sad day in music history

this tidbit of news about elvis' dethroning by garth brooks. while i may endorse country music, and although the music industry's expansion is a good thing and inevitable, i'm not sure garth brooks is the best successive candidate. oh well, people love their pop country.

ps i want the louis vuitton luggage from the darjeeling limited, which, for some crazy reason, is getting bad reviews amidst its brilliance.

go see the movie, and listen to jason schwartzman's npr interview in which he describes the process of filming - that filming itself was set out to be an experience.

new stints, listening this week...

just got a freelance position with style weekly, so i'm rightly stoked about that.

THIS WEEK:

can't get enough of animal collective's strawberry jam

tunng

king wilkie - low country suite

reviwers:

spokane: little hours

christopher blue: room tones

the gena rowlands band: flesh and spirits

josh small: tall

david schultz and the skyline: sinner's gold

femi kuti: the definitive collection

tiny vipers: hands across the void

the brunettes: structure & cosmetics

ben + vesper: all this could kill you

patrick sweany: every hour is a dollar gone

more to come.

SHOWS coming up:

buddy guy? muse?

the hotdamns

neko case

king wilkie/sam bush

charlie louvin

chocolate drops?

souvenirs young america?

other media


flight of the conchords
tenacious d meets mr show.

weeds season 2 on dvd

bravo's top chef. hate it but love it.

i should probably work on making this more consistent

but i barely have time between my day job, my article writing, and my social life. in the last few weeks i've gone to a wedding in the country, attended and wrote about FloydFest, and gone to a few local shows. first:

the hotdamns played a private wedding:


then my friend's band, the high street lowlifes, played a show at the edgar allan poe museum's "unhappy hour:"

they are a retro 1930's band with originals and covers. family fare with some racy lines if you pay attention. they also cover a retired laylons song.

onto floydFEST:

beautiful scenery, beautiful weather, beautiful music....


the carolina chocolate drops were the festival favorites, with all of their performances packed way past capacity:



the hackensaw boys also put on a great show, and some of them aren't too bad to look at....

also loved the the wiyos.


so many more but will have to wait for my article to be published to go any further...

listening this week....

the ladybug transistor - can't wait another day

radiohead - kid 17 (the phenomenon of starting two different kid a discs 17 seconds apart creates crazy harmonies and echoing.

animal collective - strawberry jam

thurston moore - trees outside the academy

reviewers:

the val papadins - no one wants to move the piano

cary brothers - who you are

ilad - national flags

upcoming shows:

the high street lowlifes

mermaid skeletons

hackensaw boys

ilad & the great white jenkins OR ralph stanley

the hotdamns

FloydFest!

the hotdamns, red clay river

i went to see the ever-awesome the hotdamns friday night. each time i see them they get better and better. they debuted a new song at their last show (at gallery 5 with o'circus), one that has yet to be titled. i say they should call it "saturday night hooligans" but they dont like that as much as i. here is a snippet of the song that they deleted from their comments when i posted it. fuck that!


one of their opening bands was red clay river, whom i've seen before. dan bivin's grisly voice and backwoods riffs really hits home somehow. there was even a girl (presumably his wife/gf) stomping along to the beat with some radical boots. he has a slab of wood on the floor which he uses with his foot to keep time. check them out asap.

listening this week....

the ladybug transistor - can't wait another day

mandy moore (lol) - wild hope (as i explained to a friend earlier today, this is one of those albums i knew i'd hate but had to hear it for myself)

josh rouse - country mouse, city house

amandine - solace in sore hands

okkervil river - the stage names

lewis & clarke - blasts of holy birth

VA - rubber folk (folk covers of rubber soul)

dolores o'riordan - are you listening

montag - going places

tom jones - reload

willie nelson - red headed stranger, yesterday's wine

handsome furs - plague park

the budos band - the budos band

reviewees:

southern culture on the skids - countrypolitan favorites

prosser

robbers on high street - grand animals

emerson hart - cigarettes and gasoline

lafayette gilchrist - 3

upcoming shows

1964: the tribute?

the slip with bobby bare, jr.

the mayhaws?

the hotdamns

the laylons

homemade knives

ralph stanley

FloydFest! (or creeping weeds)

son volt, cripple lilies, karma bat, o'circus, the HOTDAMNS

i saw the cripple lilies open for now sleepyhead on 6/11. yes, i've been vacationing or something so it's almost old news. i was very impressed especially with the likes of Elizabeth Lopiccollo (flute, keys, vocals). i was mesmerized by her style and unique sounds. laid back folk led into chamber folk/pop. check them out. now sleepyhead were a bit pretentious for their britches, but that's just my opinion. they need to work on their stage presence (not use lyric sheets, be more comfortable in front of audiences without showing their lack of confidence. i missed out on vince dynamic, which i was sorry for.



son volt was a few days later, 6/14, at the botanical garden. i can see why jeff tweedy and jay farrar went their separate ways from uncle tupelo. son volt's boring, droning "alt-country-rock" reminded us of a matchbox 20 show. there was maybe a high point where collective chaos allowed for the lead guitarist to go off a bit. perhaps it was the crowd of aging gen-xers boozing it up, too, but i was less than pleased.

later that night we went to show our support for botox party and saw opening band crack filler and karma bat. they were half no doubt, half hardcore. the lead female singer had a wireless mic attached to her face, so that was humorous. she then switched to guitar as the prior guitarist screamed in his mic. i did enjoy the finale, as she came into the crowd and hit on the women while she sang, ending with molesting me at my feet.


saturday night i went to see the hotdamns, who gave their best performance to date (including debuting a new yet-to-be-titled song with a surf flavor.
after they left the stage, o'circus took to the stage with their acts ranging from a mime, fire dancing, juggling, burlesque, and a joke magician. their turn of the century (1920's ish) brand of entertainment was a great time. and the chicks were hot.