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Music Sampler

Entertainment , snapoday 09:58 am July 28th 2010

Snap: Moriah Harris at Blue Moon

by Hawes Spencer

Moriah Harris PHOTO BY HAWES SPENCER

Singer-songwriter Moriah Harris (who sounds a little like Norah Jones) performs at Blue Moon Diner Monday, July 26 in support of her new album of rainy-day music, The Thieves On Stratton Avenue.

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Featured 01:22 pm July 27th 2010

Buzz- California dreams: Paul Curreri inspired, inquisitive on newest album

by Stephanie Garcia

Why do we put things on pedestals? Sometimes Paul Curreri thinks it’s better not to know. PUBLICITY PHOTO

In the UK, articles about Charlottesville musician Paul Curreri typically begin by introducing him as Americana singer Devon Sproule’s husband. While we’d prefer to not do that here (oh wait, we just did), the relationship between Sproule and Curreri is inevitably the first hook to draw listeners to the other’s work. The duo’s Charlottesville Valentine’s Day show garners a wide fan base off that single annual performance— but the linkage of the two musicians generally shudders to a halt there. While Sproule’s work is drenched in pastoral Central Virginia imagery and sultry feel-goodery, Curreri’s art comes from a vocally experimental, swarthy space, and this holds true on his sixth full-length album, the thirteen-track California, set for release early next month. As an exploration of ideals, the record interweaves Curreri’s personal struggles with a healthy dose of questioning why we believe in what we do. “The song ‘California’ is about putting things on pedestals— if I were to investigate more deeply why something’s put on a pedestal, I would realize it wasn’t worth putting up there,” Curreri explains. “You have to be careful to retain your ignorance on certain things.” The album was born out of an ironic health struggle. After quitting smoking about two years ago, Curreri began experiencing throat problems with pain so severe that he was left unable to sing. Three times in consecutive two-month intervals, he canceled tours before realizing that going smokeless was harming his career— and possibly his body. And singing was no cure. “After the third cancellation, I knew I had to stop,” says Curreri. “And two weeks after that I woke up realizing I was feeling better than I had ever felt as an adult,” Curreri says. “It was just fantastic, and resulted in the somewhat positive record that California is.” Curreri went a year and a half unable to sing, but says his writing flourished as a result of his “unbelievably peaceful year.” Nine months into his throat hiatus, Curreri was able to sing in short bursts around his house— so he began putting lyrics to the songs he had been composing in late 2008 and early 2009. Each track on the record was recorded the day it was written, yet there’s a unified sound. The album flows with each song a variation on the last. “There’s a certain sense of play that exists within these songs,” says Curreri. “I wasn’t making a record— this is a documentation of someone connecting to something, having a really nice time.” If the state of California conjures images of untroubled, sugary pop-sweet beach scenes, that’s not the California heard here. By stamping his darker, instrumental aesthetics over the stereotypical sunshiney sheen California casts over a psyche, Curreri transfixes, provokes, and simultaneously soothes his listener. So what if our “healthy” decisions cause drastic set-backs? Sometimes what we lean on the most isn’t really there, and on California that’s okay. Paul Curerri releases his sixth full-length album, California, Saturday, August 7 at The Jefferson Theater. Nathan Moore opens. The show starts at 7pm with tickets $10-12.

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Entertainment , Featured 01:21 pm July 27th 2010

Primus Ribbing: Claypool on how to be a goofball— er, satireball

by Hook Staff

In the early and mid ’90s, Les Claypool quickly became a major influence on an entire generation of bassists when his band hit it big on mainstream alt-rock radio. This was fairly unreasonable, actually, since Primus struck an unsettlingly bizarre balance between dark humor and scratchy fits of borderline-atonal funk-metal, seemingly fit for a deranged Tim Burton film. The band’s breakthrough releases were called, respectively, Sailing the Seas of Cheese and Pork Soda, and both were remarkable hits when one factors in the considerable weirdo factor. Their best-known piece turned up in 1997, when they handed the producers of South Park a new lopsidedly jangling theme song— still in use today. Given that Claypool prefers his humor both subversive and demented, that one makes a bit more sense. The Hook: Do you ever feel like your humor gets in the way? Les Claypool: It’s a huge part of my life— to laugh in the face of disaster. And if you look at Primus lyrics, there’s a lot of demons in there from my past, different elements of my family and how they dealt with addiction and whatnot. I think one of the most powerful motivating elements throughout history in society has been satire. The Hook: I said “humor,” and you came back with “satire”— an interesting distinction. Les Claypool: I somewhat cringe when I hear the term “silly” or “wacky,” because that’s never been our intention. The first song I ever wrote for Primus is called “Too Many Puppies,” and it’s all about puppies as a metaphor for young soldiers fighting for our oil fields in the Middle East. There’s an image in my head, there’s a character I see, there’s something that inspired me, a friend of mine that hung himself in his apartment many years ago for no apparent reason, or my uncle dying in the bathroom from doing speed his whole life. I would be uncomfortable in the Bob Dylan role, sitting there with an acoustic guitar spewing my philosophy on social and political elements in society. The Hook: Should this band have been as successful as it was, or does Primus work better as an underground thing? Les Claypool: We never expected to be on the radio, let alone MTV. The Hook: And “South Park” reached many more people than proper Primus material. Les Claypool: We did it because we thought it was clever and funny. The Hook: So is Primus the South Park of the rock world, or is South Park the Primus of the cartoon world? Les Claypool: We’re more the Dudley Do-Rights of the rock world. Primus performs at the Charlottesville Pavilion with Gogol Bordello on 8/1. $39, 7pm.

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07:40 pm July 26th 2010

Buzz-Take Me Back: Local Favorites reflect on latest pop-rock EP

by Stephanie Garcia

Bigger and bolder: The Sometime Favorites release their new EP— for free. COVER ART

When Adam Long wrote the three tracks for The Sometime Favorites‘ new EP Take Me Back, he picked and prodded from the band’s roots as struggling college musicians and managed to enunciate the sloppy, raw emotions of youth with the sleek crispness of a matured and sophisticated ensemble. The resulting album is more than just a sampler of the band’s talents— it’s a business model. Their strategy is simple: just be honest, and the fans will respond. Long and fellow songwriter James East delve into their past relationships and connections much as an anthropologist or poet would, with the listener spared none of the pain and conflict. “I don’t think great art comes from a happy place,” says Long. “The good stuff that really makes you feel something doesn’t come from a ‘Hey, let’s high five!’ place, unless you’re Jack Johnson.” Indeed, the three new tracks are full of regret, ache, and love— lots of love, and all based on real life happenings. “It’s a conglomeration of a bunch of sh*t that’s important to us, but vague enough for other people to relate to,” explains East. “I’m still friends with a lot of people I write songs about, so I throw in some confusing things so that people don’t hear them and call me saying, ‘You weren’t supposed to tell anyone about that.’” Long agrees. “We’re mature enough to analyze stuff that happened when we were twenty now that we’re the ripe age of twenty-five,” he says. “Ninety percent of your life is about a relationship when you’re young, and that’s what comes out when I start writing.” It’s been four years since they released their self-produced debut record. “That was more representative of what we do live— this EP definitely has more of the rocking sound that developed as soon as we took the original record on the road,” explains Long. Take Me Back was made in a more mature manner than its predecessor, too. Back then, the writing all happened in the studio, haphazardly thrown together en route. This time around, the band wrote the songs in advance and worked with outside producers. The result is a guitar-driven, radio-friendly collection of deceptively upbeat— upbeat-sounding that is— pop songs. “First and foremost, I want to write songs that you think sound so happy going into it, but are kind of downers if you listen to the lyrics,” says Long, who calls “I Was Wrong This Time” the disc’s “soul-crushing love song.”

I thought of all the ones, you’d be the last to go/but it’s no surprise ’cause I’m the last to know/what you needed from me was an alibi.—”I Was Wrong This Time”

“You can say, ‘Who’s this p*ssy band writing about their emotions,’” says Long, “but at least they’re writing some kick-a** riffs to go along with it.” Download the Sometimes Favorites’ new EP for free at http://www.thesometimefavorites.com/download.html.

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Charlottesville Pavilion , Events , Paramount Theater , YouTube

Primus and Gogol Bordello

Charlottesville PavilionParamount Theater

August 1, 7:00pm

$39

At the end of the day, it’s not really about whether virtuoso bassist Les Claypool’s seminal screwball 90’s alt-metal outfit Primus will out-bizarre the formidable troublemakers in Eugene Hutz’s “gypsy-punk” outfit Gogol Bordello; we approve of nutjobs in both domains (in as many domains as possible, actually, which explains about half of our staff). But who will win the inevitable peacock-strut contest which results from two decades of champion pedigree rock mustaches sharing the same venue? Who will destroy more of the Pavilion’s equipment? Who will take more drugs backstage beforehand? Now you’re talking. Have at it, boys.

buy tickets online
visit Paramount Theater online
listen to Primus at the Hype Machine
listen to Gogol Bordello at the Hype Machine