In one of New Orleans’ few instances where sports reigned over music, the super bowl has cast many into a week-long, universalized hangover. It permits locals to do, well, whatever they want as long as it is celebratory of the Saints. Even after its recent natural disasters, New Orleans is unarguably one of the most passionate and culturally thriving cities in the US. This is why such a reaction should not be surprising. If something “picks up” in New Orleans – whether it is a football team or musical movement – the locals feel indebted to its success and honored to be a part of it. This ideology has made for very close-knit communities among local niches, which to music fans is most identifiable in the genres of jazz and funk. It is not like most states on either coast, where rock and hip-hop continue to be the most influential styles among our youth. Although New Orleans has certainly impressed with a stellar hip-hop scene (Cash Money Records), most locals are too proud of their roots to let a new movement overshadow New Orleans’ unique musical identity. Styles will continue to emerge, propagate, and influence, but few other places have a history as rich as New Orleans. It would be impossible for such a historical influence to become obsolete.

A proud native of New Orleans, Blair stands out both visually and stylistically (you may remember I did a feature on her debut release, Pluto, in 2007). A petite white girl with a guitar is not going to demand the immediate presence that a voluptuous lounge singer or music ensemble would, especially in a place like New Orleans where one is catering to those accustomed to music with a rich African-American context. While it is not deemed necessary, there is certainly a disadvantage to attempting rock music in New Orleans. If there is no blues, funk, or jazz implemented, then there is a good chance that finding a gig will be very difficult unless you know the right people. It is not so much that discrimination is involved, but rather gradual appreciation for a genre that one grew up in. Taste is developed along with experience, and a distaste for rock music from one population or hip-hop music from another is a mere instance of developmental adaptation, in which one gravitates toward their classification of “appealing” based on previous experience and level of theoretical knowledge. Theoretical and practical utilization are both important, and this exemplifies why a type of sound can come to embody a culture or location without any racial or political repercussions. Defining one’s “taste” is a sociological/psychological study that would take hundreds of pages to cover, but in a rare instance like this the reason can be fairly evident without much explanation.

Now that the fresh-faced Blair resides in Brooklyn, she is faced with the challenge of standing out among thousands of stylistically similar acts. She admits that New Orleans will always be home though, with its discouraging indie-rock scene not deterring her perspective one bit. While Brooklyn lacks the intimate glow of New Orleans venues, Blair should do just fine in Brooklyn since she produces a sound that the locales should love because they are already familiar with it. Her full-length debut, Die Young, has received quick attention as a result. Blair’s integration of reverb-heavy synths, rhythmically receptive vocal patterns, and polished guitar tones bring to mind a more electronic-friendly Liz Phair, especially in the regard that Blair appears fiercely independent and confident in her demeanor (which conveniently flutters from the emotionally-charged on “Murder” to lighthearted and romanticized efforts like “Hearts” and “Kamikaze”). There is a lot of extraneous woo-hoo’s behind the delicate acoustic accompaniments and twinkles of synth that Blair expertly interweaves, a trend that can get repetitive but still has some fine moments. The guitar-driven “Paris, France” is a pretty little pop song that does remarkably well with Blair’s creaky vocals, particularly in how she is able to accentuate even the most simplistic melodies without appearing superfluous. Angelic, bittersweet, and melancholic are a few words to describe her vocals, but their alternate approaches throughout the album is what make them so resounding and essential.

“Murder” may be Blair’s most accomplished track, at least in terms of an accessibly coherent vision. The twinkles of keys and acoustic strums recall ’60s pop, the track’s finest moment being a chorus that is heavily reminiscent of The Shins’ amiable indie-pop. The track is steadily ambitious with its ceaseless build-up, transitioning from minimalistic folk-pop to more grandiose chamber-pop that makes use of strings, intricate arpeggios, and Blair’s remarkable vocal range. Her natural tendency to sound high-pitched never proves to be an obstacle, seemingly because she writes these beautiful songs in accordance to her own strengths. Like Liz Phair’s classic Exile in Guyville, this specific process is precisely why Blair’s Die Young is an extraordinary debut that capitalizes on the singular vision of one very talented individual who shows no hesitation to experiment. Whether her career will take a sudden dive like Phair’s did remains a question, but an album like Die Young touting infectiousness from the first listen makes comparisons like these relatively futile. I believe Blair will prevail in Brooklyn and then the rest of the world, mainly because she possesses a fairly distinctive sound that shines with a plethora of hooks and decent production. As far as debut full-lengths go, you will not find many more confident than Die Young.

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Blair – Murder

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Blair – Hearts

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Blair – Paris, France

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The post Blair Dies Young, Lives Old appeared first on Obscure Sound: Indie Music Blog.

Concept albums have been a standard in music debate for decades. Whether such an attempt equates to an artistic failure or success is often dependent on the artist itself and their general grasp on the theme at hand. By following a continuous theme and atmospheric intention throughout most of an album, several successful conceptual ideas include Pink Floyd’s The Wall, Bowie’s Ziggy Stardust, or even The Beach Boys’ Pet Sounds. Though those are just three off of a very small list of successful concept albums, you get the idea how surprisingly enjoyable they can be if implemented correctly. Expectedly, we have not seen a successful attempt in quite some time. Of course, no one expects artists to live up to Brian Wilson or David Bowie these days but contemporary artists appear to hold enough knowledge to be well aware that the production of a concept album is risky business. Why risk financial costs and commercial exposure for a flawed artistic expression? Well, it is nice to see that at least one musician has the guts.

It is not entirely shocking that Mirah‘s new album, Share This Place: Stories and Observations, contains an unconventional lyrical theme. Nah, considering that Mirah has always been considered a creatively ingenious oddball ever since her debut in 1997, fans have come to expect the most original of quality from the Philadelphia-born native. The surprising thing? Well, the theme covers the lives of bugs and insects. Bugs? You mean those nuisances that we spray, step on, and exterminate? Yes indeed. Only Mirah Yom Tov Zeitlyn could think up such a topic and she might also be the only one who could pull it off. The insect-oriented theme was apparently inspired by French entomologist Jean Henri Fabre, one of the first scientists to discover several breakthrough characteristics of insects. Mirah is joined on the album by Spectratone International, a slew of musicians including Lori Goldston and Kyle Hanson of Black Cat Orchestra. It will also be produced by Steve Fisk (Nirvana) and longtime collaborator Phil Elvrum (The Microphones). For Elvrum fans, you may recognize Mirah as the female voice on The Microphones’ Don’t Wake Me Up and Window. Elvrum is often credited as discovering Mirah’s talent, as he also produced her debut full-length, You Think It’s Like This But Really It’s Like This, in 2000 after enlisting her as a backing vocalist for The Microphones.

Apart from the theme, Share This Place: Stories and Observations also inherits a new stylistic progression in Mirah’s area of instrumental expertise. While her previous solo albums contained a diverse array of folk-rock, lo-fi acoustic, and general alternative (even earning her comparisons to Liz Phair), her new album takes a completely new direction that we have not heard from Mirah before. Mirah appears to be calling on her Jewish roots quite vividly in this stylistic transition, bordering on Klezmer music or even Gypsy-folk. While the instrumentals to some songs like “Dinner” sound like they could fit at a Jewish wedding quite well, it is Mirah’s lyrical portrayal that throws any predictable religious assumptions out the window. The lyrics to “Gestation of the Sacred Beetle” may be the oddest form of expression I have heard all year, with Mirah’s description of a beetle’s birth process being quite interesting to say the least. Some will consider it brilliant, others will consider it to be an utter failure. Either way, that is the result of a concept album. I for one enjoy it, if not for the diverse and flavorful instrumentation complementing a form of wordplay that you certainly do not hear everyday.

Mirah took a risk and she succeeded in relaying the similarities between humans and insects in Share This Place: Stories and Observations. As crazy as it sounds, some of her material is very well established. “Gestation of the Sacred Beetle” relates the need for maternal guidance in both insects and humans, as Mirah speaks from the view of a newborn beetle. “My mother made for me this pair, a perfect womb, a modeled lair, where I will grow and eat my share of pastry rich beyond repair,” somehow sounds poetically justifiable over musical accompaniments both originative in Jewish and Middle-Eastern styles. When the song slides into a beautiful instrumental chorus, one cannot help to at least consider the next time they contemplate killing an insect. Well, I will probably continue to do so if it is bothersome, but still, fresh perspectives are always enlightening. Beats a rambling entomology lecture any day. The album will be released with the short film “Credo Cigalia”, directed by Britta Johnson. My guess is that the short film will be about the album’s central topic: insects.

While songs like “Gestation of the Sacred Beetle” or “My Prize” make justifiable themes prevalent and synthetically comparable, I could not help but laugh and roll my eyes at songs like “Emergence of the Primary Larva”. Whether or not it is intentionally satirical, the lyrical content is laughable and the instrumentation is too linear for compensation. Then there are songs like “Song of Psyche” that drag on too long in a repetitive nature, even if the theme if somewhat more acceptable in the emphasis of insectual salvation. However, these are just a few duds to avoid on an otherwise admirable album. Other tracks like “Love Song of the Fly” and “Supper” showcase emotional intensity through impressively composed instrumentation. Mirah’s voice is still lighthearted and sweetly endearing, even if the topics she speaks of are anything but appetizing. When Share This Place: Stories and Observations is released on August 7th, it should be humorous to see the types of reviews it receives. Whether the critics shout “brilliant!” or “horrendous!” is expected, but I am almost positive there will be no in-between stance on this original album.

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Mirah and Spectratone International – Gestation of the Sacred Beetle

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Mirah and Spectratone International – Supper

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Mirah and Spectratone International – Love Song of the Fly

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P.S.: In the middle of writing this feature, I saw a spider scamper across my bedroom floor. No joke.

Yeah, I killed it. Sorry Mirah.

The post Mirah’s Latest Theme… Bugs? appeared first on Obscure Sound: Indie Music Blog.