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You ever hear a song and can’t stop thinking about it? Last week’s The Waiting Room show over on WOXY had, among the nonsense of the Kazoo Funk Orchestra, a wonderful tune called “Dead Man Walking.” Well, it’s stuck in my mind all week and I can’t get it out. So, the best thing to do in a situation like this is infect all of you with it It’s bluesy, with a touch of desperation and a whole chunk of earnest, old-fashioned talent.
Dead Man Walking mp3Above The BelowTragic O’Hara….. buy it here
The debut album is Above The Below, it came out April 1st. And the tracks I’ve heard off it are excellent! Watch this band man, my darlings, Tragic O’Hara is on the rise and on a mini tour in Scotland. I hope this album sees him signed to a cool indie label soon and on to bigger tours. I did some inquiring, and it turns out that Tragic O’Hara is a friend of the wonderful Kazoo Funk Orchestra gang… Scotland really is a small little country! Either that, or every talented person over there knows every other talented person (something I’m willing to believe at this point.) Take a listen to this one, damn this man is in the groove! Make sure you listen all the way through… towards the end he really lets loose on it and its soul-wrenching, honesty.
Wolves At The Door mp3 Above The BelowTragic O’Hara ….. buy it here
(He wrote to tell me it’s really only him, no band! So apologies, and well, that just makes me adore him even more xx)
and one more just cause he looks and sounds damn sexy in this video….
Upcoming Shows
Apr 11 2009 8:00P
DIRTY MARTINIS w/ JOHNNY NO PULSE KILMARNOCK
Apr 16 2009 8:00P
O2 ACADEMY 2 GLASGOW
Apr 28 2009 8:00P
13TH NOTE (UNSCENE PROMOTIONS/RECORDS) GLASGOW
May 24 2009 8:00P
DIRTY MARTINIS MFM ALL DAYER KILMARNOCK
May 27 2009 8:00P
COSMOPOL w/ CARRIE MACDONALD GLASGOW
Jun 6 2009 8:00P
MCKAYS PITLOCHERY
Jun 7 2009 8:00P
CAFE MAMBO AVIEMORE
Jun 8 2009 8:00P
ARGYLL HOTEL ULLAPOOL
Jun 9 2009 8:00P
THE MARKET BAR INVERNESS
Jun 10 2009 8:00P
O’DONNELL’S OBAN
Jun 11 2009 8:00P
PORT ASKAIG HOTEL ISLE OF ISLAY
Jun 12 2009 8:00P
LOCHRANZA HOTEL ARRAN
Jun 20 2009 8:00P
DIRTY MARTINIS w/ CALUM MUIR KILMARNOCK
Well, last night was a fucking musical feast! Marco Benevento came to town with two friends in tow and made an entire evening of noise, gloriously wonderful melodic noise. With Reed Mathis on bass and the irrepressible Simon Lott on drums, the Logan Square Auditorium reverberated with energy to an intimate but enthusiastic crowd. I was transfixed, absolutely transfixed on the whole experience of it. Hearing it recorded is just a sliver of what it is like to physically be in the room with all that noise and that moment of creation. Half the time I nodded my head to the beat, half the time I had my head cocked to the side, eyes squinched, wondering what was going through Marco’s mind right then to produce what I was hearing. Of course it helps that he is engaging and just a bit self-effacing and incredibly emotive when he plays. It is play for this man. His piano is all tricked out with a bunch of reverb/distortion pedals and knobs of all sorts, and he’s constantly playing off his drummer or bassist. It was impossible to not be drawn into it as they exchanged those knowing looks, exaggerated smiles and nods and just straight up “yeah I get it, man!” shakes of the head. This was music to move to!
Here’s a video of what folks in Brooklyn got on March 7th with some other supporting players, it’s much like what I heard last night. Just look at what he does, at that energy!
No, I can’t tell you a single title of what they played. It was jazz, it was improv/experimental, it went in all sorts of directions throughout and sometimes seemed to fall right off the cliff to be scooped up halfway down by the strong beat of a bass guitar or a fresh breath of a recognizable piano strain. This is not just a guy and a piano, it’s loud, it’s raucous, it’s jazzy and it grooves… women danced, “Marv” demanded it!
Sing It Again mp3 Marco Benevento Me Not Me
[edit: go and listen to NPR's song of the day today, by happy coincidence it's Marco Benevento's cover of My Morning Jacket's "Golden"]
This track isn’t very much like what I heard last night… well, I should preface that by saying it was a long set… and I heard so many tracks. They opened with a nice loud number, the third or fourth one in simply took me up to the ceiling and back again as it built and fell with a shimmer of cymbals and electronic noise. After that it was a series of songs, including one by George Harrison, a bit of chatter in between but not much. Toward the end, some requests taken from the meager audience and a pause for breath and some Maker’s Mark (this man had been literally hammering away for over an hour and a half!), and a few more, and then a beautiful closing number. I shook his hand afterward, thanking him for coming to our city; it was a warm, soft, tired hand that night.
official site……… buy the album, Me Not Me here! and hear a lot more music there too.
[edit: I totally forgot to mention the amazing opening band that played last night! Liquid Beat Allstars are not to be missed!!! Last night they had Allie Kral on violin, with them, from Cornmeal, who was great! .... see down below for gig dates/times here in Chicago]
Go see this amazing artist on tour!:
04.10.09 Fri
Vaudeville Mews
Des Moines, IA
with Reed Mathis and Simon Lott
04.11.09
Dakota
Minneapolis, MN
with Reed Mathis and Simon Lott
04.12.09
CSPS
Cedar Rapids, IA
with Reed Mathis and Simon Lott
04.17.09
Ithaca, NY
Castaways
with Marc Friedman and others
Nathan Moore opens
04.23.09
New Orleans, LA
Tipitina’s
with Adam Deitch, Papa Mali and many others
4.24.09
New Orleans, LA
Riverboat
with Stanton Moore, Mike D and Skerik
4.25.09
New Orleans, LA
The Maple Leaf
with Johnny Vidacovich (late night)
4.29.09
New Orleans, LA
The Howlin Wolf
- solo early set -
-late set – with Stanton Moore, Mike D and Skerik
4.30.09
New Orleans, LA
The Maple Leaf
with Johnny Vidacovich and George Porter
11pm set
05.01.09
New Orleans, LA
One Eyed Jacks
with Stanton Moore, Mike D and Skerik
LATE NIGHT AT THE COLTON THEATRE -
Benevento Russo Duo – show starts 2am.
05.02.09
New Orleans, LA
Tipitina’s
with BUSTLE IN YOUR HEDGEROW
- late show -
05.03.09
New Orleans, LA
The Blue Nile
ME NOT ME CD Release Show
with Reed Mathis and Adam Deitch
05.06.09
Le Divan Orange
Montreal, Canada
with Reed Mathis and Andrew Barr
05.07.09
The Wescott Theatre
Syracuse, NY
with Reed Mathis and Andrew Barr
05.08.09
The Iron Horse
Northampton, MA
with Reed Mathis and Andrew Barr
05.09.09
Portland, ME
Empire Dine and Dance
with Reed Mathis and Andrew Barr
05.12.09
Hartford, CT
Real Art Ways
with Reed Mathis and Andrew Barr
05.13.09
Philadelphia, PA
Johnny Brenda’s
with Reed Mathis and Andrew Barr
05.14.09
Merkin Concert Hall
New York, NY
with Reed Mathis and Andrew Barr
05.15.09
Boston, MA
The Pardise
opening for TLG
05.29.09
Woodstock, NY
MOUNTAIN JAM
June 11th
NYC
The Stone
8pm and 10pm Solo
07.3.09
Quincy, CA
HIGH SIERRA MUSIC FESTIVAL
07.18.09
Sante Fe, NM
New Mexico Jazz Festival
——————————————-
Chicago! Go hear Liquid Beat Allstars
Apr 11 2009 9:00P
US Beer Co w/ Great Divide Chicago, Illinois
Apr 15 2009 10:00P
Tonic Room Chicago, Illinois
Apr 22 2009 10:00P
Tonic Room Chicago, Illinois
Apr 29 2009 10:00P
Tonic Room Chicago, Illinois
May 2 2009 8:00P
Illinois Brewing Co. (Bloomington, IL) w/ Raoul Duke Bloomington, IL
May 28 2009 9:00P
The Kinetic Playground w/ Steez & The Station Chicago, Illinois
Did you see Hockey at SXSW?? It seems there’s alot of dust still settling from that mecca of indie music… here’s another video for you. I like the sound of this band, hailing from Portland and hitting Southern CA and the UK (with Friendly Fires as well as headlining some shows themselves). You can hear them perform at both the Bonnaroo and Sasquatch festivals.
It’s a cool electro/pop sound but infused with a lazy, might-still-be-a-garage-band vocal that’s not annoyingly LA or London I’m-just-a-middle-class-hung-over-twat thing. Do me a favor and go to their MySpace page and listen to “Work,” … Am I crazy to imagine a young Rod Stewart doing that song? That’s no insult, mind you… the Faces were an awesome band!
HOCKEY TOUR DATES
4/10 – Beatnik Studios – Sacramento, CA #
4/11 – The Partisan – Merced, CA #
4/13 – Troubadour – Los Angeles, CA *
4/14 – Detroit Bar – Costa Mesa, CA *
4/15 – The Loft @ UCSD – San Diego, CA *
4/16 – Cellar Door – Visalia, CA #
4/17 – Rickshaw Stop – San Francisco, CA #
4/24 – The Roundhouse (MTV “Camden Crawl”) – Camden, UK
4/25 – Bristol University – Bristol, UK *
4/27 – Manchester Academy 2 – Manchester, UK *
4/28 – Wulfrun Hall – Wolverhampton, UK *
4/29 – Waterfront – Norwich, UK *
4/30 – Forum – London, UK *
5/1 – Southampton University – Southampton, UK *
5/2 – Digital – Brighton, UK *
5/3 – Custard Factory – Birmingham, UK *
5/5 – Leeds Met University – Leeds, UK *
5/6 – Studio 24 – Edinburgh, UK *
5/7 – OMU – Glasgow, UK *
5/8 – Red Room – Nottingham, UK #
5/11 – Black and White @ Plug & Play – Reading, UK #
5/12 – Clwb Ifor Bach – Cardiff, UK #
5/13 – The Cellars – Portsmouth, UK #
5/14 – The Great Escape – Brighton, UK #
5/16 – The Great Escape – Brighton, UK #
5/24 – Sasquatch Music Festival @ The Gorge – Quincy, WA
6/11 – Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival – Manchester, TN
THE DECEMBERISTS ON TOUR – purchase tickets
May 19 – Hollywood Palladium – Los Angeles, CA
May 20 – Fox Theatre – Oakland, CA
May 21 – McDonald Theater – Eugene, OR
May 24 – Wilma Theatre – Missoula, MT
May 26 – Fillmore Auditorium – Denver, CO
May 27 – Uptown Theater – Kansas City, MO
May 29 – Riverside Theater – Milwaukee, WI
May 31 – The Pageant – St. Louis, MO
June 1 – Lifestyle Communities Pavilion – Columbus, OH
June 3 – Tabernacle – Atlanta, GA
June 4 – Memorial Auditorium – Raleigh, NC
June 5 – The National – Richmond, VA
June 6 – Tower Theatre – Upper Darby, PA
June 9 – Bank of America Pavillion – Boston, MA
June 10 – Radio City Music Hall – New York, NY
June 11-14 – Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival – Manchester, TN
July 18 – Edgefield – Troutdale, OR w/ Andrew Bird
July 19 – Edgefield – Troutdale, OR w/ Andrew Bird
(and apologies for the ads for IFC, not an endorsement, just couldn’t be avoided)
Searchlight Needles is more than proof of that; it is perhaps a shrine to the essence of the album by a gifted and exquisitely articulate singer-songwriter/poet, Jasmine Dreame Wagner. Based in Missoula, MT and Brooklyn, NY, she makes music that is “psychedelic-tinged Americana with elements of electronica and ambient sound.” I honestly could not describe it better than her agent has there. And don’t find that bewildering or off-putting, it’s beautiful and haunting and I haven’t stopped listening to it for five days now. In fact I’m so attached to this CD that I really had to kick myself to write this review. Somehow it felt like I was letting it go, out into the world and out of my grasp… and that had a certain sadness about it because it’s such a tender, intimate collection of songs,… I wanted it to remain mine, all mine.
But, I’m sure her manager and she will be glad to hear that I have decided to let it go. Afterall, music is for listening and sharing, although I can’t imagine creating such multifaceted pieces as these and letting them fall into the ears of just anybody! Cabinet of Natural Curiosities, Ms. Wagner’s musical project has put out the album, Searchlight Needles with ten tracks, ten interrelated parts that flow nicely together but not necessarily into one another. Ms. Wagner’s soft soprano voice is breathy and yet not shallow; it sits beside the instrumentation, not in front of it, and that makes the ambient sound qualities of her art all that more appreciated. There is a lot of folk to the songs in this work, but it’s not just a folk album by any stretch of the imagination. And that’s why I love it so much. Just when I thought it was going to be too twee, too precious, the windchimes start playing up, or the background soundtrack of voices talking, mumbling, muttering throughout, turn the whole piece around.
Yes, it has the usual sharp harmonies that I always write about for songs I love. It has that bittersweet sadness and aching loneliness of isolation that folk music captures so well. And this is an album of slow, introspective prose. Gentle guitars, zither, recorders, xylophone and keyboards accompany the stories she tells. Opening with “Little Ice Age,” you’re immediately thrown off… it’s not exactly decipherable, but it’s so pleasant, then the tambourine starts and we really, really want to know what those words are. She’s cast her spell, I know it’s a worn out metaphor, but this song just feels like a spell. You can’t turn this album off now. The next two tracks feature traditional guitar work and interesting harmonies, but by the time you get to the end of “Cities” you realize she’s been wooing you all along, using scenes of nature and stories of little ones finding their way, to draw you close to her. “Moon” is so quiet and eerie, you turn it up, lean into it, and when it ends on that achingly beautiful echoing voice, it catches you off balance.
But the real moment of commitment comes with “Glass.” You really should hear this. It’s quite unlike the others, and I am smitten with it’s strangeness. It’s perfectly situated in the middle of this well crafted album, surrounded by guitars and sweet vocals, couched between a lover’s breasts, as it were. It’s more an experience than a song, I think. And it show’s the vastness of creative talent ofCabinet of Natural Curiositiesas a musical project. What follows are more tenderly sung ballads, more beautiful sounds of a flowing stream, a distant rattle, a bird roosting… so delicately crafted to be music and not sound effects. Finally, a lullaby, I’m not sure why it seems that every album I’m hearing these days has lullabies on them, but I’m not complaining! This one is wonderfully obvious, “fall asleep…. fall asleep…. cause you are a dream to me” it croons to us sweetly. And then this whole thing is over and you’ve been taken on this trip inside someone’s dream from the beginning of the album to the end, and you start it all over at track one again to see how it will go this time.
For Sparrow mp3Searchlight NeedlesCabinet of Natural Curiosities Owllullaby mp3Searchlight NeedlesCabinet of Natural Curiosities
Searchlight Needles came to me with a book of poetry entitled, Charcoal, with three parts: Charcoal, Black Water, and Glass. The poems are smart, they deal with the themes that poems usually deal with; death, industrialization, love, the poverty of the human spirit in the face of the future and of the past and of humanity in all its mass insanity. I’m not a poet, I read poetry from time to time, and enough to know that this book is “good poetry,” and enough to know that these words are in some way the words behind these songs, but in another form. All the ways we create and express revolve around the same center of gravity, our own preoccupations and fixations and inner demons, do they not? And so when you read my writings here on poetry and on music, and on politics and sex, and on my own past and what it’s like to live in my own here and now, you know that it’s all a bit of a piece. For that reason, if not for the reason that the poetry is “good” and beautiful and moving, buy her book with her CD. I promise you will enjoy both, xoxo
Darlings, I have not yet addressed this issue as I have kept my head low and for one reason or another, or just plain luck, I have not yet been targeted. However, many if not most of my friends in the music blogging world have been victims to DMCA notices and have had their work stolen, not returned, with no explanation, all done by a system of anonymous complaint.
The following words are from Paul Haig’s label manager Evan, Rhythm of Live ROLinc
Bloggers have come under increasing attack in recent times, thanks to many in the music industry using the draconian measures of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), an American piece of legislation signed by President Clinton in 1998 which insists that Internet Service Providers (ISPs) must remove material that appears to constitute copyright infringement.
So, if a music industry lawyer discovers a blogger has posted an mp3 of a song without permission, they can contact the ISP, claim they represent the individual or organisation with the copyright and demand the offending material be removed. Fair enough you might say…
But, the law is such that anyone can use DMCA to demand a takedown without having to prove that they have ownership of the copyright, and the ISP have no option but to comply – it has even been proven that where musicians have expressly given support for their song to be highlighted on a blog, an anonymous DMCA request has seen the mp3 removed.
Such was the case last month when ‘The Vinyl Villain’ blog, one that has been running since September 2006 and almost exclusively looks back to music of the 80s and 90s, featured ‘Blue For You’, one of the early solo singles by Paul Haig. The blogger had been in touch with the singer who didn’t object at all to featuring the song and was given a few words by Paul Haig to add to the story behind its recording in Edinburgh back in 1982.
Within 48 hours of publication, the piece was removed by the ISP, although no-one associated with the copyright had made such a request.
In response, Paul Haig immediately decided to make his 2007 single ‘Reason’ available through ‘The Vinyl Villain’ blog on the basis that music fans who downloaded the song and decided that they liked it were more than likely to subsequently purchase a copy. So far, after just more than a week, no-one has asked the ISP to remove the mp3….
In thanks the bloggers have agreed to make April 6 Paul Haig Day. As many bloggers will make ‘Reason’ available on their blogs as possible. If you go stumbling around music blogs on the Internet on Monday 6th April, there’s a reasonable chance you’ll find someone saying good things about Paul Haig, arguably the greatest pop star to ever have come out of Edinburgh.
So far, some 25 bloggers have decided that next Monday should be designated ‘Paul Haig Day’ and will be featuring posts about the musician whose career goes back almost 30 years to the days when Postcard Records were The Sound of Young Scotland. This sudden upsurge of interest in the former Josef K lead singer is no accident, and is the result of a number of music fans, not all of whom know much about Paul Haig, wanting to thank him for taking a stand and encouraging bloggers to keep on doing what they do.
So yes, dear readers, I do remember Josef K… I am that old, haha! But mostly because I was, back in the day, a manic anglophile eating up every bit of post-punk goodness I could find. Here is Paul Haig’s single and I encourage you to find out about this generous musician who sees music blogging the way many of us do, and the way we wish all musical artists did! Enjoy this track, go have a look/see at his label, shell out some paypal dollars and support music no matter how much the DMCA tries to squelch it. xoxoxo
This is a piece of work in which all copyright is in the ownership of Paul Haig. It’s on his own label, ROL, (short for Rhythm Of Life) and is another example of the catchy electronic-pop that he’s been so adept at over the past two decades and beyond. His voice is still as strong and distinctive as ever, and he gives us a tune that’s infinitely superior to countless others that have conquered the pop charts by manufactured and over-hyped bands and artists with talent that collectively wouldn’t match that of Mr Haig’s pinky. And I know that’s not just my view, for this was a single that was Record of the Week on BBC Radio 2 back in May 2007…..
and do go pop over to JC’s blog and read his great post today! xoxoxo
I’ve gradually been easing this blog into the Chicago scene. Have you noticed yet? (image a devilish grin on my face right now — not that hardly any of you have seen my face, but that’s another post, just imagine it) I love covering the music that comes through my city and at the same time there’s lots of music already in my city. And then there’s the posts about me and my moods and my life that’s filled with all sorts of music … but I digress. I’ve been making an effort to follow some local, unsigned acts here in Chi-town. And here’s a really talented indie-folk quartet, In Miniature. Sarah wrote me wondering if I’d help promote the band and maybe plug their show tomorrow night. Well, hell yeah I will
So give Stefanie and Erin, who like to sing harmonies, a listen. They say their bass player, Philip, “likes to stand quietly in the corner, occasionally surprising us with a sudden burst of hilarious political commentary.” Well that’s not on the EP I got, so I guess we’ll have to go see them live to figure out what kind of politics Philip is into. Sarah says “we all play multiple instruments, so on a given song you might hear guitar, bass, drums, keys, accordion, banjo, or xylophone–wow, right?” Yeah, wow! This music is low-fi and sweet, not sweet like twirly-girly twee stuff, but sweet like sharp harmonies and stripped down songs that bare their construction without shame. Their EP, Hey Marsupialopens with “Tornado,” their most “marketable” track, lyrically cryptic and very catchy. “No Surprise” takes off in an entirely new direction. With a strong, slow downbeat, I’m drawn in and swooning over the melody in no time. It’s a song that the Indigo Girls could easily have written but didn’t, but In Miniature has made this all their own. “Call It In The Air” with it’s repeating guitar motif is a good song, but I feel it has a sort of identity crisis. It wants to be sung like a pop song, but lyrically it’s folk all the way. And then “Barefoot Lullabye” hits my ears and I sit back with a sigh, you know all these lullabye songs always get me. And this one is sad, tender and smooth as it should be. Finally, “Compass Rose” shows off their harmonies nicely; fast paced and quirky, it has a theatrical flair to it that suits their instrumental talents. All in all, In Minature’s EP Hey Marsupialgives a great taste of what this quartet is capable of. It has a wonderful range of songs, none sounding like the other yet all having a In Miniature sound. With careful production it could be a wonderful EP, and as it stands it does give a wonderful view into what this group has to offer.
There’s a lot of folk in this, indie for sure, and the aesthetic of the indie generation carries this forward in time nicely. But older traditions of folk shine through in the way their songs are crafted both musically and lyrically. Stefanie and Erin have a bit of the folkish waver, the mature female voice of 60s and 70s music that I grew up on. It’s nice to hear it again. And they’re smart enough to find a good balance between instruments and vocals, something that is often lacking in groups like this. If you like folk music from indie girls then get yourself over to Ronny’s Bar tomorrow night. (I say girls, hoping not to offend them, they’re ladies, we know! but “indie ladies” just doesn’t roll off the tongue darlings!) xoxox
Playing Monday (4/6) 9:00 PM w/ Papermoons (TX) Ronny’s Bar
2101 N. California Ave
Cost: $7
No Surprise mp3 In Miniature Hey Marsupial
Barefoot Lullabye mp3 In Miniature Hey Marsupial
MySpace where there’s details on how to get their EP for free
We are the interplanatery quite extraordinary Kazoo Funk Orchestra & this week we are taking over the usual broadcast of The Waiting Room from planet WOXY.
Do not be alarmed – we mean no harm.
Members of our super species crew (Big Beard, Little Beard, Smalls, Mechanical, Part-Time Dave, Boyce + Herbal) will merely guide you through an ambient mind control experiment.
You may experience an emotion you WOXYlings refer to as ”bewilderment” – in our parallel universe this is the greatest pleasure one Funk Orchestrian dervives from the intimate company of another Funk Orchestrian (of the opposite chest topography) whilst blowing on each other’s Kazoo.
Should you experience such an emotion please refrain from panic – simply embrace the nearest WOXYling (of either chest topographical derivation as may suit) & politely insist they give you a ‘toot’.
Sit back people of the planet WOXY & listen to the skies.
Touring with Cloud Cult, Ice Palace is hitting the US and Canada this spring with their sophomore album. I’m enjoying the sound of this and looking forward to hearing more, more of what is said to be 20 years (!) of work and being compared even this early on to the likes of the Decemberists (!). Will it withstand the hype? I’ll get the album and let you know, you do the same, ok my darling’s? xoxo
P.S. also worth mentioning is that this is coming out on a non-profit, “green” label (!) Earthology Records more info below…
Thoughts/Facts mp3Ice PalaceWonder Subtly Crushing Us (coming April 21st)
ALL DATES WITH CLOUD CULT EXCEPT 4/23 MINNEAPOLIS SHOW
4/2 – Ann Arbor, MI – The Blind Pig *
4/3 – Toronto, ONT – El Mocambo *
4/6 – Northampton, MA – Pearl Street *
4/7 – Boston, MA – Paradise Rock *
4/8 – New Haven, CT – Toads Place *
4/9 – Brooklyn, NY – Music Hall of Williamsburg *
4/10 – Philadelphia, PA – First Unitarian Church *
4/11 – Washington, DC – Black Cat *
4/12 – Pittsburgh, PA – Mr. Small’s *
4/13 – Cleveland, OH – Beachland Ballroom *
4/14 – Grand Rapids, MI – The Intersection *
4/23 – Minneapolis, MN – Varsity Theatre (RECORD RELEASE SHOW)
5/4 – Rapid City, SD – The Dahl Arts Center
5/5 – Bozeman, MT – The Filling Station
5/6 – Missoula, MT – The Other Side
5/8 – Seattle, WA – Neumos #
5/9 – Vancouver, BC – The Biltmore Ballroom #
5/10 – Portland, OR – Wonder Ballroom #
5/12 – San Francisco, CA – The Independent #
5/16 – Tucson, AZ – Plush #
5/17 – Phoenix, AZ – Rhythm Room #
5/19 – Denver, CO – Bluebird Theatre #
5/20 – Omaha, NE – Waiting Room
* w/ Cloud Cult, Margot and the Nuclear So and So’s
# w/ Cloud Cult, Say Hi
Earthology Records is a not-for-profit environmental record label who makes every effort to use as much recycled, reclaimed and environmentally safe materials in their packaging. The label uses 100% recycled/reclaimed jewel cases, the highest recycled content papers on the market with nontoxic soy inks. Their shrink wrap is made of nontoxic low density polyethylene, instead of toxic poly-vinyl chloride — soon be made of 100% biodegradable corn cellulose.
Earthology studios have an environmentally friendly design, using products like recycled plastic lumber, soundboards made of Homasote (100% recycled newspaper), and reclaimed lumber. The studio is located on 11 acres of prairie, wetlands, woods, and an organic herb/vegetable farm. All heat and cooling is provided sustainably via a geothermal system. Electricity is provided by wind power (via Allete’s Wind Sense Program). For more information about Earthology, head to their website at www.earthology.net.
special thanks to Jessi Hector
The show was great. The larger venue (a real, old fashioned movie theater with the big read velvety curtains and an organ up front to play the music for the silent films) was gloriously acoustic. The crowd gave thunderous applause and rushed the stage upon request, Mr. Darinelle wasn’t having any of that stay-in-your-movie-seat kinda thing. And John Vanderslice was the perfect opening act.
It was just John and John, first one and then the other, and for a brief time, the both of them. Bare bones, just two men with guitars and a little foot stomping once in awhile. But, each knew how to move this large audience. The first duet was preceded by a wonderful tune off of… (I have no idea! I tried to find it on tracklistings somewhere, I know Pitchfork had it listed on Heretic Pride, but it’s not there, let me know if you know it)… called “Surrounded”
Surrounded mp3The Mountain Goats
Pale white moon shines down on Colorado
Hide my dirty secrets down here in the shadows
Where the quaking aspens tremble in the snow
Haul me up the hillside, hold me high and let me go
Let me fall right through my own roof like a meteorite
Let the world and all its wonders leave me to my toys tonight
And my ninety six inch television screen
Let me die, let me die surrounded by machines
High winds knocked the power out last night
But I’ve got my own supply here all my windows blaze with light
And the light spills through the windows to the empty plane below
Finds nothing but some trees and three fresh feet of snow
And I find a broadcast station that’s signed off for the night
And the static floods the speakers in glorious black and white
On my ninety six inch television screen
Let me die, let me die surrounded by machines
I felt it was the best song of the night, but then I’m not a long-time fan, just a late arrival, but enjoying it even so. It all ended with “This Year” and of course an encore, the perfect encore, “No Children” we were told, “because you all sing so pretty.”
Here’s two songs, I’ve no idea if they played either of these, tonight was just my night to enjoy, I took no notes, xoxo
Palmcorder Yanja mp3The Mountain GoatsWe Shall All Be Healed….. buy it
Fetal Horses mp3John VandersliceRomanian Names (coming May 19) look for it here
It’s bluesy, with a touch of desperation and a whole chunk of earnest, old-fashioned talent.
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