Newport Folk Festival 2017

I got the opportunity to go to the Newport Folk Festival this past weekend.  It was the first year I’ve been since 2012 and after going again this year I hope to never miss a year again. 

FRIDAY

Big Thief was the reason I was there and was easily the highlight of the festival on Friday.  Their set was very different compared to their performance at Brighton Music Hall I caught earlier this year and felt incredibly raw and very in the moment.  They did a few tracks off "Masterpiece", a few off "Capacity", and the other four songs were new unreleased songs.   

The version of Lenker playing the song “Capacity” by herself brought me to tears and the reimagined version of the song Mary was absolutely gorgeous and the highlight of their set for me.  I don’t want to say too much about the new material…but I’m very excited for the direction Lenker is heading as a song-writer.   

You can listen to the full set via NPR: 

Caught a bit of Ben Gibbard's set which provided some good nostalgia hearing a few of those Postal Service and Death Cab tunes solo acoustic.  And Fleet Foxes' played from all three of their records - some of the new material didn't sound as tight without the production that is on the record, and was surprising to hear as much material off that first record - but overall it was definitely a fun way to end the first day at the fest.

(Fleet Foxes)

SATURDAY

(Angel Olson playing with Jim James)

The only thing I feel like writing about from Saturday is Wilco's set which closed out the day.  The set was absolutely amazing and significantly darker than the last time I saw them at the Newport Folk Festival in 2012 - In “Via Chicago” they got way noisier and the drum freak out escalated to a point that was crazy gnarly, Nels Cline’s solo in “Impossible Germany” was mind blowing, and the some of the rockers (such as "I'm the Man Who Love's You" and "I'm Always in Love") grooved incredibly hard.  They closed by bringing out Billy Brag out for the song “California Stars”, which is a song with lyrics by Woody Guthrie that they put music to on their 1998 record “Mermaid Avenue”.  Wilco are one of the best live performers in rock and roll - and I'm incredibly thankful to have had the chance to see them again in this amazing venue.  

SUNDAY:

Pinegrove were rad - If you hadn't heard them before they're like Emo-country-rock - if that sounds appealing to you, check them out.

(Rhiannon Giddens)

The set which was billed as Speak Out was a protest celebration from a variety of artists including Sharon Van Etten, Jim James, Billy Bragg and Nathaniel Rateliff, Margo Price, Lucius and a many more.  These artists covered some classic rock/folk tunes such as Dylan's "Masters of War" and Lennon's "Working Class Hero" but also more current and less expected songs as well.  As a whole the program was truly emotive - the only moment that I felt was not pulled off was featuring Shakey Graves who sang on a tune, "I'm Better Than You" - which was satirical, but to me the joke didn't quite fit with the rest of the set and detracted from the set.  

(Sharon Van Etten singing Sinead O' Connor's "Black Boys on Mopeds") 

It was really cool to see this and to see the Folk Festival come full circle - in a way back to it's roots in the 60s in which the music was so connected to the civil rights movement.  It was so powerful hearing protest songs promoting peace coming from a military fort in this political climate in which there is so much hate, racism, and xenophobia. 

The last set of the day was John Prine - this set was truly magical.  He played a lot from his classic self titled debut, as well as several cuts off "Bruised Orange" and his 2005 record "Fair and Square" with guests such as Roger Waters (of Pink Floyd), Jim James, Lucius, Margo Price, and Justin Vernon.  The whole thing thing seriously felt like a dream and still on cloud nine from being able to catch it.  You can listen to the set via NPR

Looking forward to the Newport Jazz Festival next weekend - till then...

Much love,

<3 

Top 5 Albums of 2017 So Far

5-DAMN. - Kendrick Lamar - 8.7 

Kendrick's Lamar's worst album so far is still the best hip-hop album of the year so far.  This album is more raw and less filtered and feels almost like a mixtape at times - and although conceptually it doesn't hold together as a whole and there's some real clunkers like "Loyalty", "Love" (which might be his all time worst song), and "God" - there are some real gems as well such as "DNA" and "Humble" and plenty to make "DAMN." an essential listen for any hip-hop fan.

4-Anti-Hero - Kneebody - 9.3 

This is probably Kneebody's most consistently solid release so far.  Highly recommended if you dig the group's previous work or for anyone interested in groove-oriented modern jazz.  

-bandcamp-

3-A Crow Looked at Me  - Mount Eerie - 9

This is the best thing Phil Elverum has released in nearly 15 years and is one of the the most emotionally draining and psychologically intense record's I've ever heard.  He wrote and recorded it immediately after his wife passed away from cancer and is a meditation on this loss and beginning his new life as a single parent.  

-bandcamp-

2-Stubborn Persistent Illusions - Do Make Say Think - 9.3 

Do Make Say Think are among the greatest post-rock bands - on par with groups such as Tortoise, Godspeed You Black Emperor, and Stereolab.  "Stubborn Persistent Illusions" is their first album in 8 years and might be their best.  

-bandcamp-

1-Capacity - Big Thief - 9.5 



Big Thief's follow up to last year's "Masterpiece" is truly phenomenal and is the best indie-rock record that has come out in years.  The grooves are more hypnotic, the lyrics are more intimate and filled with mystery, and their is a bit more of a mystical vibe in the mix.  I haven't been able to stop listening to it since it has come out and it has truly been an inspiration.  

-bandcamp-

Boston Calling 2017

TOOL: 

Tool are the reason I bought a ticket to Boston Calling.  I saw them on the line-up and immediately bought a 3 day pass since they hadn’t announced which day they were playing yet and I was afraid that it was going to sell out.  I looked at the rest of the line-up after I bought the ticket and was pleasantly surprised to see some other acts I dig that would also be playing.  

Tool are probably the artist most responsible for me becoming an musician/artist.  In 7th grade Pearl Jam were the band that got me to buy a guitar - In 8th grade Tool were the band that made realize music could be a spiritual thing and changed how I looked at music.  The last time I saw Tool was over a decade ago - and to me their music has only improved to me as I’ve gotten older - I’m able to appreciate it more as my ear has grown and I've experienced more things.  I consider them one of the few rock bands who are better than (or at least as good as) the Beatles - who have pushed the boundaries of their genre and perfected it more than any other band has.  

So needless to say - my expectations were sky high - and Tool surpassed them.  They opened with “The Grudge” - and it was every bit as heavy and transcendental as I could have hoped for.  Some other highlights were “Third Eye”, “Opiate” (which had a new extended jam section in it - which I almost mistook for a new song until they went right back into the hook), as well as the jam in “Schism”.  Their visuals were unreal and I can't even articulate how incredibly inspired I was by the production.  I could honestly gush on about them forever - but it was easily one of the greatest rock concerts I have ever been to and well worth the price of the Boston Calling ticket.  

OTHER HIGHLIGHTS: 

BON IVER:

I was really curious about his new live set up - The first half of his set he performed off his new record “22, A Million” which I don’t really care too much for compositionally (which I wrote about in my end of 2016 list) - so outside of a few tunes and a more improvisational extended section of “21 Moon Water” I found myself just wishing I had seen him during a different tour and that Collin Stetson was still playing with him.  But the second half of the set he played the first few tracks off his self titled record as well as a couple cuts from “For Emma, Forever Ago” which were adapted for the new sound pallet he had been working with.  These songs maintained their compositional integrity and were able to take on a new life which was dope to experience.

CHANCE THE RAPPER  

Chance was one of the closing acts on Friday - and although I was slightly hesitant with my decision to see him over Sigur Ros (the hardest decision of the weekend) - it was definitely a choice I was happy with by the end of his set.  He was backed by the live band The Social Experiment - and it was one of the best live band hip-hop set I’ve seen.

He played mostly from the gospel inspired album "Coloring Book" but also played tracks that he had been a part of in collaboration with other artists such as "Sunday Candy" and his work with Kanye on "The Life of Pablo" - such as "Ultralight Beam"

His visuals were very cartoonesque and perfectly fit the tunes - and his energy was uplifting and often reminiscent of a preacher - and he completely succeeded in bringing the positive spiritual vibes to the rain soaked listeners.

CONVERGE: 

Although the person mixing them did not mix them right for their sound (for one thing the vocals were way too loud) - and a 3:00 PM set isn’t ideal for this kind of music - they still delivered one hell of a performance.  The set was brutal - initially playing a lot of their faster material, opening with one of my favorites of their’s “Dark Horse”, and then going into a lot of their slower tempo compositions as the set progressed - closing with the epic “Jane Done” 

COMPLAINTS:

SCHEDULING CONFLICTS:  So this is one that a lot of people are saying - but why on earth would they create some of these overlaps?  I mean...just look at this schedule if you haven't seen it lol.  For me these terrible overlaps happened on Friday and Sunday - and on Saturday there was only one artist I actually wanted to see (Danny Brown).  And I heard many people complaining on Saturday - such as that they had to choose between The 1975 and The XX (whose music is relatively in a similar genre)…while I basically decided on the one I disliked the least between the two.  I assume their logic was that they would have the similar acts be on the same day and have the bigger acts later on in the night - but in doing so they created so many overlaps that could have been avoided if they made the things happening simultaneously on different stages be things that would definitely appeal to different audiences.  

SOLANGE: Solange backed out of performing hours before she was supposed to go on because of “production delays and complications beyond her control.”  I was super bummed about this since this was one of the acts I was most excited to see.  They got Migos to replace her whose set was boring as fuck.   

NO LOCAL ACTS: I understand that this is a mainstream festival - not one that aims at building a Boston music community - but it would have been so easy for them to have a local tent of artists from the Boston electronic music scene (or any of the Boston scenes for that matter).  Or to book some more local acts earlier on in the day.  They’ve booked some Boston legends such as The Pixies and Converge - but it would great to see this expand to some of the more up and coming acts as well.

Twin Peaks (Visual Album)

The visual album “Twin Peaks” is out now

The album starts as a rescore of the pilot episode of Twin Peaks and gradually spirals out in Lynchian fashion.  The first half of the album (“Dear Laura Palmer”) is almost entirely taken from live performances at Industry Lab and Jamaica House during the Fall of 2016 and is more raw and improvisational.  The second half of the album (“Fire Walk With Me”) is more composed and produced and was almost entirely created by filming and recordings from after the live performances.

VISUAL ALBUM:

Dear Laura Palmer,

Fire Walk With Me

Audio:

Origins:

One night after seeing a show at the Industry Lab I was talking to Tim Davison about an OST series he was starting through Boston Hassle.  I mentioned that I composed a piece called “Fire Walk With Me” which uses primarily Twin Peaks video samples and lyrically takes a lot of material from dialogue from Twin Peaks as well and how I was thinking about messing with the pilot episode as well.  Before I knew it, the show was set up and billed as an original score to the pilot episode - so I started working on creating more multi-media work in the world of Twin Peaks.

I started by recreating the Angelo Badalamenti scores, and then by rescoring the pilot episode with original music, and then as I became more and more immersed in the world of Twin Peaks I could no longer separate myself from the material I was writing traveled down the lynchian rabbit hole.

Dear Laura Palmer,

I have a Laura Palmer in my life - someone whose life was filled with secrets, died too young, and visits me in my dreams everyone once in a while.  She was actively dying when I first watched the series in high school and passed away shortly after. This played into my obsession with this universe in which one can walk between two worlds that can be tapped into through dreams.  I wanted to communicate with my Laura Palmer, and I feel like in some ways dreams and this music allowed me to do so.

Fire Walk With Me

The second half of this record, “Fire Walk With Me” has been existing in one shape or another for over 7 years:

This song was initially inspired by a near death experience/awakening which became “Hope I Live Before I get Old”, a song I wrote for the band I was playing in at the time, Koala, which ended up on our 2010 album “Xibalba”.

In the Fall of 2014 when the bass player of the Koala’s father took his own life by fire, I began revisiting this material - interweaving it with new material I had been writing and a collage of lyrics taken from a variety of sources (many of which are lines from characters in Twin Peaks).  This song is dedicated to all who grapple with addiction and mental illness - too all those playing with the chance to walk between two worlds - and to all those who have danced too close to the flames.

CREDITS:

Written/reimagined, performed, recorded, and produced by Mike Sim
Mixing for “Falling” (Theme) & “Dear Laura Palmer” by Mike Sim
Mixing for Fire Walk With Me by Brady Custis
Mastering by Brady Custis
Filming by Ariel Rejman & Mike Sim
Photos by Adam Blake

Video and Audio from live performances
-11/19/2016 @ Industry Lab
-12/2/2016 @ Jamaica House

THANKS: 

Thanks to David Lynch and Mark Frost for creating this wonderful and strange world of Twin Peaks that I've been living and working in for the past seven months.
Thanks again to Ari Rejman, Brady Custis, and Adam Blake for helping make this project possible.
Special thanks to Tim Davison & Boston Hassle for inviting me to participate in the OST series and giving me the opportunity to compose and perform this work at Industry Lab.

Vimeo
Bandcamp
Soundcloud
Facebook

 :)\____/(:
{(@)v(@)
:::the owls are not what they seem:::

SPRING UPDATE 2017

LIFE / DEATH STUFF:
So last Sunday on Easter I accidentally formatted my hard drive and then immediately after I got hit by a car while biking without a helmet.  It felt like a micro-near death experience for my art/music as well as my life.  I had only a minor concussion - but it was really scary and definitely taught me to wear a helmet for things in life (like heads and data and stuff).

Thankfully my brain fully recovered in 24 hours, my body had only a few other minor injuries, and my hard drive was able to be mostly recovered.  Through the experience what shook me the most was the thought that I might not be able to continue creating after this (since for a time my short term memory was fucked and I had the fear that somehow this would become the new way I experienced reality from then on) and that I would not be able to release all the work that I had lost on the hard drive.   So after this Easter experience, with a new found inspiration, I did all I could and worked from morning to night for an entire week to finish the Twin Peaks project that was on that hard drive so it could have life and exist out there with y’all

"TWIN PEAKS" (VISUAL ALBUM) 
I will be releasing this visual album that takes place inside the universe of Twin Peaks on May 5th.  The album starts as a re-score of the pilot episode and gradually gets more meta and spirals out in Lynchian fashion.

VOIDGOD: 
I joined the improvisational black metal band Voidgod for a performance last night - my hearing is still recovering.  Really excited to have been a part of this and hope to be a part of it again in the future.  The recording of the performance from last night should be out later this Spring.

DRONEZONE: 
As mentioned on here earlier, I took part in the first DRONEZONE performance and that recording is currently available for streaming and download via bandcamp. I’ll also be performing in the next DRONEZONE which will take place June 2nd and 3rd at Trendy Shit Town.

JUST A PHASE: 

In my last update when I said I’d be releasing an EP in 2016…I totally lied - sorry about that.  BUT, I promise that it’ll be coming out this year.  The EP is entirely recorded and mixed and is currently being master by Brady Custis of Coaches (who mixed this EP as well as did some mixing and the mastering for the Twin Peaks visual album).  Excited to share it with y'all this summer. 

SHOWS: 
I’ll be playing shows again starting next month.  On May 13th I’ll be playing in Providence as a part of the Rites of Passage series put on by the Reliquiarium.  The last two years of this series were truly amazing unique and experiences and I look forward to being a part of this again next month and hope to be playing more shows again in the Boston area in the near future.

Much love,
<3
Mike Sim 

DRONEZONE

Last December I was part of a show called Dronezone which consisted of two blocks of continuous back to back drone performances. The show was curated by Totem Fahey and he then took some of the live performances from this drone marathon and mixed them together in a new way and mastered them for this release. My performance is the first one on this collaborative record and is followed by Sound Shaman, Obsidian Helix, bothands, Godmouth, and Kar'Nam

The show was in the wake of the Oakland Ghost Ship Warehouse fire and the performances were dedicated to Micah Danemayer - a deep droner / noise maker who was a big part of the Boston electronic music / noise scene who was lost in the fire.

The piece I performed for this collaboration was based on a composition I wrote as part of a Twin Peaks rescore/reimagining (which will be released as a visual album next month) - This composition scores a scene which takes place in a morgue and is a meditation on death / non-being.

I am honored to be a part of the Dronezone project and excited to share this record with you all:

The next Dronezone performance will be June 2nd through June 3rd.

Selected Shows - April 2017

April 9th:

Kneebody / Donny McCaslin Group @ the Sinclair:

April 12th

Tardisco: Aniel Dance Machine @ the Machine Upstairs 

(featuring DJ Anomaly, DJ Eroteme, Recluse, & Galactic) 

April 13th: 

A Benefit for MGH: Lula Wiles, Dietrich Strause & Corporate Punk @ Burren Backroom Series

April 14th: 

Resistance: Justice for 3 Drowned Black Girls! @  The Lower Level (Elk’s Lodge) 

(W/ Matt Mcneil, Lunamariposa, Blac Rose, Dev/Null) 

April 15th: 

A. Campbell Payne / Prone / Joe Mygan / Midisexual / echinacea @ Teachers Lounge (Allston)  

FURE / Breaking Forms / Citrusphere @ Plough and Stars 

April 18th:

Homeworld / Final Boss / FRKSE / Market Basket @Studio550

April 20th: 

The Tardisco @ The Foundation Room

Eroteme x Galatric / Agents of Vibe / Bake Joynton ft. Josh Weinberg

April 22nd:

THE SORCERER'S BALL @ TST

(W / Kar'Nam, Floom, Sound Shaman, MAN1K1N, & Voidgod) 

April 27th:

JACK LIFE 03: Sweat Equity NYC / Switch Heaters / Ancient Origin @ Zuzu

April 28th:

Primal Static / Of The Sun / Bourgeois Mystics / Split Halves @ Out of the Blue Too

Erykah Badu @ HOB