The Spot 06/28/09

For those of you who come to UD from out of state, you might be a bit skeptical of the music scene in the lil state of Delaware. It must come to you as a relief, then, when I say that Delaware ain't doing too bad. The hot spot right now is quite literally called The Spot, located on Market Street in Wilmington. It's a non-profit joint that also doubles as an art gallery, hangout and practice space for some bands, and even a bicycle repair/education co-op. The icing on the cake is that since it's not for profit, all of the shows at The Spot are free to enter - though donations are encouraged to keep the place running and help out touring bands. I went up there on Sunday to see a show that was definitely worth the trip up I-95.

The first band that I saw was One Short Fall from New Jersey. I don't know much about pop-punk, but I do know that they played fast, loud, and did a Rancid cover that everyone seemed to love. And their bass player was awesome.

Next was Caves, Caverns from Richmond, VA. They played some seriously avant stuff that I was a big fan of. Awesome things they did included: running a tape Walkman through effects pedals, playing a theremin, and using something that looked like a hubcap as part of their drum kit. However, one problem with experimental soundscapes like theirs is that they frequently run the risk of becoming too jammy. While Caves, Caverns didn't ever overstay their welcome, I think adding a little structure to things would be very becoming for them. Check them out if you like music that probably has sounds only dogs can hear.


Third was Newark's own Holy Dirt. I had heard about them a number of times before, but never had a chance to see them. I was fully expecting them to be loud, but I wasn't actually prepared for how LOUD they were. For only having two members (guitars and drums), H0ly Dirt sure knows how to make the dirtiest racket around. Highly recommended for people (like me) like Big Muff pedals, riffs, hitting drums really hard, and more riffs.


The last band to play was another act from Newark called Big Girl. Despite being another guitar/drums duo, they were about as far away from Holy Dirt as you could get without unplugging your guitar. Where Holy Dirt made simple motifs powerful with volume and repetition, Big Girl turned the volume down and let the chops speak for themselves. The fantastic guitar work was made even better by some fantastic loop pedal work, which always wins brownie points in my book. One thing: they don't have a singer, and I know that turns some people off. I'd encourage a listen, though, because my money says they'll hold your attention despite the lack of a pretty frontman (no offense to the two handsome gentlemen, er, big girls).

In short, The Spot is hot, and is definitely worth a visit if you're into new and interesting bands from around the area. I'd recommend the show on July 24, but that's only because my band is playing.

Now listening to: David Bowie - Young Americans (1975)

Japandroids, Air France, (more) Modest Mouse.

If you're like me, the list of "Stuff I Like" includes loud music, beer, and girls. From the sounds of it, then, Japandroids are a lot like me. Their album Post-Nothing came out earlier this year and is 45 minutes of pure sweaty-basement-show-in-the-middle-of-summer energy. In the most awesome way possible, the record sounds like it was recorded in a tin can and the vocals were quite literally phoned-in. Nearly every track is a highlight, which means when they did a session at KEXP studios earlier this week, they played some of the highlights from the album. One complaint, though: KEXP's fancy slick studio removes most of the dirt from their sound, making them sound a little bit bored. Singer Brian King even sounds like he's trying to, um, actually sing, as opposed to the madman's howl he managed to nail on the record. Check out the video below, and then check out the link to your new summer anthem "Young Hearts Spark Fire."



Japandroids - Young Hearts Spark Fire


Speaking of music for summer, Air France has a new easy-breezy tune on their MySpace (follow the link) called "GBG Belong to Us," whatever that means. Regardless, this one is perfect for sipping iced tea in your back yard with some burgers on the grill. Their No Way Down EP (2008) was the soundtrack to my past summer, and is definitely worth checking out.


And last but not nearly least, I've got an update on the Modest Mouse 7" that I mentioned previously. The b-side to "Autumn Beds" is out, and it's everything that I had hoped for. "Whale Song" supposedly has been a live staple for awhile, and it's drawn out (read: awesome) instrumental passages are definitely indicative of that. There's lots of squealing electric guitars, rock-steady bass, and a pretty impressive vocal showing by Mr. Isaac Brock. Just when I thought that they might not "got it" anymore, it has been made quite clear to me that they still "got it".

Modest Mouse - Whale Song

Now listening to: New Order - Low-Life (1985)

Music Thing Blog.

I know this isn't really something contemporary, but I think it's worth mentioning anyway. The Music Thing blog is a really great blog about all kinds of weird stuff that musicians do. It focuses mostly on synths and electronics (it takes a certain level of nerddom to get through all that stuff) but there are a lot of really good gems to be found there, too.

Here's a few to start:
Yes, that dude is totally drumming on cheese
25 ways to kill a piano.
Guitar made of cocaine.
25 great music-making tips from musicians.

Sadly, Music Thing is no longer being updated, but it's got about two years of posts on there, which is enough to keep me busy when I'm trying to ignore doing something else.

Now listening to: The Beach Boys - Smiley Smile (1967)

New Modest Mouse Single - "Autumn Beds"

You might know Modest Mouse from the two years of your life where you obsessively tracked down each and every one of their releases (me) or from hearing "Float On" the radio a bunch in the summer of 2004 (most reasonable people). Either way, you might be interested to hear that they've got a new single out called "Autumn Beds." This limited-edition 7" will be released this Saturday, and there will only be 4,000 of them.

"Autumn Beds" doesn't really sound like like the stuff that made people like me die-hard fans (check out The Lonesome, Crowded West (1996) for that), or even the stuff that put them on Top 40 radio. It's a pretty subdued number, considering the seven-member band they are now. Mostly relying on guitar, banjo, and a repeated mantra about "sleeping in our autumn beds" (always waxing philisophical about death, aren't you, Isaac?), the song is nice enough, and ends before wearing out it's welcome.

Sounds good for now, but hopefully they get some teeth back for their next full-length.

Link: Modest Mouse - Autumn Beds

Now listening to: New Order - Brotherhood (1986)

Sunset Rubdown @ The Black Cat 6/14/09

Conicidentally, I went to see Sunset Rubdown last night at the Black Cat in Washington, DC, just as I'm starting this blog. I guess it's only seems fitting that my first entry with content is about one of my favorite artists. Sunset Rubdown is the brainchild of Spencer Krug, also of Wolf Parade, and, to a lesser extent, Swan Lake. Spencer's been one of my favorites since Wolf Parade dropped Apologies to the Queen Mary back in 2005.

Sunset Rubdown started out as a solo bedroom recording project for Krug, and has steadily grown with each release into the living, breathing (more like fire-breathing), five-person band of gypsies that it is now. They're on tour promoting they're awesomely titled new album, Dragonslayer, which finds the band making a concerted effort to be a real rocking and rolling band, instead of the hyper-literate weirdos they were before. Turns out they're just really loud hyper-literate weirdos now, and that's absolutely fine by me.

They've added a fifth member who provides an extra backbone on bass and percussion. Combined with Krug playing more electric guitar than ever (he playes keyboards exclusively in Wolf Parade, and I'd only ever seen him play acoustic guitar before last night), the latest record is probably the closest to Wolf Parade they've come yet. But if you're worried that they might be trying to make a run for the big time, fear not, the album comes fully equiped with song titles "Apollo and the Buffalo and Anna Anna Anna Oh!" that will keep them plenty far from playlists with Lady Gaga on them.

Oh, right, the show.

Elfin Saddle and The Witchies opened. Elfin Saddle was pretty cool avant stuff, with two songwriters (one singing in Japanese) and an entire pawn shop full of instruments, including accordian, recorder, upright bass, and plain ol' guitar. I was less than impressed by The Witchies. Their off-kilter drums and spacey synth and organ sounds didn't quite mesh with the full-throttle guitar playing of the singer.

Sunset Rubdown, of course, did not disappoint. After opening with a tension-building take on "The Empty Threats of Little Lord" from their first full-length, Shut Up I Am Dreaming (2006), they proceeded to blow the roof off the place with two Dragonslayer cuts, "Idiot Heart" and "Black Swan." The set included five songs from the new album, a few from the previous two albums, and true to Krug's insanely prolific nature, a song that's newer than the album that hasn't even come out yet (Dragonslayer is officially out 6/23 on Jagjaguar Records). The encore pulled exclusively from Shut Up, a nice reward for those of us who are long-time fans (Long-time? Really? That record came out three years ago.)

Okay, breathe, Mike, you're done now.

If there's a band or record or song you think I should check out, or if you want to tell me to cut it with the fanboy crap, or if you'd just like to drop a line, all correspondence can be sent to udreviewmusic@gmail.com.

Links:
Sunset Rubdown - Idiot Heart (from Dragonslayer)
Sunset Rubdown - Winged/Wicked Things (from Random Spirit Lover)

Now listening to: Sam Cooke - Portrait of a Legend 1951-1964

A new career in a new town.

Okay, not really.

Hi, my name is Mike Nigro and The Review has been kind enough to let me be their music blogger for the '09-'10 school year. And/or had an unfortunate lack of oversight.

You might ask what my qualifications for such a position are. Well, I'm not a journalist, I've never blogged before, and I probably use parentheses too much. However, I have hosted a music show on the University's radio station, 91.FM WVUD (shameless!), for three years and counting, I spent a year as the station's Music Director, I follow a number of music news, review, and blog sites, and I keep tabs on local music here in Newark. I'm also in a band, Atlas (myspace.com/atlasde) (shameless!).

In short, I'm a big music fan, and being the late adopter of technology that I am, I thought I'd take an opportunity to try this blogging thing out. I don't claim to be any sort of fount of ultimate knowledge about musical trivialities, (that's what allmusic is for) but I'll do my best to keep coverage interesting, timely, and well-rounded.

Topics will probably be more geared towards contemporary independent rock, but I've also got a penchant for some electronica and experimental music, as well as the classics , and I'll do my best to incorporate other generes for variety.

Thanks for reading and the layout will probably start looking a lot better once I figure out how to use these newfangeld things called "blogs."

Now Listening to: Cat Stevens - Tea for the Tillerman (1970)