Albums : Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros : Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros
Albums : Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros : Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zerosh
Listen To Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros : Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros
Who Is Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros?
Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros are an American indie folk band formed in Los Angeles, California in 2007. Led by lead vocalist Alex Ebert, the group features a revolving lineup of up to 11 people. It began as a collaboration between Ebert and singer Jade Castrinos as part of a musical collective. Ebert's live persona and the band's name are based on the protagonist of a story he wrote, a messianic figure named Edward Sharpe. Drawing from roots rock, folk, gospel, and psychedelic music, the band's image and sound evoke the hippie movement of the 1960s and 1970s. The group's first show was played July 18, 2007 at The Troubadour in West Hollywood, California. Their first studio album, Up from Below, was released on July 7, 2009 on Community Records and featured the popular single "Home". Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros released their second full-length album, Here, on May 29, 2012. Their third album, Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, was released on July 23, 2013.
After years of the Los Angeles party lifestyle and subsequent drug addiction, Ima Robot frontman Alex Ebert broke up with his then-girlfriend, moved out of his house, and spent time in rehab. During this time, Ebert began to write a book about a messianic figure named Edward Sharpe that was "sent down to Earth to kinda heal and save mankind, but he kept getting distracted by girls and falling in love." Ebert adopted the Sharpe persona as his alter ego. He said, "I don't want to put too much weight on it, because in some ways it's just a name that I came up with. But I guess if I look deeper, I do feel like I had lost my identity in general. I really didn't know what was going on or who I was anymore. Adopting another name helped me open up an avenue to get back."
After meeting singer Jade Castrinos outside a Los Angeles cafe, Ebert and Castrinos started writing music together, and became a part of the art and music collective The Masses, which was partially started by some seed money from the late Heath Ledger. While the two had a romantic relationship that did not last, their fledgling group eventually swelled to more than 10 members, some of whom had been Alex's friends since he was young. In mid 2009, Ebert, Castrinos, and a group of musicians toured the country by bus as Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros. Their first show in 2009 was at the Marfa Film Festival in Marfa, Texas. The band recorded their debut album, Up From Below, in Laurel Canyon. Produced by Aaron Older and Nico Aglietti, it was released on July 14, 2009.
On April 12, 2009, the band released "Desert Song", a music video and the first of a 12-part feature-length musical called SALVO!. Part 2, "Kisses Over Babylon", was released November 24, 2009 through Spinner.com. Part 3, "40 Day Dream", was uploaded to YouTube by the band on May 19, 2011.
In April 2011, the band joined Mumford & Sons and Old Crow Medicine Show on the Railroad Revival Tour. According to American Songwriter, the tour stopped in six cities, playing alternative venues such as an Austin, Texas high school where Mumford & Sons taught the marching band how to play their hit "The Cave". The tour was also the subject of Grammy-nominated director Emmett Malloy's latest documentary Big Easy Express, which strove to capture "the pure joy of music" through Americana folk imagery. The documentary went on to win in the category for Best Long Form Music Video at the 2013 Grammy Awards. The group's second album, Here, was released on May 29, 2012.
Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros Review
Alex Ebert, or perhaps his messianic alter ego Edward Sharpe, has a thing for magic. This intangible element follows the 35-year-old and his 10-person troupe of modern-day flower children as they continue their pilgrimage, currently in its sixth year, to unfurl joy, peace, harmony, what have you, on audiences around the world. A healthy portion of reviews of the beautiful, controlled chaos that is the Zeros live show center around the word “magic”, and Ebert once said quite simply, “It’s more fun to live with magic than without it.”
After battling drug addiction on an odyssey to stare death in the face and rising up from below, Ebert underwent a Jesus-esque makeover, embarked on a band-forming tryst with the ultra-charming Jade Castrinos and rode the success of the mega-popular 2010 hit “Home”. Consequently, ESATMZ’s 2012 release, Here, didn’t quite stack up to the debut as far as grand choruses and undeniably catchy numbers go, but the record challenged spirituality and saw the frontman reaching peace; as he told us on the opening track, “Only one desire that’s left in me/ I want the whole damn world to come and dance with me.” When swelling crowds inch one closer to that sole desire, what’s the next barefoot step toward the abyss?
“Let’s … get … HIGH,” Ebert loudly answers, sounding like the ringleader of a janglin’, psychedelic circus (“on love” directly follows the exclamation). While the group is often lumped into the radio folk-rock revival genre, garnering more love from the mainstream masses than critics, and sometimes badgered for commonplace back porch anthems, the stomp-clap is merely this record’s backbone. Psychedelic San Francisco guitars and harmonies, along with a collection of intricate tambourines, horns, and whiskey chatter all prove a sound far more complex than that of, say, the commercial freight folk train Mumford and Sons.
The shock to this album’s system arrives when Castrinos saunters into Ebert’s spotlight, crafting vibes more Jefferson Airplane than the Johnny Cash and June Carter-esque banter of previous entries. Although Ebert’s falsetto toppling over the group’s harmony electrifies, the track gets its boots knocked when Castrinos’s Grace Slick-like croon enchants a minute and a half in. Her solo vocal performance on in “Remember to Remember” fails to rival Here’s shiniest gem, “Fiya Wata”, but it further validates her talents as she instructs us that life’s journey isn’t a solo trip: “You don’t walk alone/ As the storm it rages/ Be not afraid/ Let it pass.” In a form true to the outfit, the references to God are left up for interpretation: make the all-holy being whatever you want, and that’s just fine by this gal.
Even despite her standout moments and Ebert’s assurance that Edward Sharpe is now something much bigger than him and a rehab-inspired alter-ego, the whole thing is his show, through and through. He relaxes with “In the Summer” (essentially a modern-day take on Mungo Jerry’s “In the Summertime”) and channels David Bowie on the mini musical that is “Life is Hard” (while lines like “Life is it/ It’s where it’s at/ It’s getting skinny, getting fat/ It’s falling deep into a love/ It’s getting crushed just like a bug” seem juvenile on paper, the message rings universal and the music undeniable). On the thumping lead single “Better Days” and album closer “This Life”, he admits that not every day can be a walk in the park (or a music festival).
His raspy excitement tames itself as he faces his issues with mortality on the latter, a bluesy nearly six-minute dance with death (“I’ve been trying to pretend/ That death is my friend/Oh this life/ This life ain’t for me”). The drugs, the band, the beard – for Ebert, it all boils down to his questions of what we’re doing here and where we go when it’s all over. Accepting that the answer could very well be nowhere, his lyrics may tell us this life isn’t for him, but the music reveals that Ebert has made himself the life that is for him. Couple the track with the clattering and twangy “Country Calling”, an anthem for anyone whose planted themselves in a city only to long for the road, and the success of Edward Sharpe manifests.
During an early scene in the 2012 film, Big Easy Express, in which the Zeros hopped a train to New Orleans with Mumford & Sons and Old Crowe Medicine Show, Ebert explains that the ragtag group is aboard “To see America the way they saw it more than 100 years ago when we were all children dreaming to lift ourselves and the world we come in contact with back into the magic.” When Ebert’s country calls and life simply doesn’t feel right, he can hop a train, capture lightning in a bottle for at least a second at each show, and return with a record such as this. One with a sole (read: soul) mission: to spread a little bit of magic. The magic of being high, the magic of summer, and the magic of love.
Contact Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros
Website | Twitter | Facebook | MySpace | YouTube | Soundcloud | Vimeo | Instagram | Tumblr
Contact Consequence of Sound (COS)
Website | Twitter | Facebook | YouTube
Sources : Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros Photo | Listen To Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros | Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros Biography | Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros Review
Purchase : iTunes (Deluxe Version) | iTunes | Amazon | Walmart
Listen To Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros : Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros
Who Is Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros?
Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros are an American indie folk band formed in Los Angeles, California in 2007. Led by lead vocalist Alex Ebert, the group features a revolving lineup of up to 11 people. It began as a collaboration between Ebert and singer Jade Castrinos as part of a musical collective. Ebert's live persona and the band's name are based on the protagonist of a story he wrote, a messianic figure named Edward Sharpe. Drawing from roots rock, folk, gospel, and psychedelic music, the band's image and sound evoke the hippie movement of the 1960s and 1970s. The group's first show was played July 18, 2007 at The Troubadour in West Hollywood, California. Their first studio album, Up from Below, was released on July 7, 2009 on Community Records and featured the popular single "Home". Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros released their second full-length album, Here, on May 29, 2012. Their third album, Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, was released on July 23, 2013.
After years of the Los Angeles party lifestyle and subsequent drug addiction, Ima Robot frontman Alex Ebert broke up with his then-girlfriend, moved out of his house, and spent time in rehab. During this time, Ebert began to write a book about a messianic figure named Edward Sharpe that was "sent down to Earth to kinda heal and save mankind, but he kept getting distracted by girls and falling in love." Ebert adopted the Sharpe persona as his alter ego. He said, "I don't want to put too much weight on it, because in some ways it's just a name that I came up with. But I guess if I look deeper, I do feel like I had lost my identity in general. I really didn't know what was going on or who I was anymore. Adopting another name helped me open up an avenue to get back."
After meeting singer Jade Castrinos outside a Los Angeles cafe, Ebert and Castrinos started writing music together, and became a part of the art and music collective The Masses, which was partially started by some seed money from the late Heath Ledger. While the two had a romantic relationship that did not last, their fledgling group eventually swelled to more than 10 members, some of whom had been Alex's friends since he was young. In mid 2009, Ebert, Castrinos, and a group of musicians toured the country by bus as Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros. Their first show in 2009 was at the Marfa Film Festival in Marfa, Texas. The band recorded their debut album, Up From Below, in Laurel Canyon. Produced by Aaron Older and Nico Aglietti, it was released on July 14, 2009.
On April 12, 2009, the band released "Desert Song", a music video and the first of a 12-part feature-length musical called SALVO!. Part 2, "Kisses Over Babylon", was released November 24, 2009 through Spinner.com. Part 3, "40 Day Dream", was uploaded to YouTube by the band on May 19, 2011.
In April 2011, the band joined Mumford & Sons and Old Crow Medicine Show on the Railroad Revival Tour. According to American Songwriter, the tour stopped in six cities, playing alternative venues such as an Austin, Texas high school where Mumford & Sons taught the marching band how to play their hit "The Cave". The tour was also the subject of Grammy-nominated director Emmett Malloy's latest documentary Big Easy Express, which strove to capture "the pure joy of music" through Americana folk imagery. The documentary went on to win in the category for Best Long Form Music Video at the 2013 Grammy Awards. The group's second album, Here, was released on May 29, 2012.
Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros Review
Alex Ebert, or perhaps his messianic alter ego Edward Sharpe, has a thing for magic. This intangible element follows the 35-year-old and his 10-person troupe of modern-day flower children as they continue their pilgrimage, currently in its sixth year, to unfurl joy, peace, harmony, what have you, on audiences around the world. A healthy portion of reviews of the beautiful, controlled chaos that is the Zeros live show center around the word “magic”, and Ebert once said quite simply, “It’s more fun to live with magic than without it.”
After battling drug addiction on an odyssey to stare death in the face and rising up from below, Ebert underwent a Jesus-esque makeover, embarked on a band-forming tryst with the ultra-charming Jade Castrinos and rode the success of the mega-popular 2010 hit “Home”. Consequently, ESATMZ’s 2012 release, Here, didn’t quite stack up to the debut as far as grand choruses and undeniably catchy numbers go, but the record challenged spirituality and saw the frontman reaching peace; as he told us on the opening track, “Only one desire that’s left in me/ I want the whole damn world to come and dance with me.” When swelling crowds inch one closer to that sole desire, what’s the next barefoot step toward the abyss?
“Let’s … get … HIGH,” Ebert loudly answers, sounding like the ringleader of a janglin’, psychedelic circus (“on love” directly follows the exclamation). While the group is often lumped into the radio folk-rock revival genre, garnering more love from the mainstream masses than critics, and sometimes badgered for commonplace back porch anthems, the stomp-clap is merely this record’s backbone. Psychedelic San Francisco guitars and harmonies, along with a collection of intricate tambourines, horns, and whiskey chatter all prove a sound far more complex than that of, say, the commercial freight folk train Mumford and Sons.
The shock to this album’s system arrives when Castrinos saunters into Ebert’s spotlight, crafting vibes more Jefferson Airplane than the Johnny Cash and June Carter-esque banter of previous entries. Although Ebert’s falsetto toppling over the group’s harmony electrifies, the track gets its boots knocked when Castrinos’s Grace Slick-like croon enchants a minute and a half in. Her solo vocal performance on in “Remember to Remember” fails to rival Here’s shiniest gem, “Fiya Wata”, but it further validates her talents as she instructs us that life’s journey isn’t a solo trip: “You don’t walk alone/ As the storm it rages/ Be not afraid/ Let it pass.” In a form true to the outfit, the references to God are left up for interpretation: make the all-holy being whatever you want, and that’s just fine by this gal.
Even despite her standout moments and Ebert’s assurance that Edward Sharpe is now something much bigger than him and a rehab-inspired alter-ego, the whole thing is his show, through and through. He relaxes with “In the Summer” (essentially a modern-day take on Mungo Jerry’s “In the Summertime”) and channels David Bowie on the mini musical that is “Life is Hard” (while lines like “Life is it/ It’s where it’s at/ It’s getting skinny, getting fat/ It’s falling deep into a love/ It’s getting crushed just like a bug” seem juvenile on paper, the message rings universal and the music undeniable). On the thumping lead single “Better Days” and album closer “This Life”, he admits that not every day can be a walk in the park (or a music festival).
His raspy excitement tames itself as he faces his issues with mortality on the latter, a bluesy nearly six-minute dance with death (“I’ve been trying to pretend/ That death is my friend/Oh this life/ This life ain’t for me”). The drugs, the band, the beard – for Ebert, it all boils down to his questions of what we’re doing here and where we go when it’s all over. Accepting that the answer could very well be nowhere, his lyrics may tell us this life isn’t for him, but the music reveals that Ebert has made himself the life that is for him. Couple the track with the clattering and twangy “Country Calling”, an anthem for anyone whose planted themselves in a city only to long for the road, and the success of Edward Sharpe manifests.
During an early scene in the 2012 film, Big Easy Express, in which the Zeros hopped a train to New Orleans with Mumford & Sons and Old Crowe Medicine Show, Ebert explains that the ragtag group is aboard “To see America the way they saw it more than 100 years ago when we were all children dreaming to lift ourselves and the world we come in contact with back into the magic.” When Ebert’s country calls and life simply doesn’t feel right, he can hop a train, capture lightning in a bottle for at least a second at each show, and return with a record such as this. One with a sole (read: soul) mission: to spread a little bit of magic. The magic of being high, the magic of summer, and the magic of love.
Contact Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros
Website | Twitter | Facebook | MySpace | YouTube | Soundcloud | Vimeo | Instagram | Tumblr
Contact Consequence of Sound (COS)
Website | Twitter | Facebook | YouTube
Sources : Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros Photo | Listen To Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros | Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros Biography | Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros Review
Purchase : iTunes (Deluxe Version) | iTunes | Amazon | Walmart
0 comments: