Kyle Andrews: Robot Learn Love
July 27, 2011
Remember Nashville’s own bedroom-pop maestro Kyle Andrews and his catchy tune “You Always Make Me Smile” that was featured in that Holiday Inn commercial? Well he’s back with a full-length record, Robot Learn Love, via Elephant Lady on August 16th, and you’ll find yourself struggling to justify that phrase “bedroom” as you listen to it. On this album you’ll find a thick wash of synths, electronic drums, and layered/distorted vocals that catapult Andrews’ sound into another dimension. I don’t know this for a fact, but I’d venture to guess Mr. Andrews is a fan TN’s own Matt Mahaffey and his horribly underrated band Self. The influence is hard to miss if you’re a Self/Mahaffey fan like myself. In fact this album takes on many of the characteristics of Self’s last proper album Gizmodgery, which was recorded entirely using toy instruments (though it sounds fully fleshed-out, example below). You can hear what would seem to be toy-ish sounds sprinkled through various tracks on Robot Learn Love not to mention the lo-fi and other unorthodox recording techniques. It all pays off for Andrews as this record is his most realized effort to date. No mention of tour dates on his website, but if I had one major critique it would be his live shows. Andrews uses so much studio wizardry and layering of sounds on his albums, it’s hard to make that work in a live setting. Obviously you can’t recreate every nuance, but if you’re going to strip it down at all you’ve got to make it work. His live shows have always felt rather “meh” compared to the albums/EPs. But I recommend Robot Learn Love without hesitation.
Download the track “Lazer Tag With Imaginary Friends” via RCRD LBL
And just for reference/fun:
Self-Dead Man (From Gizmodgery)
Shows this weekend in Nashville
July 22, 2011
So this weekend is rather “meh” with the show offerings around town. But here are a few I suggest.
FRIDAY:
Delicate Steve and Colorfeels @ The Basement. 9pm $10 21+ (I mean, how can I not include Delicate Steve?!?)
SATURDAY:
The Non-Commissioned Officers w/ The Royal Bangs and Spiderfriends @ The End. 9pm $10
Boom Bap @ The 5 Spot. 9pm $5 21+
If you’re in Murfreesboro I’d recommend checking out Neutral Skate Supply. They’ve tapped PUJOL, Single Mothers, and King Arthur to celebrate their grand opening. Starts at 5pm.
And I leave you with this:
Have a great weekend!
Shows to see this weekend
July 15, 2011
My life is being dominated by Tennessee Teens Rock & Roll Camp, for which I’ve been volunteering all week, so this will be a quick one:
FRIDAY:
The Greatest Decade Vol. III: A Tribute to 70’s Glam Rock @ Mercy Lounge. 9pm $5. This will be one glam-tastic evening featuring several allstar/one-off collaborations between members of Superdrag, the Shazam, Matt Friction and more.
PUJOL, Demon Beat, Ranch Ghost, Leather Nightmare @ Mt. Swag. 7pm $3 All-ages.
SATURDAY:
Toro Y Moi, Coma Cinema, Tallest Trees @ The End. 9pm $12
Nobunny, Useless Eaters, Slammers, (insert random local band that always gets added to Springwater shows last-minute) @ Springwater. 10pm 21+ $??
Johnny Corndawg, Andrew Combs, Nikki Lane @ The Basement. 9pm 21+ $5
And of course: Tennessee Teens Rock & Roll Camp showcase @ Mercy Lounge. DOORS @ 2:30pm SHOW @ 3pm. I know that’s insanely early for most of you, but trust me when I say it’s worth the effort! I’ve been working with these kids all week long and they have some very impressive talent. We also have an amazing array of raffle prizes including 2 VIP passes to NBN’s Soundland, a Daisy Rock electric guitar, signed posters & CDs from Those Darlins, OK Go, Old 97’s, and Black Joe Lewis, a prize pack from Antique Archeology (aka American Pickers) and so much more.
SUNDAY:
Spongebath Records Night @ The Basement, Ft. Self (acoustic Matt Mahaffey), Seth Timbs Thing, Jason Moore + special guests. Now that Matt Mahaffey is living in Franklin hopefully awesome things like this will happen more often. This will be blissful nostalgia for possibly the greatest era of Murfreesboro’s music scene.
Have a great weekend!
Review: The Features’ new album “Wilderness”
July 13, 2011
Murfreesboro/Nashville’s hometown heroes The Features are set to release their 3rd full length album Wilderness via Bug Music July 26th. I’ve been following this band since the early 2000’s, not long after I first moved to Murfreesboro, and known most of them since the mid 2000’s, so I’ll admit I’m a pretty biased person, but I am not a professional music critic. Knowing what they’ve been through, and after a late night drunken conversation with producer/engineer Brian Carter many months ago during the last stages of the album’s production, it’s very evident that this is the album they’ve always wanted to make.
This band never ceases to amaze me in their ability to stay fresh and create music that’s never dull or uninspired. There’s always a lot of hype and expectation around them, especially from their hometown scene, and somehow they always deliver. At this point the band just seems almost… dare I say it… infallible. Invincible at the very least. This album has anything a die hard Features fan could want, but I think it’ll also draw in even more new fans. Frontman Matt Pelham’s songwriting is as sharp as it ever was, leaving room for keyboardist Mark Bond to sprinkle in his textures where they need to be. Songs such as “Golden Comb” and “How It Starts” should be instant hits with those well-schooled in the Features back catalog. “Golden Comb” has a melodic structure and chord progression that may remind listeners of a few tracks from their debut Exhibit A. “How It Starts” features an instantly catchy vocal melody in the chorus, backed by a driving beat and handclaps which I hope will soon be learned by the home crowd at their live shows. I miss the days when crowd claps in “Darkroom” and “See You Through” were once staples of a local Features show. The second track “Kids” steps into slightly new-ish territory for the band, with drummer Rollum Haas pounding out a furious and frenetic shuffle rhythm between the toms and snare, while Pelham rips through a mean and distorted guitar riff. Perhaps it’s not really all that new, just a new-ish twist on a well-established signature Features style. The album has a healthy dose of slower tempos and earnest lyrics as well. “Fats Domino” contains one of the best lines Pelham has ever penned- “You can have everything… except my rock & roll… my love.” Though unfortunately this song also contains the only questionable moment on the album: Pelham saying a couple of lines in a soft talking voice, the last of which is “but I can’t let you walk out that door baby…” The album’s closer “Chapter III” is one of those songs for which The Features are often most beloved. Pelham croons out the chorus line “Yours To Keep” in an instantly lovable falsetto melody that simply melts the heart. Throughout the album Brian Carter’s production is spot-on; just the right amount of reverb here, just the right EQ there.
They’ve gone and done it again. They’ve made what will arguably be considered their best album yet. If 15 years of existence and a tumultuous run through the gauntlet of the major label record industry doesn’t destroy a band, then nothing will. I have faith that these guys will be making great music for years to come. I find that there are generally two types of great bands: ones that peak quickly and produce a small body of quality music over a relatively short amount of time, and ones that slowly evolve and keep churning out a steady stream of greatness for years and years. The Features have established themselves as the latter. Let’s hope they keep going.
MP3: The Features-Rambo
Recommended shows this weekend
June 24, 2011
Gotta keep it short and sweet today. Pretty slim pickin’s this weekend but here are a few shows around Nashy this weekend worth checking out:
FRIDAY:
Natalie Prass, Andrew Combs, Matt Campbell @ The 5 Spot. 9pm $5 21+ (I know, three first-name/last-names on a bill, but these are better than your average Nashville first-name/last-names.)
The Long Players performing The Rolling Stones album Sticky Fingers @ the Frist Center for the Visual Arts. 6-9pm. Check out the Frist website for prices. This is an especially cool event becuase it’s the opening for the Frist’s premier summer exhibit Warhol Live: Music and Dance in Andy Warhol’s Work. The Long Players will also have a special guest saxophonist- Bobby Keys, who played on the Stones’ tracks “Can You Hear Me Knockin'” and “Brown Sugar.”
SATURDAY:
Heypenny, PDA, Sleepy Vikings @ The Basement. 9pm 21+ $10
Alcohol Stuntband, The Black Faces, Satan’s Youth Ministers, and The Fastboys @ FooBar. (No idea about the price because their website is down/under construction.)
Have a great weekend!
New BURGERS mixtape: Summer 2011
June 23, 2011
A little late for the technical first day of summer, but it’s finally here: the BURGERS summer 2011 mixtape. Grab it or stream it below. I’ve been assembling this mix over the past week or so and decided to make it flow like most dance parties do- kinda chill at first then ramping up to a few full-on bangers toward the end. Yes I know I include Bit Funk and Breakbot in just about every mix I make, but they’re two of my faves and they’re constantly coming out with awesome new shit; I just can’t help myself. Listen and love.
New Bad Cop video from Seth Graves/Chrome Pony is good
June 20, 2011
My friend and former bandmate Seth Graves just keeps crankin’ out rad music videos. His latest is probably his best work to date, and it’s for local garage-punkers Bad Cop. This is a music video as it should be- its own work of art. (Make sure you watch in full HD!)
In other Nashville music news, I recommend checking out the two demos from a brand new band called Chrome Pony. All I know about them is that drummer extraordinaire Jerry Pentecost is involved (I’m assuming on drums, but he’s a talented dude and might play something else). These two songs are both quite infectious, and dare I say “Rock N Roll” is capable of being the anthem of the summer for Nashville indie rock. They’re playing a surprise last-minute house show this Wednesday at a new-ish house venue called The Parsonage with Diarrhea Planet, Big Surr, and ri¢hie. ri¢hie is a new project from Richie Kirkpatrick of Ghostfinger. Details can be found at the facebook event here.
Happy Monday.
Weekend shows/New Breakbot video
June 17, 2011
Here’s a quick rundown of good shows I recommend seeing this weekend in Nashville.
FRIDAY:
The Spits, TV Ghost, Cy Barkley, Diarrhea Planet, Hans Condor @ The End. 9pm $8.
Chubby & The Dots w/ Brown Chicken Brown Cow String Band @ The Basement. 9pm 21+ $5. I’ve no idea about the latter, but the C & the D’s feature members of the Non-Commissioned Officers playing the swingin’ sounds of the 30’s and 40’s.
SATURDAY:
White Denim w/ Ghostfinger and ??? @ The Basement. 9pm 21+ $8
Shoot the Mountain w/ Chrome Pony @ the 5 Spot. 9pm 21+ $5
KORT in-store performance @ Grimey’s. 5pm- FREE
Breakbot is a DJ/producer from France and is signed to Ed Banger Records. It should come as no surprise that I’m an avid fan, since his tracks or remixes have appeared in just about every mix I’ve made as DJ Burgers over the past couple years. His latest track “Fantasy ft. Ruckazoid” is an instant floor-filler and the video for it just hit the interwebs. Scope it out below. Dare I say it’s not quite as awesome as the one for last year’s jam “Baby I’m Yours,” but it’s entertaining and fits the song perfectly.
Have a great weekend!
91.1 WRVU sold to WPLN- my opinion
June 7, 2011
*Disclaimer: The following statements are my personal opinion and in no way reflect the views or opinions of my employer Vanderbilt University.*
The news broke today that Vanderbilt’s student radio station WRVU had its FM broadcast license sold to Nashville Public Radio for $3.35 million. The governing body for WRVU is Vanderbilt Student Communications (VSC) which is a separate entity from Vanderbilt. VSC was created long ago so that the student media could be editorially independent from the University to avoid possible conflicts of interest, though VSC is still financially tied to the University. The sale was first mentioned back in September 2010, and VSC stated that it was “exploring the possibility” of selling the broadcast license and going to an online-only format. They solicited public comments and opinion on the possible sale. The full timeline of what transpired can be found at savewrvu.com.
I have stayed mostly silent on this issue, just watching, and supporting the efforts of the Save WRVU campaign, which is now an official non-profit organization. I can no longer be silent. They way VSC handled this was downright wretched, vile, and disrespectful to the students, the DJs, and the Vanderbilt community in general. They had been secretly working out the details of this deal with Nashville Public Radio all along, and according to a comment from WPLN President Rob Gordon tweeted by the Nashville Scene’s Steve Haruch, a letter of intent for the sale was signed in March of this year. The VSC board held its final meeting of the 2011 spring semester and claimed they’d made no final decision on the sale and also stated they would not be making any decisions over the summer. Well, they lied. To everyone. And to make matters worse, they basically ignored the fact that almost all of the solicited public opinion on the sale was in support of keeping WRVU as it was. Today they simply cut the station off the air without giving the DJs or the listeners any warning that the deal had been done. This is possibly what hurts me the most about this horrible situation- the fact that many good DJs never got a chance to give a formal goodbye or have an official last show. As a former college radio DJ on MTSU’s student station WMTS, I can’t imagine how horrible it must be to have your beloved show ripped out from under you with no warning. The move was also disrespectful to the students, because they did the deed during summer, while most of the students are away. I am literally appalled by how VSC handled this, and they should be ashamed. Save WRVU is going to do everything they can to fight this, and I applaud their efforts. They’re an official non-profit, though I have no idea what means that gives them to fight this. They’ve said themselves that it’s not over. I’m no legal expert so I’ve no idea what options exist at this point, but I’ll keep an eye on savewrvu.com to see what they’re up to.
While I’m devastated that this sale happened, after reading the press release, the outcome is honestly the most tolerable circumstance I can think of. If it had to happen, this is probably how I would want it to happen. In a nutshell, 91.1 FM is now owned and operated by NPR and will be is an all-classical music station with the call letters WFCL, and WRVU will remain on the air via WPLN’s HD3 channel (and remain online as well). Honestly I don’t know that much about HD radio, but it does seem like a viable option for WRVU to remain on the air. The problem is not many people have HD radios. I just don’t know if HD radio is really going to catch on unless the FCC forces it like they did with HDTV broadcasts. But that’s a whole separate issue. The fact is, this deal is not nearly as bad as it could have been. I still hate it, but I hate it less than I ever thought I would.
In the end I have a much bigger problem with the way VSC handled the overall situation than I do with outcome of the sale itself. This is my opinion given what I know right now. If I learn something new regarding either side of the issue, my opinion may change slightly.
steve cross loves music and science 