Post-SXSW laziness/photos
March 23, 2011
As predicted, I haven’t felt like blogging about much of anything these past few days post-SXSW. That festival/conference is literally one of the most draining things I’ve ever experienced. It takes me a good week to feel like going out or seeing shows again. That being said, I did have a blast and took a lot of photos for both the Nashville Scene and LEO Weekly. Check those out here and here, respectively. We also stayed at the same awesome little house that we’ve had the past 2 years, in the Travis Heights area just south of downtown. The laws regarding odd pets are pretty lax in Austin, and the dude who owns the house takes advantage of it. The first year he had a few chickens in the back, which was interesting enough. Last year he had nothing. But this year, he had chickens and GOATS. I believe he said they are Norwegian pygmy goats. Behold:
Also of interest- photographer Ryan Muir took some interest on-the-spot portraits of various bands at SXSW this year, all of which can be seen on Stereogum.
Nashville’s Dead: Freakin’ Weekend+Pop up record store
March 2, 2011
The dudes at Nashville’s Dead have upped the ante this year for their Freakin’ Weekend… festival… for lack of a better term. Let’s just call it the Freakin’ Weekend from now on. If memory serves, last year’s was all house shows. This year however, they’ve “graduated” to full-on venues and the lineup is killer. They’ve taken over Exit/In, The End, and Springwater (and even an early show at Third Man Records) to bring you a nonstop rock n roll party that lasts 3 days this weekend- March 4th, 5th, and 6th. It’s safe to say that Infinity Cat acts such as JEFF the Brotherhood, PUJOL, and Natural Child are all “heavy hitters,” not to mention out-of-town acts like Ty Segall and Davila 666. For the full lineup and more info checkout ND’s post about it.
ND also has another treat for all the vinyl nerds out there: they’ll be doing a pop-up record store above the new Local Honey store on Belmont Blvd! It’ll be open from noon-5pm on March 3rd through 5th. They’ll have limited edition pressings and other hard-to-find stuff from Infinity Cat, Third Man, Nashville’s Dead, Turbo Time, Evil Weevil and more. For more deets checkout their blog post. Gonna be a good weekend y’all.
FAMN DAMN/Jensen Sportag/Slayer
February 16, 2011
Whoa. Did I really just mention those 3 bands in a row?
Cody Blaine has been making music in Murfreesboro for a good few years now in various incarnations. As most artists do, he’s changed, grown, and honed his skills quite a bit along the way. His latest project is called FAMN DAMN, a scaled-down version of his previous project Cody Blaine & The Whole Famn Damnly. That band involved drums, bass, keys, and a horn section. Needless to say, managing rehearsals for such a sizeable undertaking can take its toll on one’s willpower, so the new incarnation is much simpler- Cody Blaine sings and plays keys while drummer Mikey Lieberman caresses the skins. It’s nearly impossible not to compare Blaine’s vocal style to that of Tom Waits, but along the way he’s honed it so that it’s not as derivative. Stripping the instrumental aspects of the songs down to such bare components was also a good thing. The result is his first release on vinyl- the “Honey, Come Pull On My Tie/Borrowed Time” 7″ single. The single is currently being pressed for an unspecified release date. *Disclaimer- I did the photography and cover art for this release, so I’m not completely unbiased here.*
After debating which track to post, I landed on the B-side “Borrowed Timem,” as I slightly prefer it over the A-side.
In other news, Jensen Sportag‘s EP Pure Wet is officially out. Stream and purchase via their label Cascine. Like said before: SEXY. This EP could just as easily have been titled Pure Sex. No joke.
Via the A.V. Club– Slayer’s guitarist Jeff Hanneman had to back out of a few upcoming shows for what has to be the most metal thing ever: He got a case of flesh-eating bacteria from a spider bite. Thankfully he’s fine and currently recovering from surgery. Seriously, that’s one of the most metal things I’ve ever heard. And Slayer is probably the most metal metal band ever, because the singer also recently injured his neck and back from headbanging. Somebody needs to give these dudes a trophy.
Loch Lomond: new discovery
February 8, 2011
My appetite for intricate orchestral folk-pop has been waning lately, but Loch Lomond is a refreshing take on that dreamy, melancholy end of the sub genre. In fact, this band sort of embodies the dreary yet ironically cheerful mood of their hometown of Portland, OR. Their instrumentation is perfect for the songs- mandolin, violin, cello, you get the picture. One can’t help but draw comparisons with bands like Lost In The Trees, or even Belle & Sebastian. Their album Little Me Will Start a Storm drops in two weeks on 2/22 on Tender Loving Empire. Highly recommended if you like either of the bands I just mentioned. They’ll be all over SXSW this year, and I plan on checking out the live incarnations of these songs.
Those Darlins: Be Your Bro video
February 7, 2011
This new video from Those Darlins embodies their image perfectly. It’s a very simple concept but executed very well. I’m sure this will appeal much more to their male fanbase- you see flashes of butts, panties, bras, and plenty of sexy poses, albeit mixed with some goofy ones as well. But once again- that’s them: somehow sexy and goofy at the same time. There’s a little skin action from Linwood in there too, for the ladies. Just watch, and be sure to click up to full HD resolution.
Some awesomeness to drop on you today:
- Those Darlins’ new 7″ “Be Your Bro” drops today. The B-side is “Let U Down” and believe me when I say that these are two great songs. I joined them back in September of last year for a week-long segment of their east coast tour, and remember these songs well. I’ve yet to hear any of the recorded versions of these songs, so it’ll be interesting to hear what they sound like on vinyl. Their second full-length LP drops on March 29th. Both releases are on their own label Oh Wow Dang. Their website also had a bit of a makeover, so I recommend checking it out.
- Tristen’s new album Charlatans at the Garden Gate got a pretty glowing review from the A.V. Club. The album is available today digitally, but the physical release has been pushed back to 2/15 due to “a production delay and bad weather early this month in the south east” according to Facebook.
- Jensen Sportag are basically going to rule 2011. They rescued last week’s “Vital” at Mai by filling in for the snowed-into NYC Bit Funk, DJing a slew of new jams from their upcoming EP Pure Wet, which will be released via Cascine. Head over to Vitalic Noise to stream the track “Mapquest” and watch the video for “Everything Good.” Seriously, DO IT. There is really only one way to describe this: SEXY. Basically this is the sexiest thing to come out of Nashville in… forever? I’m talking classy sexy here, not slutty sexy. I also hear that JS is working on a new live setup, incorporating a 3rd member on keys, and possibly even more. No word on when we can catch a glimpse of this live arrangement locally, but I’m sure there will be opportunities, and I’ll be sure to post as soon as I find out.
Did I really just mention the rough-edged wild ones known as Those Darlins in the same post as the smooth, sexy sounds of Jensen Sportag? Why yes, I did. That is a shining example of the wide diversity of great music coming out of this non-country scene in Nashville. Keep it comin’ y’all.
Weekend in Nashville/snowpocalypse redux
December 10, 2010
As always, I must shamelessly self-promote for a minute. Tonight my band POWERBRRRD is playing at The End along with Big Surr, Diarrhea Planet, Evan P. Donohue, and Casa Castille. 5 bands? Yes, 5 bands, BUT rest assured that every band on this bill has a setlist of 30 minutes or less. In fact, POWERBRRRD’s set will probably barely crack 20 minutes. This show will be a conglomeration of insanity, I promise. And it will only set you back 5 bones. Also, Joaquin Phoenix will be there. (Oh, and sorry, Michael Eades. At least we advertised all 5 bands from the get-go!)
Now for some other shows that I recommend:
FRIDAY:
Ok, if you MUST go to something else tonight, my pick would be Howlies, with Oblio and Field Days at the Basement. 9pm, 21+ $??? Also, there’s an afterparty for that show at Mercy Lounge.
SATURDAY:
Natural Child, Ex Humans, The Cannomen, Foster Care, and Cy Barkley at Glen Danzig’s House. $5, 7pm
SUNDAY:
Cold War Kids at Third Man Records. I can’t find a time anywhere but it’s probably something like 7pm.
AXWY, Shoot the Mountain, Tallest Trees at the 5 Spot. 9pm, 21+ $5. (AXWY is an bloopy, glitchy, Postal Service-esque project started by Ryan Malina about a year ago. He put out an album that was quite good, but to my knowledge hasn’t played the material live until now.)
It’s also worth noting that the Scene has posted their yearly local Rock ‘n Roll Poll. The “outtakes and extended jams” is worth a read too.
You may have heard that Nashville is supposed to get a little snow this weekend. I’ll throw my official weather nerd opinion in the hat: DON’T FREAK OUT. It’s not going to be #snowpocalypse2010redux. What they’re forecasting is maybe an inch late Saturday night into Sunday morning. I’d say Nashville itself will get a dusting at best. This is one of those systems where the low pressure is well to the north of us, and the cold front is swinging around to the south, hitting us. There will rain/warmer weather ahead of the front as it pushed west-to-east, but very little moisture behind the front. I’d say the rain will change to snow late Saturday night as they predict, but again, no more than a dusting in Nashville. I hope I’m wrong, as I’m actually a fan of snow, but history says to take official forecast amounts with grain of salt. (Haha, get it? Salt melts snow. Haha…)
Have a great weekend!
Those Darlins prep new album
December 7, 2010
Having a day job prevents me from being timely on these sort of things sometimes, so the rest of the internet has probably already told you that Those Darlins released info yesterday about their next album titled Screws Get Loose, set for a March 29, 2011 release. Back in September when I spent roughly a week on the road with them as part of a photo documentary project, I got to hear most of the new songs played live every night, and I must say I’m very eager to hear how they sound recorded. There’s definitely a shift towards more bluesy, boosey, Stonesy-style songwriting. As mentioned in the press release, drummer Linwood Regensburg contributed to the songwriting this time around, and I’ve also heard he even sings lead on one of the tracks. It’s still Those Darlins through and through, but it seems they’ve shed some of the Carter Family influences for something a little more aggressive and hard-nosed. Indeed, when you tour as much as they have over the past couple of years, it’s going to show in your songs.
In other news, I invite you to experience all of Billy Joel’s greatest hits played at once:
(Via Clusterflock)
The Naked & Famous: riding the Passion Pit waves
November 29, 2010
This band from New Zealand The Naked & Famous are making me pretty happy at the moment. Don’t have their full album yet but from the 2 tracks I’ve heard, they basically sound like a more epic, more robust version of Passion Pit. Basically those are the things that kept me from loving Passion Pit, so for me this band is almost perfect. I know they’ll get tons of Passion Pit references and will probably grow tired of it but it’s too obvious to just ignore- the similarities are there. What’s kind of hilarious is that Pashy Pit’s Angelakos is a dude, but his stratospheric falsetto is in the same register as TNAF’s vocalist Alisa Xayalith. Don’t get me wrong, I like both bands, but honestly TNAF is pretty much what I always wanted Passion Pit to be. I’d put money on them becoming one of the biggest indie sensations of 2011. Check out the video for their hit single “Young Blood”:
steve cross loves music and science 