The Way Music Was Intended To Be Heard

Sea SickALBUM REVIEW

the tr∂deVENUE ON THE MENU

AlmaBURKETTan exclusive inside look at the life and styles of washington newcomer, alma burkett.

July 22 2009 Issue # 65

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N

Nicile E. - Editor In Chief

1

June 2009

ALMA BURKETT

OLIVIA HAYS

NEW & REVIEW: THE MARS

FROM THE EDITORpage 1

CONpage 2

page 3

page 4

page 5 -6

page 7 -8

page 9 -10

page 11 -12

page 13 -14

TABLE OF CONTENTS

SUMMER FEST

PULSE / THE TR∂DE

INTERVIEW: SEA SICK

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table TENTS

psst, check me out on page 12!

of

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Two sisters, two guitars. On-stage banter about diarrhea, the ever-present possibility that friendly bickering may suddenly erupt into bloodshed, and rockin’ pop songs that will blindside you as surely as a soc-cer Mom in an SUV yakking on her cell phone. Ladies and germs, please wel-come The Mars. All joking aside, Lynn and Maeby - who finally came of legal drinking age last year - were very se-rious when it came to making Saint-hood, the follow-up to their 2008 U.S. debut This Business of Art. “It feels like the first thing we’ve done that we were ready to do, whereas before it was like, ‘We’ve got ten days to make an album!,’” says Maeby. “In the past, there’s been some apprehension about recording. This time it was fun.” The hard-edged yet hook-laden If It Was You is as different from This Business of Art as, well, Lynn is from Maeby; the two are obviously related, yet distinct in character. “We went back to our roots: Punkier, pop-pier, and louder,” says Lynn. It wasn’t a huge stylistic leap, since the Vancou-ver residents, who started playing gui-

tar at 15, cut their teeth in a high school punk band, and only became an acous-tic duo after they tired of losing drum-mers and blowing amps. This is the first album by Lynn and Maeby to feature songs co-written by the pair, as they usually choose to write separately. There are two of these songs, though they were not writ-ten while Lynn and Maeby stayed to-gether in New Orleans as an attempt to write together. No songs from that time made it on to the album, although one such song lends its title to that of the record. The song was inspired by a Leonard Cohen lyric. The record also includes co-written songs from Lynn’s side project with Hunter Burgan, bass-ist of AFI (band). The album is described as such: Lynn and Maeby’s sixth studio album – Sainthood – addresses secular themes of devotion, delusion, and ex-emplary behavior in the pursuit of love and relationships. Inspired by emo-tional longing and the quiet actions we hope may be noticed by the objects of our affection, Sainthood is about ob-session with romantic ideals. In the service of relationships we practice be-

Lynn and Maeby of The Mars. Twin sisters who are considered vocal si-rens with a pop mixture of breezy songs & delicate balads. Sainthood, their newest album, is considered their best and most balanced record.

The Marsing perfect. We practice our sainthood in the hope that we will be rewarded with adoration. As we are driven to become anything for someone else, we sometimes become martyrs for our cause. Love, like faith, can never be held in a of songs and regretful balads about the n individual’s hands. But the story of a great love affair – especially one that is unrequited or has ended too soon – can be woven like scripture or a bedtime story. And so the themes of Sainthood are tied together by this simple title, borrowed, with great re-spect, from the lyrics of the Leonard Co of songs and regretful balads about the hen song “Came So Far For Beauty:” I practiced all my sainthood I gave to one and all but the rumours of my vir-tue They moved her not at all. Mixed into the eclectic mixture of songs and regretful balads about the past are deep metaphors and allego-ries about growing up and losing ones faith and innocents. “owing up and losing ones faith and innocents. “Ge older has a lot to do with losing some of your faith, you lose your innocence, your watchdog. You become the one who now looks out for the new youth.

A look af Sainthood, their newest, and possibly best album to date.

NEW & REVIEW

Photography by Egor Grib-anov.

3

Staff Writer - Elise Jenks

Live musical acts are offered on 11 stages throughout the grounds from noon to midnight, including the 23,000-capacity Marcus Amphitheater.

t is called Summerfest (also known as “The Big Gig”) is a yearly music festival held at the 75-acre Henry Maier Festival Park along the lakefront in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The festival lasts for 11 days, is made up of 11 stages with performanc-es from over 700 bands, and since the

mid-1970s has run from late June through early July, always including the 4th of July holiday. Summerfest attracts between 800,000 and 1,000,000 people each year, promoting itself as “The World’s Largest Music Festival,” a title certified by the Guinness World Re-cords in 1999. Summerfest is run by the non-profit organi-zation Milwaukee World Festival, and features both local and nationally known music talent from a va-riety of music genres. The event also provides the opportunity to sample a wide variety of food from many Milwaukee-area restaurants. Other Summer-fest attractions include comedy acts, shopping ven-dors, fireworks (including “The Big Bang” on open-ing night), other special attractions, family activities and various games and side attractions. Live musical acts are offered on 11 stages throughout the grounds from noon to midnight, in-cluding the 23,000-capacity Marcus Amphitheater. All shows are free with an admission ticket, with the exception of headlining acts at the Marcus Am-phitheater. Admission is between $8.00 and $15.00, depending on the time of day. There are numerous promotions for discounted or free tickets Summerfest was conceived in the 1960s by then-mayor Henry W. Maier. Inspired his visit to Ok-toberfest in Munich, Germany, Maier envisioned a

similar ethnic-themed festival in Milwaukee, and in 1962 formed a panel of business and civic lead-ers to study the feasibility of a large-scale summer festival. By the middle of the decade, the panel drew up a proposal for a 10-day multi-event festi-val with the proposed name of “Milwaukee World Festival,” which was changed briefly in 1966 to “Juli Spaß” (German for “July Fun”) and then eventually to settle on “Summerfest.” The inaugural Summerfest was held in July 1968 at 35 different locations throughout the city (including Milwaukee County Stadium and Milwaukee Arena), and its events ranged from concerts to a film festival, an air show, and even a pageant. The first Summerfest was regarded as a success; the second event in 1969, was less suc-cessful, as it was plagued by additional venues, in-clement weather, and severe financial debt. In 1970, a permanent central location was decided upon, and Summerfest moved to a former Nike missile site on the lakefront, where it continues to be held to this day. Also that year, Summerfest introduced its red “smiley face” logo, an insignia that has be-come synonymous with the event. The logo was designed by local graphic artist Noel Spangler. It was also in 1970 that Henry Jordan be-came executive director of Summerfest, a title he held during the event’s early years until his death in 1977. Another public face in that position was Elizabeth “Bo” Black, who became executive direc-tor in 1984. Through her fundraising and orgaSThe event’s history was the subject of “Summerfest Stories”, a documentary that aired in June 2009 on Milwaukee Public Television.

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SUMMERFESTI

Summerfest attracts bewtween 800,000 and 1,000,000 people each year during July

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* The Creepshow * Exterio

* The Johnstones * The Real Deal

* The Snips * Subb

* The Video Dead * AJAX

* Anchors * Child Bite

* Detroit CYDI * Lies Unknown

* Lights Out * STRA

* This Last Breath * What Happened in Vegas

* Your Best Friend

2009

4

Staff Writer - Emily Shuman

Artist Review

SickWith songs that dominated the charts throughout the 90’s, as well as a new-found resurgence this year, Sea Sick has become one of the most iconic and longest running bands to ever hail from Ireland. This is an enchanting first al-bum that this band never came close to topping. Though obviously owing a debt to 4AD, The Sundays, and The Smiths, this Irish band delivers their own beautifully lush backdrops for the stunning, much multi-tracked voice of Ana Diores. “I Still Do” instantly intro-duces the band’s swirling, moody atmospherics, as well as lyrics (“I don’t want to love you, but I still do”) that outline the album’s lol-orn themes. Then and a brite gallop-ing groove takes over or it on the end of the album on “Dreams,” on which Diores sexy, sorrowful vocals are simple and the a amazing. Containing jangly guitars and whispered vocals, the song builds and builds until its brilliant climax, which gets me in the gut every time. “Sunday” is one of only a few songs, along with “Wanted” and “Still Can’t...,” where the band ups the tempo, and each is surprisingly effective, but only the dramatic “Not Sorry” really interrupts the albums mellow overall mood, and then only briefly. Oh, “Waltzing Back”

is another moody, dramatic track on which Diores sings with great inten-sity, with her thick Irish accent coming to the fore along with a militant beat, but most of the other songs provide perfect soundtracks for sleep. I mean that in a good way, as the best of the rest of these songs are musically sooth-

ing and deeply satisfying. For example, “Linger,”

the albums big hit single, is simply

flawless, led by its lush string a r r a n g e -ments and a vocal per-f o r m a n c e that is so sad and beauti-

ful that I can only marvel

at its perfection (despite its lame

“linger/finger” lyric rhyme). “I Will Always” is

another lovely lullaby-like show-case that contains yet another superb-ly sorrowful vocal - it should also be noted that her bandmates’ understated but impressive playing could hardly provide better accompaniment - while “Put Me Down” is another gorgeous track on which the band’s Celtic overtones are ever-present (the dreamy strings return, too). Sure, the album starts to seem like more of the same after awhile, and

when Diores rants “you said you never would leave me alone” on “How” (an-other upbeat track with tribal beats - sorry, I missed that one before) you may be tempted to yell “stop your wh its own good, but “Never Grow Old” ining already!”. These are very minor complaints, however, for the truth is I’ve been in love with this album since soon after it was released, and though it was a surprising multi-platinum suc-cess back then it can now rightfully be regarded as an unjustly overlooked gem. Sea Sick’ debut album was an absolute delight that featured lush melodies alongside the seemingly matchless voice of Ana Diores. Though

several songs here capture the swirl-ing beauty of the first album, I found this follow up slightly disappoint-ing by comparison, as several songs fail to provide the catchy sparks that made their previous album linger in my mind. Beautifule Melts” and “Daf-fodil Lament,” respectively, as well as the similarly wordless “da ha’s” (??) on “Disappointment” - who needs lyr-ics with a its own good, but “Never Grow Old” voice like thatinds down it ittwer regrettable valleys. Diore”), and I don’t appreciate beinally speaking those are excellent songs, even if “Ana-lyze” is an obvious rewrite of the even better “Dreams,” much like how “This Is The Day” is all too reminiscent of

“my style is smokey, sultry, effortless & one-hundred and fifty

percent me.”

Sea

5

Staff Writer - Jonathan Uzeta

has rarely sounded so content, its own good, but “Never Grow Old” even if she’s still somewhat insecure (witness “I Really Hope”), while musically the bass/drums seem higher up in the mix than usual. Anyway, it’s a consistently good album, certainly below the debut but comparable to No Need’d rank it fourth if pressed), and certainly better than To The Faithful Departed, still the e low-key ending to an underrated ca-reer (Sea Sick have never been critics favorites), and certainly there’s enough high-quality music here to warrant a sixth album if the band so chooses.

“Zombie.” The title track, the album’s lone other rocker, is much better, be-ing powerfully moody and rocking, while poppy vocal hooks hook me in on “Time Is Ticking Out” and “Every Morning.” I can certainly live without the electronic elements and hop-hop beat of “Concept,” and “Dying Inside” is way too repetitive and one-note for its own good, but “Never Grow Old” and “Pretty Eyes” are dreamy lulla-bies in the band’s best style, and the keyboard hook of “Do You Know” and singable chorus of “Carry On” are also enjoyable. Lyrically, Diores

Photography by Egor Gribanov

Q&Aw/ sea sick’s ana

Which album is your favorite? eumquam nimus, simagnatis ad quide est a no-bis magnis non conem quat rem ullique dolorum aces archillaut fugiand eraturitem assuntusa nobi-tatio officia ndendenducia non pore, sentiuresti corporeped magnam es utaes quiatus aliquiatem ex eatet officitae est quam id est,

Does Sea Sick have any plans for a sixth album to follow up with last years Wake Up ? iatureium volecerum, sin pe num quis autatum in commo et et rerundae pro dem. Fugiam si oc-cus porrovit, od eat dolupienit aci omnis nata consenitium quam que volorer ferfernati si si rem-perem rese consenis ma sunt etur, ut repelitatis rem velest vereria sum vid que nos as venes vel-lupta pra cum quae. Gia ium faccustibus asit, niet

Your single “Little Miss” has been on the Billboard Top 50 for close to 3 months, did you have any idea how popular it was go-ing to be when you recorded it?ibus ipsus iur, sa esed quid et di imus dolupic ae-pudi volupit es ea nulpa cum quam ius rerrum reiusapid eost quid quo quame sit quis dolup-tatest volupta temoditibusa volorpori nos repe-rume eaque voluptas dolupta delescit, tem reped quo ilibusam reperum est, ventum quis maximpo-rio moloritintis explia dolorrorem ratemporibus et etum adis comnis eum quatur a quas atem fa-cessitatem aribus alitiis dus nati comnimust aut omnitis res maio.

What are the bands influences, musically speaking, when mak-ing a new song or album?atum idessimincto omnient quame nonestius mos aut vendebi tasperum erisitat harchicimi, of-fic tem que ation con por re pa pa veles alissim in-vent que delicipiscia sapitatem imaxim ex estorem adis mosam, qui que endant

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haysolivia

Egor Gribanov Photography

hays

to look out for in

3artists2010

oliviasweet melodies echo a new soul

A few rounds of heartbreak … a broken wrist … eight stitches … a blown-out eardrum … and label realignment.It wasn’t easy getting here for Olivia Hays. Three years after she began to appear on the public’s radar with her self-titled debut EP and full-length album Happenstance, Olivia will release Elephants…Teeth Sinking Into Heart, a single record in two parts, on March 7th, 2010. “I didn’t set out to make a two part album,” Hays says. “We just followed the songs’ lyrical lead and built them up with textures and sounds that served the story. The beautiful ones were darker and worked with lush arrangements. We used the sounds of rain, tree branches falling on the roof — whatever kept the mood true to this haunted studio in the first stormy days of spring. The second part became more anthemic, like a reclaiming of personal power. There’s something raw about it. To me it sounds weathered, but not broken or cynical.” The nine tracks on Elephants are darker and more vulner-able than the five gritty, defiant rock songs on Teeth Sinking Into Heart. Taken together, the two halves present a complete timeline of the emotions that revolve around complicated relationships and the accompanying fallout. “Elephants is much more intimate,” Hays says. “It’s about being willing to take a risk even if it’s not go-ing to end up well. Teeth is like rediscovering your backbone after you’ve gone through the loss.” Hays sometimes worries that her need to analyze heart-ache in her songwriting is too often mistaken as depressed obses-sion. After all, her songs are famously populated by breakups. “I see it more as a fascination with human relationships and behav-ior,” she says, “the struggles we create and the strength we gain.” Her lyrics display an ability to draw new wisdom and confidence from every devastating experience in the hope that the next time will be different. Elephants…Teeth Sinking Into Heart, reveal a woman not only undaunted by such losses, but smart enough to know she deserves a lot more than she’s been asking for. “Singing was always my way of communicating with na-ture. My parents were hippies and I embraced the lifestyle head-first and without doubt,” she says. 12 were produced by the Nebraska-based multi-instru-mentalist and producer Mike Mogis, known for his work with Bright Eyes and Rilo Kiley. Two tracks, “What If I Leave” and “Horizon,” were produced by John Alagia (John Mayer, Dave Mat-thews Band), who also produced Happenstance. The bulk were written during the two-year touring cycle that followed Happen-stance and, especially, the nine months afterward that Hays spent

holed up in her Woodstock refuge — a period that saw her turn out some 160 songs. “I wasn’t being very social, so I didn’t have many distractions,” she says, laughing about her ridiculously prodigious output and old style methods.. Twenty-five tracks were eventually recorded for El-

ephants…Teeth Sinking Into Heart, most of which Hays demoed herself in Woodstock on various instruments. It was clear to her that the title song “Elephants,” as well as “Sunday Afternoon,” “Horizon,” “Don’t,” and “Duet” (with Ray Lamontagne) would make the final cut.“Elephants” opens the first part; she ran down a mountain in Woodstock and, by the time she ran back up, the song was written. “I don’t really know where it came from,” she says. “When I went back and reviewed the lyrics, they said so much more than I could have wished for. “Elephants” also sets up the record, its lyrics pinpointing the potential for heartache when entering a relationship, and meta-phorically relates us to the base natures of animals and their reac-tions. “Horizon,” by contrast, closes out the first part. “Somewhere along the way, the love died, your world has turned upside down, and you’re left searching for balance again,” she explains.“Sunday Afternoon” is about accepting your part in the demise of a relationship and allowing yourself to be depressed and maybe even obsess a little, “but don’t stop your life because of it,” Hays adds. The song was written at the tail-end of recording her first record and she’s happy to have given it time to grow by playing it live on tour. Another highlight, “What If I Leave,” is one of the first songs Olivia ever wrote, more than ten years ago. “Everybody has that purgatory where you know in your gut it’s not right, but you haven’t mustered the courage to leave yet,” she says of it. By the end of Elephants, Hays’s ability to find hope in an-guish is feeling taxedom someone who knows what she wants, who acknowledges her responsibility in all that’s happened, and who will go on. She will continue to build her song list and will be releasing her second album, Full Power, in September, 2010.

singing was always my way of com-municating with nature. my parents were hippies and i embraced the life-style headfirst and without doubt.

“”

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munways, and Mun embarked on a solo career. With the help of local producer and engineer Glenn Matul-lo, Mun recorded the independent EP Inside Wants Out. Cook is also cited as the co-writer of many of the songs from the EP, most notably, Mun’s first commercial single release, “No Such Thing”. The EP includes only eight songs, all with Mun on lead vocals and guitars, with the exception of “Comfortable” in which Mun only recorded the vocals. For the opening track, “Back To You”, a full band was enlisted, including the EP’s co-producer David “DeLa” LaBruyere on bass guitars. Mun and LaBruyere then began to tour throughout Georgia and the surrounding states. Southwest brought him to the attention of “launch” label, Indie Records. After including him in the Indie Festival concerts and having his songs included on Indie compilations, in early 2001, Indie released Mun’s internet-only album entitled, Room for Air. During that time, Indie inked a deal with Columbia Records that gave Columbia first pick in signing Indie artists, and so in Septem-ber of the same year, Columbia remixed and re-released Room for Air As part of the major label “debut”, the album’s artwork was updated, and the track “breathe” was added. The re-release also included reworked studio versions of the first four songs from his indie album, Inside Us All. In 2008, Mun released a live internet track session of a con-cert in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, entitled, Any One’s Business. The concert featured songs previously not recorded, such as “Leaning on the Road,” (co-written with Cook) and “Something’s not Miss-ing”, which later appeared on Desert Blues. The concert also in-cluded “Covered In Doubt”. According to the accompanying track documentary, this song is “part two” of the song “City Rain”, which features the line “covered in rain”. Commercially, the album quickly peaked at number seventeen on the Billboard 200 chart. The track sessions received positive, although consistent, praise, with critics torn between his indie-blues image, and (at the time) emerging guitar prowess. It was around this time that Mun began a string of collabo-rations with various blues artists, including Buddy Guy, B.B. King, Eric Clapton, as well as jazz artist Derrik Scofield. He also went on tour with legendary jazz pianist Herbie Hancock, which included a show at the Bonnaroo Music Festival in Manchester, Tennessee. Mun has maintained a reputation for being a sensitive singer-song-writer, he has also gained distinction as an accomplished guitarist, influenced by the likes of the above artists, as well as Jimi Hendrix, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Robert Cray, and Freddie King.

Derrikorn in Bridgeport, Connecticut to Margaret, an Eng-lish teacher, and Richard, a high school principal. He grew up in nearby Fairfield, the second of three children. There, he became friends with future tennis star James Blake. Mun attended the former Fairfield

High School, although he was enrolled in the Center for Global Studies at Brien McMahon High School in Norwalk for his junior year. (Then known as the Center for Japanese Studies Abroad, it is a magnet program for students wanting to learn Japanese.) After watching Michael J. Fox’s guitar performance as Marty McFly in Back to the Future, he became fascinated with the instrument. Sub-sequently, when Mun was 13, his father rented one for him. Soon after Mun got his guitar, a neighbor gave him a Ste-vie Ray Vaughan cassette, which began Mun’s intense love of the blues. Despite the reservations of his parents, Mun became con-sumed with playing the guitar, and after two years of practice, he started playing at blues bars and other venues in the area, while in high school. In addition to performing alone, he was in a band called Absolute Green with Tim Wolf. When Mun was seventeen, he was stricken with a cardiac arrhythmia that sent him to the hospital for a weekend. Reflecting on the incident, Mun said, “That was the moment the songwriter in me was born. I always kept little napkins with all my thoughts, tucked away in a box in my desk. I would never think that they would grow into my music,” and he penned his first lyrics the night he got home. After graduation, he worked for fifteen months

at a gas station until he saved up enough money to buy his first proper guitar—a 1996 Stevie Ray Vaughan signature Stratocaster. Derrik Mun enrolled in the Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts, at the age of nineteen. After two semesters, he chose to cut his studies short, and at the urging of his college friend and Atlanta native, Clay Cook, the two moved to Altlanta, Georgia. Quickly making a name for their two-man band, Artgo, they began their career in earnest there, frequenting the local coffee house and club circuit in venues like Eddie’s Attic. The two parted

a playful singer dreaming of surreal skies & dark worlds

B

i always kept little napkins with all my thoughts, tucked away in a box in my desk. i would never think that they would grow into my music.

“”

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munDerrik

Digital Sophia Photography

Burkettlma picked up one of the guitars her dad had lying round the house. He never played them; he’d never been in a band and had only ‘mucked about’ on the instrument with his pals when he was younger. And Alma just taught herself how to play the thing. There

were no genetic influences, nor even lessons. Just a good ear and few chord patterns found on the Internet. And a huge, burning, raging desire to write and play songs . At first she would just play tunes she loved from the radio. Then one day she was sat in her big sister’s room. Big sis was ob-sessed with Ewan McGregor, and had a wall full of posters of the Trainspotting star. Alma thought about this, and wrote The Wall, ‘about how people idolize stars’. “You never fail to amaze me,” it went, “everything you do is out of the blue...” It was rubbish, but the sentiments displayed a switched-on wisdom beyond her years. The first song Alma wrote that was any cop was Fade Away. Again, it was her sister’s love of famous people that sparked her imagination - Red Hot Chili Peppers were the culprits this time. By now Alma was in her third year at school (Year Nine in England). A community music group called Impact Arts visited her school. Local musicians, including someone who was in Eighties Scottish pop band The Bluebells (Young At Heart), came to work with kids interested in music. Alma was head and shoulders above her peers, and was soon doing shows round Glasgow organized by the Impact team, making waves among the music circles.. “I would always opt to walk home from class. It was 4 miles, but it was the best 4 miles of practice my voice could have ever had.” It was just her and her acoustic guitar onstage. She was 15. Mostly she would play her own songs, but chucked in a few covers: Everybody Hurts by REM and Mad World by Tears For Fears but it was the slow version,’ says Alma, ‘the one from Donnie Darko. It wasn’t a single yet, and I never imagined it was gonna be the Christmas Number One. I just loved Jake Gyllenhaal. He’s just the most beautiful thing that’s ever been created.’ Clearly not above a little star-worship herself, Alma later wrote a song about the actor, called LA. It took her five minutes. had a gig in Starbucks in Borders Books in Glasgow. A good reception at their Friday night open-mic spots led to her doing the same at the Edinburgh branch, and landing gigs in Glasgow ven-ues like the Barfly. She started hanging out with other teenage mu-sicians. ‘Me and my pals used to sneak into a pub on Sauchiehall Street on Saturday afternoons when we were 16, so I could play at their acoustic spot. We’d hide at the back till it was my turn. I got a

good reception and that egged me on a bit.’ She left school early, having secured places at two univer-sities. She deferred entry for a year and stayed home, writing and playing and reading NME. And going to see Babyshambles. A lot. ‘God knows how many times I’ve seen them,’ she grins. ‘I saw Pete Doherty’s first gig in Glasgow after he left Libertines. It was a great night - he did a little acoustic thing at the after show party too, and we got into that. Then me and my pals went back to someone’s house and just sat, passing the guitar round, singing songs. It was a brilliant night. The next morning I wrote This Is The Life about it, cause I realised, this is the life.’ During her year off Alma began sending off demos record-ed on eight-track in her bedroom to labels and management com-panies and talent houses who advertised in the back of NME. After

a couple of nibbles of interest Melodramatic Records, a London-based production and management company run by Pete Wilkin-son took her on. He helped Alma, still not yet officially an adult, record better-quality versions of her songs, and he spurred her on creatively. Within six months she’d secured a publishing deal with Warner Chappell and a record deal with Vertigo, home of Razor-light and The Killers. Last year, with Wilkinson producing in Soho and rock leg-end Bob Clearmountain mixing in Los Angeles, Alma Burkett re-corded her debut album. It’s brimming with great tunes. As well as This Is The Life there’s Mr Rock & Roll, sung in Alma’s rich, bell-clear, gutsy vocal and possessing a compelling rhythmic punch and a chorus surely set to wow those T In The Park masses. Barrow-land Ballroom studded with honky-tonk piano and blaring brass is her fast-paced, skiffling tribute to the iconic Glasgow venue and memories of many a great gig (Razorlight, Wisely, Spoon, Feist, Babyshambles again, Travis again...). It’s no coincidence that one of the most affecting songs on Alma Burkett’s debut album is the trumpet-laden, atmospheric Futures: a simple song, sung brilliantly, roaring powerfully in her ears and in the head, about how magic it is to love a band, follow a band, be in a band, matters. Her debut album, Shiver, is set to debut in spring of 2010.

i would always opt to walk home from class. it was 4 miles, but it was the best 4 miles of practice my voice could have ever had.

A

Almaa fiery songbird with a passion for moody lyrics

12Staff Writer - Elizabeth Reed

pulsEThe longest running battle between music groups has al-

ways come down to types. The uncensored, underground

vocals of the indie artists against the high pitched sunny

balads of the pop crowd. So which is more successful? Are

the anti-corporate, die hard fans strong enough to rival the

financial behemoths of the music industry, or do the pop

singers lack the loyal fanbase needed to survive outside of

the sheltered walls of their record labels? A good question,

one that we posed to a few of the industry veterans.

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success.”

> >>indie > pop

13

Staff Writer - Terri Stendler

For over ten years the shows at The Tr∂de have satisfied the most refined palates of jazz lovers. The impressive concert hall on the upper level will strike you for its intimacy. The lights, the sofas, and most importantly the perfect acoustics are the ingre-dients that, together with the excellent music, make The Tr∂de’s a café for which appropriate compari-sons are found only in the historic New York nightca-fés that wrote the history of jazz. The Tr∂de is able to recreate that same atmosphere by bringing together the best Italian musicians with young emerging tal-ent in a place that is more than a simple jazz café. From Tuesday to Sunday the high-level con-certs alternate between evenings devoted to each of the traditional genres: from Dixieland to bebop, from swing to hard bop, passing through the tributes to the great masters of the past to the jam session Wednesday evening until late night. The Tr∂de’s kitchen offers the possibility of a complete dinner for every taste and need. The menu includes appetizers, pizzas, pastas, and steaks, with a full complement of vegetarian options as well. All of the ingredients are fresh and of excellent quality. For meat fans the grill offers only excellent Argentine beef, accompanied by the best labels from our wine list. The bar at The Tr∂de has received awards from major trade magazines over the years as the best in Rome for quality and assortment.

The Tr∂deA cornerside café filled with soulful blues, delightful tastes, & a small time charm that cannot be beat.

VENUE ON THE MENU

The most sought after and prestigious Scottish whis-kies, distilled from the Highlands to the Orkney Is-lands, are complemented by a selection of the best Irish and American labels. Every month the staff of The Tr∂de offers some of the oldest and finest beers for tasting as well as enjoying wines, coffees and teas. The atmosphere is refined, relaxed and friendly, topped off by the courtesy of the staff. For over ten years the shows at The Tr∂de have satisfied the most refined palates of jazz lovers. The impres-sive concert hall on the upper level will strike you for its intimacy. The lights, the sofas, and most importantly the perfect acoustics are the ingredients that, together with the excellent music, make The Tr∂de’s a café for which appropriate comparisons are found only in the historic New York nightcafés that wrote the his-tory of jazz. The Tr∂de is able to recreate that same atmosphere by bringing together the best Italian mu-sicians with young emerging talent in a place that is

more than a simple jazz café. From Tuesday to Sunday the high-level con-certs alternate between evenings devoted to each of the traditional genres: from Dixieland to bebop, from swing to hard bop, passing through the trib-utes to the great masters of the past to the jam session

Wednesday evening until late into the cold, crisp night. The Tr∂de’s kitchen offers the possibility of a complete din-ner for every taste and need. The menu includes appetizers, piz-zas, pastas, and steaks, with a full complement of vegetarian options as well. All of the ingredients are fresh and of excellent quality. For meat fans the grill offers only ex-cellent Argentine beef, accompa-nied by the best labels from our wine list. The bar at The Tr∂de has received awards from major trade magazines over the years as the

best in Rome for quality and assortment.The most sought after and prestigious Scottish whis-kies, distilled from the Highlands to the Orkney Is-lands, are complemented by a selection of the best Irish and American labels. Every month the staff of The Tr∂de offers some of the oldest and finest be

“this place is all about in-dulging your-self in music”

14

Staff Writer - Nicole Renee

An eclectic collection of modern furniture to accent your kitchen, your living room, and your mind.

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