words & photos by Benjamin Lozovsky

Field Music

The members of Field Music really wanted to play a gig in the US; so much in fact, that they had a one-off show at The Bell House Saturday (1/30), flying in early that morning and returning to England shortly after their performance. It was more than enough time to make their mark.

The date came after the band canceled performances in New York City and Chicago late in 2009 due to illness, and this occasion was far from ideal circumstances as well. But even with jetlag, horse throats and only a handful of rehearsals together as a new line up under their belts, Field Music played with inspiration and intrepid musical awareness.

Founding member Peter Brewis wasn't sure after the show whether the band sounded fully meshed yet, but as he and brother David calmly swapped out handling guitars and drums throughout then night, they demonstrated their confidence as leaders of a rapidly congealing group. New bassist Ian Black and multi-instrumentalist Kev Dosdale followed the Brewis' assured approach as the group tackled many new numbers from the band's revelatory, soon-to-be-released new album, Field Music (Measure). Powerful songs like "All You Ever Need To Say," and "Clear Water" added darkness and grit to the intelligence and grace that categorized their previous output. "I think we were listening to a lot of Led Zeppelin," said Peter, speaking of the recording of Field Music (Measure).

The Zeppelin flavor was most evident in the sparse but loudly punctuated drumming that frames many of their new creations. But other harder-edged influences abounded, sitting well with the more artsy inspiration they take from bands like Television and Steely Dan. Basically they've added some balls to their brainy youthfulness.

Speaking of youth, openers The Mugs and The Spinto Band were also at their most juvenile this night, to the enjoyment of the crowd. They both cater in a bouncy kind of indie hodge-podge, and there was a lot of bouncing by the two bands during their respective sets. The Mugs brought out a bullhorn for one number, and The Spinto Band brandished kazoos and clanged lots of cowbell. There were good ideas brought forth by both, and each of the two groups played with enough heart to somewhat mitigate their poorly defined musical identities and moments of lackluster songwriting.

It's not easy to balance the adolescent hopefulness of such spirited music with the ability to act well above your age. Field Music seems to have just the right measure of both.

Field Music return in March while on tour with The Clientele. More pictures from the Bell House with Field Music's setlist, below...

Continue reading "Field Music, Spinto Band & The Mugs @ the Bell House - pics "

by Andrew Frisicano

DOWNLOAD: The Rural Alberta Advantage - Don't Haunt this place (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: The Rural Alberta Advantage - "Frank, AB" (MP3)

TRAA @ Pianos - their first NYC show (photo by Fred Wilson)

The Rural Alberta Advantage is playing SXSW next week, with shows that include the eMusic Official SXSW Showcase on Thursday, March 19th. They go on right before Grizzly Bear. After that, the band has a short tour booked with The Spinto Band which brings them to Brooklyn's Bell House on Sunday, April 5th. Tickets are on sale. All dates below.

The Rural Alberta Advantage's first-ever NYC show took place January 27th, 2009, at Pianos (pic above). In attendence was eMusic's 17 dots blog, who wrote, "The room was packed, everyone knew every word to every song, the energy was perfect...To anyone who witnessed their performance, it's now a God-given fact that this band is going to make it. Whatever 'it' is these days, they will achieve it." A few months earlier eMusic also ran a feature on them.

The indie-pop trio's sound is greatly bolstered by drummer Paul Banwatt - who fills space in the band's songs sound with a fury of drums that competes with the harmonies of Amy Cole and Nils Edenloff for most immediately gripping element. BV wrote previously that when discussing the Canadian band (from rural Alberta, in fact), "it's hard not to mention Neutral Milk Hotel." That comparison comes from both Edenloff's vocal delivery and lyrical subject matter (wistful innocence, notalgia, but less antiquated and fatalistic than NMH) and the fact that both fill musical space with a similarly unnerving amount of sound - be it organ, drums, trumpet, or voice.

TRAA's debut, 2008's Hometowns, is available from the band; a remixed version of song "Sleep All Day" is up on Green Go's Myspace.

All tour dates and a pair of live videos from the band's NYC debut @ Pianos below...

Continue reading "The Rural Alberta Advantage - 2009 tour dates, live videos"

Photos by Kyle Dean Reinford

If not obvious by the 2008 Fun Fun Fun Fest coverage so far, I was having the most fun (fun fun) over the weekend with all the punk, metal and hardcore on stages 3a and 3b (two connected stages to avoid long times between sets). Highlights and pictures from day one are HERE. Highlights of day two (9/9) were DOA, Frightened Rabbit, the ska punk, politics and crowd of Leftover Crack, Cro-Mags (jam) (John Joseph w/ one of Cro-Mags' past drummers, AJ from Leeway on guitar and Craig Setari of Sick of it All on bass), what I saw of St. Vincent and Black Angels, the vegan sausage pizza, and Bad Brains. I managed to catch a few songs of Islands who sounded great, but totally missed Spinto Band and Annuals. Also saw pieces of Kevin Seconds, Chuck Ragan, and Ben Nichols's solo-frontmen sets. Saw Black Joe Lewis and most of Trash Talk, but neither lived up to my expectations in the daytime festival setting. I went back and forth between the pre-headliner sets of Minus the Bear and Bouncing Souls, and ran over to watch one song of Clap Your Hands Say Yeah during a Bad Brains reggae segment. Despite the competition, CYHSY still pulled in a respectable sized crowd. The stages were far enough away in general, but I could also still hear Alec Ounsworth's unmistakable voice at times between Bad Brains songs depending on where I was standing (I watched Bad Brains from various areas throughout their set). Clipse were headlining on the stage farthest away from Bad Brains so I totally missed them, and Kool Keith, who played that same stage earlier. Bad Brains ended earlier than curfew which meant I got to run over and catch about 20 minutes of Tim and Eric which was a great way (laughing) to end the hectic two day fest.

One unfortunate aspect of the weekend was the dust. It was a problem at ACL this year too. Dry dirt and wind meant you were constantly breathing it in. A signifigant portion of the crowd was wearing bandanas or other gas mask-like things on their faces. I didn't, but I should have because I think it made me a little sick. More pictures from day two below...

Continue reading "Fun Fun Fun Fest 2008 - (some of) day two in photos "

DOWNLOAD: Ra Ra Riot - Dying is Fine (MP3)

Ra Ra Riot (more by Kyle Dean Reinford)

(someone told me that) Ra Ra Riot are the special guest at Union Hall tonight (July 17). It's the first show of the Spinto Band residency. Ra Ra Riot are also playing the Siren Festival on Saturday. The track in this post is off their Barsuk debut - The Rhumb Line (out August 19).