this ep was put together to support japan in light of the horrific disaster that has taken place there. please give what you can, and know that 100% of these proceeds will be given to the japan society's earthquake relief fund.
we love you japan.
-the morning benders
the morning benders were scheduled to play last week for the first time in japan. it was especially rough on chris as he was born there and it would have been a homecoming of sorts. donate if you can.
must make-up for lack of music vids posting: sorry friends! the lack of interweb in my flat has drastically caused me to neglect posting vids i've come across. so here are a few shar's stumbled upon that i've found to be noteworthy.
sad shar got shut out of their gig at barfly this past thursday and couldn't make their gig at rough trade the day before because of bss. wish i ran into this session. looks like it was outside victoria park. thanks mie for cluing me in.
OMG! in my bk hood, would have loved to walk by them filming. funny saw horse feathers at union hall over a year back. hope to catch up with them at the end of the road fest.
also hope to catch the antlers at the aforementioned fest. looks like they filmed a black cab session in my new hood, N1 (that's islington non-uk friends)
must second time around:morning benders at music hall of williamsburg. the second sold out show for the quintet from my homiest of home towns. if you haven't heard of them or seen the viral vid, you should friends - pronto. you'll understand what the fuss is all about.
holiday shores were a surprisingly pleasant opener. the lead vocalist reminded me of ezra from vampire weekend. i think it's the cardigan, no?
twin sister sat in since their normal band had some difficulties getting to the gig. dare i blame the volcano. anyhoot, the shores remind me of a mix between vampire weekend sans african beats and a little sprinkle of the surfer blood floridian beach water. they were good fun and a nice sunny warm up for the benders to come.
the interlude that welcomed the fab foursome to the stage was vintage bay area goodness. some r&b jam that i wasn't able to make out but was in the vein of an r. kelly groove. kmel love lines, anyone? chris and gang barreled into "stitches", followed by their first single off big echo, "promises". with the majority of the set coming from the new album, chris wanted to make each sold out gig special and played a new tune "go grab a stranger" for the brooklyn crowd. the kids wanted to dance and the benders obliged playing "all day day light". all the fun came to a fitting conclusion with "excuses". i was disappointed that they didn't play it the last time i saw them. glad to have finally see the tune live complete with a up close and personal brush with chris.
still high on saturday's concert. enjoy big echo in it's entirety before it's release march 9. shar's going to get some vinyl goodness. bonus: check out morning benders archive seshs on daytrotter. they are uber nuggets of gold.
must no excuses gig:morning benders at market hotel. shar has been crushin' on this outfit from berkeley since the yours truly vid went up. lush and layered harmonies carried by chris's amazing pipes. (pipes he used to apologize to me when i was in his way to the stage.) there's a great example of his talent via you tube of his cover of roy orbison's "crying". unfortunately, they didn't even play their single "excuses", that's garnered them praise. there was a bit of technical sound issues, but they did cover neil young's "bad fog of loneliness" as an encore. i yelled, "do it for bridge school". i don't think they heard. encores are indeed rare for opening bands but well-deserved in this case.
i actually pulled myself from drinks in les to go back to bushwick to see the much touted surfer blood, the main attraction for the night. i caught their sound check prior to morning benders hitting the stage. i really couldn't not go back to see their actual set. if you haven't heard them, listen to a nice segment npr did on them, including tracks "catholic pagan" and "swim". both songs were played tonight.
best hometown goodness: morning benders' "excuses". yours truly just pumps out another great moment in indie music straight from my hometown. bravo nate chan! this performance was the genius of lead singer chris chu's admiration for phil spector. he even wrote him a letter. wish shar could have been a back-up singer. looked like a ton of fun with chris from girls and john vanderslice in tow. check him out taking snaps with his iphone at the 5:24 mark.
this ep was put together to support japan in light of the horrific disaster that has taken place there. please give what you can, and know that 100% of these proceeds will be given to the japan society's earthquake relief fund. 
must second time around: morning benders at music hall of williamsburg. the second sold out show for the quintet from my homiest of home towns. if you haven't heard of them or seen the viral vid, you should friends - pronto. you'll understand what the fuss is all about.
twin sister sat in since their normal band had some difficulties getting to the gig. dare i blame the volcano. anyhoot, the shores remind me of a mix between vampire weekend sans african beats and a little sprinkle of the surfer blood floridian beach water. they were good fun and a nice sunny warm up for the benders to come.
must no excuses gig: morning benders at market hotel. shar has been crushin' on this outfit from berkeley since the yours truly vid went up. lush and layered harmonies carried by chris's amazing pipes. (pipes he used to apologize to me when i was in his way to the stage.) there's a great example of his talent via you tube of his cover of roy orbison's "crying". unfortunately, they didn't even play their single "excuses", that's garnered them praise. there was a bit of technical sound issues, but they did cover neil young's "bad fog of loneliness" as an encore. i yelled, "do it for bridge school". i don't think they heard. encores are indeed rare for opening bands but well-deserved in this case.
i actually pulled myself from drinks in les to go back to bushwick to see the much touted surfer blood, the main attraction for the night. i caught their sound check prior to morning benders hitting the stage. i really couldn't not go back to see their actual set. if you haven't heard them, listen to a nice segment npr did on them, including tracks "catholic pagan" and "swim". both songs were played tonight.