Moving

Update: Years down the road I decided to retire escsounds.com entirely, but some of my tabs and sheets are still up at my website kylejwarren.com.

Hey people, Blogger's been fun, but I'm growing up and yearning for javascript type freedom. Check out my new home at escsounds.com , and let me know what you think by emailing me at kyle AT escsounds DOT com. I'm still figuring out RSS, but you can find my feed here here. Till next time!

Brooklyn Vegan CMJ Showcase @ The Music Hall of Williamsburg, 10-22-2008

The Sammies
A screaming-power-chord rockfest with sharp solos that punches you in the gut? Why did I miss the beginning of their set? They may not have had the most original sound of the night, but they executed with perfection.

Shearwater
I'm still not sure what I think of this group. Meiburg's vocals were spot on, but the quality of his voice reminded me of Ren Fest (Don't ask why.) Plus they had Thor who (given the audience's response) accidentally stole the show. Was that a dulcimer he played? In the end, their troubadour sound didn't fit the excitement of the night.

Ponytail
This felt a bit goofy. The heavy use of noise just made the sound more hazy and masked otherwise interesting guitar work. The yelling also felt pointlessly cathartic, but the drumming was powerful. These guys seemed one step away from a standard math core group which is a good thing, but there was so little thought put into their sound as a whole that I had a hard time watching them.

Passion Pit
Passion Pit was much more comfortable on stage than when I last saw them. Angelakos most of all seemed to have hit a stride. Instead of spending his whole set sitting behind his massive keyboard, he jumped up, danced around, and yelled with all the power he could muster. Songs like Better Things and Smile Upon Me were revamped to add more energy, and we were treated to two new ones that I assume will be on the 2009 album. I liked the first, but the second lost me. All in all, Passion Pit kicked ass, and friends that had seen them for the first time agreed. They're skyrocketing.

Singing DJ Jens Lekman
Up front were the intense Lekman fans who seemed disappointed by the lack of actual singing on his part and weren't expecting to see what the crowd behind found so fun. This was Lekman's opportunity to be a DJ and play what he thought would best get the audience dancing. It worked for the most part--especially on me. I'd love it if more of my favorite artists took the time to share their favorite dance music with me every time I went out. Lekman crashed a few time early on, but his choice of music made up for it.

The sum of it all was a great show.

Ponytail

Shearwater

Passion Pit



Jens Lekman

Jenny Lewis - Acid Tongue

I'm not sure why I missed this song. I adored her debut more than I cared to admit at the time, but I guess the Rilo Kiley fame shook her from my radar.

At any rate, seeing her perform on Late Night got me officially addicted to Acid Tongue (the song and the album). Lewis does we she does best in this piece -- emphasizes her lush voice with simple, standard open chords. Still, it's a little different this time around. The choral harmony (or indie collective as my friend put it) adds more than the Watson Twins did in the past, and though she's once again talking about the futility and childishness of the pursuit of happiness, there's something extremely uplifting about it all.

Maybe it's their choral take of the inverted minor 2nd.


via pinkrudy

Fleet Foxes - Oliver James Tab

Edit: I'm hosting this tab as a file and a few of my other sheets on my new site.

There wasn't a tab I could find for this so after an hour of fun times, here it is. I used the Ultimate-Guitar (where it's also being hosted) template for this. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Oliver James - Fleet Foxes
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

tabbed by: kyle AT escsounds.com

t = tremelo
b = bend

Tuning: standard

Intro/Chorus

e|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
B|---------------1--p0---0-----------3---3---3---1---1---1---0-----|
G|-2p0---0-------------2-----0-------------------------------------|
D|-----2-----0-------------------0---------------------------------|
A|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
E|-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-|

e|---------------------------------|
B|-1p0---0---------------0---------|
G|-----2-----0-------0-------0-----|
D|---------------0-----------------|
A|---------------------------------|
E|-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-|

Verse

e|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
B|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
G|-----------------0---4---0-------0-------------------0---0---4---|
D|---------0---4---------------4---------4-0-------0---------------|
A|-2-----3-------------------------------------2-------------------|
E|-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-|

Bridge

e|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
B|-------0-1---0-------0---1---0---------0-1---0-------------------|
G|-----------------2---------------2---------------2---------------|
D|-----------------------------------------------------3-------3---|
A|---------------------------------------------------------3-------|
E|-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-|

e|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
B|---------------------0---------------0---1---1---3---1---0-------|
G|-0---------------0-------0-----------0---0---0---0---0---0---0---|
D|-------4-2---4---------------4-----------------------------------|
A|-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3---------------------------------|
E|---------------------------------3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-|


| / slide up
| \ slide down
| h hammer-on
| p pull-off
| ~ vibrato
| + harmonic
| x Mute note
===============================================================================

Fleet Foxes @ The Grand Ballroom at Manhattan Center, 10-5-2008

Brilliant.

I spent most of May listening to Sun Giant and then Fleet Foxes, and I thus had all the recorded songs stuck in my head before the concert even started. It's great to go to a show and be so familiar with the material that you can know the names right off and then be surprised at the subtle changes. What really made the experience was it's personable nature. Take it, I was right up in front, but the crowd was so respectful that when Robin decided to play two solo bits completely acoustically you could have and didn't hear a single cell phone in the audience. It was as if, despite their fame, I was watching them play for a group of my friends at a bar around the corner.

The vocals were pretty much perfect even during the few times when a band member decided to improvise a harmony, and without the reverb (during Robin's two solo songs) that has almost defined their style, nothing was lost. This all resounded during the a-capella sections which had me drifting off to whatever fanciful location they were mentioning at the time. The banter also had me literally laughing between songs; I'd almost forgotten how friendly a band could be. Fleet Foxes are more than suited to play live shows given their whole nature. I'll keep listening to their recordings, but I'm not sure I'll ever get the same musical bliss that I got from seeing them live.

Setlist
Sun Giant/Sun Rises
Drops in the River
English House
White Winter Hymnal
Ragged Wood
Your Protector
Crayon Angels (Judee Sill Cover)
Oliver James
Quiet Houses
He Doesn't Know Why
Mykonos
Katie Cruel (Traditional) - unplugged!
Tiger Mountain Peasant Song - unplugged!
Silver City - new song!
Blue Ridge Mountains
via madeablog

Here's my glowy picture of Robin.

And Skye played with a bow.

Psych Rock @ The Cake Shop, 10-2-2008

I came to the Cake Shop taking Free Williamsburg's suggesstion to see Evangelicals, but first I had to to see two surprisingly fun bands.

The first was Mysteries of Modern Science which uses string instrumentation to realize pop chords and themes classically. Altogether they are a bassist, mandolinist, violinist, two cellists, and a drummer. Minus the mandolin, every instrument plays a single line so there is much more of an emphasis on counterpoint rather than simple chords. It's as if each plays it's own melody. MoMS claims post rock as an influence which doesn't shock, but unlike most groups of the genre, they add lyrics. Still, though the vocals don't drown out the instruments, they are a bit of a weak point.

Second was Parenthetical Girls. The vocalist, Zac Pennington, liked banter and theatrics. He spent a bit of the time walking through the crowd and laying down beats on the floor, bar, and wall. The others stayed put and chimed in with percussion (was it a xylophone?). The major melodies lent themselves to goofy rock akin to Evangelicals but came out sounding more dreamy.

Evangelicals on the other hand were much noisier in concert than in their recordings. The overall sound was much less pure, and it came off more destructive than anything. Still, they put on a good show even if it wasn't what I expected.

Chairlift - Bruises

Because I'm seeing Chairlift live for my first time tonight, I've been playing Does You Inspire You whenever I'm at my computer. The album hooked me in right away (probably because I've been a fan of Planet Health for a few months now), and I've found Bruises to be my favorite so far.

It seems so silly and simple at first with it's casio-like drum track and bouncing bass line. Then a soft, reverberated chord set fills the background without any sort of attack. Even the lyrics appear goofy, but nothing is juxtaposed. The hint of sadness in the melody seems to want to add some gravity to the song that wouldn't be there otherwise. As I listen, I can't get myself to think that this is anything more than a lighthearted breakup song, but you can tell that it wants to be. From chorus to verse the song leans back and forth trying to decide how important it really is, and by the end it's hit a sweet spot.

Stars - A Thread Cut With A Carving Knife

I was late getting Sad Robots to download which is strange given the name rings Hitchhiker's Guide. Maybe I'm getting tired of one of my favorite bands, or it could be that It'll take some time for me to warm to the French on the title track.

Whatever the case, A Thread Cut With a Carving Knife is the track that stands out for me. The synths in beginning have a perfect corniness that recalls a Disneyish village. The rest of the song follows this trend but also makes stronger use of Campbell's voice. Then suddenly the song is soaked in loving distortion. The whole thing is almost if not completely formulaic, but I can't help but let myself drift into some form of synaesthesia when Millan's voice takes over for the final chorus.

Passion Pit @ Pianos, 8-13-2008

I got to see Passion Pit's NYC debut so I thought I'd add to the wave of hype that they're riding.

They were glorious. They got everyone dancing, which is impressive given the limited availability of their music. I'd listened to all the tracks the internet could muster beforehand, and was surprised by how cohesive the concert felt. Each song shared a Passion Pit flavor which lent itself heavily to Michael Angelakos' shouting. The songs were all at a quick, danceable tempo, and used poppy chord sets backed by steady synths. There were also some sudden, stop-and-go parts that worked better at exciting people than classic electro buildups.

Though everyone seemed to agree with me about their amazingness, thoughts were mixed about Agelakos' mentioned voice. For me, the way he flailed around high pitches gave a delightful harshness to the music, but this same trait bothered others. Still, I don't see this stopping them. A crowd that size doesn't go crazy for a band that hasn't released anything labeled unless something's up.

Visit them at myspace and last.fm to get all the tracks.

Soundtracks

I've always been huge fan of filmscore. It was the gateway that lead me to find all that I love so dearly now. If you were impressed by Johnny Greenwood's excellent step into genre, then it would be in your best interest to at least check one of these out. In fact, if you are the kind of music listener that hates instrumental music, it might still be interesting for you to know who sets the mood for some of your favorite movies, and if you are a fan of filmscore, you probably already own all of these.

No particular order

• Clint Mansell - The Fountain
  After making Requiem for a Dream, Aronofsky set out on creating this film and released it to a bit of disappointment. Despite the fact that the movie recieved mixed reviews, the score is a brilliant piece of sorrowful strings. Without having seen the movie, you get a sense of the futility of the main character's pursuit. Mansell, as he did for Aranofsky's previous film, has much of the music performed by the Kronos Quartet, which has a history of bridging classical and experimental sounds. A theme echos throughout the soundtrack but in different tempos and styles to follow the similarities of each story in the film.
  
  
• Cliff Martinez - Solaris
  Martinez's scores are less popular than the others on this list (despite his time spent drumming for the Chili Peppers), but the Solaris soundtrack is probably my favorite. It conveys a euphoric, yet poignant coma through a unique use of steel drums. The open space is filled with soft strings that provide a base on which melodies are built. The chords are common, but they are manipulated creatively through the instrumentation and the apreggiation.
  
  
• John Murphy - 28 Days Later
  I've heard that Boyle was influenced by Godspeed You! Black Emperor when conceiving the film, and it's true that a bit of the film makes use of their music. Still, it's Murphy's work that dominates the movie. Scores can often sound tacky when making use of electric guitars and power chords (300), but 28 Days Later depicts destruction in a post-apocalyptic landscape with perfect fury. It's the song, In the House - In a Heartbeat, that stands apart and has since been given replay on current commercials and trailers.
  
  
• Johnny Greenwood - There Will Be Blood
  This score is reminiscent at times of Richard Strauss who's music is commonly associated with 2001: A Space Odyssey and Arvo Pärt who is also included in the soundtrack. It's hard to imagine the movie without Greenwood's score which sets the mood before the viewer even understands anything about it's main characters.
  
  
• Jon Brion - Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
  Brion's score is a bit overshadowed by some of Gondry's other choices on the album, but the actual film hears only the goofy, but melancholic piano that the composer chose as his main instrument. It's hard to listen to it and not imagine Jim Carey's almost silent voice over, but this is because of the inherent human quality it holds. Overall, it is soothing and minimal. The main melody seems uninterested in itself, and sounds as if it were on a slow walk.
  
  
• Yann Tierson - Goodbye Lenin
  Tierson doesn't move very far from his earlier works such as Emelie. Piano and strings get full use like in Brion's mentioned work, but the tempo is quicker. The notes bounce along while the violins provide emotional stability. At the end of the album, the theme is given vocals which veer from the common design of the genre, but like the rest of the music, it stays true to the film. The whole compilation conveys dramatic thought and emotional stress.

El Ten Eleven - These Promises Are Being Videotaped

Here comes another pay-what-you-want-for-me album, and this time it's the third LP from one of my all-time favorite bands. El Ten Eleven is a simply a drummer (Tim Fogarty), a bassist (Kristian Dunn), and a lot of pedals, and before now their sound was technical but heavily melodic. Each song, though sometimes involving quick tapping and low power chords, was pleasantly dreamy and used looping to build on soothing harmonics and bass lines.

These Promises Are Being Videotaped is a dance album, but still maintains the instrumentation and virtuosity. Fogarty's beats are hastier and provide the constant thump omnipresent in the modern club, and Dunn's playing comes out more as a square wave than a sine. It all comes together brilliantly but keeps a bit of ground from territory already ruled by groups like Ratatat and MSTRKFT. Unlike the latter two, El Ten Eleven performs and records all the layers of its tracks.

But sometimes the new formula is forgotten. Fat Gym Riot is reminiscent of the described past, and on such a short album, it's surprising to find a cover of Paranoid Android that emulates with a few intentionally missed pitches. What El Ten Eleven has done is evolve, which is extremely pleasing. I would have treasured another Every Direction is North, but now I'm genuinely impressed. These Promises isn't an easily accessible piece of electronic pop, but it's destined to be enjoyed by fans of post rock and will probably garner a few remixes (Boys Noize?).

UNLKE - End Titles... Stories for Film

Filmscore is one of my favorite genres so when UNKLE came out with this album, I was excited to say the least, but the lack of excitement from the community lead me to believe that this album was just an afterthought. This is strange considering that we only recently got More Stories, the B sides compilation associated with War Stories. The reality, however, is that More Stories was the afterthought. After all, it was only released in Japan and Australia, and it contains only two tracks (Heaven, Blade in the Back) that stand on their own.

End Titles... Stories for Film retains the gained/chorused rock sound that defined War Stories but it also returns to the more epic sense of it's predecessor, Never, Never, Land. There's a heavier use of strings and quite a few transition tracks such as Even Balance (Part 2) which has flowing feedback and vocals and serves to buffer the next, more fleshed-out piece, Trouble in Paradise. The latter finds UNKLE sampling from straight filmscore. The album is long too. With 22 tracks it clocks in at about 74 minutes. End Titles also relies even more on collaboration than others before it, and almost every track holds another artist's name.

I love End Titles, but it doesn't feel as well packaged as UNKLE's three other LP's. This could throw off the average listener who might be a bit overwhelmed by the shear content of the album. Not only that, but the ethereal sound of some tracks don't seem to fly with a many of my friends. Still, some, like Heaven, have gone over well. In the end, however, this is an album for UNKLE fans.

Stars - Your Ex-Lover is Dead (Owen Pallett / Final Fantasy)

Edit: I'm hosting this tab as a file and a few of my other sheets on my new site.

I've had this one in my head for a while (not fully) so I took the time to transcribe it. This is the Owen Pallett (formerly Final Fantasy) remix of the Your Ex-Lover is Dead that's off the interesting but strange Do You Trust Your Friends. What strikes me about this song is how easily Pallet makes the transition to pop music composition. It's a beautiful reworking of an already beautiful piece and also makes for good stand-alone piano.

Shaun Tan - The Arrival

I was handed this book as a way to pass a small amount of time recently and 20 minutes later my eyes were stinging with tears. Every one of it's pages holds a spectacular pencil drawing that wordlessly depicts a nameless immigrant's journey to a foreign industrial capital. Opposite the cover and back, multiracial head shots (probably taken for identification) checker the paper. This follows the culturally blind scheme of the book as the world described would easily be intensively foreign yet familiar to any modern reader. If the story had been told with words, it would have only needed a few. Soon after it begins, the main character finds himself gesturing more than speaking. I would imagine words subtracting from the gravity of his confusion. Thus, in order to fully understand the story I was forced to examine the pictures more intensively in the same manner I might have walked down the hallway of a museum. I was told this was a graphic novel, but it hardly seems similar to things like Ghost World and Shortcomings. It would be much more accessible to a child then either of those, and would fit well on either a coffee table or in a bookshelf. Pick it up or give it as a gift if you have a chance.

Emily Haines - Detective Daughter

I finished transcribing another piece in my free time. This one's a bit harder to play and sing, but the all together it's wonderful. I'd recommend getting Knives Don't Have Your Back if you get the chance. Let me know if you want the .pdf.

Girl Talk - Feed the Animals

Let me get the fact that Greg Gillis jumped on the In Rainbows bandwagon out of the way. I'm happy about it. If groups aren't afraid to be branded as copycats, then maybe the floodgates will open -- or at least some sort of tiny faucet will turn on.

This album seems more like a sequel then just another LP. It's, of course, not a sophomore album. Girl Talk released other albums before Night Ripper, but that's what put him on the map. It is also when he started sampling heavily from straight pop and developed his current style. Feed the Animals feels like a sequel, and Night Ripper's recipe begged to be copied and expanded. Listeners had a mental list of hopeful artists as soon as they heard it. In Gillis' recent release we get Hendrix belting his most famous line and Jay Z over Radiohead. Then we also get tracks that have a history of showing in mashups like Ghetto Superstar, but with 10-20 songs per track, you could probably find overlap even with Guitar Hero (you can).

The sequel doesn't disappoint. Songs dance in from all corners and attack nostalgic nerves (Give Me a Beat has Tom Petty), and some combinations work like magic (Like This has Lil' Mama over Metallica). Feed the Animals doesn't break any new ground, but it doesn't have to. It's well polished, and the bits of annoyance from the quick changing tracks from before aren't there. Everything lasts a bit longer, and transitions come right where they should. A bit of me wishes that we'd hear something outside the Hip-Hop-over-Classic-Rock/Indie formula that dominates the record, but there's no reason in fixing something that not only works but still rocks. It's comforting to know that house parties will still have a great soundtrack, and even more exciting to know that Gillis will have a twice as much recognizable material when performing.

You don't really have a choice. Get the album. You'll hear it soon enough.

Death Cab For Cutie - Passenger Seat

I've been tabbing songs for a while, but with the lack of sheet music on the internet I've also started making notation. Here's a great, easy-to-learn song for piano.

Pictures

If anyone's been wondering what I've been doing with my life, these might give you an idea. The first is of a Bolognan soccer rally. The team won their final game of the season and moved up to the first division, which resulted in the honking of all horns in the downtown area.

Sigur Rós - Gobbledigook

I just visited sigurros.com which is now hosting a song from the band's upcoming album. The song is called Gobbledigook, and the album is Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust (With a buzz in our ears we play endlessly). It's all set to come out on June 23rd, which after hearing the track, seems too long a wait.

The first few seconds of the song use an extremely delayed, cutesie voice that fades into an acoustic guitar. The guitar jumps startlingly between chords so quickly that it's difficult to sink lovingly into that musical hug that older tracks like Untitled 4 presented. When Birgisson's voice enters the march, however, everything becomes more familiar, but nothing ever seems juxtaposed. The song continues on with the constant pounding of drums that seemingly build until the end where it finds a strangely choral ending.

After hearing this piece only a few times, I already adore it. Sigur Rós has created something strikingly exciting when they could have just as easily copied their old formula. This is evolution at it's finest. Grab the track if you get the chance.