Collected Sounds

The photo was taken at Folk Alliance (which I am so bummed to have missed!)

UPCOMING SHOWS:

Sunday, March 1st, 2009
7:00pm
Mansion 462
462 W. Franklin St.
Chapel Hill, NC
Price: $5
With: Mara Levi and Nancy Eddy

Monday, March 2nd, 2009
8:00pm
Town Pump Tavern
135 Cherry St.
Black Mountain, NC 28711
(828) 669-4808
Price: $3
With: Mara Levi and Nancy Eddy

Tuesday, March 3rd, 2009
6:30pm
Flat Rock Wine Shoppe – The Back Room
2702 Greenville Hwy Suite C
Flat Rock, NC 28731
828.697.6828
With: Mara Levi and Nancy Eddy

Wednesday, March 4th, 2009
8:00pm
The Rusty Nail
1310 S. 5th Ave.
Wilmington, NC 28401
(910) 251-1888
Emily will be playing the open mic here!

Friday, March 6th, 2009
Girls Night Out – 9:00pm
Brophy’s Irish Pub
60 SW Second St
Gainesville, FL
Price: $5
21+ With: Chelsea LaBate and Redboy

Saturday, March 7th, 2009
8:00pm
The Sentient Bean
13 E. Park Ave.
Savannah, GA 31401
912.232.4447

Sunday, March 8th, 2009
8:00pm
Sacred Grounds
4819 E. Busch Blvd.
Tampa, FL 33617
813.983.0837

Wednesday, March 11th, 2009
9:30pm
Stardust Video & Coffee
1842 E. Winter Park Rd.
Orlando, FL 32803
(407)-623-3393
With Moor Hound (myspace.com/moorhoundfl)

www.emily-white.com
www.myspace.com/emilywhite
twitter.com/emilywhitemusic
[Become a fan on Facebook]

Athena Reich has a new website and some shows coming up.

[Check out her new site]
[Get the new CD]
[Listen to track samples]
You can also hear the songs on her site. I’m listening right now and it sounds fantastic!

Upcoming Shows:
Mar 8, 2009 Sunday 7:00 PM Living Room – Empire State Pride Agenda / Offsprung Fundraiser! New York, NY Annica Schroeder sings back up for her and they share the stage with Nathan DuPrey! 154 Ludlow Street (between Stanton and Rivington) 212-533-7237
http://www.prideagenda.org & http://www.livingroomny.com

Mar 21, 2009 Saturday All Day Original GLBT Expo @ Jacob Javitz Center New York, NY
Athena’s videos will be showcased in the video lounge at the Gay Expo at Jacob Javitz Center in NYC (and Athena will be making an appearance as well) http://www.originalglbtexpo.com/

Mar 22, 2009 Sunday All Day Original GLBT Expo @ Jacob Javitz Center New York, NY
Athena’s videos will be showcased in the video lounge at the Gay Expo at Jacob Javitz Center in NYC (and Athena will be making an appearance as well) http://www.originalglbtexpo.com/

Apr 4, 2009 Saturday 7:00 PM Women’s Coffee House Highland Park, NJ
New Gay Center * 321 Raritan Avenue * Athena & Company (with back-up singer Annica Schroeder)

Apr 27, 2009 Monday 8:00 PM Left Out Festival New York, NY
Proceeds go to Bailey House, GMHC and the anti-Prop8 initiative. Performing with Mahina Movement, Erin Markey, JEN/ed, Samantha Barrow & Pandora Scooter. 438 west 36th St, Suite 5A * http://www.leftoutfestival.com

NPR (bless ‘em) is streaming Neko Case’s new record, Cyclone

[Check it out]
I’m listening right now. Love it.

Holy Moses, it’s only $7.99 at Amazon!

Rebecca Pronsky’s new EP The Best Game in Town is now available online via Nine Mile Records. It won’t be on iTunes and other digital music retailers for another month or so, but you can get your own real-life physical copy in the mail starting today.

The EP features 5 new tunes with her fabulous band: Rich Bennett on guitar, Dan Shuman on bass and Russ Meissner on drums, plus harmony vocals by her good friend Lucy Wainwright Roche.

Go [here] to get it:

Tracklist:
1. Road to Nowhere at All
2. Big Kid
3. Hard Times
4. All the Birds
5. The Best Game in Town

Listen to previews on her [MySpace page]

UPCOMING SHOWS FOR REBECCA PRONSKY
Mar 11 2009 7:00 PM Poughkeepsie, NY WVKR 91.3 FM
Mar 14 2009 8:00 PM pittsfield, MA The Mission Bar + Tapas
Mar 15 2009 7:00 PM Saugerties, NY Muddy Cup Saugerties
Mar 16 2009 7:30 PM Brooklyn, NY Union Hall
Mar 16 2009 7:30 PM Brooklyn, NY Brooklyn Songwriters Exchange
Apr 11 2009 8:00 PM Savannah, GA Sentient Bean
Apr 15 2009 8:30 PM Athens, GA Flicker Bar & Theatre
Apr 16 2009 12:00 PM Knoxville, TN WDVX Blue Plate Special Tickets
Apr 16 2009 8:00 PM Asheville, NC BoBo Gallery
Apr 17 2009 10:00 PM Chapel Hill, NC The Cave
Apr 18 2009 10:00 PM Norfolk, VA The Boot
Apr 20 2009 7:30 PM Brooklyn, NY Union Hall
Apr 20 2009 7:30 PM Brooklyn, NY Brooklyn Songwriters Exchange
May 16 2009 8:00 PM Portland, ME One Longfellow Sq.
May 19 2009 7:30 PM Brooklyn, NY Union Hall
Jun 27 2009 9:00 PM Portland, ME North Star Cafe
Aug 15 2009 7:00 PM Lenhartsville, PA Creekside Cultural Center
Aug 16 2009 7:00 PM Ithaca, NY Felicia’s Atomic Lounge

Minneapolis artists formerly known as The Abdomen have returned from a 2 months residency in L.A. Upon their return they changed the band name to “LYNHURST” after the neighborhood park at which they spent many childhood days.

Armed with a batch of new songs and empowered by the results of the last L.A. trip, Mari, Matt & Jake Abdo have returned to L.A. for another multi-month residency of writing, recording, and performing.

LYNHURST returns to The Hotel Cafe, Hollywood this Friday 7 p.m. For further details on the band: [Lynhurst]

Album Name: Conflict Resolution
Artist: The Passive Aggressives
Year/Label: 2008 / Independent

Review by Amy Lotsberg Producer of Collected Sounds

The Passive Agressives are a brave band. They (or someone) sent me their self-titled EP back in 2006. [I wrote a review] and I didn’t really care for it. In fact I said it was “messy”. But then sent me their next release anyway! Maybe they knew this one was much better than the EP. It really is. I like it!

Their style is rock, but there is a playful aspect that is missing from “serious rock” (and perhaps that’s why I don’t really care for that genre).

The songs are well written and differ from each other enough, which is not as common as you may think.

Some songs I picked out: On Slice it Away, Keren Gaiser’s voice reminds me of Harriet Wheeler from the Sundays. A good thing in deed. They do a fun cover of Happy Together and Violeta is also really nice. It shows off her voice nicely.

It’s a good album, I’m glad I got an opportunity to give this band another listen.

Track Listing
1 All We’ve Got Is Now
2 Soundtrack To The Voices In My Head
3 Violeta
4 Conflict Resolution
5 Happy Together
6 World of Compromise
7 Slice It Away
8 Just Believe
9 Don’t Want To Be You
10 One More Look
11 Lulla-Bye Nation
12 Perfect
13 Not Perfect
14 Evil Cloud Song
15 Let’s Begin

[The Passive Aggressives Official Site]

Album Name: Somniloquy
Artist: The Endless
Year/Label: 2009 / Queen of the Moon Music

[Buy at Amazon]
[Download at Amazon]

Review by Amy Lotsberg Producer of Collected Sounds

The band’s description of this record could not be any more my cup of tea. “Dreams, ghosts, mediums, and stage magic permeate this fourth release” they also use words like: haunting shoegaze and dreampop. So yeah, it’s a given that I love this.

Adriana Roze’s gorgeous voice is both whispery and operatic when it needs to be (and not when it doesn’t, that’s an important distinction).

The melodies are entrancing and the different layers of music floating above and under the main layer combine to make something very pleasing to my ears. It’s as if every little ‘tik-a-tik’ was intensely labored over so that it would be in the perfect place at the perfect volume and I’d say mission accomplished.

Standouts for me include: Lit From Within and Vespers, but they’re all lovely.

I’ve always loved this band, but this is an exceptional release.

Track Listing
1 Lit From Within
2 Merge
3 Hunt for the Heart
4 Confidence Trick
5 Was I Not Your Muse?
6 Shock of It All
7 After the Gold Rush
8 Vespers
9 Somniloquy
10 Rosabelle: Answer – Tell

[The Endless Official Site]

Check out their video series on the making of this album. Really interesting stuff!

Tori Amos’ new CD, ABNORMALLY ATTRACTED TO SIN, Due Spring 2009.
[read the whole story] on ToriAmos.com

Also Natalie Merchant is recording again
[read here]

Album Name: Divining
Artist: Chloe March
Year/Label: 2008 / Powderkeg Records

Review by Amy Lotsberg Producer of Collected Sounds

Wow, this is a beautiful record.

Anna Maria reviewed her previous release, [Snowdrop] (I love that title) back in 2004. But being inundated with my own stack of albums to listen and write about, I never got around to checking her out for myself.

March has a voice that blends perfectly with the lush arrangements and intricate piano tinkling. It can be soft almost whispery, and also full and clear.

There is quite a lot going on here musically. The aforementioned twinkly piano, but there are also according to her bio: “marimbas, harp, strings and shimmering beats with French horn, found sounds of paper, glass, and wind chimes.” I really enjoy songs that incorporate many layers and instruments (if paper is an instrument, and heck, why not?) and this is a perfect example of this method done right.

Stand out songs: Written on Water, Sea Bell and title track, Divining.

Seeing as this whole album was inspired by water, it’s no surprise that this is perfect for those cold, rainy days spend under a blanket with tea and a book (and if you’re lucky a dog or cat curled at your feet.)

Track Listing
1 Soft Rain
2 The Last Venetian
3 Written On Water
4 Primavera5 Moat
6 Lollen ~ Lament for Anne Boleyn
7 Ice Release
8 River of Stone
9 Sea Bell
10 Wolvish
11 Dark River Round
12 Divining

[Chloe March Official Site]

Album Name: The Baroness Redecorates
Artist: Sarah Slean
Year/Label: 2008 / Independent
[try buying here]

Review by Amy Lotsberg Producer of Collected Sounds

Wow, such controversy!

Well, Sarah Slean started out as a Tori clone. Which was OK because there weren’t’ that many out there (now there are a ton).

Then she took a turn that was a little more mainstream pop.

Next she became a cabaret act who sounded as if she’d had 3 too many martinis (not that there’s anything wrong with that.)

I’ve never had a problem with any of her personas. I love her voice, she writes interesting songs, and she’s got a fun whimsical style that I appreciate no matter what genre she’s doing.

Then there’s the whole ‘record company (or whomever makes these sorts of decisions) doesn’t really want her fans to get a hold of the music.’ A business plan that just doesn’t sound all that solid to me. But what do I know? I never studied business. I just know that the hours I spent trying to get my ears on The Baroness (the full length) are more than I care to count.

Luckily, a kind fellow Sleaniac (do they still use that term?) came to my rescue and arranged to have a copy of this EP sent to me.

So here we are. A record filled with songs that are just what I expected. Melodramatic, sweeping, theatrical, haunting beautiful songs performed perfectly.

I don’t know that I can select favorites because they’re all equally good and they’re similar. So if you like one, my guess is you’d like them all. That said, Compatriots has a fun rhythm that makes me tap my feet and want to dance and spin around in a large ballroom wearing a long sweeping dress.

I still have not heard That Baroness to which this is supposed to be an accompaniment, so I can’t compare or even say if this is an enhancement or not. But I like this. Very much.

Track Listing
1. Parasol
2. Lonely Side of the Moon
3. Modern Man I & II
4. Compatriots
5. The Rose
6. Hear Me Out
7. The “Disarm” Suite

[Sarah Slean Official Site]