[Ed. Note: Reprints presented as always without edits.]
Ximena Sariñana is not a name that many know this side of the border, but she's quite famous in Mexico. She started her career at eight years old, acting and singing, and finally released her first album, Mediocre, in 2008. It caught the attention of many, including Rolling Stone, hit #10 on Billboard's Latin Pop Albums chart, got her nominated for two Latin Grammy's (Best New Artist and Best Alternative Song for album highlight "Normal"), and won a Grammy for Best Latin Rock/Alternative Album. In 2009, she caught many ears, including mine, when she started appearing on albums by her significant other, Omar Rodriguez-Lopez of the Mars Volta. They've released four critically acclaimed albums together and toured a few times. Now Ximena is making her away around the US on her own. Being a Mars Volta superfan, not to mention a fan of Ximena's record, I had to check out her live show when I found out she was coming through Houston.
Initially, it was a bit of a culture shock as I found myself in the vast minority of the audience at the House of Blues last night, being a young anglo kid from the suburbs. In fact, one woman even asked me who I was there for. When I replied that I was there to see Ximena, she seemed genuinely surprised I knew who she was. But by the time Ximena took the stage, I was quickly united with the rest of the audience in shared mesmerization.
At first I felt a slight pang of disappointment when Ximena walked up to the tiny Bronze Peacock Room stage by herself and stood in front of a simple keyboard set-up. I had gone in expecting a full band set-up as on her album, but what could have been a standard pop rock performance became an intimate singer-songwriter set instead. Ximena started off slow, playing it low and quit, with the excited, screaming audience that filled the Bronze Peacock Room wall-to-wall almost drowning her out, but quickly she escalated and began pouring her all in the music. Soon the audience quieted down, enchanted by Ximena's heart and soul crying out through her music. There were lighter moments, but she truly shined on the ballads.
The easy highlight of the set was a performance of the title track from her album Mediocre. She truly let loose on it, sending her voice soaring on the chorus to a round of applause. Towards the end of the song, she broke off and in the brief silence the audience rapturously congratulated her. Then with a gracious smile, she launched back into the song with full force, finishing it out with a bang.
At the end of almost every song, Ximena spoke a little bit. Though I couldn't understand most of what she said, there was one word I did pick up. "Gracias," which she repeated over and over. A simple, honest gesture as she seemed truly amazed by the turn-out and the love of the crowd. With all the energy we gave, she gave back one hundred percent, going through a set of all the songs on Mediocre and some that I assume will be on the new album she's recording right now. More than anything, I got a feel for her true talent as a songwriter from the stripped-down versions of her songs. Without the addition of a lot of backing instruments, in fact just a laptop, the melodies and heart shone through so much more than on the album.
When the show was over, Ximena humbly took to the merch table to sign autographs and take pictures with everyone that lined up. It was a great way to end the night, with another genuine show of appreciation towards her fans.
Showing posts with label Reprint Series. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Reprint Series. Show all posts
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
REPRINT SERIES: Hating on Blue October (5/17/10)
[Ed. Note: Yep, it's the infamous Blue October article. Presented without edits, it's a bit less harsh actually. Still, I think Furstenfeld fans will still have plenty to hate me for while reading this.]
When I heard Blue October was playing a hometown show here in Houston at Sam Houston Race Park, I laughed. When 94.5 The Buzz pushed, promoted, and prodded me about the show, I laughed. When my best friend's girlfriend played Blue October in the car, I laughed. When 29-95 sent me an e-mail with the question "who wants to see Blue October?" I laughed. After all, this is the same show that had been something of a running joke among me and my friends. But I am the sort of person that loves the whole meta-ironic hipster bullshit enough to actually jump on an opportunity like that. So of course, in between laughing, I threw my hat in the ring to go to the show. I didn't actually think I'd get to do it, but sure enough come Saturday I was strolling up to the race track to pick up my press pass.
The whole thing was a bit of a crazy experience for me. I've never been a member of the press before, not officially anyway. This was the legit sort of thing I had always heard about but had never been a part of before. When I arrived, my name was on a list and instead of a ticket, they handed me a green cloth sticker to put on my shirt to identify myself. Then, through much asking around, I found out about a secret security tunnel where I was loaded up in a golf cart and driven to the VIP area in front of the stage and told I had access to the holy grail of concert seating: the area between the barricade holding back the front row of fans and the stage itself. The place where the security stands. This was the scene behind me:
It's a bit breath-taking to say the least. I took it in stride of course because you always have to keep your cool when doing something amazingly cool. So I stood around, looking amazingly out of place among the photographers with my old torn skinny jeans, filthy old Chuck Taylors that have been through at least three near-death experiences with me, my ever-present hoodie that I will wear even in humid, awful Houston weather, and my complete lack of a real camera. This even earned me a questioning about whether I should even be allowed in that area since I wasn't actually shooting the show, to which I simply pulled out my trusty iPhone and reassured everyone that I was indeed taking pictures that night.
(picture of the Black and White Years)
So I did take pictures, snapping away right when the opening band hit the stage. The Black and White Years are a band from Austin that could probably more appropriately be called "the Reagan Years" given the music they play. These guys fit right in with the current wave of indie new wave bands resurrecting that 80's danceability the kids all love so much. They're a direct product of false nostalgia by a generation that has no identity of its own and wants the identity of a previous generation. So they're basically your average iPod commercial band these days. Being a bitter, cynical, hipster doofus, I wanted to hate them but they were rather fun. Yeasayer and Phoenix are two favorite recent bands of mine and the Black and White Years are like a less weird, less imaginative, less inventive, even more radio friendly version of those bands' sounds mixed together, so there's something shamefully enjoyable about them like fast food. Actually, to be completely honest, if you were to judge just off the two band bill on Saturday night, you might walk away thinking Austin still has a leg up on Houston for good music, even though that's not true at all. The Black and White Years are a general representation of what Austin's music scene has become nowadays, whereas Houston's hometown heroes are, let us admit it, the worst possible representation anyone could ever judge Houston's music scene by, which I assume is where the New York Times went horribly wrong recently.
Blue October are one of the most shamelessly commercial bullshit bands to ever come out of the entirety of Texas, but they try to maintain a sort of image about themselves, or at least frontman Justin Furstenfeld does. Take, for example, what you can see in this picture of the man. Black eyeliner and black fingernail polish to connect with a sub-section of kids that enjoy getting beaten up in high school. Scuffless, probably brand new Chuck Taylors because that's what punks wear and there's literally nothing more punk than post-grunge radio rock! Of course, I saved the best for last, the mohawk. The mohawk is a hairstyle that could not be any less rebellious today if it tried. The evolution of the mohawk traces back hundreds of years, but is perhaps most relevant in the last fifty years thanks to Travis Bickle and punks of the 1980's. Today, it doesn't so much represent them as it does Green Day fans.
The problem here, of course, is what you can't see. Picking up on the Green Day comparison, at least when they sold out, they did it in a way where it's fun to sing their songs while drunk on karaoke night (I defy you to deny singing along to "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" at some point in your life), whereas Blue October's particular brand is to be as absolutely dark as possible while still connecting emotionally with preteens. Justin Furstenfeld isn't a happy man and he'll be the first to remind you of that by constantly mentioning it at concerts, something also known as the sympathy vote.
What you can't see in the pictures are the band's bizarre attempts at being all things to all people. Their songs range from your typical post-grunge, Papa Roach-biting "curse and yell a lot because it's edgy and man I hate myself and want to die" tactic to some truly baffling dabbling in other genres. Normally I wouldn't be against a band experimenting, but it's sad to watch when a band is so clearly incapable of pulling off their own experiments. Occasionally, Blue October have decided to explore such genres as cash-grab adult contemporary influenced by Peter Gabriel, complete with violin gimmick, which works about as well you would think it would. At other times, Furstenfeld has chosen to start speaking in a British accent, which is very odd considering how insistent he is that Blue October is FROM HERE (also known as the hometown cheap pop). Then there's the "we have a sensitive side too" songs which are like the AC songs except slightly less vapid because they occasionally have a real sentiment behind them.
The nadir of the show was one such experiment where Furstenfeld dedicated the following song to his daughter, Blue. That's sweet and all, but the song was just punishingly awful. With a chorus of "up down, up down, up down, up down, yeah, cause it will get hard, remember, life's like a jump rope" it's the sort of thing you imagine that started as something Furstenfeld sang to his daughter in a tender father-daughter moment that has misguidededly taken on a life of its own as a real Blue October song.
But I could sit here and gripe all day and all night. This clearly isn't for me. I'm not the target demographic for music like this. The target demographic is the audience you saw above. Take a good long look at it. That's just what I could show with the limited capabilities of my iPhone's camera. That's just the front of the VIP section. Sam Houston Race Park was FULL. Filled to capacity. How many people were actually there, I can't say. I can, however, say that it explains why Blue October is a platinum-selling band when nobody even buys albums anymore. Something about them resonates with a great deal of people out there that are not me. So while Blue October is a running joke between me and my friends and I can write paragraph after paragraph about what a truly terrible band they are, they connect with enough people to populate a small country. You can make your arguments about what that says about those people or what it says about Justin Bieber fans or the people that keep the guys that make parody movies in business, but that gets into something entirely more philosophical and misanthropic than the point I'm trying to make. The point is that Blue October is doing something right because people like them for some reason. I don't know what that reason is and it's not for me to know because, like I said, I'm not the person they're trying to connect with. So kudos to them on possessing that certain something that captures the ear of the majority of people. Live and let live, eh?
When I heard Blue October was playing a hometown show here in Houston at Sam Houston Race Park, I laughed. When 94.5 The Buzz pushed, promoted, and prodded me about the show, I laughed. When my best friend's girlfriend played Blue October in the car, I laughed. When 29-95 sent me an e-mail with the question "who wants to see Blue October?" I laughed. After all, this is the same show that had been something of a running joke among me and my friends. But I am the sort of person that loves the whole meta-ironic hipster bullshit enough to actually jump on an opportunity like that. So of course, in between laughing, I threw my hat in the ring to go to the show. I didn't actually think I'd get to do it, but sure enough come Saturday I was strolling up to the race track to pick up my press pass.
The whole thing was a bit of a crazy experience for me. I've never been a member of the press before, not officially anyway. This was the legit sort of thing I had always heard about but had never been a part of before. When I arrived, my name was on a list and instead of a ticket, they handed me a green cloth sticker to put on my shirt to identify myself. Then, through much asking around, I found out about a secret security tunnel where I was loaded up in a golf cart and driven to the VIP area in front of the stage and told I had access to the holy grail of concert seating: the area between the barricade holding back the front row of fans and the stage itself. The place where the security stands. This was the scene behind me:
It's a bit breath-taking to say the least. I took it in stride of course because you always have to keep your cool when doing something amazingly cool. So I stood around, looking amazingly out of place among the photographers with my old torn skinny jeans, filthy old Chuck Taylors that have been through at least three near-death experiences with me, my ever-present hoodie that I will wear even in humid, awful Houston weather, and my complete lack of a real camera. This even earned me a questioning about whether I should even be allowed in that area since I wasn't actually shooting the show, to which I simply pulled out my trusty iPhone and reassured everyone that I was indeed taking pictures that night.
(picture of the Black and White Years)
So I did take pictures, snapping away right when the opening band hit the stage. The Black and White Years are a band from Austin that could probably more appropriately be called "the Reagan Years" given the music they play. These guys fit right in with the current wave of indie new wave bands resurrecting that 80's danceability the kids all love so much. They're a direct product of false nostalgia by a generation that has no identity of its own and wants the identity of a previous generation. So they're basically your average iPod commercial band these days. Being a bitter, cynical, hipster doofus, I wanted to hate them but they were rather fun. Yeasayer and Phoenix are two favorite recent bands of mine and the Black and White Years are like a less weird, less imaginative, less inventive, even more radio friendly version of those bands' sounds mixed together, so there's something shamefully enjoyable about them like fast food. Actually, to be completely honest, if you were to judge just off the two band bill on Saturday night, you might walk away thinking Austin still has a leg up on Houston for good music, even though that's not true at all. The Black and White Years are a general representation of what Austin's music scene has become nowadays, whereas Houston's hometown heroes are, let us admit it, the worst possible representation anyone could ever judge Houston's music scene by, which I assume is where the New York Times went horribly wrong recently.
Blue October are one of the most shamelessly commercial bullshit bands to ever come out of the entirety of Texas, but they try to maintain a sort of image about themselves, or at least frontman Justin Furstenfeld does. Take, for example, what you can see in this picture of the man. Black eyeliner and black fingernail polish to connect with a sub-section of kids that enjoy getting beaten up in high school. Scuffless, probably brand new Chuck Taylors because that's what punks wear and there's literally nothing more punk than post-grunge radio rock! Of course, I saved the best for last, the mohawk. The mohawk is a hairstyle that could not be any less rebellious today if it tried. The evolution of the mohawk traces back hundreds of years, but is perhaps most relevant in the last fifty years thanks to Travis Bickle and punks of the 1980's. Today, it doesn't so much represent them as it does Green Day fans.
The problem here, of course, is what you can't see. Picking up on the Green Day comparison, at least when they sold out, they did it in a way where it's fun to sing their songs while drunk on karaoke night (I defy you to deny singing along to "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" at some point in your life), whereas Blue October's particular brand is to be as absolutely dark as possible while still connecting emotionally with preteens. Justin Furstenfeld isn't a happy man and he'll be the first to remind you of that by constantly mentioning it at concerts, something also known as the sympathy vote.
What you can't see in the pictures are the band's bizarre attempts at being all things to all people. Their songs range from your typical post-grunge, Papa Roach-biting "curse and yell a lot because it's edgy and man I hate myself and want to die" tactic to some truly baffling dabbling in other genres. Normally I wouldn't be against a band experimenting, but it's sad to watch when a band is so clearly incapable of pulling off their own experiments. Occasionally, Blue October have decided to explore such genres as cash-grab adult contemporary influenced by Peter Gabriel, complete with violin gimmick, which works about as well you would think it would. At other times, Furstenfeld has chosen to start speaking in a British accent, which is very odd considering how insistent he is that Blue October is FROM HERE (also known as the hometown cheap pop). Then there's the "we have a sensitive side too" songs which are like the AC songs except slightly less vapid because they occasionally have a real sentiment behind them.
The nadir of the show was one such experiment where Furstenfeld dedicated the following song to his daughter, Blue. That's sweet and all, but the song was just punishingly awful. With a chorus of "up down, up down, up down, up down, yeah, cause it will get hard, remember, life's like a jump rope" it's the sort of thing you imagine that started as something Furstenfeld sang to his daughter in a tender father-daughter moment that has misguidededly taken on a life of its own as a real Blue October song.
But I could sit here and gripe all day and all night. This clearly isn't for me. I'm not the target demographic for music like this. The target demographic is the audience you saw above. Take a good long look at it. That's just what I could show with the limited capabilities of my iPhone's camera. That's just the front of the VIP section. Sam Houston Race Park was FULL. Filled to capacity. How many people were actually there, I can't say. I can, however, say that it explains why Blue October is a platinum-selling band when nobody even buys albums anymore. Something about them resonates with a great deal of people out there that are not me. So while Blue October is a running joke between me and my friends and I can write paragraph after paragraph about what a truly terrible band they are, they connect with enough people to populate a small country. You can make your arguments about what that says about those people or what it says about Justin Bieber fans or the people that keep the guys that make parody movies in business, but that gets into something entirely more philosophical and misanthropic than the point I'm trying to make. The point is that Blue October is doing something right because people like them for some reason. I don't know what that reason is and it's not for me to know because, like I said, I'm not the person they're trying to connect with. So kudos to them on possessing that certain something that captures the ear of the majority of people. Live and let live, eh?
Saturday, August 21, 2010
REPRINT SERIES: KTRU compilation release show (4/19/10)
[Ed. Note: Continuing in our coverage of the demise of KTRU, here's another reprint, this one from the KTRU Live Vol. 2 CD release at Avant Garden. Presented without edits as always.]
It seems like just last week I was at Rice University, enjoying the KTRU Outdoor Show. Probably because it was just last week. One week later, KTRU held another event, not quite on the scale of the Outdoor Show but eventful all the same. On Friday night, KTRU threw a party at Avant Garden for the release of the second volume of their KTRU Live series, featuring live on-air performances from some of Houston's best local bands. Three of those bands turned out at the release party to play their songs from the album and more.
Not quite Listenlisten, but Ben (vocals and guitar) and Shane (horns and banjo) showed up to play some Listenlisten songs acoustically. It had a slightly more laid back feel to it, but since Listenlisten isn't an upbeat electric band to begin with, only having half the band just gave a different, not a better or worse, look at some of their songs. They covered some of their best material, but it was a very short set so it was missing a lot of favorites. Still good to hear these guys anytime they play.
Now in this smokey coffeehouse environment soundtracked by folk music, it's hard not to be reminded of my dad's stories of the 1960's cafe scene with all those legendary folk singers playing to tiny audiences in much the same surroundings. That's exactly what the Literary Greats brought to mind. When the duo busted out the harmonica, I instantly got flashes of a young Bob Dylan and their harmonies seemed directly inspired by Crosby, Stills, and Nash. Maybe it was just the atmosphere, but there was something extremely cool about their entire performance. The only thing missing was the coffee.
That atmosphere sadly faded for the last band of the bill, Doggebi. Throwing out the structured folk music of Listenlisten and the Literary Greats, Doggebi jumped straight into highly experimental improvisational music consisting of a distorted flute and percussion instruments. It was a little bit uncomfortably out there and it went on entirely too long. In fact, it was the longest set of the night. It's music I respect, but there's not much to latch onto. I went through a phase of listening to music like this, but I find myself needing hooks in my music these days. Admittedly though, Doggebi are good at what they do and for the group that's into this sort of thing, it was probably their favorite band all night.
The Secret Prostitutes were supposed to play, but canceled so the night ended a bit early and abruptly. Those KTRU Live CDs were on sale and I of course bought one which has already been proven to be rewarding in itself. As for the show, it was a bit slight but still fun, especially for that long lost folk vibe that fascinates me to this day.
It seems like just last week I was at Rice University, enjoying the KTRU Outdoor Show. Probably because it was just last week. One week later, KTRU held another event, not quite on the scale of the Outdoor Show but eventful all the same. On Friday night, KTRU threw a party at Avant Garden for the release of the second volume of their KTRU Live series, featuring live on-air performances from some of Houston's best local bands. Three of those bands turned out at the release party to play their songs from the album and more.
Not quite Listenlisten, but Ben (vocals and guitar) and Shane (horns and banjo) showed up to play some Listenlisten songs acoustically. It had a slightly more laid back feel to it, but since Listenlisten isn't an upbeat electric band to begin with, only having half the band just gave a different, not a better or worse, look at some of their songs. They covered some of their best material, but it was a very short set so it was missing a lot of favorites. Still good to hear these guys anytime they play.
Now in this smokey coffeehouse environment soundtracked by folk music, it's hard not to be reminded of my dad's stories of the 1960's cafe scene with all those legendary folk singers playing to tiny audiences in much the same surroundings. That's exactly what the Literary Greats brought to mind. When the duo busted out the harmonica, I instantly got flashes of a young Bob Dylan and their harmonies seemed directly inspired by Crosby, Stills, and Nash. Maybe it was just the atmosphere, but there was something extremely cool about their entire performance. The only thing missing was the coffee.
That atmosphere sadly faded for the last band of the bill, Doggebi. Throwing out the structured folk music of Listenlisten and the Literary Greats, Doggebi jumped straight into highly experimental improvisational music consisting of a distorted flute and percussion instruments. It was a little bit uncomfortably out there and it went on entirely too long. In fact, it was the longest set of the night. It's music I respect, but there's not much to latch onto. I went through a phase of listening to music like this, but I find myself needing hooks in my music these days. Admittedly though, Doggebi are good at what they do and for the group that's into this sort of thing, it was probably their favorite band all night.
The Secret Prostitutes were supposed to play, but canceled so the night ended a bit early and abruptly. Those KTRU Live CDs were on sale and I of course bought one which has already been proven to be rewarding in itself. As for the show, it was a bit slight but still fun, especially for that long lost folk vibe that fascinates me to this day.
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
REPRINT SERIES: KTRU Outdoor Show (4/12/10)
[Ed. Note: Posting this one, without edits as always, in remembrance of KTRU, which today it was announced has been sold and will be gutted and turned into a goddamn news/classical station (isn't that what NPR is for?). Go to these websites for more about that.
http://savektru.org/
http://www.petitionspot.com/petitions/KTRU]
For nineteen years now, KTRU Rice radio has held their annual Outdoor Show, a free festival of bands, local and otherwise, food, and free St. Arnold's beer. Given that I will never be smart (or rich) enough to go to Rice University, the Outdoor Show is a perfect opportunity to lounge around campus and pretend like I'm a student while enjoying all of the aforementioned amenities. In other words, I can have my cake and eat it too.
This year it rained so things were running a bit off-schedule. The first band made it to the stage at around 2:00 PM starting a rapid fire succession with a semi-tangible theme running between each band.
The first one, the Homemade Band, led by Rachel Buchman, was apparently for the kids. Playing a sort of classic rock 'n' roll throwback style, Buchman herself reminded me of one of my elementary school teachers and led the children attendees in renditions of mind-numbing kiddie songs. If only there was something on the level of "Bananaphone," recent Apples in Stereo, or, hell, Yo Gabba Gabba, here. Instead, these songs drilled phrases like literally just "cockadoodledoo" over and over again. I'm not sure I would've liked this as a kid.
Next up was the grown up parallel of the Homemade Band I suppose, Office Party. They lived their name, jamming on stage with full suits on like they really just left the office. It reminded me of the old Drew Carey Show episodes where the guys (and Joe Walsh for some reason) formed a bar band after work. They do sound a little bit like that with their classic rock influences, but with a somewhat new wave twist and a singer whose vocal melodies reminded me of Gerard Way. Sound weird? Well there's always the wild card at these sorts of things and that was Office Party, closing out their set with a cover of the classic "Poker Face," yet somehow it was less charming than when Faith No More did it last year.
After that, Wasp and Pear reminded me why I usually don't listen to KTRU non-stop. Much as I love the station, I can't take the droning electronic bands. Wasp and Pear might appeal to some, but I just can't take this sort of thing. Their entire set was one long noise epic which I mostly couldn't handle.
Continuing the experimental tilt of Wasp and Pear, Space City Gamelan did something a little more to my liking. Like their name suggests, they're a gamelan band. But beyond that, they make some very interesting, forward looking music, combining the tradition of the gamelon with beats that I could honestly hear in an electronic/hip-hop song. It's something old that feels new which fascinates me on the level of a musician and as a listener it's just pleasing to the ear.
As if in combination of the electronic and prototypical beats of the last two bands, next up was one of my personal favorites, Ghost Mountain. I actually discovered them through KTRU and that pretty much started everything in my listening to Houston's local scene. A typically awesome show, they ran through songs from the Summer Tapes EP and their full length Siamese Sailboats. They also played a new song that gave some insight into what they've been working on lately. No idea when that will come out, but it seems they're forging a great path ahead.
Ghost Mountain's bizarre form of hip hop infused electronic music gave way to a more traditional form of hip hop when Fat Tony stormed the stage. He performed a short but firey set that for a moment turned a weird music festival into a straight up party.
Finally there was the headliner, Rafter. KTRU has gotten a great deal of criticism over their choice here, but hear me out. Rafter's blend of indie pop isn't anything revolutionary, but it is fun and they actually proved their worth, at least to me. Yes, it's mainstream and the sort of the thing you'd hear in a soundtrack along with the Shins and the Freelance Whales, but I personally have no qualms enjoying that for what it is. It's fluffy, but the choruses are undeniable.
For all the blogger clamor lately, you'd have thought this year's Outdoor Show would be a massive failure, but I say they still pulled it off. While I wasn't a fan of everything and I was initially disappointed there wasn't a more exciting headliner, there were still some great performances by local artists and Rafter, while not quite as great as some of the headliners, was still a solid band with the potential for a bright future. Basically if you didn't have fun at the Outdoor Show this year, you probably weren't doing it right.
http://savektru.org/
http://www.petitionspot.com/petitions/KTRU]
For nineteen years now, KTRU Rice radio has held their annual Outdoor Show, a free festival of bands, local and otherwise, food, and free St. Arnold's beer. Given that I will never be smart (or rich) enough to go to Rice University, the Outdoor Show is a perfect opportunity to lounge around campus and pretend like I'm a student while enjoying all of the aforementioned amenities. In other words, I can have my cake and eat it too.
This year it rained so things were running a bit off-schedule. The first band made it to the stage at around 2:00 PM starting a rapid fire succession with a semi-tangible theme running between each band.
The first one, the Homemade Band, led by Rachel Buchman, was apparently for the kids. Playing a sort of classic rock 'n' roll throwback style, Buchman herself reminded me of one of my elementary school teachers and led the children attendees in renditions of mind-numbing kiddie songs. If only there was something on the level of "Bananaphone," recent Apples in Stereo, or, hell, Yo Gabba Gabba, here. Instead, these songs drilled phrases like literally just "cockadoodledoo" over and over again. I'm not sure I would've liked this as a kid.
Next up was the grown up parallel of the Homemade Band I suppose, Office Party. They lived their name, jamming on stage with full suits on like they really just left the office. It reminded me of the old Drew Carey Show episodes where the guys (and Joe Walsh for some reason) formed a bar band after work. They do sound a little bit like that with their classic rock influences, but with a somewhat new wave twist and a singer whose vocal melodies reminded me of Gerard Way. Sound weird? Well there's always the wild card at these sorts of things and that was Office Party, closing out their set with a cover of the classic "Poker Face," yet somehow it was less charming than when Faith No More did it last year.
After that, Wasp and Pear reminded me why I usually don't listen to KTRU non-stop. Much as I love the station, I can't take the droning electronic bands. Wasp and Pear might appeal to some, but I just can't take this sort of thing. Their entire set was one long noise epic which I mostly couldn't handle.
Continuing the experimental tilt of Wasp and Pear, Space City Gamelan did something a little more to my liking. Like their name suggests, they're a gamelan band. But beyond that, they make some very interesting, forward looking music, combining the tradition of the gamelon with beats that I could honestly hear in an electronic/hip-hop song. It's something old that feels new which fascinates me on the level of a musician and as a listener it's just pleasing to the ear.
As if in combination of the electronic and prototypical beats of the last two bands, next up was one of my personal favorites, Ghost Mountain. I actually discovered them through KTRU and that pretty much started everything in my listening to Houston's local scene. A typically awesome show, they ran through songs from the Summer Tapes EP and their full length Siamese Sailboats. They also played a new song that gave some insight into what they've been working on lately. No idea when that will come out, but it seems they're forging a great path ahead.
Ghost Mountain's bizarre form of hip hop infused electronic music gave way to a more traditional form of hip hop when Fat Tony stormed the stage. He performed a short but firey set that for a moment turned a weird music festival into a straight up party.
Finally there was the headliner, Rafter. KTRU has gotten a great deal of criticism over their choice here, but hear me out. Rafter's blend of indie pop isn't anything revolutionary, but it is fun and they actually proved their worth, at least to me. Yes, it's mainstream and the sort of the thing you'd hear in a soundtrack along with the Shins and the Freelance Whales, but I personally have no qualms enjoying that for what it is. It's fluffy, but the choruses are undeniable.
For all the blogger clamor lately, you'd have thought this year's Outdoor Show would be a massive failure, but I say they still pulled it off. While I wasn't a fan of everything and I was initially disappointed there wasn't a more exciting headliner, there were still some great performances by local artists and Rafter, while not quite as great as some of the headliners, was still a solid band with the potential for a bright future. Basically if you didn't have fun at the Outdoor Show this year, you probably weren't doing it right.
Sunday, August 15, 2010
REPRINT SERIES: Shaking off the SXSW jealousy with News on the March (3/22/10)
[Ed. Note: Presented, as always, without edits in the original form I wrote it. Better, worse? You decide.]
Yesterday I woke up and looked at my calendar to see what day it was. March 21st, 2010? Perfect! Having hibernated through SXSW, I was right on schedule to stop being bitter about not being able to get to Austin and meet the return of music to Houston. At Mango's, News on the March was just back from SXSW and what better time to kick off their upcoming tour? But first up were some of their friends (and other projects).
Drummer Ryan Odom's other band, Smoky Mountain started things off with some country infused indie rock, fairly typical of the bands playing that night. They had some good hooks that left me wanting to hear more, but unfortunately I'm not sure they have anything out yet. Still, continuing the current trend toward this sort of Americana indie rock could be a formula for success.
The Candeliers from Milwaukee, WI, took the stage second. With a seven member line-up adding horns and a banjo to the usual band configuration, their sound was that of upbeat jangle pop. The interplay between the guitar, the banjo, and the trombone and trumpet gave me a somewhat unsettling ska country feel that I didn't much appreciate. I did enjoy the male/female duo vocals between their two singers however, something that reminded me (in a positive way) of one of my local favorites, the Wild Moccasins. They also did an excellent cover of "Don't Worry Baby" by the Beach Boys, which not many could do so capably. They did mention that their side-projects, which were also on sale at the merch table, were more psych rock in nature, which I honestly would probably enjoy more, knowing me.
Right in the middle was Buxton, who turned in an awesome set as usual. The recent addition of Austin Sepulvado (from, you guessed it, News on the March) on accordion and guitar sounds really nice over the new songs. I must admit, I'm somewhat disappointed they no longer play anything from A Family Light, but if the new songs they've been playing lately are any indication, they're working on topping that album.
In all the way from Albany, NY, Sgt. Dunbar and the Hobo Banned are News on the March's tourmates so they played second to last. Even bigger than the Candeliers, the Hobo Banned really does give you the impression that they're a junkyard band of hobos that picked up every instrument they could get their hands on. Mixing in a full horn section, an accordion, a violin, musical spoons and sawing, a banjo, and two percussionists, they go above and beyond just adding new layers to a typical rock band. Every instrument is fully integrated and completely necessary to complete their sound. That sound being something almost completely unique, the kind of rock you could only imagine being made by a band of drifters really. All those instruments together in one place, played completely straight, not in a gimmicky way at all. Whatever that conglomeration could be, that's what they were. But not just content with that, they also pulled off another trick: every band member seemed to know how to play every instrument and did at some point in their set. It was damn impressive.
News on the March finally came on at about 12:15 and I was pretty tired again by that point. I was determined, however, to see their set. It was worth it. Though they ran through mostly the same set of their classic heartland music last weekend at their Cactus Music instore performance, they seemed to be having a lot more fun last night. Enthusiastic even after a week of Austin shows, they played their hearts out for about forty-five minutes. News on the March, to me, is something like what I had hoped Monsters of Folk would sound like before I heard them. While that project, in my opinion, came off a bit boring and plasticy, the hearts they played out are what set News on the March apart. The feel-good music could even come off as hollow despite the dark lyrics of suicide and death if not for their intense dedication to it, playing on even in the face of a broken bass amp in the middle of their set. I have to hand it to them for that and wish them good luck on their tour. I'm pretty excited also for their upcoming album, even though there is as yet no release date. Just judging by the songs they played last night though, it's gonna be a brawler.
Yesterday I woke up and looked at my calendar to see what day it was. March 21st, 2010? Perfect! Having hibernated through SXSW, I was right on schedule to stop being bitter about not being able to get to Austin and meet the return of music to Houston. At Mango's, News on the March was just back from SXSW and what better time to kick off their upcoming tour? But first up were some of their friends (and other projects).
Drummer Ryan Odom's other band, Smoky Mountain started things off with some country infused indie rock, fairly typical of the bands playing that night. They had some good hooks that left me wanting to hear more, but unfortunately I'm not sure they have anything out yet. Still, continuing the current trend toward this sort of Americana indie rock could be a formula for success.
The Candeliers from Milwaukee, WI, took the stage second. With a seven member line-up adding horns and a banjo to the usual band configuration, their sound was that of upbeat jangle pop. The interplay between the guitar, the banjo, and the trombone and trumpet gave me a somewhat unsettling ska country feel that I didn't much appreciate. I did enjoy the male/female duo vocals between their two singers however, something that reminded me (in a positive way) of one of my local favorites, the Wild Moccasins. They also did an excellent cover of "Don't Worry Baby" by the Beach Boys, which not many could do so capably. They did mention that their side-projects, which were also on sale at the merch table, were more psych rock in nature, which I honestly would probably enjoy more, knowing me.
Right in the middle was Buxton, who turned in an awesome set as usual. The recent addition of Austin Sepulvado (from, you guessed it, News on the March) on accordion and guitar sounds really nice over the new songs. I must admit, I'm somewhat disappointed they no longer play anything from A Family Light, but if the new songs they've been playing lately are any indication, they're working on topping that album.
In all the way from Albany, NY, Sgt. Dunbar and the Hobo Banned are News on the March's tourmates so they played second to last. Even bigger than the Candeliers, the Hobo Banned really does give you the impression that they're a junkyard band of hobos that picked up every instrument they could get their hands on. Mixing in a full horn section, an accordion, a violin, musical spoons and sawing, a banjo, and two percussionists, they go above and beyond just adding new layers to a typical rock band. Every instrument is fully integrated and completely necessary to complete their sound. That sound being something almost completely unique, the kind of rock you could only imagine being made by a band of drifters really. All those instruments together in one place, played completely straight, not in a gimmicky way at all. Whatever that conglomeration could be, that's what they were. But not just content with that, they also pulled off another trick: every band member seemed to know how to play every instrument and did at some point in their set. It was damn impressive.
News on the March finally came on at about 12:15 and I was pretty tired again by that point. I was determined, however, to see their set. It was worth it. Though they ran through mostly the same set of their classic heartland music last weekend at their Cactus Music instore performance, they seemed to be having a lot more fun last night. Enthusiastic even after a week of Austin shows, they played their hearts out for about forty-five minutes. News on the March, to me, is something like what I had hoped Monsters of Folk would sound like before I heard them. While that project, in my opinion, came off a bit boring and plasticy, the hearts they played out are what set News on the March apart. The feel-good music could even come off as hollow despite the dark lyrics of suicide and death if not for their intense dedication to it, playing on even in the face of a broken bass amp in the middle of their set. I have to hand it to them for that and wish them good luck on their tour. I'm pretty excited also for their upcoming album, even though there is as yet no release date. Just judging by the songs they played last night though, it's gonna be a brawler.
Saturday, June 19, 2010
REPRINT SERIES: sIngs, Somosuno and more (3/12/10)
[Ed. Note: Presented, as always, without edits in the original form I wrote it. Better, worse? You decide.]
On one of the odder days of my life, I somehow ended up at a place colloquially known as "The Ponderosa" seeing some local bands on Friday night. It's a long story of getting lost in Houston that led to me ending up there, I had actually been intending to go to the Fat Tony show at the Tipping Point that night, but I'll spare the details and get on with the bands.
First up to bat was the psychotically punk Somosuno. It was frontman Fernando Alejandro's 21st birthday and he was typically on fire, dancing through the crowd in the tiny, cramped room, crowd surfing, jumping off anything in sight, and shouting/rapping Spanish lyrics at a ridiculous pace that pretty much blew my mind. The rest of the band dutifully backed him up, holding down the rhythm with post-Fugazi riffage and a horn player for texture. Having only seen their name on bills of shows I didn't attend, it was a welcome surprise to find out how good they were.
When I asked when they were going to play, sIngs told me they preferred to go on second, and true to their word they were the middle band of the night. I have actually seen sIngs before, opening for Cursive at Walter's on Washington last year, but they started playing before Walter's would let anybody in the building so I only got to see about half of their set. What I heard then was a tremendous slice of shoegazing noisey post-rock soaked in enough distortion and feedback to destroy your eardrums even with earplugs in. Suffice it to say, I loved it.
They were just as good on Friday night too, covering mostly the same territory as the last time I saw them. I never got to see them when it was just singer/guitarist/drummer/band mastermind Brett Taylor playing on his own, so I can't compare it to that, though I've heard that was amazing as well. With the full band though, Taylor, accompanied by Buxton alumni Jason Willis on guitar and Justin Terrell on drums, as well as David Ibarra on bass, is able to do so much more, including making a lot more noise. There's an odd beauty in the cacophony, which can probably be attributed to the melodic songwriting piercing through the dissonance. I'm anxiously awaiting the release of their album, which they're having a release party for at Mango's on April 17th. Try to make that show if you can, it should be awesome.
Caddywhompus played last. I've had their demos since last summer, which probably marks the longest time for me between hearing a local band's music and seeing them perform. The band is only made up of the duo of scene vet Chris Rehm on guitar/vocals and Sean Hart, yet they're loud enough for a ten-piece band. Like sIngs, they make a great deal of noise, but it's pure lo-fi punk in the vein of bands like No Age. In the live setting their songs lost some of their clarity, as well as the synthesizer parts on the album, but it was just as much of a fun, raucous show as I expected. They're going to have a split 7" release with sIngs coming out soon so be on the lookout for that.
Despite the bizarre way my night started, which included accidentally wandering into DiverseWorks Fotofest 2010 among other things, it was fortunate that I ended up at "The Ponderosa" as it was probably the most fun local show I've been to in a while. All three bands performed like their lives depended on making this show rock and rock they did. I left with my ears ringing and I couldn't have been happier about it.
On one of the odder days of my life, I somehow ended up at a place colloquially known as "The Ponderosa" seeing some local bands on Friday night. It's a long story of getting lost in Houston that led to me ending up there, I had actually been intending to go to the Fat Tony show at the Tipping Point that night, but I'll spare the details and get on with the bands.
First up to bat was the psychotically punk Somosuno. It was frontman Fernando Alejandro's 21st birthday and he was typically on fire, dancing through the crowd in the tiny, cramped room, crowd surfing, jumping off anything in sight, and shouting/rapping Spanish lyrics at a ridiculous pace that pretty much blew my mind. The rest of the band dutifully backed him up, holding down the rhythm with post-Fugazi riffage and a horn player for texture. Having only seen their name on bills of shows I didn't attend, it was a welcome surprise to find out how good they were.
When I asked when they were going to play, sIngs told me they preferred to go on second, and true to their word they were the middle band of the night. I have actually seen sIngs before, opening for Cursive at Walter's on Washington last year, but they started playing before Walter's would let anybody in the building so I only got to see about half of their set. What I heard then was a tremendous slice of shoegazing noisey post-rock soaked in enough distortion and feedback to destroy your eardrums even with earplugs in. Suffice it to say, I loved it.
They were just as good on Friday night too, covering mostly the same territory as the last time I saw them. I never got to see them when it was just singer/guitarist/drummer/band mastermind Brett Taylor playing on his own, so I can't compare it to that, though I've heard that was amazing as well. With the full band though, Taylor, accompanied by Buxton alumni Jason Willis on guitar and Justin Terrell on drums, as well as David Ibarra on bass, is able to do so much more, including making a lot more noise. There's an odd beauty in the cacophony, which can probably be attributed to the melodic songwriting piercing through the dissonance. I'm anxiously awaiting the release of their album, which they're having a release party for at Mango's on April 17th. Try to make that show if you can, it should be awesome.
Caddywhompus played last. I've had their demos since last summer, which probably marks the longest time for me between hearing a local band's music and seeing them perform. The band is only made up of the duo of scene vet Chris Rehm on guitar/vocals and Sean Hart, yet they're loud enough for a ten-piece band. Like sIngs, they make a great deal of noise, but it's pure lo-fi punk in the vein of bands like No Age. In the live setting their songs lost some of their clarity, as well as the synthesizer parts on the album, but it was just as much of a fun, raucous show as I expected. They're going to have a split 7" release with sIngs coming out soon so be on the lookout for that.
Despite the bizarre way my night started, which included accidentally wandering into DiverseWorks Fotofest 2010 among other things, it was fortunate that I ended up at "The Ponderosa" as it was probably the most fun local show I've been to in a while. All three bands performed like their lives depended on making this show rock and rock they did. I left with my ears ringing and I couldn't have been happier about it.
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
REPRINT SERIES: Houston Peace Festival 3/6/10
(Ed. Note: Here's the second in our 29-95 reprints series. This one is presented in its unedited form and it's quite different. Better, worse? You decide.)
The fourth annual Houston Peace Festival was held at Live Oak Friends Meeting on Saturday afternoon. A festival of art, activism, dancing, music, and hippie principles like love and harmony. Not a bad concept, though not quit Woodstock or Burning Man in execution. I mostly went for the bands personally and this is an article about my musical discoveries in Houston, so I won't spend a whole lot of time on the rest of the events. However, before I jump into the music, I do want to shout out some of the good causes involved in the whole thing.
Of course there was good old KPFT sponsoring the event, giving out flyers out for their upcoming 40th anniversary bash at McGonigel's Mucky Duck. That's March 14th, from noon to 8:00 PM. There was the Montrose Land Defense Coalition who are fighting to convert an abandoned lot on West Alabama and Dunlavy into a park instead of yet another pointless HEB, a cause I personally support. There were vegans pushing their way of life, though that one's a bit too much for me, I've never been able to give up the meat. The Art of Living who will be hosting a Happy Family Workshop ("a Body/Mind/Wellness workshop for every family") at the Student Center at Rice University April 1st to April 4th. Amnesty International and the Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty were there to fight the death penalty, among other things. And those are just the ones I still have flyers from, there were many, many more.
On top of all that, there were stands where they were selling jewelry, vegan food, paintings, and all manner of other oddities. Considering it was all hosted in the Live Oak Friends Meeting's relatively small yard, it was a bit of an accomplishment just fitting all that in there.
Anyhow, since this is about the music, I'll discuss the music. The whole thing got started a little after 1:00 PM but I have to admit that I ended getting around to it a little bit late. I made a stop around that time at Cactus Music to catch Cory Chisel's instore performance. Though I don't know much about him, I did enjoy his work on the recent Louisiana Music Factory Preservation Hall compilation, which also had performances by Andrew Bird, Yim Yames, Tom Waits, Ani DiFranco, Merle Haggard, and more on it. It's good stuff, you should check it out of you haven't already. Cory and his band put on a spirited performance in the intimate setting of the store and really impressed me. Basically, if you like any of the artists I just mentioned on that compilation, you'll probably like Cory too. And I'm not just endorsing him because we share a name! I haven't had a chance to check out any of his albums yet, but I will be in the future.
After catching that, I went up to the Peace Festival. After asking around, I apparently missed the Free Radicals and an unnamed band from Dallas. I was somewhat disappointed I missed the Free Radicals as I've wanted to see them for a while, but I'm sure I'll get the chance eventually. After all, at the Peace Fest alone I was able to catch two bands I had missed time and time again and wanted to see. But I'll get to them in a moment.
The first artist I managed to catch was Zachary Ford, an acoustic guitar singer/songwriter from here in Houston. He mixed up originals with a few interesting covers, the most notable of which to me was the odd choice of an Ozzy Osbourne cover. "Dreamer," from Ozzy's 2001 album Down to Earth (why do I know these things off the top of my head?), does have just the right "let's take care of mother earth and love each other forever and ever" sort of hippie lyrics to fit in with the festival, it was just slightly odd to hear a folkster playing an Ozzy song. It worked pretty well though. His originals were nice as well. Ultimately though, it served more as ambience for the rest of the happenings at the festival, his performance didn't really capture the audience's attention like later artists would.
After Zachary Ford, there were a few speakers, one speaking of the importance of Harry Belafonte and another to inspire us with a pro-health care reform chant of "HEY HO NOBODY OUT EVERYBODY IN" ad nauseum. One woman came to sing a song but it was hard to hear her because her mic was turned off for some reason. Then came Tyagaraja whose name seemed to double as the name of the frontman of the band and as the name of the band itself. Tyagaraja played the first part of the set by himself playing acoustic guitar and singing. Notably, he spent the entire peformance sitting indian-style with the mic angled down towards him. The folksy solo songs gave way to a more upbeat, jazzy, soul sort of sound when the rest of the band joined in with him. That material interested me far more than the purely acoustic stylings, so I'm interested to hear the album when it comes out. According to Tyagaraja himself, they're tracking that in the studio right now. As for the name and the content of the lyrics, it seemed to be related to a spiritual and religious conversion of the part of the sort of Buddhistly dressed Tyagaraja, though he didn't speak on it too much, choosing to tell everyone to come talk to him after the show if they had questions about it. I didn't get a chance to, which I have to admit I somewhat regret because it seems like it would've been an interesting story.
To fill the next gap between bands, the Brazilian Arts Foundation took over to do a performance of capoeira fight-dancing. It was somewhat interesting, some were better than others, but the message of the performance, according to the leader of the group, was to bring everyone into their circle and have everyone join in to dance, regardless of their race, religion, social status, etc. It's a good message to preach. I would sign up myself but I'm sadly not gifted with limberness.
The next musical performance was by Much Love, a bluesy pub rock band from Austin. Their slower songs reminded me of John Mayer's "Waiting On the World to Change," which works for those of us who couldn't afford to see him that night. The more upbeat ones, carried by saxophone, had a sort of Huey Lewis and the News feel to it, though less dated to the 80's. This was their first show in Houston and it was a good showing. I'm sure they picked up some new fans that day. In keeping with the hippie theme of the festival, they performed barefoot. I tried that and promptly managed to cut my toe, quickly throwing up a sign that that was maybe a bad idea in what wasn't exactly soft terrain.
Around that time it started to get chilly as the sun went down anyway, so shoes went back on along with the addition of sweaters and coats. More than chilly, once it got dark, it felt like December again. Bearing the cold, I stuck around to see Spain Colored Orange. A band I've followed for a while but haven't managed to see until now, I was pretty excited. They ran through a good set of their songs, though it stuck to mostly the same type of songs instead of displaying the diversity of their album. Trumpet driven rock isn't normally my thing, but there's something oddly very enjoyable about Spain Colored Orange. The audience was really into the music for basically the first time of the day, finally crowding around stage. Some of the younger people really got down, dancing all around at the foot of the stage. It was something of a sight to behold. The bizarre way they danced along to the heavy parts of the songs vaguely reminded me of slam dancing at metal shows. Not the sort of thing you expect for a band with a trumpet.
By the time listenlisten took the stage, it was pretty much freezing. Everyone was starting to complain about it, but myself and a modest crowd stayed to see listenlisten do their thing. I should note that I'm a pretty big fan of listenlisten, but like Spain Colored Orange, I've never been able to see them live before. I have all their recordings though and Hymns From Rhodesia was easily in my top ten last year. So despite the cold, I had a big smile on my face the entire set. My only disappointment was that due to technical difficulties, their set was a bit short. The performances of their suicidal folk ballads were spot on, but it seemed that inbetween every song they were trying to fix the mixing of their sound and they kept switching instruments too. It seemed like they had barely even started when they said they only had two songs left. I called out to them halfway through switching up their instruments for the last time that they needed roadies for this sort of thing. It was said with a laugh, but it's sort of true. They didn't get in nearly as many songs as any of the other artists, mainly because of that. Regardless, what they did manage to perform was just as good as I had expected it to be.
Now I have to abandon any professionalism here. I've seen Electric Attitude before and I'm not that big a fan of what they do. So apologies to them and to their fans, but with the cold and all, I decided I really wanted to go home. It was around 8:00 PM and I had been there since around 2:30 PM so I was really ready to go anyway. I'm sure I'll have the chance to catch them again, unless something crazy happened that I missed like the stage exploding or the band breaking up right then and there. I'll choose to believe everything went off without a hitch though.
So how would I rate the Houston Peace Festival overall? Well it was a pretty fun way to kill a Saturday afternoon and it gave me the opportunity to finally catch Spain Colored Orange and listenlisten so I can't complain. I'll be on the lookout for Tyagaraja's album when it's out especially because it seems like they're cooking up something good. I was also happy to support some of the activism that went on there. My name on a petition might not mean much in the grand scheme of things, but every little bit helps, just like the whole "one vote..." thing. It was definitely worth making it out there, even if I am probably the squarest hippie in the world.
The fourth annual Houston Peace Festival was held at Live Oak Friends Meeting on Saturday afternoon. A festival of art, activism, dancing, music, and hippie principles like love and harmony. Not a bad concept, though not quit Woodstock or Burning Man in execution. I mostly went for the bands personally and this is an article about my musical discoveries in Houston, so I won't spend a whole lot of time on the rest of the events. However, before I jump into the music, I do want to shout out some of the good causes involved in the whole thing.
Of course there was good old KPFT sponsoring the event, giving out flyers out for their upcoming 40th anniversary bash at McGonigel's Mucky Duck. That's March 14th, from noon to 8:00 PM. There was the Montrose Land Defense Coalition who are fighting to convert an abandoned lot on West Alabama and Dunlavy into a park instead of yet another pointless HEB, a cause I personally support. There were vegans pushing their way of life, though that one's a bit too much for me, I've never been able to give up the meat. The Art of Living who will be hosting a Happy Family Workshop ("a Body/Mind/Wellness workshop for every family") at the Student Center at Rice University April 1st to April 4th. Amnesty International and the Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty were there to fight the death penalty, among other things. And those are just the ones I still have flyers from, there were many, many more.
On top of all that, there were stands where they were selling jewelry, vegan food, paintings, and all manner of other oddities. Considering it was all hosted in the Live Oak Friends Meeting's relatively small yard, it was a bit of an accomplishment just fitting all that in there.
Anyhow, since this is about the music, I'll discuss the music. The whole thing got started a little after 1:00 PM but I have to admit that I ended getting around to it a little bit late. I made a stop around that time at Cactus Music to catch Cory Chisel's instore performance. Though I don't know much about him, I did enjoy his work on the recent Louisiana Music Factory Preservation Hall compilation, which also had performances by Andrew Bird, Yim Yames, Tom Waits, Ani DiFranco, Merle Haggard, and more on it. It's good stuff, you should check it out of you haven't already. Cory and his band put on a spirited performance in the intimate setting of the store and really impressed me. Basically, if you like any of the artists I just mentioned on that compilation, you'll probably like Cory too. And I'm not just endorsing him because we share a name! I haven't had a chance to check out any of his albums yet, but I will be in the future.
After catching that, I went up to the Peace Festival. After asking around, I apparently missed the Free Radicals and an unnamed band from Dallas. I was somewhat disappointed I missed the Free Radicals as I've wanted to see them for a while, but I'm sure I'll get the chance eventually. After all, at the Peace Fest alone I was able to catch two bands I had missed time and time again and wanted to see. But I'll get to them in a moment.
The first artist I managed to catch was Zachary Ford, an acoustic guitar singer/songwriter from here in Houston. He mixed up originals with a few interesting covers, the most notable of which to me was the odd choice of an Ozzy Osbourne cover. "Dreamer," from Ozzy's 2001 album Down to Earth (why do I know these things off the top of my head?), does have just the right "let's take care of mother earth and love each other forever and ever" sort of hippie lyrics to fit in with the festival, it was just slightly odd to hear a folkster playing an Ozzy song. It worked pretty well though. His originals were nice as well. Ultimately though, it served more as ambience for the rest of the happenings at the festival, his performance didn't really capture the audience's attention like later artists would.
After Zachary Ford, there were a few speakers, one speaking of the importance of Harry Belafonte and another to inspire us with a pro-health care reform chant of "HEY HO NOBODY OUT EVERYBODY IN" ad nauseum. One woman came to sing a song but it was hard to hear her because her mic was turned off for some reason. Then came Tyagaraja whose name seemed to double as the name of the frontman of the band and as the name of the band itself. Tyagaraja played the first part of the set by himself playing acoustic guitar and singing. Notably, he spent the entire peformance sitting indian-style with the mic angled down towards him. The folksy solo songs gave way to a more upbeat, jazzy, soul sort of sound when the rest of the band joined in with him. That material interested me far more than the purely acoustic stylings, so I'm interested to hear the album when it comes out. According to Tyagaraja himself, they're tracking that in the studio right now. As for the name and the content of the lyrics, it seemed to be related to a spiritual and religious conversion of the part of the sort of Buddhistly dressed Tyagaraja, though he didn't speak on it too much, choosing to tell everyone to come talk to him after the show if they had questions about it. I didn't get a chance to, which I have to admit I somewhat regret because it seems like it would've been an interesting story.
To fill the next gap between bands, the Brazilian Arts Foundation took over to do a performance of capoeira fight-dancing. It was somewhat interesting, some were better than others, but the message of the performance, according to the leader of the group, was to bring everyone into their circle and have everyone join in to dance, regardless of their race, religion, social status, etc. It's a good message to preach. I would sign up myself but I'm sadly not gifted with limberness.
The next musical performance was by Much Love, a bluesy pub rock band from Austin. Their slower songs reminded me of John Mayer's "Waiting On the World to Change," which works for those of us who couldn't afford to see him that night. The more upbeat ones, carried by saxophone, had a sort of Huey Lewis and the News feel to it, though less dated to the 80's. This was their first show in Houston and it was a good showing. I'm sure they picked up some new fans that day. In keeping with the hippie theme of the festival, they performed barefoot. I tried that and promptly managed to cut my toe, quickly throwing up a sign that that was maybe a bad idea in what wasn't exactly soft terrain.
Around that time it started to get chilly as the sun went down anyway, so shoes went back on along with the addition of sweaters and coats. More than chilly, once it got dark, it felt like December again. Bearing the cold, I stuck around to see Spain Colored Orange. A band I've followed for a while but haven't managed to see until now, I was pretty excited. They ran through a good set of their songs, though it stuck to mostly the same type of songs instead of displaying the diversity of their album. Trumpet driven rock isn't normally my thing, but there's something oddly very enjoyable about Spain Colored Orange. The audience was really into the music for basically the first time of the day, finally crowding around stage. Some of the younger people really got down, dancing all around at the foot of the stage. It was something of a sight to behold. The bizarre way they danced along to the heavy parts of the songs vaguely reminded me of slam dancing at metal shows. Not the sort of thing you expect for a band with a trumpet.
By the time listenlisten took the stage, it was pretty much freezing. Everyone was starting to complain about it, but myself and a modest crowd stayed to see listenlisten do their thing. I should note that I'm a pretty big fan of listenlisten, but like Spain Colored Orange, I've never been able to see them live before. I have all their recordings though and Hymns From Rhodesia was easily in my top ten last year. So despite the cold, I had a big smile on my face the entire set. My only disappointment was that due to technical difficulties, their set was a bit short. The performances of their suicidal folk ballads were spot on, but it seemed that inbetween every song they were trying to fix the mixing of their sound and they kept switching instruments too. It seemed like they had barely even started when they said they only had two songs left. I called out to them halfway through switching up their instruments for the last time that they needed roadies for this sort of thing. It was said with a laugh, but it's sort of true. They didn't get in nearly as many songs as any of the other artists, mainly because of that. Regardless, what they did manage to perform was just as good as I had expected it to be.
Now I have to abandon any professionalism here. I've seen Electric Attitude before and I'm not that big a fan of what they do. So apologies to them and to their fans, but with the cold and all, I decided I really wanted to go home. It was around 8:00 PM and I had been there since around 2:30 PM so I was really ready to go anyway. I'm sure I'll have the chance to catch them again, unless something crazy happened that I missed like the stage exploding or the band breaking up right then and there. I'll choose to believe everything went off without a hitch though.
So how would I rate the Houston Peace Festival overall? Well it was a pretty fun way to kill a Saturday afternoon and it gave me the opportunity to finally catch Spain Colored Orange and listenlisten so I can't complain. I'll be on the lookout for Tyagaraja's album when it's out especially because it seems like they're cooking up something good. I was also happy to support some of the activism that went on there. My name on a petition might not mean much in the grand scheme of things, but every little bit helps, just like the whole "one vote..." thing. It was definitely worth making it out there, even if I am probably the squarest hippie in the world.
Friday, April 30, 2010
Reprint Series: Festival at The Mink
As I mentioned a while ago, per the terms of my contract with http://www.29-95.com I can reprint anything I wrote for them two weeks later. This one is two months old so let's give it a go. This was the first one I wrote. As will be the usual, the only difference will be that they'll be presented exactly as I wrote them, with no editing. That could be a good or bad thing. You decide.
***
While everyone was at the Free Press Houston 7th Anniversary seeing all the local bands they had seen exactly two point three million times, I went to the Festival at The Mink instead. Not that I don't love the bands that were at Mango's that night, but change is always good. Since there were a lot of bands that played, I'll just give a quick rundown of each one.
The Dry Season (www.myspace.com/thedryseasonatx) -I arrived slightly late for this first band from Austin. I wish I hadn't because they actually turned out to probably be my favorite of the night. Given that I grew up on Pink Floyd, not the one everybody else did, the Saucerful of Secrets/Atom Heart Mother era, and I'm crazy about the latest Flaming Lips album, that shouldn't be a surprise. This band takes three key elements to make up their sound. That late 60's Pink Floyd spacey, psychedelic, jam rock, 90's alt rock hooks via Garbage, and aught's psych folk like Espers. Though I only caught three songs (each around ten minutes) I was mesmerized by each one.
Covington (http://www.myspace.com/demomeansunity) - Born out of the ashes of two previous bands, Covington is a little older and more experienced than your average local band. Slicker, more professional. They don't fuck up. You'd think that would make it better, but it makes it somewhat sterile. Their sound is also heavily dependent on 90's Britrock which automatically dates it. Still they had some enjoyable songs and their singer had a range that reminded me of Pavement so good on them for that. Whether it was the drinks or the accessability, they also commanded far more attention from the audience than the Dry Season.
Gretchen Schmaltz (http://www.myspace.com/gretchenschmaltz) - In fact, the audience was so captivated by Covington (and the bar) that they forgot there was someone playing downstairs. You have to feel bad for the poor girl. Her band was stranded in Austin (and in her words, her French horn player ran away to the opera for a month) so this became a solo acoustic show. Then only a few people turned up downstairs to watch. Those that did, however, were treated to a fun bit of indie folk songstressing. Revolutionary? Hardly. But it's always pleasing to the ear and what really impressed me about her was her exceptional fingerpicking style. While most play in a delicate way, Gretchen Schmaltz attacks the strings, even warning us her fingers might start bleeding. It adds a necessary tension to the otherwise almost too sweet songs.
Flowers to Hide (http://www.myspace.com/flowerstohide) - Flowers to Hide are a hard band to place. They've got a foot in post-U2 80's new wave rock and a foot in post-Sonic Youth 90's alt rock. The basslines drove every song while the guitar seemed to follow along but with squeels. Their sound was the sort of familiar thing where you know you've heard it before, but can't place it. The closest I could think of was that they sounded like the sort of band I would hear on the Buzz growing up when that station wasn't almost completely garbage.
Giant Battle Monster (http://www.myspace.com/giantbattlemonster) - This is one of the main bands I wanted to see when I came out. I had heard a lot about them and I for some reason thought I would like them. I didn't. But don't get me wrong, they're very talented at what they do. They're even a good live band, very energetic, lots of audience interaction. But they're LOUD! My ears were ringing even this morning from these guys. In the midst of making so much technical noise, they lose the hooks that I could vaguely hear buried down deep in their songs. In that way they reminded me of Hella. Fast, heavy, technical, but impossible to find the catchy parts. They're there, but you end up too deaf to hear them. This is not the band for me. On the other hand, I know a lot of people that listen to bands like Behold... the Arctopus and Tera Melos that would LOVE this.
The Sour Notes (http://www.myspace.com/thesournotes) - This is another band I really wanted to see but let down by. I've been a fan of theirs for a while but had never had the chance to catch them. Unfortunately this was sort of an off night. Their drummer was "wearing tights in a play in Amarillo, TX" and, rather than take the time off, they decided to go on with a drum machine. This was, in my opinion, a mistake. The bass was already programmed, so it made for an entire electronic rhythm section and completely amputated the power from their more rocking songs. In fact, the simulated rhythms actually ended up having a somewhat comedic "Tim and Eric" sound to them. The songwriting was there but the sound wasn't. I do really enjoy their latest album so I would love to see them with a full band in the future.
dUNETX (http://www.myspace.com/dunetx) - dUNETX has been around for 12 years. In the ever changing world of music, that's a long time. At least twice as long as these other bands have been together. When they started, I was about to start second grade. Viewed in that context, they're admirable. Like Covington, they're slick, professional, and know how to get an audience going. But with the state of music, their proto-punk riffage mainly works in warming the audience up. There's not much more depth to it. It's good bar atmosphere music. The one unique gimmick they pull out is an occasionally used theremin, which is nice but more just to show off that they have a theremin and can make noise with it.
Alkari (http://www.myspace.com/alkarian) - This one I really liked. Their sound reminded me of something I really miss. 90's indie rock, but a little bit punkier. Hmm... what could I describe that as? Oh yeah! Emo! Real emo before Hot Topic ruined it. I got a definite I Hate Myself vibe, which is especially exciting for someone like me that was too young to see bands like that back in the day. Just to switch up and keep it original, they also include the occasional psych interlude and some pre-recorded samples between songs.
The Manichean (http://www.myspace.com/themanichean) - Possibly the oddest of the entire bunch. Picking up from the emo of Alkari, the Manichean is a lot like mewithoutYou meets the Black Parade. It's as odd and unsettling as it sounds. I couldn't really decide how I felt about this one. Inbetween every other song, their singer, who looked and sounded like he was straight out of a high school drama class, would break into a Shakespearian soliloquy. I could never quite understand what the narrative was about but he sold it with the enthusiasm of a southern preacher. It was just as off-putting as it was enticing. In the end though, all I can remember of his stories were his frantic movement, running, jumping, hanging off the rafters, and the repeated phrase "I love you so much through kisses and cuts." Musically they followed that emo sound but with the inclusion of a fiddle player that gave the entire thing an even odder dynamic. It was crazy and I still don't know how I feel about it.
White Rhino (http://www.myspace.com/whiterhinorocks) - Remember that band Motorhead and how they'd come out and say "We are Motorhead and we're going to kick your ass"? White Rhino is practically the embodiment of that. Their sound is that vintage late 70's/early 80's post-punk hard rock, when some bands went new wave and some bands combined the sounds of Black Sabbath and the Sex Pistols into what ended up being the basis of "metal" in the 80's. White Rhino take their cues from the latter of those two and what more do you need after 1 AM when everybody's drunk and tired?I normally skew towards more progressive music, but fuck it. After the Manichean's take on the future of music, I was ready to get back to basics. White Rhino is driving up to Taco Bell in the middle of the night blasting Back in Black. The perfect way to wrap up the festival.
Overall the Festival at the Mink was sort of disastrous. So many band members didn't show up, at least two bands didn't make it out, and the audience seemed to be there more for the beer than anything else. Even still, it was a fun time with a diverse mix of bands. For me personally, the Dry Season is my new band to watch. Even though it would have been fun to see all my favorites at Mango's, the Mink was a good alternative and a good way to discover some new (and old) bands.
***
While everyone was at the Free Press Houston 7th Anniversary seeing all the local bands they had seen exactly two point three million times, I went to the Festival at The Mink instead. Not that I don't love the bands that were at Mango's that night, but change is always good. Since there were a lot of bands that played, I'll just give a quick rundown of each one.
The Dry Season (www.myspace.com/thedryseasonatx) -I arrived slightly late for this first band from Austin. I wish I hadn't because they actually turned out to probably be my favorite of the night. Given that I grew up on Pink Floyd, not the one everybody else did, the Saucerful of Secrets/Atom Heart Mother era, and I'm crazy about the latest Flaming Lips album, that shouldn't be a surprise. This band takes three key elements to make up their sound. That late 60's Pink Floyd spacey, psychedelic, jam rock, 90's alt rock hooks via Garbage, and aught's psych folk like Espers. Though I only caught three songs (each around ten minutes) I was mesmerized by each one.
Covington (http://www.myspace.com/demomeansunity) - Born out of the ashes of two previous bands, Covington is a little older and more experienced than your average local band. Slicker, more professional. They don't fuck up. You'd think that would make it better, but it makes it somewhat sterile. Their sound is also heavily dependent on 90's Britrock which automatically dates it. Still they had some enjoyable songs and their singer had a range that reminded me of Pavement so good on them for that. Whether it was the drinks or the accessability, they also commanded far more attention from the audience than the Dry Season.
Gretchen Schmaltz (http://www.myspace.com/gretchenschmaltz) - In fact, the audience was so captivated by Covington (and the bar) that they forgot there was someone playing downstairs. You have to feel bad for the poor girl. Her band was stranded in Austin (and in her words, her French horn player ran away to the opera for a month) so this became a solo acoustic show. Then only a few people turned up downstairs to watch. Those that did, however, were treated to a fun bit of indie folk songstressing. Revolutionary? Hardly. But it's always pleasing to the ear and what really impressed me about her was her exceptional fingerpicking style. While most play in a delicate way, Gretchen Schmaltz attacks the strings, even warning us her fingers might start bleeding. It adds a necessary tension to the otherwise almost too sweet songs.
Flowers to Hide (http://www.myspace.com/flowerstohide) - Flowers to Hide are a hard band to place. They've got a foot in post-U2 80's new wave rock and a foot in post-Sonic Youth 90's alt rock. The basslines drove every song while the guitar seemed to follow along but with squeels. Their sound was the sort of familiar thing where you know you've heard it before, but can't place it. The closest I could think of was that they sounded like the sort of band I would hear on the Buzz growing up when that station wasn't almost completely garbage.
Giant Battle Monster (http://www.myspace.com/giantbattlemonster) - This is one of the main bands I wanted to see when I came out. I had heard a lot about them and I for some reason thought I would like them. I didn't. But don't get me wrong, they're very talented at what they do. They're even a good live band, very energetic, lots of audience interaction. But they're LOUD! My ears were ringing even this morning from these guys. In the midst of making so much technical noise, they lose the hooks that I could vaguely hear buried down deep in their songs. In that way they reminded me of Hella. Fast, heavy, technical, but impossible to find the catchy parts. They're there, but you end up too deaf to hear them. This is not the band for me. On the other hand, I know a lot of people that listen to bands like Behold... the Arctopus and Tera Melos that would LOVE this.
The Sour Notes (http://www.myspace.com/thesournotes) - This is another band I really wanted to see but let down by. I've been a fan of theirs for a while but had never had the chance to catch them. Unfortunately this was sort of an off night. Their drummer was "wearing tights in a play in Amarillo, TX" and, rather than take the time off, they decided to go on with a drum machine. This was, in my opinion, a mistake. The bass was already programmed, so it made for an entire electronic rhythm section and completely amputated the power from their more rocking songs. In fact, the simulated rhythms actually ended up having a somewhat comedic "Tim and Eric" sound to them. The songwriting was there but the sound wasn't. I do really enjoy their latest album so I would love to see them with a full band in the future.
dUNETX (http://www.myspace.com/dunetx) - dUNETX has been around for 12 years. In the ever changing world of music, that's a long time. At least twice as long as these other bands have been together. When they started, I was about to start second grade. Viewed in that context, they're admirable. Like Covington, they're slick, professional, and know how to get an audience going. But with the state of music, their proto-punk riffage mainly works in warming the audience up. There's not much more depth to it. It's good bar atmosphere music. The one unique gimmick they pull out is an occasionally used theremin, which is nice but more just to show off that they have a theremin and can make noise with it.
Alkari (http://www.myspace.com/alkarian) - This one I really liked. Their sound reminded me of something I really miss. 90's indie rock, but a little bit punkier. Hmm... what could I describe that as? Oh yeah! Emo! Real emo before Hot Topic ruined it. I got a definite I Hate Myself vibe, which is especially exciting for someone like me that was too young to see bands like that back in the day. Just to switch up and keep it original, they also include the occasional psych interlude and some pre-recorded samples between songs.
The Manichean (http://www.myspace.com/themanichean) - Possibly the oddest of the entire bunch. Picking up from the emo of Alkari, the Manichean is a lot like mewithoutYou meets the Black Parade. It's as odd and unsettling as it sounds. I couldn't really decide how I felt about this one. Inbetween every other song, their singer, who looked and sounded like he was straight out of a high school drama class, would break into a Shakespearian soliloquy. I could never quite understand what the narrative was about but he sold it with the enthusiasm of a southern preacher. It was just as off-putting as it was enticing. In the end though, all I can remember of his stories were his frantic movement, running, jumping, hanging off the rafters, and the repeated phrase "I love you so much through kisses and cuts." Musically they followed that emo sound but with the inclusion of a fiddle player that gave the entire thing an even odder dynamic. It was crazy and I still don't know how I feel about it.
White Rhino (http://www.myspace.com/whiterhinorocks) - Remember that band Motorhead and how they'd come out and say "We are Motorhead and we're going to kick your ass"? White Rhino is practically the embodiment of that. Their sound is that vintage late 70's/early 80's post-punk hard rock, when some bands went new wave and some bands combined the sounds of Black Sabbath and the Sex Pistols into what ended up being the basis of "metal" in the 80's. White Rhino take their cues from the latter of those two and what more do you need after 1 AM when everybody's drunk and tired?I normally skew towards more progressive music, but fuck it. After the Manichean's take on the future of music, I was ready to get back to basics. White Rhino is driving up to Taco Bell in the middle of the night blasting Back in Black. The perfect way to wrap up the festival.
Overall the Festival at the Mink was sort of disastrous. So many band members didn't show up, at least two bands didn't make it out, and the audience seemed to be there more for the beer than anything else. Even still, it was a fun time with a diverse mix of bands. For me personally, the Dry Season is my new band to watch. Even though it would have been fun to see all my favorites at Mango's, the Mink was a good alternative and a good way to discover some new (and old) bands.
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