simplesinger

Photos from Ben Rodig by way of BVChicago So I finally had a...

Fri, 24 Feb 2012 11:06:00 -0600

Photos from Ben Rodig by way of BVChicago

So I finally had a chance to see Willis Earl Beal at Cole’s Bar on Tuesday night.

It was a spur of the moment thing, but there was no way I was missing the free 7” release show (yes I got one) put on by Saki and BVChicago, after everything I have been reading and hearing about the guy.

In two words it was stupefyingly amazing.

Here are some of my thoughts and reactions:

Before the show Mr. Beal was just calmly sitting in the corner of the room with his sunglasses on, and a toothpick in his mouth. It sounds contrived, but it wasn’t. From what I could tell he was incredibly gracious to everyone that spoke to him, but he also had a highly focused intensity to him. My Friend Joshua put it best when he said, “If someone told him that his only job was to look like the coolest MF’er in the room without even trying, he definitely succeeded.”

When he got on stage, Willis Earl just sat in that same way in a chair, while two guys set everything up. He just looked totally calm and secure with what he was doing. It was impressive. Then when he got up to sing, he was gyrating and sweating and pumping his hips all over the place. It was like a slowed down more intense version of Elvis up there or something.

Let me say this though, he IS a weird and intense and charismatic dude. There’s a temptation to think that his whole backstory is a put on, but when you see how he carries himself, and the kinds of things he says/writes, he has an undeniably unique personal aesthetic.

Creativity just pours out of him. Not in a pretentious or contrived way, but as if that is what he was made to do. He just seems incredibly honest, while also being aware of how this whole thing is being constructed, if that makes sense.

I think it’s important to note that in and of it self, nothing he is doing is outrageously groundbreaking, but when you put all of the pieces together I think that he is an incredibly compelling person/artist/character. This was further solidified by the show the other night.

Also, I was able to get ahold of his first record “Acousmatic Sorcery”, and have been listening to it over the past few days. Super duper low-fi, and aspects of it are incredibly dissonant and almost offensive, but overall, the man has a way with words and telling stories that is really very special.

He hasn’t played out much, but I was extremely impressed by his level of comfort and command of performance. He even handled a heckler adeptly, though I’m not sure how well his act would play in larger settings unless he gets a band. Then again, getting a band might interfere with what he’s all about.

His voice/presentation reminded me of a mixture of Al Green, Howlin’ Wolf, Tom Waits, Wesley Willis, Daniel Johnston and James Brown. It’s definitely a low-fi approach that mixes all sorts of genres. It will be interesting to see how this develops as more eyes and attention are focused on him. I have a weird feeling that he will be able to handle it, but won’t be a pop guy in any way because he doesn’t seem interested in writing hooks.

The craziest part to me was that he seemed to be re-writing songs/lyrics on the fly, and that when the show was done, someone suggested that he do one more song. He decided to do an acapella track, and started it by having the whole room stomp and clap. It worked so incredibly well that I couldn’t believe he wasn’t planning on playing that song. It was the perfect ending to the show, and it had the feeling that he just decided to do it because it felt right. Again just really impressive, and cool. I’m glad we got a chance to see him before the hype machine kicks into high gear.

So yeah. Needless to say, I would highly suggest checking out Willis Earl Beal as soon as you get the chance. One way to that is to watch his recently released self-written, self-produced new video for “Evening Kiss” below or catch him in person at The Hideout in April.

Willis Earl Beal - Evening’s Kiss (by XLRecordings) The...

Thu, 23 Feb 2012 23:12:00 -0600

Willis Earl Beal - Evening’s Kiss (by XLRecordings)

The man does everything himself.

Wonderful creative stuff.

Bon Iver at AIR Studios Just 2 grand Pianos. Who would have...

Thu, 23 Feb 2012 18:08:00 -0600

Bon Iver at AIR Studios

Just 2 grand Pianos.

Who would have thought these songs could get more sparse?

Pretty awesome though.

Who is Bonny Bear?

Check it @diplo with some funky stuff on the new one...

Thu, 23 Feb 2012 13:10:46 -0600

Check it @diplo with some funky stuff on the new one “Express Yourself”

#NOLAbounce

#dirtydirty

forgottenspecies: Aw man, they couldn’t have spent more than 20...

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 16:01:12 -0600

forgottenspecies:

Aw man, they couldn’t have spent more than 20 minutes on this. It’s like that paper you turn in that you wrote on the bus on the way to school. Bonus points to Andre 3000 for using the word “onomatopoeia” though.

You know when you buy Chuck Taylors in your normal shoe size and then you get them home and they are huge on you and your feet look all Barnum & Bailey? This song is that.

iheartmoosiq:

Gorillaz + James Murphy (LCD Soundsystem) + Andre 3000 (Outkast)? Yes, please. The official release is tomorrow for this Converse Three Artists, One Song collaboration, but there’s a decent quality radio rip off BBC Radio for our preview pleasure. Here’s DoYaThing from Gorillaz, James Murphy and Andre 3000. The track has more of the old Gorillaz flavor we haven’t heard from Albarn in awhile. Sounds pretty good. The collaboration seems to be one of the better ones out of the several Converse Three Artists, One Song projects to have surfaced so far in the past couple of years.

I agree with Blake.

missfolly: Musical notation by Ludwig van Beethoven (I)

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 10:16:28 -0600

missfolly:

Musical notation by Ludwig van Beethoven (I)

“Though Beal’s music has a strong thread of minor-keyed...

Tue, 21 Feb 2012 14:22:00 -0600

“Though Beal’s music has a strong thread of minor-keyed blues that runs through it, the sound is far too personal to be described so simply, an effect which is heightened by the hiss of white noise and the pitch-waver of damaged cassette tape.”

via First Look: Willis Earl Beal

Same Old Tears by Willis Earl Beal #this

Tue, 21 Feb 2012 12:51:00 -0600

Same Old Tears by Willis Earl Beal

#this

agrammar: Skip to the 9-minute mark for one of the warmest...

Mon, 20 Feb 2012 11:26:53 -0600

agrammar:

Skip to the 9-minute mark for one of the warmest moments I’ve ever seen on television.

It’s true.

thelicenselab: Why Adele’s ‘Someone Like You’ Makes Everyone...

Thu, 16 Feb 2012 10:07:56 -0600

thelicenselab:

Why Adele’s ‘Someone Like You’ Makes Everyone Cry

“The song begins with a soft, repetitive pattern,” said Dr. Guhn, while Adele keeps the notes within a narrow frequency range. The lyrics are wistful but restrained: “I heard that you’re settled down, that you found a girl and you’re married now.” This all sets up a sentimental and melancholy mood.

When the chorus enters, Adele’s voice jumps up an octave, and she belts out notes with increasing volume. The harmony shifts, and the lyrics become more dramatic: “Sometimes it lasts in love, but sometimes it hurts instead.”

When the music suddenly breaks from its expected pattern, our sympathetic nervous system goes on high alert; our hearts race and we start to sweat. Depending on the context, we interpret this state of arousal as positive or negative, happy or sad.

Thanks, interweber!

Strawberry Fields Forever - The Beatles Anthology (Including...

Sun, 12 Feb 2012 20:44:00 -0600

Strawberry Fields Forever - The Beatles Anthology (Including Demo)

Music as an iterative process in action.

hiphoptoday: Earl Sweatshirt - Home (New) Earl Sweatshirt...

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 22:37:00 -0600

hiphoptoday:

Earl Sweatshirt - Home (New)

Earl Sweatshirt Returns.

rAw, but displays an effortless, and undeniable talent.

Download all 5 nights of Wilco's "Incredible Shrinking Tour of Chicago"

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 22:29:00 -0600

thedailywilco:

Night 1 - Civic Opera House
Night 2 - Riviera Theatre
Night 3 - Vic Theatre
Night 4 - The Metro
Night 5 - Lincoln Hall

Many thanks to the tapers and to the wonderful folks at The Steam Engine for compiling the recordings!

“Did these bands suck? Was there something that Pitchfork...

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 13:54:00 -0600

“Did these bands suck? Was there something that Pitchfork had missed? Although Broken Social Scene, Arcade Fire, Sufjan Stevens, M.I.A., and Animal Collective all produced sophisticated, intelligent music, it’s also true that they focused their sophistication and intelligence on those areas where the stakes were lowest. Instead of striking out in pursuit of new musical forms, they tweaked or remixed the sounds of earlier music, secure in the knowledge that pedantic blog writers would magnify these changes and make them seem daring. Instead of producing music that challenged and responded to that of other bands, they complimented one another in interviews, each group “doing its own thing” and appreciating the efforts of others. So long as they practiced effective management of the hype cycle, they were given a free pass by their listeners to lionize childhood, imitate their predecessors, and respond to the Iraq war with dancing. The general mood was a mostly benign form of cultural decadence. It would be nice to say that Pitchfork missed something important, that some undiscovered radical alternative was out there waiting to be found. But Pitchfork’s writers are nothing if not diligent. They had it pretty much covered…

Pitchfork has become the only music publication to attempt an account of what it felt like to be a music fan in the last fifteen years. You cannot write the history of contemporary rock without acknowledging Pitchfork’s contribution.”

via n 1: 5.4: Pitchfork 1995-Present

A fascinating look at Pitchfork’s history and influence over the past 17 years.

Dr. Dog - Be The Void by antirecords I’ve always liked Dr....

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 10:25:00 -0600

Dr. Dog - Be The Void by antirecords

I’ve always liked Dr. Dog, but this new record is really good.

Kind of like if The Beatles were from Philly.

“That Old Black Whole” is the jam.

Happy 75th Birthday Mr. Glass! Caught some of the excerpts from...

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 15:41:00 -0600

Happy 75th Birthday Mr. Glass!

Caught some of the excerpts from this old interview when it aired this afternoon, and it was great. Here’s Philip Glass…

On style:

“In order to arrive at a personal style, you have to have a technique to begin with. In other words, when I say that style is a special case of technique, you have to have the technique — you have to have a place to make the choices from. If you don’t have a basis on which to make the choice, then you don’t have a style at all. You have a series of accidents.”

On repetition:

“I consider the first 20 performances just learning the piece. Think about it this way: If you think about a pianist who plays a Schubert sonata through his whole lifetime — if you listen to Rubenstein or Horowitz playing their repertoire later in their life, you understand the richness with which they play that music, and how differently they must have played it when they were younger. … I think it’s only after about 20 performances that we begin to understand what the dynamic structure of the piece is.”

via Ira Glass Interviews His Cousin, Composer Philip Glass

uchicagoadmissions: Happy 75th birthday to composer and...

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 14:49:00 -0600

uchicagoadmissions:

Happy 75th birthday to composer and UChicago alumnus Philip Glass (AB ‘56, who studied, surprisingly, math and philosophy in the College). Here’s the first movement of his String Quartet No. 5, performed by the Kronos String Quartet.

If you’re not a huge contemporary music nerd (and that’s totally OK, I think I may be the only person that is totally excited about this) you may remember his music from the Oscar-winning movie The Hours or from [everyone’s favorite AP Environmental Science substitute-teacher-day film] Koyaanisqatsi.

Willis Earl Beal - Evening’s Kiss Write to him and he will...

Mon, 23 Jan 2012 15:19:54 -0600

Willis Earl Beal - Evening’s Kiss

Write to him and he will make you a drawing.

Call him and he will sing you a song.

Some new Miike Snow for ya.

Mon, 23 Jan 2012 14:32:00 -0600

Some new Miike Snow for ya.

Cloud Nothings - Stay Useless The first single taken from the...

Wed, 18 Jan 2012 16:32:52 -0600

Cloud Nothings - Stay Useless

The first single taken from the new Cloud Nothings Record, “Attack On Memory”. You can preview the whole thing here.

This is the record I wish my band would have made when I was in high school.

Raw and driving and dynamic.

Kind of reminds me of In Utero meets Dookie.

Really good stuff.

I have a feeling this record is going to be a big one this year. Similar to how Is This It and Silent Alarm were received.

We’ll see.