To Make A Joyous Noise

Drive Through the Night

raisetherent — Wed, 01 Jun 2011 13:59:00 +0000

the sweep of light washes over the pavement for precisely two seconds before leaving each swath in darkness again. rain falls, and the tires spit a wake of wet that sparkles in the light from the next set of low-beams. the toes of my boots point forward, and the hum of the engine is the only sound i can bear. just knowing each ragged mile brings me closer. i want to close my eyes and feel your soft linen sleeve against my cheek, hear your low regular breath, feel your fingernails grazing down the lengths of my arms and the rush of heat in my cheeks at those stupid words you always say in the place of a simple “i love you”. but all i see is that odometer, pacing silently but brightly across my dashboard and all i feel is the march to the gallows with the guilt of my sins dragging like chain, like the faces of those i’ve wronged seeing their final justice about to be done. asking questions i don’t have the answers to. answers i may never have… answers i am certain would be the death of me if i were i to… we arm for a war over a question of faith, gods unnamed. nothing to do with fate. and i’m dressing my protagonist in a suit and tie, and i’m dressing his dream in a gown. “your spirit don’t even know your face or your name, when the wind in your bones is all that remains” dirt in the ground through the lights of loves flashing as they come and go, you are always the one i come back to. i remember every story you’ve told, all the intimate things that turned funny always in the good honour of our love. even the moments of sheer terror now, seem almost sublime in the closeness of our souls as they were being told.

Autumnal Equinox and the End of Summer

raisetherent — Fri, 24 Sep 2010 19:19:47 +0000

Here comes the Fall. What a wild summer!

We began with Traditions (lovely review and all). It was a ridiculous year, the best Traditions to date, with the Wiyos headlining, fresh off their tour with Bob Dylan, Willie Nelson and John Mellancamp. We also had the joy of hosting the Dave Wax Museum, on their way to the Newport Folk Festival. Brown Bird brought the fire from their recent tour with the Low Anthem in Europe. And Over a Cardboard Sea and local favorites the Can Kickers rounded out the alt side of the day. We also had a delightful last minute cameo from the Hoolios.

And as if that weren’t enough fun, we had a great summer series at the Hygienic, with acts like Duke Robillard, John Fries and the Heat, Sugar Ray, Afro-Semitic Experience, David Amram, The Americana Festival, the annual Reducers bash, Sinner’s Circle 10, and a slew of theatrical, puppett-ical, and poetical and film-etical events generously sprinkled throughout.

The Parade finally opened up for public events and hosted fantastic shows from Eileen Ivers and Buckwheat Zydeco, along with (I’m proud to say, my own band…) the Swamp Doctors/Raise the Rent.

I AM 5 was a complete rager as well this year, with We Are Scientists *who are the nicest people you could ever hope to meet*, Mates of State (who did a cover of Tom Waits‘ Long Way Home that nearly broke my heart, it was so charming), Stepkids, Straight to VHS, Hempsteadys, and many more excellent bands. Along with an after party with the ever-terrific M.T. Bearington and DJ Sir Round Sound.

And now things can begin to slow down. Maybe… This is the time of year we start to look forward and dream even bigger for next year’s show season. It all starts with that vision. Now that we have our little record store, the Telegraph, it’ll be even easier to sit around spinning albums and saying things like, “when is That Band on tour through here again? can we get them to stop in New London?” So, that said, who should we bring next year?

Telegraphy

raisetherent — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 16:32:29 +0000

Well, this is an adventure.

The street emits the kind of hazy heat that blurs the gates and dinner plate sized hibiscus of the Hygienic. My motivation should be nothing short of anemic. Except…

Dangermouse and Sparklehorse are cranking on a brand new turntable next to a cash register with buttons on it that say things like Cosmodemonic and New Vinyl. Shopping bags adorned with New London Main Street‘s logo and an arching “Historic Downtown New London”. There are posters in the windows advertising the Bela Fleck documentary which will be showing in the Art Park on August 11th, the new Arcade Fire album, and this weekend’s Sinners Circle.

When people step through the door, their faces light up. They haven’t seen an old school record store in a good long time. They go for the new stuff, look at the records, stroke the covers. Go over to the used stuff, laugh at the silly ones like DOKKEN, show them to their friends, fish through the Weird Beards pins, Stereolab posters and Radiohead stickers, run their fingers across the spines of the poetry volumes on the bookshelves. And if all goes well, they find that one special something that really brings them. I’m looking forward to years of stories about the songs they danced to at their weddings, the first cassingle they bought in 1984, or the mind-blowing show they saw that turned them into lifelong musicians. I’m looking forward to our upcoming release, Above Below and the celebration to follow. I’m looking forward to Whalie pre-parties, and I Am Festival after-parties.

Yes, this is an adventure.

Come take a look, 19 Golden Street, New London.

This is the first blog of the rest of my life…

raisetherent — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 19:03:11 +0000

So it begins, our music in a blog! And by ‘our’ I mean New London, Raise the Rent and all the bands on Cosmodemonic Telegraph, local clubs and promoters, and every single person who has ever or will ever enjoy music.

There will be posts from your host, Daphne. But also from other scenesters, musicians, and interested parties. Also, the great press we get as a collective will find its way into this madness! Each week, I’ll feature a new bunch of thoughts on the musical life.

Here goes!

VOX: People talk about ‘finding your voice’ and I’ve always been fascinated by that concept. Don’t you just ‘sing’? I mean, open your mouth and push air out, and hope that your ear serves you well? Sort of. It isn’t as easy as that. Some people don’t have to work at it very hard, they have a natural power or a distinct sound or technique. Others, like me, have to spend big chunks of time on it every day and still feel like there’s years of work to do. There are singers who have big voices, an ability to project loudly and clearly. There are singers who can do incredibly intricate and nuanced singing but you can only hear them if they amplify. There are singers that ape other singers and never really work out a unique sound of their own, and singers who couldn’t mimic anybody else if they tried. Singing is performance art. Even in the car or shower. It should be done fearlessly and brightly. ‘Finding’ your voice, I think, has a lot to do with making sure that what you are doing is your own. I find myself listening to records and attempting to immediately replicate what I’m hearing, which is pretty funny when it’s Tom Waits on the turntable. I definitely learned a ton of what I know now from imitating singers like Dolores O’Riordan (Cranberries) when I was 13, and then from Tori Amos and Ella Fitzgerald and other women across the broad sweep of music I’ve loved. There are women with really distinct sounds, like Natalie Merchant and Nina Simone and women with more classically trained voices. There are quirky singers like Regina Spektor and airy singers like Leslie Feist and Cat Power/Chan Marshall. But each of them has found her own voice. Next week, we’ll start pulling vocals apart and talk about how they get that sound.

ANTICS: Well, it’d just be silly if I didn’t talk a little bit about SXSW, since I just got home from it. Holy live music town, Batman! I saw at least 2o bands, and lots more folks a part of the conference itself. The 2 acts that completely blew my mind were Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings and the Carolina Chocolate Drops. Both of these bands were of that kind of mouth-watering quality that makes you really sad to hear them say “this is our last song” and swear to see them again the very next chance you get. Some other really worthwhile acts I caught were Telegraph Canyon, She & Him, Sam Lee, The Walkmen, Spoon, Broken Bells, Henry Clay People, Justin Townes Earle, and Thrift Store Cowboys. Check some of these folks out if you get a chance!

As for the festival itself, I have to admit I was impressed. It seemed like something of a feat of human organization. Traveling, venues, resources were all really user friendly. They thought of everything from express-jump-to-the-front-of-the-line passes into your favorite venue each night to stations where you could charge your inevitably tweeted-to-the-max dead phone to big piles of pillows where you could just chill with a local brew listening to the big-dog showcases in the ballroom.

The panels were useful too. The lecture/workshop style hour-longs were not so popular with the ‘artists’, so i found myself chatting with lots of industry types like managers, booking agents, lawyers (yes, lawyers!) and label folks rubbing elbows with their competitors, selling their books, and tolerating the myriad questions from studious little registrants like me. The people were mostly friendly, and I definitely dug the laid back southern style of the whole she-bang.The food was pretty excellent too. Stubb’s was on my list from the ages and the chicken was terrific. The Salt Lick had it right on with their brisket. And since Third Man Records had a pop-up store in Frank, we hit them up for delicious White Stripes-themed Sausages after we loaded up on the Texas-sized 13″ vinyl. All in all, complete success. Next year, with a little more knowledge going in, watch out world!

STARS & STRIPES: This year’s Traditions Festival seems like a good place to start. Check out the event at http://www.myspace.com/traditionsfestival The date is June 19, 2010 and the venue is the Hygienic Art Park. Beginning around 3pm, you’ll be hearing from Jim Carpenter and featuring Nordet from Brittany, Dave Wax Museum from Boston, Over a Cardboard Sea from Maine and New London’s own Can Kickers.

A city rich with historic and cultural diversity, famous for its port city dance halls and teeming with live music since its early years, New London proudly hosts Traditions: A Celebration of Folk, Americana, and Sea Music.
Now in its 4th year, Traditions has grown to envelope a broader spectrum of the American Music Experience. Created out of a deep respect for the multi-national storytelling and wisdom of the traditional music that immigrated to the Americas, and warmly embracing the evolution of those musical forms as they build and define our own unique culture, Traditions has been an elbow-rubbing of the past with the present. The last three years’ models featured international performers Robbie O’Connell, Roberts and Barrand, and Serre l’Ecoute, mainstays of the American Bluegrass, Sacred Harp, Gospel, Folk-Rock, Delta Blues, and Zydeco movements as well as truly talented multi-instrumentalists and storytellers.

THE HOBBYIST: In News: At The Day, our very own Matt Gouette is the first to be featured in a new series about songwriters. Check it out at: http://theday.com/article/20100326/ENT10/303269936 Hear more of Matt’s music at mattgouette.bandcamp.com

And Raise the Rent (formerly Roadside Attractions) as well as our members Matt Gouette and Brad Bensko have been nominated for The Whalie Awards! More info at www.thewhalieawards.tk Go vote for your favorite artists and bands at www.wailingcity.com

Cheers!