Tag Archives: Live

Handicapping the Next Dawes Album

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Taylor and Griffin Goldsmith of Dawes
Disclaimer: This blog does not condone the use of the information contained in this obviously well-researched article in wagering or betting– anyway, you’d probably have better odds going to the casino and not waste your hard-earned money betting on the track listing of a Dawes album. COME ON! Jeez.

September 28th, 2010 marked the day that Dawes and its management finally caved in to the demands of the taper who goes mostly by Morst to allow their shows to be uploaded to The Audio Archive at The Internet Archive (archive.org). This was a conversation that started back during the October 2009 Daytrotter.com Barnstormer shows where he taped their stop at Treinen Farm. I also recorded three of the shows that I saw on that mini-tour (Maquoketa, Green Island and West Liberty). I had been meaning to do the final editing of this recording which was done by placing my Tascam DR-07 handheld recorder in slightly precarious locations, but only got around to using some of the audio with a video I shot with my iPhone in Maquoketa.

The creation of the repository of Dawes shows pushed me to go back through my recordings and get them ready for posting, so I put four shows up that I taped– the three from Barnstormer and a show from February at Rock Island Brewing Company.

Since Dawes is still touring in support of their debut album North Hills, it isn’t surprising that these shows tend to focus on songs from that album– the anthemic “When My Time Comes,” the epic jam of “Peace in the Valley,” “Bedside Manner,” “Western Skyline”– all classic songs this early in their career! However, even shows around June 30th– the release date of the CD included songs that didn’t make it to their debut– whether outtakes from it or new songs they were working on.

Looking at the setlists of the growing collection on archive.org, we get a pretty good list of songs that are candidates for the next album, which doesn’t have a release date, yet, but I believe the band is already recording. Here is the list of these songs with links to performances so you can listen to them for yourself.

Note: Since I don’t have any direct confirmation of any of these songs, none of them can be 100% certain.

My Way Back Home – 06/30/2009, 10/09/09, 10/10/09, 10/11/09, 10/12/09,  10/24/09 During the Barnstormer shows, Dawes was calling this a “new song.” The song has a subtle build with the really great harmonies at the end and a very powerful lead vocal by Taylor. It looks like they kind of dropped it out of their regular setlists. It does show up on the band’s second Daytrotter session. Since I don’t have a 2010 performance on the LMA, I’m going to say that there is a 25% chance that it makes the next Dawes album.

How Far We’ve Come – 09/12/2009, 10/09/09, 02/13/10, 02/15/10,  06/27/10, 07/03/10, 07/04/10 (Early), 07/18/10, 08/09/10,  05/14/10, 10/24/09, 10/12/09, This song has shown up on more setlists than any other. Has a really great vocal duet between the brothers Goldsmith. Really, this is probably the band’s own theme song (even though “When My Time Comes” is the huge song). This song shows up on the second Daytrotter session. I don’t have any confirmation, but I’d say there is a 98% chance it makes the next Dawes album.

If I Wanted Someone – 02/13/10, 02/15/10, 05/14/10, 06/27/10 Also announced as a new song this year. This song is kind of the younger brother of “A Man Needs A Maid” by Neil Young and “Breakdown” by Tom Petty. This song is dark and angry and better be on the new album.  My favorite. Check the 6/27 version and the smoking guitar solo! I think there is a 99% chance it makes the next Dawes album.

Time Spent in Los Angeles – 02/13/10, 02/15/10, 05/14/10 Another song that shows up in 2010. I think this song is related a bit to “Western Skyline” from North Hills. In that song, Taylor follows his heart and a girl to Birmingham only to find out the relationship doesn’t last the move and, we know that he moved back to North Hills.. In “Time Spent in Los Angeles” he says that the time spent in Los Angeles makes him want to wrap the subject of the song in his arms. It’s interesting that on the 2/13 show he follows “Time” with “Western”… What are you telling us Taylor? This song didn’t make the June/July run of shows. I think there is still a good chance this song makes it– I say 85% chance it makes the album.

Fire Away – 06/27/10, 07/03/10, 07/04/10 (Early), 07/18/10, 08/09/10, New song– shows up for the first time this year. I think that the Jackson Browne-ish feeling of this song and it’s recent inclusion in sets makes this a better than average bet — 95% chance that it makes the next Dawes album.

So Well – 02/15/10,  07/04/10 (Early), 08/09/10, 05/14/10, That February show at RIBCO brought a bunch of new tunes to the table, “So Well” being one of them. The vocal harmonies on this song shows why Dawes is such an incredible live act. The guitar solo in this one has potential to become a show centerpiece like “Piece in the Valley” has become. We got this one in August, so I bet it makes the new album. 99% Chance.

I’ve Got A Feeling (It’s Gonna Be Alright) – 10/10/09 As much as I love this song, with its one verse, I’m pretty sure that this one wouldn’t translate to a studio album. Maybe a live album… 1% Chance it makes it to the next Dawes album.

All My Failures – 10/12/09, This song only shows up once in the LMA. A pretty waltzy song with the line, “I haven’t let my failures get me yet.” This song shows up on the band’s second Daytrotter session, though, which would definitely weigh in its favor (well, which was recorded around the same day as this show). 25% chance it makes it to the next Dawes album.

Moon in the Water – 02/15/10 This song only shows up once, but the way Taylor talks about it, it must be a song that had been around for a while since he says he doesn’t get to sing it very often because it is one that requires an intimate show. Certainly it works really well as a solo song. But, is it a Dawes song? Maybe not. 20% chance it makes it to the next Dawes.

Well, any way you look at it, Dawes is a band worth betting your next record purchase or live music dollars on. Dawes music isn’t edgy or groundbreaking  but damn, they continually write great timeless songs with hooks that stick around. I’m really looking forward to the next album and what new songs the future tours will bring.

(Upcoming Show) Cory Chisel Duo at The Lift in Dubuque – 9/16

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Cory Chisel at RIBCO

I had the opportunity to see Appleton, Wisconsin native Cory Chisel with his touring band the Wandering Sons back in February at RIBCO in Rock Island opening for Dawes along with Jason Boesel. I wasn’t familiar with Cory before I heard of that show, but quickly his track “Born Again” from his latest full length Death Won’t Send A Letter became a favorite with it’s urgent Animals-esque organ lead and his slightly hoarse delivery.

His performance at the show was fantastic– full of energy and passion and for me an unexpected match for Dawes equally powerful set! Certainly a band I’d recommend anyone go see if presented a chance.

Cory is taking a short break from touring with a full band and performing some  shows in the region as a duo including three shows in support of Mark Olson of the Jayhawks. This Thursday night Cory will be doing a headlining show at The Lift in Dubuque with Miles Nielsen in support. Show starts at 10PM.

Click Here for the Facebook Event Invite for Cory Chisel Duo at The Lift

Click Here to check out Cory Chisel and the Wandering Sons Daytrotter Session.

Click Here to visit Cory Chisel’s Website.

Click Here to visit Cory Chisel and the Wandering Sons MySpace Page

Click Here to visit Cory Chisel’s Facebook Fan Page

Click Here to listen to/download “Born Again” by Cory Chisel and the Wandering Sons.

Click Here to visit Miles Nielsen’s Website

Click Here to visit Miles Nielsen’s MySpace Page

Click Here to visit Miles Nielsen’s Facebook Page

Click Here to listen to Miles Nielsen’s Daytrotter Session

(Upcoming Show) Pezzettino at The Blue Moose Tap House 9/15

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Pezzettino at CSPS Crop
The last time Margaret Stutt who performs as Pezzettino was in Eastern Iowa was back in January as part of a quick jump through the Midwest on her way to some shows on the East Coast. Since then she’s effectively adopted Brooklyn as one of her homes (Milwaukee being the other).

Freshly energized from an over-achieved Kickstarter fund raiser for her new record LubDub which is going through the process to create candy-yellow vinyl (in addition to CD and download)– Ms. Pezz has decided to embody the fuller sound of the record (via production by Milwaukee beatsmith and producer LMNtylist) by bringing some additional musicians along with her– a percussionist and a guitarist! This isn’t the first time she’s performed with a band– she used to for local shows, but most of her touring to date has been a solo affair.

I’m really excited to hear the new songs and the old done with a full band! Pezzettino will be opening for Chicago act Mike Mangione & The Union at the Blue Moose Tap House in Iowa City on Wednesday, September 15th. It is an all-ages show that starts at 7PM. I don’t know what the cover will be.

Pezzettino’s  guitarist for this tour is Wolfgang Schaefer and he will be doing a solo set as well.

And if that wasn’t enough, before the show at the Blue Moose, Pezzettino will be the in-studio guest for Little Village Live on KRUI in the 5-6PM slot Wednesday night!

Here is the Facebook Event for the show— RSVP!

Listen to LubDub Here:
PEZZETTINO prod. LMNtlyst LubDub by Pezzettino

Visit Pezzettino’s website
Visit Pezzettino’s MySpace Page
Visit Wolfgang Schaefer’s MySpace Page
Visit Mike Mangione’s Website

St. Louis Indie Folk-Rocker Beth Bombara Wants Your Support for a Vinyl Release

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One of my favorite indie releases from 2009 was an EP by St. Louis singer/songwriter Beth Bombara titled Beth Bombara and the Robotic Foundation. The six-song self-released CD by Beth was a stylistic switch from the pop-folk of previous solo effort Abandon Ship by pulling in some indie rock distortion and edginess that recalled Bettie Seveert. In particular, I love the harmonies on the track “Lights” which ended up on a bunch of my roadtrip mixes this past year. You can listen to “Lights” in the player below.

For her next release which will be a full-length, Beth is taking a slightly different approach describing her folk and blues pastiche as “Jenny Lewis Meets Muddy Waters.” I raise a questioning right eyebrow at this, however you can judge for yourself as she’s included some of the tracks-in-progress in the ReverbNation player below: “Lately” and “Can’t Win” at the top of the list are in a more country-influenced vein. I’ve been playing “Lately” a lot. I like the slightly off-key and off-time darkness about it. “Can’t Win” is a fiddle-adorned honest-to-goodness country two-step! She’s also giving away a another new track titled “Rainbow” in exchange for an e-mail address that continues some of the country-tinged feel, and I think vocally draws a very pleasing comparison to Natalie Merchant.

Beth wants to release this next album on vinyl and has done all of the math to determine she is going to need around $2,000 to get it done. She feels that a vinyl release of her new album is really important.  So, Beth put together a Kickstarter drive to raise the money needed to get the project done. A month ago she asked for some video of people talking about why they like vinyl records and she put these clips in the introductory video on the Kickstarter page. I gave her a clip which she used as well (which would be the first time I’ve put any kind of video of myself on the Internet!).

When Beth isn’t recording her solo music she is half of the duo known as Cassie Morgan and The Lonely Pine. In this duo, Beth plays everything from percussion to toy piano and glockenspiel in addition to adding some really gorgeous harmonies for Cassie. Their album Weathered Hands, Weary Eyes came out earlier this year and they are soon kicking off a tour through the Midwest where Beth will be performing some of her own songs. Watch this blog for more details as the firm up.

Please check out the samples in the players below, sign up for her mailing list and if you feel as moved as I am by her music, consider throwing some support to her Kickstarter Project. She has many different tiers for donation with a number of different “bonuses” from the vinyl release at $20 all the way up to a private show at the $300 and $500 tiers! While you’re at it you can see my contribution to her video. (Be gentle!) She’s got less than 24 days left in the campaign and is less than halfway to her goal. I’d hate to see her have to go back to square one.


standalone player

(Upcoming Show) Get Back to the Barn – Codfish Hollow Sessions : The Roadside Graves, Dinosaur Feathers & Many More on 8/22/2010

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I came upon a child of God
He was walking along the road
And I asked him, “Where are you going?”
And this he told me…

I’m going on down to Yasgur’s Farm,
I’m gonna join in a rock and roll band.
I’m gonna camp out on the land.
I’m gonna get my soul free.

We are stardust.
We are golden.
And we’ve got to get ourselves back to the garden.

— “Woodstock” by Joni Mitchell © Crazy Crow Music, 1969

This week marks the 41st anniversary of the Woodstock Music & Art Fair, which took place August 15th – 18th, 1969 in Bethel, New York. The stories and myths of Woodstock continue as that generation looks back on their history. A festival planned with idea of a gathering of music, camping and art grows to epic proportions as over twice the expected crowd shows up. The idea of a music festival changed forever and subsequent festivals in history would always be judged in the light of that event.

Last year saw the beginning of the Daytrotter.com Barnstormer shows– coincidentally on the year of the 40th anniversary of Woodstock. These shows were and are the brainchild of Sean Moeller– the Master of Ceremonies for everything Daytrotter. The idea started simply enough– pick a handful of Daytrotter favorite bands, load them in a bus and tour the Midwest countryside playing in barns. Daytrotter fans will show up and hear these bands, generating interest in Daytrotter and in these bands and hopefully the bands will be able to make some money selling merch. After learning some logistical lessons in touring and playing non-standard venues a good time was had by all!

I draw the comparison between Woodstock and the Barnstormer shows not to suggest that the Barnstormer shows are or will make their place in music history like Woodstock did, but to show that the original idea of Woodstock is the same– bring good music talent to a rustic setting, provide camping and art to mutual benefit of everyone involved. Based on the buzz of last year’s small Barnstormer runs, and the first one from this year the formula works and people who aren’t from this part of the country are interested in being part of it.

Frankly speaking, some of my favorite bands of 2009 and 2010 came from these shows and most of the headliners have gone on to perform to larger audiences and have become regulars on the festival circuit– notably Dawes and Local Natives— but other acts like Suckers, Ra Ra Riot and Delta Spirit are also gaining in national recognition. Seeing bands that can play the big stages of Coachella, Lollapalooza and Bonnaroo in a small intimate setting like Mooney Hollow in Bellevue, IA, Codfish Hollow Barn, Seacrest Octagonal Barn and others locations in the Midwest is nothing, if not pure magic. The bands and crowds feed from each other for what the bands generally say are their best performances.

The three Barnstormer tours (plus one Fourth of July show) have been in a changing list of towns with two notable exceptions– the Seacrest Octagonal Barn in West Liberty, IA and Codfish Hollow in Maquoketa, IA. Both locations draw very good crowds.  In the case of Seacrest it seems to be related to the relative closeness to the Quad Cities and Iowa City/Cedar Rapids (and it is a really interesting barn!). In the case of Codfish Hollow it seems to be partially due to the proximity of these same cities, but also because of the efforts of Shawn and Tiffany Biehl who seem to have enough friends and relatives to damn near fill their barn– but also because they have really made the location part of the attraction. Literally located in a hollow– there isn’t enough parking near the barn for the growing crowds– nor is the winding gravel path down there wide enough for passing traffic. The solution? Have a shuttle to take campers and people parking down to the event. Not just any shuttle though– it’s an open-air hayride pulled by an honest-to-goodness International Harvester tractor! This year they opened a rustic art gallery on site making use of the unoccupied farmhouse, too. Adding to the charm of it all is an open field where fans and bands play horseshoes, fire rings scattered around to provide heat and light and the amazing food sold onsite by The Lunchbox which includes their famous “walking tacos” and chili.

Next Sunday brings a staggering number of bands back to Codfish Hollow— the headliner is Daytrotter and playbsides.com favorite Roadside Graves from New Jersey. I had the opportunity to see Roadside Graves last year in Bellevue at Mooney Hollow. They were in the area in between stops on their tour because they were taping their first Daytrotter session. Sean Moeller hooked them up with Mooney Hollow to play in trade for a place to sleep. It was a Tuesday night, so that didn’t bode well for a workweek crowd, but the few that showed up got an amazing and energetic show. People I’ve talked to that did make the show, still talk about that show– in fact, Tiffany Biehl says that show made her an instant fan of Roadside Graves and she is really excited to bring them to her barn!

This show on 8/22 was already an idea at the Barnstormer III show in April and has taken form and gained acts continually since the announcement of the show following the July 4th “Barn on the Fourth of July” show and the lineup is made up of some notable bands– most of whom are up-and-comers, but some are buzzworthy. When I talked to Tiffany at the Dawes show at Gabe’s last week she said that there might be a couple of other acts added to the eight (!!!) bands on the bill. Here’s the breakdown with a few words on each band with their essential links to help you learn more:

Roadside Graves from New Jersey : Anthemic Springsteen-influenced Americana
Website Daytrotter Session Facebook MySpace

Dinosaur Feathers from Brooklyn : Sunny Tropicalia like Talking Heads Swilling Pina Coladas
Website Facebook MySpace

Lonnie Walker from Raleigh : Fractured Psych Freak Folk-grass
Website Facebook MySpace Blog

Gold Motel from Chicago: Debbie Harry started a 60’s girl band.
Website Facebook MySpace Blog

The 4onthefloor from Minneapolis : Four stomping kickdrums drive bluesy riffs over originals and mutated covers.
Website Facebook MySpace

The Treats from Mount Pleasant, IA : Jammy garage– kind of Blues Traveler without the harmonica.
Facebook MySpace

What Happened Japan? : ? No Internet presence we can find…

Danger Ronnie and the Spins from Maquoketa, IA : Local band… Facebook but no samples of their music.
Facebook

Tickets are $9.00 in advance and $10 at the door. Starts at 3PM. It is recommended that you bring your own lawnchair if you want to sit down and cooler as it it BYOB. This is an ALL AGES show.

Come out, camp on the land and set yourself free!

Click Here to purchase tickets for Roadside Graves at Codfish Hollow.

Click Here to see the Facebook Event for Roadside Graves at Codfish Hollow

(Upcoming Release) Pezzettino – LubDub Kickstarter for Vinyl EP

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Margaret Stutt who goes by the nom d’cordion Pezzettino has collaborated with Milwaukee-based producer LMNtylist on her follow up to her 2009 release Lion. Titled LubDub, it is a 10-track EP of, well– I guess they are love songs. Well, maybe not all of them are love songs, but certainly they are related to love and appear to be roughly arranged in a timeline of a love affair that is having some fits and starts getting off the ground.

Originally the follow up to the moody, serrated toothiness of Lion was supposed to be a kinder, gentler album to be titled Lamb. In December of 2008 she posted the track listing for both releases on Facebook. When Miss Pezz blew through the Midwest last Fall it would appear that she had already moved into the mental space of Lamb in preparation for recording that album. By that time she had recorded the lead track for Lamb– the insanely catchy “You Never Know” which kind of took on a life of its own with its joyous video and vinyl 7″ release– each with a custom cover done by Milwaukee artist Dwellephant. For that Fall tour she’d already been performing “You Never Know,” “Hunting Season,” and “Falling Down” all songs that seemed fully formed and ready for the album. She also played a new song that was a quick favorite for me– “Where’d Ya Go.”

Anyone who knows Margaret well knows that she is constantly catering to her muse– typically recording inspired fragments of song anywhere and anytime they show up– many songs were written behind the wheel of her now-departed Civic on the long drives between the gigs on tour. It was a collection of these fragments that she gave to Milwaukee HipHop producer LMNTylist who was interested in trying his hand producing some pop songs. When she stopped through Cedar Rapids in January she played me the rough mixes that she had just received. I was at once shocked and excited at what I’d heard– the lead off track for LubDub “Replay” was pretty much cemented at that point as was “Cold Hard Chick.” This was a dramatically different direction for Pezzettino– she had given over to the production and the resulting songs still showed the fun and humor typically found in her music, but now had rhythm and were… funky!

The album pulls from a number of different influences ranging from the Reggae/Dub of the title track, to more the Jazzy “Only One” and “She Deserves” to the DooWop spin of “Replay” to a more “classic” Pezz piano track in “For You and Your Headaches.” Here is a video Margaret shot of a street mural painter that uses “Only One” as its soundtrack:

So, maybe it is fitting that the more mild-mannered Lamb would be quickly replaced by a more determined and immediate electronic release in LubDub. I guess the chops of Lamb will get to spend some more time slow cooking.

LubDub will be available for download on September 7th and on 12″ colored vinyl later this fall. Pezzettino has a Kickstarter drive going to attempt to raise the $1000 needed to press the vinyl. After an impressive week, she has raised over half of the funds and, at the time of this writing, still has over 30 days to go! Donations range from $1 to $1000 and have varying levels of perks at each level. Any donation over $15 gets you some copy of LubDub with pledges over $20 getting you the vinyl and the CD version of it along with four bonus tracks. Other levels get you things like cookies, her dress from the “You Never Know” video, private performance, or the ability to determine the next cover songs in her popular cover series. Click on the kickstarter widget below to see what your options are to help get this great release out.

The fantastically appropriate album art (shown above) was done by LittleTinyFish.

There are two release shows– one in each of her hometowns:

Milwaukee: September 11th at Turner Hall with Mondo Lucha, 8PM
Brooklyn: October 14th at Cameo Gallery, 9PM

In the middle of these shows is a quick run of the Midwest that includes stops in DeKalb (9/12), Iowa City (9/15 at The Blue Moose Tap Room), Omaha (9/16), Des Moines (9/18 at Vaudeville Mews) and Boulder, CO (9/23). Visit her MySpace Page to keep up to date on this tour. This tour is going to be the first time in a while she has toured with a small band– so I’m looking forward to these shows!

Track Listing for LubDub:

1. Replay
2. She Deserves
3. Cold Hard Chick
4. Only One
5. Intermezzo I
6. Lub Dub
7. Where’d Ya Go
8. Intermezzo II
9. For You and Your Headaches
10. I Did Not Use Those Words Yesterday

Click Here to download “Replay” from LubDub

Click Here to visit the Pezzettino Web Site

Click Here for Pezzettino’s Facebook Fan Page

Click Here for Pezzettino’s MySpace Page

Click Here for Pezzettino on Twitter

Click Here for LMNTylist’s MySpace Page.

Upcoming Show: Cheyenne Marie Mize at The Mill Restaurant in Iowa City 7/29

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If you haven’t heard of Cheyenne Mize before it is probably because her work tended not to be in the forefront of the bands she was in– at least not until recently. Hailing from Louisville, Cheyenne has been firmly entrenched in the folkie scene there. Supporting bands and artists like Arnett Hollow, Maiden Radio, Ben Sollee, Saredren Wells, Thomas A. Minor and the Picket Line, Joe Manning, The Health & Happiness Family Gospel Band, Ben Sollee & Daniel Martin Moore touring band for Dear Companion. (Thanks to Question the Pop interview with Cheyenne for that list).

Last year Cheyenne partnered with Louisville’s reknowned son, Bonnie “Prince” Billy aka Will Oldham on an EP of duets titled Among the Gold. Among the Gold is a collection of late-nineteenth and early-twentieth century standards like “Beautiful Dreamer” and “Let Me Call You Sweetheart.” Louisville indie label Karate Body pressed an insanely-limited edition (250 copies) 10″ colored vinyl pressing of it and only made it available at shows and at their online store. It is available for digital download from Cheyenne’s Bandcamp Page. The EP certainly demonstrated Cheyenne’s talents and beautiful soprano but really didn’t show her songwriting abilities. Cheyenne will be releasing her first solo record titled Before Lately on September 28th and it will be on another Louisville label sonaBLAST! Records.

Where Among the Gold was steeped in the old-time standards it was made of, Before Lately is more contemporary mix of ingredients. The album is drifting and dreamy– introspective, really.  The album is a very stripped-down affair with very little percussion and utilizes all of Cheyenne’s talents: vocals, violin, guitar and piano. The songs move between ethereal shoegazer-ish production on tracks like “Path” and “Lull” and more direct singer-songwriter style tracks like on “Doctor” and “Not.” Before Lately made an impression on me right away and tugs my disappointment that it isn’t available right now!

Cheyenne is currently on tour and will be making a stop in Iowa City on Thursday 7/29 at The Mill Restaurant opening for Portland, OR band Archeology. This will be the late show, which starts at 10PM and is a 21+ show. Tickets are $6. I’ll be interested to hear how these songs translate to the stage. You can listen to the whole album via this nifty player:

Here is “With(out)” from Before Lately.
With(out) by CrashAvenue

Cheyenne Marie Mize on Tour:
Sat Jul 24 – The Denver Post Underground Music Showcase – Denver, CO
Sun Jul 25 – The Denver Post Underground Music Showcase – Denver, CO
Tue Jul 27 – Czar Bar – Kansas City, MO
Wed Jul 28 – Vaudeville Mews – Des Moines, IA
Thu Jul 29 – The Mill – Iowa City, IA
Fri Jul 30 – Uncommon Ground on Clark – Chicago, IL
Sat Jul 31 – White Rabbit Cabaret – Indianapolis, IN

Click Here for Cheyenne Marie Mize’s website

Click Here for Cheyenne Marie Mize’s MySpace Page

Click Here for Cheyenne Marie Mize’s Facebook Fanpage

Click Here for Cheyenne Marie Mize’s page at sonaBLAST!

Click Here for Cheyenne Marie Mize’s Bandcamp Page where you can listen to Among the Gold and Before Lately.

Tortoise Beacons Bonus Track “Ice Ice Gravy” – Why Waste Time? Import Information

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Yesterday Thrill Jockey announced that they are making the Tortoise track “Ice Ice Gravy” available for download for $1.00 from Fina– their online download service. To date, “Ice Ice Gravy” was only available in the U.S. as part of the iTunes version of Beacons of Ancestorship. Outside the U.S. it is available as a bonus track on the Japanese pressing of Beacons of Ancestorship as well as what appears to be a Japanese tour EP release in May titled Why Waste Time?

According to Dan Bitney in this interview with popmatters.com he track “Ice Ice Gravy” is a 13-minute pastiche of some improvisational work Tortoise did to get  inspiration while starting the recordings for what would become Beacons. From the interview at popmatters:

“It was more like experimenting,” he explains, “And we really didn’t get anything out of it. We were doing a lot of improv, just kind of set up a roomful of stuff. It wasn’t focused at all. We weren’t necessarily bringing in song ideas, we were just doing what I would describe as improv experiments. So we started out doing something like that and then we’d say, ‘Oh gee, what the hell are we doing? Is this going to work?’”

According to the article, some of these sessions are in “Ice Ice Gravy.” Ultimately, these sessions were scrapped in favor of the songs that would become Beacons. But, don’t dismiss “Ice Ice Gravy” as a mere toss-away track. It is an interesting view into the creative process that Tortoise works to make their albums.

While I was looking for the interview with Bitney where he talked about “Ice Ice Gravy” I stumbled upon a new Tortoise release titled Why Waste Time?! This is a Japan-only EP released on Commmons Records, which is a label started by Ryuichi Sakamoto. Judging by the little bit of English on the website it appears that Commmons has a relationship with Thrill Jockey to do the Japanese releases of their catalog.

Why Waste Time? contributes the cover art to the download of “Ice Ice Gravy” shown above and is a pretty cool release as it has three tracks not on the U.S. Beacons release (including “Ice Ice Gravy”), one of the Remixes from the recent Beacons Remixes 12″ and has some video content as well! Here is the tracklist:

1. Ruba’iyat
2. Passerine
3. Gigantes Version – Mark Ernestus
4. Ice Ice Gravy

CD Extra Video Content:

1. Charteroak Foundation (Live in Japan, 2009)
2. Seneca (Live in Japan, 2009)
3. Prepare Your Coffin (Music Video)

Updated! Thrill Jockey is carrying the CD for Why Waste Time? for $17! Click Here to order.

Click Here to listen to and purchase “Ice Ice Gravy” for $1.00.
Click Here to see the Why Waste Time? page at Commmons

Upcoming Show: L.A. Shoegazer Band Warpaint at The Blue Moose Tap House 6/7/10

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In an interview from earlier this year on Pitchfork, author Ryan Dombal describes L.A. band Warpaint as having “desert dust grooves, breathy, Cat Power-style vocals, and slithering guitar work.” That seems to describe what I hear on Warpaint’s debut EP Exquisite Corpse (Manimal Vinyl). For an EP, there are an impressive three songs over six minutes! Guitarist/vocalist Emily Kokal said in the interview, “I like progressive rock like King Crimson and Yes along with electronic music, things that don’t have standard pop structures. My mom listened to a lot of Grateful Dead bootlegs throughout childhood and even though I swore I hated them, I know they seeped in.”

Warpaint started gaining some buzz this year touting some celebrity fans and production help from Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist John Frusciante. Warpaint recently signed to Rough Trade Records and are currently working on their debut full length with Tom Biller.

Warpaint is currently on a whirlwind tour of the US hitting a bunch of Midwest dates leading up to a desirable Bonnaroo appearance on 6/11 followed shortly by some NYC dates with Lollapalooza in Chicago in August.

Upcoming tour dates (from MySpace):

Jun 4 2010   8:00P ZANZABAR Louisville, Kentucky, US 
Jun 5 2010   8:00P RADIO RADIO Indianapolis, Indiana
Jun 6 2010   4:00P DO DIVISION STREET FESTIVAL Chicago, Illinois
Jun 7 2010   6:30P BLUE MOOSE Iowa City, Iowa
Jun 8 2010   7:00P CROSSROADS w/ The Temper Trap Kansas City, Missouri
Jun 9 2010   7:00P THE PAGEANT w/ The Temper Trap St. Louis, Missouri 
Jun 11 2010  12:00P BONNAROO 2010 Manchester, Tennessee
Jun 13 2010  8:30P DC9 Washington, DC
Jun 14 2010  6:30P MERCURY LOUNGE ::EARLY SHOW:: New York, New York
Jun 15 2010  8:00P KNITTING FACTORY - BROOKLYN Brooklyn, NY
Jun 16 2010  8:00P MOHAWK PLACE w/ The Phenomenal Handclap Band Buffalo, New York 
Jun 17 2010  8:00P NXNE @ LEGENDARY HORSESHOE TAVERN Toronto, Ontario, CANADA 
Aug 6 2010   12:00P LOLLAPALOOZA 2010 Chicago, Illinois 
Aug 7 2010   12:00P LOLLAPALOOZA 2010 Chicago, Illinois 
Aug 8 2010   12:00P LOLLAPALOOZA 2010 Chicago, Illinois
Oct 28 2010   7:30P SCALA London, UNITED KINGDOM

Warpaint will be performing in the Blue Room upstairs in the Blue Moose Tap House on Monday 6/7. Local pinch-hitter opening act Electro group Datagun opens. I saw Datagun open for Death Ships a couple months ago and was really impressed with their energy– not to miss. Tickets are $10 and doors are at an early 6PM.

Click Here for the Blue Moose Tap House Events Calendar

Warpaint on Noisemakers with (former MTV VJ) John Norris which has interviews and live performances:

Click Here for Warpaint’s MySpace Page
Click Here for Warpaint’s Facebook Fan Page
Click Here to follow Warpaint on Twitter
Click Here for Warpaint’s Page on Rough Trade Records.

Mike Droho & The Compass Rose – And The World Makes Sense Again (Review)

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If you’re looking for some live music this Memorial Day Weekend, a good way to kick things off would be to catch Madison group Mike Droho & The Compass Rose. Winner of the Project M “Reality” Songwriter Competition hosted by 105.5 FM “Triple M” last year (playbsides favorite Anna Laube is competing this year and is still in the running!), Mike’s blend of acoustic pop rock draws easy and frequent comparisons to other guitar-toting singer-songwriters like Brett Dennen and Jason Mraz. Armed with his band The Compass Rose (Ida Pajunen on violin and Anthony Lamar on “vocal percussion” aka “beatboxing”), Mike’s songs on his latest release And The World Makes Sense Again are built on perfect vocal harmonies, surrounded by a delicate layer of strings and propelled with the unique “urban” rhythm.

I find Droho has a very strong sense of the pop hook and the songs stick in my head for a good while after listening to them. The album has a breezy upbeat spirit about it (even if the topic of the song isn’t)– not particularly confrontational– although not particularly edgy either. The songs are well-balanced and structured with great melodies. I think the standout track on the album has to be “It Was Not Me” with its opening horns and foottapping rhythm and strumming. In fact, it was upon hearing this track on Droho’s website that I wanted to hear the rest of the record. This song is available to stream from the Music page on his site. I recommend checking it out. Other songs that stand out for me are “Shame on You” and “Jesus Louise.” There is something about “Shame on You” that reminds me of the pining pop songs of the 80’s (in fact, the chorus reminds me of Star Search-winning band from Minneapolis Limited Warranty). “Jesus Louise” sounds like it might have escaped from a Barenaked Ladies album.

One criticism I have with The Compass Rose as a backing band might be that– at least on the album– the beatboxing isn’t featured enough to be a key part of any of the songs and the beats could just as easily been accomplished with a drum machine. In my opinion if you’re going to use  “vocal percussion” you should showcase it. Where are the Fat Boys-style breaks? On “What Holds You Down” the beatboxing really limits what could have been a song that builds to a driving rhythm. The intro has a stripped down guitar and vocals and you get a sense of building energy up to :58 and damn if I didn’t want a fill and a driving backbeat for the rest of the song, but it doesn’t deliver that promise.

I think that And The World Makes Sense Again shows the potential of what Droho can achieve as a musician and songwriter. This album has some strong songs on it that I bet really sound great in a live setting. The album falls short in some respects, but that doesn’t diminish the fact that I think he’s a strong songwriter and one I’ll be keeping an eye on.

Mike Droho and the Compass Rose will be recording a session with Iowa Public Radio’s Java Blend radio show with host Ben Kieffer today. This show is slated to air on the weekend of 6/18. After that show, they will be playing at Gabe’s Oasis tonight. The show starts at 9:30PM and tickets are $7.

Click Here for the Facebook Invite for Mike Droho at Gabe’s Oasis Friday Night

Click Here to visit Mike Droho’s MySpace Page
Click Here to visit Mike Droho and the Compass Rose Facebook Fan Page
Click Here to visit Mike Droho’s Website