Music Makes Worlds

Grace Potter and the Nocturnals bring the sizzle to Venue

2011-01-31T22:20:00.000-08:00

Grace Potter and the Nocturnals, named by Rolling Stone magazine as one of the best bands of 2010, played a sold out show at Venue in Vancouver on Saturday night, slamming blues, rock and soul into a menagerie of wild sound.

Potter’s voice ignites a fire like Janis Joplin’s and soothes like Bonnie Raitt’s. A scream never sounded so sinfully delightful.

Draped in blonde, flowing hair from the flower child era, and wearing a sheer long black shirt, Potter dazzled the crowd with her perfectly pitched screams, soulful moans and shiny undies.

“I’ve just been informed that you can see my underwear under these lights,” she said sounding shocked but not embarrassed.

With a sexy nonchalance, she continued to dance around the stage and rock out as comfortably as if she were in her own living room.

And the crowd adored her for it.

Purple and blue lights bathed the band for bluesy songs such as “Joey” and “Low Road,” while strobing beams of white, red and yellow lights bombarded everyone’s senses during the Jefferson Airplane cover “White Rabbit.”

Glimpses of a toy tiger could be seen chilling in the background on stage.

Originally from Vermont, this band has somehow picked up an undeniable southern vibe. They’ve been steadily gaining popularity across the U.S. since their third album, Grace Potter and the Nocturnals, peaked at number five on iTunes when it was released in 2010. The opening track “Paris (Ooh La La)” made the Top 40 on iTunes Rock Songs Chart.

Potter’s confidence and ease in unleashing her powerful sound compelled attention as she shifted between playing the organ, shimmying the tambourine and swirling her hands seductively. Meanwhile, guitarist Benny Yurco, created fierce sounds on a double neck electric guitar.

The show ended with all the band members simultaneously pounding out the heart of rock ‘n’ roll together on the drums, before giving the crowd what they’d all been waiting for: a chance to go, “Ooh La La.”

*Also posted on The Vancouver Observer: http://www.vancouverobserver.com/blogs/music/2011/01/31/grace-potter-and-nocturnals-sizzle-venue

In praise of Gospel music

2010-12-24T18:36:00.000-08:00

I dare you to sit still at a gospel music concert. The kind of energy that comes out of gospel is contagious. You can't help but feel uplifted and joyful. The word bursting comes to mind.

Before you know it your clapping along singing about how happy you are that Jesus is coming. In gospel there is so much hope and joy and sorrow and none of it apologetic or timid - all of it comes from the gut, is expressed from the gut.

There are more ways of feeling spiritual than there are religions. Different kinds of music can strike a spiritual chord within. Gospel, to me, feels like one that reaches out with arms wide open for a group hug in the name of pain or joy.

With all that said, I have a newfound love for gospel after seeing this ....

A last taste of summer with Two Lions and a Lady

2010-10-07T23:26:00.000-07:00

Last Friday night, the Coppertank stage was transformed into the porch steps of summer by the soulful harmonizing of Two Lions and a Lady, a charming new indie-folk-pop trio.

Beautiful harmonizing, it’s just something that never gets old.

But there’s more to why this band has got it going on. They play twelve instruments between the three of them, including guitars, an accordion, banjo, didgeridoo, mandolin, djembe and harmonica.

Onstage they took turns evoking nostalgia for the 60s group Peter, Paul and Mark, and tickling the crowd’s sway-button with modern rhythms.

Their set combined a mix of originals and covers that offered a genuine dose of acoustic bliss with a twist - from their rumba-infused cover of Neil Young’s “Keep On Rockin’ in the Free World,” to their clap-inspiring original “Twilight.”

They have a talent for morphing covers into their own unique style. If you haven’t seen it already, you must check out their cover of MGMT’s “Kids” up on Youtube. It makes a pretty strong case for the comeback of the accordion, and has you liking a song you thought you couldn’t like any more than you already did.

You can catch Two Lions and a Lady at the Coppertank on October 16th. Listening to their breezy summer sound might be a perfect way to postpone any hints of the winter blues. Also, stay tuned for information on their upcoming album.

Read more: http://www.myspace.com/twolionsandalady

*Also posted on The Vancouver Observer:
http://www.vancouverobserver.com/blogs/music/2010/10/07/last-taste-summer-two-lions-and-lady

Two Lions and a Lady ~ Kids by MGMT

Two Lions and a Lady ~ Twilight

Matisyahu: rockin' the heart of reggae

2010-08-30T16:23:00.000-07:00

You’ve probably never seen an Orthodox Jew headbang unless you’ve been to a Matisyahu concert.

His hair a little silver, beard covering his face, he seems wise beyond his 31 years, but can still headbang harder than any teenager I’ve seen. Hasidic Jews are known for incorporating music and dance into their worship, expressing their spirituality through creative outlets, but I don’t think it’s been done quite like this before.

Two seemingly contradictory paths, a devotion to Orthodox Judaism, and a talent for gritty free-style beat boxing and reggae-infused singing, have intertwined with style in Matisyahu’s genre-busting music.

Growing up in Brooklyn, NY, there may be little mystery to how these distinct cultural influences found their way into Matisyahu’s music, that blends Hasidic Jewish singing (which uses syllables rather than words to express emotion, reminiscent of skat and reggae “eh oh’s”) with the kind of poetic rapping only found in underground hip hop, and a little bit of masterful beat boxing to top it all off.

Despite starting out with a somewhat rebellious attitude towards authority and discipline, (dropping out of high school, following the band Phish around on tour), Matisyahu (then known as Matthew Miller) later found the balance he was looking for in the structure of Orthodox Judaism.

After traveling to Israel when he was 16, and completing high school in a wilderness school that focused on cultivating the arts, the seeds had been sown for his spiritual conversion. In retrospect, it may not seem so surprising a 180 coming from someone who makes a living out of harmonizing contradiction.

Dressed in his traditional Jewish hat, an Adidas-style track suit hoody, and Nike shoes, his style and movements (slight step-hopping, the would-be break-dancing kind) screamed New York hip hop scene, as he took the stage at the Commodore Ballroom Sunday night.

He has been touring around the world with his band, Brooklyn’s The Dub Trio, for almost 2 years, promoting his latest album Light (going everywhere from Poland, to Russia, to Australia and South America). He is best known for sparking a new-age revival in reggae music with the Billboard top-charting hit “King Without A Crown,” and his Grammy-nominated 2006 album Youth, his latest album, Light, inflects more ska and rock-edge to his style. Matisyahu seems intent on making it even harder to place him in any one particular box.

But he made sure to warm up the crowd with some generous doses of the soulful reggae beats that made him famous, before showing off some of his cultural expansions found on Light.

Melding hints of drum ‘n’ bass, rock, and ska-punk, he showed us that there’s a few more genre-bending cultural shocks up his sleeve. But make no mistake, Matisyahu pulls it off so naturally that it makes you think the would-be culture clashes should have fit together all along.

This musical mix came together most dramatically and skillfully in his song “Darkness Into Light” which had a synthesizer spouting drum ‘n’ bass beats, while an electric guitar created elevating sounds behind Matisyahu’s reggae rapping.

But all this added edge was softened by Matisyahu’s surprisingly beautiful and uplifting voice which, backed by the echoes of an electric guitar, created ethereal dreamy songs that built up and smoothly transitioned from singing, to scatting, to beat boxing, rapping and reggae chanting like in “I Will Be Light” where he chants “You’ve got one tiny moment in time, for life to shine, to shine, to burn away the darkness.”

His song “Aish Tamid,” ending with a powerful crescendo, but starting off as a beautiful ballad, and then transitioning smoothly to something between singing and rapping, before picking up speed towards a marching underground hip hop beat where he spit poetic lyrics that created a collage of images of Israel and New York.

Many of the songs showed off his singing voice, but near the end of the show, his voice dropped a whole octave for a medley of songs (“Dispatch the Troops”, “Lord Raise Me Up”) that held a distinct grimy reggae sound that belongs in a bumping cadillac. It’s here where it was unquestionably clear that the record was recorded in Jamaica, and if you closed your eyes, you were easily transported there.

While his faith provides the inspiration for his poetic lyrics, and at times Matisyahu performs in a way that makes it seem like a spiritual act (eyes closed, deep in concentration, or else lost in his own spinning) his music invites people to share a connection to his triumphant sense of hope.

His songs “One Day” and “Jerusalem” had the crowd’s enthusiasm drawing him out of himself and into direct connection with those singing along. There is a recurring theme of perseverance that undoubtedly people from all backgrounds can relate to, like is found in “So Hi So Lo” where he sings “I am searching for the shade of the tree/Heard about it from a tune in the breeze/They say it exists on the other side of the road/But which road nobody was told/ So low/ All I know is I must find a road/That leads where nobody goes/So low/I can roll down the windows where the wind blows down those fears and foes.”

Matisyahu is a reflection of melding of cultures that co-exist but rarely intertwine as gracefully, successfully, and confidently. His constantly evolving sound is somehow stunningly and excitingly new, while also being comfortingly familiar and reminiscent of the simple poetic hope found in the likes of reggae icons like Bob Marley.

*Also publish in The Vancouver Observer:
http://www.vancouverobserver.com/blogs/music/2010/08/09/matisyahu-rockin’-heart-reggae

The African Way: Kunaka and Miyanda

2009-04-11T17:06:00.000-07:00

There is a theory that music evolved to serve the function of enforcing social cohesion and I am always reminded of it when I see an African drumming circle.

There is something about African drumming that compels the body to move – almost from the inside out. It goes in deep to draw movement out almost by command. As the drums pull you rhythmically in sync with everyone around you there is a powerful connectivity between yourself, the drummers, other dancers, and the ground.

Last week in Vancouver, on the first beautiful spring- like day we’ve had, a general feeling of joy could be felt in the city. Predictably, everyone was outside enjoying the scenery and the warmth, and down at Kits beach I stumbled onto one of those random free concerts that remind me why I love this city so much.

A bunch of 12-15 year olds (of the group Kunaka) were quietly, unassumingly setting up a full drum set and about 10 Ugandan xylophone-like instruments, ranging in size from a suitcase to a piano. When they started playing, their sound, energy, and talent blew me away with what I can only describe as the happiest music EVER! It was definitely a lucky encounter and a large crowd had gathered in mutual awe and appreciation. It was during their playing, noticing my own desire to jump, and observing the crowd and sea of grins and claps, that I thought about the connection between music and dance and how empowering, releasing, and connecting it can be.

I found this video of Kunaka on their site. And below it is another video I found on youtube of a Vancouver group called Miyanda that performs African dance.

Kunaka - Sarura Wako

Miyanda Mandjani Dance

http://kunakamarimba.com
http://www.miyanda-drum-dance.blogspot.com/

Adaline’s inviting fame with Famous for Fire

2008-12-02T00:50:00.000-08:00

My love for Adaline’s music was a fast-paced evolution.

It all began with her voice.

The first time I heard it was at the Vancouver City Limits music festival at the Beaumont Studios, in a little intimate theatre with nothing but her emotive piano playing to accompany her. Haunting and beautiful, all it took was that voice of hers to captivate the crowd. Like she were channeling an energy from some other ethereal place, her voice simultaneously lulls and awakens you. Soothing, yet powerful.

It wasn’t until I saw her perform with her band a couple days later, kicking off her Western Canada tour at the Media Club that I really fell for her songs.

With hard-hitting pulsating drum beats, stimulating guitar, and ethereal synthesized sounds her music took on a whole new invigorating energy and explosive emotional appeal, and I was amazed by the depth and vitality it breathed.

What in my first introduction had been moving ballads were now engrossing cutting edge electro/rock songs and I could hear echoes of influences from Radiohead, Coldplay, Doves, Bjork, Esthero, and Air. Rather than drowning her out, the drums and guitar complement her sound and take it to another level, turning it into something new. "Poor You" is a heartbreaker that starts off slow - a perfect example of one of her songs that thrives on the echoes of the synthesizer and the gradual buildup of the beats of the drums and guitar.

With her brother on the guitar and a damn good drummer accompanying her, Adaline’s performance was electrifying. Her cabaret style song "Whiter/Straighter," in which her father played the trumpet, brought everyone up to the front to dance, sway, and sing along. "Chemical Spill," which she told us was her favourite song to sing, with its pulsating electro beat, had the audience completely transfixed.

After each song a roaring applause would ensue and Adaline would bashfully thank everyone and look to her brother and father in a jaw-dropped expression of, “Do you see this? Is this for real?” Sometimes the applause would overwhelm her so much that with a beaming slightly embarrassed smile she would shake her head in disbelief and grab it with her hands like she were keeping it from exploding from the high she were getting off of the crowd.

But the high was mutual, as people kept yelling, “You’re amazing!” throughout the night. The night ended with a real “kumbuya” type moment as everyone, to her obvious surprise and delight, swayed and sang along to her love song "We’ve Got Something." As everyone sang, “I’ve got something, you’ve got something, we’ve got something,” it felt like that something was in the room that night, and that something was some kind of musical high.

Okay, so after being so hyped up from her live performances I was curious to hear her CD, Famous For Fire, which was released in April of 2008.

Very rare does a CD live up to expectations, but this one definitely did

It is very well put together, with its great beats and melodies full of variation. Now I find myself replaying it over and over and humming her songs all day. This CD makes you wanna dance, makes you wanna cry, makes you wanna lie on your living room floor and just listen, makes you wanna sway, and makes you wanna sing. It surprised and thoroughly impressed me.

Sometimes people can sing, and sometimes people can even sing and write good songs. Sometimes people can sing, and write good songs, and even put on a damn good show, but to do all that and put out a fantastic debut album? Well I’d say, she’s got something!

New Song

Poor You

Adrian Glynn

2008-11-01T19:27:00.000-07:00

Adrian Glynn sings the blues in a way that makes you feel his pain but crave nothing but his voice for comfort.

Soothing, sexy, rough, raw, and rich with feeling, he expresses so much in the tone and texture of his voice.

He captures and releases all the different nuances of feeling the blues: the helplessness, aching, and poignant beauty of despair and longing; the anger, blind rage and bitterness of heartache. It’s all there, in his voice alone.

And yet, watching him perform his sad songs is somehow liberating and empowering because you can feel an honest sense of relief, like he were really releasing something genuinely fierce and heavy.

It’s a voice you get lost in, like a dream you fell into to awaken stilled and captivated; a haunting voice that needs no help in commanding your attention. His music is heartfelt and stilling, somehow calming and yet violently emotive. After hearing him live, his songs gets stuck in my head for days.

I find it really hard to write about Adrian Glynn because the power exuding from his stage presence is something that needs to be witnessed for it to be understood. I’m thankful to have some clips to backup what I’m saying but they don’t replace the stilling electricity in the room felt when he sings. He fills up the space in a room with his voice and it’s just something you’ve got to feel in person.

Tonight I Loosen My Tie

Leaving Alone

Fisherman’s Lament

Little Boy Blue – The Sexy song

Until the end is near

Pomplamoose - Hail Mary

2008-11-01T18:57:00.000-07:00

This is a really catchy song and clever video. The editing is tight and the kind of off beat tune with the guitar combined with her Feist-like voice make this song sooo indie.

Haily Mary - Pomplamoose

Beautiful Spaces: Chai and The Beaumont Studios

2008-09-30T21:23:00.000-07:00

This is a tribute to Vancouver’s local flourishing music scene

Every now and then in Vancouver I unsuspectingly stumble into a welcoming beautiful space pulsating with creativity, talent, and phenomenal live music. This is what I found the first time I walked the steps up into Chai –right above East is East- where every Wednesday night they hold a fund raiser for a different charity.

Walking in there is like walking into a party in the most awesome, cozy, colourful, nicely decorated, giant treehouse you could ever imagine – with stools and benches made out of beautiful wood, and Indian cushions and wall hangings adorning the walls. For $30 you can help yourself to the fantastic buffet of exquisite Indian cuisine, while local musicians pump out fusion world music that quickly turns the place into what feels like a giant dance party in someone’s huge exotic living room. It is honestly like another world, and yet, somehow, so completely Westcoast/Vancouver. http://www.chaiateastiseast.com/

Yesterday, to my delight, I stumbled into another gem of a beautiful space that is “so Vancouver” but in a different way.

The Beaumont Studios are tucked away at the edge of a residential neighbourhood on the East. It's an old building that houses art studios, live music, theatre, and creative small businesses. The Beaumont is a welcoming place full to the brim with creative energy and stunning art, and while housing so much obvious artistic talent there is no shred of pretentiousness.

On Saturday they held a music festival that included a beer garden, food, jewelry and crafts for sale outside, and local bands playing non-stop music all day from 1pm-10pm. By non-stop music I mean as one band was finishing up on the stage outside, the next band was getting ready to perform in the intimate 60-seat theatre inside.

I didn’t get there until about 6pm, and I ended up seeing 7 bands, and by the end of the night I came home with blood shot eyes looking like a I had smoked too many fattys when in reality no weed was involved and I think I was just literally high on music. The energy of the place was very relaxed, the crowd was very chill, the musicians very approachable and extremely talented. I want to tell you about some of my favourites, whose EPs, while all very good, do not do justice to their presence and jamming ability on stage.

Téa has a sultry voice reminiscent of Amy Winehouse, and she can jam the kind of jazz out of a piano that makes you want to groove. Her band had everybody dancing.

Warless sounded like a more upbeat, musically complex version of Jack Johnson. Every member of this band is clearly a talented musician, with a great bass guitarist and lead guitarist and a female drummer. Their sound just makes you feel like you should be dancing outside on a beach at sunset.

Adaline was on her own on the piano, and this girl has the voice of an angel – powerful, full of passion, beautiful enough to bring you to tears. In certain instances her voice reminded me of the singer from Evanescence, but her style is more bluesy.

Adrian Glynn was my favourite solo artist of the night. In the middle of his first song I told myself I was going to buy his CD. When I fall, I fall right away. He’s got a powerful bluesy voice that changes from smooth and beautiful to husky and low - low like Tom Waits low - like the kind that makes a girl giggle.

The best moment of the evening for me occurred in the intimate theatre when Adrian played a great bluesy song "Leaving Alone" while the crowd clapped along and Adaline, from within the crowd, burst into perfect harmonization with Adrian. The combination of these two voices is sublime.

The Beaumont Studios is a complete gem housing and offering so much inspiration. Every Monday night at the Beaumont Studios, The Evolving Arts Collective presents Vancouver City Limits – a $6 event where you can see 3 three distinctly original performers or bands. Check it out! http://www.thebeaumontstudios.com/

Naturally Seven: Beatboxing at its finest

2008-08-20T18:42:00.000-07:00

The video below is one of the funniest and most endearing sociological experiments I have seen.

It is just incredible on so many different levels – the musicians are incredible, the human interaction and connection caught on film is incredible.

It says a lot about our culture in the big city – used to zoning things out, keeping to ourselves, and avoiding eye contact - even when, in fact, most definitely when, some stranger is belting their heart out right next to you.

Bursting into song is not ‘normal’ and when things aren’t normal people get a little nervous. People start to look at each other with the: “what are we supposed to make of this?” expression.

But what’s beautiful is, despite the power of these social norms that dictate the controlled manner in which we are supposed to act in public, the power of this performance, the power of music to bring people together, to invigorate and excite, is so much stronger. I just know that everyone watching these guys perform probably wanted to dance their little hearts out. And they probably would have too, if everyone else were willing to show how much they were into it. Maybe we need a new ‘normal’ – one that definitely involves more bursting into spontaneous song and dance! Heck yes!

I love the energy of this human vocal band, Naturally Seven. And I loooove the people’s reactions as they slowly begin to acknowledge the phenomenal musical performance happening right next to them. I love the unbridled emotion in the singers voices, and the shyness with which the onlookers start to move their bodies – out of complete yet reserved adoration for the music.

There is nothing better than live music – to experience the energy of a live performance, to be able to share and magnify that energy through a crowd of people, to feel connected to others through music, is an unparalleled natural high. We’re lucky when someone captures such a moment on film.

Naturally Seven – performing live on the subway in Paris

Naturally Seven – showing what each of these vocal instruments can do
One By One

The Jealous Girlfriends and Sea Wolf

2008-07-16T22:58:00.000-07:00

So my friend called me up and told me she had an extra ticket to a concert – didn’t know where, didn’t know who, something about a Sea Wolf, was I interested?

You know how I feel about live music, I said, I’m in.

Before the concert I did a little research into their sound and was totally enthralled with their song "You’re A Wolf." I am actually addicted to it – still. It has a great beat and his voice reminds me a lot of Chris Martin’s. Turns out their an indie band from L.A., which didn’t surprise me too much considering their music made me picture myself driving along the coast with the windows down. They have that distinctive indie sound, reminiscent of Coldplay before Coldplay was Coldplay.

Anyway, one of my favourite things about going to concerts is getting exposed to new music and new bands. I love the potential of being enthralled that comes with the anticipation of hearing a new band. So many times I unsuspectingly fall in love with an opening band. And even in some cases, I’m more crazy about them than the main events. On this night I was blown away by The Jealous Girlfriends.

I haven’t seen too many girls rockin’ out on the electric guitar, but with that said, this girl could rock it.

With the electric guitar and the keyboard tinkling in the background, this band has a great grungy yet ethereal sound to them – edgey but somehow also pretty – with uptempo beats, and did I mention I am in love with her voice? Soft, sexy, moany but hard hitting and commanding when the time comes.

She’s got a voice I feel like I’ve been missing and searching for since Fiona Apple or Metric.

The crowd was really into them as well, but not fully committed until this one bluesy song "Organs on the Kitchen Floor." After that, I’m pretty sure everyone was sold. It starts off with a slow and steady drawn out beat, that builds and builds and builds until: Pause, Twoo 3 BAM! A climactic indulgence of sound. The drums, the guitar, the keyboards, and her vocal chords, all hitting it as hard as they can. The more I listen to their new CD The Jealous Girlfriends, the more I like it. It’s definitely one to be played loud.

Sea Wolf – You’re A Wolf

The Jealous Girlfriends – I Got The Message

The Jealous Girlfriends – Organs on the Kitchen Floor

Michael Franti: Music with a Message

2008-04-27T23:44:00.000-07:00

Life is too short to make just one decision
Music too large for just one station
Love is too big for just one nation
God is too big for just one religion!

I love just about every word that comes out of this man’s mouth.

The man is a lyrical genius with these fantastic one liners that make me chuckle or sigh in agreement and appreciation.

Lines like:

Only a rat can win the rat race

or

You can bomb the world to pieces but you cant bomb it into peace.

It’s fantastic to see someone who has the spotlight taking a stand and having an opinion on the world’s happenings.

I don’t know anyone who can make such poetic socio political commentary on the world that’s so relievingly raw and free of B.S. and yet so uplifting and inspiring.

Despite all his speak about the traumas of war, the ills of corporate America, and the injustices of the world, his music is unendingly grounded in love and hope for humanity and the world.

It’s a beautiful thing to have such an insightful and conscious mind be able to create such beautiful music as well – music that incorporates everything from hip hop, to rock, to reggae, to folk, to funk.

It’s almost contradictory in today’s mainstream music scene to have music that makes you wanna think and get up and dance at the same time! There are a lot of songs out there that have the beat but lack the soul and I have the greatest respect for the musicians that have the courage to show us some honest thoughts.

One of my favourite lines of his is:

“To be rhymin' without a real reason, is to claim but not to practice a religion”

Last weekend I had the good fortune of seeing Michael Franti live in Whistler for the 2008 Telus Ski and Snow Board Festival. The energy he has and that he evokes from the crowd is electrifying. His presence is inviting and friendly and his booming voice is such a people rallying force.

I couldn’t resist trying to record some keepsakes of the free concert, but I’ll warn you there are moments when the filming is a little shaky because I couldn’t help but wanna jump with the crowd.

He mostly played songs from his Yell Fire! album (which is amazing and combines a very tropical vibe with strong anti-war lyrics inspired by his trips to Baghdad and the Gaza Strip - which he filmed in a documentary called I Know I’m Not Alone). But he didn’t play the old classic "Stay Human (All The Freaky People)" which is a fantastic song I highly recommend. Find it, listen to it, spread the world.

He did, however, play some new songs from his upcoming September album All Rebel Rockers which I am already itching for. In one of my favourite songs from it he sings “Hey world, you know you better put up a fight” and “You’ve got to let go of re-mote control.”

Here’s Michael Franti feeling and sharing the love

******************************************************************************

Here’s a great clip of Michael Franti performing Yell Fire! and Bomb the World to Pieces for Indie 103.1 fm. He gives a nice explanation of the meaning behind Yell Fire! and why he doesn’t wear shoes!

George Stroumboulopoulos from CBC interviewing Michael Franti. This clip gives a nice bio and is a pretty good interview showing some scenes from his documentary I Know I’m Not Alone which focuses on the civilians and the soldiers he meets on his trips to Iraq and The Gaza Strip.

John Butler Trio ~ Ocean

2008-04-17T20:26:00.000-07:00

John Butler is a master guitar player and the video below, of his live performance of "Ocean," is one of my favourite videos ever.

It starts off with him drumming and playing the guitar with a smooth, calm ocean rhythm, and then slowly builds into a beautiful spiritual-like offering of his phenomenal mastery of the guitar. It crescendoes and bursts into a stunning spectacle of how music can be the most concrete grab of awe-like spirituality.

I was really excited to see that there are other musicians drumming on their guitar.

There is something familiar in it, since the guitar seems naturally to be a percussion instrument. At the same time, there’s something excitingly new about it, like this could be the future of music – putting together the rhythms of hip hop, drum ‘n’ bass, and reggae, with the melodic twangs and sounds of folk and rock.

Could this be the stirrings of a new genre?

John Butler is widely recognized for beautiful slide-playing and open tunings (common in blues, rock and folk music). The easiest way I can describe open tunings is a way of tuning the guitar so that you can get a major chord from strumming the open strings at the bottom, without fretting, or holding down, any of the strings at the top). Open tunings combined with slide-playing can produce interesting harmonies and rhythmically complex songs. John Butler is a master!

Here’s John Butler demonstrating drumming and playing the guitar at the same time.

YOAV

2008-04-10T21:21:00.001-07:00

I first saw YOAV perform when he opened for Tori Amos at the Orpheum here in Vancouver back in December 2007.

He walked on stage alone, carrying nothing but a guitar.

And then, after a slight pause, unleashed an astonishing amount of bass that you would only ever hear in a club.

I was sitting in the balcony, far away from the stage, leaning forward in my seat and squinting hard to try and figure out how so much noise was coming from this one guy. With my eyes glued on him I realized he was drumming on his guitar and somehow looping it back and playing and singing over it. I had never seen or heard anything like it.

My ears were completely tantalized by his rhythms and the trance-like notes coming from his guitar. The beginning of his song "Beautiful Lie" reminded me of the "Born Slippy" song from the final scene of Trainspotting.

Within the first few seconds of his performance I was feeling around in my jacket to see if I had enough cash on me to buy his CD during intermission.

My excitement grew with every song he performed as he showed us the diversity of his music that put together edgy Timbaland-like beats, drum ‘n’ bass-like rhythms, trance-like sounds, soothing guitar, and soulful, thought-provoking lyrics. Not only was I interested in the music - which blew me away - but I was also interested in his words.

A particular favourite song of mine was "Club Thing" – with a beat that just begs you to move. This song was especially popular with the crowd and has tickled the fancy of everyone I know who has heard it and when he performed it at The Media Club in Vancouver in February 2008, the excitement and enjoyment of it was palpable.

YOAV certainly has one of the freshest sounds out there.

Everyone I know, no matter what their taste in music, has been blown away by his talent, because he combines different sounds from different genres so effectively.

And the drumming on his guitar is something worth seeing.

For those of you in Vancouver, he’s performing at The Plaza on May 2^nd. Check out these videos for a little taste.

YOAV in the studio

YOAV making a wicked drum’n’bass beat on his guitar at The Media Club

Music is ...

2008-04-10T19:38:00.000-07:00

Music is probably the most fascinating of human creations and appreciations. What it invokes within us, and its holds over us, is mysteriously “other worldy.” Our ability to take sounds – mere vibrations – noise – and combine them into pleasurable patterns we call music is downright phenomenal. The endless, forever evolving range of music expressing and evoking different feelings, sensations, and worlds within us, never ceases to amaze me.

Music is a Sensation.

It is amazing.

Causing feelings and dazes and moments of Elation.

Elevation.

Invigorating bodies and minds

with rhythmic equations.

Incarcerating you into the here and now

with intoxicating combinations:

Of sounds and drum beats

and patterns of entrancing undulations.

Music is Communication.

A sharing of internal spaces and

A screaming of proclamations!

Expressing different moods through emotive vibrations,

for beautifully entrancing durations.

It is a response to the ages,

To heart palpitations

Created from the reverberations of

Crazed times or inspiration.

Always moving

Always changing

Music is a painting.

Of particular times and places,

Of different cultures and subcultures reincarnating.

New genres being created

Outdated

Reinstated.

Always changing.

Music is Educating.

Expressing unifying and dividing ways of

Human Identification.

Telling stories through out the ages

of hope and desperation.

Of love-sick longing loneliness

and quiet contemplations.

Inspiring movements

and social outrage,

and 1960’s folk style

Indoctrination.

Music is Awakening.

It is a moving force like breathing.

Creating energy and connectivity

and conscious moment in-taking.

The energy created from a live performance

can be palpable

Electric

Powerful.

It makes your body itch and quiver

like it were aware of being a part of something cosmical.

Music is fantastically weird.

A wonderful

Quirk of existence.

A testament to the curious

Mysteriously rich

Nature of creation.

Sound. Noise. Vibrations.

And out of them

we put together complex co ordinations.

Harmonizations.

Symphonies.

And technoesque frequencies.

Rhythmic pulsing equations,

Inducing euphoric cathartic

Sensations.

The human mind’s conscious appreciation

Of music and it’s mysterious pulsations

Unlocks and exaggerates the mystery of our minds’ situation.

Music is Erasing.

Soothing. Consuming. Releasing.

Relieving tension and

Unleashing.

It pulls you into directly experiencing

the moment you are hearing.

You are not then, nor there, or anywhere

But here and now, listening.