BATB Victors!

The winners are...

9 Tigers (third)

A Streetcar Named Funk (second)

Jamestown, The First Town in America (first)

Stay tuned for some more in depth discussion of the BATTLE and some pics.

Z

Battle of the Bands 2012 Predictions

It's time for BATTLE OF THE BANDS again! That time where a bunch of Yale bands compete for who will get to open at Spring Fling! And what a beautiful day for it! The sun is raining down in sheets and prefrosh are sprouting up everywhere. Enjoy a hot (almost) summer night with some rockin' tunes infused with..well...moRtaL KomBat.

no, i did not take this photograph...arcade something

This year's BATB contestants are Ghost to Go (Jake Backer and non-Yalies Sam Backer, Howe Pearson and Owen Callahan), Jamestown, The First Town in America (Raphael Shapiro, Mark Sonnenblick, Jacob Paul, Will Moritz, Will Hutchison, Andrew Everett, Brendan Ternus, Yael Zinkow), The Keep Calm (Alex Bae, Ishan Sinha, Kenneth Crouch, John Cocco), A Streetcar Named Funk (Michael Blume, Nathaniel Meyer, Alyssa "tenor sax extraordinaire" Hasbrouck, Grant Phelps, Nathan Prillaman, Tim Gladding, Andi Zhou, Zach Simao, Will Moritz), Deeck (Jamar Bromley, John "Greeno" Greenawalt, Katharine Seggerman, Matthew Prewitt) and 9 Tigers (but four members..Adam Klein, Sam Frampton, Matías Anaya, Tayo Ajayi). They go on in that order in 45 minute sets starting at 9 p.m. tonight. So do some math and show up about 15 minutes after your fav band's calculated time to account for error in stage transition time and OMG THIS BLOG IS NOT A LAB REPORT. Physics 206 woes. It's happening, at the Crypt of 438 College Street...hmmm not too far from lab...

The WYBC is playing host to fewer bands than last year's nine this year, although 22 bands auditioned for the honour to compete, including Salivating Eyes, the oft-under-rated-soon-to-be-graduated, wailing rock group that I think most embodies college spirit, Sister Helen, which took third last year, Chilled Water Supply, the kings of jazz, and No We're Not, an up-and-coming band that boasts the musical compositions of former Gets the Girls and current Streetcar man Nathan Prillaman JE '13.

comeonnn!

These bands did not make the cut, sadly. I was also looking forward to hearing the Rain Brigade, but because of band members' studying abroad, the band is taking a two-term performance hiatus while members hit the studio instead. Bummer. Fortunately, many musicians in the rejected bands are also in bands that got in, and many of the groups the WYBC chose not to admit to the BATTLE including things such as laptops and synthesizers and DJs and skype?

Anyway, onto what's important in life. Who should and (probably) will actually WIN.

In thirrrrdd placcccce....

THE KEEP CALM

Keeping Calm at Fall Fest

This group has come a long way this year and has garnered a solid fan base. The riffs are very catchy, and the new, improved bass lines help carry the tunes along. The band also strikes an interesting, existential balance between rocking and keeping calm, as its name suggests. For these reasons, the band is likely to take place but unlikely to win. Alex Bae is a talented lyricist who doesn't seem to take himself too seriously (great appeal for Yale), though his vocals sometimes lack the smooth, expressive transitions throughout different parts of his range we love hearing from singers with more professional training, and a stronger command of the mixed vocal register (it's haaaardd) would especially help this band's relaxed yet strong style. Still, I'm expecting good things from this group and a good crowd of supporters to voter avec les screams. (Not only is this Franglish appauling, but it's redudant. I can't say this!! Oh wait, too late; I just did.)

2ND PLACE: A STREETCAR NAMED FUNK

Michael Blume knows how to WORK IT with the crowd. The band also has strength in numbers, so lots of its members' friends (disclaimer myself included) should show up. The jazzy style might be a nice wildcard in a three-band set that is likely to feature a lot of typical(ish) rock music. Plus the group features some of the most talented musicians on campus and the composing talents of Prillaman. Blume and the kids are likely to win a lot of hearts tonight. The group does have some weaknesses, but they are more the intangible kind...we'll save these for another time and point out the one tangible flaw of this funkified frenzy. Right now, Streetcar is really more of a covers group. Yes, Nathan has given them a few nice original songs, but most of the high-energy, crowd-pleasing numbers are covers. Hopefully by Spring Fling Nathan will be able to whip out some more originals though. I have faith, and I can't wait to see everyone in this group in crazy outfits making magic, especially if they get improv solos.

Streetcar performing one of its favourite covers..surpise guest visit by Wes Moyer!

The Winner. Will. Be.

Jamestown, The First Town in America

Not much to say about Jamestown, last year's victors that hasn't been said other than that I can't wait for the EP. Jamestown is the most popular campus band competiting, and for good reason, and I know the group has kept in shape with lots of shows this year. They did it once; they'll do it again. I will say no more.

Last year's champs

New band I'm most interested to see: 9 Tigers.

Bare your teeth for the BATTLE. And BE PREPARED.

Z

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween everyone!

The Rain Brigade, the newly named version of "The Black Marias," is opening for the YSO Halloween show tonight at 10:45 in Woolsey. So be sure to get there on time.

The Rain Brigade at Fall Fest

After them Jamestown, The First Town in America, or their "economically unstable alter-ego" Ghost Town, The Deadest Town in America will play. Which will it be??

Trick or treeeeeeaaaaat!

Z

Get your spook on

What is spookier than having your parents here during Halloween weekend?

Spooky music with your parents, perhaps?

This weekend, bands are giving two musical frightshows back-to-back and costumes are encouraged.

internet photo

First tonight at 10pm it’s The Keep Calm (preparing you for a scarry weekend with your family by reminding you of their name….) and A Streetcar Named Funk at Sigma Chi, 33 Lynwood Place. Sig Chi just became my favourite frat. Thanks, bros for supporting our music scene, bra.

From "Boys in Briefs"

The Keep Calm goes on at 10pm. The band features Alexander Bae BR ’14 (vocals, guitar, piano), John Cocco JE ’14 (drums), Kenneth Crouch ’14 (bass), and Ishan Sinha BR ’14 (guitar).

Their chill sound, fun riffs and collegiate lyrics are bound to leave calming melodies ringing in your heads for the duration of the weekend. Fweewwh.

The Keep Calm at Fall Fest

Songs are always scarier when they’re funky.

A Streetcar Named Funk will bust out four fresh, original songs within a 12-song set as it takes the stage at 10:45. The band features some talented solo musicians; we’ll see how they all come together.

Michael Blume ’12 (vocals), Nathan Prillaman JE ’13 (bass), Andi Zhou JE ’13 (keys), Zach Simao JE ’13 (drums), Will Moritz TC ’12, tenor saxophonist extraordinaire Alyssa Hasbrouck MC ’14 (alto sax...lol), Tim Gladding SY ’13 (euphonium), Grant Phelps JE ’14 (tenor sax), Nathaniel Meyer SY ’13 (trumpet) will take the stage.

Streetcar plays a halftime show (photo from Streetcar not mine)

Then tomorrow at 378 Crown, 9:30 pm, things are going to get really spooky.

Think a Halloween party + parents hosted by Ghost Town the Deadest Town in America.

More on this tomorrow.

From "MarvelBlog"

Are you scared yet?

Z

Tree Music

Who doesn't love trees?

Great, because tonight you're going to be hearing a lot of them.

Underbrook Coffehouse is hosting two tree bands!

First, The Willow and the Builder, a folk band made up of Richard Miron BR '13 and Wesleyan's Adrian Simon, plus other Wesleyan instrumentalists and Yale singers. The band is releasing it's first album at the stroke of midnight on Oct. 10, but if you go to the show the band will give you a supersecret code to download the album free NOW.

After these budding trees show their stuff, NYC band Tall Trees will play. I went briefly to their website. I don't think I've ever heard anything folkier. Washboards and whistling. Oh man.

Underbrook Coffeehouse should be a fun time tonight. Just let yourself be a kid again and sing along about bubblegum and underwater teaparties. If you've been fasting, be sure to bring some change for coffee, tea and cookies—especially fitting for the youthful lyrics.

In case you can't handle all the tree-hugging, come to the tree free afterparty with Jamestown, The First Town in America at 342 Elm after the Coffeehouse (probably around 10).

If you're still up in the air about tonight's coffeehouse, here's a sneak peak.

The Willow & The Builder's album has some good tracks, but is overall hit or miss.

Richard Miron and Adrian Simon have without a doubt the most adorable band dynamic I have seen on this campus, so the coffeehouse is probably worth going to just for that.

I really like the song "Cut it Down," because it effectively weaves several different musical lines to create a musical scene of a tree reflecting off of water (see album cover). The rich, emotional viola part provides the substance of the song which the vocals later add to. The keys and drums pounding out chords and steady beats keep the piece moving forward and the listener engaged, while the flute adds interesting highlights.

Tracks such as "What's Next" and "A Vast Emptiness" (the title is fitting) use basic chord progressions, sparse textures, and soft vocals that make for a generally boring listening experience. "A Vast Emptiness" captures a different kind of listener with its storytelling style and voice. It feels like an interlude during a scene change of a musical puppet show. "What's Next" picks up a bit when the backup vocals enter.

Backup vocals are an essential component of one of the band's hits "Rosaline." It starts out a bit slow, but the full, soulful vocal lines and bluesy keys really iron out the harmonies. This song is going to sound fantastic tonight with such a big chorus.

Maeve: awesome, tree-loving vocalist

Yale singers tonight include (sorry I'm not up to putting in their class years today) Marina Keegan, Cuchulain Kelly, Tobias Kirchwey, Noah Kleinberg, Paul Leo, Anna Miller, Robert Ramaswamy, Maeve Ricaurte, Steph Rivkin, Chloe Sarbib, Grace Steig, Mary Stottele, Wan Joo Teo, Nine Tigers, and Sharif Youssef. The other instrumentalists are from Wesleyan, but Oliver Hill BR '12, one of Underbrook's co-hosts, will play viola for the band tonight. (I'd like to see even more strings in "Mansion Man" because the strings are easily the best part of the song and could be built up even more.)

Some of the tracks, such as Teahouse Treehouse, are really fun and creative. The joyful, childlike lyrics describing the treehouse "though it's really not that high, it's somewhere to go," with upbeat rhythms will put a smile on your face.

But this childlike cheer sometimes feels as if it goes too far. In "Oh Willow! (Why Wallow!)" the lyrics tell a story of a dream, an interesting principle. But during the dream, the cheery piano riff and exciting lyrics become cliché and tounge-in-cheek almost to the point where the listener feels like s/he is at the circus (not that there's anything wrong with circuses...). When the dream ends, the sadness that insues is also cliché (but at the other end of the spectrum.) Overall, it's a fun song with some creative and humorous images but a bit over the top. I'd like some unconventional chords thrown into the mix.

The most memorable song on the album for me is one I remember liking at lot in concert last year—"Heartache."

The sixtenth notes in the keyboard, dramatic chords, and emotional vocals bring power to the music that surpasses that of other tracks. Lyrics such as "heartache, don't come near me...longing, your days are numbered," present a vivid and very real emotional process: coping. The song also has a nice, punchy ending after some longer, sustained lines.

Jamestown: Nine at 9

Jamestown,The First Town in America — last year's Battle of the Bands champs — is playing at Café Nine (250 State St.) tonight at 9.

Jamestown at Spring Fling

Guitarist Will Moritz TC '12 is in for one hell of a day. His other band a Streetcar Named Funk was just featured in the first YPMB halftime show of the season — funkified!

"Play that funky music....Nathan Prillaman JE '13!"

Funky White Boys

Other (non-Yale) bands performing tonight include Boy Genius feat. Mr. Ray Neal, The Cavemen Go, and The Novels. Jamestown should go on at around 9:30.

Cover is $5 and you must be 21 +. Which means I can't go. Which is sad. But it's good for our endowment. Because I would otherwise seriously consider shirking my singing duties at the Yale Tomorrow event tonight to go to this. So if you're 21 please go for me.

If you also signed up to sing Bright College Years in the President's Room tonight but you're 21, go anyway. Play hookey! Even if you're a better singer than I am. Endowment?? whaaa?

If you're kicking yourself because you didn't realize Jamestown was playing and went to NY for the weekend you can still catch Sister Helen at MTA Courtelyou Road (Q train) in Brooklyn Sunday from 1:30 to 3pm. It's going to be a crazy awesome street festival!

Sister Helen at Spring Fling

Singing/yelling/chanting/screaming on the bus back from the game a good vocal chord warmup?

I think so.

Z

Spring Fling Recap and Unofficial Awards

Today tenor saxophonist extraordinaire Alyssa played a really funny prank on me.

Backgroundofwhatyou’llneedtoknowtounderstandAlyssa’sbrilliance:

-Alyssa and I have the same phone.

-We’ve also had the same text ring.

-This is super confusing because when we’re in the same room and one of us gets a text the other always thinks she has a text too and checks her phone awkwardly.

-It’s really just me who’s checking awkwardly because Alyssa is more popular than I am and is always getting texts.

-Alyssa actually changed her ring BECAUSE OF ME.

-Alyssa and I are fans of the greeting “Oh hey!” for each other. (I’ve never quite figured out how this happened, but I’m guessing it’s her fault.)

We were at Six Flags eating lunch (err fries) at Johnny Rockets, and I got up to take a few photos of our goofy friends and left my phone on the table. I got back, sat down, and I get a text message. FROM MYSELF. My phone beeped and the text symbol said “Zoe Gorman.”

I picked up the phone, and the message said, “OH HEY!”

Then Alyssa gave me back my actual phone.

I was hysterical. Like crying I was laughing so hard.

Alyssa innocently contemplating her straw

And I was thinking aren’t I so lucky that I get to stay on campus this week and listen to Salivating Eyes and hang with my Yale friends who prank me. You’re probably not as lucky as I am and are already off doing cool things outside of the Have.

But YMS doesn’t have to end with your departure from campus. There are some EPs coming out this summer (when Yalies have time to work on them) that I’m really excited about and will be reviewing as they’re released.

And there might be some other, more informal posts too, but I’m going to keep those secret for now.

Hopefully you’ve all downloaded Blue Noise by now, or picked up a hard copy at Spring Fling, so you’ll have something to listen to this summer before the EPs come out.

Speaking of which, Spring Fling was awesome!

You might not remember it for one reason or another…

But all three student bands exceeded expectations. So I’m going to tell you about each of them while giving out “awards,” starting with Sister Helen.

My expectations for Sister Helen, who opened Spring Fling, were prettttty loooowwww. I didn’t enjoy them at all at Battle of the Bands. When they were doing their sound check (and stalling a bit) I was watching them alone, and I was thinking wow, this is sad; I’m the only one here, and I don’t particularly want to be. But they really stepped it up, and after a minute or so of jamming the gates of Old Campus began seeing some traffic.

Sister Helen brought a lot of energy while tightening their performance a bit. Even though the lyrics are still repetitive and honestly quite creepy (and pitch isn’t really important to most of the vocal parts), I can appreciate that each of the musicians, especially the guitarist Chris Krasnow, is talented. Frontman Nathan Campbell ES ’14 continued to pump up the crowd by jumping around on stage like a madman, but he flailed less and didn’t strip.

I talked to Nathan afterward and he said he didn’t strip because I said in another post I didn’t want to see it. So to all the girls who wanted to see Nathan strip, I apologize; it’s my fault.

Sorry, girls.

Award time!

The Most Stoic in the Face of Technical Difficulties award

First place: guitarist guy in Sister Helen (Krasnow)

Honourable mention: Nathan Campbell, frontman and only Yalie in Sister Helen

Both these musicians had issues with their equipment during the show and didn’t falter at all. The guitarist’s strap came off SEVERAL times during the performance while he was soloing. Once Nathan went over and fixed it. Teamwork! The other time, one of the stage managers fixed it as the guitarist was crouching down and soloing.

If you don’t believe me here’s a vid.

WHOAH HOLD THE PHONE (not you, Alyssa. hands off). I’m sitting in Blue State writing this blog post and a group comes on with three part vocal harmony and violins and guitar and I’m like, I SWEAR that’s Eliza singing, this is so Plume Giant. Who else sounds like this? I didn’t recognize the song, and honestly I don’t think the Blue State people’s Pandora plays YMS bands, so I was like who is this professional group that sounds exactly like Plume Giant!? I’m tight with the Blue State people (because I practically live here), so I ask them what the band is, and Pat is like “Oh, that was Plume Giant. Yeah, my band Brown Bird plays with them a lot.” Yep. Blue State just played “All of it Now” from the Plume Giant EP. (which I obviously need to be more familiar with, so I’m listening to it now on my ITunes). Sweeeeet.

Blue State Coffee

Ok, now that I’ve sufficiently discussed Plume Giant in a post that has nothing to do with them…. Back to Sister Helen. Major props for dealing so well with your strap falling off and keeping the show going, guitarist dude!

Nathan gets second place because his mic cord got wrapped up in the make stand during the song where he keeps talking about my friend Gonzo (who only showed up for Gets the Girl despite the fact that Sister Helen seems to have dedicated a song to her.) He managed to unwrap it during breath breaks. Nice! He doesn’t get first place though, because the fact his mic cord was wrapped up was totally his fault in the first place. Nathan is just too crazy for normal equipment to handle.

Check out Nathan singing about Gonzo. (Disclaimer: Sister Helen and Gonzo don’t actually know each other, and I’m not sure what the song is actually about.)




"Appropriately Named Gonzo"

I really like that Sister Helen tries to make their bass parts interesting and complex. This adds a lot to the songs rhythmically and helps the group maintain its musical energy. Usually this works well for them, but sometimes it comes at the cost of losing the grounding aspect of bass for their songs, and since the guitarist plays awesome solos and rarely chords, it’s important to watch this.

Overall they were about three times better than I thought they’d be. Listening to them wasn’t actually painful. Fantastic.

Gets the Girl was even better. A lot better.

Although they do a lot of slow songs well, I really liked the faster songs, especially in this setting, and I wish they’d play more. I always enjoy listening to Gets the Girl, but I find it hard to remember their songs afterward. Adding some more high energy numbers with catchy riffs would help to boost the memorability factor, and I am confident that Gets the Girl will not let this interfere with the quality of their orchestration.

A slow song, "Dreams in Green" that was great.

"The Lights," one of Gets the Girls faster songs and my personal fav.

Last time Gets the Girl packed the Battle of the Bands stage with a string section (umm Plume Giant) and a trumpet in addition to their five usual members. Fire hazard.

The Spring Fling stage was a lot bigger, so this wasn’t a problem. But it did mean that the trumpet and string section was really far away from the keyboard and the rest of the band. It was as if the guest musicians had their own little posse clustered in one corner and the core Gets the Girl band was in front and to the right.

Hi posse.

I’m sure there’s a way to solve this stage presence problem (perhaps with a staggered formation), but I haven’t quite figured it out.

Despite the positioning issues, Gets the Girl still looked good on stage. They were easily the best dressed band, which brings us to the 1st annual Spring Fling fashion awards. Omg. No she didn’t.

Best Outfit goes to Nathan Prillaman JE '13 of Gets the Girl.

Here’s a man who’s not afraid of the power of primary colours. He wears a bright red, classic t-shirt, bright blue jeans, and brown loafers. The All-American (if not so capitalist) man. To add a touch of originality, Nathan also sports a flashy pair of green shades. I also love that his guitar is purple and pink and that his strap is black with white sillouettes all over it. Colourful yet artsy. He was definitely noticed at Spring Fling. And not just for his behind the head guitar solo.

Reminds me of Hawaii Five-O...

Most Elegant: Eliza Bagg SM '12. (Of the Plume Posse.)

Duh.

This opera singer/violinist always wears dresses. Props. I’m a fan of that deep blue that brings out her intense yet reserved (musical) personality.

Best Music Model Pose: John Brandon MUS ’09

Sexy stuff

Dreamiest gaze: Ellis Ludwig-Leone TC '11

Outfit I’d most like to wear.

Clearly.

Back to the music.

Jamestown blew me away. All of the songs they played were excellent and super catchy. I can't wait for the EP. One leg-up that Jamestown has over Gets the Girl is that while they incorporate a lot of instrumentalists, their songs are simple enough that you're always left humming them and wanting to hear more.

Will Moritz sparkles

As soon as they opened with "Superhero," which they didn't play at BATB but I mentioned I wanted to hear in my preview, I knew this was going to be the best 20 minutes of finals week.

Jamestown saw similar staging issues as Gets the Girl, but they were less pronounced because Jamestown didn't have an entire string section to make a corner cluster and spread everyone out throughout the big stage about equidistantly. I'd like to see the drummer brought forward in this setting, which would both cut down on space between musicians and give him more (well-deserved) play.

The fact that the keyboard was really far from the trumpet, however, did not always deteriorate from the musical experience. In "For You My Dear" Jamestown trades keyboard and trumpet solos. The effect was a rush of sound coming from stage left and then stage right, and then stage left — almost indicative of a surround-sound system.

"For you my dear"

Jamestown was my Spring Fling highlight. No lie.

Time for the music awards. Most of these involve Jamestown, surprisingly.

Spring Fling MVP: Will Hutchison ES '12 (to express his legit MVP status I'm going to colour his name for the rest of this post)

It's hard to pick one musician as MVP, espcially for groups in which each member is an integral part of the team. But Will Hutchison stood out to me for consistently carrying Jamestown through its set and adding precise yet enthusiastic fills. If the catcalls from the audience are any indication (they aren't) of Will's excellence, the people next to me were screaming "Yeah, Will Hutchison!" and "The drummer's sexy!" throughout. The stickbanger made ample use of his kit's variety of symbols. Without him, Jamestown would be a different group.

People stick there heads out windows to hear Will's fury

Will finally get to use the toms in "Troubled Child"

Most consistently awesome soloing: Jacab Paul SM '13, trumpet in Jamestown

He didn't hit every note perfectly, but 90% of them were sharp, clear and crisp. The way trumpets are supposed to sound. It also helps that Jacob gets all the good parts in Jamestown songs.

Honorable mentions: Will Morritz TC '12 (especially in "Indigo") and Chris Krasnow

Raddest Solo: Nathan Prillaman. Hard to argue with the guitar behind the head solo.

Honourable mention: Keys of Jamestown Mark Sonneblick MS '12 in "For you my dear"

Most awkward stage presence: Jamestown backup singers Brenden Ternus TC '12 and Emma Barasch PC '11.

Please give this poor duo something to do. Give them a tamborine or something. When they're not singing, they just look like bouncing munchkins —although this might not be a bad thing...

Most ridiculous number: “Weekend”

Did he just seriously photograph the audience???

This song is so much ridiculous. Notice the full 360 trumpet pirouette and the fact that the munchkins seem to be swimming and that the bassist and drummer seem to be the only sane ones on stage. Jamestown explosion. I was singing this to myself throughout reading week, but instead of the "weekend," it was more like the entire reading period. Oh oh oh oh I don't know. Where did the whole week go?

Have a great summer everyone, and don't be strangers.

Where did the year go?

Z