Academik

I’m fortunate enough to have great friends in this fine city by the bay.  One of them happens to work here, another shoots photos like this, and Bryan, a past colleague, helps Puma throw killer parties in the city.  A few weeks back they did an in-store party with The Morning Benders.

I’m sure everyone comments on this, but they look  young, real young.  I think the guys with razors are faking it.  There was no alcohol in the store, (unlike previous parties) protecting the under-age crowd (and band) from going wild and ransacking the place I assume.  The Benders sat down in front of mics on the top floor of the store and proceeded to woo us with their  melancholy pop.  Think Vampire Weekend and The Shins shaken, not stirred.  The group mixes rock, pop, country, and folk across the CD and within songs to drive forward heartfelt and sometimes sorrow-filled lyrics showing that while lead singer Chris Chu may look young, his heart’s been put through its paces.

One reviewer says of a previous album, “the songs evoke exuberance and melancholic introspection without drowning in sonic ambition.” On Talking Through Tin Cans, the Morning Benders have become sonically more ambitious without losing the exuberance that makes them instantly attractive, or the melancholy which has me looking for mix-tapes to include them on.  While not all the songs are worth consistent listens, the rise and fall melody of “Patient Patient” will quickly get stuck in your head.

The second song of the album, “I Was Wrong”, opens with “I’ve seen love kick a man while he’s down” and wonderfully proclaims, “I was wrong… when I said you were right”.  Too many people from the past have deserved something similar delivered with the same tongue-in-cheek pause between admission and admonition. Other stand-outs are the ode to crumbling relationships in “Heavy Hearts” that kicks into high gear around 2:40, and “Chasing a Ghost”, the album’s most raucous track.

Below is a song called Morning Fog from a previous album… one that he performed live and I highly recommend (although this recording doesn’t do it justice).  The band has also released a collection of songs called “The Bedroom Covers” that are, as you expected, cover songs from Chris Chu’s bedroom.  Download them from their blog before the link dies!

What do you get when you mix great music, a diverse and beautiful city, and some very creative people together with the support of City Sightseeing Tours? The Audiobus.

My good friend Justin Miller of Phonofly is plugged into the music scene and a very good judge of things and people (and if not, he’ll buy you a Newcastle) so when he mentioned some sort of “bus” show last night with local musician Goh Nakamura I was instantly intrigued.

Goh has gained quite the following from his Youtube video for Embarcadero Blues, and is playing shows on both coasts.  His fingers slide easily across the fretboard, and his voice owns its “fall in love again for the first time” feel without trying too hard.  Shegeek, Justin, and I arrived promptly late at 6:23 and were quickly waivered, signed, stamped with rouge stars and ushered into the upstairs of the British double decker bus from City Sightseeing Tours.

The back of the bus enshrined Goh as he played.  Patrons sat in pairs listening to the concert on headphones sprouting from the middle of the seats (I’m guessing the retro-fitting on this bus took quite a while to pull this off).  Odessa Chen, an acquaintance of Justin’s, sat down across from us.

As we prepared for the trip, the wind started to howl through our skin and I lured Odessa over to my seat with the promise of warmth.  She quickly hopped over and introduced herself and then we were off.  Goh began with a song from his first album as we started our journey down Mission street.

Right about the time that Goh started his cover of the Cure’s Just Like Heaven I noticed Odessa looking to the heavens - there was something magical about that moment, feeling like we were canoeing across the sky, the current turned to clouds as we meandered among the skyscrapers defining our route.  Soon after, we turned onto the Embarcadero and watched the Bay Bridge build its way across the way.

Odessa and I pretended to be tourists in this city reborn before us, if only I had brought my camera! Pictures have never done her justice though.  We rolled through his stories from the Embarcadero to Dogpatch to Potrero Hill.  And just as the city arched its back to show us the beauty of her rolling hills, we descended quickly underneath the highway and up through Mission Bay.

At times, with eyes closed, I lost myself in the music; at others, I let my eyes lose me in stories I was creating for the streets and sky before me.  At the best of times, my brain took input from both and bound something within my chest that began to swell. It felt infinite.

Odessa’s Show: 08/08

“It was the cat-poles around the lake at his grandfather’s farm that inspired Ben Sollee’s debut album Learning To Bend. The frailty of those awkward looking plants standing stoutly against winds that challenged even the strongest of nearby trees is an affecting metaphor for human struggle and perseverance. This idea is central to Learning To Bend.”

Ben Sollee is that artist you keep in the clip for special people in your life. He’s that song on a mixtape that everyone always asks about after it’s given.  It’s the album that shifts among political, upbeat and fun, to sensitive so you can find something to relate to no matter what the phase of your life.

I first heard Ben from http://aurgasm.us.  Apart from my natural inclination to give any song with a cello a chance, the first song posted at Aurgasm had me hooked. It’s a remake of “A Change is Gonna Come”, originally a 1964 civil rights song by Sam Cooke, Sollee has turned it into an upbeat song about the war and the hope that a change is gonna come for America… Starting with a simple cello and vocal, when the drums and French Horn (?) hit, it feels like coming home to summers on a lake, surrounded by good friends and an intimate comfort.

The first track on the album, “A few honest words”, is a charming, slow, and plodding track that will immediately draw you in.  Speaking to the deceit of our current administration the track begins with, “If you’re gonna lead my country/if you’re gonna say that it’s free/I’m gonna need some honesty.”  The song’s slow and simple nature allows listener the chance to imbibe the somber reality of the lyrics.

Other highlights include the raucous “Bury Me With My Car” (When I’m gone / bury me with my car / cuz if anywhere is where I end up when I’m gone / I’m gonna need my ride to get around ), the dance inspiring “It’s Not Impossible”, and the sentimental “I Can’t”.  Sollee’s debut album leaves you wanting a private backyard concert, at times twirling among friends, at others watching the maestro play and taking in all that his music means… what they mean to us…

Visit www.bensollee.com for more information
Click on the album title above to buy his music from eMusic, non-DRM goodness.