These Go to 11: interviewing Arts & Leisure

New chapter on our interview series, this time with the irresistible singer and guitarist Gerri White of my beloved Arts & Leisure (and a terrific tune with our man Jeremy Jensen of The Very Most on EardrumsPop majestic 'Between Two Waves' compilation). Can't properly articulate with words how nice and enjoyable has been reading & collecting her enthusiastic & honestly open answers, so please, read it carefully. She's a wonder. These Go to 11!

Gerri White, Arts & Leisure

Ms. White, ready for a pop ride

The lovely band Baby Grand formed in Sacramento in 1999 and during more than a decade they offered us 2 EPs and 2 wonderful albums, including their unmissable latest release 'Arts & Leisure', that came out in 2012. But right after the group split, three of its former members, Cory Vick, Gerri White, Tim White joined forces with Becky Cale and, borrowing its name from the aforementioned LP, in July 2013 they released 'Choose Your Adventure'. Released on our dear label Test Pattern Records, it quickly became one of our favourite past year albums. Indiepop meeting power pop, sugar and electricity heavenly combined on killer melodies, intertwined vocal harmonies, a retro vibe and an undeniable, moody beat. Summoning the spirits of legends like Talulah Gosh, Arts & Leisure make pop joyful, something that we would die for seeing live (Gerri told me they're considering coming to Spain, I'm making it public so they now have to be true to their promise). Here we go!

Beauty is always on the inside

1. First record that you bought (be honest)

The first  album I bought (with my allowance) was The Go-Go's 'Beauty and the Beat'. I was obsessed with the song 'Vacation'. I was first able to record the song off of the radio using the tried and true 1980's method of phoning in multiple requests to my local DJ, and making sure I had a fresh blank tape cued up and ready to go, but this small triumph did little to quench the flames of fandom that were burning ever brighter until I HAD. TO. HAVE. THE. RECORD. 


2. First and last concert you have attended (be honest too!)

First concert was John Denver, the smiley folk songwriter with shaggy hair and spectacles who sang with the Muppets. My dad was a big fan, and he took the whole family - I must have 11? My second concert was ALSO John Denver. By then, I was a sullen 15 year old punk and deeply resentful at having to attend a folk concert with my parents. I wore a dog collar and a home made Exploited t-shirt in protest. Third concert (that I attended of my own free will at 16) was Siouxsie and the Banshees! Me and my fashion sense finally fit right in. OK, last concert I saw (last month, I think) was JD McPherson at Palms in Nevada City. So good!

Hall & Oates: hair duo 

3. Guilty pleasure (song/band you shouldn’t like but you do, yes, it’s the embarrassing question)

I think Hall & Oates ('Rock 'N Soul, Part I') and Ace of Base fit squarely in this category. Like deep fried Twinkies at a state fair, they are of the moment and undeniably delicious! A bolt of happiness that defies analysis.

4. Most precious music item you own (collector mode on)

I'm not a music collector, so the most precious music-related items would be my guitars. I still have my first guitar, purchased on layaway for $500 when I was 19; an Olympic white '65 Fender Mustang with original case and catalog. It was absolutely pristine. A few weeks after I paid it off and picked it up, my friend's bass slid off the couch where he had propped it during practice, and his tuning key  knocked a good chunk out of my Mustang's flawless vanilla ice-cream body. I remember playing it cool, and telling him not to worry about it, but I was really trying hard not to cry.

5. Favorite lyrics (not yours)

'Joe Pernice' of the Pernice Brothers has the most...just out of left field lyrics. They're surprising, evocative, sometimes crude, but I always feel like I've become a secondary character in a flash fiction piece, which I love. I tend to be drawn to lyrics that tell a story. It also helps that Joe has the voice of a dirty angel.

Mr. Misery, Elliot Smith

6. Musician/s you would like to meet (should be alive, for obvious reasons, but you can choose a dead one too)

This probably sounds weird, but I tend to not like to meet musicians. Mostly because if they're disappointing, or act like a jerk, I can't stand their music anymore. I just can't separate the artist from the music. I can do it with authors, for some reason, just no musicians. If I had to choose, I'd say Elliot Smith. He seemed so mysterious and sad; I would have liked to buy him an ice cream cone.

7. Favorite artwork album (not yours)

I always loved the artwork for Belle & Sebastian records; the movie still quality of their photos, the pastel color overlays. Also, because you could listen to the songs and just kind of squint at the cover and imagine whose story you were listening to.

8. Books or movies? Depending on your answer recommend us one (trick: you can choose both)
Books, books always! I love movies too, but they don't quite inhabit the same place in my psyche. You can be your own director, casting manager and location scout with books. One of my absolute favorite tales; Shirley Jackson's 'We Have Always Lived in the Castle'. Jackson is a master of finding menace in the mundane, of summoning horror in broad daylight. They never made a movie of 'We Have Always Lived in the Castle' but they did make the 1963 film, 'The Haunting', based on her novel, 'The Haunting of Hill House'. A classic, eerie chiller.

9. Release (of yours) you are most proud of

Baby Grand's 'Everything You Say' from our first record, 'Coming True'. In 2004, I found out I had a rare tumor in my neck. It was benign, but it was in a tricky place and one of the risks of the surgery was that I might lose my voice permanently or have to go through vocal reconstruction. The doctors said I would just have to wait and see if my voice came back after the procedure. 'Everything You Say' was the first song I wrote while recovering at home. I remember demo-ing it; working to squeak out the vocals and not think too hard about what I would do if that squeak was all I would ever be capable of. I just thought, well, I can still write songs and not give up. It's not the end of everything. So that song is sort of special to me. It has a hopefulness and fragility to it.

Keeping the light with Arts & Leisure

10. What’s does it mean indie for you? (yes, the “serious question”)

Ha, ha. I don't really know what indie means to me. Baby Grand was always described as indie-pop but I've always felt that any band I was in (as a songwriter) was just left of whatever genre it posed as. I don't think my songwriting is indie or not indie...it is what it is. And it's all over the map. It doesn't know from indie. As the indie label applies to other bands, it usually means that I will find something to like - but what that element will be is always a surprise.

11. Where do you see yourself in 10 years?
Oof. Hopefully working less; writing more fiction and songs. Keeping to the light.

Zillion thanks Gerri & Arts & Leisure!

Discoverer 76: new indie findings

What a trio of new indie proposals we have for you today, love at first listen guaranteed!

Arts & Leisure. The people of Test Pattern Records broke my heart recently. Baby Grand, the adorable band from Sacramento called it a day after releasing the indiespensable "Arts & Leisure" in 2012. But half of its members quickly "hit the reset button and see what happens" quoting guitarist Cory Vick, who alongside Gerri and Tim White, plus Becky Cale, re-assembled into Arts & Leisure, releasing their debut album, "Choose Your Adventure", this July. Not so faraway from their previous incarnation, but with the volume pumped up, right where indiepop meets power pop. You're going to hear instant killing melodies and harmonies, courtesy of Gerri and Becky's intertwined vocals, a never-ending collection of delicious hooks echoing every decade of the best pop music, and a beat so joyous you're going to recall genre myths like Talulah Gosh. One of the best records of the year.    

Males. Anyone willing to go down to the South Pacific with me? I really need to find out what's going on Dunedin, New Zealand. Two weeks ago it was Trick Mammoth, and now this trio, formed in 2011, my second discovery of this scene (bassist Sam Valentine is Trick Mammoth's drummer). Their debut EP, "MalesMalesMales", from July 2012, now comes packaged with 2nd EP "RunRunRun" as a nine-song album, out since past week on Fishrider Records. Relentless indiepop full of explosive guitar lines, immediate melodies and propulsive beats, short in length, but ever-lasting in its addiction. All eyes (and ears) on you, Dunedin.  
The Salient Braves. We move to Yorkshire, UK, to meet Matt Bailey's project, a vehicle for the songs he has been writing for over two decades. He defines himself as an unskilled musician who struggles with the technical aspects of recording, which explains why it took him so long to release his songs. But judging its debut EP, "Somewhere Sordid", out since October on Dufflecoat Records (yes, again), that's very hard to believe. Sing-along choruses, undeniably British in-your-face vocals, melodies that won't let you go, and a very rare sense of authenticity (a tricky word to use today, but he deserves it). You'll think this is a lost recording gem from a C-86 finest acts. More soon, please.

Best Songs of the Year 2012: 100-76

And finally, after gigs, books, EPs and records, the time to reveal the 2nd edition of the Bloodbuzzed Best Songs of the Year has arrived. The most impressive 100 tunes (in our opinion of course) being released during this 2012. As we did on 2011, we will split the list in fourth posts of 25 songs each. So here's the first one, comprising from number 100 to 76. The songs that weren't available on grooveshark for the playlist have alternative direct links below its title. Stay tuned for the rest of the songs. Have your say and enjoy the music!

100. Fool for Your Love- Baby Grand
99. Vertical Walk- Dunes
98. Taste It- Jake Bugg
97. Brains- Lower Dens
96. Do It Wrong- The History of Apple Pie

95. Siberia- La Habitación Roja
94. Santa Fe- The Pear Traps
93. Saratoga- The Soft Pack
92. La Nueva Reconquista de Graná- Grupo de Expertos Solynieve
91. Fred- Sweater Girls
90. Moles- Cape Canaveral
89. Chapel Hill- StarTropics
88. Trainspotting- All We Are

87. One-Sided- Arc In Round
86. Shadow- Wild Nothing
85. Coming True- Guards
84. Cameraman-The Spook School
83. Tribeca- South of France
82. You Will Know- The Belljars
81. Open Arms- The Garlands
80. Cold Feet- Lost Lander
79. My Sense of Pride- Cats On Fire
78. This Ladder is Ours- The Joy Formidable
77. Chasing Consummations- Shrag
76. Groundhog Day- Corin Tucker Band

Best Records of the Year 2012

As promised yesterday, after the EPs' list, here's the review of the year in what regards to the best records of 2012. In my humble opinion of course. Compared with 2011 I have reduced the number of albums because I wanted to be completely honest. Just records that I have listened and enjoyed fully.

The digital age is a blessing for music lovers, as the amount of music you can discover is virtually  unlimited. But it has a negative side: there's a compulsion, a dramatic acceleration on the way we listen to it. How many spins you give a record before moving to another artist? How many records you have stored in your computer of which you could only name 2-3 songs?

Don't know if the LP idea as we know is fated to disappear, but personally it makes me sad. Anyway, this sort of thoughts should go on a different post. But it serves my purpose to tell you why the records from Lightships, BMX Bandits, This Many Boyfriends, Corin Tucker or Motorama didn't make the list. They sound terrific on a first listen, or from what I have heard by now, and that's exactly why they deserve to be listened properly and not to be included on a list just for the sake of mentioning more albums. Having said that, here's the list!

25. Arts & Leisure- Baby Grand
24. Leaving All Behind- Partido
23. Falling- Seapony
22. Nocturne- Wild Nothing
21. Reading Too Much Into Things Like Everything- The School 
20. Sun- Cat Power
19. Rooms Filled With Light- Fanfarlo
18. Mr. E- Lambchop
17. Wild Peace- Echo Lake
16. Hits In The Car- Strawberry Whiplash
15. All Blackshirts To Me- Cats On Fire
14. Una Montaña Es Una Montaña- Los Punsetes
13. Over the Bluffs- The Holiday Crowd
12. Moth- ExLovers
11. Toy- Toy
10. Bloom- Beach House
9. Canines- Shrag
8. Sweet Heart, Sweet Light- Spiritualized
7. Sugaring Season- Beth Orton
6. Evans the Death- Evans the Death
5. Heaven- The Walkmen
4. Between the Times and the Tides- Lee Ranaldo
3. Europe- Allo Darlin'
2. Hospitality- Hospitality
1. Tramp- Sharon Van Etten

Want to check last year's albums list? Just click here

The Indie Anthology 11: essential songs

I know, I know. I already posted a song for the Anthology two days ago, but on the last few days, thanks to some great new indie/jangle-pop discoveries, like Allo Darlin', Baby Grand, etc..., my mind made me remember an incredible band, one of the finest groups of the 90s and 00s. One that everyone should know, so I couldn't help but write about them...

Song: The Golden Age of Aviation
Artist: The Lucksmiths
Year: 1999

It's very hard to choose one Lucksmiths' song. They created some of the best gems of the called "Literate glorious pop". I remember reading that intriguing definition on the internet, which aroused my curiosity. "Staring at the Sky" was my first Lucksmiths release, on a time I also discovered Belle & Sebastian (they were their support act live). What an impression hearing them from the first time. Everything sounded so simple, pure and naturally magic... By the time the EP arrived to "The Golden Age of Aviation" I was already converted, but the combination of conversational, nostalgic lyrics, harmonies, trumpets and its 30 last seconds... The Lucksmiths were pop genius. Miss them.

Discoverer 34: new indie findings

Back with our weekly findings. It wasn't done on purpose, but it's going to be a very poppie post this time. Hope you enjoy but the three proposals are stunning!

Allo Darlin'. I didn't pay too much attention to their self-titled debut back in 2009. My bad, because their sophomore album, "Europe" is going to be among the records of the year for me. I'm completely abducted by this four-piece band based in London, led by the incredible Elizabeth Morris and her ukelele. The album is so full of indie-pop perfection I'm completely incapable of highlighting a song in particular, each day is a different one since the first time I heard "Europe". Let's admit it, I think I'm in love with Allo Darlin'.
Allo Darlin' - Capricornia
Allo Darlin'
Baby Grand. As announced, more wonderful and joyous indie-pop, now from this Californian band with more than 10 years behind their backs, in which they seem to have evolved from "a more darker side" to this "Arts & Leisure", their fourth album, a lush, infectious and diverse compendium of twee-pop. Beautifully orchestrated, with the absolutely adorable voice of Gerri White presiding each tune, Baby Grand's music might recall you to all our indie-pop heroes (from Belle & Sebastian to Rose Melberg with a full-band, from Sambassadeur to Lush), but in just two words: delicious music.
Baby Grand - Arts & Leisure

Cats on Fire. And of course, if we talk about indie-pop, the nordic scene has to show up, this time thanks to an e-mail from the great Matinee Recordings suggesting me to listen this Finnish band and its latest release, "All Blackshirts to Me". And what a fantastic recommendation it has been! Pure romantic melodies, between the melodrama of The Smiths, the genuine charming of The Ocean Blue or Butcher Boy, with the peculiar additions of synths or unusual instrumentations. And this is their third record, meaning I have much more music to discover from Cats on Fire!
Cats On Fire : A Few Empty Waves
Cats On Fire - The Sea Within You Cats On Fire : My Sense Of Pride