arizona, general

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.

Uncategorized

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

live, remix

Death Cab recap

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Even under the influence of Newcastle, I can tell you that Death Cab for Cutie puts on a great show. However, I slacked and didn’t bring my camera (bad blogger!).

I wasn’t overwhelmed; their style, their sound doesn’t translate to a larger setting very well. And, as my brother bitterly pointed out a few times, they didn’t play Blacking Out the Friction — their “best song ever”; I’d have a hard time disagreeing with big bro there. Still, there were plenty of highlights: Amputations and President of What? (off Something About Airplanes), We Laugh Indoors and Transatlanticism, with assistance from members of opener Stars, as the ultimate closer.

And, oh, Different Names for the Same Thing is quickly becoming my favorite songs off Plans.

The crowd … well, what do you expect now? They skew younger and that can be hard to swallow for the faithful. I guess you just have to laugh at it. It was obvious that when they played older material, the interest waned accordingly.

Death Cab for Cutie | We Laugh Indoors (dub mix)

Uncategorized

Chicago recap / Death Cab in Tempe tonight

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We’re back from Chicago and it was a blast. The weather was phenomenal, and living in Arizona I nearly forgot what it looks like when leaves change colors. Perfect. We saw family, ate deep dish pizza, rode the ‘L,’ hit some bars, did some shopping and (the reason for the trip) celebrated my dad’s 60th birthday. We didn’t, however, go see Digable Planets. We decided we’d be more productive with a night out on the town.

There’s not much to say other than Chicago is an amazing city. And I knew this, having been born there. But each time I go back, the more I seem to be able to appreciate it.
A few pics of the fam:

My niece Quinn LOVED the Shedd Aquarium.

Quinny helps my dad (aka “Grampy”) with the candles.

Me and Niece No. 2, Eliot (aka “Baby Sister”), pose at Bandera on Michigan Ave.

My wife Annie and my brother Brendan look precious.
That brings me to tonight, when Annie, Brendan and I will be going to see Death Cab for Cutie at Marquee Theatre in Tempe tonight; it’s a sellout (the show, not Death Cab). It was part of our birthday gift to B, so it should be fun. On that note, I recently viewed the Death Cab DVD Drive Well, Sleep Carefully. Part of the extra footage includes acoustic material from the Metreon in San Francisco. I ripped the audio into mp3 format for two songs. Enjoy.

Death Cab for Cutie | The New Year (acoustic from DVD extras)
Death Cab for Cutie | Title and Registration (acoustic from DVD extras)

Uncategorized

Off to Chicago …

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It’s off to the Windy City I go to see family, friends and celebrate my dad’s 60th birthday. There will be eating of deep dish pizza and seeing of Digable Planets on Friday night. (If you haven’t already, go check Gorilla vs. Bear for pics of the DPs in Dallas.)

We get back Monday and then see Death Cab in Tempe on Tuesday … a sold-out show. Busy, busy. In the meantime, my boy Royce might pick up my slack while I’m away (no pressure, Royce).

Here’s some Chicago lovin’ …

Spoon | Chicago at Night
Soul Coughing | Is Chicago, Is Not Chicago
Jawbox | Chicago piano
Hieroglyphics | Chicago