No comments

Bits: Les Savy Fav, Walkmen, Lissie, RZA, A.A. Bondy

  By ,

  • Les Savy Fav will release a new album, Root For Ruin on September 14.

  • Also dropping September 14 will be the Walkmen’s Fat Possum debut, Lisbon. The band will hit the road next month.

  • Lissie, who has been a cover song powerhouse this year, will release her first full album, Catching a Tiger, on August 17, and you can pre-order it from Fat Possum now.

  • Via RZA’s Twitter: Post a picture of yourself with the Swarm cover/logo to RZA’s Facebook for a chance to win an autographed copy of Pollen: The Swarm, Part 3. Winner will be chosen June 26.

  • NTSIB favorite and part of the inspiration for turning this blog into a reality, A.A. Bondy will be hitting the road again in October, sharing dates with his new label-mates the Walkmen.

Speaking of Lissie’s great covers, here she is doing Cleveland-native Kid Cudi’s “Pursuit of Happiness”.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQMJCOT2wlQ]

No comments

Hacienda at the Beachland Ballroom in Cleveland, OH, 6.19.10

  By ,

[No photos for this review as I was, sadly, too far back to get good shots. Which is a shame as Hacienda are handsome dudes.]

If there is a word that means loose and laid back, yet still full of great energy, Hacienda should be the illustrating photo for that word’s entry in the dictionary. From the moment the band came out and broke into their cover of the Everly Brothers’ “You’re My Girl” (a surprisingly dirty-minded song from the Everlys), the world just felt good. As they played great, dancing-required songs like “Who’s Heart Are You Breaking” and “She’s Got a Hold on Me”, I couldn’t help wishing I could see these guys play on their home turf of San Antonio, Texas, in some informal, small, outdoor venue with good beer, good people and barefoot dancing in the grass under the stars.

Speaking of good people, one of two complaints I could lodge about the evening was the audience (the other being the vocals mixed too low in the sound levels).* I did see people dotted through the crowd who were obviously enjoying Hacienda’s set as much as I was, but the majority of people seemed to be just waiting for Grace Potter and the Nocturnals (whom I didn’t stay for), more interested in looking around at other people in the crowd than watching the band. (I don’t expect people to always be interested in the opening act, but if you’re not there for the opener, how about moving to the back and sides of the venue so the people who do like the opener can enjoy them more?) And what was with all the middle-aged-and-older people again? Was Grace Potter on NPR recently or something? Still, the audience did give Hacienda the cheers that their final, ripping number (the only song of their set I didn’t recognize, likely off their first album) deserved.

*This is likely my own fault for not getting to the Beachland early enough to be up front. You might notice I complain about the audience less when I’m front and center at a show.

No comments

Slackday: Wayback Machine

  By

Prepare for nostalgia whiplash.

Larry Blackmon’s codpiece used to scare me a little. Now I think there are other things in this video that are far scarier.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MZjAantupsA]

One of my all-time favorite songs, notable for the fact that my mother still hates it. (Just found this video of Placebo covering the song.)

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SvC2LRTR8UI]

And this is the first video I recall seeing on MTV. It’s clever because they’re dressed like P.I.s, you see.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=anLfoy2XsFw]

No comments

Hacienda: It’s Time to Shake Ya

  By ,

Hacienda will be playing the Beachland Ballroom on Saturday, June 19, opening for Grace Potter and the Nocturnals. You should go see them.

What, you need more than that? My say-so isn’t good enough? Fine, how about this.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=McEkwSM7ofs]

Hacienda have shown up on NTSIB a couple of times before, in association with Dan Auerbach, but they deserve a little spotlight of their own. The band is comprised of the three Villanueva brothers – Rene, Abraham and Jaime – and their cousin Dante Schwebel and have been getting good buzz from People With Good Taste (like Hear Ya and Aquarium Drunkard). Their work with Auerbach – he has produced for them and took them on the road as his band for his solo tour – has surely helped them get noticed, but it’s their own talent that’s getting them talked about. If you are familiar with Dan Auerbach’s solo album Keep It Hid, it only takes a moment of listening to understand why Hacienda was the perfect choice for Auerbach’s touring band. They are steeped in a ‘60s garage sound imbued with modern sensibilities and blossoming with energetic harmonies. Stand-out songs include She’s Got a Hold on Me (which I spent half a day listening to on repeat), Shake Ya and Who's Heart Are You Breaking

It promises to be a great show, and I’m personally looking forward to watching Rene exercise those bass-playing chops in person – he’s something else.

Hacienda Official Website
Hacienda HearYa Session
Hacienda Daytrotter Session

2 Comments

Rock ‘n’ Roll Photog: The Like

  By , ,

If Jennifer’s profile below of the Like intrigues you, you can listen to their new album at Spinner.

Reasons why I love The Like:

1. Snappy songwriting. I was initially hooked by Release Me, a subtle twist on a familiar trope, in which it is the girl begging the boy to let her go before she breaks his heart. I was further intrigued by Wishing He Was Dead, a song for women wronged everywhere, and, the other side of the same coin, He’s Not A Boy, simultaneously an appreciation of bad boys and a reminder that you can never, ever change them. (All of those songs are on their new record, also called Release Me, which came out yesterday.)

IMG_7507
Z Berg, at Maxwell’s, Hoboken, NJ

2. They do interesting things with percussion, from the drum intro to Fair Game — a dramatic, fast beat that expands (but doesn’t slow down) to meet the guitars and the organ – to the combination drums/handclaps that kick off Release Me. The drums are also strong in their early work; one of my favorite songs from their Are You Thinking What I’m Thinking? (2005) is June Gloom, mainly for the steady, rolling beat.

IMG_7591
Annie Monroe (far left) and Z Berg, Bowery Ballroom, New York, NY

IMG_7518
Laena Geronimo, Maxwell’s, Hoboken, NJ

3. In addition to the interesting drums, there are beautiful harmonies, with Z Berg periodically soaring over the rest of the band. Also, basically, all of their songs make me want to dance around the kitchen and sing along. I particularly enjoy the subtle modern bite of the lyrics next to the retro-sweetness of the music.

IMG_7592
Laena Geronimo, Bowery Ballroom, New York, NY

IMG_7520
Tennessee Thomas, Maxwell’s, Hoboken, NJ

4. Their whole-hearted commitment to ’60s style and glamour. Like their sound, their look is distinctive, different, and refreshing.

— Jennifer

No comments

Bits: The Famous, Daytrotter show, Maximum Balloon, Alan Moore, Suckers, Flaming Lips, the Black Keys, Devo, Big Boi

  By ,

Big Boi puts the boom-boom in your CPU with a video for “General Patton”.

http://www.worldstarhiphop.com/videos/e/16711680/wshhjj7288GvCQ442o28

No comments

Cab Calloway: Are You Fly?

  By ,

Gather around, kidlets, because I have a secret to share. Did you know we did not invent being hip? Seventy, eight, ninety years ago, people were hip. It’s true! Some were so hip then that they would still be hip now. One of the hippest of them all was singer/composer/bandleader Cabell “Cab” Calloway. Of course, in Cab’s day, it was often called being “hep”, which sounds much cooler.

I first knew Calloway as the debonair older gentleman in white tails who would show up occasionally on Sesame Street. Even though he was in his 70s by that time, his energetic spirit was still fully intact. And his charisma was such that, even at the age of five or six, I knew I was watching someone very special.

I know I’m not introducing some new or obscure talent here – most everyone reading this has probably heard Calloway’s biggest hit, “Minnie the Moocher”, more times than can be counted – but talents of the past can often seem boring, dated or amusingly innocent in the here-and-now. But Calloway wasn’t really playing it safe, though perhaps his use of jive slang made it seem so to squares. In “Minnie the Moocher” alone, there are references to moral ambiguity (“she was a red-hot hoochie coocher”, using her womanly wiles to get what she wanted) and drug use (when Min was taught how to “kick the gong around”, she was being introduced to opium). And an extended version of the song had Minnie and her man going to jail and Min dying in an insane asylum. With songs like “Minnie”, “Reefer Man” and “The Lady with the Fan”, Calloway wasn’t exactly painting pictures of a Norman Rockwell life.

Mentored into the business by his older sister and idol, Blanche, who was already a successful bandleader and singer, Calloway evolved into an all-around performer, singing and dancing as he conducted his band – a band which was, in turn, a springboard for many jazz greats, Dizzy Gillespie being the most famous example. (Speaking of the opposite of Norman Rockewll, Gillespie was fired when a misunderstanding over a spitball ended in Gillespie stabbing Calloway in the leg.) George Gershwin took Calloway as the model for the smooth and sly Sportin’ Life in his musical Porgy and Bess. And the Calloway flair extended into rock ‘n’ roll where he was a notable influence on Little Richard, Prince and Danny Elfman.

My first clue to how hip Cab Calloway was came when I finally took a concentrated interest in his music a few years ago. When I put on the great Calloway collection Are You Hep to the Jive? from Legacy and track five, the title track came up, I had to stop and play it again to be sure I was hearing it right. Back in 1940, long before Raekwon the Chef talked about “that motherfuckin’ fly shit”, before the Fly Girls danced around the set of In Living Color, Cab Calloway asked his listeners, “Do you lace your boots high? Are you fly, are you fly?” And his music was “rockin'” before Alan Freed claimed the term “rock and roll”.

Today, Cab Calloway’s music still sounds hot and fresh. It can still make you feel good. And Calloway is still one of the heppest cats to ever live.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gnt6zCDO73M]

Cab Calloway Official Website

The New Cab Calloway’s Hepsters Dictionary: Language of Jive

Cab Calloway: Original Rapper

No comments

Slackday: Theme Time Time with Cadillac Sky

  By

In addition to being talented musicians and songwriters, the members of Cadillac Sky are also a bunch of goofballs. It’s part of what we love about them. Their YouTube account features, along with some performances and some interesting behind-the-scenes documentation, something called “Theme Time Time”, which is basically Matt Menefee and David Mayfield acting like dorks and exercising their playing fingers at the same time. All under a minute long, the clips are a nice way to get a smile and hear some good picking.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dhHAjj13HRQ]

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O2hClojlyh0]

No comments

Obsess Much? : Dan Auerbach never stops

  By

Okay, in terms of making this Cadillac Sky Week at NTSIB, this may be cheating a little, but since it’s my blog and you can’t stop me…

Dan Auerbach – of Akron, Ohio’s the Black Keys, if you don’t know by now – loves music. This may seem an obvious thing to say about a musician, but it’s more true of some than others. To quote the man himself from his Nonesuch feature page, “I’m pretty obsessed with making music and with recording, I’m always thinking about it. It drives my family crazy. But it’s what I do.” Auerbach likes being on both sides of the recording console and in his “spare” time, he lends his help, and his home studio, to a long list of bands. Here is a gathering of Auerbach-produced songs from bands ranging in vibe from bluegrass to blues to punk.

Cadillac Sky – Nashville, Tennessee


Obviously, we here at NTSIB love these guys and encourage you, again, to pick up their new album, Letters in the Deep, and catch them live if at all possible.

Buffalo Killers – Cincinnati, Ohio

Hacienda – San Antonio, Texas
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mo09-bn8TjY]
You might also recognize these guys as the Fast Five, the name they used when touring as Auerbach’s support band on his solo tour. They’ll be in Cleveland, Ohio, at the Beachland Ballroom on June 19 when they open for Grace Potter and the Nocturnals.

SSM – Detroit, Michigan

Patrick Sweany – Nashville, Tennessee

The Ettes – Nashville, Tennessee
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VqzTIqqRjiQ]

Radio Moscow – Story City, Iowa

Brimstone Howl – Omaha, Nebraska

Jessica Lea Mayfield – Kent, Ohio
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o672fxTF1vc]
Jessica is gearing up to release a third album, and the early word fro
m her brother David is that it is mind-blowing. She’ll be opening for the Black Keys when they play Nautica in Cleveland on July 24.

No comments

Rock ‘n’ Roll Photog: Cadillac Sky

  By , ,

More Cadillac Sky = more good. Jennifer shares a little of her experience with the guys during their New York show. Panda says this show was off the hook, and I don’t doubt it for a second.

Continuing the Cadillac Sky theme for this week, here’s some pictures from the show I went to over Memorial Day weekend. They played at Union Hall – the random picture of the old lady that was hanging on the wall behind the stage has sadly disappeared – and it was a rockin’ good time.

Note: Union Hall tends to be dark, and I was struggling a little bit with the low light. I do take pictures in color, I promise, it just happened that this time the black and white ones were (mostly) the ones that came out the sharpest.

IMG_7352
Bryan Simpson

IMG_7356
Matt Menefee and David Mayfield

IMG_7360
Matt Menefee and Andy “Panda” Moritz

At one point Dave, Bryan and Ross came down off the stage and into the crowd to do a cover of “I Will Follow You Into the Dark” by Death Cab for Cutie, which they made into a wrenching mountain ballad. By the end the whole room was singing along.

IMG_7361
Dave Mayfield, Bryan Simpson, and Ross Holmes

The absolute best cover of the evening, though (possibly of the year) was “Video Killed the Radio Star” done “B for Bluegrass”-style, which I didn’t photograph because I was too busy being filled with joy. Later in the evening there was also an epic guitar/fiddle battle, and I was pretty sure I detected bits and pieces of “Devil Went Down to Georgia” amid the cascading flurries of notes.

And finally, here they are doing a Stanley Brothers song barbershop quartet-style:

IMG_7373

— Jennifer