Sunday, October 29, 2006

The Hold Steady | First Avenue | Minneapolis | Oct 25th

I had been meaning to write a post about The Hold Steady's new album Boys and Girls in America but have failed to get it done. Basically, I've been loving it. The immediate comparison that everyone is making is to 70's era Springsteen which I would agree with. I can't stand Springsteen's music from the 80's and 90's but the 70's are a different story and The Hold Steady capture that reckless frantic sound well on this album.

I haven't seen them live but they are coming to Pearl Street down in Northampton, MA on Dec. 15th which is a Friday night. I was planning on going to that show barring any snowstorm we recieve that night. However, when my friend and occassional F45 contributor, Tom (aka TK in the comments), sent me this show review, I tacked on a few more inches of snow to my tolerance level. It's going to take a good storm to keep me away from the show.

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The Hold Steady
First Avenue, Minneapolis
Wed., Oct. 25

Sometimes I wonder if I have a screw loose.

During one of my most busy work weeks of the year, with a sore knee, I still decided to drive almost five hours up to Minneapolis for a concert. It's something I probably wouldn't consider for most bands. I've been pretty smitten with The Hold Steady and after a couple of rave live reviews from friends,my growing compulsion got the best of me. I hear people consider them to be a polarizing band because of Craig Finn's speaking rather than singing, but it all works for me. I quickly realized it was well worth the trip. To see any band play in First Avenue, a venue I feel brings out extra in performers, is a special experience; to see Finn back in Minneapolis, his former stomping ground and the backdrop for most of the band's songs, made for a truly unique evening.

Sean Na Na went on before The Hold Steady and wasn't too bad. The first band, I can't remember who they were, were maybe a pinch on the whiny side. One of the cool parts of First Avenue is that it offers a number of great vantage points, be it floor, sides or balcony, to catch the show. The one catch was that only the balcony served alcohol because it was an all ages show.

This worked against us for the first song, the Boys And Girls In America opener Stuck Between Stations. We were finishing off the second of our 24 oz. Heinekens and we thought it'd be OK to watch through the glass by the back bar only to realize the sound was muffled. We killed the bottles quickly and hopped down to the floor.

The Hold Steady have been described as America's best bar band and I can't argue. If I ever fell into an assload of cash, they'd play my birthday party, everyone would be half-blasted and it would be delightful. Finn's "singing" either endears you or annoys you and good luck trying to sing along with him live. He procrastinates with his lines, just getting them in to barely keep up with the band. If Finn's style amuses you, then you roll with it; if it doesn't, you're probably not even at the show in the first place, are you? He was truly giddy to be there, constantly grinning and doing what guys who talk more than sing their way through songs do. He held a running, imaginary conversation with fans on either side of the stage when he wasn't at the
microphone.

Finn's banter and spastic nature would be amusing enough. But let's face it - what separates Finn and The Hold Steady from a standup routine are those riffs. Oh, those riffs. Those mega-ton, hook-me-like-a-junkie riffs. They just beg to be heard live.

It's tough to pick out highlights when everything sounds pretty damn good. But Stevie Nix and the closer, How A Resurrection Really Feels, were both peak performances. Like another favorite of mine, Art Brut, The Hold Steady put on an all-encompassing perfromance. When Finn wasn't cracking me up with his lyrics or between-song banter, his band was blowing me away. Finn changed into not one, but two different Twins jerseys to delight the audience, who had plenty to howl about with the constantly embedded local referrences within the songs. He remarked at how many emails he got from people that lost their virginity in the Southtown Mall parking lot before starting up Southtown Girls.

I read an interview with Finn where he said he hoped some people got the same feeling listening to them or seeing them that he got growing up seeing the Replacements and he echoed that sentiment talking about sharing the pure joy he gets every time he picks up an instrument. I'm right there with you, Craig.

As long as bands like The Hold Steady keep putting on enthralling sets, I'll keep blowing money and traveling time on them.

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EZ Archive is migrating to 3.0 right now and sucking big time. So, I can't post any songs until they get their crap together or I start an account with a new service. In the meantime, Heartache With Hard Work has a few tunes from the new album available.

You can buy the album from emusic.

Saturday, October 28, 2006

Frost Heaves Practice

On Thursday, my son and I caught the last hour of the Vermont Frost Heaves' practice at Montpelier High School. We had a good time. In fact, it was perfect for my son because they were scrimmaging while we were there. So, he got to watch a game without any loud noises. Plus, there were only about three dozen people there. So, we had plenty of room to allow his four-year-old ants-in-the-pants to roam.

A few observations of the team:

  • They were shorter than I was expecting them to be. I'm 6'4" and there only seemed to be one or two guys taller than me. At first, I thought it was a sign of a poor team. However, then I remembered the rule in the ABA that gives you an extra point for any basket scored off a turnover in the backcourt. With that rule, I think it makes sense to place more emphasis on speed than on height. It's probably a run-and-gun league due to that rule and big men are just going to consistently be twenty feet behind the play.
  • I didn't see many outside shots go in. I don't know if they were rusty due to it being the start of the season, rusty due to the fact they had been practicing for 90 minutes by the time I got there (jumpers are made/missed on your legs and not arms) or rusty because they are poor outside shooters. I'm hoping it's one of the first two possibilities.
  • I like Coach Voigt's coaching style. When a player would do something in the scrimmage that he wanted to correct, he would stop the game and in a direct (but not yelling) tone tell the player what he should have done. He kept the instruction brief and direct and then got the players going again. I played for a lot of coaches that would scream constantly and talk forever without ever being able to focus their instruction down to a single useful sentence.
  • While the shooting was off, the Frost Heaves moved the ball quickly and crisply. I didn't see many slick interior passes (although the clip below has two of them) but they kept the ball moving well around the outside.
  • The team's emphasis on being fan-friendly was clearly on display. They had a free raffle for the kids and five of them got the chance to shoot around with the players at the end of practice. Good idea. One of my neighbor's kids won the chance and seemed to be having a great time. Then when practice was over some of the players came over to the bleachers to say hi to the fans. My son got his first autograph ever. He asked some guy (#50) named Johan for his autograph which Johan gladly gave it to him. My son held it the whole way home and went running into the house to show his mom. I'm not an autograph collector but my son thought it was cool beans. A fan was born.
This is a little clip of the practice:




By the way, here's an amusing basketball story from my past. I played high school ball for a small cruddy school in NJ. We stunk. We were even shut out in our first scrimmage against another school. I average about 5 points and 6 rebounds a game. Clearly, my future was not in hoops.

This was in the mid 80's when college players were just starting to leave college early to join the NBA. It was just the start of what would become a wave. Well, playing upon that idea, I thought it would be funny to declare myself eligible for the NBA draft. So, I typed a letter to David Stern, the commissioner of the NBA, telling him that I would like to forgo my college eligibility and make myself eligible for the NBA's June amateur draft. I thought they would get the joke when I asked them to please let any teams that are looking for a 6'4" center/forward to know about my eligibility.

Well, I guess the NBA missed the joke. A month went by and I had forgotten about the letter. Then one day at school, I received a note that I had to go see our Athletic Director immediately. The guy was your classic Athletic Director. His name was Spike, he had a bald head and smoke cigars after big games. Well, I walked into Spike's office and found him on the phone. As soon as he saw me, he slammed the phone down and started yelling. "MURPHY! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING! I JUST GOT OFF THE PHONE WITH THE GODDAMN NBA! THEY WANTED WITNESSES, VIDEOTAPES, STATISTICS! MURPHY, I DON'T HAVE TIME FOR THIS SHIT!"

It was hilarious. My English teacher was in the office at the moment and he fell down to all fours laughing. He was laughing so hard, he wasn't even making any sound.

When I got home, I called the NBA to try to straighten things out. However, the lady I spoke to cut me off mid-sentence and said, "Oh, yes. We have you on the list. We have a deadline of May 6th for people to declare their eligibility and then we'll release the names to the press and teams. We suggest that you remain near the phone with the number you gave us on draft day." I was stunned. That was that. It was official. I was going to be in the NBA draft.

I was never drafted, of course. However, for the rest of the school year, it was fun joking about it with my friends and has been a fun story to tell friends over beers ever since.

Friday, October 27, 2006

Karen Kitzmiller Memorial Coat Drive

This weekend is the annual coat drive in Montpelier. Here's how it works:

If you have any old coats you no longer wear, drop them off today (Friday) in the Memorial Room in City Hall. The room is on the first floor (not the basement) towards the back of the building.

If you need a coat for the winter, you can take one tomorrow. I don't know what hours it'll be running on Saturday but if you go by City Hall between mid-morning and mid-afternoon, you'll probably find it open.

Keep warm.

Kashmere Stage Band

My wife always mocks me when she finds me watching U-17 US Youth National Team games. She usually says something like, "Do you understand you are sitting there watching players who are about as old as the kids across the street?" Yes. It's true. I will watch teenagers play soccer if they are good.

And now, due to the Kashmere High School Stage Band, I can say that I'll even listen to high school bands if they are good enough. Analog Giant turned me onto these guys last month and I've been quite grateful ever since.

Here's the story...in 1967, the music director of Kashmere High School went to an Otis Redding concert. The guy was so inspired by what he heard, he decided that the school's stage band should no longer be playing old Gershwin standards. They should be playing soul and funk.

Combine that spark of an idea with some incredibly talented kids and you have the best high school band you've ever heard. The band spent 1968-1974 crushing the competition in national school band championships. I can just imagine the scene at those competitions with the other bands ploddingly producing traditional Porgy & Bess crap while Kashmere High cranks some blistering soul. The judges must have spent the first half of their performance just trying to figure out what the hell was going on.

Well, 35 years later, Stones Throw has released a two disc set of Kashmere Stage Band called Texas Thunder Soul 1968-1974. Disc one is all studio recordings but the magic really shines through on the live second disc. If you like your funk with lots of brass and some nasty guitar and bass, then you've got yourself a nice prize here.

And it doesn't matter that they are only as old as the kids across the street.

Kashmere Stage Band | All Praises / Zero Point Reprise (Live) | Buy
Kashmere Stage Band | Do You Dig It, Man? (Live) | Buy
Kashmere Stage Band | Ain't No Sunshine (Live) | Buy

Thursday, October 26, 2006

New Contrarian Podcast

Casey has a new podcast up over on The Contrarian's Corner. This week it has a Halloween theme.

I downloaded before leaving for West Virginia last weekend but forgot to add it to my iTunes library. I was hoping to listen to it during my flights. So, I was pissed when I scrolled through my iPod at 30,000 feet and couldn't find it.

Here's the line-up of artists for this week:

Screamin' Jay Hawkins, Tom Waits, Blue Oyster Cult, Grails, Dr. John, Siouxsie & the Banshees, The Misfits, Sunn O))/Boris, Bauhaus, Nate Ashley, The Crazy World of Arthur Brown, Alice Cooper, Goblin, David Bowie and Daniel Johnston.

Download it here.

Read the discussion of it here.

The Decemberists Coming to Montreal | Metropolis | Nov 5th

Quick post for all the literary rockers out there. Everyone's favorite band of eggheads, The Decemberists, will be playing at Metropolis in Montreal on Nov 5th. I'll be heading north for the show with Bill Simmon of Candleblog, his wife and Kingdom for a Voice.

The new album hasn't blown me away yet but that could be partially related to the fact there has been an explosion of good new albums lately. It's been tough to find much time to listen to The Crane Wife. When I do listen to it, I like it but it hasn't made me swoon like their other albums have. Maybe it will as I spend more time with it leading up to the show.

Regardless though of the quality of the album, their show in Burlington last year was a blast. They are a fun band on stage and when they get down to playing music they have a stacked catalog of great songs to pull from. So, I think it'll be worth the trip even though we'll be missing those final crazy free-for-all debates that Sunday night before the election. It's always a hoot when they trot out all of the fringe parties and give them an equal voice with the big three parties.

By the way, for folks in the southern part of the state, The Decemberists will be playing a show on Halloween in Northampton, MA at the Calvin Theater. That should be a particularly entertaining show. However, Halloween is a kickass holiday with the kids. So, I'll wait for the Montreal show.

The Decemberists | The Crane Wife 3 | Buy
Colin Meloy | Sister I'm a Poet (Morrissey cover) | Buy

Sunday, October 22, 2006

Vermont Frost Heaves | Montpelier Practice | UPDATE | ANOTHER UPDATE

Quick note before I go to West Virginia for a few days, the Vermont Frost Heaves will be practicing in Montpelier High School gym on Thursday, Oct. 26th from 3:30pm to 6:00pm. The practice will be open to the public. Then after the practice, the team is going to be at McGillicuddy's in Montpelier for a meet-and-greet with anyone who wants to go.

I don't have any interest in meeting the players but it would be fun to watch them practice for a while; particularly when its only about a half-mile from my house. It'll be something fun to do with my son.

By the way, the Frost Heaves season starts Nov. 16th in Barre against the Quebec City Kebekwa. Their first game in Burlington will be two days later on Nov. 18th against the Buffalo Silverbacks

UPDATE: While I was writing this post, I sent an email to the Frost Heaves asking them if the games are going to loud. My kids get scared by loud noises and we've wasted quite a few bucks on sporting events and circuses that we had to leave as soon as they started because it was too loud for our kids.

Well, major props to Frost Heaves owner, Alexander Wolff. The guy responded to my email within a half-hour of me sending it at 11:19pm on a Sunday night. That's impressive. However, the coolest part was his response. He could have just sent back a form letter or P.R. statement talking about the schedule and excitement surrounding the games. But he didn't. He sent this incredibly honest email:

Brian, thanks a lot for asking. (As the parent of 5 and 3 year olds, I've been--I AM--there.)
Fair warning, Opening Night in Barre the Times-Argus is giving out several hundred cowbells to fans to make a racket. I'd keep my kids safely at home for that one. Otherwise, we'll pipe some music in over the p.a., and while I don't imagine it will be ear-splitting, I know from experience how sensitive little ears can be.
We're very grateful for your interest and support.
Best,
Alex Wolff
Pres/GM
Another great example of how community-oriented life is in Vermont.

I guess we'll have to get a babysitter for the opener. It should be fun.

ANOTHER UPDATE: The meet-and-greet with the players after the practice on Thursday has been moved from Mulligans in Barre to McGillicuddy's in Montpelier.

On Saturday, Oct 28th, the team is going to march in the Halloween Parade in Barre and then do a meet-and-greet at Sean & Nora's in Barre.

Todd Barry Coming to Higher Ground | Jan 20th

Higher Ground doesn't have many indie rock shows on its calendar right now but it does have the favorite comedian of the indie rock world, Todd Barry, scheduled for two shows on January 20th.

I've never seen Barry live but I love his 2005 album Medium Energy and any comedian that is invited to play drums for Yo La Tengo is fine with me. The guy even dressed up in Peter Criss makeup for the show at Maxwell's.

The reason he's so popular with music fans are his jokes about the music scene. Whether it's mocking the Grammy's, Fugazi or Eagles ticket prices, the guy is hilarious. His deadpan delivery can irritate some people but I like it in contrast to the over-the-top annoying energy that most comedians perform with these days.

By the way, Medium Energy, is one of those rare albums that costs less via iTunes than emusic. The album is 55 tracks. So, that's $13.75 on emusic while iTunes has it at $9.90.

Todd Barry | Behind the Music | Buy
Todd Barry | Band with Orchestra | Buy
Todd Barry | Fugazi | Buy

Saturday, October 21, 2006

Battle of the Album Covers

This video has been everywhere on the internet over the last month but it's still worth posting. My favorite two parts of this video are when Ozzy bites off the head of a member of Weezer and when The Dead Kennedys' logo tears off the dog's leg and beats the crap out of the Van Halen logo. Great stuff.



Thanks to mr. extrawack for the original tip.

Koop

Do you know that old adage..."Nothing goes better with autumn in Vermont than cross-dressing Swedish DJs"? Well, since its already mid-October, I thought I'd finally post about Koop, a pair of cross-dressing Swedish DJs.

Four years ago, I heard a review of Koop's 2002 album, Waltz for Koop, on NPR. It's one of those rare times when you hear a clip of music and immediately decide that you must get it. With its sultry vocals and jazzy electronic swing, it sounded so fresh, bright and fun to my indie rock strained ears. I think I ordered it from Buch Spieler and waited two weeks for it but it was well worth it. The great thing about the album is that its immediately accessible but four years later, I'm still enjoying it. There's just so much packed into its sound.

A year later Koop (their real names are Oscar Simonsson and Magnus Zingmark) released a disc of remixes called Waltz for Koop - Alternative Takes which also became one of my favorite discs. But then nothing for three years until earlier this month when they released Koop Islands.

Koop Islands has a similar general feel as Waltz for Koop except it has a bit of a Caribbean feel to it and there are more male vocalists on this album which makes it less sultry. However, with DJs, in the end, it all comes down to the beats and this album is as swinging and boppy as anything else they've done. It's too bad they didn't release it in May rather than October because it would have been a great summer album.

From Waltz for Koop:
Koop | Summer Sun | Buy

From Waltz for Koop - Alternative Takes:
Koop | Tonight (Nicola Conte New Jazz Version) | Buy

From Koop Islands:
Koop | The Moonbounce | Buy

Here's the video for "Summer Sun":


Here's the video for "Baby (D'Malicious Mix)" on Waltz for Koop - Alternative Takes:


Lastly, here's a video for "Come to Me" off the new album:

Another Contest From Bo

Bo, from Eat More Kale t-shirts, is having another contest to give away a free t-shirt. Like the last one, Bo is keeping it very simple.

If you can guess the novel he's thinking of, then you win a t-shirt from him. He says the novel is one that we all read in school. Knowing Bo grew up in Alabama, I guessed To Kill a Mockingbird but I was wrong. So, the contest is still going.

Good luck.

Friday, October 20, 2006

Changes at False 45th

As some of you may have noticed, JDS of Latitude 44.2N fame is now listed as a contributor to False 45th. We've basically decided to merge our blogs since:

  • We are largely writing on the same subjects...music and Vermont.
  • We are often at the same shows and linking to each other's reviews.
  • We've both been getting hammered at work which has cut down on our time available for blogging. So, we can now combine our inactivity with the hopes that it'll appear we are more active than we actually are.
If this doesn't solve our inactivity problems, we'll add in more contributors until we have a fully functioning blog again. I'm not sure when JDS will shut down Lat 44.2N but based upon his double post on Weird Al tonight, he seems to have had a burst of energy. But I'm sure he'll post some thoughts on Lat 44.2N here soon.

By the way, I believe you'll be able to tell who wrote each post by the name at the bottom of the post. You should also be able to tell because my posts will be the ones with the plethora of sentences that start with conjuctions and adverbs; plus a healthy dose of idioms.

Thursday, October 19, 2006

Tricky Dick Sings Lambchop

I stumbled upon this video tonight and was excited because I've never seen it before and it's fun to watch Nixon sing the line "Come on progeny.".

It's for Lambchop's "Up With People" which is off of Nixon.

Art Brut | Spinto Band | We Are Scientists | La Tulipe | Oct 15th | Update

Show of the Year. I'm stopping the judging process two and a half months early. Nothing is going to top Sunday night's show. I've seen a lot of good shows this year but this one was a fantastic rock show in the truest form of "rock show".

I don't have time right now to write a full post. However, I went to the show with Kingdom for a Voice and he has a good review of the show up on his blog.

I do have a few videos from the show though that I uploaded to YouTube. The show was very loud which overwhelmed the tiny mic on my Casio digital camera. So, the sound sucks but the images give you a great idea of the fun chaotic atmosphere at the show.

This is the video of Eddie Argos introducing Art Brut's "Good Weekend" with the crowd going nuts as they started playing.



This is the video of We Are Scietists bassist stripping down to his underwear for their last song since it was the last stop on the tour and he had been wearing the same clothes for a few weeks.



Finally, all three bands came on stage for a crazed and hilarious version of "Hotel California". I can't stand The Eagles but the irony of having Eddie Argos and his English accent sing this song was quite entertaining.



UPDATE: In the comments, Kingdom For a Voice mentioned the t-shirt I picked up at the show. It's a pretty arrogant shirt to wear but if you're an Art Brut fan, it's very funny too.


One other note about the merchandise. Art Brut and We Are Scientists recorded a split single tour-only 7" where they covered a song from each other's band. Well, according to the guy working the merch table, they had only printed 160 copies which sold out long before they got to Montreal. Thankfully, b.f. at extrawack! hooked me up with mp3 files of the two songs. Since the 7" sold out and is now out-of-print, here they are:

Art Brut | The Great Escape (We Are Scientists cover)
We Are Scientists | Bang Bang Rock and Roll (Art Brut cover)

Saturday, October 14, 2006

False 45th in Rolling Stone

Here's how you kill a blog....You take a two-week hiatus from posting right after being a panelist on blogging at a large music festival and while your blog gets mentioned in Rolling Stone. Free publicity flushed down the toilet due to zero new posts.

Oh, well. I guess I'm not quitting my day job.

I knew I was wasting whatever attention for this blog that was generated by being a panelist at NEMO. However, I had no idea False 45th was going to be mentioned in Rolling Stone. Hell, the issue had been in my house for a few days and I hadn't even noticed it.

I learned about it this afternoon when I received an email from Sean, who runs Daytrotter, congratulating me on being in Rolling Stone. I had no idea what the hell he was talking about but, an email later, I learned what he was referring to.


You can see the entire chart in this photo from Stereogum which I marked up with a crude green circle. Here's the close up below.


You can see the entire post Rolling Stone was referencing here.

I remember writing that post. It basically resulted from seeing Tapes n Tapes pop up on almost every blog I read for a few days. It was becoming ridiculous. Plus, "Cowbell" and "Insistor" were incredibly catchy. So, it felt like the blogosphere was in the process of lifting TnT up on their collective shoulders. So, I made note of it and eleven months later Rolling Stone made note of me making note of the hype.

By the way, if you actually look at the chart, it's idiotic. The y-axis isn't any quantitative number. It's just some made up "Heat Index" that the writer increased or decreased for a band in order to make the writer's preconceived point that blogs just chase fads. The fact is that Rolling Stone wants to portray music blogs as fickle fanzines because they don't like anyone cutting into their music hyping business. It's just a small step in them protecting their turf.

However, their chart shows why they suck. To make their point about the blogosphere souring on Clap Your Hands, they write, "Dec. 15th, 2005 A Pitchfork scribe calls their debut one of the worst albums of '05." The fact is that Pitchfork gave the album a 9.0 and ranked it 18th for the year. Pitchfork did say that the song "Clap Your Hands" sucked (which everyone including the band knew) but not the album. Who the hell is editing this crap over at Rolling Stone?

Yes. The popularity of bands ebb and flow but it isn't as dramatic as Rolling Stone makes it out to be. And just because one blogger liked a band and then another blogger didn't doesn't mean the band's popularity has peaked and plummeted. Like I said, it's a silly chart that was done in a passive aggressive manner to dismiss the value of music blogs. And my blog was just randomly chosen to be a part of that silliness.

One last amusing note about being in the magazine: when I was at the NEMO music festival in Boston a few weeks ago as a panelist on music blogging, someone asked if we only post about music. I said I post about other non-music things and feel those posts make my blog a fun & different site to read. Then I made a snarky condescending comment like, "Nobody wants to read a blog that's filled with more friggin' posts about Tapes n Tapes." The line got a few laughs in the crowd and I felt pretty smug about it.

I never expected to have that line come back and bite me in the ass in a national magazine. Too bad the disc the panel was recorded on was damaged. It would have been fun to put that audio clip up here right next to the picture of the chart.

Wednesday, October 04, 2006

I'm Not Dead

Just a quick note to let everyone know I'm alive. However, between going to Boston for the NEMO Festival, the Built to Spill show on Sunday night, a busy work week, going out for beers with friends and leaving tomorrow to celebrate my parent's 50th wedding anniversary over a long weekend, I haven't had anytime to update my blog.

However, I'll be back on Sunday and will be back in the swing of blogging.

In the meantime, enjoy the video of the cat from the Built to Spill show at Higher Ground.