general

Talkdemonic opening for The National in LA

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Because I’ll be one of the few mp3 bloggers not going to SXSW (boo!), I have to train my focus on March 29, when my wife and I will be seeing The National (hooray!) at the Troubadour in Los Angeles – and partying with the Drunkard and his wife.

I always love to see who opens shows for bands I hold in high regard. Because, hey, if they’re good enough for The National …

Talkdemonic – a duo from Portland, Ore., made up of multi-instrumentalists Kevin O’Connor and Lisa Molinaro – is one of two openers (Baby Dayliner is the other).

Unless it’s a DJ (say, Shadow or RJD2), all-instrumental compositions usually just ain’t my thing. However, these sounds by Talkdemonic – with O’Connor playing (among other things) drums, synth, Wurlitzer, laptop and Molinaro on viola and synths – are pretty enthralling. The band calls it “folktronic hop”: wispy indie vibes grounded by electronic/hip-hop beats.

I’ll be very curious to see how it translates live.

Beat Romantic is due out March 21 on Arena Rock Recording Co.

Talkdemonic | Mountaintops in Caves

live

Low/Damien Jurado recap and more

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Wednesday’s Low/Damien Jurado show was not only worth our two-hour drive to Tucson, it was worth the wait after Low canceled its tour last year because of Alan Sparhawk’s mental well-being, about which he was refreshingly candid with fans.

The last (and only) time I’d seen Low was in Tempe, Ariz., in the mid ’90s when they opened for Soul Coughing. Perhaps an unlikely pairing, but I can remember people in the crowd booing during Low’s set. Idiots.

I gotta believe this is the first indie/rock show I’ve been to in which drums were used but no bass drum. It’s sort of symbolic of both Jurado and Low’s somber output. (At one point, Jurado’s drummer even put a towel over the snare drum to give it a muffled effect.)

Listening to Low and seeing Low are two completely different experiences. It’s one thing to hear the three-piece band on CD, mp3 or what have you. It’s quite another to see it – this minimalist setup of guitar, bass and stripped-down drum kit. I’m amazed how the sparsity of the songs inspire such strong emotions. Then to add the element of Sparhawk’s personal issues (of which he only apologized for the canceled dates) and the tension and feelings of the songs become that much stronger.

For me, the best song had to be When I Go Deaf off The Great Destroyer. I’ve loved Cue the Strings so much from this album and overlooked how stunning this one is. The lyrics are just so powerful. I have a feeling I’ll be listening to this song many times in the coming weeks.

One final note on Low: Sparhawk and wife Mimi Parker have absolutely gorgeous voices. It’s moving to hear and see music with such heart and feeling behind it.

Also …

My favorite record store in Tucson, formerly PDQ Records and Tapes, changed ownership and is now the strangely named Judy’s Music (I still can’t bring myself to say it). Lucky for me, the same inventory exists – a warehouse chock full of vinyl. What I spent $32 on:

LPs:
Paul Simon, Graceland
Sparks, Interior Design
45s:
Sam Cooke, Another Saturday Night/Send Me Some Lovin’
Eddy Grant, Electric Avenue/Time Warp
Tears for Fears, Shout/The Big Chair
Bill Joel, Pressure/Laura
Jean Knight, Mr. Big Stuff/Why I Keep Living These Memories
Run-DMC, It’s Tricky/Proud to be Black (picture sleeve!)

What kind of guy would I be if I didn’t share?

Eddy Grant | Electric Avenue

More …

It appears eMusic is gaining steam. Not only did I see a TV commercial for it the other day, Rolling Stone reports it’s No. 2 in digital music sales. (Get your free trial today.)

The Department of Justice is checking into digital music pricing by major labels. (Story from Reuters via Yahoo.)

Couple of new shows for Phoenix (via Stateside Presents):
>> The Cloud Room, April 2, Rhythm Room.
>> Bloc Party (!) and TV on the Radio, April 27, at Marquee Theatre.

general

Low / Damien Jurado tonight in Tucson

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So the wife and I are making the two-hour trek to check out Low tonight in Tucson. I have little to offer in the way of thoughtful examination because I’ve been drinking a little too much for a Tuesday night. So I’ll leave you with a couple of tracks. I’m hopeful that I’ll be coming back with good photos. Cross your fingers.

Low |Blue-Eyed Devil (Soul Coughing cover)
Low |California (on KEXP)

Damien Jurado | Texas to Ohio
(Thank you to Chad for turning me on to this song and album.)

UPDATE: You better get over to Analog Giant and get the DJ Shadow Funky Skunk mix if you know what’s good for you.

general

Magneto “Sounds Like Space”

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Typically, I try to avoid the pitfall of hyperbole when writing about bands I like. Otherwise, after awhile, it’s just going to sound like you’re crying wolf (hey, I didn’t say I avoided cliches).

So take my word when I tell you I’m really (italics, even!) excited about Magneto, a four-piece outfit from Seattle. It just so happens Magneto will be in Phoenix on April 2, playing with sourceVictoria and Seven Storey Mountain. (Venue TBD.)

The Seattle Times recently hailed Magneto as “a promising Dinosaur Jr.-meets-My Bloody Valentine (don’t try this at home) quartet. Lian Light, sounding like the stepdaughter of J Mascis, could be Seattle’s next indie icon.” Heady praise and probably spot on.

Without hearing the whole of Magneto’s new LP Sounds Like Space, my initial attempt at a comparison is something in the vein of Hum – spacious, unconfined guitars (sounds like space, perhaps?) and vocals that drift over the whole arrangement. Those big, melodic guitar lines might even be categorized as “shoegazing,” if one were so inclined.

Buy Sounds like Space (on The Swingline label) at CDbaby or iTunes.
Check Magneto’s MySpace page.

Magneto | Touch and Go (very highly recommended. really.)
Magneto | So Tired

general

Mates of State “Bring it Back”

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Mates of State at Austin City Limits festival last year.
I have to be honest: I’m still not sure how I feel about Mates of State. The best way I can say it is that some days I like them better than other days. I feel like I have to be in a certain mood, though I haven’t quite put a finger on what that mood is.

Typically, I like my pop/indie rock a little more downtrodden and somber. But I find myself coming back to the cool two-part vocals of Mates of State and those hooky synth lines.

What really amazes me is how any husband and wife co-exist as bandmates. Don’t get me wrong: I love my wife and all, but might there be some awkward moments when one is trying to do some writing about the other? But it appears to be working for Mates of State, the Rosebuds and The Arcade Fire.

Mates of State vs. the Rosebuds. Steel-cage match. Fight to the death. Who ya got?

Anyway, I’m enjoying the new Mates of State album Bring it Back, due for release March 21. Visit Barsuk for more information.

Mates of State | Fraud in the ’80s
Mates of State | For the Actor

Also …

Matt asked about the iSpin debut last Thursday … and, well, it went OK. Could have been better, could have been worse. We’re scoping out new venues for the idea, possibly closer to the Arizona State campus to lure the college folk. These young kids and their iPods.
Here is the winning playlist, from Sam (aka DJ G3K). He put nice time and effort into to it, and, for that, he wins a $50 iTunes gift card courtesy of iLounge. We’re excited about the potential of the event and we’ve got lots o’ good ideas for it. We’ll keep ya posted.

And Annie and I are headed to Tucson to check out Low and Damien Jurado at Club Congress on Wednesday. (Any Tucson readers in the house?) Expect a post for that on Wednesday. Thanks to Chad for getting me hooked on Jurado’s Where Shall You Take Me?.

radio rips

Clap Your Hands on WOXY’s Lounge Acts

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I know. Clap Your Hands Say Yeah is so 2005. But I’ve been meaning to split up this set from WOXY’s Lounge Acts for quite some time now. (The set and interview is available as a download in one file here.)

Just last night, Royce and I were lamenting the fact that we missed the Clap Your Hands/The National show at Modified in Phoenix last year. Granted, we were working, but still … what the hell were we thinking?

Alas, here’s four tracks, including the unreleased Cigarettes.

Support WOXY.

Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, WOXY Lounge Acts, 9/21/05
1. Details of the War
2. Gimme Some Salt
3. In This Home on Ice
4. Cigarettes

Uncategorized

Catching up …

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EZarchive appears to be acting up, so now is as good a time as any to tie up a few loose ends, eh?

  • First off, tonight is the debut of iSpin. Anyone in Arizona reading this should head down to the Paper Heart and check it out. We’ll be up after the nice boys in Secret Life of Painters play their rock. Open iPod DJ sets; how can you resist? Our great sponsor, iLounge, has hooked us up something serious with iTunes gifts cards for $50, $25 and $15 for the best three sets. Be there!
  • Have you visited Audio for Drinking? Our friend Josh over there is a kind soul. Go say hi.
  • You guys all know about what’s going on with WOXY, right? The online radio station is moving to a listener-supported model and needs your help because of music royalty and licensing fees. Read more. The WOXY Lounge Acts podcast is one of my favorites, and the station is a great source for some of my posts. Go support.

How did I forget this? I saw The Hold Steady (above) on Saturday on a whim after work. Another great show from Stateside Presents. I was really impressed with Craig Finn’s stage presence because he’s not the most physically imposing figure. I’m still not sure I get the Bruce Springsteen comparisons in the music, but maybe I’m not paying close enough attention. Anyway, here’s an mp3 from the group’s Web site, a great track off Separation Sunday, available at eMusic:

The Hold Steady | Your Little Hoodrat Friend

general

Revisiting the Radar Bros.

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So, I’m not sure if there’s some sort of statute of limitations that must expire before you should post a second time about a band. But I like the Radar Bros. quite a bit, and I posted on them way back in August, around the time I discovered The Fallen Leaf Pages, so I figured it was time to revisit them.

Oddly, the Radar Bros. (on Merge) don’t seem to be blogged about very much, not that that’s some damning statement of their music. But Merge is such a great label (one of my favorites), so I just assumed people would have picked up on them.

Maybe the Radar Bros. aren’t indie enough? Is that even a plausible theory? I don’t know. But I typically find myself helplessly sucked in when I listen to them with their delicate lyrics and sweeping instrumentation. Catchy melodies aren’t readily apparent, but there’s something alluring about that. Their deliberate pacing somehow manages to rein in my quick trigger finger on my iPod. They remind me to slooooow down and enjoy the music.

Here’s a few of my favorites:

Radar Bros. | Shifty Lies
(From The Singing Hatchet)
Radar Bros. | On the Line
(From And the Surrounding Mountains)
Radar Bros. | Government Land
(From The Fallen Leaf Pages)

And the Surrounding Mountains and The Fallen Leaf Pages are available – as is most of the Merge catalog – at eMusic, so pick ’em up using their free trial of 50 mp3s.

About that live Nada Surf …

Some folks were asking about live recordings from Monday’s Nada Surf show. With the group’s permission, I recorded the in-store performance at Stinkweeds. They asked to hear the files before posting to ensure sound quality and such, which I absolutely respect. I’ll be sending those tracks to them via e-mail. It was a tremendous set of 11 (!) songs.

live

Nada Surf actually played “Popular”

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This isn’t so much of a review of Monday’s Nada Surf/Rogue Wave/The King of France show in Tempe, Ariz., as it is a quasi-examination of a trend that Nada Surf – for better or worse – seems to somehow epitomize.

That said, I don’t want to minimize Monday’s performances. That was my first experience with Nada Surf live, and I’m really impressed at how seemingly innocuous pop songs translate into these powerful anthems on stage. On top of that, we were treated to two encores: the first about five songs and the second a closing dose of Blizzard of ’77.

But even more surreal was that Nada performed that blessing and curse of a song: Popular. Given the group’s fairly drastic shift in style since 1996’s High/Low, I guess I had just sort of assumed – incorrectly, it appears – that the group disavowed that song.

In all honesty, I like Popular. It’s a good song with a timeless message about the social caste system of high school – something to which anyone who has or will go to high school can relate.

Unfortunately, Popular was so, well, popular that people tend to only associate Nada Surf with that song. To wit: Do a search for Nada Surf on iTunes. The band comes up on one of iTunes’ “essentials” lists: ” ’90s One-Hit Wonders.” Oh, that dreaded “one-hit wonder” label. Lumping Nada Surf into a playlist alongside artists such as Snow, Eagle-Eye Cherry and Chumbawamba isn’t only unfair and irresponsible, it’s misleading. Did iTunes forget about Nada’s three terrific albums since?

So when someone in the crowd Monday actually requested Popular during a silent moment between songs, I cringed. I turned to my wife: “No. Someone didn’t actually just request that, did they?” I’m still not sure what surprised me more: that someone requested it or that Nada Surf played it. I don’t think it was part of the set list, but I can’t be sure about that.

What was more telling was lead singer Matthew Caws’ reaction before and after the song. Bassist Daniel Lorca asked the crowd for help singing, and Caws said, almost sheepishly, “I like singing that song.” Afterward, Caws explained, “Hey, we still like that song. We just don’t play it every night. No big deal.”

It almost sounded like an apology, but it was more of a statement that Popular is still part of Nada Surf history, one-hit wonder tag be damned. I think it’s to Nada Surf’s credit that the band has created such a great catalog of songs since Popular that anyone who actually thinks of Nada as a one-hit wonder is missing out entirely on what the group has to offer.

So, uh, what the hell:

Nada Surf | Popular
Nada Surf | Armies Walk
(A song I wish they would have played off The Weight is a Gift. Buy it!)

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President’s Day / Nada Surf tonight

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A little fact about me: I love presidential history. For whatever reason, I especially enjoy the Founding Father era. And I’m a Harry Truman fan. In fact, I have David McCullough’s somewhat intimidating, 1,120-page epic Truman staring at me on my bookshelf, waiting to be read in this lifetime.

Learn about all the presidents here. Anyway, I haven’t often done theme posts, so I thought today would be a good day for that.

Blackalicious | Paragraph President
Eric B. & Rakim | Eric B. is President
Death Cab for Cutie | President of What?
(Version from You Can Play These Songs with Chords)

Tonight …


Going to check out Nada Surf, Rogue Wave and the King of France at the Clubhouse in Tempe. Can’t wait. Plus, I’ll be checking out Nada Surf doing an in-store acoustic set at Stinkweeds Records. Depending on the set-up, I’ll likely record (and post) that set.

On that note, surely you’ve already checked out the double post from Rogue Wave’s December show in Phoenix. Right?