River Giant: Get Yer Boots On

Upon first listen of Seattle’s own River Giant, I can’t help but think of a steady mix of early 70’s telecaster rock and the grungy, long-haired sound signature of Seattle natives. It is this blend that makes the three-piece stand out; their first self-titled, due April 1, sounds almost like a long-lost CCR record remastered with today’s technologies to make every vocal line and gritty chord clear as crystal. They describe their sound as “reeeeaaaaaal sweet,” which shines through in the sun-soaked harmonies and tight, rolling rhythms of tracks like “Pink Flamingos” and album opener “Out Here, Outside.” Other songs show a wide breadth of influences, from the soulful shuffle of “I Permute This Marriage” to the explosive, sawed-off shotgun sound of tracks like “Western” and “Fast Heart” to the country rock anthem and penultimate album track “Missing You”. Below you can listen to two tracks off of “River Giant,” as well as view some upcoming show dates if you’re in the Seattle area. You can check out the whole album right here.

The Rat and the Raven 3/29/12 8pm

Tractor Tavern 4/18/2012 8pm (album release party)

Columbia City Theater 5/13/2012

Stubbs the Zombie in Rebel Without a Pulse

With a title like that, who doesn’t want to hear what music is to be offered? You’re right, no one. Stubbs the Zombie in Rebel Without a Pulse, is a third-person zombie xbox game from 2005, where a pissed off dude who was shot by his lover’s father rises from the dead as a zombie (as I research this more, I realize how I MUST BUY THIS). So, why the hell is this on a music blog you ask? Well, the soundtrack to the video game features artists such as The Flaming Lips, Death Cab for Cutie, Cake, Ben Kweller, The Raveonettes, and Rouge Wave. All of these artists are doing their own covers of old school mo-town hits from back in the day, and they do a great job of it. Below you’ll find Death Cab’s rendition of The Temptations tune “Earth Angel”, as well as Cake’s cover of Frank Sinatra’s “Strangers in the Night”. So here’s what I recommend you do: Listen to these two tracks, fall in love with them, listen to the rest of the soundtrack, fall in love with it, buy the game, and avenge that poor zombie’s murder by getting back his lover! (I’m not at all sure if that is the goal of the game, but it sounds like it should/may be it). Alrighty, enjoy!

“Earth Angel” – DCFC (Original by The Temptations)

 

“Strangers in the Night” – Cake (Original by Frank Sinatra)

Mayer Hawthorne – Just Ain’t Gonna Work Out

This here, is a hip video of a hip song from a hip cat by the name of Mayer Hawthorne. It’s got that smooth R&B feel to it, with a strong indie/hipster feel to it (if thats your thing). Mayer Hawthorne calls LA home, and is not only a singer, but also a producer, DJ, and rapper. Hawthorne is a young artist, having only released his first album back in 2008… That being said, he has already dropped three albums, 8 singles, and will be going on tour in the US this May. So go check out more of the man’s work, and get some tickets to see a live show. Enjoy Hawthorne’s first single from back in the day (not really though…), “Just Ain’t Gonna Work Out”.

Raphael Saadiq: The Way I See It

Oakland’s Raphael Saadiq is doing all that he can to bring back the golden days of Motown, and with his 2008 release The Way I See It, Saadiq succeeded. A 13-track soulful masterpiece, The Way I See It received a perfect 5 out of 5 stars from The Independent, as well as a letter grade “A” from Entertainment Weekly. Now this record was not Saadiq’s most recent, seeing that he just dropped Stone Rollin’ in March of 2011 (this album was also largely successful, peaking at #84 in the US Top 100 charts). That being said, keep an eye out for a tour from Saadiq and the band, they will surely be playing tracks from both albums. Below are two videos, one from VH1 of “100 Yard Dash” (so smooth) and “Calling”, and the second is “Love That Girl” from KEXP. Enjoy!

 

Spotlight: Bad Rabbits

If you happen to be wearing your sasspants today then I suggest that you go take a listen to Bad Rabbits.  I was planning on working on the Warped Tour posts right now, but I’ve honestly been listening to these guys nonstop today so I had to post something.  I guess its kind of in the same vein since I discovered them at Warped.

Seriously though, holy sh*t do these guys know how to groove.  I’m still in the process of soaking in the music from their Stick Up Kids EP (and therefore am not terribly well versed in all of it), but with an opening track titled  “Booties” I just somehow knew it was going to be great.   It’s sassometer levels were off the charts.   It was reaching 30,000 Mega-Fonzies (for you few Futurama nerds who will actually understand what the hell I’m talking about).

The two songs below are my favorite thus far.

Enjoy 🙂

 

Putabirdonitmusic at Vans Warped Tour!

Shifting between heavily studded and tattooed crowds, seven separate stages and some fifty-so booths to meet band members and attain exclusive merchandise all while basking in a bright Gorge sun is no new feeling to Washington’s regular attendees of the Vans Warped Tour. The annual national-touring festival, known for its mix of metal, punk and alternative bands both highly acclaimed and up-and-coming, brought out a heavy draw this past Saturday. This year the writers of Put a Bird on It got the exclusive privilege to navigate through throngs of teenyboppers with hair every color of the spectrum to go backstage and interview bands, take press photos and overall experience Warped Tour like few have been able to do, all of which we will be able to cover in the next couple of posts.

While we were pleased to be able to meet with members of August Burns Red, Moving Mountains, D.R.U.G.S. and The Narrative and will be posting their audio/text interviews a little later, we thought we’d take a second to show you a bit more of what Warped Tour had to offer.

All good things come to an end, and that’s something ex-Taking Back Sunday guitarist Fred takes in stride. His new supergroup, Terrible Things, has him joining ex-members of Hot Rod Circuit and Coheed and Cambria to play gritty unabashed rock. We encountered Fred backstage in the press area earlier in the day and are delighted to say that he may just be one of the nicest guys on Warped Tour.

Ever wondered what the back of the Gorge looks like?

“All these guys out here make fun of Justin Bieber, and yet they all have his fucking haircut! So what we’re doing is fixing America one head at a time! We’re gonna bring one dude out of this crowd onstage with us and and give him a mohawk, a real man’s haircut!” What band can call up a random kid from the audience, give him a mohawk while playing a song, then call up a random girl and have the two make out and dance during the next song? Sounds like ska to me! Less Than Jake‘s stage antics were more than just hilarious, they were outrageous… fitting for such horny music (heh).

“I think Neil just got his first boner!” Immediately after shaving this kids head, the band launched into a mini-set of covers of famous cartoon theme songs, including those from Scooby Doo and Spongebob Squarepants. What can this band not do??

Without a doubt one of the most energetic and entertaining bands on Warped Tour, Bad Rabbits delivered soul-infused rap-funk with a kick. Just watching them groove was compelling enough to make the whole crowd shake their asses to the rhythm, and with 8-song CDs available at their tent for only $1, who could refuse taking the love home with them?

Super-sexy Seattle-based indie rock band Gatsby’s American Dream rocked the stage. Following a string of influences and fronted by the entertaining and eccentric Nic Newsham, their sweeping indie/alt/post/progressive/punk/experimental rock mix caught me off guard as wildly engaging.

To close our day, we got thrashed in the pit by A Day to Remember. We don’t have any salvageable photos from this part of the day except for this one as the lighting was impossible in front of the stage and, well, look at that pit. I dare you to take some good photos from within those depths.

To see more photographs from the Vans Warped Tour, please click here, and stay tuned for our interviews!

Ben Harper: A Break From The Noise

I don’t have too much to say here other then the fact that Ben Harper is a musical genius and an even deeper human being. He is arguably the closest thing that we have to a Bob Marley or a John Lennon in todays music world. If you are a fan, go get some tickets to his show at Marymoor on August 27th! Below are three live videos, the first is for “Oppression/Get Up, Stand Up”, the second is of “Fool For A Lonesome Train”, and the last is of “With My Own Two Hands”. All three videos are superb and are worth the time!

 

 

Raphael Saaddiq: Smooth Soul

Born in Oakland in 1966, Raphael Saadiq (pronounced suh-deek) has been in numerous musical projects and collaborations, including work with Mary J. Blige, John Legend, and A Tribe Called Quest. His smooth voice and soulful sound and the grasping elements of his music. To date, Saadiq has released 5 albums, the most recent of which was just released on April 4. Below is a video that he did for NPR, where he played 3 songs, “Love That Girl”, “100 Yard Dash”, and “Sure Hope You Mean It”. It is just Saadiq and another guitarist by the name of Rob Bacon, but nonetheless, this video is pretty great. Enjoy!

Ben Harper: Live At The Hollywood Bowl

This concert DVD is one that I have watched for about 4 years now, and I thought that I would throw up two videos from that show. The first is of my favorite Ben Harper song, “Walk Away”, and the second is of “Diamonds On The Inside”. I am sure that many of you guys already know (and hopefully love) Ben Harper, so this post isn’t so much about new music as much as it is about a great performance by a great artist. Enjoy!

 

Aloe Blacc: Got Soul?

Aloe Blacc has been on a record label of some sort for 16 years, doing many different things in order to try and make it in the music industry. He was an MC in the LA hip-hop duo Emanon from ’98 until ’05, and began to work on a solo project in ’06. Just last year, Aloe Blacc released his second solo album titled “Good Things” (original title, right?), and it has received a considerable amount of popularity, primarily to the success of the single, “I Need A Dollar”. Aloe Blacc will be playing a set (along with seemingly every other amazing musician in the world) at the 2011 Sasquatch! festival, so it is just another reason to find tickets and get over to the Gorge! Here is a video of the band in the studio playing “Loving You Is Killing Me”. Feel the soul!