We’ve been writing for quite some time about Kyle Porterfield, his prior band Conrad Plymouth and his new band Field Report. Field Report’s first full-length and eponymously-titled album is one of our favorite albums of 2012. Porterfield writes superb song-operas for survivors and aspirants that serve to operate on your heart.  Think Waits and  Springsteen, with a dash or two of Craig Finn and John Darnielle, but with Porterfield’s own spangled spin.  Field Report has also been receiving rallying raves for their opening sets on Aimee Mann’s recently-completed tour.  The band seems to be finding their tour-legs as they’ve now added a headlining tour of their own in November (what, no Cali?).  Check out their well-crafted, affecting album below.  Once you’re inevitably convinced of its worth, go buy it.  And then find a date for one of their tour dates listed below the album.

Tour Dates:
November
6 – Boston, Mass. @ Great Scott
7 – Northampton, Mass. @ Iron Horse Music Hall
8 – New York, N.Y. @ Mercury Lounge
9 – Philadelphia, Pa. @ World Café Live Upstairs
10 – Brooklyn, N.Y. @ Union Hall
11 – Easton, Md. @ NightCat
13 – Pittsburgh, Pa. @ Club Café
14 – Columbus, Ohio @ Rumba Café
15 – Chicago, Ill. @ Schubas Tavern
16 – St. Paul, Minn. @ Turf Club
17 – Madison, Wis. @ High Noon Saloon

(Photo by Christopher Victorio for PureVolume)

We’ve been tardy and flailing while trying to pass along our summary bulletins of the always-soulful Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival (nearly two-weeks later).  What can we say?  The world and its toiling: overrated.

We caught great, timeless acts throughout the Festival, and in time will tell their tales.  We would be remiss, however, if we didn’t at least list our ten favorite performances (out of the 25 or so acts we caught) at HSB 2012 , which were (in ascending order):  Lloyd Cole, Conor Oberst, Jenny Lewis, Ben Kweller, Chuck Prophet & the Mission Express, Dave Alvin & the Guilty Ones, Nick Lowe, Giant Giant Sand, The Head and the Heart, and the fantastic Glen Hansard.

We have had a heart for Hansard ever since his poignant, heartfelt songs and performances that made up the movie Once (if you haven’t seen, there’s this weekend’s movie for ya).  But nothing prepared us for Hansard’s performance at HSB.  Fearing another spare, acoustic set (like Lloyd Cole and Nick Lowe, as lovely as they were), we actually debated attending other stages instead.  But our gut at Once told us to adhere to the age-old axiom:  when in doubt as to musical alternatives, always go with the Irishman.  You can take that one to the grave folks.

Instead of solo, Hansard showed up with an enormous and enormously-talented 11-piece band (including three each of strings and horns), and proceeded to deliver THE set of the Festival.  Though far too short a set (see the setlist way below), Hansard and band packed a punch throughout that will not soon be forgotten by us or the others in attendance.

To finish off his fine set, Hansard gave us a great one-two medley that began with Fitzcarraldo (Hansard’s Frames song, and an homage of sorts to Werner Herzog’s fine 1982 film of same name) and ended with a braying and boisterous Don’t Do It that caught the crowd stamping and crowing for more.  To get a feel, check out videos of the one-two below, the second being ours.  On Fitzcarraldo, the strings (Colm Mac Con Iomaire‘s fiddle in particular) shone through.  And closer Don’t Do It was Hansard’s homage to the late, great Levon Helm that featured (it turns out) Helm’s own horn section, some additive dance-moves from Hansard, and the perfect, Helm-esque accompanying vocals of drummer Graham Hopkins.

It was a textbook, one-two finish that left many scrambling for their smart-phones to see where Hansard and crew would play next.  We would have left the Festival and driven 500-miles to see them again.  It was that good.  But their set at HSB was the last California date  on their tour (after a raved-about show the night before at the Fillmore and one show in LA in June).  The next time they come around, don’t you do it:  don’t you miss ’em.

Setlist:

1. Love Don’t Keep Me Waiting
2. Respect (Otis Redding–due respect, Aretha–cover)
3. Talking With The Wolves
4. Low Rising
5. When Your Mind’s Made Up (the only song from Once, but a highlight)
6. Bird of Sorrow
7. Astral Weeks (Van Morrison cover)
8. Fitzcarraldo
9. Don’t Do It (a cover of The Band’s arrangement of the great Holland-Dozier-Holland song)

We saw some great performances on the Austin City Limits Music Festival webcasts last weekend, not least of which were delivered by three female artists (in addition to First Aid Kit)–Metric (Emily Haines), Polica and Kimbra (she of the Gotye mega-hit).  Check them out below (in our preferential order) performing songs Synthetica, Wandering Star, and Posse, respectively.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8g7KU3o3YHU&feature=channel&list=UL

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nmgveVwGZEk&feature=channel&list=UL

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZCgeMJqJ3Fk&feature=channel&list=UL

We’re on a Collett roll.  Yesterday we posted the CBC performances of talented indie singer-songwriter Jason Collett.  And today Collett and Arts + Crafts have released the official video for one of our favorite songs, When Things Go Wrong, from his impressive new album Reckon.  We’ll have a review of the new album shortly, but in the meantime check out this arresting song.

Neil Young & Crazy Horse will release their new album of originals, Psychedelic Pill on Halloween Eve (10/30).  Young previously released the 16+ minute Ramada Inn video from the new album.  Now comes the official video for another new song, Twisted Road.  At a scant 3-4 minutes it’s a comparative day On The Beach time-wise.  Check out the video below, which is a nostalgic romp featuring Bob Dylan and others from back in the day.

We caught great Brooklyn-band Grizzly Bear last week in Oakland.  To get a good feel for the band live, with far better sound than we experienced at the Fox Theater, check them out on Later with Jools Holland performing Yet Again off their shimmering new album Shields.

We are completely enamored with Band of Horses latest album Mirage Rock, and fair amount of our ardor can be attributed to the consistency of the time-travel sound created by the band and producer Glyn Johns.   The entire Mirage Rock album sounds as if lifted from a pastiche of beloved ’70s rock and folk-rock recordings.  Now Band of Horses have pulled together a YouTube tribute and songlist of some of the highlights of Johns’ producing/engineering/recording career (we own many of the recordings on vinyl).  Check it out and be in awe of the Johns’ role in rock n’ roll history. 

Take a minute (literally) to watch noted poet Sharon Olds read her poem Diagnosis for PBS below.  Here’s hoping for an epidemic of incurable humor.

We loved former Broken Social Scene member Jason Collett’s 2005 album Idols of Exile and 2008’s Here’s to Being Here.  Now the indie singer/songwriter is back with a monstrous and stylistically-varied 15-song collection entitled Reckon (along with an an 11-song career-spanning retrospective entitled Essential Cuts that contains two previously unreleased b-sides).  On the new album, Collett is backed by some of Canada’s best musicians, including Kevin Drew and Brendan Canning from Broken Social Scene and Afie Jurvanen of Bahamas.  The album center’s around Collett’s observations (while on tour in the U.S.) of our economic crisis, its causes and its impacts (though with a more subtle, less-jackhammer approach).

Collett showed up recently on CBC to perform a set of songs from the new album, backed by a big band including the likes of Drew, Canning and Jurvanen. We love the sounds generated by Collett and compatriots at CBC, and especially on new songs Where Things Go Wrong,  I’ll Bring the Sun, and older song Fire.  Check those and a few others below to get a great feel for this artist and his new album.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hJosqYD2DiE&feature=em-uploademail-new

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-MgZVbWkiOw&feature=channel&list=UL

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eg75R7v42t8&feature=channel&list=UL

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bvh8pceXjbs&feature=channel&list=UL

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2d-hhTFw_N8&feature=channel&list=UL

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hyJ0hmcWkWw&feature=em-uploademail-new

In addition to webcasting the entire Austin City Limits Music Festival over the weekend, the fine folks at ACL have posted some of the musical highlights of the Festival.  Check out below the Swedish sisters, First Aid Kit, performing their song Wolf.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=THSpa7xOojw&feature=channel&list=UL