It’s probably no surprise that Weird Al Yankovic is on the cutting edge of accordion technology and, indeed, Roland has a fun little interview with him about their V-Accordion line of digital accordions. Apparently Al has been an FR-7 user for quite some time and just picked up the smaller, lighter FR-2. In the interview, Al talks about the appeal of a digital accordion versus an acoustic one:
“I really like the idea that it is a direct connection. The accordion is a hard instrument to mic, because if you put an acoustic microphone next to an accordion — especially the left hand — the bellows are always moving. So it’s kind of hard to get an even sound, because the mic is always going to be closer and then further away from the sound source. Internal microphones are also always a problem, because you still get the sound of the bellows. So just the simple fact that there’s a digital solution out there where you get a clean accordion sound is very appealing to me.”
Weird Al will be on tour this summer supporting his latest album, Straight Outta Lynwood; keep an eye on our calendar for dates. (Interview found via Wired).
Not sure how I missed this, but the April issue of Paste Magazine has a couple features on the accordion. The first, “Squeezebox Redux: The World’s Dorkiest Instrument Earns Hipster Cred”, notes the accordion’s recent rise to prominence in the indie rock world. One label head suggests that “the more bands that use accordions, the more [new] bands will be inspired to try it themselves.” DeVotchKa’s Tom Hagerman also has a good quote:
“The accordion can quickly color a piece of music into a much darker or even grotesque sort of tune… I think in pop music it tends to make things sound a little anachronistic, in a good way.”
Paste also published their “Ultimate Accordion Playlist”. The list is, again, indie rock-centric, and features a number of the bands we’ve covered here (They Might Be Giants, the Decemberists, Gogol Bordello, Arcade Fire, etc.). Any notable omissions?
Of all the bands I’ve discovered while writing for Let’s Polka, DeVotchKa is quite possibly my favorite. We saw them at a club in San Francisco a couple years ago and were blown away — their unique brand of gypsy-mariachi rock was infectious and it’s hard to dislike any band that sports an accordionist/violinist, a drummer/trumpet player, a tuba player, and a wine-swigging lead singer. Two years later, after making a splash with their soundtrack to the Oscar-nominated Little Miss Sunshine, DeVotchKa does not disappoint with their new album, A Mad and Faithful Telling.
It’s easy to get caught up in the novelty of DeVotchKa’s sound — the cinematic swells, the mariachi horns, the tinkling glockenspiels — but don’t overlook the rich songs bubbling under that melting pot’s surface. “Transliterator” balances frenzy and restraint beautifully, the shuffling “Head Honcho” carries you away, and “Undone” is just achingly stunning.
We loved accordionist Tom Hagerman’s recent solo album, The Breakfast Playground, and — from his fierce violin on “Comrade Z” to his playful accordion on “Strizzalo” — he plays a huge role on this record. Other bands have helped put the accordion on the indie rock map in recent years, but few carry it as naturally or as well as DeVotchKa.
I’ve been hearing a lot of buzz lately about the Felice Brothers, three brothers (and a traveling dice player named Christmas… seriously) from upstate New York who play rough and tumble American roots music. They started out busking in the NYC subway and touring in a “short” school bus, but now they’re wowing critics and drawing comparisons to Dylan, Springsteen, and the Band. Not too shabby for a band whose self-titled debut just came out today.
They may not live up the comparisons yet, but make no mistake, this is honest, hearty, gritty music. You can hear James Felice’s excellent accordion all over their new album; my favorite track is the shuffling “Frankie’s Gun”:
You don’t see a lot of accordions on late-night TV (or any-time TV, unfortunately), so I was happily surprised to catch the Dropkick Murphys on the Late Show with David Letterman last Friday. With the band member Marc Orrell rocking a Roland accordion, they played a track (”The State of Massachusetts”) from their latest CD, The Meanest of Times. Here’s the video:
Last week, the Chicago Tribune had a fun piece on Chicago punk/polka band The Polkaholics. Fortified with Old Style and Old Spice, The Polkaholics recently celebrated their 10th anniversary and continue their quest to bring polkas rocking and screaming into the 21st century. Guitarist “Dandy” Don Hedeker (day job: professor of biostatistics!) describes the reaction of older polka fans who sometimes stumble upon their shows:
“Sometimes they’re excited to see what we’re doing with the music… Other times they think we’re the devil.”
The band’s latest CD, Ten Years to the Floor, is a live album highlighting the band’s unique brand of polka madness. As with anything punk, it’s more about the spirit and raw energy than musicianship — “we may miss a note, but we never miss a party” — and you can practically hear the beergarden and mosh pit coming together. This is a Polkaholics original from that album:
Take one accordion virtuoso from Pennsylvania, son of a polka legend, with a diverse background in jazz, pop, and folk. Take one bass player from Texas, formerly of Brave Combo, known for rocking Tex-Mex and cumbias with Los Super Vatos. Put them together and what do you get? Polka Freak Out!
Polka Freak Out is a collaboration between Alex Meixner and Bubba Hernandez that combines polka styles from around the world (Slovenian, Austrian, Polish, you name it) with conjunto/tejano rhythms and rock and roll energy and enthusiasm. It started with a casual jam session a few years ago, while Hernandez was passing through Alex’s area during a Brave Combo tour. Now they’ve released their first self-titled album, which includes guest appearances by bajo sexto legend Max Baca and Texas Tornado keyboardist Augie Meyers.
The duo will be out on the road later this month, with shows in New York, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, and Chicago. Check our calendar for details.
What started as a lark — an accordion gang raiding San Francisco restaurants to play “Lady of Spain” — has turned into a very productive career for Those Darn Accordions. Their latest album, Squeeze Machine, continues the tradition of accordion rock and oddball humor that has made the band “America’s favorite rock ‘n’ roll accordion band” for more than 15 years.
The band has clearly evolved since the early days when they’d cram eight accordions on stage. Their older records leaned heavily on squeezebox-specific kitsch: songs about Lawrence Welk and all-accordion renditions of rock classics (often with octogenarian Clyde Forsman on vocals). But while the old TDA was an accordion band that played rock songs, the modern-day TDA is really a rock band that just happens to sport a few accordions. They’ve pared down the accordion lineup to four, turned the focus from covers to originals, and tightened up their sound.
One thing hasn’t changed, though: they’re still having a hell of a lot of fun. Lead singer/songwriter Paul Rogers populates the album with a cast of colorful characters, ranging from a disgruntled member of a Beatles tribute band (”This Song”), to a squabbling bicycling couple (”Tandem Bike”), and a Willy Loman-esque traveling salesman (”Wrinkle Suit”). Cleveland native (and new “Price is Right” host) Drew Carey even shows up to help renovate a house on “Glass of Beer Polka.”
Meanwhile, the band doesn’t stick to any one genre for long, trading rock ‘n’ roll for country hoedowns (”Heads and Horns”) and swing (”Cocktails in Tehran”) when the mood strikes. On some tracks, heavy wah-wah-like effects make you wonder if you’re actually listening to accordions at all. (You are.) And, of course, there are still a couple covers — AC/DC’s “Back in Black” and “It’s Now or Never” both get the TDA treatment. (Longtime fans may remember that a version of the latter appeared on the band’s first album, Vongole Fisarmonica, too.)
Squeeze Machine does an excellent job showcasing TDA’s strengths: catchy, offbeat, high-energy, accordion-driven tunes. It’s tough to keep things fresh after 15 years, but Those Darn Accordions are clearly up to the challenge.
It isn’t every day you get to see five of North America’s hottest singer/songwriter/accordionists in one place, but we were lucky enough to do so last night at 12 Galaxies in San Francisco as the Monsters of Accordion tour rolled into town. The crowd was incredible — my amateur guesstimating skills say around 300 people — including a handful of Let’s Polka readers who came up and introduced themselves throughout the night (thanks for coming!).
The show kicked off with Geoff Berner whose “Canadian klezmer drinking songs” had the crowd singing along from the start. In between songs, he told stories of his great-grandfather’s move to Saskatchewan, incompetent French generals of the 1930s, and everything in-between. By contrast, Duckmandu (Aaron Seeman) was all-business, storming through punk covers, country songs, and originals from his new album, Shut the Duck Up and Play Accordion. He closed with his always-popular “flaming hat” rendition of “Highway to Hell.”
As soon as Corn Mo hit the stage, one of my friends turned and asked “Is this guy the love child of Meatloaf and Freddie Mercury?” His show-stopping performance of “We Are the Champions” did little to dispute that hypothesis and Corn Mo had the crowd eating out of his hand for his entire set. (Anna declared him “Best in Show” for the night.) Each show on the Monsters tour has featured a special guest and, after Corn Mo, we were treated to a rare set by the Bay Area’s own Mark Growden. (Mark wins the award for most drool-worthy accordion — what appeared to be a chromatic Bugari.)
Finally, the man who organized it all — Jason Webley — took the stage and whipped the crowd into a frenzy with nonstop sing-a-longs and even a cover of Outkast’s “Hey Ya!” thrown in for good measure. He was floored by the passionate, accordion-loving crowd and remarked that “the tides are changing… in three or four years, people are going to be embarrassed to admit they took guitar lessons as a kid.” The show closed with all five accordionists onstage performing (or just drinking along to) Webley’s “Drinking Song” as the crowd spun in circles and headed out into the cool San Francisco night.
It was a fantastic event and, if you’re in the Bay Area tonight, be sure to catch the last show of the tour over at Smythe’s Accordion Center in Oakland. This is absolutely a can’t-miss, must-see show. Even if you’re up in Cotati today (we’re headed there now), you can still make it down in time for the Monsters show.
For those who couldn’t be there last night, here’s a video I recorded of Corn Mo performing “We Are the Champions”:
Few performers connect with their audiences as well as Seattle songwriter/accordionist Jason Webley. Known for his gravelly, Tom Waits-ish voice and feverish foot-stomping and bellows-pumping, he’s built a loyal following with theatrical shows that not only invite audience participation, but practically demand it. He also has a thing for tomatoes.
Jason is the brains behind the Monsters of Accordion tour, an all-accordion extravaganza taking place on the West Coast this week. We recently had the chance to talk to Jason briefly about the tour and his work.
If I’ve counted right, I think this is the third or fourth Monsters of Accordion tour. How did it all start? What was the inspiration?
We got the idea for the Monsters tour at an event I was invited to headline at Smythe’s Accordion Center maybe 4 years ago. I had never seen so many other accordion freaks before, and I really fell in love with a couple of them (Daniel Ari and Duckmandu) so we decided to try and do a little accordion only tour. So this is actually year three for “Monsters of Accordion.” The three of us did the west coast together twice, I think. But I was always the main draw on those tours and somewhere I decided that, if I was going to do it again, I wanted to make it bigger than just me. So I invited Corn Mo and Geoff Berner, who both tour all over and have their own followings. And they are amazing. I think it is going to be a great run.
It’s probably no surprise that Weird Al Yankovic is on the cutting edge of accordion technology and, indeed, Roland has a fun little interview with him about their V-Accordion line of digital accordions. Apparently Al has been an FR-7 user for quite some time and just picked up the smaller, lighter FR-2. In the interview, Al talks about the appeal of a digital accordion versus an acoustic one:
