Go See Patrick Watson Live!

A few months before I moved to San Francisco, I had become somewhat obsessed with Patrick Watson (check out my 5 Faves of him!). I have a thing for singer/songwriters. There's something about their ability to compose songs single handedly that makes me sit back and listen to their brilliance in awe. It's one thing when you have both Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, it's another when you can do it alone.

Anyways, when I moved to San Francisco, Patrick Watson had played two days prior (touring on his gorgeous Adventures In Your Own Backyard album from 2012 - "Lighthouse" remains to be one of those memorable first tracks on an album not only because of how great of a song it is, but because it sets the entire tone of the album) to the day I moved out here, and I was so disappointed I missed him, but I assumed he would be back shortly. I was wrong. The first chance I got to see him was Wednesday, over two years later, at The Chapel in the Mission in San Francisco, a teeny and intimate venue converted from (you guessed it) a chapel, so you guessed it, the acoustics in the place were pretty amazing.

The first thing that hits you with Patrick Watson, both live and on his albums, is his voice. Watson sounds like an angel in a choir, a falsetto so delicate yet substantial to rise above the fray of strings and keys. His vocals were astonishing live, even better than his albums. The crowd was completely absorbed and involved -

(and the crowd is such a key element to a memorable show - BUT ** TANGENT ALERT ** I really want to have a psychological study on the idiots and princesses that believe what they say to an artist during a show matters. Please, shut the hell up. I don't think an aritst gives a shit if you say, "I love you, Patrick!" in your annoyingly nasal tone while hiccuping on your (hopefully) last mojito. Or to the bro behind me that was whistling and hollering in the middle of a song because his goatee needed to let off a little steam while none of his friends were present because he most likely lost all of his friends acting in such a way for most of his adult life - to you both, I volunteer there should be some sort of psychological help at shows because this should not happen. Please, please, don't EVER, for the rest of your life, yell out something obnoxious at a show. Just listen to the beauty and brilliance of music and let it envelop you. Cheer and applaud when the song is over. Thanks. TANGENT OVER **)

- to the point where they started humming along to the beat of one song as Watson played maestro to the crowd. I have to say, San Francisco has some really great crowds at shows.

Watson was touring on his new album, Love Songs for Robots, another album in line with the four before him that are beyond comparison or peer. Watson's compositions sound nothing like anyone else out there. Though he has no comparable (another great quality of original singer/songwriters), I do think he has that cerebral quality like Andrew Bird (another one of my favorite singer/songwriters of the past decade). He played most of his new album, the highlights being "Good Morning Mr. Wolf," and "Bollywood," with close seconds being "Hearts," and "Long Songs for Robots." One of the most impressive aspects of the show was that Watson and the four other members of his band were able to recreate his orchestral thunderstorms of sound which I had my doubts could be done live. Listen to "Good Morning Mr. Wolf," and try to imagine that song live. It goes through highs and lows, loud and soft, acoustic guitar, strings, keyboards, it all just sounds like so much. Like it's overproduced or something. But no, it was all there.

It was definitely the best show I've seen this year, and it was all made the more memorable by the encore. Watson walked out, grabbed his piano bench and brought it out into the middle of the crowd, about 10 feet from me. The crowd came to a hush. Watson climbed up on the bench along with his guitarist and proceeded to play "Adventures In Your Own Backyard," with no microphone or amplification. All he used were the cups of his hands as he projected his majestic falsetto throughout the crowd. That moment was truly special and something I'll never forget. It was all the more appropriate that the song starts, "Twelve steps into your backyard," as he played inches away in a town I call my home.

Singles - Nakamarra (feat Q-Tip) - Hiatus Kaiyote

I heard a new track from this unique soul/funk/jazz/rap band on their new album that got me really intrigued to start exploring their two albums. After listening to a number of tracks, the rhythm and tone of this song really stood out. It's pretty hard for a band to make a song sound this jazzy and soulful without forcing the issue. I get some Little Dragon vibes, maybe Jill Scott a bit and their hip-hop influence reminds me of the oddness of Shabazz Palaces. This band is definitely different and worthy of a listen if you like this track!

Monday Mixtape, Vol. 7

The most universal subject in music: love. Musicians have found millions of ways to sing about it, be it through heartbreak, infatuation, dating, lust, longing, marriage, the list goes on. I get it though, it's easier to talk straight from the heart. When done wholeheartedly, it rings true and leads the mind to make decisions both right and wrong, but ultimately ending (in what most of us hope) in something forever. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. This is a mixtape of all sorts of these emotions, and the lyrical powers that communication provides us to get love off our chest.

Lord Huron "Love Like Ghosts:"
Yes I know that love is like ghosts
A few have seen it but everybody talks
Spirits follow where I go
They sing all day and they haunt me in the night...
What ain't living can never really die
You don't want me baby please don't lie
but if you're leaving I gotta know why

Brett Dennen's "I Ain't Gonna Lose You:"
You can put a stick in my spokes
I can be the butt of your jokes
I can be the laughing stock
I can be the hoax
But I ain't gonna lose you...
They can come and tear my house down
They can run me out of town
They can tie me up call me a clown
But I ain't gonna lose you
I can't stand the thought of another man
No, I ain't gonna lose you

Angus Stone's "Wooden Chair:"
In another place
In another time
In another face
In another line
In another heart
In another world
In another girl
We were feeling fine
We were in love

Gemma Hayes' "Joy:"
I can take on anything
I can take it all
I can take on anything
as long as I can see you

Bombay Bicycle Club's "Eyes Off You:"
And I bathed in the light you gave
But it's dark in another way
Yes, you gave me the light today
But it's dark in another way...
I can't take my eyes off you.

John Mayer's "In Your Atmosphere:"
Wherever I go
Whatever I do
I wonder where I am in my relationship to you
Wherever you go
Wherever you are
I watch your life play out in pictures from afar
Wherever I go
Whatever I do
I wonder where I am in my relationship to you
Wherever you go
Wherever you are
I watch that pretty life play out in pictures from afar

Father John Misty's "I Went To The Store One Day:"
For love to find us of all people
I never thought it'd be so simple
 

NPR's Conversation with a Music/Entertainment Lawyer

NPR's Microphone Check had an interview about the music industry with Julian Petty, an entertainment lawyer that currently represents rappers Earl Sweatshirt and Vince Staples as well as the estate of Biggie (and at one point represented A Tribe Called Quest, Michael Jackson, and Prince!). Petty sounds like an honorable person who really has the best interests of the artist in mind despite the surrounding pressure by record labels on many of these artists to go down the "get rich quick" scheme that may sound enticing without a real knowledge of the industry. 

There are a lot of great tidbits from the interview, including Petty's take on the dying music industry:

"There are six revenue streams for recorded music. There's physical sales. There's digital sales. There's advertising. There's subscription. There's sync licenses. And then there's performance rights. Four of those things have pretty much come about in the last ten years. So when people talk about the music business or recorded music business is dying or in decline, I'm like, 'I don't know about that. I think the ecosystem has changed. And you have a lot more different pots. And like publishing, you're making money from a lot of smaller — smaller increments. More pennies and nickels. Whereas the recorded business was used to making money at the $16.99 CD. Yeah, that doesn't exist. But from the streaming side, especially with the indie artist, there's some real money to be made there."

He also talks the "360 Model" that artist sign that labels have been using more now since many avenues of revenue streams are drying up. The model basically means that the record label will take a smaller cut than usual in certain revenues, but they then get a cut of everything, hence the 360.  

They also talked about the Robin Thicke vs. Marvin Gaye ruling which awarded Gaye's estate $7 million for copyright infringement in the song "Blurred Lines." Petty thought the case didn't come down to copyright law, it came down to Robin Thicke being an awful witness. If you haven't read Thicke's deposition on this case, it's sadly comical. Thicke admits he wasn't sober for one interview for an entire year and barely recalls anything he said because he was high on Vicodin and Vodka. He calls himself the White Marvin Gaye and says he really liked Gaye's "Got to Give It Up" after his own hundred songs. So yeah, Petty might have a point!

You can either check out the transcript here or listen to the Soundcloud clip embedded!

Whistler, British Columbia

After my trip to Vancouver, I drove up to Whistler with a bunch of friends for a few days of skiing. I've had the luck to ski at different resorts around Colorado, Lake Tahoe, Montreal, Vermont, and Maine, but I've never experienced something so jaw-droppingly beautiful and awe inspiring as Whistler. Hopefully, the pictures will do the slopes and mountains some justice, but if you're a boarder or skier, you have to come to Whistler at least once!

Music Video - Sanctified - Rick Ross (feat. Kanye West & Big Sean)

Not only is this a fantastic track released back in 2014, but after seeing this fan generated video, you can no longer say you hate emojis (and for the record - how did you hate emojis in the first place? Embrace it! If we're never going to talk to human beings on the phone again, at least I'm able to emote that your last text message was grammatically 💩). The video takes a bit to get warmed up, but then it gets ludicrous.

I can't imagine how much time this took!

Monday Mixtape, Vol. 6

It's Memorial Day. Take a moment and remember someone you know that has served in the Armed Forces. I try to appreciate what I have (EVERYTHING, basically) and what so many of them gave (EVERYTHING, completely). In memory of those that gave theirs for you, thank and love the ones that are still here.

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The past couple weeks have had some great new albums and singles from Hot Chip, Shamir, Surfer Blood, and Ducktails, to name some. This first track from Hot Chip is probably my favorite on their new album, their sixth, Why Makes Sense? Hot Chip is in that echelon of very well respected Electro-Pop artists because they've been doing this for a while, and they know how to throw a party. They're coming to Outside Lands this year in SF, and they'll be acting in place for Cut Copy (who put on one of my favorite shows of the year at OSL last year) as the band I will most likely dance to like my pants are on fire. 

Speaking of dance tracks, maybe you've heard about Shamir. What an interesting kid. He's 20 years old and from Las Vegas. He recorded his debut album in Brooklyn, and he's been getting a lot of love for his album around the interwebs. Well deserved, in my opinion, and this track, "On the Regular," is completely ridiculous and catchy (YES THAT'S A COWBELL).

One reason I love Twitter (people, I have like four followers, help a buddy out! @layersandsounds) is that you can actually connect to artists. Case in point: I just tweeted Matt Modanile, the guitarist from one of my favorite bands of the past many years, Real Estate, and the man behind the band Ducktails (probably my favorite solo project of any band member I can think of), that I loved his new song, "Headbanging in the Mirror," and I just wanted to thank him for providing me some joy. He then favorited my tweet. Who cares, you say? I DO! That's really freaking cool to get through to someone like that. It happens a lot more than you'd think ( ** TANGENTIAL ALERT ** About a year or two ago, Michael Rapaport - yes, THAT Michael Rapaport - and I started Direct Messaging because he was tweeting about whether Jay-Z or Nas was better, so I told him I'd make a Best Of playlist for each on Spotify (Best of Nas is on the blog btw!) and then he would tweet the playlists out to his followers (which is a lot of people!), and they would vote on the winner. He was totally down to do it, but he could never get the playlists to open, and I don't think he really trusted me to blast out a link he couldn't open. So that fell through but was a hilarious experience coming from the guy who directed an amazing documentary of one of my favorite bands of all time, A Tribe Called Quest. If you haven't seen that documentary - GET ON IT because it's really, really good, and then you can tell Michael he owes me one ** TANGENT OVER), and you can provide some love and support to people that may not always be getting it. So with all that being said, Ducktail's new album, St. Catherine, comes out July 24th. If you haven't listened to his last album, The Flower Lane, and you like Real Estate (and this song), I guarantee you will love this album. It's so chill yet keeps you engaged and wanting more the whole time. It was my fourth favorite album of 2013! 

Oh Surfer Blood. I've been a fan of these guys for years. They make consistently good indie rock with tinges of 90s alternative. I wasn't super impressed with the album the first go through, but it's one of those albums I have found myself listening to again and again and liking more. I don't know if I can settle on my favorite track, but "Other Desert Cities," is my choice at the moment.

The mixtape ends with a few more great rocks songs. The first track is from Hop Along, and it's their first track from their new album which has gotten some good buzz. Lead singer Frances Quinlan has a raspy and raw voice that really gives their songs some originality and passion. The drum beat that starts "The Knock" is great too. I have no idea who Adult Mom is, but their EP is six songs lasting a full 10 minutes! Clearly mom had better things to do. Finally, Eternal Summers is a band from Richmond, VA, so I gotta rep my home state!   

Happy Memorial Day.

Playlist - Sunday Morning

I've written before that I really love listening to chill mixes. There are all sorts of different types of "chill" to me, some can be a bit more trippy or electronic, some where there's a ton of space in the songs that bare echoes and reflections to make the song so sparse that it's relaxing, others that have orchestras, strings, and horns that lull you sleep, and so many more. Whatever way we get there, the WHOLE point is to relax and feel calm. 

My Sunday Morning playlist is exactly what you'd imagine: It's a playlist I always listen to on Sunday Mornings as I'm brewing my cup of coffee, reading the NYTimes, and slowly starting a day off from the grind of work and all that stressful stuff. This mix is a bit more upbeat than my other chill mixes (to be published soon!) because it's not supposed to lull you to sleep or veg out, it's supposed to ease you into your day. There are SO many amazing tracks on here. I honestly LOVE every song on this mix, no joke. But Gary Clark Jr.'s live acoustic rendition of "Things Are Changin'" that starts things off should give you a good idea of the vibes I'm going for.

I'm hoping there are some tracks you've never heard, maybe U.S. Royalty's gorgeous ending track from their first album, or a little Andrew Bird for those uninitiated to his brilliance, or for the love of God PATRICK WATSON. If you don't like "Words in the Fire," we will have to part ways here. How about Rhye's voice in "The Fall," a perfect song to me. Ryan Adams undoubtedly made his way on here and Feist (one of my most beloved female singer/songwriters) will always be loved by me for her sultry voice and original tracks. And of course, I have to end with Wilco's classic and appropriately named, "One Sunday Morning." So much good stuff!

Happy Sundays from here on out!