"We're always getting called 'indie schmindie.' Tell me, do the Arctic Monkeys have a song that sounds like that?" Young Knives singer Henry Dartnall was getting just a bit defensive, not at anyone in the Mercury Lounge audience, but at certain critics/bloggers who tend to see them as also-rans. Sure, there's some disco hi-hat and spiky guitars on all the Young Knives albums, but there's a lot more going on there too: odd, distinctive harmonies, more than a little acid folk and mushroom tea psychedelia, consistently good lyrics, and catchy tunes. All of which were in full effect at the show. Plus some hilarious brotherly bickering between Henry and Thomas Darntall.
Henry's little outburst could've just been the heat. Monday was Day Three of upper-90s temperatures which was taking it's toll on the band who were playing their last show of a NYC-Philly offensive. I have a feeling that the "hot summer, hot hot summer" sung about in "Weekends and Bleak Days" is probably only about 80 degrees. (that's 26° C centigrade!) He added, "It's tough for us fat guys. I'm a little squodgy down there I have to admit." They really need to stop going on about their weight -- guy's you're really not fat.
Squodginess aside, this was easily the best of the four Young Knives shows I've seen. (That's right, I've seen them four times.) It was also the first show where there was a full house to see them, with genuine fans besides myself and my friend Heather. When the band lit into "Weekends and Bleak Days" there were cheers from the back of the room and a group of ten or so pushed their way to the front and made one of the politest mosh pits I've ever seen -- after bumping into a girl and spilling her drink, the offending reveler immediatley apologized. Which probably says as much about the Young Knives as does their music.
The set was mostly about their fine new album, Superabundance -- most of it was played, though surprisingly not the single "Up All Night." We also got "The Decision," "Coastguard" and and encore of "She's Attracted To" which really sent the pit into hysterics. Young Knives still aren't getting the respect they deserve, but it seems they're getting closer.
SETLIST: fit 4 u | counters | terra firma | rue the day |
coastguard | i can hardly see them | turn tail | dyed in the wool |
weekends and bleak days | the decision | current of the river | she's
attracted to
For me, summer starts with the first Friday show at South Street Seaport... which this year is tomorrow, though there won't be another till July 11. The Seaport Music series is always such a good way to kick off weekends, when it's not raining or the pier is being attacked by swarms of insects. (The latter only happened once, during Camera Obscura last year but it was really freaky.) This year's lineup -- what they've announced so far looks good. It will be interesting to see just how loud A Place to Bury Strangers will be allowed to play, and how much it will scare the tourists.
But tomorrow's kickoff with art punk legends Wire is what I'm most excited about. I am a pretty big Wire fan. having followed them ever since I heard their song "Ahead" on an Enigma Records sampler I bought for $4.99 in 1987. (It also introduced me to Mojo Nixon and Game Theory.)
Reformation and reunion shows can be dicey affairs, but Wire are not nostalgists by nature and have been active since getting back together in 2000 after a 8-year vacation. I saw Wire when they played Irving Plaza back in 2000 around the time of their reformation and, I must admit, my biggest memory of that show is that I sold my extra ticket to a scalper to which I was given a counterfeit $20... of course I didn't realize it till I used it at Irving Plaza's bar. (I didn't get kicked out, and still have that funny money somewhere... and haven't dealt with scalpers since.) My memory of the show is that they didn't do any classics apart from "12xU" and "Drill" but a quick Google search is that it was almost entirely oldies nicely plucked from throughout their career.
This was before they started recording new material, most of which has uniformly good, if not excellent -- and not just "good for a bunch of geezers" either -- including three Read and Burn EPs and an album, 2003's Send. Bassist Bruce Gilbert quit the band in 2004 but, weirdly, they seem to have gotten better. Last year's Read and Burn 03 EP was maybe the best yet of the 00s-era Wire, the highlight of which is the epic "23 Years Too Late" with great vocal interplay between Colin Newman and Graham Lewis:
All of which bodes well for their upcoming 10th album, Object 47, which comes out July 7. To these ears it sounds like update of the kind of songs found on 1987's The Ideal Copy: dark and sinewy, but with bite and melody too. The band were kind enough to give us a taster:
We'll hear more tomorrow when Wire play the first Seaport show of the 2008 season. Filling Bruce Gilbert's spot on guitar will be Margaret Fielder who was in Moonshake and Laika, the latter of whom did a great version of Wire's "German Shepards" for the 1994 Wire tribute CD, WHORE.
A setlist from Manchester's Futuresonic festival earlier this month looks like mostly new stuff, with some old nuggets ("Boiling Boy," "The 15th," "Lowdown," "12XU," "106 Beats That") thrown in as well, but don't be surprised if they show up in radically reworked versions. Wire aren't much for nostalgia.
The essential first three Wire albums were reissued in 2006 on Wire's label, Pink Flag, and sound great. Actually, I recommend just about everything Wire's ever done, even the very synthy 1991 Wir album (no "e" as drummer Robert Gotobed had left the band), The First Letter. Only 1990's Manscape is skippable.
Also worth picking up is Wire on the Box: 1979, a CD/DVD combo of the band's awesome performance on German music TV show, Rockpalast. You can actually see all of it on YouTube. Here's "The 15th" which was still a year away from seeing a recorded version on 154, and was later covered by electroclashers Fischerspooner:
If you're heading down to the Seaport tomorrow and look to drink on the cheap, there's a fish-n-chips place in the back of the top floor Seaport food court that sells 32 oz styrofoam cups of beer for next to nothing. It's definitely the way to go.
"Ok, now you try!" Slaraffenland were teaching the audience how to pronounce their name, which is Danish for "the land of milk and honey." It's actually a little easier than it looks: "slah-rah-fen-land," with the emphasis on the second syllable.
Slaraffenland are probably just as easy to enjoy as they are to pronounce. Which is to say imposing until you get the hang of it. Very little of their music follows pop conventions, but there is melody and beauty if you stop waiting for the chorus and just let the music wash over you.
Live, Slaraffenland are pretty fascinating to watch, as all the members sing and play at least two instruments... often within the same song. The guitarist played the oboe; the percussionist played a variety of woodwinds; the bassist also played flute; and the keyboardist / sampler was often seen with a trombone. I'm sure the drummer also was a multi-instrumentalist but he was absent at Knitting Factory -- a new father, he had to leave the tour early for daddy duty.
Losing your drummer might seem like a dealbreaker to most groups but Slaraffenland didn't seem to phased by it. There is a lot of live sampling going on in their show -- many songs started with everyone playing horns which would become a backing loop -- so live percussion blended with canned bits, and for a couple songs they were aided by tourmates Efterklang's drummer.
While not quite sold out, Knitting Factory was full with an enthusiastic and boisterous crowd. Slaraffenland seemed psyched too, but in that Danish way that makes exclamations like "we love you!" (which I'm sure was genuine) sound like maybe they're being ironic.
This was actually a Danish double-header with similarly-minded, though larger in numbers, Efterklang, which they dubbed the Danish Dynamite Tour. I must admit they were a little too affected for my tastes, both musically (a lot more precious and grandiose) and visually (they band wore turn-of-the-century garb, including those weird golf/riding pants that are baggy at the thigh and tight through the calf).
There are still a few dates left on the Danish Dynamite Tour, worth checking out if it come near you:
May 29 TT the Bears | Boston, Massachusetts May 30 Zoobizarre | Montreal May 31 El Mocambo | Toronto Jun 2 Empty Bottle | Chicago, Illinois Jun 3 Record Bar | Kansas City, Montana
It pleases me greatly to go into a show mostly blind and come out a fan of every band on the bill. That never happens anymore. Maybe I'm just going to the wrong shows.
I was there primarily to see Violens, the new band from some of the Lansing-Dreiden folks, though I'm not sure exactly which ones. Definitely singer/guitarist Jorge Elbrecht, and probably keyboardist Iddo Arad. Maybe more, but hard to say. L-D were an enigmatic bunch who didn't believe in album credits or band photos... or even playing in the live incarnation of their band.
Violens are more forthcoming about the who's and whats. It's also a more cohesive sound. Lansing-Dreiden incompassed everything from synthpop to metal, but Violens seem more influenced by '80s UK pop, both of the jazzy variety favored by Aztec Camera and Prefab Sprout, and those that prefered delay pedals like A Bell is a Cup-era Wire and The Sound. (In that respect, they also reminded me of '90s Swedish band Eggstone.) And like L-D, they still love the reverb. They also like volume. Why didn't I bring earplugs? The ringing in my ears seems especially prominent today. The best moments of the show combined the jazzy and the delay-ridden rocking out. And my favorites of the night are not to be found on their MySpace, so I think there's a lot to look forward to with these guys.
Violens next show is June 5 at the Mercury Lounge where they're playing with Chairlift and Mixel Pixel. Tickets ($10) are on sale.
But as I said, the whole bill at Union Pool last night was very good. All three bands are signed to Cantora Records that is probably best-known at this point for being the label who released MGMT's first EP. Tonight proves they've really got a good ear. The weather was horrible yesterday and I figured between the torrential rain and showing up at 9pm there would be nobody there. But the place was already pretty packed when I got there, and I think as many people were there for opening band Amazing Baby as their were for Violens.
It was Amazing Baby's first-ever show, though you'd never know it. They came prepared and kind of knocked everyone's socks off. Though I'm probably wrong, I'm going to go out on a limb and say
Amazing Baby don't sound like any other band in NYC. To draw
comparisons... maybe a heavier, more-psychedelic Roxy Music? That sounds about right. Who are they? The band seems to be primarily an offshoot of rawkers Stylofone, but the live permutation, last night at least, also featured ex-Diamond Nights guitarist Rob Laakso and Jane "Spider" Herships on bass. There were also two female backup singers and a keyboardist. (Maybe that's where the Roxy comparisons come from for me.) They're the kind of group you could imagine going the denim-leather/lightshow route but just let the music do the talking. And that came through loud and clear. I'm pretty sure they're my new favorite NYC band and seem ready for domination.
If you're intrigued, Amazing Baby are playing tomorrow (5/11) at The Annex. Go ahead, bring Mom, it's an early show -- supposedly they're on at 9pm. They're on around 11pm I've just been informed. And if you can't make that, they're playing Glasslands on Thursday (5/15).
In between Amazing Baby and Violens were Savoir Adore who are also making a kind of music that seems scarce these days -- pure pop. This is the sort of stuff that seemed so prevalent in '80s indie music, be it Let's Active or The Go-Betweens or The Reivers. Not that they sound dated in any way -- I don't think this kind of pop ever really goes out of style. (Even though it kind of currently is.) Deidre Muro and Paul Hammer compliment each other so well, both vocally but also the way their guitars intertwine. Keyboards seemed superfluous at times, except when they were set to Melotron, which they usually were. Apparently most (all?) of Savoir Adore's songs are for a concept album yet-to-be explained involving characters named Mr. P, Dr. Rousseau and a wooded forrest, but you needn't know any of this to dig what they're doing:
Both these songs, plus two more, are available on their Cantora Records page. Savoir Adore are opening for Los Campesinos! this Thursday (5/15) at Music Hall of Williamsburg, and then play Lit on May 23.
So to recap last night's show. Three bands, all different, all great. My friend Don was armed with his nice digital SLR and took some photos which you can find here.
I would be remiss if I didn't mention this Friday's show at Mercury Lounge featuring two of New York's best "dream pop" bands (trying to avoid the S-word). Headliners Dirty on Purpose haven't played, aprart from opening for Band of Horses on Valentine's Day, for five months or so, though they've been plenty busy. January saw the release of their great Like Bees EP while also releasing a free, digital-only EP,Dead Volcanoes, through RCRDLBL.com, albiet in drips and drabs. The latter has been interesting to hear as it really finds the band stretching out and trying new things. I'm told that the final song they've yet to post is unlike anything they've ever done before (and George takes the rare lead vocals). Meanwhile, of the three that are currently available, I really like "The Thing About Getaways" and "Hard to Tell You" which sounds a bit like Luna covering "Crimson and Clover." (Nice spot, Sung Bin.) Friday is also bassist DJ Boudreau's birthday, so be sure to buy him a shot... after the show, please.
Mahogany, meanwhile, have been laying low since releasing the masterful Connectivity! in 2006. I don't think they've played a show since last summer. Their Myspace hasn't really been updated since then either, so who knows what they have in store for us. Maybe some more of Connectivity!, as most of the shows I saw them play for that album were only about five songs deep. But they made up for it with the two-drummer, multiple guitarists and keyboardists and vocalists attack. And "Supervitesse" has yet to get old for me.
This is kind the 2008 equivalent of Ride and the Pale Saints touring together (which they did way back a licensed driver ago). It's just one show, but still a perfect match. Tickets are $10 and will probably sell out before Friday I'd imagine.
In other Dirty on Purpose news, "Audience in the Room" from Like Bees can currently be heard in a Virgin Mobile commercial. (And I still think their cover of "Send Me an Angel" would be perfect for Gossip Girl.) Meanwhile, drummer Doug Marvin (who sings lead on "Getaways") has a solo project, Purse Snatchers, with some help from his wife Annie who plays in Au Revoir Simone when she's not judging potential New York Noise VJs. The Purse Snatchers album, To Feet of Snow, is full of the pretty melodies and gentle singing athat Marvin brings to the songs he pens for Dirty on Purpose. There's just more of them. And one of them is available on RCRDLBL.com.
Just in time for the Spring temperatures we're supposed to be getting this week, Nashville's lush Silver Seas are returning to New York for the first time since changing their name from The Bees last summer. When I wrote about them last year, I referred to them as soft rock, which there's not denying that tag fits, but I don't think there's any hipster irony with what they do, which is probably why I'm still listening to their album, High Society, nearly a year later.
That said, there is an air of Steely Dan about them, as these guys are pro musicians whose day jobs are as Nashville session and touring musicians. (Main man Jason Lehning is a bigtime producer with loads of CMAs on his mantle.) So the gorgeous harmonies on the album should be ably reproduced when they play The Living Room (Wednesday, April 2) and Union Hall (Thursday, April 3) this week. If you haven't heard the record, here's a taste:
The Living Room show is part of the venue's 10-year Anniversary Extravaganza and The Silver Seas are on a bill with Life in a Blender who I didn't even realize were still together. It's a free show (well, they suggest a $10 donation) so why not stop by? The Union Hall show, which I will be attending, is with locals The Postelles. No advance tickets, the door's $8.
Back before the Day Party became the norm, SXSW attendees were forced to either sleep till a civilized hour, go enjoy a relaxing, delicious lunch somewhere in Austin other than near the convention center or, heaven forbid, attend a Panel Discussion. I know what you're thinking. Panel Discussion, what's that? It's where a handful of people in the industry get free food and are then put in front of an audience of their peers to talk about a particular topic like "Merch Table of Contents," "Fans are Suckers," or "I'm OK, You're OK: The Industry's Still Rockin'!"
Despite what the Fader Fort and the Filter Courtyard might have you believe, these panel discussions are still going on at SXSW and people still attend them. Probably as many people as before the day parties. And they're just as dull as they used to be.* I know, I went to one: "The Blog Factor." On the panel were Amrit of Stereogum, Idolator editor Maura Johnston, Matador major domo Gerard Cosloy, Sean Adams of Drowned in Sound, NPR blogger and onetime Sleater Kinney vocalist Carrie Brownstein.
What could have been a potentially interesting discussion about music blogs -- Gerard Cosloy talked briefly about using the extremely unfriendly Web Sheriff to do their dirty work for them --got hijacked by a lot of marketing types in the audience who asked a bunch of questions that all amounted to "So, if I sent you an MP3 what kind of subject line would work best for you to open it?" I did however use the opportunity afterwards to ask Cosloy when the Matablog was going to fully convert to all food content. (It's almost there as it is.)
After that, I headed over to the Village Voice day party, arriving just in time for the last Black Keys song. If someone had told me it was the Black Crowes I woulda believed it. I was there to see Sweden's neo-classic rockers The Soundtrack of Our Lives who played a set almost entirely comprised of new material from their yet-to-be-released fifth album. Skilled musicians and masters of all the great rock moves (windmills, kicks, stick twirls, etc), TSOOL are always good live but the band's material has suffered with the departure of main songwriter Bjorn Olsson shortly after their 2001 breakthrough, Behind the Music. The new stuff wasn't bad, but paled in comparison when the band launched into the stellar "Sister Surround." MP3: The Soundtrack of Our Lives - Sister Surround
(buy)
From their I headed over to the Fader Fort to catch the debut of UK-Swede combo Fanfarlo (who I've yammered on about before) who have surprisingly little US buzz despite the David Bowie stamp of approval. A lot of these day parties blur the lines as to whether you're attending a show or a commercial, but there's no subtle marketing at the Fader Fort: to get into space you literally have to walk through a Levi's Store specially built just for this. This is what we do for free Stella and SoCo-n-Lime and an excellent lineup of music daily in an admittedly cool space. Fanfarlo are fan-tastic, performing shoeless in the 90-plus degree Friday heat. Again, I've no idea why more people aren't talking about them. Catchy songs that remind me of Belle & Sebastian, though I've read more comparisons to Arcade Fire (they're nowhere near as anthemic). Maybe it's because they're slow to release their debut, trickling out singles instead, like the wonderful "Fire Escape" of which I shot some video:
Did I mention how hot it was Friday? I compared it to friends back in New York as if the McCarren Pool parties in July took over an entire town. Pretty sure it hit 95. Energy-sucking heat. I headed back to the hotel for a while to cool off, sneak in a nap and shower.
The order of things is a bit confused in my head but at some point in the evening I went to some cheesy subterranean club called Prague (that probably only has music during SXSW) to see Fuck Buttons. Two guys, one with a hoodie pulled over his head, were hunched over either end of a long work table filled with makeshift gear, toy microphones, patch bays, etc. The first ten minutes or so were somewhat torturous, about as exciting as watching two dudes work on home electronics kits as a voluminous nonmelodic sludge was sprayed at the crowd from the soundsystem. But then the bearded one picked up drumsticks and began whacking at a floor com while screaming words into the toy microphone shoved into his mouth, while the hoodied guy jumped into the crowd and began spastically dancing and screaming into a real mike. Fuck Buttons' album, Street Horrrsing, isn't really my cup of tea, but I'd go see them live again. They're currently on tour with Caribou -- a double bill that's highly recommended. As are earplugs.
Most of Friday night was spent at the Sub Pop showcase at Bourbon Rocks: two stages, ten or so bands and most of them were good though it started off a bit shaky with New Zealand's Ruby Suns. I actually really like their new album, Sea Lion, but the many-membered band were only three or four strong here and were forced to trade off onto instruments they don't normally play (from what I could tell). The witch doctor hippy stagewear didn't help either. A disappointment. Much better were Seattle's Grand Archives who traffic in late-'60s / early-'70s rock and do it very well. Highlight of the set for me, though, was a medley of covers comprised of the Beegees' "I Started a Joke," the Zombies' "Care of Cell 44" and Gordon Lightfoot's "Sundown."
In a similar vein was Kelley Stoltz, though maybe slightly different reference points. I'm a big fan of his, take this with a grain of salt, but this was tied with Fanfarlo for best of the fest. Stoltz is a real charmer, very funny and knows how to tell a good story in between songs. His backing band is pretty ace -- including one of the coolest cats you've ever seen on bass, and a keyboardist who also rocked the theremin. Most of the set came from his great new album, Circular Sounds, but also "Birdies Singing" from 2005's Between the Branches which you might know from a Volvo commercial. I shot video of my favorite song from Circular Sounds, "To Speak to the Girl":
Sixties Night continued with Fleet Foxes whose impeccable four-part harmonies wowed just about everybody in the room. They were probably one of the most buzzed-about bands of SXSW. Outside, were some of Sub Pop's more raucous acts: Pissed Jeans and No Age, the later of whom provided my favorite quote of the trip.
To cap the night I headed down the street to see indie legends My Dad is Dead. Main (sole) member Mark Edwards has been doing MDID since the mid-80s and their excellent 1989 album The Taller You Are, The Shorter You Get (among others) does what Interpol made commercially viable, except he did it 14 years too early. (They're all available to download for free from the MDID website.) I had no idea, before SXSW, that Edwards was still performing under the name so it was kind of a thrill, as much as I liked his records back in the day. The current lineup is a trio, with Edwards on guitar and a tight rhythm section backing him. His setlist was mostly foreign to me, but they didn't really seem too sonically worse for wear. One of the monitors did start smoking three songs in...they've still got heat.
Whoa, the Wombats got really popular. Too popular to be at the Annex, where they played to a 3/4 filled room back in August. I'd venture to say the crowd was mostly Brits, mostly drunk out of their St. Patrick's Day minds, and mostly knew all the words to every song. It's pretty easy to do so with the shout-along choruses of UK hits like "Kill the Director," "Let's Dance to Joy Division" and "Lost in the Post."
Ducking out of the Mercury Lounge for a "smoke break" after El Guincho's set, I scrambled over to the Annex to find it packed to the gills, to the point where you literally had to fight your way through the crowd. Fun show, especially with this ready-for-it audience, but I think maybe the songs are wearing on me after hearing most of them for the last two years. It was so hot in there I couldn't take it anymore and left after six songs, heading back to Mercury for Cut Copy, and the only way people would let me past them was to shout "I need to get past to leave the club!"
The Wombats seemed to be everywhere at SXSW, playing to similarly psyched audiences and word on the street is they just signed to Roadrunner, who will hopefully be putting out their official debut on these shores as soon as possible. There's no doubt in my mind these guys could fill Bowery next time... or maybe somewhere bigger.
My first post was about bands in NYC on their way to SxSW, this one is about ones on their way back from Austin. People who actually went to Austin might be gigged out, but for the rest of us it's a wealth of options.
March 17 | Cut Copy + El Guincho+ The Fashion @ Mercury Lounge Potentially the best lineup of a very, very busy night. Australia's Cut Copy make great, New Order-y dance pop but the last time through (2005?) they relied way too much on backing tracks. But hopefully their live setup has changed since then. Also on the bill: Spain's El Guincho, who received the "Best New Music" tag a while back and comparisons to Panda Bear and Os Mutantes is not undeserved; and Denmark's The Fashion sound a little like The Rapture on their single "Like Knives," though other songs are more varied. Apparently they started as a joke but people took them seriously and they couldn't back out. Typical. Brooklyn's Holy Ghost are on the bill as well.
MP3: The Fashion - Like Knives March 17 | The Wombats @ The Annex I reviewed The Wombats only previous NYC show back in August and I thought they were a lot of fun. The same applies to their "official" debut, A Guide to Love, Loss and Desperation. (As opposed to their Japan only debut from a year earlier, which made my Best of 2006 list.) I even like them when their lyrics make me cringe, like when they use the word "romcom" or "Joy Division" in the chorus of a song. Big hooks. They're finally getting some push here in the States, if the four copies of their US debut EP that are littering my home are any indication. I think this show might be sold out but don't quote me on that. There are plenty of options this night.
March 17 | Duffy @ Hiro Ballroom Jeff at Heart on a Stick chided me for even mentioning this before -- she's a Welsh Pop Idol winner -- but I'm a sucker for stuff that's Dusty Springfield-esque, or even Lulu-esque. And much of Duffy's debut was co-written and produced by former Suede axeman Bernard Butler, so I think there's a modicum of credibility in there somewhere. That said, I didn't really even consider attending this show.
March 17 | Ed Harcourt @ Union Hall (tix) Ed Harcourt is one of those artists I've always liked but never put much stock in, though I was a big fan of his first album, Here Be Monsters. There have always been a few songs on every record, though, that I've liked, and he's always good live. The chance to see him in small venues is a real treat. In addition to the Union Hall show, he's also playing Mercury Lounge the next day.
MP3: Ed Harcourt - Born in the '70s March 17 | Ash @ Music Hall of Williamsburg (tix) It's amazing to think that Ash have been around for 16 years and main man Tim Wheeler is only 31. And, for the most part, Ash have released good albums their whole career, including last year's Twilight of the Innocents which the band have said will be their last full-length -- it's singles only for this new digital world. It's too bad Charlotte Hatherley is no longer with them but I've seen them with and without her, and shows are always quality.
March 17 | The Parisians @ Pianos
Don't know much about The Parisians beyond they're actually from Paris. But It's an option for the night if you really have to see some music and you can't get in Cut Copy, Wombats, Ed Harcourt, or Duffy.
March 19 | The Ting Tings + The Brunettes (tix)
Though Manchester's the Ting Tings are a relatively new band, members Katie White and Jules de Martino have been in the music biz for a while, each with their share of horror stories I'm sure. And the bitterness comes though a bit in their lyrics, which actually is a nice counterpoint to the sunny dance pop they make. I avoided listening to them for some time, maybe because of their name, but I have to admit that singles "Fruit Machine" and "That's Not My Name" are hard to dislike. The Union Hall show is with Kiwis the Brunettes and locals Kaiser Cartel (who are actually friends of mine) so all the more reason to go and go early. The Ting Tings also play the uber-trendy Le Royale on March 21... doesn't that sound horrible? MP3: The Ting Tings - Great DJ
March 20 | Jim Noir @ The Living Room Jim Noir was supposed to headline Bowery Ballroom back in December 2006 but the show never happened, much like all the other times he was supposed to play here so I'm taking this scheduled date with a grain of salt. Much has changed for Jim since then, mainly through two commercials: an Addias ad that used "Eanie Meanie" thatvran continuously through the last World Cup tv coverages, and "My Patch which got re-written for a Target Christmas spot. That said, though a lot of people might know th music, they probably don't know who sings the songs. And his new material is less Kinks-y and more electronic. The NYC show is part of The Living Room's 10th Anniversary extravaganza, and he's on the bill with about six other acts and there are no advance tickets. Which sounds like a hassle, but I have to say I'm curious what he's like live.
March 23 | The Ruby Suns @ Mercury Lounge (tix)
New Zealand doesn't seem to get as much attention as it did during the heyday of Flying Nun records (late '80s / early '90s) but they're still producing lots of good music, and not just of the comedy folk variety. I'm not exactly sure what to make of The Ruby Suns, who seem to be equally influenced by indie pop and Aboriginal music, apart from that I like it. The Merc show has them opening for DC's hyped Le Loup, and the Silent League are also on the bill. They also play Union Hall the very next night.
Maybe the crazy weather kept people away -- I saw more than one fallen tree -- but nonetheless a very good, if sparsely attended, show by School of Language at Cake Shop on Saturday night.
I got there super early, as I'd tried to go see Lightspeed Champion at Union Pool only to find it "sold out" though I'm guesing it was really "guestlisted out" as no one in their right minds would pay the $8 service charge on a $12 ticket that Ticketmaster was asking for this show. (Seriously, why does a venue this small not use Ticketweb? I love the actual room but the people running UP move further and further up my shitlist every time I [try to] see a show there.)No one seemed to actually be in performance room of Union Pool but there were easily 30 people waiting around to see if spots might open up. I said screw it, not wanting to risk School of Language selling out or something (no advanced tickets at all for Cake Shop) I just headed over there.
I was so early I caught their soundcheck and stuck around, well, because I had nothing else to do. It turned out I didn't need to go so early, but you never know in these situations and after being rebuked at Union Pool I didn't feel like chancing it. Which meant I caught all the bands on the bill. One was pretty good (Chicago's The Poison Arrows) in a Sonic Youth/Afgan Whigs sort of way, and the other... um... did a sloppy cover of Depeche Mode's "Enjoy the Silence" that was the most memorable point in their set.
Anyway, David Brewis and his ace hired band (drummer Ryan Rapsys, and bassist Doug McCombs) ruled the night. I always considered Field Music to be a pretty tight band, but when you've got two ringers in your band it's hard not to notice, especially when it's the rhythm section who always elevate (or lower) the quality of a show. "I can't believe these guys are here playing my songs," Brewis gushed but he's no slouch either, obviously. With only one, short, album the set was obviously brief, filled out a bit with a cover of Roxy Music's "If There is Something." Like the album, the show was bookended with the phonetic babble of "Rockist" songs (that babble being canned, via some sort of little mp3 device...I think), the first of which I shot video of:
Mar 10 - DC9 Washington DC, Washington DC
Mar 11 - Beachland Ballroom Cleveland, Ohio
Mar 12 - Sneaky Dee's Toronto, Ontario
Mar 13 - Pike Room (Crofoot) Pontiac, Michigan
Mar 14 - Empty Bottle Chicago, Illinois
Mar 15 - Scrummage University Detroit, Michigan
Mar 17 - John Waldron Arts Center Bloomington, Indiana
Mar 19 - Nectar Lounge Seattle, Washington
Mar 20 - Towne Lounge Portland, Oregon
Mar 21 - Hemlock Tavern San Francisco, California
Mar 22 - Spaceland Los Angeles, California
Mar 23 - Club Congress Tucson, Arizona
Mar 25 - Mohawk Austin, Texas
Mar 26 - TBA Norman, Oklahoma
Mar 27 - Record Bar Kansas City, Missouri
Mar 28 - Billiken Club St. Louis, Missouri
I would be remiss if I didn't mention this Friday's show at Mercury Lounge featuring two of New York's best "dream pop" bands (trying to avoid the S-word). Headliners 
Just in time for the Spring temperatures we're supposed to be getting this week, Nashville's lush 
The order of things is a bit confused in my head but at some point in the evening I went to some cheesy subterranean club called Prague (that probably only has music during SXSW) to see 
Most of Friday night was spent at the Sub Pop showcase at Bourbon Rocks: two stages, ten or so bands and most of them were good though it started off a bit shaky with New Zealand's Ruby Suns. I actually really like their new album, Sea Lion, but the many-membered band were only three or four strong here and were forced to trade off onto instruments they don't normally play (from what I could tell). The witch doctor hippy stagewear didn't help either. A disappointment. Much better were Seattle's 
In a similar vein was 
To cap the night I headed down the street to see indie legends 
Potentially the best lineup of a very, very busy night. Australia's 
I reviewed 
Jeff at 
It's amazing to think that 
Don't know much about 
Though Manchester's the 
New Zealand doesn't seem to get as much attention as it did during the heyday of Flying Nun records (late '80s / early '90s) but they're still producing lots of good music, and not just of the comedy folk variety. I'm not exactly sure what to make of 
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