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Say Something About A Great Big World

1 Nov
Photo: B.A. Van Sise

Photo: B.A. Van Sise

We live in a great big world with a plethora of music, but not all of this music is … well … great. But in this great big world there exists Ian Axel and Chad Vaccarino, a duo born in NYU’s music business program, who happen to grace this world with some pretty excellent tunes.

Ok … enough with the puns. Let’s get to the nitty-gritty of the post. Main idea? The singer-songwriting tandem, who have already been compared with the likes Simon and Garfunkel and modern pop-rock bands like FUN and Jukebox the Ghost (my addition to the growing list), understands the meaning of impassioned catchy compositions and is eager to share it with the … great big world.

A Great Big World really only started with Ian Axel. Chad Vaccarino was always there, but Axel ballooned as a popular New York artist after releasing a debut solo album (with all songs co-written by Vaccarino). This music gained nationwide buzz. Axel, the modern Ben Folds look-alike with a messy afro, joined Vaccarino, his manager and co-writer, on a tour, which even included a performance on the Rachael Ray Show. The duo opened shows for Ingrid Michaelson, Five For Fighting, and Glee star Matthew Morrison, and through these performances they developed a strong musical bond and friendship.

So, when an opportunity to re-brand came about the duo embraced the opportunity and combined to form A Great Big World, which has released This Is The New Year, a three-song EP under Epic Records, this year. Let’s take a listen to one of the popular pieces from the album (which appeared on Axel’s debut solo release).

There is something particularly endearing to the song’s minimalist approach. It relies heavily on melancholic piano chords and Axel’s stripped down voice. While the song does add strings that elevate the song’s warmth, it still remains a simple piece carried by an earnest vocal that maintains a high-altitude intensity that draws in listeners. It’s not a song that’s easy to give up on. 🙂

Expect big things from A Great Big World. Check out the band’s website, Facebook, and Twitter.

Classical Davide – Acoustic Guitar for the Soul

22 Oct

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When I was younger I wanted to be a guitar-wielding, vocal powerhouse rock star. After a few fledgling attempts at musical production with impromptu rock bands, I realized that my dream was limited to the occasional, recreational strumming of an acoustic guitar.

Turn on the radio today, and toggle through the stations. You are bound to find variations of rock and pop. That should come to no surprise to anyone. I dreamed of pop/rock stardom, and I did so because that was what was cool. I was a musical conformist, and although at 14 years old I turned my attention to 60s and 70s rock, I was still focused on rock dreams.

Davide Rigodanzo is not, and that is what makes this 14-year-old fingerstyle guitarist so special. A self-taught guitarist who started playing the guitar when he was 11 years old, he has aspirations different from your normal 14-year-old music lover. Davide, a spitting image of Justin Bieber, represents keen maturity and a perspicacious appreciation of the acoustic guitar and music itself. I’ll leave you to read some of Davide’s words.

“My preferred style is fingerpicking. It is not simple to learn, but I think that this style meets the possibility to have an accompaniment (with finger) + a principal sound more emphasized with the pick.”

You don’t hear many 14-year-old aspiring musicians talking like that. As a music lover, I have much respect for those who play the acoustic guitar well. The instrument has been slightly perverted by pop simplicity – a few chords and voila, a chart-bursting hit. I am endeared to those who actually know how to pick notes and extract emotion from an acoustic guitar so it oozes out in smooth sound. Davide is able to do that.

He even gets the slaps and mutes right! Sorry, I’m getting ahead of myself. “Wonderful Tonight” is my favorite Eric Clapton song. Davide performs it with sophistication and feeling. The sound is crisp, and Davide strikes each note with intensity. He demonstrates a true sagacity in his ability to not drown the sound by playing too quickly or let the sound echo too often. It’s a wonderful mixture.

I’m happy to introduce Davide to the Music Court readership. It isn’t everyday I am contacted by a classical guitarist, especially one who is 14 years old. We should all take a page out of Davide’s playbook. Don’t simply pursue something because it is perceived to be chic or profitable. Do what you love!

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Teling Buffalo Tales in Amsterdam

24 Sep

Buffalo-Tales

Wes Carr is getting back to his folk roots. After winning the sixth season of Australian Idol in 2008 and charting #2 in Australia with The Way The World Looks, his second album (first with a label), Carr started a new project that allowed him to focus his musical production on acoustic pastoral melodies and his singer/songwriter foundations. Making music under the moniker Buffalo Tales, Carr recently released his third studio album, Roadtrip Confessions, which takes listeners on a rich, bucolic journey of savory vocals and lulling rhythms.

Carr’s true strength as an artist is as a storyteller. Like a more effervescent Iron & Wine, Carr plugs through each song on Roadtrip Confessions, navigating listeners through woven personal tales. It is a joy to enter the musical world of Carr, and it should come to no surprise that he came upon the nickname Buffalo Tales, an image that evokes stories of idyllic plains.

The video for “Amsterdam,” the lead single off the album, is a reflection of Carr’s melodic candor; the song flows naturally and effectively. Injected with an acoustic rhythm much like a strummed Tallest Man on Earth piece, “Amsterdam” is carried with a rhythmic power and vocal vitality. The energy is refreshing. The harmonies give the piece an Indie/Folk quality and add to its strength.

Yes, this is a unique cover of Rihanna’s “Diamonds.” It is subdued and personal. In that sense it almost reminds me of the “Hey Ya” cover by Obadiah Parker, but Carr’s cover is carried with a quiet potency that is both emotional and sweet. Perhaps my favorite part of the cover is that Carr holds back. He can flat-out sing, but instead of overwhelming the cover, he remains tranquil and almost melancholic.

Check out more of Buffalo Tales – Website, Facebook, Twitter .

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Last Chance for Sunshine Driving

19 Sep

Sunshine Driving

Summer officially ends on Sunday. I don’t know about you, but I intend on holding on for dear life. The thought of another New York winter is … well … cold and the antithesis of pleasant, sunny, and all those summery adjectives. What I need is some music to help me ward away the chill in the air and focus only on the chill of cold beer, warm sunshine, and a beach somewhere. I need some mental transportation music. Thankfully, I have Joe Moorhead.

Moorhead, an acoustic-guitar wielding, laid-back, tropical musician originally from Cleveland, Ohio – there is an ironic contradiction blatantly noticeable in that appositive – provides the summer grooves you need to keep the spirit of warm weather alive during cold months. His band is your quintessential college quartet, and they can be seen playing college venues and festivals throughout the United States (Tour Schedule).

All of the tracks, which can be heard on Moorhead’s website, can best be described as fun. The tracks, like Moorhead, are relaxed and comfortable. They are perfect for swinging on a hammock while enjoying the sweet heat radiating off the orange sand and … uh, yeah, sorry, back to my desk. It’s easy to get lost (in a good way) in the excellent tunes. Here is the first single off the new album Tides are Rising (released last month), “Sunshine Driving”

The piece starts with a toe-tapping blues riff that echoes a groovy Dave Matthews-like jam. Moorhead’s vocal is loose and easy. The hip verse turns into an island chorus. It’s a strange made-up adjective, I know. The best way I can describe it though is a melody concoction you are most likely to hear while on an Island. It’s an interesting juxtaposition with the blues guitar. Great piece.

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Celebrate the Racoon Wedding

16 Sep

Racoon Dead on the Side of the Road

Add one more notch on Brantford, Ontario’s belt. The city is the birthplace of Wayne Gretzky and Phil Hartman, and it is where Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone. It also houses the six members of the rising Indie/Rock band Racoon Wedding.  Racoon can be spelled with one C or two. I thought I’d obviate the spelling lesson.

Racoon Wedding is the music equivalent of what I would expect a raccoon wedding to be like: electric eccentricity, amicable drunkenness, poppy humor, and, most importantly, horn-fueled raccoon love. So, yeah, that odd comparison holds true for the sextet from telephone city.

Come tomorrow with the release of the new LP, Racoon Dead on the Side of the Road, the band will have successfully depicted the joy of raccoon passion and friendship (which the name of the band implies) and the harsh inevitability of death at the hand of a metal box traveling at speeds no raccoon can match. Who knew that they were a concept band?

All kidding aside, I’ve grown attached to the bluesy, Dr. Dog/Kay Kay and the Weathered Underground quirkiness and musical whimsicality of Racoon Wedding. With some bands (and I could feel this prior to watching the buddy/buddy bacchanal video below), you just know that friends are making music. And not like friends until some success presents itself and then “I’m going solo” becomes an overplayed comment. Friends who are friends who happen to make good music and have fun doing it. This comes through in the tunes, and it is one heck of a positive with Racoon Wedding.

The band is haphazardly touring throughout Ontario, but I do hope this post helps give them some more play in the States. Fraternal harmonies, New Orleans horns, and pop rhythms, when mixed effectively tend to engender popularity, and I predict good things for Racoon Wedding in the future.

The opening piano riff plays like a more bluesy version of a Jukebox the Ghost piece. The lead vocal is course-grained with a hint of southern cooking. The harmonies come from all angles and are extremely effective. Throw in some drunken horns (in the best possible way) and a taste of jazz/ragtime/period drums and you have a great song. Make sure to check out the rest of the album. Here is some information

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