Jazziz Magazine - Joan jeanrenaud - Strange Toys - In 1998, after two decades and 30 albums with Kronos Quartet, cellist Joan Jeanrenaud left contemporary classical music’s most popular and daring combo to forge her own path as a composer-improviser. Her second solo recording, Strange Toys, provides stunning proof of her commitment to both innovation and accessibility. [Read]
The Astute Recorder - Music: pc muñoz. That's what happened. - Once again Bay Area art-funk artist pc muñoz has blown doors open in the realm of musical genre and experimentation. pc’s 2009 release “What Happened?! ” is an auditory experience so diverse—from song-to-song and within each track—his latest work captures the vibe of a pleasant road trip that promises ever-changing landscapes and sundry cultures from town-to-town. [Read]
Music and More - Billy Harper - Blueprints of Jazz, Vol. 2 - One of the finest tenor saxophonists to emerge in the wake of John Coltrane, Billy Harper took Coltrane's deep spiritual sound and used it as a blueprint to make his own original and potent musical voice. The Blueprints of Jazz Series is designed to raise awareness on under-recorded musicians, and they certainly succeed here since it has been nine years since Harper last recorded as a leader. [Read]
All Music - Strange Toys - Her playing is technically and expressively assured throughout, and she brings a strong and confident personality to the performances. On most of the tracks, she uses electronics as accompaniment, primarily through layering and looping her own playing. The pieces collected here are nearly as diverse as the repertoire for which the Kronos is known; influences of world musics, minimalism, a number of pop styles, romanticism, electronic music, and modernism are evident in these works. [Read]
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Powerful, historical Jazz series. Volumes 1-3 available now on iTunes,
Amazon, and the Talking
House Store.
The critically acclaimed debut album from The Trophy Fire. Available
on iTunes.
Joan Jeanrenaud's highly acclaimed album of all original material. Available
on iTunes.
The Talking House debut from elephone. Available on iTunes.
The Lovemakers finish recording -- set to release "Let's Be Friends"
June 10, 2009
The Lovemakers are set to release their sophomore full-length album Let's Be Friends via iTunes on September 8th with national retail hitting September 15th through Fontana distribution. The Bay Area favorites, fronted by Lisa Light and Scott Blonde, further venture into the world of rock where epic, driving guitars trade melodies with buzzing synths. Produced by San Francisco’s Talking House Productions, nods to the pop-dance philosophy of Blondie and INXS and contemporaries such as Metric and The Raveonettes can be heard throughout. Vocal duties are shared on each track reflecting the real life banter between these dueling personalities.
A video was recently shot for the first single "Love Is Dead" - a look back at the troubled times when the formerly coupled Blonde and Light were transitioning from lovers to friends while remaining bandmates. The title track best explains the current relationship between the two - that of friends who remain extremely close even if they annoy each other sometimes. The anthemic "See What I Wanna See" is sure to be a standout track as Light - channeling Joan Jett in her "I Love Rock 'n Roll" glory - makes her priorities known. Being broke and having fun is a hell of a lot more fulfilling than being miserable and driving around in a fancy car.
Let's Be Friends comes after years of traversing the unstable terrain of the music industry. Last time we heard from The Lovemakers, they released a 5-song, 5-video EP - Misery Loves Company (2007) - with the now defunct label Fuzz. This was after they mutually parted ways with Interscope imprint Cherrytree who released the debut album - Times of Romance (2005) - with critical praise yet little label support. So what is a band to do that has no label deal? Write new material. Continue playing in front of packed venues. Adapt once again.
It paid off. Following a Bay Area show, The Lovemakers were approached by iTunes executives who encouraged them to forge ahead in DIY fashion taking advantage of the new direction of the industry. Though they remain unsigned to a label, Light and Blonde knew this unique opportunity would allow them to have complete creative control and keep the artistic freedom they vowed never to give up again. Add in the distribution deal with Fontana, and they were back in action.
With an outrageous live show that has established a cult-like following, The Lovemakers have begun to confirm tour dates including a performance at the Rickshaw Stop in San Francisco on July 3rd and a residency at Silverlake Lounge in Los Angeles every Tuesday in August. Stay tuned for details on a national tour as they head to the east coast for a handful of dates in New York City this September.
The Federalists Hit Cover of SF Chronicle Datebook -- "New Bay Area band to watch"
April 25, 2009
If the San Francisco Chronicle can read tea leaves, we'll be pretty happy about that --
"The Federalists, a young Bay Area band, are in the middle of recording their third album at Talking House Records, and it could be the one that pushes the musicians and the label into the mainstream." So says this Sunday's Datebook Cover Story about indie/trad mavericks The Federalists.
"We have been intently tracking the progress of what promises to be its breakthrough work," writes the Chron's Aidin Vaziri, in a riveting piece for this week's Pink Section about our own The Federalists and their singer/songwriter Luke Franks -- their successes and their foibles, their struggles and desires and what makes Luke write those damned catchy, "timeless" songs.
"The Federalists just might be Talking House's best bet for leftfield success," says Vaziri. "The band has the kind of warm, familiar sound that helped propel into the mainstream Bay Area acts such as the Counting Crows and Train. The album is steeped in classic-rock influences, its timeless appeal deepened by the intertwining melodies and richly textured folk-rock arrangements."
The article continues: "Despite his boyish appearance, Franks is one of those guys who seems wise beyond his years. He says many of the album's lyrics were inspired by a box of newspapers dating back to the '20s that he found at a thrift store. It probably also has a lot to do with his early musical education.
"When I was a kid, I wasn't allowed to listen to secular music," Franks says. His father is a preacher. His grandfather is a preacher. He started playing music with the church band when he was in junior high in Illinois. Christianity was a big part of life, he says, but he would also sneak over to the neighbor's house "where we would devour records by the Steve Miller Band, Elton John and the Beatles." Now, he says, "I just write music."
The Federalists are an indie rock band from the East Bay side of the San Francisco bay. They formed in 2005 and self-released two albums lauded by the hippest indie press, earned airplay on SF's leading alt-rock radio Live 105, and built a rabid fan base playing shows everywhere from Blake's On Telegraph and the Great American Music Hall, to SXSW and Live 105's BFD 2008 at the Shoreline.
Luke Franks of The Federalists plays a free solo show at 5 p.m. Tuesday (April 28) at The Depot, San Francisco State University, 1650 Holloway Ave.
Read the SF Chronicle about the Federalists.
Photo by Mike Kepka / The Chronicle
All Three "Blueprints of Jazz" Chart in Top 50 for Jazz Radio
March 27, 2009
Talking House Records' Blueprints of Jazz series is moving up the charts -- the first three albums in the series simultaneously hit the Top 50 of JazzWeek’s Jazz Album Chart for radio airplay.
Blueprints of Jazz is an epic series uncovering some of the greatest architects behind the evolution of jazz over the past 50 years. The series has been widely applauded by leading jazz press including Downbeat and Jazz Times.
That the first three releases -- Mike Clark, Billy Harper, and Donald Bailey -- have all hit radio's Top 50 at once is a great sign that both casual fans and jazz aficionados are eager to learn the deeper story of jazz's inventors and its development, and are embracing the work of these great jazz innovators.
Artists featured in the Blueprints of Jazz series have all made major contributions to the sound of jazz through their work with jazz legends from the 50’s, 60’s, and 70’s.
Donald Bailey, breaking into the Top 50 at #44 on the chart, was the main drummer for B3 organ master Jimmy Smith from 1956-64, appearing on numerous Blue Note albums and defining the soulful spirit of the organ-guitar-drums trio.
Mike Clark, moving up in the Top 10 from #8 to #7 this week, practically invented a new drum style that brought the funk into jazz and kept the jazz in the funk, when he created the grooves on Herbie Hancock's groundbreaking work in the 70’s.
At #33 is tenor saxophonist Billy Harper, who while being influenced by Coltrane’s sound and the New York jazz vibe, developed a big, majestic sax sound that shaped jazz in the late 1960s as he worked with greats like Gil Evans, Art Blakey, Lee Morgan, Thad Jones and Max Roach.
Order all three CDs from the Talking House Store.
Just got back from Austin Texas and you know what that means! Lone Star!
March 23, 2009
Talking House and The City of San Francisco got together again for SF x SXSW, last Friday March 20 in Austin Texas. I gotta agree, this year's show had "one of the best combinations of buzzworthy and noteworthy bands at the entire festival" (SF Weekly) -- but of course even better than that was the Bay-Area-family-reunion in Austin TX, with hugs and toasts all around and all the bands supporting each other!
We want to thank the bands for representing the Bay Area so well, and The One And Only LIVE 105 for supporting the show -- and as for us here at Talking House, hell, any time we can put 18 of our favorite west coast indie bands in a room together to play music, well it'd just be dumb not to.
Here's some pics of the day -- and if you were there, please send us any pics you got!
SF X SXSW 2009: San Francisco Bands Invade SXSW
February 11, 2009
Talking House Records and The City of San Francisco present: "SF x SXSW -- San Francisco Comes to Austin," March 20, 2009 at America's biggest music festival, South By Southwest. SF x SXSW brings a ton of the Bay Area's most interesting bands together to shout out the San Francisco scene, on Friday, March 20, at The Wave nightclub on 6th Street in Austin.
Now in its third year, the 14-hour rager includes an official SXSW Day Party (Noon to 6:00 pm), and an official SXSW Showcase (8:00 pm to 2:00 am). Talking House and San Francisco thank our beloved sponsor and Bay Area icon, modern rock radio station The One and Only LIVE 105.
SF x SXSW offers a diverse blend of the Bay Area's finest breakout artists.
Scheduled to appear:
The Morning
Benders, The
Matches, Vetiver, The
Lovemakers, Scissors
For Lefty, Loquat, The
Botticellis, Or,
The Whale, The
Federalists, Dizzy
Balloon, When
Girls Collide, LoveLikeFire, Sleepy
Sun, The Stone
Foxes, Maus Haus, Bart Davenport and The Trainwreck Riders.
The Day Party offers free drinks while they last, come early! The Day Party is free, but revelers either need a badge, or should RSVP to be admitted. RSVP for the Day Party at: www.threcords.com/sfxsxsw
"Blueprints of Jazz" -- Conceiving the Sounds Behind the Legends
January 19, 2009
Talking House Records presents Blueprints of Jazz, an epic series uncovering some of the greatest architects behind the evolution of jazz over the past 50 years.
The jazz scene of the 1950s, 60s, and 70s conjures images of musical giants such as Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Thelonious Monk, and Charles Mingus. Music fans relish and collect the recordings of these greats -- but there is another layer in the story of jazz still waiting to be told.
Blueprints of Jazz exposes the historic breakthroughs and current adventures of important players who conceived the sounds behind the legends -- inventors like Mike Clark, Donald "Duck" Bailey and Billy Harper. These new recordings offer insight into the evolution of familiar, classic sounds, and how these prolific creators continue to evolve the form -- and present them to casual music consumers and avid jazz fans in an accessible series that is both musically rich and educational.
Blueprints of Jazz Vol. 1 is available in stores on Feb. 3, Blueprints of Jazz, Vol. 2 on Feb. 17, Blueprints of Jazz Vol. 3 on March 17.
Order Blueprints of Jazz Vol. 1.
Order Blueprints of Jazz Vol. 2.
Order Blueprints of Jazz Vol. 3.
GRAMMY Nomination! -- Joan Jeanrenaud "Strange Toys"
December 4, 2008
We should have seen it coming after all the critical accolades and buzz, but it still knocks us out nonetheless: Joan Jeanrenaud's Strange Toys album has just been nominated for the GRAMMY for "Best Instrumental Soloist Performance (without orchestra)."
Congratulations to Joan for her magnificent performance on Strange Toys, and for writing such scintillating compositions that are listenable and demanding and set the stage for Joan's GRAMMY-nominated performance!
Minimalist, polyrhythmic, organic and electronic all at once, Joan's work on Strange Toys is accessible to listeners unfamiliar with contemporary classical music, thanks to her bold experimentation with electronic beats, unusual instruments, spoken-word, and other unique elements. Joan's extensive use of looping and effects, paired with exquisite solos and perfectly-placed guest musicians, makes for a breathtaking sonic aesthetic comparable to Steve Reich, John Adams, and other contemporary composers who bridge the gap between the ancient and the new.
Strange Toys was produced by Talking House artist /producer pc muñoz, engineered by Talking House engineer Justin Lieberman, and was recently released worldwide on Talking House Records via Fontana, a division of Universal.
Order your copy from the Talking House Store.
A Foggy Holiday - Carols From The SF Scene, Vol.2
October 6, 2008
Raise a toast to the holidays, with more than a dozen artists from San Francisco's diverse indie music scene! Some of the Bay Area's favorite bands come together to ring in the cheer and raise funds for MusiCares to help musicians in need. These bands are born from San Francisco's unusual combination of free-thinking artistry and cold, foggy nights; they rehearse amid noisy street cars and cable cars on steep hills, fog horns and the smell of fish; they perform in converted warehouses, big classic theaters and small steamy clubs.
A Foggy Holiday - Carols from the SF Scene, Vol. 2 features tracks from The Matches, Scissors For Lefty, Loquat, The Lovemakers, The Trophy Fire, Eoin Harrington, The Heavenly States and more. Enjoy surprising indie-rock versions of holiday classics like "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas," "The Little Drummer Boy," "Do They Know It's Christmas," "O Holy Night," and some unexpected tunes like "It's a Marshmallow World," "2,000 Miles" and "Happy New Year."
A perfect holiday gift. Order the album today!
FEMI Releases "Sweet Water Soul"
September 11, 2008
Talking House Records will release FEMI's debut EP, Sweet Water Soul on September 23!
Rising from Oakland's vibrant underground, FEMI celebrates a trio of life forces on her debut EP, Sweet Water Soul. It has love, the gift of prayer, and is fluid like water, which is the underlying theme of the EP. In tandem with FEMI's jazzy vocals, sensual lyrics, and gracious intent, the result is an unrivaled suite of original songs equally danceable and reverent.
For the past 5 years, FEMI helped pioneer a visionary music community in her native Bay Area. She is often categorized as a neo-SOUL soulstress and compared with artists such as Sade, Prince and Minnie Riperton. Yet her experimental fusion transcends easy genres. Sweet Water Soul incorporates heavy doses of jazz, soul, hip-hop, and Caribbean influences, a melodic hybrid of the pulses of Oakland, New York, and Latin America. In the same vein, FEMI is called beyond "just" being a singer and performer; She wrote, composed, and arranged all of the material on the record, and was heavily involved in the studio recording process with pc muñoz, a San Francisco-based producer with Talking House Records esteemed for challenging musical boundaries.
Get your copy of Sweet Water Soul today!
FEMI will be performing at Rasputin Berkeley on September 23 at 5:00 PM and Rasputin San Francisco on the 24th at 5:00 PM to celebrate her release! Come by and see her performance, get your copy of Sweet Water Soul and say hello!
PC Muñoz Releases "Grab Bag"
August 29 2008
Talking House Records is proud to announce the release of pc muñoz's Grab Bag, a collection of songs composed by the acclaimed producer / artist.
There are albums that inspire you to party, and albums that inspire you to think. pc muñoz's latest album, Grab Bag, invites you to light up a doobie and do both.
With a style that can be described as art-funk, muñoz's previous work has earned him praise from outlets like The Wall Street Journal, The San Francisco Chronicle, and NPR. Performing Songwriter has hailed muñoz's music as, "dark, sexual, sensual, confessional, and confrontational, all at the same time."
Order Your copy of Grab Bag HERE
CD Release Show
September 12 at Red Devil Lounge
(Buy
tickets)