Some New Tuneage

October 4, 2008

People are always asking me where I hear of all the weird and new stuff I listen to and talk about (by “people”, I mean “no one” and by “always”, I mean “never”–but go with it, ok?). Some of my sources are podcasts - specifically the Morning Becomes Eclectic series from KCRW and the WOXY Lounge Acts. They both feature live in-studio performances from (usually) indie bands, but you never truly know who will pop up.  The reason I like it is that it’s a great way to hear how the band’s sound translates into a live setting; sometimes, this can be quite the revelation.  For example, Black Kids played a very lackluster version of “I’m Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How to Dance” on Letterman, but their KCRW set actually sounded great.  The Elected had the opposite effect, sounding brutal in their appearance at WOXY.

Anyway, the reason I’m bringing it up now is to highlight two great performances I just heard on Morning Becomes Eclectic.  The first one was Dr. Dog, an alt-country/phychedelic-esque act from Philly who’s touring in support of a great new disc called Fate.  The other was from DeVotchKa, who you should remember from the Little Miss Sunshine soundtrack.  Recent highlights from WOXY include a phenomenal set by The Black Angels and, earlier in the year, Cursive.

subscribe to WOXY Lounge Acts.

subscribe to Morning Becomes Eclectic.

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Posted by klnussbaum

Shows, Shows, Shows

October 2, 2008

I managed to score a ticket to the indie wonderkids TV On The Radio a couple weeks ago (thank you, U of W and Kirk). TVotR is one of those bands that I should like very, very much but I actually don’t appreciate at all. Either I just don’t understand them or they’re overrated . . . hmm. Anyway, they have a much ballyhooed live show that I was hoping would win me over. Well, it didn’t. The band is fine, but they’re not really blowing me away. They played a bunch of new stuff which was again fine–just not awesome.

The next night was Black Rebel Motorcycle Club. I’ve been following these guys for years now, since I caught them opening for Spiritualized at Club Dada waaaaaaaaaaaaaay back in the day. That show was so good that I didn’t see them again for years. I was afraid of tainting the memory of it, and I didn’t like their new albums nearly as much as their debut. Last year’s Baby 81 redeemed them, and I happily caught them at Bumbershoot 2007 as well. Once again, they delivered. It was a shockingly good three hour set that still left me with a list of songs they didn’t play. That, my friends, is the sign of a good band.

If you follow my Twitter, you know that I was incredibly amped for the Toadies.  It wasn’t just me, though - I was crammed into the Showbox with a crowd of people that didn’t think this would ever happen again. (The Toadies have been broken up for longer than they were together).  I’ve seen a lot of shows — a lot — but I’ve never been to one where you could tell that the crowd has been waiting ten years to hear a band whose CD’s they’ve had to replace at least twice due to overuse.  One would think that there was no way a band could meet such wildly high expectations, but let me just say:  met and exceeded, my faithful readers.  They sounded great; the new material fit right into the canon and the old stuff sounded as good as ever.  This show easily rocketed towards the top of my all time list.  If The Toadies make it to your neck of the woods, GO. 

My month finished with the Cold War Kids last Monday.  They’re also promoting a new disc, Loyalty to Loyalty.  It’s a great follow-up to Robbers and Cowards.  Their sound matured and progressed without losing their ethos (I’m talking to you, The Killers, Bloc Party, and Kings of Leon).  My favorite part of their act is that they’re four guys on a stage that only sound like four guys.  They don’t create a massive wall of sound (Muse); they all have a part and they play it with a minimum of excess and a maximum of timing.  CWK have been constantly touring for 3 or 4 years and it shows in a big way.  They’re the perfect combination of loose but very very tight.

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One Last Post About Sasquatch

June 14, 2008

This is going to be titled “The Cure Memorial List” since there is no mystery who my favorite band of the festival was.

1.  Cold War Kids - I needed this one to be really good, because my expectation were sky high.  The LA boys delivered.

2.  The National - i’ve seen them twice already in the past 10 months, but this one was also special.  They had a great set time during the sunset.  Gorgeous music in a gorgeous setting.

3.  Awesome - Hilarious, witty, theatrical, great musicianship.  great local band that deserves more national attention.

4.  R.E.M. - Michael Stipe and co. showed why they’ve been around for so long.  Delivered amazing set, delving WAAAAY back into their catalog, and bravely played in the pouring rain.

5.  Michael Franti and Spearhead - delivered the line of the fest, singing “There is life in this love and love in this life” over and over while the sun was setting in the Gorge.  Amazing.

6.  The New Pornographers (with Neko Case!!!) - I love the Canadian supergroup TNP, but i haven’t seen them with Neko Case before.  She added her perfect sultry voice and slid right into the lineup like she’s always there.

7.  Fleet Foxes - they’re bringing 3, 4, and 5 part harmonies back, along with a stage full of instruments and really bitchin’ beards.

8.  Destroyer - Dan Bejar is a weird guy.  Awesome, but weird.

9-76: Everybody else.

Disappointment of the Fest: Death Cab for Cutie.  Their show was fine, but not really notable.

Band I Hadn’t Followed But Now Will:  (tie) Fleet Foxes and Awesome.

Celebrity Sighting:  Rainn Wilson (Dwight from NBC’s The Office)

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Posted by klnussbaum

The Cure @ Sasquatch

June 2, 2008

Sasquatch

(pic courtesy of Brooklyn Vegan)

ahh, The Cure.  I’m not sure why i love them so, but that’s a question for another time.  Suffice it to say that I am a HUGE fan, to the tune of buying tickets for this show the first day they were available, before i even knew how the festival worked (or how i would get there).

So, i was down in the very front of the stage, packed in like a smelly sardine, of course.  I was about 10 people back from where Simon Gallup would end up being.   As the first notes of “Underneath the Stars” began, i was as giddy as a school girl.  Robert Smith is AMAZING.  They played a total of 31 songs with virtually no talking to the crowd or each other, and they dug DEEP into their catalog.

Show highlights:  Fascination Street (my fave Cure song), Killing An Arab (2nd encore closer), One Hundred Years, and The End of The World.

setlist:  Underneath The Stars, Prayers For Rain, A Night Like This, The End of the World, Lovesong, To Wish Impossible Things, Pictures Of You, Lullaby, Fascination Street, The Perfect Boy, Hot Hot Hot, alt.end, Sleep When I’m Dead, Push, Inbetween Days, Just Like Heaven, A Letter To Elise, From the Edge of the Deep Green Sea, The Only One, The Walk, Shake Dog Shake, Never Enough, Wrong Number, One Hundred Years, Baby Rag Dog Book

1st encore: A Forest
2nd encore: Boys Don’t Cry, Jumping Someone Else’s Train, Grinding Halt, 10:15 Saturday Night, Killing An Arab

Some of my pics are here, and i’ll get some links to others too.

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Sasquatch Recap, Day 2

June 2, 2008

After REM, i wandered back to my tent. Despite the rain, it was pleasantly dry. The campground, which is normally quite active late at night was understandably mellow and so i got right to sleep. of course, i was woken up at 5:30am by the high school seniors that had set up about 35 feet away from us. They were happily plastered, and telling everyone at the top of their lungs. They ran out of steam after about 30 minutes, so i was able to get a couple more hours of sleepytime before getting up.

We hit the festival promptly at 12 so i could catch the first show of the day, Seattle natives Awesome!. My friend Kirk knows a couple of them, and he’s been bugging me to catch them live. They completely lived up to their name - watch for a very high place on my Top Ten list next post.

After them, it was a quick trip to catch The Morning Benders, then 2 songs of 65 Days of Static, part of What Made Milwaukee Famous, The Heavenly States, and then the COLD WAR KIDS!!! i’ve been a huge fan of them and made sure to be down in front for that show, which was GREAT. Sound on the Sound picked them as the #1 “got to see” and they lived up to the hype for sure. Nathan is a scary good vocalist, and the other boys were great. They invited The Delta Spirit on stage to close out their set with a raukus version of I Radio Heaven fave “Saint John.”

After that, it was back to the Wookie Stage for White Rabbits, then back for Tegan and Sara, then Rogue Wave and Mates of State. I wanted to see The Kooks, but decided to get into the crowd of Michael Franti and Spearhead at the Main Stage so that i could establish my place in the front for The Cure. This turned out to be the best decision i made all weekend, as Spearhead was the definite surprise of the fest. I hadn’t heard anything by them before, but i was very impressed with his showmanship and performance.

Death Cab was next. I was pretty excited about this show since i really like the direction the new album took. The crowd was insane, as you might imagine. it was a wall-to-wall mash of tweeners and The Cure fans that were there to suffer through DCFC to keep their up-front spot. DCFC was good, but not great. i was hoping the new songs would have more depth to them live, but they really just sort of slid right into their set without calling attention to themselves. Ben Gibbard is obviously getting more and more comfortable on stage; i think this is the most interactive i’ve seen him (except for his solo show). They had a cherry timeslot, too. There are some fantastic pics of them as the sun is setting behind them. I have some links to a few of them, but i’ll throw mine up for now.

Next: The Cure!!!

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Sasquatch Recap, Day 1 (the long version)

June 2, 2008

so, i’ve spent the last week basking in a post-Sasquatch glow.  The festival exceeded every expectation that I brought with me, and that was before we even got onto the actual grounds.  So AMAZING!

(Sasquatch is a three-day festival that is held over Memorial Day weekend every year at The Gorge in George, WA.  It’s a natural amphitheater that overlooks a gorge created by God and the Columbia River, so the views are stunning.  It’s a perfect place to see music)

I went up there with a couple friends from work and then met my friend Kirk there too.  We pulled into our campsite (yep - i camped. in a tent and everything!), set up everything and when Kirk finally got there, walked (about 3/4 of a mile) to the front gate and started listening to the tunes.  I missed Beruit (sad), but caught Fleet Foxes, Destroyer (Dan Bejar of The New Pornographers), The New Pornographers (including Neko Case!!!!!!!!), M.I.A., Grand Archives (ex-member of Band of Horses), Okkervil River, The National (woooooooooooooooooo!), and R.E.M., who were, as expected, EXCELLENT.  It was spitting rain on and off all day, but it really started during the last couple songs of The National and by the time R.E.M. took the statge, it was full out raining.  As the band walked on stage, Peter Buck slipped and fell and my first thought was “Crap.  They’re going to play three songs and quit.”  Happily, they endured.  Stipe is a fantastic stage presence - witty and comfortable.  They played a great combination of stuff from the new album and several old favorites, as well as some rarities.

Here’s the setlist:

1. Living Well Is the Best Revenge
2. What’s The Frequency, Kenneth? (***great!)
3. These Days
4. Drive
5. Accelerate
6. Auctioneer
7. Man-Sized Wreath
8. Ignoreland
9. Hollow Man
10. Life and How To Live It
11. Houston
12. Losing My Religion
13. Harborcoat
14. The One I Love
15. Final Straw
16. Let Me In
17. Horse To Water
18. Bad Day
19. Walk Unafraid
20. I’m Gonna DJ
21. Orange Crush
22. Supernatural Superserious
23. Man on The Moon

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You Missed It

May 23, 2008

It’s going to be a very good musical week for me, seeing my top 4 artists of the past two or three years.  Tuesday, as I said, was the Margot and the Nuclear So and So’s show.  (my local readers completely blew it by not attending)  I hadn’t ever seen them live, or for that matter, a good picture of them, so i found myself standing next to someone who looked like he might be in the band during the opener’s (Mike Bloom, formerly in Rilo Kiley and The Elected.  bit of a Buckley-esque vibe at times.  very, very good) set.  plus, someone asked him for an autograph.  That’s always a hint.  i introduced myself and discovered that, yep - he’s the lead singer.  great.

anyway, they were amazing.  there’s 8 of them in the band, and they crammed onto the tiny stage with no room to spare.  they’re pushing a new album that will be released this fall, so there was a good mix of new songs with old stuff from their debut, The Dust of Retreat.

Saturday morning, i’m off to Sasquatch!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  The Cure, REM, Grizzly Bear, The National, Cold War Kids, Beruit . . . the list could go on and on.

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Posted by klnussbaum

Margot Is Coming!!!!1!!111!1!!!

May 13, 2008

so, there’s this band that i’m fairly obsessed with (i know-shocker, right?) called Margot and the Nuclear So and So’s.  They’re named after Margot Tenenbaum, and they make music based on how they feel after watching Woody Allen films (that last part may or may not be true).  Pretentious much?  But, they’re brilliant enough for their debut album, The Dust of Retreat, be my number one of 2006.  Anyway, they’ll be here in town — at Chop Suey — on May 20th, and i HIGHLY recommend checking it out if you’re a local.

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Yeasayer Plays Jools Holland

April 20, 2008

Yeasayer paid a wonderful visit to Later with Jools Holland, and since I am your friend, you can watch them perform “Sunrise” below.

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Posted by klnussbaum

Bumbershoot Lineup Revealed!

April 9, 2008

So far, it seems like this is the weakest it’s been in the three festivals we’ve been here for.  Five bucks says Scott Weiland is in rehab and misses the STP show, anyway.

Beck, Stone Temple Pilots, Lucinda Williams, Neko Case, Ingrid Michaelson, Del Tha Funky Homosapien, Jakob Dylan, !!!, Lee “Scratch” Perry, Saul Williams, Joe Bonamassa, M. Ward, The Walkmen, Asylum St. Spankers, Dan Deacon, MIDIval PunditZ, Blitzen Trapper, Bedouin Soundclash, Tim Finn, Dale Watson, John Vanderslice, Final Fantasy, The Fall of Troy, Orgone, Forro in the Dark, Ryan Bingham, Wreckless Eric & Amy Rigby, Arthur & Yu, Darondo and Nino Moschella, and Pacifika.

Beck and Final Fantasy will be great, as well as M. Ward (possibly a She and Him surprise?) and Nedo Case.

and, that’s it, so far.

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