This week the most incredible and unexpected thing happened. I met Ryan Adams. Yes I was certainly afraid of what was going to happen. Would I be a totally idiot in front of him? Would he be a nice guy? Well win on both sides. He was one of the nicest people I’ve ever met, and the fact I didn’t explode with excitement meeting my musical hero was great. I was telling Ryan how I was in a ‘creative rut’ and he suggested to me a few books to pick up and read to inspire me. Even wrote them down for me. This week’s secondhand sunday is a tribute to Ryan. ‘New York, New York,’ a song that when I first heard it 8 years ago, I ‘just didn’t like.’ Then 2 months later I woke up and felt the need to buy everything he’s ever done. Thank God for that. And Ryan.
Some say that when Ryan Adams recorded Rock N Roll that the alt country megastar had completely lost it. Though the title pretty much summed up the album, people seemed to think it was a little too much to handle from the guy who wrote ‘New York, New York’. For most listeners though, it marked only the beginning of what was to come from Adams. Unpredicatable, beautiful songs. ‘So Alive’ never felt so good.
Welcome to our first installment of ‘PLAYTIME!’ This has been an idea we’ve been toying around with for quite some time that we have finally launched. Let us explain to you what ‘Playtime!’ is. This will be a segment in which we film some of our favorite bands and artists. Think of it as a version of ‘Take Away Shows’ but on a playground in New York City. Bands will be performing stripped down performances of their songs as life goes on behind them. Sounds nice, huh?Expect a lot more these to come!
Up first is The Everyday Visuals!
Our first episode of Playtime! features Boston’s own, The Everyday Visuals. We took the band to the ABC Playground over the weekend where they performed two songs, ‘Heal Me’ and ‘Florence Foster Jenkins’ off their new self titled record.
The Everyday Visuals Perform ‘Heal Me’
The Everyday Visuals Perform ‘Florence Foster Jenkins’
The Everyday Visuals also performed an amazing show at Piano’s that night. An acoustic set if you will. In any situation the band can perform beautifully. Singer/Guitarist Chris Pappas’ voice is haunting and sends chills down your spine even when performing the most upbeat of songs. You can tell he is a true songwriter and it just comes natural to him. The accompaniment and backing vocals of Joe Seiders, Kyle Fredrickson, and Eli Scheer complete the sound as they play like seasoned musicians with a great deal of soul to them.
See more photos from The Everyday Visuals at Piano’s after theJUMP
The Everyday Visuals are more than just a band that hails from Boston, but they can also be viewed as a ‘listening experience’. Recently recieving a copy of their newest self titled record, ‘The Everyday Visuals’,I was immediatly drawn to what they were selling. This album blew away any expectations I had going into it.
The record starts off with ‘Intro (Morning Star)’ which is a nice soft start to what is about to come. It hits you with a ‘bang’ but not in the way you would expect it to. It feels a bit like Fleet Foxes at first, but The Everyday Visuals certainly make this sound their own. Taking it up a notch is ‘Limb From Limb’ that will have listeners out of their seat dancing. ‘ Florence Foster Jensen’ contains the most beautiful harmonies that I’ve heard in quite a long time. They are literally flawless. The members voices are meant to go together. Its obvious.
‘I Can’t Stop You’ is a nice ballad that seems like it would be the perfect Sunday morning song. ‘Heal Me’ which has quickly become my favorite song on the record really brings out the beauty in singer’s Christoper Pappa’s voice, which adds to the overall depth of the record. ‘I’ll Take it All in Stride’ puts emphasis on everything The Everyday Visuals are about. Amazing vocals and harmonies, infectious guitar sounds and smooth keyboard playing which I wish there was more of in this world.
‘Boom! Boom! Boom!’ is a song that will catch your attention immediately. I think the title really explains it all. Mixing indie with folk,this song is perfect. ‘Restless Heart’ reminds me of an old Ryan Adams song which is an extremely good thing to remind someone of. The overall vibe of the song and with Pappa’s voice coming in and out is beautiful and well crafted. The same goes for ‘Daydream Ghosts’ which is another song that can only be described as perfect. ‘Driving’ is a lovely soft song that brings out more silky vocals and acoustic guitar picking. ‘Peers’ will have your foot tapping for sure, ‘Its too much to bare’ sings Pappas as his voice fades into the distance. The album ends with ‘It’s All I Can Do’, a sweet little acoustic song that makes for a brilliant ending to a more than astonishing record. In all honesty, if I put together my ‘Top 10 of 2009’ right now, The Everyday Visuals would be the number 1 spot. This record is filled with brilliant melodies and catchy tunes that only get better with every listen.
Though we still haven’t gotten over the fact that Ryan Adams has ‘retired’ from making music, at least we still get to see the altcountry rocker online. Not only is he chatting it up about his new website project(s), http://ryanada.ms , but he also gives us some stripped down live performances from his house, complete with stuffed animal intro (be sure to check out his video of ‘Crossed Out Name’. Classic. Ryan also promises some unreleased Werewolph tracks on his new site, which if we recall was his fake ‘hard rock’ project.
Check out Ryan Adam’s Youtube page at DrAdamsFilms
Every now and then we come across a new band that blows us away completely. Case and point, meet West Virginia’s own The Demon Beat. This three piece band blend rock with a whole lot of soul that will have you out of your seat dancing.
Singer Adam Meisterhans’ voice is unbelievable, and has a bit of southern howl to it. With influences from everything such as the Black Keys to Jimi Hendrix, The Demon Beat manage to combine everything they love and make it there own. Each song just gets better and better. Be especially sure to check out the track ‘I’ll Be Your Man’, one of the most phenomenal tracks I’ve heard in quite a while. This is one band to look out for.
The Demon Beat is currently on tour. You can check out their Music and Tourdates on Myspace
Modern Mystery 