I'm watching the Lorenzo Llama's classic "Snake Eater" as I type
this. It's basically the greatest film ever made. Even
greater than this photo of a dwarf getting freaky with a vacuum.
Reviews below, photo journal entries at the link above, awesome musics
to download, the usual shit.
Decided to get out of the house on a rainy night and see some good
newish local music at Slims. I'd never been to
Slims before, at least not the Raleigh one...I've stared at those
stupid poles at the Slims in SF about a thousand times
though, so as long as there were no support beams directly in my line
of sight of the band it would be an upgrade.
Old Bricks opened the
night. They are two brosephs, a drum/guitar duo with the
guitarist occasionally getting drummy
himself. My first impression was that they reminded me of The
Dodos, only a little less pop and a little more older
Animal Collective weird. It was a short set, but pretty damn
good...the drums playing off one another, weird loopy
effects on the vocals and guitar, and a crowd full of cute girls having
inane conversations and only occasionally paying
attention to the music. I'm definitely going to make a point to
see them play again in the near future.
This was my second time seeing Veelee, but the previous viewing
was for only the last couple of songs of their set so
I was glad to see a full offering. I believe my impression then
was "Stereolab meets Sonic Youth", but upon seeing
more of their show I'd add in a healthy dose of Blonde Redhead
too. More than any one band though they reminded
me of something that would have come out on K Records or Kill Rock
Stars in the mid-nineties, and most likely been
very popular. Not saying they won't be popular in these modern
rogh-n-tumble days...I've recently come to realize I got
no idea what the kids like anymore. I think this realization came
when I found out a lot of young hipster bands are re-
leasing limited edition cassettes. Yes, cassettes. But
anyways, my second viewing confirmed that I definitely liked
Veelee, and the crowd (whose average age was at least 10 years younger
than me) seemed to be digging them too.
The Rosebuds
with Megafaun & Lonnie Walker
The Pour House
1/8/10
This was a good way to start off the new year, with some of my very
favorite local bands and people. I even got the old
lady to join me, something that doesn't happen all that often.
It seems like I've seen Lonnie Walker at least a half
dozen times in the last year and they continue to blow me away.
I still haven't bought their record but I feel like I know all their
songs by heart (including the Future Islands song they
always cover). I'm at a loss of what to say about them after
multiple reviews - how about THIS BAND IS FUCKING
AWESOME AND EVERYONE SHOULD GO SEE THEM PLAY. They get better
every time I watch them perform, and
they were outstanding the very first time I saw them. Reminder to
self: buy their damn record next time I see them play,
because then I can listen to them at home and not have to wait until
the next time I see them live. Luckily, they play often
and I usually don't have to wait too long.
Megafaun
had the middle slot on the bill. Despite the stylistic
differences, they often play with the Rosebuds since the
bands are good friends, and we all know the old saying "bros before
shows". Like a fine wine or a good stinky cheese,
Megafaun has grown on me with age. Where I was once fairly
lukewarm on their music and performances, I find myself
enjoying them more and more with each successive listen. Yeah,
there's a certain crunchy-jamband-hippy vibe to their
music, but in the best possible way, like classic Grateful Dead crossed
with the best Iron & Wine songs. What really
stands out with the band is their vocal harmonizing...those boys really
know how to sing together, it's as pretty as a
butterfly and a faerie humping on a geranium. And I'm not going
to top that comparison so let's just move on.
Local lad and lassie The Rosebuds closed out the
evening, as they so often do around here. It's good to be the
king,
and they are clearly tops in the local market when it comes to catchy
pop music. I've seen and reviewed this band
countless times, and for good reason - they always deliver. They
had one of the thoroughbreds from their stable of
drummers, Matt McCaughan, on drums this evening, and it was good to see
him as he seems to spend so much time
on the road these days with Bon Iver.
The show was great, no surprise there...these kids always put on an
energetic evening of damned catchy songs.
Lots of crowd participation and sing-a-longs, even the chatty
scenesters stopped talking long enough to have a good
time. They seemed to draw a little more heavily from their third
record "Night of the Furies" or "the dance record" as
my brain remembers it, but they spread the love around all the
records. Ivan even dedicated one of my favorite songs,
"Border Guards", to me! I felt like the prettiest girl at the
Winter Formal. The only bad thing - no "Blue Bird", despite
my hounding Ivan constantly that they must play this song every
show. Hell, if they played it five times per show I would
be happy, that track never gets old. But minus that one minor
transgression, a fine evening of amazing local music...to
say we are spoiled in the Triangle would be an understatement.
"Let me
ask you something - how much did they get paid to storm
Normandy, how much did King Arthur get paid to kill
Merlin, how much
did they get paid to invent Television? Nothing. They did it because
they knew it was right."
DJ Shadow & Cut Chemist - Fused
Of Course. It's hard to pick a track from the "Product
Placement" collaborations,
but here you go anyways.
Gaslight Anthem - The
Patient Ferris Wheel. I continue to struggle with
whether this band is interesting and good or
cheesy. I suppose they could be both. Actually, that's
probably the correct answer.
High On Fire - Turk.
More metal awesomeness by these Bay Area legends.
Bonus: Waste Of Tiamat.
Neil Young - One
Of These Days. I had the album these tracks are from,
Harvest Moon, memorized in high school.
This still holds true.
Bonus: Unknown Legend.
Nervous Norvous - Does
A Chinese Chicken Have A Pigtail?. Weirdo rockabilly
goofball rock that was meant as
to be a joke/novelty act, but I choose to take it completely
seriously.
Bonus: Stoneage Woo.
Pinback - Devil
You Know. This song sounds just like Pinback.
Just like all of Pinback's other songs.
Red House Painters - Follow
You, Follow Me (Genesis cover). Mark Kozalek owns this
song, so much so that it
took me a minute to realize it was a cover.
The Make-Up - Center
Of The Earth. Fact: you cannot listen to too much
Make-Up. Ian Svevonious is a music god
in my world.
Bonus: Drop The Needle.
TV On The Radio - Halfway
Home. The most recent TV on the Radio album was a
pretty big disappointment, but
I really liked this song.
