Filed under: XCLUS!VES | Tags: Brooklyn, The Antlers, Music Hall of Williamsburg, The Rural Alberta Advantage, Neutral Milk Hotel, Saddle Creek, Nils Edenloff, Seagull, Alberta, Toronto, In the Aeroplane over the Sea, Casio
Nils Edenloff (right) of The RAA talks to 20 Watts
PREVIEW: Download The RAA’s “The Deathbridge in Lethbridge” MP3
RELATED COVERAGE: Positive Jam: Exclusive Coverage on 20 Watts, 20 Watts Reviews The Rural Alberta Advantage’s Hometowns
Signing to Saddle Creek, releasing an acclaimed debut, and touring extensively have made this a pretty banner year for The Rural Alberta Advantage. Guitarist/vocalist/keyboardist Nils Edenloff talked to 20 Watts just the other day about his experiences, the band’s origins, and our mutual affinity for The Antlers and Neutral Milk Hotel. The RAA’s Hometowns was re-released by Saddle Creek earlier this year and you can catch The Rural Alberta Advantage playing the Positive Jam at Stewart Park, on the beautiful shores of Cayuga Lake, at 1:30pm, on Sunday, Sept. 6!
20W: So to start off, why do you call yourselves The Rural Alberta Advantage? What’s the origin of the name? Did you guys ever go by any other name?
Edenloff: It’s the only name we’ve ever used. It has to do with looking back on Alberta — where I grew up — and we make a lot of references to it. The name actually comes from a play on a provincial slogan, which is now defunct, called “The Alberta Advantage,” championing the oil sands industry. My brother once emailed me the suggestion, and it stuck.
20W: How long have you guys known each other? How did you meet?
Edenloff: We’ve known each other for a long time. Paul [Banwatt], Amy [Cole] and a friend of mine used to play in another band called Clementine. Eventually Paul and I started co-hosting open-mic nights. The first year, there was kind of a fluctuating line-up, with nothing really set in stone. I think when the three of us started playing together — Paul, Amy and myself — that was when the band really started, in February, 2006.
20W: The RAA signed to Saddle Creek earlier this year after Hometowns took off. Has the experience of being signed to a major indie label changed your approach to music at all? (more…)
Filed under: Emerging Artists, XCLUS!VES | Tags: Afro, Alex Toth, Brooklyn, Depeche Mode, Funk, funk n waffles, Hail to the Thief, Kalmia Trever, Kuma, Landing, Michael Jackson, Orchestra, Radiohead, Rose's Dream, Rubblebucket, Sophistafunk, Syracuse, The Bell House, There There, Thriller, Utica, World is Gonna Drown
Dancing the night away
PREVIEW: Download Rubblebucket’s “Bikes” MP3
PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Emerging Artist: Rubblebucket Orchestra
VIEW: Photos below the jump
The lounge and bar area of Brooklyn’s The Bell House had less people sitting on the stools and chilling on their couches Friday, August 7, than usual. Instead, most of the people were in the back venue listening to some extraordinary live jams while chowing on waffles (Funk ‘n’ Waffles that is).
By a quarter to midnight Syracuse’s own Sophistafunk had ended their high energy performance that included a guest horn section from Utica whose saxophonist was especially feeling the groove. They blew the audience away with her insane improvisations. After such a finale it was hard to see how anything could follow up such a tour de force. Yet based on this writer’s experience, Rubblebucket Orchestra (or Rubblebucket—as they seem to be calling themselves now) have developed reputation of always miraculously exceeding expectations as they did in this show.
The way they entered the stage at The Bell House was uncharacteristically low-key, as the nine-piece band simply walked on stage by midnight and put their instruments on. My encounter before, with Rubblebucket was much different. It was at Syracuse’s Funk n Waffles and the show started with lead band members Alex Toth and Kalmia Traver entering from the front door — with a confident swagger that personified cool as they blew into their respective instruments and banged on a bucket, heading toward the stage and jamming into their first number as if it were nothing. (more…)
Filed under: Emerging Artists | Tags: Bikes, Brooklyn, Chicago, Orchestra, Rose's Dream, Rubblebucket, The Bell House
Looking like the cast from Heroes
PREVIEW: Download Rubblebucket Orchestra’s ”Bikes” MP3
Whatever rubblebuckets are, as long as they make awesome music they’re okay with us. Over a year after releasing their bopping debut Rose’s Dream and tireless touring all over the country in their van (affectionately named “Puppy”), Rubblebucket Orchestra are preparing to release their second album: Rubblebucket. To whet our appetites for the October 1st release, the band have given away their first single “Bikes.”
With singer/saxophonist Kalmia’s light-hearted “la-la-la’s,” the single begins like a careless stroll through the park when suddenly, in distinct Rubblebucket-fashion, the song quickly builds with the other eight pieces of the band entering into the funky mix. When the Chicago-esque horns in the song come in, they let you know that this band means business.
What soon follows are Kalmia’s hypnotic lyrics that fall in place with the latin-funk rhythms and the horn section melody that comes back in between lyrics. All in all, “Bikes” is just as enthralling as anything they have put out before.
Look out for them on their upcoming Northeast tour that’s starting at The Bell House in Brooklyn on August 7th!
– Charlie Weeks
Filed under: Emerging Artists, Features | Tags: a place to bury strangers, bear hands, Brooklyn, built to spill, coney island, Japandroids, live music, Micachu and The Shapes, siren festival, siren festival photos, Siren Music Festival, the Raveonettes, Tiny Masters of Today
Frightened Rabbit rabble-rouses at Saturday's Siren Festival
READ: 20 Watts’ exclusive interview with Siren opener Tiny Masters of Today
VIEW: 20 Watts’ festival photo gallery, under the jump
Life doesn’t get much better than listening to free live music on a blazing hot summer’s day while chowing down on some cheap, sub-par hot dogs. To all those who don’t reside in the New York area or just couldn’t make it out to Coney Island on Saturday, let’s just say we’re very sorry you missed out.
Luckily for you, however, we’ve compiled a list of the best bands that graced the stages by the boardwalk this weekend. And when they play in your area, you better not miss them. Highlights of the day ran the gamut from fifteen-year-olds to the veteran ’90s indie-rockers that make up Built to Spill. Two types of shows permeated Siren this year: those driven by gimmicks and those driven by musicianship. The best acts melded the two strains together and struck a balance.
Tiny Masters of Today, made up of fifteen-year-old Ivan and his thirteen-year-old sister Ada (with an unnamed drummer), opened up the day for the audience at Siren.
There wasn’t much of a crowd yet when they started, but considering these kids are much younger than most readers of this blog and played at the same stage and on the same day as Built to Spill and Japandroids, they held their own remarkably well. Ada even went so far as to amicably explain that the “President” referenced in one of their songs was George W. Bush, not Barack Obama. With short song lengths and smatterings of political lyrics, it’s ironic that they played some of the purest punk rock of the day despite being born twenty years after the genre first surfaced.
Despite the heat, Japandroids rocked out like a coked-up White Stripes
Speaking of Japandroids, if there were any band at Siren with too much pent-up energy, it would be this duo. Playing garage rock like a coked-up, bastardized version of the White Stripes, Japandroids murdered their set, pulled it from the grave, and kicked it in the face like so many of the beach balls floating around the stage and crowd. Japandroids offered a warning before starting, with guitarist Brian King commenting on how much room he had to move around on the stage and how he felt like “the f**kin’ Stones” as a result.
Japandroids played one of the most dynamic, talented sets at Siren, and indeed, seemed to love doing it. When drummer David Prowse wiped his forehead with a towel after 20 minutes of nearly nonstop frenetic drumming, King chastised him for his weakness: “The f**kin’ towel? Really?”
Filed under: Editor Picks | Tags: Micachu and The Shapes, Tiny Masters of Today, Brooklyn, live music, free shows, Japandroids, siren festival, coney island, music festivals, frightened rabbit, raveonnettes, built to spill
20 Watts picks/predicts the best sets at Coney Island's Siren Festival
As phenomenal as it is to see a bunch of awesome bands together, music festivals do have their drawbacks. There are crowds, for starters — huge, unpredictable, often inebriated masses, which will crowd you out from the front of the stage, crowd surf at totally inappropriate times, and elbow you in the face when you’re trying to take a photograph (…not that I speak from experience, or anything). There’s the food, which is always overpriced and almost always inedible, depending on how much you’ve had to drink. Then there’s the sweltering heat, the sunburn, the tall dude who had to stand RIGHT in front of you, the gaggle of 16-year-olds giggling at the rear.
But the biggest problem of all, by far, is choosing which bands to see when several sets occur at the same, or almost the same, times.
Coney Island’s Siren Festival is kind enough to stagger their sets. But in case you don’t want to sprint from stage to stage, or (God forbid) take a breather between the hours of 1:00 and 8:00, these are my personal Siren picks.
1:00 — Tiny Masters of Today [Main Stage]
Adolescent duo with serious industry cred splat out bratty punk anthems. Are they awesome because they’re barely in high school, or because the chorus on “K.I.D.S.” is so fun to jam out to? I’m not entirely sure, but David Bowie’s called their work “genius.”
2:00 — Micachu & The Shapes [Main Stage]
Unconventional and often inaccessible “pop,” played on customized or homemade instruments. One part garage, one part glitch, and several parts awesome.
3:00 — Japandroids [Main Stage]
Simple, straightforward, no frills garage rock that could have come straight from the 1990s. Something that sounds this fun on an album must be really incredible live.
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: beck, Brooklyn, brooklyn electronic music festival, Daft Punk, indie rock, LCD Soundsystem, The Juan MacLean
The Juan MacLean combine the best of Beck and Daft Punk
Juan MacLean has been involved in the music industry for years. He has been catagerized in the indie rock genre and was recently brought to the frontlines of new wave electronic dance. People are still wondering, however, who this underground musician really is.
MacLean was originally a member of the indie rock group Six Finger Satellite, but the band broke up after the death of their singer. A few years later, James Murphy of LCD Soundsystem, and formerly a member of Six Finger Satellite, contacted MacLean for his thoughts on their music.
Murphy sent MacLean experimental music for release with LCD Soundsystem. As a result of these demos, Juan MacLean turned his music style around with the creation of his current musical alias, The Juan MacLean, with vocalist Nancy Whang. The duo released their album The Future Will Come earlier this year and are currently touring.
Filed under: Emerging Artists, Scene Around Town | Tags: Brooklyn, Emerging Artists, free shows, live music, New York City, Ribbons, river to river, South Street Seaport, The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, ZAZA
The Pains played a free show at the South Street Seaport yesterday
Three months ago, 20 Watts told you that the Pains of Being Pure at Heart were one of the top five bands you need to know now. Man, did we nail it. If the Brooklynite’s self-titled debut album wasn’t evidence enough, their free show at South Street Seaport last night certainly was: the Pains are, hands-down, one of the best things happening in indie pop these days.
If you missed them last night, you might have a chance to see them at one of their upcoming dates in Chicago, LA or San Francisco. After that, however, the band’s departing on a second round of European tours and won’t be back in the States until mid-August.
In the mean time, you might want to check out openers Zaza and Ribbons — the former droned out phenomenally haunting, ethereal shoegaze in the tradition of My Bloody Valentine and will release an EP on August 14. They’re pretty intriguing individuals, too.
Check out more pictures from the show under the jump and on Flickr.
– Caitlin Dewey
Filed under: Industry News | Tags: Brand New, Brooklyn, emo, Jimmy Eat World, Kerrang!, Long Island, Music Hall of Williamsburg, pop punk, Twitter, Upcoming release
Brand New just released a first glimpse of their new album, and one head can never die, which is set to drop in September.
After teasing their fans via Twitter and performing new songs live for the past year, Long Island emo band Brand New finally condescended to spilling some info on their upcoming album. For fans this is an exciting prospect, but for everyone else it’s just another band that’s become too pretentious for their own good.
In a recent Kerrang! interview, Brand New frontman Jesse Lacey expressed doubts over the band’s future and, calling the upcoming album an “exhausting record,” worried that fans would not be able to appreciate it. and one head can never die (all lower-case, according to the publicist) is set to drop September 22, 2009.
Brand New emerged in the 2000s as one of the more popular, critically-acclaimed bands from the Long Island emo scene. (more…)
Filed under: Scene Around Town | Tags: Dr. Dog, New York, Brooklyn, The New Pornographers, A.C. Newman, blonde redhead, olof arnolds, prospect park, phospherescent, these united states, free shows
If you’re as broke as we are, then you understand the feeling of dizzying euphoria that the phrase “free show” elicits.
And this week there will be not one, not two, but THREE phenomenal free shows in the New York City area.
On Thursday, A.C. Newman (of the New Pornographers) headlines a three-hour Adult Swim event at Santos’ Party House in Tribeca. Show starts at 7. Props to SU’s Bandier Program for alerting us to this event — via Twitter, no less!
On Friday, Blonde Redhead play Brooklyn’s Prospect Park at 7:30. Olof Arnolds — who, incidentally, played a show in my internship’s break room last week — will open the show.
Dr. Dog, Phospherescent and These United States play Prospect Park at 6:30 the following day, another production by the Celebrate Brooklyn! series.
20 Watts will be sure to keep you updated on all the best free shows in the NYC area this summer, so stay tuned!
– Caitlin Dewey
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Brooklyn, Cymbals Eat Guitars, Joseph D'Agostino, Joseph Ferocious, Southpaw, Why There Are Mountains
When I first arrived at Southpaw, I instantly recognized Joseph Ferocious, though I was befuddled. His demeanor was quite reclusive, as he stood alone at the back of the venue, blending in completely with the crowd. I thought, “Ferocious….really?” I expected greatness from the band I was hooked on after only one listen of their debut album, Why There Are Mountains.
But as soon as Cymbals Eat Guitars took the stage, the change in Ferocious’ persona was so drastic it was as if those few moments alone facilitated this morph from Joseph D’Agostino to Joseph Ferocious. In fact, he shattered any and all inhibitions upon playing the first song, “And The Hazy Sea.” His entire body convulsed along with the guitar, as if there truly was no distinction between musician and instrument—and thankfully, this energy never left. The film of sweat that developed on Ferocious’ face only moments after taking the stage is a testament to his dedication and passion not only as a talented musician, but a captivating performer.
