photos by Fresh Bread

Orba Squara @ LPR

Despite suffering a car crash followed by a breakup, Marissa Nadler made it to NYC this past weekend to play two shows with Alela Diane (who also played an in-store at Sound Fix while she was here). The first of those two shows was Friday night at Le Poisson Rouge with Orba Squara opening (11/13). That's where the pictures in this post are from.

Marissa and Alela's tour ends Saturday night in Utah. Since leaving they, played a show in Minneapolis. Culture Bully was there, and said...:

Alela Diane [is] a West coast folksinger whose To Be Still is probably the best folk record released this year (next to Cate Le Bon's Me Oh My). Diane's natural stage presence and relaxed manner produced a warm and intimate show that featured standouts "White As Diamonds" and the crowd-requested "The Rifle." Diane also covered Louisiana songwriter Dylan LeBlanc's "If the Good Lord's Willing and the Creek Don't Rise" prompting me to make a mental note to check out the young artist as soon as possible...

...Visibly nervous onstage, Nadler confessed to crippling stage fright and frequently apologized for imagined shortcomings. No apology was necessary though, as Nadler's otherworldly vocals put the audience under a deep spell. One couldn't help but wonder what she might be capable of free from the constraints of anxiety. Great things, I think, since even in her nervous state Nadler was nothing short of incredible.

Orba Squara plays another NYC show this Saturday night (11/21) at Knitting Factory with Jad Fair. More pictures (none of Alela, sorry) from the NYC show at Le Poisson Rouge, and a beautiful video of Marissa shot on the same tour in Fort Worth, TX, below...

Continue reading "Marissa Nadler played w/ Alela Diane & Orba Squara @ LPR (pics) & the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth (video) "

DOWNLOAD: Orba Squaraa - The Trouble With Flying (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Orba Squaraa - New Guitar (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Alela Diane - Bowling Green (MP3)

Orba Squara

As previously posted Alela Diane and Marissa Nadler play a pair of shows in NYC this weekend. The first, tonight (11/13) at Le Poisson Rouge will include an opening set by Orba Squara who is probably best known for an Apple commercial song. Orba's new album The Trouble With Flying is out now. Two MP3s above. A video below.

Orba Squara is also opening for Jad Fair at Knitting Factory in Brooklyn on Saturday, November 21st. I'm not sure if Jad has more dates scheduled, but he does have about 50 MySpace pages.

Alela & Marissa's 2nd NYC show is Saturday night (11/14) at Union Hall. Earlier that day Alela will be performing a free in-store at the new Sound Fix at 3pm. Flyer and all dates below...

Continue reading "Marissa Nadler & Alela Diane (now with in-store) are here - LPR w/ Orba Squara (also opens for Jad Fair) (dates+MP3)"

Monday July 7, 2008 @ The Living Room

Songs Of The Band featuring Steve Rosenthal, Chris Bergson, Jim Boggia, Lee Feldman, Jesse Harris, Charlie Burnham, Kieran McGee, Common Rotation, Milton, Richard Julian, Joy Askew, Noam Weinstein, Chris Lee, Mamie Minch, Jonah Smith, Ken Webb, Hope DeBates, Jim Allen, Eric Feigenbaum, Orba Squara, Smokey Hormel, Jenny Scheinman, Scott Sharrard, Bari Koral, Rod Alonzo, Dina Regine, Dave Phelps, Sam Barron, Mike Erb, Daru Oda, Sasha Dobson, Greta Gertler, Debbie Deane, Sheri Miller, Jan Bell, Emilie Cardinaux, Chrissi Poland, Ben Carroll, Leif Arntzen, Jon Dryden, and more!! ($10 all night, buy now)

This lineup includes many Living Room regulars including 2/3 of Sloppy Joannes, a grammy winner, an artist known for an iPod commercial jingle, and a violinist who often plays shows at Barbes in Park Slope.

DOWNLOAD: Orba Squara - Perfect Timing This Morning (MP3)

Not quite famous, but getting there - Mitch Davis' band Orba Squara is now best known for the song "Perfect Timing This Morning". That's because it appears in an iPhone commercial -- well, some of it....

"I wasn't allowed to tell anybody it was happening," Davis tells Billboard.com of the period prior to the commercial's debut. "I didn't even know for sure that the song really was going to be featured until I saw it myself." Unfortunately for Davis, the ad ends before his delicate vocals come in. "I would have liked for people to hear the whole song how it is, of course, but I'd rather it this way than not at all," he says. [Billboard]

Download the whole track above. The whole album Sunshyness is out October 9th. Listen even more at their MySpace. See them at and during CMJ. Those dates, and some videos, below....

Continue reading "ORBA SQUARA (from that iPhone commercial) -- playing CMJ"