DC/Baltimore-metropolitan area ska legends the Pietasters were the first less-than-national band I had ever saw live at the old Black Cat in DC when I was but a pup in the mid-90s with the Pilfers (side project of Coolie Ranx from the Toasters) opening up in the hey-day of third-wave. And though the third wave has long past ebbed, they still rank among my personal top 10 artists for quality, consistency and just plain fun.
Lead singer Steve Jackson and crew are renowned for their ability to play alcohol-fueled and inhumanly long, ferocious sets of diverse music romping around the realms of ska, dub, reggae, world and rock music to get the entire club skanking and bopping into a huge, frenzied mass of Brownian motion.
Do yourself a favor and unwind at Sonar in a sweaty mass Saturday night with myself and a packed house full of Baltimore and DC area ska lovers. Pietasters headline with Jah Works, Lionize and Dub Trio opening.
After the jump, there are some skankalicious tracks to whet your appetite. And to delve deeper, check out this interview I had with Steve Jackson about everything ska and good in the world.
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The Pietasters - "Out All Night"
The Pietasters - "Tell You Why/Maggie Mae"
The Pietasters - "Biblical Sense"
Jah Works - "King of Kings"
Pilfers - "Lay"
Friday, March 21, 2008
Pietasters skankalicious Saturday Sonar Show
Thursday, March 20, 2008
Review - Georgie James, Gary B & the Notions @ the Ottobar, Baltimore MD
While Stars were busy delivering their highly dramatized indie pop in downtown to a packed house at Sonar, the Ottobar crowd was relatively light for DC-based Georgie James' alternate approach to the genre.
But given the quality of Georgie James' performance and music, there should have been a more equal split between the two.
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Missing the Courtesy Line, I walked in for second openers Gary B & the Notions' hook-laden, retro-brand of pop rock. Very much sounding like Elvis Costello and even at times the Beach Boys, the songs are short and sweet and the Notions are tight as a sailor's knot. Well-rehearsed and veteran performers, they make some really catchy music. The bassist (ferocious, love the technique) and guitarist seemed to really have some chops, able to veer songs easily into the realm of punk. The only downside was that songs tended to be a little too similar. But I have a feeling that isn't for lack of diverse material in Gary's huge back-catalog, but rather a targeting of the set list to make the perfect opening set for Georgie James.
Georgie James is one of three gems formed after the amicable dissolution of DC's post-punk standard bearers (and personal faves) Q And Not U. Drummer John Davis took up vocals and guitar along with established singer/songwriter Laura Burhenn doing vocals and keys. The project, like the other 2, are logical extensions from Q And Not U. Georgie James explores the poppier side of things, sugar-coating the angular, twitchy guitar riffs from Q And Not U with copious amounts of harmonized male-female vocals and pop sensibility. Their sound is essentially an updated take on the ultra-sweet pop of the 50s-60s.
And resulting nougat of indie-pop goodness is nearly irresistible.
The guys were really on point last night, hot on the heels of some glowing SXSW press. Davis rained some laser-precision riffs down on the eager crowd, showcasing musical themes from his old band in both his guitar work and song structure/bridging.
Burhenn's vocals were lush and lovely. They add a highly textured, multi-layered facet to the sound (especially when harmonizing with Davis'). Set highlights included "Need Your Needs," "Places" and covers of Otis Redding and the Zombies' "This Will Be Our Year." Drummer James Canty (ex-Nation of Ulysses & Ted Leo/Pharmacist) did not disappoint with his stylish and tight work. Bassist Michael Cotterman is competent but bass lines aren't really the focus of GJ's repertoire so nothing really exciting happening there.
The only major critique for the airtight performance was the low-level of the vocals and keys in the mix. A predictably great show from one of DC's premiere artists; I don't need to tell you to keep your eye on them.
Photo credit Melissa Lawson, WashDC May 2007
Here are a few tracks from GJ and Gary B to whet your appetite. I whole-heartedly recommend you pick up GJ's debut album from last year, Places. It doesn't disappoint.
Georgie James - "Need Your Needs"
Georgie James - "Cheap Champagne"
Georgie James - "More Lights"
Gary B & the Notions - "Lori"
Monday, March 17, 2008
Wye Oak in a Yaris at SXSW for Stereogum.
Our latest, Merge-signed hometown heroes Jenn and Andy of Wye Oak, get together with Stereogum and play "I Don't Feel Young" in the back of a Toyota Yaris tooling around Austin at SXSW. Check the video here.
Maybe I can get them to play "Family Glue" in my Scion tC.
Stay tuned for part 2 of our interview coming in the next few weeks.
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Starscape 2008: Nothing you haven't seen before
Starscape, Baltimore's electronic music festival, will celebrate its 10th year of existence this June 7th (though the graphic claims the 9th) at Fort Armistead Park. As widespread public interest in electronic dance music (EDM) has waxed and waned, Starscape has reliably remained the only event in the region able to draw top-notch DJs. The lineup was announced a few days back. The bill is solid, but not spectacular. One would have expected all the stops to be pulled for the 10th year party.
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Also, many of the acts were previously booked in recent years, meaning the festival attendee will see nothing new or emerging. I guess that’s the dilemma faced by any promotions company putting together an outdoor music festival—the balance between acts that are reliable product, so to speak, versus the risk of trying something new.
As expected the drum and bass lineup is full of big name like Dieselboy with J Messinian, Dara, Photek, John B, Teebee, etc. Dieselboy and Dara are no strangers to these parts as they have spun at Sonar on numerous occasions. One of my more memorable Starscape moments from the past few years came when I literally bumped into John B behind one of the stages.
On the breaks side you’ve got Krafty Kuts, though I assume he will be appearing sans Dynamite MC (nothing mentioned so far), Reid Speed, and Uberzone. The Uberzone performance at Starscape a couple years back was the highpoint of the night for me. His sets are synthesized and sequenced live as opposed to a DJ set.
And speaking of live EDM performances, Starscape has also got Future Rock on the bill. Future Rock recently opened for Starscape alum and fellow live EDM band Rabbit in the Moon at Sonar in February. There is something about people onstage with banks of synthesizers tweaking knobs that I will always find appealing, no matter how gimmicky the act can be.
Also featured are a fair number of local DJs and electronic musicians of some repute. Given Baltimore’s proximity to DC you’ve got to have some members from Thievery Corporation present, and in this case they will be performing with the See-I dub/ downtempo massive. See-I, too is from DC. And, of course, you’ve got Scott Henry and Charles Feelgood. Fever and Buzz, do those names ring a bell? One could argue that if it weren’t for Scott Henry and Charles Feelgood’s efforts to build the Baltimore/DC scene there would be no Starscape. Joe Nice, another Bmore boy, had his first exposure to EDM at Starscape. He is now one of the few DJs spinning dubstep with creditability outside of England. While Low Budget of Hollertronix may hail from Philly, he is definitely down with the sounds of Bmore. But why not book a DJ that plays Baltimore music and is from Baltimore?
The live, quasi-electronic jam bands are the weakest link among the lineup. I’m generalizing, but the Disco Biscuits have a reputation for drawing a crowd that loves to take drugs, and loves outdoor festivals, so I guess they kind of fit in with Starscape. But why Pasadena? Just contrast that band to some of the internationally touring, world-renowned talent also appearing that night.
After 10 years how relevant is Starscape? It seems the current emerging trends of EDM are largely ignored in favor of what worked 5 or ten years ago. What first drew me to EDM was its status as vanguard music, but a progressive approach to the genre doesn’t seem to be in order for Starscape. Not when you have virtually the same lineup two years in a row.
In other big EDM festival news, the Winter Music Conference is coming up. Aural State will have a correspondent down in Miami covering all the details, and posting daily updates.
Full Starscape 2008 Lineup:
THE DISCO BISCUITS
SLICK RICK THE RULER W/ LIVE BAND
JOHNNY RABB'S BIODIESEL
FUTURE ROCK
SEE-I FEAT MEMBERS OF THIEVERY CORPORATION
ROC RAIDA OF THE X-ECUTIONERS
EARTHTONE
PASADENA
THREE FIFTHS
UBERZONE LIVE
KRAFTY KUTS
CHARLES FEELGOOD
SCOTT HENRY
LOW BUDGET OF HOLLERTRONIX
REID SPEED
PROXXY & LANTERN
LEKO
DJ SUN
DIESELBOY W/ MC MESSINIAN
TEEBEE
PHOTEK
JOHN B
DYLAN
EVOL INTENT
JOE NICE
CANNON BOYZ
BASSMACHINE
DEMETRIOUS
MC CHECKWUN
LOOK OUT FOR MANY EXCITING ADDITIONS
IN THE UPCOMING WEEK
Sunday, March 16, 2008
Psychedelic mix - Captain Beefheart, Roky Erickson and the 13th Floor Elevators
As promised earlier, here's a healthy dose of classic mind-bending psych/weird-rock courtesy of Captain Beefheart (Wiki, pictured left) aka Don Van Vilet and Roky Erickson (Wiki, pictured right), the Austinite 60s psychedelic icon who fronted the 13th Floor Elevators (Wiki).
Mildly related anecdote: I actually got turned onto this whole genre when I started getting mentored in tuba performance and music theory by Sumner Erickson (Roky's brother, also pictured right), a renowned musician and former principal tuba of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra.
Roky's story of recovery is phenomenal and a testament to his brother's love, dedication and tenacity. As well as the support of many other rock notables including the ever out-spoke Henry Rollins. I highly recommend you check out his documentary, You're Gonna Miss Me.
Check after the jump for the absolutely insane video for "Ice Cream for Crow" and a few epic Roky performance clips.
Enjoy the MP3s, culled from the 2xCD Roky Anthology I Have Always Been Here Before, the 13th Floor Elevators Last Concert Live CD, the Roky Tribute Where the Pyramid Meets the Eye and Captain Beefheart's Trout Mask Replica and Ice Cream for Crow.
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Music Video for "Ice Cream for Crow"
"Please Judge" from documentary I Have Always...
Roky Erickson and the Explosives - Two Headed Dog Live @ Bowery, 04/2007
Show Review - Peabody’s Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute)… just like an NYC opera
Thanks to our newest contributor, J. Varrone for this review of Peabody's performance of Mozart's The Magic Flute.
From March 12 until March 15, 2008, the Peabody Conservatory of the Johns Hopkins University performed Mozart’s The Magic Flute, held at 7:30pm each night in the conservatory’s Friedberg Hall. The entire opera was performed in German and featured students of the graduate and undergraduate level. With a sell-out performance each night I was glad to have purchased my tickets early, especially for Wednesday’s opening performance. Having seen several renditions of The Magic Flute prior to this one, I was eager to see Peabody’s take on Mozart’s renowned opera.
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A little about its history: premiering in Vienna’s Theater auf der Wieden on September 30, 1791, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Die Zauberflote (The Magic Flute) was one of his last opera’s composed and performed before his death in December. It was written as a Singspiel, a style of opera that includes both spoken dialogue and singing, and is based on a libretto by Emanuel Schikaneder. Comprised of two Acts and featuring a variety of folk-like songs, The Magic Flute is reminiscent of a children’s fairy tale. And as with any fairy tale, there is a happy ending… a contrast to any ending normally found in opera. Because of this, The Magic Flute is appropriate for all ages.
Upon taking my seat in the audience I was immediately drawn to the simple set design, featuring a small runway-style platform with two sets of stairs. But hidden behind this platform was a screen that, as I would soon find out, displayed projected images of various backgrounds designed by several students at MICA. Being an admirer of art and the artistic interpretation of text and music, I was very impressed with this concept. The use of screens to change sets was a fantastic idea, requiring fewer stagehands and decreasing the amount of time spent to create the background. I was especially impressed with the screen used in Act I when we were first introduced to the Queen of the Night. The entire background was dark purple in color and had images that appeared to be glow-in-the-dark, and only the faces of the Queen of the Night and the three ladies were lit. Other screens were less dramatic, but the use of props added a certain element that made the scenes more realistic. Peabody’s choice and use of scenery was extremely effective and made me feel as though I was one with the scene, simply acting as a witness to Tamino’s trials and Pamina’s bouts of depression.
Having good scenery also requires a good cast, and Peabody was easily able to accomplish that. The roles were cast perfectly. I was very impressed with the level of professionalism of the performers, and from the crowd’s reaction it appears they were impressed as well. In my opinion, operas should be performed in the original language the libretto was written in… English translations are not my thing. For example, the Met performed The Magic Flute in 2004 and although they did a fantastic job with the sets and props, they failed to perform it in German. This greatly detracts from both the arias and the spoken dialogue. Peabody’s choice to perform The Magic Flute in German, with super-titles for us non-German speakers, was a wise choice.
Album Review - Colin Meloy Sings Live!, Preview @ 9:30 Club
Approach this preview and album review with caution, it is highly-tainted by personal bias. Let me explain.
I have seen the Decemberists (Wiki) at least 6 times that I can count (I have probably only seen the Pietasters (Wiki) more, somewhere around 12 times).
I have played their albums into the grave.
Their concert with the BSO (Wiki) last summer sprinted into my top five concert moments of all time, at #2 right behind Rage Against the Machine/STP in the pouring rain of an HFStival which is in the top spot. Even if Jeff Magnum and Neutral Milk Hotel continued doing their thing, I still think that I would pick Colin Meloy as the better song-writer.
Now that we're through the disclosure segment, let's get to the album after the jump.
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This is Meloy's 3rd solo album, and his first of original material (the previous two EPs were covers of Morrissey and Shirley Collins). Moving beyond the obvious predilection of Decemberists material to tales of nautical adventure, romance and revenge, Meloy's merit as a solo artist lies in his massive abilities as a gifted lyricist, songwriter, musician and ultimately, performer. The man knows how to construct a song that draws upon the strings of both your mind and your heart, apart from whatever period or setting the narrative is set in.
However, this album starts off unremarkable. The first track, "Devil's Elbow," is a relic from Meloy's pre-Decemberists project, Tarkio and hardly represents the apex of Meloy's abilities as a musician or song-writer. The performance captured for the second track, "We both go down together" off of Picaresque, is flat and relatively uninspired. No real vocal flourishes, just a straight delivery. A far cry from the power of the last performance I saw with the Baltimore Symphony.
Then, a one-two punch of two Decemberists songs that were tailor-made for Meloy's solo acoustic treatment: "The Gymnast, High Above the Ground" and "Here I Dreamt I Was An Architect" Both songs soar to life, bringing a new sense of vulnerability that is unreachable with a full Decemberists' arrangements. The nimble, swirling ebb and flow of the constantly moving guitar-line hypnotizes in "Gymnast" while "Architect" showcases Meloy's vocals and his creative muscle. He seamlessly rearranges the vocals into Fleetwood Mac's "Dreams" without changing the underlying guitar chords from "Architect."
Two unreleased tracks follow. The first is "Dracula's Daughter," a pseudo-track where Meloy self-deprecatingly sings snippets from and describes "the worst song I've ever written." This paints a perfect picture of Meloy's charm as a performer, and his disarming boyish humor. The second, "Wonder," is a rarity in Meloy's catalogue, and a pleasure. A song about his at-the-time expected newborn child. It is entirely hopefilled with no dark edges proves he can exalt happiness as much as starcross'd and ill-fated love and destiny.
"Barbara Allen" is a track previously found on Meloy's EP covering Shirley Collins. He channels some true power and it has been noted before that he seems to be a kindred spirit with Collins, both sharing affinity for folk music and themes. Narrative lyrics and heavy-on-folk song structure continues into "Engine Driver" and through the rest of the album, which features admirable performances of most major Decemberists song compatible with the solo acoustic format. This includes "A Cautionary Tale," "The Bachelor and the Bride" as well as a gorgeous rendition of "Bandit Queen."
"California One" and "Red Right Ankle" stand out as emblematic of the level of performances that should have been on the album for every track. Iconic and powerful, showcasing Meloy's talents at full throttle. But I can tell you I've heard "We both go down together" performed much more effectively by the Decemberists. The version on this album falls very flat.
Despite the varying quality of performance, and more prominently tone, on each track, the overall quality is quite high. The biggest detraction to this album is it's construction and tracking, both of which contribute to a disjointed and forced feeling since the album is essentially a gestalt, with tracks being culled from multiple performances. Doing this, you would have anticipated the best of the best takes; unfortunately this is not always the case.
The only other major weakness is the dialog tracks. While they are relevant and at times entertaining, they can make things really seem forced. It is clear they are used as a stop-gap, trying to recreate the continuity of an album recorded at a single live show, and failing.
Though the album is a strong showcase of Meloy's work from his entire career in a live setting very different from the Decemberists, it is by no means a definitive archive of his best performances. A must-buy for Meloy and Decemberists fans. But the less-than-devout should give it a few spins before making the jump.
Overall State: 7 / 10
Track Listing
01 Devil's Elbow
02 We Both Go Down Together
03 Evoking a Campfire Singalong (banter)
04 The Gymnast, High Above the Ground
05 Here I Dreamt I Was an Architect/Dreams
06 Dracula's Daughter
07 Wonder
08 A Brief Introduction to Shirley Collins (banter)
09 Barbara Allen
10 The Engine Driver
11 On the Bus Mall
12 A Skull, a Ship, and a Sheep (banter)
13 California One/Youth and Beauty Brigade/Ask
14 The Bachelor and the Bride
15 A Cautionary Song
16 Red Right Ankle
17 Bandit Queen
Pre-order the LP Colin Meloy Sings Live! here at buyolympia.com. Album drops on April 8th. But really, you shouldn't settle just for live Meloy on CD. Colin rolls his one-man show through DC, stopping at the 9:30 on Sunday April 13th with Laura Gibson. Tickets are $28 and I heartily recommend it. You shant be disappointed.
