the national

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Yellow Bird Project

July 21, 2008 in creativity, music by George | No comments

OK, here’s another reason why Twitter is cool. Occasionally I’ll scroll through and look at who is following my tweets, and click around to see what people are up to. Today I did this, and came upon the Yellow Bird Project.

You need to check this out. Here’s their mission:

Yellow Bird Project is a Montreal-based, non-profit initiative. We collaborate with musicians in designing a T-shirt, we print and sell them on our website, and all of the money we make goes to charity. Which charity? Each of the artists gets to choose their own. We have three fundamental aims:

1) To make money for charities directly through T-shirt sales.

2) To raise awareness for charity organizations through artists’ endorsement.

3) To raise the profile of the artists we like.

We have specifically approached individuals that we think are creative and conscientious enough to make a difference.

I love this shit. It, of course, helps that the designs are so rad.

To wit:

The National

Devendra Banhart

So makes Twitter worthwhile.

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The National

June 21, 2008 in music by George | No comments

One of the two opening bands for the REM show I saw a few weeks ago in Chicago was The National.

Like everyone else, I was a fan of the band prior to seeing them live, but since seeing them live, I’m sort of obsessed. They truly are great. It’s so interesting how crucial (for me at least, though I doubt I’m alone on this) it is to see a band play live to sort of fill in the aural blanks that you can’t quite get by listening to a recording.

The band Tore. It. Up. No easy feat for the first of three bands. The massive hockey arena was maybe a quarter full, and of those people I’d say maybe 10% were fans of the band…at the beginning of the band’s set. By the end of the set, I’d say pretty much everyone there was on their feet cheering.

It’s a dodgy thing being an opening band. Bands often covet these spots only to get them and suffer all sorts of indignities when touring with a larger band. Too often, the ultimate indignity is that they really accomplish little or nothing by taking the gigs (random act of improvement).

However, every now and then, it works wonderfully. Such was the case with The National. They definitely made some fans who likely would never have been fans had they not been opening for REM.

This is also a strong indicator of a band’s prospects. Opening bands who tear it up tend not to stay opening bands for long. Consider, for example, REM’s early opening gigs where they completely destroyed the headliners. While The National didn’t outperform REM (I don’t think there’s a band in the world who could have outperformed REM that night), they certainly comported themselves in a righteous manner.

Check out some of these fantastic The National performances from their Daytrotter session (via Wolfgang’s Vault). Don’t skip over “Pretty in Pink.” In fact, hearing the National’s take on the track should compel you to listen to the Furs’ Wolfgang’s Vault concerts (they have three!). And, yeah, I’ll embed – so you can “A/B” them – the Furs doing PinP at the end.

As a last point, if you already like The National (or if these tracks from the Daytrotter session makes you dig them) you must check out Willard Grant Conspiracy. They’ve been making some of the most beautiful/powerful/literate chamber-folk-pop for quite some time. Hear for yourself: HERE.

On to the music:

The National Daytrotter sessions:

The Furs from Wolfgang’s Vault:

[On to the disclaimers:
•I do some work for both Daytrotter and Wolfgang's Vault.
•I put out several, and a played on a few of the WGC records, and I played with the band every chance I could.]

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Weinland and Nik Freitas at Daytrotter

June 7, 2008 in music by George | No comments

It just keeps coming. After one of the greatest music experiences of my life last night (chronicled in detail here) at the REM show in Chicago, I took the trip out to Rock Island today to visit Daytrotter.

It’s a wonderful experience to drive through the rolling farmland, arrive in Rock Island, trek up the 3 flights of stairs (well, that part isn’t so great, especially today when it was like 10 billion degrees), and head to the control room of the studio. This is because every time I’ve done this, I end up hearing some of the best and most vibrant music going on anywhere; it’s cool that it’s going on in Rock Island. This trip was no exception.


I don’t think I could love the band Weinland any more. You simply must check them out. While what they do is right up in my wheelhouse in that it’s literate, acoustic music, expertly played…they’re doing it as well as it gets done. If you like, for instance, Iron & Wine, do check them out. If you’ve never heard of Iron & Wine, but you like music…ya know, generally…check them out.

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Equally impressive is Nik Freitas. I was literally stunned by the beauty of Mr. Freitas’ songs and piano playing as I listened to the session. A number of people were comparing him to Paul Simon. I suppose I can hear that, but there’s also a bit of M. Ward and Nick Drake going down to. Great songwriting.

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Both of these artists played great sets at the intimate venue right under the Daytrotter studios.

These sessions will appear on the Daytrotter site in the near future. In the meantime, may I recommend a Daytrotter session from one of the opening bands at the REM show in Chicago last night, The National. While I (along with everyone in the world) like their albums, I don’t think I fully “got” them until I saw them last night. They commanded the stage, and the grandeur of their songs rang through. Neither easy things to do as an opening act.

Check out the National on Daytrotter HERE.

So…all in all, a pretty amazing two days of music. I saw, REM, one of the greatest bands of all time, at the top of their game, turn a massive venue into an intimate club one night, and then saw two emerging artists make an intimate club seem like the best place in the world.

Goodnight.

[Disclosure: I do some work with Daytrotter]

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