Salmon Egg

Harrison Martin

Rosali Live Preview: 4/18, Empty Bottle, Chicago

Photo by Asia Harman

BY JORDAN MAINZER

Isn't it remarkable that Destroyer's Dan Bejar, the king of obtuseness, managed to so deftly nail his description of Bite Down (Merge), the fourth album from indie rock musician Rosali? Bejar referred to Rosali's instrumental and lyrical evolution as sporting a "hard-won ease;" I couldn't help but come back to that phrase when listening to standout track "Hills on Fire". As Rosali Middleman gently sings validations like, "That color looks so good on you," her backing band, David Nance's Mowed Sound, hint at something darker, James Schroeder's guitars growing increasingly scraggly. Eventually, Middleman sings, "I can be hellish and awful, too / Anger built in my youth." It's a moment where you realize that Bite Down shows Rosali as wise in her reflective realism, while still avoiding cynicism and leaving room for hope.

Bite Down was written after Rosali moved from her long-time home of Philadelphia to North Carolina; it concerns physical and emotional change while remaining astonishingly present. That interplay is reflected in both her words and the band's instrumentation. Take "Rewind", an easygoing, earnest, romantic country rock song that sees the silver lining in bad times. Eventually, the band's subtle freak-outs yield effects that sound like someone attempting to whoosh back in time but being held back and reminded to live in the moment. On "Slow Pain", Middleman dives head first into her angst, atop steady, pattering drums from Kevin Donahue and Schroeder's restrained lead guitar. "Have you seen my grief? Hold it so I don't spill out," she sings. The song eventually lets you into Middleman's head with piercing guitars resisting being muted, as she describes, "Killing time with the slow pain." And the title track fights despair with Ted Bois' groovy keyboard lines and Megan Siebe's warm cello, Middleman reaching out for help: "I can't seem to bring myself ashore / Put aside your foolish pride / To move beyond the rising tide."

Photo by Harrison Martin

Sure, there are a few songs on Bite Down that center on moods more static: ennui ("Hopeless"), pain ("Is It Too Late"), even horniness (earworm opener "On Tonight"). But it all comes together on the building, burning closer "May It Be on Offer". "And I do wonder / And waste my life / No, I don't wonder / If I waste my life," Middleman sings, clarifying that she knows that "[sitting] for hours / Gazing at the light" is what most would consider bed rotting. As the song progresses, though--keyboard humming, guitars fluttering--Middleman's outlook is brighter. "There is hope upon me / There is reason to try," she sings, a hymnal, or maybe a lullaby, singing herself not to sleep but back to that hard-won ease.

Rosali plays the Empty Bottle tonight, with a backing band of Nance, Schroeder, and Donahue. Local indie rockers Fran open. Doors at 8 PM, show at 9. Tickets still available at time of publication.

happy birthday abbey road sorry george hates you

THE BEATLES at Abbey Road Studios during recording sessions for the "A Hard Day's Night" album, February 1964.

3 years can sometimes make quite a difference, can’t it?

The Beatles and George Martin in EMI studio 2, 27th February 1964. Photos by Dezo Hoffman

The Beatles and George Martin in EMI studio 2, 28th February 1967. Photos by Henry Grossman

The Beatles

Isyss at Children Uniting Nation's Day - Benefitting 5,000 at-risk children in Los Angeles (2003).

Paulie and a piano.

Also some special supporting characters...😀😀😀

George, John, George Martin... and birthing hips, small waist, big round bum, ingenue doe eyes...

Salmon Egg

Harrison Martin

Rare shots: how did the members of The Beatles rest before they became famous

In these rare photos, the young members of The Beatles are vacationing in Spain. That was before their music drove the whole world crazy. The pictures were taken by their friend, photographer Klaus Voorman.

That summer, Paul, George and Ringo stayed at Foreman's family villa in Tenerife. It was in 1963, in just a few weeks The source of the article is the News magazine in photos, from which everyone copies the content - BigPicture.ru before their debut album Please Please Me reached the top of the British charts and Beatlemania began to take over the world.

"When I met them, they were shaggy guys from Liverpool," the photographer recalls. — My father built a villa on a hill, and if you are reading this inscription, then someone took this article from BigPicture.ru I lived with him for seven months. Paul wrote me a letter asking if they could come to visit. It was so simple."

"I'll never forget walking into the club and hearing that sound," he says. I came back every night and plucked up the courage to talk to them. We've been friends ever since."

A few weeks after these warm and relaxed photos were taken, the album Please Please Me was released. He occupied the first The source of the article is the News magazine in photos, from which everyone copies the content - BigPicture.ru The number one spot in the UK charts for 30 consecutive weeks, after which the chart was topped by another release by The same Beatles. That's how Beatlemania began.

Paul’s message to his most loyal Spotify listeners, 2023

“I luv ya. And…you love me! So, thanks a lot”

George Martin and Michael Lindsay-Hogg discuss the John/Paul/George dynamic (with varying levels of accuracy) in The Beatles: Get Back (2021)

American Graffiti (1973)

no one pay attention to how badly i drew the car

Link to first part: part 1

Link to last part: part 12