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Radiohead, Italian Mountain Jazz & Tagaq-Patton
Three unrelated music things that turned my crank (the good way) this week…
Radiohead‘s new, technologically-bitchin’* video for “House of Cards“:
*– that’s the technical term. The video was created without the use of a camera.. at all.
Update 7/19/08: The Radiohead video (above) is now downloadable for free from Radiohead’s Dead Air Space blog HERE.
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Check out where jazz trio Dave Douglas, Donny McCaslin, and Luis Bonilla got to play (Rifugio Antermoia, Trentino, Italy – July 10, 2008 – photo by Max Bacchin):
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And now for a fun, experimental collaboration between art-noise rocker Mike Patton and Inuit throat singer Tanya Tagaq.
The song is called “Fire-Ikuma,” and it’s from Tagaq’s upcoming album, Auk~Blood. There was an external link to an mp3 sample of the songs… alas, it’s been removed. :( Anyway, it’s a good song… especially if you like experimental, world music with a throat music (or Mike Patton) slant.
Tagaq’s Official Page
Tagaq’s MySpace Page
~Dan – np: Radiohead – In Rainbows
REVIEW: Bill Mallonee of the Vigilantes of Love @ Cozmic Pizza (Eugene, OR – – 7/14/08)
I showed up just as the opener, The Old Believers, was going on. Their first few songs were just a girl-n-guy folk thing. Later they added two friends (one on keys, one on bass). They branched out into a very fun, very catchy quirky folk ensemble. Great for fans of Sufjan Stevens or Daniel Smith (ie- Danielson Familie). They played right around 30-40 minutes. I gave all of my remaining cash to Bill Mallonee/Muriah Rose; otherwise I’d have picked up one of their CDs. Anyway, The Old Believers… GREAT STUFF. Formerly from Alaska, currently from Portland, OR. Check ’em out on MySpace… The Old Believers (not just Old Believers).
Bill Mallonee and his wife Muriah Rose came on around 10pm… and they played for about an hour (which was a good amount for a Monday night). This was my 9th time seeing Bill (sometimes with a band, Vigilantes of Love, sometimes solo, and sometimes as a solo artist with a band – not VOL). I’d primarily seen him in the Midwest (OH, KY, IL, IN). Probably my favorite time seeing him was on the 1999 Audible Sigh tour with Kenny Hutson on slide guitar and Jake Bradley on bass (and some fuzzy dude on drums, I’m forgetting his name). Anyway, last night’s show, while way stripped down, had a really good intimate feel. This is probably due to it being my first time seeing him with his wife play with him (she sang backing vocals and played keyboard). They had good chemistry, and they played a great mix of songs.
Oh, for any VOL-heads, there’s now a 4th version of Audible Sigh :) I didn’t pick it up, as I think I had everything from it (Room Despair -EP- plus demos from the AS sessions & maybe some live from the era). He sure knows how to milk that record, but at least it’s one of my fav Bill/VOL albums (along with Blister Soul, Welcome to Struggleville & Slow Dark Train). Heck, I have three different versions of the Audible Sigh album on my CD rack. :).
The setlist: (about an hour of tunes)
- Solar System (*great tune*)
- Goes Without Saying
- High and Lonesome
- Nothing Like a Train
- Bottoming Out
- Skin (**my fav of the night**)
- Bank (“unintentionally acoustic” after amp blew out unexpectedly… Bill came down into the crowd to finish the song off)
- Resplendent (*great tune*)
- Flowers
My only disappointment for the night? They didn’t play “Bearin’ the Load.” ;).
Well, great show. I hope he can make it back to Oregon again (from his home of Georgia). I won’t hold it against him if he doesn’t. That’s a lot of gas money. I’ll be grateful if he does make it back, though.
The Appropriate Linkage:
- http://www.myspace.com/billmallonee
- http://www.billmallonee.net/
- http://www.myspace.com/oldbelievers
- http://www.oldbelieversmusic.com/
- http://www.cozmicpizza.com/
Taking dead aim at preachers…
~Dan – np: R.E.M. – Accelerate
gettin’ wood
While I don’t want to cheapen anything posted 12 hours ago, this one tries to move on slowly from a sad note of last night’s blog…
While at the Oregon Country Fair this past weekend, we stumbled upon the Musical Furnishings booth. This was the company mentioned back in this blog. They’re based in Olympia, WA, but I had no idea that they’d be in Oregon for the fair.
Anyway, they had some “scratch-n-dent” models that they couldn’t sell online to sight unseen buyers… so we came away with a cool marimba-style table… never mind the dust (we still need to clean it from the dusty weekend it encountered at the Fair). My wife actually paid for it; so one might say that she knows how to give me wood*.
We also got to play on one of the drum-style ones, too… and we hope to get one of those in the near future. :)
Check out their website: http://www.musicalfurnishings.com/
*– alas it’s not a gift for me. It’s hers, and hopefully she’ll let me play with it…
~Dan – np: Ornette Coleman – Change of the Century
Katie Reider (1978-2008)
Katie Reider was a great lyrical and vocal talent in Cincinnati. I got into her back in 1998 or so… shortly after Wonder came out. While living in Cincinnati, I got a chance to see Katie many, many times… opening for other bands, playing her own shows at York Street Cafe, JoBeth bookstore, et cetera. I felt as if I knew her as a person (though I really didn’t). I guess that stems from the fact that she was a very open person, on stage and talking with her audience before or after a show. Her band was also great – the playing from Dave Eberhardt, Josh Seurkamp, and her brother Robbie (who played with her earlier on) melded her singer-songwriter songs into a very cohesive group effort.
In 2006, Katie Reider developed a tumor in her upper left jaw that progressed into her sinus, skull base and left eye orbit. Over the course of one year, the rare facial tumor took away her sight in one eye, her voice and most importantly, her ability to perform. We last saw her last summer at the Taste of Cincinnati festival. She appeared in good spirits, normal looking, but was much skinnier from some of the tests early on in her treatment.
She had moved to New York to be closer to specialist who could treat her. I didn’t know the severity of her condition until earlier this year, they posted pictures of her deterioration to the 500Kin365 MySpace page. It saddened me greatly then, but it seemed as if progress was being made (specifically this post on July 1st, 2008). As of a post Monday morning on her family’s health blog, Katie Reider’s fight with the tumor came to an end at 7am on Monday, July 14th.
This is something that saddens me deeply (I’ve had to pause and cry several times while typing this). Some artists I have seen or followed musically who have passed on impacted me deeply (Elliott Smith’s passing hit me like a ton of bricks). Katie Reider is not an exception to this deep impact on me. She was a jewel in the rough in the onslaught of many mediocre singer-songwriters. She was a genuine person trying to bring her joy to others around her. She was a wounded body, stricken by something that medicine doesn’t know how to take care of yet.
I don’t know if there’s an afterlife. I don’t think words do any justice along those lines. If anything, I’m just glad that she’s finally at rest. I just hope that she knew that she was and is a joy in many peoples’ lives. I thank her for her impact on my life. She made good music that made me happy to have open ears and a youthful vigor to see live music in my hometown. I wish for her family and friends the peace that she’s finally done with the pain.
If you feel moved, you can help support her young family with a donation here:
http://www.500kin365.org/
I have nothing else to add but my gratitude.
~Dan
REVIEW: Indigo Belly Dance @ Oregon Country Fair (Veneta, OR – – 7/13/08)
FYI… PHOTOS of the SHOW at the BOTTOM
Rachel Brice, Mardi Love & Zoe Jakes are three tribal fusion belly dancers from San Francisco who go by the name The Indigo Belly Dance Company. I’d heard of them before, and my wife has gone to performances & workshops of theirs in the past when we lived in Cincinnati (at least Rachel & Zoe). Anyway, they were here in Eugene for the Oregon Country Fair (actually closer to Veneta than Eugene). Rachel Brice is pictured here (photo credit: Kristine Adams from the Indigo BDC’s MySpace page):
Here are Zoe Jakes and Mardi Love (photo credit unknown):
Well, on to the Oregon Country Fair ~ We braved the heat, the stinky bus passengers, and the heat (yet again) for the Country Fair this year. All around, the Fair was hot but shady (which was a pleasant surprise). It was also expensive, dusty, greasy and stinky. Alas, it’s a country fair in Oregon in July; so that was all expected. :) We came away with a nice table purchase, but that’ll be for a separate blog later.
We had a good time at the Country Fair… we started out with a fun show with the Stage Left Vaudeville Show. It started strong and, well, we left during the “free-style rap” section. Needless to say, it drifted from its big band flair entrance into something that wasn’t our thing. We went on from that to snag some yummy popsicles (Baja Coffee popsicle for me, i.e.- coffee with cinnamon, and Lemon Ginger popsicle for my wife and our friends Chris & Melissa).
We got to the Gypsy Caravan stage around 2pm for the 3pm show of The Indigo. We got there at just the right time… we scored some nice bench seats in the center of the audience. The Gypsy Caravan band was playing… and we saw some good shimmying from Aziza, Colleena (sp?), Claudia, and some other that I couldn’t remember how to spell or pronounce.
Up next was The Indigo… Their backing band was dubbed something along the lines of the Balkan Brass Band / Brass Menagerie (they were made up of several bands). It was interesting to see bellydance to something different than middle eastern music, and I dig Balkan music…
Rachel, Zoe & Mardi did a trio number to start things off. Then Zoe did a solo song, Rachel did a solo (complete with her quite phenomenal “drop move” – see around 1:17 in that video link), then there was a duet of some sort (Rachel & Mardi then Rachel & Zoe, if I remember correctly… likely I’m not remembering correctly). A special guest, Elizabeth Strong, came out and did a fantastic number with a sword. Then the group came out and did a few more numbers, along with Mardi doing a slow moves solo. They danced for about an hour, or slightly under an hour.
Photos of the performance that my wife took are BELOW…
~Dan – np: Charlie Hunter & Bobby Previte – Come in Red Dog, This is Tango Leader 
Gypsy Caravan & The Indigo @ Country Fair PHOTOS
all pictures (cc) 2008 emobie,
you may use freely under a creative commons attribution
From the Gypsy Caravan Stage (Aziza, Colleena) & Misc Other Fair Pics
The Indigo (Rachel, Zoe, Mardi, Elizabeth) Pics
Tenacious 3
Per Paste Magazine‘s blog, Tenacious D (Kyle Gass & Jack Black, below) are working (even if slowly) on their 3rd album…
Kyle Gass announced that he and his brother-in-rock Jack Black are back in the studio and should have their new album out soon. But Gass also says they have a mere one and a half songs wrapped up for the LP. This could largely be due to Gass stating the album is slated to become a masterpiece, so please plan your year-end list accordingly.
“We’d like to do one final masterpiece. I think we both know we’re approaching death, as it were, and we’d like to have a lasting legacy,” Gass told Billboard.
The album remains untitled and there is no confirmed release date.
“It might take the rest of our lives, but I think it’ll be worth waiting for,” Gass says.
No word on when it’ll be done or if Foo Fighters’ Dave Grohl will help out on drums again. I loved their debut. The Pick of Destiny (movie) was good (even though it was cheesy). The Pick of Destiny (album) was, well… too short and too much like a skit/trailer for the movie.
Here’s hoping the 3rd is a return to form…
~Dan – np: Ornette Coleman – Something Else!!!
Ma Meeshka Mow Skwoz
slow news day… how ’bout a Mr. Bungle song arranged for high school percussion ensemble… in a non-crappy kinda way?
Magnolia High School’s percussion arrangement of “Ma Meeshka Mow Skwoz” from Mr. Bungle‘s Disco Volante:
(c. 1995, written by Trey Spruance)
Mogwai & Music Fest NW
The only band I really care to see at Music Fest NW 2008 (in Portland) is Scottish post-rock band MOGWAI. Hence, I had written it off as, “nah, ain’t gonna bother.” I mean, Mogwai is great – – I’ve seen them before (at my 1,000th live music performance seen), but driving up to Portland on a Wednesday (Sept 3rd) isn’t high on my list. I had written it off…
…until now.
Plans changed at work, and some interim fieldwork for a client of mine that was going to happen in mid-July is now happening in early September… right during Music Fest NW. Alas, I’ll get to see Mogwai, and will likely only have to drive across a river to the Roseland Theater. Yay!
~Dan – np: Miles Davis – The Legendary Prestige Quintet Sessions
Kaki King on Daytrotter
As you may remember for this blog, I dig Daytrotter. Well, today, there’s a new gem of free music up there… Kaki King – guitar virtuoso. She plays in the style of the late great Michael Hedges or the still alive and kicking Michael Kelsey, she played the guitar-playing double of August in August Rush. See some YouTubes below…
Guitar virtuosity aside, for this Daytrotter Session she does 3 of her more song-y tunes, and 1 instrumental…
4 songs, in studio… FREE downloads. Bad drawing this time, though… eh… :)
http://www.daytrotter.com/article/1346/kaki-king
The YouTubes:
~Dan – np: George Carlin – Parental Advisory: Explicit Lyrics
pulling hrabbits out of hrats
No, this isn’t about magicians pulling rabbits out of hats… or scientists (pulling habits out of rats?). This post is all about Mr. George Hrab (aka “Geo”).
I found Geo’s podcast last October. It quickly shot up to being one of my favorite podcasts, then I got his CDs from CDBaby (I♥CDBaby), and I loved his music even more. He’s got a love for Frank Zappa and the Talking Heads, interesting fauna, science, skepticism (of woo-woo and other things), big band arrangements, great drumming, humor in music, seriousness in music, constant learning / teaching (reading through his liners, that’s apparent), and maintaining all around professionalism as a musician. He has his own music plus he drums (& conducts the bidness end of things) for the Philadelphia Funk Authority.
Anyway, via his podcasts, he puts out about an album’s worth of comedy & rockin’ gold every week… for free. Every Thursday morning, it’s on my “must listen now” rotation, no matter how big my backlog of other podcasts may be.
Geo’s Podcast RSS:
Geo’s Podcast on iTunes (FYI… podcasts are free):
Geo’s also a big dork. I say that in the good way. He recently wrapped up his “Occasional Songs for the Periodic Table” songs… 118 elements… 75 minutes (or so). Some great stuff… the songs / the lyrics
His CDs are great… and his packaging on them is superb. He puts a lot of thought into the unique way that he packages each one. From the sprawling art of Minutæ, the tin case and prescription look and feel of Vitriol, the textbook / field study guide arrangement of Coelacanth, and the sleek dualism of Interrobang?!.
A clever, Brady Bunch-ish video for “The Assumption” from Interrobang?! “The Assumption” is sort of indicative of his pop music side, but he also gets funky, rocky, proggy, instrumental and vocal songs, et cetera on his records.
Sample some of his other songs on iTunes or CDBaby (samples in both venues). Some of my favs from each album…
[sic] (1996) “[sic]” (#10)
Minutiæ (1999) “Minutiæ (Sheer Brick AM)” (#12)
Vitriol (2001) “Monkey Hip Dysplasia” (#1)
Coelacanth (2003) “The Coelacanth Sighs” (#8 )
Interrobang?! (2006) “Who Dogs the Outlet” (#12)
His book, called Non-Coloring Book, is compiled from blog posts, podcast bits, and additional new material is also quite funny. I got it on Lulu.com via the PDF version for only $3.95. It’s also available as a physical book (for slightly more).
Anyway, this is my “I love George Hrab” post. Soon, you’ll write your own “I love George Hrab” post, I’m sure.
http://www.geologicrecords.net/ (his record company)
http://www.geologicpodcast.com/ (his podcast)
http://www.georgehrab.com/ (his blog)
http://www.phillyfunk.com/ (his funk band)
Nellie McKay in PDX
Friday, August 15th… Nellie McKay at Portland’s Doug Fir Lounge. Tickets procured… woot!
We saw her last fall at The Shedd in Eugene… fantastic show (here’s the review). We’re totally looking forward to this show… she’s a veritable fireball of energy and wit – – equal parts virtuoso and silly.
http://nelliemckay.com/
http://www.myspace.com/prettylittlehead (official)
http://www.myspace.com/nelliemckay (fan)
~Dan – np: John Coltrane – Newport ’63
ryan seacrest & buttmachine
Ryan Seacrest says “buttmachine” and “that 1 guy”… yes, you read that correctly… Ryan… Seacrest.
Crazy, butt good exposure for a longtime personal favorite artist… http://www.that1guy.com/
The two Butt Machine videos:
I hear “Butt Machine” is the “new RickRoll” (blog link)… it’s also featured on the new The Weeds soundtrack (Showtime show).
~Dan – np: Zappa Plays Zappa
The Melvins
I saw the Melvins open up for Mike Patton’s Tomahawk (a Patton collaboration with Jesus Lizard’s Duane Denison) on the Tomahawk – Mit Gas tour. The other opener (before the Melvins), Skeleton Key, was more interesting to me at the time than the Melvins. Anyway, I dug the Melvins as well on that tour, but I never got any of their albums (I still don’t besides the “Fantômas-Melvins Big Band” album — but now they’re at least added to my Lala list).
The Melvins have been around forever (25 years or so)… which is forever in the rock band sense. They’re what some might call “sludge metal” or “slow punk.” They’ve got tons of albums (on majors like Atlantic, on indies like Ipecac). They’ve worked with the punk realm (Jello Biafra), the grunge realm (Melvin’s drummer Dale Crover used to play with Kurt Cobain), the avant-garde/noise realm (Buzzo is in Fantômas with Mike Patton), and with the art metal realm peeps (Adam Jones of Tool has played with them live / the Melvins have opened for Tool on several tours). They’ve also collaborated with Lustmord (who recently remixed some of Maynard’ James Keenans Puscifer tracks), and they plan on collaborating soon with Zu (an Italian hardcore/free-jazz band). Anyway, the Melvins are “well connected” in the scene. They’ve got a guitarist/singer (Buzz “King Buzzo” Osbourne) with very recognizable hair (video link).
Anyway, the main purpose of this post is that I’m totally diggin’ the tracks on MySpace from their upcoming Nude with Boots album (Ipecac – July 8th). Totally diggin’ as in… just about every track.
They’re going to be in Eugene, OR (W.O.W. Hall on July 24th). I’ll be in Cincinnati, OH, for a wedding. Rassen-frassen…
~Dan – np: The Melvins – Nude with Boots (from MySpace)
Michael Einziger = end.>vacuum
In 2003, a side-project release of Michael Einziger‘s totally caught me off guard and shot past many familiar names in my musical interests to become my favorite CD of 2003. That CD was Time-Lapse Consortium‘s Live at the Roxy Theatre 1/24/2003:
FYI, Michael Einziger is the guitarist for rock band Incubus (the fuzzy guy below).
That Time-Lapse Consortium CD still feels fresh and exciting to me. It totally caught me by surprise.
Anyway, just today, a bulletin was posted on the Incubus MySpace page, which led me to this endvacuum.com note from Mike:
simply stated, end.>vacuum is a jagged collection of orchestral music i have been writing for the past year. a horrendously turbulent, and at times serene, aural interpretation of complex patterns and geometric shapes that assemble themselves firmly into my consciousness. a 40 minute-long insomnia-induced orchestral anxiety- attack. (sounds like heaven, right?)
under normal circumstances, i play guitar in a band called incubus. but last year i was forced to stop playing for several months due to a wrist injury that required surgery, as well as a time-intensive recovery. without the option of picking up a guitar, it was during that idle time that i began to write music for the orchestra, which became like a musical game of ‘tetris’ for me. a huge challenge on both cerebral and intellectual levels. I don’t know if it’s any good, either.
rather than record this music and release it as an album, i thought it would be much more risky and fun to for the maiden voyage of ‘end.>vacuum’ to happen as a live, unedited performance in front of my family, friends, and fans. with all mishaps intact.
the music will be performed in nine movements, by a group of musicians i am calling ‘the graviton modern ensemble‘. it will be a mixture of professional philharmonic players and friends. throughout the piece, i will play a variety of different instruments (sans guitar) alongside my brother, benjamin einziger, and my good friend blake mills. suzie katayama will be conducting.
to make this event even more heavenly, the first part of the program will consist of a lecture by my friend and esteemed british physicist, dr. brian cox. he is a world-renowned scientist who acts as a science correspondent for the BBC, and is currently conducting monumental research at the large hadron collider at CERN. the large hadron collider is a particle accelerator, and is the most powerful/ complex/expensive machine ever built by humans (google it). his talk will be a discussion on particle-physics and the mind-bending potential for major discoveries at CERN in the near future.
all this could make for an amazing evening at UCLA, or it could be a train-wreck. we’ll all decide that together.
So, yeah… a new non-rock, compositional piece from Michael Einziger. I’m stoked. I don’t know if it’ll be in the same vein as Time-Lapse. I doubt it, but I don’t really care. I’m sure it’ll be some interesting music.
The skinny:
Michael Einziger’s END.>VACUUM
A Realization in Nine Movements
August 23, 2008 at UCLA’s Royce Hall
endvacuum.com
ha’fway
(Sub)consciously prompted by this music blog, here are my favs of the first half of 2008… it’s all bound to switch around by year’s end:
Artist Album (label)
- The Secret Chiefs 3 play Masada Book Two: Book of Angels, Vol. 9: Xaphan (Tzadik)
- The Bar Kokhba Sextet play Masada Book Two: Book of Angels, Vol. 10: Lucifer (Tzadik)
- My Brightest Diamond A Thousand Shark’s Teeth (Asthmatic Kitty)
- Opeth Watershed (RoadRunner)
- Earth The Bees Make Honey in the Lion’s Skull (Southern Lord)
- Dave Douglas & Keystone Live at Jazz Standard, 4/10/2008 to 4/13/2008 (2 sets each night = 8 CDs worth, each set downloadable within 24 hours of the performance… cool stuff…) (Green Leaf)
- Sigur Rós Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust (XL)
- Reptet Chicken or Beef? (Monktail Creative Music Concern)
- John Zorn’s The Dreamers (Tzadik)
- King’s X XV (Inside Out)
- Glen Phillips (of Toad the Wet Sprocket) Secrets of the New Explorers -EP- (Umami)
- Ashes Divide (Bill Howerdel of A Perfect Circle) Keep Telling Myself It’s Alright (Island)
- Mike Patton A Perfect Place (Ipecac)
- Puscifer V is for Viagra – The Remixes (Puscifer)
- Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey Lil’ Tae Rides Again (Hyena)
- Bill Frisell History, Mystery (Nonesuch)
- Steven Bernstein (of Sex Mob) Diaspora Suite (Tzadik)
- Hiromi Beyond Standard (Telarc)
- Stebmo Stebmo (Stebmo)
- Bobby Previte & New Bump New Bump: Set the Alarm for Monday (Palmetto)
- Swami Late Plate (Previte & Saft) Doom Jazz (Veal)
- Porcupine Tree We Lost the Skyline -EP- (Transmission)
- Raquy and the Cavemen Mischief (Meef)
- Aimee Mann @#%&*! Smilers (Super Ego)
- Kaki King Dreaming of Revenge (Velour)
The 2nd half of 2008 promises to bring some potential great ones, too… Medeski Martin & Wood play John Zorn’s Masada Book Two, 3 other Medeski Martin & Wood albums (later in the year), Secret Chiefs 3 Book of Souls (maybe), God of Shamisen debut, Extreme Saudades de Rock, Mike Patton‘s Mondo Cane, Mike Patton & Dan the Automator’s Crudo, a new Sufjan Stevens (just speculating, since it’s been a while), Ben Folds is working on one, Ani DiFranco always has something coming out, Jude‘s Cuba, Jon Madof‘s CircuitBreaker debut (and maybe another Rashanim?), The Tango Saloon‘s Transylvania, new Tristeza, Over the Rhine Live from Nowhere III, David Bazan full-length, George Hrab (maybe?), SFJazz 2008 with Dave Douglas & Joe Lovano and others, Frank Zappa‘s One Shot Deal, another installment of the John Zorn avant-metal trio of Mike Patton/Trevor Dunn/Joey Baron… and I’m sure another dozen or more that I’ll dig from Tzadik.
Mike Patton & the Metropole Orchestra 2008
Mike Patton has been known for off-the-wall stuff… Faith No More did crazy stuff, Mr. Bungle even more so… Fantômas is for some entirely crazy stuff. Hemophiliac, PainKiller, Naked City guest vocals, Moonchild, and many other collaborations with John Zorn are also in the crazy, avant-garde camp for Mike Patton.
However, Mike Patton also has a fondness for the more accessible. FNM cover Lionel Richie‘s “Easy,” Mr. Bungle had “Retrovertigo,” Patton’s Ipecac Recordings put out records by classically or instrumentally adventurous but still accessible Ennio Morricone (exotica / spaghetti western / classical / movie scores), The Tango Saloon (jazz / spag. western / tango), Flat Earth Society (big band), Kaada (multi-instrumentalist / movie scores), and Eyvind Kang (some of his classical compositions).
Mondo Cane is a 1962 Italian shock-documentary film (read more here). It’s also the name of Mike Patton’s “60s/70s Italian pop” project. And “60s/70s Italian pop” involves orchestration and some good ol’ crooning…
(photo: Monique Hofland)
A recent concert with Mike Patton and the Metropole Orchestra ( Paradiso Hall, Holland Festival June 2008 ) was filmed and is available in its entirety here:
http://www.fabchannel.com/mike_patton_concert/2008-12-06/
I’m only through the first 5 songs, but it sounds great. If tentative or skeptical, check out “Ore D’More” (#3) for a sample of the crooning.
I love this guy’s music. It’s true.
~Dan – np: guess?
Radiohead “Nude” Video
Here’s a wicked cool, new fan-made video for Radiohead‘s song “Nude.” Don’t worry, just because it’s called “Nude,” it’s suitable for work (well, assuming you’re allowed to surf the InterTubes at work).
Vimeo (HD – higher quality, click picture below):
YouTube (“YouTube quality“):
The video is unofficial (but cool). It was made by Stefan Ringelschwandtner.
Jude’s Cuba
Jude Christodal just updated his blog with this entry:
(snippet from his blog)
The Cuba cd is being pressed.
Somehow I thought it had reached this phase when he mentioned it at his recent show in Portland – – alas, at least it’s now off to “the pressers.”
~Dan – np: John Coltrane – Live at the Village Vanguard (1961)
REVIEW: EARTH & Jesse Sykes @ W.O.W. Hall (Eugene, OR – – 6/23/08)
Prior to the show, I stopped by Cozmic Pizza for a chai muffin… two wonderful singer-songwriters were playing, Breanna Paletta and Justin Bennett. I caught a few of their songs (3-4). Great stuff. They’re from Portland. Maybe when I have more time, I’ll check out one of their full sets. OK, now on to the main event…
After some much stupid hesitance, I went to go see Earth at W.O.W. Hall last night. Much stupid hesitance in that… I won’t hesitate to go see Earth again. Holy rusted metal, Batman… they’re a great live band!
I hadn’t heard of Earth, the band, until last month when I went to see Stebmo (Earth’s keyboardist) open for Skerik’s Maelstrom Trio (review of that show here). Anyway, a possibly inaccurate Wikistory on Earth, the band… signed a million years ago to Sub Pop Records, and Dylan Carson (founder and linchpin to Earth) was a friend of Kurt Cobain. Kurt Cobain wrote Burger King jingles (or maybe he sold bicycles), I think. Anyway, Kurt hated Burger King (or bicycles), shot himself, and later Dylan bought the shotgun.
Side step to 2008… Earth are now spawn to several tribute bands (in style, not content) – – Sunn 0))) and Teeth of Lions Rule the Divine (per Wiki). Their style is ambient, doom, drone, post-rock, or something of a mix of all of that. I’ve heard of Sunn 0))), dig ’em. Listened to some Earth, and didn’t like it with vocals, but loved it without vocals (clip below):
Then I decided to go to the show…
For a local club, I like W.O.W. Hall. I’ve seen a couple shows there this year. I hope to see more in the future. If anything, I like the fact that it’s a not-for-profit venture (they don’t seem to act like cacks like the clubs with bouncers and whatnot). The opener was Parade of Storms. I showed up a little late, but if they went on on-time, they played about 45 minutes. Fuzzy metal with keyboards. Pretty powerful wall-of-sound, and a very good group. The next to play was Jesse Sykes & the Sweet Hereafter. She also played around 45 minutes and was very good. Only a few songs were catchy/hooky, primarily she would fit into a dark americana rock meets singer-songwriter realm. The W.O.W. write-up called it country-noir. I suppose that fits.
Earth came on about 11:15. I stayed for the first hour (I don’t know how much beyond that they may have played. Here’s at least a partial set list:
- Omens and Portents II: Carrion Crow
- Hung from the Moon
- Engine of Ruin
- The Bees Made Honey in the Lion’s Skull (Stebmo played trombone at the beginning)
- Junkyard Priest
- …
After the first song, some wise-ass yelled out “slow it down.” I think most people got a good chuckle out of that. I did at least. :) Great hour of music… definitely drone rock / metal. Captivating, especially if you’re into ambient / drone instrumental music. As for the sound, I thought Earth had the best sound of the night. The drums (specifically) sounded pretty darn great. The band for last night’s show was Dylan Carlson on guitar, Steve Moore (Stebmo) on keyboards, Don McGreevy on bass, and Adrienne Davies on drums. Jazz guitarist Bill Frisell guests on three tracks of their 2008 release, The Bees Made Honey in the Lion’s Skull.
(photo from the band’s webpage)
GREAT SHOW!! Go see Earth, the band, if they come by your woods’ neck:
Jun 26 2008 Eagles Hall – Olympia, Washington
Jun 27 2008 Doug Fir – Portland, Oregon
Jun 28 2008 Tractor Tavern – Seattle, Washington
Jul 13 2008 Supersonic – Birmingham
Jul 14 2008 Whelans – Dublin
Jul 15 2008 Black Box – Belfast
Jul 16 2008 Stereo – Glasgow
Jul 17 2008 Scala – London
Jul 18 2008 Patronaat – Haarlem
Jul 19 2008 Cafe Glocksee – Hanover
Jul 20 2008 Dour Fest – Dour
The appropriate linkage:
- http://www.myspace.com/earthofficial
- http://www.thronesanddominions.com/ (Earth’s non-Rupert Murdoch webpage)
- http://www.myspace.com/stebmo
- http://www.stebmo.com/
- http://www.myspace.com/jessesykes
- http://www.myspace.com/yersiniapestismusic (Parade of Storms MySpace)
- http://www.myspace.com/wowhalleugene
- http://www.wowhall.org/
they’re taking over
I don’t mean to make this a Sigur Rós-centric blog, but here’s Stereogum‘s great report from Bonnaroo 2008:
They (i.e. Barbara Streisand) say people who need people are the luckiest people. But you know who really are the luckiest people? People who have a ticket to see Sigur Rós this summer. It’s not that I haven’t seen ’em before, but it’s been 24 hours and I’m still paralyzed from the 1AM bliss fest of their set Saturday night in That Tent. Here’s why you should sell all your possessions to secure a ticket to see them right now:
- The current setlist is a catalog-spanning beast, showcasing hallmark moments from each of the band’s style shifts, from the dark and dank Ágætis byrjun, to the slowest-of-core unpronounceabilites of the ( ) stuff, to the triumphant Takkisms. (Saturday brought “Svefn-g-englar” [the “it’s you-oooo” song], “Njósnavélin” [the “yu-silo” song], “Olsen Olsen,” “Hoppípolla,” “Glósóli,” and non-album crowd fave “Hafsól” [the drumstick-on-the-bass song]).
- The Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust stuff crushes it live, comes with lots of horns, ups the band’s overall joy quotient, and really seems to have loosened them up, as people, even more. Last night these included “Inni Mer Syngur Vitleysingur,” “Godan Daginn,” “Vid Spilum Endalaust,” “Festival,” “All Alright” (the one in English!) and of course “Gobbledigook.”
- Umm, “Gobbledigook.” Which winds up having 12 people on stage (fully clothed, sorry), a drumline powered by amiina, confetti guns, and, most notably, a wildly grinning Jonsi.
- The mariachi band that parades the stage during “Sé Lest” has a pretty great outfit.
- They are the best band in the world.
Read the entire Stereogum Bonnaroo entry **HERE**, plus check out some YouTube videos from the show there as well…
~Dan – np: Marc Ribot’s Ceramic Dog – Party Intellectuals
-Eyvind Kang
-Frank Zappa
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