All posts by Kevin

live

Silversun Pickups/Viva Voce, Modified, 10/1/06

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God bless Modified, Phoenix’s modest and ambitious art/music space, a venue that welcomes so many indie artists when other places won’t. But if there’s one downside to Modified, it’s the size – no bigger than a small, two-bedroom home. With its plank-wood floors and standard drywall structure, Modified wasn’t meant to contain the sound coming from Silversun Pickups and Viva Voce on Sunday night.

Put simply: It was loud. Not in a shrilly, obnoxious way. Just in that feel-it-in-your-throat kind of way. I expected that from Silversun, but Viva Voce’s aggression on the volume knob was a little more surprising, though not at all a deterrent to the set.

Silversun played after local openers LetDownRight, which created an unfortunate and awkward dynamic with the crowd size. We guessed about 80-100 were there for Silversun. By the time Viva Voce came up, the size dwindled by at least a quarter. It’s too bad because anyone who came for Silversun and left would appreciate what Viva Voce was doing. Oh, well. Their loss.

I ditched my earplugs about three songs into Silversun’s set for the full effect, not that it really mattered. Hell, you could see how loud it was: The main speakers were tipping back and forth like trees giving way in a thunderstorm. At times, the sound squealed off the ceiling, probably looking for a place to escape. But I’m not complaining. Silversun’s thick fuzz is a rush, a kind of empowering charge at those levels.

Songs like Well Thought Out Twinkles, Lazy Eye and Kissing Families translate better live than I could have hoped and leave an almost surreal hangover. And Brian Aubert is acutely aware of when to push his voice and when to pull it back – and it all holds up surprisingly well.

MP3: Silversun Pickups | Well Thought Out Twinkles

I made the mistake of saying to a friend: “I’d hate to be the band to follow that.” Because before I could write off Viva Voce, husband and wife Kevin and Anita Robinson had my full attention at the first thwack of his snare drum. I’m not sure I’ve seen somone attack a drum set like that; he doesn’t wow you with technical wizardry, but his aggression would be hard to match. And it manages to complement – not overpower – Anita’s soft-ish vocals. (There’s also a bass player on stage.)

Something very Incredible Hulk-like happens to Viva Voce from CD to live show. I’ve been listening to Get Yr Blood Sucked Out (Barsuk) for the past couple weeks, and I wouldn’t have expected the sort of raw and stripped-down punch that accompanies the live set. The heavy riffs reminded me of the stoner rock of Kyuss, but how do you account for those compelling hand claps? It was like taking part in a fuzzed-out, psychedelic Kumbaya campfire circle.

All I know is, my money’s on Viva Voce over Mates of State in the Barsuk Husband-Wife Indie-Rock Celebrity Deathmatch.

MP3: Viva Voce | We Do Not Fuck Around

arizona, vinyl

Trunk Federation: “History of Dead Ends”

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I haven’t converted nearly enough tracks from my constantly growing vinyl collection around here in recent months. My recent jaunt to LA, where I scored a load of 7″ gems, is reason to get back in the habit.

This selection from a 7″ by Trunk Federation counts as a great find in a depressing sort of way: I plucked it from the massive 7″ sale bin at Amoeba Records. Nothing would seem so humbling to a musician as those clearance bins – records upon records reduced to nothing more than a store’s effort to get them the hell out of its way. Of course, I’m happy to oblige.

Like so many great bands never to be heard from, Trunk Federation should have been big. The group emerged from that fertile Tempe, Ariz., music scene in the ’90s but preferred a sound that colored outside the lines a bit more than the somewhat sterile pop-rock that seemed to rule.

This 7″, Hi-Fi for Small Fry, was one of the first products Trunk Federation put out. But I can’t help but think that, after listening to History of Dead Ends on the A-side, the group already was making some statement about the scene:

“This city’s pitiful/
Been talkin’ to myself/
Up here you look so small/
This city makes you ill.”

Trunk Federation released three records, including the great The Curse of Miss Kitty, which recently found new life in Tim Fite’s Gone Ain’t Gone (available at eMusic). Fite constructed samples for his album only from CDs in which he found in the dollar bins. The Curse of Miss Kitty happened to be one of them.

Trunk singer Jim Andreas and drummer Chris Kennedy are now in relatively new Phoenix band LetDownRight, which is opening for Silversun Pickups and Viva Voce at Modified on Sunday.

Trunk Federation | History of Dead Ends
(From Hi-Fi for Small Fry 7″, 1995)

Related:
Tim Fite resuscitates Trunk Federation.

hip-hop, remix

Backyard Bangers: “New Math”

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For the past four years, the hottest hip-hop night in the Valley apparently has been at the Blunt Club (hosted by Hollywood Alley in Mesa). I say “apparently” because I’ve yet to drag my sorry butt down there. That’s gonna change soon (I swear), especially if they keep lining up great indie hip-hop artists; Jeru the Damaja, Crown City Rockers, Abstract Rude and Souls of Mischief are just a few of the guests to come through.

I’m really regretting missing last night’s set, which featured Troublemaker, one-half of the hip-hop/electronic production team (along with E. Moss) known as Backyard Bangers. The term “turntablism” – probably passe, anyway – doesn’t do justice to the duo’s debut LP, New Math (on their self-created Hollyrock label). Drum-heavy rhythms and skewed time signatures suggest DJ Shadow’s Endtroducing might have been an influence, and the carefully crafted samples surrounding them means someone spent lots of long hours splicing and dicing digital waveforms.

It probably sounds as if I’m contradicting myself, if you paid any attention to my review of the Ratatat live show. But in terms of instrumental composition, I’m always drawn to drums. Ratatat’s focus – both live and on record – seems scattered and unkempt. On an album like New Math, drums ground everything; the beats are the common denominator among all songs, the baseline. It never strays from the drums, and that’s enough to keep my attention.

And, oh yeah, Backyard Bangers have toured and recorded with DJ Z-Trip, always a plus in my book.

The guys keep a generous catalog of mp3s available for download, including remixes for the Flaming Lips, Beastie Boys and Super Furry Animals.

Backyard Bangers | Perception (from New Math)
Backyard Bangers | Fight Test remix (the Flaming Lips)

Buy New Math through Backyard Bangers’ MySpace page.

general

Pete Yorn “You & Me” in-store acoustic CDs

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Before we left for the Pitchfork Festival in July, I had Aug. 2 circled on my calendar because Pete Yorn was playing a show in Scottsdale. Somewhat surpisingly, that sold out weeks before the date (and before we got tickets), a rare occurrence in the Valley. Anyway, he also was slated to play an in-store at Zia Records in Chandler, which, if you live in Phoenix like I do, is a bit out of the way.

Because we had just returned from the festival, we decided we were too tired and music-weary to hike over to Chandler. Figured I’d catch him the next time around. But, ah, as fate would have it, I don’t have to regret missing it anymore. I was perusing my local Zia yesterday when I found an official CD release of that session. Apparently, Yorn recorded each of the in-store shows for a series in which individual CDs would be sold at the location at which it was performed (Lawrence Journal-World). The Arizona disc was a bargain at $2.98 with about five songs.

Pretty excellent marketing strategy, to boot. My guess is die-hard Yorn fans (hello, Heather) will want to collect all of these. But I have no clue how many are in the series. (Didn’t Pearl Jam do something like this with a string of live CD releases?) But aside from that, it’s a great way for Yorn to reach out to fans on a personal level and make them feel a part of these performances.

Here’s the track listing for the Zia Chandler CD from Aug. 2, 2006:
1. Intro
2. Undercover
3. For Nancy (Cos it Already Is)
4. Don’t Mean Nothing
5. Vampyre
6. When You See the Light

If anyone is really dying to get their hands on this, I’d be willing to go snap up a few at Zia. (Heather, you’re already spoken for.) So just holler at me.

In the meantime, here’s an acoustic taste of one of my favorite Yorn songs.

Pete Yorn | For Nancy (Cos it Already Is)
Acoustic, live at Zia Records (Chandler), 8/2/06

Related:
Pete Yorn tour dates (Oct. 23 at Rialto Theatre in Tucson).

radio rips

Jeremy Enigk on AOL’s the Interface

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Thank God Stereogum has time to track down all things music on the interweb else I might have overlooked Jeremy Enigk’s in-studio performance on AOL’s the Interface.

Enigk, whose first solo album in 10 years, World Waits, I’m slowly absorbing one song at a time, played five tracks here, including Sunny Day Real Estate’s How it Feels to Something On. It’s still a little bit hard to separate Enigk solo from Enigk as Sunny Day frontman, difficult to accept that. That feels like a natural reaction, although I’m not down on World Waits at all. For whatever reason, I seem to be digesting it slower than other albums of late. Probably because I want to be measured in my reaction to it.

Kudos to AOL for a great interview, too. Enigk said his live show consists of a five-piece band with five or six songs from Return of the Frong Queen, five or six from World Waits, a song from the United States of Leland (score for the movie) and “maybe even a little bit of Sunny Day Real Estate.” He also spoke of the Fire Theft (his post-SDRE project) just being a studio band, and releasing a future record on his Lewis Hollow label.

(On that note, Enigk is opening for Cursive, including Oct. 31 at Marquee Theatre in Tempe and Nov. 1 at Rialto Theatre in Tucson. See Stateside Presents for ticket info.)

As for the title World Waits, Enigk said, “there’s so much hatred and there’s sickness and there’s war … and what’s the world doing? Everybody knows this stuff is bad, but we keep on doing it, and what are you waiting for? We’re aware of how to make a difference but it’s just not moving in that direction.”

I’ve spliced the Interface performance into individual mp3s. For the full download (with interview), go here.

Jeremy Enigk, AOL’s the Interface:

1. River to Sea
2. Lewis Hollow
3. Explain
4. World Waits
5. How it Feels to be Something On

Previously:
Jeremy Enigk: “World Waits”

hip-hop

New Busdriver: “Kill Your Employer”

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For the most part, fast-rapping (for lack of a better term) has been nothing short of a gimmick. Twista and Bone Thugs-N-Harmony come to mind. The ploy might have even worn thin with the great Das EFX, who made “iggity” a standing suffix to just about any word to create, well, made-up words.

Enter Busdriver, the Los Angeles-based emcee who raps at warp speed but manages to remain literate while doing it. If you’re not used to his style – intellectual and ambitious, to say the least – it might come off as dense. His lyrical pace can be maddening and amazing all at once.

For his new record, RoadKillOvercoat (due for release early next year), Busdriver has signed on with Epitaph/Anti-, which is turning leftist, avant-garde hip-hop into its own little cottage industry (Sage Francis, Blackalicious, the Coup, etc.).

The first single, Kill Your Employer (Recreational Paranoia is the Sport of Now), features production from LA’s Boom Bip that borrows elements of drum and bass, electronica and hip-hop and a chorus that’s sneaky in its catchiness.

Anyone up to the task of actually transcribing the lyrics?

Busdriver | Kill Your Employer (Recreational Paranoia is the Sport of Now)

live

Ratatat, Rhythm Room, 9/25/06

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So I raced over to the Rhythm Room after work Monday night to catch about 40 minutes’ worth of Ratatat’s set, which was enough time to form an opinion and settle a debate I’ve had with myself about one of life’s most puzzling questions: Do I like Ratatat?

The answer: not so much. Classics, the group’s latest release on XL, was doing just enough to keep me interested. Truth is, I’m a hard sell when it comes to all-instrumental albums (unless we’re talking straight jazz, of course). I like my indie rock with words. Still, the beats on Classics lured me right into that mouse trap of a live show.

After about two songs, my eyes glazed over – which might have had a little something to do with the stage fog overkill. I wanted to like Ratatat. I really did. But, at its core, this is a jam band masked by the electronic label, which means the sweet-banged indie kids have an excuse to pretend to dance.

Each song started the same way – with a taut, crisp and appealing beat – before devolving into this somewhat obnoxious cacophony of blinding lights, stage fog and Steve Vai-esque love-making to the fretboard. As if your senses weren’t paralyzed already, a projector played a running visual show behind the band, sometimes in sync with the music, which at least suggests a form of choreography to it all.

All of the superflous stage gadgetry – fog, glaring lights, visuals – is less a complement to the music than it is a distraction. What you really had to ask yourself is if it weren’t for all the accompanying bells and whistles, could the music stand on its own and engage the audience?

The guitar playing of lead man Mike Stroud (at least he seemed to be the lead man) comes off as overly ironic – head-banging with his long hair, windmills (a la Pete Townshend) and back turned playing to his amp. (Maybe someone has a crush on Jim James?) Then when he talked to the audience he did so with echo effects still on his mic, which made it impossible to hear what he was saying. Ha. Funny. I guess.

It’s possible, as Annie and I discussed afterward, that we’re getting older and with that comes impatience. Even Built to Spill, one of my favorite bands, can annoy me with Doug Martsch’s jam-band noodling on stage. But at least I have something else to hold onto there: words, lyrics, meanings. I didn’t feel any sort of connection like that with Ratatat.

On the upside, Annie says openers Panther and Envelopes are worth checking out.

Ratatat on MySpace.

mp3: Panther | You Don’t Want Your Nails Done
Panther on MySpace.

Envelopes on MySpace.

hip-hop, i used to love h.e.r.

I Used to Love H.E.R.: Pigeon John

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The third installment of I Used to Love H.E.R., a series in which artists/bloggers/writers discuss their most essential hip-hop albums (read intro), is written by LA-based emcee Pigeon John, a newcomer to the Quannum roster with his recently released Pigeon John and the Summertime Pool Party, available at eMusic. Much like the album and group he writes about, Pigeon John exudes an easygoing and sometimes humorous style that still makes a relevant point. … And the Summertime Pool Party includes “scenes,” much like De La Soul’s habit of conceptual skits.

mp3: Download Higher?! from … And the Summertime Pool Party.

De La Soul Is Dead (Tommy Boy, 1991)
Produced by De La Soul and Prince Paul

“I’d have to say that De La Soul’s De La Soul Is Dead is probably the most potent hip-hop CD in my collection. It was beautiful and tragic, that album. They dropped it right after their biggest cross over debut 3 Feet High and Rising, which pretty much redefined what hip-hop was and could be in 1989. They hit a bunch of success with their first record and hit Me, Myself and I, so much that people wrote them off as “hippie rappers,” “postive” and “soft.” Silence was loud when they gone. Then out of nowhere … BAM, De La Soul Is Dead. An international response to their international backlash.

“They were the first to make fun of themselves, use the weirdest samples imagined and break ground with almost every song and verse they laid. There was no one like them. No one.

“My favorite song on that record was Millie Pulled A Pistol On Santa, a document of a young high school girl who was being molested by her dad. The same dad that all her friends thought was the coolest dad in town. She tried to tell her friends what was happening and everyone wrote her off and said she was bugging. The abuse continued until this young lady went into the same mall her dad worked as a makeshift Santa during the holidays. She confronts him. Then calmly, in the cold broad day, shoots her father in the middle of the mall. The song was written like a gossip letter by one of her friends that didn’t believe her. Now come on man … that’s hip hop. The first time I got chills listening to rap.

“Now think about what the average rap song is about today and you will see how stark and ahead of their time they were. And they were only 21 when it came out.

“De La Soul broke ground wherever they walked. In the way they dressed and styled (if you have dreads today, they are the reason you do), and the way they rapped, made beats and wrote concepts. De La Soul Is Dead will forever be my goal. The perfect balance between humor and tragedy … big up to De La and their 18-year career (another ground-break in rap).”

De La Soul | Millie Pulled a Pistol on Santa

BONUS:
De La Soul | Millie Pulled a Piston on Santa (full mix)
(From Millie “cassingle”)

(On a side note, I’m really stoked that Pigeon John picked Millie as his favorite track. For a public speaking course I took at Arizona State, we had to do an oral reading of a poem. I picked De La’s Millie Pulled a Pistol on Santa, successfully convincing my professor that hip-hop is poetry.)

Previously:
I Used to Love H.E.R.: Joel Hatstat of Cinemechanica
I Used to Love H.E.R.: G. Love
I Used to Love H.E.R.: an introduction

general

This week’s to-do list

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Lots of good shows coming through Phoenix this week and the coming weeks. A quick rundown for this week:

I’ll be hitting Maritime on Tuesday for a couple reasons: 1) I enjoy Maritime’s latest, We, The Vehicles; and 2) I still haven’t seen locals Reubens Accomplice, which, frankly, is embarrassing.

Maritime | The Future is Wired
Download Maritime’s Daytrotter session.

hip-hop

Oh No: “Exodus Into Unheard Rhythms”

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Concept albums are nothing new in hip-hop. A few come to mind right away: Deltron 3030 (Del the Funky Homosapien and Dan the Automator), anything by Kool Keith (or one of his many aliases), Prince Paul’s A Prince Among Thieves and, you could argue, De La Soul’s De La Soul is Dead.

These projects are concepts in terms of a unifying theme in their writing. On Exodus Into Unheard Rhythms, released in August on Stones Throw, Oh No flips the script a bit. The album’s unifying element is its source material. Oh No (younger brother of producer Madlib) constructed the beats and music using samples derived solely from the work of Galt MacDermot, best known as the composer of Hair.

Stones Throw general manager Egon briefly worked at MacDermot’s label, Kilmarnock Records, in the ’90s and has since issued compliations of MacDermot’s work on Stones Throw.

As you might imagine, the production on Exodus is vibrant and rich, the glue holding together a pretty insane and varied cast of emcees and singers – Buckshot, Murs, De La’s Posdnuos and Aloe Blacc among them.

If nothing else, you have to appreciate Stones Throw’s continual dedication to pay homage to the past. Oh No is showing off not only his own craft but that of a composer he obviously admired enough to introduce to a new generation of fans and listeners.

Oh No feat. Posdnuos (of De La Soul) | Smile a Lil Bit

Exodus Into Unheard Rhythms is available at eMusic.