Summer's here very soon! Boo to heat but yay to swimming.
They say socks and sandals can be a real fashion faux
pas, but used correctly it can actually end up as the best part of your
outfit.
A few photo links: London in the 1870s.
Pretty amazing pictures, life was so incredibly different, and
difficult.
The
many faces of Iran. When people call for them to be
"bombed into the stone age" just because their president
is a moron, think of these pictures.
America in Color from 1939-1943.
I feel like I might have posted these before, but no matter - they're
just as power-
ful with multiple viewings.
Skate video of the month:
As seems to be the style of the times, Think Skateboards released a new video
via the Thrasher website. Watch
it for Lee Yankou alone.
New month, same shit: photo
journal page, band
photos, yadda yadda yadda.
Music reviews
over on the other site are getting slacker and slacker. I've been
watching a lot of Premier League
soccer during the day when I usually write the reviews, so blame the
English. Lilac Shadows, Perfume Genius, Islands,
Blasted Canyons, Fucked Up, Mind Spiders, and a few more.
As I noted to someone, I've seen Crooked
Fingers three times in the last six months...and I'm
perfectly fine with that.
This time out it was a stripped down version of the band, just Eric
Bachmann on the acoustic guitar and his girlfriend/
bandmate Liz Durrett playing some sparse electric guitar and singing
backing vocals. I think I might prefer this version
of Crooked Fingers to the full band, but I'm more than happy to watch
and listen to whatever iteration of the group
comes through town. The set list felt very similar to the last
couple of shows I've seen - lots of songs from the newest
album "Breaks in the Armor" plus a few older tracks like "Call to
Love," "New Drink for the Old Drunk," and "Carrboro
Woman" off the top of my head. It was all quite fantastic, and I
hope he comes back and plays again within the next
couple of months so I can keep my current streak alive.
You never really know what you're
going to get out of a Lambchop show, but it's always
fantastic. This time out they
were in mellow mode, performing as a five-piece; the band had set up
like a horseshoe on the stage, leaving a big
empty area right in the middle like they were going to have some
cloggers come out and dance for everyone. They
didn't, for the record. You know a band is playing a laid-back
set when the drummer plays the entire show with his
wallet sitting on the snare drum. The bulk of their set was made
up of songs from their most recent (and quite fantas-
tic) record "Mr. M", though they did manage to get to one of my very
favorite songs "Soaky in the Pooper" towards the
end of the night. They even played a cover of the Beach
Boys-penned Glen Campbell song "Guess I'm Dumb"
during
the encore, a great track that I hadn't heard in quite some time.
And of course Lambchop gave it their own wry treat-
ment, delightful as always.
It wasn't all shits and giggles though...early in the set this loud
audible buzz started...well, buzzing, and it nearly drove
me insane. On top of that, while most of the crowd was quiet and
respectful, there was a chunk of dumbshits back at
the bar trying their best to ruin the show. I know bitching about
a talkative crowd is tired, but this was a very quiet per-
formance - I could hear the switches on the guitars being flipped for
example - so in this case the talking was extra
annoying. The band was clearly bothered by it, but they're
professionals and powered through. And most of the crowd,
the ones there to see a great live band and not converse about
nonsense, were glad for it.
Thanks to lethargy after ingesting a giant Italian dinner, I was so on
the fence about leaving the house to go to this Real Estate show,
that it took a flip of the coin to actually get me in the car. Of
course it should never have come to
that, since the goddamn show was free, but I am a truly lazy man at
heart. And being free, the place was fairly packed,
mostly with younger kids. I wouldn't call the place a daycare,
but "high school dance" might have been a fitting descrip-
tor. And then me over on the side with my molester mustache,
twice their age and avoiding eye contact for fear of
getting arrested for statutory gawking. You can go to jail for
that right? Not taking any chances.
As for the show itself - pretty good actually! I say that
somewhat excitedly because I didn't have particularly high ex-
pectations going in. I thought their last album was just okay,
but nothing amazing, and nothing else I'd heard by them
got me too riled up one way or another. I think they sometimes
get sucked into that prep-rock scene that had a brief
run a couple of years ago, but after seeing them live it seemed like
there was a little more depth to them than that.
Honestly they reminded me a of young, slightly less jazzy version of
the Sea & Cake, with some Stone Roses thrown
in there (especially the guitar work) and maybe just a smidge of Death
Cab for Cutie's mopey pop sensibility. The
kids in attendance seemed well into it for the entire set, and even
this old man was kept interested enough to stay
until the end.
I've often described the one of the hot new bands on the block, TOW3RS,
as our local version of Of Montreal. If that's
the case, then their sister group Lilac Shadows is our local
version of Apples in Stereo. This evening's gig was all
about the release of their cassette EP on the local Diggup Tapes label...though I was
secretly hoping it was actually
going to be a cassingle, complete with cardboard sleeve. Hell, if
shitty cassettes can make a comeback, it's only a
matter of time until someone starts making cassingles again. I'm
just glad I still have a tape deck in my car. Sure, the
cassettes come with mp3 download codes too, but I'm old and a sucker
for the physical object of music.
All that jibber jabber aside,
Lilac Shadows have popped onto the scene quickly, and based on the
turnout at Kings,
have made quite a splash. The place wasn't packed, but it was
comfortably full. They had a dude running a projector
displaying trippy images and lights on the band, which resulted in some
interesting photos. The band was great, even
better than the last time I saw them (and was too lazy to write up) - a
quality pop band that wraps their hooks in a lot of
swirly pedal-laden guitars and keyboards and such. The music made
for some dancing kids up front at the stage, well
not actual kids but I probably had 15 years on most of them so they
seemed like kids to me. The kids seem to be really
into the dancing these days, and I blame that damn terrible dubstep
nonsense as I yell at people to get off my lawn. But
I guess they like dancing to nice pop songs too.
Airstrip
played just before Lilac Shadows, and this was also my second time
seeing this new-ish group. These guys
are absolutely one of my instant local favorites going right now,
replacing the spot that the singer's former band Veelee
held. I only hope they can put out some recorded music in as
quick a fashion as Lilac Shadows have, though at least
there are the free songs on their bandcamp at the link above. The
more I listen the more I hear a heavy later-era Polvo
vibe from these guys, and on a couple of songs they almost veer into
Wooden Shjips-style psych rock with the slightest
Black Sabbath tinge. The group is highly recommended in my
book. And as an added bonus, maybe you'll get lucky
and there will be a girl standing front and center eating a mango with
a knife while she watches the band. I've heard
from a number of folks that the only real way to see live music is
while eating fruit with a knife, but this was my first time
experiencing it.
A brief word about show openers Jenny Besetzt - I had never
heard of them and only caught a song and a half, but
damn was I impressed with the short bit I heard! Really upbeat,
jangly, indie-pop with a little guitar swirl was what I
heard from the brief snippet my ears ingested. Had a couple of
other impressed folks ask about them after the show,
so it wasn't just me. Hopefully I'll hear more and get a better
feel for them in the near future.
Last time The War on Drugs were in town
they played to a full (but not packed) house at Kings, so it was a bit
sur-
prising that their next gig would be at the much larger Lincoln Theatre
- I didn't think they could fill it, honestly. The end
result though was again a full (but not packed) house, so maybe they
just have the magic touch of filling any venue up
to the level of pleasant capacity.
I don't have any great,
enlightened things to say about this show, except that it was damn good
like last time they were
in town. They played most of their newest record "Slave Ambient"
and plenty of older songs as well, and it all sounded
gangbusters. Specifically they played "Baby Missles", the only
song name I can ever remember from that new album,
and my favorite song the band has produced so far. At one point
John Massengill, member of new upstart band Old Quarter,
joined the band for a song, a surprise birthday gift for the kid.
Additionally Brad Cook of Megafaun
played
along on a few tracks as the night wore on. There were a ton of
really young kids that seemed to clearly be there for
the opening band (White Rabbits) that I thought for sure would leave,
kids that age not being known for their love of
mature Tom Petty-ish pop rock. But they hung in for the most of
the show, even if many of them spent most of their
time texting.
The moral of the story is this review is a rambling mess, the War on
Drugs are awesome live, and...boobies. Shit, I
don't know.
Left the house on a whim for this gig, based mostly on the little bit
of buzz Royal Baths have gotten.
Though based
on the turnout maybe I'm getting faulty intel on what is hot.
Short story on the band - from SF, living in NYC now, and
features former members of Thee Oh Sees and Ty Segall. Based on
their pedigree I was expecting a fairly straight-
forward garage pop affair, but their music was more dark, almost
goth-like than anything. Made me think of the other
band that fits this description, Sex Church, that I've heard folks talk
about. There were also a couple of Jesus & Mary
Chain-type songs, and a track here and there that reminded me of early
Syd Barrett era Pink Floyd. So a little dark,
a little weird, and not at all like their old bands. I'll be
honest, I didn't love it, nor did I hate it - it was just a show that
happened, I saw it, and I went home. It happens. Live shows
can't always be the greatest thing ever.
The highlight of the night was Paint Fumes - a somewhat new
poppy garage-punk trio that played it pretty straight
80% of the time, and went off on long psychedelic jams the other
20%. And for the record at least one of these jams
sounded like the theme music from the greatest talk show of all time,
"Space Ghost Coast to Coast." They're appar-
ently from Charlotte but they've been playing up here so much lately
you could easily assume they are local. And since
when does Charlotte produce bands worth a shit anyways?
Definitely a band to look out for.
"Keep all boats away from our Skull Island laboratories...you have been
warned."
Birds Of Avalon - All
Your Downtime Is Up. Local lads (and lass) make the
interesting psych rock. The band has
changed some since this was recorded, and they are on an even better
track IMO.
Bonus: Eyesore.
Gillian Welch - Hard
Times. All her records sound pretty much the same, not
that I'm complaining. This song might
be the best she's ever recorded.
Bonus: The Way It Goes.
Mgmt - Kids.
I kinda ignored this band when they were hot shit, but catchy is catchy
and I got around to it eventually.
Bonus: Time To Pretend.
Stornoway - Fuel
Up. I've listened to this obsessively for the last six
months. Would have been one of my favorite
records of 2010 if I'd heard it on time.
Bonus: I Saw You Blink.
Bonus: The End Of The Movie.
Wild Wild Geese - Art
And War. Another 2010 release I'm really feeling in a
tardy fashion. No excuse here though,
as not only are these kids local but I've seen them live before.
Bonus: Say Hi To Hell.
Wye Oak - Holy
Holy. This one is a slow grower. Took seeing
them live (amazing) to really hit me just right.
Bonus: Plains.
***March Thirty
First
Two Thousand and Twelve***
We've got some birds, House Wrens to get all ornithological about it,
making a nest in our cactus hanging on the back
porch. It's a lot like this photo, but less turtle-y.
I finally got around to watching the mind bending film "Deadfall"...there are
so SO many things you could talk about in
regards to this pile, but Nicolas Cage is by far the highlight. Here is a collection of his ten
best moments from the film.
I can't possibly like this enough.
Since the world needs more cat photos, here are some snaps of a jumping
kitten. Beyond cute.
I feel like Kenny Reed and his friends have made a dozen films about
skating in foreign lands that don't usually get
skated in, but that doesn't make it any less interesting. In this
one, "Holy
Cow", the locations are Sri Lanka,
India
and Bangladesh.
The only new photos on the photo
journal page are some more band
photos from various shows, as that seems to be
all I take photos of lately.
Music reviews
over on the other site - Terry Malts, Hunx, Daycreeper, Lambchop, Nada
Surf, Brett Netson, and a few
others. Been kinda lazy on that front this month.
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Race for the Cure Benefit with Whatever Brains, Birds of Avalon, Love Language, and Dana Buoy
Tir Na Nog & The Pour House
3/23/2012
It's nights like these that really make you grateful for the fantastic
local scene we have around here. Local bands of
varying levels of popularity gathered together at four different
Raleigh venues to raise money for the care and treatment
of a little boy with cancer. The whole shebang sold out easily,
and they managed to raise over 45K for the kid, which is
just fantastic. As an added bonus, much awesome music was seen
and heard.
I got a late start on the night
after getting sucked into watching basketball at home, but I finally
left my couch and started
the evening with Whatever Brains at Tir Na
Nog. I feel like I've probably seen them play at least once a
month for the
last six months, maybe ten times in the last year, and I love them more
and more with each viewing. They've become
my own personal house band for the talk show in my mind (which
coincidentally will be jut like a stage version of "Fish-
ing With John" for the record). I'm as excited for their new
album as I am for anything being released this year. As
always, I deem this band unreviewable, but highly recommended if you
like both rock music and good times.
After the Brains I wandered next door to the Pour House to see Birds
of Avalon. Unlike the Brains it had been quite
a while since I'd seen them play, so it was good to get a refresher on
the best psyche rock band operating in the area.
Their newish four-piece version of the band (yeah, it's probably been a
couple of years since they became a four piece,
get off my case) sounds a lot more dialed in to me - less vocals, more
instrumental, heavy krautrock vibe...they don't
sound just like Wooden Shjips, but they sound like they might visit the
same barber. As an added bonus, the bassist
was sporting a really bad ass pair of white Filas that would have fit
right in on a metal band in 1985. So jealous, but I
doubt I'm man enough to pull them off. They played a lot of new
tracks, and it really got me amped for a new album,
whenever that might come.
I stayed put at the front of the
crowd at the Pour House for the next band scheduled to play there - the
Love Language.
It's interesting to think of how indifferent I started with this band,
and then their songs wormed their way into my head to
where now I think they're one of the best pop bands in the
country. Stu and his cohorts really have a way with hooks.
And as much as it drives me crazy that the crowd is singing along and
making it hard to hear the band from time to
time, it says a lot to the power their music has pver their fans.
So much power, in fact, that there was a couple stand-
ing next to me basically dry humping. It was giving me flashbacks
to high school. The band played plenty of tracks
from their two records, as well as a few great new songs from an album
they are currently working on. To quote
Abraham Lincoln, "Good times were had by all."
I closed out the evening back at
Tir Na Nog. I got there right at the end of Annuals,
and they were playing the theme
song to "Trailer Park Boys". Glorious I tell you, just
glorious. But I was specifically over there to see Dana Buoy play,
who was added to the end of the bill at last minute. By the time
the Annuals broke down and Dana got set up, there
was only about twenty minutes left until closing...but it was a damned
enjoyable twenty minutes. For the record, Dana's
main gig is in the band Akron/Family and this is apparently his first
solo outing. It was only a handful of songs but I was
very impressed - imagine Akron/Family if they became an electro-pop
duo, and you'd be in the ballpark. Dana played
guitar while tweaking a ton of keyboards and pedals and whatnot, and
his bandmate was basically doing the same,
only he had a bass instead of a guitar. I'm really looking
forward to this album when it comes out...a great ending to a
terrific night.
Corrosion of Conformity with Torche Lincoln Theatre
3/3/2012
I almost never go to the Lincoln Theatre (not sure I've been there at
any time other than Hopscotch), and I learned a
valuable lesson from this show - they start their shit on time.
Yeah, there was four bands playing, but I didn't actually
expect it to start at 8 or so. I got there a little after 10 and
Torche, the third band, was already playing! So much for
finally getting to see Valient
Thorr.
I'm not as well versed in the
metal world so my reviews of these bands will be even shittier than
usual. Florida's Torche were the main
reason I was at the show, no offense to our local gods of rock.
It seem like every time they
play locally I've had some other shit going on or I was out of
town. Now I finally get to see them, and I miss part of their
set cause the Lincoln has to be all timely like they're running a train
station. I was keyed in to the group via their
"Meanderthal" album from 2008, and live they lived up to that
masterpiece - a little bit melodic, a little bit mathy/prog,
and a whole lot metal. I'm guessing unlike myself, the crowd was
primarily there for CoC but folks seemed to really be
digging the rock. I'm really looking forward to seeing Torche
again, maybe even their complete set next time.
It was actually a little bit of a
mindfuck that I was seeing Corrosion of Conformity.
Not that I wasn't excited to see
them now, but my 13 year old self would have been really wound
up. I mean, I was excitd when I got to see Damn
Yankees at that age, so this would have melted me from the inside
out. I've never been a super huge fan, but they
were always talked about in such high esteem as the godfathers of North
Carolina metal it was great to finally witness
their live show. Sometimes there are things you want to do and
sometimes there are things you feel like you should
do...seeing CoC is both. I can't even pretend to be an expert on
their music, but I am an expert on what my eyes saw -
some old dudes (even older than me!) rockin' the fuck out. And a
singing drummer! It was just like seeing Genesis
except awesome. I thoroughly enjoyed myself and now need to make
an effort to go back and really explore CoC's
catalog.
Lonnie Walker with Airstrip & The Charming Youngsters
Tir Na Nog
2/17/2012
I had been looking forward to seeing Airstrip
for a little while now. See, there used to be this awesome
two-piece
called Veelee, made up of a boy and a girl who were romantically
involved. And then that relationship dissolved, and
along with it the band they had together. Now this seems awful
selfish to me, not to stay together so their awesome
band would stay intact and I could go see them play live, but it is
what it is and Veelee is no more. And now we have
Airstrip via the boy half of of Veelee (and some other folks, one of
which I'm pretty sure is in Gross Ghost).
So how did it sound? Being a
band and all, that's kinda important. The simple answer: like a
rockin' Veelee. Because
of the vocals and how much I listened to their last (and only) record,
it's going to be impossible for me not to think that.
But there is definitely a harder edge to the sound - I was hearing bits
of Polvo, Pixies, and maybe other "P" bands in
their music, though I don't think you'd ever say they actually sound
like those groups. There was also a bit of psyche
rock-style repetitiveness in some of their songs along the lines of
Wooden Shjips, which I quite enjoyed. It was a good
first impression, and the band seems to be playing out a lot lately so
I should get a chance to see them again sometime
soon.
The evening was started by the
bi-coastal musicians The Charming Youngsters
(assuming you accept there are
coasts in both Raleigh and Greenville). I've written about them
before, quality jangle pop that should by all accounts be
much more popular. They've been taking a break from playing live
to record their new album, and they played some of
these new songs this evening. Still pop, but the tracks are a
little longer, more elaborate - lots of build to them, ebb and
flow, all that. I like the direction and look forward to finally
hearing this new record.
Lonnie Walker closed the
night. I just checked the review sight and I've written about
these kids eight times, and I'd
guess I've seen them nearly that many times when I haven't bothered to
write anything. I'd guess I've easily seen them
more than anyone else since I moved back from California, and there is
a reason I keep going to see them...they fuckin'
slay live. This isn't news to most locals. If only they
could capture even half of that energy on their album they'd strike
gold, but some bands are just made for the live setting.
"It's
shite being Scottish! We're the lowest of the low. The scum of the
fucking Earth! The most wretched, miserable,
servile, pathetic trash that was ever shat into civilization. Some hate
the English. I don't. They're just wankers. We, on
the other hand, are colonized by wankers. Can't even find a decent
culture to be colonized BY. We're ruled by effete
assholes."
Chris Mills - Calling
All Comrades. I kinda forgot about Chris Mills for a
little while, but he writes a damn fine song.
Bonus: Untitled No. 1.
Crooked Fingers - War
Horses. Another year, another fantastic Crooked
Fingers album.
Bonus: Went to the City.
Future Islands - Balance.
I think I already posted some songs from the most recent Future Islands
record. Well here
they are again.
Bonus: Before the Bridge.
Gino Washington - Baby
Be Mine. There isn't enough doo-wop soul in my life -
Gino seeks to remedy that.
Bonus: Out Of This World.
Golden Smog - Long
Time Ago. A cover of the Kinks by this super group on
the bonus track here.
Bonus: Strangers.
Old Canes - Little
Bird Courage. Solo work from the appleseed Cast
frontman, sort of a folky version of that act.
Patton Oswalt - The
Bugged Car. Best comedy album from last year. I
may have already mentioned this.
Bonus: The Ham Incident.
Phosphorescent - Los
Angeles. This dude gets a little Grateful Dead-y for
my tastes sometimes, but this epic
jam suits me.
Versus - Atomic
Kid. Listening to this gives me a total mid-nineties
college flashback.
***February Twenty
Ninth
Two Thousand and Twelve***
A decidedly mild winter is coming to an end, spring and longer days
loom...it's time to party. I'm ready, are you?
The
instagr.am photos of the month... Burt, posing in
the only snow we've seen this year. Cary, NC. Clouds.
Cary, NC. Oldsmobile
Cutlass, 1975 model maybe? Marion, NC. Mouse, the rare
foray outside. Cary, NC.
It is completely impossible to look at too many Chernobyl pictures. Trust me,
I've tried. Here are some
more.
5Boro put out an awesome new
video quite recently. Raw (mostly) NYC street skating. Thrasher has a free download
of it here.
There are a couple of photo journal updates, some state
fair photos that I would have sworn I posted months ago but
somehow got lost, and a chunk of band
photos from various shows.
Music reviews
over on that site - Sharon Van Etten, Guided By Voices, Wooden Shjips,
Of Montreal, Whatever Brains,
and a few others. Been kinda lazy on that front this month.
Bleached with The Black Belles The Pinhook
2/9/2012
Every time I go to Durham for a show, I tell my self I should go to
Durham more often for a show. In my brain it's a long
drive, but it's actually closer than Chapel Hill/Carrboro.
Parking is easier, food trucks are everywhere, and usually the
crowd is less irritating.
I had been looking forward to this
Bleached show for a little
while. Pretty much all I knew by them was their "Think of
You" seven inch out on Art Fag, but that song is so damn catchy I was
instantly sold on whatever shit they were shov-
eling. the band is a four piece, with two blonde sisters fronting
the band and a pair of dudes as the rhythm section.
You could probably argue that the songs all kinda sounded the same, but
it was a good kind of same - catchy, cute
fuzzed out power pop. I gravitate to music of this ilk like moths
to a flame, though it rarely kills me like flames are apt
to do to moths. Moths are stupid though. I haven't read any
other reviews, but I'm guessing this band has met a few
Best Coast comparisons based simply on the layout of the group, but I'm
not sure how similar their sounds are. There
are moments when I think of a female version of Mark Sultan/BBQ, there
are other moments when I think of a female
version of Gentleman Jess & His Men, and still more moments where
they don't particularly sound like either of those
groups, but still quite enjoyable. As an added bonus, they played
a cover of the Misfit's "Horror Business" and much
good times singing along was had by all.
The
Black Belles played before Bleached. I honestly didn't
know what to think - all I knew about them is they were a
new band Jack White had a hand in getting out in the world, and they
backed up Stephen Colbert one night on "The
Colbert Report." I can say this with 100% certainty - if you had
asked me beforehand do I find goth witches hot, I prob-
ably would have said no. After seeing this band play, I very much
find goth witches hot. Here's the thing - a hot girl is
still a hot girl no matter how silly the outfit she is wearing
is. And really, the only silly part was the velvet hats, ain't
nothing wrong with black dresses and stockings. Their better
songs definitely had a Jack White "vibe" to them, unless
that's me reading too much into the connection. They were all
pretty decent musicians, but the drummer was especially
fascinating to watch - she probably weighed 80 pounds wet, and when she
really needed to get a loud pop from her
bass drum she would basically stand up on the pedal as she hit
it. She also had a possessed look on her face the
entire time, all while the rest of the band looked kinda
indifferent. In addition to their songs they played a cover oh
Harry Nilsson's "Cuddly Toy," which was apparently also recorded and
performed by the Monkees. I should really be
more well versed on my Monkees. Given the whole package, the
Black Belles were pretty entertaining.
I'm all the time referring to people as creepers, from my days in San
Francisco where the streets are filled to the brim
with bums, street kids and creepers (these groups are not mutually
exclusive). So when a band from Ohio called Day
Creeper is playing a free show at my local haunt Kings, why not get out
of the house and see some music? It didn't
hurt that one of my very favorite local bands, Whatever Brains, were
headlining the night.
So, Day Creeper - pretty damn
enjoyable. They had a classic pop punk sound, and I mean late
seventies classic.
It's almost like they yearned for the pop sheen of the Nerves but
wrapped it in some Ramones simplicity and crunch.
All of the tracks were simple, catchy, and to the point. Turns
out they have released a seven inch through the great Tic
Tac Totally, that's the sort of information I like to know going into
the show not after I buy band merch, but either way
it's a stamp of quality in my eyes. The band seemed to be pretty
well received by the rest of the rabble as well, and
hopefully they sold merch to more people than just me. I know I
was spoiled from living in SF and Oakland for so long
where bands like this thrive, but we don't get a lot of good
garage/punk/power pop around here.
I was just trying to describe Whatever Brains to a friend that
lives in Spain, and the best I could come up with was
"Imagine Les Savy Fav of they were more punk and less mentally
stable." I've lost track on how many times I've seen
this band. but I'm pretty sure I've failed every time I've tried to
write a review of their live show. They're just so much in
their own world musically that I'm too dumb to process my mental
enjoyment into coherent words and sentences. I
know every time I see them live I think the myself that they are one of
my favorite things in the entire world and I'm so
glad they are local and play out a lot. So that's my most recent
entry into my pantheon of poor Whatever Brains re-
views - this band is awesome. The end.
“All
right, later dudes. S you in your A’s, don’t wear a C, and J all over
your B’s.”
Big Boi - General
Patton (feat. Big Rube). Still can't get enough of
that solo Big Boi record. Shit is aging like a fine
wine or cheese or whiskey or whatever fancy shit that ages.
Bonus: Shutterbugg.
Caltrop - Bloodroot.
Local metal dudes don't come off quite as heavy on their recording as
they do live, but both
versions of the band are fantastic.
Bonus: The Phlogiston Command.
Centro-Matic - If
They Talk You Down. This should have been on my "best
of" list for last year. Definitely honor-
able mention if not higher. The album is damn near perfect, and
maybe the best thing they have recorded.
Bonus: Iso-Residue.
Charlie Feathers - That
Certain Female. Life is better because of Charlie
Feathers.
Liars - Clear
Island. I sorta stopped paying attention to Liars, but
picked up this record out of a bargain bin and it's
damn good. Easily their most accessable. Particularly of
note is the track below, "Freak Out," which is one of the best
Jesus & Mary Chain impersonations I've ever heard.
Bonus: Freak Out.
Robyn Hitchcock - Everybody
Needs You. I have nothing particularly interesting to
say here other than it's Robyn
fuckin' Hitchcock.
Bonus: If You Know Time.
Tig Notaro - Little
Titties. A couple of clips from my second favorite
comedy record of the year.
Bonus: Popular Phrases.
Vetiver - Rolling
Sea. I haven't gotten overly excited about Vetiver in
a number of years, but all of their records have
at least a couple of enjoyable songs.
Bonus: Sister.
***January Thirty
First
Two Thousand and Twelve***
I've looked into my crystal ball and I see...another half-assed website
update.
This is a couple of months old but Deerhoof
put a live album on their website that you can download for free.
Just pop
over here, it's right on the
front page.
A couple of interesting tumblrs -
- On this one
they
take classic album covers and photoshop out the dead members.
Worth a quick look. Hasn't been
updated in a while though.
- I laughed a lot over this
one - Jay-Z and Kanye lyrics transposed over fitting stills from
the show "Parks and Rec". If
you're not watching that show and worshipping at the altar
of Ron Swanson, there may be no hope for you.
Interesting
documentary on North Korea slave labor being used to log Siberia
via Vice. They do great work in this
realm.
Somemusic reviews
were hastily written, notably on artists such as Mark Sultan, George
Jackson, Kurt Vile, Jeff the
Brotherhood, Bleached,
Bass Drum of Death, and more.
A couple of photo
journal
entries were posted, nothing groundbreaking, some random fall leaf
photos and a few snaps
of the cute beagle we briefly fostered named Buster.
2. Jeff
the Brotherhood at Slims 9/8/2011 (Hopscotch). This was the
second time I saw them this year, but it was light
years better than the first time (which wasn't bad). Slims ain't
big but the whole place was engrossed. Also, my leg got
molested by some random skanky girl.
3. M83
at Kings 10/29/11. I always assumed I'd never get to see
these guys live. Met all my expectations.
4. Lovers
at The Pinhook 5/26/2011. There is no band I listened to more
in the first half of the year. I actually slightly
postponed my vacation to Puerto Rico to make sure I didn't miss this.
5. J
Mascis & Kurt Vile at the Cat's Cradle 4/10/2011. The
solo Mascis show slightly edged out the full Dinosaur Jr
show for two good reasons - I absolutely loved the solo Mascis album
from last year, and the gig also had Kurt Vile as
the opener. But the full Dinosaur Jr show is certainly worth
mention.
6.
Moonface
at Kings 7/22/2011. Me and the other twelve people there were
completely engrossed with this show
by the former(?) Wolf Parade memeber.
7.
Handsome
Furs at Kings 04/17/2011. Another Wolf Parade off
shoot. Another awesome show. This time, with a
smoking hot girl in the band as an added bonus.
8. The
War
on Drugs at Kings 10/11/2011. Saw them once and it was
ok. Then they put out "Slave Ambient", I listen-
ed to it obsessively, and saw them again - really awesome this go
around. It's like being familiar with the songs helps
or something.
9. Guided
by Voices at City Plaza 9/9/2011 (Hopscotch). the final show of their
"reunion". Despite it being on a huge
stage in front of a sea of dickbags, I still had a blast.
TOW3RS at multiple venues on
multiple dates. Saw them a bunch of times, and they get the award
for my favorite
new band.
And lets not forget one of my all-time favorites Pipe that I saw at
least a couple of times. Tonk are awesome classic
country and always worth seeing. I love that our versions of punk
bands, Spider Bags and Whatever Brains, are so
goddamn weirdly awesome.
I've seen both of these bands many, many times. And pretty much
every time I get a chance to see them again, I'm
there, in front, singing along, taking photos, and being an
annoyance. It's what I do.
I walked into Kings just as Mount
Moriah started. The show was sold out and already
pretty damn full, but I still sidled
up the side and right into a front row spot. As per usual, it was
Jenks and Heather and a rotating cast of supporting
players. I might have seen the bassist play with them before but
don't hold me to that, the myriad of musicians that
have graced the stage with this outfit are starting to blur
together. They played a great set, typical of most of their
shows - mostly selections from their most recent record and I think one
of the tracks from their "The Letting Go" EP.
I've seen them perform these same songs many times now, but it never
gets old...it would be completely impossible
to ever get tired of hearing Heather sing. As has been said many
times, she could sing the phone book and I would
still enjoy it.
Much of what I said about
Mount Moriah could also be said about Crooked
Fingers - no matter how many times I've
seen them or some variation of solo Eric Bachmann, I'm always eager to
see them again the next time they come
through town. I had actually just seen Bachmann & company a
couple of months prior at the Cat's Cradle, but as soon
as I saw this Kings show go on sale, I bought a ticket. They
played a lot of their most recent record "Breaks in the
Armor", peppered in with a few older gems like "Crowned in Chrome" and
"New Drink for the Old Drunk". The new
record is really damn good by the way. The encore was
particularly good, with them performing "Your Control" stand-
ing at the front of the stage completely unplugged, with Bachmann's
bandmate and girlfriend Liz Durrett tackling the
Neko Case portion of the song. And then he finished it off with a
stellar take on one of the all-time best Archers of
Loaf songs, "Chumming the Oceans". I can't think of a better
ender.
Hopefully both bands play again soon, I'm itching to see them live
again.
There were promises, promises of an early-ish show starting at nine and
Whatever Brains going on
first. This meant
I got my ass out of the house early, and what the hell, let's eat a
tasty burger at Chuck's next door before the rocking
begins. Let it be known they make a damn tasty burger, even if it
is a bit expensive.
The show did actually start
early, probably closer to 9:30 though...still early enough for my old
man tastes. Whatever
Brains were luckily opening the show - I would have expected them to
headline or play next to last, but, you know, fuck
it. The whole band piled on to the tiny stage and put out a
blistering set of their weirdo art punk that I love so much.
I guess the really young keyboardist is moving away and this was his
last show with them for the time being at least.
Probably going to cut down on the amount of underage ladies hitting on
the band, but that might be a good thing.
Anyways, yadda yadda yadda, they rocked the fuck out, lots of songs
from their last record, some random weirdness,
a weird dude who video'd the whole show in a cell phone right in front
of me, lots of assflap punks in attendance, and
yet another successful viewing of one of the best local bands in
existence.
The next group up was PC
Worship, from New York or Brooklyn or one of those tall
building places. I guess they
played at this past Hopscotch but I missed it...let's be honest, I
missed a lot of bands. There's only one of me. Their
sound was a bit all over the map, but not in a bad way - my three word
description would be "punk skronk doom",
sounding like slow, sludgy Seattle rock ala Tar at times, the dark punk
of Sex Church other times, the occasional
Kraut-rock moment here and there, and a sax player that had clearly
listened to a fair amount of Rahsaan Roland
Kirk. But all of this took a backseat to the fact that there was
a dude in the band who played cassette tapes as an
instrument. He had this crazy homemade rig with four or five tape
decks wired into a mixer, the whole thing looked
like a high school science fair project. It even had a little
light show with an incandescent bulb and a colored spinning
translucent disc that he flipped on a couple of times. The dude
had a grip of tapes, each one seeming to have diff-
erent tones or notes on them, and he'd load them into the different
tape decks, manipulating them through the broken
out tape deck windows by pressing on them and tweaking the mixer.
Words aren't really doing it justice, but it was
the damnedest thing I'd ever seen.
There were a couple of other bands after that, but I had to go back
home and work. Boo work. Boo jobs. Yay
rock-n-roll.
"Say what
you want about America, thirteen bucks still gets you a hell of a lot
of mice!
"
Admiral Radley - G
N D N.
Newish / side project of Grandaddy's Jason Lytle and some of the other
dudes in the
band, in conjunction with some members of Earlimart. Not as good
as Grandaddy, but decent. The Thread.
Allo Darlin' - Dreaming.
Lovin' this band these days. Yeah, they pretty much sound like
Camera Obscura, but I don't
count that as a problem. Kiss Your Lips. My Heart Is A Drummer.
Explosions In The Sky - Trembling
Hands.
From the latest album...and the only track not eight years long.
Jamie Lidell - Game
For Fools.
When the dude sings some classic-style soul songs, I can dig it.
The rest of his
material...meh. Multiply.
Magic Kids - Hey
Boy.
Maybe not the most original pop band, but the songs are so damn
catchy. One track sounds
like the Turtles, the next the Beach Boys, another like the Pernice
Bros, etc. Hideout.
Pontiak - Algiers
by Day.
Another band wearing a lot of different influences on their
sleeves...Pink Floyd, Hawkwind,
Oneida, and tons more. Good band. Beach.
The Rosebuds - Cover
Ears.
These tracks are from the most recent album by this formerly married
duo, the whole
record seemingly documenting the break-up. "Woods" is one of the
best songs they've ever written. Woods.
Veelee - Animal
Dreams.
Another great local duo that was also a couple, but sadly the end of
their relationship also
meant the end of the band. (The pairing of these two together was
completely accidental, I don't put nearly that much
thought into this sort of things.)
***January Seventh
Two Thousand and Twelve***
It's time to celebrate POINTLESS
YEAR END LISTS!!!
Top
11 records of 2011!!!
(These are kinda sorta in order, as much as I could make them so.)
1. M83 – Hurry Up, We’re
Dreaming (Mute)
It's pretty simple - I don't think I listened to anything else as much
as this M83 album. Nearly every song of this
double-album is gold. Getting to finally see them live didn't
hurt the high ranking either. New
Map Steve
McQueen This
Bright Flash
2. Mount Moriah - Mount
Moriah (Holidays for Quince)
That voice....beyond mesmerizing. And every song a gem. I
see big things for these locals. The shows are
already getting crowded, see them while you still can in an intimate
setting. Lament
3. Jeff The Brotherhood –
We Are The Champions (Infinity Cat)
I liked this record a lot, a weird combination of pop and stoner
metal. Then I saw them live, and they shot WAY
up my list. Bummer Diamond Way
4. The War on Drugs -
Slave Ambient (Secretly Canadian)
This might have been the best start-to-finish album of the year, the
one you listen to completely every time. So
it kinda sounds like a Tom Petty cover record...big deal. Baby
Missiles Brothers
5. Beirut - The Rip Tide
(Pompeii)
I've listened to Beirut for ages, but this was the first album b them
that full grabbed me. The managed to finally
combine their love of ethnic folk music sounds with pop hooks, and I
easily listened to this album more than
anthing else they have produced. Santa
Fe The Rip Tide
6. USX - The Valley Path
(Neurot)
With each passing album these mountain rockers continue to hone their
sound, and they've now reached the
point where they are damn near impossible to classify. I've zoned
out to this fabulous release many times.
(No MP3s - the damn album is just one long song, and I don't wanna
upload the whole album.)
7. J. Mascis – Several
Shades of Why (Sub Pop)
Dude, J Mascis. the man is pure gold in my eyes. Pretty
much anything he puts out will figure high on any
year end list I create. Is It Done Not Enough
8. Future Islands – On The
Water (Thrill Jockey)
No, it's not as strong as their last record "In Evening Air", maybe a
little more introspective, a little more
experimental...but it's still pretty damn enjoyable. Before The Bridge Give Us The Wind
9. Moonface - Organ Music
Not Vibraphone Like I'd Hoped (Jagjaguwar)
One of two Wolf Parade side projects on my list, this finds Spencer
Krug combining organs and key-
boards and electronic drums into some surprisingly organic music.
Organic and incredibly delightful. Return to the Violence of the Ocean Floor
10. Richard Buckner - Our Blood (Merge)
What I said about J Mascis pretty much applies here - Richard Buckner
can do no wrong in my book,
and anything he puts out will be a favorite of the year. Escape Traitor
11. Handsome Furs - Sound Kapital (Sub
Pop)
The second of the two Wolf Parade side projects, and a great reason to
post nudity. This time it's
Dan Boeckner and his crazy hot wife Alexei Perry, doing their own
impression of what it would sound
like if Bruce Springsteen had a dance pop band. Memories of the Future
Top 16 honorable mentions of 2011
(in alphabetical order):
13 & God - Own Your Ghost
(Anticon)
Bon Iver - Bon Iver (Jagjaguwar)
Crooked Fingers – Breaks In The Armor (Merge)
Destroyer – Kaputt (Merge)
Fucked Up – David Comes To Life (Matador)
Girls – Father, Son, Holy Ghost (Matador/True Panther Sounds)
Low – C’mon (Sub Pop)
Obits – Moody, Standard and Poor (Sub Pop)
Radiohead – The King Of Limbs (XL/TBD)
The Rosebuds - Loud Planes Fly Low (Merge)
Russian Circles - Empros (Sargent House)
The Twilight Singers - Dynamite Steps (Sub Pop)
Total Control - Henge Beat (Iron Lung)
Kurt Vile – Smoke Ring For My Halo (Matador)
Gillian Welch - The Harrow & the Harvest (Acony)
Wye Oak - Civilian (Merge)
(I swear I'm not getting paid by Sub Pop...they just released a lot of
records I liked this year.)
Best Comedy Record of the Year:
Patton Oswalt - Finest Hour (Comedy Central)
Top
11 songs of 2011!!!
These are in no order.
I uploaded all of the songs into one zip here. Well, all the songs
but the Flaming Lips song, as it's 6 hours long and over 800MB in
size. Look it up on your
own. It's pretty awesome.
Mount Moriah - Lament
The Rosebuds - Woods
Girls - Honey Bunny
Beirut - Santa Fe
Bare Wires - Ready To Go!
Bon Iver - Calgary
Destroyer - Savage Night At The Opera
Radiohead - Codex
M83 - Midnight City
Future Islands - Before The Bridge
The Flaming Lips - I Found A Star On The Ground
Also: Top 5 Records That Might Have Made The
List If I Had Gotten Around To Listening To Them:
1. Bass Drum of Death - GB City (Fat Possum)
2. Black Tusk - Set The Dial (Relapse)
3. Eddy Current Suppression Ring - So Many Things (Goner)
4. Mark Sultan - Whatever I Want & Whenever I Want (In
The Red)
5. The Roots - Undun (Def Jam)
In non-musical news... Top 11 movies of 2011!!!
(These are also kinda sorta in order, as much as I could make them so.)
1. Drive- The
more I think about this movie, the more I love it. The pacing,
the story, the cinematography, the music,
and especially the acting are all
damn near perfect in my eyes. I've been a fan of Nicolas Winding
Refn for a little
bit now, a very under-rated
director, and this is his best work.
2. Hanna- Almost
everything I said about "Drive" fits here, only it obviously had a
different director. Here's to hoping
we see a lot more from Saoirse Ronan,
because she is gold in this flick.
3. Moneyball-
I'm glad other people thought this was a great film, because I was
afraid my enjoyment of it might have
solely because I'm a huge fan of
the (currently incredibly depressing because they are so terrible with
no near pros-
pects of improving) Oakland
A's. Aaron Sorkin really has an amazing ability to make any topic
riveting.
4. Tabloid-
There is no finer filmmaker in the world than Errol Morris for my
money. This is his latest mind-twisting
documentary, where as always
things are not as they initially seem.
5. X-Men: First Class - The X-Men
were always my favorite comic (well, after "Groo" maybe), and truth be
told I've
liked all of their films, even the
crappy ones. But this one is by far the best in all regards -
acting, direction, story,
the works.
6. Somewhere-
This seemed to get a lot of negative and mixed reviews, people saying
it was too slow, nothing
happened, etc, but I quite enjoyed
it. Not only was it a great view of LA through the eyes of a
celebrity, but of an
immature man turning into a
father.
7. Attack the Block - Great take on
the "aliens attacking the earth" genre. They decide to land in a
British project,
and the local street kids give
them what for.
8. SUPER- On
paper a movie starring Rainn Wilson as a half-assed superhero could
turn out incredibly dumb,
but this film is very smart,
engaging and well worth your time.
9. Tucker and Dale vs Evil - This
film smartly takes the "hicks vs. college kids" horror film theme and
turns it on it's
head. Such a fun movie, it
deserves much more recognition.
10. Trollhunter-
Kind of a modern take on the Godzilla-type monster movie, crossed with
a little "Blair Witch" and
an episode of "Bigfoot
Hunters".
11. Beats, Rhymes & Life: A Tribe Called
Quest - Maybe somewhat of a sentimental choice due to the
massive
number of hours of my life I've
spent listening to this group, but Michael Rapaport does a fine job of
making a
documentary that I think even
outsiders would find fascinating.
