Enchanting New Artist

In my quest to find new musical people of various genres of music I have come across another person whom I consider to be a bit of a gem.

Laura Gibson

Not really sure how to classify this one, so I won't. If you dig Colon Maloy (lead singer of the Decemberists) at all, this is sort of in that vein. In fact she opens for him on a regular basis and they are featured on each other's records.

You can check out her HUSH records website here, and her myspace page here. There are also some Youtube videos of her (particularly of her opening up for Colin).

enjoy!

An Evening of Another World

I had the great opportunity Saturday night to go see some live music downtown. Thanks to Kris Tiner, who never fails to bring in great artists for his Metro Galleries series, and also never fails to deliver a stunning performance himself. Saturday night opened with Kris and Chris Schlarb, a guitarist from Long Beach, playing some absolutely mesmerizing reflective music with Trumpet + Electronics/Guitar + Effects. After buying one of Chris' albums Interocean by his group I Heart Lung (featuring Kris Tiner as well as many others) and listening to samples of his Twilight I was hooked. It is really beautiful and introspective music and really allows the listener to be sucked into its timelessness. He has also done some beautiful music for a new video game called Night Game coming out on the Wii this fall. You can check out some video of the game and Chris' music here.

Second set was done by returning artists Jeff Kaiser and Stuart Leibig. Jeff on Trumpet + Electronics and Stuart on Contrabass Guitar + Effects. It was a very interesting set and was a very natural flip side of the first set. This set had much more bite to it and an intensity of sound that just can't be rivaled. Jeff really seems to have a control over his gear and how far he can push it that is quite amazing. Stuart had such a command of what he was doing with a sea of floor pedals and effects boxes etc... that it was amazing just to watch him work his feet and occasionally hands, all over the many buttons and knobs and dials to make some really interesting foundations and even grooves for Jeff to work off of up top. It really was a night of contrasts.

I don't really listen to much electronic media and it is always a treat to hear it live and watch the musicians manipulate their equipment. I think that is something that is a little lost when listening to this kind of music on CD. And occasionally the musicianship gets covered up with the novelty of gadgets and buttons. It is a fine line, that not many are willing to tread. Kris has a really interesting approach to it that I think more people should take into consideration when venturing into the electronically manipulated sound world.

Keep bringing in those artists Kris! Thanks!

Take A Lesson

My father found this album a while ago and has lent it to me for my enjoyment. It is really an amazing project that has been a long time in the making and I must say, it creates a fantastic experience.

The Playing For Change project has two identities. Number one they have set out to unite the world through music, this album being the first culmination of that idea. They have spent four years traveling the world recording musicians from everywhere, and I do mean everywhere. So even though most of the musicians on any given track have never met, they are now part of the same ideas. Featuring songs by Bob Marley, Peter Gabriel, Bob Dylan, Sam Cooke and many others, including some originals for this album. It is a really interesting product and I recommend highly.

The second part of Playing For Change is the foundation to build music schools for children around the world. Most recently they have just finished a music school in the Congo. During which they recorded "Talkin' Bout A Revolution" by Tracy Chapman with some local musicians involved in getting the school off the ground.

I applaud these efforts for musical unification, and I applaud the results of this collaboration from hundreds of musicians from all over the world. It is a great example of good music coming from good people, even if they are thousands of miles apart.

Enjoy!