About two weeks from now I’ll be in Austin, Texas for the 2009 SXSW Music Festival. Between now and then, I’ll be previewing some of the bands I’m hoping to check out – and there are a ton of really great bands playing this year so there will be no shortage of material.
The hottest rumor going right now is that Metallica will be performing at Stubb’s (a large outdoor venue) on Friday night (March 20). The Austin Chronicle lends some credence to this rumor by interviewing Creative Director Brent Grukle: “There is going to be a Guitar Hero event at South by Southwest,” affirms Creative Director Brent Grulke. “Some of Metallica’s band members may make an appearance at the event.”
There are a number of blogs and sites dedicated to ’80s hair metal that I regularly check out as much for news about the bands I grew up listening to (and still occupy a healthy amount of space on my iPod) as for the introduction to current bands carrying on in the tradition of the likes of Motley Crue, Faster Pussycat, LA Guns, and Kix. I’m sure there are a lot of bands that I’m missing here but if we could Rikki Rachtman to host a special 2009 edition of Headbanger’s Ball (featuring hair metal bands, not the hardcore bands that the show features these days), here are the videos I’d love to see on the playlist.
Tara Jane ONeil – “Drowning” There’s compassion and concern, wisdom and heartbreak, moving on and waking up in these songs.
Mt. St. Helens Vietnam Band – “Anchors Dropped” UK magazine Uncut had this to say about the album, “an appealing piece of go-ahead indie pop, with a certain charismatic bagginess and wit (the call-and-response safari anthem, “Going On a Hunt”) that points to a bright future.”
Human Highway – “The Sound” Spin calls it a “catchy-as-hell, jingle”
It Hugs Back – “Now and Again” dreamlike soundscapes and experimental guitar feedback into sublimely melodic pop-perfect indie tunes, that has inspired some to compare them with My Bloody Valentine, Teenage Fanclub and Yo La Tengo
EAR PWR – “Future Eyes” Blistering thumpers with infectious melodies, Disco chants with wild-eyed electro anthems
The Picture – “Deer Crossing” Taking cues from bands as diverse as Jesus & Mary Chain, Love and Rockets, and The Cure, these heavily-buzzing rockers combine the expansiveness of early 90s rock with a timeless melodicism that sounds perfectly at home on a pair of headphones as they do in an arena
The Library – “You Don’t Need No Doctor, Sugar” dance hooks and flair for dramatics
Bell – “Magic Tape” skittish, bumpy half-time verses (smacking slightly of Timbaland’s early work with Aaliyah) shimmy, simmer and eventually set off a confetti mushroom-cloud floor-slammer of a chorus, with 808 bass and heroic keytar designed to eradicate personal anxiety and (by proxy) economic strife.
Bricolage – “Turn U Over” distinct breed of extraordinary pop
Caroline Weeks of Bat For Lashes – “Elegy”
full of insight, sensitivity and intimacy and do justice to a poet whose love sonnets are undeservedly slighted in our day
Jukebox the Ghost – “Victoria” highly-addictive, ebullient mix of piano/guitar/drums based pop
Saturday afternoon the wife calls and says a friend has invited us over for a Thanksgiving dinner in February. Crazy talk, even crazy considering that while I was out running errands I was going to stop by the grocery store and pick up a turkey and mashed potatoes. Coincidence? I don’t know.
Then, last night, I dropped Faith No More’sAlbum of the Year onto my iPod, a CD that I haven’t listened to in years but had a hankerin’ to hear. Woke up this morning to see my Google Reader filled with links to sites announcing that Faith No More (no word on the line-up) is reuniting to play some summer shows in Europe. No word on U.S. dates. I wonder what size venues they could play? I’m thinking the same 1,500 – 3,000 seaters they were playing when they broke up 10 years ago.
“Stripsearch” was the song I had in my head which inspired me to put Album of the Year on my iPod. Kind of a different sound for the band but great nevertheless.
Scottish noisemasters Mogwai have lined up tour dates in the U.S. this spring in support of their latest release, The Hawk is Howling.
04/20 Houston, TX- Numbers
04/21 New Orleans, LA- Republic
04/22 Birmingham, AL- Workplay Theatre
04/23 Asheville, NC- Orange Peel
04/24 Carrboro, NC- Cats Cradle
04/25 Philadelphia, PA- Trocadero
04/27 Brooklyn, NY- Music Hall Of Williamsburg
04/28 Brooklyn, NY- Music Hall Of Williamsburg
04/29 Brooklyn, NY- Music Hall Of Williamsburg
05/01 Boston, MA- Wilbur Theatre
05/02 Northampton, MA- Pearl Street
05/03 Montreal, QUE- Metropolis
05/04 Toronto, ON- Phoenix
05/05 Buffalo, NY- Tralf Music Hall
05/06 Pontiac, MI- Crofoot Ballroom
05/08 Chicago, IL – Congress Theatre
05/09 Milwaukee, WI – Turner Hall
05/10 Minneapolis, MN- First Avenue
05/11 Omaha, NE- The Slowdown
05/12 Denver, CO- Bluebird Theatre
05/13 Salt Lake City, UT- In The Venue
05/15 San Diego, Ca- Belly Up Tavern
05/16 Los Angeles, CA- Orpheum Theatre
Mogwai bassist Dominic Aitchison will beat the rest of his band to the U.S. in order to play a few weeks worth of shows with his other band, Crippled Black Phoenix.
4/2 – Beat Kitchen (Chicago IL)
4/3 – Magic Stick (Detroit MI)
4/4 – Ravari Room (Columbus OH)
4/5 – Thirty First Street Pub (Pittsburgh PA)
4/7 – Great Scott (Boston MA)
4/8 – Soundlab (Buffalo NY)
4/9 – Sneaky Dee’s (Toronto ON)
4/10 – Zaphods (Ottawa ON)
4/11 – Katacombes (Montreal QC)
4/12 – Mercury Lounge (New York)
4/14 – Kung Foo Corner (Philadelphia PA)
4/15 – Talking Head (Baltimore MD)
4/16 – Soapbox Laundro-Lounge (Wilmington NC)
4/17 – Music Farm (Charleston SC)