Long Drive Home/Quarterly Round-Up

2010 is off to a bang, and my what a bang it is going to be when it's all said and done. In less than 90 days, I will be back in Tennessee with Boston in the rearview mirror. It's kind of sad, but not really. In truth, it's a relief and exciting to know that for the 1st time in 12 years I will be settled in one place with some permanence! For our cross country trek (Oregon Trail-style!), I couldn't think of a better soundtrack than what 2010 has already delivered. Can't wait to see what the rest of this year holds (IN EVERY ASPECT!).

Here are my favorite records for
the 1st Quarter of 2010:
(that I have PURCHASED)

Local Natives - Gorilla Manor
I've already spoken ad-nauseum about this one. It's great. Enough said. It's the follow up that Fleet Foxes still hasn't released.




Download: Local Natives - "Sun Hands"


Harlem - Hippies
This AZ band via Austin is keeping my love of garage/retro rock alive. Their major indie debut on Matador is step up from their last outing, Free Drugs. Matador Records a stalwart of American Independent Labels is under the Beggars Group that also owns stake in Rough Trade, XL, 4AD, and the now defunct Beggars Banquet. All those labels are putting out some of the best music available right now. Harlem is the latest addition to a long list of legends in independent music.

Download: Harlem - "Gay Human Bones"

Surfer Blood - Astro Coast
Is surf rock back? I think so. It is rising up along the same lines with the flower punk. Surfer Blood is NOT surf rock, though. It is something like a bastard child of the Pixies/Breeders with My Morning Jacket (don't attach too much to the MMJ reference - I say that only b/c the singer has vocals that are reverbed out the wazzoo - he is NO Jim James)
***THIS JUST IN*** - They are going on tour with Pains of Being Pure at Heart and will be coming to the Hi-Tone in Memphis and the Bottletree in the big, salty 'Ham. So you better get off your couch and check out what should be an amazing show. THERE!

Download: Surfer Blood - "Floating Vibes"

Spoon - Transference
One of my favorite bands is back for more with less. Scaling things back for a more raw/rough sound than 2007's Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga, Transference is more along the lines of Gimme Fiction without going fully minimalist like Kill the Moonlight. (I still like Ga and Girls Can Tell the best!)

Download: Spoon - "Mystery Zone"


Vampire Weekend - CONTRA
Saw the ol' VW last week at the Orpheum. I feel like I've seen it all. It felt like your umpteenth Dave Matthews Band concert in High School. I fear the next time I see them will be like the one DMB concert I saw in college (snore........). Regardless, the show was excellent and fun. Contra is of the vein of if it ain't broke, don't fix it. Little studio tricks are toyed with (autotune), but it is still Vampire Weekend plain and simple. Spring has arrived and I believe it is time to put on my boat shoes!

Download: Vampire Weekend - "Giving Up the Gun"

She & Him - Volume 2
Zooey and M are back to sugarcoat your brains out! These little ditties are sappy as all get out, but they are good in their own simplicity. So, channel Phil Spector producing a Judy Garland/Patsy Cline duet album, put on your retro clothes (girls grab your favorite thrift store skirt and flats), prepare for a deadpan delivery and get lost in what sounds like music for a 70's Disney cartoon (Robin Hood, I'm looking at you....).

Download: She & Him - "In the Sun"

Let me tell you what let me down so far:

Gorillaz - Plastic Beach
The Soft Pack
BOOO! You could do better!


There is plenty of awesome other music that came out that I really like but haven't gotten around to purchasing, yet:

The Morning Benders - Big Echo
Dum Dum Girls - I Will Be
Los Campensinos - Romance is Boring
Beach House - Teen Dream
Happy Birthday - Happy Birthday

and on and on........

There is also a lot coming out soon to be fired up about:

MGMT
New Pornographers
The National
Avi Buffalo

and more!

It's gonna be a great year for us and for music!

Left and Right In the Dark

Friday I went to my 2nd concert in a row - solo. As Whitney and I drove home the previous Saturday from our now favorite Dim Sum brunch at Myers & Chang, we drove by the Paradise Rock Club. Across the marquee were the words, "Julian Casablancas: this Friday". I nearly drove the car into a hydrant. JC is the lead singer of the Strokes (arguably my favorite band of the oo's). His 1st solo album, Phrazes for the Young, came out at the end of last year. This was to be the opening night of his 2010 tour. Not sure how it wasn't sold out, but I got a ticket to the show (and then it sold out.......big time)Heading in I'll be honest, I was not expecting much. It was great. Like so many concerts before this one, it really made me like/enjoy the songs even more. There are only 8 songs on the album, so he had to pull some stuff out. They tried a new ditty they'd thrown together and some cover songs. That is where things got interesting. Julian said, "This next song........well I guess you'd say it's a cover.....#*$% it. You'll figure it out.....". A mellow, jazzy song ensued. He and only the organ player remained on stage. It wasn't until the chorus that the crowd realized what it was. It was the Strokes! "I'll Try Anything Once", the demo of "You Only Live Once", was right under our noses. By the second chorus, the whole audience was singing along. I thought I was recording the whole thing, but alas - No. There is a snippet of it that I'll post below. The 2nd cover left most of the audience dumbfounded. I was having a ball. It was a lounge singer/Jim Morrison-esque cover of "Velvet Snow" by the Kings of Leon (off Aha Shake Heartbreak - my favorite album of theirs - though I'm not a fan of that song so much.....). Solid nonetheless! Enjoy some crappy pics and some good and some dark videos - no good lights at the 'dise!

Here's a flashback: when these boys were young and untouchable...

PS- Brooklyn's own Tanlines opened - interesting if you crossed Animal Collective with African Pop........

We Go To Some Concerts...

Last week was a crazy week. It was my last week in clinic before things close up for the rest of August. Nevertheless, I didn't exactly coast into the break. I was doing surgery all day everyday up until the last moment. On top of that, I went to concerts Wednesday and Thursday night. After Arctic Monkeys on Wed with some friends from school, Whit and I went to Fenway Park Thursday for an evening with Paul McCartney. Surreal.

Arctic Monkeys was a great show. A huge band in Europe with a good following here, the Monkeys are playing in small clubs for this US tour. A band that could easily sell out 2 nights at the Orpheum was playing a club that is more like a Cracker Jack box. Awesome! (except that despite my best efforts it sold out even before the pre-sale went public - what? And I was left with my worst enemy - Stub Hub) Regardless, it was worth it and a once in a whatever chance. They blew the doors off the place. Their new album, Humbug, doesn't come out until later this month. It was produced by Queens of the Stone Age's Josh Homme (amongst others), and it shows. Humbug is a candy over in the UK (I'm guessing like a Werthers) that requires some time to get through to appreciate (just like this new album - thanks Russian Mp3 site....). Here are some pics I took with Whit's camera (no flash allowed...) of the band, me, John Mayer, etc. I tell you about Sir Paul after the jump.

Hey, Hey, they're the Monkeys...

Me and John Mayer

Alex Taylor

We Go To Some Concerts II

Fenway Park is an American icon. Paul McCartney is simply an icon. Put them together, and I just black out. We are Beatles freaks (I know. Who isn't? Joe Pat....). We had a freakin Beatles cover band for our wedding. Obsessed much? Paul did not disappoint. He played for 2 1/2 hours with 2 encores! Plenty of Beatles hits were sprinkled throughout along with Wings and solo stuff that LBH, I was not down with. Highlights for me were "Back In the USSR" with communist/cold war paraphernalia flying across the screen behind him, "Something" on mandolin with a tribute to George (that's his song ya know - but apparently they wrote it together on mandolin - the one he played that night!), a solo "Blackbird" and an abbreviated "A Day in the Life" albeit sans John but amazing. Whitney really loved "Live and Let Die" with all the explosions and fireworks, "Paperback Writer", and "Drive My Car" (even though she wasn't revved up yet). Even "Jet" and "Band on the Run" were pretty good as far as Wings songs go.

Set List:

Drive My Car

Jet

Only Mama Knows

Flaming Pie

Got to Get You Into My Life

Let Me Roll It/Foxy Lady

Highway

The Long and Winding Road

My Love

Blackbird

Here Today

Dance Tonight

Calico Skies

Mrs. Vanderbilt

Eleanor Rigby

See the Changes

Band on the Run

Back in the U.S.S.R.

I'm Down

Something

I've Got a Feeling

Paperback Writer

A Day in the Life / Give Peace a Chance

Let It Be

Live and Let Die

Hey Jude

Encore:

Day Tripper

Lady Madonna

I Saw Her Standing There

Yesterday

Curtain Call:

Helter Skelter

Get Back

Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band / The End

The man was bouncing around and playing with the crowd as if he was a Twentysomething. Pretty sure my wife would have left me for him in a heartbeat.
He's a charmer!
It was a magical evening, and one for us that we'll never forget!
Here are some highlights.

Hey Jude

(Please excuse the tone deaf people next to us)

Well, I Bet that YOU Look Good on the Dancefloor...

(this is a teaser)

Last night's Set List @ the Paradise - more pics/videos/details to come

1. Pretty Visitors
2. This House Is A Circus
3. Brianstorm
4. Still Take You Home
5. Da Frame 2R
6. Dangerous Animals
7. Crying Lightning
8. Fluorescent Adolescent
9. Cornerstone
10. The View From The Afternoon
11. I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor
12. Leave Before The Lights Come On
13. Potion Approaching
14. If You Were There, Beware
15. Red Right Hand (Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds cover)
16. My Propeller
17. Only Ones Who Know
18. Do Me A Favour
Encore:
19. Secret Door
20. 505


My finger was inadvertently over the mic
(&%$# &%$#!),
so sorry for the muted quality on this one....

You, Me and the 'Dise Makes 3

I've only been to 2 concerts in 2009. What a shame. At least both shows were worth the trip. One was back in March (NME) and the other was this past Wednesday (Phoenix). Thought I'd share some thoughts, stories, and horrible cellphone pictures....

This past Wednesday, I had a wonderful time at the (locally) infamous Paradise Lounge with the wife in tow. She goes to shows with me against her will sometimes. I hope she enjoyed this one (thank you, Whit for coming with me!). The French band, Phoenix, had a sold out gig just a mile from our house. I have long loved Phoenix's Hall & Oates meets the Strokes flavor ("Strokes & Oates" is patented to Ryan Doyle). They found their way onto a mixtape of mine in the fall of 2004 with "Run Run Run", but they stole my heart in 2006 with their album, It's Never Been Like That. After the Strokes' album had fallen flat months before, Phoenix filled the gap in my musical soul as they had gone less synth and more stroke. Earlier this year, Phoenix made a surprising appearance as the musical guest on SNL when their new album wasn't due for months. In even rarer fashion, they got to play 3 songs rather than the normal 2 - solid! Their new album, Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix, came out last month and despite my reluctance to put it above INBLT, it may be their best album as critics the world 'round sing its praise. Check out "1901", "Listomania", and "Lasso".

Back on point - we had dinner a couple doors down from the club at Brown Sugar, a local thai restaurant. 10 minutes into our meal, I nearly knocked over my Singha as Thomas Mars walked in the door right in front of me (he's the lead singer for Phoenix and Sofia Coppola's baby's daddy) followed by the rest of the band. Pretty sure he could feel me staring bullets through him and was confirmed as Whitney turned to see him. I have nothing good to say to famous people, so Whit welcomed them/thanked them for coming to Boston when we left. "They were nice", she said. The show was good as they ran a tight ship. They have no accent to speak of and have NO fans in France, b/c they sing in English. People were packed in like sardines, and I'm pretty sure the fire marshal disapproved. They played all you could want hear with highlights from previous albums ("Consolation Prizes", "Long Distance Call", "Napolean Says") and the entirety of the new album.

The night was finished of with a 6 min version of "1901" (here's the 1st half) that had them stop and then pick back up their instruments for one last chorus clapping along with the crowd and coming into the crowd (security nightmare...). I was an old man with my ear plugs, but I took them off for that encore. What a show.

You, Me and the 'Dise Make 3 - Part II (but really part I)

At the end of March, I made my debut at the 'Dise. I went to see a pretty great rock show. What a bill of buzz! It was the NME tour, so you'd expect nothing less (NME is the "new music" rag from the UK that basically overhypes anything and everything - and backlash ensues). I went for the opening act. I knew the other 2 bands but had little interest other than 2 songs I knew by each of them. Regardless, it's rare that you get to see 3 bands like this for $20 bucks anymore.

The former group, The Muslims (now the Soft Pack), were the opening band. The San Diego quartet rocked out in all their minimalist glory. Their entire "Muslims" EP was basically performed. 2 things that made me even love them more: 1) the lead singer plays an old Fender Bronco guitar (which is awesomely awesome), 2) the drummer plays standing up (nice....).


The second group was White Lies (who represent all that NME stands for - HYPE). They were fine and forgettable (I largely don't remember anything noteworthy). They're supposed to be the next Joy Division (sorry that was Interpol). I did laugh a lot during their set, because they were wearing all black and had this over dramatic light show and were WAY too somber/serious. Oh, and they sounded like the Dracula musical from Forgetting Sarah Marshall ("Van Helsing!!! Die! DIE! Die......I Can't"). Basically, I leaned against the wall with the people I came with singing vampire songs and laughing...

Rounding out the night was the Friendly Fires. Now, I'll admit that I did previously bash them on here back in August or September as a group that Zach Braff would tout. Their live set made me a fan. If not for their music (which is nothing too groundbreaking), I had to respect the energy. The lead singer was moving like a pinball. The club responded en suite. If you have never heard their song, "Skeleton Boy", check it out. It was their 2nd single that came out around the beginning of the year. You can't help but wiggle when you hear it. I was full on noodling to it live.

The Blues Walked In Our Town

Right after Whit and I moved here, we went and saw Rilo Kiley at this big club behind Fenway called Avalon. I'm pretty sure it closed the next day. Unbeknown to me, it has been refurbished to become a House of Blues chain. While it is nothing super special as most major cities have one now like a Hard Rock Cafe. Nevertheless, let's take a moment to pay respect to some of Belushi and Ackroyd's finest work. If you have never seen the movie....God help you. I have only been to the House of Blues once. It was the original in New Orleans, and I was 15....In town for a dental meeting with the parents, I hit Bourbon Street late night with "the men". Pretty sure I saw some tranis and was very confused. Sheryl Crow was playing there, and I had a minor crush on her in her "All I wanna do" days. Dr. Felts and my dad pretty much lobbied with the bouncer to get me in the door even asking me to instantly grow a mustache. We got inside but did not stay. I did get an all black T-shirt that resembles the picture above. Bloc Party is playing there when it opens next month.

Whit, you wanna go? Me neither.....