I learned about this band via NPR (a public radio network in the US) and was instantly intrigued. The interviewer referred to them as "chamber pop." The band alternates (and combines) male and female lead vocals. The female vocals knocked me out right away, but I love the male vocals as well. (The female vocals remind me a bit of Kate Bush in versatility and range, if not style.) The songs are really inventive. Some of them are catchy, and others simply establish a mood. (Those shorter pieces are bridges to the longer songs.) For a longer description of the band, see the end of this note.
If you are interested in hearing what they sound like, check out their song "Sonsick" on the music page of their homepage, http://sanferminband.com/. (They also have another free song for streaming there.)
I was excited to learn that they will be on tour soon - even coming to home city of St. Louis! Here are the dates:
February 6, 2014: New Haven, CT Cafe Nine
February 7, 2014: New York, NY Bowery Ballroom*
February 8, 2014: Washington, DC Rock & Roll Hotel*
February 10, 2014: Boston, MA Brighton Music Hall
February 14, 2014: Montreal, QC Casa Del Popolo
February 15, 2014: Toronto, ON The Garrison
February 17, 2014: Philadelphia, PA Johnny Brendas*
February 18, 2014: Pittsburgh, PA The Andy Warhol Museum*
February 19, 2014: Columbus, OH Wexner Center*
February 20, 2014: Indianapolis, IN Joyful Noise*
February 21, 2014: St. Louis, MO Off Broadway*
February 23, 2014: St. Paul, MN Turf Club*
February 25, 2014: Denver, CO Larimer Lounge*
February 26, 2014: Salt Lake City, UT Kilby Court*
February 28, 2014: Vancouver, BC Biltmore Cabaret*
March 1, 2014: Portland, OR Doug Fir Lounge*
March 2, 2014: Seattle, WA Columbia City Theater*
March 4, 2014: San Francisco, CA The Chapel*
March 5, 2014: Visalia, CA The Cellar Door*
March 7, 2014: Los Angeles, CA The Museum of Natural History*
March 8, 2014: La Jolla, CA The Loft @ UCSD*
March 18, 2014: New Orleans, LA Gasa Gasa
March 19, 2014: Tallahassee, FL Club Downunder at FSU
March 21, 2014: Carrboro, NC Cats Cradle
March 22, 2014: Baltimore, MD Metro Gallery
May 11, 2014: Atlanta, GA Shaky Knees Festival
June 19, 2014: Dover, DE Firefly Music Festival
July 18, 2014: Henham Park, UK Latitude Festival
*w/ Son Lux
I think that many people on Progressive Ears would enjoy them. Check them out!
Here is a more detailed description of the band that I found on the web:
A pastiche of post-rock, chamber-pop and contemporary classical composition, San Fermin is the work of Brooklyn composer and songwriter Ellis Ludwig-Leone. His self-titled debut album is strongly influenced by his unique background in classical music, which includes a job assisting composer/arranger Nico Muhly.
After finishing his musical studies at Yale, Ludwig-Leone wrote the album in six weeks while holed up in a studio on the mountainous border between Alberta and British Columbia. He focused on life's top-shelf issues youth, nostalgia, anxiety, unrequited love and tied these vast themes to different characters through vocal contributions from longtime friend Allen Tate, as well as Jess Wolfe and Holly Laessig of Lucius.
The first track released from the album, "Sonsick," tackles many of these larger themes head-on. "It's like a panic attack disguised as a birthday party," Ludwig-Leone says. "I realized that the most intense moments are the ones in which conflicting emotional worlds exist inside you, equally, at once."
San Fermin is not an album of singles but rather a sweeping, full-bodied listen with multiple distinct peaks and ambitious thematic connections. Ludwig-Leone composed all of the album's arrangements and lyrics in full prior to collaborating and recording, noting that "writing for a large group of unknown musicians infused the writing process with a kind of operatic scope.
Since then, the band has coalesced into a core of eight members in addition to Ludwig-Leone: Allen Tate and Rae Cassidy, lead vocals; Eliza Bagg and Rebekah Durham, vocals/violin; John Brandon, trumpet; Stephen Chen, saxophone; Tyler McDiarmid, guitar; and Mike Hanf, drums.
Bookmarks