Beck's Record Club Is Cooler Than Yours

The last time we checked in with Beck's Record Club, he was hard at work re-recording the Velvet Underground's debut, to amazing results. Since then, he's continued the hard work, and this time he's managed to enlist most of Wilco to help him with the results.

Continuing the late 60's trend, the latest iteration of "record club" has spent their time collaborating on covers of the Skip Spence recor OAR. The results, dare we say, are nothing short of fabulous. The group offers up synthed-out loopy takes on the original record, which is far more earthy in its original form.

We've embedded one of our faves from the sessions above: "Dixie Peach Promenade" finds Beck delivering bubbly synth lines, while Jeff Tweedy on vocals, and Glenn Kotche collaborating with Tweedy's son on percussion. The rest of the session (including an appearance by Feist) can be had over at Beck's Record Club. (And, once you get done with OAR, you can move on to The Songs Of Leonard Cohen, which Beck also managed to cover in the interim. So...much...music!)

mp3: Beck's Record Club (Feat. Wilco) - Dixie Peach Promenade

Kings Of Convenience Played Bowery Ballroom, Feist Joined - Pictures, Review

Kings Of Convenience have been without a new record or a US performance in close to five years. So, when we discovered that the dynamic duo had not only a new album (entitled Declaration Of Dependence) on the way, but a performance scheduled at the Bowery Ballroom, we were more than a little excited. Last night HAD stopped in at the intimate theater to catch the show, and we couldn't be happier that we did.

The two have an unquestionable baseline of song delivery, which on the surface is heavily subdued: mellow vocals and quietly dueling guitars underpin their style, and reenforce the title of their earlier record Quiet Is The New Loud. However, once one becomes immersed in the overall vibe of the pair's show, there arise unquestionable dynamics from song to song.

Specifically, the vocals and guitar play demonstrate high variation, especially across the band's various recordings. While their earlier material is remarkably poppy and melodic, the band's new material drifts unquestionably more into bossa nova territory. In doing so it lost perhaps a small measure of its melody, but added a rhythmic diversity to the set.

The band themselves provided a stark contrast to the music's restraint, interacting extensively with the crowd, joking around, and generally seeming comfortable and happy to be in the room. It was clear that the duo not only have a warm relationship with the fans, but were truly grateful that they had such a great room to play in.

Perhaps the most surprising part of the show came in the encore when Feist appeared on the venue's balcony, and proceeded to join the band for two songs. It's no secret that she had recorded with the band on record, but given the audience reaction, this was as much a surprise for everyone else in the room as it was for us. Suffice it to say: adding Feist to an already outstanding night of chilled out tunes was more than a little awesome.

As for the audience reaction, it was clearly a show that the fans had been aching for: the crowd was simultaneously enthusiastic, thrilled, and worshipful in the intimate space. Even as the set ended and the lights had come up, the crowd was unrelenting in their applause and desire to hear more from the band. With the new record dropping next month, it seems only logical that the band would be back for more. While the band doesn't have any US dates currently scheduled, with love like this, how could they not dive into the fray? We'll certainly keep you posted.

Declaration Of Dependence drops on October 2nd.
Many more photos at the HAD Archive.

Feist Joins Wilco On Letterman For "You And I" - Video

Now, this is more like it. After Wilco's relatively uninspired performance on Conan a couple of weeks back, we were happy to see them nail "You And I" as they paid David Letterman a visit.

Of course, it didn't exactly hurt things that Feist was on hand to help them out and add a fair dose of energy to the mix. As she sang with Tweedy, it was clear that he was more than a little happy to have her on hand, as was the rest of the band.

In fact, we can't say we've seen the Wilco crew be quite so grin-filled in quite a while. Then again, can you really blame them?

Full Video For Kevin Drew & Feist Collaboration Surfaces

UPDATE: Yanked the vid because it wouldn't stop autoplaying. Go here to see it.

You may recall that earlier in the week we mentioned a Kevin Drew directed project to make a film for Feist's song "The Water". At the time, all we had for you was a making-of interview, but now the full film has surfaced on pitchfork.tv.

The film is pretty much as expected from the interview, with lots of silence, "talking through eyes", and a somewhat creepy feel. Kudos to Drew - it's a solid effort. Check it out for yourself above, and quickly - it's one-week-only!

Feist And Kevin Drew Are Making A Movie (Is That What They're Calling It These Days?)

If there's one thing that rock and roll lovebirds do best, it's dream up new ways to collaborate. Luckily for Kevin Drew and Feist, they were collaborating before they were lovin', so there's a high quality bar that was set long ago.

The pair's latest effort is a short film made by Drew, based on Feist's song "The Water". The film features Feist acting along with Cillian Murphy of Batman Begins fame. Pitchfork's done a nice interview on the making of the film (above), and it features the pair's thoughts on the work, as well as excerpts. That being said, it doesn't exactly make clear what the film is about: there's a lot of hugging, not much talking, and a lot of sad looks. Hrm.

No word on where you can catch the actual film just yet, but we'll keep an eye out. Maybe the next issue of Wholphin?

Feist Played The Greek

On Saturday night we made our way over to the Greek Theater in Berekely for some beautiful weather, and a show from Feist. The sometimes-Broken Social Scener delivered a set that was full of selections from both Let It Die and The Reminder. While the night was full of great moments, it didn't do a lot to depart from the source material, and left us wishing there was a bit more of the excitement that is present when the whole BSS crew is in attendance.

The set started out on an upbeat note, and we were really loving the overall vibe. It was a pretty devout crowd, and the performances were pretty by-the-numbers, but that's not necessarily a bad thing: this was Feist being Feist. One extreme oddity was that the keyboard/guitar player on the right hand side of the stage was some sort of Kevin Drew impersonator. Maybe Feist is just sad to be touring solo, but it seems a little odd to have one of your band members play dressup as your beau.

As the set continued, it progressed to a "solo set" vibe, with the primary attraction being Leslie Feist's voice. While there's no doubt that she's got some great vocals, we started to feel like this section of the set dragged a bit. Despite the awesome overhead-projected visuals, we started feeling a real "okay, let's get going!" instinct as the solo portion came to a close.

Smartly, the set wrapped back to some more upbeat numbers, and the show's most rocking moments were in the last 30 minutes. After she had returned for the encore, Feist delivered a breathtaking rendition of "Let It Die" that was a nice resolution to the night. A good time was had by all, but we'd be lying if we said we wouldn't like to see her back on the BSS stage sometime soon.

More pics over at the H.A.D. Archive.
Gussifer also has some nice pics at flickr.

Feist On Sesame Street

Sure it's cutesy, but given that we love us some Muppets, and that Feist will be at the Greek Theater on Saturday, well, we couldn't resist.

Feist To Play Greek Theater In July

While we haven't seen Leslie Feist live since she opened for Broken Social Scene back in 2005 at The Regency Grand Ballroom, we have to say it might just be time. We had been avoiding shows because of the all-encompassing Feist-hype that has enveloped our culture over the past 2 years. Between iTunes commercials, Starbucks, and everywhere in-between, we figured we'd kinda duck the cultural wave. Still, Ms. Feist's charms are undeniable, and a concert outside in July might be too good to pass up. Pre-sale starts on Thursday, we're working on getting you a password. Cheers...

UPDATE: Pre-sale here, login "feist", password "tickets".

Britt Daniel Remixes Feist

(Image Of Britt w/ Bass Guitar from HAD's flickr feed)

We finally got our hands on Feist's (who also has a brand new website up and running) latest batch of remixes, and we were quite pleased to see one from Mr. Britt Daniel. The Spoon front man took liberties with the latest Feist-y single "I Feel It All", and the results are definitely diggable. If we're not mistaken, the remix has some new audio to it - and it sounds like Mr. Daniel himself is playing that big bass guitar on the front end of the track.

In other news, Spoon has taken the other end of the stick as well, and is releasing an EP chock full o' remixes this Spring. The band is touring on the release, but no SF date has been announced. We'll let you know. In the meantime....

mp3: Feist - I Feel It All (Britt From Spoon Remix)

This Friday: Get Feisty

If there's one member of Broken Social Scene who doesn't need any gratuitous promotion, it's probably the progressively more ubiquitous Feist. From your local Starbucks, to Saturday Night Live, to UPS commercials, the Canadian singer has been popping up everywhere lately. Now, just because she's everywhere doesn't mean you wouldn't want to know when she's here, and tonight she will be here indeed. At 8 PM Feist will be playing the Nob Hill Masonic Auditorium: the show is already sold out, but tickets can be had through the usual sources. If you're feeling especially industrious, the singer is also playing a double bill with Spoon in LA on Monday - should be a blowout. Finally, if you're short on cash, you can at least visit the new Feist web site which sports videos and other funtimes excitement. Or you can just download this mp3.

Feist - I Feel It All

If I were the Polyphonic Spree, I'd Sue.

In what appears to be an indie-rock cool kids extravaganza, Feist sang 1234 last night on Letterman with more than a litte help from here friends. If you're keeping track, the backing choir holds members of Broken Social Scene (well, duh), The National, New Pornographers, and Grizzly Bear. I'm kinda skeptical of the Polyphonic Spree ripoffedness of it all, not to mention the self-referential nature of the indie it-list, but I guess I have to let it slide. It's fun, Feist's on top of her game, and ferreals: do you want to be the hater? Didn't think so.

Grizzly Bear is at Mezzanine 9/15
The National play the Regency Grand 9/29