Hello, My Name Is… This week featuring Free Energy, You Can Be A Wesley and Moodhosa!

Hello, My Name Is…

This week featuring Free Energy, You Can Be A Wesley and Moodhosa!

November 5, 2009

Free Energy

“It was actually a song first,” says Geoff Bucknum, of the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania-based band. “We were looking for a name, looking for something we felt that described us, and we tooled around with lots of names. Finally, we just settled on that.”

You Can Be A Wesley

“The name began freshman year in college, when we started playing together,” says frontwoman Saara Untracht-Oakner. “We were in search for a name, and we’d text each other names, and just get ‘no’ as a response, or ‘you’re just naming things that you’re seeing.’ So one day we’re all sitting around the dining hall table, eating with a bunch of friends, and one of our friends is like, ‘you look like a whatever – you look like a Jeff, and you look like a Tom.’ And our bassist Nick really likes the film The Princess Bride, so our friend Dan says ‘yeah, you can be a Wesley.’ So, that’s how that started.”

“It’s funny, we get all types of different assumptions that people make, like Wesley Willis, Wesley Snipes, Wesley from Star Trek, or something, and we’re like ‘no, no, it’s Princess Bride.’ There’s even a little forum going, saying we should change our name to You Can Has A Wesley.”

Moodhosa has been around for a good 5 years in Gainesville, Florida, and the story behind their name is rather well-known. Founding members Jose “Junior” Peruyero (singer/rhythm guitarist) and Jason “Mumbles” Moody (lead guitarist) decided to keep thing simple. They combined different parts of their own names (‘Moody’ and ‘Jose’) to form ‘Moodhosa.’

Unfortunately, turnover in the bass and drums department in Moodhosa has been a constant over the past 5 years, but the core duo of Peruyero and Moody has remained, and as long as that continues, Moodhosa they will be.

Link to this article:
http://www.breakthruradio.com/index.php?b=article.php?id=1205

- Matt Lehtola

Glenn Greenwald and Fisher Stevens on Citizen Radio!

Glenn Greenwald and Fisher Stevens

Glenn Greenwald and Fisher Stevens On this week’s Citizen Radio: Special guests Glenn Greenwald and Fisher Stevens! Allison and Jamie also discuss awful Joe Lieberman and J-Street. Glenn Greenwald is an American lawyer, columnist, blogger at Salon.com, and author. Greenwald worked as a constitutional and civil rights litigator prior to becoming a blogger. He has also contributed to other newspapers and political news magazines, including The New York Times, and The Los Angeles Times. Greenwald is the author of three books, How Would a Patriot Act?, A Tragic Legacy, both New York Times bestsellers; and Great American Hypocrites. He was selected, along with Democracy Now’s Amy Goodman, as the recipient of the first annual Izzy Award by the Park Center for Independent Media, an award named after famed independent journalist I.F. “Izzy” Stone and devoted to rewarding excellence in independent journalism. Topics of discussion include: – Drug decriminalization – Liberals’ refusal to criticize President Obama – Mainstream media – Blogs – FOX News, and – Chickenhawks (including our favorite armchair warrior, Joe Lieberman) Next, Fisher Stevens is the award-winning director of The War Against War, a film tribute to UN Peacekeepers. Stevens is best known as a character actor, who played the doomed George Minkowski in ABC’s LOST. Stevens joins Citizens Radio to talk about the successes and failures of the “Blue Hats,” the UN Peacekeepers and his near-death experience while filming The War Against War. Upcoming guests include historian Howard Zinn and author, lecturer and activist for Palestinian rights, Anna Baltzer!

 

Citizen Radio:   http://www.breakthruradio.com/index.php?show=8381

BTR Live Studio with Deleted Scenes

Deleted Scenes live on BTR Live Studio!!!

DELETED SCENES
11/17 @ PIANOS – NEW YORK, NY

00:00 Deleted Scenes
00:43 Interview and Stories behind A Litany for Mrs. T and Ithaca.
03:27 Ithaca
07:15 A Litany for Mrs T
08:18 Interview
10:59 The City That Never Wakes Up
17:11 Interview
22:11 Burglarizing the Death
25:56 Fake IDs
29:26 Interview
31:59 Demon The Hurricane
36:10 Deleted Scenes

 

BTR Live Studio:   http://www.breakthruradio.com/index.php?show=8369

BTR Live Jazz Hole featuring Michael Rodriguez

The Michael Rodriguez Quartet performed live at the Jazz Gallery in New York City on July 31st.  Listen to the show by clicking here.

Trumpeter/composer, Michael Rodriguez was born on July 14, 1979 in Queens, New York. Michael was inspired to pursue music as a career by his father. Michael studied at the New World school of the Arts in Miami, Florida and continued his studies at the University of Miami. After completing two years at the University of Miami, he decided to transfer to the New School University in New York where he received his B.A. Michael has performed with Eric Reed, Clark Terry, Bobby Watson, Quincy Jones, Joe Lovano, Toshiko Akiyoshi Orchestra, Chico O’farill Orchestra, Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra , Pop Icon Jessica Simpson, Carnegie Hall Jazz Band, Carla Bley Band, Harry Conick jr., Eddie Palmieri Septet, Lincoln Center Afro-Cuban Jazz Orchestra, Smithsonian Jazz Orchestra, Bob Minzter, Gonzalo Rubalcaba, and the Charlie Haden Liberation Orchestra.  In December of 2003 Michael recorded on Charlie Haden’s Grammy Award winning “Land of the Sun” album featuring Gonzalo Rubalcaba and Joe Lovano. Michael has also recorded on Charlie Haden’s Liberation Music Orchestra album, which was released in August 2005, entitled “Not In our Name” and is featured on “America the Beautiful” and Dvorjac “Going Home”.

Together with his brother, pianist/composer Robert Rodriguez, he recently released the album “Conversations”, which is available in major (online) stores. More info available on http://www.rodriguezmusic.com

00:00 Live Jazz Hole with DJ Linus
00:50 Untitled Composition – The Michael Rodriguez Quartet
13:31 Live Jazz Hole with DJ Linus
15:01 Untitled Composition – The Michael Rodriguez Quartet
27:30 Bluesy C – The Michael Rodriguez Quartet
38:31 Live Jazz Hole with DJ Linus
39:17 Conversations – The Rodriguez Brothers

all compositions by Michael Rodriguez

LIVE MUSICIANS:
Michael Rodriguez (tp)
Mike Moreno (g)
Joe Sanders (b)
Jonathan Blake (d)

ALBUM MUSICIANS (“Conversations”):
Michael Rodriguez (flh)
Robert Rodriguez (p)
Carlos Henriquez (b)
Antonio Sanchez (d)

Michael Rodriguez LIVE
September 19th, Monterey Jazz Festival (The Rodriguez Brothers) – Monterey, CA

Artist of the Week: Paul and the Patients

Paul And The Patients

2009-06-22

After a quick and cursory listen to Paul And The Patients, a few things become immediately clear. First of all, the band makes accessible music, in the vein of the poppish, rockish and British variety. Second, it’s the kind of music that sounds simple, with matching lyrics, but really is not. Third, looking at this picture, they all apparently smoke. Fourth (and this is the kicker), you won’t want to like them… at first. It’s just too easy.

Comprised of Paul Holmes (vocals/guitar), Jay McBride (guitar), Pete Swan (bass), Dave Greenwald (drums) and Josh Ascalon (synths/vocals), the Brooklyn-based band just dropped their debut release, the To The Lions EP, via American Myth Recordings. The release party actually took place last Friday (6/19) at the Cake Shop in New York City, and the band has upcoming dates at both Webster Hall and Bell House.

With To The Lions, Paul And The Patients have delivered six meaty tracks that sound a great deal more evolved than the band’s age. Musically, this is the kind of band that the major labels try their best to create artificially. Catchy hooks abound, comfy atmospheres dominate, intelligent lyrics surprise, and it’s all easily accessible with a capital ‘A’. Moreover, Paul proves his songwriting chops by not writing the same song six times; each track has a completely different mood than the one before it.

Highlights will indefinitely vary between ears, but “Blogspot” is hilariously finger-snappy from the get-go. The more patient and adventurous might initially be drawn to “Black Beards”, as it bears both the EP’s longest running time and its biggest chorus. Or hey, start at the beginning with “Complaint 15,” in which Paul Holmes really stretches his vocal chords, and ends up sounding the tiniest bit like Jeff Buckley in the process. James Walsh of Starsailor also comes to mind, but in the end it doesn’t  really matter. A homophone-loving band like Paul And The Patients live and die by their chief’s voice, and in this case, the chief does indeed deserve that big piece of chicken.

Live!

Jun 19 2009  Cakeshop EP RELEASE! New York, NY
Jun 28 2009 at Studio @ Webster Hall in New York, NY
Jul 22 2009 at Bell House in Brooklyn, NY
Jul 25 2009 at Studio @ Webster Hall in New York, NY

Link to this article:
http://www.breakthruradio.com/index.php?b=artist.php?id=232

- Matt Lehtola

BTR Live Studio: Like Bells

Check out this live session from Oberlin Ohio band (and Exit Stencil Recording artists..) LIKE BELLS! Check out their self-titled album, released this year! Hear the session here!

6/19 @ The Empire – Portland, ME

7/11 @ Rooftop Film Festival – New York, NY

BTR Live @ Pianos NYC

Check out the set here!
00:00 Jezz Harkin Intro
00:15 How Could it Be So Wrong? – Action Painters
03:38 Dark in the Daytime – Action Painters
06:38 Leave This City – Action Painters
09:29 A Moment’s Peace – Action Painters
12:54 456 – Action Painters
17:05 Sooner or Later – Action Painters
22:20 We Don’t Need to Live Like This – Action Painters
26:00 Supermarket – Action Painters
29:18 Absolutely Clear – Action Painters

Live mix by Helge Bernhardt

Action Painters LIVE
Jul 02 @ Rock and Roll Hotel – Washington, DC
Jul 03 @ The Talking Head – Baltimore, MD
Jul 10 @ Mercury Lounge – New York, NY

Citizen Radio on BTR

Meet Tom Golisano, the man behind the New York Senate coup!

Citizen Radio discusses the billionaire behind the New York Senate coup, and how one man not wanting to pay 2% more in income taxes resulted in the Democrats losing control of the state Senate.

Next, Allison and Jamie discuss why involving Max Baucus in the health care reform is a terrible, terrible idea. Hint: Max Baucus receives hundreds of thousands of dollars from the private health industry.

Also, the very special return of Citizen Radio’s film review!

In case they lost you on the politics or health care talk, Allison and Jamie caps off another amazing episode with an enthralling conversation about masturbation.

And finally, Citizen Radio discusses the issue of abortion and the death of women’s health doctor, George Tiller. Check out the show here!

BTR Live Studio: A Stillwater Satellite

Today we’re in the studio with A Stillwater Satellite! This Long Island based band has been together over a decade, and their experience shines through!

Check them out this Sunday night (after Alexa Ray Joel!) at the Stephen Talkhouse in Amagansett, Long Island @ 9 PM!

Artist of the Week: tUnE-YaRdS

The location is the first clue that something’s up. On her myspace page, tUnE-YaRdS lists her place of origin as “Merrillville,” which happens to be the name of a town in Indiana. It also happens to be a very special place inside the head of Merrill Garbus (real origin: Vermont). While she’s not making music with her band Sister Suvi, Merrill is crafting dancy folk jams as tUnE-YaRdS, piecing together shards of found sound, percussion, and ukulele on her debut album, Bird-Brains.

I first saw tUnE-YaRdS opening for Beirut at his Music Hall of Williamsburg show. If you’re like me, you don’t really expect much from openers – just something to kill time before getting to the good stuff. My expectations were fairly low, and when I saw a woman step onto the stage with nothing more than a ukulele, drums, and looping pedals, I figured I was in for another neo-tribalist bandwagon-jumper doing the whole “primitive” thing. But while there is a certain primitivism to the music of tUnE-YaRdS, I was unprepared for the sheer amount of soul. Over drum loops that were simple yet undeniably funky, Merrill strummed her ukulele and sang in a style that fluttered somewhere between jazz singer and possessed shaman.  She was soon joined on stage by more people, including a bassist, saxophonist, and extra drummers. The additional band members infused her songs with an incredible amount of energy, filling out the low-end and pushing the rhythms to a visceral level. I was sold.

On record, tUnE-YaRdS is all Merrill. Bird-Brains was pieced together with a digital voice recorder and a laptop (using Audacity), and contains field recordings from the past two years of Merrill’s life. It’s a pretty ramshackle setup, but Bird-Brains makes no secret of its rough edges. Noise permeates the music, whether you’re hearing a field recording, the hiss of the recorder, or the crackle of distortion. tUnE-YaRdS also uses noise in less incidental ways, organizing fragments into additional rhythmic material. The lo-fi nature of the album gives it a very personal feel; listening through, it’s pretty clear that this music is located squarely in Merrillville.

Bird-Brains is currently available on vinyl via Marriage Records (www.marriagerecs.com). You can also buy the album in digital form from the Marriage Records website and iTunes. The album is only 10 bucks, but if you still can’t afford that, you can try e-mailing Merrill at tuneyards@gmail.com to work something out. You can also make a donation on her website (http://www.tuneyards.com) if you feel like giving some extra support. Be supportive!

-Matt D.

Live!

Jun. 15th – Green Room – Montreal, QC
Jun. 27th – The Tempest – San Francisco, CA
Jul. 15th – Holocene – Portland, OR
Jul. 16th – The Northern – Olympia, WA
Jul. 18th – The Vera Project – Seattle, WA
Jul. 21st – Echo – Los Angeles, CA
Jul. 22nd – The Rickshaw Stop – San Francisco, CA