Author: April

No comments

Mark Lanegan Band: Blues Funeral

  By

 

It seems we turned a few people on to their new favorite thing the last time we posted about Mark Lanegan. Well, get ready to get happy again, because the Mark Lanegan Band (the heavier, grittier outfit with whom Lanegan recorded 2004’s Bubblegum – which includes one of my favorite of favorite songs, “Methamphetamine Blues”) has a new album coming out next week, Blues Funeral. Here’s a taste with “The Gravedigger’s Song”.

 

 

If you just got as excited as I did when I first listened to that song, you can listen to a stream of the full album at KEXP (U.S.) or Mojo (International).

Blues Funeral will be released on February 6, and the touring begins the next night.

7 Feb New York, NY – Bowery Ballroom
9 Feb Los Angeles, CA – Echoplex
24 Feb Tromso, SE – Aurora Rock @ Kulturhuset
25 Feb Oslo, NO – Rockerfeller
26 Feb HELSINKI, FI – The Circus
28 Feb GRONINGEN, NL – Oosterpoort
29 Feb AMSTERDAM, NL – Paradiso
1 Mar EINDHOVEN, NL – Effenaar
2 Mar ANTWERP, BE – Trix
3 Mar Antwerp, BE – Twix
4 Mar BRISTOL, UK – Academy
5 Mar MANCHESTER, UK – Academy 2
7 Mar DUBLIN, IE – Academy
8 Mar BELFAST, NI – Mandela Hall
9 Mar GLASGOW, UK – ABC
10 Mar LEEDS, UK – Cockpit
12 Mar BIRMINGHAM, UK – Library
13 Mar LONDON, UK – Shepherds Bush Empire
14 Mar COLOGNE, DE – Gloria
15 Mar HAMBURG, DE – Gruenspan
17 Mar COPENHAGEN, DK – Amager Bio
18 Mar BERLIN, DE – Columbia Club
19 Mar WARSAW, PL – Proxima
20 Mar PRAGUE, CZ – Lucerna Music Hall
22 Mar VIENNA, AT – Arena
23 Mar Zurich, Switzerland – M4Music
24 Mar BOLOGNA, IT – Estragon
25 Mar MILAN, IT – Alcatraz
27 Mar BILBAO, ES РKaf̩ Antzokia
28 Mar SANTIAGO, ES – Sala Capitol
30 Mar PORTO, PT – Hard Club
31 Mar LISBON, PT – TMN ao Vivo
1 Apr MADRID, ES – Sala Kapital
2 Apr BARCELONA, ES – Sala Bikini

 

Mark Lanegan Official Website

8 Comments

Someone’s wall is about to get much more badass…

  By

 

Two years? Fucking two years? How did that happen?

Now This Sound Is Brave is two years old today. And year two was even more exhilirating, life-affecting and life-affirming than the first year. We have heard so much great music, seen so many righteous shows, talked to so many cool people and made some amazing friends. I could be here all day listing people who deserve our thanks, like the bands who share their work and sometimes their friendship with us, the good people who run and staff the venues where we see shows, the other blogs who have given us encouragement, the CXCW crew… There’s a whole damn lot of people, is what I’m saying.

But I do want to give individual thanks to four special individuals. First, to NTSIB’s beneficiary, the person who provided the idea in the first place, provides the access and provides the equipment that helps me keep this thing going, Duane. Next, to my intrepid co-blogger who gets giddy with me, makes me laugh and has more than pulled her weight lately, Jennifer. Then, to my wonderful friend, confidante, mentor and so many other things besides, Rick, whose encouragement, belief and helping hand have changed the whole game for me. And most of all, to YOU. You beautiful fucking people who come and read and check out the music and support the bands and support us. I fucking love you. Thank you for being here.

Okay, enough sentimental bullshit! I know there are five of you who are very eager to learn who won that droolacious Black Keys concert poster. That winner is: Jessica H! Jessica’s entry typifies the passion for music, and the passion for helping connect others with music (as a Black Keys fan whose co-blogger is a Panic! diehard, I could relate), that I hope we show here on the blog. Jessica, I’ll be in touch soon to find out where to send your prize (and, yes, I do want to see pictures of dog Dan Auerbach… oh, I do…).

For your enjoyment, the winning entry:

I remember my first not-Raffi concert vividly: my dad took me to see Ozzfest in Las Vegas. It was the first time I was cognizant of marijuana (“What are they rolling on their programs, dad?” “Oh, um, I don’t know, Jess.”) and it was the first time I felt the center of my chest vibrate, just as the concrete of Thomas & Mack was vibrating, from the incredibly loud music. Pantera played an extra long set (I didn’t know what a treat that was at the time) and I heard Black Sabbath play all the songs I’d listened to as a little kid with my dad. He shared a fond story of seeing Black Sabbath and Blue Oyster Cult with my mom at the Ventura Fairgrounds in 1980 — it was so loud that they got noise complaints from miles behind the stage, so he said. And I saw Marilyn Manson who was my latest curiosity. The flesh-colored boobsuit? The Hilteresque podium and grandstanding? What did it mean? Why did he do it? It was so fascinating. But that’s not my favorite musical moment.

My favorite musical moment is probably my least favorite concert ever. I took my baby sister to her first concert: Panic at the Disco at a venue in San Diego. She’d been obsessing over them — my whole family knew all the lyrics to all of their songs because we heard Panic so much — and she was ECSTATIC to finally see them live. The venue was overcrowded — dangerously so — and it was hot. So fucking hot. The place was crawling with screaming adolescents. My sister kept wanting to get closer, closer to the stage and even though I saw security pulling crushed and crying little girls from against the railing by the stage, I acquiesced. My less-adventurous middle sister went to hang in the back so that left me, as chaperone, next to my baby sister who kept pushing forward. The crowd surged and swirled and I kept a firm grasp on my sister who was rocking a permanent grin. Since my adolescent Ozzfest, I’ve traveled the country to see amazing concerts, but I’ve never been so packed like a sardine at a concert ever. As the crowd swayed en masse, my sister and I commiserated about how soaking wet we and our clothes were. We realized that it wasn’t our own sweat — it was the sweat of the strangers pressed up against us. Yuck. Big smile. I saw fights and fists as people bumped into people. Feeling maternal (and unsafe) I asked my sister to go to the back with me but she pleaded no, please, Jessica, please, I want to be closer. Okay, okay. At one point she looked at me, I thought she was going to cry, I hope she was going to ask to move to the back, but instead she said, out breath, “Jessica? I forgot to wear a belt today and my pants are falling down and I can’t move my arms to reach down to pull them up. Will you pull up my pants?” So I elbowed my way down to pull up my sister’s jeans because the crowd was so tight that she literally couldn’t move her arms. That’s my favorite music memory: sharing my sister’s first concert with her because the mix of emotions that music elicits is to be shared. It might be a better memory than losing my virginity. Certainly more sweaty. Let me think about that.

As an aside, I’ve never really had a favorite band. Even when I was in elementary school and my friends screamed over New Kids on the Block, I was too cool for that. Those girls were stupid. I never had my own Panic at the Disco. I’ve loved Led Zeppelin, like everyone else (thanks, dad); I love Neil Young and Radiohead; and I had a pretty serious Talking Heads phase… But I don’t know if any of those are favorite musicians . . . Till the Black Keys. I’m an adult woman and the Black Keys are my favorite band. Like those girls in elementary school, I have a band I listen to pretty much every day; I have their full discography on vinyl that I’ve culled from various record label stores and music shops, despite my poverty; and I have a dog named Dan because he looks exactly like Dan Auerbach. The Black Keys introduced me to dirty, Fat Possum blues and I love them for that, too.

I can send you a picture of Dan Auerbach if you’d like but he’s wearing a cone of shame right because he just got castrated and he won’t stop licking his scrotum.

Love and thanks to the other entrants – Sam G, Ashleigh Jordan, Yoin Segundo and the esteemable Mr. Dave Polak. You rock hardcore.

 

2 Comments

The Parlor Soldiers: Now I Wrestle Every Rhyme

  By

 

“You’re a little bi-polar,” he tells her, “and you get on my ass about drinking my liquor and smoking too much grass.”

She parries. “You know, you’re no Johnny Cash.”

“Woman, what’d you say?”

“I said, you ain’t the Man in Black, and I won’t be treated this way.”

But there is a wry, knowing edge in each of their voices that melts into affection by the end of their argument.

 

 

This argument is the third track, “Crazy”, from the Parlor Soldiers’ album When the Dust Settles, and showcases the essence of what makes their songs really work (and if you click up there, you can download “Crazy” for free). Backed by simple, slim but solid Americana-based arrangements, they are playful without coming off as if they are trying to hard to show how clever they are, and they are real without being precious. And their voices are so handsome that you want to date them both.

Forming in Fredericksburg, Virginia, after Alex Culbreth asked Karen Jonas to sing at some gigs with him, the two, each who had already established themselves as solo artists, added upright bass (played by Dan Dutton) to the mix and began writing and playing as the Parlor Soldiers.

“We spent several months coming up with different band names but none of them seemed to fit our style of music,” Culbreth told me. “We came up with The Parlor Soldiers after coming across a list of Civil War terms. It was a derogatory term meaning a soldier who was unfit for war, a poseur, or not a true soldier. We thought that it sounded good, liked the old-timey Civil War connection, and liked the fact that it was an insult.”

When the Dust Settles, which I’ve fallen a little more in love with at each listen, covers themes from giving an abuser his just desserts to being a woman with ramblin’ on her mind to being a modern-day Bonnie and Clyde duo driven to desperate ends by the economy and circumstance, with the singing, playing and songwriting shared evenly by Jonas and Culbreth. And the balance between those three elements is nearly perfect, never sacrificing their enticing musicality to showcase their smart lyrics, never working their chosen genre up into caricature and always singing strong and true.

 

 

 

And each time I listen to When the Dust Settles I want to hear those songs played live. You will, too, so take note of these tour dates.

Jan 25
Courtyard Marriott
Fredericksburg, VA

Jan 26
Kybecca Wine Bar
Fredericksburg, VA

Jan 27
The Dunes
Washington, DC

Feb 03
The Griffin Bookshop
Fredericksburg, VA

Feb 04
Northside Social Cafe & Wine Bar
Arlington, VA

Feb 08
Courtyard Marriott
Fredericksburg, VA

Feb 11
Colonial Tavern
Fredericksburg, VA

Feb 16
The Camel
Richmond, VA

Feb 17
Bar 4
Brooklyn, NY

Feb 18
Caffe Vivaldi
New York, NY

Feb 29
Strange Matter
Richmond, VA

Mar 13
Solly’s U Street Tavern
Washington, DC

Mar 31
Horseshoes and Hand Grenades
Fredericksburg, VA

Apr 27
Hill Country Barbeque Market
Washington, DC

May 11
The Corner Store
Washington, DC

May 28
Brewer’s Alley
Frederick, MD

Sep 07
Ashland Coffee & Tea
Ashland, VA

Jan 25
Picker’s Supply Concert Hall
Fredericksburg, VA

 

The Parlor Soldiers @ Bandcamp

The Parlor Soldiers @ Facebook

The Parlor Soldiers @ ReverbNation

5 Comments

Anniversary Giveaway: The Black Keys

  By

 

How badass is that poster? So badass that, in my excitement to obtain it, I managed to acquire two of them.

So, here’s the deal: Now This Sound Is Brave will celebrate two years of existence a week from today. To celebrate this thing we do with the music and the writing and the writing about music (and writing about writing about music), we’re going to give a gift to you. Well, to one of you. But you have to earn it.

In order to own your own beautiful, 3-color, 18″x24″ lithograph poster (and it is even more striking in person) created by Jeff Proctor for the Black Keys’ December 11, 2010, show at the Rimac Arena in San Diego, California, you’ll have to tell us about an important music moment in your life. Be it funny or touching or something that will make us all want to slash our wrists, whether it involves playing music, listening to music or meeting a music hero, as long as it was important, influential and memorable to you, we want to read about it.

The sharer of the best music moment, judged by my own indefinable I’ll-know-it-when-I-see-it standards, will win my extra Black Keys zombie poster to have, to hold and to scare young children with. The deadline for entry will be 5 PM EST on January 26, and I will announce the winner on the NTSIB anniversary, January 27, giving you about a week to compose your entry. And that’s one (1) entry per person, please. Submit your entry as a comment to this post, and please remember to include a reliable e-mail address. (We reserve the right to share your story in a future post to the blog, though, of course, with full credit to you and retaining no copyright for ourselves.)

Good luck, kids. Thanks for being here.

 

No comments

Give: Shivering Timbers

  By

 

Not that they need our help, but they’re going to get it anyway. The lovely and talented Shivering Timbers, out of Akron, Ohio, are raising funds for their next album. I just found out about this Kickstarter project yesterday, and I see that Sarah and Jayson have already surpassed their original fundraising goal (that would allow them to produce a basic version of their forthcoming album) and have even surpassed their second goal (that would fund high-quality mastering, a vinyl release or both), but there is still a third goal that you can participate in that would allow high-quality mastering, plus vinyl releases of the forthcoming album and of their debut album, We All Started in the Same Place.

Aside from getting to enjoy more of the Shivering Timbers’ unique and enchanting music, the Benns are also offering up some wonderful and personal items as rewards for pledging: Sarah’s 1950s Bacon & Day banjo, Jayson’s 1965 Kay Galaxie hollow-body electric guitar, a quilt made by Sarah’s grandmother, a day in the studio with the band and more. Wow.

For a listen to some songs from their first album and some new material – including songs from their recent Daytrotter session – please visit their website.

 

Shivering Timbers @ Kickstarter

Shivering Timbers @ Daytrotter

Shivering Timbers Official Website

2 Comments

Ain’t Talkin’ ‘Bout Van Halen

  By

Okay, yes, I am.

About a week ago, apropos of nothing, I felt the urge to do a post about covers of Van Halen songs. There is just something about Van Halen that transcends aversions to spandex and sexism. I have a feeling it has something to do with David Lee Roth (I can still un-ironically enjoy “Hot for Teacher”, but I can’t listen to “Why Can’t This Be Love?” without wincing). Though I can no longer stomach most of the David Lee wannabees who so littered the wasteland of my youth, I am still charmed by Roth’s unapologetic showboating. And if you can’t rock out to “Panama”, you just don’t know why rocking out was created, my friend.

Here, I give you a few choice Van Halen covers, beginning with my favorite Van Halen cover: the Black Diamond Heavies doing up “Ain’t Talkin’ ‘Bout Love” and proving that you don’t need guitar to be badass. And feedback-y.

 

 

Next, the minutemen covering… “Ain’t Talkin’ ‘Bout Love”. Hey, bite me, it’s the minutemen. And since it’s the minutemen, it will only take a minute of your time. Less than a minute, actually.

 

 

Next up, San Francisco swingsters from hell Lee Press-on and the Nails add big, beautiful horns to the horny “Hot for Teacher”.

 

 

And to round us out, “Jump” as covered by… Aztec Camera!? Like I said: Van Halen transcends boundaries.

 

 

In a moment of serendipitous timing, a few days after gathering this list of covers, Rick Saunders dished the info that Van Halen was featuring a new single on their website. Check out “Tattoo”.

 

Van Halen – Tattoo from Van Halen on Vimeo.

No comments

More Deep Space Doom Funk from Phantom Tails

  By

 

Check out some new heavy, fuzzy synthfunk from one of our awesome discoveries of last year, Phantom Tails.

 

 

You can listen to and purchase the album, The Armageddon Experience, here, and if you’re in the Twin Cities, you can see them live on the following dates:

Jan 12 @ Hell’s Kitchen w/Fort Wilson Riot & Hevy Syrup

Jan 20 @ Turf Club w/ Sleeping in the Aviary

Feb 10 @ Triple Rock w/ SexCat & Umami

 

Phantom Tails @ Bandcamp

Phantom Tails @ Facebook

PhantomTailsTV

No comments

JC Brooks and the Uptown Sound at the Beachland Tavern, Cleveland, OH, 12.1.11

  By

Hey, kids! Trying to get back on the pony after a tumultuous time, so here’s my criminally-overdue review of an incredible show.

I was in love and angry that night I headed down to the Beachland to see JC Brooks and the Uptown Sound. In Cleveland, we know a lot about being in love and angry. It’s a way of life, from how we feel about our sports teams to how we feel about the way our local government treats our city to the personal stories that play out on every street, every day. And there are many ways to deal with this way of being – some constructive, some violent, some destructive in subtle ways.

JC Brooks and the Uptown Sound saw to it that I worked it out through physical abandon. What I’m saying is, dudes’ll make you dance.

It’s clear from the get-go that JCBUS come with the strong intent to grab the crowd and move it. Echoing charismatic performers who have come before, the Uptown Sound started the show by playing an intstrumental groove, a little appetizer to give a taste of what was coming. Then over the boogie, keyboardist Andy Rosenstein prepped the crowd before he announced the man, who had been sequestered in the back until his grand entrance. Resplendent in white dinner jacket, black slacks and Janelle Monáe ‘do, Brooks set about engaging the crowd without hesitation and with no lack of confidence, though free of ego. I know I can make you dance, his demeanor projected, but I know you can leave, too, so I’m glad you’re here, and if you give me a chance, I know you’ll like what I’ve got for you.

With this attitude, it didn’t take long for Brooks to have the room (with a decent number of people on hand for a weeknight show in the Tavern) on his side. And like a lover who lives for giving pleasure, JCBUS weren’t going to let up once they hit that spot that made the crowd go, “Oh yes!” Pulling out a playlist that drew heavily from their latest album Want More (“Everything Will be Fine”, “Bad News”, “Sister Ray Charles”, etc.), a tune or two from earlier albums (“Baltimore is the New Brooklyn”, “The Beat of Our Own Drum”) and a couple of sing-along-with-me-now covers (“Tainted Love”, “I am Trying to Break Your Heart”), each song seemed to build upon the intensity of the previous one. Just when you thought they had blown their load by blowing the doors off the place with one song, they took the roof down with the next song. By the end of their heartily-demanded encore, there wasn’t a metaphorical beam or rafter left standing.

And while they had torn the place down, I felt built up. Many of the songs seemed to speak directly to my situation at the time, and moving my ass and stomping my feet to the fine-edged soul of JCBUS had a cathartic effect. “Things are shitty,” the music seemed to agree with me, “and the future doesn’t look too bright, but you’ve been through heavier trials than this before. You’ll come out the other side intact… and until then, don’t forget that booze and drugs are fun!”

In a year of great shows, JC Brooks and the Uptown Sound was one of the best I attended. If you have the chance, I cannot urge you strongly enough to check out this genuinely fun and entertaining show from this tight, hot group.

I don’t have photos or video of the night due to technical difficulties (damn battery-hog camera), but check out the video below of a different show (and more here) for a taste.

 

Feature photo by Nate Burrell, courtesy of KDHX

No comments

Feel Bad For You, January 2012

  By

 

The FBFY talent pool has corralled a smattering of favorite songs of 2011. Eclectic, quirky, odd… and that’s just the contributors. Stream or download below.

 

Download.

 

1. Title: Devil In New Orleans
Artist: Powder Mill
Album (2011): Southern Independent Vol. 2
Submitted By: Adam Sheets
Comments: Of all the exclusives we put on the three volumes of Southern Independent, this is probably my favorite.

2. Title: New Orleans
Artist: Robyn Ludwick
Album (2011): Out Of These Blues
Submitted By: Mando Lines (Jim Warren)
Comments: My favorite track off of one of my favorite records of 2011. Robyn Ludwick is a Robison, as in sister to Charlie and Bruce, but she’s got her own take on being a singer-songwriter. As New Orleans demonstrates, her voice is sexy, her lyrics are smart and her songs are real.

3. Title: The Reckoning
Artist: Mount Moriah
Album (2011): Mount Moriah
Submitted By: Ryan (Verbow at Altcountrytab)
Comments: One of the more upbeat songs off this album. Sweet vocals, beautiful melody, just makes you feel good all over. If you’ve ever liked any music described as “alt-country” you need to check this album out. A perfect blend of country and indie rock – go get this one now.

4.Title: I Make Enemies
Artist: Daniel Knox
Album (2011): Everyman for Himself
Submitted By: April @ Now This Sound Is Brave
Comments: Since I already submitted my favorite song of 2011 to the August FBFY, here’s my top runner-up from Couch by Couchwest alumni Daniel Knox. With some help from Akron, Ohio’s own Ralph Carney (Tin Huey, Tom Waits, the Black Keys), Knox spins a heartfelt tale of love for humanity. Ah, my cockles, they are warmed.

5. Title: Out With The Embers
Artist: Ghosts I’ve Met
Album (2011): From A Spark
Submitted By: erschen

6. Title: Out Of These Blues
Artist: Robyn Ludwick
Album (2011): Out Of These Blues
Submitted By: Truersound
Comments: Has been my favorite song for the better part of the year. I love everything about it.

7. Title: You Been Lyin’
Artist: Black Joe Lewis & the Honeybears
Album (2011): Scandalous (2011)
Submitted By: BoogieStudio22
Comments: Four of my top ten favorite albums leaned toward R&B and Soul-influenced sound. Black Joe Lewis & the Honeybears captured it beautifully. Great band to see live too!

8. Title: You Devil You
Artist: John Paul Keith
Album (2011): The Man That Time Forgot
Submitted By: @mikeorren
Comments: Lots of new music this year, but I keep going back to this one. And I’m always a sucker for a Devil song.

9. Title: Workin’ Man Zombie
Artist: 4 On The Floor
Album (2011): 4 x 4
Submitted By: toomuchcountry
Comments: Nothing like a little optimism about the working life to begin the new year.

10. Title: Shut Up And Love Me
Artist: The Dead Exs
Album (2011): Resurrection
Submitted By: @Popa2unes
Comments: I’m trying to make it on 10 dollars a day, I’m working part time and their docking my pay, My baby tells me we got three mouths to feed, I’d stop complaining if she just say to me, Shut up and love me.

11. Title: Sweet Disposition
Artist: Lori McKenna
Album (2011): Lorraine
Submitted By: @Rockstar_Aimz
Comments: I think that this song may be about me.

12. Title: Before the Night is Gone
Artist: Zoe Muth & Lost High Rollers
Album (2011): Starlight Hotel
Submitted By: Simon

13. Title: Ashes Of Burned Out Stars
Artist: The Pollies
Album: N/A – Live From The Shoals track (rough)
Submitted By: Corey Flegel – This Is American Music
Comments: The Pollies are just another band along with DBT, Jason Isbell, The Civil Wars, Doc Dailey, and Lauderdale that hail from Muscle Shoals, Alabama. No big deal…they will have their proper coming out party in 2012. Be ready…

14. Title: Freaks and Geeks
Artist: Childish Gambino
Album: EP (2011)
Submitted By: Phil Norman | @philnorman
Comments: My favorite records of the year would be folks like Jason Isbell, Chis Thile & Michael Daves, Glossary, and Gillian. But when I looked at my iTunes playcounts, a little guilty pleasure was right there at the top. Donald Glover is insanely talented.

15. Title: Bummer
Artist: JEFF the brotherhood
Album (2011): We Are The Champions
Submitted By: annieTUFF
Comments: I was able to catch JEFF the brotherhood at the Pilot Light here in Knoxville back in September, and I feel really lucky that I did. It was an amazing show, one that I keep thinking about. (I posted about it on my tumblr…just in case you wanna see pics) It was definitely in my top live shows of 2011, sooooo I decided to pick a song off their 2011 album “We Are The Champions” for this mix.

16. Title: God-Fearing People
Artist: Kelsey Waldon
Album: Anybody’s Darlin’ EP
Submitted By: Trailer