Backseat Sandbar

Cincy’s The Seedy Seeds have shown a lot of love for Louisville over the past few years, so I was very excited to see that they won THREE Cincinnati Entertainment Awards including Best Album (Count the Days), Best Indie/Alternative Band and Best Live Act.  If you haven’t had a chance to check them out yet, I cannot recommend highly enough to do so.  They are playing at the Mad Hatter in Covington on Christmas Day and I’m sure they will stop here in Louisville again next year sometime.  In the meantime, check out one of my favorite tracks from Count the Days, “Drive Me to the Center” below…

The Seedy Seeds- Drive Me to the Center

Tokyo Police Club are coming to the Mad Hatter tonight & surprisingly, it doesn’t appear to be sold out yet. Honestly, I think I might be more inclined to go for the opening band Harlem Shakes, who after giving their MySpace page a listen, I can say without hesitation that they sound incredibly fun.  Named after a dance, these kids know how to move bodies.  The Village Voice listed them as one of the best New York bands of 2007, calling them “Lethally charming and poised for certain success” and I’m kicking myself for not knowing them long ago as it’s exactly the type of music I love…poppy with a little electro beats behind the the John Darnielle-ish vocals.  Ruby Coast is another fun canadian pop band, but his voice might get on your nerves a few songs in.  $15 might be a touch steep for the show…but it’s two really strong acts and a third worth seeing.

For the full tour schedule, (more…)

Seattle’s Natalie Portman’s Shaved Head, perhaps my favorite band names, is heading out on tour with Lily Allen during her US stint.  No Lily Allen at the Covington, KY show on April 14, but it still should be a good time.  They had one of my favorite albums of 2008 and will not disappoint.  It is electro-dance at its best (or at least at its most fun).

Natalie Portman’s Shaved Head – Me + Yr Daughter [audio=http://classifieds.thestranger.com/audio/b136a9ff9288c1bd51a48d68c6e12fa3/01_Me___Yr_Daughter_2.mp3]

Natalie Portman’s Shaved Head (NPSH) & Lily Allen – 2009 Tour Dates
March 19-22 Austin, TX SXSW Music Festival *
April 1 San Diego, CA House of Blues
April 2 Los Angeles, CA Wiltern
April 4 San Francisco, CA Warfield
April 6 Seattle, WA Showbox SoDo
April 8 Salt Lake City, UT In the Venue
April 9 Denver, CO Ogden Theatre
April 11 Minneapolis, MN First Avenue
April 12 Chicago, IL Vic Theatre
April 13 Detroit, MI St. Andrews Hall
April 14 Cincinnati, OH Mad Hatter *
April 15 Atlanta, GA Variety Playhouse
April 16 Chapel Hill, NC Local 506 *
April 17 Washington, DC 9:30 Club
April 18 Philadelphia, PA TLA
April 19 Boston, MA House of Blues
April 20 New York, NY Roseland Ballroom
April 22 Toronto, ON Phoenix Concert Theatre

* no Lily Allen at dates with an asterisk

Louisville’s VHS OR BETA returns to Kentucky this month for TWO SHOWS.  On August 22nd they will be at the Mad Hatter in Newport, Kentucky.  Bad Veins and All Day Holiday will open.

Then, one week later, on the 27th, VHS or BETA returns home to play at WFPK’s Waterfront Wednesdays with another local favorite, Ben Sollee, and Ashville, NC’s SeapeopleS.  I’ll probably save my money and the trip to Newport and catch them at the Waterfront show with Sollee and SeapeopleS.

Ben Sollee (6pm)                              SeapeopleS (7:30pm)

VHS or BETA – Burn it All Down

Ben Sollee -  Dear Kanye

SeapeopleS -album stream

Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin is coming to the Mad Hatter on Monday, July 21st supporting their recently released Perishing. After coming out of the gates with wide praise in the blogging world for their 2006 Broom, the band seemed to play it a little safe, and failed to make quite as memorable and coveted of an album as the first. That said, SSLYBY remains an incredibly talented group of musicians whose live shows are rumored to be a thing you don’t want to miss…

Check out this concert review & this interview & YANP’s “My First Time”

Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin – Accident (Live)
Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin – What’ll We Do (Live)

The Weakerthans along with Liam Finn, Christine Fellows are coming to The Mad Hatter Friday March 28 at 8pm. The Weakerthans present some of the best lyrics coming out of indie pop right now, and just recently released their latest album, Reunion Tour. I first got into the Weakerthans after seeing one of their songs called Anchorless & instantly recognizing it as a cover of Propagandhi…because how many bands would come up with a song called Anchorless. I did a little research and come to find out, it’s John Sampson, the former bassist and sometimes singer of Propagandhi…one of my absolute favorite punk bands since I’d first heard Anti-Manifesto (mp3) back in 1994 on Fat Music for Fat People (I’d have preferred them covering Gifts personally).

Back to the Weakerthans, they play a blend of music somewhere between punk rock, folk rock & indie pop. Their lyrics are incredibly literate, and tell wonderful stories about anything from spilled sugar to city life and love. No surprise, they’re just one more of countless bands playing great music coming out of Canada. This summer I spent a couple weeks in Canada, and couldn’t help but think about some of the places they sing about. I met a girl from Winnipeg so we chatted about the song “One Great City” about the people talking about how they love the city but destroy every ounce of individuality it may have ever held. Yes…songs with lyrics you can hold a conversation about. That’s what I mean….truly intelligent lyrics.

I’m really excited about this show. My favorite album remains to be the first one…Fallow….and most of the songs below come from that one….but everything these guys play is really great. Of all of the bands coming to KY over the next few months….I think the Weakerthans have to be amongst my most highly recommended. It’s unfortunate they’re splitting the day with British Sea Power, but this is an easy call for me….

The show is $15

The Weakerthans – The Last One
The Weakerthans – Confessions of a Futon Revolutionist
The Weakerthans – One Great City
The Weakerthans – Wellington’s Wednesdays
The Weakerthans – Night Windows
The Weakerthans – Last Last Ones
The Weakerthans – Aside
The Weakerthans – Plea from a cat named Virtue

Also, these guys have an entire live show from 11/6/07 @ the Elixir

The Mountain Goats are coming to the Mad Hatter on Tuesday, Nov. 13. I’ve not been to this venue yet, but it seems great as its also hosting The Queers, Margot & the Nuclear So & So’s, Electric Six, and Le Loup in the next month. From the first time I’d heard Lion’s Teeth, I was hooked. Who can pass up a line like “In come the cops….they blowtorch the door” ??

The Mountain Goats – Entebbe
The Mountain Goats – Adair
The Mountain Goats – An Inscription At Solonae
The Mountain Goats – There Will Always Be An Ireland
The Mountain Goats – No Children
The Mountain Goats – Stars Fell on Alabama
The Mountain Goats – Live Show in Springfield, IL on 8.23.03 (50 min)

Find more mp3s HERE.