Here’s what I personally think is worth seeing this weekend:

FRIDAY:

The Pink Spiders, Evan P. Donohue, Devin Robinson, Denny & the Jets @ The End. 9pm $5. Yep, TPS are back, and for more on that check out Adam Gold’s feature on them in this week’s Scene.

SATURDAY:

Those Darlins Screws Get Loose album release party w/ Heavy Cream and Trophy Wife @ Mercy Lounge. $10 (half price tix available at Grimey’s!) Doors 8pm.

The Clutters Breaking Bones album release party w/ Big Surr and DJ Ben Swank of Third Man Records @ The Basement. 9pm
$5.

This is a really tough choice as both shows going to be utterly awesome. Might as well flip a coin?

In other news, the Cream’s “Conference Call” series continues with Evan P. Donohue. Definitely worth a watch or three.

In other other news, the Country Music Marathon is tomorrow and there are a ton of road closures around downtown. As usual, the Nashvillest gals are kickin’ ass and takin’ names by compiling all the info you’ll ever need to avoid crossing paths with the CMM.

Have a great weekend!


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.

This weekend is almost as crazy as last weekend in terms of good shows in Nashville. If you don’t get out and see something awesome then there’s just no hope for you.

FRIDAY:

Peelander-Z, Anamanaguchi, Cheap Time, and Diarrhea Planet @ The End. 9pm $5?? Seriously, you should arrive early for this one- it WILL reach capacity. The last few times Peelander-Z has played Nashville it’s been at Exit/In and they filled it up pretty nicely, and with such an awesome cast of supporting acts… this show is going to be beyond insane.

The Kills, Cold Cave, The Entrance Band @ the Cannery. 9pm $15 but it’s SOLD OUT.

SATURDAY:

A-Trak, Kid Sister, Glasslamp Killer @ Limelight. 9pm. This show is now a part of the Dayglow festival, which I don’t know much about, but A-Trak is a living legend. Dude is at the top of his game. He won the DMC World DJ competition at age 15 for heaven’s sake.

Promocalypse ft. DJ Wick-It @ the Cannery/Reagan Rock Prom ft. Yacht Rock Revue @ Mercy Lounge. Cannery row is just prom-tastic this weekend apparently…

Have a great weekend!

Nashville is going to be one gigantic orgy of awesomeness this weekend. Between Record Store Day happenings, Vanderbilt’s Rites of Spring festival, and other good “normal” shows, you can’t possibly be disappointed with your choices of entertainment.

RECORD STORE DAY:

First of all, I won’t even attempt to give a rundown of all the Record Store Day shenanigans when the hard-blogging dudes and gals at the Cream have done such a fine job themselves. But I will say that probably the pinnacle of the whole thing is the once-inside-now-moved-outside Jerry Lee Lewis show at Third Man Records. I think roughly 650-ish tickets were sold, counting the additional 300 that were released when the show was moved outside, but they are long-since sold out. Since the show is outside, I’m sure you could stand anywhere within a block of TMR and hear it.

RITES OF SPRING:

Both days have some worthwhile acts, and tickets are still available. Some acts of interest:

RITES FRIDAY:

Futurebirds- 4:45pm, Public Enemy- 9:10pm, and The National- 10:40pm

RITES SATURDAY:

Madi Diaz- 6:25pm, The Features- 7:15pm, Matt & Kim- 8:15pm, Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros- 9:45pm, Kid Cudi- 11:15pm

“NORMAL” SHOWS OF INTEREST:

FRIDAY:

The Mattoid w/ Lone Official and Denny & The Jets @ Springwater. 10pm, 21+, $5. One of many of The Mattoid’s farewell shows this week.

SATURDAY:

The Greenhornes w/ PUJOL and Hacienda @ Mercy Lounge. 9pm, 18+, $12 adv/$14 dos

Hunx & His Punx w/ Shannon & The Clams, JEFF the Brotherhood, and Heavy Cream @ The End. 9pm, $6

SUNDAY:

Personal & the Pizzas, Useless Eaters, Barreracudas, and Cy Barkley & The Way Outsiders @ Glen Danzig’s House. 7pm $5

Finally, I have to post this amazingly satisfying video of Republican former Governor of Florida Charlie Crist apologizing to David Byrne for illegally using a Talking Heads song in a campaign ad during his run for a seat in the US Senate in 2010. Byrne sued, won, and part of the settlement was that Crist had to publicly apologize to Byrne on camera. (Via Steregum)

Have a blast this weekend and buy lots of records!

Sorry posting has been scarce this week. I’m effin’ BUSY.

A quick show rundown for what’s cool this weekend show-wise:

FRIDAY:

“Night of the living cover bands” TNTRC benefit ft. Protomen as Queen, A Secret Policeman’s Ball as Hall & Oates, Hanzelle as Outkast, and TNTRC Team Awesome as Blondie. Minimum $6 donation. 9pm, 21+. Seriously, this is gonna rule. I mean, Hall & Oates? Protomen doing Queen? This is gonna rule your life tonight. I’ll be there. And it’s pretty much the best local cause you could possibly support.

This might seem like an odd thing for me to plug, but I highly recommend Tortured Soul w/ Mindub at 12th & Porter. Waaaay back when I was part of MTSU’s Student Programming Committee, we brought Tortured Soul to play in the KUC Theater. Granted, that tiny stage and small theater style setting was an odd place for a band to play, and the show wasn’t that well attended mainly for that reason, but I did see them play and was impressed. They basically do house music, but as a live band. It’s very smooth, funky, and highly danceable without being overly jammy. And you should know about Mindub.

SATURDAY:

Destroyer w/ War On Drugs @ Mercy Lounge. 9pm $12 adv/$15 DOS.

Tour de Fun in Murfreesboro: an all-day bike rally/house show extravanganza. There are literally 40+ bands playing at various houses and other DIY venues. Some highlights: Hanzelle, We Were the States, Famn Damn. A pretty cool idea, in it’s second year of existence. Check the link above to the Scene Critic’s Pick for more details.

Some other tidbits that need mentioning:

  • We Own This Town has brought back their video performance series. The first one is D. Watusi, the new-ish project from former Kindergarten Circus frontman Dillon Watson. WOTT helmsman Doug Lehman, along with the help of Andy Snyder and Jeremy Ferguson, brought back the series, and I look forward to seeing who they bring through in the future. Since the self-proclaimed hiatus of the Lake Fever Sessions, there’s been a need for someone to step in and fill the void. Watch D. Watusi perform “High School Baby” and “Summer Nights.” BONUS- D. Watusi-Summer Nights MP3
  • As the A.V. Club reports, Ben Folds, Amanda Palmer, Damian Kulash, and Neil Gaiman are participating in an ambitious project as part of the Rethink Music Conference. They’re going to write 8 songs in 8 hours, record them in a marathon session, release them through Bandcamp, and perform them at a show the next day. Oh, and the songs will be based on topics sent to them through twitter. I think this is fascinating idea, and it’ll be interesting to hear the results.

Have a great weekend!

Remember Grand Palace records in Murfreesboro? While Chuck and Bingham have kept the screen printing business going full steam-ahead, and Alex Norfleet kept the recording studio up and running, the record store, venue and label have all gone somewhat dormant. As a matter of fact, (most locals know by now) the whole operation is moving out of the charming old building on the square that’s been its home for the past 6 or so years. Word is they’re moving to Nashville, but that’s as much as I know.

The point of all this is that Rod from the awesome Boro-based band Bows and Arrows is working with some friends to revive the label portion and has some new releases planned for this year under the GP moniker. Leading up to it, his own band is releasing a series of free digital 7″‘s. Here’s the news straight from the horse’s mouth:

Us and Grand Palace Records have a bunch of really exciting physical releases planned for most of the year, and to lead up to them Bows and Arrows will be releasing a Digital 7″ every week and they will all be downloadable for free on our bandcamp page at the bottom of the email. This first Digital 7″ consists of two covers, “Leave Me Be” by The Zombies and “All I Wanna Do” by The Beach Boys. They were each recorded in a couple hours in the house our debut album is named after, 1010 Eaton Street. Side B features our roomates on vocals, electric guitar and bells. Future Digital 7″ releases will include more covers, demo versions of songs, brand new songs and collaborations with other artists among other things.

So do yourself a favor and go grab the new digital 7″ from their bandcamp, and keep an eye on all things Grand Palace. They’re back.

Wow, this weekend has a lot to offer in the way of good music to see. That’s partially because a lot of bands are gearing up to head to Austin next week for SXSW, but hey, we’ll take it. Here’s a quick rundown:

FRIDAY:

The Non-Commissioned Officers album release show w/ Cortney Tidwell and Kyle Andrews @ Mercy Lounge. 9pm $12 to get CD, $7 w/out CD. Stream their entire new album on their facebook page.

JEFF the Brotherhood w/ King Tuff and Diarrhea Planet @ The Other Basement. $5 all ages, 8pm. For a free King Tuff mp3, check out Nashville’s Dead.

The Clutters, Slick, Dirtbot, the Black Faces @ the 5 Spot, 9pm $5.

SATURDAY:

Duh. Come to La Paz for La Paz Late Night presents: ROBO BOOGIE. As I said yesterday, it’s $2 w/ robot outfit, $3 w/out, and Potamus, Vitalic Noise & I will be spinning 80s and other robo-tastic jams all night.

Those Darlins, Denny & The Jets, D. Watusi @ the Basement. *YOU MUST PRE-ORDER THOSE DARLINS’ NEW ALBUM SCREWS GET LOOSE THROUGH GRIMEY’S TO GET INTO THIS SHOW!*

Space Capone w/ Floorwalkers @ Mercy Lounge. 9pm, $10

A few other news tidbits in the music world:

The Pains of Being Pure at Heart now have their Flood-produced, Smashing Pumpkins-esque new album Belong streaming at their website. I haven’t listened to it yet as I’m glued to the news at the moment, but I’m cautiously optimistic.

Tristen’s video for the song “Baby Drugs” debuted on Rolling Stone yesterday. Seriously, go watch it. (Via Nashville Cream)

I decided to release my spring mix a little early, mainly to coincide with this weekend’s 80’s/robot themed La Paz Late NightROBO BOOGIE. Plus, we can all agree that spring could use a little encouragement to get the fuck HERE. This mix has a deliberate 80s tinge, for obvious reasons. Enjoy/download:

Tracklist:

Gabriell-Giovanotty
Golden Bug/Rodion ft. Lavina Claws-Washing Machine (Bottin’s Spin Cycle)
Breakbot-Shades of Black
Talking Heads-Girlfriend is Better (Bit Funk Edit)
Jensen Sportag-Everything Good
The Human League-Never Let Me Go (Aeroplane RMX)
Chilly Gonzales-You Can Dance (Robotaki RMX)
Cassian-Getting High
Tyson-Die on the Dancefloor (Mickey RMX)
Yelle-Safari Disco Club (HLM RMX)

Shows this weekend

March 4, 2011

As usual, I’m in a time crunch between work stuff.

As I mentioned Wednesday, Nashville’s Dead’s Freakin’ Weekend is happening all weekend, so go checkout their “Rundown” post about the lineups for that. If you aren’t inclined to see every night of the FW, here are some other shows I’d recommend.

FRIDAY:

The Nobility w/ Bravo Max, the Tendoor, and Overzealous @ the 5 Spot. 9pm, $5

The YEAH! Rock Block benefit show @ The End, ft. Kiddo. 9pm, 18+$5 donation (or however much you wanna give)

SATURDAY

Korean is Asian album release w/ Cortney Tidwell and The Lisps @ the 5 Spot. 9pm $5

Rocky Votolato w/ Matt Pond @ Exit/In. 9pm $12

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.