28 June 2007

minimix: Weekend Preview

Ain't NYC just the center of the live music universe? Another stellar weekend of music in the big city, so here's a little preview of some of what's going down in the tristate area Friday and Saturday... which ones will you be at? Get out there and try something new. I've added two bonus tracks to cover the big free show on the 4th. Be independent!

Download the mix


01 Running Away -- The Polyphonic Spree: The Fragile Army (released 6/26)
02 Black-Hearted Boy -- The Fiery Furnaces: 30 June 2006
03 Etienne D'aout -- Malajube: Daytrotter Session
04 Far East Medley -- Béla Fleck & The Flecktones: Live Art
05 Meryl Loves to Dance -- The Bad Plus: 19 March 2007 (new song)
06 Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues -- Bob Dylan: Live, 1966: The Royal Albert Hall Concert
B1 Balloon Maker -- Midlake: Bamnan And Slivercork
B2 My Rights Versus Yours -- The New Pornographers: Challengers (releases 8/21)

Previously in minimix:
Week In Preview

Weekend Sampler

Links of the Week

This week seemed to revolve around a lot of those special someone's in OTW's musical wheelhouse, so the confluence of such pokes in the ribs will guide this week's links. Hang in there and I'll give y'all some tasty stuff to download... a couple laughs and your weekly reason to keep living, etc. all included.

  • Wayne Krantz. Do I need to say more? Sometimes a musician, a music and a room combine to create something intrinsically otherworldly. Nothing compares to Krantz at the 55 Bar and Thursday -- tonight -- Wayne will play his last gig there. If you know, you know... if not, believe me. Nothing defines what it means when we say "New York City live music scene" more than crowding into 55 Christopher St. in anticipation of what galaxy Krantz (and preferably Lefebvre and Carlock in tow) might launch us into. Fare thee well!
  • Another NYC band that held fast to my soul for extended periods over the past 5 years was Rana. I wish I could say there was a Rana gig on the horizon, but alas! Thankfully, an historic epic Rana show was recently uploaded to YouTube in its entirety and it is quite the treat! This was the night the band was celebrating the release of their first album, Here in the USA (JJ throws out a track for you here) at the legendary CBGB's. This just happens to be the first time Rana dug their claws deep into me and didn't let go (I miss you!). See what you can make of this clip and check 'em all out here.


While I'm posting videos, I may as well veer sharply toward the hilarious... Triumph at the Tony's if you haven't seen this yet:



27 June 2007

Review: Wilco

(38)

Warsaw, Brooklyn, 26 June 2007


Is it possible for a show to be all downhill after the opening number and still be one of the better shows I've seen this year? Yes, if the slope of that hill is so slight as to be imperceptible... or that opening number is so unbelievably sublime that there's no where to go but down.

Wilco opened their Tuesday night sweatfest at the Warsaw in Brooklyn with a "Sunken Treasure" that couldn't have been more perfect. The sound was incredibly crisp in the room from the get-go (a rarity for the Warsaw, in my limited experience there) and the room became a drag net, the audience scooping up every wail of the steel guitar on Nels Cline's lap, every whisper of Jeff Tweedy's acoustic guitar, every lyric on down... fished out of the ocean of the Wilco sound and devoured to the bone. Like I said, perfect. And then the tune somersaulted so that the band was alive again on stage, darting around in an extended outro section like a school of tropical fish around a coral reef in crystal clear water. What else can I say to describe the natural beauty of the music being made, stretched out over minutes that could have constituted the entire evening. The whole thing lasted in excess of 8 ticks of the big hand, but really time stood still like it has for the old Polish National Home that we were all crammed into. Was it all downhill from there?

Of course, the show went on and the highlights were... well, what do you call a highlight when everything is a highlight? Seriously, it feels absurd to pick out individual songs or moments or even stretches of the night. Wilco is just, flat out, the best live pure rock and roll band out there. The live show is an art form that these guys have perfected and on a Tuesday night in Brooklyn, they more than defended that title. The setlist can be perused below:

Sunken Treasure, You Are My Face, I Am Trying To Break Your Heart, Handshake Drugs, Pot Kettle Black, Side With The Seeds, A Shot in the Arm> Wishful Thinking, Impossible Germany, Sky Blue Sky, Why Would You Wanna Live, War on War, Jesus, etc., Theologians, Walken, I'm The Man Who Loves You, Hummingbird, On and On and On

E1: Either Way, Ashes of American Flags, Reservations > Spiders (Kidsmoke)
E2: Hate It Here, The Late Greats, Hoodoo Voodoo, Outta Mind (Outtasite)

Everything was as it should have been. When the band needed to launch into a rollicking fist-pumper, they were ready and when they needed to cool down with something a little more introspective, they did not hesitate. Ostensibly, Wilco is supporting their newest release, Sky Blue Sky, but Tweedy & Co. are really quite beyond such silliness. Tours perpetuate themselves and within the live setting, there is very little thinking about which song came from which album... at least in my mind. With this philosophy in hand, everything sounded no-doubt-about-it fantastic.

The band -- 6 strong -- is doing nothing special it seems, and yet every feat they perform seems Herculean. Watching them on stage, it is as if each musician has his own little narrative going on. Occasionally these overlap, but the jounrey's seem distinct. In this way, they are like a swinging jazz band and ones perception of the music becomes clouded or colored by their vantage point. From my spot on the right side of the room, I somehow became the Earth caught in alignment with the Saturn and Jupiter of John Stirratt and Glenn Kotche on bass and drums. Stirratt was an especially potent planet, spinning multiple moons of blissfully billous bass bouncing off all four of Warsaw's walls. The rhythm battery controlled the energy all night even overwhelming the occasional 3-guitar set with their playing.


Of course, those on the other side may have perceived things differently. Perhaps they were entranced by Nels' scintillating guitar work. Cline is the kind of axe-slinger that is constantly shredding to the point where he is both the persistent center of attention and yet never so in-your-face that you can't appreciate the rest of the band. And he's undoubtedly still learning -- scary to think. Whether we were zoned in on Cline or Kotche or that macramé owl or kept focussed on Tweedy from note one, there's no doubt we were all enjoying the heck out of it regardless. The crowd was amped to the point of insanity. I can't recall the last time I was caught in such an overwhelming undertoe of audience energy. The upswell of rhythmic clapping caught hold of the room before the band had even taken the stage and such enthusiasm only built in fury 150 minutes later when they finally just had to turn the lights on to get us to accept that the show had to end some time. But the crowd wasn't just a crazed juggernaut, when things chilled out onstage, we were right there in synch. More importantly, when Tweedy called for it, the singalongativeness of the audience was awesome, but when it wasn't called for was quickly stashed away.

Like his singing, his guitar playing and his banter in between, Tweedy also played the crowd like a Gibson. This reached a climax during the blistering Spiders in the encore when the crowd spontaneously caught up the rhythm and manifested its enthusiasm in a somehow non-annoying clap-along that pretty much drowned out the band. Jeff twisted this expertly, fading the band out at will and leaving the clapping on its own, which quickened its pace almost immediately like a locker room psych-up. Just at the moment of explosion, Tweedy dropped the band back into the neck-cranking coda of the tune. Explode! Sick!

The banter was minimal, but perfectly placed. At one point Jeff asked "is it obvious we don't have a curfew tonight?" before explaining that this was the only gig of the tour to afford them that luxury. I couldn't say whether this actually translated into a longer show, but it certainly felt like it... which I guess is the point. It wasn't that hard to make us all feel special, was it? Undoubtedly it did translate into a looser band, one that didn't hesitate to go balls to the wall despite the insanely sticky air. Glenn was a sweaty mess barely 30 minutes into the evening and everyone else was in a similar state soon enough. It may be illegal in some places to have that much fun on a Tuesday night, but not in Brooklyn!

Well, hell, you get the idea right. The show was sweet, to a song... to a Mexican-standoff guitar jam... to a note. Om the time of the summer blockbuster, Wilco was The Fantastic Four. Not that there are 4 of 'em, obviously, but that they hit all four corners of the ass-kicking rockandroll rectangle. They have the flexibility of Mr Fantastic, rending themselves into any shape that they wish. That Spiders somehow emerged from the slow-moving Reservations in a way that only Wilco could make happen. At times they're barely audible, the Invisible Woman, sneaking around with subtle songwriteringly sweetness. Hummingbird, Jesus, etc... of course, while the band didn't quite disappear at these moments, more just hiding behind the audience singing proud and in key. Then others they are the freaking Thing, bashing every cognizant entity in the building with rockers like Shot In The Arm or the blitzkrieg outro of Trying to Break Your Heart. Very often they did the Invisible > big rocky monster thing within one tune: Impossible Germany being such a two-headed beast that eased in slow and easy but eventually climaxed with a slick multi-guitar + bass + noise "jam" that was as powerful as anything else all night. I think the Human Torch goes without explanation. It was hot in there, really freaking hot, and the temperature inside was only part of it. Wilco is on fire.

I've seen the band in a wide range of venues over the last few years from the Bowery Ballroom to Radio City; from Roseland Ballroom to festival ground to freakin' Madison Square Garden for crissakes. They've nailed them all. Wilco is one of the few bands that could probably handle every room in the city. Beacon Theater, Town Hall... Carnegie, Mercury.. Bandshell, Rumsey... is there any doubt that they'd conform, rise to the occasion, be the right band.

Review: Free To Be...

Summer means free music and I got my feet wet with a little bit of that love last week.

(36)

Prospect Park Bandshell, Brooklyn 21 June 2007

Thursday night was my first visit to my favorite spot to see music in the city: Prospect Park Bandshell. I'll save the poetic waxing for another time, but I will say that there is something about crazy-ass deluges and my visits to Prospect Park. A few years back it was standing in an absolute soaking rain while Stephen Malkmus (& the Jicks) blew me away; last year I didn't even make it to the park before the rain made its case... it stopped in time for an utterly transcendent night of movies and Bill Frisell. So, when I made my way to Park Slope on Thursday with rain falling and deep, grey clouds overhead, forgive me if I didn't expect another musical miracle.

The miracle came. Short lived, but it came. The clouds seem to dissipate just as we found a spot a few blocks from 9th St and we (me & the kiddles) got there in time for the bulk of Ollabelle's set. I've sung their praises before and this one was a perfect sunbeam bouncer once again. Oren Bloedow (last seen trying to fill Chris Wood's shoes) was sitting in on guitar and brought a little more of that bite to the music. It was a bit mellow at times, but seeing as I barely even noticed it must mean I am a true Ollabelle fan. It was a perfect setting for them the sun peaking out and Brooklyn at its best.

After a short break consumed mostly by a quick dash to the ice cream cart and an ominous announcement over the PA that another "squall" was coming through, Richard Thompson took the stage. Like the author's names that pepper the reeking-of-the-intelligensia New Yorker Magazine, Richard Thompson is proof that I'm not as smart as I think I am... or at least that I know very little about music. The point being that I know very little about Thompson. Nor would I get a chance to find too much out Thursday night. The skies opened up... innocently at first and then -- "WE'RE OUTTA HERE!"

Oh well, I'll be back.

(37)

Heckscher Park, Huntington, LI 23 June 2007

Saturday night was a total change of pace. Rocking out in the burbs with Eric Lindell who was playing up the road at Hecksher Park in Huntington, Long Island. Not quite walking distance, but, let's just say, I know the playground there quite well.
Lindell is a New Orleans native and if there's one thing I've learned over the years of seeing music in the city, it's that if a NOLA musician makes it this far north, it's a good bet they're well-worth checking out. I've had the Lindell fan club selling me his bill-of-sale, so I wasn't totally unawares, but I had no idea I would be sucked in that hard. The crowd was mellow suburban, lawn chairs scattered over the lawn made it seem more packed than it probably was, but still a nice healthy crowd and Lindell did his part to sell them on his brand of rock and roll.

It started out as a sort of greasy rhythm and blues with Lindell on vocals and guitar joined by another guitarist, a heady bass & drums rhythm section and a backup singer-slash-harmonica player rounding out the sound. The harp was a nice treat, elevating the standard swing with a little depth in several directions: sometimes taking things a little chromatic and other times just getting seriously bluesy. Around the midpoint, the funk started to manifest itself. I've been increasingly wary of the funk as an end, but as a means, it can be an exhilarating vehicle. Lindell -- and particularly his more-than-solid bassist and drummer -- knows just how much of the Nawlins groove to pepper his rock and roll with. The result was an extremely audience-friendly mix.

I was also way impressed with how Lindell handled the sit-and-listen crowd. The tendency in those kind of spots is to push the audience: "come on and dance, people!" but Eric let the crowd come to him and dictate the energy level. It's not that the crowd wasn't into it -- they most certainly were diggin' the heck out of it -- it's just that they chose to chill out with their citronella candles rather than break a sweat. Still, the "let's party" New Orleans vibe shone through in the music and I'm really looking forward to getting filthy with Lindell & Co in a club setting next time they're coming through town.

25 June 2007

Photo: Eric Lindell

Rocking out in the burbs. Short review tomorrow... I hope.

24 June 2007

Shows of the Week

Whoa Nellie! If you had to pick just one...

Enjoy!

Click here for upcoming shows


Monday:
OK Go! @ PNC Bank Arts Center (Holmdel, NJ)
Wilco (Low opens) @ Hammerstein Ballroom
Adrian Belew @ BB King's
*Apostle of Hustle @ Mercury Lounge
Bobby Previte @ 55 Bar
Bad Brains @ Rocks Off Concert Cruise on the Temptress
Mamie Minch @ Barbes (Brooklyn)
Oz Noy Trio @ Bitter End

Tuesday:
OK Go! @ Jones Beach (Wantagh, LI)
FREE Chris Thile, Martha Wainwright et al @ World Financial Center
Ryan Adams @ Hiro Ballroom
*Wilco (Low opens) @ Warsaw (Brooklyn)
Larry Carlton @ Blue Note (early/late)
Christian McBride @ Village Vanguard (early/late)
Allison Miller/Erin McKeown w/ T. Sickafoose, E. Deutsch @ Cornelia St. Cafe
Manu Chao @ Prospect Park Bandshell (Brooklyn)
Jonah Smith et al @ Highline Ballroom
Jenny Scheinman @ Barbes (Brooklyn) (early)
Cesaria Evora (The Bird and the Bee opens) @ Carnegie Hall
Nightwatchman @ Bowery Ballroom
Sinead O'Connor @ Joe's Pub (early)
Neville Brothers, Blues Traveler @ North Fork Theater (Westbury, LI)

Wednesday:
Ron Carter Tribute @ Carnegie Hall
Manu Chao @ Prospect Park Bandshell (Brooklyn)
Dios Malos @ Mercury Lounge
Next Tribe @ The Delancey
Briggan Krauss Project @ Barbes (Brooklyn) (early)
Christian McBride @ Village Vanguard (early/late)
Larry Carlton @ Blue Note (early/late)
FREE Wolff & Tuba @ Piano's Lounge
*OK Go! @ Jones Beach (Wantagh, LI)
Jean-Luc Ponty @ Zankel Hall

Thursday:
Big Sam's Funky Nation, The Bridge, Licorice @ Lion's Den
Levon Helm, Ollabelle et al @ Summerstage
Larry Carlton @ Blue Note (early/late)
Doug Wamble Rodeo Trio @ Barbes (Brooklyn) (late)
*Benevento/Russo Duo (acoustic) @ Maxwell's (Hoboken)
The Beach Boys @ North Fork Theater (Westbury, LI)
Antigone Rising @ Mexicali Blues (Teaneck, NJ)
FREE Joan Jett & The Blackhearts @ Pier 54
Curtis Hasselbring's Decoupage @ The Stone (early)
Buckwheat Zydeco @ Rockin the River Cruise
Rickie Lee Jones @ Fillmore
Christian McBride @ Village Vanguard (early/late)
The Moroccan Sheepherders @ Ace of Clubs
Wayne Krantz @ 55 Bar (late/midnight)

Friday:
FREE Ravi Coltrane, Groove Collective @ Prospect Park Bandshell (Brooklyn)
Brothers Past @ Rocks Off Concert Cruise Aboard the Temptress
Bob Dylan @ Jones Beach (Wantagh, LI)
*Emergency Party, Sounds of Greg D @ Luna Lounge (Brooiklyn)
The Stills @ Maxwell's (Hoboken)
FREE Snowden, Ra Ra Riot @ South St. Seaport
Christian McBride @ Village Vanguard (early/late)
Larry Carlton @ Blue Note (early/late)
FREE Patti LaBelle @ Bryant Park
Todd Sickafoose's Blood Orange @ 55 Bar (late)
Morning 40 Federation @ Mercury Lounge
Jefferson Starship/Big Brother/Quicksilver Messenger Service @ BB King's
Talat Quintet @ Blue Note (late night)
Robin Eubanks & EB3 @ Joe's Pub (late)

Saturday:
Bela Fleck & The Flecktones, Del McCoury Band @ Carnegie Hall
The Bad Plus @ Highline Ballroom (early/late)
Peter Frampton @ Planting Fields Arboretum (Oyster Bay, LI)
Fiery Furnaces @ Maxwell's (Hoboken)
Morissey @ Madison Square Garden
*FREE The Stills, Malajube @ Prospect Park Bandshell (Brooklyn)
Larry Carlton @ Blue Note (early/late)
The Fab Faux @ Count Basie Theater (Red Bank, NJ)
FREE Dub Is A Weapon @ Zebulon (Brooklyn)
FREE Ozomatli et al @ Summerstage
Asia @ North Fork Theater (Westbury, LI)
Christian McBride @ Village Vanguard (early/late)
Baby Dayliner @ Mercury Lounge

Sunday:
Rodrigo Y Gabriela @ Summerstage
Fiery Furnaces (Dios Malos opens) @ Studio B (Brooklyn)
Malajube @ Maxwell's (Hoboken)
Christian McBride @ Village Vanguard (early/late)
Stephane Wrembel @ Barbes (Brooklyn)
*FREE Man Man, Illinois @ McCarren Park Pool (Brooklyn)
Polyphonic Spree @ Warsaw (Brooklyn)
Larry Carlton @ Blue Note (early/late)
Seun Kuti @ SOB's
Hopewell et al @ Southpaw (Brooklyn)

Click here for upcoming shows

21 June 2007

minimix: Americana Is Beautiful.2 Schoolin' Banjos

Ah, that sweet gap between the solstice and the fourth, perfect for some good old fashioned roots music. Today we're concentrating on the banjo. At first I didn't think I'd be able to scrape together enough tunes but it didn't take long before I was having trouble paring it down to my self-imposed six. While happy with what we're left with, I'm not sure if it will have the intended effect, but should be an interesting tutorial in the multiplicities of the ole banjo. One super caveat is that I've completely ignored Mr. Fleck who now has a reservation for his own mix somewhere in the not-too-distant future.

Enjoy!

Click here to download the mix

01 Old Joe Clark / June Apple -- Tony Trischka: Solo Banjo Works
02 Oh Asia -- Illinois: Daytrotter Session
03 Don't Ride That Horse -- Old Crow Medicine Show: Big Iron World
04 Snake In The House -- The Del McCoury Band: 14 June 1997
05 Jerry's Breakdown -- Old & In The Way: Breakdown
06 And Your Bird Can Sing -- Yonder Mountain String Band: 22 April 2007

Previously in minimix:
Americana Is Beautiful.1 Feelin' Steely

Links of the Week

Another musical grab bag for your 1st day of summer...

Enjoy!

20 June 2007

Review: Akron/Family

(35)

Bowery Ballroom (4), 12 June 2007

Gosh, hate to be posting reviews a week late, but had to pipe up a bit about the Akron/Family show I was invited to check out last Tuesday at the Bowery Ballroom, hopefully doing it justice and not forgetting too much... [note: these photos kinda suck, so feel free to check out these much better ones from Dan, or check out his much more informed review here.]

My first impression of the band as they stepped on stage was: "these guys are all in the same band?" Seemed more like a random four dudes -- guys waiting at the barbershop -- than a unit, much less one that made good music. My initial impression couldn't have been more wrong as the evening would prove. The band is a quartet and in age-old quartet fashion, each one of them had a distinctive look: the dude with the porn-stache (bassist), the fella giving off the Vanilla Ice vibe (drummer), Boulder hippie circa 1997 (lead guitar), etc. I'm sure it would only take a few sessions with these guys to figure out which is the "funny one" or the "batshit crazy one." Anyhoo, they come out and do a pretty-much-acapella tune and I start getting that vibe. I mean Akron/Family has full-on BrooklynVegan-approved indie bona fides, but the show I saw Tuesday night seemed a lot more JamBase than Pitchfork. And if you swim like a fish and you smell like a fish... you might just be a fish.

The show zig-zagged through every typical jamband cliche from there with seemingly every song having a brand new "gimmick" along the way. There were long, twisted Yes/Rush/prog compositions that switched styles and directions midstream, so that you'd have the tune that started off like an uppity Irish reel that flipped into a deep-throated rock rager, etc. Tunes climaxed with tandem guitar solos a la moe. or devolved into quasi-drum circles like Rusted Root might do. Slide whistles and recorders and other lo-fi accouterments made almost as many appearances as extended guitar solos. Guests popped up on stage in groups of 3 or 4: a full-bore horn section for several spots, a set of female back-up singers from the opening band, a drum corps toward the end. Serious musicmaking was interrupted occasionally for goofiness and silly asides and boy band covers (I think?). The conversation with the audience was two-way throughout, especially as the show went on and the energy got a little hot.

So many things I've seen before from other bands, mashed together in a band that didn't seem to have any next-level musical chops that might pervade the typical Berklee-trained jamsters.... Akron/Family seemed to have so many reasons to be dismissed and yet, I could do nothing but enjoy the absolute fuck out of these guys. Sometimes the randomness is a distraction and sometimes it just plain works and these guys most certainly work. For a while I would have dubbed them the jamband that doesn't actually jam, but that proved not to be the case. Songs would come unglued, untethered and unhinged and enter a sort of "free" space for long extended "where am I?" stretches. It wasn't noodling or musical masturbation by any stretch, but they certainly were jamming and quite well, I might add. Two guitars, bass and drums, the band was incredibly tight both in playing and in their interactions all around. They enjoy playing together and making whacked out rock and roll music and it shows.

The room was pretty packed and the band is certainly and rightfully beloved by their fans which seem to run the gamut. The band played the crowd perfectly, urging them on in their Tuesday-evening glory and finally catching fire to the point where the bassist felt compelled to hop down to the floor and rock-out from within. The horns were in and out of the audience, at one point starting from the back of the room and moving up to the stage to join the action.

The show seemed to climax in a glut of on-stage action. The aforementioned guests converged en masse on the stage so that there was the base quartet, plus foursomes each of horns, drummers and singers, making 16 total musicians up there. From here loose went to sanatorium-level insanity with a whole lot of who-knows-what going on, maybe some beat boxing and rapping and audience clap-along/sing-along and otherwise loud but coherent noisemaking. Most of all it was fun. At long last, the plane of the stage was broken once more, this time with large portions of the (invited) audience streaming on stage and taking all those different hand drums and whistles and other goodies which had made cameos earlier in the evening and joining into the free-for-all. And it was right about this time that the pigeon left his hole and it didn't really matter who or what or why the Akron/Family... I was much more worried about when and where.

That was until I realized the lead guy, the one with the beard and glasses and black t-shirt reminded me of someone I used to know...

19 June 2007

Photo: The Unhitchable

gets hitched. Also, The Big Squeeze and I climbed Mt Kearsarge...the hard way.

18 June 2007

Shows of the Week

Enjoy!

Remember: * = Ned's picks; # = new additions; if you or someone you know would like this listing in their inbox every week, go to groups.yahoo.com/group/nyc_sotw and hit "join list."

Click here for upcoming shows

Monday:
*Apostle of Hustle @ Mercury Lounge
Roy Bookbinder @ BB King's
Cyndi Lauper, Debbie Harry et al @ Radio City Music Hall
Mamie Minch @ Barbes (Brooklyn)
Albery Hammond Jr @ Webster Hall
Butch Morris Orchestra @ Nublu

Tuesday:
Fab Faux @ Bowery Ballroom
*Marc Ribot's Spiritual Unity @ Angel Orensanz
McCoy Tyner Trio @ Blue Note (early/late)
Lynyrd Skynyrd @ North Fork Theater (Westbury, LI)
Mahavishnu Project @ BB King's
The White Stripes @ Fillmore
Burnt Sugar @ Zebulon (Brooklyn) (late)
Preservation Hall Jazz Band @ The Town Hall
Robert Cray Band @ Starland Ballroom (Sayreville, NJ)

Wednesday:
Branford Marsalis, Joshua Redman Trio @ Town Hall
*Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey (w/ S. Kimock) @ Mexicali Blues (Teaneck, NJ)
Hopewell et al @ The Annex
Mahavishnu Project @ BB King's
Fab Faux @ Bowery Ballroom
McCoy Tyner Trio @ Blue Note (early/late)
FREE Wolff & Tuba @ Piano's Lounge
The Giraffes, Dragons of Zynth, Beat the Devil @ Maxwell's (Hoboken)
Jenny Scheinman/Steve Cardenas @ Brooklyn Museum (Brooklyn)
Asia @ Fillmore
Lynyrd Skynyrd @ North Fork Theater (Westbury, LI)
Peaches @ Highline Ballroom

Thursday:
Afroskull @ Bowery Poetry Club
Eric Lindell @ Lion's Den
*FREE Richard Thompson, Ollabelle @ Prospect Park Bandshell (Brooklyn)
Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey (w/ S. Kimock) @ Southpaw (Brooklyn)
McCoy Tyner Trio @ Blue Note (early/late)
Lyle Lovett/KD Lang @ Radio City Music Hall
Wayne Krantz @ 55 Bar (late/midnight)
Hopewell et al @ Magnetic Field (Brooklyn)
Keith Jarrett, Jack DeJohnette, Gary Peacock @ Carnegie Hall
Tokyo Trio et al @ Town Hall
Jason Crosby @ Ace of Clubs
Old Crow Medicine Show @ Count Basie Theater (Red Bank, NJ)
The New Mastersounds @ Mexicali Blues (Teaneck, NJ)
Livingston Leo @ Fontana's
Cowboy Mouth @ BB KIng's

Friday:
*FREE Ralph Stanley @ Prospect Park Bandshell (Brooklyn)
Wilco (Low opens) @ Count Basie Theater (Red Bank, NJ)
The Slip @ Bowery Ballroom
Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey @ Rocks Off Concert Cruise Aboard the Half Moon
Violent Femmes @ Warsaw
Foreigner @ PNC Bank Arts Center (Holmdel, NJ)
McCoy Tyner Trio @ Blue Note (early/late)
India.Arie, Lizz Wright @ Carnegie Hall
Budos Band @ The Lucky Cat (Brooklyn)
Chicago, America @ Jones Beach (Wantagh, LI)
Marshall Tucker Band/Charlie Daniels Band @ North Fork Theater (Westbury, LI)

Saturday:
Panda Bear @ Bowery Ballroom
*Ween, Benevento Russo Duo et al @ School of Rock Festival (Asbury Park, NJ)
Violent Femmes @ Warsaw
Bustle In Your Hedgerow @ Asbury Lanes (Asbury Park, NJ)
New Mastersounds @ The Annex
The Moonlighters @ Barbes (Brooklyn) (late)
Chicago, America @ PNC Bank Arts Center (Holmdel, NJ)
Van Davis @ 55 Bar (early)
Patti Labelle, Lou Donaldson Quartet @ Carnegie Hall
Quinteto Roberto Rodriguez @ Joe's Pub
Eric Lindell @ Heckscher Park (Huntington, LI)
McCoy Tyner Trio @ Blue Note (early/late)
Foreigner @ Jones Beach (Wantagh, LI)
The Radiators @ Mexicali Blues (Teaneck, NJ)

Sunday:
Ted Nugent @ Nokia Theater
Bad Brains et al @ School of Rock Festival (Asbury Park, NJ)
FREE Superchunk et al @ McCarren Park Pool (Brooklyn)
McCoy Tyner Trio @ Blue Note (early/late)
Stephane Wrembel @ Barbes (Brooklyn)
Donny McCaslin @ 55 Bar (late)
*FREE Sloan, Apostle of Hustle, Duhks @ Summerstage
Cornell Dupree & Friends @ BB King's
Amfibian @ Heckscher Park (Huntington, LI)
Panda Bear @ Bowery Ballroom

Click here for upcoming shows

15 June 2007

minimix: Daddy-O

Like any good father, I'm half-assing it this week. In honor of all the dads out there, or the dads-to-be, or the people who never want to be a father or have a father who they love... or hate.
Enjoy!

Download the mix

01 Welcome Back Father -- Earl Greyhound: EP
02 Father of Night -- Bob Dylan: New Morning
03 Father and Son -- Cat Stevens: Tea for the Tillerman
04 Dance To Your Daddy -- Colin Meloy: Sings trad. arr. Shirley Collins
05 Father to a Sister of a Thought -- Pavement: Wowee Zowee
06 If It Was Good Enough for Daddy -- Clarence Reid: What It Is! Funky Soul and Rare Grooves

13 June 2007

Links of the Week: Empowered

Let's get right to it, keeping it music related and short and sweet...

Grab that Cat Power and enjoy!!

12 June 2007

Review: The Sea and Cake | Emergency Party

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Webster Hall (2), 7 June 2007

A few years ago I kind of stumbled into The Sea and Cake when I decided to check 'em out "blind" at the Bowery Ballroom and was pretty much tickled to the point of calling "Uncle" that whole night. So, it was some anticipation that I made my way to Manhattan for their first trip back since then. This time, they were playing a single night at Webster Hall in lieu of the 3 nights they played at the Bowery last time. I always prefer the second option there, but I got to the club early enough and got close enough that it wouldn't really matter, I guess.

Well, different year, different room... same result. I have but one complaint about the Sea and Cake show from last Thursday night: too short. They appeared on stage and blasted into "Born on Crutches" from their new release, Everybody, and grabbed good and tight to my attention: mind and body both locked into the band from the get-go. Everything about this band flows through the drummer, John McEntire, who is a torrent of energy and motion. He is like the pop version of Stanton Moore: commanding your attention and yet ceding everything to the band. Moore:Galacticfunk::McEntire::galactic pop.

And it is galactic: spiraling stratospheric rock music that is light enough to escape the gravity of the rock club and elevate the average listener to a higher plane. The Sea and Cake is Goldilocks, everything is just right -- neither too loud nor too soft; not too fast, not too slow; gets you dancing, but keeps you thinking and listening real hard; melodic and compositionally lush, but never noodles out of control. It's like that perfect range when you're trying to sing in the shower: some notes are too high and some are too low for you to hit, but there's always that spot in the middle that just feels right and that is the Sea and Cake. Comfort zone, through and through. As a result, I feel like I could listen to it for hours and not tire of their unique washes of sound.

There is a implicit democracy in the band. While McEntire commands a lot of attention, he is one of four leaders in the band. Sam Prekop is the nominal front man and his voice -- an ethereal wisp of a vocal -- dominates the sound as much as anything. It's almost as he's whispering the lyrics to you, a secret to share with the audience. Archer Prewitt is, for all intents and purposes, the lead instrumentalist, the lead guitar player in a band where guitar solos are just a small slice of a ego-free ensemble. The chords played by both Prewitt and Prekop are like no guitar chords played on this planet. There is something magical and otherworldly about the sounds coming out of their instruments. Liberal use of the capo and occasional dalliances with an ebow by Prewitt round out the tone nicely. Likewise, McEntire plays rhythms that seem to be just a touch alien, making 4/4 time sound like Martian polyrhythms and occasionally -- by my count, at least -- traipsing into signatures rarely seen. When you have a drummer like McEntire who shades more toward the melodic, the bass player becomes the rock on which the rhythms are anchored. Erik Claridge is the arbitrator, negotiator and secretary-general forming a detente between rhythm and melody, locking into one or the other and making everything operate peacefully.

I was just a few rows of people back and couldn't have asked for better sound. I was "in the cloud" as I like to say -- the music was all around me and it sounded great. The crowd wasn't particularly rambunctious, but this isn't the sort of music that inspires a mania in people. Don't get me wrong, though, everyone was pretty into it, and I gotta give props to anyone that can love on this band, they can't have too many casual listeners. The music is casual, but it's deep and needs love.

The band did a great job mixing it up the whole night. Sure, pretty much the entirety of the new album poked it's head up throughout the set, but these were just parts of the whole, interspersed with plenty of older material. This really fleshed out the whole Sea and Cake sound perfectly and the band was able to construct a set that built to a nice crescendo. These guys are certainly best appreciated live. They don't really stretch things out, although the last few songs of the set seemed to go in that direction and their playing always hints at an ability and desire to just explode into some wide-ranging jams while keeping things on the level in real time. Still, the talents and energy and, frankly, watching McEntire play... it all pops into three dimensions in the live setting and for The Sea and Cake it seems to be the true rendering of their sound.

The last few songs packed a particular wallop. One meandered into the only real "jam" of the night... it was more of an ambient whoosh of noise -- no solos or anything -- with all four guys kind of locking in on a groove and their experience and ease with each other kind of flickered through the hum. The lights were perfect at this moment, blazing a little bit brighter and accenting just so the music swirling around on stage. The set ended and then the crowd really let 'em have it -- like they'd been holding back their enthusiasm for the very end, knowing they'd need their energy to show their appreciation for the wonderful music. "Left On" is one of many unique twists on the theme that The Sea and Cake extend to and it was a perfect encore to round out the night. Too short, but then again, anything more might have been too long.

Conversation heard on the way out:
Dude 1: So, what did you think?
Dude 2: I didn't really like it.
Dude 1: Bwah?

Lonely, Dear from Sweden opened. On another night in another spot, maybe they would have won me over, but they just seemed like half a decent band to me. Nothing too awful, certainly pleasant enough, but there was nothing to differentiate them from any other band out there. Half decent vocals, half decent songs, half decent playing... eh?

My stretch of getting blown away by opening acts seems sadly to have come to an end. I've had at least two discoveries stick to me deep down where it counts, though, St. Vincent and Emergency Party. As luck would have it, Emergency Party was playing a late set a moderate jaunt away from Webster Hall Thursday night. Then again, so was Wayne Krantz who I've neglected for far too long. Hmmmm... choices, choices. Two paths diverged in a yellowed downtown Manhattan and I chose the one less traveled... head east! Emergency Party it is!

(34;2)

Piano's, 7 June 2007

HOLY SHIT! I enjoyed their opening set back in February... immensely... but nothing prepared me for the real fucking party they threw just as the clock turned midnight into Friday morning. Everything I wrote back then holds true, but somehow there was something extra thrown into the potion at Piano's. Like a gas can thrown onto a manageable campfire, things quickly escalated to bonfire level and the crowd... well, what can I say about that crowd? It's a small room and pretty much from the first stanza they were deeply into it. I had that feeling like I had stumbled into some cult worship, but in the best possible sense, but there was an energy and an interaction between the crowd and the band that was as tight as I've seen anywhere. The room was just totally conducive to this and wild-eyed dancing and full-throttled moshing ensued amongst the friendly 30 or 40 anointed Emergency Partiers in attendance.

It's tough to describe the EP sound. I call it Zappunk -- some weird amalgam of Zappa's storytelling and prog meanderings cross-bred with an insanely high octane rock and roll energy of devil-may-care punk rock. Throw in a dose of irreverent sense of not taking themselves too seriously and somehow it all comes out in a wave of fist pumping, smile-inducing, jump-jump-jumping load of fun. I really don't know the last time I had that much fun. I was addicted from the first song and could have taken that pounding til deep in the morning had they chosen to take me there.

They wasted no time getting into it. The lead guy -- John? -- donned some sort of robe/cape/papal garment and sang over some hilarious samples using his auto-mechanic's flashlight as a faux-microphone and then they just launched into some nasty rock and roll. They flip over with lots of whiplash stops and starts with the drummer -- always the drummer -- bringing a next level kind of coherence to something that is utterly incoherent. That's the thing about this band, they are flailing all over the place, 3 guitars a drummer and a (female) bassist and yet they reach some pretty heady places... just really, really tight. The kind of tightness that comes years of not just playing with each other but actually knowing each other. Each musician has a keyboard near them which fills in the sound and then there are some fun samples on top of it, but make no mistake, this is not electronic music, it is a wonderfully weird, fractured take on the old standby: rock and roll.

The set was a 45 blitz of complete mania: a fireball of blazing energy. There was no letdown, no pause for breath, whenever they could, each song pretty much started on the heels of the previous one. The energy in the room was just freakin' unbelievable, a total freakout that I was happy to be getting down and dirty in. I can say no more than "holy shit!"

You can feel free to check out their myspace page, but anything recorded in the studio or even live will never do justice to sweating your ass off with these guys working on the stage in front of you. I've been really excited about a lot of bands bubbling up out of the NYC music scene -- some have been hits and some have been misses; some have gone on to hit it big and some have petered pretty much right out of existence. I won't say that these are the best or throw out any superlatives, but this is the band that I am presently most excited about in the city and will do everything in my power to go see. I cannot recommend you check them out highly enough.

The name of the band is The Emergency Party.

11 June 2007

Photo: Thursday night at Webster Hall

Went to see the Sea and Cake last week at Webster Hall. I forgot to bring my camera (most definitely a good thing), so you'll have to do with something decent for a change. Photo above pilfered from Clobby -- click on the link for more of his very fine Flickr set of the evening. Review (hopefully) tomorrow.

While driving home this evening I had a wonderful Kodak moment. In front of me was a fantastic purple-on-grey lightning storm, to the right of me was brilliant dusk-in-early-June sunshine and to the left of me was a crispy ROYGBIV rainbow offset from a more dull duplicate (DUDE, double rainbow) set against some ashen clouds. David Grisman on the stereo. No camera, though, so my description will have to suffice. Just wanted to share.

10 June 2007

Shows of the Week

Enjoy!

Click here for upcoming shows

Monday:
Steely Dan @ Beacon Theater
*Feist (Grizzly Bear opens) @ Town Hall
Apostle of Hustle @ Mercury Lounge
Butch Morris Orchestra @ Nublu
American Babies @ Old Office
The Ladybug Transistor, Pipas, Alasdair Maclean @ Union Hall (Brooklyn)
Maroon 5 @ Bowery Ballroom
Mamie Minch @ Barbes (Brooklyn)

Tuesday:
Feist (Grizzly Bear opens) @ Town Hall
FREE Joan Armatrading @ World Financial Center
Akron/Family @ Bowery Ballroom
*FREE Rashanim, Pitom @ Zebulon (Brooklyn)
Steely Dan @ Beacon Theater
Jaik Miller Band @ LUV 24/7
Stevie Nicks @ PNC Bank Arts Center (Holmdel, NJ)
Lily Allen @ Roseland Ballroom
Guillermo Klien Y Los Guachos @ Village Vanguard (early/late)
Somi @ Jazz Standard (early/late)

Wednesday:
*FREE Booker T & The MG's w/ Sharon Jones @ Rockefeller Park
Franz Ferdinand @ Bowery Ballroom
Guillermo Klien Y Los Guachos @ Village Vanguard (early/late)
Jill Scott @ Radio City Music Hall
Eef Barzelay @ Joe's Pub (early)
Cowboy Junkies @ The Concert Hall
Happy Mondays @ Nokia Theater
Future Clouds & Radar, Rosewood Thieves et al @ Piano's
FREE Wolff & Tuba @ Piano's lounge

Thursday:
Jill Scott @ Radio City Music Hall
FREE Booker T & MG's @ BAM Metrotech (noon)
FREE Neville Brothers @ Prospect Park Bandshell (Brooklyn)
Guillermo Klien Y Los Guachos @ Village Vanguard (early/late)
Lee "Scratch" Perry @ BB King's
*Earl Greyhound, Great Northern, Dirty on Purpose @ Bowery Ballroom
Happy Mondays @ Nokia Theater
BuzzUniverse, Licorice @ Donegal Saloon (Kearny, NJ)
The Bomb Squad @ Mexicali Blues (Teaneck, NJ)
Prine Time @ Banjo Jim's
Flight of the Conchords @ Blender Theater
Andy Statman @ Barbes (Brooklyn)
Wayne Krantz @ 55 Bar (late/midnight)

Friday:
Bjorkestra/Uri Caine's Bedrock @ Highline Ballroom
Peter Rowan Trio @ Mexicali Blues (Teaneck, NJ) (early)
Walter Wolfman Washington @ (late)
O'Death, Reverend Peyton's Big Damn Band @ Luna Lounge (Brooklyn)
FREE Cassandra Wilson, Olu Dara @ Summerstage
*Bonerama (Circus Mind opens) @ Lion's Den
Guillermo Klien Y Los Guachos @ Village Vanguard (early/late)
Great Northern et al @ Union Hall (Brooklyn)
Voxtrot @ Webster Hall

Saturday:
Madeleine Peyroux (Josh Ritter opens) @ Beacon Theater
FREE Joan Osborne/Jazz Passengers @ Prospect Park Bandshell (Brooklyn)
Heartless Bastards, Illinois @ Bowery Ballroom
Yuka Honda/Petra Haden @ Abrons Arts Center
Guillermo Klien Y Los Guachos @ Village Vanguard (early/late)
Television, Apples In Stereo, Dragons of Zynth @ Summerstage
*Apostle of Hustle, Memphis et al @ Southpaw (Brooklyn)
Black Hollies et al @ Maxwell's (Hoboken)
Burnt Sugar @ Highline Ballroom
The Giraffes et al @ Luna Lounge (Brooklyn)

Dad's Day:
Duran Duran @ Hammerstein Ballroom
Maceo Parker @ BB King's
Michael Blake/Ben Allison/Charlie Burnham et al @ 55 Bar (late)
Guillermo Klien Y Los Guachos @ Village Vanguard (early/late)
*Lily Allen @ Warsaw (Brooklyn)

Click here for upcoming shows

07 June 2007

minimix: Comes Alive Vol. 3

Another random batch of live music from this year with a little emphasis on the ladies. Enjoy!

Download the mix

01 "You're Not the First" -- St. Vincent: Mercury Lounge -- 19 Apr 2007
02 Fairies Wear Boots -- Rose Hill Drive: Mercury Lounge - 28 April 2007
03 Like,Love,Lust -- Jesse Sykes & The Sweet Hereafter: KCRW 21 Apr 2007
04 He Can Only Hold Her -- Amy Winehouse: La Zona Rosa - 16 March 2007
05 White Unicorn -- Wolfmother: Edmonton Event Center 25 Feb 2007
06 Left On -- The Sea And Cake: Vancouver 14 May 2007

Previously in minimx:
Comes Alive Vol. 2

06 June 2007

Links: Forcing the Issue

The 40th anniversary of Star Wars passed a couple weeks ago without mention here at OTW. It was the first movie I ever saw, and probably constitutes my earliest memory (I was only 3), so it probably merits something around here. In honor of that, here's a linkdump entirely of Jedirific nods (many swiped from BoingBoing):

Robot Chicken


Family Guy


Cops



Plenty more out there... your favorites?

And the rest of my weekly haul:
Until next time...

Review: Capsule 2007 CD's Vol. 4

No live music in a while and due for a CD review dump, so here you go. Mostly the goods, once again. Got anything?

[Previously:
Volume 1
Volume 2
Volume 3]


Feist -- The Reminder
Third big "related to Broken Social Scene in some way" release of the year (after Apostle of Hustle and Do Make Say Think). Amazing how different all three of them are. This one brings out the basics. Something pure, simple and sweet about Feist that's hard to resist. Anyone that's seen her tear it up with BSS knows that she's got a voice made for this stuff and this album proves it once and for all. Favorite tracks: "1 2 3 4" and "Sea Lion Woman." Ned-O-Matic: 5.5




The Sea and Cake -- Everybody

Listening to the Sea and Cake you get the impression that they could launch into a 8 minute freeform jam at any moment. The fact that they don't underlies a wonderful tension bubbling underneath the surface of what would appear to be a trifle of a sound. These guys are already the band that The Slip is struggling so hard to become. Ethereal guitars and vocals and some unbelievably good drumming make this a summer ready must-have. Ned-O-Matic: 8



Wayne Krantz -- Your Basic Live '06
If there is a sharp corner where live music meets New York City, Wayne Krantz is playing there every Thursday night. No one represents all that is good and pure about music better than Wayne... and thankfully he can really, really play! This is the best representation yet of the magic that Krantz and friends make week in and week out. Call it jazz or rock or freeform freewheeling freak out music, this shit is the best. The brief liner notes with comments from Wayne are a treat as well. Get involved. Ned-O-Matic: 8.5

Blonde Redhead -- 23
There is a great schizophrenia in Blonde Redhead that's present right down to their wonderful name. Are they a male-fronted rock-out band or a female-fronted pop workhorse? This album flips between the two nicely, but as it goes on seems to favor the latter. There is very little not to like about this one, except that fact that it may escape notice by many of you out there. I can't imagine there's anyone that wouldn't enjoy this stuff in large doses. Uptempo, unpretentious... just damn good music through and through. Ned-O-Matic: 7.5


Benzos -- Branches
Speaking of weird tensions, the Benzos new one seems lost for a voice. Listening to it, you can hear the influences shining through a little too brightly. The mix is offbeat and occasionally jarring: faux Pearl Jam meets Explosions in the Sky, for example. If the songwriting seems to be in need of a foothold, the playing is sublime throughout. Nearly every track seems to hit a point, 3 minutes in, where the bridge kicks in and an instrumental band somersaults to center stage, if only for a moment, and truly amazes. If they can match these chops with something worthwhile, the Benzos will be a band to keep your eye on, for sure. Ned-O-Matic: 4.5


Billy Martin & John Medeski -- Mago
Of the three guys in MMW, the one I'd call indispensably my favorite is Chris Wood. Besides that, I've already got an organ-and-drums Duo to call my very own. And yet... and yet... Hey, like those dudes on the PGA: these guys are good. They could have pulled off this duo thing in many directions, but the path they've chosen is pretty much dead center. What's lacking in experimentation and whacked out wowees is more than made up for in luscious grooving and lock-tight instrumental yumminess. Still not sure why they didn't need a bass player, but it's good stuff nonetheless. Ned-O-Matic: 6

Bjork -- Volta
Is Bjork a brilliant pop genius or a truly fucking annoying warbler? No really, can you tell me the answer, because I truly don't know. At times I'm smitten with the off-kilter anti-musical meanderings and at other times I can't hit the skip button fast enough. Her last album had me more toward the former and this one has me more toward the latter. It has its moments, sure, and most of them seem to be dominated by guests: a nice duet with Antony (of & the Johnsons fame) and some Congorificness from Konono No 1. Maybe in time... or maybe not. Ned-O-Matic: 4.0



The Bad Plus -- Prog
Who loves the Bad Plus like OTW? The piano trio for everyone that don't dig on the jazz... and for all those that do as well. Man, this is the album I've been waiting for from these guys since "These Are the Vistas." If you're a newb, pick that one up, listen to it 25 times and then get this one immediately thereafter. The perfect mix of all those wonderful elements that make the Bad Plus so damn bad! The originals are magic, but. of course, the covers sell, so rectify: Tears for Fears, Rush and Bowie on a single album... a jazz album at that. I've been resisting writing a full-blown love letter to this album, but I'll spare the gushing and urge you to pick this up. And if you don't like it? Well, then, I hate you. Ned-O-Matic: 9.5