Spring Has Sprung
I feel like this year the blog has been a bit more morose than I intend. It’s been a fairly unkind year for folks I’ve hoisted on a pedestal of being super-fond of, no doubt. First Stan Musial passes (not unexpected), then Roger Ebert, then Scott Miller. In between all that my mother mercifully finally went to a better place after a 13-year fight with Alzheimer’s Disease.
So yeah, 2013. Thanks for all that, but can you sort of knock it off for a bit now? Thanks!
In the meantime, I’d planned to post back in April all about the Leisure Society, who are my current favorite going concern of a band. They’ve got a new record out in the UK and Europe called Alone Aboard The Ark. Amazon originally listed it for a US release on April 9th. I was going to fill the blog with all sorts of Leisure Society nonsense to try to convince everyone of their inherent wonderfulness…and then just before the 9th arrived, the record label (Full Time Hobby) moved the release date here in the States back to July.
I’m hoping that was done to coincide with the Leisures first ever tour of North America, or at least am dreaming as much.
Even so, I feel like we need to take the black silks off and open the curtains, so to speak. Time to get a little air and light and happy on tiny speck of the internet.
Thus, this is a treat. It’s a very professionally made, full-concert video of The Leisure Society performing a pre-release show in France back in February (I think). It shows off their newest, more streamlined lineup. Will Calderbank seems to have departed for Mumford & Sons on a permanent basis, but but the rest of the group–multi-instrumental genius Mike Siddell, flautist/keyboardist Helen Whitaker, Sebastian Hankins on drums–is there with Nick Hemming and Christian Hardy and new bassist Jon Cox. This performance is absolutely splendid and mesmerizing, featuring many tracks from the new record but also plenty from their first two discs as well.
I love this band. This concert is why:
If 10 minutes of that doesn’t have you smiling, you’re reading the wrong blog.
Popnarcotic 