music induced euphoria: 2009-06-07

for fans of: Radiohead, Elliott Smith, Muse

Last Saturday, I went to a music festival called BFD that a SF radio station (live 105.3) puts on every year. I had a great time, but forgot to bring my camera, so I couldn't snag any photos or videos. Suffice to say that it was awesome. I checked out some local bands on the local stage, but was super happy to see Audrye Sessions on the Bud Light Festival stage, a step up from their previous BFD performances.

Their (too short) set was spectacular, and my younger brother now loves them. This is why I take him to rock shows, to expose him to good, good music. The poor sap goes to school with kids who listen to 3OH!3 and Chris Brown.

Anyhow, Audrye Sessions are my favourite local band, hailing from Oakland. They combine intricate songwriting with spectacularly gripping live shows. They've been on tour for forever and a day in support of their fantastic self-titled debut album (issued by Black Seal records, Albert Hammond Jr's label), and they're not stopping anytime soon.

The hardworking band is composed of

Ryan Karazija- Vocals/Guitar
Alicia Marie Campbell- Bass
Michael Knox- Guitar
James Leste- Drums

They also tour with various violinists and cellists, and the three times I saw them perform, their friend Dustin manned the trumpet.

Audrye Sessions may sound like something you’ve heard before: the siren guitars in “Paper Face” sound like Yellowcard’s “Way Away” and “New Year’s Day” evokes Parachutes-era Coldplay, but the album nevertheless manages to sound fresh, not to mention vastly superior to either of those bands. Although the songs don’t flow in a conventional way, the songs’ ordering is perfect. The band has a knack of creating incredible aural equilibrium. The lyrics tell a million stories, and lead singer Ryan even throws in a Beatles tribute in “Where You’ll Find Me” when he sings “it’s just the walrus and me”.

The band has even caught Rolling Stone's eye, and they were featured as a "breaking" band. Check that out HERE

I highly recommend checking them out, this band is going to get big, I know it.

Audrye Sessions - Turn Me Off [mp3]

Audrye Sessions - Where You'll Find Me [mp3]

visit them on MYSPACE

here are some more tour dates:

Jul 2 Summerfest Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Jul 4 80/35 Festival @ Western Gateway Park Des Moines, Iowa
Jul 6 Southgate w/Paper Route Newport, Kentucky
Jul 7 The Garden Bowl @ Magic Stick w/Paper Route Detroit, Michigan
Jul 8 Grog Shop w/Paper Route Cleveland Heights, Ohio
Jul 9 The Basement w/Paper Route Columbus, Ohio
Jul 11 Jerky’s Live Music Hall w/ Paper Route Providence, Rhode Island
Jul 12 Middle East Upstairs w/Paper Route Boston, Massachusetts
Jul 14 Mercury Lounge w/Paper Route New York, New York
Jul 15 Dc9 w/Paper Route Washington, Washington DC
Jul 16 Maxwells w/Paper Route Hoboken, New Jersey
Jul 17 Kungfu Necktie w/Paper Route Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Jul 18 Eleanor Rigby’s w/ Paper Route Jermyn, Pennsylvania
Jul 19 Garfield Artworks w/Paper Route Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Jul 21 The Intersection- Front Grand Rapids, Michigan
Jul 22 Schubas w/Paper Route Chicago, Illinois
Jul 23 Firebird w/Paper Route St. Louis, Missouri
Jul 24 Mojos w/Paper Route Columbia, Missouri
Jul 25 Box Awesome w/Paper Route Lincoln, Nebraska
Jul 26 Marquis Theatre w/Paper Route Denver, Colorado
Jul 27 Club Vegas w/Paper Route Salt Lake City, Utah
Jul 31 Hawthorne Theater w/The Script Portland, Oregon
Sep 7 Bumbershoot Seattle, Washington

There’s a popular idiom in American society that tends to come up in conversations about music: “I listen to everything, well, except for country music”. As a lover of rock n roll, the only times I tread into country territory is if I’m spinning some Allman Brothers, Johnny Cash or Ryan Adams, and none of these artists can be described as purely “country”. No, I don’t listen to Tim McGraw or Taylor Swift. That type of music just doesn’t strike me as particularly poignant, but maybe that’s just because I’m from California and come from a Middle Eastern background.

Regardless, when I heard that Elvis Costello’s new album— Secret, Profane & Sugarcane was a project which the English singer embarked upon in Alabama with nothing but an acoustic guitar, I was intrigued. Elvis Costello is one of my favourite recording artists of all time, and I consider the man nothing less than a genius. I own all of his albums from his debut My Aim is True (1977) until 1986’s Blood and Chocolate, plus a couple of compilation albums and his recent collaboration with Allen Toussaint, The River in Reverse. Anyhow, less about my record collection and more about his latest effort.

If I’m going to be completely honest, it’s actually quite terrible. Even though I don’t know too much about country music, I know enough to discern that right now, we don’t need a prolific British songwriter contributing to the genre. The album is completely forced, as if Costello is trying to prove a point, that he can do anything in any genre and it’ll be a work of genius. The problem is, he kind of accomplishes the opposite, and what we are left with is fifty minutes of unbearable mess.

It was actually kind of painful to listen to, and when I tried to give it a second go, I just couldn’t get past the fourth song, “My All Time Doll”, which incidentally, is the least atrocious of the bunch. I don’t know what inspired Mr. Costello to make music in Alabama with Jim Lauderdale, but the only good thing about the whole fiasco is that he probably got it out of his system. We can only hope.

1.5/5

you can stream some of it on his WEBSITE, but I wouldn’t recommend it…you might get a better listening experience out of hearing the crow on his album art sing...

music induced euphoria

Saturday, June 13, 2009

The Strokes Post #114

Friday, June 12, 2009

artist to watch: Thomas J Speight

Black Lips and Dinosaur Jr visit DAYTROTTER

band of the week: Audrye Sessions

The Strokes Post #113 (super awesome super rare bootleg!)

Thursday, June 11, 2009

The Dead Weather - free online broadcast in two weeks

blink-182/weezer @ shoreline PRESALE PASSWORD

The Strokes Post #112

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

The Strokes Post #111

Tuesday, June 9, 2009

Arctic Monkeys name their third LP

Jack White to release solo album

The Strokes Post #110

Monday, June 8, 2009

The Strokes Post #109

record review: Elvis Costello - Secret, Profane & Sugarcane

Sunday, June 7, 2009

The Strokes Post #108

Sunday Morning Covers