Bart Davenport
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Tour Dates 09/19/08 SF, CA – Cafe Du Nord
09/23/08 Los Angeles, CA – Largo* 09/24/08 Los Angeles, CA – Largo* 09/30/08 SLC, UT – Urban Lounge 10/01/08 Denver, CO – The Hi Dive 10/03/08 Dubuque, IA – Voices Warehouse Gallery 10/06/08 Chicago, IL @ Bottom Lounge 10/07/08 Pontiac, MI – Pike Room 10/08/08 Toronto, ON – Horseshoe 10/09/08 Pittsb, PA-LAVALOUNGE 10/10/08 Danbury, CT-HEIRLOOM ARTS 10/11/08 New York, NY – Piano’s 10/14/08 Kansas City, MO – Record Bar 10/15/08 Norman, OK – Opolis 10/16/08 Dallas TX – Club Dada 10/17/08 Houston,TX-Walter’s On Washington 10/18/08 CLUB DEVILLE Austin, TX 10/20/08 BURT’S TIKI LOUNGE – Albuquerque, NM 10/21/08 RHYTHM ROOMPhoenix,AZ 11/11/08 VERA PROJECT Seattle,WA 11/12/08 BACKSPACE Portland, OR * with Josh Rouse |
Three more albums for me to review, one of which is Amy Lennard, but a quick look at her website indicated that her album’s been delayed to 2009(?) – Well that’s one off my plate, I guess. And also sorry about all the posts today, but I’m trickling them in as I write them, instead of grouping them all in one giant post.
People might know Bart Davenport from his “electro future-funk” band Honeycut (their song, “Exodus Honey”, was used in a recent iMac advertisement). With his latest solo release, out today, called Palaces, he brings a more tradition pop/rock sound.
As far as I’m concern, I think Davenport have a very nice, non-threatening voice. You hear his voice and you just want to be his friend, you know what I mean?
Some of the tracks I liked are “Jon Jon”, which sounds like a funk pop song with a woman on backup vocals. I believe his latest single will be “A Young One”, a song that sounds like it’s motown/soul. It’s really lovely, and I think the video makes it look cheesy, but try listening to it without the video and you can hear what Davenport is trying to do.
I haven’t heard Honeycut, but I am assuming Davenport’s solo albums sounds far-away, nothing like his band. To me, it makes total sense to go off and cut a solo album, or even in the case of Nick Cave to create Grinderman. Personally, Radiohead should’ve changed their name post-OK Computer, as they venture into a different sound with Kid A.
Back to Palaces, I love most of the songs here. They seem to have all been inspired by popular music genres For instance, the organs on “Born to Suffer” sounds like it’s 60s pyschedlic. The piano and singing style makes “Strangelife” sounds like jazz (Frank Sinatra-era), the harmonic girl background vocals “Lil’ Bunny” harkens back to radio pop songs.
His wide range of music style may be all over the place, but it’s obvious to me that Davenport just really loves popular music. If you love pop music, but with an indie cred, this album is right for you. Palaces is available now from Antenna Farm Records for $14, but if you get it from eMusic, you get a bonus audio track “Holy Hostess.” If you like “Jon Jon” (and “A Young One”), both songs are available for free on his release page. Be sure to meet him on tour!
