Artist Of The Week: Wisely

If you haven’t heard Southern California-based singer/songwriter Wisely’s self-titled album, then you haven’t heard one of the year’s best collections of cohesive California pop.

Wisely/Wisely
2008 Oglio Records

From the opening note of On My Way, the first song on Wisely, (Willie) Wisely’s new album, be prepared to get hooked. On My Way is my favorite song of 2008. It’s that rare type of song that is so catchy and warm it reminds one of going to the grocery store with their mother in 1975, listening to Top Of The World by The Carpenters blaring on the AM radio.

I love Am radio rock–The Carpenters, Sweet, Andy Kim, America, Bread, The Box Tops, The Archies, etc. Although Wisely may be the perfect soundtrack for riding the California Coast, it is way more than that. Like Fancey, the brainchild of New Pornographers member Todd Fancey, which is one of my favorite bands, it reaches far beyond the warm production values with songs that are extremely well-written and catchy, so catchy in fact, you’re going to want to hear them again…and again and again.

It’s Gonna Be Beautiful is another standout track on an album full of great songs, as is Through Any Window, a piece of acoustic pop that’s very reminiscent of The Beatles and has a video starring Jenna Fisher.

Like Beck’s The Golden Age, Fancey’s Fancey, The Autumn Defense’s Circles and the Neil Young masterpiece Harvest, Wisely is an album that will fit perfectly against the backdrop of a setting sun, whether you’re in California or Alabama. But while sunsets never last, Wisely shall always exist.
boomp3.com

Wisely at MySpace

10 Questions With Wisely

1: And in the end, The love you take Is equal to the love you make.
True or false and Why?
There’s a lot of people in this world that make a lot more love than they take… and it’s rather criminal. There’s also a lot of people who think they make love… but it’s actually something else they are creating… Donald Rumsfeld comes to mind. I actually see this as inverse… If all you do your whole life is “making love” *wink, your aggregate take is probably rather small. The lyric sounds profound, seems circumspect, I’m sure it costs a couple pounds and falls easilly of the lips… but it’s never made any sense to me.

2: Hey Mr. Big Stuff, Who Do you Think You Are?
If I thought I was something bigger than I am I would be a household name by now… in LA the cocks name what day of the week it is.

3: I wanna know, have you ever seen the rain? I’ve heard it never rains in Southern California.
I don’t need rain, I was raised in Minnesota and I’ve shoveled more snow than most. My first tree fort was actually a labyrinthine igloe, dug from a parkling lot worth of snow, piled high by a bull dozer. That was back in the 70s when snow used to accumulate in Minnesota. Now it’s just a gray season with intermittent patches of white grass.

4: Ever Fallen in Love With Someone You Shouldn’t Have?
Yes indeed. The first 12 times. THank god I didn’t marry any of them… and I’ll bet they’re saying the same… that is unless they went ahead and married schlumps that they shouldn’t have.

5: What’s Love got to do with it?
I’ve been wondering if the definition of love should be legislated? Too many people say they love, but they aren’t. THere should be a test you have to pass before you say it. Like a drivers Ed. I have no idea what the questions would be… but saving people from their own misguided love could really save a lot of time and resources in this world… maybe environmentalists who want to reduce carbon imprints should gander at this subject and see what the imprint of wasted-time, no-starter love affair is?

6: How soon is now?
THis would be a marvelous name for a canned beverage.

7: Do you remember rock n roll radio?
I remember going to third base on a water bed listening to ‘Comfortably Numb’ the year it came out. I remember “Little Willie” on the AM radio while my dad painted the deck. I remember the “rock” station playing Iggy’s “I Wanna Be Your Dog” and thinking (I musta been 6) “what is this crap”. THen right afterward they played Billy Joel’s “Glass Houses” and I though “this is great”.

8: Can your monkey do the dog?
THis sounds like one of those colloquial, New Orleans ciphers that I never understood.

9: What’s so funny about peace, love and understanding?
Nick Lowe wrote it, not Elvis Costello.

10: Why don’t we do it in the road?
I did it by the side of i-35W once, right near where the bridge collapse would be, years later. Hmmm, I remember her complaining about something, and not fully following through on what which my desires dictate for such a romantic event.

COMING JULY 1 TO POP-ROCK CANDY MOUNTAIN:

Wisely At PRCM

Courtesy Photo:credit: Gordon Stettinius

Kyle Howard: One of the Boys

By Amanda Brumfield
Pop- Rock Candy Mountain

Kyle Howard currently stars as Bobby Newman on the hit TV show “My Boys” on TBS (Thursdays at 9:30/8:30c) Howard has an extensive resume, having starred in shows such as “CSI”, “Nip/Tuck”, “Boston Public”, “Providence” and “The Drew Carey Show”. He has a movie, “Made For Each Other” in post production that will be released in the near future.

Howard spoke with PRCM about “My Boys” and how the friendships that the cast has developed off-screen translate into magic on-screen.
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Tally Hall: Marvelous Mayhem

By Amanda Brumfield
Pop- Rock Candy Mountain

Tally Hall - Rob Cantor, Ross Federman, Joe Hawley, Andrew Horowitz and Zubin Sedghi are a band out of Ann Arbor, Michigan whose most recent album, Marvin’s Marvelous Mechanical Museum is quickly becoming one of the most beloved albums of the year.

Rightly so. Tally Hall has a unique and instantly addictive sound, they are first class musicians and first class hams. It’s the combination of their musical prowess and their refusal to take themselves too seriously that has endeared them to thousands of fans, landed them on Mtv’s Buzzworthy Blog, and secured a spot for them at Lollapalooza this August.
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Indie Friday With Aly From The Merry Andrews Show 15

Aly Carr is the creative writer and co-host of The Merry Andrews Show in Tampa, Fla. She is an amateur small cat trainer and she is very fluent in knock-knock jokes. The Merry Andrews Show can be heard online at the show’s official site.

The Merry Andrews Show At MySpace

Let me introduce you to… The Coop-Miester…The Cooper Mini…The Coop Boop Be Doop…The other words that rhyme with Coop or Cooper…The one and only super duper SCOTT COOPER!

“Robots and monkeys are just about my favourite thing on this earth. Goddamn they make me laugh. Especially retro looking robots with accordion arms,” the Canadian singer songwriter told me. Oh, and since he is a musician he sort of likes music too. He told me about a really extraordinary show he played recently, “It was the best thing I’ve ever done. Played with the full band in a 150-year old church theatre. No religious affiliations or anything, it was just stunningly beautiful and had the best natural reverb I’ve ever heard. The whole point was to do something totally different than the usual bar show. It was something for myself and serious music lovers.”

When Scott became a part of my world I was consumed by his song Tilt-A-Whirl, which I featured on Episode 11 of the show. With the combination of his voice and Caroline Brooks’ mixed with the lyrics “You say I took your heart on a joy ride like an old Tilt-A-Whirl, I won’t waste anymore of your time, you’re a beautiful girl” I was hooked like the Captain. “Caroline is a great friend with a breathtaking voice. She’s in an amazing female roots trio called The Good Lovelies (www.goodlovelies.com), everyone should check them out. When I started hanging out and singing with her, all I could think about was ‘I need to have her on my record.’ So I re-wrote Tilt-A-Whirl to be this linear story song, with the payoff being the perspective flip from me to the woman I’m singing about. The song is about a few things…mostly recognizing and trying to break bad patterns and callousness with other people’s hearts. It’s a dark tune about self-involvement that turns into one of hope. Rather than rest on the pain and regret of a broken heart (or the guilt of breaking of someone’s heart), this woman flips the switch, so to speak and instead turned those behaviours into something positive and changed a life. Hope that makes sense. Sorry if I’ve ruined any kind of meaning for you. Hahaha,” he said.

Elliot Smith influences a lot of Scott’s music. When I asked Scott what he would want to discuss with Mr. Smith if he were still gracing this Earth with his thaumaturgy he said, “I think I’d be interested to know about where his head was early on in his career. Everyone knows he struggled with addiction and depression near the end, but what about those first few records? That’s the heaviest thing about Elliot now - his death has affected the way we listen to his music, especially for those who discover him posthumously. There’s just this cloud of tragedy that will always hang over it now. On one hand it gives you goose bumps and makes it extra powerful, but I wonder from an artistic standpoint if that’s really what people are supposed to get from it? Roman Candle and Either/Or are my favourite records of his…I’ve always found them to be so beautiful and human. He wasn’t dead, or necessarily so desperate when I discovered and fell in love with those albums many years ago. I just want to keep those feelings preserved…maybe it’s not right, I don’t know. It’s certainly interesting to think about. I could talk about this stuff all day!”

Even more exciting than Scott’s music career is the recent birth of he and his wife Stacey’s son “Our baby boy (Sam Aengus Cooper) arrived into the world a little over 3 weeks ago. He was 5 weeks premature. The last few weeks of my life have been a whirlwind of hospitals, sleepless nights, doctor’s etc…all the while trying to figure out the whole ‘dad’ thing. We’re coming along well now, but it’s definitely been a trip. He’s the best thing I’ve ever been a part of. I know that 100%. And my wife Stacey is the greatest lady ever,” Scott said. When I asked if he would encourage his son to play music he replied, “My lifestyle revolves around music in so many ways, I’m not sure how he won’t be affected and influenced by that in some way. I’m in this headspace where I’m really feeling desperate to not project any kind of expectation on him. I love the romantic notion that we’ll sit around playing records and guitars…I’m hopeful that we will all enjoy music together, but I’m totally OK if he doesn’t care about it at all. I just want him to be who he wants to be.”

Interesting Fact: Babies, music, and Scott’s day job of being an audio engineer will never come between Scott and his shoe fetish. ”I’ve got a sneaker fetish. Not like a sexual fetish, I just mean I really dig them sneaks. I have at least 15 pairs on the go right now. That seems like a lot for a dude? I’ve got my next 5 pairs all plotted out. Actually, I could go buy 15 more right now without batting an eyelash. It’s a problem,” he said.

Scott is done with shows for a little while. He played a lot in the last year with the release of his Tiny Increments album but with the arrival of his son all he wants to do right now is focus on him. “I have been writing, though. I have no idea how it will all turn out. Could be an album of lullabies, I dunno. It seems like, no matter what I have on the go, I inevitably figure out a way to get some new music cooking and start obsessing about that,” Scott said.

For a totally different vibe, you can also check out Scott’s secret project. “I have a top secret weirdo electro crazy self indulgent musical alter-ego Metaphive (myspace.com/metaphive). Now that I’m done my new record, I plan on getting extra silly with it,” he told me.

Keep on singing in your sweet and stylish sneaks, Scott! (See what I did there? Lot’s of S’s.)

This is me featuring Scott on The Merry Andrews Show:

Video One: Everytime

Video Two: The Summer Song, an interview and Who You Were.

You will love Scott Cooper if you love Joshua Radin, Matt Nathanson, and Damien Rice.

Scott Cooper Official Site

Scott Cooper At MySpace

Courtesy Photo: www.shores-photography.com

Ladies And Gentlemen, The Pop-Rock Candy Mountain Show: Season One

Your favorite entertainment website is soon going to become your favorite podcast.

Beginning Tuesday, July 1 look for The Pop-Rock Candy Mountain Show ONLY at poprockcandymountain.com

New episodes will be posted every Tuesday and older episodes will be placed on iTunes so that you can take The Pop-Rock Candy Mountain Show with you.

Season One Guests Include:
Maria Bamford
Marc Maron
Andy Kindler
Wisely
Mary Birdsong
Kate Flannery
Steve Agee
Chris Hardwick
Frangela
Michael Ian Black
Zach Galifianakis
Hal Sparks
Andrea Savage
Jasper Redd
And many, many more!!!

The Pop-Rock Candy Mountain Show: Mama’s Talk Show Just Got A Swift Kick In The Ass

Hemky Madera: Universal Language

By Amanda Brumfield
Pop- Rock Candy Mountain

Hemky Madera started his acting career in the Dominican Republic, to much acclaim. (He’d laugh it off, but he’s a big star in his home country.) He eventually came to America to continue his acting career and after starring in several stage productions he began an impressive film career and has worked alongside actors Harvey Kietel, Gael Garcia Bernal, Dustin Hoffman and Bill Murray.
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