My first video with frequent collaborator Rob Cordova, shot at the Bowery Ballroom with Deer Tick and AA Bondy opening. The only video I’ve ever produced whose subject was a major label artist, but as Jaymay would tell you herself, a label is just a label.

WEB SERIES

“LABELS”: Episode 2

WEB SERIES

“CHUCK’S BACKYARD BBQ”: Episode 1

Joel Gibb will always remain a bit too out or out there for the mainstream, but like The Mountain Goats or They Might Be Giants, he will always be a hidden treasure to those who know.

When my friend flew all the way to Denmark to hear his favorite band play a hometown gig, I knew I had to give these guys a listen.

Some of the best orchestral pop this side of the Gowanus. Their 2-set farewell show at Rock Shop was an all-timer. Bassist / Orchestrator Devon Press is one to watch. He and hopefully the rest of the band (minus James Craft) will be back.

Only band where all 5 members shout all the lyrics -- verses AND choruses -- in unison at the top of their lungs. Instant anthems. Just add manic.

WEB SERIES

“LABELS”: Episode 1

We met the day Alex Chilton (of Big Star and Box Tops fame) passed away, and before the interview shared our mutual remorse. Chilton may have laid the foundation for power pop, but John Davis of Title Tracks is building a home on it.

A lullaby about a lonely mystical trucker who possesses the uncanny power to sleep while driving and drive while sleeping, as sung by emerging national treasure Jonny Corndawg.

When José González completed touring duties for his sophomore solo album in 2008, he shifted his focus to Junip, a trio formed in 1999 with two of his close childhood friends Elias Araya (drums) and Tobias Winterkorn (keys).  José’s global success as a solo artist – he’s sold over a million records – kept Junip on the backburner, until now.  More than ten years on, the band finally released its debut LP Fields (Mute Records) in September, and just wrapped their second US tour in six months at NYC’s Irving Plaza.

When John McCauley & Ian O'Neil of Deer Tick hit the road with just each other and their electric guitars in early 2011, few expected the results could have been this magical.  Clad in duck boots and flannels on a snowy night in their hometown of Providence, RI, John & Ian have never been this at ease on stage. And the Tick classic "Baltimore Blues, No. 1" has never sounded this personal or this poignant. 

My first interview since Junip's José González (below) just happened to involve his girlfriend Yukimi Nagano of the Swedish electro-pop band Little Dragon.  I sat down with Nagano and drummer Erik Bodin following the band's soundcheck at Bowery Ballroom.  Fresh off the opening slot for the Gorillaz' "Escape to Plastic Beach" world tour, Nagano has emerged one of today's most mesmerizing chanteuses -- a modern-day cross between Björk and Sade.   In this video produced by Duke Street Productions for Pitchfork's TUNNELVISION series, Little Dragon plays the icy but earthy  "Summertearz" from their forthcoming album, Ritual Union.

Still in his mid-20’s, country singer Jonny Corndawg has played shows in 48 states and 6 continents, all with a booking agent named Google Maps. He funds his adventures largely by selling off-beat but masterful custom leatherworks including guitar straps for rock bands Deer Tick and Dawes, and pet portraits for family and friends. Don’t let the name fool you - Jonny Corndawg is a songwriter to be reckoned with, and by shunning all conventions of today’s commercial country music scene, he’s oddly emerged as the most authentic outlaw country singer around. 

Hands down, Brian Hurd (aka Daddy Long Legs) is the best blues harmonica player I've ever seen or heard.  His playing is so pummeling and soulful it just saws you in half.  In this first of a multi-part series, Brian plays a stripped-down rail-riding Guthrie-esque set at a vintage clothing store in Brooklyn.

The best album I've heard in 2011 is Middle Brother. I blame it on today's overcrowded musical landscape that it hasn't been recognized as such.  These are three comets -- close friends who just happen to be powerhouse songwriters and blood-and-guts performers each in their own right.  The stars of their own bands will continue to rise and only time will tell if their creative trajectories will cross like this again. Even if they do, life on the road has a way of taking its toll -- the promise and reckless hope felt in each note of this record just won't happen twice. 

Move over Portland, Athens and Brooklyn – Nashville is now the city turning out the best new music.  The artists worth hearing are nowhere near the polished glitz of the CMA’s, but they’ve formed a community all their own built on a rock foundation that will one day turn those red carpet cowboys green with envy.   Here is Caitlin Rose -  another impossibly-young-to-have-this-impossibly-old-soul songwriting dynamo from Music City. 

An avant dream collective from Bennington College, who sometimes borrows personnel from Partisan labelmates, Mountain Man. Don’t bother trying to finding out who or what Bobby is – just listen and be transported.

Episode 3 of 3

Episode 2 of 3

Episode 1 of 3 of a web series documenting the making of Deer Tick’s fourth album, and first recorded in their hometown of Providence, RI.

In Part 2 of the Daddy Long Legs saga, our hero ditches the guitar, plugs in that harp, and rips the roof clean off.  Surrounded by moonshine-swilling cohorts Murat Akturk and Josh Styles, this trio unearths an electric blues primal stomp that stumbles out of the club to be heard up and down the Bowery.

This Diamond Rugs Uncovered outtake showcases the band at its best – Hardy Morris’ desperate plea grows increasingly urgent across a long and steady build that finally gives way under the weight of the band’s raw crashing sonic wave. After Relix premiered this video, Hardy confided he wrote the song for and about a childhood friend with multiple sclerosis.

My first “narrative” music video, co-directed with my brother Eric Henriquez and shot at our DP Bill Antonucci’s Brooklyn loft.  Bill and his roommates graciously let us commandeer (and destroy) their living space for three days so we could pay homage to the best drinking song any of us had heard in years.

What distinguishes a “side project” from a new band? A “supergroup” from a super group? This short documentary for IFC explores the origins and chemistry behind the rock band Diamond Rugs, which started out one and ended up the other. Last Fall members of Deer Tick, Black Lips, Los Lobos, Dead Confederate, and Six Finger Satellite assembled in a Nashville recording studio to drink some Buds, have some fun, and lay down some tracks, probably in that order. And then?  The unexpected. These kindred spirit “lifers” from different bands and different corners of the continent found themselves speaking a language unto themselves, as the music simply unspooled out onto analog tape til suddenly an album – and a new band - emerged. Have a look what happens when it all just clicks.

After filming Deer Tick record Divine Providence in the studio last year, I took a film crew on the road with them for Rolling Stone as they toured California in support of the album.  The band often delivered the punk blitzkrieg of "Let's All Go To The Bar" as their final encore.  Most of this footage is from The Independent in San Francisco. On the drive up from Santa Barbara that day, John McCauley was stricken by a terrible stomach bug and had to pull over on the highway repeatedly to vomit and worse.  Hours later backstage before the show, he was shivering uncontrollably with fever.  But you’d never know it from this video – the show must go on.