The Black Cab Sessions

Last month I came across a extraordinary site called "The Black Cab Sessions" based out of London by a group called Hidden Fruit. The premise behind the site is to take artists from around the world that are touring in the London area, pick them up in a classic "Black Cab", and record a live song while driving through the streets of London. With a motto of "one song, one take, one cab", they claim that "the sessions are all about great music and the venue strips this to its essence. We aren't picky about genre, and will happily open the cab door to anyone who will blow us away". These intimate performances embody the lo-fi ethos of the indie rock scene and have have gained a cult following of viewers both on their own website and on You Tube

The Black Cab video clips begin with a screen showing the name of the artist and date the session was recorded. This is followed by a shot of the cab driver, who has just been informed that his cab will play host to the sessions, introducing the artist. The rest is just a raw session of a self selected tune, usually followed by a comment like "wow, I've never played in a moving cab before!" It is an experience within itself......

During the performances, the artists often have to react to the unusual venue. For example, during the New Pornographers session, the two musicians can be seen bouncing up and down in their seats as the cab hits speed bumps. The performances are also shaped by the limited space afforded by the back of a black cab; many of the bands that play are only represented by part of the band.

I was blown away to find that some of my favorite artists such as Bon Iver, Spoon, Fleet Foxes, The Kooks, My Morning Jacket, Death Cab for Cutie, Jens Lekman, Young Republic, and The National, just to name a few, were featured on this site.

Following my last blog about the Fleet Foxes, I will begin by posting their Black Cab Session first:



And now a little My Morning Jacket. Check out the 1980's Omnichord that Jim James uses for 'Touch Me I'm Going to Scream pt. 2':



Take a little time to browse the various sessions on this site at your own leisure, and I'm sure that you will be as impressed as I was. I will leave you with a few more videos to get you on your way:

Spoon:


The Kooks:


Death Cab For Cutie - No Sunlight



Lightspeed Champion:

White Winter Hyminals - The Fleet Foxes Are Busting Out of the Den

The Fleet Foxes, led by vocalist-guitarist Robin Pecknold, are a Seattle based harmonic folk quintet that take the sounds of 60's psychedelic pop, gospel and folk; mixed with the beautiful harmonies of four out of the five members to create a melodic sound that is unmatched by anyone else on the market. In 2006, the band released a self titled EP, followed by a second release in April of 2008 titled Sun Giant. Unconvinced that this second EP represented their true intentions, they released their first full length debut album titled Fleet Foxes two months later, which sports the 1559 painting "Netherlandish Proverbs" by Pieter Bruegel on its cover. Pecknold stated: "When you first see that painting it’s very bucolic, but when you look closer there’s all this really strange stuff going on, like dudes defecating coins into the river and people on fire, people carving a live sheep, this weird dude who looks like a tree root sitting around with a dog. There’s all this really weird stuff going on. I liked that the first impression is that it’s just pretty, but then you realize that the scene is this weird chaos. I like that you can’t really take it for what it is, that you’re first impression of it is wrong.'
Much like the painting, at first sight the burly appearance of the band makes it seem as if they trekked straight down the Cascades to stock up on a weeks worth of rations, but once they open their mouths, you will find a rich and resonant sound that will blow your mind. The Band is comprised of Robin Pecknold on lead vocals and guitar, Skyler Skjelset on lead guitar, Christian Wargo on bass, guitar, and vocals, Casey Wescott on keys and vocals, and Josh Tillman on drums and vocals.

A Few days ago, I found what appears to be a side project of Pecknold's called "White Antelope" out of Port Townsend, Washington, streaming two songs on their MySpace page. One of the songs is folk standard 'False Knight On The Road', which will feature as a B-side on the upcoming Fleet Foxes single 'Mykonos', and on the re-release of their self-titled 2008 debut album. It was recorded solo by Pecknold last year.

He told Chocolate Bobka: "I used to post demos of songs on that page before the record came out. The 'Guitar Duet' thing dates back from when we were recording the LP and the cover of 'False Knight'. I posted the first demo of 'Blue Ridge Mountains' (when it was called 'Stirring', before the other 'Stirring') on there before which I might put that back up....it had different instrumentation and was kinda cool.... Right now I am alone in this house we've rented to record the next record in, and tomorrow I am going to record a cover of 'Ridge Rider', the Judee Sill song, for this compilation. Trying to write new stuff is hard right now for some reason".
From what has come out of Pecknold thus far, I have no doubt that his next creation will be nothing short of brilliant!



Getting back to the Fleet Foxes, The acoustically-inclined Seattle band has certainly tapped into a particular ilk of people that devour indie-folk acts on blogs everywhere, resulting in a rabid following. The blogosphere’s manic enthusiasm for new bands often becomes deflated later on, which instigated a recent Fleet Foxes MySpace quote ("Hey friends. It's just music. We really love you.") “If I could have that quote say ‘don’t expect anything,’ I would put that,” Pecknold quips. With a band as prone to reinvention as Fleet Foxes to helm, it’s hard to doubt his forecast.

For all of you who have not had the pleasure of indulging in Fleet Fox mania, I leave you with a few videos to nourish your pallet...they have remained #1 on my playlist for the past 6 months, so I hope you enjoy them as much as I do: