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The CHIRP Blog
SKaiser writesMinor Characters Release of Voir Dire Happens Tomorrow
Tuesday October 28. The day of Voir Dire is here.
Minor Characters shared the heart of their first full length album with CHIRP’s Shawna Kaiser the night of their release show.
Voir Dire, pronounced VUAH DEAR, is a French legal phrase that refers to an oath taken by jurors to tell the truth, or to say what is objectively accurate, subjectively honest, or both. - Adam Wayne, bass
It’s Friday night, minutes before they’d perform at The Hideout, and the four-piece band sits circled around a small table on the second floor of the venue. PBR’s all around and let’s start with an excerpt from Adam Wayne’s meaning of this album:
“We have in our generation (of young adults in 21st century America) some of the smartest and most capable humans on the planet, and most people squander it, because they don't know that not only is there another narrative, but there is any number of different narratives. If one doesn't fit, create the one you want! We sit among a whole generation of brilliant and capable minds dumbing down for office admin jobs, sales positions, and jobs that we ultimately don't care about to buy the things we're convinced we need to fill voids inside us we don't realize we have.
We're looking for heroes. Anyone or anything that galvanizes people, brings people together and points us to the better aspects of our nature, these people and things are worthy heroes. If people feel some sort of yearning or dissatisfaction, some itchy irritability, then it might be because they're not looking in the right direction for a solution, and that within them is a limitless, infinite capacity for love and growth through connection to higher things and people.
Voir Dire is a hard look at, and documentation of the current state of affairs.”
Minor Characters release show at The Hideout, October 17: Andrew Pelletier: vocals/guitar, Shelby Pollard: guitar/vocals, Adam Wayne: bass, Thomas Benko: drums
With each member bringing thoughtful perspective to Voir Dire comes 13 tracks of genuine reflection.
“When you project anything outward, you’re really reminding yourself how you feel about it. We’re reminding ourselves about the society we’re in and asking others, “do you feel the same?”, Shelby Pollard said.
“With this record we all bring our own personal story – this is very personal for Andrew – and Shelby brought his own collection of poetry, then I had my own independent thoughts and feelings on community. When it came together it’s like a checkpoint in knowing we’re in the right place at the time, doing the right thing,” Adam Wayne said.
Minor Characters Official * SoundCloud * Facebook * @minorcharactrs *
Clarence Ewing: The Million Year Trip writesWhat Was at The Top of CHIRP’s Charts Two Years Ago This Month?
These were the albums at the top of CHIRP Radio's charts the 2nd week of October two years ago...
1. How to Dress Well – Total Loss (Acephale)
SKaiser writesDon’t Miss Minor Characters Release of Voir Dire
Take a load off at Minor Characters' Voir Dire (hey, that's VWAR DIER) release party this Friday, October 17. They're no strangers to The Hideout or CHIRP Radio, as our own Katie Owens met with them last year.
It'll be a night to remember. Minor Characters smooth style of 60's-love-inducing rock, coupled with a unique edgier side, will leave you melodically transfixed. Take a listen here. The band started in December 2010 and includes Andrew Pelletier (vocals/guitar), Shelby Pollard (guitar/vocals), James Ratke (drums), and Adam Wayne (bass). Each bandmate brings years of experience, lending to the intoxicating elements of the group's sound. You can purchase tickets ($10) here. Doors open at 9:00 PM and the show starts at 10:00 PM. Be there or be square!
Tyler Clark presents: Local Mythologies writesTop Five: New Pornographers Members, Ranked By Solo Work
If you've listened to CHIRP in the last few months, you've probably heard a track from Brill Bruisers, the latest pop statement piece from the New Pornographers. Since forming in 1999, the Vancouver supergroup has been a critical favorite, and currently holds a 79 average on review aggregator Metacritic. The band's success comes from its ability to weave together the distinct songwriting voices of its members, including AM-radio devotee Carl Newman, experimental pop sorceror Dan Bejar, and alt-country maven Neko Case. Today, however, I'm unraveling that careful musical ecosystem. Not counting their work together, which member of the New Pornographers has produced the best work in solo or side projects? Band harmony be damned: which New Pornographer is the best?
A note on methodology: whenever possible, we list three sets of numbers: the Metacritic Metascore, the Metacritic user average, and an average combining the Metascore and reviews from AllMusic for albums not listed on Metacritic. The Metascore takes precedence, with the user average acting as a tiebreaker. The AllMusic scores are there to provide representation for older albums, and paint a (slightly) more complete picture of each artist. Plus, the more scores we use, the more there is to argue about.
5) Kathryn Calder
Metacritic Average: n/a
AllMusic Average (Immaculate Machine + solo work): 71.7
Kathryn Calder joined the New Pornographers as a touring member in 2005, and most early coverage of her tenure was preoccupied with a) how much (or little) she sounded like Neko Case and b) the movie-plot story of her life as the niece Carl Newman never knew he had. It also shortchanged the facts of her own career; before signing on with the New Pornographers, Calder was already the successful singer of Immaculate Machine, whose just-the-facts indie pop populated the midsections of many a mix CD in the mid-2000s. More recently, Calder's found more success on the singer-songwriter beat, freeing her voice to lilt and meander over slightly more delicate arrangements.
Clarence Ewing: The Million Year Trip writesSongwriter Showcase: Anthony Cozzi of Radar Eyes, Performing this Friday at Uncommon Ground
Anthony Cozzi of Chicago band Radar Eyes will be one of the performers taking the stage at Homeroom Chicago's Songwriter Showcase this Friday at Uncommon Ground to discuss his music and sonwriting process. Billie Howard had a chance to ask Anthony some questions beforehand...
Who were some of your earliest musical influences?
The earliest musical influences I can remember were the first 45's I had as a kid in the mid '80s. Theses included Tom Petty "Dont Do Me Like That," John Fogerty "Centerfield" and Micheal Jackson "Thriller" LP. I would stand on my head in my bedroom and listen to these records over and over. I soon "borrowed" a Beatles greatest hits tape from my Dad and that became a fast favorite. A little later in my early teenage years I traded a couple of my old Beatles/Stones tapes for three albums that I had never heard before but would change the way I listened to music from then on - Minor Threat - "Complete Discography", Jane's Addiction - "Self Titled"(XXX), and Fugazi "13 songs." The Minor Threat album took about ten listens just to understand what was even happening. The recording and performance on the album is so ferocious, I had never heard anything like it. Then I started to read the lyric sheet and discovered there was a community behind the music.
The Fugazi album was a continuation of what Ian started in Minor Threat but with more emotions than anger as well as dynamics in the instrumentation. The Jane's Addiction album was so weird to me at the time Perry's voice wrapped around the amazing rhythm section and Dave Navarro's spacey, melodic, but heavy guitar - it was like alien hippie punk. But, more importantly what this album did was to introduce me to Lou Reed and The Velvet Underground via the cover of "Rock n' Roll." One other album I bought around this time was Ramones "Loco Live," I basically learned to play guitar to this CD.