Most of the press that surrounds the Chicago sextet Canasta is wrong.
Maybe I should be more clear. Upon my first listens of Canasta’s fantastic 2010 release The Fakeout, the Tease and the Breather I was immediately whisked back to my halcyon days of college in the early Nineties, when I had more hair on my head, less hair on my face and the dew of optimism had yet to be wiped from my eyes.
This hot tub time machine was made possible by very strong–and I use this non-ironically–Beatlesque Britpop influence. The soft tenor style of vocalist Matt Priest to me recalls singers like Ian McColloch from Echo & the Bunnymen, Nick Heyward from Haircut One-Hundred, and Kurt Ralske (aka Ultra Vivid Scene). The fact that Canasta is a six-piece helps them deliver beautiful, complicated, nearly-orchestral pop. Clean ringing guitars and gorgeous vocal harmonies floating over strings and keys draws easy comparisons to The Smiths.
In addition to having a pretty cute band name, Fitz and the Tantrumsseem to have really taken the scene by storm in their relatively short existence. The story goes that frontman Michael “Fitz” Fitzpatrick rescued a vintage keyboard from someone who needed to leave town quickly. The keyboard was the inspriation that Fitz needed to start writing the keyboard-fueled R&B that is the signature of Fitz and the Tantrums. A chance hearing by Maroon 5 frontman Adam Levine gained them a gig opening for his band on tour. Another opportunity performing on Daryl Hall’s “Live From Daryl’s House” online video series, a spot on Carson Daily and some choice placement of songs on a couple of TV shows and you have a formula for a band that is enjoying a meteoric rise. Having a shit-hot single and stylish video in “Moneygrabber” doesn’t hurt any either!
As luck would have it, the L.A. band is going to be visiting the tundra-like Midwest at the beginning of February with some Play B-Sides connections in the mix.
On Saturday, February 5th Fitz and Co. will be headlining a gig in Chicago at The Metro with JC Brooks and the Uptown Sound and Play B-Sides extended familyThe Right Now! That is a powerhouse lineup of Soul and R&B and my pick for a not-to-be-missed show on the Windy City’s calendar. This is a rare show for a while for The Right Now as they are holed up in their secret hideaway writing songs for their sophomore release. The few songs they’ve already trotted out on tour last year show promise for a suitable follow-up to Carry Me Home— a Play B-Sides Top 20 of 2010.
On the following Monday they will make the trip to Iowa, and play a gig at the Redstone Room with opening actBermuda Report which features the vocals of former Diplomette Abby Sawyer. Bermuda Report snagged a spot in my Top 10 releases I’m looking forward to in 2011 with their upcoming full-length due this year.
If that wasn’t enough, they are going to do an all-ages show in Iowa City on Tuesday, 2/3 at The Blue Moose Tap House for a measley $3! WTF? FTW!
So, with all of these opportunities to see Fitz and the Tantrums, get out to see them! Then you can say you “saw them when!”
Here is the video for the fantastic “Moneygrabber”
Saturday January 29, 2011 – Milwaukee, WI @ Turner Hall Ballroom
Pablove Foundation benefit show w/ Silversun Pickups (acoustic performance), Maritime, and more Buy Tickets
Sunday January 30, 2011 – Madison, WI @ High Noon Saloon Buy Tickets
Monday January 31, 2011 – Columbus, OH @ The Basement Buy Tickets
Thursday February 3, 2011 – Pittsburgh, PA @ Club Cafe Buy Tickets
Saturday February 5, 2011 – Chicago, IL @ Metro Buy Tickets
Monday February 7, 2011 – Davenport, IA @ Redstone Room Buy Tickets
Tuesday February 8, 2011 – Iowa City, IA @ Blue Moose Tap House Buy Tickets
It’s hard to believe that it already has been over a year since Pieta Brown hosted her first artist-in-residence at The Mill Restaurant. That show was three Thursday night shows in November last year (see my reviews for: 11/5, 11/12, 11/19). Next to the Daytrotter Barnstormer shows, these were some of my favorite shows of 2009– very intimate and special. The stage lighting and design by Stan Crocker was a great touch– an eclectic little living room. Pieta was using these shows to try out some live band configurations– solo, duo and full band. To help bring some awareness to the art scene in the area, she set aside the room normally reserved as the green room as a gallery which was really cool, too. The only disappointing thing to me about these shows was the lack of audience on a couple of the shows. By the 11/19 show, it seemed like word had gotten out about these gigs. But, mid-week shows are always hit-or-miss in Iowa City, even when school is in session.
Pieta is bringing This Land Is Your Music back to the Mill for two shows in December– Saturday 12/4 and Saturday 12/11. The tickets are $10 in advance and $12 at the door and the proceeds will again be donated to Friends of Hickory Hills and Iowa Public Radio. Doors will be at 7PM Here are the details:
Saturday, December 4. Pieta Brown performs a solo set. Her special guest will be Iowa City trio The Vagabonds. The art in the gallery will be done by Stan Crocker and Sonya Naumann. Sonya Naumann has a really interesting photography project called “Thousand Dollar Dress” that maybe we’ll get to see some of in the gallery.
Saturday, December 11. Pieta Brown & Terraplane headlines. We don’t know exactly who is in the band, but Bo Ramsey lists this show in the tour section of his site. Alexis Stevens will open. The gallery will have works by Jamie Hudrlik (who happens to be the very talented daughter of Iowa City photographer Sandy Dyas who showed photographs last year).
Right on the heels of a successful Kickstarter campaign to raise money to release her new album Wish I Were You on vinyl, St. Louis musician Beth Bombarais setting out to do a quick run through Wisconsin and Iowa to play some shows with her frequent partner-in-musical crime Cassie Morgan. This tour could technically be considered a Cassie Morgan and the Lonely Pine tour (a moniker under which they released Weathered Hands, Weary Eyes in April of this year) and certainly they will be playing together, but there will be some time to shine the spotlight on Beth singing lead as well debuting songs from her upcoming release.
The two of them load up in a car and head to Madison for a show tonight (October 2nd) at The Project Lodge (817 E. Johnson St.) opening for Anna Vogelzangwho is having an EP release show. The cover is $6 and starts at 8:30PM. Anna is also starting a tour that will bring her to Dubuque and Iowa City at the middle of the month.
Following the Madison show, Cassie and Beth will be playing a show at Monk’s Kaffee Pub (373 Bluff St.) in Dubuque on October 3rd. The lineup of bands will start at 9PM and go until 11PM. While there is no cover charge, tips are always appreciated!
On Tuesday, October 5th Cassie and Beth hit The Mill Restaurant in Iowa City for a 9PM show which will also not have a cover charge. Opening for Cassie and Beth is local folk musician Seth Wenger.
Then the pair return home after the Iowa City show. Beth has a listening party of the new album scheduled at Foam in St. Louis on October 9th (Facebook Event) which will also have Union Tree Reviewand Penny Hill performing live.
Here is a recent show with Cassie and Beth performing a set of all Breeders covers. This one is of “Devine Hammer.”
Last week the mighty instrumental afro-funk band The Budos Band— which bills itself as the “Staten Island’s Undesputed Champions of Afro-Soul” announced the release and details of their new album The Budos Band III. To be released on August 10th on the formidable Daptone Records label the record is the band’s first release since 2009’s The Budos Band EP and the first full length since 2007’s The Budos Band II.
Coincidentally, I was in Boston this week for work and managed to sneak in a run to Newbury Comics. I was hoping to pick up the new Suckers vinyl, but it has been delayed. Instead I ended up picking up a couple of records I’ve had on my Amazon Wish List for a while– The Budos Band and The Budos Band EP. I still need The Budos Band II. I’ve been a fan of The Budos Band since I did a review of the Scion Daptone Records compilation.
The Budos Band is a band with a distinctive sound– influenced by African– specifically Ethiopian– music coupled with organ and guitars lead melodically by a muscular horn section. The Budos Band shares guitarist Brenneck with the other signature Daptone house band– The Dap-Kings. Other Dap-Kings Neal Sugarman and Binky Griptite were on-board for the first Budos Band album. It’s clear that the cross-pollination has helped establish them.
The first Budos Band Record featured a volcano in full eruption with the lava coming right for the viewer presumably representing “The Volcano Song.” The second Budos Band featured a scorpion ready to sting, representing the “Scorpion” album track. Continuing the “dangerous” cover art of the Budos Band records, III has a cobra on the cover– likely representing the “Black Venom” track– but I think may also be a sly reference to the expression “The Third Time is a Charm” where the charm would be for that cobra.
“Heading into the studio for Budos III, I really thought we were going to make the first psychedelic, doom-rock record ever recorded at Daptone,” said front man and baritone saxophonist Jared Tankel, “but somehow it ended up sounding like a Budos record.” I’ve had the opportunity to listen to the album and the familiar formula of the Budos Band is continued but I do get the sense of some underlying darkness.
I like the whole album– the songs on III fit comfortably next to the rest of their catalog in my opinion. Early standout tracks for me are “Unbroken, Unshaven” (this has to be a reference to the fact that the band used to be called Los Barbudos or “The Bearded Ones”) with its clean strumming leading the song, “Nature’s Wrath” has a great loping circular beat but has the BEST FLUTE SOLO this side of Ray Thomas’ solos in The Moody Blues! In my mind, Mother Nature is PISSED about the BP oil leak and this song is the warning before she tears us a new one! One nice bonus to this album is “Reppirt Yad” which wraps the album up. For Record Store Day this year, Daptone put out a split 7″ of Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings and The Budos Band. The Budos Band track was an interpretation of The Beatles “Day Tripper.” They seem to have disguised the song with a backwards title for III.
To get a free download of “Unbroken, Unshaven” click on this link to sign up for a Daptone Records e-mail list (that they admit you can unsubscribe from). I’ve been on the Daptone e-mail list for a couple of years now and they aren’t abusive and it’s a good way to stay on top of news from this fantastic label.
The band is off on an extensive tour in support of III and hopefully they bring their snake charming show to a venue near you!
The Budos Band III Tracklisting:
Rite of the Ancients
Black Venom
River Serpentine
Unbroken, Unshaven
Nature’s Wrath
Golden Dunes
Budos Dirge
Raja Haje
Crimson Skies
Mark of the Unnamed
Reppirt Yad
Tour Dates : Sat June 5 Montclair, NJ Wellmont Theatre (w. Les Claypool) Fri June 11 New York, NY Rocks Off Concert Cruise Sat June 26 Vancouver, VC Vancouver Jazz Festival @ Commodore Ballroom Sun June 27 Calgary, AB Calgary Jazz Festival @ The Whiskey Tue June 29 Saskatoon, SK Saskatchewan Jazz Festival @ Lydia’s Pub Wed June 30 Winnipeg, MAN Jazz Winnipeg Festival @ Pyramid Cabaret Sat July 10 Chicago, IL Chicago Folk & Roots Festival @ Welles Park Sun July 11 Bloomington, IN Bluebird Mon July 12 Chicago, IL Millennium Park Tue July 13 Ann Arbor, MI Blind Pig Thu July 15 Quebec City, QC Quebec City International Summer Festival Fri July 16 Ottawa, ON Cisco Ottawa Bluesfest Sat July 17 Toronto, ON Lee’s Palace Wed July 21 Philadelphia, PA Johnny Brenda’s Thu July 22 Harrisburg, PA The Abbey Bar at ABC Fri July 23 Floyd, VA Floydfest Sat July 24 Washington, DC Black Cat Sat Aug 7 Brooklyn, NY Celebrate Brooklyn! @ Prospect Park Bandshell Thu Aug 12 Los Angeles, CA Levitt Pavilion Fri Aug 13 Pasadena, CA Levitt Pavilion Sat Aug 14 San Luis Obispo, CA Downtown Brew Sun Aug 15 San Francisco, CA Outside Lands @ Golden Gate Park Tue Aug 17 Phoenix, AZ Sail In Thu Aug 19 Santa Fe, NM Santa Fe Brew Co Sun Aug 22 Dallas, TX Granada Tue Aug 24 Oklahoma City, OK Conservatory Wed Aug 25 Kansas City, MO Record Bar Fri Aug 27 Denver, CO Larimer Lounge Sat Aug 28 Boulder, CO Fox Theater Tue Aug 31 Salt Lake City, UT State Room Wed Sept 1 Boise, ID The Grove Plaza Thu Sept 2 Eugene, OR W.O.W. Hall Fri Sept 3 Portland, OR Dante’s Sat Sept 4 Seattle, WA Bumbershoot
Click Here to visit the Wikipedia page on The Budos Band.
Ben Sollee and Daniel Martin Moore— according to the press-releases– met after Ben Sollee– a classically trained cellist and member of Abigail Washburn‘s Sparrow Quartet– stumbled upon Moore’s MySpace page and listened to the music there. Daniel Martin Moore was signed to SubPop records in 2007 on the power of an unsolicited demo. He released his first album Stray Age on SubPop in 2008.
Both Sollee and Moore as well as producer/collaborator Yim Yames (aka Jim James from My Morning Jacket) are from Kentucky and have a shared concern in the mountain top removal that occurs in coal mining in their state today. Sollee and Moore have chosen to take the proceeds of their first collaboration together– their album titled Dear Companion (on SubPop) and donate them to Appalachian Voices. Appalachian Voices is an organization hoping to bring awareness to and end mountain top removal coal mining. They have a really interesting application on their website that shows you how your local utility company contributes to Mountain Top Removal.
The little bit I’ve had a chance to listen to Dear Companion leaves me with the opinion that their stripped-down folk and bluegrass melange is reminiscent of Nick Drake and a little like labelmate The Iron and Wine. An impressive collaboration and very worth checking out.
Sollee and Moore will be performing at CSPS in Cedar Rapids on Monday, March 15th at 7PM. Joining Sollee and Moore on stage will be percussionist Dan Dorff and violinist Cheyenne Mize. Tickets are $11 in advance and $15 at the door.
Click Here for the Legion Arts webpage about the Dear Companion show.
Birthed from the very fertile improvisation and post rock scene in Chicago comes the collaboration of guitarists David Daniell and Douglas McCombs. David Daniell’s career dates back to 1996 with work in the improvisation group San Agustin. Between his collaborations and solo work he has established a pretty substantial recorded career. Daniell met Doug McCombs when they toured together in 2006 in Rhys Chatham’s six-guitar Die Donnergötter band. McCombs notably plays bass and guitar in Tortoise as well as his solo project Brokeback and Eleventh Dream Day. This meeting cemented a relationship of the two music fans where they exchanged records which lead to the recording sessions that would result in their 2009 release Sycamoreon Thrill Jockey.
Sycamore was recorded over five days in two Chicago loft spaces chosen for their acoustics. The resulting seven-and-a-half hours of music was pared down to the four songs on the album by Daniell and McCombs in editing sessions in a fashion recalling how the late Teo Macero worked with Miles Davis on albums like In A Silent Way (a personal favorite). Final editing and mixing was done by Tortoise compatriot John McEntire at the legendary Soma Studios.
The resulting album is an impressive execution. The ambiance of the record reminds me a lot of Tom Verlaine’s 1992 album Warm and Cool which was very a very influential record for me when it came out and was re-released by Thrill Jockey in 2005. Clean, layered guitars, sparse percussion provide what is a great soundtrack for my day.
Coincidentally, Bettina Richards– the label head for Thrill Jockey— told me when I visited last year that it was Doug who turned her on to the Verlaine album.
David Daniell and Douglas McCombs will be playing The Blue Room at the Blue Moose Tap House (which used to be The Industry, and before that The Cue) on Thursday, March 4th. The opening act will be Star City and another act to be announced. Doors are at 8 PM and tickets will be $7 and are general admission. You can purchase tickets in advance at TicketWeb.
The constant storm of activity that is Pezzettino is kicking off a tour this week that will take her through Minnesota and Iowa on her way west wrapping up at the end of February on the East Coast. This tour hits a lot of the same stops she made in October of last year, which is a smart move to build her fanbase in some of these cities. When she stopped in Cedar Rapids in October, she played a house show at my home. This was a new experience for me, and it was a lot of fun and she quickly made fans of everyone who attended. She also threatened to kidnap my dachshund, but I’m not going to hold that against her! She also performed a very cool show at CSPS opening for another singer-songwriter named Melissa Greener.
This time she’s playing some key stops in Iowa including an interview and performance at the main Java House location in Iowa City on Washington for Ben Kieffer’s Java Blend radio show on Iowa Public Radio which will air on Friday 2/19 and Saturday 2/20. She’s also performing at the very cool Vaudeville Mews venue in Des Moines and two coffee house shows– Roaster’s Coffee House in Hiawatha, IA (near Cedar Rapids) and Monk’s Kaffee Pub in Dubuque. Roaster’s, incidentally, is where I buy all of my coffee. They roast on site some of the best coffee I’ve ever had and includes Free Trade and Organic coffees.
She announced today via twitter, that all proceeds of teeshirt sales will be donated to benefit Haiti!
Some of the great shows I saw last year were part of the legendary Daytrotter Barnstormer shows— I experienced some very powerful performances in these cozy barn settings. One of the bands that really delivered some transcendent shows was Dawes. And, frankly, most everyone I’ve talked to who has experienced Dawes’ live show says the same thing. It’s like a rock and roll revival.
I wasn’t familiar with Chisel or Boesel, but the tracks I’ve sampled so far and their Daytrotter Sessions place them firmly in the same Leftcoast Americana sound that Dawes has perfected and will make for a great show.
Jason Boesel is breaking out of his constant definition as being the drummer for Rilo Kiley by releasing his own album Hustler’s Son. Jason had a lot of support with his new album. It was produced by Jonathan Wilson who also produced Elvis Costello’s Momofuku as well as Jenny Lewis’s Acid Tongue, and had session players Benmont Tench of the Heartbreakers, in addition to David Rawlings who worked with Gillian Welsh as well as Old Crow Medicine Show and some help from tour mate Taylor Goldsmith of Dawes.
Cory Chisel is from Appleton, WI where he’s lived for over 20 years. His upbringing sheltered him from pop music, but was largely influenced by relatives who were musicians and exposed him to a lot of classic folk, country and blues artists from which he draws a lot of his inspiration. His new album Death Won’t Send A Letter is out on Black Seal records and his song “Born Again” has been garnering a lot of positive press. Death Won’t Send A Letter is going to, according to his website, get a vinyl pressing on February 8th. Additionally, the band will be sharing a live split 7″ with Dawes!!
Don’t sleep on this folks– the show will sell out.
Click Here to listen to “Hand of God” from Hustler’s Son
Here are the tour dates for Dawes and Cory Chisel and the Wanderers:
02.05.10 Santa Cruz, CA The Crepe Place
02.06.10 San Francisco, CA The Rickshaw Stop
02.08.10 Portland, OR Mississippi Studios
02.09.10 Seattle, WA Tractor Tavern
02.12.10 Minneapolis, MN Triple Rock
02.13.10 Madison, WI University of Wisconsin
02.14.10 Milwaukee, WI Turner Hall
02.15.10 Rock Island, IL Daytrotter Presents @ Rock Island Brewing Co.
02.16.10 Chicago, IL Double Door
02.17.10 Columbus, OH The Rumba Café
02.18.10 Cleveland, OH Beachland Ballroom
02.19.10 New York, NY Bowery Ballroom
02.20.10 Allston, MA Great Scott
02.21.10 Freehold, NJ Concerts in the Studio (Cory Chisel only)
02.22.10 Easton, MD The NightCat (Cory Chisel only)
02.23.10 Arlington, VA IOTA Club and Café
02.24.10 Philadelphia, PA Johnny Brendas
02.25.10 Charlottesville, VA The Southern
02.26.10 Louisville, KY Zanzibar
02.27.10 Nashville, TN Mercy Lounge
02.28.10 Atlanta, GA Eddies Attic
03.02.10 Little Rock, AR Sticky Fingers
03.03.10 Oklahoma City, OK The Conservatory
03.04.10 Dallas, TX The Cavern
03.05.10 Houston, TX Rudyards
03.06.10 Austin, TX Emos
03.09.10 Phoenix, AZ Rhythm Room
03.10.10 San Diego, CA The Loft at UCSD
03.11.10 Los Angeles, CA The Troubadour
In what seems to be shaping up to be a Thrill Jockey invasion of Iowa, it has been announced today that coronetist Rob Mazurek’s avant garde jazz vehicle Chicago Underground will be performing at The Mill Restaurant in Iowa City on Thursday, February 18th! This will be the Chicago Underground Duo configuration featuring Mazurek and drummer Chad Taylor, who are the two constant members of the group which has recorded and performed as a trio (with bassist Noel Kupersmith) and quartet (with guitarist Jeff Parker of Tortoise) and sometimes as The Chicago Underground Orchestra (with Parker, Bitney and Herndon from Tortoise as well as Sara Smith, Chad Lopes, and Tony Pinciotti). The group started in Chicago borne of a standing improvisation workshop at the notorious jazz venue Green Mill. Since 1998, the collective has recorded 11 albums between the Thrill Jockey and Delmark labels, and their newest album titled Boca Negrawill be their fifth as the Duo.
I think that The Chicago Underground Duo is a pretty interesting band configuration as it is just a percussionist and Mazurek on coronet, although they sometimes bring other instruments along for their live show. I’ve never seen this band live before, so I’m hoping to make it to this show. I’ve seen Mazurek’s other project Isotope 217 before (on the 1998 tour with Tortoise). Isotope 217 is less improvisational maybe more like Tortoise in some respects.
The Chicago Underground Duo will be bringing their flavor of avante garde improvisational jazz to The Mill Restaurant in Iowa City on, Thursday, February 18th. Admission will be $8 and the show will start at 9PM. An opening act has yet to be announced.
Click Here to visit Thrill Jockey’s Chicago Underground page where you can stream whole albums from their catalog.
Click Here to visit The Mill Restaurant’s calendar page to get more details on the show.
Click Here to listen to “Spy on the Floor” from Boca Negra.
Fri Jan 15 New York, NY – FONT Festival
Sun Jan 17 Philadelphia, PA – International House
Wed Feb 3 Chicago, IL – Chicago Cultural Center
Fri Feb 5 Ann Arbor, MI – Yellow Barn
Tue Feb 9 Marfa, TX – TBA
Wed Feb 10 Tucson, AZ – Solar Culture Gallery
Thu Feb 11 Phoenix, AZ – Modified Arts
Fri Feb 12 Los Angeles, CA – Bootleg Theatre w/ Pit Er Pat
Sat Feb 13 Visalia, CA – Cellar Door
Sun Feb 14 San Francisco, CA – Cafe Du Nord w/ Pit Er Pat
Wed Feb 17 Omaha, NE – Bemis Center for the Contemporary Arts
Thu Feb 18 Iowa City, IA – The Mill Restaurant
Fri Feb 19 Northfield, MN – The Cave @ Carleton College
Sat Feb 20 Chicago, IL – The Hideout
Sun Feb 21 Milwaukee, WI – Woodland Pattern Book Center
Most of the press that surrounds the Chicago sextet Canasta is wrong.
which was very a very influential record for me when it came out and was re-released by Thrill Jockey in 2005. Clean, layered guitars, sparse percussion provide what is a great soundtrack for my day.
