Carry Away the Summer

Here at Carry You Away, we like mixes. Now that I have a car with a CD player, I really like putting together a collection of songs to fit a particular driving style or mood that I find myself in, and go from there. Recently, I got to thinking about movie soundtracks and how a lot of the hipster, indie films often have this sort of attitude - a mix-tape is generally just as good when it comes to a film.

I guess that works, although I have to say that the only really good film soundtrack collection that I've come across recently seems to have been a model for a lot of the other films - Garden State. For me, Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist and Juno (and an upcoming one called Adam) can't hold a candle to this album, which still holds up nicely for me. I'm not entirely sure why the other two have really not held up beyond a single listen for me - I think that the artists are too new, the collection is just too pretentious to really gain any sort of mainstream following that the GS soundtrack has. Garden State was a fun film, and I suspect that there will be those who will label it as a defining film of our generation, along with the sountrack.

With artists like Simon and Garfunkle to the Shins, I think what really made the soundtrack work well is its variety of songs that are on it. There are several genres represented, from indie to acoustic to oldie, with a couple of artists that were just well known enough to a couple that were just obscure enough, but with enough material out there (in most cases) to keep people interested. I'd argue that the movie was a big success for people like The Shins, Cary Brothers, Zero 7, Iron & Wine and helped to get Nick Drake back on the radar. The album doesn't come off as pretentious, but honest, and it worked extremely well with the movie. Not having seen Juno or Infinite Playlist, I'm not sure how well those tracks meshed with the film, but it's not something that I'm losing sleep over.

While thinking about this, I think I found the formula that really made Garden State shine, and to put it to the test, I've put together a summer-ish sort of mix based on the criteria:

European/UK Band, Alt-Rock, Male

Indie Band, fairly obscure, complex lyrics

Electronica, easy listening, female vocals

Indie Band, same as #2

Acoutic Folk, Male, Soft

Alt-Folk/Rock, Male

Alf-Folk/Rock, Male

Acoustic Folk

Indian Electronica, no vocals

Oldie, Folkish, Male, duet

Folk-Cover of Techno/Electronica song, Male

Electronica/Female Vocals, Soft

Female Acoustic, Folk/Rock

Bonus: Alt-Rock (Used for Commercial)

Let's compare this to Garden State's Soundtrack:

Don't Panic - Coldplay

Caring is Creepy - The Shins

In the Waiting Line - Zero 7

New Slang - The Shins

I Just Don't Think I'll Ever Get Over You - Colin Hay

Blue Eyes - Cary Brothers

Fair - Remy Zero

One Of These Things First - Nick Drake

Lebanese Blonde - Thievery Corporation

The Only Living Boy in New York - Simon & Garfunkel

Such Great Heights (The Postal Service) - Iron & Wine

Let Go - Frou Frou

Winding Road - Bonnie Sumerville

Writing to Reach You - Travis (Commercial/Trailer)

And now, applying the same sort of formula , and this is what I've come up with, Carry You Away's Summer mix. How does it line up?

Bad Skin Day - Bell X1

Interior Of A Dutch House - Beirut

Hayling - FC/Kahuna

Postcards From Italy - Beirut

Re: Stacks - Bon Iver

Her Morning Elegance - Oren Lavie

When The Pain Dies Down - Chris Stills

At Your Door - Alexi Murdoch

The Khaleegi Stomp - Transglobal Underground

A Summer Song - Chad & Jeremy

Heartbeats (The Knife) - José González

What's Wrong With Me (Nouvelle Vague Remix) - Skye

Dreaming - Sara Wheeler

5:19 - Matt Wertz

Full

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Artist Comparison: Cary Brothers / Chris Stills

Okay, it's been a long time since I've done a bunch of my regular features, and the recent A Fine Frenzy/ Chris Stills concert's got me back into the swing of things with a review, so here goes. Today, the two artists are Chris Stills and Cary Brothers, two singer/songwriters whom I've both seen in concert and whom I've become a fan of.

I've listened to Cary Brothers a lot more than I have with Chris Stills, because of Brother's heavy media influence with a number of TV shows and his stint on Garden State's soundtrack, along with his first album, Who You Are.

Stills and Brothers both play and sing in a way that's very similar to one another. They're both in the 'Adult Alternative' genre that's popular with the 20-30 year olds, and have an overall similar sound - both male vocalists, they both play piano and guitar, and have a good, solid tone to their sound. They're not carbon copies of one another, but while listening to both of their works, I hear a number of similarities.

Stylistically, they both have a good vocal range, and vary their energy and speed a bit - Blue Eyes vs. Who You Are for Cary Brothers and When the Pain Dies Down and Fool For Love with Chris Stills.

Additionally, they're both from California, singer-songwriters. I can really see these two guys touring together, or even collaborating - it'd be a fun listen. Most of all, they've both got a really solid sound that I really like, something that's pretty easy to listen to.

When the Pain Dies Down - Chris Stills
If You Were Here - Cary Brothers

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Concert Report: Ferras, Chris Stills and A Fine Frenzy

On Saturday night, I drove down to Northhampton Mass for a three band concert, part of A Fine Frenzy's first headlining tour. I missed most of Ferras's set, and from the sounds of what I heard from him, I didn't really miss too much. I thought that I had a ticket waiting for me there, but that wasn't the case, so I paid my way in and found a spot. The venue was the Iron Horse, a place I'd heard a lot about, and found that it was certainly popular - there was standing room only towards the back, which was interesting, and why none of my pictures came out.
From what I heard of Ferras, I wasn't terribly impressed. Seemed like a typical indie singer. His recorded works don't sound bad, but he struck me as whiny, and I suspect that he's just starting out, and there'll be improvement as time goes on.

Ferras Set (Missed the first part)
Hollywood's Not America
Somebody Left Me Alone

I was very impressed with Chris Stills. He had a short set of some really good songs, and for an artist that I haven't listened to as much, I was convinced to give him a better listen soon - I'll probably pick up his album soon. He started off strong, and his group had a good, solid beat and a really good sound. The one song of his that I do have, When The Pain Dies Down, is one of my current favorites, and I was happy to hear that one live. He also moved around with tone and speed. Several songs were much faster, with a lot of energy, which is nice to hear - some artists just stick to one speed. He's also the first artist that I've seen to sing in two languages - one of his songs, Kitty-Catty, was in French, and I felt it added a bit of depth to his musical skills. The girl next to me said that he reminded her of Jeff Buckey, which I can hear, but I think he reminds me the most of Cary Brothers.
When he was done with his set, he walked past me and we talked for a couple minutes (if you're reading, thank you! I enjoyed the night!) which is always fun to do. I hope he comes to Vermont or back to New England sometime.

Chris Stills Set
- Story of a Dying Man
- Landslide
- When The Pain Dies Down
- Kitty-Catty
- Fool For Love
- Last Goodbye

The last act of the night, and the one that I'd been waiting for, was A Fine Frenzy. I'd seen her before, when she toured with Brandi Carlile (and what a fantastic show it was), and I was looking forwards to seeing her again. She picked out a wonderful set list, with some of her strongest songs on her first record, One Cell in the Sea, and a couple that I hadn't listened to as closely as before. Like the first concert, she had a wonderful and strong sound. A couple songs, such as Hope for the Hopeless, seemed a bit re-worked, which sounded fantastic.
Also, because she was doing a longer set, a couple of covers were thrown in - Across the Universe, by the Beatles and I Will Follow You Into the Dark, both of which were absolutely amazing - I was thrilled to hear both of them, and applaud Allison for not going the usual route of covering the Postal Service's Such Great Heights, which is what I thought that she was going to do when she said Ben Gibbard. Her last song of the evening was a new song, What I Wouldn't Do, which also sounded absolutely wonderful - according to some of her band mates, they're starting work on another album, so hopefully we'll get some more new music down the road. The songs have already made it onto Youtube, so I'll link those through at some point.
I got to speak with her drummer and bassist after the show, along with two girls who knew them - great to meet you all - Katelyn, feel free to e-mail me if you want any further recommendations. And the other person I was talking to vanished quickly - Jodi, nice to meet you as well, drop me an e-mail sometime. I missed out meeting Allison herself, but hopefully next time. The two hour drive home wasn't terribly fun - I don't do well at 2 am. Oh well.

A Fine Frenzy Set
- Come On, Come Out
- You Picked Me
- Last of Days
- Think of You
- Ashes & Wine
- Borrowed Time
- I Will Follow You Into the Dark (Death Cab for Cutie)
- Instrumental Piece
- Liar Liar
- Minnow and the Trout
- Hope for the Hopeless
- Almost Lover
- Rangers
Encore
- Across The Universe (The Beatles)
- Whisper
- Near to You
- What I Wouldn't Do (New)

Unfortunately, none of my pictures came out - I was too far away from the stage and there were really too many people in the way - they all came out pretty blurry.

Near to You - A Fine Frenzy
When the Pain Dies Down - Chris Stills

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