A Tribe Called Red, Suplex

Suplex - A Tribe Called Red

No one ever retires permanently anymore, do they? Even dead artists have made returns to the stage. A year into my so-called retirement, I’m feeling antsy and decided I needed to get back into this blog that has given me so much. I won’t be trying to keep to the daily schedule that wore me out the first time, but I’ve got some ideas brewing and thoughts to share. (Plus, there’s a new Wind-up Birds EP coming in the near future.)

First off, though, a quick post to share the great news that First Nations DJ/producer crew A Tribe Called Red have a new EP out called Suplex. ATCR continues to combine native song and drum elements with compelling beats for the same heady effect that intoxicated me when I first heard them back in 2012. Fader recently premiered the video for title track “Suplex” (featuring pow wow drum group Northern Voice), described as “a story about native youth, wrestling and becoming a role model without needing the stereotypes.”

A Tribe Called Red Ft. Northern Voice - Suplex (Official video)

Suplex is available via the ATCR website, Spotify, and iTunes. (And you can get one of those sweet bandannas as featured in the video at ATCR website.)

If you missed their massive debut, it’s still available for free, and it’s still well worth your time.

A Tribe Called Red will also be going out on tour starting next month.

06/19 | Indian Beach | Fort McMurray, BC

06/20 | Malkin Bowl | Vancouver, BC

06/23 | Neumos | Seattle, WA

06/24 | Doug Fir Lounge | Portland, OR

06/27 | Muscogee Creek Festival | Okmulgee, OK

07/12 | PanAM Park – Echo Beach | Toronto, ON

07/17 | GrassRoots Festival | Trumansburg, NY

07/18 | Aboriginal Pavilion – Fort York | Toronto, ON

07/24 | Brandon Folk, Music & Arts Festival | Brandon, MB

07/31 | Osheaga Music & Arts Festival | Montreal, QC

08/07 | Indian Summer Showcase – Potomac Atrium | Washington, DC

08/12 | Parapan American Games – Nation Phillips Square | Toronto, ON

08/15 | Up Fest | Sudbury, ON

A Tribe Called Red
A Tribe Called Red @ Twitter
A Tribe Called Red @ Facebook
A Tribe Called Red @ Instagram

The Wind-up Birds, Poor Music

Poor Music by the Wind-up Birds

 

When I retired from NTSIB, I threatened to return with the release of the next album from the Wind-up Birds, the Leeds four-piece whose first full-length album, The Land, was dropped into my lap in 2012 and reminded me of why I started this blog in the first place. Well, Poor Music, which comes out on May 27th, gives me 17 tracks worth of fantastic reasons to make good on my threat.

 

They killed off all our favourite TV characters
So we became TV characters
We started off subtly by giving stupid answers on quiz shows
But then, we just took the whole thing over

 

And the musicians tried to keep selling us their past
So we trapped them and beamed them up
Into an infinite loop of knowing references
And made them perform their best album, in order, for ever

 

Opening with the power drill riff of “There Will Be No Departures from This Stand”, Poor Music asserts that, no, the Wind-up Birds are not going to start taking it easy on you now. Like The Land‘s opener, “Good Shop Shuts”, “There Will Be No Departures […]” calls us all to examine ourselves and our actions, and we can only nod in resignation as Kroyd points out all-too-astutely that “…we agreed that compassion was just one of life’s luxuries.”

But Poor Music reads less like a lesson book and more like a short story collection full of uncomfortable, and sometimes disturbingly familiar, situations, ranging in scope from global to personal – stories populated with characters, wandering in and out of scenes, who are sometimes allegorical, sometimes representational, sometimes biographical, and the lines blur between them. In “Addis Ababa”, the story of a young child’s sartorial mishap on a school field trip calls into question not only the real aim of the sometimes bizarre practices of educators but also the act of conforming that we seem to be called on to do from birth until death.

 

 

Like in the best books, the ones that stay with you, some of the characters of Poor Music will tear your heart right out, like the “non-gender-specified teen” of the three-part “Glue Factory” suite that is interspersed throughout the album, whose affecting story plays out against a sparse arrangement of organ chords as you watch the teen being torn down by growing up. Then there is the narrator of “A Song or Two” whose candid, raw chronicling of his madness spiral left me, for one, reeling from the too-close-for-comfort familiarity. (A personal thanks to the band for following up “A Song or Two” with the relief of “The Wind-up Birds Songwriting Workshop” dance party – which you can hear as a part of this month’s Feel Bad For You mix.)

But even the best book lacks Poor Music‘s biggest delight: the compelling, sometimes surprising, music. The sounds of Poor Music are bigger, brighter, more varied, and often more aggressive than those of The Land. I’ve already talked about the music of “Glue Factory” and “The Wind-up Birds Songwriting Workshop”, and songs like “The Gristle” and “Guy Ritchie” (both personal favorites) grab you by the neck and gleefully shake you around. The band continue to hone their chops to the point where individual moments will stick with you just as much as overall songs – Kroyd’s startling rage on “A Song or Two”, Oli Jefferson’s loose and funky drumming on the title track, Ben Dawson’s carousel-like (up, down, and around) bassline on “Two Ambulance Day”, the insistence of Mat Forrest’s sharp-edged guitar (with help from Ben Dawson on additional guitar) that grows near-transcendent through the last half of “Guy Ritchie”. (There are a ridiculous number of great guitar riffs on this album, really.)

 

 

I could go on about this album, but then I’d be writing a book myself. So why don’t you just tuck in yourself and discover the joys that I haven’t even been able to touch on in this post? You can download the single of “The Gristle” (with special non-album B-side “The Fun Never Starts”) right now and pay what you want, and you can pre-order the full album.

Additionally, the album is so good that it requires two launch shows, the first in London on release day, May 27th, and the second in Leeds on May 29th.

 

The Wind-up Birds Official Website

The Wind-up Birds @ Bandcamp

The Wind-up Birds @ Twitter

The Wind-up Birds @ Facebook

 

Better to Burn Out: A Farewell

rekkids

 

Apparently, this is my 600th post on Now This Sound Is Brave; it’s also my last post as owner. As the song goes, it’s better to burn out than to fade away, but I think I did both. I don’t have the fortitude to recount the whole thing in new words, so I’ll steal from a personal post I made yesterday:

“My music blog is set to turn four years old around the end of this month… but I’m thinking about shutting it down. I took an official hiatus from posting when I started my current day job in early 2013, but I’d slowed way down on writing before that. I thought the seasonal layoff from the day job would give me time to get back into the spirit, but the spirit seems not to be there for me anymore. I haven’t even listened to much music in the last few months. And very little in the way of new music (I listened to an old A-ha album a few days ago, and those songs are still bouncing around my head because there’s been nothing in the meantime to replace them).

I did go much longer with the blog than I expected. And I loved the shit out of it. It was rewarding on so many levels, and I’ve made some great friends because of it, seen some great shows, gained favorite new bands, met people who’ve contributed to my musical identity since I was a teenager… It’s been an amazing, singular thing that has helped me reveal some of my ability and worth to myself.”

It’s like breaking up with a long-term lover, leaving NTSIB – it wrenches my heart. But I’ve decided not to shut the blog down. Instead, I’ll be handing the reins over to my brilliant, rock-steady, strong and capable co-blogger Jennifer, and it is a salve on my broken heart to know that it will go on.

And I may be back with the occasional post. There are upcoming albums from the Wind-up Birds and the Payroll Union, after all.

My gratitude and love to every musician who has allowed me to hawk their wares, to every PR person who has pushed the right thing at the right time, to every fellow blogger who has offered their support and friendship, to Jennifer, to our beneficent benefactor, and to every reader who has stopped by even for a few seconds. As patron saint Joe Strummer said, without people, you’re nothing.

So I’ll take my leave of you now and hope everyone will join me in wishing Jennifer the best, eager to see where she will steer this craft next. Mutts are going to play me out with a song that seems appropriate.

 

Friday Link Session

 

  • Our friends, and becoming one of my favorite bands, the Wind-up Birds have broadened their offerings on their Bandcamp site. Their latest addition is Acting Thick for Money, Vol. 2, collecting the EP In These Great Times, the “mini-album” We Fixed The Raffle, and the original version of “Meet Me at the Depot” – pay-what-you-want. If you’re in the Leeds, UK, area, you can catch them playing for free on February 1 at Brudenell Social Club with Kleine Schweine, Monmon and Guerin.
  • I Rock Cleveland announced that Dave Grohl’s new documentary “Sound City” will be screening here in Cleveland at the Cedar Lee on January 31. Click here for more details and check out Grohl’s recent appearance on WTF with Marc Maron – so much glorious music geeking.
  • Boing Boing has a free download of “She Lives in an Airport” from Guided By Voices. A new album is expected in the first half of this year.
  • A Neil Young bootleg called “The Joel Bernstein Tapes” has been posted to YouTube. Over an hour of ’76-vintage Young. Read a little more about the tapes here.
  • Closing things up with a video for “What’s for Dinner?” by the Wind-Up Birds.

 

Bah Humbug

 

You know the best thing to do on Christmas day? Stay home and watch horror movies. May I suggest choosing titles from this fine holiday-centric list?

But if you need a weightier excuse for foregoing Christmas activities than a Bartlebian “I prefer not to”, the Wind-up Birds have a suggestion (and the song is available at a “name your price” rate).

 

 

Or, if you can’t find it in your heart to be festive this year because some cold, selfish lover stole that heart and then tossed it like so much discarded wrapping paper, Daniel Knox has set his warm baritone to work on a love-torn carol some of you may recall from that foreign land known as “The ’80s”.

“Last Christmas” – Daniel Knox (Wham! cover)

The Wind-up Birds: The Mild Awards

The Mild Awards by the Wind-up Birds

 

Time to put my favorite discovery of 2012 on your radars again. The Wind-up Birds have a new single out (note to other bands: you see? Two songs is a single, not an EP): “The Mild Awards” b/w “Some Gimmicks for You”. The two songs together form a set piece, commenting on the carefully calculated path toward mediocrity that so many artists seem to take in pursuit of attention and validation. Oh yeah, and the songs sound great, “The Mild Awards” punctuated with grand horns while “Some Gimmicks for You” employs some new wave pop keys.

Not to mention the video put together for “The Mild Awards” which had me not just LOLing but actually laughing out loud.

 

 

Pick up the single through the Wind-up Birds’ Bandcamp site in either digital download or limited-edition 7″ vinyl (you know you want cover puppy Royston in your collection).

 

The Wind-up Birds Official Website

The Wind-up Birds @ Bandcamp

The Wind-up Birds @ Twitter

The Wind-up Birds @ Facebook

A Good Read, a Good Listen, and a Good Drink: The Wind-up Birds

 

It’s a simple yet sublime pleasure, and just thinking about it can make you feel a little calmer, a little more content. Imagine: You bring out one of the good rocks glasses (or your favorite mug or a special occasion tea cup) and pour a couple fingers of amber liquid (or something dark and strong or just some whole milk). You drop the needle on the jazz platter (or pull up a blues album on your mp3 player or dig out that mixtape from college). Ensconcing yourself in the coziest seat in the house, you crack the spine on a classic (or find your place in that sci-fi paperback or pull up a biography on your e-book reader). And then, you go away for a while. Ah, bliss.

In this series, some of NTSIB’s friends share beloved albums, books and drinks to recommend or inspire.


Our feature on the Wind-up Birds has only just scrolled off our front page, and I’ve already brought them back. But when a band is named after a novel (in this case, The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami), it’s a cinch that they should take part in this series. That and the fact that I fucking love them and their smart, meaty “noisy pop”. I’ve been compelled to listen their album The Land at least once a week since first hearing it, and it will easily make, and possibly top, my favorite albums of 2012 come December.

So, I’m very happy to have these lovely gentlemen – Oli on drums, Ben on bass, Mat on guitar, and Kroyd pulling vocals – share some great recommendations with us.

 

“Meet Me at the Depot” – The Wind-up Birds

 

Oli

Good Read:
American Psycho by Brett Eastern Ellis
I saw the film then read the book. The book delves a lot deeper into Patrick Bateman’s psychotic and pedantic nature which made me laugh, especially the entire chapter on Phil Collins.

Good listen:
Days – Real Estate
Ha. Bet the rest of the band thought I’d put Wowee Zowee (by Pavement). Real Estate are sort of mellow and have ace guitar melodies. The drums stand out cause they sound really well thought out and the vox reminds me of Wayne Coyne at times.

Good drink:
Ginger Real Ale (link is example of one brand of ginger real ale)
I’ve found this in a few pubs and it’s ace. Like the best beer combined with ginger biscuits/cake/snaps. Goes down brilliantly.

 

Ben

Good Read:
Homicide: A Year On The Killing Streets by David Simon
An incredible book about an appalling subject: a year in the life of Baltimore’s Homicide Department, who deal with almost a murder a day. Absolutely compelling from the first page, the fact that Simon manages to capture the horror, the hopelessness, the camaraderie and black humour of the job, whilst wrapping it all into a gripping narrative is quite astonishing.

Good Listen:
Curses – Future of the Left
If you ask me this tomorrow it’ll be different, but today it’s Curses by Future of The Left. A storming debut: brutal, angry, snarly guitars and spiky synths over great slabs of filthy bass, and punishing drums. Best thing to come out of Wales since The Holy Bible (The Manic’s album, not the rather fanciful book….).

Good Drink:
Grand Marnier
My Mum got me into this, telling me it was an old family recipe to help get rid of a cold. Doesn’t exactly cure colds, but after a few you don’t feel too shabby anymore. It’s a bit decadent, but I love a glass of this over ice whilst working through a good box set of DVDs. It’s seen me through Battlestar Galactica, Eastbound and Down, Boardwalk Empire and most of The Wire so far!

 

Mat

Good Read:
A Spot of Bother by Mark Haddon
He writes without pretention and he understands how different people think. Both things I find very impressive.

Good Listen:
Overcome by Happiness – The Pernice Brothers
The difference between an average songwriter and a great one isn’t that huge. A slightly different angle taken on a familiar theme. There is nothing ground breaking about the music on this album, but it is the sound of Joe Pernice, a classic songwriter at the top of his craft. The title track has my favourite middle 8 of all time.

Good Drink:
Margarita
Not the washing-up liquid of bought margarita mix or the big bowls of watery rubbish from Mexican Restaurant chains. Four shots tequila, three shots freshly squeezed lime, two shots triple sec. Shake with ice, serve in salt rimmed glass and feel alive!

 

Kroyd

Good Read:
Retromania by Simon Reynolds
Its a great but fairly depressing book about the cul-de-sac that modern music finds itself in. Endlessly referencing, recycling and cataloguing the past and the effect of Ipod culture on how we absorb music etc.

We find ourselves in a time where most music is about music and most bands just talk about other bands and records etc. I think most art is in the same predicament at the moment, dangerously closeted and distant from the issues that need tackling. Sorry, bit miserable there!

Good Listen:
Cut – The Slits
Having said all that an album I am currently obsessed with was released in 1979! I think this is one of the best debut albums ever and sounds as new and exciting as ever. Funny, fresh, organic and cool. Go listen to this album if you haven’t already…No do. Do it now!

Good Drink:
Dandelion and Burdock
One of the songs on our album is called “Pop Man” and references the fact that when I was a kid there was a guy who came round the area delivering pop (I guess you would say soda in the U.S.!) door to door. Its a kind of obsolete way of doing things now and those guys don’t exist. So in tribute my recommended drink is a classic British pop flavour – Dandelion and Burdock!

 

“Some Slum Clearances” – The Wind-up Birds

 

The Wind-up Birds Official Website

The Wind-up Birds @ Bandcamp

The Wind-up Birds @ Facebook (If you’re in the Leeds, UK, area, check out their FB page for some upcoming shows.)

 

The Wind-up Birds: Talking Back All the Time

 

While we moan like owt then this good shop shuts
Well take the blame
No you don’t have the guts
While we moan like owt then a good shop shuts
We’d take the blame if we had the guts
For the money we never spent
The times we never went

This is how The Land, the first full-length album from Leeds, England-based band the Wind-up Birds, opens: with an indictment that blankets us all who have popped around to the nearest discount megastore in the name of convenience and saving a buck, then proceeded to moan about what a shame it is when a good locally-owned store is forced to close. You know right off that if The Land is going to leave you feeling anything, “comfortable” will not be among the emotional options.

The Wind-up Birds – named for Haruki Murakami’s novel The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle – have been playing together for nearly a decade, and perhaps it’s best that they waited so long to get their first full album together because this is a strong showing. While the intense “There Won’t Always Be an England” is the immediate favorite for me, I’d hasten to point out the greatness of tracks like “Nostalgic for….”, “No People Just Cutouts”, the first single “Cross Country”, and so on.

 

 

Songs like “Good Shop Shuts” – quoted at the opening of this post – and “There Won’t Always Be an England” are written at a local level, they translate easily to American ears and can make you feel both better and worse that the problems in your backyard mirror problems in the backyards of people an ocean away, and that it’s not just you who is fed up to the back teeth with blind jingoism.

 

 

And behind the words, a musical frontline that many might mark as “post-punk” but the band have dubbed “noisy pop”, “cos in our heads we are making pop music, songs that people can sing and dance to, just a bit noisier.” But the emotional outcome is much closer to punk than ABBA, tattered and angry, and by no means mindless or bubblegum.

 

 

Everything about this album is compelling. Eat it up.

 

The Wind-up Birds Official Website

The Wind-up Birds @ Bandcamp

The Wind-up Birds @ Facebook