Anna Ternheim

This is the first single from Anna Ternheim's upcoming album Leaving On A Mayday, which drops August 11th. I've seriously come to believe that it's basically impossible for Anna to make a song I don't like, so take a listen and check out the tour dates below - she's touring with Loney Dear, who stole my heart when Em & I saw them live, and Asobi Seksu this fall. Oh yeah, and her album features a monkey dressed up like an English lad ready for winter. She's pretty much awesome.

What Have I Done [mp3] (iTunes)

09.30.09 – Casbah – San Diego, CA
10.01.09 – Troubador – Los Angeles, CA
10.02.09 – Slims – San Francisco, CA
10.03.09 – Doug Fir Lounge – Portland, OR
10.04.09 – Chop Suey – Seattle, WA
10.06.09 – Biltmore Cabaret – Vancouver, BC
10.09.09 – 7th Street Entry – Minneapolis, MN
10.10.09 – Bottom Lounge – Chicago, IL
10.11.09 – Grog Shop – Cleveland, OH
10.12.09 – Horseshoe Tavern – Toronto, ON
10.13.09 – Il Motore – Montreal, Quebec
10.14.09 – Great Scott – Boston, MA
10.15.09 – Maxwells – Hoboken, NJ
10.16.09 – Bowery Ballroom – New York, NY
10.17.09 – Johnny Brendas – Philadelphia, PA

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EXCLUSIVE KaiserCartel behind-the-scenes video!!!

Today it is my pleasure to announce a new facet to the Guilt Free Pleasures blog - video! Since I am a filmmaker by occupation, I thought it was about time to put my skills to use here and I'm hoping to create one behind-the-scenes video each month. Our first video features Brooklyn duo KaiserCartel. I spent a few hours with them while they went about their day and put the finishing touches on some new songs, so here is an exclusive sneak peak at some new material and their song-writing process:

Season Song [mp3] - (iTunes)

Also, KaiserCartel is coming out with a 5-song EP on September 1st, so be on the lookout for that! Those in Minneapolis should catch their show THIS Thursday at the Bryant Lake Bowl. Details on their myspace.

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Obligatory Uke Song: Elliott BROOD

We all know by this point that I'm in love with ukulele, so it should come to no surprise that I immediately fell for the folk-rock Elliott BROOD, a band that features the uke on their successful album Mountain Meadows. The BROOD have just been selected as one of the top 10 candidates for the Polaris Prize Shortlist, a Canadian award that selects one album to be considered the best Canadian album of the year. The song is also perfect for those breezy summer days, whether you're out cleaning your garage, hanging with friends, barbecuing or what have you. For those uke-inclined, the tabs can be found at my favorite uke website, the ukehunt.

The Valley Town [mp3] (iTunes)

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Dr. Dog & These United States @ Prospect Park

On June 27th I mosied on over to Prospect Park to Celebrate Brooklyn with These United States. It was great to see them in such a big venue, as the last time I saw them was in one of the smaller downstairs rooms at the Knitting Factory. These guys know how to rock ‘n’ roll and they did a great job of getting the audience pumped. People were dancing in the aisles or even in their seats. Although I have to say I wish some of the audience weren’t as pumped as they were – there was a small group of obnoxious men who thought it was witty and hilarious to yell “USA! USA! USA!” every 5 minutes for most of their set. Here's an mp3 from their upcoming album, due out in August/September.

I Want You To Keep Everything [mp3]

It was also unfortunate the they were followed by Phosphorescent, who I personally thought killed the energy from These United States’ set and left Dr. Dog with a lot more work to do to get the audience’s energy back up. Not to say that they were bad, it was much more of a programming error in my opinion - I didn’t think they fit in well with the rest of the line-up, which was mostly upbeat, while they're songs were slower than molasses and they couldn’t really hold my attention because I was so in the mood to rock out after These United States.

Cocaine Lights [mp3] - (iTunes)

Dr. Dog was a lot of fun. The stage was decorated quite nicely with flowers for them and they had a huge, devoted fan base turn out in droves. The Philly band is a bonafide indie sensation, and while I wasn’t all that familiar with them, I could see why at the show. Their music is really infectious and the whole audience was bopping and singing along. And any band that brings a dog on stage with them gets bonus points in my book (and that dog is so well-behaved, letting the tons of audience members crowding the stage pet him). All in all a fabulous night.

The Old Days [mp3] - (iTunes)

More photos here.

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William Kunstler: Against the Universe and other Sundance releases

About 2 weeks ago (yes, I’m a bit behind on my reviews) I attended Rooftop Films screening of William Kunstler: Disturbing the Universe, a documentary that played at Sundance this past January but which I did not get a chance to see while I was there. The film is an intimate look into the life of legendary lawyer and civil rights activist William Kunstler, who took on many controversial cases and threw himself into many intense situations. You might know his name from the Chicago Seven case, or perhaps as a negotiator from the prison takeover at Attica, or maybe the Central Park Jogger case, or still yet the standoff at Wounded Knee between Native Americans and the government. As the filmmakers say in the film, it seemed like he was involved in every important legal event in the second half the 20th century.

The filmmakers are Kunstler’s daughers, so they have as much access as you could possibly want and they remain open throughout the film about their biases. In fact, the film is in many ways more about the evolution of their opinions about and relationships with their father (deceased in 1995) than it is about just him. You follow their journey as they try to understand why it is that he took the cases that he did and come to accept his decisions that they may not have agreed with at the time.

Not only is it an intriguing portrait of William Kunstler, but it is also a really great window into some of the most controversial moments of civil rights history in the 20th century. You really get a sense of the feelings of those involved in these landmark events. You feel their fear, their disappointment, their excitement. Although, I will warn you that this film will make you distrust and dislike the government. It does not shine a positive light on those in power in these turbulent times. But some of the best films are the ones that aren’t afraid to speak the truth of ugly situations, even when you might prefer to be left in the dark. One of the most important uses of film is to expose problems in the world to a larger audience so that people can begin to affect change. And this documentary will definitely inspire you to try to go out and affect change, even if you can’t do it on as grand a scale as William Kunstler.

On a related note, since I’m on the subject of films from Sundance’s 2009 film festival (see 1, 2, 3, 4 entries from January), I should add that one of the films I saw there, Push, is being released in November. I saw a poster for it in a movie theater this past weekend. The title has been changed to Precious (probably a wise move on their part so that it wouldn’t get confused with the action movie that came out this past winter). An incredibly dark but simultaneously uplifting movie, I’m interested to see if they keep it intact the way I saw it originally or if they change a lot and take some of the more gruesome or depressing parts out. I certainly hope they don’t, and from the trailer it doesn't look like they did. This was one of the best films I saw at Sundance. Don't be turned off by all the pop stars you see in the credits. Mariah Carey (who is barely recognizable in the film) and Lenny Kravits did a good job in their relatively small roles.

Speaking of musicians on film - also a notable release that I saw while I was there, especially since this is a music blog, is the release of rock documentary It Might Get Loud, featuring Jack White, The Edge and Jimmy Paige.

Other Sundance films coming out that I didn't have the privilege of seeing while I was there: In The Loop, Humpday, Five Minutes of Heaven, Spread, Moon, 500 Days of Summer, Shrink, Cold Souls, The Cove, and End of the Line.

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Show Review: Avi Buffalo @ The Echo, 7/1/09

Kicked off the month of July last Wednesday with somewhat-local indie rockers Avi Buffalo, or Avi Buffalo Music. You might remember them from this LA Love entry, but if not, here's the Cliff's Notes version: 4 high school students from Long Beach, CA play awesomely crafted [and sometimes long-winded] songs about love and life with a perspective you might never have thought possible from an 18-year-old songwriter. I can't help but find some kind of ironic humor in a song called, "I'm Getting Too Old For This," but Avi's delivery is so sincere that the only way you'd know they were so young is by looking at them.

Most of the house had cleared out by the time Avi Buffalo was ready to play, which is just the bad luck of getting the post-headliner slot on a weeknight, and not a reflection on the band at all. It's a shame more people didn't stay, because this was a great show.

I was much more impressed than the last time I saw them at the Echo, back in May when they had the Tuesday night residency. That night they'd played a set of all-new material with a much more experimental bent, but tonight they were back to their old selves. They played my 2 favorite Avi songs, "What's In It For" and "Where's Your Dirty Mind," and even stuck around for an encore performance of "Summer Cum." I don't have an mp3 of "I'm Getting Too Old For This," so I'd forgotten how good it was, and Rebecca Sheridan's Nord Electro keyboard washes were perfect.



I love how focused and serious these guys are mid-song, and Avi's humble little comments between songs. Unless they're getting into a crazy loud balls-to-the-wall instrumental ending, not one of them is big on showmanship or calling extra attention to themselves. And they don't really have to be, because the music speaks for itself.

Avi and Rebecca's vocals were in top form, and it's really cool to see a band with male/female vocal harmonies that aren't your typical indie rock duet, where you can easily pick out the low and high ends -- rather, the two voices together are like listening to one voice, both in a higher register but with Avi's howl-like falsetto resting on top. The effect is almost ghostly, and one of the coolest things about Avi Buffalo.

I was endlessly impressed by Wednesday's set and totally glad I stuck it out til after midnight. If you're in the LA area, you should try to catch them at one of their many local dates in July and August, starting with the Silverlake Lounge next Monday night.

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Blonde Redhead @ Prospect Park

Not quite two weeks ago I had the privilege of seeing Blonde Redhead at Prospect Park. Opening for her was Icelandic songstress Olof Arnalds. Considering she was on that big stage all by herself, playing for an audience that had been thinned out by rain, she performed quite well. She was adorable and has a very sweet voice. Her set was punctuated with cute stories in between songs. And of course she did an acoustic MJ tribute with the song Billy Jean. All in all a strong set under not ideal circumstances.

Blonde Redhead was great. Despite the rain clouds looming overhead, the true fans came out and the place was relatively full by the time they went on (and luckily, it didn’t rain anymore that night). This was the first time I’d had the privilege of seeing them live and the duo is quite captivating. It was very cool to see them in Prospect Park because their full, surging sound really filled up the space and floated nicely amongst the trees and audience. It was a fun, relaxed atmosphere – a perfect summery Friday night. And I have to say, the clouds were looking pretty cool (albeit a little apocalyptic) as the sun set:

Við og Við [mp3] - Ólöf Arnalds (iTunes)
Spring and by Summer Fall [mp3] - Blonde Redhead (iTunes)

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Team William

You know a song has made an impact when you mindlessly sing part of it while doing something completely mundane, like, oh I don't know, perusing the books at the public library when everyone else is completely dead quiet or something like that. Needless to say my rendition of the line "Oh my god we tried to steal a landmine!" made me a few new friends, including the security guard not 10 feet from me, but I digress. Below is a track from a Belgium-based indie-pop-rock band called Team William who released their self-entitled debut album earlier last month. After checking out their photos on their myspace, it looks like these guys give one hell of an energetic show, so I hope they head over to the states soon for a tour.

70 [mp3] (iTunes)

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The Generationals

This New Orleans-based band will release their album Con Law on July 21st and are currently touring with Floating Action this summer. Tour dates can be found on their myspace (and there's a ton of shows, mostly through the west and south). The Generationals consist of Ted Joyner and Grant Widmer, both previously from Eames Era. The album was recorded in style of producer Daniel Black's heroes - Quincy Jones and Phil Spector, for example- in order to give it that old sizzing pop-rock sound. The band features 12-string electric guitars, synth-bass, 8-bit sequencers, trumpet, hand-claps and shakers to get things going.

When They Fight, They Fight [mp3]
Wildlife [mp3]

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Interview With Republic Tigers' Adam McGill

We've posted about Republic Tigers before on GFP, and I was able to catch their stellar show in Minneapolis at the Fine Line Music Cafe back in April when they opened for Travis (personal opinion? Soooo much better than Travis, plus they did an amazing cover of "Heart of Glass"). Adam McGill was kind enough to take a break from their current busy tour to answer a few of GFP's questions about the band.

Ok, to start things off...if you could only describe your sound in five words, what would they be?

5 words? Hmmmmm.... here we go: decent, alright, pretty good, eh, ok.

What are your top influences/albums/songs of the moment?

My personal favorites are kind of weird. Right now I'm really into old bollywood stuff like Kishor Kumar, Lata Mangeshkar, Rajesh Khanna etc. I'll always have a soft spot for the arrangements of Ennio Morriconne, Michel Legrand, and Krzysztof Komeda. All of the artists I just mentioned have extremely interesting arrangements that I feel should make a larger impact on modern music than they currently do. As far as bands that exist currently,.... that's a tough one. I always enjoy anything that Air does. I'm still listening to Portishead's "Third." I'm still listening to Arcade Fire's "Neon Bible." I tend to get annoyed with "current" music. I'll listen to a record over and over for a month or two after it's released and then if it stands the test of repeated listening that's a good sign.

How did it come about that you were the first band to be signed to Chop Shop Records, founded by the infamous music supervisor Alexandra Patsavas? I heard something about your Myspace playing a part.

That's exactly right. One of the girls in the Chop Shop office (Brittany Warfield) heard us on Myspace and showed it to Alexandra. She liked what she heard and the rest is rock 'n' roll history.

How did the album Keep Color get its title?

We pulled that title from lyrics to our song title "Contortionists". That phrase "Keep Color" seemed like it had many different possible meanings, and we like the way it looks and sounds when you read it.

Which comes first for you, the music or the lyrics? Or do they come hand-in-hand?

Typically the music comes first. However, Kenn keeps a lyric book on hand and anytime something pops into his head he jots it down. When one of us presents an idea to the rest of the band oftentimes Kenn will remember a page of lyrics that may work for that particular piece of music and we take it from there.

What has been your favorite moment as a band thus far?

That's a tough question. I think my favorite "band moment" was when we were released from being detained by customs while we were on tour in the UK. We didn't have our visas properly worked out so we were being deported. We were actually boarding our plane to go back to the U.S. when security received a phone call that our visas came through. They pulled us off the plane and escorted us into the country. It was such a wonderful moment in part because of the prior 26 hours of terrible despair. However, that doesn't tarnish the overwhelming joy we felt to be free and on our way to tour a new country. That's the happiest I've felt for a very long time.

Any quirky traditions/superstitious rituals that you guys do while on tour?

Hmmmm,... no, not really. The closest thing I can think of is the almost religious morning and evening shower routines of Kenn and Justin.

What can we expect from you in the future? I know there's been desire to release an annual 8-song EP if you could...is that going to become a reality?

Hopefully people can expect a lot from us in the future. We're beginning to work on our next record. So far the new songs are pretty amazing. I feel like many of them in the early stages are better than songs we've written previously and spent a long time developing. That 8 song EP a year idea sounds great. However, that's tough to do while we're touring regularly. If we were another band with less obsessive members we'd have no problems doing that. Unfortunately, we're so obsessive we make Larry David look like the Fonz.

And finally, we have to ask, what's your guilt-free pleasure?

Everything I do is done "guilt free."

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