Two years later, Morrison’s sophomore effort, Songs for You, Truths for Me, featured an epic duet with Nelly Furtado as well as the funky “Nothing Ever Hurt Like You.”

Morrison’s new album is a far cry from these previous projects. The musical competency of Morrison and his band mates is not in question. But Morrison seems to have run out of things to say after five years of churning out songs about nothing but the above-mentioned new love,lost love and everything in between. This formula has gotten old by the third album.

The poor quality of the songwriting is the main point of contention. Over the course of 13 tracks Morrison give the impression that he was really hard up for some better material, going about the construction of lyrics in a very amateurish, Dick-and-Jane fashion. By way of example, the first two tracks, “In My Dreams,” and “6 Weeks,” open in an almost identical manner. “Since you’ve gone nothing seems to fit no more. Nothing’s as it was before,” and “Six weeks since I let you go and I still feel the same,” respectively.

The only track I feel elevates itself above the mire is the second-to-last one, “Right By Your Side.” It features Morrison’s voice, a single guitar strumming a blues melody, organ, and smoky female backing vocals. Just those four points and no percussion. It’s a beautiful song. I’m not saying I could do any better. Not being a musician or lyricist, I know I absolutely couldn’t do better. But Morrison shouldn’t fall into the trap of thinking that, after a certain point, his fans will listen to anything he puts out simply because it’s by him.

For an album so rife with sixties and seventies references, this irreverence is appropriate. It doesn’t sound too much like they’re trying to bring anything back, even though the album does recall the days of live music in the Capital. The Fruit Bats know how to play nostalgia without making it corny, and they milk it for all its worth.

Some songs are upbeat, and others feature minor melodies and soulful laments- “to penetrate pure life, you gotta suffer some. Then what remains of you is pure, and genuine, as wild honey.” The “pure life” and carefreeness captured by rock and roll in its youth, with all its highs and lows, is what Tripper is about. The songs would work on a live set and would also make sense as an album put together by struggling musicians. Tripper is the result of shiny new shoegaze mixed with folk music.

The shoegaze influence in Tripper pervades the early half of the album, fading into folk rock nostalgia in the last few tracks. It seems like the Fruit Bats felt the need to update their music to keep up with the times. It works, and their music stays relevant, but in a way that would still appeal to those who love rock. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but they’re no Vampire Weekend.

There are a few ska beats on Tripper, but the influence is minimal. The shoegaze influence is there, but it yields to acoustic folk melodies. The Fruit Bats are exactly the kind of thing one would expect on a weekend night at Armadillo. They’re very nostalgic, but that isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Tripper is a rock album with enough modern influence to avoid being characterized as dad rock.

The album is mellow throughout giving the record an intimate feel at times. In fact, there are songs like “Sorrowing Man” and “O’Sister” that barely even have a tom drum fill or a tambourine at all.  However, the sound that Green does display on Little Hell is perfect for the content of the lyrics and harmonic vocal style he utilizes.  Green’s guitar work is a complex blend of finger picking and chord usage; and at times sounds a bit like Fleet Foxes.  There are some intriguing layers to this album that really draw the listener deeper into the songs. The lap steel guitar he uses on tracks like “We Found Each Other in the Dark” just oozes that country western feel and adds a lot of heartbreak and conviction to the lyrics. The background string arrangements on “Northern Wind” fill in perfectly and keep the track from having a sense of negative space.

As good as some things in certain songs are the album as a whole lacks personality. “Silver and Gold” and “The Grand Optimist” seem bland and feel canned.  The upside to that is that the songs that work, work very well. On “Fragile Bird”, “Weightless” and “Hope for Now,” Green picks up a Stratocaster and rocks out. He uses some very nice guitar tones and classic rock-style drums that give these three songs enough style to break the stereotypical feel that plagued a handful of songs. This is the formula where City and Colour really excel. If you like Americana or folk music you should check this album out, there’s bound to be something on there you will dig.

This new exploration into Americana folk music knows no bounds; they even tackle honky tonk yodeling country in their ode ‘Dallas’. Note vocalist Ian Felice’s Dylan-esque quality to his voice, particularly on ‘Ponzi’ and ‘Oliver Stone’, the backbone to an already strong album. Some may find his voice ill-trained… to which you must answer the question, “Have you even heard ‘Blood on the Tracks’? Writer’s favourite though, has to go to ‘Best I Ever Had’, the penultimate track that’s so bayou blues one feels like it should come with its own rocking chair. It’s all in the details, from the solitary slide guitar, to the crickets in the background. It adds up to a very entertaining 4 minutes.

A good album is one that leaves you wanting more; one minute you’re really feeling the groove of the whole album as a piece of art, and the next thing you know, you realize you’re on the last song and you aren’t sure what to do with yourself. Celebration, Florida captures a slice of apple pie with all the filling; at 47 minutes it’s not a small helping either, but you’ll probably go back for seconds anyway.

Laura Stevenson is one of the nicest, if not the nicest, people I’ve ever met.  I could tell this would be the case when about three years ago I asked her for some guitar tabs to her songs over a Myspace message and she actually went out of her way to give them to me, reassuring me that she was at her mother’s house for a Labor Day BBQ, but that she would send me them as soon as she got internet in her new apartment, where all of her guitars were.  Such a display of kindness is rare from everyday schmoes, and even rarer from a moderately successful musician towards a random fan.

In fact, from what I can tell, all of her band, the Cans, seem like really nice people.  When I first got to the El Mocambo last night, as bands were doing their sound checks, I saw Dave Garwacke, drummer of The Cans as well as the creator of DIY punk site If You Make It (www.ifyoumakeit.com), smoking a cigarette quietly outside.  We talked for a little bit about nothing in particular, and he helped me get into the venue without any trouble.  Then, when I got into the venue, I was greeted by bassist Mike Campbell, who asked about my Laura Stevenson t-shirt – which I got as a prize for donating money to a currently-in-production punk documentary – as he hadn’t actually seen the shirt before; this sentiment was echoed by Stevenson herself, who came up to us while we were talking and was similarly impressed.  “We stopped doing the revolving door thing,” said Stevenson in an interview later when asked about the permanency of the current members of The Cans. “The gigs started getting bigger and more professional, so we had to get more professional as well.  It would be nice to have more auxiliary stuff, like strings, but people just can’t commit to the touring.  It’s good though; there’s more chemistry within the band because we’re used to playing with each other now.”

This chemistry is easy to hear on Laura Stevenson and the Cans recently released full-length Sit Resist.  The album is a folk masterpiece and early contender for album of the year, filled to the brim with beautiful melodies and interesting instrumentation as Stevenson’s earnest voice floats into your soul like a graceful pixie with words that are poetic, but never pretentious.  A Record was quieter, almost more like a solo album; Sit Resist feels like a collaborative effort, although with Stevenson clearly still in the dominant role – these are undeniably her songs.  “People treated our first album, A Record, more like an EP, because it was only eight songs and one of them is like twenty seconds long or something.  I actually think the original eight songs on that album work really well together, but then when we did the physical release on Don Giovanni, we added on the other three songs.  So I guess it feels more like a compilation. Sit Resist is more cohesive,” said Stevenson when asked about why many people are calling this her first “real” album.  “So far, it’s been really well received; we’ve only gotten one bad review so far, from a punk website who said we were ‘too precious.’“

The band is currently on tour supporting Florida-based indie/punk/folk band Fake Problems.  Unfortunately, I had to leave before I got a chance to see the headliners, but Laura Stevenson and the Cans put on a fantastic set.  Her music is simultaneously intensely personal and extremely powerful; Stevenson’s vocals are delicate and sweet, with a wide dynamic range, yet she doesn’t prescribe to the pitfall of vocal gymnastics that many singers as talented as her do, instead favouring a tight and economical, but still fiercely potent style. Though their songs are often quiet, they display lots of dynamic contrast; these guys can get mighty loud when they want to.  The band’s demeanor is one of quiet fury – nobody jumps around the stage pulling rock star moves, but everyone clearly feels the music, and they play directly from the heart.  After the show, I felt emotionally cleansed; I think it’s fair to say that most of the people who came to see her felt the same way.  If anything, the show could have been a bit longer, but thus is the plight of an opening band.  Get these guys some headlining gigs!

Stevenson is noticeably confident playing to smaller venues, joking around before songs, talking to the audience, and laughing off little mistakes – a characteristic no doubt gleaned from her days in the punk scene, which she is still active in as a founding member of New York-based collective Bomb the Music Industry!.  Stevenson explained to me how her music sounds nothing like punk, but still has a marked punk influence: “My biggest influence is probably Neil Young…The Beatles also, of course.  I like making pretty little Paul McCartney melodies.  And then when I was growing up and started listening to punk bands, a lot of the bands that I liked were just sort of Americana, but sped up.  So I guess I try to connect the music that I’ve always loved with the punk stuff I was into as a teen.”

So what’s next for the band?  “More touring!” says Stevenson, with an adorable, heart-melting smile.  The band aren’t quite huge yet, but they’ve garnered a fair amount of buzz in the past few weeks.  Whether they can become a force to be reckoned with in the mainstream music world – or indeed, whether they even want to do so – remains to be seen; the idea of seeing Laura Stevenson playing heartfelt Americana songs to stadiums of thousands of people is an odd image.  But at the very least, they’re extremely close to their well-deserved 15 minutes of fame, and now with a consistent line-up and a definitive debut album, they can only get better.  I don’t know about you, but I can’t wait to see what comes next.

You can download Sit Resist for free until the end of May at http://laurastevenson.tumblr.com/post/4952733435/download-laura-stevenson-the-cans-sit-resist-for.  You can also buy it digitally on iTunes, or on CD and LP from Don Giovanni Records at http://dongiovannirecords.com/store/release.php?r=333

New York State multi-instrumentalist artists Quitzow and Setting Sun launch an extensive co-headlining U.S. tour this week, showcasing songs from both bands’ new albums on Young Love Records. The two groups share more than a label and tour dates, however. Quitzow, the namesake of songwriter/singer/multi-instrumentalist Erica Quitzow features Setting Sun songwriter/guitarist/vocalist Gary Levitt alternately adding bass, drums and vocals to its live shows. Likewise, the Levitt-led Setting Sun band includes Erica Quitzow on violin and backing vocals.

Along with this kinship, both groups share an open interest in cross-breeding musical forms, merging classical strings (violin and cello especially), folk, chamber pop and hints of early electronic rock. The results are truly refreshing. Setting Sun has been compared to Merge artists The Radar Brothers, Elliot Smith at his darkest and early Nick Drake. Check out the fantastic animated video for “No Devil Me No More” HERE. Quitzow invites nods like “Solex meets Liz Phair” and “combining the fun of Peaches with the intelligence of Lori Anderson.” The intrigued are invited to hear for themselves during the upcoming string of dates beginng June 24th in Philadelphia. Please see complete dates below.

More about Quitzow:

“Juggling mind-blowing moog/rhodes/bass while singing,” playing Tchaikovsky in The Woodstock Chamber Orchestra, and creating Fender Rhodes loops layered with MPC drums, moog bass, cellos, violins and vocals, Erica Quitzow brings a wide diversity to her records and live performances. With a self-titled debut album and an upcoming second release, Erica is involved in various musical projects exploring new influences for her inner child gone wild, neo-post electro-pop sound. The new record, Art College, out in spring 2008 on Young Love Records, is a collection of sing-along pop song collages with orchestral arrangement over hip hop, electro-clash, and downtempo beats decorated with adventurous harmonies. Instrumentation is performed primarily by Erica and includes MPC, Reason and live drums layered with Moogs and Korgs, Rhodes, Casios, classical and electric guitars, bass, cellos, violins, various percussion instruments with her alternately playful and woeful vocal style. The record was self-recorded in her upstate New York home with production and mixing assistance by band and label-mate, Gary Levitt.

Erica’s debut album, Quitzow, was self-recorded in her previous Los Angeles home and was built on the same acoustic/electronic collage elements as Art College. Again, she played most of the instruments, creating a high-drama palate, and always going for the extreme. While the use of strings in songs like “Drink-Up” sometimes conjures images of Rasputina with a similar Sabbath-style heaviness, often comparisons are elusive as in the cartoon-like playfulness of “R. Crumb.” Elsewhere, “Know Me” is complex and layered, evoking a Todd Rundgren soundscape with passionate screaming vocals reminiscent of Patti Smith.

The live performances include music from both records and ranges from solo cello/guitar and vocals to full band renditions. The upcoming national tour will be with a five piece band including cello, live and electronic drums, bass, backing vocals and percussion, with Erica on Moog, Korg, guitar and vocals.

Among the other projects Erica is involved in is playing violin, cello and singing back up for the Setting Sun live show, as well as playing drums and keyboards on the recordings. Gary Levitt, leader of Setting Sun, is her partner in running Young Love Records and plays bass and sings back up for Quitzow. The bands tour together, share various band members, and assist each other in recording. Erica sometimes plays violin for The Woodstock Chamber Orchestra, working to develop the orchestrations on her recordings by studying the compositions of Tchaikovsky and Copeland, among others. She records strings on an array of projects, recently working with Tony Levin, Garth Hudson, and Malcom Burns on Sarah Perotta’s record, The Well.

Past projects include singing and playing bass in the critically acclaimed Heavy Pebble, a New York/San Francisco based experimental band that toured the west coast. More recently she played Moog, Rhodes, and bass with Jennifer Turner (of Natalie Merchant’s band) in Los Angeles indie-pop band, Inner. The first record was recorded in Nellie Hooper’s London studio (Bjork, Massive Attack.) This band toured practically nonstop for its three-year incarnation to rapidly growing audience, a positive press response and national college radio play.

Quitzow will tour the full US in June/July, and plans to tour Europe in the near future.

More about Setting Sun:

“Levitt wails with toned-down tinges of Kurt Cobain’s emptiness and Elliott Smith’s pain.” – West Coast Performer

Lovers of great songs with inventive and honest sounds can take heart. Setting Sun’s third record, Children of The Wild really delivers. This new record has (so far) been best described as “an odd atmosphere, probed by twizzling sounds, and the feeling that this is the soundtrack for the aftermath of a crash landing.” With an intimate lyrical delivery, each word is slowly tasted before being spoken and is set against driving beats, lashing cellos, soothing instrumental interludes and a rich cortege of violins, synthesizers, and homemade sounds. Amidst the layers of edgy counterpoint melody, lifting harmonies and soundscapes, the song is still the focus.

Setting Sun began in 2001 in a San Francisco apartment as some good old fashioned soul-searching by Gary Levitt where he wrote and produced their aptly titled debut CD Holed Up. Having lived and created in New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco, Setting Sun’s sound bears the mark of them all. The grime and grit of New York, the quirky artiness of San Francisco and the lilting sunshine of LA… all are orchestrally present in the music. This third record was self-produced by Gary Levitt with many friends lending their playing skills. Most noticeable on the record are all the strings, expertly played by band and label-mate Erica Quitzow.

Recorded entirely in their 19th century Victorian house, Quitzow and Setting Sun share a home recording studio. Initially set up to record themselves, Gary soon began taking on outside clients. “I love helping other artists work on their music,” says Levitt. “If they come in with just bare-bones sketches of songs and want to expand on them, I’ll come up with ideas that add to the songs but don’t compete with them.”

Gary also plays bass and sings harmonies for Erica’s band Quitzow. A veteran of the indie music scene, Levitt started as a member of feverish NY band The Kung-Fu Grip. After four years of relentless touring, they made their way out to San Francisco where they paired down their members to a tightly focused three piece, all providing vocals for their cathartic, shock art sound. Levitt simultaneously formed Heavy Pebble with Erica Quitzow, becoming a hit in the music scene in San Francisco and touring the west coast, playing their quirky pop songs with post-modernist film collage projections to crowded houses and critical acclaim. After various line-up changes and key members leaving, both groups disbanded.

Upon having these long-term projects fall apart leaving Levitt with no material to perform, he decided his next project would be solely his own. Levitt sequestered himself in a friend’s San Francisco apartment with some borrowed gear and “two cheap microphones” to record what was to become Setting Sun’s debut, the appropriately titled Holed Up. Marked by a sense of palpable urgency, the album seamlessly fuses Levitt’s chief references—warm acoustic guitar, melodic counterpoint bent Beatles/Bowie pop, loud/quiet Pixies/Nirvana dynamics—into a catchy and inversely intimate lo-fi blend. As Holed Up was nearly finished, Levitt was invited to play guitar for Virgin recording artist Jennifer Turner. He flew to London and recorded in producer Nellee Hooper’s (Bjork, Smashing Pumpkins) studio, putting Holed Up on the shelf. The band that formed was named Inner, and the record, containing two songs written by Levitt, received critical acclaim and international airplay. After relocating to Los Angeles and touring to support the record, Levitt left the band to re-focus on his own music.

Back to Setting Sun. Young Love Records released Holed Up to many positive reviews coinciding with the group touring regularly, performing as a three piece. Levitt also embarked on two separate month-long solo tours, playing every night, often paired with daytime radio and college shows, and sleeping where he could. He eventually settled home and began writing and recording his sophomore CD Math and Magic. Curious to hear Setting Sun’s potential with outside production assistance, Levitt embarked on the recording of his second album with producer Richard Chiu. With a different approach than the solo explorations of holed up, Math and Magic is more polished, produced, and collaborative than its lo-fi experimental predecessor. The intimacy of Holed Up is not lost, but perhaps served on a cleaner plate.

Released on Young Love Records in 2005, songs “The Only One” and “Found It By Midnite” can be heard in the short film Paper Jam, which won several awards in the festival circuit including “Best Music.” Setting Sun has been getting increasing attention from the film and television industries. As more people get exposed many find the music to be a natural fit with the moving image…

Quitzow & Setting Sun On Tour:
06/24 Philly @ The Khyber
06/25 Shepherdstown, WV @ War Memorial (All Ages)
06/26 Baltimore MD @ Lo-Fi Social Club
06/27 Leonardtown, MD @ Room with a Brew (All Ages)
06/28 Greenville NC @ Spazzatorium Galleria
06/29 Johnson City, TN @ Acoustic Coffeehouse
06/30 Atlanta, GA @ Lenny’s w/ Cat Riley & nerdkween
07/02 Memphis, TN @ Murphys w/ The Warble
07/03 Tahlequah OK @ The Hallway (All Ages)
07/04 Denton, TX @ Andy’s Bar w/ Admiral David D
07/05 Tulsa OK @ Soundpony
07/06 Amarillo, TX @ The 806 w/ Wolf Cub
07/07 Albuquerque NM @ Atomic Cantina w/ Bellemah
07/08 Farmington, NM @ Totah Theatre (All Ages)
07/09 Los Angeles, CA @ Spaceland
07/10 San Francisco CA @ Rickshaw Stop
07/11 Santa Cruz, CA @ The Crepe Place
07/12 Arcata @ Jambalaya w/ John Ludington
07/13 Portland OR @ Kelly’s Olympian w/ Testface
07/14 Seattle, WA @ The High Dive
07/15 Olympia, WA @ The Royal
07/16 Boise ID @ Neurolux
07/17 Salt Lake City UT @ Boing! Collective
07/18 Denver CO @ The Lions Lair w/ Princess Tiger
07/19 Omaha, NE@ Oleavers w/ Landing on The Moon
07/20 Chicago, IL @ Ronny’s w/ Dirty Diamonds
07/21 Lansing, MI @ Mac’s
07/22 Detroit MI @ Smalls
07/23 Pittsburgh, PA @ Howlers Coyote
07/24 New York, NY @ The Annex (Club NME)

Quitzow – Art College Tracklisting:

Stream The Album HERE

Release Date: June 10th, 2008

01. Sponsor (It Didn’t Mean A Thing) (MP3)
02. On TV!
03. Peanut
04. Art College
05. Better Than Ever
06. Stay Away from John
07. Love
08. Slept In My car
09. Cats R People 2
10. Rhythm Machine
11. Unripened Fruit
12. Jackpot

Setting Sun – Children of The Wild Tracklisting:

Stream The Album HERE

Release Date: June 10th, 2008

01. What We Wanted
02. No Devil Me No More (MP3)
03. How Long
04. Carry Me Away
05. Overjoyed
06. Slob
07. Love My Love
08. Not Waste
09. Inside My Love
10. Morning Song
11. Happy Joy