hannahtalksmusic-blog

[hannahtalksmusic-blog]

I tried to think of a subject for this post, since it's been such a long time since I last updated my page, but I can't think of anything witty enough, so i'll just start writing from here. 

A lot has happened in the past year, way more than is worth me typing, and you reading. I spent all of fall and the beginning of winter in Iceland, working and living, whatever lets me be closer to my favorite person. In that same trip I also grew a new branch of friendship with all of the wonderful people I worked with, and for even that alone I am grateful. Now back in New Orleans, while talking with possibly my closest of new comrades from said job on the internet late one night this week, he expressed interest in starting a blog for himself, and we finally got him to get one going! It's only a few posts deep, but I suggest checking it out at least once. Csaba is from Hungary and at only something like 26 years old, has wise insight on life, cats, soccer, AND the Backstreet Boys. What more does anyone need to read about? Find him at easterncastaway.tumblr.com

It was at this time I realized that I probably shouldn't encourage someone else to begin a blog when i've failed at keeping up with mine own for...eleven months. It feels hypocritical and I don't want to fall into the percentage of blogs that become lost in the ether. I'm not lazy, my attention span simply matches that of a goldfish. That's all. 

Today while browsing the "Discover" section of Spotify, I was reminded that I hadn't listened to Timber Timbre in awhile. Pause my train of thought for one segue: To my dismay, while on the streetcar I suddenly became unable to control which song to play on my Spotify playlist. I have had a free account with Spotify since they first launched, and somehow had managed to slip through the cracks of treacherous ads and limitations on songs I could skip. Those sons of bitches finally found me, and I was forced to purchase an account. This, boys and girls, is what complaining about First World Problems looks like. Never do it. 

Anyway, TIMBER TIMBRE. This is a Canadian band I learned about maybe 3 years ago? They have a very distinct sound, with haunting vocals, some songs that are very minimalistic, and you can tell their inspiration is rooted in some dirtier blues. However, every time I hear them, I Immediately associate them with Jonatli. When we first met we spent many late nights drunkenly sitting around his old work studio, listening to their album "Creep on Creepin' On." The two of us have listened to probably hundreds of albums together, from all different genres of music, but if I had to pair one band, to the pair of us, this would be it. Which is why they will always be so special to me. 

(Incidentally, today I also learned Timber Timbre released a new single from what I imagine is going to be their next album, "Hot Dreams." Check it out!)

What are some songs that you strongly associate with certain people, places, and times in your life? Leave comments with your answers and why! 

[hannahtalksmusic-blog]

Erik Satie - Gymnopedie No.1 I learned this yesterday :)

[hannahtalksmusic-blog]

Post-Mardi Erik Satie

After I *remorsefully* left Iceland, it was time to come home to New Orleans and get back to work. Things have been on the incline here, which is something i'm happy to report, and frankly a bit surprising. At the beginning of January I continued my drink-slinging at Lucy's, and started my new position at the Contemporary Art Center, where I will be doing art workshops with school kids. I am very excited to see how that develops, but so far things are off to a lovely start. Not that that should be interesting to anyone but me. 

Another thing that occurred to me after I returned was that Alex had given me his very nice, professional keyboard a few months back, and it was taking me longer than expected to get back into the swing of things. Fun Hannah Fact for the day: from the time I was 10 until the time I was 17, I took piano lessons, mostly trained in classical. I stopped when I left for college in order to "focus on my studies" (read: laziness.) Anyway, long story short, not being able to bring my keyboard to school contributed to my lack of practice and eventual loss of skill. I've played here and there since, of course, but my abilities are extreeeemely compromised. 

Then, in January, it dawned on me. Instead of being stubborn and trying to re-learn all of the technics and theory involved on my own, I should just find an appropriate teacher and take lessons again! I feel no shame in taking classes as an adult, and this would definitely inspire me to maintain my practice.

So in the beginning of February I registered with the New Orleans Academy of Music, and 3 weeks later things are going even better than expected. After the dust settled of Super Bowl (RAVENS) and Mardi Gras (BEST HOLIDAY EVER), I was going to be in dire need of something to keep the endorphins flowing and to help time pass before Jonatli comes to New Orleans (did I stutter?) and I could not be more supportive of musical education. When putting your trust in the hands of a professional you'd be surprised how quickly you can train yourself, and it's a weird sensation watching your hands begin to recognize all of the movements all over again. 

When Lindsay (my instructor) asked if I had any experience with classical, she suggested we start with a few pieces by one of my favorite composers, Erik Satie. I couldn't believe it! (actually, I guess I sort of could, he's very well-known.) If you are not familiar with Satie, he was a French pianist before the minimalist age, who also composed many satyrical pieces, including Embryons Desseches, which directly translates into DRIED EMBRYOS, and what the director of our program wants me to learn next, due to it's commentary on the stiff and lifeless behavior of his musical peers at the time. Don't worry, I did not know that backstory until yesterday. I'm not too proud to admit that. 

[hannahtalksmusic-blog]

One of the mods for Reddit's ListenToThis section posted a really interesting essay on the direction he thinks things are headed in for the music industry. As we can all confidently admit, most of the work being played on mainstream radio is garbage, and hundreds upon hundreds of more talented, unique, and driven artists are still out there, left only with their sad YouTube channel, because not all of us have the means to own fancy schmancy equipment. In one paragraph he states that "word of mouth is king" and I agree with him 100%! People worth remembering will always linger in the back of your head, which is why I favor asking friends/coworkers/anybody about new tunes over a stupid "Top 10" article in a magazine. 

I'm typing this from a desktop with an Icelandic keyboard and it just took me twice as long to write that one tiny paragraph finding all the right keys and characters than it's taken me to write entire entries.

[hannahtalksmusic-blog]

 Post Script - I did not realize I was wearing the t-shirt made for the show while writing this until just now. What a groupie.

[hannahtalksmusic-blog]

Never Records / Ted Riederer

I can't believe it's taken me this long to write about this subject. It is 100% relevant to this website AND i'm actually a part of it. 

My first week in New Orleans, Jane took me to the Jonathan Ferrara gallery where we spoke to Matthew about anything he knew of going on that I could possibly get involved with. After hearing this he told me I could intern at NYC-based artist Ted Riederer's new show opening in the city. The position was basically handed to me on a silver platter without me doing much of anything and I can guarantee nothing will ever fall into my lap as easily, ever again. 

Walking into the situation I was sort of expecting it to be your basic contemporary art show with a cohesive body of work hanging on the walls, but Never Records was about 1,000 times more geared towards my long term interests and plans, and i'll never be able to wrap my head around working for it. 

Originating in New York, Never Records is an ongoing and traveling art installation by Ted Riederer. The first show started in 2010, and since then has traveled to Liverpool, London, and Northern Island. As Ted would say, it's a love letter to the record store, and his way of paying homage to the atmosphere he grew up in. 

How it works:

For this particular branch of the show, Jonathan (of the Ferrara gallery), provided Ted with the open loft, and Ted transforms the empty space into an art installation designed to look like a record store. He posts want ads for local musicians and spoken artists to come into the gallery/store, where he records them in the back, like a recording studio, and cuts their song to vinyl, ON SITE. After they finish recording the track, he uses homemade equipment and we burn two copies of the actual song onto a vinyl record. One copy goes to the musicians for them to keep and the other goes in the record bins, in the gallery, for people to browse through when they come into the gallery. 

The concept behind the show is to prove to the masses that vinyl is NOT, after all, a dead medium, and if anything, the original format of music interacting with it's listener, which I find completely true. It has so much more intimacy then clicking on a Wav file on the internet, and the tactile nature involved with placing the record on the player makes the experience that much more personal. None of the records are for sale, because Ted wants to take the money out of the project, and focus on creating the community environment that comes within a record store. 

I personally love this concept and wish I were capable of thinking of anything as original and sweet. Ted, by the way, totally rules and is more or less a teenager in a 42-year old's body. Most of my time is spent helping him re-wrap microphone wires, getting him coffee, asking him if he forgot to eat today, talking about music, and getting beers for him and the bands. Last week while recording he dumped some scotch in a plastic coffee cup and passed it around. His knowledge of music would shame this blog, and you can tell he grew up heavily influenced by underground punk music. Arturo Vega designed the logo for the show and Riederer's silly attitude reminds me of Jay in many ways and I wish they could have met. 

The closing weekend of the show starts this Friday where there will be a film showing at 841 Carondelet and I strongly advise any New Orleaneans to come out for it! Abita also sponsered the show so there will be plenty of beer if nothing else stands out at you. When Never Records leaves here it's next destination is expected to be Mexico City. I'm a bit sad it has to end and will miss my artist friend/boss. Check out the show's Facebook page and it's website. I promise it's worth it

http://www.facebook.com/NeverRecords

http://www.secretshape.com/neverrecords/

[hannahtalksmusic-blog]

Song of the Week: Kaada - "Care"

I was recently introduced to Kaada during my road trip to Louisiana last month and fell in love instantly. Kaada is actually one half of the music project Kaada/Patton (Norway's John Kaada and Mike Patton, frontman of Faith No More), which draws a considerable amount of inspiration from original film scores. John Kaada is best known for as a soundtrack composer in Norway, so I understand the collaboration with Patton, who's previous album The Director's Cut pays tribute to the scores of horror films. 

Thank You For Giving Me Your Valuable Time is the debut album of Kaada as a solo artist, and although "Care" is the obvious front-runner, many other tracks on this album are very reminiscent of the mo-town era, along with other familiar sounds from the 50's music movement. He uses modern mixing techniques while sampling older artists, creating an original and upbeat style that can cater to a wider audience. "Burden" and "Mainframe" are also personal favorites. 

[hannahtalksmusic-blog]

"...and when they opened their mouths, out came the flame of beauty."

-Alan Lomax

[hannahtalksmusic-blog]

Magical Musical Mystery Roadtrip

Originally, I was planning on writing about a completely different subject, but figured since my last post was involved with my move, i'd keep things chronological, and address that first, while it's still relevant. 

After 4+ years of being in the city, I realized I had had enough of Boston, and that it was time to move onto warmer, friendlier places. New Orleans has been the jazz/soul/brass epicenter of the planet for as long as I can remember, and as much as I love progressive and electronic music, my heart will always belong to the blues and all it's best friends. That being said, I decided to head in that direction at the end of August. For some reason or another, the cosmic universe decided to fancy me for a few days, and Jonatli was able to fly over from Iceland, help me pack all my things into our teeny tiny rental car, and come on my drive south.

*Disclaimer, he is the dreamiest boy currently living. 

Now, we rented our mighty chariot for 10 days, which gave us the window of time to make numerous stops along the way. We stayed in Baltimore for 2 nights so I could see my parents and pups, then we drove til we couldn't be in the car anymore and stayed in East Nowhere, Virginia. Following that we made 3 very important stops musically, which is the whole purpose of this post and which I will delve into right now.

Stop 1: Nashville, TN

I will admit, we weren't originally planning on staying in Nashville. The only reason we chose to was because the leg from Baltimore to Memphis was way too long, and we weren't in any sort of rush. I also believe we were under the impression that Nashville was a country-exclusive city, which is a bit off-putting to both of us. Apparently, Nashville is a boss and I was kind of surprised by Broadway Street. Like most cities, there were drunk tourists and a plethora of pan-handlers, but there were live bands at EVERY venue. Yes there was country music included but there was a fair share of bluegrass as well. Plenty of fiddle, banjo, and stand-up bass to go around, along with all kinds of housemade whiskies in each bar, infused with all sorts of herbs, including white whiskey (which Jonatli is banned from drinking ever, EVER, again.) I'm not sure what initial expectations I did have for the city but I found all the neon signs, cowboy boots, and novelty Elvis signs kind of charming, and I can understand why so many rock icons got their start there. The last bar of our night, the lead singer did a killer cover of my favorite Patsy Cline song ("Walking After Midnight") and there was also the world's most dated but most bad ass record store that had 33s, 45s, and 8 tracks for days, along with a cardboard stand-up of Wynonna Judd circa 1990. If you're ever in town, check it out. Viva Nashvegas

Ernest Tubb Record Shop

www.etrecordshop.com

Full Moon Saloon (Sawdust on the floors. I found this cute.)

www.fullmoonsaloonnashville.com

Stop 2: Memphis, TN

From Nashville, we drove 3 hours across the state to Memphis, where we stayed for 2 nights. Memphis was different then what I had in mind for both positive and negative reasons, which are as follows:

pros: 

The Rock and Soul museum is there. It's tiny, but full of all kinds of historical memorabilia and information. They start you with a 15 minute documentary that had a ton of amazing people speaking about the collaboration of black and white musicians as an attempt to rise above segregation during the Civil Rights Movement, which I loved. There is also a lot of mention of the Delta Blues which I find important. HOWEVER, a button-down shirt from the lead singer of Three Doors Down is framed and hanging in the last room before you exit. WHAT? I want to know the first person who said that this was okay. At what point in time was Three Doors Down ever a staple of any sort of soul or blues movement, let alone a moderately acceptable band? I will choose to block this small moment of horror from my memory and focus on the fact that they had various antique jukeboxes instead. Jesus. 

Sun Records Studio is also in Memphis and while we were there we learned that it is the only recording studio in all of America to be labeled as a national landmark. Elvis got his start here when he was just a wee one at the age of 18, and yes, it was very cool standing in the exact recording room where he, Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins, Jerry Lee Lewis, ect, made countless smash albums. Nothing has been remodeled, the originial infrastructure is still intact, and we had the worlds most obnoxious Non-English speaking tourists going buckwild with their SLR the entire time. Sidenote, Sam Phillips designed the interior walls of the studio to help absorb sound and acoustics based on an article he read in a science magazine. Atta boy, Sam. 

cons:

I was sort of disappointed by Beale Street, which makes me a bit sad. My naive tourist-y mind was convinced that I'd see all kinds of great live, local blues bands, but more than anything we ran into really abysmal karaoke, a couple of places that had club music (??), and bars that weren't playing music at all. Fortunately, our second night out we went to a local hang out that had a great 7-piece blues band. It was a dim-lit, smokey atmosphere and they did an awesome 10 minute cover of "Little Wing", which happens to be my favorite Hendrix song EVER. If my accomplice for all of this can remember the band's name, i'll throw it on here. Aside from that we ended up opting for sitting on the curb with our Huge Ass Beers. 

If you ever swing by Memphis:

Sun Records Studio

www.sunstudio.com

Rock and Soul Museum

www.memphisrocknsoul.org

Soul Fish Cafe (Get the blackened Tilapia. It's not fucking around.)

www.soulfishcafe.com 

And because ducks are cute and everybody knows it (especially ones wearing bowties)

http://www.peabodymemphis.com/peabody-ducks/

Stop 3: Quito, MS (I promise this explains itself)

After leaving Memphis and heading towards Jackson, Jonatli and I were discussing how the Rock and Soul museum had cited Robert Johnson's alleged burial site. We looked up where we were on I-55 and realized it wasn't too terribly far off course, so we veered off the highway and decided to see if we could find it (it wasn't actually that dramatic, I didn't crank the wheel to the right and go careening down some dirt road, although that would have been much cooler.) There were 3 potential places this mysterious bastard could have been buried, and by the graces of god he ended up being at the graveyard we picked. This was without question the smallest town i've ever been in, and yes there were dirt roads involved. Somehow, the ONLY thing google maps labeled on our GPS was the Payne Chapel church, which is where he was, and it only took us a couple of minutes to find it. For being the legend he is, Robert Johnson has the most underwhelming tombstone i've ever seen, and there are other graves in there with more protection around them than his. Despite the lack of glitz and glamour, with the theme of our roadtrip, I found it extremely fitting. Besides, Mr. Johnson is more or less Jonatli's favorite person, and i'm very happy that we were able to track that down for him. 

If YOU ever feel like impulsively driving around the backwoods of Mississippi in search of YOUR favorite blues mastermind, this is where we found him. 

https://maps.google.com/maps?q=Payne+Chapel+Church,+County+Road+167,+Itta+Bena,+MS&hl=en&ll=33.442042,-90.303669&spn=0.036455,0.076046&sll=33.438732,-90.301195&sspn=0.036456,0.076046&oq=Payne+CQuito,+MS&t=h&hq=Payne+Chapel+Church,+County+Road+167,+Itta+Bena,+MS&z=14&iwloc=A

Now that i've finished dispensing all the information possible regarding places to go and things to see in the south, I can honestly say that this is the longest post i've written and anybody who successfully finished reading it, actually maintained interest, and has not died from sheer boredom gets a gift certificate for one Hannah hug and a beer paid for with her debit card. 

And with that, I will now hop on my bicycle and ride over to frenchmen street. 

My next entry will not be a memoir like so. I swear. 

H

[hannahtalksmusic-blog]

Distraction = No Posts v2.0

I'm about to write a post that is similar to one I may or may not have written about 9 or so months ago, which was the last time I became Distracted Hannahsarus Rex. Now, to my credit, my summer quickly morphed into a more demanding schedule than I was originally prepared for. Increased work hours, numerous friends that decided to get married, having to rent cars and travel TO said weddings, ect. these are all time consuming priorities and expenses that really pile up, all ontop of preparing to move to New Orleans at the end of August. In such circumstances, one can lose sight of what's really important in life, which is going off on mostly pointless tangents about music and all it's dimensions, on my free internet "diary" that maybe, maybe, 25 people read.

However!

I have successfully sold my shit, packed my remaining shit into boxes, and arrived at my final destination in the lovely state of Louisiana. I am now living with my dear, dangerously good looking friend Jane, who inspired me to start this blog in the first place! My second night in the city a few of us were sitting on the patio of Bacchanal when Jane asked if I was still keeping up with this site. I admitted that I had fallen a bit behind on my writing and her looks of utter disappointment were so heart-wrenching that here I sit, at my kitchen table, in my underwear, with my 32oz White Russian daiquiri I will never come close to finishing, ready to speak about some fucking tunes. Now that i'm somewhat unpacked (not really), and foreign distractions have departed (LAME), the essays will increase as I settle into a new city (except that whole "employment" thing. yikes.)

Really the moral of this post is: if you ever need incentive to get anything done, just have Jane scream at you. 

NOLA Filmmaker's Collective. plug plug plug.

[hannahtalksmusic-blog]

i've always wanted to write an article like this, and was considering it for awhile, but now finding the very article written by Chuck Klosterman, who has far more exposure and knowledge to FAR more music, i think i'd be kidding myself if i ever thought i could write something of equal caliber. maybe i'll give it a go anyway, maybe i won't. in the meantime, it's an interesting read. check it out.

more to come very soon!

[hannahtalksmusic-blog]

Song of the Week: The Velvet Underground - Pale Blue Eyes

I just found a bunch of my Velvet Underground cds in a box in my basement, and have been listening to them for the first time in years. This has always been one of my favorites, along with "Venus in Furs" and "Heroin" but both of those are pretty intense to say the least, and i'm in relaxed, so this wins. 

Kind of unrelated, but, last year I went to an Andy Warhol exhibit at the BMA with Dom, and they offered us audio tour headsets to bring through the show, that present-day Lou Reed was narrating. Needless to say, listening to that was hilarious. 

[hannahtalksmusic-blog]

Team Bisco (Sara, Andy, Matty, and myself) migrates to Randall's Island for electronic music festival round two, where we will dance ourselves clean, indulge in unmentionable debauchery, and take over the Statue of Liberty. 

[hannahtalksmusic-blog]

Icelandic Music Throwdown

As I stated below, I had only the best intentions for maintaining my writing while I was overseas, but fortunately for me, was bombarded by totally fucking awesome activities to partake in instead, and therefore postponed any actual internet writing time. Whenever I DID sit down and attempt to start, someone would walk by, or something would come along to distract me (like any movement or bright light whatsoever..)

Anyway. 

As one would imagine, it was indeed one of the most refreshing, fulfilling stretches of time in my life. Along with all of the crazy fun and debauchery there was a lot of time for introspection and there were multiple moments of clarity and self-discovery (par for the course in traveling?) I cannot be thankful enough for the amazing new friends i've made from all over the planet, particularly my friends that are FROM Reykjavik. Aside from being possibly the funniest people i've met in my short life, they also have AMAZING taste in music and are extremely resourceful in finding new material (who knew?) Once again, i'm a lucky little lady and got to reap all the benefits. 

Not only was I introduced to a whirlwind of new crazy Icelandic bands, to set the tone for how things went over there, my first night hanging out with my new friends, we managed to get into a conversation about John Lee Hooker and Robert Johnson. I'm pretty sure I immediately died and went to heaven (reference: long-winded rant about the blues a few posts back.) And that's what a huge portion of my vacation consisted of: sitting around a production studio drinking beers and talking about music in all it's glorious varieties. I'm pretty sure that's the general basis of this blog itself and had no idea that there could possibly be another person out there as interested in discussing it to the point of exhaustion as much as me (Hi Jònatli, you are my favorite.) (I want there to be a way for you to write on here too.)

Anyways, now that me gushing is over with, i'll list off a few of the bands I now know about, and therefore get to share with you! See, everyone benefits. Shouldn't we send me away to foreign countries more often?

Viking bands:  

Trùbrot - this is a psychedelic/progressive rock band from the 60s and 70s that only lasted what looks like about 5 years or so, and probably the band I know the least about, but wanted to get them out there anyways. Mugison - this is a GREAT blues band that's both acoustic and slower like Mofro but also has some heavier songs comparable to the Black Keys and Rumspringa. Sometimes I think he duets with a girl, but i'm not positive if she's an actual member of the band. Really intricate guitar work in certain songs, like "Murr Murr" and definitely a musician I would listen to had I discovered him on my own.  Bang Gang - a little on the pop-ier side but has enough substance and style in their work to not be overly sweet, and reminds me of Thievery Corporation on faster songs. "It's Alright" was on a cd I was given, which got me interested, and just listened to one of their albums on Grooveshark. Oh, and it turns out Anthony Gonzales from M83 collaborates with them sometimes, which is awesome! Also, they have a silly name.  Gus Gus - MY FAVORITE. These guys are apparently a HUGE band in Iceland for electronic music and have been around since the mid 90's. They are the perfect middle of the road group for electronic music, nothing too repetitive but also not nearly crazy enough to be obnoxious. Since they've been around for so long you get to see all the phases of their sound, "Arabian Horse" is their most recent album and my favorite. because Jònatli and Skuli are the greatest people in the world, they scored free tickets to Gus Gus's concert that happened to be playing while I was in the city and they brought me along! Really great show, by the way. If I can figure out how to take videos from my phone and put them on here I will post one. "Within You" = the shit. Download that now. 

This is probably one of the lesser intelligent things i've written, but I feel like the quality of my writing is either enhanced orrrr severely compromised based on how much emotion I have behind it. Still stuck in the blow-back of being in the USA again has made me very thoughtful in my head but kind of sloppy on paper. I did my best. 

[hannahtalksmusic-blog]

Song of the Week: CocoRosie - Smokey Taboo

CocoRosie is a sister-duo originally from the United States that were split up during their childhood and reconnected in their early twenties in France. Sometimes their music is a little too far-out for my taste, I think mixing harp and opera singing with beat-boxing can either sound awesome or terrible, and only 50% of the time these lovely ladies are the former. But this is an example of that.

I have lots to say about Iceland, and have every intention on writing about it, i just need a decent window of time to do so. 

[hannahtalksmusic-blog]

I've laid this island sun a 1000 times 

I'm on it  But I'm going strange  This island's chills and shell cover me  With winded rock  And skies I've got yet to see  I tried  I even sent in friends  They did it as a favor  Cause I'm not that way  I am the autumn in the scarlet  I am the make-up on your eyes  I land to sail  Island sail  

Yeah we're movin This island's sun I've laid 1000 times  Fortune me  Fortune me  Of all my mistakes  I think I lent you late 

But I've never seen a scarlet  Or a riot or the violence of you  I land to sail  Island sail  Yeah, we're movin Yeah, we're movin 

-The Breeders, "Off You"

[hannahtalksmusic-blog]

Song of the week: Sigur Ros - Staralfur

I leave for Iceland in two days. I am very, VERY, excited. :)

Do I have any idea what Jonsi is singing about in this song? Absolutely not, and from what i've been told most of their songs consist of nonsensical words in "Hopelandic", a language they MADE UP. Kind of silly, sort of cute, but whether what they're saying makes any sense or not it sounds beautiful so I really don't give a shit. A bit of an amateur move posting this band right before I go there but to my credit, I don't have a ton of Icelandic bands at my disposal. I think I can name 5. Hopefully that'll change this week.

insufferably epic song. off to find hot springs and my nordic husband now. see ya.