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This just in: Unfortunately, Anders Parker had to cancel his scheduled show at the cozy confines of the 1/2 Lounge this Saturday. Bummer.
Anyway, here's a vid from a recent performance in North Carolina. No, it's not quite the same as actually seeing him person. But if you really want the sensation of being at the 1/2, pour yourself a dirty martini while lighting nine dollars on fire. (Note to the 1/2: I kid, I kid!)
OK, not really. I actually like Mr. FeatheR quite a bit. Will I have fun at his expense from time to time? Indeed I will. But you can say that about almost anyone in this town — I try to poke fun equally across the board. And generally speaking, I try to keep it all in good fun. I mean, I rag on myself as much as anyone else.
However, it seems not everyone shares my tongue-in-cheek approach. In particular, a Mr. "Seth Bailey" who writes for a humor(ish) website called Something Awful. In his most recent missive, he spends a good nine pages describing in explicit, unflinching detail why he loathes CrowfeatheR. Let me tell you, it is brutal stuff — it also borderline slanderous and on par with or beyond the tastelessness of which he accuses CrowfeatheR.
I was going to excerpt some of the choicest bits. But frankly, I just don't have the stomach this morning. It's that rough. So here's a link to the piece. Fair warning: this is not for kids or anyone easily offended by grotesque language.
This just in from The Vacant Lots: A brand spankin' new video for "Let Me Out," a tune from their excellent sophomore album According to the Gospel, which was released earlier this summer. The vid was directed and produced by local high school student/filmmaker Graham Raubvogel. Thanks to Eva Sollberger for posting this to Facebook, which is where I first came across it. Enjoy.
Let Me Out from Graham Raubvogel on Vimeo.
This just in: My Dearest Darling's CD release party at the Monkey House this Friday is a late scratch from the weekend's entertainment docket. What's worse, Middle Distance Runner has apparently canceled their Thursday night appearance at everyone's favorite Little Williamsburgh hot spot as well.
These two cancellations lead me to wonder if I'm developing something akin to the "Madden Curse." For the non-sports inclined, this refers to the not-as-ridiculous-as-it-sounds notion that the NFL star featured on the cover of that year's Madden football video game is doomed to be seriously injured that season. You'd be surprised how eerily prescient this superstition has become. Just ask any Steelers fan.
Anyway, this week I spotlighted MDR, and mentioned MDD's release show in my column. Less than 12 hours after this week's issue hit newsstands … poof! Both shows went up in smoke. Are we witnessing the birth of the Bolles Curse? (Cue creepy music and a crash of thunder.)
The MDD release party will now be held on Thursday, December 10 at Nectar's with support from Villanelles. To tide you over until then, here's another cut from the band's forthcoming album called "Secrets." Enjoy.
Just a couple of notes to pass along about this weekend's live music shenanigans that didn't make this week's print edition.
First up, for some reason tonight's shows at Metronome and Nectar's were omitted from the paper. Not sure why, cuz I distinctly recall entering them into the system and thinking, "Oooh. Cool local show at Nectar's!" and "Hey! Local support for a big regional band!" Effin' technology.
Anyway, Nectar's plays host to three of my personal local favorites this evening: The Vacant Lots, Lendway and Barbacoa. Show starts at 9 p.m. Meanwhile, upstairs at the 'Nome, we have electro-rock outfit The Indobox and local jam torchbearers Greyspoke. Rock and/or roll.
Next up is a show that wasn't listed because no one told me it was happening until after deadline. Still, it should be a good one, and it's happening in one of the more interesting venues in town, Muddy Waters. Saturday night local ska-punk hooligans Husbands AKA take the stage with The Flood (aka Patrick Brownson) and Boston's You Can Be Wesley, who friggin' rock (and also recorded their last album with our old pal Jeremy from Pretty & Nice). Here's a vid from Wesley, whom apparently, you can be. Oh, and this show is free.
A couple of a weeks ago, Burlington's crown princes of pop, The Jazz Guys, took the local interwebs community by storm with a great cover and video of "Single Ladies," the recent chart scorcher by pop diva Beyoncé. If you haven't seen it yet — or simply wish to relive the glory — here it is again.
Anyway, as I mentioned in my SoundBites column two weeks ago, they are itchin' to get back into the studio and do it all again. The only hitch: they need your help to figure out which song they should lampoon next. Decisions, decisions.
Below is a list of five songs the band is currently considering. Take a look, cast your vote and in a couple of weeks, The JGs promise to rock our worlds yet again with another funny tune — and maybe a copyright infringement lawsuit.
This just in: a new track from My Dearest Darling, "Decay." MDD — now boasting Villanelles' Zane Gunderson — have been MIA for the last year or so while finishing up a new 8-song disc. Expect the new disc to drop this month. In the meantime, they'll be rocking Higher Ground tomorrow night with White Rabbits and Glass Ghost.
This Just In: I love Farm.
You're shocked, right? Eh, maybe not so much at this point. Anyhoo …
Here are two tracks that Farm's Ben Maddox recently sent my way from the band's ongoing recording sessions. Apparently, they have about twenty songs in the works right now, with another ten or so on the way. Do I smell a double album in the works? Cuz that would be rad.
I should point out that these songs are both works in progress. Still, they seriously whet my appetite for more new material from a consistently excellent and sonically provocative local band. Enjoy!
Monkey vs. Demon
River to the Ocean
Um, her music, that is. This is rad.
The week-long multimedia purge continues with this cool cut, "Little Boy." The track comes to us courtesy of our very own Fatal Flaws and is the result of an increasingly intriguing collaboration with Montréal's the Broken Jugs. Me likey.
Oh, and speaking of multimedia fun, if you've got time to kill and want to exercise your brain muscles, check out what our old pal Casey Rae-Hunter has been up to this week. This is a link to the live streaming video from the Future of Music Policy Summit happening right this very second. Trust me, it's much more entertaining than it sounds, especially when the FMC gets all "Obama Death Panel" on stuffy industry dudes like they did yesterday with a clearly overmatched Steve Marks from the RIAA. Good times!
So, I keep writing about all these vids and MP3s that you kind folks keep sending my way, and then I go and disappear from the blogosphere for a week. Oops! Sorry ’bout that. You'll see why on Wednesday, but it's been a rather hectic week here at your friendly neighborhood alt-weekly. Whatever. No excuses.
Anyway, I'm gonna unload everything I've got on you this week, beginning with this crazy ass music video entitled "Black Magic Dance." It comes to us from the star of last week's SoundBites column, the one, the only, CrowfeatheR. It's really, um … jeez, I honestly don't know what to say about this one, so I'm just gonna throw it out there and open the floor for discussion. Enjoy.
There must be something in the (now officially … sigh) fall air, because you folks have been flooding me with videos and MP3s to post of late. Thanks for that. And please, keep 'em coming!
Today's submission comes to us from Raph Worrick (the Dirtminers) and his nifty side project Plastic Billionaires. The song is a version of Brian Eno's "The Fat Lady of Limbourg," originally released on his 1974 record Taking Tiger Mountain and reimagined on the Billionaires cheekily titled 2009 effort, Bankrupting Tiger Mountain, which you can download via the link to their website above. Enjoy!
The Fat Lady of Limbourg from Plastic Billionaires on Vimeo.
OK, Villanelles are not playing on any rooftops that I know of. However, the increasingly excellent local indie outfit is opening for Grammy-nominated rockers Plain White T's tonight at the Higher Ground Showcase Lounge. As regular readers know, I love it when local folks get the nod to open for bigger bands at the area's marquee juke joint. Can't happen enough, in my not-so humble opinion. Anyway, they will also be unveiling a new quickie EP, leading up to a full-length release at some point in the (relatively) near future.
You can take a listen to those songs below. But please don't be a jerk and rip them. If you dig the tunes — and I think you will — head over to HG and support good local music.
"She Found Someone":
"Bedbug":
Well, hello there, Solid State. How ya been?
Don't know if you folks have been keeping tabs on our good friends over at Angioplasty Media, but Nick, Paddy and Co. have had a pretty interesting run of posts lately — in addition to picking up the tattered, screen-printed pieces of late, great booking co-op, Tick Tick, with a sparkling string of Monkey House shows.
Specifically, they've begun a series of live music videos shot at Paddy Reagan's studio. The sixth and latest installment — following a nifty turn from indie-folk fave Vandaveer — features our own alt-country rolling stone, Lowell Thompson.
Here's that vid, and when you have a few minutes to spare, head over to Angioplasty and peruse the others. They're pretty rad, if I do say so myself. Also, they've just posted a killer Rough Francis vid from the band's recent Higher Ground show with Mos Def, courtesy of RF bassist Steve Williams (My First Days on Junk, et al.) and his blog, FuckingRightHandMan. Enjoy.
Burlington harsh noise. That is perhaps not a phrase uttered often by Queen City residents when referring to their music. These are the type of sounds that have some listeners upset at the very presentation and invasion of such aural abominations, of the composition of harsh and extreme sounds, to be more specific A form of ambient music, it's the type of music that works on a much more subtler level than most anything else. And I mean on a whole other level. It's the type of stuff that grabs the subconscious and tears it into tiny ribbons. Most are certainly not looking for that type of experience when throwing on a pair of headphones or retreating to the bar for some tunes. But it exists in both spaces.
Grimeology might be Burlington's home and heart for mutilated sounds (or grime) and their co-founder Matthew Mayer — aka A Snake in the Garden — is the man propagating this distinction in Burlington. Grimeology itself is a humble little homegrown outfit started in 2003 with "complete, total, and utter dedication to all sounds filthy, shitty, crusty, dirty, and Grimey®," specializing in cassette tapes and CD-Rs — fitting, in a certain context, to the depth and nature of the sounds found on such hardware. The justification that standardized music media brings would certainly be welcome. But maybe the image wouldn't fit. Or stick. One could derive that Grimeology knows its place in the musical world, truly for better or worse.
Upon entering A Snake in the Garden's studio tracks the vicious assault of feedback arranged into a sound collage of mind-bending violence can be soul shattering at best (or worst). The reaction is certainly down to perspective and there's no arguing with that. It's hard to imagine most even giving the ambiance of noise a chance. But spent more than a moment with, it's certainly interesting. It's hard to note whether that interest might be musically academic or emotional. But it's not a type of expression easily captured through headphones or treble-ridden computer speakers. In fact, in many ways it's impossible.
Live performance is starkly intrinsic to grime. So much so that unlike most music — which can project its emotional energy upon a listener's outstretched mind in almost any context — ambient noise needs the surroundings of the familiar, the untainted, in order to shatter them and mutate them into an unrecognizable atmosphere of filth and energy. The sounds need to touch and squeeze the listener's senses — violently, if need be. It can be toleration in its control over the listener, which is perhaps what is so inaccessible about the style. The bottom line is that grime is music that needs to be experienced and felt, rather than just listened to.
A Snake in the Garden is no exception. I caught one of Mattew's sets a few weeks ago at The Monkey House in Winooski and I left the place shaking. The dramatic effect the set had upon me was certainly a personal interpretation, but it took a particular amount of time to come to grips with my reaction. The atmosphere the sounds created penetrated straight down into a very primal place. The music spoke on an instinctual level that music rarely finds. The place where fight-or-flight rears its head and adrenaline fills the mind. There's a certain amount of trust you have to relinquish in order to be moved, and it would be easy to contextualize the sounds coming from the stage as just "noise" without that trust. The set only lasted about ten minutes.
The most fascinating aspect of the performance was the brutal and utter honesty that Matthew was able to bring to the wreckage. It would be easy to conceptualize composition and hide behind electronics while feedback sputters and drones. But A Snake in the Garden gives you intimate and personal knowledge of the universe that he's created. It's as if you're peering into a small galaxy of life and memory before he destroys it right before your eyes with regret and duty.
A Snake in the Garden is an important part of Burlington whether the city and populace know it or want it. Honest expression is what most musicians strive for, and I've never seen or experienced it as palpably as A S I T G. I will definitely be going out the next time the man is playing in town.
This just in from our old pals/arch-nemeses the Fatal Flaws. The deliciously curmudgeon-y local garage-rawkers recently collaborated on a track with a new(ish) Montreal outfit called the Broken Jugs for a compilation CD produced by Vancouver-based Mongrel zine. The title of the comp, which focuses on (really) underground Montréal bands is — and this is my second favorite part — Mongréal Zine. Nice. I love a good pun, almost as much as I love a bad one.
The track — this would be my first favorite part, for anyone keeping score — is entitled "She's a Big Girl" and represents something of a departure from the grainy, lo-fi misanthropy we have come to know and love (and hate?) from the Flaws. As drummer Sasha Rodriguez puts it in a recent email, "It's very different from the Fatal Flaws' sound — much more of a sixties sound, and much more produced."
And how.
I would go a step further and submit that this might be the sunniest little ditty Rodriguez and husband/guitarist/second coming of W.C. Fields, Chris Beneke have ever been a part of. (Granted, my sample size is admittedly small. Like, one album. For all I know they could have been in a Monkees cover band in a past life. But I digress.) And, much as I love the Flaws' independent work — and believe me, I do — this song friggin' rocks. In fact, I'd say this little blend of garage crunch and subversive pop sparkle is just about the perfect tune for a day like today, as summer, nearing its final throes, begins to surrender to the steely, ceaseless inevitability of fall. Or something like that.
Anyway, here's the cut. I hope you enjoy it.
You know who I love? Ryan Power. And I'm guessing after you check out the latest installment of Rebecca "Nuda Veritas" Kopycinski's "Burly Song" show for Channel 15, you will too — if you don't already, that is. Enjoy. And keep 'em coming, Rebecca!
Hear me now and believe me later: I will not mention the Red Sox again until at least October.
I went most of the year with nary a sports-related post, and they were the best team in the American League. I write one (mildly) comical post about my beloved Beantown nine and they self-destruct. Can those two things possibly be related, you ask? As any self-respecting Sox fan worth their Nomah jersey will tell you, yes. Yes, they can. We're that superstitious.
So that's that. I am declaring a sports moratorium from now until such time as it is reasonably safe to bring up the topic again (which quite honestly could be never).
Moving on, let's talk about the Seven Daysies awards, shall we?
Last Friday night was our annual Daysies awards party at the ECHO Center in Burlington. If you've never been, it is quite the to-do. The place is always mobbed with local luminaries dressed to the nines boozing and schmoozing like it's a post-Oscars party. In short, it is a lot of fun. And this year was no exception. Well, at least what little of the party I was able to attend.
You see, everyone who works for 7D has a specific job to on the big day in order for us to pull this thing off. In previous years, I was responsible for helping to set up the sound equipment because, as the "music guy," it is presumed that I know something about setting up PA equipment — I don't.
Anyway, this year 7D threw me a curveball, assigning me to oversee our weekly Friday night "Up Your Alley" concert series at Red Square with two of our interns from 5p.m. to 7 p.m. Just so we're clear, someone actually thought it would be a good idea to send the music editor and two college kids to the bar for two hours prior to the party. Seriously, that was my job for this year's Daysies. Awesome. Anyway, long story short, I couldn't make it to the ECHO Center until the party was about half over. We'll just leave it at that.
During the course of my Daysies carousing, I had several interesting conversations — with folks who shall remain nameless — concerning the need to revamp the music categories. I have to say, I kind of agree. While the old standbys do a decent job of recognizing the usual supects, there is room for improvement. The fact of the matter is that said usual suspects are going to win, year in and year out. Which is not say those folks are undeserving. Merely that we could do a better job of recognizing people for whom there simply isn't a legit category they can win.
My favorite suggestion from Friday night was to create a "Best Small Live Music Venue" award. The current category, "Best Live Music Venue," will always go to Higher Ground — and Nectar's will always be the runner-up. And I can't really argue with that. But here's the thing, the vast majority of venues in and around the state are — drum roll, please — small.
The Monkey House, Radio Bean and the Skinny Pancake (among others) are all deserving of Daysies recognition. Will any of those joints ever compete with HG or Nectar's? Nope. Not a chance. But why should they have to?
Going a step further, I would also like to see a category for "Best Live Music Venue Outside of Chittenden County." We do it for "Best Dance Club," ferchrissakes. How does it make sense not to have a similar category for places like Langdon Street, the Black Door or the Bees Knees? Answer: it doesn't.
Some other ideas:
Best New VT Band: I could swear we used to do this, maybe even as recently as last year. I love this category. (My vote for this year: a tie bewteen Rough Francis and Strength in Numbers)
Best College/Independant Radio Station: VPR will usually win the biggie. And they should. But how 'bout some love for the little guys? (My vote: WRUV barely nudges out the Radiator, mostly because of the sheer awesomeness of Exposure)
Best Music Festival/Outdoor Concert Series: Yeah, we have a "Best Fest" category that will always go to Jazz Fest or Brew Fest. That's cool. But why not recognize the Champlain Valley Folk Fest, or the NEKMF or even the WOKO Country Club Music Fest? Again, these guys are never going to stack up against Jazz Fest, or even Brew Fest. And again, they shouldn't have to. (My vote: I'll abstain here, though I think NEKMF probably wins a popular vote)
Best Music Journalist: OK, totally (mostly) kidding about this one.
So that's my two cents. If you could, what music categories would you most like to see in the Daysies?
Burlington is apt to drown in good times before its musical bread and butter becomes defined by self-taught experimentalism, or "noise" — a term lazily thrown around far too often. But experimental sounds do exist here, just in lower fidelity and in the scum-dripping shadows of the downtown underground.
For example, bands such as Lawrence Welks & Our Bear to Cross, a black sheep that'd be sooner seen in some clandestine basement than showing up on any Burlington bar main stage — a fact perhaps characteristic of keyboards and vocals choked violently by distortion. One could imagine the puzzled looks on the faces of some good-time-seeking Main Street bar-goers upon discovering this group. And to be clear, I've seen those faces.
Er, I mean, he's really wealthy. Like, really wealthy.
According to several media outlets, and first reported by the New York Post, Phish front man Trey Anastasio recently purchased Sopranos star Lorraine Bracco's $2 million "cottage" in the Hudson River Valley. Guess ticket sales for the summer tour must be pretty brisk, huh?
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