Tag Archives: Sam Brown

Video: Divine Fits cover Frank Ocean’s “Lost”

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A week from today, Divine Fits return to Columbus after wowing the Ace of Cups crowd back in August. Tickets are still available for the Newport show. Not only that, but the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion show, previously scheduled at the Basement that same night, has been moved to the Newport, sharing the bill with Divine Fits, Cold Cave and People’s Temple.

This live video (with better audio/video quality than most shaky YouTube vids) of Divine Fits covering Frank Ocean comes via Stereogum. While you’re at it, check out the recent “+1” feature from Pitchfork.tv, too, in which Sam Brown recounts a story from a 1991 Nirvana show:
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MP3: Jovan Karcic – “Ride the Wave”

MP3: Ride The Wave 9.22.10

Columbus people know Jovan Karcic from his stints in Gaunt, the Haynes Boys and Burn Barrel. Or maybe his contributions on the first Black Swans album. Or his current gig with the Alwood Sisters. Or maybe as Milan’s brother. Or maybe you just know him as the curly-haired guy behind the counter at coffee shop Yeah, Me Too, which he runs with Divine Fits’ Sam Brown.

What you may not know is that from May through November of 2010, Jovan holed up in his garage studio and made an album titled, appropriately, 2010. He played all the instruments himself, and it’s an engaging, fascinating listen, though tough to describe. “Ride the Wave,” above, is one example, but 2010 is meant to be heard as a full album. Some songs are mostly beats and keys. RJD2 could mess with this thing for hours, but it’s not just a “beat” album by a drummer. Heartfelt songs flow into each other, yet each retains its distinctiveness. As Jovan says on the back cover, “There’s a real thrill to walking into the garage with nothing and walking out with a song or an instrumental… This album represents a passage of time in the year 2010.”

Fitting his private, unassuming, DIY persona, Jovan quietly released 2010 last week on vinyl, mixed & mastered by himself and the Black Swans’ Keith Hanlon, with lacquers cut locally at Musicol and pressed by Cleveland’s Gotta Groove. It comes with a CD, too, which features some longer versions of the songs, and it’s the only place you’ll find the song titles (all of which end in the date on which the song was recorded).

Lost Weekend Records is the only store in town selling the record; look for the cover image above, a pattern cross-stitched by Jovan’s grandmother in 1982. Solo releases don’t get much more personal than this.

Video: Divine Fits – “Would That Not Be Nice”

Britt Daniel, Dan Boeckner and Sam Brown do their thing in the dark.

A Thing Called Divine Fits is out now on Merge, and $5.99 at Amazon.

Divine Fits perform “Would That Not Be Nice” on Jimmy Fallon

Photos: Divine Fits @ Ace of Cups

Divine Fits (Sam Brown! Britt Daniel! Dan Boeckner!)
Ace of Cups
August 6, 2012

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Video: Divine Fits – “Flaggin a Ride” from secret show in Austin, plus some band origin details

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Last night Britt Daniel, Dan Boeckner and Sam Brown showed up at the Continental Club in Austin billed as “The Hot Skull,” then played their first ever Divine Fits set, pulling off a 12-song secret show that actually remained pretty secret until just a few minutes before the band took the stage.

Here’s a not-too-shabby live video of “Flaggin a Ride” (via CoS), track 2 on A Thing Called Divine Fits, out Aug. 28 on Merge. Boeckner told me recently that writing and rehearsing “Flaggin” was one of those moments where everything clicked, and he realized this band is a real band — a real and awesome band:

“We did this super-early version of it, which is pretty much what ended up on the record, minus some overdubs. The bass just stays the same through the verses, and the guitar was just this weird, clicky, rhythmic, one-note thing that would shift every now and then. We were writing it and just kept stripping away guitar parts until there are actually no chords. I don’t think I play many chords on any of the songs [on the album], except maybe “Civilian Stripes.” Anyway, we kept stripping “Flaggin a Ride” back and back and back. Finally, it was like, this sounds fucking great. I was really excited about it. There’s no guitar chords in that song. It’s all implied. That made me really happy. When we could play that song all the way through, that was when I was like, yeah…”

In Columbus, the question people have been asking is, how did this band come about, and how did Sam Brown — a guy everyone in the Columbus scene knows is one of the best drummers around — get hooked up with the frontmen of Spoon and Wolf Parade/Handsome Furs?
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Video: Divine Fits album trailer #3

Here’s another very short sneak peek into the music of Divine Fits, the Sam Brown/Britt Daniel/Dan Boeckner band that’s coming to Columbus a week from Monday, August 6. Boeckner says the band has a surprise Ohio cover song in store for us…

This video is the work of Alexa Gerrity, who describes it this way:

In this piece, identity and self expression are highlighted, and the energy of the music is accentuated. Inspired by masks and head-gear spanning centuries from ancient Aztec, Mayan, Japanese and Venetian masks, to Saxon armor, these “skins” reveal and conceal the fleeting expressions on the face, culminating in an ecstatic release.

A Thing Called Divine Fits is out Aug. 28 on Merge. Preorder here.

Divine Fits to play Ace of Cups in Columbus Aug. 6

The Britt Daniel/Dan Boeckner/Sam Brown band Divine Fits just announced they’ll play their third show (ever) at Ace of Cups in Columbus on Aug. 6. From the band’s Facebook:

We are in need of some serious release and couldn’t be more jazzed to play in front of living sweating human beings. I’m especially excited to share this experience with people who have been nothing but amazing to me for many years. I can’t think of a better joint than Ace of Cups to kick this off. See you there August 6th. Connections are opening. Don’t miss them. You can DVR the olympics.

Buy yerself a ticket, and get ready to hear songs from the band’s forthcoming A Thing Called Divine Fits, out Aug. 28 on Merge Records.

Watch: Divine Fits album teaser

Last week we told you about Divine Fits, a new supergroup consisting of Britt Daniel of Spoon, Sam Brown of the New Bomb Turks and Dan Boeckner of Wolf Parade (and the recently defunct Handsome Furs). Now the band has posted a video with just a bit of teaser music from the coming album on Merge Records. Watch the dancing blob and give it a listen…

New Band Alert: Divine Fits featuring New Bomb Turks’ Sam Brown, Spoon’s Britt Daniel, Wolf Parade’s Dan Boeckner

Look for an album from the supergroup on MERGE RECORDS later this year. Says the press release, “The album was was produced by Nick Launay. Further details regarding the record’s release date, live dates, etc. will be announced as they are confirmed.”

Till then, stay tuned to the Divine Fits home page and Twitter. We’ll have more from Mr. Brown soon, too.