I was recently in a conversation about the NYPD and Bloomberg’s green initiative – taking cops out of their cars and putting them back on horses. Apparently, horses were first introduced to the police force for the sole purpose of riot control. They were tall enough to move above the crowd, agile enough to step and maneuver quickly, and large enough to knock people over, forming barriers with their bodies. There was something incredibly unsettling about that image – that it didn’t fit the picture in my mind of what a horse was supposed to be. So I decided to write something about it.
When the Riot Calls
Lyrics by Sparrow Hall
They’ll send in the forces
On beautiful horses
When the riot calls
When the riot calls
High stepping prancers
Joust without lances
When the riot calls
When the riot calls
Sirens all sound
They’re standing their ground
When the riot calls
When the riot calls
Round up the crowd
And take them all down
When the riot calls
When the riot calls
Okay so I want to introduce you to a band. They’re called Talk To Angels, and they’re out of Yorkshire UK. I know you’ve been hearing a lot from me in regards to that cold stony region of the world. But this entry is special. TTA or T2A – not sure which I prefer yet – are new friends of mine and they are one of the bands I’m most excited about – and excited for. I saw them on a fluke while I was in Manchester for ITC. I was supposed to see some Italian indie band, but they were taking forever to smoke or walk around in jackets or whatever it was they were doing, so I ditched and wandered down the street to the next gig. As I was passing one of the clubs, I caught wind of the music coming from inside – and it sort of drew me in. It was all guitars and drums and soaring synthesizers. The place was packed and I made my way over to the edge of the crowd.
Now let me take a moment to preface something. The music I was hearing wasn’t the type you’d usually find on my ipod. I’m not a big guitar guy. I just discovered and fell in love with Kings of Leon (at least the latest album), if that says anything. Give me skinny, shaky electro pop any day. But for this band I was making an exception. I guess you could say I was caught in the spell.
The first thing you realize about Talk To Angels is that they all like each other. They kid around on stage, and the music comes off as almost a happy (brilliant) accident. Of course they look like a high school girl’s fantasy, but that also seems like a side note. What really defines this band is the passion they radiate through doing what they love most – and an uncanny knack for writing pop songs. Of the 10 tracks they played, at least 3 were ready for top 40 radio, and not in a bad way. In a thank-god-someone-is-getting-it-right way.
While I was at the show, I met their manager Darren or “Daz,” an older chap who’s worked with some of the bigger name groups to come out of the UK in recent years. The energy Darren had for the band didn’t read as “manager.” It read as “Dad.” He was literally beaming. He started introducing me around to the team and I suddenly realized this wasn’t a case of making-the-band. It was a very different picture of the current state of the music industry. It wasn’t a band looking out for themselves. It was a family looking out for each other. Everyone realizing just how magical and rare this type of chemistry was.
I kept in touch with T2A, and met up with them again in New York on Weds when they played the CMJ welcoming party hosted by the British Consulate. They put on yet another amazing show and won the hearts of the sometimes-jaded CMJ crowd. David met me at the gig and we hung out with the band afterwards talking to them about a remix we’d like to produce for them. I’m also thinking of ways of getting them involved with the two soundtracks I’m supervising.
Last night, I met up with everyone for dinner at Yaffa Café in the East Village and we talked some more about their current US tour, being the first UK band asked to play SXSW 2009, and how they want to maintain their family dynamic as they start playing for larger audiences here and abroad. The best thing about dinner though, was just sitting at the table with all of them, and feeling like a member of the family. Joking with the guys about New York and the UK, and how I was sick of having their songs stuck in my head. I was sitting next to Mickey Dale, the band’s keyboardist and mentor (of sorts). This is a guy who’s sold millions of records all over the world as a member of the band Embrace, and here he was sitting at some Christmas-light-decorated cafe in the East Village with his new extended family and you could just feel the love and excitement radiating off him – the proud, watchful older brother. It’s the kind of thing that renews your faith in people – and an industry that could use it more than ever.
My advice: Keep an eye on this band. And see a show if you can. You won’t be disappointed. Find them afterwards and tell them what you thought. They’ll listen. And tell them Sparrow says hello.
Something I wrote last night when I couldn’t sleep.
The true night is the one that you wake to. It is not the night that you left when you went to bed and shut the light. That was only a shadow time, a long deep evening tethered to the day from which it came. The true night is the one that encircles you as you sleep. A black and heavy spectre that shrouds the walls of every room and every thing within those rooms. Reach for the light in the hall and it will carve a path, but it will not illuminate that great long space, only ward off the blackness like a propeller fan blowing back the fog.
A Crowd Electric in studio with Bailey Math. Photo by Sparrow Hall.
Bailey Math, co-producer of The Kiss Off’s critically acclaimed EP, Brace, has signed on to produce A Crowd Electric’s upcoming EP. Bailey heads up Terminator Smile, a production and mixing studio in Bushwick, Brooklyn. This is a photo of he and David working on the new instrumental track for “I Need You.”
White Nights
A battle of wits between an American tap dancer and a Russian ballet star. Set in a Soviet gulag at the height of the Cold War.
Live Free or Die Hard
Everything about this film had the markings of a disasterpiece, but somehow it made for a better movie than the last two combined. And this is coming from a guy who loved Die Hard with a Vengeance.
Miami Vice (2006)
See what happens when you add socks, turn down the neon, and shoot everything in a blue filter.
Tron
A meditation on fascism and sprituality set within a 1980s arcade game.
I Am Legend
Don’t get me wrong. I love Will Smith. But add this up: Post-apocalypse New York + vampire zombies + Fresh Prince + a dog = ? Answer: a surprisingly sharp portrayal of a human’s will to survive.
Lord of War
Generally, Nicholas Cage annoys the hell out of me. He had me at Raising Arizona and then lost me somewhere around The Rock. But this movie inspired a pang of forgiveness.
Love, Actually
Yes, there’s a comma in the title. And yes, it features Hugh Grant as the British Prime Minister. But it somehow pulls together into a surprisingly smart film, and away from the mind-numbingly retarded love story.
Transformers: The Movie (Animated 1986)
Yes, you heard me. Go into this one with an open mind and prepare yourself for Orson Welles’ final performance as the planet-eating Unicron. No, not unicorn. Although that movie should be made.
Save the Last Dance
Recalling guilty pleasure classics like Fame and Flashdance. But without the blowtorches and strip clubs (unfortunately).
Ishtar
Warren Beaty and Dustin Hoffman star as a down-and-out singer/songwriter duo that serve as CIA pawns while trying to ignite their career in Morocco. This film gets nothing but bad press – and yet it’s one of my favorites of all time.
It was called Sons & Daughters. On ABC. A lot of it was improv. It was on for about 10 episodes and then was promptly cancelled. Who knows why. Unfortunately, there were so few episodes that it never made it to DVD. But you can find some clips on Youtube (do a search under “sons and daughters abc“). If I had my way, I would recreate the show as is, with the exact same cast (Fred Goss and Jerry Lambert are geniuses), and pick up right where they left off.
Oh, and one other thing to mention: It’s the only theme song since Family Ties that doesn’t annoy me.
The Spinto Band / Oh Mandy (Live @ Night & Day Manchester)
In the City 2008
Video by Sparrow Hall.
The only other Americans I ran into in Manchester for the In the City Festival were The Spinto Band – which makes for an even smaller world since two of the members went to my school. Our alma mateur would have been proud of the band’s headlining performance at Night & Day where they featured a number of tracks off their new album Moonwink. Here’s a video of my favorite Spinto track of all time.
