Tag: Ohio represent

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Bits: free Jay Bennett album, Hell and Half of Georgia and The Famous shows, listen to Peter Wolf Crier, the Black Keys on late night

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  • The Jay Bennett Foundation, an organization supporting music and education started by the late musician’s mother and brother, will be releasing Bennett’s final solo album, Kicking at the Perfumed Air, as a free download on July 10 (a portion of physical album sales will go to the foundation). You can take a listen to two of the songs from the album at Pitchfork.

  • NTSIB friends Hell and Half of Georgia and the Famous have shows coming up. HaHoG will be playing Alex’s Bar in Long Beach, California, on June 5, and the Famous will be playing at the first annual Brewfest, hosted by the San Francisco Giants, on May 29 at AT&T; Park in San Francisco.

  • Inter-Be, the debut album by Peter Wolf Crier, is up for free listening at Spinner.com. They’ll be playing the Beachland Ballroom in Cleveland on July 22 with the Builders and the Butchers and Heartless Bastards. There’s no way that show could be anything but killer.

  • Because you know we can’t help ourselves mentioning them right now, the Black Keys will be playing The Late Show with David Letterman tonight and Late Night with Jimmy Fallon tomorrow. If you’ll be in NYC tomorrow, you can enter the Band Bench Sweepstakes for a chance to hang out in the bleachers on stage for the performance.

This sweet-ass video of the excellent “Too Afraid To Love You” from the new Black Keys’ album, Brothers, gives a glimpse into Dan and Pat’s time at the historic Muscle Shoals Sound Studios.

http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=11883860&server=vimeo.com&show_title=1&show_byline=1&show_portrait=0&color=&fullscreen=1

“Too Afraid To Love You” by The Black Keys from Jorge Ortiz on Vimeo.

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Futurebirds & Jessica Lea Mayfield at the Beachland Ballroom in Cleveland, OH, 5.19.10

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Futurebirds

With six members playing pedal steel guitar, bass, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, banjo, mandolin and drums – switching off instruments and vocals throughout the set – Futurebirds have a hell of a lot of strings, but you wouldn’t mistake them for a string band. You might mistake them for a really big bar band, though. I’ll just be honest and say that their music didn’t do much for me, but their sense of humor did. A band who can play to a nearly-empty hall and still enjoy the hell out of themselves is okay in my book. The crowd was willing to give them the benefit of the doubt, and they were rewarded when the band kicked in three great songs at the end of their set, one led by drummer Payton Bradford who came out from behind his kit to strap on a Fender and go.

(One song was dedicated to LeBron James. “This one’s for LeBron. Maybe he’ll stay,” they said, perhaps in a bid to further endear themselves to the crowd. “He won’t,” came the reply out of the audience. The blacklash has begun. Have fun with that, King James.)

Jessica Lea Mayfield

Jessica Lea Mayfield is so laconic in speech and movement that you may sometimes feel as though you’re watching slow-motion film when you see her. This has led some to deem her bland. But Mayfield’s true talent – that of holding a microscope up to emotion, whether good, bad, ugly or indifferent – doesn’t require glitz or stagey charisma. But don’t think for a moment that Mayfield doesn’t know how to capture a catchy tune. The wordless refrain of “Kiss Me Again”, as one example, will lodge itself in your brain the first time you hear it.

Mayfield, who is impressively pale and is all skinny arms and legs, seems shy between songs, bowing her head bashfully as she thanks the audience for their cheering appreciation. But in her song subject matter and in her voice, Mayfield is bold. Though only 20 years old, she has long had an old soul self-awareness, and while she seems her age between songs, once she is playing and singing, Mayfield becomes an ancient sage, holding up a mirror to all of us as she holds one up to herself.

But a Jessica Lea Mayfield show is not a solemn occasion, partially thanks to her support band which, this evening, consisted of her brother, David, on upright bass, Richie Kirkpatrick (in unnervingly tiny shorts) on electric guitar and a drummer whose name I didn’t catch (not Anne Lillis). Kirkpatrick is sometimes caricaturish, but entertaining, in his rock and rolling, and David Mayfield is a powerhouse of energy and vitality. During the scorching crescendo of “I Can’t Lie to You, Love” (don’t let it be said that Mayfield and company don’t know how to kick it), the Mayfield brother could be seen laying on the stage, holding the bass up with his feet as eh played, then laying the bass down and beating percussion on the strings.

Perhaps Jessica Lea Mayfield’s music is not for everyone, but it’s still surprising – and disappointing – how small the audience was for the northeast Ohio native’s show. But , as seems so often the way within our little cradle of civilization, Mayfield will gain more recognition and success ass he continues to tour with friends like the Avett Brothers and the Black Keys, and then NEO will embrace her with open arms after the rest of the world warmly embraces that which was right under our noses the entire time.

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Slackday: Deeper Shade of Soul

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This day has left me haggard, and it’s not even half over yet, so this week’s Slackday is going to be full of soothing soul sounds of the ’60s and ’70s.

Well, of course there was going to be a Black Keys tie-in. I was excited when I learned that the Keys would be covering Jerry Butler’s “Never Gonna Give You Up”, and they didn’t disappoint me. Here’s the original, with Butler in a stylin’ suit.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-PKQHNXPRI]

I will drop whatever I’m doing whenever I’m doing it to listen to “Me and Mrs. Jones” by Billy Paul. (Stick with this one. Paul starts out a little weak, but he ends strong.)

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

I couldn’t find a clip of the more recent performance of “Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me” by Mel Carter that I’ve seen, but you can get a very good idea of just how impressive Carter’s voice still is here.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=45_8zWktVNE]

And I can’t end this post without including the song that gave us today’s subtitle. Please don’t sue me if you get nostalgia whiplash off of this one.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o5PNYNQqnvk]

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Bits: This Is Jim Jones, Sleigh Bells, Trent’s new joint, Liquid Swords II, Murder by Death & whiskey, litrock, Frank the Funkasaurus Rex wrecks ya

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If you have somehow missed the puppet dinosaur craze, please meet Frank the Funkasaurus Rex. Frank loves him some tits ‘n’ tubs, and we love Frank.

Addendum: So, that scroll across the bottom? Not a joke. TBK was seriously pissed about this video. Sorry, guys. Wish I had known before.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x_PrT25o8Vs]

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Obsess Much? : The Black Keys, Magic Potion

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Obsess Much? is a new feature wherein I will do what I do best, the very thing that led me to start this blog in the first place: completely fixate on one artist/album/genre/enclave/whatever and talk on and on and on about it, sharing information and opinions with anyone in shouting distance, whether they like it or not.

You’re loving it already, right?

So whomever/whatever I’m obsessing on, whether a new artist or an act who has been around for a while or a band who aren’t even together anymore, I will share my enthusiasm in unnecessarily great detail.

Regular readers may have noticed that, since the Black Keys posted their new song “Tighten Up” from their forthcoming album Brothers on their MySpace page, I have been hardcore about all things coming from these two, sharp Akron boys. As an Ohioan who seems to be subconsciously drawn to acts from Ohio, I have been listening to and loving the Black Keys for a long time, but it is only with this current wave of fixation that I have nearly completed my Black Keys collection (Brothers is on pre-order in both the vinyl and deluxe CD editions, so I just have to obtain Feel Good Together, the album from Pat Carney’s side project, Drummer). The last album I picked up was Magic Potion.

I had gathered that MP was not a well-received album – at least not with critics – and I let that scare me off of picking it up for a while. Now that I have it and have listened to it repeatedly (approximately 15 times this past weekend – these guys have a knack for making music I want to listen to over and over immediately), I can’t say I understand why. It is hot. In terms of the music, it is the sexiest album they’ve made so far. Lyrically, it was the beginning of a personal rawness that continued on their next album, Attack and Release. “The Flame” may be the best song about being hurt again and again until one’s heart grows numb ever written.

Reading some of the lukewarm reviews from its release, I think the problem reviewers had with it was the classic “Oh no! It’s different from what they’ve done before!” issue because Magic Potion was the album where they began to evolve their sound beyond the blues, the sound that makes Attack and Release my favorite album of theirs so far. And, too, I think critics had a problem with the tempo of MP being slower – there aren’t as man foot-stompers as on the other albums, but I think the evidence within the songs (and backed up by the fact that Dan’s list of thank-yous in the liner notes do not, for the first time, include a certain female name that had been included on all previous albums) points to this being the result of the break-up of a long-term relationship. You’re just not going to make a big-rockin’ album when your years-long relationship has disintegrated.

Of course, there is also the problem that self-proclaimed music critics tend to focus on the wrong aspects of music and/or are dumb. Note this typically what-the-hell-is-wrong-with-you line from Pitchfork’s review: ‘There’s very little spark to early sequenced numbers “Your Touch”[…]’ I’m sorry, what? Are we thinking of the same song here, dude, because, I don’t know about anyone else, but that song has always eaten my head with its awesomocity. (The review also dismisses “Strange Desire” for rhyming “desire” with “fire”. This is not uncommon for a Pitchfork review, but it still amazes me when they pull out that kind of crap.)

So, Magic Potion: don’t believe the anti-hype.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mBPGm4Fbo0Q]

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The Helper T-Cells: I Live in an Unstable

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You know it, I know it: Mondays are shit. We can’t even abolish them because then Tuesday would just become the new Monday. But you know what we can do? We can listen to the Helper T-Cells.

Who are the Helper T-Cells? Got me. All I know is I ended up with their EP More Odd-Toe Ungulates & Nose Rubbin’ Shrubs in my Record Store Day goodie bag from Music Saves and find it delightful. I’m not even certain this band is still together as their MySpace page has not been updated since August of last year, though I did discover that key band member Ray Scott is also a member of the very fine traditional string band One Dollar Hat (who, like the Helper T-Cells, have an extremely limited web presence).

Anyway, here, have some sunshine. Good for adults, good for children, and especially good for adult children.

http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=3218158&server=vimeo.com&show_title=1&show_byline=1&show_portrait=0&color=f09c00&fullscreen=1

The Helper T-Cells Music Video “Sprout Springer” from zak long on Vimeo.

The Helper T-Cells MySpace

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Rebirth of the Cool: Grown So Ugly

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Back to the blues we go for this installment of Rebirth of the Cool.

The story of Robert Pete Williams echoes the story of many of the great bluesmen: born in Louisiana in 1914, Williams grew up poor and uneducated. He was discovered in Angola prison, while serving time for killing a man, by a pair of ethnomusicologists who pressured the parole board for a pardon. He played the 1964 Newport Folk Festival alongside the likes of “re-discovered” greats like Skip James, Son House and others, heralding the height of the 1960s blues revival.

“Grown So Ugly” is probably Williams’ best-known song, thanks to the next two acts we’ll talk about. Williams had a percussive style of guitar-playing and his singing style could call up the grit of Howlin’ Wolf one moment and the haunting falsetto of Skip James the next.

http://www.lala.com/external/flash/SingleSongWidget.swf

In 1967, Captain Beefheart brought his Magic Band and his husky yelp to the song and turned it into a jazzy cry.

http://www.lala.com/external/flash/SingleSongWidget.swf

The version recorded by the Black Keys in 2004 is, essentially, a cover of a cover, taking their cues from the Beefheart rendition. The Keys, of course, add a lot of low end to the song, bringing out a darkness that can easily be overlooked in the original and the Beefheart version.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nThv8ZLWCLk]

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Fight for Your Right: I Need That Record

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Woohoo, rekkids!

Record Store Day was a great success for all involved, it seems. It certainly was for NTSIB, and the store where we celebrated, Music Saves in Cleveland, broke their record from last year. It really did feel like a Christmas for music geeks, and I was in high spirits all day as I spun my new vinyl.

For the curious, I picked up: the Black Keys “Tighten Up”/”Howlin’ for You” 12″ – which was obtained without bloodshed – the TV on the Radio Dear Science LP, the Joe Strummer and the Mescaleros “Global A Go-Go” LP and the I Need That Record! DVD. I almost didn’t pick up I Need That Record!, but after watching it, I was very glad that I did.

I Need That Record! is a documentary by Brendan Toller on, as the subtitle states, “the death (and possible survival) of the indpendent record store”. If you are a music geek, you know that record stores do still exist. If you’ve been reading NTSIB, you know they still exist. But some people don’t even realize there are still actual, physical stores out there that do indeed sell vinyl, as well as CDs, etc. Even some of the people interviewed for this doc, like legendary noise-composer Glenn Branca, were unsure of the continued existence of record stores, illustrating the very problem this doc investigates.

For many people who follow music – or even for those who follow the plight of independent businesses in general – much of the ground covered in Record will not be news, but there will still be pieces of information that will surprise the viewer. And the treatment of the subject is fairly even-handed, spreading the responsibility among major labels, big box stores, internet downloads and consumers. But the big draw of this doc is the passion of the people involved with independent record stores, from the music makers to the shop owners to, most importantly, the music buyers. The stand-out moment of Record is when a loyal customer of Trash American Style, who gives his name as “John the Bomb”, goes on an impassioned rant about what music and the record store mean to him.

I was choked up by it, anyway.

If you’re less of an emotional twit than I am, you might be lured by the appearance of a number of serious names, such as Branca, Ian Mackaye, Thurston Moore, Legs McNeil, the legendary Noam Chomsky, the fascinating Lenny Kaye or the great Mike Watt. For readers in Cleveland, there is a special thrill in seeing Melanie and Kevin from Music Saves show up.

I am very happy to have this great work in my hand in tangible form (because I’m one of those tactile junkies who loves vinyl as much for the ability to hold the cover in my hands and pore over the liner notes as I listen to the record as much as for the sound quality), but for those solely interested in the content, Pitchfork is streaming the entire documentary in their One Week Only spotlight. So there’s no reason not to watch this genuinely moving and, I’ll just say it, important documentary.

Please watch it.

I’ll be your best friend forever.

Pitchfork One Week Only: I Need That Record!

I Need That Record! Official Site