“Someone Great” on the InterWeb
After Frank, Train and the gang at The AudioMuffin posted the exclusive of our cover of ‘Someone Great’, I sent it out to the mailing list and to the broader blog audience. Since that time, we’ve seen a lot of great traction.
The biggest blog besides AudioMuffin is probably Largehearted Boy. We also got some coverage on a covers blog called Cover Me. We also got some nice coverage on The Music Slut and Surviving the Golden Age.
And I think there might be more forthcoming. Thanks to everyone for getting the word out.
‘Someone Great’ on Audio Muffin
We recorded a cover of ‘Someone Great’ from our show at Rockwood a few months ago. Frank over at Audio Muffin, who had a nice review of PIARS when it came out. When I mentioned that we’d be covering the tune, Frank asked for a copy. So I gave Audio Muffin an exclusive for a week on the cover.
Here’s what he had to say about it:
Someone Great brings The Flying Change to an orchestral 13-piece band. Each member of the band adds their own rhythm and titillating flourish. If anyone has video of this please leave a link in the comments – it sounds epic!
Thanks for the kind words, Frank! Check out our cover of ‘Someone Great’ on Audio Muffin when you have a chance.
PIARS on Best Of 2009 Lists
In case you’re keeping score, Pain Is A Reliable Signal has shown up on three Best of Lists so far. Ron Tremblath, who writes for FensePost, called it the #8 best record of the year.
Somewhere between Sam Jacobs’ saddened personal affairs, and his personal and professional relationships with extraordinary talents, he created a mind-scape of fine-tuned and pop-riddled indie rock.
The gang at Striker Bill have listed PIARS as #18.
This is a stark, meticulously elegant and achingly beautiful set of songs that possess an emotional ardor unlike most music that you’ve heard before.
And Ste Birkett at Heavier Than Air listed it at #14.
Exquisitely orchestrated from the delicate, minimalist passages of Broken Bow to the light-hearted bounce of If You See Something, every song here is a winner.
Not bad for a band, a songwriter and a record that were completely unknown seven months ago. Bring it on 2010.
Show Diary: Rockwood Music Hall, 12/3/09
The feeling has faded somewhat from last Thursday. There’s only so long you can hold lightning in a bottle before it disappears back into the ionosphere and its home in the clouds.
But we played our last show of the year last Thursday and it was truly a joy to play and let’s see if I can remember enough to tell you about right here. (Also, see the show reviewed on the Sparked blog)
Rockwood is a small and tiny little place. But it’s a special place. And we’d done a good job of telling the gang about the show. This time I relied more on personal outreach to, in the words of James Murphy, all my friends, than on massive blast emails. That plus a great write-up in the New Yorker and some other things and the room was packed. Rockwood shows are free. But if they weren’t we’d say it was sold out. As it was, people were turned away at the door and the room was full to capacity.
Meanwhile, of course, we have the whole band. And the beauty and humor of Rockwood is that it’s a tiny little stage and 3/4 of that stage is occupied by a grand piano, further reducing the available real estate. And somehow, and over the course of about 20 minutes, we fit everyone up there and then had people spilling off onto either side. Rich and Marc were doing percussion on one end and then Flavio and Dan were doing their thing on the other end and then me, Paul, Bronwen, Matt, Noah, Stan and Katie were squeezed up onto the actual stage.
But the cumulative result was one of joy and energy and all these musicians and all their friends and fans packed into this tiny little space and what we did was we had this big party. And also the music was good.
Here’s some thoughts and reflections on the set:
Show Diary: Pianos, 11/11/09
We played lesson one of An Autumn Symposium at Pianos last Wednesday. A lot of great moments and a lot of great energy. A couple people commented that it was the best show we’ve played. I think there were moments that were the best moments I’ve been experienced with. Certain pieces of songs where I wanted to leap out of my skin. And just participate in the energy in a manner that wasn’t bound by my body or my perception.
It’s a big band at this point. A lot going on. We need three DI boxes and then 7 mics to cover everyone. There’s Stan on sax and flute, Dan Levine on trombone (although Clark Gayton played this gig and did a great job), Katie on oboe and English horn, Flavio on viola, Noah on guitar, Bronwen singing backup, Paul on laptop, guitar and signing, Matt on piano, Rob on bass, Rich on percussion and congas, and Marc on drums. So that’s 12 people if you include me. That’s a small army.
The trick with managing an army of people is to use the moments and to shift the emphasis appropriately. To create standout moments for everyone in the band to play a part and to move the spotlight around. I think we’re still learning how to do that to maximum effect and I’ve definitely been working with the band on dynamics. We’ve been trying to get each song right and to get the point of emphasis right so that everyone’s not playing at the same time.
I think a lot of that work paid off on Wednesday night, even though there’s still room to grow with each song and room to explore. I’ve tried to strip out parts where they weren’t needed. So, in “If You See Something” having a focus on Stan’s flute in the 2nd verse instead of flute, oboe and trombone all at the same time. And in “Dirty White Coats” leaving the acoustic guitar out until the very end.
We’re getting there. As Paul wrote me earlier this week, there is an undeniable energy and goodness that comes out of the show. There’s room for growth but it does feel very much like something special is happening up there. A couple moments that stand out in my memory.
- “Hold My Heartache”. We’ve reworked the tune slightly. Well, rework is a perhaps generous. We’ve extended it. So the outro goes for a bit and Stan blows his solo and then the song dies down and typically that’s where it would end. But then Marc rips out a fill and we come back full boar. This was that point, in that outro, after Stan’s honked out another beautiful jam and we’ve come back with the full band. It was simply beautiful. I wanted to leap out of my skin. I felt very happy to be up there.
- “Valentine’s Day”. We’d really been struggling with this tune in practice. It was missing something. I don’t know what it was missing but it’s clear that we found it on Wednesday night and that maybe we were overthinking things a little bit. The new part that Matt wrote on the piano somehow creates a continuity of energy that flows through the rest of the tune. And everybody was feeling it. It came together and had a beautiful and gorgeous driving beat. It felt good and everyone liked it and that was a good tune. The lyrics got even more personal than I normally get. Oh well
- “There Is A Light”. This was a new tune that we’d only played a few times. And Rob and Matt had never played it but I brought them in after sending them an mp3 of the tune from rehearsal. It came together. My guitar playing is never perfect but it was passable and it felt full and rich and Bronwen’s singing was a perfect compliment to mine and it felt good. I have reservations about the song. The changes and the tune and some of the lyrics aren’t terribly innovative, I feel. And I worry that it’s a little too conventional. But sometimes that’s just how it goes. You can’t fight beauty.
In other news, I got a hernia on stage. I’ve been having this pain in my lower abdomen when I sing and stand and play guitar all at the same time. And something definitely ruptured or burst when I was up there. To the point where I thought I might have to cancel the gig in the middle of the set .
The problem is that this was the first gig since the Lipstik days that I stood (I normally sit). And standing had a big and positive impact. It was more fun and felt more natural and I got more air and could sing a bit better. So I don’t know. Might have to just suck it up.
Anyway, it was this hot pulsing feeling right above my private places. Saw the doctor and it looks like I’ll need surgery. It’ll have to wait until the next gig after the Rockwood show, though. Some things take priority.
“Aural Bliss”
Reviews continue to stream in. Embo Blake says I sometimes sing off-key but also says that’s a good thing so it’s okay and he’s probably right. But, more importantly, Hybrid Magazine just loved the record. The whole thing is great but here’s a good bit:
Not only are the songs on Pain Is A Reliable Signal well written and emotionally charged (albeit in a rather down-played fashion), but they are very well produced.Robert L. Smith and Paul Brill (a master of gloomy Americana of his own sort) have taken the songs of The Flying Change and created a musical palette that is very evocative and cinematic. The songs carry the mind from a stark desert landscape to the bustle of an urban center, and back to the peace of the country. Jacobs has done a wonderful job of writing songs that are highly personal, but also tell stories in a way that Paul Simon would be proud of, and putting them all together in a wildly delicious package of aural bliss.
Good stuff. Thanks, Embo. And thanks Robert L Smith and Paul Brill. You guys are good and decent gentlemen.
