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Thursday, December 09, 2010

Coming Attractionz

This just in from ya boyz at 4Word Productions: the trailer for an upcoming animated video from BURNTmd and Akrobatik. Suck on that, Harry Potter.

 

Wednesday, December 08, 2010

John Lennon and … Howard Cosell?

Maybe you've heard, but December 8 marks the thirtieth anniversary of the day John Lennon was murdered. Obviously, there are tributes almost anywhere you look today — including a Lennon tribute night at Parima this evening with Aaron Flinn, Joshua Glass and Scott Mangan, FYI. And with good reason. You'd be hard pressed to name any single artist whose impact on the landscape of pop music and culture was as profound.

But few folks remember that news of Lennon's death was first broken not by a news icon such as Walter Cronkite or Ted Koppel, but by, of all people, legendary sportscaster Howard Cosell during a Monday Night Football broadcast. (I don't remember it either. I was two at the time.) Cosell learned of the news at the end of a game between the New England Patriots and Miami Dolphins. And were it left up to him, he might not have passed it along as the game was tied with 13 seconds remaining setting the stage for a potential winning field goal. Fortunately, a younger, hipper Frank Gifford understood the gravity of the situation and persuaded Cosell otherwise.

Below is a behind the scenes clip from ESPN in which Gifford convinces Cosell that Lennon's death is kind of a big deal. And here is a link to Cosell's delivery of the news.

 

 

 

 

Wednesday, December 01, 2010

Tasty Leftovers: Arthur Brooks

Once again, ace freelancer Matt Bushlow checks in with some spare parts from his story on trumpeter Arthur Brooks appearing in today's paper. These "Tasty Leftovers" are part of a continuing series Bushlow is writing for his own blog, in which he shares some extra bits and pieces from his various freelance projects, including for VPR and, of course, Seven Days. This is his second such post for 7D, and his third in the series overall. Take it away, Matt. [Ed-DB]

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Arthur Brooks About two weeks ago, I interviewed trumpeter and composer Arthur Brooks for a profile that ran in today's issue of Seven Days. Brooks studied music at Antioch College in the late 1960s and later worked with two pioneers of what was called the New Music, or free jazz, movement: pianist Cecil Taylor and trumpeter Bill Dixon. It was Dixon who brought Brooks to Bennington College in Vermont, where he taught for nearly 25 years before retiring in 1997.

Our conversation spread out over decades - from the October Revolution in late-'60s New York to Dixon's death earlier this year.

As these things often go, I couldn't include everything in my profile of Brooks. Luckily, thanks to the magic of the Internet, I can include a few of my favorite excerpts below. Enjoy.

On music as an art form:

"There are basic questions that I feel have to be addressed if you’re trying to do music as an art - as an art form. And that is basically, what is music? Where does it come from? And that’s personal. For me, that’s a personal pursuit. There are spiritual and philosophical aspects of it, and that to me is what the finest music manifests - those deeper areas. It doesn’t matter what form. It can be classical, it can be country, it can be folk. If the person doing it has a certain amount of integrity and you can hear that soul element, that’s what does it for me. I’ll listen to heavy metal if those people are tapping onto that basic core...."

Explaining why he describes his music as "country" music:

"Go down to the lake. Look at the water. And listen to it. Listen to what you see. God, up here in Vermont you’ve got these mountains that have their own shapes and rhythms, and along with the rest of everything else going on.... One of the exercises I used to give my students was for five minutes a day, no matter where you are, stop, focus all of your attention here [points to ears] in what you hear, and let it extend your hearing as far as you can. And let it absorb it, be aware of it. Go to the woods, go to the lake. "

On his mentor Bill Dixon's involvement in the October Revolution, a protest of clubs by free jazz or "New Musicians":

"Bill was also the architect of what was called The October Revolution.... Its design was to boycott all the clubs and festivals to get a better deal for the New Musicians. [John Coltrane] was a part of it, Cecil [Taylor] was a part of it.... Again, the model had already been set by the post-Modernist painters in New York. When they - Rothko, Kenneth Noland, [Robert] Rauschenberg - couldn’t get their work into regular galleries. They said, “Okay, we’ll pull our stuff out and we’ll make our own galleries.” And they kicked ass. [Laughs] They made it happen. Of course, they had some very wealthy patrons, too. We never really got that.

On playing with Cecil Taylor:

"I was kind of intimidated with playing with Cecil’s Unit, because the music is so high, so technically demanding in a certain kind of way, at least the rehearsals were, but when we got on the gig, it was [makes a “takeoff” sound and motion with his hand] pew! Cecil’s sets last for an hour, two hours, and I said, “I don’t know if I have the chops for this.” And it would be this whole universe of sound open up, and you’d be there watching yourself play and the horn is playing itself, and Cecil’s just in front of you, behind you, on your side, above you [makes more sound effects, like Cecil is zipping around him while he’s playing], just urging you on.... And we’d finish and you’d think, wow, you’ve been playing maybe 10, 15 minutes - maybe 30 - [but it was] two hours. And you finish and you can’t say anything because you’re so high. It’s amazing. And every single time I’ve played with Cecil, it’s been that way. ... And that’s what I aim for. That’s what I want, is to reach that state where the music is just revealing itself. To me, at its best, that’s what you do: You become the instrument. You put yourself in position where you become the instrument."

On where he believes the music comes from:

"I probably come from a Sufi concept of what sound is: That sound is one of the elements of the soul, that it’s the connection between heartbeat and the soul; that music is a very other-dimensional manifestation of being. I think that’s why it moves us so much, because it transcends us. If one can believe that - even if one doesn’t believe that the heart is propelled by something other than massive chemical reactions - that the heart is connected to this stream of energy that exists, that stream of energy, to me, is music. That’s why I love nature so much, because that’s a more authentic stream of energy, a less man-made stream of energy."

That Thing, That Thing

This just in from the good folks at Higher Ground: In celebration of the club's 12th anniversary, they've just announced the incomparable Lauryn Hill will play the Ballroom on Wednesday, December 15. And according to HG's Nick Vaden, she's bringing a 10-piece band. Dang. Tickets go on sale this Friday. And at $60 a pop, here's hoping there's Fugee or two involved … ahem.

In the meantime, here's a clip from Hill's "MTV Unplugged" appearance in 2002.

 

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Slay Bells

'Tis the season to jolly. (Fa la la … and so on.) So, in the interest of spreading holiday cheer I present … Slayer, obviously. Thanks to Joe Cleary for passing this along.

 

Friday, November 19, 2010

Rubblemania

I doubt you've heard of them, but apparently there's this new band called "the Beatles" that Steve Jobs just discovered and is pimping like crazy all over his flash-in-the-pan website iTunes. Me? I don't really get it, what with all that moppy hair and the funny accents and that vulgar sound. Can't imagine they'll have much of a future. Besides, this rock and roll thing is just a fad. Gimme some Mitch Miller any day. Now there's music.

Anyway, apparently the kids dig it. For example, kids like Rubblebucket, whose cover of "Michelle" was just named one of the 50 best Beatles covers of all time by Paste magazine. Check it out …

 

Michelle



 

 

Thursday, November 18, 2010

Ryan Power Redux

Greetings, Solid State.

If you're reading italics at the head of a post, that usually means we have a special guest contributer — granted, it has been a while though. Today, freelancer extraodinaire Matt Bushlow checks in with some overflow material from his most recent 7D piece on Ryan Power. Take it away, Matt. [DB- ed.]

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250-Ryan_Powers Tasty Leftovers #1: Ryan Power

Over the years I’ve found that there are almost always great bits and pieces left over from interviews I’ve done with musicians and sources (the folks who go on the record about a musician’s backstory, talents, etc.). These are usually insightful stories or quotes that, for one reason or another, just don’t fit into the larger story.

I’ve decided to start posting these tasty leftovers at a new Tumblr called Tasty Leftovers. There you can find little anecdotes, thoughts about recent interviews, and perhaps even some audio. I will also be posting all of my Seven Days-related Tasty Leftovers here at Solid State.

Let’s get started. I wrote a profile of Ryan Power for the 11/17 issue of Seven Days. You may have read it. Power’s talents run the gamut: He’s an accomplished and original songwriter, performer, guitarist, and engineer/producer. As part of my research for the profile, I emailed several musicians he has worked with and asked them to contribute their thoughts on his work in all its forms. I could only use two short quotes in the piece, but there was so many recollections and kind, honest praise for the man that I wanted to include some more of them here.

Enjoy.

Matt Bushlow

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Burette Douglas, The Cush

We played at a party at Brett Hughes’ old apartment in Winooski. We didn't know anyone there except Brett, but the place was full of people. I think it was Creston [Lea] who introduced himself and we got to talking, then Ryan wandered by and he joined up in the conversation. Ryan and I really started to hit it off when we started talking about recording music. Recording is a real passion of mine and when you find someone else that is into it, you could talk all night. Which we did. At that time he hadn't yet released his first album. So we were all pretty new to town.

A little later we were still working on rounding out the band. We knew that Ryan could play just about any instrument so we asked him about playing keys for us. He said that sounded good. Over time he ended up playing keys and drums for us.

Ryan is a superb musician, he really knows music from the inside out. He knows all the technical parts as far as reading music and such. But he goes 100 percent off of vibe. He is so much fun to play live with. He really gets into it.

He quit playing with us full time once he released his first album, but we continued to play with him in Rock ‘n’ Roll Sherpa and he would sit in with us on drums from time to time. Although he didn't play in the band, he was still like a member in the band. He mixed New Appreciation For Sunshine as well as The Lonestar Chain album. He has golden ears, and has such a natural knack for mixing music.

We always bounce ideas off of each other and can talk for hours about recording. He is one of my favorite human beings. Truly a humble genius.

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Brett Hughes, Monoprix, Honky Tonk Tuesday

I finally got to play with him some in The Cush. I somehow found myself playing drums in the band, and he was on keys, playing parts I assume were mostly written by Gabby and Burette. Ryan plays pretty much everything, and he's got a great ear for phrasing and nuance. I loved his playing in The Cush: He held the songs together dynamically, and I took a lot my cues from him.

I love his songs, his singing, playing and arranging, and of course he's also a really talented recordist, engineer and producer. I'm jealous as hell.

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Chris Weisman

I first noticed Ryan in Michael Annicchiarico's freshman ear-training class at UNH in 1995. He had long hair and sat in the back and I had a crew cut and sat in the front. Mike would be going through the answers to a series of test questions and he always said "Who got that?" and had people raise their hands as he went along so he could gauge where the class was at. As the examples got harder it would just be me in the front and him in the back reluctantly raising our hands. That was the beginning of the twins thing.

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Tristan Baribeau, Villanelles

Ryan Power absolutely transformed how we heard our self-titled album, VILLANELLES. We had been mixing and playing with things for a long time before we brought Ryan in, and the man just has a way with sound. He was able to make things sound much more "organic" in the mixing process, which only comes with plenty of practice and patience. And on top of that he really is just the nicest guy.

He was always very eager to work things out, based on our budget and time frame, and was always appreciative for the opportunity to work with us. I have no doubts that I will use the resource that is Mr. Power for upcoming projects, because there really isn't anyone better in the area - and his resume proves that.

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Kyle Thomas, Happy Birthday

When we first started talking about recording, Ryan mentioned to Chris [Weisman] that he would love to help out if we wanted. I was used to doing everything myself, so I thought it would definitely relieve some stress for me to have him come help, and we all appreciate his recording skills so we asked him to do it.

He has a really great ear and he's not afraid to say if he likes something or doesn’t, which is really important in music production - having someone who doesn’t just say everything is great.

I think he was most important in the mixing process. There were about five months or so where I was just sitting alone in my studio working on the record and adding too much shit. When I brought it up to Burlington and mixed it with him, he just started subtracting shit and all of a sudden the music was breathing again and it sounded so much better. He really is great at mixing. It’s definitely extremely important to have an outside ear to give constructive criticism. And dang he is charming and attractive too!

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Seth Eames, Eames Brothers Band

Ryan and I go back awhile now, [to] right around the turn of the century. He has played drums on some gigs with us over the years. We also recorded a couple of songs for the Gezellig album with him holding down the beat.

Mostly though, Ryan and I are good friends. I have high respect for his music. His ability to translate what he hears. His songs are funky, abstract and honest... Recording with him recently was mostly just an excuse to hang out. Hopefully we caught some good music with his string of wires and tape, his raw sense of perfection and his serious humor.

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Gabrielle Douglas, The Cush

The first time [Burette and I] met Ryan was at a party and my first impression of him was that he is such a gentle soul. ... He is always able to lighten the room he walks into; he can provide you with a different perspective as if he is handing you a cookie; and his intentions with creating music are genuine, honest and compassionate. ... He has an incredible ear for music and his ideas always made logical sense with the emotional feel of the music.

I love Ryan. He is like a brother to me and I miss him very much.

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Casey Rae-Hunter, communications director, Future of Music Coalitionfounder, Contrarian Media; former Seven Days music editor; dark lord

When I first encountered Ryan's music it was a pretty random thing — like, a CD coming across my desk at Seven Days. Pretty much instantly I knew Ryan was a genuine talent. I started to hear his name being mentioned among my musician friends, and after I reviewed his disc, I made it a point to check out his live sets. Those were pretty excellent, too.

The thing that was difficult for me as the music guy at the local weekly is that it really made it tough for me to be involved in the scene as a musician and to connect with the local artists on that level. It's like there's always an artificial wall between you and the musicians, even if they respect you. Having been very involved in the local scene for a number of years as a player, it was kind of frustrating. The thing I loved about Ryan was that he had no airs — he was a genuinely open, gracious dude who didn't treat me like I was some kind of outside entity. When we talked about music or whatever, he was always humble and on the level. Not trying to bullshit me or sell me on anything. How refreshing! 

We ended up working on records together occasionally, but not actually together. I'd sometimes do post-production on sessions he recorded or mixed. I think he's got real talent there, too. Good ear, light touch, not afraid to experiment. He's also someone that other artists feel comfortable around, for all the reasons I mentioned

The only thing about Ryan is that I am still a bit jealous of him! I haven't listened to his new record(s) because some of my old Burlington friends are like, "have you heard Ryan's new album," and I think, why put myself through that? I'm only half-joking. Duder's like all smooth and creamy and handsome and talented and bearded and all the cool shit. Plus he's a really nice guy. Fuck that!

Seriously, though, he's a real gem and I will always appreciate having had the opportunity to listen to him and witness some of his artistic evolution. Tell him to send me his stuff so I can sob silently in the corner.

 

Tuesday, November 09, 2010

Wooden Dinosaur: Live @ Iron Horse

In an effort to get a jump on 2010 year-end round-up stuff — yeah, it's really time to start thinking about it — I've recently begun sifting through reviews and records, trying to compile my local favorites from the year that (almost) was. It's actually been surprisingly fun to rediscover albums that I dug at the time, but have receded from memory in the unending Sisyphean grind that is the newspaper bidniss — you're eternally on to the next thing almost as soon as you've finished the last. 

One such record in which I've thoroughly enjoyed re-immersing myself is Nearly Lost Stars from Brattleboro's Wooden Dinosaur. It's a marvelous effort, showcasing a truly lovely duo, Michael Roberts and Katie Trautz. It features a broad array of stylistic influences, all filtered through Roberts' unique folk lens. In other words, I really, really like it.

Anyway, Trautz was kind enough to send along links to videos from a recent Halloween show at Iron Horse in Northampton. MA. Here's my favorite of the bunch, "Paper Cars."

 

Tuesday, November 02, 2010

Angels & Demons

Aaand we're back! Apologies for the radio silence this past week. Lots going on and I'm afraid my poor little blog, as usual, bears the brunt of my wacky schedule. C'est la vie.

Anyway, in the interest of getting back to business, today we're serving up a little slice of BTV expat goodness, in the form of an interesting bi-coastal collaboration between two of my favorite people, Casey Rae-Hunter (Washington DC) and Arthur Adams (San Francisco). The dynamic duo, collectively known as Strange Angels, have just released the first track, "Roses & Daises," from their forthcoming-at-some-point-but-knowing-Arthur-who-really-knows album. Casey was kind enough to send it along to me, and I thought y'all might like to hear it too. Enjoy.

 

Roses & Daisies



 

 

Friday, October 22, 2010

CMJ Day 3.5: If We Are Trees Fall at CMJ and No One But Drunk People Hear …

It took me three days, but I finally figured out who the mystery band was that opened for Das Racist on Tuesday night. It was a Virginia Beach-based outfit called We Are Trees. And I heart them. They don't have much available online, save for an EP on Bandcamp. But here's a track I found on YouTube. Enjoy!

 

Thursday, October 21, 2010

CMJ Day 3: The Uke's On Me

So it seems not everything at CMJ is as totally rad as I may have been led to believe following my stellar first night on the town. Who knew?

I began the evening at a Press Mixer at a swanky hotel on the Lower East Side, figuring free booze and food would help bandage my hemorrhaging wallet, at least temporarily. However, what I failed to remember was just how much I despise social mixers, gladhanding and pretending I give a shit about who you are, where you're from and what big name band you just interviewed. Blech.

I left after about 30 minutes and bounced around from club to club, with very little to show for it, I'm afraid. I don't know if the rock gods were simply conspiring against me last night or what, but it seemed as though every show I caught featured band after band even more forgettable than the last.

Cutting my losses, I decided to make my way uptown to Webster Hall a little early for Surfer Blood, who I've been dying to see for months. Unfortunately, I didn't go nearly early enough. On the chance that any of you folks reading this ever attend CMJ with any sort of press or artist credentials, here's a word to the wise. For most of the bigger shows, you can flash your badge to get in. However, they often limit the number of badgeholders they will allow in at one time. And once they reach capacity, it's a one-out, one-in scenario. So it was that I found myself waiting in line with about 50 other disgruntled rock critics whose badges were barely worth the plastic they were printed on. We're kind of a prickly bunch by nature. Knock us down a peg and tell us we're not as big a deal in NYC as we are in our hometowns … what a nightmare. I actually overheard a fairly well-known writer for a big deal music website say, "What the fuck? I write for (insert big deal website here), and they're telling me I can't get in? This is bullshit." (cough) Prick. (cough)

After not moving in line for about a half an hour, and growing increasingly annoyed by my pissy colleagues, I decided to leave, and trek all the way back down to the Canal Room, which was roughly 756 blocks from Webster Hall. I may be exaggerating the distance … slightly. Though I think I must have walked close to that many blocks before I realized that Broadway and West Broadway are two completely different streets … oops. 

Fortunately, I made it just in time to catch most of a set by my old friends Good Old War, who rocked a completely packed house. Those cats are good, and just keep getting better. So glad to see a truly talented young band find so much good fortune and success. It almost made the rest of the night worth it … almost.

On the docket for tonight … um, I'm not sure yet, actually. But I might go check out Neutral Uke Hotel, whom I only just discovered are not, in fact, Neutral Milk Hotel. One more word to the wise: read the CMJ guidebook very carefully, lest you too mistake the word "uke" for "milk" while skimming through it. Ahem. Anyway, here's a snippet. It's actually kinda cool. More tomorrow!

 

 

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

CMJ Day 2: The Curmudgeons of Rock

Hey, folks.

Welcome to my ongoing scattershot coverage of the CMJ Music Marathon, live from balmy NYC.

I just got back from a mildly interesting panel discussion, the Curmudgeons of Rock, featuring some pretty serious names in music journalism, including Rob Harvilla of the Village Voice, Sean Fennessey of eMusic, freelancer Maura Johnston, SPIN magazine music editor Charles Aaron and the newly minted music critic at New York magazine, Nitsuh Abebe. The hour-long discussion touched on a variety of issues of particular interest to yours truly, including the changing face of music journalism in the Internet age, the relevance of "authoritative" opinions when anyone with a keyboard and a web connection can blog their thoughts, or download an album in the time takes to read a review, and whether there is any value in publishing negative criticism. I especially enjoyed that last one.

But the elephant in the room was the general decline of print media and how the music journalism industry as whole has been forced to adapt. Fennessey had some particularly poignant remarks, speaking as both a former print journalist and currently as one of the driving forces behind eMusic. His stance was essentially that sites such as his, and several others around the web serve more as curators of taste rather than arbiters of cool. Unlike Harvilla and Aaron — or myself, for that matter — writers for his site have the luxury of writing solely about music that interests them, that they have a passion for. Since they promote music — in an effort to sell it, of course — true criticism never enters into the equation. They simply write about stuff they like, and hope some other folks will too.

The flip side, and perhaps the most spirited debate of the day, centered on whether negative criticism has a place in modern music journalism. Aaron was particularly candid, all but admitting to formerly feeling at least somewhat beholden to record labels advertising in his mag. But now that major label influence has waned, he feels more emboldened to tell it like it is … to a point. He added that negative reviews rarely benefit anyone, whether it be the artist (obviously), the publication, the writer or, more importantly, said artist's fans, who often respond passionately when they feel their favorite band has been unduly skewered. He also added that a negative review can often sever relationships with artists whom you may wish to cover in the future. I can attest to the validity of all of those points. But my take is this: so what?

If I may, I'd like to borrow a line from the late, great Lester Bangs:

"My responsibility as I see it as a critic is not to help a lot of new bands sell their records. It's to help people who are buying the records to keep from making a purchase that they're going to get home and hate my guts and the band's too because it's a piece of shit."

Amen. Harvilla echoed a similar sentiment, offering that trust is a key component between a writer and his or her readership. And part of building that trust means offerring a negative opinion when it's warranted. It doesn't have to be mean-spirited or snarky — though those are often the most fun to read … and write. Ahem. But it does have to be honest. To illustrate, Harvilla pointed to the "I'm not mad, I'm disappointed" style review — read my review of the Death reunion show for an example.

Maybe I'm old fashioned, or just naive, but I believe professional music criticism is still a valid and important part of how we collectively experience music. I'm biased, of course, since I am one of a lucky — and shrinking — few who actually make a living doing this. And as Fennessey put it, it's hard to take any of it too seriously because, "We're not doing God's work. We're writing about rock and hip-hop records." Yup. But there is still a place for informed, well-reasoned discussions about music amid the shrieking blogosphere … at least I hope.

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A couple more notes on last night's rambling.

1. Das Racist was … disappointing. Coulda just been the poor sound, or the general difficulty of translating hip-hop to a live setting, or maybe they just haven't made the developmental adjustment from studio darlings to live act, but I left unimpressed. With a cadre of hype men and various hangers-on crowding the stage, dudes just seemed a little too comfortable letting shenanigans drive the show, instead of focusing on performing. It's too bad, since they write such clever, funny songs but you'd never know it based on last night's show.

2. The surprise of the night was … well, still a surprise, but I'm working on that. The band was an incredible art folk outfit from North Carolina. But they were a late addition, not listed in the CMJ guide  and never actually told the crowd who they were. But I'll figure who they were and pass that info along, hopefully soon.

3. On the docket for tonight: a Press Mixer — not my bag, but the food and booze is free, which is key in this town. Surfer Blood, Good Old War and … well, who knows? But that's the whole point, right?

 

 

 

CMJ Day 1: Hipster Disneyland

Greetings from New York City, Solid State!

Welcome to the first of several-if-and-when-I-have-time-and-computer-access posts from the CMJ Music Marathon in NYC. 

I arrived in NYC yesterday afternoon and had quite the introduction to this here city-wide hoedown. After depositing my belongings at a friend's apartment in Brooklyn, I made my way into the city to check in at the CMJ registrar where I was given my press credentials, a strange, multi-colored neon gift shoulder bag and a voluminous guidebook outlining anything and everything I might need or want to know about the showcase — which also makes me look like an idiot tourist every time I pull it out to figure out where I'm going and when I need to be there, which is often since, well, I'm kind of an idiot tourist this trip.

I loosely planned my attack over a beer or two while watching the Phillies-Giants game — at a Red Sox bar, of all places! With over 1200 bands and 50+ venues, trying to stick to a rigid itinerary at CMJ is foolish. Still, it's good to have a few landmark shows along the way to help structure all the wandering. My idea for last night, roughly, was to make my way from 14th Street to Piano's on Ludlow Street and swing through as many joints as I could en route to — drum roll, please! — Das Racist. Oh, hell yes. 

The first stop was an old favorite NYC haunt, the Lit Lounge. Crammed into the claustrophobic's nightmare that is the punk dive's basement, my virgin CMJ ears were gently broken by the strains of Israeli garage-pop outfit Izabo. Maybe it's only because they were my first band at CMJ, or maybe it's because their pretty merch girl gave me a free lighter, but I friggin' loved these guys. My notes from the show are a little cryptic, but here's my best shot at distilling them:

Narcoleptic psych-pop with a dramatic lead singer caught somewhere between the Velvet Underground, the Yardbirds and Clap Your Hands Say Yeah. Intricate arrangements and surprising melodic turns, bolstered by cleverly carefree backing vocals. Also, I have something written down about when a bartender asks if you're with a band, just say "yes." Sage advice.

The next group was an experimental avant rock duo, Dada Trash Collage. I imagine these cats might go over well with Aether Everywhere and Mars Pyramid folks. For me, they kind of bridged the divide between my love for catchy hooks and curiosity about crazy-as-fuck noise. The thing that often loses me about "experimental" or "other" music is a lack of something tangible to anchor my interest within the unwieldy maelstrom of sounds. DTC obliged by tackling fairly anthemic pop songs within the unpredictable constructs of an electronic noise band. But even amid all the sonic chicanery, they never lost sight of the song as the focus of their performance. Cool stuff.

I'll check in with more about the rest of the evening in a little while. But I'm running late to a panel discussion featuring CMJ Managing editor Michael Tedder, eMusic's Sean Fennessy (you got some 'splaining to do), SPIN's Charles Aaron, freelancer Maura Johnston and, a personal hero, Rob Harvilla from the Village Voice.    

In the meantime, here's a clip from possibly my favorite find last night, Lily & the Parlour Tricks, who'll actually be at 51 Main in Middlebury on November 6. Enjoy!

Lily & The Parlour Tricks - Vampire Love Song (live) from Gabriel on Vimeo.

 

Thursday, October 14, 2010

Shazam!

This is gonna be fun. Foxy Shazam, tonight at  the ’nome with Free Energy and a group with maybe my current favorite band name, Hollerado. Check it …  

 

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Got Dungen?

Get some tonight at the Monkey. In the meantime …


DUNGEN FAMILJ

Kemado Records | MySpace Music Videos
 

Thursday, October 07, 2010

Cuckoo Birds

With (perhaps) the only Vermont performance of fabled proto-punkers Death tonight at Higher Ground, I've been on something of an early punk and rock and roll kick this week. Obviously, Death weren't the only band exploring the roots of what would eventually become punk rock in the early 1970s. There were others, including Rocket from the Tombs in Cleveland and Australia's the Saints — to name only a couple — both of whom got their starts roughly around the same time Death was blowing out garages in the Motor City, and a few years before the "official" advent of punk.

But the genre's roots can be traced even further back, to at least the mid-1960s — and earlier, if you want to get really particular. Below is a concert video from 1965 by a proto-proto-punk outfit comprised of American GIs station in Germany, the Monks. Rumor has it, they were among the first bands to explore the use of feedback. That's probably not true, though they may be among the first to do so with banjo. And they are almost certainly the first to do so with banjo, in Germany. So they've got that going for them, which is nice.

In any event, here's "Cuckoo," by the Monks, live in Germany. (Big thanks, to my brother, Tyler, for posting this sucker to Facebook yesterday!) Hope to see you all at HG tonight.

 

Tuesday, October 05, 2010

Where Do We Go From Here?

Howdy, folks.

I'm kinda shocked I have never posted this before. But I have a nifty little story about the continuing rebirth of proto-punk band Death in tomorrow's paper (that includes a cameo from a VERY special guest). So before you read that — and hopefully catch the band at Higher Ground this Thursday — I thought you might be interested in this trailer for the documentary that local filmmaker Jeff Howlett is putting together about the band, Where Do We Go From Here???. Check it out — and, full disclosure, there's a good possibility yours truly will end up in the film in some fashion. Just thought you should know.

Also, if you read this before noon, do yourself a favor and drop by the band's press conference at 242 Main today, noon to 1 p.m.

Enjoy!

Where Do We Go From Here??? Trailer from Howlermano on Vimeo.

 

Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Easy Being Green

Aaaand we're back! For at least a day or two. Then we're going away again for a few days because I'm moving … But then we'll be back again! And better than ever. As far as you know.

Anyhoo … this is relatively apropos of nothing, but in chatting with Bucket Hingley from the Toasters for a Q&A running in tomorrow's paper (to preview tomorrow's Metronome show!), I asked him if there were any younger up and coming ska bands that had caught his ears of late. I've been in a nostalgic kinda mood recently, particularly when it comes to my checkered first love, ska. Buck mentioned a few bands that were new to me, which you can read about tomorrow. After checking out the handful he suggested, one in particular stuck out to me, Indiana's Green Room Rockers. Check 'em out below. (And yeah, I know. Dude's a little pitchy. But it's still a cool tune, methinks.)

 

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

No Vacancy

Aaaand we're back.

Sorry for the lack of activity in this humble little corner of the interwebs of late. What can I say? It's been an interesting week. But enough excuses already. Let's get down to business.

Agenda item number one is some nifty exposure for one of this writer's local favorites, the Vacant Lots. The duo was recently featured on a mixtape over at Altered Zones, Pitchfork Media's sister blog. The band got some love on the big site too. And a nice review of the track that appears on AZ's August mixtape, "Confusion." 

Here's the Pitchfork link to the mixtape. And here's the AZ review. Congrats, dudes.

In other news, the town seems fairly abuzz over tonight's full-band David Bazan show at Metronome. Count me squarely among those giddy masses. But also count me among those who will try like hell to make it to the 'nome on time (for once) to catch the evening's opening act, Omaha's the Mynabirds. Check 'em out.


Friday, September 10, 2010

Back to the Future: 1995 Revisited, Revisited

Hey folks. Super busied up today getting ready for 7D's big 15th birthday party this evening (5p.m.-ish. Our offices at 255 S. Champlain St. You should come!) So this post is gonna be a quicky. 

Continuing our look back into 1995(ish), I've two more tunes from Club Fub. Eff's "Stable" and "Bradley's Almanac," the Madelines tune that inspired Brad Searles' totally awesome blog — where you can go to find all of the songs, and many, many other great tunes from Burlington's alt-rock heyday. Enjoy!

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