Out the Other

The Features @ Mercy Lounge this Saturday!

Some things change, and some things stay the same. This month, I kicked off my ninth calendar year here in Nashville, which means it's been more than 100 months since the first person I met in town said "The Features are my favorite local band." And for nearly that same length of time - since the first time I heard "Walk You Home," and certainly since I first saw them perform at Exit/In - I've been able to say the exact same thing.

It's not that other Nashville bands haven't earned my love and adoration. It's just that the Features consistently churn out pop perfection - song after excellent, catchy song. I've seen them dozens of times, I've listened to their albums endlessly, and I still can't imagine getting sick of seeing them on stage or hearing them in my headphones. Even in a year like 2011, where my interest in music dropped to a dangerously low level, their newest album Wilderness was a beacon in the fog of mediocrity and 101.1 The Beat Jamz I found myself surrounded by. (Hey, I lost my gig as a DJ and did a little musical branching out.)

This Saturday, The Features return to the Mercy Lounge for what will almost definitely be a sold-out show (last I heard there were only about 40 tickets left). It'll be my first show of 2012 and an opportunity to hear some of the Wilderness tunes live again - they haven't been in rotation for very long, and I've only seen the band once (at the album release) since I scored a copy of the album last year. Maybe I'll get to hear "Offer Up" live for the first time? Fingers crossed.

So where will this show put my Features live tally? I lost count ages ago. And while it may baffle some that I continue to see the same band, over and over, dozens of times, my only explanation is that it never gets old. I go to almost every Features show in Nashville for the same reason I could listen to their catalog on repeat for a full day and not get sick of it. Nearly nine years after I first moved to Nashville, I feel the same way about my favorite Nashville band as I do about this town - it just feels like home.

"Offer Up" (from Wilderness)
"Walk You Home" (from The Beginning)

Norm

It's been a little while since we heard from OtO favorites The Privates, but I still refuse to believe that they've called it quits - we've had to say goodbye to too many amazing Nashville bands in the past few years (see: And the Relatives and Hotpipes), so until it's officially official, I refuse to let them go.

That said, I'm pretty excited to hear that Privates frontman Dave Paulson has a new project up his sleeve - going by the name of Norm. Last month he put the Norm EP up on Bandcamp, and while I've shared a few tunes on the radio show, I'll share them here as well in case you missed them.

"Wasted"
"Pardoned"

You can name your price for a digital download of the whole EP over on Bandcamp.

I've wasted my time on synthesizers

Basically every time local boy Evan P. Donohue (Nashville's own Elvis Costello, as I tweeted yesterday), plays a show in town and I play a track on OtO to preview that show, I get it in my head that I'll play "Twickenham Garden," from his full-length Rhythm & Amplitude.  And then I remember he drops the f-bomb in this tune, and I sigh and play something else (that something else is always awesome as well, but this track is particularly awesome). It's about time I shared this.

"Twickenham Garden"

Evan P. will be playing The End tonight with some other folks - the show is $5 and 18+.

Playlist - March 15 - Apollo Up!

I think I can safely call a guest DJ slot a complete success when I spend half the show laughing and the other half of the show rocking out to some really great tunes.  Mike, Jay and Jereme from Apollo Up! joined me on Monday's Out the Other, and if you missed it you can go ahead and:

Stream the March 15 edition of Out the Other

They brought all kinds of awesomeness that was new to me - France Gall (one of my new favorites), Pretty & Nice, Fang Island, and Obits, plus some classics like The B-52s, XTC, and Devo, not to mention a few offerings from their own local projects.  Here's the playlist, with some bonus mp3s and that Chavez video we were talking about:

1.  Apollo Up! - Guilty Fever (Walking Papers) (mp3)
2.  The Whole Fantastic World - Fawn (unreleased)
3.  Tinted Windows - Messing With My Head (Tinted Windows)
4.  Pretty & Nice - Tora Tora Tora (Get Young) (mp3)
5.  Future of the Left - Arming Eritrea (Travels With Myself and Another)
6.  The B-52s - 52 Girls (The B-52s) (mp3)
7.  France Gall - Cet Air La (Baby Pop) (mp3)
8.  XTC - Life Begins at the Hop (Coat of Many Cupboards)
9.  The Futureheads - Area (News and Tributes)
10.  The Young Knives - Coast Guard (Voices of Animals and Men)
11.  Sunset Bros - Dirty Talk (Dirty Talk)
12.  Devo - Auto Modown (Hardcore Devo Vol 1)
13.  Devo - Space Girl Blues (Hardcore Devo Vol 1) (mp3)
14.  Fang Island - Careful Crossers (Fang Island)
15.  The Night Marchers - Whose Lady R U? (See You In Magic)
16.  Obits - Back and Forth (I Blame You) (mp3)
17.  The Carter Administration - Der Camino (Mount Rockmore)
18.  Field Music - Working to Work (Tones of Town)
19.  The Records - Paint Her Face (Smashes Crashes and Near Misses)
20.  ...And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead - Festival Thyme (Festival Thyme)
21.  Apollo Up! - The Heartbreak of Victory (Walking Papers)
22.  Man or Astro-Man? - Universe City (1,000x) (mp3)
23.  Chavez - Wakeman's Air (Better Days Will Haunt You)
24.  Arabian Prince - Panic Zone (Innovative Life) (mp3)

Playlist - February 8 - Yeasayer and Hot Chip

Aside from the fact that I'm learning that DJing after 10 p.m. means a section of my brain shuts off and I babble more incoherently than usual, I'm settling into my new OtO After Dark timeslot.  Doing the show this week took real commitment though - about three inches of snow fell on my driveway in the space of the hour before I left the house, so I had to shovel my way out with my rain boots, and then after a treacherous drive, hike several blocks in the falling slush to get to the station.  Yeasayer, Hot Chip and all your lovely phone calls made it worth it though.

Stream the February 8 edition of Out the Other

This week I featured the brand new releases by Yeasayer and Hot Chip, two of my favorite albums so far this year. (And I apologize again for the Yeasayer snafu that kicked off the show, I'm an idiot. Obviously.)  I also got the chance to play some brand new local stuff - offerings from The Non-Commissioned Officers, Jasmin Kaset, Kyle Andrews, Hannah Barbarians and Majestico.  All worthwhile, so check 'em out.

1.  Hot Chip - Brothers (One Life Stand)
2.  Hot Chip - Thieves In the Night (One Life Stand)
3.  Yeasayer - ONE (Odd Blood)
4.  The Soft Pack - C'mon (The Soft Pack)
5.  Gil Scott-Heron - New York Is Killing Me (I'm New Here)
6.  Toro y Moi - Blessa (Causers of This)
7.  Pantha du Prince - The Splendour (Black Noise)
8.  Phantogram - When I'm Small (Eyelid Movies)
9.  Hot Chip - I Feel Better (One Life Stand)
10.  Yeasayer - Love Me Girl (Odd Blood)
11.  The Non-Commissioned Officers - Love Will Conquer All (unreleased)
12.  Jasmin Kaset - Window Shopping (unreleased)
13.  Kyle Andrews - The Search For a Heart (Robot Learn Love)
14.  The Brunettes - Red Rollerskates (Paper Dolls)
15.  Tortoise - Prepare Your Coffin (Beacons of Ancestorship)
16.  Generationals - Nobody Could Change Your Mind (Con Law)
17.  Majestico - Bright White Lady (Bright White Lady single)
18.  Yeasayer - Ambling Alp (Odd Blood)
19.  Massive Attack - Paradise Circus (Heligoland)
20.  Hot Chip - Alley Cats (One Life Stand)
21.  Midlake - Acts of Man (The Courage of Others)
22.  Hannah Barbarians - Home (unreleased)
23.  Yeasayer - Madder Red (Odd Blood)
24.  Hot Chip - Take It In (One Life Stand)

Playlist - January 11 - Patrick Rodgers of A Record A Day

I have to say, my favorite guest-DJed shows are the ones where I go home at the end of the night thinking, "damn, I have to track down a bunch of those albums."  Last night was completely one of those shows, and it was only the tip of the iceberg:  not only did Patrick Rodgers play a ton of great tunes worth checking out, you can also check out what he's listening to on a daily basis over at A Record A Day.  On Monday night we celebrated his 200th album review on the website, and checked out his favorites so far from the year-long project.  Go ahead:

Stream the January 11 edition of Out the Other

Below is the playlist, with a few bonus mp3s added in.  Be sure to check out Patrick's site, as well as his twitter, his kick-ass band And the Relatives, and his writing over at the Nashville Cream.

1.  Beach House - Zebra (Teen Dream)
2.  Rockpile - Teacher Teacher (Seconds of Pleasure) (mp3)
3.  Françoise Hardy - Comment Te Dire Adieu (Comment Te Dire Adieu)
4.  Richard Swift - Most Of What I Know (Dressed Up For the Letdown) (mp3)
5.  Atlas Sound - Walkabout (f. Noah Lennox) (Logos)
6.  Split Enz - Six Months In a Leaky Boat (History Never Repeats)
7.  Fool's Gold - Surprise Hotel (Fool's Gold)
8.  Springwater - Suddenly It's Summer (Springwater) (mp3)
9.  Frank Black - Hang On To Your Ego (Frank Black)
10.  Vetiver - More of This (Tight Knit)
11.  French Miami - Lil Rabbits (French Miami)
12.  Miike Snow - Black and Blue (Miike Snow) (mp3)
13.  Jarvis Cocker - Homewrecker (Further Complications)
14.  The Move - Message From the Country (Message From the Country)
15.  Land of Talk - Corner Phone (Some Are Lakes)
16.  Squeeze - Pulling Mussels (From the Shell) (Argybargy)
17.  Duncan Browne - Country Song (Duncan Browne) (mp3)
18.  Portastatic - Drill me (The Summer Of the Shark) (mp3)
19.  Lee Hazlewood - What's More I Don't Need Her (Cowboy In Sweden)
20.  Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks - Vanessa From Queens (Pig Lib) (mp3)
21.  Animal Collective - What Would I Want? Sky (Fall Be Kind)
22.  The Pretty Things - Trust (S.F. Sorrow)

White Denim, Brazos and And the Relatives @ The Basement TONIGHT!

Back in August, I got a super exciting message from Mike Grimes over at the Basement - "you heard of White Denim?"  YES, I replied - because not only had I heard of White Denim, over the course of several trips to SXSW, they had become one of my recurring Texas favorites.  From the first Wild Turkey-fueled St. Patrick's Day set I saw them play in 2007, I knew the Austin band was something special - they were like this three-piece ball of frenetic energy, teetering on a balance beam of awesomeness that they somehow managed to never topple off of into certain disaster.  I've seen them several times since then (not hard, since they play like a gagillion shows at SXSW), and I've been hoping that their increasing success and popularity would one day bring them on a tour through Nashville. Today happens to be that day.

It's hard to put into words just how freaking fantastic White Denim is live, so I'm just going to give you some tunes and the promise of greatness tonight at the Basement.  The greatness is further cemented by the phenomenal additions to the bill - Brazos, another Austin band, who I've been falling madly in love with for the past two weeks via their new album Phosphorescent Blues, and Out the Other local favorites And the Relatives, who are working on a new album and sounding absolutely incredible these days.  Tonight's cover is $10, which is a bargain when you realize it's three dollars and change per each kick-ass band.

Me? I'll be there for sure, most likely shake-shake-shaking it since I had the foresight to take tomorrow off from work.  A show like this is certainly going to require a day of recovery.

White Denim - "I Start To Run"
White Denim - "Shake Shake Shake"
Brazos - "My Buddy"
And the Relatives -"Dixie Cups"

Playlist - November 2

There are a bunch of great shows going on this week that we talked about on Monday's show, so I thought it might be a good idea to get this playlist up in a slightly more timely fashion (I already missed the opportunity to give another plug for last night's Non-Commissioned Officers show, but you went, right?).  Go ahead:

Stream the November 2 edition of Out the Other

We played a lot of great tunes on Monday night - from the new stuff (Jookabox, On Fillmore, The Lower 48, Molina and Johnson, etc) to bands who are hitting Nashville this week.  Pay particular attention to the brand new Non-Commissioned Officers track we got to premiere - "Hide To Hell" - and this week's featured album, James Wallace and the Naked Light's I Smile All Day I Smile All Night.  As we said a bajillion times on the show, James is playing the Basement on Saturday night with Coolin' System and Gabe Vitek and the Ivory. If you liked what you heard, please go check him out.

The playlist:

1.  James Wallace and the Naked Light - The Bench (I Smile All Day I Smile All Night)
2.  Molina & Johnson - Twenty Cycles To the Ground (Molina & Johnson)
3.  The Lower 48 - Transmissions Pt. 1 (Everywhere To Go)
4.  Devendra Banhart - Goin' Back (What Will We Be)
5.  Generationals - When They Fight, They Fight (Con Law)
6.  Spinto Band - Crack the Whip (Nice and Nicely Done)
7.  Michael and the Mumbles - Need Your Love (Michael and the Mumbles)
8.  Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros - Home (Up From Below)
9.  The Non-Commissioned Officers - Hide To Hell (unreleased)
10.  The Non-Commissioned Officers - Ride (Make-Out With Violence Soundtrack)
11.  The Non-Commissioned Officers - Sweet Eleanor (Make-Out With Violence Soundtrack)
12.  De Novo Dahl - Under the Hood (City Driver)
13.  James Wallace and the Naked Light - Killing the Dog (I Smile All Day I Smile All Night)
14.  Yeasayer - Ambling Alp (Ampling Alp 12")
15.  Julian Casablancas - 11th Dimension (Phrazes For the Young)
16.  Jookabox - You Cried Me (Dead Zone Boys)
17.  The Whigs - In the Dark (In the Dark)
18.  The Features - Thursday (Lake Fever Session)
19.  James Wallace and the Naked Light - Dancing Star (No Naked Light) (I Smile All Day I Smile All Night)
20.  Neutral Milk Hotel - Holland, 1945 (In the Aeroplane Over the Sea)
21.  On Fillmore - Master Moon (Extended Vacation)
22.  James Wallace and the Naked Light - Colors (I Smile All Day I Smile All Night)

Holly House + American Songwriter = <3

Back at the end of September, my friends in the Holly House collective - And the Relatives, Caitlin Rose, Eureka Gold, Shoot the Mountain and Tristen - got together at Eastwood Salon to record a series of covers and a few original tunes for a project with American Songwriter. For the magazine's "On My Deathbed" series, they asked each of the Holly House performers what song they would like to hear on their deathbed.

The results, unsurprisingly, are phenomenal.  And the Relatives - with a little help from Caitlin Rose - pulled out a staggeringly beautiful Townes Van Zandt cover, and Catlin - with a little help from Jordan Caress - recorded a version of "You Are My Sunshine" that I wouldn't mind hearing on my own deathbed.

And the Relatives - "Be Here To Love Me" (Townes Van Zandt cover f. Caitlin Rose)
Caitlin Rose - "You Are My Sunshine" (Jimmie Davis cover)

You can listen to the rest of the covers (including Shoot the Mountain's noteworthy take on Neutral Milk Hotel) along with a few originals over at American Songwriter or the Holly House website.

(image via)

Thursday's the only day that I've been looking forward to

Favorite Nashville band? Check. Favorite song by favorite Nashville band? Check. Me and the sis, FRONT AND CENTER? C to the HECK YEAH.

The Features "Thursday" from Lake Fever Sessions on Vimeo.

And in true timing perfection, The Features will be hitting the stage at the Cannery Ballroom this Thursday night, along with The Whigs and The Dead Trees. I'm running out of ways to tell you how incredible they are live, so just go, okay? You know you want to sing along to "Thursday" too.