Recent Concert Announcements

David Vandervelde Comes to the Echo In October

 

 

 

 

Home Depot Center

10/8/11: Tiesto (now)

El Rey

10/20/11: Big Head Todd and the Monsters (now)

11/2/11: Architecture in Helsinki / Dom / The Sandwitches (now)

11/3/11: Dam-Funk & Master Blazter / Inc. / Peanut Butter Wolf / Egyptian Lover (now)

11/5/11: Parachute / Kate Voegele / Kevin Hammond (now)

The Music Box

9/4/11: Death From Above 1979 / Funeral Party (now)

Troubadour

11/9/11 – 11/12/11: Bouncing Souls (now)

The Satellite [Ticketfly]

10/7/11: Viva Voce / The Parson Red Heads (now)  

10/19/11: Moonface [Spencer Krug of Sunset Rubdown and Wolf Parade] (now)

10/28/11: The Felice Brothers / Gil Landry (now)

10/29/11: Male Bonding (now)

11/8/11: Little Red (now)

The Echo [Ticketweb]

10/19/11: David Vandervelde / The Fling (now)

Free Mondays in October: Swahili Blonde

Free Mondays in November: The Chain Gang of 1974

The Echoplex [Ticketweb]

10/31/11: Zola Jesus / LA Vampires (now)

11/11/11: Black Joe Lewis & the Honeybears / The Sheepdogs (now)

The Mayan

10/20/11: Spank Rock / Big Freedia / The Death Set (now)

Largo

9/20/11: Ben Lee (now)

10/18/11: Ben Lee (now)

10/29/11: Patton Oswalt (now)

Silverlake Lounge

11/2/11: Mr. Gnome (now)

Bootleg Bar

11/16/11: Company of Thieves (now)

12/9/11: Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin (now)

Hotel Café

11/10/11: Loney, Dear (now)

The Glass House

10/7/11: The Rapture (now)

10/13/11: Flamin’ Groovies (now)

10/16/11: Battles (now)

11/15/11: The Sounds (9/9 at Noon)

Luckman

10/29/11: Tinariwen (now)

12/3/11: Jane Birkin (now)

12/17/11: Aaron Neville (now)

2/11/11: CocoRosie (now)

4/21/11: Anoushka Shankar (now)

5/12/11: Nikka Costa (now)

Top 10 Records of 2009

Once again, the big trends in music for the year were completely lost on me. Usually I can easily identify a top album of the year, but this year I struggled.

So here's my top 10 list:

1) Phoenix: Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix – Phoenix crossed over into the mainstream with the most undeniably catchy record of the year. Three of the best singles of the year ("Lisztomania," "1901," and "Lasso") on one album.

Lisztomania - Phoenix

2) The Minor Canon: Emptiness Is Form – If you’re a fan of emotional, lyrically direct songs, this will be right up your alley. The record hits an early peak during “If Wishes Were Horses” when the furious guitar merges with screaming horns and a growing urgency in singer Paul Larson’s voice. Later in the record, the ferocity has faded away. In "Not There" Larson has given up hope on his lost love, but the pain's clearly not going away any time soon. The most overlooked record of the year.

If Wishes Were Horses - The Mi...

3) Frankel: Anonymity Is the New Fame – Michael Orendy’s latest features another batch of great songs. So many publicists lazily slap the Elliott Smith tag onto promo stickers, but “Ticket Machine” actually earns a comparison. With its breathy, double-tracked vocals and complex arrangement, Orendy has a deep respect for Smith’s songcraft. While Orendy draws some sonic inspiration from Smith, his lyrics are less direct and his song meanings more opaque. If you’re into literate pop songs, Frankel’s the real deal.

Ticket Machine - Frankel

4) Black Joe Lewis and the Honeybears: Tell ‘Em What Your Name Is! – For me, the biggest musical trend of the year was vintage soul music. Black Joe Lewis and the Honeybears were a perfect gateway to the past. As I dove headfirst into the Stax catalog, tracks like "Sugarfoot" and "Big Booty Woman" sounded classic.

Sugarfoot - Black Joe Lewis & ...

5) Rodriguez: Coming From Reality – Kudos to Light in the Attic for digging up another lost classic from Sixto Rodriguez. Originally released in 1971, Coming From Reality is another slightly dangerous, completely anti-establishment record. This time around big string arrangements in songs like "Sandrevan Lullaby-Lifestyles" augment the disappointment conveyed in Rodriguez's lyrics. Powerful stuff.

To Whom It May Concern - Rodri...

6) Girls: Album – It sounds like some lost, late 1970s demos from Elvis Costello and that's perfectly cool with me.

Summertime - Girls

7) Dinosaur Jr.: Farm – I could listen to J. Mascis play guitar all day.

I Want You To Know - Dinosaur ...

8) Phosphorescent: To Willie – A tribute album on my top 10 list? The record came out early in the year and I never got sick of it. Matthew Houck's relaxed vocal style suits Willie Nelson's songs very well. Seeing them having so much fun while performing these songs at SXSW helped.

Walkin' - Phosphorescent

9) Polvo: In Prism – Great to see one of my favorite bands from college back in top form. All the noise bands that hide behind shitty production and lack of skill at your instruments, please pay attention.

Right the Relation - Polvo

10) The xx: xx - I first got into this because it was inoffensive background music that didn't distract me while I was working. But it slowly seeped into my consciousness. Make out music for art school kids.

Basic Space - The xx

Ten more records I was digging on:

Neil Young: Archives - Impressive box set, but the price hurt it a bit.

Death: For the Whole World To See - Great collection of proto-punk from the early 1970s.

BLK JKS: After Robots - Hard to completely wrap your head around what these South Africans are doing, but I keep returning to it.

Silversun Pickups: Swoon - Good kids and so well produced.

Brendan Benson: My Old, Familiar Friend - Great pop songwriter.

Division Day: Visitation - A huge leap forward for the band.

Andrew Bird: Noble Beast - A tad precious, but I just can't deny his talent.

Jason Lytle: Yours Truly, the Commuter - Not unlike Grandaddy, and that's what I wanted from a Lytle solo record.

Sonic Youth: The Eternal - In the middle of their third decade of music making and still putting out great stuff.

Future of the Left: Travels with Myself and Another - Intense post-hardcore. They've got musical chops.

Recently Announced Live Shows

El Rey
10/1/09: The Horrors (on sale Friday at 10)

Club Nokia:
10/15/09: The Streets (presale now, password = SKINMIX; on sale Friday at 10)

Music Box at the Fonda
7/23/09: Rhys Darby (presale Friday at 10, password = INVASION; on sale Saturday at 10)
8/31/09: Bat for Lashes (presale Friday at 10, password = DREAM; on sale Saturday at 10)

The Orpheum
9/5/09: The Avett Brothers (presale Friday at 10, password = CONCORD; on sale Saturday at 10)

Fox Theatre in Pomona
9/1/09: Ween (presale Friday at 10, password = CHOCODOG; on sale Saturday at Noon)

Staples Center
9/22/09: Miley Cyrus (presale now for AmEx holders; on sale Saturday at 10)

Greek Theatre
9/3/09: The Pretenders / Cat Power / Juliette Lewis (on sale Saturday; presale now, password = OHIO)
9/24/09: Pet Shop Boys (on sale Saturday at 10AM; presale now, password = SUBURBIA)

Troubadour
8/15/09: Pissed Jeans / Lamps (on sale 6/17)
8/28/09: Gang Gang Dance (on sale now)
8/29/09: The Minus 5 / The Baseball Project (on sale now)
8/31/09: Black Joe Lewis & the Honeybears (on sale Friday)
9/9/09: HEALTH / Pictureplane (on sale Friday)
10/2/09: Robert Earl Keen (on sale now)
10/19/09: Bob Mould Band (on sale now)
10/20/09: Owl City (on sale Saturday)

Spaceland
8/7/09: The Black Heart Procession (now at Ticketweb)

The Echoplex
8/21/09: The Sonics (now at Ticketweb)
8/28/09: Os Mutantes (now at Ticketweb)

The Wiltern
8/4/09: Lykke Li (on sale Saturday)

Gibson Amphitheatre
8/21/09 – 8/25/09: Steely Dan (on sale Saturday; now for AmEx cardholders)
9/25/09: The Temptations / Four Tops (on sale Sunday at 1; now for Citi Cardholders)

Friday at SXSW - Hot Freaks, Little Radio, Stubb's, The Parish

Okkervil River At the Parish

Black Joe Lewis At the Parish

Airborne Toxic Event @ The NME Showcase

After trying not to overload on bands on Thursday, Friday was a little different. We got a late start and then hustled downtown to try to catch the end of the Jayhawks in the first round of the NCAA tournament. We missed it, but at least they won. Unfortunately we'd already paid our $10 to park and still needed to get our passes for the Guitar Hero show later that night at Stubb's. Sylvia dutifully agreed to go get them (thanks!).

Starving, I ran over to the Hot Freaks party at the Mohawk for the promise of some free tacos. A touch hungover, the tacos (and a bloody mary) started to do the trick. I was admittedly a bit distracted, but caught most of the Henry Clay People's set. Another strong one. I couldn't seem to shake those guys all week. Hung out for a bit waiting for Port O'Brien to set up (a recurring them throughout the week), gave up and walked over to the Little Radio party.

Once there, I waited a little more until Horse Feathers finally took the stage. I like their Kill Rock Stars release, House With No Name. While it sounded pretty, it was just a little too mellow to hold my interest for long. The Henry Clay People were setting up inside (and there was a TV tuned into March Madness) so I followed. This was the loosest set I saw them play, so about 2/3 of the way through, I headed back outside to get a good spot for Phosphorescent.

As I've mentioned, Phosphorescent's To Willie is one of my favorite releases of the year. I've seen Phosphorescent before, so I knew he had an engaging voice. I was pleasantly surprised to see a full band, including Ricky Ray Jackson, who played pedal steel on the record. It was a pretty rousing set. The back patio at Red Eyed Fly was packed. They totally exceeded my expectations. I stumbled inside to see a song from Restaurant (the crowd was digging it) before heading back down to the Mohawk.

I stumbled by Club De Ville and watched one Hold Steady song from the street, before catching the tail end of the Delta Spirit's set. We walked over to Stubb's hoping to grab a quick bite before the Guitar Hero party, but the wait was an hour. We opted instead for the Stubbs counter (mediocre) and listened to Echo & the Bunnymen finish their set at the Spin party ("The Killing Moon" and "Lips Like Sugar").

We waited in line for about 45 minutes for Silversun Pickups & Metallica at the Guitar Hero party. Well worth it, both bands exceeded my expectations. Read about that HERE and HERE. I stayed at Metallica for the very end, but Sylvia left a little early to see Airborne Toxic Event at the NME showcase. See the photo above.

I totally could have called it a day and felt like a winner. Instead we decided it was our best chance to finally see Black Joe Lewis. We rushed over to the Parish and experienced a whole lot of attitude, but finally got in. I thought he was great. Based on his record, I think people are expecting some sort of over the top James Brown type of performance. He's not that guy. He's a got a strong band, but mostly just stands and plays guitar (there was a little dancing at the end). Take him for what he is, and I think you'll really enjoy his show as much as I did.

Up next was Okkervil River. I really like Okkervil River, but we were exhausted. We sat down in the back corner of the club to try to regain our energy until security came over to tell us that it was against fire code. Whatever. Waited and waited as they soundchecked and re-soundchecked. Okkervil started off with a downer and Will Sheff was acting a little precious so we split during the second song. Tons of people had left after Black Joe, so there was plenty of room inside. We were surprised to see 50 or 75 people still being held at the door. I felt bad for them, so I told the security guard he should take a look up stairs because it wasn't very full. He responded with an aggressive "Yeah right." Good sound in the room but awful lighting and lots of rude people. I wasn't loving the Parish.

All in all a pretty great day at SXSW.

Photo Credit: Sylvia

Sinking Radio - Black Joe Lewis "Get Yo Shit"

This is my weekly reminder to point your internet browser to Little Radio tomorrow for the Sinking Radio show. The show broadcasts from Noon to 2:00 PM PST.

Each week on the show, the hosts play an official You Set the Scene pick of the week. My pick for tomorrow's show is "Get Yo Shit" by Black Joe Lewis & the Honeybears. I must admit that for the past couple of years (before I actually heard Black Joe Lewis) I was skeptical. What's a young dude in Texas doing calling himself Black Joe? I mean, what kind of shit is that? But several people I respect insisted I check him out, so I finally did. And hearing is believing. 

It's been a disappointingly dull year for new music, so I've been digging into old Stax stuff. That context is perfect for absorbing the new Black Joe Lewis record (coming out next Tuesday on Lost Highway). Produced by Jim Eno of Spoon, Tell 'Em What Your Name Is! is a ten song, 30 minute garage soul joy ride (that's my best Gene Shalit impersonation). "Get Yo Shit" is a strong representation of the fun you get with Black Joe Lewis - forgetting his woman's name, running from the pigs and eating a box of chicken. 

As LA prepares to descend upon Austin, Black Joe Lewis is one of the artists I'm most looking forward to catching. 

Lots of opportunities to see these guys:

Mar 14 2009 7:30P SXSW - The Belmont - Verizon/Texas Music
Mar 14 2009 8:00P SXSW - Red Eyed Fly - FREE SHOW
Mar 17 2009 11:00A SXSW - WOXY session : East Austin Recording
Mar 18 2009 1:30P SXSW - Bourbon Rocks - Paste Day Party
Mar 19 2009 2:00P SXSW - Threadgill’s - Roky Erickson Ice Cream Social
Mar 19 2009 4:00P SXSW - Cedar Street - Filter Magazine Party
Mar 20 2009 4:00P SXSW - Waterloo Records
Mar 20 2009 11:00P SXSW - The Parish - Constant Artists
Mar 21 2009 12:30A SXSW - Buffalo Billiards