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)

AOTW: Miracle Fortress - Was I The Wave?

If you tuned in to yesterday's show (or if you checked out the playlist/archive) you know that the Featured Album of the Week was the new Miracle Fortress, Was I The Wave?, which came out yesterday on Secret City Records.

I've been in love with Miracle Fortress (aka Montreal's Graham Van Pelt) since 2007's dreamy Five Roses, which was one of my favorite releases that year. To me it that album was starting to kick off chill wave before that was even a term - lush melodies and cresting waves of Beach Boys harmonies wrapped up in one totally gorgeous hypnotic package. It was such a beautiful record that even my musician friend was a fan - despite the fact that he had a thing for a girl who had a thing for Van Pelt, he told me "I love the music but I have bitterness in my heart."

Miracle Fortress disappeared off my radar, like most bands who don't come through town inevitably do for the most part, so I was delighted when I heard about Was I The Wave? and got my hands on a promo copy of the album the very same day. AND then I heard the delightful news that they're coming to Nashville, FINALLY, to play at Mercy Lounge on Tuesday, June 21 with JUNIOR BOYS, of all touring partners.

Listening to WITW, the pairing begins to make sense. This album has a backbone of beats - rhythmic ribs beneath the same seawater skin of Five Roses. It's instantly recognizable but an impressive step in a new direction - progressive in a way most acts fail to... progress. The kind of album that makes you nod and think "yeah, that's about right."

"Everything's Right"

And a tune I couldn't spin on the air - "Miscaculations"

Was I The Wave? is out now on Secret City Records.

Playlist - May 11 - Miracle Fortress, New Releases & Concert Calendar!

This morning's show was the first of the summer semester - but in the same timeslot, since I'll be sticking to Tuesdays from 10 a.m. to noon for the next few months. I hope you like the time as much as I do, because it works well with my new gig and to me it seems like I have more listeners than ever. Even if you don't find yourself near a radio on Tuesday mornings, remember you can also listen to the show live via http://wrvu.org or via either our iPhone or Android app.

And if you missed the show entirely? At least until next week, you can:

Stream the May 11 edition of Out the Other

It was a pretty awesome show, mostly thanks to all the fantastic shows happening this week, plus the fine folks at the Basement and Big Hassle who hooked me up with a few pairs of tickets for giveaways. If you didn't score the tickets to this week's Here We Go Magic show with Cavemen at the Basement on Thursday night, the Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. and Generationals show at the Basment this Saturday or the Miracle Fortress and Junior Boys show at Mercy Lounge on June 21, tickets are still available for all three and you can check out the sidebar to your right for more details.

Here's the playlist, with some mp3s of a few of my favorites from the set:

1. Miracle Fortress - Raw Spectacle (Was I the Wave?)
2. The New Pornographers - The Laws Have Changed (Electric Version)
3. Y La Bamba - Juniper (Lupon)
4. Bahamas - Already Yours (Pink Strat) (mp3)
5. Guillemots - Dancing In the Devil's Shoes (Walk the River)
6. Here We Go Magic - Tunnelvision (Here We Go Magic)
7. Miracle Fortress - Everything Works (Was I the Wave?)
8. The Ghost of a Saber Tooth Tiger - Jardin du Luxembourg (Acoustic Sessions)
9. The Flaming Lips - Do You Realize? (Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots)
10. Paul Simon - Paranoia Blues (Paul Simon)
11. Paul Simon - Peace Like a River (Paul Simon)
12. William Tyler - Tears and Saints (Behold the Spirit)
13. Zachary Cale - Mourning Glory Kid (Noises of Welcome) (mp3)
14. Chad VanGaalen - Sara (Diaper Island) (mp3)
15. Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. - Morning Thought (It's a Corporate World)
16. Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. - Vocal Chords (Horse Power EP)
17. Generationals - Nobody Could Change Your Mind (Con Law)
18. Generationals - Angry Charlie (Con Law)
19. Miracle Fortress - Tracers (Was I the Wave?)
20. Danger Mouse and Daniele Lupi - Problem Queen (Rome)
21. Bon Iver - Calgary (Bon Iver) (mp3)
22. Junior Boys - Banana Ripple (It's All True) (mp3)
23. Miracle Fortress - Immanent Domain (Was I the Wave?)

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+.

Inbound: Bands coming to Nashville

If you've been keeping an eye on the OtO list of upcoming Nashville gigs, I'm sure you already know about the big shows coming through town in the next few months.  We have King Khan and the Shrines this Thursday at Exit/In, Vampire Weekend at the Ryman on Monday, My Morning Jacket at the Municipal Auditorium April 21st, Phoenix and Passion Pit at Rites of Spring the weekend of April 23-24, Julian Casablancas at the Cannery on April 27, Beach House at Mercy Lounge April 28, Dr. Dog at the Cannery May 6, and the New Pornographers with The Dodos way out on June 27 at the Cannery Ballroom. 

But what you may NOT know about is a pretty strong lineup of unfamiliar names coming through Nashville in the next two months.  Let's take a look at what the deeper, darker corners of the concert calendar have to offer:

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Who:  The Strange Boys
What:  An Austin garage rock band of "juvenile-delinquent Nuggets types"
Where:  Glenn Danzig's House
When:  Saturday, April 3 with Daniel Pujol, Heavy Cream, Natural Child and others; 7pm, $5, all ages
Why:  I missed Austin's The Strange Boys a week and a half ago in Atlanta, cause a cracked radiator meant our road trip landed us at the Spoon show well after the scrappy openers had wrapped up their set.  But their new album Be Brave might make me risk the awful "damn, I am seriously an old lady" feeling that accompanies attending a house show as a 28 y/o, because the dirty sax on the title track is something I'm just dying to hear in person.  Listen to "Be Brave" and "Friday In Paris."

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Who:  Power Animal
What:  The musical alias of Philadelphia HS dropout Keith Hampson
Where:  Little Hamilton
When:  Monday, April 5 with Pineapple Explode and others; $5
Why:  Having evolved from its roots as a bedroom recording project for a bored dropout who didn't have anything else to do during school hours, Power Animal is now a blog-ready live band with a formidable tour schedule which will see them playing almost 40 shows between now and May 6. Lots of voices, lots of instruments, lots of textures, lots of things going on - it's enough to make me really surprised I didn't about their album, People Songs, from a million different sources when it came out last week. Check out "All I Can Hear Are the Bees" and "Summer Came From Nowhere."

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Who:  Suckers
What:  A Brooklyn art-pop quartet recently signed to Frenchkiss
Where:  The Basement
When:  Friday, April 30 with Local Natives
Why:  You should 100% already be planning on going to this show to see OtO faves Local Natives, who sold out two shows at the Bowery Ballroom in NY and will be coming to town to play an ACTUAL BASEMENT WHICH IS INSANE.  But even if my repeated and deservedly shining endorsements of Local Natives haven't sold you on checking out this show, maybe Suckers will.  Try "Black Sheep" and "It Gets Your Body Movin'."

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Who:  Mr. Gnome
What:  A "phenomenally seductive and powerful guy-girl Cleveland duo"
Where:  Springwater
When:  Wednesday, May 5
Why:  May 5 is of course cinco de drinko, and if you'd prefer to skip the margarita-swilling crowds that night, I think Springwater is your best bet.  Silly little fantasy-fic name aside, Mr. Gnome was a pleasant surprise amidst the dredges of my inbox - likened in the PR email to Karen O meets Queens of the Stone Age - but, you know, a hell of a lot more interesting and enjoyable than that.  Give "Vampires" and "Cleveland Polka" a listen.

FREE Live Phoenix Album!

Still haven't been swept up by Lisztomania?  Not sure if you're on board with Phoenix?  Haven't gotten around to listening to one of the best albums of 2009 - Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix?  Well, kids - you've run out of excuses, because the French popsters have gone ahead and released a free-free-free digital live album of Wolfgang tracks.  Live In Sydney can be downloaded here.

This is practically the entire studio album done live, from "Lisztomania" to "1901" to OtO fave "Rome."  I fell in love with Phoenix the first time I saw them live and realized how capable they are of ramping up the rock - and not that Wolfgang needs any rocking-up live, but this album showcases how masterfully Phoenix translates their music to the stage. These gents have their shiz together in front of a crowd - which was just as evident five years ago when I saw them at Vanderbilt's Rites of Spring as it was at last summer's Bonnaroo.

And speaking of Rites of Spring and Bonnaroo - Phoenix will be hitting Middle Tennessee twice in the next few months to play both festivals.  While the Rites schedule hasn't been officially announced yet, the Paris quartet penciled in Friday, April 23 into their tour schedule, so you should probably pencil it in as well.  I swear they're worth every penny of the festival ticket price.

"Armistice (live)"
"Lisztomania (live)"

Go get the live album. You know you want to listen to the rest. And you can thank me at Vandy next month.

**Update - Looks like too many people tried to DL the album from Phoenix, and the link isn't working. But I love you, so here's the download!

[ Live In Sydney download .zip ]

TONIGHT! Vetiver @ Exit/In!

I've been spending the whole week wishing it were already the weekend - the temperature in Nashville is promising to make an upward climb over the next few days, which means sunshine instead of snow on my two days off.  Considering the fact that it's been in the balmy thirties lately, I'm 100% ready for spring.

And the things I'm looking forward to this weekend - not just the nice weather and nice weather-related outdoor activities - seem rather spring-like.  The Oscars usually signal the end of winter, and Alice In Wonderland is out - what's more springy than tea parties and white rabbits?  And to cap things off, tonight the weekend kicks off with a band that, now that I think about it, sounds an awful lot like a musical version of spring.

Vetiver are breezing through Nashville tonight to play Exit/In with Scout Niblett and Caitlin Rose, and it's a show I've been excited about since it was announced.  Last year, the band's fourth full-length album, Tight Knit, made the list of my favorite releases of 2009, and finally brought my attention to a group that has been been endearing itself to music lovers since the release of their self-titled debut in 2004.  Their association with Devendra Banhart found Vetiver dismissed by many (including me) as "freak folk" for years, but Tight Knit stands on its own two feet, and is enough to make anyone want to peruse the band's back catalog.

One of the highlights of last year's SXSW for me was the short set I saw Vetiver perform indoors at the Mohawk in Austin - the room was so completely packed, I was forced to stand on the other side of the bar, but poor vantage point aside, it was still one of the best performances I caught at the festival.  It left me hoping and wishing for a Nashville date for the better part of a year, and tonight we finally get to see Vetiver here in town.

The show kicks off at 9 tonight; tickets are $10 at the door.  Two songs to go with the sunshine:

"More of This" (from Tight Knit)
"Been So Long" (from To Find Me Gone)

Phoenix does "1901" for La Blogotheque

Flawless.

Phoenix - 1901 - A Take Away Show from La Blogotheque on Vimeo.

In new and exciting news, Phoenix is coming back to middle Tennessee - they're playing Vandy's Rites of Spring on Friday, April 23, AND they're hitting Bonnaroo again this year.  I caught them for the very first time at Rites a few years back, and having seen them another two (?) times since, I can completely vouch for their greatness live.  They're so awesome their stuff even translates well to playing-in-the-plaza-near-the-Eiffel-Tower-mode, which is pretty damn impressive.

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"

Meet: Generationals

The comic (can I call it a comic?) above is from one of my fave websites, A Softer World, which alternately cracks me up and depresses the shit out of me (which I guess is something all good websites should do). I saw this one a month ago but didn't actually realize what it means to me until right now. Being a music fan means I'm going to keep falling in love forever.  And the latest object of my affection is the New Orleans band Generationals, who I caught after my radio show this past Monday night.