Tag: video

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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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Notable shows in the greater Cleveland area & NTSIB finally gets on the Local Natives tip

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Shows worth checking out this week in and around Cleveland:

The Beachland Ballroom & Tavern

  • Sun, Apr 25| 8:30 PM (8 PM door)
    Alcest
    Broccoli Samurai
    Trans Atlas
    Velnias
    $10.00 adv
    $12.00 dos
    Ballroom | All Ages

  • Sun, Apr 25| 9 PM (8 PM door)
    The Styrenes 35th Anniversary Tour
    Filmstrip
    Home & Garden
    $10.00
    Tavern | All Ages

  • Mon, Apr 26| 8:30 PM (8 PM door)
    Horse Feathers
    Cloud Nothings
    Brian Straw
    $8.00 adv
    $10.00 dos
    Tavern | All Ages

Grog Shop

  • Sat, Apr 24| 9 PM
    Aloha
    Pomegrantes
    The Buried Wires
    $8 adv
    $10 dos

  • Sun, Apr 25| 7 PM
    The Fam Base Tour feat.
    Clipse
    XV
    Doxx
    Smokescreen
    Blacease
    DJ K-Nyce
    $20

  • Tues, Apr 27| 8:30 PM
    Apples In Stereo
    Generationals
    Laminated Cat
    $12

  • Fri, Apr 30| 9 PM
    Yeasayer
    Sleigh Bells
    SOLD OUT

Now That’s Class

  • Thurs, Apr 29| 9 PM
    Harlem
    Mystery of Two
    The Wooly Bullies

Oberlin College

  • Tues, Apr 27
    KRS-ONE

  • Thurs, Apr 29
    Atlas Sound

Phantasy Nite Club

  • Tues, Apr 27| 7:30 PM (7 PM door)
    Faith and the Muse
    DJ Scary Lady Sarah
    A View So Cruel
    UTO
    Ludwyg
    Queue-up
    $6-$10

It’s been slow in coming, but NTSIB is finally getting into Local Natives, just in time for them to play the Beachland next month. Here’s the performance that helped things start to kick in, filmed at SXSW by Yours Truly.

http://assets.delvenetworks.com/player/loader.swf

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Slackday: Planes, Trains and Automobiles

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In the very early days of music videos, before they were called music videos, the teen idols of the 1950s and 1960s were made to do some goofy things, presumably in the spirit of making a fun and eye-catching video for all the kids. For instance, what could be more natural than having Martha Reeves and the Vandellas run around the Ford Mustang production line, interrupting the jobs of the line workers who are just trying to earn a buck.

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

While we’re at it, let’s put Dion in an airplane for no discernible reason.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wpRtTBn4VHU]

And Gene Vincent and His Blue Caps… well, they were too damn cool for these shenanigans, but they did participate in the tradition of shoe-horning an entire song performance in the middle of a (often plot-light) movie.

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

(Okay, I’ll be honest: I just really wanted to include Gene Vincent in today’s post because he was awesome.)

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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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Bits: R.I.P. Guru, Kings Go Forth debut, Ketch Secor deejays, Arcadia re-issue, Hip Hop Alley mixtape

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  • After having survived a heart attack last month, Gang Starr MC Guru has died of cancer at the age of 43.

  • Kings Go Forth release their debut album, The Outsiders Are Back today. Good, classic stuff.

  • From Old Crow Medicine Show: “You can now listen to archives of “The Old Time Hour with Ketch Secor” at the WSM website. Go to the WSM archives, click the arrow in upper right hand corner of the player, scroll right and click ‘Guest Hosts’. Then scroll down to find Ketch’s shows – and stay tuned for next’s month’s show.”

  • Who remembers the Duran Duran one-off side-project Arcadia? NTSIB remembers it fondly and has discovered that the album, So Red the Rose, is being re-issued. You can take a listen at Spinner.

  • Pigeons & Planes and the Music Ninja bring you a pretty sweet mixtape called The Hip Hop Alley, featuring Big Boi, Mos Def and Damian Marley & Nas, among others.

  • I’m just going to say London, Pixies, and drop this here.

If you haven’t already, it’s high time you introduced your face to the Dirtbombs.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-53uojoesME]

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Notable shows in the greater Cleveland area & Josh Homme talks RSD

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Shows worth checking out this week in and around Cleveland:

The Beachland Ballroom & Tavern

  • Sat, Apr 17| 9 PM (8 PM door)
    Dosh
    White Hinterland
    The Sleeps
    $10.00
    Tavern | All Ages

  • Sun, Apr 18| 8:30 PM (8 PM door)
    Radio Moscow
    Naam
    The Suede Brothers
    $10.00
    Tavern | All Ages

  • Fri, Apr 23| 9 PM (8 PM door)
    Detroit Cobras
    Living Stereo
    The Guile
    $12.00 adv
    $14.00 dos
    Ballroom | All Ages

Grog Shop

  • Sat, Apr 17| 9 PM
    At the B-Side Liquor Lounge: Questlove (DJ Set)
    Hosted by Babylon
    DJ K-Nyce
    $15

  • Sat, Apr 17| 9 PM
    Th’ Ledgendary Shackshakers
    Elliot Brood
    Heelsplitter
    $12

  • Sun, Apr 18| 9 PM
    Red Sparowes
    Caspian
    Fang Island
    $10

  • Thurs, Apr 22| 9 PM
    A Night with the Davenport Collective feat.
    Afternoon Naps
    Shiny Penny
    Megachurch
    Dreadful Yawns
    rubella
    Remember
    $5

Musica

  • Sat, Apr 17| 9 PM
    Monotonix
    This Moment in Black History
    As If
    IIWII
    $12

  • Mon, Apr 19| 8 PM
    Maps & Atlases
    Drink Up Buttercup
    Wild Boy of Aveyron
    Owlbear
    $9 adv

The Winchester Tavern & Music Hall

  • Sat, Apr 17|
    The Church
    $35 (includes CD)

The Kent Stage

  • Sat, Apr 17| 8:30 PM
    Simeon Soul Charger
    Nicholas Megalis
    Eclyptic
    $5

Phantasy Nite Club

  • Sat, Apr 17| 8 PM
    Ray Cash
    Reloaded f. Zel
    Cali Miles
    Skent Dukes
    ROB
    DJ Jack da Rippa
    $13, ages 18-20
    $10, ages 21 & over

Allen Theater

  • Sat, Apr 17| 8 PM
    The Roots
    $25-$45

House of Blues

  • Thurs, Apr 22| 8 PM (7 PM door)
    Echo and the Bunnymen
    $24.50 adv
    $27.00 dos
    $35.00 balcony

Here’s Record Store Day ambassador Joshua Homme with some words of wisdom.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QniH-KV5PMs]

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Slackday: NTSIB feels unclean.

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I don’t even know why some things exist in the world…

So, Leadbelly, he was great. A discovery of most honorable song-collectors John and Alan Lomax, he was a convicted murderer who, the popular rumor had it, was pardoned from prison because he played such great songs. It turned out not to be true (the murder part was true, but he was eligible for early release for good behavior), but he was still great. He knew a lot of folk songs and field songs and all kinds of songs. One of the songs he’s better known for (after “Goodnight, Irene” and “Where Did You Sleep Last Night?”) is “Pick a Bale of Cotton”, heard here:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aiXLl7clwJE]

(This, by the way, is apparently one of only three pieces of film of Leadbelly known to exist.)

Great song, right? Right. So who can blame a band for wanting to cover it?

I can. When the band is ABBA.

Seriously.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HOYqGNzNs3c]

Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to go staunch the flow of blood from my ears.

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Bits: Rekkid Store Day, Hell & Half of Georgia show, Hank’s Pulitzer, Rush for real, Prine tribute

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  • Record Store Day is coming April 17! As the NTSIB hermitage is newly-equipped with a rekkid playa after years of watching the old vinyl collection sit quiet and sad, we are super jazzed for this Christmas of the music world this year. I’ll be celebrating the day at Music Saves, so if you’re there that day and happen to grab the last Black Keys 12″ before I’ve gotten my hands on a copy and you feel a sharp blow to the back of your head and then wake up in a pool of your own vomit to find that TBK 12″ gone, well…
  • Hell and Half of Georgia have a free show coming up on April 24 at Canter’s Kibitz Room in Hollywood. They also have new swag in the form of a pretty rockin’ Tee-shirt.
  • Did you know there’s a Pulitzer Prize for music? Yep, and Hank Williams was awarded one this year. I spotted a blog earlier answering the question of why Hank was awarded the Pulitzer for music, but was that really a question? Is “because he was fucking awesome” not answer enough?
  • Rush is touring. That’s right. Rush.
  • A John Prine tribute album will be hitting stores on June 22 featuring contributions from the likes of Old Crow Medicine Show, Justin Townes Earle, the Avett Brothers, Conor Oberst, Deer Tick and more.

We’ve been a little undecided on our feelings about Megafaun, but this performance they staged for La Blogotheque has certainly gone a long way in endearing them to us.

http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=10851413&server=vimeo.com&show_title=1&show_byline=1&show_portrait=0&color=&fullscreen=1

Megafaun – His Robe / A Take Away Show from La Blogotheque on Vimeo.

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Notable shows in the greater Cleveland area & BiiiiiiiirdMAN!

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Shows worth checking out this week in and around Cleveland:

The Beachland Ballroom & Tavern

  • Sun, Apr 11| 8 PM (7 PM door)
    Drive-By Truckers
    Langhorne Slim
    SOLD OUT!
    Ballroom | All Ages

  • Mon, Apr 12| 7 PM (6 PM door)
    The Legendary Rhythm
    & Blues Revue
    featuring The Tommy Castro Band / Joe Louis Walker & Debbie Davies / Brickhouse Blues Band
    $20.00 adv / $22.00 dos
    Ballroom | All Ages

  • Tue, Apr 13| 9 PM (8 PM door)
    The Hold Steady
    The Oranges Band
    $18.00 adv / $20.00 dos
    Ballroom | All Ages

  • Thu, Apr 15| 7:30 PM (7:30 PM door)
    Meet & Greet with Baby Dee
    LGBT Fundraiser
    Price of Tix includes concert
    $25.00
    Tavern | All Ages

  • Thu, Apr 15| 8:30 PM (8 PM door)
    Baby Dee
    Lighthouse & The Whaler
    Adam Apple will perform a silent word piece
    $10.00
    Tavern | All Ages

  • Fri, Apr 16| 8 PM (7:30 PM door)
    Blue Grass Barn Dance
    Hosted by Miss Firecracker
    feat. Hoots & Hellmouth
    Heelsplitter (11:40 PM)
    Hiram Rapids Stumblers (10 PM)
    One Dollar Hat (9:20 PM)
    Timberwolves (8:40 PM)
    Two Far Gone (8 PM)
    $5.00 adv / $7.00 dos
    Ballroom | All Ages

Grog Shop

  • Sat, Apr 10| 10 PM
    Queens of the Iron Mic
    Hosted by Erica Kayne
    Indica
    Chimera
    Mz Crazy Tee
    Summer Azul
    True Poetry
    Chevy Blue
    Mami
    Erica Nicole
    FREE

  • Thurs, Apr 15| 9 PM
    Pissed Jeans
    This Moment In Black History
    Homostupids
    $7

  • Fri, Apr 16| 6 PM
    Adam Green
    The Dead Trees
    $12

Musica

  • Fri, Apr 16| 9 PM
    Over the Rhine
    Ellery
    $20

Annabell’s Bar & Lounge

  • Sat, Apr 10| 10 PM
    This Moment in Black History
    If These Trees Could Talk
    As If

House of Blues

  • Sun, Apr 11| 8:30 PM (7:30 PM door)
    Galactic
    Cyril Neville
    Corey Henry
    T Bird and the Breaks
    $20 adv
    $23 dos

No, not Harvey, but a birdman one-man-band. This fascinating street performer is Claudio Montuori, and you can find a few videos of him on YouTube. Including an interview, but it’s in Italian (if anyone can translate it, I’d be happy to post it).

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rzod3CotfAg]