Pete Yorn

Pete Yorn at Murray Theater
All ages Welcome
$20+service charge
Sunday August 16, 2009 7:00pm

More info here.

Pete's fourth album Back and Fourth is currently available only on iTunes.  For those of you who haven't picked it up yet, do yourself a favor and take the time to click the 5 times or so you'll need to download it.  Plus, if you get the new album from iTunes you get 2 bonus tracks - including a re-recorded (and quite lovely) version of Rooftop.  

This one's worth every penny - I'd say it's his best work since musicforthemorningafter.  

Anyways, here's my song of the summer, courtesy of Pete - enjoy:

[mp3] Close

Back and Fourth will be available everywhere else June 23rd.

Get the new album on  iTunes

Visit Pete online:  Official | Myspace

     I've noticed a vast disparity in the range of reactions to Scarlett Johansson's album of Tom Waits covers, Anywhere I Lay My Head.  It's like everyone who hates her for being pretty hated her album, while anyone who wants to kiss her heaped praises upon it.  Reviewers, I'll save you some time with her upcoming collaborative record with Pete Yorn:  Yes, she's pretty.  No, she probably doesn't want to kiss you.

    Now let's start speculating on their relationship!

Just when I thought I'd delivered you all the new Yorn there was to offer I end up with this little gem in the inbox.  For a limited time you can pick up this softie from Pete via spinner.com.  Follow the link below.

The track (Don't Wanna Cry) will be featured on Pete's now-titled Fourth album, Back and Fourth.  Awww...nice and clever with the title there Pete.  The album is due out June 23rd.  Tour dates are forthcoming.  Here's the tracklisting:

1. Don't Wanna Cry
2. Paradise Cove
3. Close
4. Social Development Dance
5. Shotgun
6. Last Summer
7. Thinking of You
8. Country
9. Four Years
10. Long Time

Pick up the new track while you can!

[mp3] Don't Wanna Cry (via Spinner.com)

Visit him online:  Official | Myspace
Get his music:  Amazon | iTunes

I don't know about you, but I'm always yearning for more Yorn.  Luckily enough for us all, the man's putting out some more new music this year.  You may recall an earlier post featuring American Blues, now we have a few more tracks to keep us all twitter-pated.

Pete's Myspace is streaming three new tracks right now, and if you hop on over to I Am Fuel, You are Friends you can download 2 of the tracks in their entirety.  I've posted the third track, an out-take from the Nightcrawler sessions (which, quite frankly, should have made the cut) called Can't Hear Anyone.  It's a keeper in my book.

A tour and new album are all heading our way this year.  I'll keep you posted once I hear more.

[mp3] Can't Hear Anyone

Visit Heather's phenomenal blog for two more new songs.

Visit him online:  Official | Myspace
Get his music:  Amazon | iTunes

You kids have probably heard of this whatchacallit "Pandora" before, am I right?  I remember back in my younger days I would hear talk about it too.  The talk mostly consisted of, "have you tried out Pandora yet?  It's awesome," or, "my new favorite thing is Pandora!."  I am generally averse to things that everyone recommends to me, so I ended up avoiding this musical engine for some time.  It finally caught on for me (as most things I avoid usually do) after the popular phase has passed, so it's not quite as hip and cool as it once was.

Anyways, you're probably still wondering about this "Pandora Experience," yes?  Well okay then, I shall explain to you the thing I just made up.  The Pandora Experience is where you're listening to the station of a band you enjoy and you hear an outstanding song from some band you've never heard of (or vaguely heard of), and the song is so outstanding that you go out and look up further songs by said some band at home, possibly even in your free time!

Yeah, for quite a while I didn't think the Experience actually happened.  I'd go and listen to the Pete Yorn station (for example) and it would play a PY song, followed by a Death Cab for Cutie song, followed by a Counting Crows song, further followed by a Rhett Miller song, until it finally got back to another Pete Yorn song.  I was fine with it at first, because I know and like all those bands, but after a while I wanted to scream: "play something new!  DO IT!"

Finally, it happened.  It was a normal day, like any other.  I flipped on the ol' Pandora, mostly just to drown out the annoying music what gets played at the job.  It happened to be on the Pete Yorn station.  I'm kinda half listening (as one often does when one knows what one is going to hear), and all of a sudden BAM! awesome song.  The awesomeness struck me in the face approximately 1/4 of the way through the track.  I listened and just wanted to rewind and hear that track again and again, but (unfortunately) Pandora doesn't let you do it.  I won't lie, I was disappointed when the song ended.  But then, out of nowhere, BA-BAM!, back-to-back awesome songs!  I was in disbelief.  How was this possible?  I thought I must have died and gone to some awesome heaven.  So, how 'bout some band names-slash-tracks you say?  Okay!

I had actually heard of Matt Nathanson a while back (it was hard not to if you were at any time a Howie Day fan).  I had randomly listened to tracks by Mr. Nathanson, but none of 'em ever drew me in.  That is until I heard Curve of the Earth on Pandora.  It's nothing ground-breaking, but it is good solid pop-rock with a great hook.  Songs like this one are going to force me to probe his work more thoroughly

[mp3] Matt Nathanson - Curve of the Earth (Live)

Download the rest of this show at archive.org
Buy: Amazon | iTunes
Visit: Official | Myspace

I can almost say positively that I would not have heard anything by this band had it not been for my random Pandora moment.  It's not that I'd never heard of Matt Pond PA, I definitely had prior to this.  No; but it's kind of hard to explain.  They're one of those bands that you've heard talked about and described just enough to think you know what they sound like without ever hearing them.  It's a strange concept, I know, (and probably another type of thing that solely applies to me) but I think it definitely applied in this case.  I'm glad I finally heard them though, 'cuz Matt Pond PA has some good stuff.  I'm not even gonna hint at the sound either; you're going to be forced to listen yourself!  Bwahaha!

[mp3] Matt Pond PA - Devil in the Water

Download The Freeep from mattpondpa.com
Buy: Amazon | iTunes
Visit: Official | Myspace

In the pocket book, that is.  Here's to hoping the government will give me sweet bailout so I can take me a vacation. Lordy Lord knows I need me a tax payer funded vacation.

Well, until then Pete Yorn has written a song to help ease the pain for the rest of us.  You can download it at his Myspace (where it states he's recording new material!) or you could just click the link below. 

Whatev.

[mp3] American Blues, Volume 1

Get some Yorn:  Amazon | iTunes
Visit him online:  Official | Myspace

The soundtrack is quite possibly the most underrated part of a movie. Really though, what truly great movies have not had a similarly brilliant companion soundtrack? It's not just about picking the right music, it's about getting the right feeling to move the story along. Directors that can pair the sites with the sounds deliver a product that is truly moving. This week's six pack focuses on the often-overlooked soundtrack. Kraig goes first this week.

Sure, that little intro sounds a little mushy and you certainly need a mushy song for a mushy movie. But what about if you've an ass-kicking movie? Well, then you need your self an ass-kicking song.

The Departed was a brilliant film, absolutely fantastic. The film deserved all the critical acclaim it received and more. Truth is, I probably wouldn't find myself re-watching it again and again if it wasn't for this monstrous tune by The Dropkick Murphys. It sets the tone early on for the entire movie. I can't stress how important that "tone" was, especially given the length of the movie. Is this song solely responsible for the success of the film? Hell no. Did it a play a part? Surely did.

[mp3] I'm Shipping Up to Boston

Get the soundtrack: Amazon | iTunes
Buy some Dropkick Murphys: Amazon | iTunes
Visit them online: Official | Myspace

Now we'll get back to that touchy-feely crap. Once was an ambitious film that was more of a soundtrack turning into a film rather than a set of songs setting up a film. When a film focuses so much on music it's absolutely critical that the music is able to stand up on it's own. The soundtrack for Once is certainly able to do so.

Falling Slowly is the standout track in my mind. The duet version is very sweet and subtle. I've also posted the full band version from Glen's band, The Frames. I prefer the full band version just because it has a little more depth - there's more drama, more of a build...but both are fantastic.

[mp3] Falling Slowly (Glen & Marketa)
[mp3] Falling Slowly (The Frames)

Get the soundtrack: Amazon | iTunes
Buy some Glen Hansard: Amazon | iTunes
Visit him online: Official | Myspace

Flexibility is the middle name I have just now given to Stereophonics' wonderful track, "Maybe Tomorrow." Not only does it serve as a great opening credits song (a la Wicker Park) but it also functions as an excellent closeout number (in Crash). How many songs could ever hope to accomplish that? That's right, not many, thus my new nickname: Maybe 'Flexibility' Tomorrow. Think of it like the middle name 'Danger,' it actually makes sense that way. Anyway, it's an all around great track, and if you've never heard it you're probably missing out on 3 great things (2 movies, 1 song). Start with the listening and finish up with the viewing, that's my advice.

[mp3] Maybe Tomorrow

Get the soundtrack: [Crash] Amazon | iTunes [Wicker Park] Amazon | iTunes
Buy some Stereophonics: Amazon | iTunes
Visit them online: Official | Myspace
 

Not appearing in the film (at least not to my knowledge) but appearing on the soundtrack is this funky number from Maroon 5 entitled "Woman." And it is funky, don't let the appearance of the name "Maroon 5" sway your downloading judgment. Interesting sidenote: I wouldn't listen to Maroon 5 for a long time because I didn't think they were my "thing." I finally jumped on the bandwagon after hearing this number, and was pleasantly surprised with most of their stuff from Songs About Jane. I have since jumped off the bandwagon (as is the tendency with all bandwagons), but this remains my favorite Maroon 5 song.

[mp3] Woman

Get the soundtrack: Amazon | iTunes
Buy some Maroon 5: Amazon | iTunes
Visit them online: Official | Myspace

Another song used on a Spider-man movie, this little ditty appeared on the soundtrack for the first one. The lyric in the chorus is "walk me to a car-park," a weird phrase Pete got from a woman he dated. She was from New Zealand, and referred to parking lots as car-parks. Okay story, great song.

[mp3] Undercover

Buy some Pete Yorn: Amazon | iTunes
Visit him online: Official | Myspace

No, not that "Umbrella."
I have been a fan of Peter Stuart and Dog's Eye View for a long time, in no small part due to this song, and its presence in the silly teen comedy Can't Hardly Wait.

[mp3] Umbrella

The sites: Official | Myspace
The sounds: iTunes | Amazon

Ah, it's covers. I love covers. I'm not sure why I have such a fascination with one band playing another's music, but it always has (and always will) intrigue me. Sometimes they bring something new to the song or emphasize it in a way you never thought of it. Sometimes it's just really, really shitty. We'll try to avoid those ones. To start things off, I (Kraig) will take you out to Africa for my selections.

Both of the tracks I'm posting come from the album In the Name of Love, which is more or less a tribute to U2. All of the tracks on the album are U2 songs performed by African bands/artists. As you can imagine, these often take off in directions you wouldn't normally find in your "typical" cover.

I'm not going to pretend to be all knowing when it comes to the music you'll find on the album, but I recommend picking it up if you're into covers and/or if you're into U2. You'll certainly dig it if you listen to a bit of "world" music (whatever that means today).

Anyways, this first track caught my ear and got my interest in the album. You'll recognize it as a cover, but it takes off with some different beats and splits out of English during the verses.

[mp3] Mysterious Ways

Buy her music online: Amazon | iTunes
Visit her online: Official | Myspace

...and here we have another take on a U2 classic. Not much in the instrumental department, but it probably delivers the message at the heart of the song better than Bono could with his mates.

[mp3] Pride (In the Name of Love)

Buy some of their music online: Amazon | iTunes
Visit them online: Official | Myspace

I'm sure you all heard this blaring through sunroofs and fancy cars with tops down last summer/fall. It's still a regular on my playlists. I highly recommend listening to this one in headphones if you haven't yet.

[mp3] Hard Sun

Buy some Pearl Jam online: Amazon | iTunes
Visit PJ/Eddie online: Official | Myspace

Back to the album - I recommend picking it up if for nothing else than to expose yourself to some music you wouldn't normally listen to. Since it's a cover album it's a bit easier to step into the "world" music genre because you'll already know the songs. Check it out here on Amazon, visit the official page (with streams) here.

Speaking of Africa...Howie Day does a pretty awesome cover of Africa. This version is from his 4-21-01 show, and you should probably go pick up the whole show for FREE from archive.org. You can't argue with free!

[mp3] Howie Day - Africa

Back in the days before Stop All The World Now, it used to be a pretty popular thing to go to Howie Day shows and yell, "FORTY-ONE!!!" at him. I'm not sure why, I've heard his cover of #41 (originally by the Dave Matthews Band) and it never really jumped out at me. At least it didn't jump out at me like this cover of a cover (supposedly Howie covers this like DMB covers it, therefore cover-of-a-cover). Truth be told, this is the first Howie Day song I ever heard. It's an interesting first song to hear, mostly because you aren't expecting the raw emotion and passion (or the excellent screaming). This one's from his 7-20-99 show, which is also free at archive.org.

[mp3] Howie Day - All Along the Watchtower

Buy some Howie Day: Amazon | iTunes
Visit him online: Official | Myspace | theHDTB

This cover comes straight from Petey's most recent album, Nightcrawler. Originally by Warren Zevon, Pete's take on Splendid Isolation is very well done (I'm a fan of the harmonica work myself). Incidentally, splendid isolation is also a foreign policy pursued by Britain during the late 19th century. So ya, now you know that.

[mp3] Pete Yorn - Splendid Isolation

Buy some Pete Yorn: Amazon | iTunes
Visit him online: Official | Myspace

No picks from Brock this week kiddies, he's internet-less right now (hence the lack of Brockness lately). Hopefully he'll get that resolved soon. We're missing a certain dash of Lurp 'round these parts...

Sometimes I get a little bothered by the total isolation that life in Utah can bring. The music scene is pretty dull in the town I live in, campus life revolves more around Sunday mornings than Saturday nights and the complete and utter domination of conservative values is a little too much to handle at times.

It's times like these that I'm quite happy that I can at least drive down to Salt Lake every once and again and see a kick ass show and forget about Simpleton, USA for a few hours. While I know that Salt Lake may not be the "real world", it's at least a step up for me.

Back to the point at hand - Stu and I were able to see the Hotel Cafe Tour in Salt Lake a few weeks ago and ever since then I've been a bit depressed about the music scene in my neck 'o the woods. There's not a whole lot of talent to be had here, despite being in a "college town" and most people here seem more interested in knocking everyone else around rather than just playing good music. It's a pity, really - and one that exposed itself in my mind while watching the artists on the Hotel Cafe Tour. All of the artists that played were immensely talented and could have drawn a crowd on their own, but they chose to tour together instead. Ticket prices could have been higher but they seemed to be more concerned about helping each other out and bringing everyone's name to the masses, rather then just their own.

After the show I spent some time looking into other artists who've found a starting point at the Hotel Cafe. Waz is one of the singer-songwriters that I've found myself listening to most as a result of this little search.

Waz original hit the spotlight quite a while ago as the original guitarist for Pete Yorn's band back in the early 2000's. After a few days of listening to Waz's music I can certainly feel Pete's influence on him. The songwriting is great, though I can't say that the vocal presence is on Pete's level. It's a bit more poppy than most of the songs Pete puts out, and there's more keys (which I dig) but it has the same kind of feel. Waz can write a hell of a bridge too, the two songs at the end of the post both take dramatic (and well done) turns at the end of the song. Bottom line - if you like Pete Yorn, you'll probably like Waz.

It seems that after Waz has started seeing some success of his own. His full length solo album was released in January, he's had a song featured on "The Hills" and he was able to meet up and associate with the Hotel Cafe Tour gang. Not bad for the new kid, all out on his own now.

[mp3] Mine To Remember
[mp3] She's Gone

Buys some WAZ: Amazon | iTunes
Visit WAZ online: Official | Myspace