Yesterday I received the self-titled McCarthy Trenching album I’d been anticipating since seeing them open for Bright Eyes in Milwaukee. Their opening show was both an absolute pleasure and big surprise having never heard of them prior.

Hailing from Omaha, Nebraska the group is anchored and was founded by Dan McCarthy, whose storytelling tales resonate through each song on the album. The album was released on Conor Oberst’s Team Love label, who aptly describe the album as “a mixture of tear-in-beer waltzes, anthemic drinking songs, and restless tunes of longing that take you from the bar to the road to the track to the morning after and back to the bar again, just in time for happy hour.”

Dig into the track below and check back because we’ll be covering these guys again soon.

MP3: McCarthy Trenching - Headlines
Myspace: McCarthy Trenching

Lucero’s Ben Nichols contributed the track “Dog Day Night” to the Think Syrup Records Arkansas Compilation. With a straight up infectious guitar lick, reminiscent of early Black Keys work, the track has gotten its fair share of repeated spins throughout the day.

You can listen to the track on the Thick Syrup Myspace page and then go ahead and order the record. $10 gets you 24 tracks from Arkansas musicians and bands, most of whom were completely new finds for me since checking out this record.

It took Voxtrot being added to the upcoming Pitchfork Music Festival for me to take notice of their recently released self-titled album on Beggars. I’d enjoyed the three track Your Biggest Fan, but grew tired of it after several repeated listens.

This morning was my first complete listen to Voxtrot and I’m a little upset that I waited this long to check out the album. Those looking for some behind the scenes goodness can check out this site which provides audio and video snapshots of the album making process.

It’s always a blessing when the band/label offer one of the better tracks of the album up as legal MP3 for us to download, and that’s definitely the case with the song “Kid Gloves.”

Voxtrot plays the Pitchfork Music Festival on Saturday, July 14th in Chicago. We’ll see if we can’t bring them through Wisconsin before or after.

Buy: Insound
MP3: Voxtrot - Kid Gloves
MP3: Voxtrot - Trouble
Myspace: Voxtrot

The buildup to this show was unreasonably high. Everyone was talking about it all day. At every venue, you’d hear people chatting and the general sentiment was: “yeah, I am just really excited for Arcade Fire.” Endless (and encouraged) comparisons to religious services, the spread in NYTimes, blog after blog raving about their shows, the epic release of Neon Bible, expectations were over-the-top.

Before Arcade Fire was Manu Chao, who completely ripped the doors off his set. People were dancing, he was dancing, he was singing in four different languages. Incredible.

Then, the sun set, the band walked on the stage. The crowd roared and then hushed. They played the opening chords of “Black Mirror” and the crowd roared again, and then hushed. Enthralled. Then the song ended. Crowd roared. Opening chords of “No Cars Go.” Cue crowd. Hush. (Repeat about 10 times)

You get the idea.

They alternated, almost trading song for song, between new tracks and older material. The guys were dressed in blue, the women in black and red. Everyone was constantly moving. With Arcade Fire, I keep looking for a lead to emerge, someone who rises above the rest and takes the spotlight. I am not successful. The feel is cohesive, each person plays a defined role.

However, the set seemed less than careful, heavy handed. Every song starts small, and builds, and builds and then you lose track of the layers and your head is spinning and there are so many pieces and then. Crash. End of song. (Cue Crowd) (Repeat). Arcade Fire is popular enough, so universally enjoyed, that it’s natural there is this backlash.

Let’s just remember that there is a reason they became so popular, so universally enjoyed, in the first place. They make good, fun, accessible, music that you doesn’t sound like everything else you hear. Keep it up. If their style is occassionally repetitive, we can still enjoy the show.

Myspace: Arcade Fire

(travis)

Oh and here’s a pic of the mainstage (and the back of my friend’s head) taken about an hour before they went on, during Manu Chao’s killer show.

Ryan Adams & The Cardinals have confirmed a run of club dates next month. Show dates and venues are below and tickets go on sale this week. More shows should be announced soon….

June
18 Minneapolis, MN - Cedar Cultural Center
19 Chicago, IL - The Black Orchid
20 Detroit, MI - Gem Theater
22 Toronto, ON - Enwave Theater
24 Burlington, VT - Higher Ground
28 Philadelphia, PA - The Fillmore
29 Boston, MA - Somerville Theater

Thanks to Pitchfork for alerting me to some recent Wilco and LCD Soundsystem footage on youtube from their recent performances on “Later With Jools Holland.” We’ll take any opportunity to pimp one of our favorite songs of the year, so here’s “All My Friends”:

Also: Don’t miss The Broken West on Daytrotter and Sufjan performing “The Lakes Of Canada” on La Blogotheque.

Each Tuesday stop by Muzzle of Bees for our recommended purchases for the week. There are no records for the release date of May 29th that are of particular interest to us, therefore we suggest you check out some of our previous recommendations:

Tuesday’s Gold: What We Recommend #12
Tuesday’s Gold: What We Recommend #11
Tuesday’s Gold: What We Recommend #10
Tuesday’s Gold: What We Recommend #9
Tuesday’s Gold: What We Recommend #8
Tuesday’s Gold: What We Recommend #7
Tuesday’s Gold: What We Recommend #6
Tuesday’s Gold: What We Recommend #5
Tuesday’s Gold: What We Recommend #4
Tuesday’s Gold: What We Recommend #3
Tuesday’s Gold: What We Recommend #2
Tuesday’s Gold: What We Recommend #1

Download: eMusic
Buy: Strictly Discs

Here are the Wisconsin shows we recommend you take in this week. Check them out below and let us know which ones you’ll be attending or ones you think should really make our list.

6/1 - Beach House/Clientele - High Noon Saloon, Madison
6/2 - The Rosebuds - House of Rock, Eau Claire

+Remember to bookmark our shows page for all your Wisconsin concert announcements+

Following The Blow, I caught the first half of Viva Voce. Their Get Yr Blood Sucked Out has been getting great reviews. Viva Voce is Anita and Kevin Robinson, also hailing from Portland. They make hard, fuzzed out rock. Kevin is on drums and provides backing vocals. Anita’s lead vocals are calm and quiet, in contrast to the heavy chords of her electric guitar. They seemed to be finding their feet, a little unsettled, so I left to catch Neko Case’s full set.

Neko Case is still touring in front of her 2006 Fox Confessor Brings the Flood. Here, you can read Ryan’s review of her Madison show in April. Her Sasquatch set was, of course, much shorter and relied much more heavily on her extensive back catalog. She played a great version of “The Tigers Have Spoken.” Her big, bold voice filled the Gorge, the country elements mixed perfectly with the view, which has a distinctive southwest desert feel.

Myspace: Viva Voce
Myspace: Neko Case

We arrived, set up our tent, and rushed to make it down to the festival area. We were caught in the (inevitable) festival line to get into the venue itself. Finally, we made it past the ticket takers, lugging our bag stuffed with sunscreen, hoodies, sandwiches, a blanket and everything else we would need for a twelve hour day of music.

We ran and caught most of The Blow’s set on the smaller of the two side stages. The first artist ended up being the biggest surprise of the festival.

The Blow started as a solo project of Khaela Maricich, and became a duo w/ Jona Bechtolt (also known as YACHT) for the 2006 release Paper Television. Khaela was on stage giving the vocals. I couldn’t see Jona, but assume he was in the back laying down the blips, beats and tunes that make up the rest of The Blow’s music.

When I listen to Paper Television, or The Blow’s earlier release, Poor Aim: Love Songs, I like the music, but I’m not knocked down. With Khaela on stage, it was a whole different experience. Between songs, she was relaxed, chatting with the crowd. She would tell a little story like:

(rough paraphrase) “I was thinking that it is so hard to find songs that addressed sexism and the gross inequity in pay between men and women. And why doesn’t someone write about it? After all, women have such inherent worth, it’s like women are just sitting on a pile of gold.” Then she would half speak, half sing into the opening track off Paper Television - “Pile of Gold.”

During songs, she was all over the stage, full of energy, jerky dancing. She explained that she has only written one real love song and played the crowd favorite, “Parantheses.”

The crowd was larger than I expected. Everyone knew every word. With her energy, stage presence and the great beats, I’m confident that if her show had happened later in the day, it would have turned into a fierce dance party. Instead, her early time slot meant that everyone was just settling into the festival feel, still a little awkward and unsure.

She closed with “True Affection.” The crowd was definitely hoping for a few more songs, but the strict festival time schedule rules all. So she wrapped up singing “Just because it’s real doesn’t mean it’s gonna work… You were out of my league, at a distance that I didn’t want to see. I wanted you nearer,” and waving goodbye.

Myspace: The Blow

(travis)