The Warm Up with This Providence

04/17/2012 By
The Warm Up with This Providence [ 15:25 | 35.28 MB ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

We’re a little bit under the weather today, but lucky for us we were treated to the best kind of medicine: great music. 

Seattle-based band This Providence stopped by Ardent Studios this afternoon before their gig at Newby’s tonight to play us three songs from their upcoming record, Brier. It’s scheduled for release at the beginning of May so we were lucky to get an early taste of the band’s brand new tunes. Not only have there been changes to the line-up over the past few years, there has been a change to their sound.  According to the band, their new music represents a more stripped-down, organic approach to songwriting.

We have to admit that we’re not exactly sure what they sounded like before, but the new music has us hooked. Check out the podcast to hear for yourself. We also discussed their recording process for the new record and where they’ve been getting their inspiration from lately.

If you’re in the area you can catch them tonight when they open for OK Radio – or if not, they’re heading for the west coast after this so you should have ample opportunity to see them play!

This Providence is a four-piece alternative rock band from Seattle, Washington. The band consists of Dan Young (lead vocals/guitar), David Blaise (bass), Gavin Phillips (lead guitar), and Andy Horst (drums). They are currently supporting Go Radio on the Lucky Street tour and will release their new EP, Brier, on May 1st.

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Spotify Playlist: King of Prussia

03/19/2012 By

For our feature Nice Playlist, Brah, we ask some of our favorite musicians to make a themed Spotify playlist for us. You know, Songs to Make-out To, The Worst Bands I Have Ever Heard, Songs Your Mom Would Like,  we just ask them to be creative, and then we post them to The Ardent Music Blog and share them with you. When you’re looking for a good Spotify playlist, now you know where to look. This week we invited singer/songwriter King of Prussia to put one together for us. We invite you to take listen to the playlist while you read why the musician included each song. Enjoy!


King of Prussia sent us this playlist full of great tunes from both obscure bands and some heavy hitters! It’s a collaborative effort from the band and it’s a great music stream to ease yourself back into the work week! Click to stream:

Brian Smith’s Picks

1. “And Your Bird Can Sing” - The Beatles as covered by The Jam

Go ahead, plug in your Rickenbacker, pour some tea, and try to play this lead part. I’ll wait. Damn near supernatural, innit? What are they laughing at? How does a kid in his 20s write a bass line like that? I include this perennial favorite partly because the first time I hung out with Sean Lennon he told me our first record sounded like the Zombies. Don’t get all smug on me. You’d name drop it, too, if it happened to you.

2. “Acid Bird” – Robyn Hitchcock, Black Snake Diamond Role

This guy complimented my suit before he played a show at the 40 Watt, using my dead friend’s amp. I felt like calling my mom but she just wouldn’t have gotten it. I’ve loved Robyn since the 80s- c’mon, who else is gonna use the word ‘corpuscles’ in a pop song? My first ever girlfriend, Allison Brice, moved to London and got to tour opening for him – check out her beautiful David Lynch-y torch music with the band The Silver Abduction.

Honorable mention: Ride – “Seagull, ” Love and Rockets – “Rainbird, ” REM -”Disturbance at the Heron House”

Vasco Batista’s Picks

3. “Chicken with its Head Cut Off” - The Magnetic Fields

I have to admit I’ve only recently got into The Magnetic Fields but it was love at first sight, because of songs like this one. The way he describes how the chicken runs around falling down and getting up again takes me back to my childhood, when I helped my great gramma do the same to her chickens.

 4. “When Doves Cry” - Prince

I never realised how sad this song sounded until I played an acoustic version of it. At the same time it’s a killer on the dance floor. I like versatile songs.

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Pick Three with T.J. Courtney

03/12/2012 By

1. Portlandia

Ask any of my friends – I cannot survive long without a fix of awkward comedy. And when I don’t get it from TV everyone is worse off, because I go out into the world and create it on my own. This means anything from the casual out-of-place remark to the more dangerous, like insisting on paying a 7-11 cashier with Old Navy Cash. Luckily, the world has been spared of these shenanigans recently, as Fred Armisen and Carrie Brownstein are filling the void for me with the sketch – format comedy Portlandia. They touch on everything from old lesbian couples to dumpster divers. My favorite sketches involve a couple in which Armisen plays the female role and Brownstein the male… creepy and hilarious.

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The Warm Up with Leatherbag

03/05/2012 By
The Warm Up with Leatherbag [ 12:59 | 29.73 MB ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

We’ve been trying to get the Austin-based power trio Leatherbag in Ardent to record since last year. The stars finally aligned when they booked a show at The Hi-Tone last night. They drove all the way from Norman, Oklahoma to hang with us yesterday. Alas, with all the recording happening at Ardent on a Sunday afternoon, we could not find a corner to plug-in!

Luckily, the band was off today and spent most of the it with us driving around Memphis and taking in all the local musical history! Thanks to our good friends at Sun Studio for a fantastic tour! Did you know if you’re in a band and bring in your CD, the tour is on the house?

We usually like to do stripped down sessions during our little podcast, but this band is a POWER trio and there was no way to represent their sound without at least a snare drum. Check out the video from the show for their new song “Living in the Dark” and then listen to the show to hear two more great tunes! If you’re gonna be in Austin for SXSW, be sure to check out these guys and get yourself some jalapeño fried chicken at Lucy’s Fried Chicken. The full line-up is on their website.

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Pick Three with Malcom Sosa of Rademacher

02/23/2012 By

1. Animoog

Animoog is an app made by Moog. I’m a bit of an app geek and I downloaded this one the day it came out on the iTunes store last year, and since then Animoog has totally changed my world.  You can make crazy sounds, the interface is touch sensitive, it fits in your pocket and it sounds expensive.  Kim Haden, the keyboardist in my band used Animoog all over our new record and at the very least it beats lugging a Juno 6 and a Korg Triton up a flight of stairs.

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Nice Playlist, Brah: 2012 Campaign Playlist by President Barack Obama

02/09/2012 By

Can you believe Barack Obama is on Spotify? We can! His Social Media team is totally on top of things! We mean, come on, the guy is on tumblr! (So are we, by the way!) We usually only allow musicians to  share playlists- but we decided to make an exception this time! Even though we know that this very eclectic mix was probably not curated by POTUS himself, wouldn’t it be super cool if it was?

Sure, this playlist is a little “white” and heavy on middle of the road pop (two songs from Sugarland AND Darius Rucker??) – but we’re still impressed. You know what else is kind of cool? Several of these bands have recorded in the building where we sit! Click to stream!

1. “Keep Marchin’” – Raphael Saadiq

2. “Tonight’s the Kind of Night” – Noah and the Whale

3. “Keep Me in Mind” – Zac Brown Band

4. “The Weight” – Aretha Franklin

5. “Even Better than the Real Thing” – U2

6. “The Best Thing About Me is You” – Ricky Martin

7. “Home” – Dierks Bentley

8. You Are The Best Thing – Ray LaMontagne

9. “Got to Get You into My Life” – Earth, Wind and Fire

10. “Green Onions” – Booker T. and the MGs

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Locals Only: Patrick Glass Listens to Sex Cult

01/31/2012 By

As long as I’ve been playing music and watching shows in Memphis I’ve noticed a few things. One thing is that a lot of musicians aren’t content to just play in one band. (I’m in two right now, and always seem to have another project in the works.) And a lot of the best musicians in Memphis aren’t content to do the same thing every time they get on stage. There’s usually more than one side to most musicians. In a way then, Sex Cult shouldn’t surprise anyone, though at first glance, they might.

Take a frontman from a hardcore punk band (Chris Shaw of Vile Nation), a rhythm section from pop bands (Natalie Hoffman of Bake Sale/Nots on bass and Michael Peery of Magic Kids on drums) add J.B Horrell (of Noise Choir, Hedgecreep and others) and Alec McIntyre on guitar and you get a group that uses early punk as a jumping off point, but doesn’t stop there. Hardcore punk in stereotype is not much more than fast, hard pounding, screaming, high energy spew. Sex Cult, as you might guess from the elements included, have a bit more finesse than that. Yes, they’re very high energy, but there’s more depth to the grooves they put out than your average bludgeoning punk band. There’s a good sense of dynamics in the songs, and enough rhythmic changes from song to song to keep things from getting stagnant.

Chris Shaw’s vocal stylings and stage antics are as intense as you’d expect from a veteran of hardcore punk bands, and creates an interesting contrast to the sometimes spacy, sometimes jangly but always powerful music behind him. Too many so called punk bands seem to be more concerned with fashion and attitude than with creating interesting music. Thank goodness Sex Cult doesn’t feel this way.

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My First Record: Jared Lindbloom of FISHDOCTOR

01/12/2012 By

My parents had a microwave-size cardboard box of their combined record collections.  Not a huge bounty, but the records contained within this box were my little musical gems growing up.

Bill Wither’s Still Bill was a record that seemed to be continually rotating on my parents’ turntable and the needle resting deep within it’s grooves; especially on tracks like ‘Use Me‘ and ‘Lean on Me’.

I was around 11 or 12 years old and growing up on the mid-western plains of South Dakota, a record like Still Bill had it all for me. Funky, head-bobbing bass &  drums.  Simple yet profound straight-forward lyrical delivery.  All of Wither’s confidence & humbleness came through on this album even if it only subconsciously registered with me at the time.

Having just finished watching the documentary Still Bill I’m reminded why this album still resonates with me today.  I still get the same giddiness I experienced upon my first listen.  And I have a feeling that excitement for this album will not leave me anytime soon.

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Ardent Sessions: Parachute Musical

03/23/2010 By

Parachute Musical is a totally awesome piano-driven rock band based in Nashville, Tn. Their songs are highly melodic, while the lyrics are weighted with emotional strife. If you miss Ben Folds Five, you should definitely check them out – plus you can download their totally free EP here: http://www.parachutemusicalfreeep.com/

Parachute Musical bangs out a few tunes at Ardent Studios

Parachute Musical bangs out a few tunes at Ardent Studios

Ardent Sessions: Parachute Musical [ 46:40 | 85.45 MB ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Setlist:

00:00 Intro
00:56 New Love
05:30 Drop Me A Line
09:13 College Degree
12:54 Instead
18:37 380427
25:23 One More Song
30:45 Dear Jacksonville
35:19 Back the Same
40:17 Hometown
43:54 No Comfort

Drummer Ben Jacoby also Plays with Keegan Dewitt

Drummer Ben Jacoby also Plays with Keegan Dewitt

Tom Gilbert is the funny one

Tom Gilbert is the funny one

Live Dates

Mar 25 2010      The Walnut House w/ Dr. Manhattan     Murfreesboro, Tennessee
Mar 27 2010     The Crows Nest w/ Micah     Bowling Green, Kentucky
Mar 31 2010     The End w/ Via Audio and Milktooth     Nashville, Tennessee
Apr 18 2010     The Abbey w/ Kait Lawson     Memphis, Tennessee
Apr 20 2010     Jigger’s w/ The Winter Sounds and Young Machines     San Antonio, Texas
Apr 22 2010     Hole In The Wall w/ The Winter Sounds     Austin, Texas
Apr 23 2010     Moon Bar w/ The Winter Sounds     Fort Worth, Texas
Apr 25 2010     Equinox w/ The Winter Sounds     Las Cruces, New Mexico
Apr 26 2010     The Percolator w/ The Winter Sounds     El Paso, Texas
Apr 27 2010     Skrappy’s w/ The Winter Sounds     Tucson, Arizona
Apr 28 2010     The Rouge Bar w/ The Winter Sounds     Scottsdale, Arizona
Apr 29 2010     The Ruby Room w/ The Winter Sounds and Attack! and The Paragraphs     San Diego, California
Apr 30 2010     Eclectic Skate Shop w/ The Winter Sounds     Ontario, California
May 1 2010     Fantasy Hall w/ The WInter Sounds     Lancaster, California
May 2 2010     The Viper Room w/ The Winter Sounds     West Hollywood, California
May 4 2010     Thee Parkside w/ The Winter Sounds and Zweng w/Frisky Disco     San Francisco, California
May 5 2010     Little Red Lion w/ The Winter Sounds     Eureka, California
May 7 2010     Diablo’s Downtown Lounge w/ The Winter Sounds     Eugene, Oregon
May 8 2010     Comet Tavern w/ Mighty Tigers and The Winter Sounds     Seattle, Washington
May 10 2010     The Blvd w/ The Winter Sounds     Spokane, Washington
May 11 2010     Liquid Lyrics w/ The Winter Sounds     La Grande, Oregon
May 12 2010     Visual Arts Collective w/ The Winter Sounds     Boise, Idaho
May 13 2010     Bar Deluxe w/ The Winter Sounds     Salt Lake City, Utah
May 14 2010     The Beauty Bar w/ The Winter Sounds     Las Vegas, Nevada
May 15 2010     Murray Theatre w/ The Winter Sounds     Salt Lake City, Utah
May 17 2010     806 w/ The Winter Sounds     Amarillo, Texas
May 19 2010     Boiler Room     Denton, Texas
May 21 2010     AJ’s Bar     Lake Charles, Louisiana

For more Parachute Musical photos, check out the gallery

For more Parachute Musical videos, click here

Follow Parachute Musical on Twitter: http://twitter.com/paramusical

Recorded and Mixed by Alan Burcham
Assisted by Lucas Peterson
Mastered by Kevin NIx

This free music podcast was recorded live at Ardent Studios in Memphis, TN.
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Ardent Sessions: Wax Fang

01/18/2010 By

While we could throw compliments for Louisville’s Wax Fang at you as thick as molasses – instead we decided to just pass along a review from a fan – which we think says it all:

“La La Land is an amazing record. Unique, Epic, Sprawling, Wierd, Fun, Heavy, Pyschadelic, Amazing. Go see them live and then multiply all of that by 10! Scott Carney for president!”

If you can’t make it to one of their shows, their performance on The Ardent Sessions can easily substitute as the next best thing!

Ardent Sessions: Wax Fang [ 49:15 | 90.19 MB ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Setlist:

00:01 Introduction
00:56 Magestic
07:52 World War II (Part 2)
13:00 At Sea
17:09 Canibal Summer
20:18 The Doctor Will See You Now
25:04 Can You See the Light
28:53 Avant Guardian Angel Dust
36:03 Oh Rocklessness
36:49 Black and Endless Night Revisited
42:53 Scream Bloody Murderer

“Bloody Murder”

For more videos of Wax Fang, click here!

For more photos of Wax Fang, click here!

Recorded and Mixed by Alan Burcham
Mastered by Kevin Nix

This free music podcast was recorded live at Ardent Studios in Memphis, TN.Tour Dates:

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