A Few Good Shows: 10/28/11 (Halloween edition)
October 28, 2011
Welcome to Halloween weekend in Nashville. This is a busy one, as always, and I’m just here to give you a smattering of some events of interest. By no means is this a comprehensive list of Halloween happenings. Just some stuff I think looks good/interesting.
FRIDAY:
Self (Matt Mahaffey solo acoustic) w/ Seth Timbs Thing and The Hellens @ The Basement. 9pm $5 21+
Vitalic Noise presents VITAL: 1 Year Anniversary @ Wine Loft ft. La Zebra, Dee Goodz, Deacon, Total Savage, Dark Sister, plus resident CRAVE DJs Losici and Dali Drama. 10pm $5
Halloween Spooktacular ft. My So-Called Band, The Aught-Nots, Space Capone, and Coach @ Mercy Lounge & Cannery. 9pm $15
The Grayces album release show w/ Dave Cloud and the Gospel of Power @ The 5 Spot. 9pm $5
SATURDAY:
Halloween Warehouse party ft. Girls & Money, Scale Model (I play drums), and Eight ‘O Five @ The Zombie Lair (aka Jiggy Graphics- 1015 W. Kirkland Ave. Suite 310, East Nashy) 10pm, $5 suggested donation gets access to the keg and spiked punch. Also there will be a professional movie makeup artist zombifying people!
Night of the Living Cover Bands: a benefit for YEAH! music programs (SGRRC/TNTRC/NYCRC) ft. Head over Heels (Go-Go’s covers), Ponychase (Cyndi Lauper covers), Cortney Tidwell, The Non-Commissioned Officers, Uncle Skeleton, and Spaceship of the Imagination. @ the 5 Spot, 9pm $5 or donation.
Jacuzzi Boys, Heavy Cream, and Cy Barkley @ The End. 9pm $6
The Greenhouse Halloween party ft. How I Became the Bomb, the Black Belles, and DJ Mindub @ The Greehouse. 9pm $???
SUNDAY:
Meatmen w/ Hans Condor and Slammers @ Springwater. 10pm $5 21+
MONDAY: (throwin’ it in there because I likely won’t have time to post on monday and there’s shit you should know about)
Dixie Downturn presents Halloween 8 off 8th ft. Lylas, How I Became the Bomb, A Greater Good, Casa Castille, Bows and Arrows, Shaboi, and Bummer. 9pm FREE 21+ For more info and previews of each band, check out Dixie Downturn!
Protomen, Peelander-Z, MC Frontalot @ Exit/In. 9pm $14
Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin w/ Evan P. Donohue, Faux Ferocious, & Blown Stag @ The End. 9pm $6
PHEW. That’s it. Have a fun and safe Halloween weekend.
New Duck Sauce video (slightly NSFW)/Chromeo & Breakbot tonight
October 25, 2011
Duck Sauce (A-Trak + Armand Van Helden) released a video for their latest single “Big Bad Wolf” today and… um… well… it’s *scratches head* absolutely ridiculous? I don’t even know. I wouldn’t recommend watching it at work, though. (It’s age-restricted on YouTube, so it probably won’t play embedded below, but we’ll try anyway…
Also, tonight Chromeo (fronted by A-Trak’s brother Dave) takes over Nashville at the Cannery Ballroom. As of posting there are still tickets left. What’s possibly even more exciting than Chromeo is the fact that the one and only Breakbot is opening for them. It’s a VERY special treat to get to see an Ed Banger artist in Nashville, so you should seize this opportunity. Breakbot is one of my all-time favorite dance/electronic producers and he will NOT disappoint. Even cooler is the fact that locals How I Became the Bomb are on the bill in place of Mayer Hawthorne, and they’re doing a set of Hall & Oates covers! (Don’t get me wrong, I’m not glad Mayer Hawthorne canceled for whatever reason, just glad that my pals in HIBTB got seize such a great opportunity.) Check the video for Breakbot’s “Baby I’m Yours” below:
A Few Good Shows: 9/16/11
September 16, 2011
Behold: the world’s largest afro.
Now for what’s going down in Nashville this weekend.
FRIDAY:
Girls, Nobunny, and Papa @ Mercy Lounge. $13 9pm (Girls are also doing an in-store show at Grimey’s at 5pm.)
Vitalic Noise presents CRAVE at the Wine Loft every Friday from 10pm-last call. FREE entry, 21+, ft. DJs Losici, Dali Drama, and a rotating cast of special guests.
SATURDAY:
Local Honey end of summer sale ft. live performances from Tristen, Action!, and Dogs of Oz. Free, Sale 11am-6pm, music at 2PM.
Earth, w/ Mount Eerie @ The End. $12 8pm.
SUNDAY:
Local Honey fall fashion rollout with runway show and music from DJ Patrick Kearney. Rollout is 12-4pm, runway show starts at 8pm.
A Few Good Shows: 9/9/11
September 9, 2011
Soundland is quickly approaching and the $55 wristband price expires TODAY at noon, so if you’ve been putting off buying one, this is your last chance to get them before the price goes up. A wristband gets you into all the shows, including M.Ward at War Memorial Auditorium, Ghostland Observatory at the Cannery, Foster the People at the 12th Ave block party stage, and everything else. Get them before it’s too late.
Now for this weekend’s goodness:
FRIDAY:
Cassino, The Silver Seas, Ryan Case @ The Basement. 9pm 21+ $7
Girls & Boys Nashville presents Classixx, Justin Faust, Crizzly, Coach and Hands Off Sam @ The Cannery. 9pm $10
And as I told you yesterday, I will be DJing alongside Dali Drama and Losici at the Wine Loft for Vitalic Noise’s new weekly party CRAVE. It’s FREE and goes from 10pm till last call.
SATURDAY:
Grimey’s presents the 12th south concert series ft. The Coolin’ System, D. Watusi, and Turkeys at Sevier Park. Starts at 6pm sharp and it’s FREE. Turkeys is the name of the supergroup featuring Jessi Darlin (of Those Darlins), Joey Scala (formerly PUJOL), Sean Thompson (formerly PUJOL), Jamin Orrall (JEFF the Brotherhood), and Luke Schneider (Cortney Tidwell). They played their debut show at Dino’s a few weeks back as a nameless band, so it’s good they finally settled on a name (and a fitting one at that).
Tetsuo w/ the 1-10’s @ Springwater. 21+ 10pm $5
SUNDAY:
Ben Swank presents Hate Life ft. the Black Belles (who backed Stephen Colbert on “Charlene II [I’m Over You]”) @ The Basement. 9pm 21+ $5
Have a great weekend!
Fridays @ the Wine Loft: Vitalic Noise presents CRAVE
September 8, 2011
Last week I blundered in failing to mention the debut of Vitalic Noise’s new weekly dance party CRAVE, happening every Friday night at the Wine Loft in the Gulch. I was there, though, and a spectacular debut it was. This is gonna be THE place to be every Friday, because 1) it’s FREE, 2) there will be a rotating cast of great DJs spinning the best disco/house/electro/funk, 3) it’s centrally located in the Gulch and goes till last call, so you can be there all night OR stop by for a little dancing after the other show you attended earlier in the evening, 4) did I mention it’s FREE?
Now that I’ve properly plugged the event itself, I will plug this Friday specifically because the DJ lineup includes yours truly. Official lineup is: Losici (Josiah Lester), Burgers (me), Dali Drama (Jenn Harbin). So come on out, have a drink, and dance with us for FREE. (There are also drink and appetizer specials.)
As a special treat, enjoy the video for Craze’s new bangin’ track “Dance Alone”:
I’d heard rumors of Chromeo returning to the Nashville this year. They loved it here and were pleasantly surprised by the sellout last August, so it came as no surprise to learn they were probably coming back sometime this year. I waited around for the official announcement and it finally came, but with an extra-special added bonus: Mayer Hawthorne and none other than the legendary BREAKBOT are billed to open the show on Oct. 25th at the Cannery. I can’t even describe how awesome this billing is. It’s going be a looooong summer in anticipation of this show. The announcement came at the same time as Breakbot announced his new remix of Chromeo’s track “When The Night Falls” which you can preview below:
Meanwhile, Nashville’s own electro duo Jensen Sportag did a very sexy and very danceable remix of Memory Tapes’ “Wait In The Dark” which got them some serious love from The Fader. Good job, fellas. I can’t be happier to see Nashville artists seeing success making such traditionally “un-Nashville” music. Stream it below:
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.
Miami Horror tomorrow night at Mercy Lounge
June 15, 2011
Miami Horror at Beauty Bar Backyard, SXSW '11. Photo by Steve Cross
Tomorrow night (6/16) Miami Horror makes their first Nashville appearance at Mercy Lounge, with How I Became the Bomb and Cherub opening. I’ve been hoping for at least a year that Miami Horror would come through Nashville, and it’s finally happening. They come from the land down under, but I’ve heard rumors that they’re making a move to the states. Their debut album Illumination was one of my favorites of 2010, and I caught their live show at the Beauty Bar Backyard at SXSW this year. It was easily one of the best shows I saw the whole festival. They have impressive stage energy and showmanship which easily brought the crowd into a sweaty dance-frenzy in no time.
This show at Mercy will be easily as good, if not better, than the SXSW show because they can flesh out their set and do it “their way” instead of having to setup quickly and rush through their set like bands usually have to do at SXSW. The openers are perfect for the bill, and at a mere $12, this is a really good deal. The band is also doing a DJ set later that night at MAI for the official afterparty. Seriously, get your tix now! Why pay more at the door or risk missing it entirely because of a sellout?
Download:
Miami Horror-Holidays (ft. Alan Palomo)
Listen:
Miami Horror-Holidays (DCUP Remix)
Moustache May: the Final Cut/music tidbits
June 1, 2011
If you didn’t know already, I participated in the final (probably) chapter of Moustache May, the annual celebration of the follicle curated by local web design wizard Michael Eades (aka Yewknee). It was bittersweet to see such a ridiculous and awesome thing come to an end, and honestly I’m torn between shaving mine off and attempting to grow it out longer just to see if it can be tamed into a nice handlebar. That could possibly take another month or so of growth, so we’ll just have to see if I can hold out. To be quite honest, a lot of people stigmatize an ordinary moustache as “creepy” or otherwise undesirable. But I feel that a well waxed/curled handlebar sets its bearer apart as much classier. The above video is a mock movie trailer created by several of the “core” MM participants… or at least those around Nashville who have been a participant for many years. It’s quite hilarious and well worth a watch.
A few random music tidbits I felt like mentioning:
–SebastiAn just released his first full-length album, titled Total. I hate to make this comparison but it can’t be avoided- if you liked Justice’s 2008 album Cross, you will like this album. It’s really fucking good. Thick, juicy, sexy, filtered-French-sample-funk/electro.
–Stacked is a mix by Royal Sapien that somehow crams 300 tracks into one hour. I had it going in the background for a bit and it’s just that- very background-y. But the feat of fitting/mashing 300 tracks into one hour alone is worth mentioning. (Via Harder Blogger Faster)
-Speaking of DJ-related things. I may or may not have mentioned on here the fate of my La Paz Late Night series. Basically I’ve decided that space is cursed. No restaurants can seem to find success there and neither can any DJ nights, despite its great location and swanky interior. I don’t have the means to promote a huge multi-sponsor event and that’s what the owner wanted. So, I’m talking to some people involved with a thing that seems like it’ll be pretty badass, but I don’t want to jinx it, so that’s all I’m saying for now. Stay tuned.
Sammy Bananas tonight at Mai/thoughts on the A-Trak show
April 28, 2011
Vitalic Noise is at it again, bringing Fool’s Gold’s own Sammy Bananas to Mai tonight. Mr. Bananas is quite the expert remixer, and made a splash last year with his own original track “Move Your Body.” He’s also one half of Telephoned, though I’ve never been much of a fan of the duo. Other DJ’s are Vitalic Noise and Coach, and Cherub will be performing live on VN’s trademark mobile stage setup. It all goes down tonight at Mai at 10pm and will run you $5 if you’re 21+ or $8 if you’re 18-20.
Speaking of Fool’s Gold, it should be common knowledge that FG is run by the one and only Alain Macklovitch, A.K.A. A-Trak, who played with Kid Sister and Glasslamp Killer at Limelight last Saturday here in Nashville. As far as I know, it was his first visit to Nashville, and I sure hope he doesn’t think the only dance music crowd in town is the glowstick-raver-bro crowd. The outdoor Dayglow festival which was originally scheduled for the previous Friday (4/15) got postponed due to the nasty weather, and the promoter ended up combining that event with the A-Trak/Kid Sister/Glasslamp Killer show. A-Trak killed it, but I can’t help but get the feeling he threw in more hard/ravey-er material than he normally would have, just to appease the crowd of neon glowpaint covered bros in front of him. When the events were combined the ticket prices of the Dayglow event took precedence and thus the ticket price to see A-Trak went from $10 (roughly) to $35. I’m quite sure a lot people who wanted to see the A-Trak show ended up not going, and thus A-Trak ended up playing for a crowd of people who, for the most part, weren’t really fans of his. They still clearly enjoyed it, and hopefully he made a few new fans in the process, but I’m sure he felt a bit… awkward. But honestly this was probably the best possible solution to the problems at hand, and I commend Ultimo for making it all come together. We still got to hear all the staples one would expect in an A-Trak set- the Duck Sauce tunes (including their brand new remix of Chromeo’s “Hot Mess”), some A-Trak remixes such as the Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ Heads Will Roll, and some furious scratch work sprinkled here and there.
Back tomorrow with the usual Friday rundown of what to see this weekend.
steve cross loves music and science 