shar hearts daytrotter

required listening: best of daytrotter 2010. the kids at daytrotter have complied the best tracks from their stellar sessions of last year. daytrotter introduced me to tennis and dale earnhart jr. jr. last year and shar is forever thankful. the compilation includes others like beach house, local natives, and ra ra riot. if that wasn't enough, they have also posted a reader's choice selection.

neko case at beacon theatre

best live vocals: neko case at beacon theatre. shar's seen neko with the new pornographers (missed ya julie) but never solo. i shelled out the duckets to see her at the famed beacon theatre. that was a first for me as well. the theatre is gorgeous and reminds me of a mix of the paramount and warfield back home. i was up in the lower balcony, but still a nice bird's eye view of the flaming redhead siren.


the night was a good mix of her latest effort, "middle cyclone" and also a lot of my favs from "fox confessor brings the flood". neko started it off with "things that scare me" and then one of my all time favs "maybe sparrow". clad in a satin red dress, she said she got it at cougars 'r us. really she got it at a mall in boston. she and kelly barreled through "people got a lot of nerve", which just made me envision the cute video with the whale.



the evening was just what i was expecting and little more. lots more tracks played from "fox confessor" that were quite the treat - "that teenage feeling", "margaret vs. pauline"and "hold on, hold on".

zee avi at housing works

must box her up and sell her performance: zee avi at housing works bookstore. zee is ahhhhh-dooraaah-able, and shar has raved about her before. i finally got to see the pint-sized lady last night and it was quite the treat despite the cramped, hot corner in the back.

she jumped in with "poppy" (my roomie's fav) which the audience was happy to contribute snaps. my roomie and i could not help but sing "the poppy took my baby away from me". a real treat followed. when zee covered interpol's "slow hands". i was only able to get two minutes of it.


i love when artists take a song and flip the sound. in this case a rather infused jangle of guitars against paul's gutteral vocals is transformed into a sweet acoustic driven ballad. zee continued to charm us with her first single "bitter heart", which the crowd was more than happy to sing along to. her only happy love song "honey bee" followed. she introduced "just you and me" as an existentialist's song. lastly, she "encored" with my fav her's (via morrissey) "the first of the gang to die".

hanna and i hit zee up for a group pic and learned she recently moved to billyburg. brooklynites, let's make her feel welcome. she's a gem!

tvb on pitchfork

soooooo shar was there, but did not make the pitchfork footage. if you haven't seen esau in action this is a nice teaser. i love how the 101 is in the background of the interview bit. making me more homesick. 43 more days until home time.

girls at bowery ballroom

best met expectations: girls at bowery ballroom. shar's been anticipating the show for months. in fact so much that multiple listens of album have gotten me a bit homesick for the fog and the sf bay.

chris owens' vocals were impeccable against the sometimes distorted cacophony of electric guitar, but mostly his lyrics of heartbreak filled an empty place in my heart of hearts. they played my favs "ghost mouth", "laura", and "lust for life". on the later the crowd erupted in dance. other noteworthy tidbits was the revelation that "headache" was the first song chris wrote. they also treated us to some treats like the b-side, "solitude" from hellhole ratrace (hhrr) 10" and the new tune "oh boy".
they encored with "lauren marie", which is also one of my highly regarded tracks. but chris really pulled out a doozy covering my all time favorite daniel johnston's song "true love will find you in the end". i got a bit of footage, but again filmed it the wrong way sorry.


i did also snag the set list from the new guitarist. it includes guitar tunes too. notice the extra special daniel johnston cover wasn't listed. emilio of the dig was promoting their show post show and was also stoked about the cover. he said beck does a sweet version. it's aight. i have been partial to basia's take, but chris might have hit it particularly home for me. so especially fitting to end the concert with an uplifting ditty.

laura marling @ joe's pub

somewhat of a disappointment
: laura marling at joe's pub. she did not show up for mike and eric. saki and julie, it was okay you missed this one. i was hoping the change of venue would make last night's show better than the previous gig i saw at bowery. she AGAIN played a short set under an hour.

however, laura does know how to charm a crowd with a self-introduction of "hi i'm laura and i'm going to play some songs for you." she interweaved oldies with new tunes from her forthcoming second album. she did address the fact that it's a bit ugh when you have to sit through new tunes you aren't familiar with, expecting to hear the stuff you know. laura, you are very thoughtful. from her first album, she played "ghosts," "blackberry stone," and "my manic and i". of the new tunes i could decipher, she did play "no hope in the air" and "rambling man". i really liked that later. the encore was her explaining how it's weird to retire behind a curtain five feet from the stage. she remained on stage and plucked through two more tunes. she didn't play my fav "alas i cannot swim". :(

i do think laura is a great artist with thoughtful, original lyrics set against gentle acoustic chords. the video below produced by mtv (didn't know she was on their radar) illustrates the pure simplistic goodness of ms. marling. just wish she would play longer sets. sigh!

antlers @ soundfix

best cmj in store: the antlers at soundfix. shar's second cmj freebie gig. i was expecting to see the antlers at the soundfix lounge, but it's been closed for some time. proof that shar has not been to billyburg in a while. i loved the space. that's where i first saw bon iver.

in any case, i walked the block to the new space. the performance was cozy against the racks of cds and vinyl. i first learned about the antlers earlier this year when they put excepts of hospice online for first listen. i'm also just realizing they opened for lucinda black bear when i saw them in early january at cake shop.

fast forward nine months later...

peter proclaimed that this set would be a mellow one for those recovering from their cmj hangovers. darby confessed he wasn't hungover, and mike teased him about his argyle socks. they didn't sort out a set list, so the impromptu set included "shiva", "two", darby's choice "kettering" and audience requested "bear". the crowd was mesmerized, and even peter had to comment on the silence.

"it's so quiet when people aren't drinking."

very true, peter. here's to more intimate gigs at soundfix sans clanging bottles. hurrah! here's a vid of the antlers at dc's all our noise since i was lame a forgot my camera to document the set.

AON Sessions: The Antlers, "Two" from All Our Noise on Vimeo.

fanfarlo @ rebel nyc

best cmj warm up: fanfarlo at rebel nyc. shar got an invite to the syndicate showcase, and she sure couldn't pass up a good free show with a swede frontman. simon and the gang hit the stage a bit late from their scheduled 11pm set time. cathy seemed perturbed by the sound check, but all was well in the end. she was clad in a levi's zippy and bespectacled. that's her on mandolin below.

i was ahmazed at a simple unzip revealed a fem blouse and no glasses.

saki made a good comparison of fanfarlo to beirut, but i think they are more upbeat with a little less slavic gypsy influence. you can decided for yourself and listen to their latest album, reservoir below.

fanfarlo plays lots of instruments to produce a jubilant party of whimsy. check simon out on the clarinet.


for those who haven't see them live there is a black cab sesh in london and one stateside. sorry i couldn't embedded i don't have vimeo plus. since i suck at getting you embedded black cab sessions, here's a segment they just did on atc for npr.



best giveaway:

jealous? i know you are.

new swell season

best cheer me up: swell season's strict joy. it's streaming on npr for 2 weeks until it's released october 27. the album is a hushed lullaby to relationships gone south. the album is more layered than the mostly organic soundtrack for once. it's a testament to the evolution of glen and marketa's relationship from romantic to true friendship.

cancelled - basia bulat @ bell house

reason shar is crying inside: basia bulat's gig at bell house tonight is canceled due to visa issues. note posted on bell house website:

WED 10/7: 7:30pm / CANCELED

BASIA BULAT

Basia Bulat has been canceled due to visa issues. Full refunds are available at point of purchase. No make up date has been scheduled.

good news is ticketweb has already refunded me my dough, but jac is denied again from seeing the canadian cutie. it would have been her first show in brooklyn. basia come back please. for now, i will have to keep myself satisfied with her new tune, "gold rush" from her new album, heart of my own.

kleerup feat. lykke li

belated music goodness: ms. li's collab with kleerup for "until we bleed" is really rockin' my day. it's swedish goodness wrapped in sweetly lulling beats.


shar somehow snoozed on this when stereogum reported on it last may. boo shar, but enjoying it now. hope you do too.

andrew bird et st. vincent

ahhmazing vid from the peeps of la blogotheque. reminds me of a modern day salon where true artists converge to make indelible moments of art. je t'aime?

things to get excited about

iasip - season 5 premiere tonight!



dead man's bone's "my body's a zombie for you" Z-O-M-B-I-E!

i got...

...and it's making me very happy. drinking simpler times pilser and putting this on repeat. tvb is playing cmj. who is in? you can get this happiness here in person if you live in ny or online here.

wunderlust in pakistan: taken by trees

best get out of town to be inspire trip: taken by trees (aka victoria bergsman) recording latest album east of eden in pakistan. new single "watch the waves" sounds dreamily earthy. stereogum did a good write up here. she did a video with national geographic about her time in pakistan. it's a hazy take on escapism to find inspiration.

sharocked brooklyn vegan

belated realization: sharock featured on brooklyn vegan. shar was just going over her google analytics stats and realized she was getting hits from bv. so shar did some reaserch. lo and behold she was quoted on bv a month ago. whoa! can they pay her now? shar takes concert tickets for payment. :)

song of the day

best choice for song of the day:

adam introed me to cass. i've loved him since. his new album is uber duber goodness. you should pick it up. shar particularly loves "dream-come-true-girl". makes me wish cass wrote it about moi.

wish i was there

reason to be green with envy: kulis returning from wunderlust. shar didn't have the bank to fund the dream excursion to tahoe for the two most favorite things in her life - indie rock and yoga. instead i will have to hear about it from all those privileged enough to attend and read about it in the times. yay me!

breath of monday morning fresh air: zee avi

best monday morning pick-up: zee avi. shar had the unpleasant morning encounter with a old homeless dude "walking the dog" on a subway bench. thanks joe for pointing that out to me. just what i needed before 8am sans coffee.

zee avi's tunes was the perfect remedy to cheer me up in a jiffy. also, really digging the new ability to embed the npr player. weeeeee! sharing tunes has become much easier.




zee avi is opening for pete yorn at webster hall tomorrow and wednesday. it's too rich for shar's pocketbook. if you happen to go, let me know how she is.

back to back

lukewarm summer concert so far: pains of being pure at heart at south street seaport. shar was looking forward to this free gig and well she came out underwhelmed. maybe it was where i was standing but the sound was a bit off. it was aiiight the friday before for here we go magic. kip's voices were decent but peggy was virtually unaudible aside from her profession of her love for pizzeria uno.

best return: jason lytle at union hall. i haven't seen this kid in over 2 years on the farewell grandaddy tour. i raced from south street to brooklyn to catch his set. i was there before he went on, however the crowds had descended, so i was unable to be upfront which is where you have to be at union hall to see anything. much different than the last time i saw him at cafe du nord with tables and chairs. i was only a couple feet away from him preshow when he was chatting with his merch peeps. i kicked myself for not saying something about how much his music rules and loving his new tunes. this is the best shot i got of him from where i was standing.