ben gibbard – INDIE ROCK CAFE

Mark Kozelek and Sun Kil Moon’s New Album, Book and Tour

Posted on 03/12/200812/18/2019 by Max Hammer

Pained and yet hauntingly beautiful, Mark Kozelek‘s music as a solo artist and with Red House Painters and Sun Kil Moon has gained him great respect in the music community, especially among indie folk rock fans.

Kozelek’s record label, Caldo Verde Records, announced this week the pre-order sales for both Sun Kil Moon’s new album April and the re-issue of Kozelek’s 2002 book Nights of Passed Over, a compendium of his lyrics and other writings through the years.

The limited edition (only 2,500 copies) re-issue of the hard-cover book will come along with a 12 song CD titled Nights LP, featuring live and rare versions of Kozelek’s music from 1996 through 2007. The limited edition will be available for pre-order on March 17 on Caldo Verde Records website only.

The first 2,800 copies of April are autographed and numbered by Mark Kozekel and available for pre-order ($15.99) beginning March 12, 2008.

The release of April will mark the first original recording from Mark Kozelek since Tiny Cities (an album of Modest Mouse covers) in 2005 and Sun Kil Moon’s 2003 debut classic Ghosts of the Great Highway, which was recently re-issued.

During the past decade, Kozelek’s sombre acoustic sound, tender vocals and guilt-ridden and troubled lyrics propelled the otherwise shy and Kozelek in to the emerging indie rock ‘blogosphere’ where fans gobbled up his music and bloggers hailed the arrival of yet another brilliant songwriter. He has been compared to artists like Nick Drake and Elliot Smith.

Mark Kozelek’s Music and Videos:

MP3 – “Ocean Breathes Salty” – Mark Kozelek/Sun Kil Moon
Stream – “Heron Blue” and “Drop” from Sun Kil Moon’s upcoming release April.

The songs for April were recorded between March and August 2007 in San Francisco and Seattle. Contributors include other well-known artists like vocalists Bonnie Prince Billy, Eric Pollard and Ben Gibbard (Death Cab and Postal Service), plus drummer Anthony Koutsos (Red House Painters), bassist Geoff Stanfield (Black Lab), violist Michi Aceret and percussionist David Revelli.

April contains 11 songs that play for 74 minutes. On March 16, 2008, the album will be available as a digital download on the record label’s site for $7.99 with album art included.

The following video is an interview with Mark Kozelek in which he performs “Bubble”.

– Check the concert tours for Sun Kil Moon and Mark Kozelek
– Sun Kil Moon’s MySpace page
– Sun Kil Moon’s official website from their label Caldo Verde

Paste magazine’s review of April:

“Kozelek’s work has proven over the years that it reveals itself slowly,” O’Connor writes about April. “What grabs you at first is the simple, gorgeous hook, which turns out to be a gateway drug to the deeper mysteries that power his music.”

Jonathan Cohen, Billboard

“From 10-minute, three-guitar jams to heartbreaking acoustic ballads, April shines with the most evocative music of Kozelek ‘s career.”

Ray Davies of The Kinks, Zach Condon, DCFC, The Cure and Angels and Airwaves Coming to SF

Posted on 03/07/200812/18/2019 by Max Hammer

Following a successful Noise Pop Festival in which dozens and dozens of indie musicians and groups descended on San Francisco, there are still many great shows coming up in the next few weeks, including Ray Davies (pictured above) of The Kinks, Death Cab For Cutie, Beirut, Linkin Park, The Cure, Jimmy Eat World, My Chemical Romance and The Bravery.

San Francisco’s iconic radio station Live 105 F.M. has updated its concert calendar to include the latest, upcoming concerts (this is just a snapshot of many shows coming up in the SF Bay Area; stay tuned for more concert announcements):

3/8 – Serj Tankian @ The Warfield

3/10 – Popscene presents SxSF w/ Persephone’s Bees & more @ Rickshaw Stop

3/10 – Angels & Airwaves @ The Warfield

3/10 – Linkin Park w/ Coheed & Cambria @ The Arco Arena, Sacramento

3/13 – The Bravery @ The Fillmore

3/28 – Ray Davies @ The Warfield – The legendary singer/songwriter of the best rock band ever, The Kinks, returns to San Francisco with a new solo album – Working Man’s Cafe – that Rolling Stone magazine called a “masterpiece”.

MP3: Vietnam Cowboys – Ray Davies from Working Man’s Cafe

4/3-4 – My Chemical Romance @ The Warfield

4/8 – Jimmy Eat World & Paramore @ San Jose State Events Center

4/10-11 – The Honda Civic Tour w/ Panic At The Disco, Motion City Soundtrack, The Hush Sound, Phantom Planet @ The Warfield

4/12 – Taste Of Chaos w/ Avenged Sevenfold & more @ San Jose State Events Center

4/23 – Ben Gibbard and Death Cab For Cutie @ Fillmore

5/27-8 – Zach Condon (photo, right) and Beirut @ The Grand Ballroom At the Regency Center

MP3: Beirut – Postcards From Italy

5/28 – The Cure @ The HP Pavilion (video below)

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Death Cab For Cutie Ben Gibbard’s iPod Playlist

Posted on 08/23/200701/09/2020 by Max Hammer

The indie pop quartet out of Bellingham, Washington with the unusual name, “Death Cab For Cutie”, has taken the rock world by storm in the past two years with heart-filled indie rock songs, thoughtful lyrics and creative musicianship. (photo, left: Photo by Autumn De Wilde)

DCFC (as they are known to many fans, or else just “Death Cab”)consists of singer, songwriter and guitarist Ben Gibbard, guitarist Chris Walla, bassist Nick Harmer and drummer Michael Schorr.

The guys of Death Cab have been together for a decade, but their popularity reached international proportions only recently and rather quickly.

Prior to 2005, Death Cab released a number of CDs, LPs and EPs with moderate success, but it wasn’t until their 2005 Atlantic Records release “Plans” that the band’s name became recognizable to millions worldwide.

Even more recognition has come the band’s way via Ben Gibbard’s “side project” The Postal Service, which pumped out a big hit with “Such Great Heights” – a popular radio and online dance hit that was later covered by alt country rock outfit Iron & Wine, whose acoustic version of “Such Great Heights” brought them enormous attention and name recognition.

Let’s face it, “Such Great Heights,” both versions, is arguably one of the classic rock songs of the 21st century.

Curious to this indie rock fan and perhaps others is what happens when Ben Gibbard fans go to a Death Cab For Cutie concert and he doesn’t play “Such Great Heights”.

Gibbard is probably not stupid enough to fall for that every time; it can kill a singer/songwriter to be “type cast” in the music industry by one song or one sound.

For example, such a dilemma is threatening to “do in” Blue October with their worldwide hit “Hate Me”.

At this point, Blue October pretty much has to play “Hate Me” (trying not to) at every f**king concert or there will be a full-scale riot by hundreds, if not thousands, of screaming girls from pre-teens up to “full grown” adults.

There was a time when Pearl Jam couldn’t have a concert without playing “Even Flow”. In fact, it’s still like that. Most recent example: Lollapalooza 2007 (Aug. 3-5, Chicago). Eddie, you don’t “have to” do anything, remember?

In Gibbard’s case, his talent speaks for itself and it is unlikely that he, of all the songwriters out there, is to be pigeon-hold into one sound or song. So, with that in mind, what would you think Ben Gibbard has on his iPod?

Well, let Ben tell you what music he listens to; for starters, his tastes in music are surprisingly eclectic – from post modern minimalism (Brian Eno) and electronica pop (Letting Up Despite Great Faults) to country (Joe Tex) and R&B (Doris Duke).

Get DCFC and Postal Service MP3s and music videos at IndieRockSongs.com.