Here are the Wisconsin and Illinois 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.
Upcoming Shows:
3/9 – Vetiver + Jaill – High Noon Saloon (MADISON)
3/9 – Califone (with film) – Lincoln Hall (CHICAGO)
3/10 – Constellations + Fresh Cut Collective – Mad Planet (MILWAUKEE)
3/10 – Vetiver – Empty Bottle (CHICAGO)
3/10 – Califone (without film) – Lincoln Hall (CHICAGO)
3/11 – Jeremiah Nelson/The Blueheels/Ragadors/Surgeons In Heat – Up & Under (MILWAUKEE)
3/12 – Band of Heathens – Highdive (URBANA)
3/12 – Ben Sollee and Daniel Martin Moore – Space (Evanston IL)
3/12 – Vivian Girls – Subterranean (CHICAGO)
3/13 – Ben Sollee and Daniel Martin Moore – Schubas (CHICAGO)
3/13 – Laarks + Conrad Plymouth – Club Garibaldi (MILWAUKEE)
3/13 – Retribution Gospel Choir – Schubas (CHICAGO)
3/14 – Ted Leo and the Pharmacists – High Noon Saloon (MADISON)
Just Announced:
4/6 – The Low Anthem – Lincoln Hall (CHICAGO)
4/9 – Peter Wolf Crier + Conrad Plymouth – UW Rathskeller (MADISON)
4/21 – Horse Feathers – High Saloon (MADISON)
5/24 – Mumford & Sons + The Middle East – Lincoln Hall (CHICAGO)
R.I.P. Sparklehorse’s Mark Linkous. I saw Sparklehorse at the High Noon Saloon in Madison years ago and always hoped I’d have the good fortune to have another live experience with Mark. I feel lucky to have seen them live and have their records in my collection. If you don’t own Vivadixiesubmarinetransmissionplot, please add it to your collection.
The National will release their new album, High Violet, on May 10th.
We can stop watching the Roadside Graves new video for “Liv Tyler.” The Roadside Graves will be a heavy presence at SXSW, including our showcase.
I have been reading about the Madison band, Zola Jesus, the synthy noise-goth child of Nika Roza Danilova, all over the internet for months now. Her debut album The Spoils garnered some much-deserved buzz from the indie giant Pitchfork Media and they have reviewed several of the tracks off her new EP, which sounded fantastic. The band decided to play an EP release show here in Madison at the Project Lodge, before heading out to the SXSW festival in Texas, so I had a strong desire to finally check them out before they left Madison for a while.
Shows at the Project Lodge tend to not disappoint. The space is very inviting with its friendly staff, all ages policy and very cheap admission, intimate with its size, and since it doubles as an art space, there is usually artwork to check out while you wait for groups to set up. I am very happy that the venue is starting to host more national acts, seeing that many of the bands they book, aren’t big enough to really play venues other than bars.
The crowd started out kind of small for the first group that came on. Sonmi consisted of a girl who sang and played bass, and a guy who sang and played guitar. The music was atmospheric, using a lot of loops and prerecorded, droning noise to create thick, sonic environments for the vocals to hide in. The group seemed to have found their sound, and they liked staying close to it with the majority of their songs. Luckily their sound was cool and actually did keep my interest for the whole set.
The next group was Julian Lynch and his band. In addition to Zola Jesus, Pitchfork has actually also been giving some love to Julian Lynch, another Madison resident, so I was a little familiar with his work. My familiarity with his catalogue didn’t help really with his set though, since he only played two songs, approximately ten minutes each, and it was hard to tell if they were written songs, or just nicely structured jams. In comparison to his recorded material, which is ambient, hazy and laid back with a lot of noise experimentation, his live set with a full band played a kind of fusion between jazz and post-rock, reminding me a lot of Tortoise. The band played tightly and Lynch himself switched off between an oboe and what I think was a bass clarinet or a bassoon. The woodwind added a very soothing, unique factor to his music, which sounded beautiful. The set flew by way too quickly and I think everyone expected them to keep playing, since it remained quiet for a little while after they abruptly started putting stuff away.
As Zola Jesus started to set up their equipment, the crowd kept growing and growing, to a point where I think everyone was a little too close for comfort with each other. It didn’t seem to matter though, because as soon as Danilova came out, dressed all in black, the audience cheered and teetered with excitement. The group jumped right into the opening track off their new EP, “Night,” and just from that performance, I fully realized what people had been talking about. Four keyboards made up a lot of the sound, but easily the most powerful instrument was the voice of Danilova. When she sang, it demanded attention and in addition to her vocal talent, her stage presence demanded it too. Performance-wise she reminded me of a mix between Karen O and Bjork, with the way she prowled about, making a dance with her strange movements and sustained notes that were strong yet gentle. At times she fell to the ground, draping a black cloak over her face, while at other moments she jumped up on amps, belting her parts with raw emotion. The whole show was engaging from start to finish and afterwards I bought the new EP and listened to it several times when I got home. I wish the band the best of luck out on the road and I just hope that they don’t get too big to come back and play some more shows here in Madison.
Debuting in 1997, Gomez came along in the post-Radiohead, post-Oasis ‘British Invasion’ of pop-rock bands that dominated AOR stations for nearly a decade. While Coldplay rose to the top and still continues to dominate, bands like Doves, Beta Band, and Gomez filled roles that the Hollies, Animals, and Small Faces had previously filled – very big domestically, some success in the US, but overall, paling in comparison to the juggernaut on top. With nearly 15 years of recording and touring behind them, Gomez has found a comfortable niche here in the States, selling out smaller venues, and continuing to be a regular presence with poppier songs like “See the World” and “Airstream Driver” receiving airplay on the Triple Ms of the world, and receiving occasional commercial play as well.
Friday night at the Majestic, Gomez played to a sold out crowd split evenly between outright enthusiasm and subdued interest. The opener, “How We Operate,” was very fitting for a band that really knows who it is, but it didin’t deliver the pop that an opener should. With “Machismo,” an EP rarity that hadn’t been played live in ten years, the show turned the corner. Shaking off the early tour rust (Madison was show #2), Gomez launched into solid versions of “Tijuana Lady” and “Bring Your Loving Back Here,” and ”Ruff Stuff,” while recent hits like “See the World,” “Girlshapedlovedrug,” and the set closer “Airstream Driver,” drew a few shrieks and head bobs of recognition. Right in the middle of the setlist, “Sweet Virginia” from 2004′s “Split the Difference,” stretched into an eight minute, feedback drenched jam, a stark contrast to the song’s beautiful chorus, while deep tracks like “Liquid Skin” and “Step Inside” pleased as unlikely setlist surprises.
The things that drew me to this band over a decade ago – the excellent three-part harmonies of Ian Ball, Tom Gray, and Ben Ottewell, the multi-instrument skills of each band member, and the use of sampling and distortion to augment an already thick sound – are still there. The complexity and energy of their sound still sets them apart from their contemporaries, as does their obvious homage to R&B, as so many of their songs begin and end with a dirty blues shuffle, with layer upon layer of sonic fury heaped on top. While Friday’s night show was certainly not the best I’ve seen Gomez do, it was a reminder of what made them so unique when they first hit, and why their fans have remained loyal for so long.
It’s no secret that Swedes do it better. While I may not know too much of the traditional Swedish culture, their music scene is insanely ahead of the indie curve, leading the international pop craze left and right. (See: The Knife. Annie. Peter Bjorn and John. Shout Out Louds. Fever Ray. Robyn. Etc.). So really, there’s no surprise that I’m really digging on the new Love is All record, Two Thousand and Ten Injuries, which find’s its Polyvinyl Records debut release on March 23rd.
This is the third of this Swedish eclectic indie pop outfit’s discography, and while I was an above average fan of ’06′s Nine Times that Same Song and ’08′s A Hundred Things Keep Me Up at Night, I wasn’t expecting anything different from the new album. If you’ve followed this troupe, you’ll get what I’m saying: they deliver consistent, upbeat and scattered pop tracks – delivered atop fast guitar work, traditional percussion, crazed out synth and jazzy sax breakdowns, led by the childlike, shouting and sometimes difficult to comprehend lyrical styles of Josephine Olausson. While their content is all enjoyable, it doesn’t tend to stick out apart from their past releases. It’s a successful formula, but once you’ve got one album, you’ve basically got them all. Or so I thought.
There’s something about Two Thousand and Ten Injuries, however, that disproves this theory. I can’t quite put my finger on it, but the tracks are more tightly packaged and there seems to be a sense that as the album progresses, the band is getting closer to some musical destination on an overdue adventurous road trip.
The album kicks off with the delectably catchy, “Bigger and Bolder,” proving this album to be exactly that with its melodic, fast paced and dizzy tempo. Additional highlights on this collection include the self-depreciative “Early Warnings,” which Olausson shares the typical bad day routine we’ve all encountered at one time or another (“Straight out of bed, I smash my head on the book shelf,”) topped with sax and melodies that almost make you want to have a bad day if it can sound this fun. The single “Kungen” is an addicting number clocking in just under three minutes, packed full of “bah-bah-bah-bah-bah’s,” driven by percussion, backed up by a steady bass line and topped with the signature chaotic sax/thrashtastic guitar breakdown. Perhaps the most standout track of the album is the closing number, “Take Your Time.” A step away from the traditional Love is All pop craze, this song slows it down with a dusty marimba/key musical bed, with a fuzzed out, yet delicate, Olausson sadly and distortedly speak-singing minimal lyrics. The track is a synth pop lullaby, perfectly concluding an otherwise energetic, unforgettable third effort from this quintet.
Love is All proves their eclectic pop formula to once again be successful, while still managing to step it up a notch, with a mere twelve tracks clocking in under 35 minutes–I guess if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.
Tomorrow night the Pabst will welcome The Punch Brothers to Millwaukee for a second of three Wisconsin stops on what front-man Chris Thile has been calling the third annual “Hypothermeanderings Tour.” (Madison, they’ll be at the UW Union Theater tonight and at the UW Platteville Center for the Arts on the 6th).
In 2008 the Punch Brothers released Punch, an album that my iTunes tells me I have listened to more than any other in my collection. It was not just a favorite album of 2008, it has become one of my favorite records period. It, for me, does something distinctly unique and innovative — something that very few bands in both popular and bluegrass music are attempting, let alone succeeding in. Chris and his brothers Punch are at once reinvigorating a genre and pushing that genre into new and progressive realms. But what is more remarkable is that they are doing so in a completely accessible way. Much of modern “progressive” bluegrass is as likely to alienate new listeners as attract them. The Punch Brothers do the opposite.
I first became acquainted with Chris Thile through his work as a member of the band Nickel Creek. Thile, along with the siblings Sara and Sean Watkins brought bluegrass to the masses with songs that drew on the bluegrass tradition, but infused it with pop sensibilities. This, I think, was the genesis of what I was talking about above. Nickel Creek made a move that made the music not only approachable by said masses, but relevant as a step forward for popular bluegrass. The Punch Brothers have kept pushing.
Though all three members of Nickel Creek contributed work to the band (and both are now doing great solo work), Thile’s songwriting, voice, and virtuoso mandolin playing impressed me most about the band. 2005′s Why Should the Fire Die especially began to show off Thile as pulling out ahead of the pack with tunes like “Helena,” “Can’t Complain” and “Doubting Thomas.” Each which, while fairly straight ahead pop tunes, had heart-wrenching narratives of not just failed relationships, but the deeper issues that surround trauma: issues of belief and faith. Thile often comes back around to religious imagery in his current work which he uses as a kind of motif to represent the unrepresentable. Singing about the disintegration of a marriage (which he does on Punch) becomes analogous to the disintegration of faith itself. It’s devastating to listen in on, but unflinchingly poignant and beautiful.
His first major solo release, Not All Who Wander are Lost, came out in 2001 just as Nickel Creek was gaining steam (though he’s been putting out records since he was nine…! His first, Leading Off came out in 1993 and has recently been reissued by Sugar Hill). A mostly instrumental record, Not All Who Wander boasts collaborations with Stuart Duncan, Béla Fleck, Edgar Meyer, Jerry Douglas, and Bryan Sutton — many of whom who had, for years, already been pushing on the borders of what might be considered bluegrass music. These were the masters. More importantly, these were Thile’s heroes and now he had officially joined their ranks.
Thile has continued to put out interesting solo work, including Deciever in 2004 (as an experiment he plays every instrument on this, a more pop/rock record) and has several duo collaboration records: Two with fellow mandolinist Mike Marshall and one that came out just a few months ago with bassist Edgar Meyer.
This most recent project, however, is the one that I think is game changing. Sometime in 2006 Thile wrangled a new band together. This band, however, was different than previous work. No longer focused on pop music, per say, or carving out musical relationships with the greats, the new project was about reciprocity. Each of the musicians were young players but, like Thile, were on the top of their game with sufficient pluck (pardon the pun) to work and be incredibly successful on their own (the current line-up has Chris Eldridge on guitar, Paul Kowert on bass, Noam Pikelny, banjo and Gabe Witcher on the fiddle). When they got together to record How To Grow A Woman From The Ground (not yet under the Punch Brothers moniker) you can hear things clicking right away. Whether in the opening track “Watch ‘at Breakdown” (which launches a Flatt & Skruggs thing into the stratosphere), or “The Beekeeper” (which makes sure it stays in orbit), the record is clearly a demarcation of something great on the rise.
Punch solidifies and reiterates everything I’ve already been saying. They keep on pushing. In this case, and perhaps the reason I have come back to this record so often, it is the four movement, thirty-six minute, pseudo-classical piece “The Blind Leaving the Blind” (the foray into dealing with the grief of divorce I was talking about). It is a piece to be unraveled. Melodies weave in and out; choruses and musical motifs modulate and recirculate, and the piece — especially if you see them do it live — just completely envelopes you. This is smart music, folks. It is music that inspires thinking even as it has you tapping your foot. It not only inspires the listener to keep digging into the bluegrass tradition (as it did me), but makes a trip to see a symphony seem in order. I think this is what Thile intends. He wants us to both have a great time with his music, but learn something from it and be inspired by it.
And if thirty-six minute bluegrass symphonies seem a bit out of your league (despite what I said about accessibility), there’s other stuff that might encourage your checking out the band. They love a good cover, for example. How to Grow a Woman has the Strokes’ “Heart in a Cage,” their Daytrotter session (see below) includes a cover of Wilco’s “Poor People,” and they are known to close shows with this gem (which features Gabe Witcher on vocals):
If you like that — you might just like their “Morning Bell” too.
Word is, the Punch Brothers just recorded a new album due out in the Spring. Before then, I really hope you get out to see them.
The Hold Steady will play Milwaukee’s Summerfest on Thursday, July 1st (which just happens to be my 30th birthday). Fans will want to mark April 17th on their calendars as the band “will release under 700 vinyl copies of their new album ‘Heaven Is Whenever’ (Vagrant Records) on April as part of Record Store Day.” Pretty awesome, right? “The extremely limited run of the album will only be available in independent record stores participating in Record Store Day.”
