First off, look at the line up for this years Coachella. Holy God. Here is who I would go for:
Interpol, Peaches, We Are Scientists, Comedians of Comedy, El-P, Gogol Bordello, Tilly and the Wall, The Arcade Fire, The Decemberists, The Good the Bad and The Queen, LCD Soundsystem, Blonde Redhead, !!!, Hot Chip, Ghostface Killah, VNV Nation, Andrew Bird, Rage Against the Machine, Willie Nelson, The Roots, Damien Rice, Placebo, Expolosions in the Sky, Jose Gonzalez, Against Me!, Ratatat, Tapes 'n Tapes, and (tying this into today's post) Anathallo. Now, on with the post.
Months and months ago I went to Cervantes for the first time. It was a pretty good show, as far as first shows go. I'd never seen any of the bands who were to perform that night, and all of the ones I did see (Kiyomi and I missed the first band) were quite amazing. The head liner, The Format, put on quite a show. I'd never actually heard them, though they were very popular with Kiyomi, and was rather pleased with how much fun they brought to the house. Rainer Maria, the band who performed prior to the Format, was another band I'd never heard anything by. I really liked their no-nonsense approach to, simply, rocking the freeking house. Neither of these bands, however, were the highlight of the night for me.
This set was, however, not made up of corny pieces of scenery or cute animals, but loads of instruments. The rather large stage was nearly filled, leaving little room for the 7 or 8 members of Anathallo to climb through and get to their instruments, and even less to play them comfortably. But they succeeded, and put on a damn good show. They even came up on stage during The Format and joined them for a few songs, which probably added to my liking of The Format. I've tracked down a radio performance by them that is not anywhere as good as experiencing them live, but it's better than nothing. Purchase their music at their main page, their myspace or Amazon
JJ, from Karma Spares No One, and I were AIMing it up t'other day and he flat out state that Bright Eyes was better that The Mountain Goats. Shocked and appalled, I requested an explanation. JJ's responded with: "[Conor Oberst's] lyrics are often better at describing an image and combining the absurd into the real world [than John Darnielle's]". Damned if he didn't nail that one. In that regard, I'd say yes, Bright Eyes is better than The Mountain Goats, but Bright Eyes just doesn't touch my soul in the same way the The Mountain Goats does. I do, however, see where JJ is coming from; Bright Eyes is, probably, one of the best writers of our generation, if not #1 (quoting JJ). You decide which you like better by listening to these two absolutely amazing live sets by both of my boys:
I love this set, mostly because it is the earliest Mountain Goats live set I have. Another reason is because I think it portrays what an amazing "banter-er" John Darnielle is, and was. Plus it has the only version of "No, I Can't" that I actually like.
Band: The Mountain Goats Date: 1996-03-20 Venue: The Garage
Many years ago I set out to listen to every band on the label that my favorite band (The Prodigy) was signed to, my reason being that I assumed that if XL Recordings signed what I see as the best damn band eva, they must be signing other amazing bands. This is how I discovered the band Super Furry Animals. Since I discovered them, I fell in love with them. Gruff, singer for SFA, joins Bright Eyes for a song or two near the end of the set.
Not gonna lie, for a while there, I was rather bored with Beck. When Sea Change came out, I was like "all right, new Beck, rock on" and all that jazz ... then I listened to it and I flat out didn't much like it. He's a damn good musician, but Sea Change didn't catch my interest, so I kinda forgot about him for a while.
Then Guero came out and there was a big hub-bub about that, so I borrowed it from a friend, and couldn't hear was all the hype was about. I really didn't much like it. It was Boring. So when The Information came out, I borrow it from the first person I knew who had it, and didn't listen to it until about last week.
Freeking ... Amazing. Beck, in my mind, is back. If you haven't heard it, get it. In the mean time, here is a set from early-late last year on the best damn radio station (KCRW) on the best damn show on the radio (Morning Becomes Eclectic) where he performs songs from The Information:
Photo: Pee-Pee @ The South Park Music Fest. '06. Pic by Kiyomi
There are many many bands out there that have awful names. Most of those bands are, in turn, cursed by the music gods and doomed to be completely Lame. One of the very few exceptions is the Denver based local folk jamboree Pee-Pee. Maxing out at about 10 members, with usually missing no more than 1 member per performance, makes them one of the biggest local bands I've ever ... witnessed.
They're shows have been described to me as religious experiences, which I entirely agree with. After seeing them even once, one soon becomes more than familiar with how utterly amazing a Pee-Pee show can be. Haunting, soulful, sing-a-long-y, footstomping music fanatics in Denver are no stranger to the folk ensemble, and for good reason.
They recently did live set on a Colorado radio station, which I happen to have for all you nice people. Some of the stuff here isn't as amazing as their studio stuff, so I recommend checking out their myspace and downloading (for free) a couple of their songs (they're nice enough to be allowing all you pretty people to take the songs they worked so hard on for no money at all. Do so). I just put titles I thought fit for some of their songs, because, since I'm not, like, close friends or really even friends with anyone in the band, I don't know the titles to most their unrecorded songs. #'s 8,9, 12, 14, 15, and 16 are all the correct titles thou.
Explosions in the Sky's new album is shaping up to be, in my opinion, their best album. I think my friend Kiyomi said it best when she said "sometimes when I'm listening to music, I just get disappointed. And then I listen to Explosions in the Sky, and am thankful. Thank you Explosions in the Sky, thanks for getting it right." Here's them getting it right on their new LP, All of a Sudden I Miss Everyone:
Their Myspace is actually less helpful than their fan myspace, in my opinion. But they both have more of their music, and, since EitS are now on tour, there is prolly some info for that on those sites too.
That is the video for the Title track off of Kittie's newest effort, Funeral For Yesterday. I recommend hitting play and then just listening to the freeking awesome song, because, while the video isn't bad, per se, it is rather pointless.
Kittie, in my mind, has always had a lot of potential that was never fully reached. Even their last album, Until the End, left me wanting. It was good, their best up until then in fact, but it just wasn't enough. They haven't had the same line up for two albums, and this time, I think the two Lander sisters finally got it completely right with Tara McLeod and Trish Doan. I think I'll this track and the music video speak for themselves:
Their Myspace is bound to have more. I hear they're updating it every week.
Here is the only live stuff I have of Kittie's. I'm not gonna lie, it's not all that amazing, especially compared to their new stuff. It's the audio rip of their VHS/DVD Spit in Your Eye (recorded during their Spit tour), but, like I said, it's all I've got:
Band: Kittie Date: between 1999-2000 Venue: America
Over last year I went to in excess of about 50 shows (or, at least, I'd like to think I did), the summer being the time when I went to the most. Usually I would be hanging about with not much to do in the evening and my best friend, Kiyomi, or I would say "screw it, let's go to a show," which, in reality, is way more then enough to get either of us to one of the local venues.
One eve we found ourselves at Monkey Mania, with a line up of bands who neither of us had heard of, but hey, it was better than staring at a computer screen. Well, almost a full line up of bands we hadn't heard. When looking up where we ought to go we both checked out Thao Nguyen's sound, and since she was the last person performing that night we wanted to see if it was worth it to stay. we both found songs we liked, so we decided to go.
The first four bands were good, but nothing to write home about. Between sets Kiyomi and I went outside to get some fresh air, because it was hella hot inside because 1) this was in the middle of the raging summer and 2) the owners of Monkey Mania didn't want the smell of smoke to filter into the place so they closed the door in the back (where everyone would smoke) and, in a room with no windows and only two doors, one of which is closed and the other that leads into another room, it becomes a sauna. That and it kinda smelled like cat piss (This was during Monkey Mania's decline into what it is today: not very much fun), which the heat did nothing but enhance it.
So between the 3rd and 4th (out of 5) Kiyomi and I were outside breathing and talking about the odd piece of un-identifiable meat on the sidewalk and Thao walks up to us with a small orange type thing in her hand (pre-peeled) and she offers us some "citrus." Kiyomi and I were more than glad to share some citrus with Thao, so we partook. She asked us who we were there to see, and we responded "you, actually." She look flattered and said "here, have more citrus."
By the time the 4 band took the stage, basically everyone had left. The first band had left after their set, and over the next few hours people just stopped coming in from the fresh air. So by the time Thao took the stage it was Kiyomi, myself, and the two solo acts prior to Thao. Because of this Thao came up to Kiyomi and I and asked us if there were any songs we wanted to hear. Since we had only heard the 4 songs on her myspace, we asked for our favorite ones (mine was City Sky, and hers was Feet Asleep). Thao said she wasn't planning on playing City Sky, but she will now.
She play with such ferocity/intensity it was almost like she was screaming the lyrics, but, really, I think it was just her singing ... REALLY REALLY loud. It was definitely worth staying in the cockroach infested, cat-piss-smell permeated, boiling venue.
A few months later it came time for the South Park Music Festival. Kiyomi and I, of course, planned on going, and when we got the list of artists who were gonna be there, we noticed that Thao Nguyen was returning! So, after a few days of the festival it finally came time for Thao's performance, and right before it Thao came in the room, e approached her, told her that we were those two people who saw her at Monkey Mania, and she promptly looked to her two friends who were with her and said "these are the guys I told you about." insanely flattered, Kiyomi and I offered her some oranges, which we had purchased on the way to Fairplay. She came off as highly flattered, accepted the oranges, and then we politely removed ourselves from the conversation so she could get set up to perform.
Her performance was, again, stunning. While she she didn't have a bass player and a drummer with her this time, she was still on top of her game. She even, at one point, got a guy who she had met directly before her set to come up and beat box to one of her songs (pictured above).
Since I purchased her CD at Monkey Mania it has been played quite, quite frequently. It soothes me. It makes me happy and giddy and polite.
Here are Kiyomi's favorite, my favorite, and one unreleased one she did (I think) with a band called The Get Down, Stay Down. That may just be something Thao made up, but hey, I like it.
That is Dan Deacon's video for BIG BIG BIG BIG BIG.
On the 17th of last month I went to quite possibly the 2nd greatest show of the year. (I say second greatest because I went to New York in March simply to see the Prodigy, making that show not only THE show of the year for me, but the most money I've ever spent to see a band [about 650 gil]). The line up was as follows:
The show was at Rhinoceropolis, which meant even though the word on the street was that the show was starting at 9, you show up at 10. When I arrived (a little past 10), Denverite Nick (who is the core and main member of TRS) was just setting up. He had a xylophone on a piece of carpet on the ground (the carpet was there because the floor of Rhinoceropolis is cement as it is, in fact, a modified warehouse of sorts), a speaker, a looping pedal, microphone, guitar, and a floor tom with a 14" crash attached to it. He was surrounded by little prayer candles, the kind you can buy at grocery stores. The candles were lit, the lights were turned down, and he started.
Every time I've seen Nick perform it is much different from the last time I saw him. It seems that since co-founding Still Soft Recordings he's gotten more and more experimental, which is awesome, because he is always fun to watch, and the songs he makes are so full of heart. At one point Kara (formerly of Team Awesome) and the drummer of Hunter Dragon (who I assume is the only member, though the myspace says otherwise) joined him on "stage" (Kara on xylophone and the drummer of Hunter Dragon on floor tom) and performed a few songs that they had practiced and toured with a few months prior. They had a little trouble remembering how the songs went, but it was entertaining all the same. Unfortunately, I don't have any recordings of his newest style of music. These older ones will have to do for now (though he has others on his personal web site that you can d/l):
Up next Travis (another Denverite), otherwise known as Pictureplane, took the "stage," setting up the monster that is his keyboards and pedals. One thing that I can always say about Pictureplane is that it is some of the dancy-ist, and Loudest, live music you can see in all of Denver. He plays Loud as hell. This show, however, was not as bad. His set included some new songs that were pretty good, though I still like most the older stuff more. Here is a sampling of his genius:
Travis broke his monster down, and Alexis built his up. I was particularly interested in seeing what he was gonna bring to the table, as I'd never heard of him. I assumed it was gonna be good, because Rhinoceropolis usually doesn't have shitty acts. Boy was I right. Alexis had set up the xylophone used earlier by Nick (as for who owned the xylophone is anyone's guess), a series of looping pedals and distortion/effect/wa-wa pedals, a guitar, and a mic. Alexis proceeded to "build" his song by playing something on or through one of his many devices and looping it (every once and a while he would switch things up by dropping beats or adding more or effecting the tunes in some way) and, after the music was "built" (I hope that term is making sense), we would rap over it. The closest thing I can come to describing the style of rap is Why? on the album Elephant Eyelash. It was good, and weird. Unfortunately Alexis' studio stuff just isn't as good as live. I dunno, maybe I just can't get into it because I saw him make it right there in front of my eyes, and it was just so much more personal. Here is some stuff I scrounged up: Alexis - Underwater Carousel Alexis - Oh No Alexis - Casio Elation
Before the show I had gone to a little coffee shop I like to frequent prior to going to shows that goes by the name of St. Mark's. While there I ran into a friend of a friend (she and I had never really "hung out" or anything). She and I chatted for a while and another friend of a friend showed up, and he joined the conversation. I came to discover that they too were going to the show that night. I asked if they had heard of any of the last three bands, and the first friend said she had heard of Dan Deacon, and had heard that he was just plain awful. She had never actually heard his music, mostly because of the strong recommendations not to. This got me pretty stoked about Dan's performance.
Finally Dan's turn was up. He had a large table that was covered in pedals and other devices, including a green skull which we would later learn lights up. This awkward, overweight, nerdy guy who looked to be well on his way to 30 scurried around setting up his equipment. After quite a long time of just watching him set things up, he was finally done. The lights were turned down, and then the magic started.
Dan Deacon began talking, and nearly didn't stop. He started out (all ready out of breath [he said because of the altitude {understandably so}]) telling us that last year he made a resolution to doa count down before every song, but that by the second time he did it it was all ready boring, so he had to come up with a way to make it interesting. This meant that every time he counted down he would do it a little differently. I don't claim to remember how he had us do it, but suffice to say it was the best time I ever had counting down (and then back up, and then skipping the even ones on the way back down, and then saying the last 4 in a sexy voice while doing the first seven as though there was a rabid panda bear chasing me... etc.). After we counted down, he started the music, and it was damn near the Dancy-ist thing I've ever heard. this maybe one of those things you just need to be there for so you can experience the moment, but now I just wanna have a freak out session anytime I hear anything by that man. Every song was an anthem to movement and yelling. I nearly danced my self to death. Between the songs I nearly had a lung collapse because I was laughing so hard. That man can say the freaking funniest things ever. I won't even attempt to re-tell one in text form because there is no way it would do it justice. See him. For now, hear him:
After the exhaustingly well done performance put forth by Dan Deacon, Matt and Kim set up their keys and drum set, took their places, shone their smiles (the most smilingist two people I've ever seen, it was awesome), and rocked the house. They didn't talk much between their songs, sighting that Dan Deacon had pretty much said everything there was to say. The most memorable part about their set was when this Huge guy next to me (who one could clearly see was a big fan of Matt and Kim because he too shone his great big smile) asked me to help him form a human pyramid. I looked at him, and he looked at me showing that he was 100% serious, and I said "heck yes." He got the guy on his left in on the deal too, and half way into the song, the big guy signaled to us, we got down on our hands and knees, and people just seemed to know what to do. soon we had a human pyramid (though I don't know exactly how high, as I was on the bottom. I do know that it was at least 3 levels high though), and it was triumphant. The levels climbed down and we got back up before the end of the song, which is when Matt and Kim remarked that that was probably the coolest thing that had ever happened at any of their shows. I was, of course, more than happy to be a part of it. After that, my adrenaline was pumping far too much, and I danced my freeking mind out. I was sore for the next three days I danced so hard. I've never sweat so much in the winter (that was probably too much info ... oh well). Here are some songs by those beautiful two people:
That's it. Best Denver Show maybe ever for me. Make sure to check out their myspace pages. They are linked above, but heck, I'll link them here at the bottom too:
truthfully, I don't even know if that song is technically by the Arcade Fire, because it's a demo that Win wrote a few years (maybe only 1 thou) before the band formed. It is, however, one of my favorite songs ... period.
I love love love the Arcade Fire. In fact, they are one of the reasons I purchased a drum set and started a band. They fill this part of me that I didn't even know needed filling, and I don't think that, after that, there is much more I can say about them, other than the facts. I think my buddy over at Karma Spares No One summed it up nicely though, so I will just get to the music.
Like JJ said, Neon Bible is looking to be quite the sophomore album, and Intervention, the first released song, is a song that, I hope, proves that to be right. Thing is that it didn't just pop up recently. They performed it in a live set on KCRW's Morning Becomes Eclectic almost 2 years ago along with my absolute favorite song by them, a cover of "Born on a Train." Here is that amazing set:
Band: The Arcade Fire Date: 2005-01-17 Venue: KCRW's Morning Becomes Eclectic
That, I hope, is a video of the Thermals' song "Pillar of Salt." I found it randomly today, and fell in love with it. I think my favorite thing about it is the guest spots. See if you can find my favorite, here's a hint: it's near the end.
You'd think that since the Prodigy was my absolute favorite band ever I'd've posted a show by them sooner that this. Just goes to show ya... well ... I'm sure it shows something.
The Prodigy, after basically dieing off after Liam Howlett decided to wait 5 years before releasing any new music, and with release of that god-awful single "Baby's Got a Temper" nearly being the last nail in the coffin, they attempted to come back with the long awaited (7 years) 4th album, Always Outnumbered, Always Outgunned. I, for one, never actually expected it to ever be released. I must say though, it was a good effort. It was no Fat of the Land, but, then again, nothing ever will be.
While AONO had it's awesome singles, Girls, Spitfire, Hotride, but, all in all, America failed to notice that they returned, and with good reason: The Prodigy America knew no longer existed. America saw The Prodigy as an Electronic Punk band, and nothing else. What they failed to notice was that Liam Howlett never stuck to one sound, most times he didn't even stick to it long enough to produce an entire album of it. (However, Liam Howlett, at his core, never changed. On each of his albums his style of sampling and basic beat structures were always the same). This spells trouble for Liam and his boys, because that means that, unless Liam has his finger firmly on the pulse of what is in and what is not and wishes to go against his instincts (which would be to make music that he wants to make) and make music that is soully what is "in" (whatever that means), The Prodigy will never be on top of the world again. (my proof that they were at one point is that everyone has heard at least 10 seconds of 1 song off of The Fat Of The Land, regardless of whether or not they know it is, in fact, the Prodigy).
This doesn't much phase me, and I'm certain it doesn't phase Liam, Keith, or Maxim, because wherever they go, they sell out, and have a damn good time up on stage regardless. This show really portrays that I think. It's an exciting show for me, because it also shows me how much potential Liam still has. Everything The Prodigy is pumping out points to 1 thing for me: the next album is gonna be killer.
This is the best (quality) recording of The Prodigy that I have ever heard, if not the best (again, in quality) live recording I've ever heard of anyone.
there was a time when I read one blog, and that blog was called rBally. I've not seen a blog that was as up to snuff on music blogging as the guy who wrote rBally. But, then again, that's just my opinion. since it's supposed death, I branched out and found a few blogs I could relate to. (as I later found out rBally had not died, but, instead, just shut down for a while because of some error in the system). but, I suppose, that was the problem: there were only a few blogs I could relate to. I would like to hope that this is a blog that more than just I can relate to. I'd call that a goal, but who needs ambition in this day and age? I'm REALLY just in this because I love music, and, try as I might to get my friends to listen to the music I think is amazing, they don't much care. But, in my experience, not to many people are extraordinarily passionate about music.
I am.
So, I suppose, I'll start this dang thing :).
I love the Mountain Goats (pictured above). If you have not heard of them, well, now you have. A wonderful thing happened late last year while John Darnielle was on tour: he got sick and nearly had to cancel a show or two. why wonderful? because he went on and did the show. This is not wonderful for the reason Save as Draftit is wonderful when the mentally challenged football played scores the winning goal, or when the black sheep of the family gets his brother into a political office because and despite of his blundering, but simply because of how wonderful Mountain Goats fans can be. don't understand? listen to the full set and you will. if you want to skip ahead in the lesson to get to the point (while bypassing all of the important material), then listen to the version of "No Children." For those of you well versed in the Mountain Goat's doings around town, this will prolly not be new to you, but for everyone else, it's the most magical song I've heard in longer than I can remember.
All MP3's hosted here are purely for promotional purposes. Buy music, see bands live, be cool like that.
If you'd like to submit something for me to write about, e-mail me at theeluke@gmail.com. I read every e-mail I get. I may not be able to respond to your e-mail. Please don't take offense.
