Author Archives: A Servant

[TMN Exclusive] Iwan Rheon – Interview

It was a great privilege for The Music Ninja to conduct an interview with actor/musician/great guy Iwan Rheon. Known in Great Britian for his leading role in the TV series The Misfits, he’s also active in the cinema world through his work in movies like Wasteland and Liberatdor among many other efforts East of the Atlantic.In addition, look for Mr. Rheon in season 3 of the epic Game of Thrones series.

Oh yeah, and he plays some pretty darned good music too! Aside from acting, Mr. Rheon is a exceptional singer/songwriter and showcases his thoughtful lyrical ability, down to earth singing voice and impressive acousitc guitar work in his four track EP Bang! Bang!. Take a look at Mr. Rheon’s thoughts on balancing his artistic efforts and on his musical inspirations here!

The Music Ninja: I guess the first question we have is…between acting and music, when do you sleep? Seriously though, everyone hears about the time demands of acting and most of us know the time demands for playing an instrument proficiently. How do you balance the two artistic endeavors?

Iwan Rheon: I don’t know to be honest, I just play when I can. Take a guitar with me when I’m working and stuff. Sleeping’s boring anyway!

The Music Ninja: I noted that Oasis and Radiohead are two of your musical inspirations according to your IBDm bio page. Are there some singer song writers that you look to for inspiration? If I were to guess – Ben Howard? Maybe David Grey?

Iwan Rheon: I really like Ray Lamontagne, Joe Pug and Bon Iver…not sure if I sound like any of them.

The Music Ninja: I was a little surprised to read about your punk rock roots! Does any of that energy carry over into your music as an adult?

Iwan Rheon: I’m still secretly a bit of a punk. Love The Clash and a bit of the Pistols. I guess as I’ve got older I’ve chilled out a bit. But, my teenage angst is still stirring somewhere!

The Music Ninja: What does your creative process look like?

Iwan Rheon: I normally write the melody first. Just jamming to find a progression or a riff, singing random words. Then, a lyric creeps in and I develop that. Basically it’s just luck!

The Music Ninja: At the Music Ninja, we’re noticing a trend among our young listeners: it seems that both musicians and music aficionados in general listen to a wide variety of musical genres. Who do you listen to?

Iwan Rheon: Recently I’ve been listening to Nick Cave’s new record. Atoms for Peace and Everything Everything. Cold Specks is someone who I really admire. Plus there’s always an iPod full of classics to bust out. There’s so much bloody music out there.

The Music Ninja: And for all of us across the pond—do you have any tour information to share with us Yanks? Denver’s nice in the summer time. Just saying. No pressure.

Iwan Rheon: I’m sure Denver is beautiful in the summer. The problem with touring is the time and commitment it demands. It’s difficult for me to have either because of filming schedule. I have to make do with doing the odd gig and recording when I can. I hope I can come to the States soon and play some shows.

We were grateful to have this little virtual chat with Mr. Rheon. We wish him all the success in the world and look forward to his future musical and cinematic endeavors. Cheers to Iwan Rheon! Love from Denver!

’Iwan Rheon – Bang! Bang!’
’Iwan Rheon – You Are In Me’
’Iwan Rheon – Pick Pocket’
’Iwan Rheon – Your Soul’
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[Post Punk] Weekend – Mirror

Weekend
Mirror

Not my usual album review here, but I liked this single that came across my inbox. “Mirror” begins with some ambient sound and marches into an effective mix of distortion, simple percussion and a driving baseline, setting the stage for a dreamy guitar and vocals. The tune grows more complex and triumphant as it goes along, leaving the listener satisfied.

The song has a little bit of an 80’s feel, but this happens organically and isn’t sought after, in my view. A grittier, modern version of The Police was my initial impression. Anyway, check this single out here!

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[Album Review] EELS – Wonderful, Glorious

EELS is certainly not a new comer to the music scene. E’s (the lead singer) been prolifically cranking out gravely voiced, angst driven tunes for over two decades and now EELS has a nice fat double album for us!  The effort is extremely enjoyable and accessible: the rock tunes are catchy and slower songs stirring. Best of all, whether you’ve been a fan of EELS since the 90’s or if you’re just discovering them for the first time (admittedly, in the case of this reviewer), you’ll enjoy this bluesy, crunchy, effective album from a seasoned band.

The album begins with the track “Bombs Away,” a gritty little track that launches with some top shelf drumming and a scratchy electric guitar as E growls a decidedly fed up lyrical message. Like the majority of the album, “Bombs Away” is immediately contagious and will stay with you as you walk out of your car and into work. “Peach Blossom” offers an interesting change up, beginning with some stomping percussion and distorted guitar that breaks periodically for strange but effective interludes of guitar and keyboards. It’s a fun, upbeat song. Finally, “On the Ropes” shows off E’s knack for songwriting, providing the listener with a folksy, simple and lyrically eloquent tune.

The back half of the album warrants its own review (the double album is a total of 26 songs) and contains some pretty impressive live music. The entire effort is worth the download. Listen to a few tracks here–

’EELS – Peach Blossom’
’EELS – New Alphabet’
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Record Store Day: In Celebration of Where Music Becomes Important to Us

I was watching Mad Men the other day with the Mrs. when I had one of those great Netflix moments: I had to pause my X Box to consider what one of the characters, Don Draper said and by extension, what the creators of Mad Men were trying to suggest to me. In a fairly stereotypical scene, Draper was lamenting to one of his subordinates about a troublesome client who wanted a specific piece of music for a commercial. Draper sighs, lights a cigarette, looks over to his younger subordinates and exclaims (to the extent that the character exclaims anything in his monotone delivery): “When did music become so important?”

Indeed.  When?

I considered this as Draper was frozen in motion on the screen. Most of us point to those pivotal adolescent years as when we discovered the anti-establishment bands that we loved so much and defined our musical tastes. For my dad, it was Led Zepplin, Cream, The Who. For my older friends, Black Flag, The Melvins and Neurosis. For me, Rage Against the Machine, Tool, Nirvana. For some of my younger friends it was My Chemical Romance and Protest the Hero. Regardless the different styles of music and bands we become enamored with, it seems to happen right around 14 to 16 years old for most of us.

The remarkable thing is that regardless of when music first becomes important, it becomes important almost universally in the same place if you’re an American: The local indie record store.

Some of my fondest memories are in music stores, browsing through endless CDs with my older cousins looking for hidden treasures. I bought The Wall and Dark Side of the Moon in an indie record store. Opiate, Highly Refined Pirates, Master of Puppets, Career Suicide, and Bob Marley’s Legend (not in chronological order, naturally) were all purchased in indie record stores. I picked up A Brief History of Love after wandering into a record store in Soho, London, while traveling. As I walked in, the chorus from that Rancid song rang in my head over and over again: “Ruby, Ruby, Ruby, Ruby-Soho!”

If music is linked to memory, memory to experience, and experience to our existential purpose, then the indie record store has a quirky sense of divinity, doesn’t it?  The album that we pick up from the indie record store is a packet of emotions that we’ll experience and memories we’ll create while listening to it. It will help form (or reform) our overall musical preferences in some small way. Those preferences will define our identity in some small way. Kinda cool, no?

And in the age of digital music—and yes, I say this as a regular contributor to The Music Ninja which does deal in digital music—I think a day like Record Store Day is all the more important. Granted, we can access music from the internet at any time. Point, click, done. And that’s fine at times. But I think there’s a romance and a ritual to going to the record store: a pause that is longer than a point and a click in our daily life. It is also a place where many of our indie bands wish to have their albums land. Real success is getting their vinyl (containing their blood sweat and tears) in that store. Indie record stores serve as a finish line. A stage for indie bands to celebrate their triumph.

So here’s in support of Record Store Day. Take a minute tomorrow to go see what’s new and hopefully rediscover that awe you felt when music first became important to you.

A servant, author of Geoff and Katie’s Playlist.

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[LP Review] Cherokee Red – Cherokee Red

Are you ready for another nostalgia-rock indie band to bolster those hipster credentials? Here’s a new comer to the scene with a full length album for your listening enjoyment.

The Pennsylvania band’s self description of “dream pop” is an apt one. The first song, “Vaya Con Dios”, is anchored by simple guitar chords and what sounds like a tambourine, while a dancing bass and drums threaten to take the song floating away. The female vocalist and backup vocalist sing with a calculated laziness that is anything but careless. Similarly, “Decanter” finds its structure in a simple chord progression while the rest of the song floats along. In the background is old voice clips from the 40’s or 30’s, maybe. A little more concrete is “So Tightly,” that showcases a little more complicated acoustic guitar work as well as a harmonica, giving it a folksy twist.

With a combination of noisy, floating instrumentals, folksy vocal harmonies, nostalgic audio clips from old newsreels, and the slow, lilting pace of the album makes me want to go to dark bar, drink absinthe and write poetry. In my case it would be atrocious poetry, particularly on absinthe, but the craving is there as I listen to this album!

In any event, check this album out if you’re looking for something different.

The national re-release of the self titled album is now currently avaialble through Crash Avenue PR.

’Vaya Con Dios’
’Lonely Summer’
’So Tightly’
’Cracks’

http://cherokeered.bandcamp.com/

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[Concert Review] Little People-The Larimer Lounge, Denver

little people
For Rosie DJ mix

I’ve been a fan of Little People for quite some time now: readers may remember my review of the artist’s latest album We Are But Hunks of Wood (http://themusicninja.wpengine.com/little-people-we-are-but-hunks-of-wood/).

I was pretty excited to have the opportunity to do a live performance write up of the artist, but to be fair to the reader, I’m not a huge fan of the proverbial on-stage DJ. It’s not really my scene as I tend to prefer the more head banging, guitar slamming variety of on-stage performance. I typically save my electronica for home.

It was with this sensibility in mind that I donned my Neurosis band tee shirt before heading to the show: an invitation for Little People to impress a diehard metal fan. In the few DJ shows I’ve seen, I’ve never spontaneously started dancing. I’m adverse to even the thought of it.

I spontaneously started dancing at this performance. I just couldn’t help it.

Little People took the stage in an unassuming tee shirt and jeans and promptly got to work. And it was work. This guy is one of the hardest working DJs out there, I’m convinced. He immediately dropped some up-tempo beats, faster than his albums it seemed, and began weaving some of his signature piano licks from Basique, Moon and Start Shootin’ into the faster tunes. I was impressed at the following he had there and the hoots of pleasure as each piano lick trickled over the speakers.

His new album made some appearances as well, Marzipan Children, Aldgate Patterns, and Eminence Grise were present along with others, sometimes tweaked and often juxtaposed between other songs. At one point, Little People was flipping back and forth between four songs, matching beats perfectly, never losing any of the impact of the songs. How could you not dance to that!? It was a great show and a great time.

On a side note, I had the great privilege of sitting in on the interview between the Little People (Laurent Clerk) and The Music Ninja. Not only did I like the Clerc’s reverence for the Wu-Tang Clan and A Tribe Called Quest, I enjoyed the artist’s down to earth, shy and somewhat overwhelmed responses to his own popularity. The indie music industry is full of prima donnas, appropriately! It’s nice to see someone who is aware of his talent but isn’t personally defined by it. Check out Little People. Very worth it!

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[LP Review] This Town Needs Guns – 13.0.0.0.0

I first got turned on to This Town Needs Guns years ago. I fell in love with their track “Want to Come Back to My Room”. The love song is often a trite thing, but TTNGs’ track was something that moved me: it captured the complex feelings of heartache and longing while creating an amazingly elaborate instrumental effort. I was impressed and remain so today upon reviewing 13.0.0.0.0

The album blends together with all the predictable elements of a TTNGs album: outstanding technical expertise blends together underneath a soothing lead singer’s crooning. Intricate drumming, bass lines and guitar riffs blur together into an ultimately listenable album of lullabies, easy listening jams and will-be indie rock classics.

The album begins with “Cat Fantastic,” starting with succinct drumming and guitar riffs while the lead singer drifts lyrics about “tan lines and red wine,” giving a dreamy French Riviera feel to the first track. “Left Aligned” brings a beat structure that demands a patient listener who is well rewarded for the effort: the drums, guitar and bass create an intricate tapestry at first that fades to a lullaby before emerging back into a complex indie song. “+#3 Awesomeness Repels Water” provides a stomping good rock song with all the characteristic TTNGs intricate guitar work blended with simple percussion.

The entire effect of the album is a dizzying, dazzling and impressive feat of instrumental precision, drifting lyrics and attention to detail that makes it an immediately identifiable This Town Needs Guns album. Although this band may not be for the casual listener, it rewards the enthusiast with some incredibly complex and enjoyable tunes. Listen here!

’This Town Needs Guns – Cat Fantastic’
’This Town Needs Guns – Havoc in the Forum’
’This Town Needs Guns – Left Aligned’
’This Town Needs Guns – 2 Birds, 1 Stone And An Empty Stomach’
’This Town Needs Guns – +3 Awesomeness Repels Water’
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