Dust Lane

When Yann Tiersen played a show at Club Soda in Montreal a couple years ago, I couldn't miss it.

Other than Tiersen himself, someone I remember well from that show was the woman next to us. She was clearly unhappy with what she was hearing. Her eye-rolling and body language of displeasure was so expansive it seemed she was trying to make even the band notice her, that she hated what they were doing. Why someone would pay for a ticket only to mock and jeer at the performer would normally have been hard to understand, but not in this case.

The first thing I noticed at that show was the absence of an accordion, making one suspect he wasn't going to perform songs from Amelie. The second was the electric guitar Tiersen played through most of the show. Anyone expecting gentle accordion and piano instrumental pieces, and that included us, was in for a surprise. Tiersen has many fans who normally listen to classical music exclusively, but what we saw could only have been described as an indie rock show. A superb and innovative indie rock show. I happen to be an indie rock fan, and clearly the woman next to us wasn't, but her attitude couldn't have been farther from ours at that show.

After the show I went looking for a recorded version of what we heard, but couldn't find one. I had started to think the tour was a one-off thing without an album to accompany it, until I finally got a copy of the 2010 album Dust Lane. The album has more old Tiersen-esque sounds - accordion, strings - than I remember from the show, but the distorted guitar and full drum kit are conspicuously present. Some songs, such as "Till the End," have an anthemic, "Godspeed" quality. Some are more indie-pop, like the Stars or Death Cab. Mostly it's something only Yann Tiersen would write, even if it's decidedly not Amelie.

Yann Tiersen has been among my favorite song writers for some time, and what I love most about him is his eclecticism and experimentation. Dust Lane is no exception. My concert-going neighbor probably wouldn't like the album any more than the show, but she's clearly a fool. 

Mini doc featuring The Werneckes

Here's a nice mini documentary from Vancouver. One of my songs, as The Werneckes - Looking Forward to April, from the album of the same name - is featured at the end. More of my stuff, and other music can be found at fundamentalfrequency.com.

Beautiful Work from Without Illusions on Vimeo.

Andrew Bird

I'm a big fan of Andrew Bird, and this performance is especially wonderful. Around 16 minutes in St. Vincent joins in:

K'naan

There are people with personal stories so compelling that they immediately command your attention. Occasionally, this intersects with some talent or charisma and they stand out in a way that is hard to describe. One obvious example is Barack Obama, who’s autobiography Dream's from my Father would be worth reading even if the boy in the story didn't go on to become president.

Another is K'naan. Born in Somalia, he grew up during the Somali civil war in one of Mogadishu’s worst neighborhoods – the “lake of blood” district. He learned to speak English by reciting the words of American hip-hop albums phonetically. During the peak of the civil war, he and his family were able to escape to New York and then to the Somali community in Toronto.

Like a less cryptic Saul Williams, K’naan’s rhymes often bridge the poetry/hip-hop divide, yet he does it in a way that you can listen to the music as just hip-hop, rather than “music with a message.” As a pop cultural figure, it’s hard to imagine someone more authentic and positive. I love to think of how pampered pseudo-gangsters react to K’naan.

New Werneckes Album!

I just released my third album under the name The Werneckes. I wrote and recorded all the tracks in my bedroom studio from early to late 2008. It can also go by "the blog-titled album." Check it out at www.fundamentalfrequency.com.