Eef Barzelay and Daytrotter

     Since we’re just getting this blog going and I’m just learning how to blog, I will try to introduce you to two of my favorite things via this blog entry. The first is Daytrotter.com which is the website of a studio where musicians stop by on their way across the country and lay down four tracks that are then made available for free via the website. Here is how Daytrotter puts it: The best part--besides the totally free downloads of unique songs by great artists--is that they record all-analog. For those of you who know anything about sound engineering everything is done digitally now. This is great for people like me who can buy a couple of condenser mics and lay some tracks down on their MacBook, but many professional studios have completely abandoned the tradition of analog recording. You’ll notice that the songs from Daytrotter feel warm and close, like the band is sitting in the room with you. This, much like the difference between film and digital photography, is because analog tapes don’t hard-clip when they can’t keep up with dynamic range, rather they sort of bleed or shoulder into it. The lower fidelity and dynamic range of analog means that you often hear this contribution to the recordings. Anyway, go check it out--you’ll probably find a new band to love, I know I have. And hopefully I will highlight more of my favorite Daytrotter Sessions on this blog.
     On to Eef! Last March I ventured to Worcester MA (pronounced “whuhsta” by locals) to see Ben Folds play in a college gymnasium. The sound sucked and I was one of the oldest people in the room (did you know that kids now hold up cell phones instead of lighters at concerts?), but Ben was great. The opening acts were...Well, I’m not going to trash artists trying to succeed...except for Eef Barzelay. Eef got up on stage in a white suit and gave a short intro, then played a few songs on his acoustic guitar. The music was like nothing I had ever heard before. It smacked of jazz, country, and 80’s rock, but with a hint of bluegrass and wonderful lyrics. Eef embraced his nerdy (as a nerd myself I use the term affectionately) aura wholeheartedly and even poked fun at those guys that go to guitar stores to show off their mad skills at reading tab and playing pentatonic scales. After the concert it started to snow cats and dogs, but I was scrambling for a pen to write down “Eef Barz...” I couldn’t remember the rest. I picked up his solo album Bitter Honey and was blown away. I later found his four tracks on Daytrotter, after which I spent weeks teaching myself “Apocalyptic Friend”, “Thanksgiving Wave”, “Well”, “Jews for Jesus Blues”, and others.
     I was browsing YouTube for Eef songs and I noticed that he introduced himself as “Eef Barzelay of Clem Snide”. I grabbed a few YouTube videos of ClemSnide and thought “these guys are just getting in his way”. Google pointed me at ClemSnide.org where I found recordings of Eef playing live at coffee shops and bars--cool!
     Wanting to support a talented, independent artist, I picked up Clem Snide’s End of Love and dropped it on my music player (NOT an iPod BTW) to listen to on the train. Wow! Clem Snide quickly became one of my favorite bands! End of Love, Soft Spot, and The Ghost of Fashion live in my car, my music player, my laptop--I listen to them constantly. Maybe some day I will put some of my favorite Clem Snide tracks up here for a listen, but until then here are the completely free songs available from Daytrotter’s Archives of Eef Barzelay. Enjoy!