Radio Free Berry 01.11.06
Posted by Brian Berry on 01.11.2006
Wolf Parade concert review, Pedro the Lion, Jenny Lewis, and Two Gallants news, new releases, tour dates, and Akron/Family & Angels of Light get the pick of the week all in RFB 7!!!
IN THE BEGINNING THERE WAS…
Welcome to the seventh edition of Radio Free Berry. You can look to RFB for the freshest indie/college rock reviews, up to the minute news, tour and new release dates, and a battle royal of disorganized running-at-the-mouth on music related issues.
I had the chance to see three movies in the theater this week: Good Night and Good Luck, Hostel, and Sarah Silverman-Jesus Is Magic. In short, these are my feelings on each:
*Good Night and Good Luck- Stylishly shot in black and white, well acted, brilliantly written, and excellently directed by George Clooney. There wasn't a dull moment in this look back at the horrific witchhunts conducted by U.S. Senator Joseph McCarthy in the 1950's. Stock footage from 1950's news broadcasts mixed with dramatizations of real life events would've placed this amongst my favorite films of 2005 (had I seen it in time).
*Hostel- I was a huge Cabin Fever fan so I had big expectations for this one. While the story lags a bit on getting to the blood and guts, once it does, gore fans can not be disappointed. Where other directors would shy away from a jugular slicing, fingers being hacked off, or a chainsaw dismemberment, Eli Roth stays with the action and shows with a perverse eye to detail some of the most disgusting shots to grace the big screen for an "R" rated movie. Hostel director Eli Roth is interviewed by Trevor Snyder of 411 Movies this week. Also, the film received a few reviews by 411 Mania writers, only one of which I even remotely agree with. Check out Trevor's Hostel review for the lowdown.
*Sarah Silverman-Jesus Is Magic- Truth be told: I'm not a fan of shock comedy. This film that mixes a live stand-up comedy performance, musical numbers, and cinema verite skits won't disappoint fans of the Jewish comedienne. Her humor has always been hit or miss for me. In the course of 70 minutes, she lampoons AIDS, 9/11, homosexuals, religion, and every race imaginable. The audience is supposed to think Silverman's act is ironic in its audaciousness, being that she's a beautiful Jewish woman with a dirty mouth making jokes of taboo subjects. I just can't buy into it. That is not to say the film doesn't have some hilarious moments…but it definitely bombs more than it kills.
Enough of this off-topic-ness…On to the music news…
On January 24, former Troop Beverly Hills (where are all the Goldie Hawn fans at?) actress and current Rilo Kiley vocalist, Jenny Lewis will release her debut album Rabbit Fur Coat. The album was recorded with Rilo Kiley contributors, The Watson Twins, as well as an all-star cast of characters including Conor Oberst (Bright Eyes), Ben Gibbard (Death Cab For Cutie), M. Ward, and Greg Kurstin (Beck), amongst others. (Jenny Lewis with the Watson Twins)
Lewis recorded the album while on tour in support of Rilo Kiley's highly successful album More Adventurous, and is said to lean further in the direction of folk and country than her previous work. Oberst is releasing Rabbit Fur Coat on his new label, Team Love. Lewis will play a three show tour, hitting Los Angeles, San Francisco, and New York during the first week of February. Expect swooning young men (and women) at these likely sold-out shows.
2. TWO GALLANTS: NEW ALBUM
The newest addition to the Saddle Creek roster (home to Bright Eyes, Cursive, etc.), Two Gallants, will release their second full-length, What the Toll Tells on February 21st. The San Francisco bluesy, folk-rock duo have made waves on their solo tour, as well as in opening shows for The Decemberists and Built To Spill. In the meantime, you can check out the 7" single for the album track "Las Cruces Jail," along with an unreleased b-side that's available now (Two Gallants Myspace page is good starting point for getting to know the band). US tour dates start in March and, rest assured, plenty of coverage on their tour & album will appear here in the weeks to come. ( Two Gallants)
For more on Two Gallants, check out my live concert review here.
3. PEDRO THE LION: BAND BREAKS UP
After ten years as one of the favorite bands of cardigan sweater wearing, emo kids, as well as sad bastard Christians, Pedro The Lion have decided to call it quits. Pedro the Lion's mastermind, David Bazan, will carry on under his own name. Gossip mongers are warned to hold their breath, as Bazan and multi-instrumentalist TW Walsh are on friendly terms following the split. (Pedro the Lion)
Bazan will hit the road for a February tour when the singer-songwriter supergroup Undertow Orchestra hits the road. The Traveling Wilbury's of indie-folk are comprised of Bazan, Vic Chesnutt, Mark Eitzel (American Music Club), and Will Johnson (Centro-matic). Compulsive crying and bed wetting from Pedro the Lion's rabid fan base to follow.
4. SELL YOUR LIVER FOR TICKETS TO…
Here are the Radio Free Berry approved tours. Below, you'll find shows that I went to or am planning to go to in the near future. And, as always, if you buy a ticket to one of these shows and it sucks I'll buy you a 40 ounce bottle of malt liquor or a couple cans of Sparks. All shows should be under fifteen bucks with exception to Cat Power and Jeff Tweedy.
Cat Power 2-14 New York, NY - Town Hall *
2-18 Boston, MA - Berklee Performance Hall *
2-20 Seattle, WA - Moore Theatre *
2-22 Los Angeles, CA - Wilshire Ebell *
2-23 San Francisco, CA - Palace of Fine Arts *
2-24 San Francisco, CA - Palace of Fine Arts *
2-26 Chicago, IL - Vic Theatre *
3-04 London, England - The Barbican *
3-08 Paris, France - Grand Rex *
Deerhoof
1-24 - Cambridge, MA - Middle East *
1-25 - Providence, RI - AS 220*
1-26 – Saratoga Springs, NY- Falstaff's at Skidmore College
1-27 - Baltimore, MD - Ottobar*
1-29 - Philadelphia, PA - TBA*
1-30 - New York, NY - Bowery Ballroom*
* w/ Starter Set: featuring Leg & Pants Dans Theatre, Screenings by Martha Coburn, Le Ton Mite
Of Montreal 1-14 Honolulu, HI - Anna Bananas
1-15 Honolulu, HI - Thirtynine Hotel
1-20 Baton Rouge, LA - Spanish Moon *
1-21 Houston, TX - Numbers *
1-24 Tucson, AZ - Club Congress *
1-26 San Diego, CA - Epicentre *
1-27 Los Angeles, CA - Ex Plex (below the Echo) *
1-28 San Francisco, CA - Bottom of the Hill *
1-31 Seattle, WA - Chop Suey *
2-01 Portland, OR - Crystal Ballroom *
2-03 San Francisco, CA - Great American Music Hall *
2-04 Los Angeles, CA - TBA
2-05 Tempe, AZ - The Clubhouse *
2-07 Dallas, TX - Granada *
2-08 Oklahoma City, OK - TBA
2-09 Austin, TX - Emo's *
2-11 Atlanta, GA - Variety Playhouse *
2-15 Gainesville, FL - TBA #
2-16 Tallahassee, FL - Club Downunder #
2-17 Orlando, FL - The Social #
2-18 Miami, FL - PAC #
2-19 Jacksonville, FL - Jackrabbit's #
2-22 Asheville, NC - Grey Eagle Music Hall
2-23 Nashville, TN - The End
2-24 St. Louis, MO - The Gargoyle
2-25 Columbia, MO - The Blue Note (True False Film Festival)
2-26 Newport, KY - Southgate House
2-28 Carrboro, NC - Cat's Cradle %
3-01 Charlottesville, VA - Satellite %
3-02 Philadelphia, PA - Starlight Ballroom %
3-03 New York, NY - Bowery Ballroom %
3-04 Portland, ME - Space Gallery %
3-05 Cambridge, MA - Middle East %
3-06 Hanover, NH - Fuel Rocket Club %
3-07 Montreal, Quebec - Le Tulipe
3-08 Toronto, Ontario - Mod Club
3-09 Ann Arbor, MI - Blind Pig
3-10 Chicago, IL - The Metro
3-11 Urbana, IL - Canopy Club ^
3-12 Omaha, NE - Sokol Underground ^
3-13 Lawrence, KS - The Bottleneck ^
* with Grand Buffet, MGMT, DJ Jester the Filipino Fist
# with the Late B.P. Helium, James Husband
% with the M's
^ with Saturday Looks Good to Me
Ariel Pink 2-10 Los Angeles, CA - Echo Lounge *
2-11 San Francisco, CA - Bottom of the Hill *
2-13 Portland, OR - Doug Fir Lounge *
2-14 Seattle, WA - Chop Suey *
2-17 Minneapolis, MN - Entry *
2-18 Chicago, IL - Schuba's *
2-19 Detroit, MI - Magic Stick # (Ariel Pink)
2-20 Toronto, Ontario - X-Space #
2-21 Montreal, Quebec - Zoobizarre #
2-22 Boston, MA - TT the Bear's #
2-23 New Haven, CT - The Room #
2-24 New York, NY - Knitting Factory #
2-25 Philadelphia, PA - Vox Populi #
2-26 Baltimore, MD - Salisbury College #
2-27 Durham, NC - Duke
2-28 Atlanta, GA - Drunken Unicorn
3-01 Baton Rouge, LA - Spanish Moon
3-02 Houston, TX - Mary Jane's
3-03 Austin, TX - Emo's
3-04 Dallas, TX - Hailey's
3-06 Tucson, AZ - Solar Cultural
3-07 San Diego, CA – Casbah
Jeff Tweedy (of Wilco/Uncle Tupelo)
1-31 Vancouver, British Columbia - Commodore Ballroom
2-02 Seattle, WA - Moore Theatre
2-03 Portland, OR - Crystal Ballroom
2-04 Eugene, OR - McDonald Theater
2-06 Arcata, CA - Humboldt State University
2-08 San Francisco, CA - The Fillmore
2-09 San Francisco, CA - The Fillmore
2-11 San Diego, CA - Spreckels Theatre
2-12 Los Angeles, CA - Henry Fonda Theater
3-12 Sunrise, FL - Langerado Music Festival
5. WOLF PARADE: LIVE @ THE INDEPENDENT, SAN FRANCISCO (1/5/06)
Following a year of non-stop touring, Montreal's Wolf Parade made their final stop in San Francisco last Thursday for the second of two sold-out shows at The Independent in San Francisco, California. After spending most of 2005, supporting fellow Canadians The Arcade Fire, followed by their first headlining tour, Wolf Parade will enjoy two months of tour free living. An early glimpse of the band was made available by their cameo for a balls to the wall cover of Bruce Springsteen's "Dancing in the Dark," during opener Chad VanGaalen's set. (Wolf Parade photo courtesy The Village Voice
When the Wolf Parade hit the stage, the overcrowded sea of 500 fans greeted ready-for-a-well-deserved-break band with a great deal of admiration. One of the band's two vocalists, guitar player Dan Boeckner, warned concertgoers early on that they were fatigued and eager for a short hiatus, but that they would bring the rock as best they could that evening. Equipped with Sparks energy drink/malt liquor hybrids, and many a beer, the Wolf Parade exploded through a set of energetic, albeit a tad sloppy, renditions of songs mainly borrowed from their 2005 release, Apologies To the Queen Mary. If you haven't picked up Apologies yet, stop reading this column, and seek transportation to a record store immediately.
While Koeckner penned songs, such as "Shine A Light" and "This Heart's On Fire," won me over on Apologies, Koeckner's voice wasn't at 100% this evening despite moving frenetically as he played guitar. Tonight, it was keyboardist/singer Spencer Krug's tunes that stole the show. Watching from a great vantage point in the center of The Independent's balcony I witnessed Krug's sweat literally pouring from his mop as he muscled through crowd pleasers like "Dear Sons And Daughters Of Hungry Ghosts" and "You Are A Runner And I Am My Father's Son." Tonight it was Krug's "I'll Believe In Anything," that stole the show. According to the reviews received for their Apolgies the lyric "Nobody knows you/And nobody gives a damn" can't possibly be about the Wolf Parade. The dark, brooding "Dinner Bells" during their brief encore capped off a great show worthy of thumbs up from this columnist.
The show officially closed with a cover of Bob Dylan's "Like A Rolling Stone" where every performer of the night (nearly fifteen musicians total) jumped on stage for a sloppy, chaotic rendition that came off not as a sacrilegious debasement of Dylan's music but as a "let your balls hang out" sayonara to what was the most successful, busy year of this promising young band's career.
6. NEW RELEASES TO SPEND YOUR $$$ ON (…OR NOT)
I placed all the new albums through my electric juicer and saved the pulp for your consumption. Grab a spoon and eat up! As of press time, the only new releases of note for next week were re-issues of Romeo Void and Sparks. Hopefully I'll dig a few more titles up by next Wednesday. Two weeks from now keep your eyes peeled here for a write-up on the new Rocky Votalato (Barsuk) and Karl Blau (K Records) albums, amongst others.
Released January 10-
· Morningwood-Morningwood (Capitol)
Comment: Incredibly obnoxious New York band not-so-cleverly named after an erect penis during the a.m hours. Put Veruca Salt, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, and a couple new wave bands in a blender, strip away anything remotely insightful, entertaining, or interesting (that including, musicianship and lyricism) and the end product is something similar to Morningwood's music. Most of the people listening to this record will do so for ironic purposes and not because this music is good, much the same way I "like" the Black Eyed Peas songs about humps or lumps or whatever that girl from Kids Incorporated is rapping about (people always correct me when I try and sing the lyrics).
· Sloan-Between the Bridges (Koch)
Comment: Re-release of their fifth album from 1999. Another great collection power-pop with a splash of reverb and noise, for fans of Teenage Fanclub, The New Pornographers, and R.E.M.
· We Are Scientists-With Love and Squalor (Virgin)
Comment: Brooklyn based trio who, after self-releasing three ep's, kick off their major label debut of spazzed-out dance anthems. After listening to the tracks "Nobody Moves Nobody Gets Hurt," "The Great Escape," and "It's A Hit" at Myspace, it's quite apparent these guys are capitalizing on the sound brought to commercial ‘alternative' radio by Franz Ferdinand, The Killers, and to a lesser extent, The Rapture. Expect a huge push from both Virgin Records and commercial radio with this band who could certainly become the next big thing (while doing nothing for me aesthetically in the process).
7. RADIO FREE BERRY'S BOOMBOX PICKS OF THE WEEK
(Runner-Up) Dr. Dog-Easy Beat (Future Farmer)
Goddamned are those reviewers using the term Beatle-esque liberally but this whole album sounds like outtakes from the Revolver sessions. How Dr. Dog isn't the biggest stink on the planet right now is beyond me.
(Runner-Up) Calvin Johnson-Before the Dream Faded (K Records)
Another great collection of songs sung in baritone by ex-Halo Benders, Beat Happening leader, and K Records owner.
(Runner-Up) Lady Sovereign- Vertically Challenged E.P. (Chocolate Industries)
I couldn't get into The Streets, M.I.A., or any of the other grime scene heavyweights. For some reason when this 4"11 Caucasian, cockney-accented MC spouts out lyrics like "Got kicked out of school for bunking/ Now look at me, the multi-talented munchkin," I can't help but laugh and awkwardly gyrate to the nineteen year-old prodigy's music.
(CHAMPION) ANGELS OF LIGHT & AKRON/FAMILY-AKRON/FAMILY & ANGELS OF LIGHT (YOUNG GOD)
What a unique treat, I found in this split album (seven tracks by Akron/Family, five by Angels of Light) released in late October of 2005. Akron/Family is an acoustically minded band from New York, yet they are not afraid to tamper with experimental or electronic elements, in their unique brand of folk. A stand out track on their half of the album is "Moment," which in the course of five minutes transitions from free jazz experimentalist metal to down tempo, neck bobbing funk backed by in-unison harmonizing, to a jazziness not unlike Tortoise by way of a jam band, and finally dissolving into twangy, vocal dominated country backed by tambourines. The strange thing is their sound isn't jarring nor do the transitions feel out of place. No two songs sound anything remotely alike, which is a welcome attraction to this young reporter.
Angels of Light is Michael Gira, a producer, spoken word artist, and former member of avant-garde legends Swans(!). Gira uses Angels of Light as an avenue for his songwriting and acoustic guitar playing, to which he adds a revolving door of musicians on each release. In this case, Akron/Family serve as his backing band. Gira crafts beautiful, western tinged songs, befitting an evening spent in front of a campfire. Often times these dark tunes take a left turn into the territory of mild distortion and noise. With a voice and songwriting style recalling Leonard Cohen or Nick Cave, Gira & Angels of Light make the latter half of this split worthy of repeated listens.
8. PARTING THOUGHTS/PLUGS
· The college music charts are on hiatus this week but the Dusted Magazine and College Music Charts should return next week with big shake-ups in the top ten.
· If you liked Radio Free Berry, you'll love:
- Dancing About Architecture raps about loud mouthed Brit's Oasis, Bloc Party prepping a new album, and an AIDS charity album with an awesome line-up.
- 411 Music's Top 10 Albums of 2005 includes lists by me, Ari Berenstein (Wrestling Zone), Ian Wright (Music Zone, Dancing About Architecture), Michael Melchor (Music Editor), and a link to other Top 10 Albums lists by 411 Mania's writers.
- Rage Against the Machine is the latest victim of Steven Mogan's The Untouchables column. Steven weighs the pros and cons of Rage Against the Machine's career and legacy.
-Queens of the Stone Age Over the Hills and Through the Woods DVD review by Evocator Manes.
-Tool Parabola/Schism DVD review by Morgan Marx.
· Send feedback to Radio Free Berry by clicking the link below.
(Jenny Lewis with the Watson Twins)
( Two Gallants)
(Pedro the Lion)
(Ariel Pink)
(Wolf Parade photo courtesy The Village Voice
