Releasing without a doubt one of the best Indie Pop records of the year, The Born Ruffians have had a wonderous year in music. Red, Yellow, and Blue is a very enjoyable and fun album to listen to. Although it did not make my year end list (Which I could be posting in the near future) there was a prolonged period where I was convinced it would.
Luke LaLonde, the lead vocalist of the Toronto outfit, The Born Ruffians, was gracious enough to stop by our studio and perform a unique and original set. When LaLonde set up, he said how he wanted to perform some of his lesser known material in addition to some of the Ruffians’ stuff. This lesser known material can be found under the moniker Skeleton Me.
The end result is LaLonde playing the Ruffians’ song, I Need a Life, off of Red Yellow & Blue, and merging it seamlessly into a Skeleton Me track. This is a unique listen unlike anything expected by a member of the Born Ruffians. Utilizing loops and heavy reverb, LaLonde branches out of his designated Indie Pop categorization into something yet to be explored by the Ruffians. Hopefully a future release by the band will be somewhat influenced by this.
Born Ruffians (Luke LaLonde) Performance on Rainydawg Radio — I Need a Life & Skeleton Me
Thank goodness the autumn quarter has come to a close. I finally have a good amount of time to make up for all the overdue material I have yet to post. I’m sorry reading this blog can be frustrating at times, due to the sporadic updates, but I’m so very glad to have your continued support.
Back in Mid-October we had a full tour’s worth of bands stop by the studio. On October 12, 2008, Rainydawg Radio was fortunate enough to host Warren and Nic of Plants and Animals for an interview over the airwaves. The next day, we hosted Young Rival, Nurses, and the Born Ruffians. Young Rival’s session can be found here.
Onto Nurses. Nurses are a group out of Portland, OR who utilize vocal harmonies which have come to be expected with bands in the “Indie” scene today (see: Fleet Foxes, Grizzly Bear, etc.) However, Nurses use of blending aged classic instruments such as a Fender Rhodes with a Roland SP-505 give them a sound that few bands in music today can achieve. A sound which is both contradictorily familiar yet refreshing.
Yet, for the in-studio session they chose to do a stripped down set. It’s interesting to see the difference in their full fledged produced music (which you can find over at ye olde myspace) versus this in-studio. Be sure to grab the full version, with the interview, to hear an intriguing conversation about the Mayan calender, post-apocolyptica, and the most effective way to kill zombies.
Nurses — Full Interview and Session on Rainydawg Radio
Nurses — Lita Live on Rainydawg Radio
Nurses — Technicolor Live on Rainydawg Radio
Nurses — Unititled Live on Rainydawg Radio
Way back at the beginning of Autumn Quarter at Rainydawg Radio, one of Seattle’s very own Post-Rock trio, Bronze Fawn, were kind enough to join me for an in-studio in the wee hours of the morning. Given that this was the first in-studio of the year, there were a number of expected technical difficulties along the way. I hesitated to post these MP3s for a while, as they do not reflect the quality of this Seattle band; however, I figure any exposure is better than no exposure. Please, blame me for the shitty mix and audio levels.
Bronze Fawn are a quality act and group of really great guys. They headline the Cumulus Festival Day Three at the Vera Project on January 25, 2009. You.May.Die.In.The.Desert as well as The Friendly Skies will also be playing that show. If you don’t go, and you’re in the Seattle area, I can say without a doubt that you hate music. Without further ado, here are the In-Studio mp3s.
Bronze Fawn — Megalodon
Bronze Fawn — Not Too Tropical
Another long over-due session.
The day after they played the Chop Suey, Young Rival was kind enough to join us at Rainydawg for some in-studio sessions. Their sound has often been compared to that of the Zombies on the musical carousel blogosphere. While that comparison is very understandable, I like to simply describe their music as familiar in the best way possible. Their guitar riffs are at times raw and rough around the edges, but not at all unpleasing or unfitting. In fact, it is this raw sound that makes listening to Young Rival such an enjoyable experience. Whenever I turn on their music, nostalgia hits me square in the face. When I listen to the breakout track “Your Island” it’s as if I’m listening to a perfectly aged song from years past. It’s the same feeling I get when I blow the dust off a classic vinyl record from decades passed and place that needle to the groove. Don’t take my word for it, take a listen.
In case you missed it, here are the individual songs, as well as the full session with an interview by Liz Pfriem.
Young Rival — Live In-Studio and Interview on Rainydawg Radio
Young Rival — Your Island (Live on Rainydawg Radio)
Young Rival — Knowing What You Know (Live on Rainydawg Radio)
For more information on Young Rival, visit their myspace.
And to close this post off, here’s Young Rival doing a cover of Master of None, originally by hometown favorite, Beach House. It’s amazing to hear how they take their raw style and apply it to this cover, making it their own song.
