Concert Recap: Underbirds (New York City, April 2013)

I don't know how many artists I would have skipped a Laurie Berkner talk for in order to see them perform live.  Probably not many.

But a chance to see the debut live performance of Underbirds, the superduo of Morgan Taylor and Todd McHatton?  At Symphony Space, whose family programming I've admired from afar for awhile?  While it was a tough call, I found myself catching the 3 train to the Upper West Side last Saturday morning, knowing I'd be heading back to BAM Fisher and Kindiefest later.

Taylor is, of course, a fairly regular live performer with his Gustafer Yellowgold gigs, but McHatton doesn't play live much at all.  Add to that the fact that Taylor and McHatton had only met three times over the past year in putting together their debut album, and I was very curious as to how it would sound.

As it turns out, pretty nice.  As a duo, they had an easygoing feel.  I would not describe the show as being especially dynamic -- essentially it was a couple guys with guitars -- but as Taylor does at his Gustafer gigs, they used visuals to help hold the attention of the kids in the audience, though these visuals were far more abstract.

The project itself is a little odd in that it's not entirely kids music.  It's not *not* kids music, either -- but if it hadn't been part of the "kids" series (and the presence of many kids, including McHatton's daughter on their "cover" of McHatton's own massive kindie hit, "I Think I'm a Bunny"), a listener could have been forgiven for thinking the concert was a curious set of hook-friendly songs about nature and gentle love designed for adults.

The duo joked that it might be their last concert, though because their debut is fairly brief they had to play several new songs just to make the concert long enough (The new songs "Frame" and "So Close to You" both fall in both that "not entirely kids music"  and "awesome" categories.)  While I doubt that Underbirds will be the side project that eventually dwarfs their main gigs, it'd be nice to see the two of them continue to develop their partnership and play a few more shows.  It'd be a shame to let such a good friendship go to waste.

Underbirds - "Bright Leaf" (Live at Symphony Space) [YouTube]​

​[Disclosure: I was provided with complimentary admission to the show.]

Kindiefest 2013: Finding Your Mississippi River

Another Kindiefest has come and gone and all that is left are the bar tabs, sore legs, and hoarse voices.

The seventh annual confab of kindie musicians (fifth as a full-fledged conference) broke its own attendance record this year and moved into new digs, the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) Fisher building.  But the basic concept -- meet, learn, and sing -- remains unchanged.

Every year, I am a little less interested in the panels and a little more interested in the people.  To a large extent, the reason for that is that I don't need to listen to a panel how to make a kindie music record.  It's great for the first-time attendees (of which there are always a lot), but as a veteran non-professional musician, it's not helpful.

What is helpful is talking to people.  I have always found the conversations outside the walls of the conference itself to be most valuable, because those conversations (sometimes aided by bar tabs, though not necessarily) tend to be more real, more likely to generate real sharing, real connections.  Instead of trying to sell a concept or an album, you're trying to understand the other person, and maybe, in that process share who or what you are as a musician (or writer or booker).  Even if you're not sure whether you like someone's music, or writing, or whatever, you can still make a genuine connection.

For my part at the conference, I was asked to present a curated list of kids music videos along with a brief presentation on the history and types of videos.  Frankly, it was just fun seeing all those videos shown on a big screen and through a nice soundsystem.

One thing I only realized as I sat through the entire 40-minute, 13-song DVD I'd compiled was how much the artist's personality comes through in each of those videos.  That was not something I'd consciously done when I picked the videos, but I think it's clear that the artists that have found their band's or personality's heart in their video and it's that clarity that shines through.

The surprise of my video presentation was that I got to world premiere the first-ever video from Lunch Money.  It's for their song "Spicy Kid," and I found Molly's description of it as "half Mentos ad, half Blues Brothers excerpt" as being particularly apropos.  What's more, because it's funny at points, tender at others, it very much feels like Lunch Money, like Molly and the band had found another way to express themselves.

****

Despite my comments above, I did sit through about half of the panels, and while there were lots of useful pieces of information and funny moments, only once did somebody say something that made me dig out my phone and jot down what they said.

It was Molly (natch), who on the panel on "What's Next?" talked about getting the Can You Canoe? disk from the Okee Dokee Brothers for the first time, popping it in the CD player, and listening.  She may have used a curse word in describing her initial reaction, I can't remember properly because that happened several times during the weekend (Kindiefest: Where Kindie Musicians Go To Curse).  But, long story short: she loved the album and felt the Okee Dokee Brothers had found something deep within themselves in singing about their trek down the Mississippi River.  She encouraged the attendees to "find their own Mississippi River," and if that wasn't a metaphor for what folks said all weekend, I'm not sure what is.  Kindie musicians -- and, heck, people generally -- need to let their personalities and artistic goals shine through, and I hope there was enough proof during the weekend of just how valuable that approach can be, certainly artistically, but also even career-wise.  Know your song, and sing it loud.

****

Other notes from the weekend:

-- The industry showcase concert Saturday night was, as always, a combination of more experienced artists who might not have had the broader exposure of the industry stage and more relative newcomers.  The set that most impressed me was definitely Mister G's. He came up on stage with nothing more than a guitar, a kick drum, and his wife, and within 3 minutes (probably more like 2) had the entire crowd close to the stage, clapping and singing along.  By the end of his set, he'd filled the stage with other kindie musicians, and thoroughly entertained us all.

-- Everybody was entertaining in one way or another Saturday night -- live shows almost always add to an artist's reputation -- so I'm hesitant to recommend any more, but a brief shoutout to Vered and the Babes (her backing band of 4 guys), who translated her simple songs focused on bonding with baby into something that worked surprisingly well in a much less-intimate setting.  Also, in the category of "sometimes being unknown is an advantage," newcomers Bears and Lions performed a set featuring songs like "I'm a Mediocre Kid" (much more upbeat and celebratory that the title would imply), people dressed up as bears and lions in track suits, and absurd songs and patter remiscent of other surreal duos like the Telephone Company, The Quiet Two, The Thinkers, and fellow showcase performers Ratboy Jr (pictured here with Dean Jones helping the boys out).

-- I have said that my favorite part of Kindiefest is the connecting with others, and my favorite way of connecting at the festival is probably at the showcase.  It's the singing in 8-part harmony, it's the dancing, and, in the case of the concluding performance from Dan Zanes and Elizabeth Mitchell, even a tunnel for audience to dance under.  It's a communal feeling that underlies the entire conference.  And it's a ton of fun.

-- Other things I liked: The empanadas at the food truck down the street.  Edvard Munch's "The Scream" at MOMA.  Underbirds at Symphony Space and Raffi at Town Hall (more on those separately).  Running around Prospect Park on a beautiful Saturday morning.  Getting to sing with Ella Jenkins.  Talking with fellow kindie folks (too many to name, but I will give a tip of the cap to Jeff Bogle and Dave Loftin).

-- Things I'm sorry I missed: The KindieTalks (especially Laurie Berkner's).  The barbecue place around the corner from BAM.  Sleep.  Walking across the Brooklyn Bridge with Lloyd Miller.  The Sunday public festival.  Stretching.  Bill Childs.

Back in the real world, I'm trying to remember the lessons of Kindiefest, but I think if I just keep searching for my own Mississippi River, I'll be OK.

$9.99: Kindie Music Videos in the Age of YouTube

As some of you know, I recently traveled out to Brooklyn for the annual Kindiefest conference featuring kids musicians, reviewers, radio folks, and others who spend time in the world of making music for and with kids and families.  My purpose of traveling out to New York, aside from catching up in person with kindiefolk of all stripes, was to make a presentation titled "$9.99: Kindie Music Videos in the Age of YouTube."

So late Saturday afternoon, I stood in front of a very large screen and gave a very brief overview of the history of kids music videos.  I also talked a little bit about kindie music video styles and outlets.  I got to say "next slide" a lot.   (For what it's worth, you can see the Powerpoint slides here.)

But all that was really just a prelude to the opportunity to show 13 great kindie music videos from the past 5 or 6 years, videos that show the diversity of approaches, budgets, and styles available to kids music artists.  The one common denominator, I think, is that they all fully commit to telling a story, both about the song itself and the artist's overall vision.  Nobody would ever confuse Eric Herman's "The Elephant Song" and its video with Captain Bogg & Salty's "Pieces of 8ight" video, but nobody would ever say that either video isn't exactly perfect for its associated song.

I can't show you the 14th video we showed just yet -- it was the world premiere of the video for "Spicy Kid" from Lunch Money.  The video, which Molly Ledford described as being a cross between a Mentos ad and a scene from The Blues Brothers  (a spot-on description, by the way), isn't up for public consumption yet.  [Ed.: And now it is!]  Here they are.

How I Got Here: Dean Jones (Laurie Anderson: Mister Heartbreak)

Dean Jones is the mad genius behind Dog on Fleas and, as an in-demand producer, about a quarter of ​the kindie albums you'll hear in 2013.

​With the upcoming release of his latest solo album, When the World Was New​, on May 14, Jones authored the latest in the "How I Got Here" series, featuring kindie musicians talking about albums influencing them as musicians.

Dean's piece on composer/musician/performance artist Laurie Anderson's ​mid-'80s album Mister Heartbreak​ is a little bit like the album itself -- you can focus on the words and get some meaning, but you can also just focus on the sounds, the contour of the piece, and get a pretty good sense of its influence on him.

***​

Laurie Anderson's 1984 album Mister Heartbreak is one of my all time favorite records.

It's a little hard for me to talk about music.  (Kind of like dancing about architecture.)  But this album is more than just music to me.  It's a sculpture.  It's stories.  Sound.  Color.   It puts me in a mood.  I can't describe the mood that very well.  Open.  Playful.  Thoughtful.   Meditative.  

This album certainly changed the way I hear music.  And it really clarified for me the fact that I'm as much in love with SOUND as I am with music.  Is there really a difference?  I think so.  I know that I have fallen in love with the sounds on the Beatles records.  And Tom Waits records.  And I have always been drawn to certain sounds, like the Indonesian gamelon instruments, and  the various one and two-stringed fiddle type instruments found in various societies as far from each other as Mongolia and Mali.  I also like the sound of all kinds of birds.  Is it their song or just the tone and timbre of their voices?  I like the sound of footsteps, grass rustling, breathing, trees rubbing up against each other.... the list goes on and on.  Tongues touching teeth.  

Somehow this album made it quite clear to me that one could make music that could be closer to sculpture than to any traditional song form.  The sounds evoke images in my mind of elephants, sunrises, movement, and space.  Wonder, and longing.  All kinds of feelings come up.  The sounds are sometimes like a world of their own.  I could live in them.  

"He was an ugly guy.  With an ugly face. An also-ran in the human race.  And even God got sad just looking at him.  And at his funeral all his friends stood around looking sad.  But they were really thinking of all the ham and cheese sandwiches in the next room."

Laurie Anderson is a master of language.  An amazing storyteller and poet.  She loves to look at big things like humanity and love, and stories like Adam and Eve, and rethink them from her unique perspective.   And her delivery, mostly spoken, not sung, is so much more musical to me than most singers are.  The nuance of her rhythm and phrasing is incredible.  I love to listen to music, whether it's instrumental, sung in English, or any other language, and I often just tune out the words.  It's just how I listen.  Sometimes I tune into lyrics, but often it's just a texture.  And with Laurie Anderson's voice I am happy to just let the lyrics ebb and flow in and out of my conscious listening.  But I can listen to this record twice back to back and allow myself to follow her stories more on the second listen.

Here's a bit of her Adam and Eve retelling:

"And the woman liked the snake very much.  Because when he talked he made little noises with his tongue, and his long tongue was lightly licking about his lips.  Like there was a little fire inside his mouth and the flame would come dancing out of his mouth.  And the woman liked this very much.  And after that she was bored with the man.  Because no matter what happened, he was always as happy as a clam."

Maybe I'm seduced by the sound of Laurie Anderson's voice, but I think her writing is genius.  

Something that sound sculpture like this allows for -- words don't have to rhyme.  You don't have to have everything be totally divisible by 4 or 8.  You can, but you don't have to.  The words can fit into spaces.  You can leave spaces.  Or not.   Even the music doesn't always have to be divisible by 4.  It can be in no time signature.  

So, what are the sounds on this record?  Well the guitars don't often sound like guitars.  And I still don't know who's making what sounds most of the time.  The sounds are hypnotic and magnetic.  Laurie sometimes puts her voice through a vocoder, which was a pretty new thing at the time, well before it became a Top 40 gimmick.  Some of the instruments listed:  plywood, kayagum, electronic conches, iya and ikonkolo, bamboo, gato, Synclavier, bowls.  Adrien Belew plays some of the greatest guitar you will ever hear.  Peter Gabriel, Nile Rodgers, Bill Laswell, and William Burroughs are heavily featured.   

I was thinking about my latest album, When the World Was New, and realized what a debt I owe to Laurie Anderson, lyrically and musically.  It may not sound at all like her, but she's in there for sure.

Newborn: Bears and Lions

There are lots of words and pictures to share from Kindiefest 2013, and I'll be doing that shortly.  But I didn't want too much time to pass by before sharing the music from Bears and Lions, a new band from Hollywood, South Carolina.

I think there were other sets that were more popular and frankly better at the industry showcase on Saturday night.  But I'm pretty sure if I polled those of us huddled stage right, the set that had us laughing the most and saying something like, "I have no idea what that was, but it might have been brilliant" was from this duo of two guys dressed up as a bear and a lion wearing basketball uniforms and strumming guitars, telling the story in song of a bear and a lion who... oh, what does it matter?  They played a song called "Mediocre Kid" which might just be an anthem -- yes, it's about an average -- maybe even mediocre -- kid, but the song somehow manages to be inspirational.  For the song "Good Boy," they managed to get Recess Monkey's Drew Holloway to act like a dog.  It was just a loopy, occasionally surreal performance that resulted in people loudly shouting "Pancake Sweepstakes!" in unison.

​A lot of people were reminded of The Telephone Company, and I totally get that (duo? check; surreal? check), but the first band that came to my mind was The Thinkers (duo? check; surreal? check).  There's even a touch of the late, lamented Quiet Two in there, at least if they had been influenced by Southern rock rather than the British Invasion.  [Edit: Not to mention, of course, fellow showcaser Ratboy Jr., though their songs are more whimsical than Bears and Lions'.]

So I haven't quite made up my mind yet about them, but I can't wait until they're ready to unleash an entire album onto the world.  Listen to 5 songs below plus watch a couple live videos (not from Kindiefest), and pick up a free track here.

Weekly Summary (4/22/13 - 4/28/13)

I am recovering from my yearly Kindiefest escapade (though "escapade" doesn't sound quite right), but even though I didn't post anything on the main site, there were a handful of posts on the rest of the site.

Blog:  This upcoming week, I promise.

Videos: "Hangin' Around" - Debbie and Friends

Listen to Music: Good Morning, My Love (Sampler) - Vered

Free Music:  "Rock Melon" - Gustafer Yellowgold

Kids Music Reviews: None this week...

Upcoming Releases: Expect some updates to the page very shortly.  Lots of new stuff announced.

Kindie Week in Review: Episode 13: Center of the Kindieverse / One Big Clip

My Other Other Gig: Not this time around...