Tuesday's Live Music Options 4/3/07

This day totally slipped by me. I made it out to Spaceland last night for the first night of the Minor Canon residency. It was a short, but sweet set. With the exception of one minor technical glitch (the vocals went out for 2/3 of one of the songs) the band sounded great. They've promised to play a different cover each night of their residency and last night they chose a Pavement song. Very cool. A few of my friend hadn't heard the Minor Canon before and walked away very impressed (one of them picked up the CD too). That's what the Monday night residencies are for - to check out new bands in a low risk way. You've really got no excuse....

Tonight's Pick:

Son Volt / Jason Molina & Magnolia Electric Co. @ El Rey ($19) – Jay Farrar is one of alt country’s pioneers. He was in Uncle Tupelo with Jeff Tweedy until he broke them up and founded Son Volt. He’s also put out a few records under his own name. Last year he put out a record with Anders Parker under the moniker, Gob Iron. The new record, The Search, is unmistakably Son Volt. The songs are a mix of angry rockers and mournful ballads. Lyrics are peppered with tales from the road, cursory mentions of religion and working class themes. Farrar expresses his anger about politics, “When war is profit and profit is war.” There’s a touching, pedal steel inflected song sung from the perspective of a failed rocker who turned to meth. There’s nothing groundbreaking here, it’s just Americana done very well. It was the perfect soundtrack during a recent road trip to Lake Arrowhead. Letter Grade: B
Jason Molina’s Magnolia Electric Co. gets a lot of Neil Young comparisons. I don’t think he’s quite earned that comparison yet, but he’s pretty good.

Other Options:
Scanners / Deadly Syndrome @ Cinespace ($5) – For indie dance crowd.
The Mars Volta @ Orpheum (Sold Out) – They’re very energetic live. Their recorded stuff doesn’t interest me as much.
Andrew W.K. @ Safari Sam’s ($5) – Doofus rock.
Brandi Carlile @ Troubadour (Sold Out)