burned all my notebooks...what good are notebooks

Charles Bradley's Golden Moment...

2012-02-09T19:24:00.000-08:00

If I had to pick a 'feel good moment' from last year, it was seeing the hard won dreams of Charles Bradley come to fruition. Not only was his debut LP "No Time For Dreaming", released on Daptone Records, but he hit the road for a string of shows with the Menahan Street Band that was joyously received, to say the least.
Now that golden moment is captured in the form of a documentary, Charles Bradley: Soul of America that will have it's debut at this year's SXSW Film Festival. Have a look at the trailer below:

Had the pleasure of catching Mr. Bradley & The Menahan Street Band at Soho in Santa Barbara last fall. It was an emotional night, and Charles performed a fiery set, capping it off by literally bringing the love to the audience, wading out for hugs at the end of his set. It was hard not to be moved.

All-Seeing 'Eye': Robyn Hitchcock live

2012-01-29T19:54:00.000-08:00

McCabe's Guitar Shop in Santa Monica is billed as California's largest purveyor of stringed things, and legendary for the shows hosted in it's intimate back room. Robyn Hitchcock was a recent guest, on a short tour commemorating the release of 'Eye', one of the more odd tangents in a career given to eccentricities. The show sold out so quick that a late night set was added, and that sold out as well.

McCabe's celebrated it's 50th anniversary a few years back, and shows no signs of slowing down. It's the room of choice for some very choosy guitarists, and to no one's surprise, one of the best sounding rooms in L.A. The strict 'no recording, no photos' policy is magnified by the small capacity, (200 ish?), and totally benefits the listener.
'Eye' doesn't seem to come up much in critical assessments, but was always a favorite of mine. Done during his A&M tenure, but released on Minneapolis indie Twin Tone, it was less band-centric than the surrounding albums, and the songs were starker and more personal, echoing at different times all his personal touchstones of Dylan, Lennon, Syd Barrett, and John Cale. It was most certainly not the hit fodder A&M was seeking.

I had the pleasure of catching him in Tucson, AZ a good 20 years ago or so at the Cushing St. Bar, a popular watering hole for local politicians that did live music at night. He was in fine fettle, intermingling songs with his trademark rambling discourses...The show was held on the back patio of the venue, and my strongest memory is Robyn talking one of the local bikers into revving his hog for percussion during a song.

It's always a crapshoot with backward focusing shows, but this night at McCabe's managed to live up to, and in some ways, surpass the original. It started, as does the album, with the bitterly luminous 'Cynthia Mask'. Midway through the first verse, I became aware of a presence on the stairs above the stage, a semi-familiar figure who bobbed in time to the music...Shortly he shuffled onto the stage and sang quiet backing vocals until he was introduced as Grant Lee Phillips. The shock had not worn off when who would come bounding down the stairs but Mr. David Rawlings, who jumped right into the tune, lending it an additional gravitas with his old Epiphone. Sure enough, Gillian Welch came down to make the circle complete, and the hung out and played in varying configurations with Robyn for the remainder of the night.

While it was clearly Hitchcock's show, it was fascinating to watch him literally in between Welch and Rawlings, whose years of playing together have gifted them with an amazing telepathy. Phillips hung out on the piano, and his deadpan sense of humor was the perfect foil and grounding for Hitchcock's verbal flights of fancy. Rawlings delicate lines and Phillips & Welch's harmonies transformed "Linctus House", a song that, (on the LP), seemed lost in the shadows of "Executioner", but was uplifting here. "Executioner" was given a ferocious reading, highlighting the Lennon.esque shades of Hitchcock's voice. The set stuck totally with 'Eye', but not track for track, and not in order. All the high points were hit, and it was a reminder of how many great tunes were on the album. "Glass Hotel" was certainly one of the highlights of the night, and the group playing hit it's peak on a raucous 'Clean Steve', after which Robyn remained onstage, reining in everyone's attention with a transcendent take on "Rainy Twilight Coast". "Satellite" turned out to be the perfect set closer, and the crowd was rewarded with an encore set that ran through the Grateful Dead's "Candy Man", The Band's "The Weight", and the standard "Long Black Veil", before finishing with a Hitchcock tune. An amazing night in a remarkable venue, what more can be said?
(Ed. Note: An accounting of the evening's first set is available at Chewable Vitamins!)

Handsome Furs Take Control

2012-01-23T23:37:00.000-08:00

HANDSOME FURS
PAPA
SOHO, SANTA BARBARA
17 JANUARY, 2012
Handsome Furs took over Soho in Santa Barbara Tuesday evening. The duo from Montreal made judicious use of their calender, plotting a California run for January...well played. Let it be said that electro-pop is not usually on my plate, but I followed recommendations, and sure enough, the Furs more than held their own live, bringing major energy to the table, and transforming a slow Tuesday night in a small city into a full blown party.

Their most recent album, last year's 'Sound Kapital' on Sub Pop, found the group, Dan Boeckner (ex Wolf Parade) and Alexei Perry, expanding their sound pallet to include more international influences. With each release, they've been growing, and hopefully this year's SXSW will give them a launchpad to break through to bigger things.

Papa, (from LA), proved more than capable in the opening slot, catching fire as they went deeper into their set.

All in all, a brilliantly sweaty evening!

Coachella time...

2012-01-09T20:23:00.000-08:00

Double-barrelled dose of news today...First up, the At The Drive In reunion via cryptic tweet:
( @AtTheDriveIn_: ¡ ATTENTION ! To whom it may concern: AT THE DRIVE-IN is breaking their 11 year silence THIS STATION IS NOW OPERATIONAL).

Managing to quickly co.opt it's place in the news cycle was The Announcement: Coachella lineup for 2012! It came about two weeks earlier than usual, no doubt saving much weeping, & wailing & gnashing of teeth.

This year's new twist, and there's one most every year, is that it will be held on consecutive weekends. Hopefully the volcanoes will cooperate, and given the nature of artists, it will be interesting to see what the actual percentage of artists performing both weekends will be. Should be interesting contracts involved.

Some might complain about repeat acts on the roster, the fitness of some headliners, but it seems to me that once again, the lineup is a testament to balance, and a whole lot of homework. Sunday's reunion of At The Drive In should be an amazing way to close the weekend, unless one really feels compelled to preview Hip Hop's own 'Chinese Democracy', i.e. the Dr. Dre set. The list does have more than a few repeat names, but they've come to be regarded as Coachella legacy acts, be it Cat Power, Andrew Bird, DJ Shadow, or the Black Keys, let alone Radiohead. Just wouldn't seem the same without them. It's underneath the headliners where Coachella always shines, and the money will be well spent this year. Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Flying Lotus, Jeff Mangum, & Radiohead on the same day(s) anyone? On the reunion tip, getting Squeeze, Refused, Hives, & fIREHOSE back together also qualify as achievements.

Buzzcocks, Madness, & Pulp head up the English legacy side, one can only imagine how much hair they shed collectively trying to get Blur...wonder if that would have toppled the dominoes for an Oasis reunion...Guess we'll save that one for next year...

Seeing if the hotly tipped artists actually live up to the hype, (Azealia Banks, Keep Shelly In Athens), as well as the chance to see long awaited new material (Santigold, Florence & The Machine, Fanfarlo).

It will be fun to watch the audience behold the power of Wild Flag, Fitz & The Tantrums, or The Black Lips live, most for the first time...More than a few lightbulbs will go off, I suspect.

What separates out Coachella from just about every other non rave festival is the depth & quality of their electronic acts...running the gamut from Justice to Amon Tobin...You can make a good weekend out of just the dance acts: Modeselektor, tUnEyArDs, Kaskade, Company Flow, Calvin Harris...it's quite a list.

Wonder how they'll deal with Mr. Mangum's 'no cameras' policy? Can't really put him in a tent, and how will his delicate songs deal w/other stages' noise pollution? Or will the singing crowd drown out other stages?

So, due to that thing we call life, I won't be on patrol this year, but thanks to AT&T, they'll be streaming a good chunk of the action. All in all, looks like festival season will get off to a good start.

Goodbye Fonda?!

2012-01-06T22:28:00.000-08:00

Word passed heavy today about the fate of the Fonda MusicBox Theater, with rumor having it closing soon, if only temporarily. The picture became somewhat clearer, thanks to quick reportage from LA Weekly and the LA Times.

It took me years to deal with going allthe way to LA for shows, (with day traffic a six hour round trip), but acrucial part of what turned the tide for me was the 1300 seat oasis on thecorner of Hollywood and Gower. Many a night I would hang out on the roof between sets, eyeballing theCapitol Records building, gazing up the street towards the Roosevelt.

With proximity to Amoeba Records and Roscoe’s Chicken &Waffles, it is/was the epicenter of my LA Bermuda Triangle, and will be very hard to replace.

Some favorite memories from the venue include:

-the last LA show of Stereolab in 2008

-a stunning Superchunk show done to a half filled house, not to mention a comet-like appearance from The Vaselines as openers

-a transcendent Beach House gig last February when the crowd became one,

-the Gang of Four returning to LA for the first time in too many years

-an electric solo performance from the Dresden Dolls' Amanda Palmer, introduced by none other than Neil Gaiman. What little did we know that down the road they would be married!

Not to mention the ones that got away:

-Nine Inch Nails did a spot as part of their 'Wave Goodbye' tour. I never got close to getting tickets...

-Radiohead picked the Music Box to put on their relief benefit for Haiti. I dropped out of the ticket bidding at $350, no harm done. Still regret that!

Got an email tonight from Goldenvoice, who are going ahead with putting tickets on sale for the Cults gig in March. I'm sure they'll have a backup in place, but if anyone can help leverage out this mess, it would be GV, (who just celebrated their 30th anniversary).

One of the biggest unanswered questions will be the fate of the adjoining restaurant, The Blue Palms, which has managed to carve a fine little niche among craft beer lovers.

Hopefully new ownership will be kind in renovations and not destroy the loving recreations of Bosch's 'Garden Of Earthly Delights'. It might be that that I miss the most...

New Mix: b/o 2011

2012-01-03T17:23:00.000-08:00

Still fighting my way through life to any kind of look backward at the amazing blur that was 2011. Here is a mix of the songs that got me through...Hope you all made it through the holiday season unscathed, or semi-scathed. Happy New Year!

b/o 2011
25 Songs
my favorite songs from this past year...
iTunes

Name Artist Price

1 England PJ Harvey $1.29 iTunes

2 Forgiveness Girls $0.99 iTunes

3 Sleepless Jessica Lea Mayfield $1.29 iTunes

4 Codex Radiohead $1.29 iTunes

5 Copenhagen Lucinda Williams $1.29 iTunes

6 Talking At the Same Time Tom Waits $1.29 iTunes

7 Rise to Me The Decemberists $1.29 iTunes

8 The Way It Will Be Gillian Welch $1.29 iTunes

9 Waiting for Kirsten Jens Lekman $0.99 iTunes

10 Old Statues Other Lives $0.99 iTunes

11 Civilian Wye Oak $0.99 iTunes

12 Boatman Little Scream $0.99 iTunes

13 Crystalline Björk $1.29 iTunes

14 Found Love In a Graveyard Veronica Falls $0.99 iTunes

15 Wake and Be Fine Okkervil River $0.99 iTunes

16 Searching Through the Past Bleached $0.99 iTunes

17 Suzanne and I Anna Calvi $0.99 iTunes

18 Please Take Wire $0.99 iTunes

19 Racehorse Wild Flag $0.99 iTunes

20 Baby I Got the Death Rattle Los Campesinos! $0.99 iTunes

21 Buoy The Joy Formidable $1.29 iTunes

22 Puppet to the Man Kurt Vile $0.99 iTunes

23 Senator Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks $0.99 iTunes

24 Fema Coffins Office Of Future Plans $0.99 iTunes

25 Cousin Corona (Bonus Track) Yuck Album Only iTunes

Through A Glass Darkly...Matthew Sweet Looks Back

2012-01-01T00:57:00.000-08:00

MATTHEW SWEET
ECHOPLEX, L.A.
30 DECEMBER, 2011

It was a mad year for music, and fittingly, the next to last day of 2011 found me at the Echoplex in Echo Park for Matthew Sweet's 20th anniversary celebration of his seminal LP 'Girlfriend'. A majestic, unrelenting slice of fuzz spiked power pop, it staked out, (along with Teenage Fanclub's 'Bandwagonesque'), a pole opposite Nirvana's ' Nevermind' as a yearning melodic piece turbocharged with guitar work by Richard Lloyd and the late Robert Quine. A standout record in what was the watershed year of 1991.

On a personal note, at the indie record store I worked at, it was one of the few albums we could all agree on. Today it's just as much of an anachronism as it was then, sounding completely apart from its time, yet timeless.
In what I think is a first on these pages, I feel compelled to shout out the DJ. Kevin Bronson did the tunes between sets, and he had the temperature of the room read correctly. The highlight being a late set segue from Big Star's 'September Gurls' into The Nerves' "Hanging On The Telephone". Highest compliment I can pay is the amount of people near me grabbing for the Shazam whenever he switched tracks. Well played, sir...well played.

Opener Daniel Ahearn And The Jones proved to be a folk duo with pithy observational songs backed with stellar harmonies. Mindy Jones made an impression when she took the spotlight, but through their short set, it was those harmonies that set them apart from the pack.

Matthew Sweet was accompanied for the occasion by a crack band that included the rhythm section from Velvet Crush. While pointing out old friends in the house, he noted that it would indeed be track for track on the LP, then plunged into "Divine Intervention".

I've always been leery of any nostalgia trip, but Sweet quickly dispelled any fears I might have had by sending the songs into overdrive. He seemed genuinely happy to be there, and not at all trapped by the songs. After an intense version of "Thought I Knew You", he observed: "That was scary", and then, low and behold, the appearance of real honest to god cigarette lighters in the audience during "You Don't Love Me"!

One plus to the artist doing a whole album twist is the chance to dig a little deeper & pick up some knowledge nuggets. Turns out the original end of side one was "Winona", (w/needle runoff), and "Speak To Me" was the record's end, but according to Sweet, they took advantage of marginal label oversight and banged out a few more tunes, which happily filled out the cd that most people (including myself),were familiar with. It reset my mind to consider the last two tracks, which in my mind were the emotional crux of the record, were actually bonus tracks.

The backstory on "Does She Talk", involving the infamous channel 23 in NYC was worth the price of admission alone,

After a luminous 'Nothing Lasts', not wanting to end on a bummer, he broke strict form, essaying a delerious rendition of "Sick Of Myself" from 100% Fun. In closing, it was humbling to see an artist embrace their old work and not feel trapped, and most satisfying to see someone fully having fun onstage.

Endnote: This entry marks the third anniversary of this blog, one of the preciously few New Year's resolutions i've managed to keep...Thanks to all for    support and feedback.

Star Time! Sharon Jones & Dap Kings live

2011-12-20T18:05:00.000-08:00

Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings rolled towards the end of a west coast swing, stopping by Soho in Santa Barbara, before heading home to do a series of NYC shows celebrating the 10th anniversary of Daptone Records.
The club was completely sold out, and the show rolled out in revue mode, spotlighting the band and the backup singers before the grand entrance of Ms. Jones quickly transformed the place into a thrashing sweatbox.

Sound issues plagued the band throughout the show, including system spikes and a dead in ear monitor that gave her that disconnected feeling of lip synching, but she toughed it out, and once again proved the value of a hard day's work. Where any of her contemporaries would have pulled out or mailed it in, Miss Sharon Jones kept the faith.

Their latest release, "Soul Time, Volume One", was released on Black Friday, and is a great place to start for anyone new to the band. And if you really can't get enough of that funk, set the wayback machine to June of 2010, for a look at the SJDK show at the Wiltern Theater in Los Angeles.

Portishead live

2011-10-19T04:28:00.000-07:00

Portishead
Shrine Expo Center
Los Angeles, CA
18 October, 2011

Portishead, fresh off a triumphant performance at ATP's I'll Be Your Mirror festival in Asbury Park, NJ earlier in the month, brought their show to the Shrine Exposition Center in Los Angeles for the first of a two night stand. The core trio of Geoff Barrow, Beth Gibbons, & Adrian Utley were expanded by a few members for an impressive touring version, that was tough and concise, with a sound mix that left room for shocking noise, but sold out none of the tender nuances.

From the opener "Silence" from 2008's Third, they were firmly in control of the proceedings, unveiling a set that was pretty equally divided between old and new, and the older material didn't seem in performance as far away from the more discordant newer tunes as it may seem with the recorded versions.

The emotional heart of the evening was the trifecta of "Magic Doors" into a breathtaking "Wandering Star", brought back to earth with the grinding "Machine Gun" All in all, a stellar evening in the company of a band that's come firmly into it's own.

Setlist: (courtesy of Setlist.FM)

Silence/Nylon Smile/Mysterons/The Rip/Sour Times/Magic Doors/Wandering Star/Machine Gun Over/Glory Box/Chase The Tear/Cowboys/Threads (encore) Roads/We Carry On

Return of Jens Lekman

2011-10-01T08:09:00.000-07:00

JENS LEKMAN
MASONIC LODGE AT
HOLLYWOOD FOREVER CEMETERY
28 SEPTEMBER, 2011

Jens Lekman returned to Los Angeles in support of his new EP An Argument With Myself, just out on Secretly Canadian domestically, or Service worldwide. His last area appearance was an intimate pool party at the Mondrian Hotel late last year.

This evening was a cozy show at the Masonic Temple in Hollywood Forever Cemetery on Santa Monica Blvd. Sweat dripped in the packed windowless room, the stained glass Masonic eye overhead keeping an eerie check on everyone...

Accompanied by percussionist Addison Rogers from Bloomington IN, he kept it acoustic, save for assists from his Roland 404, and covered a generous portion of his catalogue.

For those unfamiliar, Jens is an observationalist singer/songwriter/raconteur from sweden whose songs spring from the germ of a simple idea, (getting a haircut='shirin', making a picnic lunch for a seaside trip='your arms around me'), before heading out to parts not entirely expected

Highlights: a spare reading of 'Black cab stood above all, after which Lekman murmured that that was the best rendition they'd ever done of that song.

At one point, the stage was invaded by dancing girls, and for all the fun listening to the songs provide, the most exhilarating moments of a Jens show always seem to be when the dance party breaks out.

Evening closer 'I Remember Every Kiss', shorn of the recorded version's symphonic grandeur, brought things to a close with Jens outsinging the original...

Setlist: (courtesy of Setlist.fm)

Intro
An Argument With Myself
Waiting For Kirsten
I Saw Her In The Anti-War Demonstration
A Sweet Summer's Night On Hammer Hill
I Broke Up A Fight
The End of the World is Bigger Than Love
Cowboy Boots
Black Cab
Golden Key
The Opposite Of Hallelujah
That's the Way Love Is
Encore

Sipping On The Sweet Nectar
Every Little Hair
And I Remember Every Kiss

Wild Flag update...

2011-08-04T16:39:00.000-07:00

Wild Flag - Album Trailer from Merge Records on Vimeo.

R.I.P. Amy Winehouse

2011-07-24T00:20:00.000-07:00

Sad news from London today with the passing of Amy Winehouse at 27. While notorious more of late for her lifestyle and tabloid presence, take a moment to remember the talent, that sadly, never got to realize its full potential.

The Amy I'll remember was poised on the cusp of stardom in 2007. These pictures come from her initial Coachella appearance, and she was in fine form: taken aback at the audience packed in the tent just for her, and stoked at having just met Danny DeVito backstage.

Backed by the Dap Kings, she gave a rousing account of songs from 'Back In Black', which went on to move 10M units...followed by a Rolling Stone cover, and an almost paralyzing noteriety, as she tried to find her way through unexpected stardom...

Hamstrung by legal issues and habits that kept derailing her attempted comebacks, including having to scratch a homecoming appearance at Coachella in 2009, (to be replaced by M.I.A.), and a disasterous recent live appearance that gave no credence to the rumors of a new album that was in any given stage of production depending on who one asked.

It's a sad end for someone who helped kick start a whole new wing of British talent, and never got to fully reap the rewards. Hopefully peace awaits her now...

Uncle Malkmus Needs You!

2011-07-15T08:43:00.000-07:00

New Steven Malkmus & Jicks record Mirror Traffic is due out in August, and Matador Records is hosting a neat contest to help Steven find a more appropriate resolution to the line 'What the Senator wants is a blowjob' for the first single 'Senator'...
Put your mind to work, & help Steven find a more FCC appropriate version of the Senator's object of desire. Grand prize is a one-off 7" with your version on the B side!

Dolphy Lives!

2011-07-13T21:15:00.000-07:00

Here's another interesting Kickstarter project that's in its home stretch of seeking funding...A graphic novel based on the life of sax legend Eric Dolphy. Can't wait to see the finished product!

Flaming Lips At Hollywood Forever Cemetery: 'When The Going Gets Weird...'

2011-06-22T14:52:00.000-07:00

Let it be said that I have been to some interesting shows in my time, and just on paper this was ready for the top ten, before it even commenced.

Flaming Lips in a cemetery, what's not to love? I made the 'Soft Bulletin' show, sticking with what was near and dear to my heart, although I do look forward to hearing reports of the second night, where they took on 'Dark Side of the Moon, as only they could...featuring guest appearances from opener Marnie Stern and the one and only Peaches (!).

Night one was all about them, and suspense built through the last minute adjustments and sound checking. Wayne Coyne hit the stage to open the festivities with a thank you to the cemetery, and a warning about the lights, and tips on how to handle a man in a giant orb coming toward you.

From what is now the middle of their catalogue, The Soft Bulletin was a tipping point, when the harsh oddness of their early days wore off, and thanks to an oddball MTV hit, they were faced with actual commercial prospects, and the question became: 'what now?'.

Finding a sympathetic ear in producer Dave Fridman, (who helped transform Mercury Rev's Deserters Songs), they hit the jackpot with a lush, stunning cycle of songs that didn't shy away from the complications of growing older.

Thanks to Jimbo & the Exposure Room, the whole show is available here to view.

Caveats on my videos: the sound overwhelmed my poor camera, being right up front, & see the video above for the whole spectacle, but mine will definitely give you a feel of how special 'right there' was...

Mo' caveats: please be mindful of the first video if you have any strobe related issues...it is after all, The Flaming Lips...The first video, below, is the 'grand entrance', i.e. introducing band members from a giant eyeball, Wayne taking a spin in the hamster ball, i.e. the usual...

Video #2 is the lead track, "Race For The Prize", and as you will witness, is just pure batshit pandemonium...

Highlights from the rest of the set include Wayne borrowing some fake blood from the audience during "The Spark That Bled", and what other audience can you count on being equippped with fake blood?

A touching take on "The Spider Bite Song" gave respect to the core members, the oversized laser-shooting hands made an appearance, and the set peaked with an emotional rendition of "Waitin' For A Superman"...

On stage right, the supporting cast included Interpretive Dance With Light Saber, amongst the characters!

Final note: didn't have much time to poke around Hollywood Forever before the sun went down, but on the way out, I was delighted to trip over the final resting place of none other than Johnny Ramone, which made for a fitting end to an unforgettable evening.

Goodnight Big Man...

2011-06-18T20:57:00.000-07:00

The recent stroke that felled Clarence Clemons, (the Big Man in the E Street Band), proved to be fatal. He was 69. His singular place in the band's mythology helped cement the band's place in rock history. While ill health, (hip & knee issues), slowed him in recent years, and lessened his onstage role, the interplay between he & Springsteen was the rock upon which the band was built.
Rest In Peace, Big Man...

Buffalo Springfield Rides Again...

2011-06-11T08:18:00.000-07:00

Giving power to the phrase 'never say never', after much weeping, wailing, and gnashing of teeth, the passing of two members, and 45 years of water under the bridge, it was with both heady excitement and blind fear that I awaited the return of Buffalo Springfield.

They clocked in for two nights at the Santa Barbara County Bowl this week, in the midst of a handful of California warm up dates, setting the stage for an appearance at Bonnaroo this weekend.

I studiously avoided anything in the way of reviews; figuring just to play it out and hope for the best. Knowing the involvement of Neil Young, a certain amount of faith could be invested that a) the process would not be easy, and b) that his quality control would be in effect. Which ultimately turned out to be the case...the man seems very vested in every part of his legacy, and not only was the Springfield crown brushed off, but one would say burnished. The band only lasted '66-'68 and managed a few records before imploding into acrimony, and never had the advantage of playing shows where the technology matched the talent...

So, this was what had to be put right, and the answer turned out to be a resounding 'Exceeds Expectations'. Like the Pixies reunion, it was driven not wholly by money, or new material, but a chance to shine a light on an unjustly overlooked band, as the setlist reaffirmed. Not only that, but it was done the right way, giving out star turns to the players, but keeping the entire night focused on the unit. The big takeaway was the indelible tightness of the players. In just their sixth official show since returning, the tone was set early on, from the emotionally charged opener "On The Way Home", they slid into "Rock and Roll Woman", Steven Stills and Young trading off solos like it was yesterday, as Neil gruffly observed between songs: "We come from the Past..."

The setlist was well chosen, giving everyone a spotlight, and they made the most of it, from Richie Furay turning "Kind Woman" into a sublime tribute to his 40+ year marriage, to Steven Stills masterwork "For What It's Worth", where his tattered growl showed it's age, but aged like good whiskey. Stills' finest moments might have been when he donned a solid body Gibson and added delicate tonal colorings to the songs. Seeing the songs played gave lie to everyone's subsequent individual celebrity and reinforced the greatness of the band.

As for Neil, two things I never thought I'd see or hear: #1) Neil genuinely laughing & joking onstage, just generally having a blast...and #2) a beautifully arranged version of "Broken Arrow". Wow.

Opening the evening were Gillian Welch and David Rawlings, now with a few shows under their belt after a long hiatus, and they stepped up their game to the big stage. Unfortunately, as an opener, they were treated to the typical Santa Barbara apathy/hospitality, the audience looking to be about 70/30 yakking/engaged. They stepped out in the Nudie suits reserved for special occasions, and battled through a set of the highlights of their catalogue, and near the end, the normally unflappable Rawlings was even moved to observe audibly that: "There's a whole lot of time between the bands to talk..." After the set closer, "Revelator", they still had some time, and had the sound crew amp up the reverb, and pitched headlong into a noisy cover of Jefferson Airplane's "White Rabbit", thoroughly drowning out intended conversations...Which, ironically, earned them a standing ovation from the pit in front of the stage, most of whom had spent the show talking...Hmmm.

Programming note: lack of supporting media with this screed will be explained by the humble sign. My guess is that the shows were being recorded, as another sign stressed that after the show started, no one would be seated for two songs, and then only in between songs. For the main event, it certainly brought a hall ambiance to the great outdoors, and people, for the most part, complied with the cell phone photo restrictions.

It was a night to remember for all, and apparently the experiment worked, because word has come down that they'll be adding more dates in the fall. It's so nice to have them back, and I'm looking forward to reading about their reception at Bonnaroo.

On the Way Home
Rock & Roll Woman
Burned
.A Child's Claim to Fame
Do I Have to Come Right Out and Say It
Go and Say Goodbye
I Am a Child
Hot Dusty Roads
Kind Woman
Mr. Soul
Nowadays Clancy Can't Even Sing
Everybody's Wrong
My Kind of Love
Sad Memory
Bluebird
(encore) Broken Arrow
For What It's Worth
Rockin' In The Free World

Anna Calvi, Troubador, LA

2011-06-10T08:56:00.000-07:00

Anna Calvi made her Los Angeles debut Tuesday night at The Troubador, the last leg on her first North American jaunt. With only a single and January's LP behind her, set list wasn't really the question, just order of songs.

Drama was the operative word here, with Mally Harpaz, (percussion, harmonium, guitar), and Daniel Maiden-Wood (drums), filling out the trio. They essayed the twists and turns of the tunes, bringing to life a sound that seems to tap equally from the blues and Morricone...Like early Kills, it's a soundtrack for films yet to be made, and in it's finest moments, out there in David Lynch territory.

The sound was lush and loud, and from the opening instrumental of
"Rider To The Sea", Anna Calvi was in command, half visible in the dark shadows of the stage as light slowly leaked out, illuminating the proceedings. Straight into "No More Words", where she showed a great command of dynamics, dropping to a whisper and forcing the crowd to quiet. You could feel people leaning forward, engaged. Without pause, she let rip "Suzanne & I", scaling back up the heights of volume, concluding the opening trio of songs with admirable poise.

While "Desire" got the most crowd response, high point of the set was a sassy, controlled take on the Elvis chestnut, "Surrender", with a close second being a showstopping take on the first single, Edith Piaf's "Jezebel".

All in all, a night to remember, and a nice conclusion to a trip in which Ms. Calvi made some waves. Originally scheduled to debut in March at SXSW, an unfortunate arm injury caused her to delay the U.S. journey.
Before her departure, time was found for a pop-in to the Morning Becomes Eclectic show on KCRW, who sponsored the Troubador show...Catch up here with a live in studio take on "Desire", and don't forget KCRW at pledge time!

Just Gimme Indie Rock!

2011-06-10T08:52:00.000-07:00

Thinking Inside The Box...

2011-06-04T08:31:00.000-07:00

The devaluation of music has recently reached a new low, what with Amazon pimping the entire new Lady Gaga LP for just .99 in a recent two day release special...And one can say it worked, shifting 1.2M 'units' in its first week, 600K of which were digital, & who knows how many of those were the .99 variety, because, along with paying taxes, Amazon is not fond of releasing sales numbers. Looks like the 'Opening Weekend' box office mind set is taking over what's left of the music biz...

But we come here today to dwell on the opposite, to celebrate 'value per dollar', and examine the last vestige of quality in the industry, the Deluxe Box Set! (or, the insane money grab from suckers like me, but fill in your own...)

So far this year, I've fallen for four ventures that fall into the DeeLux category...Here's the breakdown for the morbidly curious in order received, not, (ahem Radiohead), order ordered:

Decemberists: The King Is Dead comes in a lavish cloth box, (Bogart came separately), and includes: one LP on white vinyl no less, a hardcover book with session polaroids done by Autumn De Wilde as well as the CD and the bonus Pendarvia short film on DVD, a print by Carson Ellis, (wife of Colin Meloy), as well as one of the actual polaroids done by Ms. De Wilde.

That they did this under the eye of Capitol Records might be the craziest thing of all. The album itself, featuring guest spots from Peter Buck (R.E.M.) and Gillian Welch, asserts itself as one of their most musically cohesive collections, and if rumors having it to be their last are correct, the beauty and work that went into this box set are an impressive monument to leave behind.

Los Campesinos! have taken an entirely different turn with the first issue of Heat Rash. Their latest endeavor is a quarterly 'zine to fill in the gaps between records, and provide a more literary experience than blogs & files.

On the left is a 7" single of two new songs that will stand alone from the new album, recorded last month and being mixed as we speak. On the right is Heat Rash #1, (the Romance issue), full of lyrics, band poetry, essays, recipes, and closing words from Neil Gaiman!

Okkervil River went all the way with their newest effort, I Am So Very Far in every sense. Their box set, (which came before the CD street date-yay Jagjaguwar), lives up to the name, arriving in a wooden box!

Said wooden box contains: CD, bonus songs/demos on 7'' single, bound hardcover chapbook of lyrics, poster, laser cut cover art from William Schaff, (longtime affiliate of the band), and a signed letter from Will Sheff...

The main event, I Am Very Far, is stretched over three sides of vinyl, the fourth given over to a laser etching of Schaff's artwork. Very cool.

Worth the wait, Radiohead's King Of Limbs (newspaper LP edition) finally arrived after much weeping, wailing, and gnashing of teeth. Heeding to their In Rainbows random announcement here it is strategy, they notified the world, released the download a week later, then we who ordered the physical package settled in for The Wait. Like the music itself, it's no so much understated as distilled.
Not overflowing with a million goodies, but it does contain the newspaper, the cd, the traditional out of control artwork, and the LP done as two ten inch clear vinyls, mastered at 45rpm, and it sure does sound swell.

What i haven't fallen for yet, although truth be told I had one in a cart and backed off at the last minute, is what might be the piece de resistance of all of the above...Only the Flaming Lips would conjure up the idea of a gummy life size skull enclosing a USB drive with new music. If you wondered exactly how Wayne Coyne would top last years tour posters done in part with his own blood, well, let this be your answer...

And we can't close without mentioning the continued food works of Mr. Jack White, whose latest endeavor is the Third Man Records Rolling Record Store, a mobile truck equipped equally to sell records, merch, and whose custom sound system allows it to do gigs on the go! Someday i'll run into this wonder on wheels, and I will be taking pictures.

Even with the industry in a state of flux, it's nice to know that there's folks out there doing things a little differently...

Highway of Dreams: Gillian Welch/David Rawlings In Big Sur

2011-06-01T20:54:00.001-07:00

Memorial Day field trip saw me working my way down (not up...long story) Highway One...Destination: The Henry Miller Library. Shows at the Miller Lib. are always special, sitting outdoors in the courtyard, surrounded by pines...nice alternative to the usual club or small theater.

Headlining was the inimitable Gillian Welch and her trusty aide de camp David Rawlings, kicking off their first official tour in many a moon, a perfect spot for an intimate warmup to shake off the dust and rust. Her new album, The Harrow And The Harvest, will be out 28 June.

The Welch/Rawlings team has become our own Alt/Country comet, appearing irregularly and burning brightly...

It was a stellar evening, broken up into two sets, drawn from all her albums, with a spotlight song given to David Rawlings in each set and a tantalizing taste of the new LP.

Despite the long gap between LP's (8 years now), and infrequent touring, the magic is still there, and the most fun part of the evening was watching that chemistry and love of playing on display, and the few glitches actually had their own charm for the grace and self deprecating way in which they were covered.

Highlight of the first set was the *new song*, (above), which for the sake of argument we'll call "Throw Me A Rope", and stand corrected when the LP comes out. This would be the very same song that was hushed a rowdy Coachella audience in 2007, one of their best, and it's nice to see that it's finally coming out officially.

After a brief intermission, the second set kicked off with "My First Lover", included another precious new song, and hit its peak with a stunning rendition of "Revelator", always a showstopper.

Dipped into covers for the encore, essaying Townes Van Zandt's "Pancho & Lefty, the chestnut "I'll Fly Away", and finishing the night with the harrowing "Long Black Veil".

At work that morning, I happened on a Buffalo Nickel, what i took to be an omen for the day to come, and in the company of Welch and Rawlings, it was a welcome trip back to, as Greil Marcus put it, the Old Weird America...

Final note: Not only are Welch and Rawlings undertaking their own tour, but on a string of the dates they'll be opening for the long anticipated Buffalo Springfield reunion.

GILLIAN WELCH/DAVID RAWLINGS
HENRY MILLER LIBRARY, BIG SUR, CA
30 MAY, 2011

Orphan Girl/Make Me A Pallet On Your Floor/Rock Of Ages/Dear Someone/I Want To Sing That Rock & Roll/Elvis Presley Blues/*Throw Me A Rope (new)/Ruby/Red Clay Halo
(intermission)
My First Lover/No One Knows My Name/Wayside-Back In Time/*The Way That It Goes (new)/Revelator/Sweet Tooth/Look At Miss Ohio/Caleb Meyer
Encore: Pancho & Lefty/I'll Fly Away/Long Black Veil

Thoughts on Gil Scott-Heron...

2011-05-28T21:02:00.000-07:00

The wound of his passing is too raw and fresh at this point, and the salient facts of his life will be better told in other places, (NPR for instance), but I need to take a minute to spin some thoughts on the late Gil Scott-Heron.

If you're new to the party, you might start with this great show from NYC's Bottom Line in '77, (courtesy of the always reliable Aquarium Drunkard blog). Make a date with YouTube, and you can get up to speed very quickly.

In short, he was our beacon in that time before hip hop, if one can imagine such a thing, and when it turned out that hip hop might not necessarily be keeping all of its promises, he found a second wind, and came back again to remind us of what was important.

As seems to always be the case, as soon as he was back in business, Life made other plans for him.

'I'm New Here', (XL Recordings from 2010), was only 30 minutes long, but fraught with the detail of a life lived hard, and was a deeper biography in that short time than the many hundred pages tomes that clog the shelves today.

The voice aged from smooth and supple to cracked but still authoritative, and most nights the skies are cloudy, but every now and then the clouds will part, and I'll see that particular star, the one that makes the vastness feel a little less lonely...

GIL SCOTT-HERON (1949-2011)

Wall of Noise: No Joy live

2011-05-20T19:40:00.000-07:00

NO JOY
Muddy Waters,
Santa Barbara, CA
03 May, 2011

No Joy (from Montreal) made an appearance at the homey Muddy Waters in Santa Barbara, taking the opening slot for the Vivian Girls. They wasted no time, blowing right into what might be their strongest song, the title track of the LP, Ghost Blonde (released last November on Mexican Summer).
From there, they proceeded to ratchet up the energy, with no time wasted on small talk, just the exhilerating wall of noise that they conjured up.

Before you knew it, they were unplugging guitars and coiling up cables, while the crowd stood stunned.
Their work here was done.

I've been over it in my head a few times since, and rarely have i seen an opening band totally control a crowd with such a concentrated burst. Truly look forward to seeing them in the future.

Sidenote: Curious how many miles the trusty van w/Quebec plates (parked behind the drummer) has logged...

&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://nojoy.bandcamp.com/track/heedless"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;Heedless by No Joy&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;

Mudhoney!

2011-05-05T22:03:00.001-07:00

MUDHONEY
THE ADOLESCENTS
WHITE FLAG
ECHOPLEX, LA 01 MAY, 2011
It was a gathering of the tribes for Mudhoney at the Echoplex (beneath the Echo) on a Sunday night that history will remember for a whole lot more...

White Flag opened the proceedings, dialing it back to the early '80's in both spirit and execution, turning in a hearty set of loud fast rules...

The Adolescents filled the middle with an intense set of more political minded, but just as spiky tunes, very well played.

For the main event, Mudhoney spread the love across their whole catalogue, not stinting on their major songs, but seeming to pull something from all of their albums. Speaking of turning the clocks back, they've lost none of their fire, and the pace was relentless...

Turnout was not all it could have been, with plenty of walking room in the back, especially considering the depth & breadth of the bill, and the lack of bodies packed in gave the sound an extra wobble, but the band perservered, and everything that went into the grinder came out Mudhoney.

Setlist (courtesy of the Mudhoney page linked above):
You Got it, Suck You Dry, Inside Job, This Gift, Into the Drink, F.D.K., Hard-on for War, When Tomorrow Hits/In 'N' Out of Grace, Sweet Young Thing, Judgment Rage..., No One Has, Good Enough, Touch Me I'm Sick, The Open Mind, The Lucky Ones, Next Time, I'm Now, Tales of Terror
Encore: Sonic Infusion, Who You Drivin' Now?, Hate the Police, Fix Me
Notes: They drop 'Blinding Sun,' from the encore because Steve has been ripping up his fingers playing it the previous two nights.

Gang's All Here: Broken Social Scene live

2011-04-24T09:33:00.000-07:00

BROKEN SOCIAL SCENE VENTURA THEATER 19 APRIL 2011

Fresh off the heels of their Coachella performance, and a special fan club show at the Masonic Lodge at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery, Broken Social Scene found the time to drift north and grace the Ventura Theater.

Australia's 'Black Rider did the opening honors, acquitting the selves well, and setting the stage for what was to come. Sales must have been soft, for the balcony was closed, and the downstairs was curtained off. Sad to see, but the faithful that were there more than made up for numbers with their enthusiasm.

Like Bright Eyes, Broken Social Scene to me is as much a personal vice as a band. I don't interact with a lot of fans of either, and it's always fascinating to see the makeup of the audience at the shows...

Brendan Canning was back to being his usual unflappable self, recovered from the bug that he fought gamely in last years May appearance at the Wiltern in LA.

Kevin Drew settled into his role as MC for the evening, likening, (and not wrongly), the old theater to a high school gym, and keeping the proceedings in order.

They led off with a spirited charge through tunes from last year's Forgiveness Rock Record, and kept the spotlight on that stellar effort for the most part, but leavened the set with cuts from 2005's self titled record, and the highlight of the evening: a charged and dynamic reading of "Cause/Time" from You Forgot It In People.

Altogether an excellent night among old friends that felt like your favorite worn but welcome hoodie...

Putting the War in Warfield: PJ Harvey live in S.F.

2011-04-21T18:05:00.000-07:00

She came, She saw, She conquered...
PJ Harvey, backed by longtime cohorts Mick Harvey & John Parish, laid the ground for their Coachella appearance with a warmup date at the Warfield Theater in San Francisco.

True to her lightly touring form, this was one of only four US dates supporting this record. (White Chalk from 2007 was honored with only NY & LA dates.) The crowd seemed to savor the rarity of the occasion, and were primed and ready to go. As the time approached, the intensity at the edge of the stage was near unbearable.
(Sacrificing cigarettes and restroom for pole position had no impact on this, of course...)
It's always interesting to see what tweaks Harvey has made in her sets, always striving to move in a different direction, setting up new challenges and fearlessly staring them down. This time, like her current LP Let England Shake, she primarily wielded an autoharp, ditching it occasionally for a guitar. Vocally, she remained mostly in the higher register, making the impact of her guttural vocals on the older material all the more jarring.

She managed to perform the new album, not in order, but in it's entirety, dipping into her back catalogue to break it up, including songs from Stories From The City, Stories From The Sea and To Bring You My Love, among others.

Final observation: perhaps the most enjoyable part of the show was the transformation of the new songs to a live setting and the integration of the band, (Parish in particular), giving an added measure of power, and highlighting the strengths of their lasting collaboration.

Let England Shake, for the uninitiated, is a sutite of sometimes seething, sometimes claustrophobic lullabies on the horrors of war, set to simple tunes, kept off kilter by thoughtfully chosen samples or lyrical references, ranging from Niney The Observer to Eddie Cochran. The force of her personality stamps it all unmistakably as her own.

One of the more prescient reviews on the LP by Ann Powers (for the LA Times...she's now with NPR), noted the singalong qualities of the songs as a strength, and the stage brought those words to life.

NPR has kindly made the show available as "Let San Francisco Shake: PJ Harvey In Concert"

Neko Case & 826: Last Chance!!!

2011-03-16T22:08:00.000-07:00

Neko Case's co-star on the cover of her last LP, Middle Cyclone, is today's topic of interest. To benefit the good works of 826 National, Neko has donated her beloved wheels, (which she named "Angie Dickinson"), for the raffle that has been dubbed the "Mercury Cougar-Rama Muscle Car ‘Splosion".

Today is your very last chance to obtain this bitchin' 67 Mercury Cougar...That would be 5pm Pacific time on 17 March, 2011. Operators are standing by.

A game of chance is always a risky thing, and some of you are more daring than others. The main thrust of this piece, and the raffle, is to sound the horn for the work of the 826 family, and its increasing importance in this time of shrinking education funding.

To wit, the foundation focuses on kids writing skills through workshops, tutoring, student publishing, field trips, and more. Spurred by author Dave Eggers, (A Heartbreaking Work Of Staggering Genius, etc), 826 Valencia in San Francisco was the original outpost, funded in part by the adjoining pirate supply store!, that has grown into a nationwide organization. If you do nothing more than hit the links, learn about them, and maybe even do the 'like' thing, for those of you who are Facebook inclined, then I would consider that a victory.

Me, (vroom vroom), I'm a gambling man...

newmuzik: Okkervil River/Kills

2011-03-16T18:59:00.000-07:00

"Wake Up & Be Fine" is the first taste of I Am Very Far, Okkervil River's new LP that is slated for a 10 May release on Jagjaguwar. They will be on the road this summer with opener Titus Andronicus, in what might be one of the better dollar for dollar values in touring this summer. Look for a report here from their late June show at the Wiltern Theater in LA.

Also, Alison Mosshart has finished with her Dead Weather dabbling and rejoined the fold (partner Jamie Hince)...Domino Records is kindly providing The Kills: 'DNA' ,from their forthcoming LP, Blood Pressures, due in April.

Still Tilting Windmills: Gang of Four live

2011-03-04T18:54:00.000-08:00

Gang Of Four Fonda Music Box 21 Feb 2011
Gang of Four put an exclamation point on their return to action with a fiery show at the Fonda Music Box. Augmented by a fresh rhythm section, they kept the flag flying, and gave plenty of space to their new LP, Content, dropping the new songs into a set that otherwise leaned on their first two albums heavily. The good news is that for the most part, the new songs held up to the old, which is no mean feat.

Original stalwarts Jon King and Andy Gill were in fine form throughout. King's spastic stage presence held the audience throughout, and Gill rose to the occasion. He contributed to the highlights of the evening with his patented guitar terrorism on 'Anthrax', and an emotional take on 'Paralysed', often overshadowed in their catalogue, but still relevant today.

'To Hell With Poverty' was an emotional highpoint of the set, and they finally said adieu to the sweat drenched masses, rocking 'Damaged Goods' on their second encore.

While not up to the emotional sledgehammer of their 2005 reunion show at Coachella, it was more forward focused, and more musically sound, with the core members continuing to give 110%.

Setlist:
1) You'll Never Pay For The Farm 2) Not Great Men 3) Ether 4) I Parade Myself 5) Paralysed 6) A Fruitfly In The Beehive 7) Anthrax 8) It Was Never Gonna Turn Out Too Good 9) What We All Want 10) Why Theory? 11) We Live As We Dream Alone 12) To Hell With Poverty 13) Do As I Say
14) I Love A Man In Uniform 15) Return The Gift 16) He'd Send In The Army
17) I Party All The Time 18) Damaged Goods
(courtesy of setlist.fm)

Hollerado, by way of Montreal, won over a lot of hearts with their straight forward energetic set. Definitely a band worth investigating...

Beach House Live: Entering The Void

2011-02-23T22:05:00.000-08:00

Beach House seems to be one of those all or nothing propositions. My friends, by and large, don't Abide, so for me, they're a private vice. A hard thing to quantify, it's all about the atmosphere they capture. On this second of two sold out nights at the Fonda Music Box in LA, one thing apparent is how far they've come as a live band in the last few years...

The night seemed to be a bittersweet farewell to Teen Dream, the LP they've spent the last full year supporting. It blew up beyond anyone's expectations, and was a staple of many top ten lists. Now it appears a well earned break is in the offing, and it will be interesting to see where they musically go to next...

Holding down opening duties admirably were The Papercuts, (from San Francisco), whose new LP Fading Parade has just come out on Sub Pop.

Their fuzzy dream pop was the perfect table setter for Beach House, and added to an unforgettable evening.

For more on The Papercuts, see below...

Radiohead Releases The Hounds...

2011-02-18T03:01:00.000-08:00

'Lotus Flower' is the first video from the new LP The King Of Limbs, and as it so happens, that download code is effective right now!!!

Decemberists: Wiltern Theater 12 Feb 11

2011-02-14T18:00:00.000-08:00

Saturday night heralded a sold out Wiltern Theater for the return of the Decemberists. Aided by Sara Watkins (Nickel Creek), they opened with the perhaps predictable, but always satisfying "Los Angeles, I'm Yours", and once the crowd was safely in the palm of their hands, never looked back through an engaging set weighted heavily on the new LP, The King Is Dead, stripped down and tailor made for live shows.

Colin Meloy was a lively host, funning on his intros, and rueing the perception of The Hazards Of Love being too overwrought.

They capped the set with an extended 'Sixteen Military Wives' that started with Meloy grabbing an audience member's camera, and taking some shots they'll surely never forget, then devolved into a glorious singalong.

Highlights below were a beautiful take on "Grace Cathedral Hill", and a rousing version of "This Is Why We Fight".

Opening the show was the enchanting Mountain Man, three young ladies from Vermont who offered an acapella mountain music feast, occasionally adding some guitar for more color. Made The Harbor is their debut on Partisan Records.

Arcade Fire: Graduation Time...

2011-02-14T09:44:00.000-08:00

Was the bigger suprise Arcade Fire taking the Record of the Year Grammy, (especially after losing to The Black Keys in the Alternative catagories), or the sound of thousands of hipsters gulping and realizing that there might be an iota of relevancy in those Grammys after all? Or perhaps all the pissed off mainstream types who didn't seem to be cognizant of a group that hit the top ten with it's second record and went #1 with it's third. Does that just speak more to how easily people can get lost in their own niche? A few amusing moments can be had with the Tumbler: 'Who Is Arcade Fire".

After a week of driving their hardcore fanbase mad with convoluted teasings about a secret show in LA, they appeared at the Ukranian Culture Center, to the delight of those who camped out overnight at three locations in the LA area, (including Origami Vinyl in Echo Park-those folks most assuredly earned their tickets).

Fittingly, it was said that they walked into the Grammy press room singing 'Pomp & Circumstance'. Graduation time, indeed, and in the words of Jack White, they "now belong to the world..."

Radiohead strikes again...

2011-02-14T09:19:00.000-08:00

Seems like just a year ago, (January 2011), Radiohead was in LA doing some recording. And then...nothing. Until this morning that is, when upon waking to shake off the Grammy hangover, one was greeted with frothing on the internets.

"The King Of Limbs" will be available Saturday 19th Feb as a download, and the deluxe vinyl version will follow in May. Download is 320K MP3 or WAV file, Deluxe is 2 clear 10" vinyl, cd, artwork & choice of download file, and it's billed as 'perhaps the first Newspaper Album'. Hmmm, we shall see...

Rough But Right...Sebadoh live

2011-02-08T10:25:00.000-08:00

Sebadoh kicked off their tour last night in Santa Barbara at the Velvet Jones, throwing down a set the focused mostly on 'Bakesale' & 'Harmacy'.

Lou Barlow & Jason Loewenstein were in good form, trading instruments for each others songs, fighting a sometimes ragged mix while falling back on the goodwill of an eager audience.

Barlow seemed winded after a sparkling take on 'Ocean', noting "That song sure had a lot of words..."

With Bob sitting in on drums, (on loan from The Fiery Furnaces), the set alternated between cruise control and willing themselves forward. At sets end they were called back for a well-earned encore, admitted that they had only learned 30 songs for the tour, but managed to find a few more.

All in all, a fun start to a tour that will surely tighten up as the dates progress. Looking forward to a progress check in LA at the end of the month.

Final Top Ten! (Guilts & Regrets...)

2010-12-27T19:35:00.000-08:00

File under: 'Only so many minutes in the day...', but now that the Lists are over, the one most occupying my time is the 'How The Hell Did I Not Buy That Yet?' list...Scary part is that I think all of these could have comfortably found a spot in my year end parade...sigh.

10) JONSI: Go
9) ABE VIGODA: Crush
8) PERFUME GENIUS: Learning
7) *NATIONAL: High Violet
6) BLACK KEYS: Brothers
5) *WALKMEN: Lisbon
4) MASSIVE ATTACK: Heligoland
3) TED LEO & PHARMACISTS: The Brutalist Bricks
2) THERMALS: Personal Life
1) FLYING LOTUS: Cosmogramma

* Bought within last two weeks...I'm trying! (Like the Walkmen, National is a grower-very strong)

b/o 2010: part two (10-1)

2010-12-20T19:45:00.000-08:00

At long last, here we go with the final ten!

10) LOS CAMPESINOS! Romance Is Boring
Adulthood is here for LC!, wherein they continue the transition away from their twee beginnings, finding a happy medium between that and their noisier inclinations.

Saying goodbye to old members and ringing in the new, it's a microcosm of all our lives...

9) TEENAGE FANCLUB Shadows
Ornette Coleman once told us that "Beauty Is A Rare Thing", a phrase that occurs to me every time I hear this record.

It's a luminescent, jangly wonder-song for song as strong as most any record this year, and somehow overlooked in most places.

Along with the Superchunk record, it was hailed (ironically) as a return to form, but it was the listener that went away, not the band...

8) NO AGE Everything In Between
One of the leading prongs of a music scene from Los Angeles, the likes of which hasn't been seen since the heyday of X, Los Lobos, and The Blasters in the 80's, No Age moves forward and stakes its claim to forward motion with "Everything In Between".

Adding a new member could upset a delicate balance, but the band just keeps growing, adding new shades of sound, while sacrificing none of their grinding power.

Bonus points for the sterling vinyl edition, which comes with a 12X12 attached photo book...Years best vinyl packaging, hands down.

7) SUFJAN STEVENS The Age Of Adz
The floodgates opened in 2010 for Sufan, starting with the "All Delighted Peoples" EP, which I was only just coming to grips with, when, behold-up shows this behemoth on the doorstep.

Seeing his show really helped crystallize the record, and bring new appreciation to parts that could have been overwhelmed by the whole.
Best example being "Futile Devices", the opening track that seems almost a red herring as to what is to come...
Delicate & spare, it's Sufjan haiku and in very short time, lays out the adventure that is the rest of the record.
As for the 25 minute closer "Impossible Soul"...good luck with that!

6) ARCADE FIRE The Suburbs
It's so easy for a buzz band to quickly get swallowed and disappear in the whirlpool of the internet, which makes the splash Arcade Fire made this year all the more impressive.

Sprawling & impassioned, they deliver the goods with some of their greatest songs to date...the title track, "We Used To Wait", and both "Sprawls" move mountains.

Side note: make sure you hunt down the video experience that is "We Used To Wait"...

5) TITUS ANDRONICUS The Monitor
Titus Andronicus takes a template of rock influences that could sideways in a hurry in the wrong hands, and thoroughly makes it their own in this ambitious Civil War cum New Jersey economic downfall parable.

It swings from the beginning to the 14 minute marathon closer, "The Battle of Hampton Roads"

More bagpipes!!!

4) JANELLE MONAE The Archandroid

Kanye West most assuredly won the battle of the 'column inches' this year, but for my money, years down the road, this would be the album we're reminiscing about...

Ambitious to a fault, and self assured swing through a variety of styles, this will stand as her 'Dirty Mind'...The moment when everything came together into one irresistable package.

3) SPOON Transference

According to Spoon themselves, this self produced followup to 'Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga' represents "us at our Spooniest".

And as cryptic as it may sound, that is precisely what's going on here. Screwed down tighter, then knocked sideways-this is the band at their brutal best...Even throwing in a ballad.

Any album released in January that i'm still playing at the end of the year...let that say it all.

2) BEACH HOUSE Teen Dream

I scoffed when people were touting this as the album of the year in early January, mostly on principle, and overcame that to actually get the record and digest it.

And digest it. However misguided 'they' were in form, 'they' hit the mark on content. This album never went away from my brain.

Innocuous on the first few listens, but absolutely riveting the more you peel back the layers-the very definition of a 'grower'...Beach House has truly come into their own with "Teen Dream".

1) BESNARD LAKES The Besnard Lakes Are The Roaring Night
Deep, haunting, and sonically beguiling collection from the Montreal collective that consolidated the finest points of 'The Besnard Lakes Are The Dark Horse', and weaved an album long tapestry of blissful, sometimes discordant rock.

One of the best examples of this top ten's recurring theme: the importance of the album. These tracks shine when they come up in a random mix, but their power is truly unleashed when you go back to front...Simply a stunning piece of work.

2011 preview: Already looking forward to new PJ Harvey, Decemberists, Okkervil River, and Anna Calvi...Merry Christmas everyone!

Favorite Songs 2010

2010-12-19T18:02:00.000-08:00

For those with numerical list fixations, here's my favorite songs from the year past...
10) ALOE BLACC "Femme Fatale"
9) LONELADY "Fear No More"
8) SUFJAN STEVENS "Futile Devices"
7) BESNARD LAKES "Chicago Train"
6) BEACH HOUSE "Ten Mile Stereo"
5) WARPAINT "Lissie's Heart Murmur"
4) SPOON "Out Go The Lights"
3) SUPERCHUNK "Hot Tubes"
2) TEENAGE FANCLUB "When I Still Have Thee"
1) LOS CAMPESINOS! "The Sea Is A Good Place To Think Of The Future"

Here's a playlist of what rocked my world in 2010...
itun.es/iFf2kt

b/o 2010: pt I (25-11)

2010-12-12T20:20:00.000-08:00

Looking for a predominant theme in my world, at least, it has been the Year Of Merge, comfortably placing four albums in the top 25, notching their first #1 album in Billboard, and topping it off with the resurgence of label founders McCaughan & Ballance's own band Superchunk, it has certainly been a year to remember for the Little Indie That Could...

The subtext would be: 'The Long Tail Rules...' Years from now, I suspect I'll look back on this time as being as much of a watershed as the early '90's, in terms of depth of releases. The List has been very tough to narrow down the last few years, and it's been a bonanza of great music. Last year tilted heavily towards veterans, this year seems more of a mix.

Without furthur ado:
#25) NEW PORNOGRAPHERS: Together
Carl Newman and the gang bring it on home for 'Together', sharpening the songs, and adding the special bonus of a tour that included, (at some stops), all the original cohorts.

A pure pop extravaganza from the Canadian supergroup...

Key tracks: "Silver Jenny Dollar" and "Your Hands (Together)"

#24) VASELINES: Sex With An X
Any decade that has a Vaselines record can't be all bad. Wonder of wonders, 2010 saw the gang drop 'Sex With An X', dress up as a priest and nun in their video, and hit the road in style for a U.S. tour, while maintaining their bellicose goodness on record.

"I Hate The 80's" will serve as the statement on misguided nostalgia, and the final track, "Exit The Vaselines" closes another chapter.

Utterly unpredictable, and joyously bitter, that's our Vaselines!

#23) WARPAINT: The Fool
Long strange trip from the LA underground to this, their debut album. Intense and atmospheric, they could be the dark horse of the strongest LA musical scene in the last 25 years...

Key tracks: "Undertow" & "Lissie's Heart Murmur"

#22) SERENA MANEESH: S-M2: Abyss In B Minor
Tired of waiting for that My Bloody Valentine record that's hell bent on putting 'Chinese Democracy' to shame? Well, have I got something for you, or the noise rock fan in your life...They don't call it "Abyss In B Minor" for nothing!

Surprisingly tuneful, and always rocking new entry from Serena Maneesh that never really left the turntable all year long...

Key tracks: "I Just Want To See Your Face" & "D.I.W.S.W.T.T.D"

#21) BROKEN BELLS: Broken Bells
Danger Mouse continues his hot streak, this time picking up Shins frontman James Mercer for an album of dark pop bliss.

Branching off his recent work with the Black Keys and Beck, it's a deep record that rewards every new listen...

Key tracks: "The High Road" & "The Ghost Inside"

#20) SUN KIL MOON: Admiral Fell Promises
Dark cryptic record that poses as many questions as it answers...Perhaps not the greatest gateway to Kozelek's work, but at the same time a portal for a subset who might never have come across his previous work.

Stark insular take on the ususal Kozelek tales of people and the road, done all on one nylon string guitar. What at first could sound samey becomes a hypnotic trance...

Key tracks: "Half Moon Bay" & "Third & Seneca"

#19) SCOUT NIBLETT: The Calcination Of Scout Niblett
What might win the takeaway prize for cover of the year, the enigmatic photo only serves to enhance the spookiness within. A great grueling guitar album for those who bemoan the lack of such things in today's environment.

Key tracks: "Calcination" & "Just Do It".

#18) QUASI: American Gong
Really don't know when Janet Weiss finds the time, but Quasi steps back into the limelight with their strongest and most assured record to date.

A genuine rock and roll blast!

Key tracks: "Bye Bye Blackbird" & "Death Is Not The End".

#17) BEST COAST: Crazy For You
Simple stories of a woman, her cat, her boy problems, and her weed, or the lack thereof, set to fuzz blasted Spector tones...What indeed, is not to love?

Key tracks: "Our Deal" & "When I'm With You".

#16) ALOE BLACC: Good Things
Aloe Blacc runs over the sophomore slump with 'Good Things', an assured followup to his bedroom treasure debut 'Shining Through'...

Key tracks: "I Need A Dollar", which got some great exposure as the theme to an HBO show, and his reinvention of the Velvet Underground's "Femme Fatale".

#15) SHARON JONES & THE DAP KINGS: I Learned The Hard Way
SJ&DK return with an album perfectly pitched to these trying times...'I Learned The Hard Way' is bloodied but unbowed look at the state of things in the here and now, personally and politically.

The band is in as fine shape as ever, and enterprising late night show hosts should take notice: if there's one band that could possibly give the Roots a run for it's money as the default house band, the Dap Kings would be the one.

Key tracks: title track, "The Game Gets Old".

#14) BROKEN SOCIAL SCENE: Forgiveness Rock Record
Broken Social Scene return with their first LP in five years, a sprawling beautiful mess of a record that holds up to repeated listening...

Drew and Canning have dropped some of their most cohesive tunes, and it stands as a breakthrough record for them.

Key tracks: "World Sick", "All To All", "Art House Director", & "Texico Bitches".

#13) GRINDERMAN: Grinderman 2
Building on the dirty ass rock & roll of their debut, Grinderman 2 ups the ante with more assured songcraft, while not sacrificing the edge.

In places, the line between Grinderman and the mothership Bad Seeds is not erased, but certainly blurred. As long as Nick Cave is at the helm, though, you know what you're going to get...

Key tracks: "Heathen Child", "Mickey Mouse & The Goodbye Man", "Evil"

Bonus Points: Amazing remixes are available, including "Worm Tamer" as done by A Place To Bury Strangers, and "Super Heathen Child", featuring Mr. Robert Fripp.

#12) LONELADY: Nerve Up
Amazingly assured debut LP that builds on wired post punk rhythms but coalesces into a beauty all its own...

Key tracks: title track, "Marble", & "Cattletears".

#11) SUPERCHUNK: Majesty Shredding
Heart warming return from North Carolina quartet with their first full album in nine years. Dial is firmly wrenched up to 11, and their energy level throughout shames bands half their age.
Followed by a series of blistering performances that left many a poor aging hipster all pogoed out.

Key tracks: "Fractures In Plaster", "Learned To Surf", & "Everything At Once".

Post script: 11 & 12 were the hardest things to kick out of my top ten, & led to much weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth.

Mea Culpa: Albums that I haven't got to yet that would probably be very listworthy: Joanna Newsom's 'Have One On Me', and Gil Scott Heron's 'I'm New Here'...

'Prisoners need not apply': Grinderman live

2010-12-11T16:35:00.000-08:00

Ending a quick US jaunt in service of "Grinderman 2", Nick Cave brought Grinderman to LA. Essentially a scaled down Bad Seeds tuned quartet-style to the key of filthy rock'n'roll.

Grinderman is Cave, Warren Ellis on violin and guitar, and the rhythm section of Martin Casey & Jim Sclavunos.

The enigmatic Armen Ra opened the evening with his theremin, doing a proper job of setting an unsettling tone for the proceedings.

Warren Ellis in full flight...

Grinderman hit the stage promptly, and unleashed their trademark noise, quickly adjusting to the eccentricities of the house sound system, then pushing it to overload levels.

To watch these guys in any of their configurations is always a joy, and the stripped down setting worked perfectly in a smaller venue. It's interesting to note that a performer of Cave's caliber, that controls the room completely, is something of an endangered species these days...

The finest example of said control came towards the close of their set, during the frustration anthem 'No Pussy Blues', from their first album.

Cave leered through the verses, setting up the story of the man who would do anything for his dearest, but not in turn receive the one thing he was looking for...
As the band lurched into the bridge, he held up his hands and clapped out a simple beat, then repeated it. The crowd took it up, then Cave dropped out the band and the whole room echoed with only clapping...

The band blitzed into the chorus, and the house levitated...Such a simple trick proved so brutally effective, and a welcome antidote to eons of hapless singalongs...
A reminder, once again, that no matter the configuration, their are few bands working at this level...

"Please Bring The Flag"

2010-11-27T19:08:00.000-08:00

Ever since the ill.fated Blind Faith experience, music critics have scampered to apply the tag, rightfully or not, of supergroup to any conglomeration of musicians with a previous track record, however dubious. Also, what exactly is the line when a 'side project' becomes a 'supergroup'...
Wild Flag is the newest recipient of said tag, & while its members priors certainly range from well regarded to sterling, i still cringe whenever i hear the label.

That aside, it's always a treat to be present at the birth of a band, and watch those first fumbling steps become a cherished memory, or a long forgotten blip on the cultural radar.

Eux Autres started the night with an earnest set of indie pop.

Grass Widow, from San Francisco, (pictured), opened up their own special blend of surf influenced noisy goodness. They threw out a crackling set that marked them as a band to keep an eye on, and their latest album, 'Past Time', came out in August on Kill Rock Stars.

Anticipation reached a fever pitch for the foursome that sprang from the ashes of the hiatus of Sleater Kinney, (Carrie Brownstein & Janet Weiss), along with Rebecca Cole (The Minders), and Mary Timony (Helium).

From the first crashing notes, it became apparent that this was a volatile combination. Brownstein's humble asides, ('we're trying out this whole band thing...'), underlined the fact that it was a work in progress, with space still being worked out for all the members, but when things clicked, (as on the raucous 'Racehorse', it was something special.

Their sound ranges from the uptempo strut of "Romance", (above), to the all out maelstorm of what i believe is called "Glass Tambourine", (below). Breathtaking...Their clutch of original tunes is a nice skeleton for a record...I really can't wait to see where it goes from here.

They fleshed out the set with covers of The Standells "Dirty Water" and The Rolling Stones "Beast Of Burden".
In only their sixth show, Wild Flag has laid the groundwork for some interesting times ahead. They've got a 7'' single forthcoming, and apparently a commitment from Merge Records whenever they feel they have the material. It bodes well if they can harness the sparks of this evening...

Superchunk Day!

2010-11-11T11:34:00.000-08:00

What started out as a simple show that tickets were purchased for months and months ago, steadily transformed into Superchunk Day! It began with a simple email from Merge Records announcing a fall tour. The onsale day came, tickets were purchased. Time passed and excitement grew when it was announced that Teenage Fanclub was opening their Northwest dates. Spirits fell when it turned out to be only those dates. Spirits rose again when the mighty Vaselines were announced as the LA openers, as well as northwest up & comers Telekinesis.

Then the whole Matador 21 party came together, and their inclusion there, (and subsequent top flight set), did nothing to dampen the ardor of the impending show. Back in California, come to find out that they've set up a string of instore appearances at indie record shops, including Origami Vinyl in Echo Park at noon, day of show. So now the whole thing has taken shape and morphed into 'Superchunk Day', originally planned as the last date of the 'Majesty Shredding' tour. Apparently, it's gone to plan and then some, as they've added another handful of dates throughout the country.

Origami: great footage of 'Everything At Once', courtesy of Prestoff2000 (YouTube)

Telekinesis belted out a set that was far more lively than their first LP would have you believe. They kept the melodies intact, but gave every song a nice loud buzz, and looked to be very happy at this particular opening gig.

Their newest EP, not coincidentally on Merge Records, was the heart of the set. I'm looking forward to their next step, as well as seeing a complete show on their own, if this is any indication...

It's been a fascinating ride for The Vaselines, who cut one album back in the '80's, broke up...found a cult following after it turned out Kurt Cobain was a huge fan, and Nirvana covered a few of their songs, which led to a reformation and a gig opening up a Nirvana UK tour.
The sparks were fanned once again when Sub Pop put out an anthology of their work, and they got it together once again for an appearance at the label's birthday party in Seattle a few years back.

Now, apparently, the time has come again...In September, a new LP, 'Sex With An X', appeared, followed by a jaunt across the states. Los Angeles was the fortuitous hookup with Superchunk, which brings us up to this evening. The set largely focused on the new record, leavened with tart doses of the back catalogue, and despite the venue only being 2/3 filled, they gave it their all.

Time has been a friend to them, and having sympathetic players with them made for the kind of show the band never got to enjoy in the past, having broken up before, in some sense, they really got going.

Superchunk celebrated their return to Los Angeles proper for the first time in many years, hitting the stage with 'Learned To Surf', (above), from this year's 'Majesty Shredding', and leaving no stone unturned, unleashing a show as full bodied and frenetic as their star turn at the Matador fest at the beginning of October.
The aforementioned 2/3 full house was still in effect for Superchunk, which seemed sad on the heels of this victory lap that saw them fully engaged and energized, and playing just as well as ever. Rarely have i seen the balcony of the Fonda closed, but it kept the crowd as tight and focused as the band, and was a testimony to a night of tough choices for the LA music fan, as Broken Social Scene was across town at the Wiltern Theater, and Scout Niblett was in town as well, along with a few other tasty choices.

Like their path thus far, Superchunk faced it with grace, and powered through a set that touched on all phases of their years, culminating with a Misfits cover that put their own distinctive stamp on the evening.

Predominate theme through the night seemed to be the staying power of the aging hipster audience that furiously pogoed away, and by the time the midnight hour passed, it became apparent that one would regret this, in the most glorious way, the next day.

(Programming Notes: The good folks at Also Ran Blog have posted recordings of both the Superchunk instore at Origami and the Superchunk set at the Fonda)

new Decemberists...

2010-11-03T08:55:00.000-07:00

Pixies bonanza!

2010-10-29T03:59:00.000-07:00

Big surprise dump from the Pixies camp, their 2004 set from Coachella, available as part of a continued expansion of their online concert offerings. What a treat it is to relive this set, & Kim Deal isn't kidding in the least, it was hot that day!

Matador 21, day three

2010-10-14T19:57:00.000-07:00

Zombie was the watchword for day three of Matador 21, at least for those who had anything left in the tank at all...

Kicking off the day was a matinee of bands in the ballroom during the afternoon. While lesser in name power than many of their colleagues of the weekend, the matinee bands used the smaller setting to their benefit, delivering sets that matched, and in some cases exceeded their peers.

Kurt Vile started it off, his droning rhythms sucking in the crowd, and by sets end, he seemed to have them pretty well in hand. Looking forward to his next album...if the set was any indication, he continues to grow.

Times New Viking hit it next, delivering a blistering 19 songs in just over half an hour. The Ohio trio made nods to Yo La Tengo and Guided By Voices (the evening's headliners), but their sound was undoubtedly their own.

The Clean, (from New Zealand), put an exclamation point on the matinee, delivering their brand of surf informed noisy goodness, joined at one point by Ira & Georgia from Yo La Tengo for a tune. (Hamish Kilgour would appear in their set later in the evening.)

The Clean pinned me to the wall, and forced dinner break considerations to override Shearwater, whom I'd quite been looking forward to seeing. File under 'future considerations'. Also wiped out a chunk of Ted Leo & the Pharmacists, but having just seen him in March made it a little more bearable.

Did hit the floor fully recharged, and in time for Ted's last few tunes, including a dandy Matador tribute, a cover of Nick Lowe's 'I Love My Label', done with Leo's customary gusto & zeal.

New Pornographers held court with a full contingent, including Neko Case, sitting in on this most special occasion. They played an engaging set, song after song reminding me of the sheer depth of their catalogue.

Maybe the biggest question mark of the weekend was the block penciled in for Liz Phair, and all the question marks that entailed. Liz bounced out in good form, accompanied by a guitarist on 'Supernova' from the LP Whipsmart, and it was off to the races...

She cited her legendary stage fright, (remembering the Roseland showcase in NYC that was actually at Irving Plaza, but close enough), and proceeded to rip through a handful songs from her first two records, culminating with an appearance by the now ubiquitous Ted Leo, for a duet on 'Fuck and Run'.

Yo La Tengo opened with a hushed version of 'Our Way To Fall', bringing an unimaginable silence to the theater.

They proceeded to pull every trick out of their bag, from the noise epic, 'The Story Of Yo La Tengo', to their pseudo-Supremes choreography on 'You Can Have It All', to
reworking their cover of Sun Ra's 'No Nuclear War' into a lengthy tribute to Matador, that might have ended up naming every person who ever worked there.

Luminescent version of "Autumn Sweater" (above).
Odd note: a person, (who was later identified as Guided By Voices Mitch Mitchell), dashed across the stage during YLT's set, jumped in the audience, then dashed back and was threatened by security. Hamish Kilgour, (The Clean), later returned the gift by dashing across the stage during the GBV set, high-fiving the band, and diving into the crowd.

Of the four times I've seen them this year, that was the one.It was breathtaking in its streamlined potency. Whether it was the slot before Guided By Voices, or merely the challenge of a big stage, Yo La Tengo rose to the occasion.

That really seemed to be the theme of the weekend, rising to the occasion, and Guided By Voices did not let down the diehards, who had seemingly been drinking all day to prepare for the occasion. This was one set that needed to be witnessed from the floor, and i abandoned my cozy balcony for the free for all. From the time the neon sign pronouncing 'The Club Is Open', lit and descended, it was on. GBV stayed true to their older catalogue, and Mr Pollard was in fine form, managing to fulfill his quota of cigarettes, alchohol, and high kicks during the proceedings, stopping to observe at one point, "We Won!"

And he was spot on...The prospect of seeing many of the bands this weekend at this point in time was farfetched, and seeing them in Vegas, of all places? Too much for the brain to ponder.

The final word on the blowout would be community. There is just no way to state the impact of being among so many like minded souls for a whole crazy weekend. At most festivals, one feels like a spectator, but this felt like family.

Matador 21, day two

2010-10-09T15:20:00.000-07:00

Saturday saw a brief intersection with the great outdoors...Truly no better place to commune with a thunder & lightning frenzy than the outdoors balcony on the 16th floor.
After that particular slice of entertainment concluded, it was time to submerge once again in the concrete innards of the Palms.

Let's take a quick moment to thank not only the Matador folks, but The Palms (!), & mention that it was more of a photo shoot for an interiors magazine than a room. Very impressive...

Grogginess did not recede until the first notes were struck from Girls, (hailing from San Francisco). Their woozy psych pop decorated with lashings of feedback was the perfect tonic for one struggling to get their brains and motor skills in order.

Everyone has their biases, and my awaited moment of the weekend was the infrequent resuscitation of Come, from Boston. Fresh off a warmup gig at the Middle East in Cambridge, this would be the second and final performance of their 2010 outing, and they left nothing behind. Considering the interlocking guitar weaves of their songs, (think heavier/darker Television), it's really a testament that they can appear out of nowhere and be as tight as they are. For me, they were always more a force of nature than a band.

Suddenly, it was time for the one and only Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, which, for the uninitiated, is a trio that throws the basic James Brown stomp into a punk blender, led by a howling madman who will manage to namecheck the band hundreds of times within the set. Pure entertainment. Interesting that Mr. Spencer hasn't gotten his due for an advanced recognition of the Power of Branding way back in the '90's...

Supper was a tough call, and it was made at the expense of Perfume Genius, whom i had been looking forward to very much...

Cat Power hit the stage with only an electric guitar, kicking off with her take on the Rolling Stones "Satisfaction", before ceding the stage to the Dirty Delta Blues Band, and rolling into a more familiar set.
(PS: West Coasters, if you've never seen Cat Power, look up her date at the Henry Miller Library in Big Sur at the end of October. Should be a magical show...)

Superchunk, like Sonic Youth the previous evening, raised a flag for the oldsters, hitting the stage running and never looking back in a short set that mixed in some new stuff, but relied on their classics at opportune moments, including a slam/bang closing of "Slack Motherfucker" and "Precision Auto". Looking forward to seeing their whole set at the Wiltern Theater in L.A. later this month.

Spoon's set left me with mixed feelings...the music was razor sharp, the band was in form, and Britt Daniels was in his element. What held this back from being a weekend defining set, (for me), was the lighting setup. On the plus side, it seemed like they scavenged what was left of Pavement's overhead string lights for decorative purposes...on the not so plus side, the spotlights behind the band members shining directly into the audience were so overbearing I gave up after a handful of songs and watched the proceedings from the bar. After so many shows in a row, perhaps I was oversensitive, but it felt like my brain was being drilled into, and i could not discern what impact they hoped to achieve. In the vindication department, several times between songs, audience members could be heard screaming "lose the lights". And, quite frankly, this is a band with such a deep catalogue that they could have played with the house lights up, and it wouldn't have mattered. Notable high point of the set was a cover of the late Jay Reatard's 'No Time', that made up for the lighting shenanigans.

Capping off a lovely evening, and showcasing their newest album, were the inimitable Belle & Sebastian, who swelled the stage to almost 'Lyle Lovettl-esque' proportions. Any questions about their stature as a headliner were answered by a charming set delivered to an audience of devotees. If there will ever be another Smiths, in terms of audience adoration, this unit could be it. At one point in the set, Stuart Murdoch unleashed some autographed footballs into the audience, (rivalling the prowess he would demonstrate later in the evening at drunken hoops in the Hardwood Suite). The topper was bringing up random audience members onstage for their moment of glory, and then presenting them with medals...A classy, (and humorous), act all the way.

The post festivities featured brand new act Esben and The Witch leading off, with a powerfully hypnotic set.
Cold Cave and Dead Meadow followed to run things into the wee hours, but alas, without me...

Matador 21, or Doom To All Ye Who Enter Here...

2010-10-07T19:01:00.000-07:00

With just a few hours respite to pack and (ahem) sleep, the weekend continued. After rolling north to home from the Hollywood Bowl, the new day started by tacking eastward across the state, through the mountains toward the desert. Destination: Las Vegas! Mission: 3 days of bands and love to celebrate the 21st birthday of Matador Records, a.k.a. 'The Lost Weekend'. (Insert your favorite Ray Milland riff here).

Due to the sheer hell of driving into Vegas on a Friday, needless to say our arrival was somewhat delayed, missing the Opening Ceremonies, and sets by Guitar Wolf and Chavez. Word of mouth was that Chavez did a killer set. File under d'ohh!
After finally getting lodging squared away, it was a seamless jaunt through registration, then double back to hit the floor.

Action time started with Fucked Up (from Toronto), fittingly named to meld perfectly with the day.
They unleashed a hellish storm of their own particular brand of noise, spurred on by the antics of lead instigator Pink Eyes (Damian), who took every cue to leave the stage and walk the earth like Cain, dispensing sweaty bro hugs, continuing to sing, and generally having a good old time.

Highly enjoyable, and the high point of the set was bringing out his toddler son Holden, complete w/ear protection, to hang out with dad for a song.

A band that made an impact, and it would not be the last we heard of Fucked Up over the course of the weekend.

The remainder of the evening in some ways mirrored the previous, and in some ways not...

The final two acts of the regular schedule were: Sonic Youth and Pavement, reprising the previous night's entertainment, but with slightly different results.

Sonic Youth, if it were at all possible, came off even heavier, staying in the same songbook parameters of the previous eve, (i.e. before 1994, for the most part), but spreading the love across albums more evenly, rather than focusing on any one.

Their set culminated with Thurston in the audience with Lee and Kim piling on to trigger feedback the ravaged the hall. Truly memorable.

Pavement also, it can be said, was truly memorable, but not the kind that inspires postcards back home. Standoffishness and seeming sniping amongst the troops could not salvage the periodic outbreaks of enthusiasm, and the show, (and the U.S. tour), fell apart at the end, with Spiral Stairs (Scott Kannberg), stalking off stage due to what was reportedly 'monitor issues'. This reunion was always a gambling proposition, and the cool part is that whatever internal issues still exist, they held it together until the very end. Aside from this show, the previous three I saw ranged from good to great...a testament to a band that historically was never noted for its live consistency. All one can say is 'Thanks for the memories', and when i dwell on the group, I shall surely be thinking of the first US show of the tour, a brilliant gambol through their history at the Fox Theater in Pomona, Ca in April. The stuff of which dreams are made...

There was still more to come, with a special ballroom performance of Ted Leo V. Fucked Up, wherein the bands traded cover versions, as well as a quieter afterparty with James McNew from Yo La Tengo manning the decks. Peeked into both, but at that point my body was in shutdown mode, and it was time to retire semi.gracefully.

A Night At The Bowl, or Preamble To Insanity...

2010-10-06T18:33:00.000-07:00

In and of itself, a night at the Hollywood Bowl in the company of No Age, Sonic Youth, and Pavement sounds like a quaint time with fun for all...But dialing back and looking at the big picture, it represented the first shots fired of an incredible weekend, for it had the good grace to occupy that spot on the calender right before 'The Lost Weekend', Matador Records celebration of its 21st anniversary, at the Palms in Las Vegas.

The next three installments will take care of that action, so now we'll just focus on the matter at hand...

Up first, Los Angeles' own No Age, Dean and Randy making the leap to the big stage with an extra added member wielding samples and adding some extra ooomph to their sound. If you need to do a little compare and contrast, head back to the Coachella 2009 wrapup, and see how they controlled the tent.
Bolstered by songs from their new album: 'Everything In Between', No Age kicked off the proceedings in style, adding depth to their sound without sacrificing its quirkiness, as well as laying the table for the likes of a noisefest the Bowl has probably never witnessed.

In the absence of Pavement being on the road, Sonic Youth absconded with their bass player Mark Ibold, allowing Kim Gordon to move over to guitar and add another dimension to their sound. (see January 2010, Wiltern Theater, LA report for more details) The question was, would Ibold do double duty? Fortunately, (for him) that was not to be...

From the first quivering notes of "Candle", (below), Sonic Youth had the crowd in thrall. It was but the opening salvo in a three song barrage from 'Daydream Nation', (also: "Sprawl" & "'Cross The Breeze"), that set the tone for a trip into the deepest and noisiest recesses of their catalogue. Quartet style, they dropped DN's "Hey Joni", before heading back to "Death Valley 69", and 'EVOL's' "Kiss Me In The Shadow", after which Kim Gordon noted drily: "Thanks a lot, we're Pavement from Sacremento". They finished the set with "White Cross", leaving no doubt as to their undiminished power.

Pavement is on the final lap of its reunion/victory lap around the world, and given their spotty history as a live act, it's been a revelation to see these performances. Pavement played to the strengths of their catalogue and delivered a rousing set that leaned heavily on 'Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain' and 'Brighten The Corners'. Bob Nastanovich made the journey along the pool circle wall out into the masses during "Unfair", and the band peaked during a three song arc of: "Stereo", "Stop Breathin'", and "Range Life", (latter below), before finishing with a heartwarming "Here". A satisfying end to a run that defied the normal reunion expectations...

Thanks out to the L.A. Philharmonic, for going way out on a limb with this show...It is appreciated.

Phoenix rising...

2010-09-20T12:39:00.000-07:00

French pop sensation Phoenix, still touring hard on the heels of 2009's 'Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix', brought their show to the Santa Barbara County Bowl on Sunday night. This came the night after, what August Brown in the LA Times termed, 'a career making performance' at the Hollywood Bowl. Their outdoor stage appearance at Coachella this year drew an overflow crowd that I couldn't penetrate, but left an impression, and on their own at 'our' Bowl, they did not disappoint.

They hit the stage to a rousing take of 'Wolfgang's' opener, "Lisztomania" (above), and never looked back.

The band did a great job of translating a particularly detailed album to the jet thrust umph that an arena level show demands, without sacrificing the danceability and deadening the sound, as seems to happen all too frequently.
No elaborate production for this unit, a standard light show, and the odd full sized curtain were simple and well deployed.

Below is mid set crowd burner "Girlfriend"...

As a present to fans as they wind down their U.S. tour, the band announced that they are giving away the multi.track masters free for all your remix needs!

Not to be forgotten were tonight's opener: Neon Indian, who overcame the sparse early arrivals, (this of course being Santa Barbara), and a spotty sound mix that never seemed to gel until near the end of their set, to win over the crowd.

Interestingly enough, this was my first trip to the County Bowl this season, and I would be remiss if I didn't note, for those who haven't had the pleasure, that this is one of the finest facilities of it's size in the country, and always takes on a special tinge of magic at sunset...

Ping: Let's say it's no Pong, (so far), or Ping Has Sprung!

2010-09-18T11:44:00.000-07:00

So Apple finally makes its move on the social networking game with its newest wonder: Ping! The question is, how much should you care? Deeply? Apple trumpeted the fact that after the grand revelation, they racked up a million viewers in a very short time. Impressive by any measure, but the question is, how many will stick?

So far, the answer would be, not so much...The concept is simple, one creates a profile, follows other fans and artists, and has the ability to favor and start conversations based on record recommendations, reviews, and concerts attended. The potential there is pretty ginormous, and with an open platform, could easily be a place I spend a fair amount of time, and, quite frankly, it seems like it could be a nice middle ground between this space and Twitter.

In reality, though...it's a cold & barren place so far, devoid of a serious indie presence. The artist profiles have initially been extended, (by invitation), to heavy Itunes sellers and selected industry players...which for the most part leads to a heavy dose of yukkk. It did lead to some hilarious recommendations for whom I should follow.

My other point of miffed.off.ness would be all the time I spent, both before and after the 'Genius' function, of clicking on recommend buttons ad infinitum. This is the one company I not only let datamine me, but provided them a veritable landfill of information. Presumably, all this sits in a silo somewhere, virtual or otherwise. I pray that they find a way to somehow integrate this.

As the days have gone by, the 'featured artist' category has broadened as more folks have jumped onboard, including a disturbing number of dead rock stars. I maintain a presence and check it most days, half out of hope, and half morbid curiousity.

On Point With The Antlers...

2010-09-10T19:31:00.000-07:00

First official trip to the wondrous Getty Museum, perched on a hillside overlooking the 405 Freeway in Los Angeles, not to be confused with the old museum in Malibu, now known as the Getty Villa. I had been to the new fortress once long ago, before it opened, for an interview with the book division. Obviously didn't pan out & wasn't practical, but sure would have been cool. The museum is built into the hillside, and at that point was unfinished...Taking the tram up, then elevatoring 4 stories down into the hill, checking through security, and pacing along unfinished cement corridors was pretty exciting, with all kinds of vehicles passing by, (inside), and incessant construction, it was like being in your own James Bond film. Very hip.

The return was less ceremonial, simply melding into the pack of tourists and trying to sample the amazing smorgasbord of art and photography laid out, courtesy of the late J.P. Getty. The Getty Trust is in good form, and will certainly be viable for a long time coming; the museum a heady reflection of that fact. One of the public outreach efforts it makes is to have concerts one saturday a month, the lure this particular day being 'The Antlers', from Brooklyn. Did I mention that it's free? Show was free, museum was free, parking a mere $15...(no sarcasm whatsoever, a stone cold bargain in Los Angeles).
It would have been easy to overindulge, so the plan is more on the lines of a seperate trip for each of the five main buildings...Today's pick turned out to be 'Enlightened Observers', a look at the evolution of documentary photograpy through the century. Varied and extremely moving, it alone is worth the trip.

On the way in, we got a sampling of the prospective acoustics in the courtyard, as the band ran through a brief soundcheck.

The barren intimacy of the songs from their '09 record 'Hospice', were taken up a notch, thanks to incessant touring, but maintained the ability to connect emotionally.

It was fascinating to watch outside the hardcore of fans clustered at the foot of the stage, back to the tourists who would stop and watch, sometimes engage, and sometimes move on...

If you listen closely enough during 'Bear', (above), you can hear the meeting of the 'Valley Singles Club' cloistered near us, doing what singles at free events the world over do...

As dusk fell, the stream of tourists tapered off, and the crowd settled in as the band moved into the heart of their set, nearing the end with a stunning version of 'Two', featuring guest vocalist Holly Miranda.
The perfect capper to a lovely evening at the Getty.

Eyes On The Prize(s)

2010-09-04T21:53:00.000-07:00

Monitoring the Polaris Prize (Canada) and the Mercury Prize (UK) is always entertaining, and unlike the Grammys, educational as well...
Shortlists for both have been announced amidst the usual weeping, wailing, and gnashing of teeth, and both are intriguing...

Breaking down Canada: the shortlist includes Tegan & Sara, Shad, The Sadies, Radio Radio, Owen Pallett, Dan Mangan, Karkwa, Caribou, Broken Social Scene, and The Besnard Lakes. The last two will undoubtedly be familiar to followers of this space, while Tegan & Sara have built up a nice following here in the states with their last few records, and The Sadies are starting to nab some very high profile opening slots (Arcade Fire) this fall. Caribou and Owen Pallett (as Final Fantasy) also have indy profiles down here with their last few works.

Juries on both are geared to industry professionals, and for some reason tend to come down left of center in their choices, compared to the inbred miasma of the Grammy process. (Which, to be fair, has lightened up a bit in the last two years, but has a way to go...) Interesting to see how it plays out: while Broken Social Scene's 'Forgiveness Rock Record' is a great and varied piece of work, my heart ultimately sides with 'The Besnard Lakes Are The Roaring Night', which will be part of my year end conversation about best LP's, regardless of geography. It's a sprawling, densely layered record that reveals different pieces everytime I listen to it. Concept or not, an LP that hangs together that you can totally get lost in is an increasingly rare commodity.

Now, across the pond, the Mercury Prize has its by now usual collection of the unusual...Nominees this year are: Biffy Clyro, I Am Kloot, Dizzee Rascal, Paul Weller, Corinne Bailey Rae, XX, Villagers, Kit Downes Trio, Foals, Laura Marling, Wild Beasts, and Mumford & Sons.

Dizzee Rascal and Laura Marling, (from completely different directions), seem to figure in most of the learned handicapping thus far. Dizzee seeking to fill the slot of a country desperate for its own conquering hip hop multimedia figure, a la Snoop Dogg or Ice Cube. Ms. Marling gets major points for overcoming a well reviewed first album and not succumbing to the sophomore jinx.

For some reason, Mumford & Sons have an elevated profile on this side of the pond, stealthily racking up the sales for no discernable reason.

In the sentimental bracket, old hand Paul Weller has made his feistiest effort in quite some time, the nervy "Wake Up The Nation", and Corrine Bailey Rae has rebounded from grave personal issues to totally trump her also well received debut with "The Sea", an ambitious record that takes her closer to Joni Mitchell territory, (in terms of emotional depth), than all of the Joni wannabees that litter the highway...

At the end of the day, though, there seems to be no escaping The XX, who's self.titled record has evolved into a steady seller stateside, thanks to relentless touring, and a stubborn belief in their songs. Like Beach House's 'Teen Dream', it doesn't necessarily work on paper, but after living with it, there's no way to purge these songs from your head...

September is upon us, and these prizes are soon to be announced, but the bottom line is: Congratulations to all the nominees, and thank you for an interesting year of music...

Sufjan: Slight Return...

2010-08-20T20:45:00.000-07:00

<a href="http://sufjanstevens.bandcamp.com/album/all-delighted-people-ep">All Delighted People (Original Version) by Sufjan Stevens</a>

...And The Clock Is Ticking...

2010-08-13T20:54:00.000-07:00

Merely 245 days until Coachella, for those of you who watch clocks...the new dates have been announced: 15, 16, & 17 April, 2011 in beautiful Indio, California. Start making your list & checking it twice!

new Jens Lekman!

2010-07-28T20:21:00.000-07:00

Built To Spill...

2010-07-15T19:37:00.000-07:00

Built To Spill Soho, Santa Barbara 13 July, 2010

Doug Martsch & crew churned through a workmanlike set that caught fire halfway through & ended on a high note.

90's indie vets, they were always a little too iconoclastic for the jam band scene and the hipsters, falling in between the cracks.

They hit the stage noting how nice it was to be in a little venue, fitting in Soho between stops at the Hollywood bowl & the Gorge in Washington.

BTS is currently crossing the states as the opener for Kings Of Leon, which is both awesome for them, and the most epically sad thing I've ever heard.

Despite health scares & a less than welcoming economy, BTS continues to chug on.

Viva Las Vegas...

2010-07-10T01:31:00.000-07:00

File under: Good God Almighty...These folks certainly know how to throw a party. To celebrate their 21st anniversary, Matador Records has put together a whopping shindig they call 'The Lost Weekend', in the City of Sin for October. Much love to FYF Fest for doing much of the heavy lifting, organization.wise. Should be a corker...

What's also been confirmed by the label, but not yet 'announced' is the reunion of Come, Thalia Zedek & Chris Brokaw's mighty Boston noisemakers from the '90's. Most of the press is focusing, (& rightly) on Robert Pollard's resurrection of Guided By Voices, and while sure to be of interest, it's Come that has my heart.

Which, of course, is not even to mention Pavement, Sonic Youth, Superchunk, Yo La Tengo, etc, etc...

Really looking forward to seeing Belle & Sebastian, Shearwater, Fucked Up, and Harlem for the first time.

Tickets went up this morning, and sold out in two (2) minutes. Luck was with me, & looks like we'll be reporting this one from the front lines. You will surely hear more about this as the time approaches...

Journey To The Old School!

2010-06-29T01:50:00.000-07:00

Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings Wiltern Theater, Los Angeles 26 June, 2010

Saturday night in downtown Los Angeles was the place for an object lesson in Soul Music, old school style, courtesy of Sharon Jones and the one and only Dap Kings. They were in town at the Wiltern Theater, with the emphasis on the newest record, "I Learned The Hard Way".

Opening duties were handled with great aplomb by The Heavy, an English group that seemed to draw heavily from the wellspring of Fishbone. They handled ska beats and Stooges stomp with equal dexterity.

Showtime finally arrived as the Dap Kings hit the stage, their ranks rapidly swelling to 'Lyle Lovett/Large Band' proportions. Their sound was bouyant and propulsive, easily filling the theater, but not at the expense of dynamics. One of the tighter bands on the road now, it seems like their finally getting their due.

Nowadays it seems like the art of the introduction is lost, but below, the Dap Kings work through their newest theme, 'The Reason', (part one), and then proceed to bring on Sharon Jones, (part two), in a style befitting, as only Binky Griptite could put it: "That super soul sister with the magnetic je ne sais quois..."

With the spotlight on her, Sharon did not wilt or disappoint. I'm deep with the albums, and I've heard a few different live shows, but when she hit the stage, it was a detonation...Nothing quite compares or readies you for the sheer 'in your face.ness of it'.

It was definitely a people's show, with Sharon calling out audience members to come up and share the love. At one point, she had to wrangle a pack of girls that took advantage to obtain their less than fifteen minutes...She showed great patience in herding, and the band never missed a beat.

Highlights of the night included a rousing take on "Let Them Knock", (below), and the Dap King's horns showcased the new tune: "The Game Gets Old".

They never ran out of steam, and word to the wise, when the old school carnival hits your town, be sure not to miss it.

Because It's Really Never To Soon To Start A List...

2010-06-25T09:39:00.000-07:00

NPR Poll: Pick up to Five Albums For The Best Of The Year So Far

(Ed. Note: There is also an NPR Music app now available for your consumption!)

...Our Henry

2010-06-11T11:56:00.000-07:00

Henry Rollins
Soho Santa Barbara
09 June 2010

World traveler, self described troublemaker, and all around bon vivant Henry Rollins made his return to the stage at Soho. Can he really be 49? Sigh...To say the least, he wears it very well. He started the evening with some local observations before launching into The Riff, his patented take on what currently is going down...

Tonight's version ran though 'Touring Canada At The Same Time As Ann Coulter', 'Henry's Personal Relationship With The US Constitution', then segued into the de riguer travelectomy in which Henry is let loose on the world at large...Tonight, it was Spotlight on South Africa!, the highlight of which had Henry breaking down South Africa's Constitution for us...

Bringing it back home, he touched on the Mississippi prom that was cancelled because (Gasp!) two girls wanted to Go, Together. (Duh..Dun....) He went on to work in a story of high school homophobia from his own days, and it's here where he really shines, weaving in the light and the dark in looking at this rollercoaster called life.

What I would declare the high water mark of the eve was his journey to Sonoma St, where he was the Commencement Speaker. (True Story, and i'll let your imaginations take it from there...)
Finishing off, it was a one/two media punch of his adventures as a character on season two of 'Sons of Anarchy', and a spot as a judge for Rupaul's tv show!

Never ceases to amaze how quick a few hours passes in his company, but as the physical reminder kicked in, he made a point of thanking our collective asses for putting up with him...

I'm sure the comparison would horrify him, but he works the same observational turf as most stand up comedians, and that's precisely where it ends. For starters, he is actually funny, and his line can be traced back to Mark Twain, ignoring all the Seinfeld clones so prevalent today.
He's our generation's Lenny Bruce, but his smack is work, and he keeps on working...

new Vaselines!

2010-06-10T13:55:00.000-07:00

In Defense Of Beach House...

2010-05-15T16:46:00.000-07:00

So this post was inspired by a great tweet from GW in DC, grumping about not 'getting' certain new music. I caught it on a long drive, and filed it away, laughing because pretty much 3/4 of what i listen to doesn't pass muster w/my peers, and that's ok, I'm totally used to it. His other case in point, (Sleigh Bells), i totally agree with, and just file under 'Of Montreal' in terms of ambition overstepping execution.

But it stuck with me, and now i'll spit it out, not that Beach House need any defending, (let alone from me...).

The dream pop duo from Baltimore has truly come into their own this year, backing up the haunting 'Teen Dream' with extensive touring.

The quick, tongue in cheek answers that jumped to mind were:
1) drug music for people who don't do drugs anymore
2) best white 'boudoir' album since Roxy Music's 'Avalon'
3) very definition of 'grower', a song cycle in an age weighted against the very existence of albums with melodies like tentacles...

I was wary before its release, heralded by a wave of internet hype...call it the 'Animal Collective' response, but anything paraded as the record of the year before it's released, or two weeks into the new year, is just not cool.
After buying it, i dug the first few listens, but didn't really connect until catching it on the back leg of my commute, sick and feverish and shivering through a long drive home. Cranked up to the point of pain, it was like being immersed in a giant bath of Benadryl...
And with all the good stuff that's come out this year, I still find myself going back to it, now almost halfway through the year...simply put, it fits my definition of a great record, which has nothing to do with genre, speed, beat, or really anything...It just Makes Things Better.

(thx to Gordon in DC for putting up w/me...)

Taking Flight With The Besnard Lakes...

2010-05-14T17:24:00.000-07:00

BESNARD LAKES, TROUBADOR 13 MAY 2010

So for some reason, I had never, in all my time on this coast, darkened the doorstep of Doug Weston's inimitable Troubador, in West Hollywood. First time for everything, and parking shenanigans aside, it was certainly memorable.

The occasion was the west coast swing of Montreal's own The Besnard Lakes, touring their latest record 'The Besnard Lakes Are The Roaring Night', a followup as aptly named as the previous 'The Besnard Lakes Are The Dark Horse'. They certainly were, and the difference between the two is palpable.

While '...Dark Horse' made a fine case for the Lakes as The overlooked Canadian band of the moment, 'Roaring Night' at once deepens the craft of the songs with delicately interlocked suites of songs, but strips and tightens the individual arrangements to great effect. Throw in the prevailing espionage concept lyrically, and it's already on my year end short list of records.

As good as the record is, I was unprepared for the absolute lift off of the songs live, with the ultimate end being somewhere between Sigur Ros and My Bloody Valentine. They feared not the noise, channeling it as surely as any other instrument. They were loose and fun onstage, holding together 'And You Lied To Me' through unsoliticed crowd participation, and dusting away the dour image one might take away from their records by inserting a touch of hair metal legends 'Honeymoon Suite' into the top of their encore.

('Chicago Train' above...fog machine: check!)

The most memorable shows, i've noticed over the years, have a downright religious patina...After the show, even with my day pushing the 24 hour mark, i was still totally wired. No greater praise can i give.

(incandescent version of 'Glass Printer' below)

Tear Down The Wall, Indeed...

2010-05-06T11:58:00.000-07:00

So, not to churn up any more badly needed publicity for Roger Water's 'newest' endeavor...(recreating The Wall in concert sans Pink Floyd), but i would be remiss if i didn't at least mention this interesting intersection of art & commerce.

Mr. Waters, when last we saw him, was bringing his vision of Dark Side of the Moon to the masses at Coachella, and since this marks 30 years since the epic NY/LA only performances of The Wall, it was certainly time to do it again, with the added benefit of new technology, promising much more in the way of entertainment.

So far, so good...until an ill-fated location choice by a promotional street team engaged to plug his project. The work is a collection of anti.war murals strategically placed around town, (featuring a quote from Ike, no less), one of which happened to end up on the wall of Solutions in LA, better known as the mural on the cover of Elliot Smith's Figure 8...sigh. Since Smith's demise, the wall has become a memorial, LA's take on Pere Lachaise, as it were...

And the crap, (thanks to the LA Weekly), proceeded to hit the fan. Aside from the sensationalized slant of the Weekly, it is a damn shame that the wall has been maligned for years, having been repainted upwards of ten times. Water's team's wheat paste concoction certainly doesn't measure up to the random tagging, but it was a sad oversight.

Waters was kind enough to provide a rebuttal in the LA Times, viewable here, in which he claimed ignorance of both Smith and the memorial, and on his own website, pledged to remove it immediately. His disingenious attempt at spin notwithstanding, (we'll never know if Elliot would have approved of that message, will we?!), a quick response was nice to see, especially from someone who could have easily hid behind PR machinery, and let, what was essentially a local story, blow over.

The amount of control Waters did or didn't have over marketing actions will continue to be debated, but the 'Wall' Waters has built between himself and his fans over the last 30 years, as well as between him and his former band is perhaps the saddest thing of all. Resorting to a Banksy style street art campaign may be someone's fine idea of promotion, but it smacks of the same thinking that has driven labels into their current ditch, and ironically, the biggest noise the campaign might hope to make has only come from its placement fiasco.

A thought for Mr. Waters, both personally and professionally...take a little time to approach the Smith catalogue, pick out three or four songs, do an online covers EP to benefit war vet's charity, and kick back the songwriting royalties to the Smith family...serious win/win. Surely one poet of alienation would recognize another...Nothing to lose but the studio time, quite frankly, and a nice reminder that Water's greatest work was really about Everyman, coping...

Broken Social Scene live...

2010-05-04T14:13:00.000-07:00

BROKEN SOCIAL SCENE
Music Box at the Fonda Theater
03 May, 2010

Broken Social Scene hit the stage at precisely 10pm, Toronto's conquering heroes returning to the Music Box at the Fonda Theater.

They immediately tore into 'World Sick', and set the pace for the whole show, drawing heavily from their latest album, 'Forgiveness Rock Record' (out today on Arts & Crafts). As co-founder Kevin Drew noted, "That's why we're here..."

The gregarious Drew served as host for the night, explaining bassist Brendan Canning's pastier than normal complexion on a bout with the flu. Canning stuck with it, and thanked the crowd for breaking his fever.

Featuring a daunting front line of guitars, additional keyboards, and a recurring horn section, they filled the stage and ripped through 'Texico Bitches', (video below), brought up a fan from the audience to hang out during an impassioned 'Forced To Love', and woke the crowd up hard by sliding in "Cause=Time" from 'You Forgot It In People'. The band dialed back the crunch to feature Lisa Lobsinger on "All In All", then segued back to the high energy.

All told, a welcome return to action by the Canadian collective, and here's hoping that they continue their winning ways...

Nude Dragons?!

2010-05-02T21:54:00.000-07:00

No silly...that would be Soundgarden. The subject was reunions, apparently, and this one is shaping up to be quite the little noisemaker. Somewhere around the turn of the year, word went up on Soundgarden's website that they were back in business, with news to come. Yonder round the middle of April, i got a heads up that they were doing a warmup in Seattle...unfortunately i was in Indio at the time (preoccupied, you might say).

With many thanks to the band and their cohorts, they've made some footage of 'Beyond The Wheel' available from that show. (Filmed and edited by Kevin Shuss, recorded by John Burton, mixed by Adam Kasper)

I was hoping that they might pull it together for Coachella, but that didn't happen. They would have fit in well on Saturday night. Looks like the Bonnaroo Festival in Tennessee drew the lucky straw this year...Our friend TC in Milwaukee will be attending, so we'll lean on her to be our roving reporter...

Return of the Prodigal Sons...

2010-05-01T14:41:00.000-07:00

Pavement, Fox Theater, Pomona CA, 15 April 2010

As a warmup to their North American return to active duty at Coachella, Pavement added this warmup show at the stately Fox Theater in Pomona on the thursday before the action began. Anticipation ran high, and few were disappointed as Pavement steamrollered through a 2 hour plus show that managed to touch every nook and cranny of their catalogue.

It was a delirously loose show, with Malkmus holding his cards close to his chest and driving the proceedings forward...Guitarist Scott 'Spiral Stairs' Kannberg anchored the proceedings from across the stage...Mark Ibold, fresh from holding down the bass chair in Sonic Youth layed it down in the middle with drummer(s) Steve West and Bob Nastanovich rounding out the list. Westie was his usual Keith Moon-esque presence, and Mr. Nastanovich, having put his day job on hold, rotated through drumming, supplemental noise making, barked vocal asides, and dervishing his way across the stage...He is, in the live setting, the band's ringmaster of doom and chaos concscience.

The songs, good god, they ended up with 31 songs by the time the night ended. 3 tunes in, i gave up trying to keep a set list; it was just a barrage. So I'm stuck more w/impressions than a blow by blow account, but hopefully there's enough footage to give you a taste of the Pavement live experience...starting with a ragged but right version of 'Trigger Cut' from Slanted And Enchanted (below), complete with a bonus false start...

Spiral Stairs takes control with 'Date W/IKEA' from Brighten The Corners.

Finally, one of the emotional highlights of the night was a touching rendition of 'Here', also
from Slanted And Enchanted.

The band seemed genuinely touched by the response at the end of the night, and it was a relief, in the wake of so many half asses reunions, to note that they were probably sharper now than in their prime, and certainly playing to a lot more people. Credit must be given to Matador, who's done an amazing job of keeping the flame flickering for years with reverent treatment of their back catalogue.

The night was opened up by The Middle East, a young Australian band that turned in a slow burning set. They also had an early afternoon slot on Coachella sunday.

Pavement will be working it's way through a victory leg across the USA this summer, culminating in 4 way sold out Central Park Summerstage dates, and a final West Coast appearance at the end of September, with Sonic Youth and No Age at the Hollywood Bowl.

Below are some YouTube links of more of the show...(big shout to Hillelaron for the vids)
'Summer Babe'
'Stereo'
'Conduit For Sale'
'Starlings Of The Slipstream'
'Range Life'
show opener 'Silence Kit'

Blue Ribbon Glee Club!

2010-04-29T00:09:00.000-07:00

This might well be just what the world was waiting for...

BLUE RIBBON GLEE CLUB:
www.myspace.com/theblueribbongleeclub

The Other Side Of Lillith Fair...

2010-04-28T09:00:00.000-07:00

Much attention has been given to Sarah McLachlan's resurrection of the Lillith Fair Festival, a travelling concert series designed to level out the gender playing field on the shed circuit. In that spirit, here's a quick tip of the hat to 2 equally idiosyncratic young ladies who are most definitely doing it their own way...

Don't let the smooth soul jam fool you, this could only be the work of Erykah Badu...the first clue is her ride...Inspired by Matt & Kim's 'Lessons Learned' video, she puts her own particular spin on the business...

M.I.A.'s clip for 'Born Free' is lensed by Romain Garvas, son of Constantin Costa-Garvas (European political thriller 'Z'), and the apple hasn't fallen far from the tree cinematically. M.I.A. soundtracks the clip with a chopped up riff from electro-punk godfathers Suicide (Ghost Rider). On the heels of her chart conquering 'Paper Planes', she shows no sign of backing down from her more adventurous side.

Coachella Festival 2010, day three

2010-04-24T12:46:00.000-07:00

One Eskimo was not deterred by the volcano...they opened up Sunday on a warm note, rousing the groggy campers as the rolled out for the home stretch...

Word again about the weather...Saturday barely scratched 90, and had overcast stretches, really damping down the impact...day for day, it was the most gloriously temperate weather i've ever encountered at Coachella. Also, the third day zombie hoard was much less 'fragrant' than years past...

Kevin Devine led an energetic combo in the Gobi tent that was well received. Yet more volcano related cancellations impacted my day, affecting the Hypnotic Brass Ensemble, another outfit i was looking forward to checking out, and scotching an anticipated dj set from Talvin Singh, the founder of Cornershop...

I steered back to the Mojave tent for LA's own Soft Pack; they put a nice noisy spin on the day. I missed the later Local Natives set, but tried to make up for my lack of LA repping with these guys, and their rocking set will definitely get me to grab the album...A nice surprise.
Still had the feeling of being in idle, waiting for Something To Happen. Shortly after this thought, it would be more than seven hours before i found peace again...

The day then kicked into overdrive with the one and only King Khan and the Shrines, whose festival appearances have garnered a lot of chatter, and it wasn't too long before it was evident why. He hit the stage, resplendent in a gold lame top and tight pants, and by the second song in, he was already off the stage and into the audience...Few songs later, he brought out the Yo Gabba Gabba crew, (must watch video below for those of you with youngsters), bringing to mind what could rightly be considered my very first concert, an amusing park appearance of the one and only Banana Splits!

He then proceeded to top himself by commanding the audience to bust out dollar bills and set them on fire! Yes, with 75,000 people packed into a grass field...Smokey the Bear he ain't, but he does come across as some hellish version of an Indian McGruff the Crime Dog crossed w/Mitch Ryders Detroit Wheels...Needless to say, he blew the tent apart, and really had to be seen to be believed.

Detroit area smooth soul sensation Mayer Hawthorne hit the Gobi stage shortly after 3 with a full band that added a sparkling Motown.esque burst of energy to the songs from his debut album.

I was pleasantly surprised that the tent was packed for his gig, a testimony to his twitter mobilization, and the good rep of his label Stones Throw records, no doubt.

Obviously in a new era when an artist pimps his Twitter feed (@MayerHawthorne) in a song intro.

Hella hard to tear myself away from Mr. Hawthorne's tent revival, but there was no stopping the block party that was De La Soul, tearing up the Main Stage...I got there right in time to see the whole field turn into a whirling mess as they layed down 'A Roller Skating Jam Named Saturday'. Hip Hop 101 for all who aspired that weekend, it was the crafty veterans that took care of the business, ending the set with a tribute to Run DMC...

As the De La Soul crowd cleared, i took advantage and manuevered down in front to stake out some prime real estate for Hoboken's own Yo La Tengo. In another victory for the vets, the indie crew hit the stage early and with a hail of feedback, storming into 'Big Day Coming', and twisting through a set that touched on all the bases of their varied career.

Many questioned why they were on the Main Stage, and more hyped bands were seemingly exiled to the outdoor stage, but their fearless set answered every question, veering from chamber pop to pure noise...

High point was the endgame of their set, a juxtaposition of 'You Can Have It All', a George McRae cover that featured Georgia stepping out from behind the drums to carry the song on the organ, while James & Ira abandoned their instruments to do a total Gladys Knight & the Pips routine, following a shout out to Sly Stone...(video below).

They closed the set with a stunning version of 'Pass The Hatchet, I Think I'm Goodkind', paced by Ira's manic shredding, blowing it out past the 12 minute mark, leaving the audience breathless. The yin and the yang of Yo La Tengo...

The Main Stage onslaught continued with Spoon, from Austin, TX. Led by Britt Daniel, they overcame a rocky start being dumped by a major label, managed to regroup and find a home on NC indie Merge Records, and have hit a hot streak with their last three records: 'Gimme Fiction', 'Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga', and the January release, 'Transference'.

The audience gave them a conquering hero's welcome, and they assayed a set of brutally chopped angular tunes...

With much regret, I left my wondrous perch on the barrier of the Main Stage, and traced a circuitous path along the perimeter of the fence, and towards the back of the festival grounds, walking briskly, then jogging, and finally flat out running towards the tent that was my destination, a rendezvous i thought i'd never be making...

Ladies and Gentlemen: Sly & The Family Stone...
Or Not...

In retrospect, what in the hell was i thinking...
Sly's only rival for cancellations/no shows in the '70's was George Jones. Sweated out some time until the inevitable 'delay' announcement, watched the crowd visibly sag, then had a good long laugh at myself. It ocurred to me that i recalled reading an article about a journalist trying to interview Sly that ended up being titled something like: 'And I Keep Waiting for Sly'...hmph...

Redemption came in the form of Pavement...As witnessed in a warmup show at the Fox Theater in Pomona thursday night, the reunited unit is in fine fettle. (complete coverage in an upcoming post).

Thoroughly drained in both the body/soul and camera battery/flash card departments, I skirted the edges of the mammoth turnout for the band Thom Yorke put together to support his solo record, 'The Eraser'. Teeming with great musical minds, but perhaps most notable for sporting Flea, the group added a welcome funkiness to a claustrophic laptop record, (in the very nicest sense), bringing new layers to the tunes...

It was a welcome bookend, having seen Radiohead at my very first Coachella, so many years ago...Yorke's siren song seemed a fitting soundtrack to my exit strategy from the desert.

Final thoughts: Interestingly enough, this seemed like the year Coachella finally came into it's own, eschewing the major celebrity bookings in favor of a micro.focus on the music. It's daring economic strategy, going to 3 day passes only, away from single day tickets, seemed foolhardy at first, but came up a cropper as the show sold out completely. What next? Rumors for the '11 lineup are already flying...but at this juncture, i'm shutting them out in favor of savoring what has just past...

Coachella Festival: Randomness

2010-04-21T22:28:00.001-07:00

Miscellaneous collection of art installations & fun people!

welcome to the show...

crane at night...

nice pin...

reels on the bus go round & round (day)

reels on the bus go round & round (night)

teeter totter=cellphone charger...

spinning mirror

rockin' robot...

her touch is gold...

Coachella Festival 2010, day two

2010-04-21T16:53:00.000-07:00

Saturday...Saturday...Saturday...started on the bleary tip, being that the early bands were mostly outdoors and the sun sucked the life out of me...

Chugging water and still ended up dehydrated. Today fit the ideal...all the early shows were in tents.

Laid out on the grass in the tent shade, digging on England's Frank Turner, who was either over here touring already, or has God for a travel agent. His brisk set put the right spin on the day, and helped rouse me to life.

And if i wasn't awake at that point, an hour with John Waters surely would have done the trick. He used his oeuvre, (heh heh...oeuvre), as a touchstone, and freelanced amongst basic topics of interest to those who find his work compelling. Once again, a missed opportunity in the taping department, but needless to say, the hardest i've laughed in a long time.

The Almighty Defenders were entertaining, but not captivating...The group is comprised of members of the Black Lips & the BBQ Show.

Good sloppy fun...

Portugal. The Man, from Alaska originally, via Portland, conducted their business in the Gobi tent. They amped up the volume level and showed off one of the more traditional rock sets, along with Band of Skulls, to grace the festival.

The volcano related cancellation of Frightened Rabbit was a shame, another one that I'd been looking forward to on the heels of their newest record: 'The Winter Of Mixed Drinks'.

The hole in my lineup was quickly filled by Scottish veterans Camera Obscura, working off of their last record: 'My Maudlin Career'. The band warmed the hearts of those who were there, and kept on gamely when nearby tents threatened to overwhelm their sound.

Girls, from San Francisco, brought their Noise Pop A-Game to the Gobi tent, with each song seeming to be deliciously louder. They dropped great chunks of their debut album, and threw in some new stuff as well, (or covers i'm not hip to).

One of the high points of the day for me.

Back to the Mojave tent for Beach House, who've made plenty of waves with 'Teen Dream', one of the years better considered records, thus far. The question was how it would translate to the stage, and i'd heard their stage presence questioned, but i was totally captivated.

Snuck over to see Band of Skulls...they were fine; it was me. Had to return to see the end of Beach House.

Opinions are all over the place on the recorded work of the Gossip, but i've heard very few question their live prowess. Beth Ditto is compelling, and in the bands first Coachella appearance, she gave a performance worthy of the main stage.

She owned the tent, and gave no quarter, controlling the band, and playing with, and off of the audience, culminating in a stroll through the front row, parting the sea of people like you know who...

Caught the brutal ending of a set by the Raveonettes, sorry both that it overlapped with the Gossip, and that i couldn't get close enough for pictures.) Debated running down to see the XX, but given the mass of people at the outdoor stage for them, i sacrificed, and decided to err on the side of pole position for the Dirty Projectors, who did not disappoint.

Hard to explain the band's combination of African polyrhythms on electric guitar with an angular, Gang of 4ish tilt, over which is poured the elastic vocalise of the groups singers...Pretty polarizing for most, but right up my alley.

After a few songs, I extricated myself from the sweaty hordes and plopped down on the grass outside, when i fell prey to one of those moments that makes Coachella magic. I was singing along to the Dirty Projectors and staring off vacantly, when i happened to focus, and notice a young lady staring intently at me. I thought she was mouthing the words: 'are you talking to me', and i shouted: 'I'm singing...', and got that 'oh, here we go' feeling.

She came over and continued to stare, and she said: 'i think i know you', and suddenly all the pieces fell into place...It was Dru, who i worked with a dozen years ago, if it was a day. Since long decamped to the bay area, she had come after a friend bailed out on her. I never ceased to be amazed by the randomness of the world.

A truly, (for me), unexpected treat was the Faith No More set on the main stage. I always felt bad that, having set the Nu Metal template, many lesser bands cashed in on what was theirs, without their style, sense of humor, and presence.

Presence being the operative word; Mike Patton hit the stage in a Pimp.a.licious red outfit, and restaked his claim.

Light flashed across the dark stage, and pin lights spotted various members as they took verses on Peaches & Herb's 'Reunited'...Absolutely...they had me from there on. Bonus points for inserting a riff from Stevie Wonder's 'Sir Duke' into the middle of obvious. The band was tight and hungry, and compelled me to listen to music that isn't in my wheelhouse. No higher praise can i give...if only for a night, Faith No More came back home.

Coachella Festival 2010, day one

2010-04-18T08:07:00.000-07:00

And so it begins...another weekend in the desert. Weather is uniformly beautiful, mid to high 80's, truly a best case scenario. Friday was full of nice surprises...nothing i really had my heart set on except for the Specials reunion that night, so it was just stroll and dig.

Came in on the very end of Kate Miller-Heidke, who kicked the weekend off in style, following her partner's solo with an operatic high note...would like to have caught more of the set.

Programming notes: changes to this year's fest included dropping one day tickets in favor of three day only passes. Interesting swim against economic trends, but it worked for them, culminating in a complete sell out. Another change was allowing car camping and in and outs for the first time. Sources in the camping area report growing pains in the car camping concept, first not allowing cars in an ancillary area, then relenting. As for in and outs, the number of gates was not increased, and the subsequent backup of traffic caused lines by mid.day of up to 1000 people, and waits in the 90 minute to 2 hour range. This was mostly due faulty scanners, and they were back on line later in the day. High tension on the first day, but soon it was just a memory as the festival kicked into gear.

Cruised sets by Pablo Hassan in the dj tent, Jets Overhead, a young band from Vancouver, and Alana Grace on the outdoor stage (pictured above).

There's always that lull moment when you think 'nothing's really happening', and before you know it, some band steps up and smacks you in the face...First happy discovery of the day was Deer Tick, who opened with a drunken monologue that ended with the point that nothing in punk has improved since the second Meat Puppets record. Touche!
They went on to bash out an inspired set of shambolic roots punk.

Headed over to the main festival stage to catch the highly anticipated rapper Wale. He remained highly anticipated for half an hour after his scheduled start time, at which point, beside myself with what else i was missing, voted with my feet. I could hear that he did come on, from the rumble, and I clocked from my phone that he did a twenty minute set...wow. Campers told me that he'd soundchecked the night before, so what exactly was the problem? Not like anyone was onstage fiddling with the equipment. People need to learn, this isn't the Key Club...it's professional time, especially if you're honored with a main stage spot.
Hid out in the mojave tent, and salved my bitterness with a rocking set from 'As Tall As Lions', (pic above)...
Hustled back to catch the Avett Brothers, graduated to the outdoor stage after a raucous tent appearance in '07.

This set marked the first instance of major sound issues that randomly plagued the festival throughout the weekend. I'm not an engineer, so i won't speak as to cause, but i can certainly speak to effect...eww!

The Bros soldiered on, showing no signs of discontent, simply bailing on malfunctioning instruments and working harder to make up for it. Set built up to a rousing climax, then ended with a really touching sing a long. Never count out the Avett Brothers...

With a little trepidation, I headed back to the main stage for Calle 13 from Puerto Rico, and this time i wasn't disappointed...Party Time with a capital P! The brother/sister led combo held the crowd rapt. Special shout out to the relentless horn section that underscored the drive & kept things moving.

First volcano related scrub of the day was the Cribs, who now feature former Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr. Was quite looking forward to them.

Back to the tents for Brooklyn's much heralded Yeasayer, fresh off their second album, and Syracuse's own Ra Ra Riot. (both pictured below) Yeasayer had a hugely packed tent, and their new material held up better live.
Ra Ra Riot didn't have the crowd, but played with a lot of heart...

Next up was the controlled chaos that could only be the Dillinger Escape Plan, (pict left), easily the loudest band to this point, who laid down an ecstatic barrage. Amazing energy, and certainly not for the faint of heart. Pictures don't even begin to suggest what went down, I really should have shot some video of these guys.

Just four songs left me absolutely drained, at which point it was back to the main stage to stake out a front and center spot...

Which ended up being a front left spot, but who am i to quibble...the moment i'd been waiting 30 years for was here...the legendary Specials, (above) reunited for a brief 30th anniversary tour, (with everyone but founder Jerry Dammers), and took the coveted sunset slot and turned the main stage into a whirling dance party. Losing none of their energy, they rarely stopped moving, and worked their way through an impressive catalog of hits. All the favourites were there, 'Monkey Man', 'Too Much Too Soon', 'Night Klub', and more.

Now totally totally drained, drifted back to the tents for another 'always wanted to see..', the one and only Gil Scott-Heron, backed with a full band, which proved to be the perfect antidote to the frenzied day...didn't even try to fight the packed Gobi tent, just layed back on the grass and soaked the goodness in...his set ranged all over, touching on the new record, and running the gamut of his storied career...

Thus restored, i staked out a space next door in the Mojave tent for the triumphant return of Grizzly Bear, fresh off last years 'Veckatimest', and a followup to their '07 appearance here.

Grizzly Bear didn't disappoint, bringing the intricate record to life, and adding a lot more oomph to the songs in a live setting.

Finished off a long day with another reunion, Echo & the Bunnymen on the outdoor stage. Their majestic tunes fared well, and some well picked covers, (Doors 'Roadhouse Blues'), helped save the day for them.