REMINDER: The Sea & Cake | Coming to Burlington | Oct 1

Back in the 90's, I was a nutter for post-rock tunesmiths The Sea & Cake and their loungy yet melodic sound. However, then after their first three albums, they started experimenting with electronic sounds and I lost faith in each subsequent release. However, this year, The Sea & Cake seems to have rediscovered their early sound with their latest album, Everybody. If you were a fan of those early albums, I think you'll agree that these new tracks would fit in nicely with any of those discs. The result is that it feels both fresh and familiar.

Even better, the Chicago quartet will be playing at Higher Ground next Monday, Oct 1. I saw them once at Tramps in NYC in the late 90's and it was a good show. They rocked a bit harder in concert than they do on their albums. I'm not sure if that's still the case but it should be a good show.

The Sea & Cake | Up On Crutches | Buy
The Sea & Cake | Coconut | Buy

The Capstan Shafts

A week or so ago, I ran into Nick from Angioplasty Media. He quickly said to me, "Hey have you heard of...hold on...[he starts staring at the side of his hand like he's reading something that he had to, just had to!, write down immediately because it was important and his hand was the only available thing]...The Capstan Shafts?"

"Nope. Never heard of them. Who are they?"

That led me to his post on Angioplasty Media and a resulting love affair with The Capstan Shafts lo-fi pop goodness.

Here's the band's story...hailing from the home of the Puking Pig Fountain (Lyndonville, VT), The Capstan Shafts is a one-man band (Dean Wells) that has released 17 albums/EPs since 2004 and has never played a single show. Oh, this story is getting good! 17 friggin' albums?!?! In three years?!?! Never stepped on a stage?!?! Well, look at it this way, I now have 23 songs from him and the total time for those songs is 28 minutes and 39 seconds. He's quick.

Hmmm, let's run through this...prolific band...lo-fi...catchy as hell...a hint of a British accent...hailing from a small blue-collar town...odd song titles. Yeh, the GBV comparisons are inevitable. However, the comparisons also exist in the quality of the songs.

There's also a bit of a mystery surrounding Dean Wells also. He doesn't appear on the artwork of his records and he's never played live before. So, fans have no idea what the guy looks like or much else about him.

That's going to change very soon though because he's scheduled to play CMJ at Arlene's Grocery in NYC on Oct 20. Plus, as a warm-up for that show, he's playing his first show ever at the Stannard Church in Stannard, VT next Saturday, Oct 6. If you're wondering where Stannard is, it's about 40 minutes northwest of Montpelier. If you are heading north on Route 16 between Hardwick and Glover, you'll see a small sign that points to the right and says "Stannard 3 Miles". In other words, it's in the middle of nowhere.

Unfortunately, my wife will be out of town next weekend and I'll have kid duties. However, I may have to track down a babysitter for this one. It may be the equivalent of catching Robbert Pollard et al circa 1993...or perhaps Wells will be horrible live. Who knows? But, at the very least, it'll be interesting.

Check out the post on Angioplasty Media to find out how to download a free EP from The Capstan Shafts.

The Capstan Shafts | Carbon Neutral Enterprise | Buy
The Capstan Shafts | Signature Car Funk | Buy

SculptCycle 2008

Chicago and NYC had their artsy cows in the streets a few years ago. Now, it's Montpelier's turn. However, we're ditching the cows for bikes. Welcome SculptCycle 2008.

Here's the deal...over the next few weeks, FreeRide in Montpelier is going to be collecting used bikes and bike parts. Then over the fall and winter, artists will be selected to turn the bike parts in art. Finally, next spring, the art pieces will be installed around town as a summer long art exhibition. In the fall, the pieces will be auctioned off via an online auction.

I love it. It's fun. It recycles old bikes. It adds to the character of downtown. It promotes biking. I'm sure some cranky old farts will complain about the sidewalks being blocked or whatnot but screw them. I like SculptCycle 2008.

If you want to donate old bikes, the remaining drop-off dates are Oct 20 and Nov 10. Drop them off at FreeRide.

If you're handy with a blowtorch and have an artistic vision, there's some contact info here.

Suicide

Thirty years after their initial release, I was finally introduced to the band Suicide and their self-titled debut album. I can either beat myself up for not knowing about them for thirty years or be glad that it wasn't thirty-one years. Not sure which to go with yet.

Suicide was a two man band with Alan Vega singing while Martin Rev pumped out the beats and synth keys. Here are the two things that struck me about them.

1) This album could have been released last week and the blogosphere would be raving about it. It would fit right in with the current electronica and synthesizer sound that so many bands are trotting out these days. Conversely, it must have completely freaked out the kiddies/program directors dining on Fleetwood Mac, Eagles and The Steve Miller Band in 1977.

2) Now I know where Yo La Tengo gets a lot of their sound and more specifically, where Ira Kaplan gets a lot of his vocal style. It's to the point that I actually started to wonder (and google) if YLT's "Evanescent Psychic Pez Drop" was actually a cover of a Suicide tune.

So, if you're a fan of dark electronica or Yo La Tengo, I'd suggest going backwards thirty years.

Suicide | Ghost Rider | Buy
Suicide | Cheree (remix) | Buy
Yo La Tengo | Evanescent Psychic Pez Drop | Buy

Andrew Bird | Higher Ground | Sep 28

Meh.

MLS Goals of the Week

Lots of sweet goals last week. Chris Rolfe's 30-yard bomb was eventually voted the goal of the week.

REMINDER: Andrew Bird | Coming to Higher Ground | Sep 28

Higher Ground has really been cranking up the shows lately. I don't know if it's a coincidence or a specific attempt to bring in more indie rock shows but it's certainly noticeable and exciting. One of those fine new shows added to the schedule is everyone's favorite whistling violinist, Andrew Bird (Friday, Sep 28).

While Bird's most recent album, Armchair Apocrypha, hasn't swept me away the way his 2005 album, The Mysterious Production of Eggs, did, I like the guy's general sound. Plus, I'm curious to watch him perform. The guy sings, whistles and plays violin, guitar and xylophone. He'll even do all that on one song while his drummer plays drums and keys at the same time. It's basically a study in advanced "pat your head & rub your tummy" skills. You can get an idea of it in this video of him at Bonnaroo doing "A Nervous Tic Motion of the Head to the Left".

UPDATE: Just to be clear, the poster was like that when we saw it at Higher Ground. We didn't add the junk; just thought it was amusing.

Andrew Bird | Sovay (Live) | Buy
Andrew Bird | Fiery Crash | Buy
Andrew Bird & Nora O'Connor | Oh, Sister (Bob Dylan cover) | Buy

Also, Plants & Animals from Montreal will be opening.

Plants & Animals | Jacques

Reminder: Akron/Family - September 27

Thursday, September 27
Akron/Family
Bob Log III
Greg Davis
Megafaun
Club Metronome
$10 advance, $15 day of show (tix)

Akron/Family are just out with their fourth disc, Love is Simple. The latest follows three other full lengths in two years, as well as a mini-album and their split disc w/ Angels of Light (one of my favs). The album was produced by none-other then Ween bassest, and ex-Rollins Band member Andrew Weiss. Like the couple discs before it, the disc is being released on Michael Gira's Young God Records. Check out the epicenter of freak-folk's write up about the cd here.

Openers include Raleigh folk outfit Megafaun and Burlington's own "experimental musician" Greg Davis. No offense to the other two, but the opener that I'm most excited about is Bob Log III. He's a blue jumpsuit and motorcycle helmet wearing one man band (slide guitar, drums and vocals). Check out this quote from Tom Waits: And then there’s this guy named Bob Log, you ever heard of him? He’s this little kid — nobody ever knows how old he is — wears a motorcycle helmet and he has a microphone inside of it and he puts the glass over the front so you can’t see his face, and plays slide guitar. It’s just the loudest strangest stuff you’ve ever heard. You don’t understand one word he’s saying. I like people who glue macaroni on to a piece of cardboard and paint it gold. That’s what I aspire to basically.

Video of Log's hit single Clap Your Tits here.

All but Mr. Log III had their vans robbed Monday while in Toronto. So if for no other reason, attend out of pitty.

Many thanks to Noah and Casey for their input.

Akron/Family - Ed is a Portal.mp3

Nouvelle Vague feat. Julie Delpy

From the 2 Days in Paris soundtrack, this one is a cool saucy delight. Better than any track on Nouvelle Vague's last album (and I largely liked the last album).

Nouvelle Vague featuring Julie Delpy | LaLaLa | Buy

Changes at VPR

If you haven't heard yet, starting Monday, classical music is dead! OK. It isn't dead. It's just be shuttling off to exile island or in this case, VPR Classical; it's own station.

VPR Classical has actually been around for a while. However, they couldn't completely knock classical music out of the programming line-up on the main station until they had a signal for VPR Classical in the Burlington area. Well, last month, they completed the purchase of a station that will now host VPR Classical. That opens the door for lots of new programming. Here's the blurb from VPR's site:

You wake up to VPR and Morning Edition...then catch up with All Things Considered in the afternoon. But what about the middle of the day? VPR's new line-up features midday news and information programs from 9am to 3pm to spark your curiosity and expand your understanding of issues affecting our community and our world. They're programs VPRhas consistently heard requests for, including On Point, The Story and BBC Newshour each day at 9am as well as VPR's daily regional news magazine Vermont Edition with Jane Lindholm at noon.

Weekends will include even more of your public radio favorites, including Selected Shorts, World Café and The Splendid Table. Your weekend mainstays - A Prairie Home Companion, Wait, Wait...Don't Tell Me, Car Talk and This American Life - remain here on VPR. Locally-produced favorites My Place with Joel Najman and All the Traditionswith Robert Resnik are still here too. And we've expanded our locally-produced jazz programming with George Thomas to every weeknight.

You can see the new full schedule for the main VPR station here.

As a member of the VPR Community Forum and frequent whiner about the endless amount of classical music programming on VPR, I wish I could take credit in any small way for these changes. However, the staff at VPR has desired these changes and had them in place for a long time.

Now, we just have to push for music programs that feature artists that aren't dead (jazz), dying (oldies) or hippies (folk, world beat).

More Folk Art

A few weeks ago, I posted some photos of roadside art I'd run into recently. Well, last week, I ran in the Sodom Pond Run in Adamant and came across this beauty along Center Rd.. I guess the owner wanted to make the side of their house look like a barn. So, they painted a horse scene on the left and an old firetruck on the right. I like the fact that they even painted a faux opening at the other end of their faux barn with a small woodlands scene. Nice.

By the way, if you are looking for a nice place to run, the road around Sodom Pond is beautiful. If you start at the Adamant Food Co-Op and go counter-clockwise around the pond, the first mile is uphill but then the second mile is downhill with gorgeous views of a farm and mountains in the background. The last two miles are then fairly flat. Four miles total.

The only downside is the bugs. The back third of that pond is swamp and the mosquitos took a few chunks out of me.

One historical tidbit I learned while killing time for the race: Adamant used to be called Sodom. However, in the late 1800's some prudes took offense to receiving mail addresses to Sodom and petitioned the post office to change the name of their town. in 1905, the post office allowed them to change the town's name as long as it was distinct from other Vermont towns. So, they chose Adamant after the type of granite that was being pulled from the local quarries. The pond retained its name though.

A Geography of Oysters | Bear Pond Book Reading

Love them oysters? Well, Calais author, Rowan Jacobsen, recently released his new book A Geography of Oysters: The Connoisseur's Guide to Oyster Eating in North America and will be doing a book reading at Bear Pond Books in Montpelier next Tuesday, Oct 2.

In addition to tossing around fancy words about our mollusk friends, he'll be sharing a variety of oysters from around the region. Plus, I think he's even going to be providing some wines to go with the oysters.

Sounds like dinner and a cheap date to me.

The whole affair kicks off at 7pm.

If you can't get to the reading but still love oysters, Jacobsen is also running a website showing the best type of oysters and where to find them. It's all at The Oyster Guide.

Stephen Malkmus | (Do Not Feed the) Oyster | Buy

Los Campesinos!

If you aren't digging the new Architecture in Helsinki album (and I'm right there with ya) but love that earlier AiH sound, I'd suggest giving Los Campesinos! a try. Hailing from Cardiff, they released their debut six-song EP, Sticking Fingers in Sockets, this year and it's a hefty dose of pop goodness. The EP even includes a cover of Pavement's "Frontwards".

Regarding the song below, give the song a chance. The first 1:15 is a long atmospheric guitar noodling build-up which is meant to set up the next five minutes. Then the guitar kicks in and you start thinking, "Is this a Teenage Riot cover?" Then someone starts tapping away at the xylophones and you're like "Is this a side project for the good folks at Architecture in Helsinki?" Then you just quit trying to figure it out and start enjoying the song.

The toughest thing to choke down from them is their completely unnecessary use of exclamation points. "Hey guys, what do you think of using lots of exclamation points all over the place to get some attention." "Sounds fab, let's go with it!" Ugh. I would have voted for more semicolons.

Los Campesinos! | You! Me! Dancing! | Buy

Okkervil River & Damien Jurado

What an incredible show - truly mind blowing. Here are a few photos, more of mine here. Expect some great shots from Flatlander soon.


Flatlander Update:
Here are my shots and comments from the show:

jds and I disagree with Damien Jurado. He loved him while I found his stage presence to be so poor that it severely diminished the quality of his songs. I don't need someone to be a "rock star" at every moment but you can't shrink your body into a ball, mumble when speaking to the crowd and play minimalist version of already stripped down songs and expect anyone to give a shit. I like the half dozen songs of Jurado's that I have on my iPod but I don't need to ever see him live again. Having said that, jds is much more familiar with his music and perhaps a better judge of the performance. So, I'm curious to read his comments.

As bands have broaden the sound of indie music over the last few years with multi-instrumentation, many of those bands have chosen to tour with a subset of those musicians and instruments which leads to less dynamic live version of songs you've come to love. However, Okkervil River avoids that trap by busing around six musicians with acoustic, electric & pedal steel guitars, piano, organ, mandolin, trumpet, drums and bass. The sound was phenomenal. All of the orchestration of Sufjan Stevens without the precious tone. All of the fever of Rolling Thunder Revue without any of the sloppiness. Okkervil River is a great live band.

Will Sheff took the stage with the band and immediately showed a bit of humor by saying, "Hey Vermont! Holy crap! Vermont. Let's jam, man! Hey, look there's even a mini oriental rug on stage. Let's start with a four hour guitar solo!" It got me smiling and that smile grew even wider as they opened the set with "The President's Dead"; one of my favorite songs of theirs. 2/3rds of the way through the song when the full band kicked in, the smile changed to just a silent mouthed "Holy shit!" to jds.

Sheff has a charismatic rock star persona on stage but not in a "cock rock" way. More Morrisey or Robert Smith than Jon Spencer or Robert Pollard. The guy is in the middle of a four-month tour but he somehow manages to stir up enough passion within himself to give you the impression that the show you're watching is the most important show of his tour. And I suspect he pulls that off every night which makes for a great frontman.

One other thing that added to the show was that I hadn't previously realized how many songs of theirs I recognized. Throughout the show, I found myself thinking, "They've played everything I want to hear." However, then the next song would start and I'd go, "Oh, yea. I like that song too." Even the songs I wasn't familiar with were very accessible with their rollicking performance.


Nice size crowd at the show. Probably about 150-200 people. Everyone seemed to grow in their enthusiasm throughout the show also.

Their drummer, Travis Nelson, reminds me, in appearence and drumming style, of Animal from The Muppets; best Muppet ever.


For the final song of the encore, they busted out some sort of can of misting spray that they claimed was called "Rock Star Spray". It was kind of funny as they sprayed it around the stage but it also gave a hint to how they think they are more clever than they are. Although, it wasn't enough to annoy me.

Going into the show, I liked Okkervil River's music but wasn't blown away by it. I wasn't a "big fan". However, the show was one of those performances that was so good that it actually makes their albums sound better. I'd gladly drive a few hours to catch them again.

You can see the remaining tour dates here.

Also, Trendwhore has posted mp3 files of the entire Okkervil River show at La Sala Rossa in Montreal from the night before the VT show.

Devndra Banhart | UVM Davis Center | Sep 23

I missed the Devendra Banhart show at the brand spanking new Davis Center at UVM on Sunday night because I was wiped out after a weekend away with my wife in Quebec City (more on that later). However, Brent Hallenbeck had a review in today's Burlington Free Press where he discussed the new venue and Devendra's performance.

Regarding the Grand Maple Ballroom in the Davis Center:

...as I walked in, and I was struck right away by the Ballroom's high ceilings and massive windows -- one group on the side that let in the street light from the east side of the campus, and the piece de resistance behind the stage, a giant half-oval crisscrossed by thick beams that provides all the dramatic backdrop a band could ask for.

...That high ceiling is supported by graceful wooden trusses and decorated with seven spaceship-like lighting fixtures. There are a couple of floor-to-ceiling posts, but unlike those in UVM's old Billings Student Center, they're off to the side and don't obstruct your view.

Sounds nice. Hopefully, they'll start booking shows there regularly. I'm eager to check it out.

Regarding Banhart:

...Much like the Ballroom, though, Banhart won me over quickly. He and his five backing musicians started out with the side of Banhart that's more folk than freak, with calm music filled out with touches of Western twang and Latin guitar (the Texas-born Banhart lived in Venezuela before relocating to California).

...Banhart is a rare hybrid of cooler-than-thou indie-rocker and drifting-into-the-stratosphere hippie. He has a strange charisma with his Jesus-meets-John-Lennon appearance and relaxed, intellectual party-guy persona. He's the thinking-man's stoner. Sometimes you wonder if he's being weird for weird's sake until you realize, no, he's just weird. But engagingly so.

Quebec City was great but it sounds like I missed another quality show.

Regarding some seating problems:

The first flaw with the Ballroom became apparent almost right away when a guy in the crowd bellowed an obscenity about the seating arrangement and stormed out with his date. People near the stage were standing, completely blocking the view of those sitting in the seats.

OK. This rant isn't directed at Hallenbeck because he was just reporting what transpired. However, I run into this problem at soccer games too and it drives me up a friggin' wall.

Don't go to a rock concert and expect to be able to sit on your ass and see everything. If you want to sit down, go ahead and relax. However, don't get upset if other fans between you and the stage chose to stand. The common behavior at concerts and soccer matches is for fans to stand and participate in the exchange of energy between the performers and the crowd. Choosing to sit down and play a passive role is unusual behavior and you shouldn't expect others to cowtow to your abnormal wishes. Just sit down and shut up. Or stand and be part of the action. Most of all, don't throw a fit that disrupts others enjoyment of the event. End of rant.

The photo is from the previous night's show and is courtesy of heynowstfu (appropriate name for my rant).

Reminder: Damien Jurado & Okkervil River September 24th

Credit: JoshC

Quick reminder about tomorrow's show at Higher Ground. Scheduled start time is 7:30, so it shouldn't put too much of a strain on the working crowd.

In anticipation, here are a few hard to find tracks.

Okkervil River - The Stage Names Acoustic. Solo acoustic demo disc part of limited-edition 2-CD set.
Okkervil River - Unless It's Kicks (acoustic).mp3
Okkervil River - You Can't Hold the Hand of a Rock and Roll Man (acoustic).mp3

Damien Jurado - Four Song 12". Available during the 2002 I Break Chairs tour.
Damien Jurado - Spitting Teeth.mp3Damien Jurado - The Killer.mp3

Jens Lekman | #1 with a Bullet

Jens Lekman's fantastic new album, Night Falls Over Kortedala, doesn't come out stateside until Oct 9. However, it was recently released in Europe and immediately went to #1 on the Swedish music charts. Not only do the Swedes make good music, they buy good music too.

It didn't seem to scratch any other European charts but it's still impressive. Could you imagine The National going to #1 on the US charts? Never.

Lekman beat out some Elvis Pressley hits collection and, thank goodness for this, Amy Winehouse...as well as a bunch of other artists that have funny symbols over the letters in their name.

The best way to describe the album is chamber pop on 'roids. It has the fullness of an orchestra recording but with the same pop sense that Lekman always brings. The other joy of the album is how the style of the songs switches regularly while still flowing from song to song. It starts with a song reminiscent of Sinatra and the big band era. Then it goes into a disco tune. There's a track with a world beat feel to it and on and on. It's a great piece of music and craftsmanship.

Lekman's US label, Secretly Canadian is running a nice promo for the new album. If you pre-order the album through their website, it'll come with a code for downloadable bonus tracks. The tracks include songs that Lekman recorded in his apartment with just his guitar and a loop pedal. They include two unreleased tunes, alternate versions of some of the new songs and a cover of a Paul Simon song (something off of Graceland). Paul Simon covers seem to be hot these days for whatever reason.

Jens Lekman | Your Arms Around Me | Buy

McFadden's Screamer

If you haven't seen James McFadden's beauty against France, check it out. Scotland upset France 1-0 in Paris for Euro 2008 qualifying and now sit atop their group.

Chuck D + The Go! Team = Crazy Delicious

+

=

The Go! Team | Flashlight Fight | Buy

Bob Dylan Baby Names

Last week, I was talking to a co-worker about potential names for their second child. On the list was both Sara and Lily. Combined with the fact that their son's name is Dylan, I noticed a trend...Dylanesque baby names.

Sara was the name of Dylan's first wife and Lily is prominent in the Blood On the Tracks classic "Lily, Rosemary and the Jack of Hearts". So, that got me thinking of what other atypical names would be available if you wanted to keep a Dylan theme to your kid's names.

Girls
Marie
Angelina
Corrina
Delia
Hazel
Sadie
Isis
Maggie
Rosemary
Peggy Day
Jane
Silvio
Suze
Hattie
Ramona
Johanna

Boys
Hollis
Davey
Willie
Catfish
Rueben
Joey
Woody
Homer
Percy
Quinn
Frankie Lee
Montgomery

I actually proposed Isis to my wife as a name for one of our kids. However, within a split second, she came back with, "It's a child, not a dog." I'm not sure what she meant by that but it was pretty funny.

If anyone can think of any that I've missed, let me know.

Bob Dylan | Man Gave Names to All the Animals | Buy

Alisa Dworsky | Fleming Museum

Here's why I'm not an artist...if someone handed me 4.5 miles of industrial rope, I'd think, "Hmm, I wonder how much I could get for this on ebay". Thankfully, Montpelier artist Alisa Dworsky is a bit more progressive in her views.

Dworsky turned that rope into the exhibit above which is a part of a new collection at the Fleming Museum at UVM titled Material Pursuits. The exhibit opened on Sep 4 and runs until Dec 14. It'll be interesting to see how the appearance of the installation changes as the leaves change colors and fall to the ground. However, when the snow appears, it may look like the biggest dog in the world just pissed all over the Fleming Museum.

The installation is on the front lawn of the museum along Colchester Ave (next to the Fletcher Allen Hospital).

The National | Coming to Montreal | Oct 7

If you're interested in seeing The National at Le National (isn't that clever of them?) on Oct 7, here are two tips.

(1) The National have a long streak of sold out shows going. Combined with the fact that this show is a part of the Pop Montreal Festival, you should get your tickets soon.

(2) When I tried to get my tickets tonight, I went to the website for the club, Le National. However, following the link on their site to admission.com gave me the impression there weren't any tickets left. However, I then tried the Pop Montreal site and followed their link to admission.com. After searching for the show on that site, I was able to find tickets available.

Good luck.

The National | Brainy | Buy
The National | Start a War | Buy

Photo courtesy of pelforth.

The Honey Crisps Are In

The best apples ever grown, honey crisp apples, have finally made their long-desired appearance at the farmer's market. So good. In fact, they ruin all other apples for me.

Smog | Red Apples | Buy

Neil Cleary | The Jazz Guys | Coming to Higher Ground | Sep 20

Earlier this summer, ex-Vermonter Neil Cleary released his third full-length album and now is going on a mini east coast tour to support the album. Next Thursday, the Cleary-mobile will be pulling into Burlington to play Higher Ground. Opening the show will be Burlington punk-popsters, The Jazz Guys.

If you haven't heard Cleary's album I Was Thinking of You the Whole Time, it's a wicked combination of rock, humor and vanity...but in a good-humored way. To say the album is full of love songs would be misleading. While the songs chronicle Cleary's past loves, it's more locker room than sweet and tender...but in a good-humored way. Musically, while his earlier albums had been more acoustic and alt-country at times, I Was Thinking... sounds more inspired by Elvis Costello with his pop eclecticism and crooning.

In fact, I don't know why I'm trying to describe what the album sounds like. The album cover above does a perfect job of summarizing the disc...but in a good-humored way.

It's available via iTunes.

The latest word on The Jazz Guys is that they've been working on material for a new album. So, the show should be a good showcase for those works.

Also on a Jazz Guys note, Herb, the bass player for the quartet, is now also a blogger on the revamped Pure Pop Online. You can read his posts here.

Sweet show poster.


Neil Cleary | That Girl's In Love | Buy
Neil Cleary | Sucker | Buy
The Jazz Guys | The Best Five Minutes of Your Life | Buy

The Haircuts | Sorrow Is the Way to Love

If you like your twee lo-fi with plenty of tape hiss (think GBV's Bee Thousand or Elevator to Hell's Parts 1-3) then you may want to make the effort to get a copy of this overlooked 2006 album from The Haircuts.

The Haircuts aren't so much a band as they are pen pals. Teresa Daniele and Ryan Marquez recorded Sorrow Is the Way to Love by sending 4-track cassettes back-and-forth in the mail. That's sooooo Clinton's first term. However, it works for them because Ryan's flat vocals combine nicely with Teresa's pixie-sounding voice as they lay down over a bed of guitar fuzz with that poppy melody.

Plus, it's ten songs that clock in at a combined time of 19 minutes and 27 seconds. Yeh, that'd make Robert Pollard happy.

The Haircuts | The Last Stop | Buy
The Haircuts | Ballad of the Razor | Buy
The Haircuts | The Gate (Belle & Sebastian cover) | Buy

Gogol Bordello | Coming to Montpelier | Oct 12

Dan has all the details over on solidstate.

I'm not a big fan of Gogol Bordello but I hear they're great live. Plus, it's so close that I could ride my bike to the show. It sure beats hoofing my ass to Montreal for some rock-n-roll. So, I'm up for it.

Gogol Bordello | Wonderlust King | Buy
Gogol Bordello | American Wedding | Buy

Bill Callahan | La Sala Rossa | Sep 9

Border Agent: What is the reason for your visit to Canada?

Me: I'm going to Montreal for a concert.

Border Agent: What concert?

Me: Bill Callahan at La Sala Rossa.

Border Agent: What does he play?

Me: Emotionally dense dark Americana folk-rock.

Border Agent: [long pause with a blank stare] Uh-huh. [longer pause while staring at his computer screen] You appear to come to Canada for a lot for concerts.

Me: Yeh. About once a month.

Border Agent: Uh-huh.

On Sunday night, I caught Bill Callahan (formerly Smog) at La Sala Rossa. Despite owning eleven of the guy's albums, I had never seen him live before. In fact, I don't even recall closely missing a show. Our paths have just never crossed. So, I was excited to see what his live show was like.

I also had never been to La Sala Rossa before and was eager to check out the room. Thankfully, they had my ticket in an envelope at the front door. I had called the club to order the ticket and didn't get a confident feeling that the guy who had taken my order had done much more than write it on the back of a napkin. However, it worked. So, I just need to relax and not expect everything to work with the impersonal efficiency of Ticketmaster.

The room holds about 350 people and was sold out. The sell out is pretty impressive considering that Montreal had hosted the Osheaga Festival that weekend. That meant a lot of indie music fans were probably tired and burned out on music by the time Sunday night rolled around. However, Montreal is a great music scene and people came out in big numbers for the mellow Texan songsmith.

One nice thing about La Sala Rossa was that they had actually taken steps to improve the acoustics of the room as opposed to some of the art galleries I've been seeing shows in recently. They have curtains covering the walls and acoustic tiles on the ceiling to deaden the cross vibrations. Along with a good sound system, the show sounded grand.

While I was waiting for the opening act, Sir Richard Bishop, I was enjoying the music the house was playing over the sound system. It sounded like Lou Reed but I didn't recognize any of the songs. So, I asked the guy manning the soundboard and he said it was Lou Reed's Coney Island Baby. Then he added a slight zinger by saying, "It's a classic album." I guess that's a hole in my musical knowledge because I wasn't familiar with the album. Regardless, it was a good album to enjoy while waiting for the show. Plus, I picked it up the next night.

I don't have much to say about Sir Richard Bishop. He would have killed at Gerde's Folk City in 1961. From the applause he received, I think a lot of people enjoyed his set. However, I didn't swoon for his combination of traditional folk tunes and classical guitar pieces; not mixed into the same songs but intermittently back-and-forth between classical instrumental pieces and songs about hobos. It just didn't do it for me.

Conversely, I loved Bill Callahan's set. Here was the set list, as I remember it:

River Guard
Sycamore
Cold Blooded Old Times
Say Valley Maker
Mother of the World
Rock Bottom Riser
Let Me See the Colts
Bowery
Diamond Dancer
Day
Bathysphere

Encore:
Honeymoon Child
The Well
In the Pines

"River Guard" was a nice surprise. I wasn't sure how far back in his catalog he was going to go, so to hear a tune off of Knock Knock was a treat. Having said that, I like his most recent albums as much, if not more, than his earlier stuff. So, I was happy to get a set chock full of songs off of Woke on a Whaleheart and A River Ain't Too Much to Love.

I took a spot on the floor about twenty feet out from the stage and dead center between the two banks of speakers. The sound at that spot was fantastic. Everything blended together without anything overwhelming the rest. The sound of the show was assisted by its low volume. Callahan had a bassist, drummer and violinist with him but they didn't seem to feel the need to "rock out". The most important parts of his music are the vocals and all of the small atmospheric sounds running through the background. If they had cranked up the volume, they would have lost both of those elements. Thankfully, they were experienced enough to understand this because the show sounded beautiful at the lower decibels.

One other thing that help the sound of the show was the audience. There wasn't so much as a peep out of anyone throughout the show. Everyone was completely respectful of the show. It was great.

Watching Callahan on stage is a study in minimalized movement. Some would say he's stiff with his lack of motion coupled with his combed hair, tucked in shirt, belt and unwrinkled pants. However, that would imply he seemed uncomfortable on stage which wouldn't be true. It was more a portrait of efficiency in action. While playing guitar, he'd make a few facial expressions during the more heightened moments of the songs and struck a few rock-n-roll poses that seemed more parody than rocking. However, most of the time, he'd hold his position staring straight ahead until it came time to direct the band through a change or end of the song. At those times, he'd slowly turn to his band and notify them of the change with a mere raised eyebrow and nearly imperceptible nod of the head. It sounds weird but his unyielding control seemed to work well with his songs.

The drummer was also pretty impressive to watch. In addition to playing the drums, he also played the melodica at the same time. He had a long plastic tube connected to the melodica which he blew into. So, with his right hand, he'd be drumming, with his left, he'd be playing the keys of the melodica and then he'd be controlling his breathing to keep a constant flow of air through the melodica. Pretty damn amazing. I have trouble talking on the phone and typing at the same time. The idea of doing what he was doing is completely foreign to me.

On the way home, the US border agent mentioned that he had spoken to a number of people crossing back into the US after being at the Osheaga Festival all day. I'm glad to hear some Vermonters went up for the shows. The agent then asked if he could search my trunk. I guess they don't believe that I go to concerts when I cross the border for a few hours every week. Yeh, I can understand their suspicion.

Note: I forgot my camera at home. So, the photo above is not from the Montreal show. It's from the Boston show the night before. However, it looks identical to my view of the Montreal show and you can see the drummer's rig. The photo is courtesy of Fats Superhead.

New Time Slot for WRUV's Exposure

Here's a brief email I received from WRUV's station manager regarding their live performance show, Exposure:

just a quick note to let you know that Exposure on WRUV has moved to Monday 6-8 for the fall semester. this may just be a temporary move for us. the whole radio station has just completed a move to the new Davis building at UVM. Its a bit chaotic up there still but we are working to set up the live music room so that we can go live on Sept 17.

Tune in and hear Missy Bly and Ryan Power live at the new space of WRUV Monday Sept. 17 6-8.

All shows can be streamed from their website.

Giant Origami

I don't know what the story is behind these sculptures but it was cool to stumble upon them along Rt. 100 in Waitsfield this past weekend.

Giant Sand | "Shiver"

An oldie but a goodie. I played this song a few hundred times between 2001 and 2003.

From Chore of Enchantment

Vermont Blog Ratings

According to this site, False 45th is rated R. I'd say it's more PG-13 but I guess we've used a few f-bombs over the years to bump it up to an R rating. Here's what they cite as the reason for the R rating:

* hell (8x)
* ass (4x)
* gun (3x)
* fucking (2x)
* suck (1x)

The one I'm most shocked by is "gun". I've used "gun" three times?? Huh. Weird.

Here are the Vermont blogs in our blog roll and their ratings:

* 802 Online | G

* A Cold Sweat | PG-13

* Analog Giant | G [k is so much more subversive to the youth of America than his G rating implies]

* Angioplasty Media | PG-13 [not bad for the new kids on the block. give them a few weeks and I'm sure they'll bump it to an R]

* Candleblog | PG [obviously, this rating doesn't factor in Dan Z's TV show]

* Eat More Kale | G [trust me. I just saw Bo at a party tonight. he ain't G rated]

* Found Drama | G

* Highgate | R [yeh, that rating feels about right]

* Kingdom for a Voice | PG

* Latitude 44.2 N | G [so, jds was sporting a G rating before coming over to the dark side]

* Montpelier Matters | G

* solidstate | G [they must not factor in the comments]

* Spitting Out Teeth... | PG

* Terrapin Gardens | G

* The Contrarian | R [come on. you knew that one was coming.]

* The Le Duo | PG

* The Pages Within | PG [the site says he earned a PG because he used the words "hurt" and "pain". Oy vey!]

* what i saw today | G

US v Brazil | Sep 9 | 4pm EST | ESPN2

Quick programing note: The US plays a friendly against Brazil on Sunday afternoon in Chicago's Soldier Field. The game will be on ESPN2 (4pm EST).

Both teams are fielding their top players. So, while the game is meaningless, it should be pretty entertaining. You can read pre-game articles here, here and here.

Wimbledon Tickets | Pain in the Ass

Next summer, to celebrate our 10 year anniversary, my wife and I have decided to spend a week in London. Since I'm a soccer fan and she's a tennis nut, the last week of June should work well for both of us. I'll get to watch the Euro 2008 matches (being held in Austria & Switzerland) in the pubs and she'll be able to go Wimbledon. Plus, we'll probably be able to find a few concerts to hit while we're there. Sounds like a good plan, eh?

Well, everything sounded great until we started the ticket process for Wimbledon. What a major league hassle. Wimbledon does everything possible to make it a pain in the ass to get tickets. In today's age of technology, this process is completely unreasonable and seems to be purposely designed to weed out the half-hearted.

Let's go through the steps:

Step 1

According to their website, the first thing you have to do is mail a envelope to them so they can send you a ballot. It would seem much easier to just have the ballot online but, hey, let's play along.

The instructions say that the envelope must be "a self-addressed, stamped envelope DL size ( 110mm x 220mm, 4 1/4 " x 8 5/8")". Guess what, folks? That size envelope is only sold in the UK. Oh, that's convenient. Why not just ask me to include a whisker from the Queen's chin?

But we persevered and got one.

Then regarding the stamp, they throw this little nugget at you:

OVERSEAS BALLOT APPLICANTS

Please enclose an International Reply Coupon (in place of a stamp) where possible.

As expected. the guy in the local post office in rural Vermont thought I was speaking Swahili when I said, "Hi, I need an International Reply Coupon." However, after consulting with Clem, the two of them found one in the backroom. We were on our way.

Step 2

This week we received our ticket application (aka "ballot") in the mail. We were half-shocked that we had even received anything back from them. However, then we read through the application and realized how far we were from actually getting tickets.

I scanned in a few parts of the application for your amusement. These are the rules for what will get your ballot thrown in the garbage. Some highlights:

1) You have to use the address you have on your town's Electoral Roll or you'll be disqualified. So, if you don't vote...don't even think of setting foot on their hallowed grounds.

2) Black ink only and it must be in block capital letters. e e cummings is screwed.

3) If you have to have someone fill out the form for you, you must also submit the legal documents granting them power of attorney. This is tennis we are talking about, right?

4) You aren't allowed to ask for another form. We wouldn't want to waste paper or anything silly like that, right?

5) You aren't allowed to cross out anything you've written. aka Don't make any mistakes and if you do slip a digit in your zip code...well, there's always next year.

I don't think I understand this section at all but, you know what, if I successfully navigate this byzantine system, I'll take whatever tickets they happen to grace upon us.

Now, here's the kicker...the grand finale...the big whopper. If we manage to get our application in without being disqualified and are lucky enough to win tickets, how are we asked to pay for the tickets??? Credit card? Ha! That would be downright simple.

These Luddites want us to cut them a personal check and it MUST be drawn from a UK bank in pounds sterling. Oh, for hyper-provincial chrissake! What is this?!? 1957?!? How the hell are we supposed to pull that one off?

I will never complain about how hard it is to get tickets to La Sala Rossa ever again.

Cream | Anyone for Tennis | Buy