Out the Other

Playing catch-up pt. 1 - Catfish Haven, The Black Lips, The Decemberists and All Smiles

Since once again my weekend was decidedly not spent in front of the computer, I am way, way behind when it comes to talking about shows that I've seen here in Nashville lately.  In fact, the last thing that got a respectable review was MSTRKRFT at Play, and even though that was less than three weeks ago, I've seen 18 bands since then.  Sheesh.  No wonder I haven't been blogging, I've been playing too hard.  After the jump part one of my recap of what I've been up to:

MSTRKRFT @ Play

I really can't remember the last time I was at a real dance club - let alone on a Wednesday night.  It must have been back when I was in Boston; I definitely went through a phase while in college when we were hoofing it to Lansdowne Street at least once a week after sucking down enough Smirnoff and Crystal Light to brave the cold and the dance floor.  There was even a stretch for a bit there where I listened to a lot of trance and techno (not exclusively or anything, but it was good music to study to, believe it or not), so I certainly recognized John Digweed's name when it popped up in my inbox on a press release about the Diamonds Tour.  But the name that really caught my eye was MSTRKRFT, because these days my dance music radar is set to either "indie rock remixes" or "suitable stuff for the gym," and pretty much everything the DJ duo puts their name on nails one of those two categories.

So Wednesday night my sister and I set off for Play, Nashville's gay-friendly dance club that sits pretty close to downtown on Church Street. I was incredibly curious about the kind of crowd a show like this would draw (tickets were pretty steep at $20-25), and it proved to be a mix of Play regulars, die-hard Digweed fans who drove in to town for the show, and hipster-ish looking MSTRKRFT fans who pretty much look like the types I run into on the regular show circuit.  We had pretty great timing and arrived as the opening DJ was wrapping up his set (he was wearing a DFA t-shirt, which makes me wonder what he spun before we got there) and MSTRKRFT started to take over.  In my little dream world of concert-going, I really wish all performers were able to flow seamlessly into the next act without pause like DJs can - it was definitely nice not having to wait twiddling my thumbs between sets.

MSTRKRFT's set lasted about an hour and a half, I think, and was maybe a little more trance-y than I expected - like I said it's been years since I've been out to something like this, and the (limited number of) DJs I've seen lately piece distinguishable songs together into a set, or do something pretty distinct like Girl Talk and his sampling.  This, on the other hand, was less of a dance party playlist and more of a soundtrack for a dance club - while I recognized elements from songs off of The Looks, I couldn't really pick out individual song structures or melodies, and everything flowed together as I'm sure it should in a ninety-minute mix that sounded as fantastic as any particular MSTRKRFT track I could name.  After a few drinks I stopped trying to listen and analyze anyway, and we hit the dance floor and tried not to embarass ourselves.

I think most of the crowd enjoyed MSTRKRFT as much as I did - the dance floor was packed for most of their set, although there were some people who just kind of stood there watching the DJ duo (which consists of Jesse Keeler from Death From Above 1979 and Al-P).  Actually, it was a little odd being in a dance club where everyone (even those who were dancing) was facing the same way; there really wasn't much to watch, despite the fact that the DJs were lit and had a projector screen behind them showing animated squiggles and eyeballs and other weirdness.  That ended once John Digweed took over though - the projector and stage lights disappeared, and the whole club dimmed so the crowd could get down to business.  But at that point it was late and I wasn't in the mood for super-slow buildups, so we called it a night.

The Diamonds Tour with John Digweed is coming to a close tomorrow night in NYC, but MSTRKRFT will appear at Coachella next month and you can keep an eye on their myspace for additional dates.

"Easy Love" (from The Looks)

The Prairie Cartel @ SXSW

If you caught my post-SXSW show last week on WRVU, you heard a track by another one of my favorite surprises at the festival - The Prairie Cartel.  Not only was their early set on Wednesday at the Metro Party at Emo's incredible, it landed me at three for three that day with bands I had literally never heard of before (see also - Hello Stranger and Bloodcat Love).  Their performance was absolutely a highlight of the week, because it was unexpected, completely different, and pretty incredible.

I had to do a little post-festival digging to find out what the deal is with The Prairie Cartel, and I found out that the Chicago group is actually the latest project from Scott Lucas, who was the frontman of Local H, that band responsible for the mid-'90s hit "Bound For the Floor."  From what I can tell, Lucas teamed up with a few members of Fish Dig and Caviar (I know next to nada about the Chicago scene so those names mean nothing to me), and the resulting band is this crazy electro-rock ruckus that I think would be beyond my descriptive abilities even if I was good at that sort of thing.  There are lots of guitar riffs and driving beats, and it ranges from tough techno-industrial to indie-electro rock-out.  In fact, I think I'd like to call it dance music for badasses.  One of the highlights of the set was a song I later found out was called "F*** Yeah That Wide," and even in a day when my brain was crammed full of music, the refrain still stuck with me afterward - "We've got the soul, the soul, the goddamn soul. We've got the soul, the soul, the motherf***ing soul."  Oh hell yes.

"F*** Yeah That Wide"
"Burning Down the Other Side"
"Cracktown"

These are all actually free mp3s on the band's website (there are two more there too), but I rehosted them because the band apparently has a sense of humor, and screwed with the mp3 tags so the artist and album info show up as things like "Aaliyah" and "Changing Lanes Soundtrack" and "Lizzie McGuire."  Haha.

Right now there's only one date listed on The Prairie Cartel's myspace - a gig at Schuba's on April 16 with Klaxons.  Supposedly there's also an album (or EP?) of some sort on its way, I'll do a bit more digging around and keep you posted on what I come up with.

Bloodcat Love @ SXSW

I know that almost two weeks have passed since my ears stopped ringing, but I promised a bit more SXSW coverage in the form of a few in-depth posts about some of the bands I loved, and now that things have settled down a bit, I'm going to deliver.  Oh wait, you're totally sick of hearing about SXSW?  Tough.

The second band that really impressed me on the first day of the festival was Bloodcat Love, who I had literally never heard of before we popped into the Little Radio Party at Red-Eyed Fly just to check out the venue.  The LA band took the stage around 1 p.m. and proceeded to rock the place like it was 1 a.m. - the lead singer shimmied all over the stage throughout the set, dancing with the mic stand, picking up and sniffing stray beer cans and imploring the crowd to get closer to the stage and make like it was midnight.  Shirtless by the end of the show, he even ended up in the audience at one point, which was a little bizarre because most of the meager crowd appeared to be older industry types (balding, in blazers and loafers).  It was my first indication that rock 'n roll wasn't going to wait for sunset at SXSW, and it certainly woke me up.

I even ran into both the guitar player and lead singer later that night at Stubb's - and I have tunes to share because they gave me a CD sampler.

"Yeah Yeah Sweet"
"The Fever"

And here's a video for "The Fever."

Bloodcat Love has a few dates booked in CA if you're out that way - keep an eye on their myspace for more info.   

Cold War Kids @ Mercy Lounge

I really can't believe it has only been about nine months since I first saw Cold War Kids at the Basement and was blown away by the band - the blog insanity and crazy backlash that ensued last year makes it feel like a lot longer.  It also seems like a long time ago because I managed to catch the band four times last year - with Tapes 'n Tapes last June at the Basement, then at Exit/In a month later with Sound Team, and twice in October at both a Grimey's in-store and a headlining appearance at Exit/In.  And each appearance was a painful reminder that most people in Nashville are oblivious to the little indie rock blogging bubble that is my whole world - attendance at shows definitely didn't reflect the fact that it seemed like every boy with messy hair and a blogspot address was buzzing about the band on the internet.  It's easy to forget that more than ninety-five percent of this town has no idea what Pitchfork is, and that's why it was pretty damn exciting to see a sold-out Mercy Lounge last night, a mere five months (to the day, even!) since Cold War Kids last came to town.

Delta Spirit and Tokyo Police Club were the two opening bands on the bill, neither of which I've seen before (Tokyo Police Club were actually everywhere at SXSW, but I kept skipping them because I knew I'd catch the band back in Nashville).  Both bands were a lot of fun and I would definitely like to see them again - but for very different reasons.  Delta Spirit sounded great, seemed to be having a great time, and since I'm not familiar with any of their material, I'm definitely planning on picking up a CD and hearing how it compares to the show.  I'm a bit more familiar with Tokyo Police Club because I have their EP - but while they also sounded pretty good and seemed to be having fun, I'm pretty sure the performance we got sounds NOTHING like the band's usual live show.  Apparently their drummer was incredibly sick, so the band kicked off their set with a few incredibly scaled-back songs without him, apologizing for the fact that only 75% of the band was on stage.  Then they invited quite a few members of Delta Spirit and Cold War Kids onto the stage (all of both bands maybe, I think there were 11 or 12 people on stage), and initiated the craziest indie rock drum circle I've ever seen.  Don't get me wrong, it was actually pretty cool, but it seemed a little insane to me that the solution to a missing drummer was to add eight percussionists to the show.  I think one of the Cold War Kids guys played guitar a little, but for the most part it was this insane, drummy collaboration that bordered on sounding marching band-ish at certain points.  I did recognize some songs off the EP, but now I'm even more curious about what Tokyo Police Club really sounds like live.  Great effort though - I love a band that will go above and beyond to still put on a good show.

Cold War Kids were up next, and like I said, I was pretty much amazed by the number of people there at that point - Mercy Lounge was packed.   And like the last four times I saw the band they just killed, but this time they finally had the audience they deserved - a shoulder to shoulder sold-out crowd, dripping with sweat in a room that was obviously unprepared for the 85 degree day, singing along with a degree of passion I wasn't really prepared for.   I'm not sure if the grin on my face for the duration of their set was there because in those five months I forgot a little bit how much the band rocks, or just because the excitement in the room was contagious.  I was just as happy and sticky and singing along as everyone else around me though.

I think the highlight of the show was "Saint John" - before the song started they called they boys from Delta Spirit and Tokyo Police Club on stage and pretty much re-created the percussion ensemble that was on stage about an hour earlier.  And I think it worked a little better in the context of a Cold War Kids song - at least it sounded more like you would expect it to - a bit of a mess of percussion with everyone (once again 12 or so) bobbing their heads and singing and having a fantastic time.  Rich over at Cable and Tweed recorded the show from the night before in Atlanta, and it looks like they did the same thing (actually it looks like it might be the same setlist), so I'll have to check out his recording.  But here's the version from Up In Rags too:

Cold War Kids - "Saint John"

No, You Ain't Got No Soul Power.

Of Montreal hit the ground running Wednesday night by immediately tearing into their new album and not coming up for air until they had killed off a majority of it.  Fans of their older material could have easily been bitter, but the seamless transitions from one song to the next left little time to complain.  They did eventually churn through some of their older material, as well as some covers (David Bowie, Fiery Furnaces, and a cruel Talking Heads tease) before the night was over.

After all of the hype surrounding the Outback inflated show experience, I was surprised that there weren't more theatrics present than there were.  Their music is great but the craziness of their live performances are really what make Of Montreal such an enjoyable band. While the giant lobster claw and the 10 foot robe were present, it didn't seem like this show was any more crazy than when they were last in town (a mere 5 months ago).  That being said Mercy Lounge could have been the reason for this as it offers a fairly constrictive stage.  The background art/animation/live shots were forced onto what looked like a projection screen from my old elementary school while "Gronlandic Edit" saw Mr. Kevin Barnes ascend to the rafters in order to utilize the one of the bands many props.

Anyway, in case you haven't figured out by now, giant lobster claws, multiple costume changes, tongue-in-cheek glam rock antics, ninja swords, and thankfully no full frontal make for a really entertaining show.

Of Montreal - "Heimdalsgate Like A Promthe giant lobster claw and the 10 foot robeethean Curse" from Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer?

Dark Meat - "One More Trip"

On Tuesday after work I popped by Grimey's to pick something up, and despite my best efforts to abstain from live music for at least three consecutive days after my band binge in Austin, I ended up sticking around to watch an in-store by Athens Georgia's Dark Meat. Mostly I wanted to see how the hell twelve (thirteen?) band members could successfully execute a performance in the tiniest space imaginable, when they had two full drum sets, a brass section, two girls with tambourines and even a piccolo player, which I don't think I've ever seen in a band before.   Wish I took my camera.

And I'm glad I stuck around, even though by the time they wrapped up their set I didn't have time to eat dinner before I had to scoot off to WRVU.  Dark Meat was crazy enough to rival some of the most entertaining bands I saw at SXSW (I think they were down there too, though I didn't see them) - it was pretty much a circus and my friend Jon described them as something like a "crazy hippie Ike & Tina review."  They were bizarre, they were enthusiastic, they were fun and they actually sounded pretty good - something that usually falls to the wayside when bands are a clusterf**** of instruments and voices.  The clusterf*** actually worked in this instance, and though this song doesn't completely do the live show justice, it's a pretty good sample of what they sound like:

"One More Trip"

Go check 'em out - they're like nothing I've ever seen before.  Tour dates are on their myspace and you can also pick up their album Universal Indians.

ps - I just saw that Tiny Mixtapes described them as "An Athens collective that's part blues-rock, part Motown, and  part Mardi Gras parade."  Haha.  Rock on.

Autumn Defense (Spring Version)

In a month already full of music in Nashville, The Basement managed to stand out with a impressive three day line-up last week-end. Thursday featured Nashville transplant Clem Snide, Friday had the unofficial Shins post concert with Elvis Perkins and The Autumn Defense, and Saturday local acts Dixie Dirt and The Clutters took the stage.  Additionally Brendon Benson, Patrick Keeler, and Jack Lawrence of The Raconteurs, and Amanda Palmer of The Dresden Dolls were in attendance at various points.  Not too shabby for a place that barely holds 100 and is located waaayyyyy off the beaten path.

At the last minute I decided to try and catch The Autumn Defense after The Shins and apparently wasn't alone in this idea.  I managed to catch the end of Elvis Perkins' jangly folk set, which was interesting but hard to watch as the rest of the Ryman crowd slowly started to fill out the small venue.  The Autumn Defense, made up of John Stirratt and Pat Sansone of Wilco, went on next.  The group is immensely talented and does a good job of molesting 70's easy listening. This was the first time that I've seen them even though they seem to play Nashville often.  It's a bit surreal to watch these guys on the small, small stage of The Basement after witnessing them command bigger places with Wilco.  On this night, though, their poppy, intimate songs were a good fit for the dark, claustrophobic feel of the venue. See also, The Bees (U.S.).   As eclectic as their Lite FM rotation of songs was, a full night of music began to take its toll on me and I had to bail halfway through their set before I tried to solve that problem with a(nother) case of Falls City.   

Elvis Perkins deserves more of a mention than I'm giving him here and will be in Nashville again when he opens up for CYHSY on April 17, 2006.

    Elvis Perkins - "While You Were Sleeping" from Ash Wednesday

And an older Autumn Defense track. Their new self-titled album is out now on Laurie and John Stirratt's Broadmoor Records.

    The Autumn Defense - "Tuesday Morning" from Circles

And I Say To Myself, What An Inverted World.

So I was one of the many, many jaded twenty-somethings who were barely excited to go see The Shins play at the Ryman. My hesitance was based upon their previous appearances where I’d witness them redefine the adjective “underwhelming”. See specifically, The Shins, Cannery Ballroom, Nashville, TN, May 4, 2005.  Other people were still suffering from the Garden State effect and were dreading the crowd’s reaction to “New Slang”.  Regardless, the general vibe seemed to be that people weren’t expecting too much from The Shins.

So of course I enjoyed the show. Shocker.

I can never tell if a band is being sincere or if it’s typical Spinal Tap hype, but people seem to genuinely get excited about playing the Ryman. Besides their many accolades for the venue (“Oh you think we don’t know, but we know.”), their excitement was more than visible on stage.  Thankfully this was somewhat contagious and kept the typically docile crowd on their feet.  For their set, they did a good job of giving their older albums some heavy rotation and mixing in covers during the long, long encore. Also, the band was good about taking the time to banter with the crowd.

Random Drunk Guy in the back: “O’Doyle Rules.”
James Mercer, not missing a beat: “O’Doyle, I've got a feeling your whole family's going down.”

Anyway, all of the above made for a pretty entertaining show. But what’s with a Sub Pop band demanding $40 a ticket? Wow. I’m gonna need to be guaranteed “Your Algebra” live before there’s a next time at that price. Far too many other great shows in Nashville for half of that amount.

Viva Voce was a pretty surprising opener. The male-female duo started out decent and slowly pulled me in more and more as they played on.  Half-way through their all over the stage version of “So Many Miles” I was sold.  I mean, formerly of Muscle Shoals, Alabama, breaking out double-neck guitar for maximum power chord wieldage during explosive solos, why yes dammit, I am paying attention Anita Robinson.  Wait you two are married?  Crap.

Viva Voce - When Planets Collide

Well that was some well-deserved hype

So yesterday I was on Vanderbilt's campus for my last show on WRVU as a "trainee."  And then I took my DJ exam... an actual written test on the rules and regulations of the stations that I have to pass before they let me go on the air alone.  The original plan was to come to campus early to check out the afternoon's offerings at Rites of Spring, but it was unnaturally cold and rainy so I went straight to the station instead. 

I did finish the test at about 7:30 though, so I decided to stop by and check out Phoenix, who went on at 7.  I bought Alphabetical a while back and I really like the album - but I was pretty skeptical when I heard everyone talking about how they are the greatest band live.  I've been likening them to Maroon 5, sadly enough, because their version of French pop is much like the sexy rock you hear on Songs About Jane.  Dance-y, laced with hooks and grooves.  Very very likeable, but the main adjective that comes to mind is wussy.

I showed up as they were playing "Everything is Everything," the first track I ever heard by the band, which in fact enticed me to buy the album.  Good stuff, but a little boring.  Next they played two songs which I think they said were new - the first one was okay and the second was A. MA. ZING.  It was windy, it was freezing (like 45 freezing), I was not properly dressed but all of a sudden I completely forgot I was cold.  And almost EVERYONE there was dancing - from the hippies to my right who were literally skipping around their own little dance floor - to the three older men to my left (definitely there to see Hootie) who were shuffling their shoulders to the beat.  I'm sure people caught on quickly to the fact that dancing keeps you warmer than beer alone does - but I think the infectious goodness of the music helped a lot.  I wish I knew what the name of that song was.

The last song they played was "If I Ever Feel Better", off of both United and the new live album, Live! 30 Days Ago.  I found the video of studio version online and I still can't believe it's the same song.  The original is poppy dance-y and fun, but with none of the gritty guitar action that makes the live version, which I dug up for you here.  (stick it out, although the first part is fun, the rock drops about 3 minutes in)

I think it helped a lot to have an enthusiastic (though cold) audience who upped the energy level at the show - but mostly it was the great idea to take these crisp little pop songs and infuse them with real ROCK.  I think I might be checking out that live album soon...