The Narrator, Via Audio, and White Rabbits at Mojo’s (September 11, 2007)

“Knock Knock.”
“Who’s there?”
“September 11th”
“September 11th who?”
“I thought you said you’d never forget.”

After a weird day spent hoarding craft supplies and trying to find a place to get my car washed, basically just completely ignoring the news in spite of my journalism major, I worked up the courage to venture out into the night and go see White Rabbits perform at the local down and dirty venue, Mojo’s.

If I can’t ignore media all day and then go see an indie rock concert on September 11th, then the terrorists have won. It’s just the American way.

My musical counterpart Danny and I met up with some kids he knows through The Maneater, and then hung out outside after paying our super cool $2 minor surcharge… damn you, Missouri! Being the youngest people at a concert is soooo not the best.

We talked outside while The Narrator played… we could hear them well enough even though we were outside, and it’s not as if any of us felt compelled to go in to hear more. I can’t pin down exactly what it was that was so unsettling about the lead singer’s voice, but it sounded like a mix between Voxtrot’s Ramesh Srivastada and Brent Katz of The Harlem Shakes… only in the worst way possible. Ultimately, the need to be warm outweighed our dislike of the opening acts, and we went inside as some local hardcore band was setting up. The townies seemed to like them well enough, but I was not diggin on them.

Eventually, they ended their set, but not as soon as I would have liked. Then it was time for Via Audio to take the stage. Outside on the deck, we had been ragging on Via Audio for basically having one of the stupidest band names since Hoobastank, but by the end of the night I was eating my words. They were so impressive and so much fun, it is no wonder that everyone from Chris Walla of Death Cab for Cutie to Jim Eno of Spoon is jumping on the Via Audio bandwagon. They, like their tour-mates White Rabbits, are out of New York and are making quite a name for themselves. Comprised of primary vocalist/guitarist Jessica Martins, guitarist Tom Deis, drummer Danny Molat, and bassist David Lizmi, they have a whole lot of diversity in their song styles and are all about swapping instruments. Pretty much, they are the cutest… well, except for maybe Final Fantasy, but more on him later.

Jessica Martins of Via Audio.

Finally though it was time for White Rabbits to take the stage, precipitated by the introduction of a piano, two drum kits, a third stand-alone mini-kit, two guitars, and a bass to the tiny Mojo’s stage.

Greg Roberts of White Rabbits.

White Rabbits, if you don’t already know, is a band that was started way back when, right here in lowly little Columbia, Missouri when vocalist/guitarist Greg Roberts and vocalist/pianist Stephen Patterson were students at Mizzou. After graduation, the two moved to New York and soon expanded the band to include guitarist Alex Even (from Jeff City, Missouri), bassist Adam Russell, drummer Matt Clark, and drummer number two Jamie Levinson. The six-piece has rightfully received great reviews for their first album out on Say Hey Records, titled Fort Nightly, and has even had an appearance on Letterman earlier on in the summer, where they played “The Plot” – an infectious stomp that is probably the strongest cut from the album.

Most of their set was pulled from Fort Nightly, but they are already debuting some of their new material, including a new song called “Sea of Rum.”

Set List:
“Kid on My Shoulders”
“Tourist Trap”
“Sea of Rum” (new)
“Take a Walk Around the Table”
“Navy Wives”
“Dinner Party”
“March of the Camels”
“The Plot”
Encore – “I Used to Complain Now I Don’t” and a cover of Bob Dylan’s “Maggie’s Farm”

Next up for White Rabbits is a tour supporting Kaiser Chiefs… keep up the good work, boys!

Downloads:
“Sea of Rum (Live Daytrotter Session)” – White Rabbits
“The Plot” – White Rabbits
“Modern Day Saint” – Via Audio

We Just Won’t Be Defeated

Definitive List of Great things that come in twos:
Animals on Noah’s Arc
Twinkies
Shoes
Batteries
Drummers for The Go! Team

… yeah. That looks about right.

If you’re wondering about that last one, allow me to inform you.

The Go! Team is a Brighton-based six-piece that has yet again brought the funky funky jamz with their latest release, Proof of Youth, out on today on Sup Pop Records. While the overall feel of the record is the same as 2004’s Thunder, Lightning, Strike, the sound is richer, more developed, and the frenetic energy of band leader Ian Parton harnessed and redirected into making this album one of the more exciting releases this year.

Their sound goes beyond typical indie rock fare – combining Double Dutch jump-rope chant vocals courtesy of female frontwoman Ninja, noise-pop guitar by Sam Dook and multi-instrumentalist Kaori Tsuchida, and driving drum beats served up by their two drummers: Dook and male frontman Ian Parton.
The effect is so strong that one cannot just listen to The Go! Team; you have to write a screenplay for a movie that will feature solely their songs as the soundtrack. You have to play hopscotch and then race to the monkey bars. You have to get up and dance around your dorm room while eating fruit snacks when you roommate is away studying.

The sound alone is reason enough to recommend this album to anyone, but what seals the deal is the artist collaborations and the track-to-track song strength. Artists featured on Proof of Youth include Bonde du Role’s Marina Ribatski, Rapper’s Delight Club, and none other than Public Enemy’s Chuck D.
“Flashlight Fight,” featuring Chuck D. is an all out assault – a swarm of cartoon bees that chases you until you jump into a lake and then hovers there above you, waiting. Other strong tracks include the single “Grip Like a Vice,” which claws it’s way out of the speakers demanding to be heard, and album closer “The Wrath of Marcie,” a song that grabs the audience and struts with them into the sunset.

While Proof of Youth is perfect as is, I cannot help but fear that when the next album comes that we will see The Go! Team having to bend to create an equally enjoyable album without sounding played out. But for now, I am happy to enjoy their company, and the feelings of childhood happiness that they evoke.

How much do I love Menomena?

Answer: A lot, a lot.

Check out their latest video, this time for “Evil Bee” – probably my second favorite song on Friend and Foe.. although that could change based on the combination of this video and the line “Oh, to be a machine.. Oh, to be wanted, to be useful…” It gets me every time.

Where do all good things go? To Menomena videos evidently… the ones for “Wet and Rusting” and “Rotten Hell” are also pretty spectacular.. check them out. You know you want to.

Wet and Rusting:

Rotten Hell:

Mixtape

Now that Labor Day is here and summer is definitively over, I present to you “Noise of Summer.” You can get it here.
* edit: it’s back up now, via MegaUpload (10/30/07)

Tracklist:

1. Hard Rain
2. Ambulance Ltd. – “Swim”
3. Awesome New Republic – “2k3012″
4. John Vanderslice – “Karma Police”
5. The Weakerthans – “Night Windows”
6. Apples in Stereo – “Can You Feel It?”
7. Aloe Blacc – “Are You Ready?”
8. Akron/Family – “Running, Returning”
9. Death Cab for Cutie – “Summer Skin”
10. The Blow – “Parentheses”
11. Federico Aubele – “Mona”
12. Girl Talk – “Hold Up”
13. Ghostland Observatory – “Silver City”
14. The Harlem Shakes – “Carpetbaggers”
15. Ratatat – “Tropicana”
16. LCD Soundsystem – “All My Friends”
17. Animal Collective – “Fireworks”
18. Hard-Fi – “Tied Up Too Tight”
19. Basement Jaxx – “Everybody”
20. Stone Temple Pilots – “Sour Girl”
21. David Vandervelde – “Nothin’ No”
22. Beirut – “Scenic World”

MIZZOU-RAH!

WELCOME TO MIZZOU, CLASS OF 2011!

The Tiger Walk, one of Mizzou’s biggest traditions, went down today, with over 4,000 freshmen participating… We walked through the historic columns on Francis Quadrangle towards Jesse Hall, symbolically passing from the community into the brave new world of academia.

It’s pretty exciting, isn’t it? Good luck to everyone who is starting college soon!

blah, blah, blah… weeeeds.. blah, blah.

The trip is finally over, and I got moved into my lovely lovely dorm with my equally lovely roommate in lovely COMO, which I just love, all while looking lovely for the Panhellenic folks. It was a fun trip up with a lot of (maybe too much) candid talk with my lovely father, but I really am glad to be out of the car.

Total hours driving: 14
Total number of random chimneys free-standing in fields: 3
Total number of butterflies almost hit: 8
Total number of butterflies hit: 1 (I’m probably going to Hell for hitting it…)
Total number of batshit-crazy backwoods-Oklahoma folks I was almost had a wreck with: 2
Total number of times my aunt responded to me by sarcastically saying “Okay, Al Gore,” because I think recycling is a good thing: 4

So I mean, yeah.. good times folks good times.

Even better is that anyone can go online to the Weeds website and sign up to be a Showtime VIP Insider, and by doing that you can watch the first episode of Weeds season 3 for FREE! Oh, and what a good episode it is… a whole lot of goodness packed into a short 30 minutes (anyone know why it’s not an hour?)

Watch the show. Really, it might be the best thing on TV seeing as Grey’s sucked incredibly last season…

Anyway, mixtape coming soon… as soon as I get free time to build it basically.

Great Album of 07 – Bat for Lashes

Bat for Lashes – Fur & Gold.

With the exception of Animal Collective and a scant few others, I am not a big fan of the so-called “Naturalismo” movement in American music. I believe I once said that Joanna Newsom, probably the most recognizable name out of the movement, was the most overrated artist ever, and that for all I care she “can eat doodie.” My friend Laura was quick to point out to me that it is in fact I who “should be eating her bowel movements” and that to do so would “be an honor.” Direct quotes there, people.

So, obviously, freak-folk does have some fans on both ends of the musical conversation. Some artists, like The Shivers and Devendra Banhart, embrace the label, while others, like Grizzly Bear, haven’t been so happy with being shoved under the freak-folk umbrella. Similarly, listeners find the genre to be very polarizing – most either love it or hate it, with few moderates.
Journalists, God bless ‘em, have created a new, more friendly label for such bands — “New Weird American.” (As opposed to “Old Weird American”?) Though definitely softer than freak-folk, and less baffling than Naturalismo, I still don’t really understand what calling an artist New Weird American is getting at…

Since no one really seems to know for sure what a freak-folk artist sounds like, many are hasty to slap the label on bands just to see if it sticks. Bands like Sunset Rubdown, Iron and Wine, Sufjan Stevens, and the aforementioned Grizzly Bear have all been, in my opinion, misread by those who think that they are freak-folk. However, I am all for Joanna Newsom, Blonde Redhead, Devendra Banhart, and CocoRosie being called such… they are freaky and they play folk music. Seems fitting enough.

What is all this getting at?
Enter Natasha Khan, aka Bat for Lashes. She’s a Pakistan-born, English-raised singer-songwriter whose stellar debut album Fur & Gold finally saw its US release on August 31 after being available overseas since 2006. For almost a year now, since I caught an mp3 of opening track “Horse and I” online, I have been following Bat for Lashes, and I have not been disappointed by this album yet – even though it is probably going to be an easy peg for being freak-folk. Khan’s vocals are definitely the focal point of all the tracks, with the backing instruments being mainly piano, guitar, Theremin, and drum machine.

The best tracks on the album, if I were forced to choose, would probably be “Horse and I,” the absolutely beautiful “Bat’s Mouth,” and “What’s A Girl to Do?” – a song about a breakup that sounds like it was pulled from a 1940’s horror flick, with haunting organ and back up vocals. The music video for this song is also incredible… I’m a sucker for synchronized anything, and synchronized BMX bikers wearing animal masks is just crazy enough to work:

Fans of “You Are Free”-era Cat Power will probably enjoy the somewhat weepy “Sad Eyes,” while fans of Bruce Springsteen honestly will probably not really like her cover of “I’m On Fire.” It’s pretty good nonetheless.

All in all, Bat for Lashes’ new CD will probably please fans of freak-folk (if this album is anything, it is certainly alternative) and might even draw in a few newcomers to the genre. Since it is her debut album, there will inevitably be weak spots, but Fur & Gold is a very solid effort, and has established Natasha Khan as an artist to watch in the future. It isn’t the greatest album of 2007, but it is undoubtedly a great album of 2007.

I got a fevah…

and more cowbell is definitely not the right prescription.

so I just finished some delicious hummus and I’m starting to feel better, but I didn’t make it to the Tokyo Police Club show last night like I thought I would, so don’t expect a write-up about it.. I’m really pretty bummed about it to tell the truth, because I like art-rock and Ra Ra Riots is really quite good and Tokyo Police Club is amazinggg as well.
C’est la vie!

In other news, the countdown has begun: only 10 days left in Houston! Unbelievable, really.

Bishop Allen with Page France at The Proletariat (June 26, 2007)

First off, sorry for the late post and sorry for the lack of good photos… my cameras (both!) are on the fritz.

Let me say that as this was my first time to go to The Proletariat, I was impressed. It’s a really cool, intimate venue, and the bartender doesn’t get all pissy when you ask for water (I’m looking at you, bartender at Numbers… asshole. If you want me to pay for water, then ask for money. Simple as that.)
Plus they’ve got pool tables. What more can you ask for?

While my concert experience started on Thursday night, for my dear friend Laura and her boyfriend Jim, it started the night before when they mistakenly showed up, played pool for a couple hours, and were told they were gonna have to pay, “like, 5 bucks” before they realized there was no show that night.

So come the 26th, the real date of the concert, I met up with Laura, Jim, Scott, and Scott’s friend Cory in the Washington Mutual parking lot across the street from the Proletariat.

It was an early show – starting around 7:00 – and so we waited for the first act, The Teeth, to finish before Page France took the stage.

Michael Nau of Page France

I had never listened to, or even heard of Page France before the show (I was going for Bishop Allen) and they absolutely blew me away.
Vocalist and guitarist Michael Nau leads the group, which is now comprised of backup vocalist Whitney McGraw, Clinton Jones, and Jason Reeder, as well as a few others who help flesh out the group’s sound in the studio. Their sound was described to me as “squeaky clean pop,” which I guess is somewhat true, but their lyrics reveal more depth than that. To me, their sound seems be reminiscent of both Death Cab and The Decemberists – it all depends on the album and the song.

The majority of their set was pulled from their 2005 album Hello, Dear Wind.
Highlights included the songs “Elephant,” “Hat and Rabbit,” and they closed with “Chariot,” at the request of Laura and Jim.

“You know you want to!” Jim yelled, to which Nau responded, “No.. I really don’t. But we’ll play it anyway.”
That, in a nutshell is what is great about a band like Page France.. they are in it to see their fans happy.

Which, in a way, leads me to Bishop Allen.

Whitney McGraw of Page France

Justin Rice and Christian Rudder are Bishop Allen, a twosome out of Brooklyn whose second full-length but first studio album, The Broken String, came out on July 24 on Dead Oceans Records. On this album, and the supporting tour, they are joined by Cully Symington and Darbie Nowatka.

Bishop Allen has been a pretty upbeat band – their 2003 self-released album Charm School was pretty happy, and the majority of the 12 EP’s they released (one per month of 2006) were happy. The Broken String, while definitely not downer-rock by any means, sounds more mature and introspective than Charm School.

Justin Rice of Bishop Allen

Just about all the songs they played, if not all the songs, were from their latest album – an album that includes what I believe to be one of the better songs ever written about the Battle of Hampton Roads (or the Battle of the Monitor and Merrimack). “The Monitor” is the album opener, a soulful and emotional song that sets the tone for the rest of the album.

Other highlights include “The Chinatown Bus,” the ultimately triumphant “Flight 180,” and the simple but beautiful “Butterfly Nets,” on which Darbie Nowatka steps out from behind the keys and takes the mic. “Corazon,” a love song about a jilted piano, with a sound that, like the subject, is a departure from the norm. “Rain,” a song that Symington dedicated to the Gulf Coast weather system, seems fitting for us Houstonians right now, with the lyrics, “if it’s ever gonna get any better, it’s gotta get worse for a day.”

Bishop Allen kept the crowd captivated (except for Cory, who is unfortunately a rap-only kind of guy) and ended the night at 10 so that some DJ could come on. A long line of fans looking for merch greeted Rudder after the show.

I bought their new CD and was kind of stunned by the less than welcome response from Rudder and Rice when I asked them to sign it. Perhaps I have been spoiled by a pretty long run of extremely nice artists, but come on guys.. I’m a fan who waited until everyone cleared out for you to make a couple squiggly motions with a pen. Give me a break.

However, I won’t let Bishop Allen’s dismissive attitude keep me from singing their praises – the new CD is really good, with plenty of jangly guitar and tambourine to go around.

Buy Page France’s older CD Hello, Dear Wind here, or buy their new album here.
Buy Bishop Allen’s The Broken String here.

Don’t You Just Love the Sun?

Don’t you just love the sun?
Doesn’t it make you feel good all over?

Go outside, Houston – there’s no rain today!

And listen to Pedro the Lion’s “Indian Summer.” (via SendSpace)