One of the most consistent live session sites on the internet, Daytrotter has gone to a monthly membership system ($2 a month for free downloads of sessions, a new one per day). Musicians drop into Rock Island, Illinois on their tours and record a four-track live session. Over the years, there’s been great ones from Edward Sharpe, Yeasayer, Grizzly Bear, Mayer Hawthorne and hundreds more.
The latest session to impress me is an artist I’m already smitten with, Elena Tonra aka Daughter. Her music burns bright in a dark place and the four songs recorded for Daytrotter – ‘Candles’, ‘In The Shallows’,’Tomorrow’ and ‘Landfill’ are calming yet teeming with ripped emotion.
From the Daytrotter description:
When you listen to Daughter, you don’t hear smiles. You hear sullenness and the bleak remains. Oh, it’s about as gorgeous as it gets, but it devastates you. It makes you need a hug and it makes you want to deliver a hug – or however many it might take to lighten the mood some, to get everyone back on the sunny side. It’s nice to walk along those shores for a while though and to soak in all that Tonra has in her, those swarms of sadness that must hurt quite a lot. They must poke and reiterate. They must keep lapping up against her heart, splashing and breaking. It might be soothing to sleep to or perhaps it’s so loud that such an activity isn’t possible. Along with her boyfriend and guitarist, Igor Haefeli, Tonra has made a sound that reminds us of all the dead ends that we run into and can find no other ways around. We fall down to our knees and just let it out.
Here’s one song from the Daytrotter session, follow the link below to register so you can listen and download the full session…
