CMJ

Hey Y'all,

My October On the Beat column is up on EightMillionStories.com! It's a bit of a CMJ preview. Enjoy!

Allie

PICS FROM THE ROAST

Loadin' Out


Sound Checkin'


Settin' up


Eatin'


Dancin'!

REMINDER Pt. 2

Don't run all of your stage power off one sketchy looking extension cord running out of a barn. Just about half an hour after we asked the sounds guy at the Yard "So, you never have a problem running everything on one outlet?", the power cut out a the very climax of our new song. Most people didn't notice because we just lost the PA so only my vocals cut out. The amps were still working, thankfully. We only had to wait a couple of minutes before we could continue with our last two songs. Not so lucky were Motel Motel who only got to play a short set after waiting for what seemed like forever for the power to come back and the Jones Street Boys who didn't get to play at all. This is only one of the many issues with the Pig Roast. It was kind of a disaster. Bel Air still managed to have fun but we also managed to get yelled at by Yard employees and get in a scuffle with one who told us to "check our attitude" as we were loading out. We are not unreasonable, confrontational, attitudinous people! It was just weird. Matt from Earfarm says it better than I can here and here. There is a slide show of pictures if you follow that first link.

Thanks to Earfarm for having us! We look forward to the do-over!

REMINDER

From Earfarm (where we are band of the week in case you forgot :-)):

Nothing says harvest like the crackle of hot, crispy pig skin, especially when that skin is covering a 200-lb Berkshire hog, roasted whole over an open barbecue pit by Tom Mylan, Brooklyn’s favorite butcher.

Hosted by Brooklyn Based, Sweet Deliverance, Ear Farm and The Yard, the first annual Big Brooklyn Pig Roast and Harvest Hoedown is a prelude to the following day’s Harvest Festival at The Yard, and a celebration of all the best the season has to offer.

Snuggle up to someone special with a pint of Sixpoint and a plate of pork tacos, roast corn, fresh salsas, greens, warm apple crisp and cinnamon ice cream from Blue Marble. Then turn up your heels to the Americana twang and hillbilly swerve of The Jones Street Boys, Motel Motel, and Bel Air, as the lights sparkle on the Gowanus Canal.

Joshua Applestone of Fleisher’s Grass Fed and Organic Meats will be on hand to talk about why properly raised pigs are so delicious, and a member of the New Farmer Development Project, which the dinner will benefit, will speak about their work with farms. And Not Eating Out in New York blogger Cathy Erway is lending a hand with dessert.

Sixpoint beers $1 from 6-7. Five percent of proceeds benefit New Farmer Development Project. Tickets $32 in advance, available online at http://tinyurl.com/42yylc, or $40 at the door. (Free for kids 10 and under.)

I THOUGHT WYATT HAD A LOT OF RECORDS

Now that Wyatt and I are living in the same place my record collection has grown exponentially. We are also the joint owners of a storage space housing, among other things, a synthesizer, a Farfisa, a combo organ, and a Wurlitzer 112. After seeing this video I can't complain about the record collection.


The Archive from Sean Dunne on Vimeo.

I COULDN'T AGREE MORE

Looks like the rogues in our practice space are at it again. These signs were posted next to all of the garbage cans by the management probably because they were sick of the garbage bags leaking rotting beer juice. I'm glad someone decided to take it upon themselves to offer up a simple solution. Finish your beers, lightweights!

BAND OF THE WEEK!

Hey Y'all! We're Band of the Week on Earfarm!

Check out our **exclusive** interview in which we talk up BBQ, talk down new Nashville country music and I get my second Dido comparison!

CHECK THIS OUT!!

This is going to be good...



Thanks to Matt for forwarding the flier to us!

HEE HEE

In response to "We're playing a pig roast on Oct. 10th" from my last post, my mom wondered if we're playing the pig, the apple or the roaster.

I'm going to go with the pig.

I almost used another of my mom's jokes in my last 8MS article in response to the Janet Jackson costume. I almost said she "looked like ten pounds of mud in a five pound bag". I should have used that as, clearly, my mom is funny.

8MS

Hey!

My new 8MS article for September is up:


eightmillionstories.com

Enjoy!

P.S. We're playing a pig roast on Oct. 10th.

NEW PICS

Hey Y'all,

We had some new pics taken by our good friend Sheri Barclay. Here's one. This is pre-photoshop and uncensored. The version on our myspace page has the NYC skyline and bridge photoshopped out. Heehee.


Bel Air

MORE REVIEWS OF POLE TO POLE!!

I thought I'd share some more reviews that have come in for our album Pole to Pole!

From Americana UK:

Breath of fresh air from Brooklyn

Primarily a trio of songwriters from Brooklyn, Bel Air present two poles of a countrified rock band and a more folky introspective aspect, at times depending on the writer and singer of the respective song. Whichever style comes out on top depends, I suppose, on one’s personal preference but at least they are evenly balanced with some quality writing and playing present throughout. Allison Langerak is the folk chanteuse. Cool, vulnerable and very listenable, she has a posse of songs that range from the good time vibe feeling of “Looking Up” (that belies the song’s message of a wearied resignation to the difficulties of accomplishing just about anything to the excellent “Sometimes” which could have graced a Sandy Denny album. In a similar vein is “Don’t Hold out for Me.” where Ms. Langerack sounds vulnerable and strained over a song reminiscent of The Continental Drifters or The Cowboy Junkies.

Jeff Mensch supplies the majority of the remaining songs. Opener “Used to Believe” evokes The Jayhawks while “This City, pt. 2” harks back to Garcia’s Workingman’s Dead” (with a mention of Uncle John’s Band among other Dead allusions). The pedal steel here (played by Mike “Slo-Mo” Brenner who guests on several other songs) is excellent. Mensch also purveys a restrained folkier style as displayed on the song “Goodnight.”

The writing trio is completed by Wyatt Tuzo who provides an untitled instrumental and the closer, “Street fair” both featuring strong acoustic guitar figures. Brenner adorns the latter with some wistful
playing.

Overall a strong debut with some standout songs and one looks forward to hearing more from them.

From Twangville:

For years, it seemed as though it was the louder, more rocking bands that garnered the majority of attention and buzz from indie-kids and the music media in general (see: grunge, or the recent “garage-rock” revival with the Strokes, or even the alleged “reinvention” of rock by Radiohead, Beck and/or The White Stripes, etc…). With that said, in recent times we are seeing a shift in the wave of notoriety away from the many rearrangements of rock’s past to some of the quieter, sensitive and even brooding bands of today. Bands such as Iron & Wine, Swell Season, Fleet Foxes and Bon Iver are some absolutely shining examples of acts that throw lyrics that read like classic literature, aching melodies, soft harmonies and relatively sparse arrangements and production into a pot and whip up some pretty amazing concoctions that seem to usher in a new form of Folk that most silver-haired folkies are likely not ready for.

Bel Air, from Brooklyn also bring much of the “Neo-Folk” vibe to the table with their debut CD, Pole to Pole and even expand the formula with a rootsy swagger. The album features lead vocals that seamlessly alternate between Jeffrey Mensch and Allie Langerak. Most of the cuts posses quiet and sometimes fragile arrangements of acoustic guitar and soft percussion. Even the occasional sax and violin creep gently in to lend the disc a sense of diversity that your typical Folk (neo, freak, or any other kind of “folk”) record may not have. Similar to Iron & Wine and the others I mentioned before, Bel Air isn’t looking to make a specific type of album as far as category or genre is concerned. Their influences range from Indie to Brit-Pop and those are all evident here.

With most albums that feature multiple lead singers, I tend to find myself leaning in a specific direction towards a favorite side (sorry Patterson, I seem to dig more of Cooley’s DBT stuff). In the case of Pole to Pole, I find myself favoring the tracks where the Mensch has lead duties, even though I tend to prefer the more rustic, almost Dido-like vocals of Langerak. Hopefully you get the notion that this is a solid and even disc, and it doesn’t suffer from the inconsistent, up and down nature of many discs that feature the dual vocal lead.

Tracks such as “Used to Believe” and “This City, Pt. 2″ both contain elements fo folk and pop and even veer into “Alt-Country” territory without feeling contrived or cliched. The production of Pole to Pole proves to be as valuable of an instrument as the acoustic guitar on the disc. The relatively clean, yet raw vibe of the disc truly does provide the listener with the feeling of listening in on a group of talented friends hanging out with some guitars, a stocked cooler and perhaps even a recording machine that just happens to be running in order to document the proceedings. By Kelly Dearmore


From Fire Drills:

Fire Drill:
Brooklyn just keeps overflowing with its musical talent and the debut from Bel Air continues the rush. Pole To Pole is rooted in the Americana sound which offers a combination of male/female lead vocals and multi-layered harmonies that balance the musically solid album. The record also features slide guitarist Mike Brenner (Marah, Magnolia Electric Company) on several tracks which rounds out its alt-country flavor while building on several members indie rock backgrounds. The cohesiveness of the group and strong collaboration of ideas ultimately creates an enjoyable debut which is perfect for any time of the day listening.

Key Track: "Looking Up"

Band With Similar Fire: Whiskeytown