Archive
Bad Veins “Dancing on TV” (video premiere)
Secret Chiefs 3 & Dengue Fever reviews/setlists/photos from the Eugene & Portland gigs to be
posted tomorrow (Thursday 2/9). Go here for a teaser… now on to some music news…
As previously mentioned, Cincinnati indie power-pop duo Bad Veins have a new album coming out soon… April 24th – The Mess We’ve Made (Modern Outsider Records). They just released their video for “Dancing on TV,” featuring a quaint 70s retro vision and the Bad Veins signature move of girl-meets-boy and missed connections… ’tis quite cute:
Pre-order for The Mess We’ve Made is coming soon, per the label. Bad Veins are not hitting my coast this time… but here are some of their spring tour dates:
Bad Veins 2012 Tour Dates
03/19 – Denver, CO @ Hi Dive *
03/20 – Kansas City, MO @ The Riot Room *
03/21 – Minneapolis, MN @ Varsity Theater *
03/22 – Dekalb, IL @ The House *
03/23 – Chicago, IL @ Bottom Lounge *
03/24 – Madison, WI @ Majestic Lounge *
03/25 – Iowa City, IA @ The Blue Moose Tap *
03/27 – Bloomington, IN @ Bluebird Nightclub *
03/28 – Louisville, KY @ Headliner’s Music Hall *
03/29 – Nashville, TN @ Exit/ In *
03/30 – Birmingham, AL @ Bottletree *
03/31 – Atlanta, GA @ The Masquerade *
04/02 – Tampa, FL @ Crowbar *
04/03 – Miami, FL @ Bardot *
04/04 – Orlando, FL @ The Social *
04/05 – Columbia, SC @ New Brookland Tavern *
04/07 – Durham, NC @ Motorco *
04/10 – Baltimore, MD @ Sonar *
04/11 – Pawtucket, RI @ The Met Café *
04/12 – Hamden, CT @ The Space *
04/13 – Philadelphia, PA @ Milkboy
04/14 – Annapolis, MA @ The Whiskey
04/15 – Allston, MA @ Great Scott
04/16 – New York, NY @ Mercury Lounge
05/31 – Dallas, TX @ House of Blues ^
06/01 – Austin, TX @ Stubbs BBQ ^
06/04 – Orlando, FL @ Beacham Theater ^
06/05 – Ft. Lauderdale, FL @ Revolution ^
06/06 – Tampa, FL @ The Ritz ^
06/10 – Atlanta, GA @ The Masquerade ^
06/11 – Carrboro,NC @ Cat’s Cradle ^
06/12 – Baltimore, MD @ Ram’s Head Live! ^
* = w/ We Were Promised Jetpacks
^ = w/ Two Door Cinema Club
~Dan – np: Sean Lennon – Rosencrantz & Guildenstern are Undead
Wussy to embark on 2012 West Coast tour (needs help)
Cincinnati dusty indie rock quartet Wussy are going to hit the West Coast for the first time in June. Their latest album, Strawberry, is EXCELLENT, and it is going to be available as a limited edition vinyl for Record Store Day 2012. They’ve made a map for their tour in June, now they need our help…
We’ve just posted the itinerary for our first ever west coast tour in the events section here on FB. In case it wasn’t obvious, we do pretty much everything ourselves here in Wussyland and we need your help. We’ve never played most of these cities and whatever help you can give in finding appropriate venues and contacts we’d really appreciate it. In order to keep this a little more organized post your info in the event for the actual city we’re playing. We’re coming, we just need to figure out where!
~Dan – np: MadLove – White With Foam
Tenacious D – Rize of the Fenix
Tenacious D confirmed on Friday 2/3 that the band – actors Jack Black and Kyle Gass – is in fact working on a follow-up to the Pick of Destiny, which was released back in 2006 to not-so-critical acclaim. It will be titled Rize of the Fenix (website with teaser clip).
Assuming this album is more like their debut (in 2001) and not so much like PoD, this may be some of the best music news of the year.
~Dan – np: Buckethead – Electric Sea
Puscifer “Telling Ghosts” (official video)
The official David Lynch-ian video for Puscifer “Telling Ghosts” is now posted on their official YouTube account…
It was shot by Tim Cadiente (Barton Perreira) and Meats Meier (3D Art Space) and edited by Mat Mitchell (Puscifer
). The video brings me right back to seeing them in Seattle in November 2011 (review with photos here).
Get the amazing album, Puscifer’s Conditions Of My Parole, over HERE.
~Dan – np: Frank Zappa – Them Or Us
Mandala (a musical palindrome) by Daniel Starr-Tambor
File this under math music… maybe not as odd/arty as John Cage’s Slow Music project, but still a bit ethereal…
Mandala (a musical palindrome) by Daniel Starr-Tambor
With more than 62 vigintillion individual notes, “Mandala” is the longest palindrome in existence. Composed using the first nine partials of the Natural Harmonic Series repeating at the accelerated tempos of our solar system, Mandala would continue without repetition for over 532.25 septendecillion years. In homage to “Art of the Fugue” by J.S. Bach, “Mandala” has been crafted to include the “musical signature” of its author: the stereo imaging is arranged to reflect the exact position of the solar system at the moment of his birth, from the perspective of the Sun as it faces the constellation Libra, so that each note chronicles his birthday on every planet.
Have a great weekend!
~Dan – np: Damien Jurado – Maraqopa
new Ben Folds Five album by spring 2012?
Will there be a new BFF record?
Well, yes, based on Ben Folds’ twitter, Ben Folds Five is in the studio working on a new album with Darren Jessee and Robert Sledge that may hit as soon as spring!! Ben must be on break from NBC’s The Sing Off… this news makes me happy!
~Dan – np: Damien Jurado – Maraqopa
The Chance Brothers “Ruby”
One of my good friends from Cincinnati, Ashley Peacock, is back in the saddle making music again. His new band is called the Chance Brothers (Ash is “Butch Chance” and Todd Gilbert is “Bobby Chance”). The recorded their debut album over the holidays, and they just released the first single online – “Ruby.”
Check it out here:
Their album will come out in 2012… Follow them here:
If you’re in the Cincinnati area, they play the 86 Club on Saturday, January 28th (FB Event).
~Dan – np: Frank Zappa & Captain Beefheart – Bongo Fury
EARTH’s Dylan Carlson – Wonders from the House of Albion
The frontman from sludge/drone/doom metal pioneer’s EARTH is coming out with a solo album via Kickstarter…
(Dylan on the far left)
Dylan Carlson is creating his first major solo project outside of earth. There will be a limited edition lp/dvd/book and cd/dvd/book (500 of each format) and a special pressing of 150 copies (lp only) with personalized ex libris by Simon Fowler (who will also do the cover and end papers). The illustrations will be by Kiyo Lappalainen. The limited edition books will be pop-up style. There will also be an open edition with regular flat printing in a cd booklet and flat lp printing.
The recording will combine field recordings from various megalithic and other sites of human/fairy encounters across the UK, also the use of ritual and folkloric magical practices. The expedition will be filmed by Clyde Petersen. These recordings will be layered with Dylan’s interpretations of classic Scotch-English ballads about human/fairy encounters from early modern England and Scotland (15th-18th century). It will also feature guest vocalists to sing the songs.
This is not being done through a label, as earth’s output has, but is a labor of love/obsession of Dylan’s. Being primarily of Scotch-English descent, this is an historical journey to his personal and cultural past, embracing music/folklore/the occult dimension and history. This is also result of personal experience’s of ‘the other side’. His blog has details, if interested. The field recordings will be accomplished in April-May of 2012. The rest of the recording/mastering will be finished in summer and early fall, the artwork is an ongoing process, already begun. Dylan is planning to have it all done for a May 2013 release. Join in the restoration of magic, a return to a world of spirits. Where all objects have a will of their own and a language they speak in, and we have learned how to speak with them again. It will be titled “Coleman Grey presents Falling with a Thousand Stars and Other Wonders from the House of Albion.”
You can join in on the Kickstarter HERE. Despite the May 2013 release date, this project needs funding by February 12th, 2012.
~Dan – np: Frank Zappa – Burnt Weeny Sandwich
Over the Rhine on The Portland Sessions
Last November, Cincinnati-based folk-Americana band Over the Rhine stopped by Portland, Oregon. Their show at the Aladdin Theater on 11/17 is recounted at my post HERE.
From the stage, singer Karin Bergquist mentioned that they had stopped by and recorded in-studio with The Portland Sessions. TPS wasn’t up and running yet, but it is now posted… enjoy all 26 minutes!
They play “The King Knows How” (dedicated to Elvis), “Oh Yeah by the Way,” the new song that I’m unofficially calling “On The Sacred Ground,” the Good Dog Bad Dog classic “Latter Days,” and end it with a Q&A.
Follow Over the Rhine: WEB / FB / Tw
Follow The Portland Sessions: WEB / FB / Tw
~Dan – np: Year of the Rabbit – Year of the Rabbit
Damien Jurado – Static To Be Sold @ Pickathon (7″ release)
The first session posted and the last session recorded from Pickathon 2011, Seattle-based singer-songwriter Damien Jurado and his new band take us through “Static To Be Sold” recorded by Live & Breathing in the Pickathon Pumphouse:
Per Damien, the song won’t be on the record, but will be out on a 7″ vinyl…
https://twitter.com/damienjurado/status/154258706962456579
https://twitter.com/damienjurado/status/154257729492488192
https://twitter.com/damienjurado/status/154284366703493120
On February 21, Secretly Canadian will be releasing the upcoming Damien Jurado LP, Maraqopa, another collaboration with musician/producer and Cottage Grove-Oregon resident, Richard Swift.
Go HERE for more info on Maraqopa. You can pre-order it HERE on CD or vinyl. There’s also a free mp3 download of “Nothing is the News” here:
~Dan – np: Wussy – Funeral Dress
Nellie McKay’s New Year’s Eve… MURDER?!
New Nellie McKay video for “What Are You Doing New Year’s Eve?” (by Frank Loesser)…
Oh no, don’t do it, Nellie!
Regarding Nellie, she’s hitting the road in early 2012 with her new show I Want To Live! Catch it if it comes nearby! I’m hitting Eugene and Portland!
- 1/25 – Minneapolis, MN Dakota
- 1/26 – Minneapolis, MN Dakota
- 2/9 – Lafayette, IN Duncan Hall
- 2/10 – Elgin, IL Elgin Community College Arts Center
- 2/11 – Elgin, IL Elgin Community College Arts Center
- 2/12 – Louisville, KY Bomhard Theater
- 2/25 – Park City, UT Eccles Center
- 2/28 – San Francisco, CA Rrazz Room
- 2/29 – San Francisco, CA Rrazz Room
- 3/2 – Eugene, OR Shedd Institute
- 3/3 – Kirkland, WA Kirkland Performing Arts Center
- 3/4 – Portland, OR Alberta Rose Theatre
- 3/7 – Chico, CA Laxson Auditorium
- 3/8 – Santa Cruz, CA Kuumbwa Jazz Center
- 3/9 – Hollywood, CA Catalina Jazz Club
Happy New Year to all ~157,000 page viewers this year (bots included). See you all in 2012!
~Dan – np: Ani DiFranco – Which Side Are You On?
Chevelle’s “Face to the Floor” (video)
Chevelle’s new album, Hats Off to the Bull, is a hard rock masterpiece. The video for “Face to the Floor” was released yesterday…
~Dan – np: Various Artists – Pacificlectic 2011 Mix (free)
Glen Phillips “The Next Day” (free download)
On Wednesday, Glen Phillips (from Toad the Wet Sprocket) released a free download of a new song, “The Next Day.” Go get it on his bandcamp site…
http://glenphillips.bandcamp.com/track/the-next-day-2
From the 12/13/11 show at Soho in Santa Barbara. Closest I will make it to a holiday song this year. More of an OWS support ditty with a seasonal reference in the chorus… Be happy, be well.
Also, rest in peace, Christopher Hitchens. You were great. God is Not Great.
~Dan – np: Wussy – Strawberry
MTA Music by Alexander Chen
This falls under a fun experiment in music… Alexander Chen turns the New York subway system into an interactive string instrument. Using the NYC Mass Transit Authority’s actual subway schedule, the piece begins in real-time by spawning trains which departed in the last minute, then continues accelerating through a 24 hour loop. The visuals are based on Massimo Vignelli’s 1972 diagram.
Related, here’s a the London tube map created by Kyle Bean in colorful (colourful) drinking straws…
click for more
~Dan – np: Florence + the Machine – Ceremonials
Derek Webb – Democracy Vol 2 #9
One a month, from March to December 2011…
Derek Webb’s Democracy Vol 2… This month, it is “Falling Slowly” by The Swell Season. It starts out not as expected, a little more rough around the edges compared to the original. I love this song, though – and I think Derek does it justice.
For those not in the know, Democracy Vol 2 is a continuation of the covers project Derek started last year. The fans get to nominate songs and then vote once the nominations are tallied. Here’s what he’s done in 2010 and 2011 to date (you can still go back and buy this volume):
- January 2010: The Beatles – While My Guitar Gently Weeps
- February: Coldplay – Fix You
- March: Bob Dylan – The Times They Are A-Changin’
- April: Gnarls Barkley – Who’s Gonna Save My Soul
- May: Sufjan Stevens – Chicago *a personal fave*
- June: U2 – Where the Streets Have No Name
- July: Huey Lewis & the News – Power of Love
- August: The Beatles – Eleanor Rigby *a personal fave*
- September: Simon & Garfunkel – The Sound of Silence
- October: Radiohead – Karma Police *a personal fave*
- November: Leonard Cohen – Hallelujah
- December: Robert Robinson (traditional hymn) – Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing
- January 2011: off
- February: off
- March: Cee-Lo Green – F**k You *a personal fave*
- April: Bon Jovi – Livin’ On A Prayer
- May: The Beach Boys – God Only Knows
- June: U2 – One
- July: Dallán Forgaill (traditional hymn) – Be Thou My Vision
- August: Simon & Garfunkel – Bridge Over Troubled Water
- September: The Beatles – Revolution *a personal fave*
- October: Rich Mullins – Creed
- November: The Swell Season – Falling Slowly
~Dan – np: Childish Gambino – Camp
Democracy Vol. 2 is a series of subscription based albums of cover songs that Derek will be recording annually, starting January 2010. Those who participate will not only receive the exclusive album, but will democratically decide what songs Derek will record.
Ever wished you could hear Derek cover your favorite Beatles song? Or Backstreet Boys song? Or even re-record your favorite old Caedmon’s Call song? Here’s your chance. Songs will be nominated and voted down to 10. Derek will record them (demo quality) and deliver them digitally (320kbps MP3s), one song per month for 10 months (March to December). Don’t miss your chance to be part of this unique collaborative project with Derek Webb!
Radiohead to release “The Daily Mail” & “Staircase” next week
Radiohead will be releasing the tracks “The Daily Mail” and “Staircase” next week. They were recorded during The King Of Limbs sessions, but did not end up on Radiohead’s latest album. Both tracks were included in this year’s live performances, as well as their upcoming DVD/Blu-ray – The King Of Limbs: From The Basement.
New French based music service Deezer.com (comparable to Spotify) are rolling out their services in 200 countries in the coming months and a new Radiohead single surfaced, entitled, ‘The Daily Mail & Staircase’. Cover art is included, expect the tracks don’t stream till the release date: December 19th.
Amazon.com has the mp3/digital download single online as well now, listed for $1.98 with the same release date. Here are “The Daily Mail” and “Staircase” from Radiohead’s From The Basement session:
~Dan – np: The Beastie Boys – Hot Sauce Committee Part 2
John Zorn – Composer Portrait Preview (NYC 12/9)
Avant-garde composer John Zorn has a “Composer Portrait” performance coming up at the Miller Theatre in NYC on December 9, 2011. Here’s a video composer portrait preview…
I always enjoy him talking about his process… of the “people who love what I do and people who hate what I do,” I’m in the love crowd. He’s definitely not for everyone. But if you dig avant-garde, experimental composed music and live near NYC – I’d highly recommend this show!
~Dan – np: Chevelle – Hats Off to the Bull
Black Friday / Cyber Monday – Support Indie Music
Update 11/25: Black Friday & Cyber Monday music-loving shoppers… support indie music by supporting Ric Hordinski’s new Kickstarter – Arthur’s Garden. He has 6 days left and need has around $2k left to get it funded.
Guitarist extraordinaire Ric Hordinski has been a favorite of mine for a LONG TIME. He’s the kind of guitarist who is subtle and unassuming in his approach, but you end up wracking your brain how he gets such lush and complex sounds out of the frets. I’ve seen him many times (Monk, Over the Rhine, Kim Taylor, Ellery, solo), and sometimes I wish I was back in Cincinnati, just to see his intimate Monastery shows.
Well, late last week, he announced a way that even those not in SW Ohio can help him make his next record… behold another Kickstarter than I think is worth specific highlighting:
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/609278336/arthurs-garden
(watch Ric’s personal video about the project)
About This Project
I’ve been trying to play guitar for over 30 years now. Really, 30 years. It’s been long love-affair, with highs and lows, rich times and lean. The guitar was my doorway into Music. That Music has taken me around the world, it has accompanied me through joy, laughter and tears: as well as allowing me to share the stage with an amazingly varied group of people: Johnny Cash and Moby, Bruce Cockburn and the Indigo Girls, Bob Dylan and Over The Rhine. Through it all, I’ve generally said what I had to say with the Electric Guitar. It’s smaller and a lot less fragile, if you know what i mean…
A couple of years ago I toured playing guitar for one of the great guitarists of our generation, Phil Keaggy. The record we were touring required me to dust off my classical and steel string acoustic guitar chops. This was more challenging (and rewarding) than I could have imagined.The influence of that music and tour on this recording was enormous and I think it planted a seed in me to try my hand at one of the most demanding kind of recordings i could make- one centered around the simple sound of strings vibrating a tiny little cathedral of wood: The Acoustic Guitar.
So, here i am!
I’m joined on this journey by several friends and collaborators. Michael Wilson will be documenting the process with both still and moving images. Grammy Winning Designer Greg Sylvester has signed on to design the art and packaging. I’ll have Josh Seurkamp, David LaBruyere, Dan Dorff and couple of lovely surprise guests (to be announced soon…) I’d love for you to take an even bigger part in the process than you usually do. We’re documenting the recording and mixing and will have a home-spun DVD available as well as some other surprise. Please join me on this journey!
He’s trying to raise $4,500 by the of the month. Take a gander at his site, and if you like what you hear, consider helping him out! For as little a $10, you can make a difference and get some great music in return.
Ric’s records stand out in my collection, and I’m stoked to be a part of making the next one a possibility.
~Dan – np: Ahleuchatistas – Location Location
My Brightest Diamond “High Low Middle” video (#OWS)
Perhaps the new music video for “High Low Middle” from My Brightest Diamond is an unofficial theme song for the Occupy Wall Street movement (albiet unintentional – as it was in the can long before #OWS)… directed by Murat Eyuboglu, filmed in Detroit and featuring dancers from RunJitRun and Jitting Jesus:
When you’re privileged you don’t even know you’re privileged
When you’re not, you know
When you’re happy you don’t even know you’re happy
When you’re not, you know
full lyrics (link)
Fellow Detroit musician Blue Stahli makes an appearance in the video. If he or (*gasp*) labelmate Celldweller remixed some MBD tunes, that would be RAD as HELL! Afternoon Update: Blue Stahli responded with a “Funny you should say that…” twitter reply. Nice!
More MBD Stuff:
- There’s a 9-10 minute session with Shara/MBD on NPR’s All Things Considered right HERE.
- Check out my 11/5 review of the MBD show at Mississippi Studios in Portland Oregon right HERE.
- I’d also highly recommend you pick up her latest album, All Things Will Unwind… it’s right HERE (and amazing).
~Dan – np: Medeski Scofield Martin & Wood – In Case the World Changes Its Mind
Damien Jurado – Maraqopa (Feb 2012)
From Secretly Canadian’s blog…
We are so, so excited to tell you that a new Damien Jurado record is going to be released on February 21st! It’s called Maraqopa, and we are sharing the first song with you, “Nothing is the News,” today.
Welcome to Maraqopa population, 2. Damien Jurado’s newest collaboration with producer Richard Swift drops us into a brutal and benevolent landscape. The bold strokes and new turns the pair made with 2010′s Saint Bartlett are taken even further. He throws open the gate on his oft insular dirges and allows them do some real wilding out in the canyon. In Maraqopa, the vistas are miles-wide; the action is more dynamic; the close-ups sweaty and snarling. The strummed desert blues that begin “Nothing is the News” quickly bursts open into an Eddie Hazel-worthy supernova shred session, all of it swirling in tinny-psych and Echoplex’d howls. We’ve never heard anything like this from Jurado.
Read more at the SC blog. You can pre-order it HERE on CD or vinyl.
Listen to (and download the mp3 for) the lead-off track “Nothing is the News” here:
Maraqopa Tracklisting:
1. Nothing is the News
2. Life Away from the Garden
3. Maraqopa
4. This Time Next Year
5. Reel to Reel
6. Working Titles
7. Everyone a Star
8. So On, Nevada
9. Museum of Flight
10. Mountains Still Asleep
Also announced was a “phone booth” that you can presumably call in and leave Damien a message:
Maraqopa phonebooth (425) 234-7859
This number has been set up for you to call anytime of the day. The distorted sound of a piano will play, and then you leave a message. This is a voice mail service, no human will answer.
I have no idea what the purpose of this phone booth may be… I dare you to call in an order of take out.
~Dan – np: Causing A Tiger – How We Held Our Post
-Eyvind Kang
-Frank Zappa
Amazon.com mp3 downloads
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