Indie Music Chatter

Jose Gonzalez‘ Veneer was arguably one of the best albums to come out last year. The Swedish-born singer-songwriter released one of the most powerful debuts in recent years. His sparse, almost brutally bare songs evoke the melancholy sadness of Nick Drake coupled with Elliott Smith’s knack for killer melodies.

The recent announcement of the imminent release of Jose Gonzalez’ sophomore effort Our Nature is definitely great news for his growing legion of fans. What’s even better though is that Gonzalez is going to tour this fall in support of the album’s release. The US tour will begin on September 27, two days after the release of Our Nature. James Blackshaw and Savath & Savalas have been announced as the opening acts in some of the tour dates.

I am looking forward to this tour. Jose Gonzalez is a powerful presence on stage and I am hoping that he’d get to play his cover of Joy Division’s Love Will Tear Us Apart — one of the best covers I’ve heard of that song.

Jose Gonzalez, Veneer, Our Nature, Joy Division, James Blackshaw, Savath & Savalas

Here’s a confession — I’m not just a music geek, I’m also a big film geek. I have loved films ever since I was a teenager. I find the whole process of filmmaking so inspired and a wonderful creative outlet. I’ve actually dabbled in filmmaking in college and a few years after it — basically doing some acting work for indie filmmaker friends and also helping out with production. I just absolutely love it when everything just comes together and you are presented with a film that assaults you visually with some of the best eye candy directors/auteurs can muster.

What I absolutely love though is when an artist manages to combine both my love for film and music and actually succeed in his vision. These films are few and far between (I can name drop The Commitments, 24 Hour Party People, and yes, even Singles) so it really excites me when I hear about a new work that has the potential of joining this very rarefied field. I think one film that I can add to this group would be Once.

The new film, helmed by John Carney, stars Glen Hansard. For indie rock fans, Hansard will be immediately recognizable because he is the vocalist for Dublin band The Frames — which is one of the most awesome bands to come out of the area in recent years. The film is quite simple and understated in the way it chronicles the story of a street musician and an immigrant as they sing songs that describe their love story. According to the distributor, it is a modern day musical and from what I’ve seen it really is one. Glen Hansard is one cool dude and I believe that after this movie is seen by more people, The Frames will become more famous — which they justly deserve.

The Frames, Glen Hansard, Once

A good friend of mine who is based in France messaged me in Yahoo Messenger last night to inform me that he was one of the lucky people who got to snag tickets for the kickoff leg of the new Smashing Pumpkins tour, last May 22.

Rupert happily reported that the new material from their forthcoming album, [b]Zeitgeist[/b], was some strong stuff. Although he was cautious not to say it was a return to form, he said that it sounded so much better than the songs on [b]Machina: Machines of the Gods[/b].

What’s got me excited though are the inclusion of two indie vets in the new lineup. With the non-participation of both James Iha and D’arcy, Billy Corgan enlisted the help of Jeff Schroeder and Ginger Reyes on rhythm guitar and bass guitar duties, respectively.
Schroeder is a member of the Los Angeles noise pop outfit The Lassie Foundation. Ginger Reyes (aka Ginger Sling), on the other hand, is a member of the Cali-based Halo Friendlies. She has also released a few EPs as a solo artist under her Ginger Sling moniker.

Corgan really has a great eye for indie talent. In his previous band Zwan, he teamed up with David Pajo from seminal band Slint and Chavez’s Matt Sweeney (who incidentally came out with a totally kick-ass album with Will Oldham entitled [b]Superwolf[/b]).

Smashing Pumpkins, The Lassie Foundation, Ginger Sling, Slint

Former Jane’s Addiction frontman Perry Farrell is one cool cat. The artist extraordinaire has always loved to shake things up and his entire body of work as well as the many causes that he supports can attest to this.

Back in 2005, Farrell formed his new band Satellite Party. I’ve always been intrigued with how the album will sound especially with all of the rumors and small tidbits of news that I was hearing about his new project.

Well, the wait is now over. Satellite Party’s album [b]Ultra Payloaded[/b] will drop on to record stores on May 29. But for those who can’t wait, the whole album is being streamed at Satellite Party’s MySpace page. Go check it out!

Perry Farrell, Satellite Party, MySpace

Elliott Smith was one of the best singer-songwriters of our generation. It was such heartbreaking news when it was reported that the troubled artist committed suicide back in 2003.

Fortunately for fans of his astounding work, Smith was a prolific artist despite his battles with alcohol and drug abuse. The year 2004 saw the release of [i]From A Basement on a Hill[/i], the album he was working on at the time of his death.

Now in 2007, a number of important Elliott Smith – related materials are being released to the public. First up is the double album [i]New Moon[/i]. This is a collection of rareties that Smith recorded between 1994 through 1997. The album is enjoying much acclaim from both critics and fans alike.

Recently it was also announced that a photo book Smith, simply entitled [i]Elliott Smith[/i], is scheduled for release in November. The book compiles almost 200 photos taken by Autumn de Wilde on Smith. De Wilde took the picture of Smith that was used as the cover for 2000’s [i]Figure 8[/i]. The book will also come with a CD that contains five previously unreleased acoustic songs that Smith recorded at the Largo Club in Los Angeles.

For fans who miss Smith and his powerfully poignant songs, this is a godsend and a wonderful addition to Smith’s artistic legacy.

[tags]Elliott Smith, Figure 8, New Moon, From a Basement on a Hill[/]