Luke Temple - "How Could I Lie"

Luke Temple previously hinted at his affinity for 1970s rock, specifically Harry Nilsson, in tracks like "Everything's Big" off his Here We Go Magic debut. On Temple's latest offering, his "country record" Don't Act Like You Don't Care (which I raved about back in June), those influences are brought out even more into the forefront in a batch of rootsy and raw-flavored folk. Replacing the sparkle and sheen of his effect- and samply-heavy Here We Go Magic project, Don't Act Like You Don't Care instead embraces the live and casual setting of friends sitting around an apartment making music together. And tracks like "How Could I Lie" are all the more rich for it: a lightly played piano and organ, the patter of a brush dancing on a snare, and Temple's dynamic set of pipes nailing notes both low and high in an emotive yet playfully loose performance that again recalls Nilsson. As far as Temple's records go, Don't Act Like You Don't Care might just contain his strongest and most consistent batch of songwriting to date.

Don't Act Like You Don't Care is out now on Western Vinyl.

Luke Temple - "How Could I Lie" (from Don't Act Like You Don't Care)

Luke Temple :: Don't Act Like You Don't Care

Don't Act Like You Don't Care may have been recorded at the same time as Here We Go Magic's debut LP, but the album, once referred to as the "Country Record," is a far cry from the hazy dream world of songs like "Fangala" and "Tunnelvision." Temple, inspired by jazz recording engineer Rudy Vangelder's early work with Blue Note Records, recorded the songs to a 4-track in two 4-hour sessions with a handful of friends and microphones. The result is a warm, intimate, and playful collection of songs that prove more instantly rewarding than anything Temple has concocted as Here We Go Magic. Channeling characters like Fats Domino and Harry Nilsson, Temple's songwriting and voice are driven to the forefront here, feeling as timeless and confident as ever. From the microphone static that coats the solo acoustic guitar sung "Ballad For Dick George" to the 4/4 electric piano-driven jaunt "More Than Muscle" and irresistible bluegrass-tinged "Ophelia," Don't Act Like You Don't Care often sounds like a lost bit of dusty attic or thrift store found treasure—a freshly dusted-off surprise that this fan can't wait to play again and again.

Don't Act Like You Don't Care is out August 16th via Western Vinyl. 

Luke Temple - "Ophelia" (from Don't Act Like You Don't Care)

New Here We Go Magic - "Collector"

Luke Temple's Here We Go Magic project has a new record, Pigeons, due out on June 8th. And this time Temple had a little help in the recording process from his four band mates—a fact that can be heard immediately in the uptempo full-bodied first single, "Collector." Grab the track free with your email address over at Secretly Canadian.

The Wolfman's Got Nards: A Halloween Mix

The Misfits - "Astro Zombies"

Harry Belafonte - "Day Oh" (Beetlejuice)

Blitzen Trapper - "Furr"

David Bowie - "Dance Magic" (Labyrinth)

Whodini - "Haunted House of Rock"

Here We Go Magic - "Fangala"

Bobby Picket - "Monster Mash"

Rockwell - "Somebody's Watching Me"

Bobby Brown - "On Our Own" (Ghostbusters)

Dead Man's Bones - "My Body's A Zombie For You"

Review: Grizzly Bear at the 930 Club

“They’ll try to keep us apart / You’ll try to keep us apart,” sang Daniel Rossen in his quivering timbre as the grimy tone of a guitar and crashing cymbals built into a near-violent fury.

From the evening-opening “Southern Point” to the encore-closing “He Hit Me,” Grizzly Bear blew open eardrums with an awe-inspiring mixture of choral music, baroque pop, and crescendos and decrescendos tinged with sadness and a politely delivered ferocity.

The full-capacity crowd bobbed along with Chris Taylor’s booming bass and Chris Bear’s manic drumming—and delivered applause with a lights-out enthusiasm—but during songs the crowd most often stood in a quiet concentration, watching the virtuosic quintet perform like a miniature orchestra: switching instruments (everything from guitar and electric piano to saxophone and autoharp), trading lead vocals, and basking in four-part harmonies as musical styles changed from song to song.

Grizzly Bear drew the majority of the night’s music from Veckatimest, the band’s third LP and one of the year’s most celebrated albums. The record, hardly manageable in its sophisticatedly-constructed and heavily-ornamented 52 minutes, became something different in front of 1,200 fans: accessible. Hard to identify sounds and esoteric lyrics were given shape by the four musicians and personalities working up sweats to expertly and earnestly deliver songs they've played thousands of times before.

Two of the band's most popular tracks, the 50’s barbershop-style and spine-chillingly performed “Knife” and the blissfully-bouncy “Two Weeks,” both came in the first half of the show, leaving a latter half that gave an unexpected but welcome emphasis to the delicate Edward Droste-sung “Foreground” and the rollicking train-like rhythm of “On a Neck, On a Spit.” Always quick to smile and thank the audience (at one point with 930 Club cupcakes), Grizzly Bear left fans with the bittersweet taste of a punch in the face: a cover of the Crystals' Phil Spector-produced "He Hit Me." And yes, it felt like a kiss.

Grizzly Bear - "Knife" (from Yellow House)

Interview: Here We Go Magic

Celebrated music critic Lester Bangs said, "The first mistake of art is to assume that it's serious." While Brooklyn, New York singer/songwriter Luke Temple may imbue his craft with serious emotions and tone, he doesn't make that mistake: his most recent project Here We Go Magic is colored with doses of psychedelic folk, bubblegum pop, and fistfuls of fairy dust. Recorded in just two months on a four-track, Here We Go Magic is a collection of ambient and experimental soundscapes that Temple has molded into beautifully arranged but barely recognizable song structures. 

Here We Go Magic, both the album title and band name, is Temple's playful alternative reality. The songwriter recently described his song "Fangela" for a DC blog: "It tells a story of a little vampire. He gets away with everything because no one is scared of him. He’s very small and black and hops around." Temple provides glimpses of what songs are about in his lyrics, but nothing as clear as this description. Most often, lyrics are undecipherable amidst layers of looped vocals, echoed and reverberated handclaps, and Temple's own delicate and high falsetto which cuts like a knife through the buttery swells of sound. Instead, the record takes equal amount of imagination from the listener to understand as it did from Temple to create. But then again, art doesn't always need to be understood. Sometimes songs just work.

Temple spoke with Everybody Taste about his early reading habits, playing larger venues opening for Grizzly Bear, and whether or not we're in a musical golden age. 

ET: What was the first song you learned to play and on what instrument? 

Temple: "Smoke on the Water," guitar

ET: What's the name of the first song you ever wrote? 

Temple: "Bionica"

ET: Your music has a lot of fantastical elements to it. Did you read any particular inspiring or influential children's books, fantasy novels or comic books growing up? 

Temple: In high school I was obsessed with the Carlos Castaneda books. They are supposed non fictional accounts of his apprenticeship with a Yaqui Indian sorcerer named Don Juan. They are very hallucinogenic stories dealing with altered states of consciousness.

ET: Do you make Here We Go Magic's art work? I love the painting where you're holding a few little monsters in your arms while a larger horned version of the creature looks on in the distance. Is that a metaphor for anything, or do you just like stealing baby monsters? 

Temple: I did make the Here We Go Magic art work but I think you are mistaking it for the Daytrotter session painting. The Here We Go Magic art is of a crystalline space ship.

ET: What made you want to release something under the name Here We Go Magic in place of Luke Temple? Was that a conscious decision or was it more something the music dictated? 

Temple: The music dictated it more or less, it was such a departure from my previously released stuff that it seemed a fitting vehicle for wearing a new name.

ET: How did you go about finding the right musicians to bring your project to a live setting? Is that a difficult process? 

Temple: Friends and friends of friends. It has been a lot of work but incredibly rewarding.

ET: In terms of music, 2008 and 2009 have been rich full of talent and originality. Do you think we're due for some sort of golden age in music? People say hard times inspire great art. Or maybe the internet gives ears to great art. What do you think? 

Temple: I think that it's a golden age in terms of a accessibility due to the internet, however there is not as much quality control as there once was. I do like how the music being made now is coming from influences that were not as accessible in the past. It seems that there is a hunger for exploring different kinds of forms. Form is a great place to start but emotional transference comes through maturity. I am eager to see what happens as my generation matures within the next 10-15 years.

ET: Best album you picked up recently? 

Temple: Cass McCombs' Dropping the Writ

ET: Opening for Grizzly Bear, I imagine you'll be playing bigger venues than you're used to. Will that change anything about the way you and the band perform? 

Temple: We shall see. I think we are equipped to deal with it quite nicely. It's gonna be a trial and error thing at first, but I think we have the potential to sound large so a larger venue could be beneficial to making that happen. Then again, we like playing basements.

Quick fire round:
ET: What goes in the plastic cup during a show: whiskey, beer, or water? 

Temple: Any of the above at any given moment.

ET: Use one word to describe each of the following: Animal Collective, Bram Stroker, Barack Obama.

Temple: bright, hair, ears. 

ET: The first song you play when introducing someone to your music? 

Temple: It's always changing, right now maybe "Fangela." I'm very proud of that song.

ET: Favorite artist that sounds nothing like you?

Temple: Ol' Dirty Bastard

ET: If Here We Go Magic were an animal, what would it be? 

Temple: Peacock

Here We Go Magic - "Tunnelvision" (from Here We Go Magic)