Brett Hooton's Blog
Posted by Brett Hooton
If you think your holiday party is just a little too, well, happy, one of the best cures we know is to put on a little Bright Eyes and have a good collective weep. Very releasing for everyone, I assure you.
We love Bright Eyes (a.k.a. Conor Oberst) here at Folk101. He is a talented songwriter who we have been missing lately. After releasing two albums in 2005, he and his cohorts took it easy in ’06, prepping new material. In the New Year, we will all reap the benefits.
First, on March 6, an EP called Four Winds will be released, followed by a full-length album titled Cassadaga on April 10. The latter will feature guest appearances by the like of M.Ward, Gillian Welch and Janet Weiss of Sleater-Kinney.
Here's the tracklisting for Four Winds EP:
1. "Four Winds"
2. "Reinvent the Wheel"
3. "Smoke Without Fire"
4. "Stray Dog Freedom"
5. "Cartoon Blues"
6. "Tourist Trap"
To keep visions of Conor dancing in your head through the season, he has released a new track to be downloaded at your leisure. Thanks to Stereogum for the link!
Check out what the musical din has been saying about the song, called “Endless Entertainment.” Here, we like the juxtaposition between the shiny, poppy tone (love the horn section…) and the particularly dark lyrics about passing out in the bathtub, etc.
Make sure you refill that Hot Toddy before you push play.
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Posted by Brett Hooton
I know all of you were up late last night, waiting with bated breath in holiday anticipation. Was Santa coming early this year? No, silly, but it was another arbiter of holiday cheer, Mr. Stephen Colbert.
Last night was the climactic guitar-dueling encounter between Colbert and the object of his latest faux-tiff, The Decemberists. For those of you who have not been following along, you can catch up by reading my previous blogs. The feud has grown to epic proportions rivaling that of the Capulets vs. Montagues.
Here’s how it went down. First, Colbert, who pulls no punches in matters of revenge, had Henry Kissinger let the audience know that it was “time to rock.”
The Decemberists then sent in their guitarist Chris Funk, who pulled off a pretty rocking solo with an appropriately demonic guitar. But, was it just me, or did his version of “retro cool” look a little bit like North Pole, elfish chic? Nevertheless, a valiant effort.
Then Colbert took the stage and quickly faked a finger injury. As you knew he would, he brought in a ringer, Peter Frampton, who (as you knew he would) rocked out old school.
The contest was decided by a celebrity panel featuring Anthony DeCurtis of Rolling Stone, Grammy-winning producer and engineer Jim Anderson, and New York Governor-elect Eliot Spitzer. Man, for being on air only a few seasons, Colbert has some impressive connections.
I won’t spoil who played his way to victory for you. But I will say this, before the show is over there will be an All-Star Guitar Jam, featuring many of the night’s participants. Check it out.
When will you have a chance to see Peter Frampton, Chris Funk, Robert Schneider, Cheap Trick's Rick Nielsen, and Stephen Colbert (using Frampton’s famous vocoder, you know that funny voice thing) on stage together and rocking out to a TV theme song?
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Posted by Brett Hooton
The year is winding down. It’s a time to reflect. Spend time with your family. Drink a little eggnog…WAIT!
Quick, everybody make a list of your favorite, well, anything. We just need lists: Top 10s, 25s, 100s, Best New Artists, Best Old Artists, Best Artists Whose Birthdays Fall on February 29 and Are Thus Only One-Fourth As Old As We Think… Sheesh.
Alas, here at Folk101, we are guilty of this same internet sin. We can’t help it.
If nothing else, these types of lists help us to fill in the gaps of what we might have missed this year. You know, see what the cool kids are talking about. And there is no genre more geared towards this type of assessment than music.
Heck, these guys might not be experts. But you know that they listen to a lot of tracks. And, well, everyone needs help with that Christmas shopping.
We also know that we have already subjugated you to one of these. How did we know that Pitch Fork wouldn’t offer its versions until this week? They just released their Best Albums (Staff), Best Albums (Individual Writers), Best Tracks (Staff) and Best Tracks (Individual Writers) lists for the year.
Despite being the World’s Most Thorough Music Reporter (Da-Da-Da!), I realize that I forgot Rolling Stone’s Top 50 Album picks. Hey, it happens.
Billboard and Spin both weighed in this week as well. AOL Music came out with a Best New Artists lists that is expectedly flashy. So those are your big guns. Oh, and of course Stereogum has been hanging out mocking everyone.
There are also the bloggers we like here: Gorilla vs. Bear, Nerd Report, and Marathon Pack giving readers various numbers of worthy albums.
So there you go. I promise this will be the last look at the web’s picks for what went right and wrong in 2006. At least until I offer my own list.
How could I not?
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Posted by Brett Hooton
Okay, so this is not exactly, 100% folk music-related, but I thought people might appreciate an update about 2005’s biggest band and Montreal’s very own, Arcade Fire. Their album, Funeral, propelled them to widespread international success and several random appearance on stage with the likes of David Bowie.
Like an electric shock across the virtual airwaves, a new track has been released. It is called Intervention and can be listened to here. Apparently, this song has been played live for a number of years, but has undergone a serious transformation.
It will also appear on the band’s forthcoming album which, in a classic Arcade Fire shroud of mystery, will be released sometime in the spring. Rumor has it that it will be called Neon Bible.
For fans, this is very welcomed news. Pretty much everyone has been desperate to know what the band has been doing while locked away in a capacious, former church somewhere in the city. Everyone kept saying they were recording, but really who knows.
The other bit of news is, of course, the handful of tour dates the band has announced in London, UK and Montreal. Having tried myself to get tickets, I can tell you that the five dates sold out in less than five minutes. Five minutes total for all five nights. The venue is small. So many people love them just as much as I do. I’m very sad.
The band expects a larger international tour after the new album comes out. Until then, you can read up about the various side projects the group has spawn. There is Final Fantasy (a.k.a. Owen Pallett) who recently appeared on Pitch Fork for an interview and Bell Orchestre is always around doing something.
Until then, patience my friends. Patience.
Join the Folk Music Section's weekly newsletter by sending an email to folkmusic@suite101.com.
Posted by Brett Hooton
It’s that time of year. There’s not much snow, but the malls are packed, and of course the internet is a buzz with everyone’s picks for music’s “best-of-the-best.”
To save our readers some of the hassle, Folk101 is sifting through all the detritus and giving you only the choice nuggets. If you are still looking for that perfect gift for the folk music lover in your life, then maybe these lists will provide some ideas.
Here are some of your options.
For the hardcore folkies in your life, you can peruse readers’ suggestions on the famous Folk Alley website. About.com’s folk music writer, Kim Ruehl, gives music seekers a wide range of suggestions. She’s posted her choice for the year’s best 25 albums, the year’s best new folk artists, and finally a great “look ahead” to 2007 and the type of year it will be for folk fans. She also provides a quick glance at this year’s folk-oriented Grammy nominations. You know, if you’re not into that whole underground thing.
For the more distinguishing (or pretentious) music fan, NPR always offers a great overview of the most skillful songwriters of the past year. World Café gave listeners its picks, and then listeners let All Songs Considered know their choices. For those parents out there, they also provided a quick summary of some of the year’s best children’s music. If you are into the whole underground thing, check out this NPR member-station’s picks for the year’s best debuts.
If you’re, say, more like Aristotle than there is Metacritic’s list of the year’s best reviewed albums. This sight surveys all the large music websites, translates their reviews into some kind of math equation, and then gives each record a total score. Of course that assumes that critics actually know anything. Oh wait…
For those who are too cool for school, there is NME’s list and of course Rolling Stone’s mega, blowout review of the year’s best singles. Folk101’s favorite disaffected website, Stereogum, also passes along a list of blogs who have posted their own Top 10s.
Speaking of which, tomorrow we will be posting our own picks of 2006’s most worthy albums. Stay tuned.
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