So we have a pretty special contest to pass along to you guys-- we were recently contacted by a representative of the (RED) Nights Concert series, which is a group of shows put together by Bono's (RED) organization and Live Nation in an effort to raise money and awareness about the fight against HIV/AIDS in Africa. Santigold has agreed to turn her Thursday night performance at the House of Blues into a (RED)Night, meaning that a portion of the proceeds from the show will go directly to the aforementioned organizations to assist in their important work.
The group has been nice enough to give us two tickets to the show that include two VIP passes that will get you back stage and into a special meet and greet event with Santigold. If you want to win the pair, please email weshotjrtix@yahoo.com any time between now and tomorrow (Tuesday) at 4PM. We'll select a random winner.... good luck!
Grizzly Bear | Here We Go Magic (Granada Theater) First of all, I'd like to note that if you'd like to gain a little more insight into both of these bands, you don't even have to leave this website: we have interviews with both Grizzly Bear (from a couple years ago) and Here We Go Magic (more recent) for your reading pleasure, and you should definitely check out the part where DL recommends that Grizzly Bear cruise by Spring Creek BBQ for a true taste of Texas. Total bro pas, my man.* Second, unless you already have a ticket or are at least as cool and well connected as I am (which I highly doubt), you can't get into this show because its SOLD OUT. Total indiebummer!
Grizzly Bear has been around for five years plus now, and although they kind of broke through into the indie rock mainstream in 2006 thanks to their excellent single "Knife," it seems that 2009 will actually be their breakout year into the "real" mainstream, or at least as close as a band like this could get, thanks to stellar reviews and fashionable blog-buzz concerning Veckatimest, their latest full length. Although a lot has been said about this record already by a variety of reputable sources, I think its worth noting that whatever your opinion might be of its quality, it is difficult to describe exactly what this record sounds like in terms of influences. When I listen to it I can hear so many tiny parts of so many different kinds of music that it really doesn't feel very appropriate to use any of them as descriptors here. The phrase "70s AM radio" keeps popping into my head, but I'm not even sure if it's really all that accurate, just more of a feeling it conveys than anything else. Reviewers often refer to it as "chamber pop" as well, but I often wonder whether a lot of those people even know what that means. In short, we can probably just borrow a phrase from Justice Potter Stewart and call this music "indie rock," using only "I know it when I hear it" as a defense because we really can't be moved to care enough to dig deeper.
And that's the problem at the end of the day. Grizzly Bear is "good." Their new album sounds very nice. Most of the songs are tasteful, easy to listen to, fairly interesting, whatever. They seem like smart dudes and a lot of people I respect seem to really like this record, so I'm not taking anything away from it necessarily. There's nothing wrong with it. The problem is that it just doesn't do a goddamn thing for me (this seems to be happening a lot lately). I don't even know why really, but I seriously doubt I'll listen to this record at any point ever again after I make a 2009 year end list in December and give it "one more chance" before I leave it off my list. Nothing grips me, nothing compels me, but I don't even dislike it. That's the problem. I kind of DO like it. It just means fuck all to me, and whether that is my fault, Grizzly Bear's fault, or just the current state of whatever the fuck indie rock is supposed to be these days, it seems like a big problem to me, especially since I'm not sure I can even explain it. Oh, and here are some phrases and sentences from Pitchfork's review that kind of pissed me off before I ever even heard this record:
"compositionally and sonically airtight"
"a painstaking chamber-pop record that never once veers above the middle tempo"
"fluttering opener... takes off and circles back like a flock of birds"
"one must consider both the overall structure and the connective tissue between the abundant highlights to judge it a success"
"there is something prim and proper about the record"
"four guys so completely serious about music-making"
"searching for perfection through meticulousness"
Uh... fuck it. Nevermind. I'm going to go to this show tonight and enjoy myself, and maybe try my best to forget that I ever read an article about Grizzly Bear. Think I can?
Peaches | Drums Of Death (Granada) I hate to sound like "Old Man DL," but the Peaches show I saw at Club Clearview circa 2000 (I believe) will be hard to top. It was a small setting, really low-key, not too much of a crowd to speak of, and Peaches taunted the audience and carried on as if she were headlining a 20 dollar a pop show at a big theater, as she will tonight.
It's hard to imagine a time when electro/synth-punk whatever sounds were rather uncommon, but acts like Peaches (and to be fair, Gravy Train) were much less ubiquitous and were more of a curiosity than anything else, lost in a sea of emo-rock-bro bands. All of that has changed since of course, and I think that Peaches has been hugely influential, for better or worse, even Christina Aguilera cited her as an influence around the time she desperately sought to lose her safe teen-pop image. It's hard to imagine the trashiness of Lady GaGa going over so well without a bunch of 13-year-olds first hearing "Fuck The Pain Away" when they were obsessing over Lost In Translation in seventh grade. That would almost be kind of funny or quaint, except that movie basically ruined everyone on the soundtrack for me. I think Peaches, for the most part, remained unscathed.
There have been some less-than-impressive moves over the years: bad duet with Iggy Pop, getting more glammed out as time went on, increasingly pedestrian material etc. But it's to be expected on some level. Peaches is now 40, and even electro punk perverts have to grow up sometime. No matter, I would still go see this show, simply out of respect for a woman that changed the world with a dirty mouth and a drum machine.
Bath House Music Fest (Bath House Cultural Center) Aaron Gonzalez will be curating this year's performance again, which will feature improv performances by the Gonzalez brothers, Kim Corbett, Nevada Hill, Ty Stamp, Sarah Alexander, and other guests. It's free but donations are appreciated, and I'm sure you'll be compelled to give these guys something. Doors are at 7 and the show starts at 8.
Gorilla VS Bear Presents White Denim | Harlem | PVC Street Gang | Fight Bite (Pastime Tavern) I've said this before many times on here, but I'll say it again-- I love seeing shows at the Pastime Tavern, and I'm really glad Chris Cantalini was smart enough to book a big show like this at such a low key, out of the way venue. Well, I guess it really isn't THAT out of the way when you consider its proximity to South Side Lamar, Lee Harvey's and a variety of new, overpriced condominiums, but shit--- that area is still one of the most frightening places in Dallas, so whatevz. Mad street cred. Most of you know Austin's White Denim and what they do at this point, and a lot of you are probably at least somewhat familiar with GVSB approved Harlem, who sound like something in between Black Lips and lo-fi 60's jangle pop/garage groups like Crystal Stilts and Vivian Girls. Anyway, I would expect this show to be packed, especially considering the two strong local openers, so get there early, and remember to be courteous to all street corner crack dealers that you may encounter on the way in. (SR)
SUNDAY David Byrne (Majestic Theater) I'm not much of a "solo careers" kind of guy. Don't get me wrong, there have been a lot of great artists who have emerged from great bands to have stellar solo careers, and I can certainly think of many that I listen to on a regular basis. But as I once discussed with DL during one of our amazing music conversations that would probably blow your mind, there's just something a bit unsettling about "personality rock," or the unquestioning worship of certain rock personalities by otherwise intelligent and discerning music fans no matter what kind of garbage said personality gets involved with after being in a great band. Everyone from Nick Cave to Stephen Malkmus has fans like this, and I've really never understood it. David Byrne isn't exactly an exception to this rule, but for me, he comes about as close as it gets to being someone who I trust, almost completely, to release solid material during a solo career following his tenure as a leader of one of the most important bands of the past three decades. Sure, I realize that 90's ponytail Byrne did some disappointing things here and there, and I'll even step out on a limb and say that his most recent album length collaboration with Brian Eno was a pretty big disappointment, despite the stellar reviews it received. But I'll happily march on over to the Majestic Theater Sunday night to catch David Byrne's performance because I feel a musical kinship with the guy that I rarely find with any other living performer. After really digging into the Talking Heads catalogue for the first time six or seven years ago, I picked up the excellent Heads biography This Must Be The Place, and my view of the band was changed and heightened forever. Almost everything Byrne has done with Talking Heads and his solo career has been based on the kinds of ideas that I find most exciting in music, and most of them have been executed with an easy eye for both pop and the avant garde, often finding what I see as the perfect balance between the two. Needless to say, if it were possible to write "objectively" about music in any context, I certainly wouldn't be able to do it here, even though I absolutely despise the concept of "fanboys." (SR)
Sorry dudes, I've been super busy this week, hence the belatedness of this post. Things should be back to normal next week.
I suppose I'll continue, and hopefully conclude, the Soft Machine themed posts that started with last week's not new music and carried on with Monday's morning rock video by presenting Robert Wyatt's second solo album, Rock Bottom. Wyatt was writing songs for the third Matching Mole record when he was paralyzed from the waist down after suffering a fall from a fourth floor window, thus ending his career as a drummer. He continued to write throughout his recovery and the results ended up being this album.
I can't say much about Rock Bottom that hasn't been said before, and I'm not even going to try. This album will slowly kick your ass, and you'll probably be better off for it. Enjoy!
Richardson Heights: What is your current studio set up like? (location, lighting, material, extent of mess)
Nathan Ezra Trimm: I have a studio set up in my house. It's pretty centrally located in my house so I try to keep it pretty tidy, especially since I have two cats that like to use my brushes as toys. Probably the most important thing to me in the studio is my grandparents' dining table from the 60's. It's this awesome white formica table with turquoise bucket chairs. I actually started painting at that table when I was a kid, so it's kinda nice to still be using it after all these years. It kinda ties me back to my childhood which is a big influence in my work.
RH: In your artwork, do you employ any particularly unique techniques that you've developed on your own? (Why wood panels?)
NET: I don't really have any unique techniques that I can think of. I mainly paint with acrylics on plywood or found wood. I started painting on plywood because I liked the idea of painting this synthetic world that is based on universal human experiences on a natural material that is actually heavily processed by man. I manipulate emotion, societal themes, sexuality, religion into this odd child-like synthetic world just like the the natural organic wood has been manipulated into something synthetic.
RH: Who/what/where is your most unknown and/or non-obvious influence?
NET: I have a ton of different influences... I'm influenced by Japanese pop culture, anime and manga, American consumer culture, religion, astrology, sexuality... artists such as Takashi Murakami and other members of his Kaikai Kiki Collective, Tokidoki, pop artists like Warhol, Surrealists like Dali & Max Ernst, as well as Tole Painting and Saturday morning cartoons. I've always been interested in pop culture and societal trends and how these elements affect our collective subconsciousness as a society. I kinda grew up kinda as a social outsider... my sister and i were kidnapped at a young age by my mother from my grandparents and we lived touring in the Renaissance Fair circuit for about a year. During this time we lived out of a car, in tents in a national park and finally ended up in housing projects in the mid-west. Then, I was brought back to the upper-middle class life of my grandparents where I attended a private Christian school. Also, growing up gay in a small town in south east Texas had a huge influence on how I see and interpret the world around me. I take all of these experiences and observations on how society interprets various philosophical and visual ideas and use them to tell my story. The imagery I use is easily identifiable, but the context and meaning I assign to these images is deeply personal and serves as a small glimpse into my subconsciousness. WOW... that got really deep! Actually, I just like painting cute animals & meat balloons. Sorry for keeping the answers short and sweet!
Why not give 'em a chance? Grand Opening E Gallery Studio 1330 Motor Circle, Dallas, Tx 75207 Saturday, 10:00 AM - 9:00 PM
All Dallas artists at Craighead Green this weekend: The Secret Life of Flowers by Carolyn Brown Directions For A New World by Norman Kary Recent Work by Kendall Stallings Craighead Green Gallery 1011 Dragon Street, Dallas, Tx 75207 Saturday, 5:00 PM - 8:00 PM
I like me them serene landscapes a lot: Recent Paintings by Darlene Wall PanAmerican ArtProjects 1615 Dragon Street, Dallas. Tx 75207 Saturday, 5:00 PM - 8:00 PM
Well hey there everybody! We're having a lot of issues today, one of which is power thanks to these aggro thunderstorms, and another is time, which we really don't have today. Thankfully there isn't a whole lot going on, so we'll just leave you with the following list and assure you that we still think we're better than you:
Holy Fuck | Crocodiles | Damaged Good$ (The Lounge) Holy Fuck has gotten a lot of mileage out of a "crazy band name," but in reality they are one of the safest groups around, playing instrumental music that is somewhere between the emotional hollowness of Neu or perhaps a much more subdued Battles, with less flashy drumming. They are so safe in fact, that according to a recent Sterogum article, they are actually lending out their music to the wounded car company, Chrysler. Also curious about Holy Fuck is the fact that the "electronic" element is really emphasized in any article about the group, but to my ears, the straight-ahead rock rhythms are the most overpowering aspect of their music, no matter how many blips are thrown in. That's not a complaint about the band itself, but more of the inexplicable way that music writers can pigeonhole acts in ways they may not necessarily deserve or even ask for. I would actually like to see them live to see if I still feel the same way afterward.
Crocodiles have been mentioned a lot for sounding like Jesus And Mary Chain, a sound which has been attempted so many times at this point, who even needs Jesus And Mary Chain themselves? You can listen to an entire genre of groups that sound exactly like them. They also lose some points for putting the name "Jesus" in the title of one of their records. Not a smart move, fellas. Damaged Good$ are opening the show, which guarantees that this will be a big, fun event, despite any derivative tendencies on the part of the artists, or misguided overemphasis on the part of the journalists who love them.
Very Disco: A Daft Punk Tribute (House Of Blues) So two guys from Athens, GA tour to try to recreate the Daft Punk experience as closely as possible, since Daft Punk almost never tours the United States. Definitely gives you some perspective as to how huge Daft Punk truly is, the fact that a tribute band covering their music plays the House Of Blues. Can you imagine if they play Dallas anytime soon? The city would probably crumble.
