Photos by Lefort

The great young British band, Mumford and Sons, came to the sanctuary of the hallowed Santa Barbara Bowl last night and tantalized the crowd with its tent show revival.  They played with infectious joy and it wasn’t long before that fecund rapture raised the crowd right out of their seats.  The band was in constant movement and played as if end times were upon us.

Though there was only occasional drumming (several times played well by leader, Marcus Mumford, as seen below on Lover of the Light), the band pounded out a relentless beat interspersed with dynamic downshifts, only to shift back up to stomp-down.  Winston Marshall banged and body-rolled his banjo, Ted Dwayne beat up the bottom end on bass, the three-horns hectored, and Ben Lovett played the keys with flair and an unflappable smile.

But if there’s one image that captures the Mumford experience, it’s of Marcus strumming his guitar at the speed of sound to propel the proceedings.  It brings the house down every time.

The band repeatedly lauded the Santa Barbara Bowl and Santa Barbara, and they’ll be back.  Don’t miss it next time.

Below is the long setlist (they claimed their longest ever), which included a bunch of new songs and an Old Crow Medicine Show cover.

If you weren’t there, below is a good sample of the Mumfords live from Coachella on Saturday.  Check out Little Lion Man, The Cave (typical set closer), and great new song Lover of the Light.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l2HD6hNNCNs&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gFOWlSCwRDs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wRhqqTP8rJs&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL

As for The Tallest Dylan Impersonator we’ll have to admit that he presents himself better live than on record.  He’s a very adept finger-picking guitar player and has some interesting things to sing.  And he covered John Hartford’s oft-covered (most famously by Glen Campbell) chestnut, Gentle on My Mind. We just wish we hadn’t heard it all before by the master himself.  TMOE should invite that stellar female harmonist on stage more often.  With some added elements and some Dylan-downplay he could grow a bit.

Finally, we admit that we were one-upped last night by a couple of enterprising lasses (Hannah and Chloe) who, at the end of the Mumfords last song, literally ran to their car and (carefully) raced out to UCSB to catch Ellie Goulding’s show at the UCenn.  Rave reviews followed.  Hats off on the Double.

Any doubters about Broken Social Scene might want to take a look at this video of the band at Coachella below.  Ventura Theater. T0morrow night.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bYWURBertZY&feature=player_embedded

We’re a little slow, but just figured out that the Coachella Valley Arts and Music Festival is being broadcast on YouTube live each day, starting at 4pm. Today’s lineup: The National, Mumford and Sons, PJ Harvey, Angus and Julia Stone, Foster the People, to name a few. Check it out here.

Below is Warpaint doing Undertow.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PTUMGVX4xNE&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL

Today is Record Store Day around the globe. Santa Barbara’s Warbler Records is open today from 10am-6pm, and is having a free in-store at 4pm by local band, Cruiseship.

Artists around the world are propping and propping-up local record stores in various ways.  Radiohead (yeah, heard of ’em) today released a 12-inch with two new songs (“The Missing Limbs”?).  Here in the ole U.S. of A., you can’t get the vinyl yet but you can get the digital version.  Check the two new songs out below. The melodious Supercollider has us particularly energized, with The Butcher bearing some bounteous beats.

Radiohead–Supercollider

[audio:https://www.thelefortreport.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/Radiohead-Supercollider.mp3|titles=Radiohead-Supercollider]

Radiohead–The Butcher

[audio:https://www.thelefortreport.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/Radiohead-The-Butcher.mp3|titles=Radiohead-The-Butcher]

The new, highly anticipated Antlers record, “Burst Apart,” (the follow-up to their masterpiece “Hospice”) is set to be released on May 9th digitally on French Kiss Records. Check out their great new song, Every Night My Teeth Are Falling Out, below and then go over to their site and pre-order Burst Apart here.

The Antlers–Every Night My Teeth Are Falling Apart

And then check out (courtesy of Soundcloud) another interesting (somewhat tangential) Antlers song (Parenthesis) below.

The Antlers – Parentheses by Frenchkiss

If it’s even close to Hospice, Burst Apart could very well be 2011 Album of the Year.  Time will tell.

The night after we caught their phenomenal show at the Fox Theater in Pomona (more on that very soon), Bright Eyes nailed their song Beginner’s Mind on The Tonight Show as you can see below. At Pomona, bandleader Conor Oberst introduced this song by encouraging everyone to maintain their individuality in this modern world in which technology (iPads, iPhones, Tweets, etc.) can serve to entrap that individuality rather than enhance it. Listen in and up.

PJ Harvey and band performed the single off her phenomenal new record, “Let England Shake,” on Conan two nights ago.  Check out The Last Living Rose below.  Pardon the vain opening, but thereafter it’s 2-1/2 minutes of billowing bliss from Ms. Harvey.  We particularly like the guitar-work on the right later in the song and, of course, Ms. Harvey’s all-white cut-cardboard and feathers get-up.

Bear with the Pad PR for 30-seconds, and then enjoy. If you can’t take the Pad in the first version, then scroll down to the lesser-quality YouTube version and get to it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wukhWQgJJ5A

We’ve been scrambling on all fronts in this season, but managed to escape to Soho for some musical healing in the last week or so.

As usual, there have been highs and lows at the shows we’ve attended.

The clear high of all the performers was John McCauley (above) from the great band, Deer Tick.  McCauley salvaged a shambolic evening that began with the news that the mighty triumvirate, Middle Brother (consisting of the lead singers from Deer Tick, Delta Spirit, and Dawes, and backed by the great remaining Dawes members), had been reduced to one Tick (McCauley), one Spirit (Delta Spirit leader, Matthew Vasquez) and one Corndawg.  It seems the Dawes guys had received an offer they couldn’t refuse: backing Robbie Robertson on the Letterman Show.  We can’t argue with the allure, but having seen the result (Robertson all pancaked-up with a fresh dye-job ‘do and singing pedestrian, Clapton-induced blues tripe), we’re not sure the effect for Dawes was a net positive.  But we digress.

After a hilarious opening solo set by Middle Brother member, Jonny Corndawg (from Virginia), McCauley came out with his ever-out-of-tune electric Epiphone, and against all odds delivered great goods.  With gritty voice, focus and determination, he won the Soho crowd over with his fine songs, fervent vocals and fitting guitar accompaniment.  The highlight of the night was the requested-song, 20 Miles (one of the best songs released in the last year).  This song of undeterred love was even more affecting done solo by McCauley.

Deer Tick–20 Miles

[audio:https://www.thelefortreport.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/deertick20miles.mp3|titles=deertick20miles]

Unfortunately, McCauley’s salient set was followed by Delta Spirit’s Matthew Vasquez.  Vasquez came out and briefly wowed the crowd with solo-keyboard covers of Pink Floyd (standard at Delta Spirit shows) and Tom Waits songs.  And then the train-wreck ensued.  The crowd was next treated to a rambling, intermittently-screaming, between-song-snippets narrative of what can only be described as Vasquez’s Sordid Years (drugs, rock n’ roll, you know the drill).  Whether Vasquez was angry with the ridiculously-talkative crowd, or (as was suggested) has been affected by his recent marriage (may we recommend annulment if that’s the case?) or however you want to excuse it, this was foment and bombast at it’s worst.  And we’ve got lives.  So we left.  Likely our last Delta Spirit show.

A couple nights later, we were treated to a madcap, maddening set from Akron/Family who are touring  behind their new album, “S/T II:The Cosmic Birth and Journey of Shinju TNT.”  The new album title in many ways says it all about this band.

A/F is a bi-coastal band (NYC and Portland, where else?) known for its eclectic freak-and-funk, folk-prog attack.  Make no mistake, these lads are phenomenally gifted musicians, singers and songwriters, and they played with energy and aplomb at Soho.  They delivered a ravishing, driving version of River (listen to the song below) and then whipsawed throughout their two-hour set between folk-songs, funk rave-ups, jazz motifs, acappella transitions, prog-preambles and jam-band drivers, ultimately ending their set with their new funk-freak anthem, Silly Bears (listen below).  The crowd ate it up and were sated by sets-end (around 1 am).  There’s no denying the musicality of Akron/Family.  We wonder, though, how this band will make its way in the world long-term.  They are straddling many genres and doing it well, but we wonder how they will build and progress from here if they continue to dabble in and attempt to fuse all these genres without a more focused attack.  As you will hear, it takes energy and phenomenal flexibility in an audience to roll from the three-part harmony one moment into a three-part, discordant funk/prog melange in the next.  We consider ourselves pretty flexible and open to all styles and mixes, but the constant pivot, veer and zigzag is difficult even for us.  Time will tell for these talented, affable lads, but we wish them well.

Opening for A/F was the instrumental jam-band-ish band, Delicate Steve.  The band had some interesting moments, but ultimately begged the age-old question:  Can a band be great with a tank-top wearing leader? OK, we’ll give you Marley and Jimmy Cliff (it’s flippin’ hot and humid in Jam-Down!), but other than that?? Nah, we haven’t seen it either.

Akron/Family–River

[audio:https://www.thelefortreport.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/02-River.mp3|titles=02 River]

Akron/Family–Silly Bears

[audio:https://www.thelefortreport.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/Akronsillybears.mp3|titles=Akronsillybears]

10/19/2010 Terminal 5 – New York City, NY (photo by John Muggenborg)

My Morning Jacket are set to release their new album, “Circuital,” near-term and have just released the album’s title track.  Check it out below, download it yourself via the link below the song, and go over to the band’s site to pre-order the new album.

MMJ have gone back to the source on Circuital, and the title track (all 7:16 of it) bears this out, but also adds new nuances to that original sound.   The song begins briefly ominous before the pizzicato guitar playing kicks in along with James roundly reverberating vocals. Acoustic guitar is intermittently added (and dropped), then piano, then crunchy electric guitar and we’re off to the races before spinning into Bonnaroo-jam-land at 5:15.  But at 6:00 the brood is back on.  Just like life.  James seems to be assaying the flux and flow of our lives, and how we progress and digress and get caught up in the inherent “circuits.”  It all gets, you know, “circuital.”  We like this stanza in particular:  “Well you can fling open the windows, or you can board them up, say you still cry on, or crying still moved on.”

Throughout instruments drop in and out as if Lee “Scratch” Perry were at the production helm.  On first listen, you may be briefly nonplussed.  But after a few listens (we’re on our 10th right now) it all adds up and you are left stunned again.  And a good portion of the stun is attributable to Jim James’ other-worldly, passionista vocals.  Chapeaux MMJ!

We note that there’s still an open date (June 23rd) on the band’s tour calendar between Los Angeles and Oakland, and hope that our mighty Santa Barbara Bowl will land them here on that date for what could very well be the show of the year at that hallowed ground.

My Morning Jacket–Circuital

[audio:https://www.thelefortreport.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/Circuital.mp3|titles=Circuital]