yes

still here but... actually HERE

Band of Horses: Live instore at Amoeba Music

Band of Horses: Live in store at Amoeba Music, Los Angeles (43:23)

Ubervideo: Sera Cahoone - Couch Song

Video
"Lucid, dream like, beautiful. Like a mystical and subdued mute romance with the road, everything surrounding, ever exploring. Never quite discovering but edging, slowly, ever closer. Evokes a true sense of life on the road, alone."

Sera Cahoone : Couch Song

The uberview: Iron & Wine: "I don’t really do things to rub people the wrong way"

Mr Samuel Beam, a.k.a. that man who induces beard-envy in every young hippy, a.k.a. ‘indie-folk’ act Iron & Wine, started writing songs purely as a hobby whilst working as a cinematography lecturer. A demo happened to fall in the hands of Seattle’s Sub Pop label and the rest, as they say, is history.

Beam recently released his third long player, The Shepherd’s Dog (review) following two EPs (one of which was a collaboration with ‘kings of brass’ Calexico) which signalled a more electric and varied direction to his traditionally acoustic sound.

Tom Milway was able to speak to him, thanks to the advances in mobile telecommunication, all the way from the backstage area of Boston, Massachusetts’ Orpheum Theatre. Whilst the new album represents a further development in Beam’s sound, at its foundations, he tells us, his song writing process hasn’t changed. We question whether this gradual growth of sound is all part of a master plan and talk family, location and what a normal day at the Beam residence involves.

- - -

I gather you are in Boston. What are you doing at the moment?

I’m just getting ready to soundcheck. What are you doing?
>
I’m just getting ready to talk to you! So let’s talk.

Alright, okay!

So, you’re touring at the moment?

Yeah, it’s a short tour, about a week and a half. A few dates around the US.

When you are at home, and not touring or doing interviews, what’s the normal daily routine for Sam Beam?

Well you know, the normal kind of thing - gotta get the kids to school, try to work on music when I can. But you know, it gets kinda complicated when you’ve got four!

I bet. How are the family?

Oh they’re doing good, as far as I know. At least I hope they are doing okay.

You mentioned working on music: what is your normal song writing process these days? Has it fundamentally changed since the early days now you’re incorporating a lot more instrumentation and collaboration into your music?

No. Not the beginnings. The beginnings are pretty much the same. I just try to sit in the morning with a cup of coffee, a book and guitar and stuff. But yeah, when it comes time to record I try to stretch out a bit to do stuff I haven’t done before, sometimes.

And I believe you have a studio at home now you’ve moved from Miami?

Yeah, that’s right.

Do you generally spend a bit of time in there everyday?

I try to yeah. I try to treat it like a job and apply a certain discipline to it.

As far as the new album goes, we’ve witnessed a distinct development in your sound since the first two albums, over the two EPs and now on …Dog. Many attribute it to the Calexico collaboration, and you obviously toured with them.

Yep

When you look back, has there been a specific defining point in your mind that’s been the genesis of this change?

Nothing too specific. I’ve definitely just been generally following my interests. Coming out of the Calexico project, it was really beneficial. I mean I did it wanting to stretch out and follow my interest. But I definitely picked up a lot of stuff from them; I mean, how can you not!? They are so talented. So yeah, they kinda go hand in hand really – interests, development, evolution, personal development, whatever and then also influence from other people too.



Calexico / Iron & Wine - ‘He Lays In The Reins’ (Live)

The Woman King EP, which followed the Our Endless Numbered Days album, was obviously quite different. However it came out before the Calexico In The Reins EP, so there must have been a lot of development going on beforehand. Was that part of the development also natural or did you set out with a purpose in mind?

I don’t really get too specific; I don’t really measure it out. It’s all a pretty intuitive thing to be honest. My rule is usually just ‘you have to try something that you’ve not tried before’ on a record. Just to shake things up for yourself, and hopefully add a little more entertainment value for people. Most of these records I’ve been lucky that it hasn’t just been about doing something different for the sake of doing something different; it’s also been about reflecting what’s been going on in the subject matter of the songs, which has been lucky.

You touched on subject matter at the end there. I noticed that the lyrics on the new album show signs of aggression and resentment, some of which are quite direct. A first for you, it seems…

Right. There are a lot of songs which didn’t make it onto the record that are probably more in line with the older ones. There have been these elements in older songs too and some of those didn’t make it on the old records, so to me it’s not really a first. But yeah, I think this group of songs are definitely more social in context. And in deciding to go that route I ended up doing these kind of surreal portraits of what’s going on. Some of it’s kinda strange and nonsensical. I guess there’s a lot of social confusion at the time, for me nothing seems to be black and white, so it ends up in the songs that way.

How does it come about, in your mind?

I don’t know. I don’t think about it too much. You know, you just live your life and react to what comes up. Whether that be something you’ve seen or heard or read or dreamed about – whatever, really.

You’ve moved around a bit, certainly of late it seems. How does location affect your productivity?

We live about an hour outside of Austin, kinda in the middle of nowhere, so that gives me a lot of space. It’s easy to focus, not a lot of distractions. In fact, the biggest change has just been having the home studio really. Having the freedom to work when I want to, it’s been nice!

As far as working on new music these days are you generally finding you are approaching it still as a solo artist, maybe as you did early on, or are you now thinking about collaboration from the very start?

Well, no it’s still pretty much the former. I’ll just write out a skeleton of a song, but I suppose I do definitely leave it a lot more open these days to experimentation. One of the benefits of working on stuff with the Calexico boys was just finding the pure idea and bringing other people on and feeling their influence and using improvisation, all kinds of stuff. Just leaving room for other people to take part at the same time.

I saw you play a solo show at The Spitz recently and noticed the new songs still sounded interchangeable with the old songs when stripped back.

Yeah. Yeah, that’s right.

As you say, it’s not like you’ve reinvented the wheel, but just because you’ve added more instrumentation a lot of people write about this album as if you have.

I dunno, everybody’s got their own ideas it seems. But yeah I agree with you. Like I said before when you asked me how the writing goes – it’s still the same thing. It’s just when you come to record it you have an endless amount of options to try. I think that’s one of the fun things for me - trying different things. Seeing what works and what doesn’t.



Iron & Wine - ‘Carousel’ (live at Messiah Collage, Pennsylvania)

Do you think that in becoming successful you gain confidence to try new things?

I definitely feel open to try anything that is within my interests. Its not that I ever felt scared to do it before, it’s just that I am still learning! (Laughs) I didn’t have the experience required. I was just doing it as a hobby. I just did what I was able to do with what I had. I also did what I felt was most fitting for the songs I was doing at the time, too. In my head they seemed more traditional types of songs, which now I can look at and say, “You can approach them however”, but at the time it seemed to make sense. But yeah I’ve always followed my interests. I’ve never felt much pressure as far as what I felt like I should be doing compared to what I wanted to do. It’s always been the same thing.

That’s pretty convenient, then.

(Laughs) Yeah, I suppose it is!

There seems to be a move away from a traditional verse/chorus/verse song structure on this album. Is there something that has inspired you to create particular songs in particular structures?

I think you have to take it song by song, really. I mean, you know, you’re a writer. You do a lot of editing. It’s just as much about shaping it after you jot down your basic ideas. It just depends – you try to be open and do what the song’s doing and try to take it in a direction that interests you.

One thing I’d like to clear up. You’re well known for singing in a hushed vocal. I’d read somewhere that this came about from often recording late at night and not wanting to wake the family up - which is pretty hilarious. Is this true?

(Laughs) That’s kind of a myth. It’s definitely part of it, but it’s more along the lines of the subject matter of the songs. I felt it was appropriate. But also the limitation of my voice itself, you know… I can’t really belt it out too hard like some people. I felt more interested in what the song was about, or roughly about, and the delivery I felt was important. I also like the idea of a quiet kind of energy. I mean, it could be really energetic, but on a lower level that draws people in. Hopefully it does - it does for me.

This album has gained quite universal acclaim from what I have seen.

Really?

Yeah.

Oh, that’s good.

You sound quite surprised by that?

I just do what I do. I mean, I’m glad people like it. That’s the first time I’ve heard someone say people are universally accepting it, but that’s cool and I believe you (Laughs) Or at least I hope you are right. I don’t really keep track; I just kinda do what I do.

Just show up and play kinda thing…

Yeah, but at the same time I hope that people will enjoy it. (Pauses) I don’t really do things to rub people the wrong way.

You are coming over to the UK in November. What can we expect from this tour? I believe it’s a full-band tour?

Yeah it’s a full band. Like an eight-piece band. It’s me and my sister, Sarah. And then the rhythm section: a drummer named Chad Taylor [Chicago Underground/Sea & Cake] and Benny Massarella from Califone, and then the bass player’s name is Matt Lux [Isotope 217]. I stole Paul Niehaus from Calexico for a little while to play pedal steel. Patrick McKinney is still playing with me on guitar and Leroy Bach [ex-Wilco] is playing piano.

- - -

The Shepherd’s Dog is out now on Transgressive/Sub Pop and is reviewed here.

This is also rather nice...



Iron & Wine - ‘Naked As We Came’ (w/ Sarah Beam live on Carson Daly)

Written originally for DrownedinSound.com: see it here

The uberverdict: Unkle - ‘WAR STORIES’

James Lavelle has been accused of many things over the years - being a fashion harlot, a sub-standard DJ and a producer who takes credit for others work. At this point in his career he’s had enough. Enough he says of “constantly trying to push, and knocking your head against a brick wall... it is really about surrendering yourself to life.” Released on his new independent record label, clothing brand and art house Surrender All, Lavelle’s influences litter he and co-producer Richard File’s third studio album War Stories. From his well publicised love of psychedelic rock and the ‘Madchester’ Stone Roses sound through to his recent infatuation: Queens of the Stone Age and their distinctive brand of ‘desert rock’, one thing that is clear from the onset is that Lavelle has meticulously set out to produce a record that embodies the very genre. The record is touted as ‘a collection of desert songs’ and recorded in the very same Rancho de la Luna studio, situated in the Californian Joshua Tree national park desert, home of The Desert Sessions series (featuring the likes of PJ Harvey, Nick Oliveri, Josh Freese) and QOTSA. And, surprise, surprise, Lavelle has been using that little black book of his again. He has even drafted in long time QOTSA producer Chris Goss (aka the Godfather of desert rock). Unsurprisingly it doesn’t stop there. In fact the only surprise before we actually insert this beautifully packaged release into the stereo is that, shock horror, Ian Brown doesn’t feature even once.

Residedly dark and epic with an air of decadence this is a druggy album. Lavelle and File have clearly wondered into the desert and lost it for days on end. The very thought is electrifying and from the off, the dramatic and gripping ‘Chemistry’ goes foot to the floor blasting through the barren desert in the biggest of fuck-off 6.5 litre V8 American muscle cars. The sterile misery and claustrophobia that proliferated Never, Never, Land has been hung out to dry on War Stories. The basslines are dirty, lo-slung and throbbing and the guitars are distorted, wailing and gyrate like Abel Ferrera’s ‘The Driller Killer’ – bit like turning up to the Titty Twister with Kyuss blasting from the Pontiac, fuel vapours still fuming from the dual tail pipes. It means business. Third track ‘Hold My Hand’ apparently witnesses Lavelle’s very own vocal debut. Heavily processed and reverberated he sounds like a spitting image of a haunting Bobby Gillespie on Primal Scream’s ‘Burning Wheel’ interspersed with a dirtier Black Rebel Motorcycle Club number. Unkle have changed. They sound like a real rock band with real songs now. Mixing the rock-with-yer-cock-out moves of The Stone Roses with the aggressive power and confrontation of The Stooges on tracks like ‘Lawless’, the only out-and-out dance track comes when some geezer Josh Homme makes a guest appearance. ‘Restless’ an unrelentingly elastic and robotic bass driven number, in the same vein as LCD Soundsystem, will go down well on any East London dance floor. But, the revolving door guest mentality Unkle employ doesn’t quite fit with Lavelle’s new band model. The result is, unsurprisingly, more a disjointed collection of bewitching songs than a single body of work.

Once again, the sound and production quality is as epic as we’ve come to expect from an Unkle release. The dramatic peaks on stand out ‘Broken’ meet Gavin Clark’s vocal with echoing strings to produce a strong air of Screamadelica. Lead single ‘Burn My Shadow’ features the perfectly matched baritone of Ian Astbury and a warm but slightly disturbed late night air of disaster and loss. Its dramatic breakdown conjures images of blurry figures hedonistically gyrating whilst still clinging to bottles of hard liquor with heads full of acid as the sun just begins to peak over the desert plains. The only moment of respite in this eerie and twisted journey comes on designated comedown tracks ‘Price You Pay’ (which is still pretty damn twisted) and ‘Twilight’ featuring 3D of Massive Attack. However, what is missing is the out-and-out lush beauty of Psyence Fiction’s ‘Bloodstain’ or Never, Never, Land’s ‘What Are You To Me?’. This omission means Unkle aren’t playing one of their strongest hands and because of this War Stories sadly doesn’t quite fulfil its electrifying potential.

uberverdict: 7.3/10

‘War Stories’ by Unkle is out now on Surrender All.


Watch the video: 'Burn My Shadow' (feat. Ian Astbury):

[From 'War Stories' Out Now on Surrender All]

The uberverdict: Interpol - ‘Our Love To Admire’

Yep, his very first album review writing for DrownedinSound.com and the bastard finds himself reviewing Interpol's hotly anticipated third album Our Love To Admire. You won't be too surprised that he quite liked it!

Click here to read Tom's review in full: www.drownedinsound.com/release/view/10111


Our Love To Admire by Interpol is released on July 9th on Parlophone. The first single ‘The Heinrich Maneuver’ is out NOW.



Stream video:
Watch Interpol video's here (What we believe to be the official Interpol YouTube channel. Its got everything!)

News: Liars new album imminent (and we've heard it!)

Fitting somewhere neatly in-between 'Drum's Not Dead' and an album a 'proper band with instruments' would put together (yeah no shit!), the self-titled new album from NY heroes of the no-wave avant-garde underground electronic-experimental-punk scene (phhew) Liars is imminent! And we here at uberpingpong have heard it! And we are very excited!

Released on August 28th, it moves in a Deerhunter-esque direction that is, at times, shoegazey enough to sound quite blissful. But don't worry the chorus' are few and far between, and the signature rhythmic, circling construction of the songs is ever-present. Its better than Drum's Not Dead in our opinion (and we all know how good that was!). If that album was "their most inspired and innovative pieces of work to date" (Pitchfork) then this album brings the art-punk outfit away from just impressionistic noise and (loosely) into the world of the song.

Sneak peek:
- "Plaster Casts of Everything" is so rocking that it was made for a messy night on the dancefloor.
- "Houseclouds" sounds like Beck's 'New Pollution' on a serious acid trip with a Jungle Brothers drumbeat. Seriously.
- Moments of Stone Roses laziness can be found on "Sailing to Byzantium" - very nice.
- "What Would They Know" sounds like something from the deepest of Joy Division archives (genuinely! and not in the 'apparent' way that Editors and Interpol are described as being similar). Dark, claustrophobic, Ian Curtis lives on and it could possibly evoke nightmares.
- "Freak Out" contains a Pulp Fiction-esque bass line.
- "Clear Island" is electro-punk (think a psychotic Prodigy with bi-polar disease).
- And it all sails sweetly off into the sunset via the synth-scape that is "Protection".

"Liars" by Liars will drop on the usual formats on August 28th via Mute Records.

Tracklisting:
1. Plaster Casts of Everything
2. Houseclouds
3. Leather Prowler
4. Sailing to Byzantium
5. What Would They Know
6. Cycle Time
7. Freak Out
8. Pure Unevil
9. Clear Island
10. The Dumb in the Rain
11. Protection

Stream & Download audio:
You can stream various Liars tracks here: myspace.com/liarsliarsliars as well as download the track Sunset Rodeo (released on the Warm & Scratchy compilation last year).

MP3 download:
Liars - 'It Fit When I Was a Kid' (Crystal Castles Mix) [Free download courtesy of spinner.com]