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Dios recap / bad news

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Before I get to the Dios (Malos) photos, some horrible news: Saturday’s Grand Cayenne Festival — that was to feature a pretty incredible lineup with Spoon, Mates of State, the Album Leaf, etc. — was canceled. I don’t know the official reason for cancellation, but I can only guess lack of ticket sales. It’s a sad and frustrating statement of our city that a show like this can’t spur interest. If the Phoenix/Tempe metro market wants to be a major music player, this show should have sold tickets in a heartbeat. My guess is you folks from other cities will be somewhat appalled by this. Thoughts?

Moving on to Dios …

These guys are cool, cool, cool. Modified is a small — shall we say … “intimate” — venue, and Dios rocked it. It was loud, but in a fulfilling kind of way. The dual keyboard action makes for some great noises/effects on the tunes. They played some of my favorites off the new album: “Feels Good Being Somebody,” “EPK” and “Grrrl” (I’ll love you to the end / psyche, I’m just kidding. The best.) And, yes, they played “Starting Five” (duh).

I’m also convinced that the Dios drummer and the Bloc Party drummer were separated at birth. But I’ll have to dig up photos for proof.

On to the photos of the show:




arizona

Asleep in the Sea

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I’ve only mentioned it about 50 times this week, but we’re going to see Dios (Malos) tonight at Modified. One of the two openers is Phoenix band Asleep in the Sea.

I’m really enjoying this trio because they seem to go against the grain of what a band should do. Their melodies sound off-kilter and the whole orchestration just feels loose and a little skittish; yet, you get the feeling that’s sort of the point of it all. The vocals are frail and a touch out of tune in an endearing kind of way.

I’m eager to see them tonight for the first time. You can visit them on My Space here, where they have four songs available for download. Below are two songs off their new EP that you can buy at their Web site.

Asleep in the Sea | Dance On (highly recommended)
Asleep in the Sea | Seashorshes

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Catching up …

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You better get yer butt over to tmwsiy* for some live Jeff Tweedy, including a new Loose Fur song and an amazing version of Sunken Treasure.

The Los Angeles Times gives us a nice read on Brendan Benson, whose Alternative to Love is holding firm in my year’s Top 10.

Going to see Dios (Malos) tomorrow night. Sweet.

Excellent news from the sourceVictoria camp: They’ve been added to the bill for the Rogue Wave show on Dec. 15 in Phoenix.

A nice story in The Arizona Republic on the man responsible for this Saturday’s Cayenne Festival and many other great indie shows in Phoenix.

Also, local boys Secret Life of Painters, whom I’ve posted on before, have a 7-inch single almost ready for sale. Go say hi at their My Space page.

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Apollo Sunshine at Cayenne Festival in Mesa

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I have to admit: I’m doing some research to catch up with the lineup for Saturday’s show. Apollo Sunshine is one of the bands that, if my indie IQ were high enough, I should have known about before now; for proof, check You Ain’t Know Picasso, who interviewed these guys last month.

Alas, I’m playing catch-up. From everything I’ve heard and read so far, these guys put on an amazing show. Matt at YANP says: “It would probably be fair to say that Apollo Sunshine have built a reputation around being the opening band that outshines the headliner.”

The notoriously fickle Pitchfork even raved in its review:

“These songs don’t seem to mind completely reinventing themselves halfway through, interrupting what you thought was a quiet, emotional song about feeling displaced in the world with a dive-bombing instrumental passage that flits between new wave and bottom-heavy groove.”

Needless to say, I’m jazzed about seeing these guys on Saturday. Buy their new album here.

Apollo Sunshine | Today is the Day
Apollo Sunshine | Eyes

arizona, general

Spoon at the Cayenne Festival in Mesa

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I’m feeling quite flattered. A blogger known only as M. had very nice things to say about my site. I’m not sure what I did, but I can say that flattery will get you far around here. So thanks, M. For that, he’s got a free pass to the blog roll and a plug right here. Go visit him — The Perm & The Skullet, great name — because he’s got some Sufjan and Nada Surf and Mountain Goats and a ton of other stuff that you’ll like. Promise.

Moving on, I’ve mentioned the Grand Cayenne Festival taking place in Mesa, Ariz., this week. The wife and I likely will be attending. The lineup is stellar, and I’m excited to see some bands I’ve never seen live: Go Big Casino!, Earlimart and Reubens Accomplice, especially. (Good lord, I’m just realizing that I’ve lived in Phoenix for, like, ever and I’ve never seen Reubens, who are from here. Sad, sad.)

Anyway, the headliner is Spoon, and so I thought I’d hit you off with some goodness there. We saw them for the first time in Austin at the ACL fest and I was not disappointed. We had to cut out a little early to make it in time to Stubb’s to see this one band called the Arcade Fire; maybe you’ve heard of them.

I’ve been listening to Gimme Fiction quite a bit, and I think what I love best about Spoon is they don’t dick around. They’re in and they’re out in about four minutes. That’s rock craftsmanship at its finest.

Spoon | The Fitted Shirt (holy hell. Their best song?)
“I long for the days, they used to say ma’am and yes, sir.”
Spoon | Sunday Morning, Wednesday Night (from Sister Jack single)
Spoon | The Two Sides of Monsieur Valentine (on KEXP)

radio rips

The Clientele on KCRW

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I converted the Clientele’s performance on KCRW. The band’s new LP, Strange Geometry, is my introduction to the British trio, and I’m quite enjoying it. There’s definitely a ’60s, Byrds-like influence going on there.If you need further convincing, the Clientele is one of the fine artists signed to one of my favorite labels, Merge.

The track listings come courtesy of the Clientele’s MySpace page.

The Clientele | new song
The Clientele | K
The Clientele | Since K Got Over Me (highly rec.)
The Clientele | Lamplight
The Clientele | We Could Walk Together
The Clientele | Saturday
The Clientele | E.M.P.T.Y.

Go check out sourceVictoria’s MySpace page for a working mix of a new track, Heartless Boy.Because I’m in the mood:

sourceVictoria | Opportunistic

arizona

Tokyo Electron and weekend wrap

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My friend/co-worker is a member of Tokyo Electron, and I’ve been meaning to do this post for a while. It’s a little punk outfit originally from Yuma, Arizona, which is pretty damn close to the Ariz./Calif. border.

So, he’s on a leave at work because the band is touring Europe right now (enter Napoleon Dynamite voice: LUCKY) in support of the group’s debut self-titled LP. He dropped me an e-mail from Stockholm with this bit of news: The lead singer of the Hives bought a Tokyo Electron shirt and walked out of the club wearing it. Nice! Pretty sweet endorsement if you ask me.

Enjoy these two punk ditties:

Tokyo Electron | Electrify Me
Tokyo Electron | Darkside

I hate fantasy football. Mind you, I’m doing just fine in the music bloggers league: 2nd place heading into this past weekend. Of course, there is no money involved in that league. No, in the league I pay $60 to enter my team is absolutely horrendous. I lost this week in a game I had no business even flirting with victory, but I’ll complain anyway. I lost when Antwaan Randle El — a wide receiver, but a college QB — threw a freaking touchdown pass on Sunday night. I lost by two points. Woe is I.But how ’bout them Bears! First place. 6-3. Nathan Vasher pulls an Arena Football League play and returns a missed field goal 108 yards for a touchdown; longest play for TD EVER in the NFL. (And I love the orange uniforms.) This is starting to feel like a few years ago when the Bears were pulling all sorts of strange plays outta their asses — remember two Mike Brown interception returns for TDs to win games? — and went 13-3.


Meanwhile, my Arizona State Sun Devils lost yet again, to UCLA on Saturday. Now they have to beat the hated Arizona Wildcats on Nov. 25 to even sniff a bowl, most likely the Las Vegas Bowl. How awful. I am not banking on a win. UA has plenty of incentive and would love nothing more than to keep ASU bowl-less. Not good.

I’ll be hitting you up with some previews/mp3s this week on bands playing at this Saturday’s Grand Cayenne Music Festival, which features Spoon as the headliner. It’s an all-day affair in Mesa, and should be a blast.

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Links and loose ends

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OK, I’m trying to clean house around here, and that includes sprucing up the ol’ blog roll. Am I missing your blog? Am I totally oblivious about a site to which I should be linking? Please, holler at me. We’ll swap links and we’ll all be happy.

Yeah, I bought this … wanna make something of it? Frankly, I think the humor in Beavis and Butt-head is a lot more clever than it was ever given credit for. I think we can all agree that Mike Judge, who is repsonsible for Office Space and King of the Hill, created a fine piece of pop culture in Beavis and Butt-head.

If you’re going to buy the DVD set, be warned: It’s NOT divided into seasons. A little letter inside the package from Judge explains that it is the first volume of two-thirds of the show that he felt “didn’t suck.” Episodes were selected by him, thus “the Mike Judge Collection.”

I’m excited for next Saturday, which brings the Grand Cayenne Music Festival to Mesa Amphitheatre. The lineup:

Spoon, Mates of State, Black Heart Procession, Go Big Casino (side band of Jimmy Eat World’s Jim Adkins), The Album Leaf, Hello Goodbye, Earlimart and Reubens Accomplice, to name a few.

Most of my posts/mp3s next week likely will focus on the bands playing this show. There’s also a potential special announcement in the works regarding this show. Stay tuned.

For now, a taste of an Arizona band I previously have posted on, Reubens Accomplice.

Get a video of Reubens playing at a Western Tread records showcase here.

vinyl

Kaiser Chiefs B-side

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Any record hunter will tell you that persistence pays off. And I struck a little gold mine when I was shopping last week at Zia Records in Phoenix. I found a few 45s on the cheap, including a Kaiser Chiefs single for I Predict a Riot. There were two copies, each at 99 cents. I bought both.

The B-side, Take My Temperature, is actually kind of ironic. Vocalist Ricky Wilson sings: “You can take my temperature because I’m 100 degrees in the shade.” In Austin at the ACL Festival, it was Wilson who damn near passed out (see below photo) after their fantastic set because of the oppressive heat. Seems like a fitting tune.

Kaiser Chiefs | Take My Temperature

general

The Standard

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All of a sudden, the Yep Roc label is very high on my favorites list. My first run-in with the label was the Minus 5 album Down with Wilco. Now, I can’t stop listening to The Fast Rise and Fall of the South by the Kingsbury Manx.

Then, just yesterday, I stumble across The Standard on an Internet radio station only to read that Kingsbury Manx and the Standard are touring together. (Too bad I’ll miss them in Tucson on Nov. 25; I have to work, plus it’s the day of the Big Game: Arizona at Arizona State!)

Anyway, the Standard caught my attention with its piano-heavy hooks and somewhat mysterious yet warm vocals. The band released Albatross last month. Buy it here.


The Standard | Red Drop
The Standard | How Deep to Cut