MOG - soda's Posts

KDHX 88.1 FM Presents Twangfest 12

soda — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 20:48:26 GMT

It seems like I only post about Twangfest these days - at least my MOG status is still blazing.

Twangfest brings back the only act from Twangfest 1 that is still together - The Waco Brothers - and spreads the fest around St. Louis with one night in each every venue that has ever hosted a Twangfest.

Wednesday, June 4
The Schlafly Tap Room
Chuck Prophet
Centro-matic
The Builders & The Butchers

Thursday, June 5
The Duck Room at Blueberry Hill
The Gourds
Charles Walker & The Dynamites
Deadstring Brothers

Friday, June 6
The Pageant
Old 97’s
Hayes Carll
Miles Of Wire

Saturday, June 7
Off Broadway
The Waco Brothers
Ha Ha Tonka
the everybodyfields
Caleb Travers

Twangfest KDHX Austin Parties

soda — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 16:27:33 GMT

During you-know-what...

We still have a couple of last-minute surprises to round out the lineup,
but wanted to let you know that Twangfest & KDHX -FM St. Louis are once
again hosting TWO day parties this year at Jovita's in Austin on March
13th & 15th. This is a (free!) invitation-only event. You can download
an invitation at http://twangfest.com/sxsw beginning on March 1st for a
limited time.

Twangfest & KDHX -FM PARTY
Jovita's
1619 South First
Austin, TX
www.jovitas.com

-------------------
Thursday, March 13
-------------------
Inside:
12PM – Amy Lavere
1PM – Black Diamond Heavies
2PM – David Bazan (Pedro The Lion)
3PM – Ha Ha Tonka
4PM – Scott H. Biram
5PM – Legendary ShackShakers

Outside:
12:00 – Otis Gibbs
12:30–2:30 – This Is American Music Revue (featuring Grand Champeen, Two
Cow Garage, Glossary, & The Drams)
2:30 – Gentleman Auction House
3:30 – Pattern Is Movement
4:30 – So Many Dynamos
5:30 – Deer Tick

-------------------
Saturday, March 15
-------------------
Inside:
12PM – Kevin Gordon
1PM – The Redwalls
2PM – Chuck Prophet
3PM – Waco Brothers
4PM – Blue Mountain
5PM – Wussy

Outside:
12:00 – Steve Poltz
12:30 – The Whipsaws
1:30 – Tim Easton & The Whipsaws
1:40 – Tommy Womack
2:30 – TBA
3:30 – Jon Hardy and the Public
4:30 – Sarah Borges
5:30 - TBA

No Depression to cease publishing

soda — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 21:03:40 GMT

Bummer. I've been a subscriber since issue 1.

NO DEPRESSION MAGAZINE TO CEASE PUBLISHING AFTER MAY -JUNE ISSUE

No Depression, the bimonthly magazine covering a broad range of American roots music since 1995, will bring to an end its print publication with its 75th issue in May-June 2008.

Plans to expand the publication's website (www.nodepression.net) with additional content will move forward, though it will in no way replace the print edition.

The magazine's March-April issue, currently en route to subscribers and stores, includes the following note from publishers Grant Alden, Peter Blackstock and Kyla Fairchild as its Page 2 "Hello Stranger" column:

http://www.nodepression.net/blogs/letter/

Robbie Fulks is still amazing

soda — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 22:55:18 GMT

Looks like we're averaging a post per month...

In case anyone was wondering, Robbie Fulks is still awesome. He played an acoustic show here Sat, with Robbie Gjersoe singing and playing harmony.

The usual stuff, but two things stood out:

1. He played 3 new songs, all of which were straight forward country songs in the style of the more serious stuff on Georgia Hard. Good stuff that wouldn't be necessarily out of place on a Music Row release. Seemed like his set was leaning to the serious side as well. All the crowd requests were, of course, for the novelty songs.

2. During his cover of "I Wanna be Mama'd" (which I usually hate) he and his cohort go into a 10 minute freakout guitar solo, passing it back and forth an going all nuts and semi toned and off the map and dischordant. It was amazing.

Here's a poor quality video of one of the new songs I dug up on YouTube:

Portland Triple Bill

soda — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 20:58:10 GMT

A rare post...

Thought some folks might be interested in the bill I saw last Saturday.

The opener - Bark, Hide and Horn
Kind of the electric / acoustic thing that is all the rage these days, but with horns and synths as well. Powerful live, a bit mellower on record. Geek points in that most of their songs are inspired by old National Geographic articles. So they will introduce each with 'this is about Jaques Costeau' or 'this is a love song about hermaphrodite snails' or 'this is about trumpeter swans' But they arent novelty songs, just loosely based around the topics. The love song is more about love than it is about snails.

The middle - Point Juncture, WA
Gorgeous, shimmering and a little jazzy. Kind of reminds me of those shoe gaze-y bands from the late 90s. Maybe a little Pavement-y as well. Shared male and female vocals across most of the songs. With enough edge here and there to keep you awake.

The headliner - Norfolk and Western
The most alt.country of the bunch, a little reminiscent of early Camper Van Beethoven (with less backwards masking). Also the most mature having release 3 albums. The travel in M Ward and Decemberist circles - and you can tell. Tho I like these folks much more than the aforementioned.

I am far too lazy to clip songs, videos or photos - but they are all easily found on myspace and the rest of the intertubes.

Does Baseball Belong in Music?

soda — Fri, 14 Dec 2007 22:35:20 GMT

There is a new tiny rabbit hole of a bar in Portland which, oddly enough, used to be called The Rabbit Hole but is now called The East End.

Last Saturday Scott McCaughney (of the Minus 5) and Steve Wynn and Linda Pitman (of Steve Wynn and the Miracle 3) played a set of newly written songs about baseball.

An excellent set, heavy on the pop rock and light on the novelty. Song topics included Satchel Page, Ferndando Valenzuela (sung in Spanish, sort of, translated using babelfish), left handed closers, Big Ed Delehanty - (who fell or jumped off of the international bridge over Niagra Falls in 1903) and Ted Fucking Williams. (My name is Ted Fucking Williams and I'm the greatest hitter in baseball!)

If you watch these two videos at the same time you'll get an idea as to what was going on.

They were off to the studio to record this week so hopefully we'll see something in time for spring training.

Headliners were love birds Amy Rigby and Wreckless Eric playing sans rhythm section. They were just adorable.

Something Something of 2007

soda — Fri, 14 Dec 2007 17:06:11 GMT

So I started to compile a top 10 list and it turned out rather boring and full of things I'm sure you've all heard before. So here's a list of a random number of notable things from 2007.

Blitzen Trapper - Wild Mountain Nation
I dont care that they sound like the Grateful Dead, there's enough edge on many of the songs to increase the rock content. The Shakey Hands are getting all the 'best new front porch party band' press in Portland, but Blitzen Trapper are better.

Broken West - I Cant Go On, I'll Go On
3rd or 4th generation california style country rock. Cool California Bear on their T shirts too.

The Clutters - Dont Believe a Word
Not as strong as their first release, but still some outstanding garage rock. Whiny nasal lead singer, girl backing vocals, electric piano - what more do you want?

Nick Jaina - The 7 Stations
OK, it came out in 2006 but I first heard it in 2007. If you like Andrew Bird, you'll probably like this. Orch-y rock with fiddle and cello, cool songwriting. The fiddle player should get his own band, tho. He jumps around the stage like he's having a seizure.

Erik Freidlander - Block Ice and Propane
Mellow cello (ha!) instrumental CD. I think I stumbled upon it in Amiestreet or something.

The Portland Cello Project
Any band consisting of 8 cellos that plays Bach, Brittany, Metallica and Star Wars is OK with me. CD coming next year.

Goodbye Nashville, Hello Camden Town
Pub rock compilation that I didnt see anyplace other than online.

Garage Hangover
http://www.garagehangover.com/
Little known, seldom heard 45s from local 60s garage bands.

The Uruguay Beatles

soda — Thu, 30 Aug 2007 18:46:27 GMT

I rarely post and when I do I never embed video.

But.

This gem from Nuggets II was brought to my attention this weekend. Break It All by Los Shakers - the Uruguayan Beatles. The song is fantastic and the video is somewhere between Hard Days Night and The Ruttles.

I also have it on good authority that this song is now being covered by bands from Seattle to Columbus.

Enjoy.

Limerick Calling

soda — Wed, 01 Aug 2007 19:59:21 GMT

Since MOG -world ignored my previous post on rock limericks, ( http://mog.com/soda/blog_post/98092 ) I'm trying again. I'm stubborn that way.

Nate Patrin over at Rebel Machine took on the challenge from Carl Wilson and converted all of London Calling into limericks. It is brilliant.

Check it out:
http://natepatrin.blogspot.com/2007/07/there-once-was-man-from-garageland.html

In order to entice people to read this post, I'll include Train in Vain.

Rock Limericks

soda — Tue, 24 Jul 2007 15:18:30 GMT

So, with "Famous Poems rewritten as Limericks" making its way around the internet.
http://badgods.com/limerickpoems.html

A friend of mine kept things going with rock lyrics:
http://www.zoilus.com/documents/general/2007/001077.php
Stairway to Heaven
There's some lady who's going to the stars,
Via stairs, road, or wind, not by car.
I would say if I could
If she's evil or good,
But it's all drowned out in loud guitars.

The best I could do is:
There once was a girl from Ohio
Who returned and her city was gone
With all gone away
She has this to say
Oh oh oh oh oh Ohio

Which isnt so good.

So I thought I would keep the meme going here. Whaddaya got?

Swagtastic

soda — Thu, 19 Jul 2007 18:15:25 GMT

I was at an Album Leaf show recently and took note of the astounding amount of swag they were selling. Not just your standard CDs and Tshirts, but hoodies, sweat shirts, windbreakers, turn table covers and what appeared to be well made jewelry. Who buys band jewelry? This got me thinking about other swag heavy bands.

The Supersuckers - The kings of swag. They have been around for years and years and never retired a T shirt, resulting in an impressive wall of shirts behind the merch table. And the merch moves like crazy to their devoted fan base.

The Drive By Truckers (back in the day) - When they were a much smaller band, DBTs would have things like plastic combs, pot holders and army men for sale at the merch table. How does one get custom branded army men, and why?

Ralph Stanley - Dr Ralph himself will sit behind the merch table in an easy chair (I wonder if he has an easy chair tech) signing anything you put in front of him (it is the bluegrass way) and you can buy anything from a 50 cent 'Dr Ralph Stanley for President' bumper sticker to a limited edition Ralph Stanley banjo for, I think, well over a grand.

The Hold Steady - Honorable mention for having only 2 albums out but at least a dozen T shirts. Someone must know a bored graphic designer.

Mog slogan

soda — Tue, 17 Jul 2007 23:52:25 GMT

Ha! I just noticed the latest mog slogan was borrowed from here:
http://www.threadless.com/product/917/I_Listen_To_Bands

Tho I prefer:
http://www.dieselsweeties.com/shirts/elitism/

the strangest thing I've seen at a street fair

soda — Mon, 16 Jul 2007 18:42:10 GMT

I went to the Mississippi Ave Street
Fest on Saturday. The popular folk/acoustic venue Mississippi Studios
does the booking for 2 stages at the fest. (Mississippi Ave is home to
Mississippi Studios, Mississippi Pizza, Mississippi Records and
Mississippi Station - not an imaginative bunch).

Anyway - they book what you would expect for a street fair on both stages.
Singer songwriters, acoustic acts, mediocre blues, etc. Then Fleshtone
takes the stage (not The Fleshtones, Fleshtone.) The band consists of:
- one guy in a sparkly outfit playing guitar and laptop
- two girls dressed like aerobic instructors from the future
- two people dressed like upholstered gimps, meaning their heads are
completely covered with a material that looks like it came from
grandma's curtains

The proceed to play electronic dance music, suitable for a rave at 1am. Sparkly guy playing, the two aerobic instructors dancing and singing
and the two gimps kind of flailing around.

Now most acts would tone down their set a bit for a family crowd. As far
as I could tell their set contained songs about sex, huffing glue and
very explicit sex.

It was odd.

Steve Albini Thinks We Suck...

soda — Sat, 07 Jul 2007 18:13:10 GMT

...but he loves poker.

This doesn't appear to have been cross posted yet, but Steve Albini started a 20+ page thread on a poker forum.

Apparently he is an avid poker player - but we wound up with some honest back and forth between fans and a "music scene micro celebrity" as he put it.

Worth the read.

http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/showflat.php?Cat=0&Number=11034555&page=0&fpart=1&vc=1

PS I stole the title of the post from one of my favorite chicago zine's of the 90's. SATWS for short.

Columbus is the new Detroit

soda — Thu, 28 Jun 2007 22:02:36 GMT

As I've been saying for years - Columbus is the new Detroit. They just need to fly over some weasels from the British music press and the place would blow up.

The latest excellent offering from cow-town is "Both Sides Never" by The Patsys. Old school Little Steven 60s style garage rock. You've got your fuzzy bass, your dueling male and female vocals, and your 3 minute gems of songs, your former members of The New Bomb Turks guitarist, linking back to Detroit, Jim Diamond producing.

Since I unfortunately don't have an MP3 from the most recent, here's something from On the 13th Kick.

If you want to hear the latest and greatest, check out myspace.
http://www.myspace.com/thepatsys

Pandora Town Hall

soda — Thu, 21 Jun 2007 04:36:05 GMT

Pandora (www.pandora.com) has been traveling around the country holding 'town halls' to discuss their company, the music genome project, etc.

If you arent familiar with it Pandora is, more or less, a customizable internet radio station that is expanding to cell phones and sonos. You pick a song or artist, they build a radio station around it.

The pres. of the company gave a 1.5 hour speech / conversation with a crowd of about 100 people in Portland tonight. He covered both how the company started and is organized (50 musicians rating songs on 400 'genes' to categorize it - they get thru about 12000 songs a month, if I recall correctly) As well as potential new features and functions of the product.

There was also a brief side note on the internet broadcast bill and how Pandora users flooded their representatives in order to put a stop to it. If it were to pass, the top internet broadcasters would owe One Billion dollars (that's with a B).

In any case, check out the service if you havent already and if the town hall comes by I recommend it.

So when is the MOG town hall?

Twangfest Day Four

soda — Mon, 18 Jun 2007 22:32:52 GMT

Twangfest day 4 opened with The High Strung, the only real 'buzz band' on the bill all week. They were outstanding - I think they were happy to be playing a bar in the midst of their library tour. (seriously, they play libraries)

I wasn't too amped up to see Slaid Cleaves (hooray, a singer songwriter) but I had forgotten that he is one of the more engaging singer songwriters out there. An excellent set that veered from folk to bluegrass to Don Walser style yodeling that kept even the rockers attention.

My hatred of The Ass Ponys is so great it has expanded into hatred of Wussy. I hated them. That is all.

I have a friend who has been insisting for, oh, 20 years or so, "The Figgs are the best live band in America." A week ago Saturday was the first time I had seen them live.

The Figgs are the best live band in America.

Twangfest Day Three

soda — Sun, 17 Jun 2007 23:59:11 GMT

The third day of Twangfest was the twangiest of the four - which still wasnt that twangy (hey, it seemed like a good name ten years ago).

The Linemen opened with a set of country ballads along the lines of Thad Cockrell. They would benefit from a shuffle or two mixed into their set, but the lead's high clear voice is well suited to the material.

Elizabeth Cook is as cute as a bug's ear. There. It has been said. And she has the Opry style stage presence down cold. Great hard country songs interspersed with amusing intros and even some clogging during an instrumental. She also worked in a cover of Sunday Morning by the Velvet Underground which took folks by surprise. Why she isn't on country radio is beyond me. OK, her single is called "Sometimes it takes balls to be a woman" but other than that...

Chicago's Dolly Varden had a little trouble with pacing during their set, but managed to put on a fine performance in any case. They did a great job translating the multi-layered songs from the most recent CD into the live setting. If you like vocal-heavy pop/rock you should give this band a listen. They've been around forever, circling through the mid-west, but have never quite taken off.

Graham Parker began his set solo acoustic, mixing songs from his latest Bloodshot release, 'Dont Tell Columbus' with songs from his first two albums - including a brilliant Discovering Japan. He then brought out The Figgs (Saturday's headliner) to rock the rest of the set out, again focused on the oldest (Local Girls, Soul Shoes) and the newest (I Discovered America). They played until the lights went on (St. Louis 1am license - feh) leaving me anxiously awaiting The Figgs headlining slot the following night.

Twangfest Day Two

soda — Sun, 17 Jun 2007 18:09:33 GMT

On day two Twangfest moved to The Duck Room at Blueberry Hill (the venue formerly known at Cicero's and launching pad for Uncle Tupelo).

The night opened with Two Cow Garage bringing the rock. They've just released their third album (III) and their endless touring has honed their performance as well as their songwriting. Moving from 'almost but not quite as good as Slobberbone' to 'sounds kinda like a twangy Soul Asylum.'

I'm not sure what I expected with Carrie Rodriguez, but it wasnt what I expected. The instrumentation led me to believe country / bluegrass (fiddle, mandolin, no drums) but it seemed to veer towards jazz and folk to me. In any case, a solid set but not quite my thing.

Tim Easton played a few songs solo acoustic and then brought back 2CG to back him. Those guys should always play together. 2CG keeps Tim from getting too folky and Tim keeps 2CG from getting too bombastic. As the drummer mentioned, playing with 3 people you're just trying to fill up space - playing with four people allows you to focus on things like tempo. I'm not sure if he was joking or not.

Blue Mountain headlined like they had never broken up. If you are only familiar with their 3 CDs (and you should be) you might expect some mellow alt.country. Live, they rock like crazy. Leaning heavily on their 1st 2 CDs they brought everyone back to the great alt.country scare of 1998. Awesome. I mentioned to the organizers they should book late 90s alt.country reunions each year. What are The Backsliders doing these days?

Twangfest Day One

soda — Fri, 15 Jun 2007 19:46:07 GMT

Those of you who have been reading my intermittent posts since day one, about a year ago, know that Twangfest 10 was the subject of my first post.

Twangfest 11 was just last week. For the initiated, Twangfest is a music festival that takes place in St Louis each June. A reasonable sized rock, pop, roots and country 4 day fest that takes place in a bar, where such things belong.

And as is says on the website (www.twangfest.com)

"We welcome you to Twangfest, which is still the best music festival you’ll ever attend, if you’ll allow us a moment of immodesty. It’s a place where incredible musical performers from all over the country play before the most fervent bunch of music lovers that they or you will ever meet. We often say that Twangfest is a big tent; the big top of a musical three-ring circus, filled with the sights and sounds that make roots music so vibrant and inspirational."

In short, it rules.

Anyway, night one featured William Elliot Whitmore, Backyard Tire Fire and Centro-matic.

Erm, for the first two bands I was outside drinking Schlafly beer and catching up with people I hadnt seen in a year. So not much to say there.

Having never seen Centro-matic live, and having been warned that they were at best mellow and at worst boring, as such I was expecting to be listening to blocks of wood. Happily, I found them to be energetic and engaging and enjoyed their set very much. They pulled mostly from their most recent CD along with a couple of 'hits' and packed their loyal fans in to the front of the stage.

Portland Pub Rock

soda — Fri, 01 Jun 2007 19:39:32 GMT

Are you thinking, "Gee, I miss Slade." Are you also thinking, "and The Status Quo too. Wait, they might still be touring state fairs this summer, do English bands tour state fairs? If they do, screw the Quo and bring Slade over."

Then forget about the state fair confusion for a moment and check out The Nice Boys. Yer basic rock band from Portland with one eponymous CD out - good CD, great live.

It took me a while to put my finger on it - am I listening to garage rock? no. metal? no. punk? no. And it hit me last night - this is pre-punk, pre-metal, simple guitar rock reminiscent of ... Pub Rock. Yay.

Here's a myspace link, rather than an upload. Check out Teenage Nights.

http://www.myspace.com/niceboys

PS I know Slade got all glittery, but you get my point.

Blitzen Trapper

soda — Wed, 30 May 2007 03:50:18 GMT

You could do worse than picking up the new one from Blitzen Trapper, "Wild Mountain Nation."

Kinda like The Band, but more kinda not - and currently opening for The Hold Steady.

Portland Question Mark Benefit

soda — Sun, 13 May 2007 19:46:09 GMT

There was a benefit for Question Mark (we all know his house burned down, right?) last night at Slabtown. A bunch of local punk-ish bands playing Nuggets covers.

I was expecting the usual 'punk cover' of old rock played louder and faster. Not so. These we all more or less true to the original songs - each band would set up, blast through 3 Nuggets covers and race off the stage (10 minute change overs - amazing). I think I was grinning the whole time.

A highlight was when The Fox Gloves played "I Want Candy" (which isnt on the Nuggets compilations, but whatever) and were joined by a high school style drumline taking care of the Bo Diddly beat. The drums drowned out the sound system. Then my head exploded.

If it matters, the bands were:
Crack City Rockers
The New Ball Loons
The Quags
Paper Cameras
The Fox Gloves
The Sugarlumps
Giant Bug Village
Michael Maker
Honus Huffhines
Sean Crogan
The Oblivion Seekers

This also doubles as an excellent way to see a pile of local bands in a matter of hours - all of which are worth hunting down again.

Portland Question Mark Benefit

soda — Sun, 13 May 2007 19:46:08 GMT

There was a benefit for Question Mark (we all know his house burned down, right?) last night at Slabtown. A bunch of local punk-ish bands playing Nuggets covers.

This also doubles as an excellent way to see a pile of local bands in a matter of hours - all of which are worth hunting down again.

Almost Free Music

soda — Fri, 27 Apr 2007 16:20:09 GMT

As I mentioned yesterday, I've gotten some MP3s recently from Amie Street (www.amiestreet.com).

This site is about 'discovery' and has a pretty cool business model to back it up - all songs start out free, and then as they are purchased the more popular they get, the more they cost - topping out at 98 cents. (or iTunes - 1)

When they started it was, as you would guess, small independent artists who you might not hear or take a chance on otherwise.

Recently, I've seen acts I am at least already familiar with - Venus Hum, Hem, Josh Rouse, etc. and The Barenaked Ladies are placing most of their catalog on the site, which is pretty cool for a big name band.

The only small drawback is that you need to purchase store credit in order to purchase MP3 's - but the lowest amount you can buy is $3.00 so it isnt that big a deal.

Check 'em out.

Venus Hum Get Local

soda — Thu, 26 Apr 2007 20:02:49 GMT

Back in Nashville, Venus Hum was one of my favorite acts to see live. Two guys on synths behind an almost operatic voiced lead singer creating some sweeping electronic music. Not of the bass thumping butt shaking variety - more of an orchestral sway.

I grabbed their new CD on aime street for next to nothing (do we know about amie street? I'll post about that later) and discovered in addition to what I was used to, a good 1/2 of the tracks incorporate acoustic guitar and lap steel. Some further digging and closer listening revealed this, from their website...

“Tony had the idea that we weren’t going to use synthesizers,” says Kubin, “but it was also going to be one of the most terribly electronic records we could possibly make. For me, that meant putting aside years of oscillator twiddling and patch cords, then pulling out Wurlitzers and vibraphones - things that scare me. I’m a bad player with a computer, so taking that away is even worse. Having to come up with ideas and manipulate those ideas based on things that I’m totally uncomfortable with was exciting for me.”

“We had the idea of doing a complete song with only one instrument,” Miracle continues. “On the song ‘Turn Me Around,’ the entire track is acoustic guitar. You wouldn’t necessarily know it if you heard it, but it’s basically computer manipulated guitar. The drum sounds and the sweeps of the strings are guitar. It’s almost like you take an acoustic guitar and you dissect it and look at it through a microscope. We built the track out of that.”

You can hear a bunch of the more electronicy bits here: http://www.nettwerk.com/player/VenusHum/

But I'll upload something acoustic:

Finally, a Mojo CD that isnt lame

soda — Fri, 20 Apr 2007 21:53:59 GMT

Is this a review? Not really.

Mojo, the world's greatest music magazine, usually includes CDs with their mags. Unfortunately, the CDs are either:

1. Artist X's Playlist - random songs chosen by the cover artist
2. The Roots of Musical Style Y - random songs chosen by the editorial staff tangentially related to Musical Style Y

This month we get "Made in Britain 2007" the best new music from Britain. Excellent. Check out the track list:

The Noisettes - Don't Give Up
The 1990's - Arcade Precinct
Vincent Vincent and the Villans - I'm Alive
The View - Same Jeans
Malcolm Middleton - A Brighter Beat
Bat for Lashes - Horse and I
The Maps - Elouise
Field Music - Working to Work
Rumble Strips - Sad City
Cherry Ghost - Dead Man's Suit
The Aliens - Honest Again
The Young Knives - Another Hollow Line
De Rosa - Steam Comes Off Our House
On/Off - Your Loss
The Draytones - Keep Loving Me

Twangfest 11 Lineup Announced

soda — Tue, 17 Apr 2007 20:54:41 GMT

The Twangfest 11 line up has been announced.

Twangfest takes place in St. Louis on June 7 - 9. For more info check out http://www.twangfest.com.

KDHX 88 .1 FM Presents Twangfest 11

Wed, June 6, 2007
The Schlafly Tap Room
2100 Locust Street at 21st
St. Louis, MO 63103

Centro-matic
Backyard Tire Fire
William Elliot Whitmore

June 7 – 9, 2007
The Duck Room at Blueberry Hill
6504 Delmar
St. Louis, MO 63103

Thurs, June 7th
Blue Mountain (special reunion show)
Tim Easton (backed by Two Cow Garage)
Carrie Rodriguez
Two Cow Garage

Fri, June 8th
Graham Parker (with special guests the Figgs)
Dolly Varden
Elizabeth Cook
The Linemen

Sat, June 9th
The Figgs
Wussy (featuring Chuck Cleaver of the Ass Ponys)
Slaid Cleaves
High Strung

For the uninitiated, Twangfest is the greatest independent non profit Americana music festival there is. And I'm not just saying that because I used to work for 'em.

A little song, a little dance ...

soda — Mon, 09 Apr 2007 19:49:09 GMT

... a little seltzer down your pants.

Is both the clown motto as reported on The Mary Tyler Moore show and the first line of Caldonia by The Gourds.

Ive been seeing various line ups of The Gourds over the past few years and I've never seen a show as tight as last night's. The acoustic songs were driven by a clean mandolin and the electric songs rocked as rocking should. You could bounce a quarter off of both.

Kevin Russell and Jimmy Smith have really come into their own as co-leaders of the band sharing songwriting and vocal duties. Jimmy the more relaxed of the two and Kevin more of the showman - bringing the crowd into it and doing a bit of chicken-style dancing.

Just about the entirety of the set was plucked from the last 3 or 4 albums - but still jumped from acoustic to electric and back. Starting an opening blast of Hooky Junk as well as Shake the Chandelier and Burn the Honeysuckle.

A fine way to spend the last 2 hours of Easter Sunday.

Here's Caldonia

Novelty Spanking

soda — Sat, 07 Apr 2007 00:21:12 GMT

A quick Mog search reveals that not only has no one posted about The Asylum Street Spankers, no one is listening to them either. So here we go...

For the uninitiated, The Spankers are a string / bluegrass / blues / country band that, back in the day, shunned 'demon electricity' in its entirety. Tho nowadays the size of the clubs they play requires a mic or three.

They played two excellent sets to a mobbed Doug Fir Lounge last night. I enjoyed the show but sure do miss Guy Forsyth. Years ago, when he was with the band (they do revolve members every album or tour or so) shows were a mix of old time string tunes and novelty numbers (and old time string novelty numbers for that matter).

Last night across both sets I think there were four 'serious' songs, tops. And the most serious song was off of their new children's album.

It _was_ an excellent show, and the funny songs _were_ hilarious - but I could've used a bit more gravity sprinkled through the set. (But go see 'em in any case.)

Man Man. Fun Fun.

soda — Mon, 02 Apr 2007 20:07:54 GMT

I was hedging on seeing Man Man last Friday until I cruised the mog-o-sphere to read some reviews. The excellent live reviews encouraged me to go, and I'm glad I did.

Much of what I've read (in Mog and elsewhere) compared them to Tom Waits - primarily due to the gravelly voiced singer and Bone Machine style cacophony. In addition to Tom Waits I'd add to the mix a recording of a 2nd grade music class played at the wrong speed. (and that's meant to be a compliment). Each band member played at various times (and sometimes at the same time) their 'real' instrument plus horns, shakers and other auxiliary percussion. I'm guessing their stage plot was "pile everything in the center of the stage and we'll figure it out."

So it was a blast. A good hour of mayhem.

Hey art rock band!

soda — Tue, 27 Mar 2007 17:53:01 GMT

Yeah, you - indie rock math rock art rock band.

You know that song you play? The one that starts out with the keyboards playing a soft repetitive tune. Then the bass comes in. Then the drums come in. Then everything gets a little louder. Then the guitar comes in. Then the keyboards and drums get a little more complicated. Then there's that kind of yelling vocal. Then everything gets really loud. Then everyone drops out except the drums and keyboards. Then there's a bunch of really really loud feedback and then it ends. Know that one?

Stop playing it. It is bad.

Play the one that goes "verse, chorus, verse, chorus, bridge, chorus" That one is better.

Great Bands of the 2000's

soda — Mon, 26 Mar 2007 12:52:03 GMT

I'm on a listserv (ah, the pre-blog days of the internet) filled with aging hipsters such as myself. There is a discussion going on regarding great bands that formed after 2000. It is currently a woefully short list. I'm thinking this is due to the demographics of the listserv, not the quality of 21st century music.

Therefore, knowing MOG is a jillion times larger than the listserv and skews a bit younger, I want to open up the question here.

What are the great bands who released their debut album in 2000 or later? Any genre, any style, any thing. I'm not necessarily looking for Beatles level of greatness but say in the neighborhood of The Decemberists or Arcade Fire.

Speaking of iTunes killers

soda — Thu, 22 Mar 2007 19:11:17 GMT

I've been checking out Slacker recently and am digging it more than similar sites (Pandora and last.fm leap to mind)

It is your basic 'pick an artist and we'll create a station around it' along with preset stations based on genre. The nifty part is the genre stations are programmed by humans, not an algorithm.

The even more nifty part is they are coming out with
- a desktop player
- a portable device (like and iPod)
- a satellite device (like XM)

Meaning: program stations you like, then take them with you everywhere. Goodbye commercial radio. (unless they get hosed by new copyright legislation like every other internet radio station)

I'd like a chocolate ice cream sundae without the chocolate ice cream

soda — Sat, 17 Mar 2007 21:59:51 GMT

A guy walks into a soda shop and says, "I'd like a chocolate ice cream sundae without the chocolate ice cream."
The soda jerks says, "We don't have any chocolate ice cream."
"Give it me me without vanilla, then."

If you asked for a jam band without the jam, you might get Dr. Dog. They took the stage last night looking suspiciously jammy. Scraggly beards - check. Ironic sunglasses - check. Goofy hat - check. 6 string bass - oooh, only 4 strings, a good sign.

Most of the songs have a mid tempo guitar rock vibe, typically with shared vocals that wavered between singing and yelping. After a few pleasant songs I was waiting for something to go off the rails. However, thankfully, no extended solos, no instrumentals and no 20 minute 'blooz' breakdowns.

Have a listen:

I've got an adjective noun

soda — Tue, 06 Mar 2007 19:31:18 GMT

So, The Alcohol Stunt Band (_not_ The Alcoholic Stunt Band)

- may or may not exist anymore
- is lead by Chris Crofton and whoever he can find to play behind him, which is sometimes no one
- writes punk rock ditties about huffing paint, professional wrestling, drugs and booze

They (he) peak with Snakeskin Snake - a song that mixes cliche rock and roll nouns (tattoo, Cadillac, girlfriend, guitar, etc.) with cliche rock and roll adjectives (leather, chrome, barbed wire, etc.)

It is poetry. It is right here.

Moving the Furniture Around

soda — Thu, 22 Feb 2007 20:48:52 GMT

With the new editing features my 'trusted mogs' and 'mogs that trust me' are now arranged by the aesthetic pleasantry of their avatars.

I'm going to go alphabetize my medicine cabinet now.

Twangfest SXSW Day Parties

soda — Tue, 20 Feb 2007 10:45:54 GMT

Twangfest & KDHX -FM St. Louis are once again hosting TWO day parties this year at Jovita's in Austin on March 15th & 17th. This is an invitation only event. You can download an invitation will be available here http://www.twangfest.com/sxsw.html beginning on March 1st for a limited time.

Thur, March 15th
Twangfest & KDHX -FM PARTY
Jovita's
1619 south First
Austin, TX
http://www.jovitas.com

Inside:
   5pm – Los Straitjackets with Big Sandy
   4pm – Emma Pollock (ex-Delgados)
   3pm – Glossary 
   2pm – Jim Lauderdale
   1pm – Elizabeth Cook 
   12pm – Tripwires (members of Minus 5, Screaming Trees,
   and Young Fresh Fellows)

outside:
   12:30pm: Tommy Womack 
   1:30pm: Dolly Varden 
   2:30pm: Mic Harrison and the High Score
   3:30pm: Otis Gibbs

Sat, March 17th

Inside:
   5pm – Village Green
   4pm – The Figgs (with special guest appearance by Graham Parker)
   3pm – Danbert Nobacon/Jon Langford
   2pm – Deadstring Brothers
   1pm – Gentleman Auction House
   12pm – Langhorne Slim

Outside:
   12:30pm: Cary Hudson
   1:30pm: Finn's Motel
   2:30pm: Waterloo 
   3:30pm: Alela Diane
   4:30pm: Monahans (members of Milton Mapes)

Jet Lag - the days before the internets

soda — Fri, 16 Feb 2007 16:11:17 GMT

Look what has wound up online - Jet Lag magazine:
http://www.jetlagmag.net/home.html

from one of the publishers, Steve Pick:
It’s hard to believe we did this back in the days before an internet. But the evidence is clear – some 93 issues of Jet Lag were published between 1980 and 1991. In the beginning, it was the definition of amateur, a labor of love and errors which was as impressed by the very fact of its existence as by the quality of its viewpoints. By the end, it was a slickly-done, albeit still without turning pro, full-size self-published magazine. This web site will chronicle Jet Lag from start to finish; we'll be adding issues every week, so check back often.

The interview from issue one with some mildly responsive Ramones is well worth reading.
http://www.jetlagmag.net/march80-8-9.html

The (appropriately named) Obscure

soda — Thu, 15 Feb 2007 17:52:49 GMT

So howz this for a punk career arc:

Form a punk - pop band in Nashville.

Play monthly gigs in dive bars around town gaining a reputation for passionate spastic shows and melodic pure pop punk songs.

Put out an EP yourself "Politics of Person"

Keep playing monthly gigs.

Put out an LP yourself "Laugh like a Whip, Look Like a Dagger"

Have the LP picked up by a small local label, Spat Records, and promise people who bought the CD-R they can trade it in for the label's version.

Tour a little bit.

Break up and move on, not due to artistic differences or other craziness, but due to having done what you have set out to do.

Since their disc is impossible to find, here is the greatest song about Dearborn, MI ever written. Not to mention a very un-punk opinion of suburbia.

If you are a fan of The Exploding Hearts or FM Knives or other punk music w/ some poppiness - it would serve you well to try to track this down.

The Rolling Stones sell out...

soda — Wed, 14 Feb 2007 14:45:44 GMT

...in 1964, that is:

The application I've been waiting for

soda — Wed, 07 Feb 2007 12:01:15 GMT

http://www.iconcertcal.com/

iConcertCal is a free iTunes plug-in that monitors your music library and generates a personalized calendar of upcoming concerts in your city. It is available for both Windows and Mac OS X .

Vince Lombardi High School

soda — Tue, 06 Feb 2007 15:58:38 GMT

Rock and Roll High School was on Turner Classic Movies (of all places) a few days ago. So we got to see Robert Osbourne introduce the movie in a style typically reserved for Bogart / Bacall vehicles. "That's Joey Ramone playing himself."

We also got the trivia that Cheap Trick was originally supposed to be in the movie, but withdrew at the last minute to be replaced by The Ramones. I'm assuming they read the script while The Ramones did not. Also note that many of the actors are related to people who can actually act (Dick Van Patten's son, Ron Howard's brother, etc.)

The flick was as cheese-ball as I remember it, saved by the concert footage at the end. How Riff Randall, played by PJ Soles, keeps a straight face while proclaiming how 'dreamy' Joey Ramone is continues to amaze me.

"Some people say your music is horrible and causes mice to explode, but I think you are modern day Beethovens."

Thee Emergency

soda — Sun, 28 Jan 2007 23:06:58 GMT

If you haven't seen Thee Emergency, you really need to see Thee Emergency.

Country meets Alt

soda — Thu, 25 Jan 2007 18:18:05 GMT

I'm not much for a 'cut and paste' post, and I'm guessing you all read Pitchfork anyway - but this is just cool.

http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/page/forkcast/40702#Charlie_Louvin_ft_Jeff_Tweedy_New_Music_Charlie_Louvin

I've seen Charlie Louvin sing backed by The Starlings, TN - an alt.country band from Hattisburg, TN. It is nice to see that rather than sitting back and running a tourist store in Bell Buckle, he's not afraid to get out there and continue to record new music as well as perform w/ 'the young folk.'

I'm assuming if Pitchfork can host the MP3 , so can Mog.

Amen Omen a.k.a. Meen Moan

soda — Wed, 24 Jan 2007 01:44:25 GMT

Menomena put on a sort of secret show at The Doug Fir last night (not so secret if you subscribed to the email that said "the show billed as Amen Omen or Meen Moan is actually Menomena".) And from the looks of the crowd, a few hundred people got that email.

I, unfortunately, have yet to hear the new album so I cant name specific songs - (tho they did sneak Cough Coughing in there) - but it was quite the show. Brilliant and complex songs with the chorus sometimes echoing guitar lines, lead vocals or backing vocals - melodies stopping and starting - and odd song structures held together with tight drumming. The dynamic and tempo shifts keeps you involved, attentive and rewarded.

Plus the added bonus of a triptych of sheet cakes (friend, or, foe) and ice cream to celebrate the record release.

Now I just need to get my hands on the CD.

My music is sepia toned.

soda — Wed, 10 Jan 2007 19:54:25 GMT

As I organize my CD's I notice that 90% of my alt.country / country / roots rock CDs are some shade of brown and 90% of my brown CDs are alt.country / country / roots.

I see no other genre - color correlation.

Discuss.

(yes, my CDs are arranged by color)

Going back to '96

soda — Fri, 22 Dec 2006 21:42:28 GMT

Since I've got nothing better to do I head out last night to see a show that is actually billed as 'alt.country' The opener was a band from San Fran called [name withheld because I'm a nice guy].

Remember in the late 90's when every town in the Midwest had a dozen mediocre bar bands that wore button snap western shirts and played loud fast shuffles, covered Johnny Cash and The Clash and sang about whiskey, 'rollin down the road', trains and wimmin? This was that. Except 10 years later. And worse than it was then.

Bonus points - the mosh pit that broke out during their last song. Nothing is sadder than moshing to mediocre alt.country.

Going back to '96

soda — Fri, 22 Dec 2006 21:27:10 GMT

Since I've got nothing better to do I head out last night to see a show that is actually billed as 'alt.country' The opener was a band from San Fran called [name withheld because I'm a nice guy].

Bonus points - the mosh pit that broke out during their last song. Nothing is sadder than moshing to mediocre alt.country.

Merry Mex Mas

soda — Mon, 18 Dec 2006 23:04:57 GMT

I assume we've all heard of El Vez by now - the Mexican Elvis 'impersonator' whose hits include En El Barrio and Esta Bien Mamacita. His Christmas show came through town on Saturday and it was pretty much live every other Christmas show of his I've seen - which is to say it was brilliant.

In addition to the Elvis songs in spanglish, Brown Christmas, ¿Mamacita donde esta Santa Claus?, Poncho Claus and, of course, Feliz Navidad made the set list.

Regardless of your tolerance for shtick, this was simply a really entertaining show. The band is top notch and El Vez, going through at least 6 costume changes, is surprisingly funny and just plain personable on stage - chatting with the crowd while staying in character, putting up with drunken requests, etc. I was hard not to leave smiling.

I think I'll go drive around and look at Christmas lights.

Feliz Navidad.

KMRIA

soda — Mon, 18 Dec 2006 01:29:31 GMT

KMRIA play for two holidays - St. Patrick's Day and Christmas. The Christmas show was last Friday and it was _brilliant_.

The band is a Pogues cover band made up of some Portland all stars - specifically:
Chris Funk and Jenny Conlee of the Decemberists
Ezra Holbrook of Dr. Theopolis
Scott McCaughey of The Minus 5 and The Young Fresh Fellows
Hanz Araki of The Whyos and Paperboys
Jesse Emerson of Amelia
Derek Brown of The Eels
and Casey Neill of, erm, Casey Neill

I never got the chance to see The Pogues in their heyday, but this at least starts to make up for it. The band, as you would expect, plowed through their greatest hits - focusing on the early albums especially If I Should Fall from the Grace of God. (I think over half of that album made the set list.) A vibrant, drunken, joyful show with vocals being passed from member to member (Scott being the only one who didn't instinctively slip into an Irish accent.) Some fake snow bubble snow, which didn't quite work, for Fairytale of New York topped off the evening.

Oh, and the acronym stands for Kiss My Royal Irish Ass. I know where I'll be on St. Patrick's Day.

The Squares Call it Quits

soda — Thu, 07 Dec 2006 03:01:51 GMT

As some of you know, Columbus is the next Detroit. Local pop punk band The Squares as no more - from their site...

"no more squares. we did manage to dump a healthy chunk of money and time into a record before we split and since we have no interest in putting any more money into it, but we still like it, we've put it up on our website for you to have. it's free. it's at www.wearethesquares.com or so i'm told, i havent checked yet. but feel free to listen to it and save it or spit on your computer if you hate it. thanks 'n shit."

Good free music - check it out.

The most wonderful time of the year

soda — Fri, 24 Nov 2006 21:07:15 GMT

So now that it is the day after Thanksgiving, my playlist will show almost nothing other than Christmas music.

Some favorites include:

Low - Christmas = one of the best recent straightforward un-ironic Christmas albums, even if its only an EP.

Christmas Remixed = A collection of traditional Christmas songs (traditional meaning Andy Williams, Bing Crosby, etc.) cut up by various DJs. It works surprisingly well for something that could've turned into a novelty.

Working Stiffs’ Jamboree Christmas - The Springwater Supper Club and Lounge (don't let the name fool you - it is a dive) has an open mike titled "Working Stiffs' Jamboree" This is their Christmas Album including such hits as "I want a Pony" and "Let the kids stay with their Mom"

Ray Conniff Singers - We Wish You a Merry Christmas = Only listed because I grew up on it. The high point being the medley interrupted by some obnoxious guy yelling "LETS LIGHT UP THE CHRISTMAS TREE " in between songs.

Elvis Presley - If Every Day was like Christmas = Blue Christmas is possibly the best Christmas song, ever.

Any other suggestions?

They rock, but he doesn't

soda — Sat, 18 Nov 2006 20:59:34 GMT

So there was this punk band called The Scuds. (Geddit?) They then got wrapped up in the alt.country thing in the early 90s and became The Scud Mountain Boys. (Geddit?) The Scud Mountain Boys release one verrrry mellow acoustic album way back in 1995 highlighted by Joe Pernice's smooth voice.

After a couple on one off name changes to Chappaquiddick Skyline and Big Tobacco the newly named Pernice Brothers (took a while to come up with a decent name, eh?) released Overcome by Happiness in 2000. The band had discovered pop music. The smooth voice and mellow pace were the same, but now backed by electric guitars, keyboards, and more vocals layered on and layered on.

The post title comes from a friend's quote at the show last night after a particularly blistering guitar break. Joe Pernice is still the smooth mellow front man - but the band cranks out the songs behind him. Anyone who like some lush power pop should check this out.

Video On Stage

soda — Fri, 17 Nov 2006 00:37:32 GMT

The Starlight Mints have the coolest 'video projected on the band on stage' setup around.

You've seen bands show movies or video clips a zillion times and they usually are:
- frenetic colored oil or some simulation thereof
- sepia toned landscapes
- old public service announcements, medical films, and cartoons

The Starlight Mints project simple bold 2-D graphics that may or may not move around. (lines, concentric circles, boxes, etc.) So rather than overwhelming the band (as above items do) it is a simple counterpoint that still allows one to concentrate on the band. Kewl.

Oh, and the music is really good too.

Bloodied but Unbowed

soda — Wed, 15 Nov 2006 22:46:14 GMT

I picked up the new Bloodshot Records DVD "Bloodied but Unbowed" since I am still a fan of all things Bloodshot. It is a nice little compilation of music videos (artists like Bobby Bare Jr and Paul Burch made music videos - who knew?) and live sets as well as 'Stories.'
The stories being short films on Bloodshot, SXSW , and some specific artists (Ryan Adams, Split Lip Rayfield, etc.) Highlights being the documentary on The Sundowners (depressing me that I moved to Chicago after the RR Ranch closed) and snippets from the kids show Chic-a-go-go.

Chic-a-go-go booked independent acts to lip sync for a roomful of dancing kiddies of all ages - so if you want to see Alejandro Escovedo lip syncing to a Jon Langford track - here you go. Surreal.

And dont miss the bonus track of Tim from the Hideout free associating on the history of country music in Chicago.

All in all, well worth $20.

Two York Dolls

soda — Wed, 15 Nov 2006 00:58:17 GMT

The New York Dolls (what's left of them - David Johansen and Sylvain Sylvain and four new guys) churned out a surprisingly good show this past weekend in Portland. Johansen, who bears a strong resemblance to your eccentric great aunt, is still a powerful and engaging front man whether he's encouraging a sing along, doing the rock star cliche thing (We Love Portland!) or tearing through songs like Trash, Jet Boy and Personality Crisis. It was wise to save the old hits for the end of the set - as the new songs - eh, not so much.

Also keep your eyes peeled for openers The Charms - organ driven, female led garage rock from Boston.

Audio Faucet

soda — Wed, 18 Oct 2006 00:03:02 GMT

Those of you with

A. a Tivo
B. a digital music collection
C. those two things networked together

might want to check out Audio Faucet. It is an application you install on your computer allowing you to stream MP3s to your Tivo (and therefore television and stereo). I've used the default Tivo application for this as well as some other products like Galleon. The default app is lame since it just shows your directory structure and Galleon keeps falling over on me and/or sucking up all of my processing power.

Audio Faucet has a small footprint, is a breeze to install and configure, and recognizes iTunes playlists. Neato.

Oh, you'll want a link
http://digitaldroplet.net/

Lambchop and Tosca

soda — Tue, 03 Oct 2006 20:16:50 GMT

Prior to the MC Chris show (see below) I was at the Lambchop show down the road. (I do have some taste).

The Lambchop contingent was somewhat reduced from the 15 or so member line up - just Kurt, drums, keys and a few guitars. There were, however, augmented by the Tosca string quartet. Tosca, if you are not familiar, is a hip classical act from Austin - most noted for doing the soundtrack to Waking Life.

Kurt was as animated as I've seen him live - the mostly mellow tunes were a bit amped up as well. It was very cool to hear the addition of strings to the old and new songs - a layer of acoustic texture was a welcome addition.

Rap Song Topics

soda — Tue, 03 Oct 2006 19:43:34 GMT

What are the best topics for rap songs? Boasts? Girls? Love? Sex? Bling?

Wrong.

The best topics are candy, Robatussin, robot dogs and Boba Fette. MC Chris provides the voice for a handful of cartoons, raps like a cartoon, sounds like a cartoon and looks like a cartoon.

And he puts on a pretty cool live show - tho it is just him and a laptop providing the beats. You need to see a sold out show full of pasty white geeks flashing their Nintendo DS's and doing rap hands before you die.

I'm such a dork.

Left, A Nervous Tick Motion of the Head to the...

soda — Thu, 28 Sep 2006 17:29:57 GMT

I caught Andrew Bird last night and he, once again, put on an excellent show. It was just him and his drummer Doss (?). Andrew handled violin, guitar and they split audio loops between them. They did a combination or prerecorded loops as well as creating them live (which I hear is all the rage these days.)

Many new songs were played, all of which leaned heavily on the sonic looping - tho I dont know if that was just for the live show or if the new album will have that sound as well. Interestingly, they deconstructed the old favorites as well - Capital I was almost unrecognizable if it werent for the guitar riff. Looking back to his first Bowl of Fire shows which were almost European Folk affairs - he's made quite the transformation (both musically and stage presence-wise).

There are a handful of acts that I've had the pleasure of seeing over and over for the past 10 or 12 years (Andrew Bird, Jon Langford, Alejandro Escovedo, Robbie Fulks, Neko Case, Jeff Tweedy, etc.) It has been interesting to see how each act has grown and changed over the years, the different things they try and the new spins they put on old songs.

I'm not much of a lyrics quoter - but if there is anyone who does internal rhymes and the A A A A rhyme scheme better - I dont know who it is.

Unfortunately, he did not play "Two Way Action" which is possibly the 3rd best song ever written. You can look it up.

Have I mentioned?

soda — Fri, 15 Sep 2006 18:28:28 GMT

Have I mentioned that The Features have a new EP out?
Have I mentioned that it is outstanding?

They do and it is.

I will now cop out by linking to a Nashville Scene article by Tracy Moore. Here ya go.

The Meat Purveyors make me happy

soda — Thu, 14 Sep 2006 21:02:01 GMT

I saw the 4th or 5th to last Meat Purveyors show last night - the soberest I've been at a Meat Purveyors show FWIW . It wasnt 2 in the afternoon at SXSW in the late 90s at Yard Dog having already had 3 beers - but it was still excellent.

10 years ago when The Meat Purveyors were The Texas Meat Purveyors they got in on the ground floor of the whole Punk Bluegrass thing (see Split Lip Rayfield, etc.) and in the passing years have wound things up tight. We got the whole shebang last night - the drinking songs, the loving songs, the hating songs and the two steps towards wrong stage banter. The brilliant encore was their Madonna trilogy complete with spinning disco ball.

Some politics sneak into their most recent songs (Keep Those Plates Spinning, The Look on Your Face, Hard Rain). A casual listen leaves the impression that those are break up songs - but it dawns on you in the 2nd verse what Jo is really singing about. They are from Austin, TX after all.

They're done now - mostly going their separate ways - and will be missed, at least by me.

The Best Thing at Bumbershoot

soda — Wed, 06 Sep 2006 17:34:13 GMT

Upon Don Slack's recommendation I went to check out Thee Emergency at the EMP Sky Church while I was up at Bumbershoot.
(Don Slack = KEXP DJ )
(EMP Sky Church = venue inside the Experiemental Music Project Museum, nice to be inside on a hot day, but no beer there)
(Bumbershoot = giant music and art festival in Seattle)

Are we all caught up? Good.

Goodgoddamm they were outstanding. From Seattle, but a Detroit garage rock sound with a touch of soul - giving them some melody and groove that most garage rock needs. The female lead singer backed by 3 skinny afro'ed white boys puts them in the same neighborhood as The Detroit Cobras, but with a crazy energetic stage presence. I've heard plenty of garage rock (even before it got popular again for the third time) and much of it seems to be just bashing away at the songs. Thee Emergency add that groove and that soul (meaning soul music, not something spiritual) that puts the rock over the top and set things moving - like The Dirtbombs on Ultraglide in Black or The Sights or ? and The Mysterians.

I havent heard the album yet, but it is produced by Jim Diamond, so that's a very good sign. So far they dont seem to be getting out of the northwest - go see 'em if you can.

Alejandro Escovedo

soda — Tue, 05 Sep 2006 18:07:05 GMT

Alejandro Escovedo played The Aladdin Theater in Portland last Friday - having seen Alejandro a number of times and since the Aladdin is a sit down theater type of venue I was expecting the acoustic string quartet version of his show. I was completely wrong - he blew the roof off of the place and had people dancing in the aisles.
The 'orchestra' was rock band plus cello (which if you've been reading you know I like) plus apple laptop. His most recent CD (The Boxing Mirror) has some electronic touches so the computer was used on these songs as well as on new arrangements of the older ones. The new arrangements of Castanets and Everybody Loves Me stood out - rather then overwhelming the songs w/ bloops and bleeps the machine was used for more texture on the intros and outros.
To close the show, you can now add Beast of Burden to the list of his outstanding covers (I Wanna Be Your Dog, Sway, Irene Wild, etc.)

The 'Peen

soda — Tue, 15 Aug 2006 02:16:07 GMT

The 'Peen. That's what the cool kids call Grand Champeen, ya know. It was a Peen weekend for me, seeing them on Fri in Seattle and Sat in Portland. If you are looking for a standard great rock band, you need to hear them.

On Friday night they wound up playing two sets since the headliner (Richmond Fontaine) broke down between Portland and Seattle. The first set was a mix of the old and new - and the second was an all covers set. The dwindling crowd was treated to (if memory serves) Cheap Trick, Mott the Hoople, Aerosmith, The Only Ones, Broooce, Billy Joel, and plenty of other fantastic stuff that I'm too blurry to remember.

Saturday was a quick but solid 40 minute set, similar to friday - enhanced by a good sound system and sound man. I believe they are headed down the west coast on their way back to Austin - if you miss The Replacements and Soul Asylum, you need to hear them.

Tho they are from Austin, they are signing to a Portland record label as I type. I cant for the life of me remember the name of the label, but the new CD should be out in Feb 07 or so.

duhTunes

soda — Fri, 04 Aug 2006 20:45:33 GMT

iTunes
File
New Smart Plalist...
Match the following rule:
Genre is Podcast

Creates a playlist of all Podcasts.

That should've dawned on me a few years ago.

Jon Dee Graham

soda — Sun, 30 Jul 2006 20:58:43 GMT

"What's more rock and roll that one man with a guitar?" asked Jon Dee Graham from the Mississippi Studio's stage. "Four guys and a drum kit." he answered himself.

Admittedly, it is hard for one guy with a guitar to hold my attention. Jon Dee Graham is one of the few who can. Focusing on his latest CD, Full, he opened with "Tie a Knot" (which should be on the soundtrack to Pirates of the Caribbean 3). The small folky venue led to a bit of back and forth between the crowd and Jon - which he handled quite well - telling a number of engaging stories in between tunes.

Graham is a fine guitar player with the middle aged gravelly smokey voice thing. And some _outstanding_ songs. "Swept Away" is beautiful and sad (as is most of his stuff) and he treated us to an original children's song that was on an Austin compilation that I wish I could remember the name of. (anyone?) The lyrics were along the lines of "I love you more than ..."

Anyroad, having seen him rock out a few times with a full band - this solo acoustic show was rocking out in its own right.

Stand Up

soda — Fri, 21 Jul 2006 18:40:10 GMT

Why on god's green earth would you go to a show and sit on the floor of the club. This isn't story time at the local library - its a rock show.

This is what you are sitting in:
- beer
- sweat
- spit
- dirty mop bucket water
- gum
- possibly puke
- other things people step in

You can stand, you can lean on the bar, you can sit on the second hand sofa that the club owners brought in because they thought it gave the place a funky vibe - but get up off the floor.

That is all.

What was once alt.country

soda — Sun, 09 Jul 2006 19:48:27 GMT

I saw three bands last night that would, back in 1996, be called alt.country.

Ray's Vast Basement - Ah, California rock. Something about the west coast makes the kids sing mid tempo psychedelica. Hmm - doing some web searching is looks like their CDs all come with song books and postcards, some sort of conceptual art thing. I won't hold this against them.

Loch Lomond - Doing that Portland orchestral thing (I think every other show I see involves a stringed instrument made out of wood that isn't a guitar.) Mellow, but a very full sound due to the handful of keyboards, accordion, banjo, concertina, kitchen sink, etc. They almost had a 16 Horsepower feel, without the distinctive yowl and with prettier singing. Once of the songs had the refrain "Slap her down again, pa." which I had recently heard on a 'politically incorrect country songs' compilation - odd.

Norfolk and Western - Hey, it is loud! Based on the samples I heard prior to the show I was expecting a quiet acoustic set. Wrong. Blaring stuff somewhere in between Camper Van Beethoven and Cracker.
Note to these guys and other indie bands: It isnt really necessary to show old movies and newsreels behind the band as you play.

All of my descriptions these days are "band A sounds like band B" At least I haven't used "the illegitimate son of Hank Williams and The Ramones."

Stoopid Fun

soda — Mon, 03 Jul 2006 23:54:15 GMT

How does country metal sound? It sounds completely ridiculous. Which doesn't necessarily mean it sounds bad.

Rebel Meets Rebel is, more or less, David Allen Coe singing lead over Pantera. No, really. It seems no one involved made any motion to compromise or blend their sound from country to metal or vice versa - it feels more like a mash-up than a collaberation. For example, Cowboys Do More Dope starts off with a honkey tonk piano that crashes into the standard CHUGGA CHUGGA CHUGGA metal rhythm track. Sometimes this comes off like chocolate and peanut butter (the first half of the CD) - sometimes it comes off like chocolate and bacon (the rest of the CD).

It is tempting to file this next to Hayseed Dixie and Ven Heffer - but I bet tracks 1 thru 5 will sound great at full volume on Friday at 5:01pm.

Sucker for Cello

soda — Fri, 30 Jun 2006 18:00:48 GMT

So I am a fan of the cello rock. Yes, the cello rock. As in rock band with a cello. Seen it with Andrew Bird - great. Seen it with Alejandro Escovedo - great. Seen it with Portland locals Bright Red Paper - also great.

They seem to be playing somewhere in Portland at least once a week. Sometimes playing quieter mellower shows and sometimes playing electric rocking shows. The short CD they recently released kind of splits the difference. You won't be seeing or hearing a lead singer - nor will you be missing one. They remind me of that Chicago art rock / art pop sound - but more melodic and less abrasive. Check 'em out www.brightredpaper.com.

Flute rock - different story.

Twangfest 10

soda — Mon, 26 Jun 2006 18:39:55 GMT

Twangfest has been called the "leading alt-country Americana festival", a bunch of "drunkards and frustrated musicians" and "a Star Trek convetion." It it more or less a combination of all three. Full disclosure - I've been involved in the festival in various capacities for the past 5 or 6 years. It is a blast.

Glossary - having seen this band a few times in Nashville, I was pleasantly surprised. The previous shows I'd seen had been good, but rather mellow. This set more or less rocked. Great mix of songs and the vocal harmonies sounded excellent.

The Deadstring Brothers - another pleasant surprise. Very, very, very Rolling Stones-esque. Very. Good Stones-esque - like 37 years ago.

The Sovines - their triumphant return - If there is one band that captures the spirit of Twangfest, it is The Sovines. (who, alas, no longer exist) From blasting through trucking songs at Twangfest 1 thru the encore of Cherry Bomb that ended their set this year. Columbus is the new Detroit.

The Dirtbombs - Speaking of Detroit, you know what makes a frigging amazing band? Two rhythm sections.

Some folks who have more eloquent things to say about it are David Cantwell and Carl Wilson.