The Choir "Burning Like The Midnight Sun" album review

Release Date: June 29, 2010

The Choir's 12th release, Burning Like The Midnight Sun, finds them continuing to mine similar sonic textures as The Church and Cocteau Twins. The band has always had a knack for creating soaring, ethereal music, but on this release they take things even higher. Part of this may be due to guitarist Marc Byrd (from instrumental/atmospheric duo Hammock) being a full-fledged member. The interplay between Byrd and Derri Daugherty (lead vocals, guitars) is oftentimes magical and practically lyrical. With a sturdy foundation from Steve Hindalong (drums, percussion, lyricist) and Tim Chandler (bass), the guitars are free to float around the structure of the songs. Add Dan Michaels (saxophone, lyricon) to the mix and you've got something beautiful.

The title track is also the opener and it sets up the rest of the album nicely. Near the last half of the song, guest Christine Glass Byrd (Marc's wife) makes her first appearance. Her haunting vocals bring to mind Cocteau Twins' Elizabeth Fraser. Glass Byrd's voice makes a number of appearances throughout the album and is always a gorgeous thing to hear. "That Melancholy Ghost" starts with the guitar panning around the anchor of the rhythm section fitting the lyrical subject matter nicely. The panning is like the unsettling feelings of a young broken heart, but there is a core in the drums and bass that lend a semblance of stability in the pain. Michaels' haunting saxophone dances around the corners of the track like the title suggests. There are numerous lovely moments on Burning Like The Midnight Sun. Sometimes it's easy to take it all for granted and get lulled into a trance, then something even more beautiful shakes you. An example of this would be the very brief appearance on "Mr. Chandler" when Christine Glass Byrd sings the line 'I cannot let you fly'. It's a part so small but the song wouldn't be exactly right without it.

Lyrically much of Burning Like The Midnight Sun is about relationships, friendships, trials, triumphs, loss and rebirth. Hindalong has always had an artistic way of making a simple sentiment sound poignant. In "A Friend So Kind", about the death of a longtime friend, he writes "So now you've gone away/In a sudden gust of wind/And we're sadder than hell/'Cause we miss you, dear friend". Daugherty delivers the words as if they are his own. It's easy to forget he didn't actually write them, but on record, he owns them. The album closes with the lovely, sparse "Say Goodbye to Neverland" with it's theme of the loss of innocence, growing up, and moving on with your life.

Hindalong has noted that for this release the musical personalities of all five individuals integrated just right. Adding Marc Byrd as a full member makes this very apparent. It also might be time to make Christine Glass Byrd member number six. The contributions the Byrd's make to The Choirs' sound is immeasurable. That's not to say The Choir lacked anything sonically on previous releases, but it's as if all the pieces came together this time. On this record, The Choir soars with two Byrds.

We Are Scientists - LIVE - July 28, 2010 - Portland, OR

Touring behind the recently released Barbara, We Are Scientists stopped by Doug Fir Lounge in Portland, OR on Monday, July 26th and delivered a tight set that was interspersed with their well-known stage banter. On this night however, they did away with the banter to start and jumped right into a triple whammy of songs, beginning with "Nice Guys" from the new album. It was as if they had something to prove to American audiences and that wouldn't seem much of a stretch since the New York band has had greater success overseas. Whatever the reason, they definitely showed they meant business more with their songs than their sense of humor.

After "The Scene Is Dead" and "Inaction" from their 2006 album With Love And Squalor, the band took a quick breather to mention that they had spent the last three days in Portland. And somehow they had missed the hugely attended annual beer festival "Brewfest". This may have been partly due to them having their own beverage festival, which they dubbed "Greenfest" because of their mass consumption of margaritas.

Prior to the audience sing-along of "Nobody Move, Nobody Get Hurt", bassist Chris Cain reported his intention to play a solo tonight, which brought a smattering of applause. At the end of the song Cain delivered on his promise introducing the solo with "I'll go you one better. I'm not going to use this stupid amplifier," and proceeded to unplug. Due to that, the solo was completely silent which brought roars from everyone. As he descended from the stage and into the crowd while soloing, vocalist Keith Murray pointed out, "For the people over here, he's really shredding right now!"

We Are Scientists' first single from Barbara, "Rules Don't Stop", received a warm reaction and the band ended up playing six of the eleven songs from the new record. But this was far from a show where people leave during new songs for a drink. Instead this crowd stayed and seemed genuinely enthusiastic throughout. In fact, midway through their set, they played the slow-paced (and gorgeous) new tune "Pittsburgh" that had people breaking out their cell phones to wave in the air. Other highlights of the night were "Let's See It" and "After Hours" from their 2008 release Brain Thrust Mastery. Finishing with "After Hours", the band left for a quick break and returned to knock out a rocking "Cash Cow" from the same album.

On this night, We Are Scientists proved to this American audience that you can craft and deliver catchy songs all while retaining a sense of humor. And in these times, that might be what everyone needs, to see a band that makes you sing along with a sly smile.

Set list

Nice Guys

The Scene Is Dead

Inaction

I Don't Bite

Let's See It

Nobody Move, Nobody Gets Hurt

Rules Don't Stop

Chick Lit

Pittsburgh

Ambition

It's A Hit

Dinosaur

The Great Escape

Jack and Ginger

After Hours

Encore

Cash Cow

New Band Alert: Hurts

Hurts are an electronic Manchester duo comprised of vocalist Theo Hutchcraft and keyboardist Adam Anderson. They first started getting some buzz near the end of 2009 when their song "Wonderful Life" (along with an Arthur Baker remix) leaked. Other great (and as of now, unreleased songs) that resonate for electro fans are "Blood, Tears, and Gold" and "Illuminated." Hurts are similar to underrated '80's acts the Lotus Eaters and Ultravox with an image that is sleek and stylish. Their videos are striking and this is definitely a band to keep an eye on if this sounds like your style.

Their first single "Better Than Love" was released in the UK May 2010. The follow-up single "Wonderful Life" was released in the UK August 2010. Their debut album Happiness is scheduled to be out September 2010. Hopefully by then they will be available on the US i-Tunes.

As of this post, they are giving away a free download of "Better Than Love" here:

Hurts

New Band Alert: Mirrors

First reaction to Mirrors is that they sound much like OMD. Ironically, they are opening for the reformed OMD this fall. One of my favorite tracks is "Searching the Wilderness." This has elements of Vitamin Z ("Burning Flame"). I'm looking forward to hearing more from this band. Right now they have only released a few singles.

Hear more:

Mirrors

State of the industry...

‎"Scouring average music for hidden value used to be pretty necessary, but those days are gone. When we had to pay for physical albums, we forgave them more and were willing to work to get our money's worth. Now that people often download them for free, they expect deeper and more immediate gratification. The new currency is time, and we're stingier with it than cash." Brian Howe at Pitchfork

Colin Hay (Men At Work) - LIVE - July 15, 2010 - Portland, OR

Colin Hay was scheduled to perform a solo acoustic concert but what transpired was a hilarious evening of storytelling, interspersed with songs. The former lead singer of Men At Work has struck upon a concept that really connects with his audience and, in turn, finds him in the midst of a career resurgence. After the break up of Men At Work in the mid-Eighties, Hay embarked on a solo career that has had it's ups and downs. But starting with his inclusion on the 2004 Grammy-winning soundtrack Garden State, he has seen his profile increase. In fact, later in the evening he profusely thanked Zack Braff for including his song "I Just Don't Think I'll Ever Get Over You" on the soundtrack.

He began the night talking for the first 15 minutes before playing a single note and immediately had the audience in stitches. Sprinkling in stories of being paid to sing and dance to Kool and the Gang's "Celebrate," to Paul McCartney doing dishes at his house between songs enlivened the night. Hay playing solo also showcased his excellent guitar work that wasn't as evident when he was in Men At Work. Speaking of Men At Work, his versions of "Who Can It Be Now, "Down Under," and "Overkill" gave the songs a fresh re-working that was brilliant. Another story he told was of an audience member asking him to play the song with the line "Goats appear and fade away." This of course was "Overkill" with the actual lyric being "Ghosts appear and fade away."

Other highlights were songs from his solo output including "Waiting for My Real Life to Begin," "Beautiful World," and "Oh California" from his 2009 album American Sunshine. Truthfully, the entire night was a revelation of a veteran musician stripping things back in order to take his songs to even greater heights.

Photos by Alicia Epperly

Nada Surf - LIVE - May 30, 2010 - Portland, OR

Welcome to rainy Portland, Nada Surf. Before their set began, the left side of the Wonder Ballroom stage was beginning to look like the title of their song "Treading Water." Rain began dripping through the roof as touring guitarist Doug Gillard (from both Guidedby Voices and Death of Samantha) was trying to set up his pedals. A bit of chaos ensued as opener Telekinesis! was attempting to get their gear off stage at the same time. The drops were hitting the stage and spraying the equipment until staff put what looked like a busboy's tray filled with towels down to collect the rain. Before leading off with "Weightless," bassist Daniel Lorca looked at the puddle, then to the crowd and exclaimed "I love Portland!"

Touring behind their latest release, the covers album if i had a hi-fi, Nada Surf seemed to be in a playful mood despite the wet stage. Their set featured five hi-fi cover tunes and two surprise covers along with originals from 2002's Lucky onward. In addition to Gillard,hi-fi producer Louie Lino played keyboards to round out the Nada Surf trio of Lorca, Matthew Caws (Vocals, Guitar) and Ira Elliot (Drums).

Main set highlights of the 18 songs played were "Whose Authority," "Enjoy The Silence" (Depeche Mode), the rocking version of the aforementioned "Treading Water," "Blizzard of '77" played by Caws and Elliot, and "Electrocution" (Bill Fox). Lorca's cigarette smoke and dreadlocks silhouetted by the lights only added to the spectacle of water dripping from the roof.

The encore started with a cover of "I Am A Tree" (Guided By Voices), followed by "Always Love" whose opening notes elicited screams from the audience. "Blankest Year" turned into a raucous sing-along and the band ended the night with another cover, The Clash's "I Fought The Law." Perhaps it was only fitting that, as the audience filed out of the venue, it was still raining.

Photos by Alicia Epperly