on iTunes that day and they stuck with it) and a killer version of Free Bird after an audience member shouted it during a lull. This happens at a lot of shows I’ve been to, but usually the artist doesn’t oblige. Folds said something along the lines of “Gotta be responsible when you yell that out, young lady” before going into his rendition. Best part of this was probably that he didn’t know all the words, so he made up his own. Here’s a video someone posted on YouTube from the night:

Of course this (combined with the length of an average song of his) ate up a lot of time, so there was a 1-song encore where Folds selfishly got some 3-part harmony out of us before ending the night. There was more than enough music in the main set for me to be perfectly fine with this. My only disappointment was not getting to hear “Trusted” since it’s my favorite song of his, but playing “You To Thank” balanced things out. Overall it was a great night, and one I won’t soon forget. Add this to the list of artists I would definitely recommend seeing if ever you get the chance.

Happy Christmas (War Is Over)

The blog has been on an unofficial hiatus for awhile now, and for that I am sorry. The writer (that’s me!) has been dealing with some things, but hopefully next week will more than make up for it. I’ve got a very late live review of Ben Folds from earlier in the month, plus a couple of cd reviews and a giant end-of-the-year post with my top albums and concerts from 2010. But that is all for after the holidays.

Today is Christmas Eve. As a little present (and to make up for a lack of posting) I give you a few videos to put you in the Christmas spirit (or just make you smile).