All posts by Kevin

live

Pictures/recap of the Cloud Room in Phoenix

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Holy hell. I didn’t realize how dependent I was on technology until my Cox digital package of telephone/cable/Internet bugged out for two days. It’s fixed, thank heavens. But I may need help: Hi, I’m Kevin. And I’m addicted to the Internet. (OK, now, everyone, all at once … “Hiiiii, Kevin.”)

Anyway, I have lots to catch up on this week, including Monday’s show at the Rhythm Room with the Cloud Room and Phoenix’s own Asleep in the Sea.

I’ll start with Asleep in the Sea, a trio that’s becoming one of my favorite local acts, as much for the guys’ approach as for their music. That was never clearer than on Monday, when there couldn’t have been more than 30 people in the place (hey, it is Phoenix) when they took the stage at about 9 p.m.

Instead of sulking, Tom (guitars, vocals), Owen (keys, bass) and Eli (drums) embraced and made light of the situation. When life hands you lemons … errr, something like that. Anyway, the best way I can describe Asleep in one word is this: irreverent. They have a special talent for not taking themselves too seriously, and that should hold any cynicism of a fledgling band at bay (for now).

Asleep in the Sea | Dance On

Also, Asleep put out a MySpace bulletin about an upcoming tour. They’re asking for any help in setting up shows. Go be their friend and help ’em out!


As for the Cloud Room, I came away really impressed. But then I’ve been enjoying the band’s self-titled debut, so I sort of went in with high hopes anyway.

The band, especially frontman J., captured the emotion and energy of a band that is – and should be – going places. For all the buzz Hey Now Now has created (it was the penultimate song on the setlist, if you were curious), I’ve found myself absorbed with the rest of the album: particularly Blackout!, Waterfall and We Sleep in the Ocean.


At the risk of sounding like a band sycophant, I did chat with J. after the show when I bought a 7″ for Waterfall. After all, he was wearing a National shirt; how could I resist? Anyway, besides being a really nice guy, he seemed to have his focus trained on the group’s second album, for which they have four songs recorded already. The band had a one-album deal with Gigantic, so they’ll either shop new stuff to labels or put it out themselves.

From what I could gather in my quick chat with J., he seems eager to calm the hubbub surrounding Hey Now Now – which, if the previously linked Pitchfork article is to be believed, was the inspiration to a hastily thrown-together album – and let people form opinions on the Cloud Room from what should be a more carefully crafted LP. J. seems acutely aware of the fact that not a band (or a career) does one single make, catchy as it may be. But that’s just my guess.

The Cloud Room | Blackout!

Whatever the case, on to a few pictures:



live

The National in LA: I won’t fuck us over

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Before any talk of the National, I gotta say what a fun time we had hanging out with Justin and his wife Melissa and, of course, Jax. All are fantastic people and I’m happy to consider them friends … like, ones I’ve met in person and stuff.

Also, thanks to Chris for chipping in with the Camp Lo update. And to Royce, who will catch the blogging bug in due time. I expect to see more of him up on this here site, so be prepared.

As for the National … my high expectations were absolutely exceeded. A packed venue (sold out) always makes the anticipation a little more heightened. I’d listened to Alligator so many times, yet what’s great about a show like this is how it makes you revisit the album to listen for something you missed the first time (or hundred times) around.


That was the case, for me at least, with Mr. November (mp3). The song quietly hangs around as the last track on Alligator, so I’d been giving it the short shrift. Jax predicted, correctly, the National would play it as the second to last song (before the encore). As our friend Ben said, “It’s the jam.”

It’s like something clicked when I saw/heard it played live. That probably had something to do with lead singer Matt Berninger, who is compelling on stage, if not perhaps a tad dramatic. Either way, his body language is at times spastic and theatrical. At this show, he had a habit of tucking his left hand under is right armpit while his right arm was cocked at a 90-degree angle, mic in hand.


It might have seemed over the top or insincere if he didn’t sing with such charisma. How can you deny these lines in Mr. November?:

“I wish that I believed in fate/
I wish I didn’t sleep so late/
I used to be carried in the arms of cheerleaders”

Mr. November has the same feel of tension and release as Abel with Berninger’s guttural yells peaking in the chorus, before leveling off just as you’ve reached this internal boiling point yourself. (Never mind that when I first heard the song I thought Berninger was saying, “The warm front is over / I’m Mr. November.” What?!?! I’m an idiot.)


Thing is, though, I’ve attached such emotional ties to the songs of Alligator that it was almost impossible for the National to disappoint me. Is it possible for Alligator to be my album of the year for 2006, too?

(FYI, emusic has added the National’s back catalog.)

Alas, I also need to mention opener Talkdemonic, a two-piece folksy-electronic instrumental duo from Portland, Ore. I’ve said before that instrumental-only music has to work very hard to keep my attention. But Talkdemonic isn’t instrumental for the sake of being instrumental. There are very unique (viola-meets-Apple laptop-meets-drums) compositions at play. It’s easy to imagine these pieces as backdrops to movies, their sound brimming with emotion.

Kevin O’Connor, one-half of Talkdemonic.
Tomorrow’s post will be devoted to the first opener … but I won’t spoil it for you just yet.

hip-hop

Bed Rock

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Kevin is in L.A. right now (bastard), and since he took care of gorilla vs. bear while I was at SXSW, I thought I’d return the favor and come post at his crib. Even though he didn’t ask me to.

One of my favorite hip hop records of the late ’90’s was Camp Lo’s Uptown Saturday Night. Sonny Cheeba and Geechie Suede took us back to the ’70’s Blaxploitation era, both lyrically and stylistically, and as far as 21 year-old me was concerned, it was the perfect party record.

Camp Lo sort of disappeared after that, but here’s a new track from the duo. While not on par with the material on Uptown…, “Bed Rock” is a straight up sex jam, peppered with Camp Lo’s trademark slang.

It was nice knowing you guys…Kevin probably won’t invite me back after this one:

Camp Lo Bed Rock mp3

covers, general, vinyl

Los Angeles, I’m Yours

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By the time you’re reading this, I’ll be in a car somewhere on the Interstate 10, nothing but desolate desert … and the Flying J truck stop in Ehrenberg, Ariz., for some Wendy’s, on the way to Los Angeles. For a six-hour car drive, I don’t get to Calif. as much as I should. So I’m looking forward to my three days there.

The highlight of the trip is Wednesday’s show with The National and Talkdemonic. Cannot wait. After reading Ryan’s recap of the Chicago show and Frank’s review of the Toronto show, I’m even more excited for this sold-out event.

We’ll also be seeing my sister-in-law June, who is very much pregnant. Due to pop next month. So here’s a Talkdemonic song off the new one, Beat Romantic, for her – and our soon-to-be nephew.

Talkdemonic | Junesong

My boy Royce has promised he’ll be posting while I’m gone … so there will be no interruptions of your regularly scheduled programming.

Also …

I absolutely forgot to recap my haul from Saturday’s record swap meet in Phoenix. I was having little luck finding much: I picked up Inxs Kick on 12″ and a live Marvin Gaye album.

I decided to hit one last table. The lady was super nice and said all LPs were $4 or three for $10. She told me the 45s (two boxes worth) were 50 cents apiece. So I snag the Rolling Stones’ Out of Our Heads and the Cream Disraeli Gears on 12″. Need that third one, right? So I go back and find the Who, Live at Leeds. Not only is the record in decent shape, the cover opens up like a folder and contains paperwork with typed lyric sheets and other odd, record label stationery and such. The woman couldn’t believe I found it and says it books for $50-$70. I immediately feel awful, telling her she should take it back. But she insists that I found it so I should have it in the three for $10 deal under the condition I don’t resell it. Done.

As for the 45s, I snagged a bunch of Michael Jacksons for the jukebox at home. The gems were a Capitol 45 (orange vinyl!) of Blind Melon’s No Rain and an REM 45 for The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonite with a ridculously cool cover on the b-side of The Lion Sleeps Tonight.


Here it is, converted from vinyl.

REM | The Lion Sleeps Tonight

radio rips

More ‘n more Tapes ‘n Tapes

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So about a little more than a week after the boys in Tapes ‘n Tapes played for KEXP from SXSW, they found their way to the Seattle radio station for another in-studio. Because I’m not as fortunate as some people, who have seen Tapes about 37 times in the past couple of weeks, this will have to do for now.

Meanwhile, the trip to LA is but a day away. Mmmmmm, we’re gonna see the National on Wednesday with the Drunkard and his wife (but dinner and drinks first). We’re gonna hit Thai Town and eat ridiculous amounts of Thai food and probably haul some back to Arizona. (My wife and her family are Thai and they bring a cooler on these trips to LA. I’m serious.) We’re gonna see Jax. And I’m going to spend many hours in Amoeba Records.

Anyway, on to the Tapes.

Tapes ‘n Tapes, on KEXP, 3/25/06:

1. Cowbell
(Might be a little bass-y; not sure if that’s my recording or the studio engineer.)
2. Omaha
3. Insistor
4. Jakov’s Suite
(With a little clarification about how to pronounce the title.)

Elsewhere …

On a totally non-music-related topic, a parking lot next to the building where I work in downtown Phoenix is being torn up, for it will be the future site of some monstrous hotel. This lot sits between our building and our parking garage, which offers about a block of walking in between.

The walk from the garage to the building was lined with these towering palm trees that I suppose (living in Arizona) I took for granted. That is, until I saw what the construction company did to them in the leveling process. There was no uprooting and transferring of the trees. Nope. They just sawed them off, leaving a row of helpless palm tree stumps. The portions that were cut have been chopped into smaller pieces to, I assume, toss or mulch or something. I’m no Sierra Club activist or anything, but the visuals made me kinda sad.

It makes me appreciate Wolf Parade’s Modern World (mp3) even more:

“Modern world don’t ask why/
Cause modern world will build things high/
Now they house canyons filled with life.”

A few pics of the Palm Tree Massacre below:



general

Pitchfork Music Festival: some research

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I’ve been thinking about the Pitchfork Music Festival, for which my wife and I are securing travel plans. (Hooray, Chicago!)

So far, the lineup is really solid, with Spoon, the National, the Mountain Goats, Band of Horses, Aesop Rock and Tapes ‘n Tapes among the highlights (at least for me) so far. But it got me thinking: How did Pitchfork select its lineup (which still is not officially filled out)? More specifically: What bands would agree to play at a festival organized by a music publication notorious for its acerbic, snobby and sometimes ridiculously vicious (did I get them all?) album reviews?

In an attempt to answer my own question, I delved into some admittedly surface research. I went to Pitchfork’s site and used its search engine set to “Reviews” and plugged in each band and recorded the rating given to each album. I didn’t bother looking at the authors of said reviews, although that certainly could be a tell of certain consistencies across an artist’s catalog. So, keep in mind here the, ahem, science is a bit crude.

The results are somewhat revealing, if not totally expected: Of 60 albums reviewed from 13 artists (not including Hot Machines, for which there were no reviews) booked so far for the festival, the average rating is 7.64 (458.6 total divided by 60 reviews).

The highest-rated artist with more than one album (Band of Horses drew an 8.8, and well-deserved, I might add) is Silver Jews at 8.76. The lowest-rated artist is Ted Leo and the Pharmacists at 6.92; a 4.0 on Tej Leo (?), Rx/Pharmacists was a killer.

The highest-rated invdividual album (full-length) was the Silver Jews’ American Water, which scored a 9.9 (ooooh-so close to that iconic 10.0). The lowest-rated full-length was the aforementioned Tej Leo. (Although, Mission of Burma’s Accomplished best-of collection got a shabby 1.9, which was more a product of the reviewer’s distaste for Ryko’s packaging and not so much the group itself.)

So, what does this all say, other than that I struggle to use my time wisely? Well, you could argue (as I would) that a conflict of interest exists. A publication that (supposedly) objectively critiques the work of musicians has no business putting on a festival with those same musicians. It implies (perhaps on a subconscious level) a quid pro quo is in place.

Because I work in the media as a sports copy editor at a major newspaper, I think of the old sportswriting adage: “No cheering in the press box.” In other words, writers must, above all else, remain objective in their coverage of a team. Same goes for music.

However, the obvious needs to be stated here: If the Pitchfork honchos are going to organize a festival, they’re not going to invite musicians or bands they don’t like. But think about it. Do bands who have been reviewed favorably feel an obligation to return the goodwill and agree to play the festival? On the flip side, will Pitchfork be swayed in future reviews to look kindly upon artists who performed – not to mention helped raise money and awareness for the site in the process?

I think it’s an interesting topic to explore and should be examined as more bands are announced. I may be oversimplifying the whole thing. But I’m confident in one thing: Travis Morrison will not be invited.

(Here is my crude Excel spreadsheet.)

vinyl

The Raconteurs “Store Bought Bones”

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It’s no surprise that just about everyone else beat me to the punch on The Raconteurs. But I actually bought the 7″ single last night for a cool $2.99. I must say: Steady, As She Goes (buy it at iTunes) deserves to be listened through headphones.

I know Jack White is kinda the brand name of this project, but I’m excited for this album more for the presence of Brendan Benson and the Greenhornes, who provide a tight and muscular rhythm section. And the guitar work on Store Bought Bones is all loose and bluesy. As my boy Chris has said several times, the full-length has top five best-of potential for 2006.

Rest assured, this was a conversion from the 7″ vinyl and not a rip from the group’s site or MySpace.

The Raconteurs | Store Bought Bones

general

New Eagles of Death Metal

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At what point does a group like Eagles of Death Metal stop being ironic? More important, what’s our threshold, as fans, for this? How long can the joke carry on?

I know. Lots of questions. See, this tears at me because I really like Josh Homme. Some might say I have a “man-crush” on him. … Oh, wait. I think I’ve said that.

Anyway, I was pondering this after listening to this new Eagles track. I really am a big fan of Queens of the Stone Age, so my tendency is to give Eagles a free pass. But, at some point, we have to take this seriously, right? When does this all just become too patronizing? We spend money. Is it a joke? Is it serious? Sometimes I can’t really tell.

Because I’ll tell you one thing: I’m tired of the ironic T-shirt trend. So are Eagles of Death Metal the ironic T-shirts of rock? Death Metal … satan hand sign … yeah, it’s funny. Sort of.

That said, the music is pretty damn good. So, again, where does that leave us?

Eagles of Death Metal | Don’t Speak (I Came to Make a Bang!)

general

Silversun Pickups (again)

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I’m cheating a little bit today: I posted on Silversun Pickups last week during my stint as house guest at Gorilla vs. Bear. The problem is, I like them so much that I wanted to represent at my own site.

The great KEXP, through its song of the day podcast, introduced me to the band, a quartet from Los Angeles named after a liquor store on Sunset Boulevard. (I shall do my best to visit this Silversun Liquors when I’m in LA next week.) As I said in the GvsB post, I do believe we’re in the midst of a shoegazer revival. Frankly, I couldn’t be happier about that. Bands like Hum and Catherine Wheel were (are) some of my favorites that would fall under that category, loosely defined by a sprawling sound but still with melodies you can grab onto. Comparisons to Smashing Pumpkins wouldn’t be too far off the mark either.

Silversun released the EP Pikul (available at iTunes) last year on Dangerbird Records and a much-anticipated (by me) full-length should arrive in 2006.

Silversun also is part of an affiliation of bands known as The Ship, which includes the very cool Earlimart and So Much Silence favorite (like favorite) Radar Bros.

Silversun on MySpace.
The Ship on MySpace.

Silversun Pickups | Kissing Families
Silversun Pickups | Lazy Eye (from KEXP in-studio)

general

Song of the Year (so far): Band of Horses, “Funeral”

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We went to the Rhythm Room last night to see Band of Horses. I must be late on the draw: These guys are stupendous. I bought their album, Everything All the Time, on iTunes yesterday and I’ve already listened to it a good two or three times. (I didn’t take any pics of the show … bad blogger, bad!)

Seriously, with the Shins, Rogue Wave and Band of Horses, Sub Pop has the market cornered on a great new sound. (Or maybe it’s a revival?) Band of Horses’ open-ended, three-chord power is stunning and has an absolute grip on me. I see the Shins-meets-My Morning Jacket comparisons. But Bands brings something else: a bigger, more aggressive approach.

On stage, the sound was inspired and, frankly, mesmerizing. Our Swords, with two bass guitars and a pulsating drum beat, was a highlight of the show. That is, until they closed with the amazing Funeral. There’s something about frontman Ben Bridwell’s upper-register vocals underpinned by those sprawling guitars and convincing drums.

Listen. It’s my favorite of the year so far.

Band of Horses | Funeral