Backseat Sandbar

RUDE WEIRDO (from Louisville)
TALK NORMAL (from Brooklyn, New York; on Rare Book Room Records)
NZAMBI (from Louisville, formerly PAX TITANIA)

Sunday, April 4th
at SKULL ALLEY
1017 E. Broadway
8 PM, $5, ALL AGES!

Louisville’s RUDE WEIRDO are a return to classic, three-chord punk. Consisting of Eric Ronay, Dave Bird, Jason Hayden, and Jason Fuller, these veterans of “the scene, man” really throw it down. The first time I saw them (with an almost entirely different lineup, with the exception of bassplayer/singer Ronay), they covered Agent Orange. They’ve released a compact disc on Louisville Lip Records, and hopefully more good things are coming soon.

Sarah Register and Andrya Ambro allied as TALK NORMAL in 2007, after years of friendship, and haven’t stopped moving. Since their lightning-strike first appearance, TALK NORMAL’s sound has stormed upward and outward, referencing few and relating to many, a jarringly songful gale of rhythm and noise supporting pleas and plaints, signal-calls and marching orders. Each show builds on past ones: up-to-the-moment updates of ideas previously stated, new phrasings of old upheavals delivered with increasing focus and joy. Darkness and light; fury, silence, space and sound. Opening for Xiu Xiu in the rest of the U.S. this spring, TALK NORMAL is returning to Louisville for another rare performance!

NZAMBI is the new synth project from Christopher Cprek, who has also released work under the PAX TITANIA moniker. Christopher uses an arsenal of DIY modular synthesizers. His former projects include Darker Florida with Irene Moon, Auk Theatre with Irene Moon, and as a member of Warmer Milks a few years back. NZAMBI’s debut as a project was in October at Zanzabar, with Regression, Spykes, and others.

For more information, check http://othersideoflife.wordpress.com.

On March 7th, rumors spread that The National were announcing a last minute addition of two shows at Brooklyn’s Bell House, a tiny venue with a capacity of 350 in the concert hall for Thursday March 11th and Friday March 12th. As you would imagine once the rumors were confirmed true, tickets sold out in ten minutes for both nights.  The intimacy of the small venues was particularly exciting knowing that the band has already sold out Radio City Music Hall for their performance next month.  Ethan Lipton‘s band provided the twisted yet hilarious opening band for Thursday’s performance.

The National had debuted the opening track from their new album High Violet (May 11 on 4AD) on Jimmy Fallon on Wednesday night (video) which set the stage for what The Bell House performances would bring.  Playing to a packed house, we were privileged to hear 10 songs not from any of the albums, thus presumably all on “High Violet.”  In form with everything the National have every put together, all of the tracks were really wonderful, but too many new ones for me to give substantive commentary.  Bryce thanked the crowd and confessed that tonight was the first night that many of these songs were being performed live and though I’d never heard 10 of them live, several have been played in the past.  Often when bands I know play songs I’m not familiar with, it can be off-putting, but hearing these songs just heightened my anticipation for the release of High Violet.  Apparently the band has gotten so deep into the new album that some of the old songs seem like distant memories, as Matt laughed at himself when he couldn’t remember how to begin Start a War, needing the audience to get him started, reminding me of Dylan’s 1964 performance of I Don’t Believe You (She Acts Like We Never Have Met).  Matt also opened up a little on some of his earlier songs, mentioning that his wife Carin Besser co-wrote two of my favorite songs from Boxer, namely Slow Show and Apartment Story; two songs that I really think makes The National one of the best story-teller bands.

Matt and crew looked as professional as ever, and Matt thought ahead to bring a bucket of ice for his bottle of wine that he so frequently keeps with him on stage (though he seemed to drink considerably less).  He eventually passed the bottle of wine into the crowd and the crowd loved him for it.  Always one to interact with the crowd, and always during Mr. November, Matt launched off the stage, grabbed my girlfriend Lily’s arm and pulled her to the middle of the room and sang to her (above), making every other girl in the room instantly jealous.  As Matt likes to sing a little too close to the edge of the stage, he nearly pulled a Jim James, but fortunately my head was there for him to keep his balance (which isn’t the first time I’ve helped him get on stage).  Matt is unequivocally one of the best frontman I have ever seen and his energy and enthusiasm creates the perfect mood amongst the crowd for watching a concert.  That said, it can be funny to see the nervous ticks we saw at our first opportunity to see the National back in March 2007 are still there such as the way Matt doesn’t quite know what to do with his hands so he pats his chest and tucks his left hand into his right armpit, but he is doing it noticeably less.  This time, Bryce even noted it to the crowd, saying that when Matt moves around a lot on stage it’s because he’s nervous.  How the frontman of a band who can command the love and respect of an audience like the National does can still be nervous is amazing.

The National once again put on an incredible show and blew the minds of everyone who was lucky enough to be there to witness it.

The opening band, Ethan Lipton & his Orchestra, is hard to describe and unfortunately for those going to tonight’s show, you’re missing out.  With songs like “Girl at the Renaissance Fair,” “Thrift Store Blues,” “I Like your Thighs,” and the somewhat creepy Whitney Houston, Ethan and his band kept the audience laughing out loud throughout his set.  Donning houndstooth pants and mixing his patterns as best as Beacon’s Closet would allow and sporting a ridiculous mustache, Ethan put on a fantastic show and as Matt Berninger appears on Ethan’s latest album, Matt helped to close the set.

The full setlist and photos after the break: (more…)

Title: Jan 25 – Dawn Landes and the Hounds
Location: Zanzabar Louisville
Description: Dawn Landes and the Hounds
Ticket Price: $10
Date: 2010-01-25

Dawn Landes- Straight Lines

Titling her third album Sweet Heart Rodeo might appear a calculated risk but singer-songwriter Dawn Landes, Kentucky-born and Brooklyn-based, swears she didn’t have the Byrds’ pioneering 1968 country-rock classic “Sweetheart of the Rodeo” in mind. Instead she was thinking of her great-grandmother’s beau, a young man who ran away to join the rodeo during the Great Depression and decades later inspired Landes to write the title song. A rodeo theme runs throughout the record, as Landes compares the ups and downs of romance to the rigours of bull riding.“I guess you could say each song is like its own bull,” the twenty-eight-year-old deadpans, “each ride its own love-story…you know, trying to hang on to a wild thing isn’t always graceful.” Her feminist approach proved problematic when it came to turning up images of feisty cowgirls for the artwork. “There aren’t many female bull riders,” she admits. And with good reason. “I went to a few rodeos as research. They don’t stay on those things very long.”

more below the break…

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Regina Spektor and her hand-picked supporting crew of Jupiter One made the final stop of their fall tour right here at the Louisville Palace last Thursday night. Regina, who is quite photogenic if I may say so, requested that no pictures be taken during her set. I was respectful of her wishes, but it did cross my mind more than once to do an artist’s rendering depicting the evening’s events using some crayons and construction paper. Alas, I could not find any crayons to use. Sorry.

The multi-talented Jupiter One was selected by Regina herself to support her on the tour, and it’s easy to see why she picked them. Bringing their Brooklyn selves to Louisville were K Ishibashi, Zac Colwell, Dave Heilman, Pat “Panda” Dougherty, and they packed loads of sound with guitars, keyboards, violins, and… a flute? Yes, a flute, and no, it was not like the scene on Anchorman. Jupiter One made all of this come together in musical happiness, and the usually lackluster Palace crowd were seeming to enjoy it very much. I do believe I saw more than a few people stand and applaud, and not just after the last song! I hope those that enjoyed Jupiter One made sure to grab a MP3 card or bought their CD on the way out the door. Make sure to give these guys a listen to, they are quite good.

*more pics of Jupiter One below the break

Oh where to even begin about Regina Spektor. First off, I must mention that she was not alone for the entire evening. Mr. Ishibashi and Mr. Heilman from Jupiter One accompanied Regina during most of her set by providing violin and drums. Combine that, add Regina’s piano, multiply it by her voice, and it equals somewhere near perfect sound. I have seen and heard many shows at The Palace over the years, but I must say this was the most crystal clear I’ve ever heard the sound there. You could hear every little noise, especially when Regina let everyone know when she, “Fucked that up.” There were a few missed lyrics here and there from her, but nobody minded. That’s what live music is all about, and she handled it well. She still seemed in high spirits and was happy to be there. This was the last stop on their tour, and she had been feeling unwell for the past few shows, but she finally was feeling better and got to see the outdoors. She had the chance to see a bit of Louisville, and even picked up a few Louisville Sluggers for kids in her family. Sounds as though she liked visiting here, hopefully she’ll remember our great city for her next tour. Hint hint, wink wink.
I didn’t get the setlist down, but a few of the highlights were Radio (of course), Sailor Song where some nice people up front assisted her with the part about Kentucky, a return to the stage after a short break with Samson where the backdrop was showered with starry lights, Hotel Song where people were finally starting to stand up and move around a bit (credit to the guy in Row A center who got the party started and was running the aisles), and the country sounding closer of Love, You’re A Whore was played for us Kentucky people. It was nice to see that even the stonewall gentlemen in front of me were moving their heads and legs in approval of the fantastic music by the closing tune. All in all it was a great evening and the sound was just impeccable. Great show Regina, great show.

More pics…
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D.W. Box will be playing tonight (10/17) with NYC’s Spider and Magdyn Osh at the Swan Dive!!

Sunday night we headed to the Hideaway Saloon to see Brooklyn’s The Subjects with SameSoul and Louisville’s Lotus Blake.  What a great way to end the weekend.  First off, The Hideaway has an amazing beer selection which is a great complement to any  show (especially when it is Dogfish brew).  The Subjects are a simple indie rock band without pretension that has developed a sound that hits a strong chord.  With no staple identifier they can range from pop rock to harmonic folk with vocals from multiple band members.  It blends nicely into a sound all of their own.  They have a ton of talent and people are starting to take note.  They’ve toured with White Rabbits and are about to embark on a tour with one of my favorite bands of 2009, Cincy’s Bad Veins (see below for the tour schedule). Check out the video below, but be sure to also listen to “The Hounds of War” for a better representation of their tunes.

The Subjects – The Hounds of War [audio=http://www.melophobe.com/audio/The_Subjects_-_thehoundsofwar.mp3]

BAD VEINS ON TOUR WITH THE SUBJECTS

October 5 – Pittsburgh, Pa. @ Club Café
October 6 – Bloomington, Ind. @ The Bishop
October 7 – Detroit, Mich. @ PJ’s Lager House
October 8 – Chicago, Ill. @ Empty Bottle
October 10 – Denver, Colo. @ Hi Dive
October 12 – Salt Lake City, Utah @ Kilby Court
October 13 – Boise, Idaho @ Reef Boise
October 14 – Seattle, Wash. @ High Dive
October 15 – Portland, Ore. @ Rotture
October 16 – Eugene, Ore. @ Sam Bond’s Garage
October 19 – San Diego, Calif. @ Soda Bar
October 20 – Los Angeles, Calif. @ The Echo
October 21 – Phoenix, Ariz. @ Modified
October 23 – Austin, Texas @ Emo’s Jr.
October 25 – St. Louis, Mo. @ Cicero’s
October 26 – Indianapolis, Ind. @ Vollrath Tavern
October 27 – Cleveland, Ohio @ Cambridge Room at HOB
October 28 – Washington, D.C. @ DC9
October 29 – Philadelphia, Pa. @ Kung Fu Necktie

More pics below the break…

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Here’s a list of what I’ve been listening to lately, most of which isn’t exactly new or cutting edge stuff, but it keeps me happy when I’m driving in my car, or sitting around the house & pretending to be cooler than everyone else i know…

• Ezra Furman & the Harpoons – Mothers Day
• Best Fwends – Aaww-some (Johnny Siera remix)
• Calvin Harris – Merrymaking at My Place
• Crystal Castles – Love and Caring
• Dan Deacon – Pink Batman
• Euphrates – Anthropolitics
• Kate Nash – Little Red
• Kiiiiiii – 4 little Joeys
• Kill the Lights – Two Sinister Gentlemen
• Leeni – Perfection Interrupted
• The Magnetic Fields – My Only Home
• My Little Airport – Edward, Had You Ever Thought that the End of the World Would Come on 20.9.01?
• Okkervil River – Our Life is Not a Movie or Maybe
• Prinzhorn Dance School – Eat, Sleep
• Sunset Rubdown - Winged/Wicked Things
• Little Name – How to Swim and Live (much respeck zach)
• Saturday Looks Good to Me – When the Party Ends
• Tay Zonday – Blue on the Fourth of July
• Looper – Pale Blue E-type