Out the Other

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?

1% of One.

Not too sure how many cross-over fans exist between Silversun Pickups and Al Kooper, but there were people who clamored for a Mudhoney and Sir Mix-A-Lot collaboration so who's to say there's not an audience out there who appreciates both of the aforementioned acts playing Nashville tonight.

Like Janet previously stated, there was a point when everyone in their 2006 year-end lists referenced Silversun Pickups, specifically their song "Lazy Eye" from their debut release Carnavas.  This four piece from LA is in town tonight headlining at Exit/In.  Imagine Ride or My Bloody Valentine's shoegazer sound but with an urgent weight behind the vocals ala The Smashing Pumpkins (whom they are always compared to) and you have SSPU.  It's strange to see a band as consistently referenced to 90's acts as they are but maybe that explains why people are so drawn to them.  It's a sound you really don't hear too much of now (seriously, shoegazer?), but then that's what makes their music so enjoyable.  Well, that and the fact that they're good.

    Silversun Pickups - "Well thought out Twinkles" from Carnavas

Now Al Kooper is someone whose talents cannot be done justice via a word-vomit paragraph.  He's played a part in some of music's more historical moments: He co-founded The Blues Project, formed Blood Sweat & Tears, played on Dylan's Highway 61 Revisited and Blonde on Blonde, backed Jimi Hendrix on Electric Ladyland, and produced the first three albums for Lynyrd Skynyrd all by the time he was 30.  Me?  I used to tape fake radio shows on My First Sony and played the wooden block in my 5th grade production of The Music Man. Only time will tell which one of us had a greater impact on music. 

Kooper has two pretty unique gigs in Nashville this week. Tonight he joins The Long Players, a talented local group of veteran musicians who recreate entire classic albums live, for their performance of Dylan's Highway 61 Revisited.  The Long Players are worth seeing regardless of Kooper's presence. However, much like their recreation of Blonde on Blonde in 2004 with him, Kooper's added history should make for a memorable performance.  He'll be following that up show at the Mercy Lounge with a rare solo show at The Rutledge on Friday night as well.

    Musician Al Kooper, from NPR's "Fresh Air", 1/30/2004 (Stream)

    The Long Players Build a Legend on Classic Albums, from "All Things Considered", 12/13/2006 (Stream)

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