Happy Holidays from Between Love and Like

2011 was a great year for a variety of reasons here at BL&L HQ, more so because the whole photography portion of things really took off. We shot a whole lot of photographs for Washington City Paper, The Vinyl District, and 930 Club this year, often so much that we didn't always keep things current here. So, FYI, we are going off the grid for a few days here but plan to have a great 2011 wrap up for the Washington City Paper by the year's end, which we'll also post here.

Coming up on our fourth anniversary here, we know we aren't always the place for breaking music news but do try to provide news that's never boring with pretty things to look at while you read. We are grateful to know our readers stay with us regardless, and keep encouraging us to continue with things. Thanks so much.

Here's hoping you get what you want for whatever holiday you celebrate. Happy holidays y'all.

Lights That Shine in the Evening: John Davis of Title Tracks @ Smithsonian's "Luce Unplugged" Series

I shot the Luce Unplugged December performance yesterday at the Smithsonian Museum of American Art. "Luce Unplugged" is a monthly series that has a local musician come play for an hour after chatting about one of the paintings in the area of his/her choice. It's a great idea, one that showcases the two things DC has a lot of: local musicians and free Smithsonian events.

The performer for December was Title Tracks frontman John Davis, who performed some great covers, as well as tracks of his own. My piece for the Washington City Paper is live here, and you can see additional photos from the performance here.

Bruce Springsteen Plays "American Slang" with Gaslight Athem in Asbury Park on Friday

The NJ powerhouse The Gaslight Anthem did a show on the Jersey shore Friday, at Convention Hall in Asbury Park. If you've never been, Convention Hall is on the boardwalk, next to a Howard Johnsons foncy ponts supper club, and is probably as big as your grammar school auditorium with better acoustics. A show there in and of itself would be something. But the boys went one better and, as a holiday gift to fans, brought that other NJ powerhouse up to join them, the one whose Christmas shows at Convention Hall are shows of legend, Bruce Springsteen, for "American Slang."

I was supposed to shoot this show, and missing Gaslight at a place this small was a heartbreaker. But then hearing Bruce did show up? Let's just say it's good we Catholics believe suicide is a mortal sin. But thankfully, we got video of it!

Black Keys New Record, El Camino, Out in December

The Black Keys announced that El Camino, the follow up to Brothers, will drop on 12/6. Danger Mouse helped produce El Camino so one can only ponder of the interesting combination of sounds we will get. (Hot fact of the day: Danger Mouse produced their 2008 record Attack & Release as well.) The first single,“Lonely Boy,” will be released 10/26.

Black Keys' guitarist and singer Dan Auerbach says of El Camino, “I think where this record is going to shine for me is playing the songs live. This record is more straight ahead rock and roll—raw, driving, and back to basics.”

El Camino is the first Black Keys album that Nonesuch Records will release worldwide.

El Camino track list
1. Lonely Boy
2. Dead and Gone
3. Gold on the Ceiling
4. Little Black Submarines
5. Money Maker
6. Run Right Back
7. Sister
8. Hell of a Season
9. Stop Stop
10. Nova Baby
11. Mind Eraser

Gaslight Anthem Moves Labels, Signs with Mercury Records

Gaslight Anthem announced today that they have moved labels, from Side One Dummy to Mercury Records.

We're pleased to announce that we have just signed with Mercury Records (that's Mercury/Island-Def Jam Records for North America and Mercury Records UK for the rest of the world). We have had a great run with the folks at Side One Dummy Records, they have been really terrific to work with, and they will always be our dear friends. We in the band felt that this was the best time to make a move to ...support our goals as a band, and we've met some really earnest and dedicated folks at Mercury US and UK. We're hard at work writing songs now for what we feel is going to be the best record we've ever made! Thanks to everyone for your support and we look forward to seeing you in 2012!

Thanks!
The Gaslight Anthem

Gaslight will release its iTunes Session of four covers, "The Who, Pearl Jam, The Animals and Tom Petty, along with one track that we have never put on a record before called “Our Fathers Sons” and a new version of “Boxer,"" on 12/13.

Lights That Flash in the Evening: Jens Lekman @ Sixth & I Synagogue, Washington, DC (10-5-2011)

Singer/songwriter Jens Lekman may, at first listen, seem like a strange Swede. His songs, like "I Broke Up a Fight" and "Waiting for Kirsten," a song about waiting to see Kirsten Dunst at her hotel in his hometown, seem, well, odd. Lekman's songs initially appear as silly musical stories about nothing. But then he brings out a line that just nails how it feels when go through one of the deep situations we all endure at some point while on this mortal coil, and your perception is immediately changed. Lekman covers them all, heartache/hope/love/longing, and in the end, be it from his silly stories or his perfectly capturing the human emotion in verse, you don't feel serious or melancholy, you feel uplifted .

My Washington City Paper piece will be up here later today. See more photos from the set here.

Lights That Flash in the Evening: Bryan Ferry @ Strathmore, Bethesda, MD (10-3-2011)

Shooting for the WCP has me hopping lately so I've been remiss in doing the double post over to here as well. But I had the great pleasure last night of shooting the swelligant vision that is Bryan Ferry. Admittedly, I was rather nervous-when shooting an icon, you don't want to mess it up and you want the shots to be beautiful. The trouble with Ferry's set last night is that he seemed to dislike being in a spotlight. Every other band member-guitar player, go-go girls (of course he had go-go girls, he's Bryan Ferry), saxophonist, backup singers-they all had spotlights. But not Ferry. According to a member of his crew, that was Ferry's decision, something they had been trying to get him away from for years now.

A true shame because Bryan Ferry has forever been a crooner of cool and sultan of style. At 66, the man is still in great shape physically and vocally. His cover of Dylan's "Make You Feel My Love" will stop you in your tracks.

See the WCP piece here and the rest of the photos from the set here.

R.E.M. Announce the Band is Done

To our Fans and Friends: As R.E.M., and as life-long friends and co-conspirators, we have decided to call it a day as a band. We walk away with a great sense of gratitude, of finality, and of astonishment at all we have accomplished. To any who ever felt touched by our music, our deepest thanks for listening. R.E.M. (Source)

It's the end of an era, and for some, the end of the world as we know it...R.E.M. called it quits today after 31 years together as a band. The reason was not any dramatic, just, as Mike Mills put it on their website, "The time just feels right."

A hat-tip to you boys, I know you certainly added much to my adolescent ears and music tastes (not to mention my taste buds...gotta love that Weaver D's!). You also taught an entire generation that there was music to be had beyond what we were being fed on regular FM radio, music that was tremendous, that could (and did!) change your outlook, your beliefs, as well as your life. God-speed gents, you done good.

You can read more comments by the band about the breakup here.

"Everyday Sunshine: The Story of Fishbone" Out in October, Laurence Fishburne Narrating

When Fishbone first emerged from California, no other band sounded or looked like them, and the weight of their innovative and iconic presence is still being felt decades later. Coinciding with the group’s 25th anniversary, filmmakers Lev Anderson & Chris Metzler have directed a compelling new documentary, narrated by Laurence Fishburne. "Everyday Sunshine: The Story of Fishbone" is both a fascinating and brutally honest look at the band’s history for longtime fans, as well as a perfect entry point for newcomers.

Everyday Sunshine will open on October 7th at the ReRun Theater in Brooklyn, NY, and on October 21st at the Laemmle Sunset 5 in Los Angeles, CA. Many other cities (including Chicago, San Francisco, Boston, DC) will follow. The band is also celebrating their 25th anniversary with the release of their much-anticipated new EP, Crazy Glue, out on October 11th on DC Jam Records.

Everyday Sunshine is a documentary about the band Fishbone, musical pioneers who have been rocking on the margins of pop culture for the past 25 years. From the streets of South Central-Los Angeles and the competitive Hollywood music scene of the 1980's, the band rose to prominence, only to fall apart when on the verge of "making it."

The documentary includes interviews with: Gwen Stefani (No Doubt), Flea (Red Hot Chili Peppers), Ice-T (rapper), Branford Marsalis (saxophonist), Perry Farrell (Jane’s Addiction, Porno For Pyros), Questlove (The Roots), and more.

Trailer:

Lights That Flash in the Evening (Err...Day): Nicole Atkins In-Store @ Som Records, Washington, DC (8-7-2011)

Nicole Atkins was in DC over the weekend to play The Birchmere but she came by Som Records for an in-store (or on-sidewalk as it was). Atkins was supposed to be plugged in, but no proper cable could be found, so what we got instead was her lovely voice and an acoustic guitar-I think we made out better in the end. If you don't know her, she's well worth investigating: her songs are observant and witty, with a voice like the blues covered in honey.

I shot Atkins' set for The Vinyl District-DC, which you can check out over here.

Lights That Flash in the Evening: Archers of Loaf @ Black Cat, Washington, DC (8-5-2011)

The late 90s were quite a time to be in the North Carolina Triangle if you were a music nerd. One of the Triangle's bigger-name bands, Archers of Loaf,went on its hiatus around the time of my arrival for graduate school in '98, so they were one I never got to see live. Which I think is why I wasn't so much into them then. On record, I didn't catch the melody and the hooks enough to dig further than Icky Mettle, and on that, I definitely preferred the more accessible tracks like "Web in Front" and "Plumbline.

Friday night at the Black Cat changed my mind on that. Oh, what a dumb little girl I have been.

Archers live is full of powerful bravado and a drum-and-bass combo that is a visceral call to arms. After they started, bass player Matt Gentling asked us in the first row, "Hey, if you see my amps start to topple over, can you let me know?" Amps tend to do that when you have someone pogoing in front of them for 90 straight minutes (thankfully, they stayed in place). The melodies and hooks that alluded me on record jackhammered my eardrums over the set's 21 songs and it was glorious. Archers of Loaf on record is one thing, but Archers of Loaf live was how rock music should be played.







Other photos from the set can be seen here.

Check out my piece in the Washington City Paper about the show here.

"Rave On Buddy Holly" Tribute Record to Include, Well, Everyone

LA Times reported today that a Buddy Holly tribute with, well, everyone in music today is coming out in June.

Rave On Buddy Holly, out 6/28, will include 19-tracks from folks like Modest Mouse, Cee Lo Green, and The Black Keys.

“As the tracks from various contributors were gathered for the album, we seemed to be gathering pieces of a complex and original puzzle … that traces back to the roots of rock and roll and shapes so much of the music that followed," says the press release. Rave On will, apparently, "steer clear of the reverent re-creations typically found on similar projects." Maybe that's why the peppy "Rave On" will be done by the droll-voice of Julian Casablancas?


Rave On Buddy Holly Tracklist:

1. "Dearest," The Black Keys
2. "Every Day," Fiona Apple & Jon Brion
3. "It’s So Easy," Paul McCartney
4. "Not Fade Away," Florence + The Machine
5. "(You’re So Square) Baby, I Don’t Care," Cee Lo Green
6. "Crying, Waiting, Hoping," Karen Elson
7. "Rave On," Julian Casablancas
8. "I’m Gonna Love You Too," Jenny O.
9. "Maybe Baby," Justin Townes Earle
10. "Oh Boy," She & Him
11. "Changing All Those Changes," Nick Lowe
12. "Words Of Love," Patti Smith
13. "True Love Ways," My Morning Jacket
14. "That’ll Be The Day," Modest Mouse
15. "Well… All Right," Kid Rock
16. "Heartbeat," The Detroit Cobras
17. "Peggy Sue," Lou Reed
18. "Peggy Sue Got Married," John Doe
19. "Raining In My Heart," Graham Nash

Happy Fat Tuesday Y'All

It's Fat Tuesday in Nawlins right now, the last bit of tearing things up before Ash Wednesday and the start of Lent comes around. Professor Longhair was my introduction to Cajun stomp and New Orleans in general, so if you can't be there in person, at least your ears can.

Two Phrases I Never Thought I'd Put Together: "My Photo" and "New York Magazine"

I photographed the Jonathan Richman show on Saturday at the 930 Club (read all about it here) for the paper. Shortly after their uploading, I got an email from New York Magazine asking about their using one of the photos for their concert roundup segment on their Vulture section.

A girl can't say no to that...So we didn't. Check out the photo they used here.

Lights That Flash in the Evening: Tommy Stinson @ Iota, Arlington, VA (2-17-2011)

My piece on Tommy Stinson's Iota show last week went live today over at the WCP. I like the coziness of Iota but the lighting there is like shooting in a cave sometimes. Rather, a cave decorated for Christmas. I worked on them in post, but they're still too dark for my liking. You can see the full set of shots here.

One thing I couldn't put in the WCP piece was a set list from the show, so without further ado...

Match
Moment Too Soon
Hey You
Turn It Up
Making of an Asshole
One Man Mutiny (new song I believe)
Without a View
Zero to Stupid
Stupid Us
It's a Drag
Makes Me Happy
Hateful
Now We Come to Hide
Friday Night Is Killing Me
Cmon Get Happy (Partridge Family cover sung, no lie, standing on the Iota bar)

Lights That Flash in the Evening: Jason Isbell @ 930 Club (1-14-2010)

My piece on Jason Isbell's set at the 930 Club on Friday went live today at the paper today. Check it out here.

Additional photos from the set can be found here.

Yes, Virginia, the Archers of Loaf Show Last Night Really Did Happen...

From another Chapel Hill expatriate, I give you the visual evidence that it did indeed happen, the great Archers of Loaf reunited last night as the second opening band for Love Language last night at the Cat's Cradle in Chapel Hill! Set list is also below. Wowza!



SET LIST, Archer of Loaf @ Cat's Cradle, Chapel Hill, NC (1/15/11)
1) Audiowhore
2) Harnessed In Slums
3) Revenge
4) Nostalgia
5) Lowest Part Is Free
6) Freezing Point
7) Greatest Of All Time
8) You and Me
9) Might
10) Web In Front
11) Wrong
12) Slow Worm

Leave Your Souls at the Door: Black Keys and Vampire Weekend in "Sell-Out Off" on Colbert Report

According to Stephen Colbert, the Grammy's "Best Alternative Band of the Year" category is decided by who got the most songs in the most commercials. So the The Black Keys and Vampire Weekend square off, head to head. Me, I've long despised VW and have a mad crush on the Keys' Dan Auerbach, so my choice is obvious...

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
MeTunes - Grammy Vote - Dan Auerbach, Patrick Carney & Ezra Koenig
www.colbertnation.com
Colbert Report Full Episodes Political Humor & Satire Blog Video Archive

Pearl Jam to Release Live Compliation Record 1/18

Pearl Jam announced the release of Live on Ten Legs, a new live compilation album that will be available through Pearl Jam’s Ten Club and select digital and independent music retailers on 1/18 in the US, 1/19 internationally.

Kicking off the band’s twentieth anniversary year, the record features 18 Pearl Jam tracks recorded over the course of the band’s 2003-2010 world tours by recording engineer, John Burton. All tracks have been newly remixed by longtime Pearl Jam engineer Brett Eliason and remastered.

Live on Ten Legs is a follow up to their platinum 1998 live release, Live on Two Legs,, which consisted of performances recorded during the band’s summer 1998 North American tour.

Live on Ten Legs tracklisting
1. Arms Aloft
2. World Wide Suicide
3. Animal
4. Got Some
5. State of Love And Trust
6. I Am Mine
7. Unthought Known
8. Rearview Mirror
9. The Fixer
10. Nothing As It Seems
11. In Hiding
12. Just Breathe
13. Jeremy
14. Public Image
15. Spin the Black Circle
16. Porch
17. Alive
18. Yellow Ledbetter

What the World Needs Now: David Lowery Releasing Solo Debut, Cracker & Camper Van Beethoven Touring January 2011

RadioVA interviewer, Cracker and Camper Van Beethoven frontman Dave Lowery is releasing his first solo record on 2/1, The Palace Guards.

A little Appalachian-woven folk, a little psychedelia, and a little of the usual suspects for a Lowery song, the record is meant to show many of the musical sides of Lowery and his cohorts. “One of the reasons the album sounds the way it does is that I have pretty strong personalities playing with me,” says Lowery, “guys who I’ve worked with for years, who have done engineering or playing on Camper and Cracker albums. There’s that instant easy rapport that shines through. Working with them brought out the more extreme edges in these songs and amplified them. It was also liberating to start with no preconceived notions of what they would end up sounding like or worrying about how they might sound in a live setting, as I have to do when I write songs for Cracker."

The Palace Guards has many of the musicians that Lowery has played with over the years at his Richmond, VA-based studio (Sound of Music), as well as Cracker bandmates Sal Maida and Johnny Hickman, and the late Mark Linkous (Sparklehorse) who played keyboards on “Big Life.”

Tracklist for The Palace Guards
1. Raise 'em up on Honey
2. The Palace Guards
3. Deep Oblivion
4. Ah, You Left Me
5. Baby, All Those Girls Meant Nothing To Me
6. I Sold the Arabs the Moon
7. Marigold
8. Big Life
9. Submarine

Give a Listen: The Palace Guards-Dave Lowery/Buy The Palace Guards

In January, Camper Van Beethoven and Cracker will join together to perform Key Lime Pie and Kerosene Hat respectively, in their entireties, live as a doubleheader on the east coast. New music from both bands will be out in 2011.

CAMPER VAN BEETHOVEN & CRACKER'S "KEY LIME & KEROSENE" SHOWS
1/14: NY, NY, Highline Ballroom
1/15: Toronto, ONT, Lee’s Palace
1/16: Cambridge, MA, Middle East Downstairs