Brad Trent

A Parade of Guys in Suits…..

It seems like in the past few years the overwhelming majority if the people who have stood before my camera have been businessmen….so much so that I’m beginning to have dreams of long lines of guys in suits! I have a bit of a backlog of recent shoots that I haven’t dropped on the blog, so before the holidays take over I figured I had better clean out the closet and put few of them up…

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Henri de Castries for Barron’s

This weeks cover story on AXA Group CEO, Henri de Castries…

AOL Executives for BusinessWeek

With the spinning off of AOL from Time Warner, I was sent to shoot CEO Tim Armstrong and his inner circle at the New AOL for a feature story in the first issue of the new Bloomberg BusinessWeek…

AOL CEO Tim Armstrong

Jon Brod – Vice President of AOL Ventures

Jeff Levick – President, Global Advertising and Strategy

Bill Wilson – President, AOL Media

Brad Garlinghouse – President, Internet and Mobile Communications

IndexIQ for BusinessWeek

And finally, one more BusinessWeek story. For this one one, we went down to NYU and shot the principals of IndexIQ, a Westchester-based hedge fund with a former Time Inc publisher at the helm and an NYU finance professor at it’s chief investment strategist.

Seated: Professor Robert Whitelaw. Standing (L-R): Adam Patti, Anthony Davidow, Sal Bruno

CEO Adam Patti

Song of the Day

SPOON
Written In Reverse

DOWNLOAD: Written In Reverse

Those Indie darlings, Spoon, are sitting on what is prolly gonna be one of the hottest releases of next year and even though Transference isn’t due out until January 19th (Why blow off Christmas sales…tax implications?!!) the first single, ‘Written In Reverse’, is already burning up the College Radio charts. It’s been almost two years since Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga and the Head Spoon, Britt Daniel, calls ‘Transference’ an uglier record….I assume he’s referring to the fact that the new record is loaded up with more spontaneous and raw tunes that started out as throwaways or demos, but there’s no denying the much rougher edge and bluesy feel on ‘Written In Reverse’ is a departure from anything heard on Spoon’s recent albums. Check out more Spoon at Spoon The Band

Song of the Day

SOULSAVERS
Sunrise

DOWNLOAD: Sunrise

Mark Lanegan seems like one of those guys who can’t stay still for too long. WIth a music career that began in the 80’s when he formed Screaming Trees to his work with Queens of the Stone Age, Lanegan has collaborated on side projects along the way that have always caught my ear. He’s worked with artists such as Melissa Auf der Maur, Martina Topley Bird, Belle and Sebastian singer and cellist Isobel Campbell, the electronic outfit, Bomb the Bass, and his new group, The Gutter Twins, but recently he’s been mixing it up with the English knob-twiddlers Rich Machin and Ian Glover, also known as Soulsavers. The atmospheric sounds they weave incorporate influences of rock, gospel, soul, and country, and they’ve taken Lanegan’s song ‘Sunrise’…which was first heard on his 1994 album Whiskey For The Holy Ghost…but instead of having Mark sing it, handed it over to featured vocalist Will Oldham, whose bluesy baritone pays homage to Lanegan while sounding a bit like a theatrical revival preacher. That dirty harmonica, along with the plodding bass and marching-drum back beat, create a dark, moody vibe…I can almost feel the heat from the Sun. ‘Sunrise’ came out as a non-album single just before ‘Broken’ was released a back in August. Besides Lanegan, the album features guest vocals from Gibby Haynes (Butthole Surfers), Mike Patton (Faith No More), Jason Pierce (Spiritualized) and Richard Hawley (Longpigs, Pulp). You can hear more from Soulsavers on their MySpace page

Shooting Kate

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I have taken a rather long time to talk about the two shoots I did with Kate when she was in New York back in October…partly because I was waiting for her to finish her new album, but now that ‘White Horses’ is in the can, I guess this is a good time to bring them up.

Kate was in town for CMJ and we knocked around some ideas for a cover shoot that involved horses…she was thinking of calling the new record ‘White Horses’…so we took a drive up to Connecticut to look for some horses…but the horses didn’t wanna cooperate and with the sun rapidly falling outta the sky, we had to change direction and came away with these shots…

A few days later, back in the city, we talked about doing something a bit edgier and since, like all rock stars, she was staying at the Chelsea Hotel, we thought we might try a commando-style shoot in the halls. Johanna Cranitch, of Johanna and the Dusty Floor, has been singing back-up with Kate and she joined in the fun. We managed to get off one shot in front of Harry Houdini’s eyes before a security guard kicked our asses back to Kate’s room…..

…but once we were in the room, the light pouring in through the windows gave me more than I needed……

Remember…Kate’s album comes out next Spring, but you can pre-order a limited-edition signed and numbered copy of White Horses and receive a free gift from Kate right now…just check out the ‘NEWS’ section on her Website for details.

Song of the Day


KATE TUCKER
Bullet Train

DOWNLOAD: Bullet Train

Fans of The List (and any of you who have been paying attention) surely know that Kate Tucker has been in the studio recording her first post-Sons of Sweden album, but what you don’t know is that I’ve had a finished copy in my grubby hands for a couple of weeks and today…with Kate’s blessing…even though it’s not due out until next Spring, you’re gonna get a taste of ‘White Horses’. Backing up Kate’s bluesy, Tanya Donelly-esque vocals is her Sons of Sweden bandmate, Ed ‘Potatoes’ O’Brien on bass, Casey Foubert on drums, Terrill Bailie on organ and Blake Wescott handling the production and also playing various guitars, a mean melotron and crooning a few background vocals. After 20 straight days in a Seattle studio working on the new songs, the resulting album is a dark, moving, anguish-filled novella sung from the heart. There are times when Kate’s voice strains with such pain that you can almost feel the ache within her.

“I wrote these songs as I was facing some serious questions I had buried along the way, questions about faith and love and the sustainability of relationships in a constantly changing landscape” says Kate. “There was a point, early on in the studio, where it hit me that this record is awfully heavy and I wasn’t sure I could carry it through to completion. I got scared and then I got tough. I talked myself out of the fear and into the story. Some songs came to me so quickly and so late in the process that I hadn’t had time to fully understand the depth of their sorrow…”. This is hardly an ‘easy’ record to listen to, but after having it at the top of my iTunes folder for the past few weeks I can’t get the songs outta my head.

You can pre-order a limited edition signed and numbered copy of White Horses (Release date: March 2010), and receive a free gift (and free shipping) from Kate in the meantime. Go the the ‘NEWS’ section on Kate’s Website for details, and to further follow Kate’s movements, check her out on MySpace

Song of the Day

THE HORRORS
I Can’t Control Myself

DOWNLOAD: I Can’t Control Myself

Todays news from across the pond is that NME has just named ‘Primary Colours’, the second album from the exceptionally stylish goths, The Horrors, as the Album of the Year. Previously featured on The List back in March when I turned you all onto ‘Sea Within a Sea’, the group has gone on to universal acclaim, shedding their reputation as being just another Bauhaus/Cramps/Siouxsie rip-off Halloween novelty act with too much eye liner, extremely tight pants and a lotta jet-black hair dye and instead morphing into a more melodic Joy Division for the new millennium. Sure, they’re somber…and brooding…and seem a bit disillusioned by the World around them…but the wall of complicated sounds, grungy guitars riffs, goth poetry and sense of urgency these five mopey bastards kick out is truly wonderful, even with the downer lyrics…but as long as it doesn’t make you wanna open a vein, I say why not?!! Head over to MySpace to get more of The Horrors.

2009 Filtered Through An AutoTune !!!

Uh-Oh! Somebody must have broke into Kanye’s crib and stole his entire act…ummmm…I mean his AutoTune! Then they used it to put together a pretty damn catchy end-of-the-year dance mix that’s got me groovin’ at my desk! And thank God they didn’t forget that Lady GaGa occasionally dresses like Kermit the Frog…..Brilliant!!!

Song of the Day

VIENNA TENG
Whatever You Want

DOWNLOAD: Whatever You Want

I very rarely hear an artist for the first time and fall and hard as I did for Vienna Teng, but from the moment she opened her set with ‘Whatever You Want’ when she played with Over The Rhine earlier this week, I was hooked! Her slightly quirky, syncopated lyrical delivery, the delicately beautifully but complex rhythms and the totally amazing ways her crazy-talented producer, Alex Wong (and also her only backup musician) can turn a snare drum and a few other simple percussion instruments into an orchestra, all had me shaking my head in wonder. And while I’m tossing out compliments, I hear a lot of Aimee Mann in this girl, both in her vocal style and her smart lyrics. WIth all the amazing indie stuff flying at me from all directions, it has gotten a lot harder to truly impress me, but when her set was done I was moved enough to buy all four of her albums! ‘Whatever You Want’ is off of her 2006 release, Dreaming Through The Noise, but she’s touring now to promote her latest album, Inland Territory, and for all you List Members up in Boston, she’s are playing the Berklee Performance Center tonight! I don’t often push, but I really think this is a CD you should all buy immediately, if for no other reason than the outstanding ‘Grandmother Song’…..if you’re all nice I might feature that one next week…but in the meantime, I’m expecting all of you to head over to both her MySpace page and her Website and report back to me about what y’all think, and when you’re done with that, check out Alex’s other gig on The Paper Raincoat MySpace page.

Todd Oldham For BusinessWeek

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I had the opportunity to spend some time with multi-faceted designer Todd Oldham when I shot him for a BusinessWeek story that documented his nasty public breakup with Old Navy. It’s been a long time since I’ve met someone so completely at ease and refreshingly upbeat, especially given the drama he’s been put through for the past couple of years in his dealings with Old Navy.

One thing that came out of this whole mess was that since Old Navy had most of his trademarks tied up in a contract dispute, Todd couldn’t really work on anything besides book projects. The good news is that he just released a fabulous book, Kid Made Modern, that I would whole heartily recommend to anyone with kids! The book has over 50 craft projects inspired by modern design masters such as Alexander Calder, Noguchi, Charles & Ray Eames, George Nelson and on and on and on and I can’t think of a better way to introduce young minds to art & design. Christmas is coming….are you parents listening?!! Check it out at Todd’s Website (where you can get an autographed copy) or over on Amazon

Although the time we had was short, it was truly inspiring to be able to hang out with Todd for a while.

Let’s Back Up A Little Bit…..

A couple of weeks back, I shot Stuart Janney and John Hilton of Bessemer Trust for Barron’s…but the cool part you didn’t get to see was the location across from St. Patricks Cathedral…go on….click on the photo below for the really BIG view…I dare you!

Scary Thought of the Day…..

“Google keeps every single search query forever.
That’s ‘forever’…as in until the end of Time…!”

The Maria Bartiromo-hosted documentary, ‘Inside The Mind Of Google’, airs tomorrow night at 9:00PM on CNBC…..I’m scared already!!!

Song of the Day

OVER THE RHINE
Poughkeepsie

DOWNLOAD: Poughkeepsie

I was all set to spend a quiet night at home, when I get a call from a friend who wants to know if I’m going to see Over The Rhine at the Highline Ballroom? Embarrassed that I didn’t even know one of the Song of the Day List’s all-time fave bands was in town, I stammered, “Of course!”, and pulled my pants back on and thank God, ‘cuz Linford and Karin put on a stunning show! The highlight for me was the haunting rendition of ‘Poughkeepsie’ from their album, Good Dog Bad Dog. There is something so profoundly beautiful about this sadder than sad ballad…the entire audience was swaying & crying and totally captivated by Karin’s passionate, trembling voice and the almost skeletal backing arrangement…just perfect…..

For those of you who are in the New York area and have the means, it’s a little last minute, but OTR is going up the Hudson to play the Tarrytown Music Hall tonight…if you’re a fan, I say pull on your pants, get in the car and make the trip! And for the rest of you, check out Over The Rhine on their website or over on MySpace…..and make sure to visit the OTR Store to round out your collection of the band’s 20 years of music.

Bohemian Rhapsody, Muppet Style !!!

For no particular reason, Ladies & Gentlemen…..The Muppets!!!

Song of the Day

SCANNERS
Salvation

DOWNLOAD: Salvation

London-based Scanners first popped on my radar when a lotta people thought they stole the show whilst touring with another Song of the Day featured band, The Horrors. I picked up their debut album, Violence Is Golden and was immediately taken by the tight production and powerful, angsty lyrics. Sarah Daly’s tough-girl vocals can bring Elastica to mind, but Scanners is a bit more polished…more refined…and now they’re set to release their second album, Submarine, in February. Check ’em out on MySpace

Song of the Day

THE LONDON SOULS
She’s So Mad

DOWNLOAD: She’s So Mad

Matthew Morgan and James Spooner, the Afro-Punk guys, have come through again with Afro-Punk Vol. 2: “FUCK ROCK STARS”, a killer compilation of 16 tracks from bands as varied as IrRAdio, The oOohh Baby Gimme Mores, Peekaboo Theory and The London Souls, who get their first Song of the Day with ‘She’s So Mad’…a straight-up rocker from three guys who are, in fact, not from London, but New York! But wait…here’s the best part! You can download the entire album for free by simply clicking HERE!!! and if The London Souls get your blood pumpin’, check ’em out on their MySpace page

Song of the Day

THE SUN
In Perfect Time

DOWNLOAD: In Perfect Time

I don’t wanna sound like an old fart, but The Sun obviously didn’t name themselves with Google in mind! Maybe if they weren’t so damned hard to find, they still might be together! I dare you…try to get any information about these guys…it ain’t easy, but here’s what I know…..The Sun were from Columbus, Ohio and was made up of Sam Brown (Six feet One inches tall and enjoys the beautiful mountain state of Alaska. He’s a rugged mans’ man), Bryan Arend (Four feet Eleven inches tall and two hundred and thirty-seven pounds. He usually carries a firearm), “Bobby” Brad Forsblom (A handsome Five foot Eleven and walks with a limp. He is a craftsman and was injured in an unfortunate kiln-related accident), Chris Burney (Five feet and Six inches tall. He suffers from the short mans view of things. Don’t get too close) and Bradley Caulkins (Six foot and Four inches tall, all muscle. He was primarily added to the group so the other four could start shit, then get Brad to kick their asses). They apparently packed it in back in January, but if the fuzzy blast of melodic noise kicked up on ‘In Perfect Time’ gets you going, then you can visit Rock Proper and download their entire new/last album, Don’t Let Your Baby Have All The Fun, for nothing! And then why not check ’em out over on their MySpace page to show them a little post-breakup love?!!

The Sun

Song of the Day

LISSIE
Everywhere I Go

DOWNLOAD: Everywhere I Go

You might have noticed that things have been kinda slow here on the Song of the Day…sort of a combination of me bein’ jacked up with other things and my not finding a lot of good new music to toss out to you guys. Then yesterday I heard ‘Everywhere I Go’ off of the just-released debut EP from Lissie Maurus, an L.A.-based singer/songwriter who says she’s influenced by Gram Parsons, The Mamas & The Papas and The Flying Burrito Brothers. Her arresting, achingly beautiful vocal on this track stopped me dead and finally, for the first time in a week, I knew I had something truly worthwhile for The List. The EP, Why You Runnin’, was produced by her friend Bill Reynolds, whose day job is playing bass in Band of Horses and his bandmate, Tyler Ramsey, is on guitar for some of the tracks, but the real reason you’re here is for the haunting voice and raw emotion that Lissie has spilling out of her. Head over to her MySpace page and check her out.

Lissie

Song of the Day

THE DRUMS
Let’s Go Surfing

DOWNLOAD: Let’s Go Surfing

The Brooklyn (by way of Florida) duo (sometimes quartet) of Jonathan Pierce and Jacob Graham claim to only write about two feelings…..one is the first day of summer when you and all of your friends are standing on the edge of a cliff watching the sun set and being overcome with all of your hopes and dreams at once. The other is when you’re walking alone in the rain and realize you will be alone forever. Well…I’m uplifted and depressed all at once…I guess ‘Let’s Go Surfing’, off of their ‘Summertime’ EP, draws more from the former feeling than the later. The boys are workin’ a wonderful new-wavey/post-punk vibe with the low-fi guitars, trash can drums and doo-wop backing vocals and the music press seems to be noticing, with even NME calling them “New York’s official Coolest New Band”. Check out The Drums on their website or over on MySpace

thedrums

Song of the Day

VIA AUDIO
We Can Be Good

DOWNLOAD: We Can Be Good

I’m gonna do a bit of Friday afternoon blog-rolling on The List today. Frank Deis is a wine geek friend of mine and his son Tom plays guitar with the highly-regarded gang of Berklee College of Music grads who call themselves Via Audio. Frank did a shout-out to see if I could garner a few hits for the band the Fearlessmusic Weekly Poll that’s running over at www.fearlessmusic.com…..look over at the right side of the page…Via Audio is the last band listed….go on, give ’em a click and they’ll be eternally grateful!

You would have to be deaf not to hear a bit of Tracey Thorn in Jessica Martins delivery and I know singers hate to be constantly compared to other vocalists, but the similarities are there, and wonderfully so…especially when she cries, “…but when it’s good, it’s really good…”…..damn…it gave me goosebumps! Pleading, mournful and just the right amount of sad. And the production, handled by Spoon’s Jim Eno, blends her voice with the infectious, stuttering electric guitars and singalong harmonies perfectly. Head on over to their MySpace page and give a listen to a few more cuts.

viaaudio