Radio Empire (our album review) has announced their summer tour dates for their “Soccer Moms and Singalongs Tour,” so be sure to clear your schedule if they are coming to your area. You won’t be disappointed. You can find out more about their tour, stay updated on any possible additions, and listen to their tunes on their official MySpace page.

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One of my greatest joys in life is falling in love with a band I didn’t even know existed until I hear them at a live show and they hit all my buttons right off. It’s happened a time or two before, most often with local shows when I’m there to see an opener and stick around, or get to shows early and catch opening bands for the bands I’m there to see. In this case, I went spur of the moment to catch a casual friend’s band (Twilight Sleep, who are also worth hearing) and since I was already out, decided to stay for the headliner that night – a band called Seaspin doing a month-long residency at a small venue. I hadn’t listened to them before going to the show, had barely read their bio on the venue’s website. It was truly serendipitous, because I ended up falling and falling hard for Seaspin.

The band is the brainchild of Ronnie Washburn and Jennifer Goodridge, who worked together in the band Your Enemies’ Friends and shared stages with the like of Blonde Redhead, TV on the Radio, Mars Volta, and others. Together they’ve forged a potent mixture of shoegaze and dream pop, with intricate drum tracks punctuating Washburn and Goodridge’s noise riffs and Goodridge’s lush vocals overlaying everything. It took somewhere around thirty seconds for me to break out into a wide grin that didn’t leave my face all night, and I was back the next week to see them finish out their residency, this time having listened to their EP almost non-stop all week.

I almost always enjoy going out to hear local bands do their thing, but it’s not every time that one catches me as strongly as Seaspin has. They’ll definitely be a band that I seek out every time they play, probably to the extent that Jennifer and Ronnie (who are both extremely personable) will tire of me hanging around. And if you like stuff like Viva Voce, Sonic Youth, and The Raveonettes, you should definitely be keeping Seaspin on your radar. Filling out the band are Ross O’Carroll on bass, Isaac Carpenter on drums, and at least for this show, Liana Piper on keys.

Here’s an MP3 of the title track from their EP Reverser, which is available for $4.95 from both Amazon.com MP3 and iTunes. They’ve also got the entire thing streaming on their Facebook and MySpace pages. Plus, you can keep up with them on their Twitter and website.

Seaspin – Reverser

I apologize for the low quality of my photos; this is one of the darkest venues in town, and I only had my iPhone with me. There are some great shots on their Facebook, or check out these ones from Stereogum.

A little something wild for which to get ye jig on…

a bit’o wicked whistling…

and some shenanigans with strings.

Cheers to the legend of the dude who banished the snakes from the Emerald Island! (Although, some reckon Ireland may not have even had snakes at the time, but Cheers all around anyway!)

One of my favorite bands will finally release their third album, after closing in on three years since their sophomore release. The label hasn’t been announced yet, but Pitchfork has revealed that Band of Horses is dropping their latest album, titled Infinite Arms, on May 18. Below are their scheduled tour dates, none of which are in my area, so hopefully I can line up a short vacation with one of the days that they are playing.

You can expect to be updated on anything and everything related to this – including single releases – as soon as we find out. In the meantime, listen to some of their older stuff, via their MySpace.

03-15 Boulder, CO – Fox Theater
03-16 Denver, CO – Ogden Theatre
03-18 Austin, TX – Stubbs BBQ
03-19 Austin, TX – Central Presbyterian Church
04-08 Paris, France – La Fleche D’or
04-09 Brussels, Belgium – Orangerie
04-10 Rotterdam, Netherlands – Motel Mozaique
04-12 London, England – Koko
04-14 Cologne, Germany – Kulturkirche
04-16 Oslo, Norway – Rockefeller
04-17 Gothenburg, Sweden – Tradgarn
04-18 Copenhagen, Denmark – Vega
04-23 Raleigh, NC – Walnut Creek Amphitheater *
04-24 Raleigh, NC – Walnut Creek Amphitheater *
04-27 Gainesville, FL – University of Florida’s Rion Ballroom
04-28 Miami, FL – The Fillmore
04-29 Orlando, FL – House of Blues
05-01 New Orleans, LA – Jazzfest
05-30 Bend, OR – Les Schwab Amphitheater #
05-31 George, WA – Sasquatch
06-05 Bangor, Ireland – Ward Park !
06-09 London, England – Roundhouse
06-12 Glasgow, Scotland – Bellahouston Park !
06-19 Toronto, Ontario – Olympic Island $
09-25 Los Angeles, CA – Greek Theatre

* with Widespread Panic
# with She & Him
! with Snow Patrol
$ with Pavement, Broken Social Scene

Over the past 18 months or so I’ve become increasingly tired of lyrics. That sounds like an over generalization and a bit melodramatic, but I love just spacing out and getting into the groove with a strictly instrumental group these days. Call me a shoe-gazer if you want, but these types of band (think Explosions in the Sky) are right up my alley when taking in live musical soundage.

Red Sparowes are among some of my current favorite bands. I was sad to see Josh Graham go, but more thrilled about them bringing in a chick to fill the void in Emma Ruth Rundle – I’ve also been partial to chick bands as of late. They still have their same great sound and it might even be more listenable – time will tell. The trailer for the latest album is wicked awesome. Gut-pounding, melodic riffs that build and sustain before taking it down a notch into a sliding “Darkside of the Moon” sounding musical soliloquy. Take a listen below and maybe I’ll see you at the Minneapolis leg of the tour (full schedule dates are under the seats).

Enjoy!

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Febuary 19th, Duluth MN

Picture by Clint Austin/caustin@duluthnews.com

Back in 2001, Wilco brought their special blend of Americana Alt rock to First Avenue and treated the enraptured audience to a thrilling set of fan favorites and some less known treats while filmmaker Sam Jones was filming a little known documentary entitled “I Am Trying To Break Your Heart”. At the time, I didn’t realize these shows were being filmed, but it was a thrill nonetheless to know you were at a brilliant show that was captured for a celebrated documentary about one of your favorite bands at that moment in time. In recent years, as Jay Bennett “left” the band, and others after him, Wilco had become to me in modern days something of a curio. Something to look at for a couple minutes, and put back down while being reminded that they were once a group capable of writing interesting, melodic songs with fantastic arrangements. As the music went a simpler route (Sky Blue Sky), and I recognized fewer band members, I fell out of love with the band.

On Friday, February 19, 2010 I was reminded why Wilco matters, and why they keep getting more popular. Ripping through a two and a half hour set pulling from all points of their career, this is a band clearly happy and excited about where they stand in todays challenging musical climate. On a personal level, I loved the Jeff Tweedy/Jay Bennett version of Wilco to the point where once Jay was gone, I went a little bit ignorant on the bands music from “A Ghost Is Born” on. I never thought I would see how the group could be better than that group I saw at First Avenue back in 2001. I couldn’t have been more wrong. From the guitar work of Nels Cline to the drumming of Glenn Kotchke and all the way across the board, this is a group at the absolute peak of their powers and career arc, live and in the studio. The new songs work so well in a live setting, and it has made me re-discover “Sky Blue Sky” gems such as “Walken” and “Hate It Here”. Early on in the show, Tweedy joked that some teenager (Fresh faced Duluth Mayor Don Ness) had come up to see the band and made them an honorary Duluth band (a deserved honor as some of their swag purchases were being used to support Duluth area charities). Throughout the night, Tweedy would hold up the folder he was given by the mayor to cheers from the audience, bringing laughs from everyone in the house, every time.

One of the highlights of the night of highlights was Nels Clines guitar work on “Impossible Germany” now a staple of most recent Wilco shows. “Bull Black Nova” from last years Wilco (The Album) was another standout, a dark song on record, it felt even more ominous in a live setting. The fans carried “Jesus, etc” singing the songs first few verses and choruses, with Tweedy conducting frome the stage. They even dusted off rarity “Bob Dylan’s 49th Beard” and played a superb “Handshake Drugs” from the “More Like The Moon” EP.

The encore was a ridiculous joyride starting with “Via Chicago” (which at points devolved in to a complete noise freakout only to come out on the other side right on key and in time), “Kingpin” was played for some laughs as Tweedy tried rhyming “Living in… Duluth”, and ended with a guitar duel between Nels Cline and the understated sideman Pat Sansone on “Hoodoo Voodo” pushing the solos to a new level. This was a top notch concert, by a top notch band with a rabidly intense fanbase hanging on every note and I can’t wait for the next swing through Minnesota, wherever they want to play, I’ll be there.

Setlist:
Wilco (the Song) / A Shot in the Arm / I Am Trying to Break Your Heart / Bull Black Nova / You Are My Face / One Wing / Kamera / Ashes of American Flags / Wishful Thinking / Nothingsevergonnastandinmyway (again) / Sonny Feeling / Impossible Germany / California Stars / Bob Dylan’s 49th Beard / Handshake Drugs / You Never Know / Jesus, Etc. / Walken / I’m the Man Who Loves You / Hummingbird

ENCORE: Via Chicago / Airline to Heaven / Hate It Here / Heavy Metal Drummer / Kingpin / Casino Queen / Hoodoo Voodoo

Southern California’s biggest indie-leaning music festival is all set for 2010, releasing the full lineup this morning. And it’s a doozy, with many bands that got a lot of blog press over the past few months, including on our own best of 2009 lists. My plan was to skip Coachella this year and save up for Lollapalooza, but this is mighty tempting. On the other hand, there were a lot of Coachella repeats at Lolla last year, so maybe it’ll be the same way this year? We’ll see if I can justify going to both by the time the second week of April rolls around.

Here’s a sample of what’s in store (filtered through my own biased viewpoint): The Raveonettes, Camera Obscura, Phoenix, She & Him, Vampire Weekend, Florence and the Machine, The Dead Weather, Ra Ra Riot, White Rabbits, Muse, Matt & Kim, The Big Pink, Spoon, Dirty Projectors, Yo La Tengo, Gossip, Charlotte Gainsbourg, MGMT, Grizzly Bear, Owen Pallett [aka Final Fantasy], Band of Skulls, Local Natives, Miike Snow, Passion Pit, Yeasayer, The xx, Mew, Sia, Tokyo Police Club, Frightened Rabbit, Corrine Bailey Rae.

Full text lineup after the jump.

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It was a four hour trip between my home in Pennsylvania and the venue I was headed to in Columbus, Ohio – and while I knew that I had work bright and early the next morning, it was no more than an afterthought as I made the journey to see what I knew to be a rock concert of epic proportions – one of only ten gigs in the US on this new superband’s first tour. The band, who calls themselves Them Crooked Vultures, is the most exciting combination of musical talent in years. I couldn’t let something like work obligations get in the way.

It all began on the fortieth birthday of the coolest guy in rock, Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl, which in unsurprising and amusing Dave Grohl fashion, was held at a Medieval Times. There, Grohl conveniently sat the legendary Led Zeppelin bassist and keyboardist John Paul Jones next to Queens of the Stone Age founder Josh Homme, two musicians that had never met – but by some twist of fate they both had agreed by the end of the night to Grohl’s proposition that they join him for a little musical side-project. It was there, among the jousting knights in shining armor saving fair maidens, that Them Crooked Vultures was born – Homme on lead vocals and guitar, Jones doing his thing on the bass and keyboard, and Grohl taking a step out of the spotlight to go back to his first love, the drums.

I recognized that this was a concert experience that I shouldn’t pass up. The band had yet to release their album or even a single. Their sound was still a mystery and their entire set would be unknown to the entire audience. It seemed like we would be experiencing a concert much like before the digital age of MP3 downloading and MySpace band profiles afforded one the ability to memorize every lyric before ever attending a concert. There would be no crowd sing-a-longs here, but after experiencing it, I assure you, it wasn’t necessary.

When the band finally took stage amidst the roar of the crowd, they ripped their way through a head-banging song fit for a single titled “Elephants,” followed by Homme introducing the band one by one with much applause and cheers, before pointing towards the man holding the bass guitar. “And this is…” he began, but before he could finish, the crowd was deafening. Despite how low-profile he’s kept since Led Zeppelin’s demise, John Paul Jones needed no introduction.

The trio (along with a fourth concert-only guitarist, Alain Johannes from Queens of the Stone Age) continued to jam through their set and despite the fact that the crowd did not know these songs, it did not stop the crowd from head-banging, dancing, clapping, or throwing their hands in the air. The music is hard to define (and I’m not going to pretend I’m a musical genius who understands all of the intricacies of it all), but it is certainly loud, big, and both back to the basics yet deceptively intricate. It is adventurous hard rock, blending riffs very reminiscent of Queens of the Stone Age with the bluesy thunderous rock of Led Zeppelin.

I’ve never been shy to admit my man crush on Dave Grohl and it was great to see him smile throughout the entirety of the show as he absolutely smashed on the drums brilliantly as if he were Animal from The Muppets. I’m still wondering how he did not manage to break his drumset or his nose. I appreciated how he took his role as the drummer with modesty, using his microphone only for backup vocals, never once uttering a word into it, despite knowing that if he said absolutely anything, the crowd would have got berserk. He was having plenty of fun though and winked and smiled his way through the show, at one point even giving my friend standing next to me a thumbs up, and another time jokingly shaking his head and giving a thumbs down when Homme was talking about how much fun they had playing together.

Still, it wasn’t Dave that had most of my attention. It was John Paul Jones that left me in awe from the moment he took the stage. He thumped and slid on an array of bass guitars, then busted out a keytar (which had Homme drop his guitar and dance around stage in goofy-fasion as he sang), and then finally what I was anticipating most, in the midst of a song, the lights dimmed, and like rays from heaven, a single spotlight focused on Jones as he set down his bass to perform a beautiful, classically inspired keyboard solo that gave me chills and left the crowd mesmerized. Words cannot explain.

These guys were there to rock out, to have a good time, and to put on one hell of a show – and they succeeded on all fronts. Despite Homme not being the most charismatic frontman and his disinterest with crowd interaction, and despite the audience being unfamiliar with the music, in my eyes (as well as those I discussed it with after), none of that was needed. It was ninety minutes straight of mind-blowing hard old-school jamming that ended with an epic five-minute odyssey of astonishing fingerwork on the strings accompanied by insanely wild percussion. Them Crooked Vultures may not be break into mainstream radio, but you can tell that this unlikely combination of musicians don’t mind. They’re having too damn good of a time.

Whooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooa! Whoa! Whoa. Whoa!!! How did I not hear about this? Dave Grohl (Foo Fighters) on drums, John Paul Jones (Led Zeppelin) on bass, and Josh Homme (Queens of the Stone Age, Eagles of Death Metal) on lead guitar and vocals? I can’t even… I can’t even think straight! They are releasing an album titled Never Deserved the Future sometime soon and are having a lil’ North American tour to support it.

Oh yes, I will be at the Columbus, Ohio show. You can count on that. Who is coming with me?

North American Tour 2009
October 1, 2009: Austin, Stubb’s
October 2, 2009: Austin, City Limits Music Festival
October 5, 2009: Nashville, War Memorial
October 6, 2009: Columbus, Lifestyle Communities Pavilion
October 8, 2009: Detroit, The Fillmore Detroit
October 9, 2009: Toronto, Sound Academy
October 11, 2009: Boston, House of Blues
October 12, 2009: Philadelphia, Electric Factory
October 14, 2009: Washington, D.C., 9:30 Club

Here is a tiny little snippet from one of their songs titled “Scumbag Blues.”

So this is a half-assed review and recap of Lollapalooza 2009, but quite honestly this festival is so big with so much to do and see yet there is still so much I missed, words just aren’t really adequate. I will say this for starters, Sunday was the most fun I’ve ever had at any concert. Ever. Not necessarily the “best” show or even legendary show I’ve seen; it was 150% pure joy and adrenaline. I’ve never experienced anything quite like how happy Jane’s Addiction made me.

Other highlights: sitting next to Tom Gray from Gomez at Breakfast. Seeing Kings of Leon at the Pub Friday night. A fat guy passed out but still managing to roll in the mud and his own vomit. White Lies. No Security. Good friends. Old friends. New friends. Cheap food. Free Water. Friendly people. Yeah Yeah Yeahs playing just a brief bit of “What ya Want” by The Beastie Boys. Museum of Contemporary Art. New Belt Buckle (pictured below). Striking a good deal with the art dealer. Trees.

So here’s a recap of my personal weekend mostly told through images and photos that I managed to shoot while partying my ass off…

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All Points West Festival got a bit muddy on Saturday and Sunday. But that didn’t stop Coldplay from going on and rocking an incredibly long set with two encores. That’s right, I like Coldplay – a lot actually. But here is some footage of some unconventional (though given recent circumstances, apropos) covers. Probably would’ve been more impressive to see these in person, but hey. For what it’s worth YouTube gives us the heads up…

full setlist show

As of recent I’ve really started to get into the female artist scene: Neko Case, Nicole Atkins, Lykke Li, Cat Power, Santogold, Norah Jones. Hell, I’ve even been getting back into some of Sheryl Crow’s older stuff that I missed out on over the past ten years. One of my recent finds is Amy Millan. Her first record, “Honey from the Tombs” has been a somewhat regular staple on my iTunes playlist at work.

Today I get wind that her sophomore effort, “Masters of the Burial”, is on the way (September 8th) and Canadian/US tour to follow. She’s also been playing a little bit with another one of my favorite’s, Broken Social Scene. So if the name Amy Millan is new to you, here’s some goodness I dug up for you today from the interwebs…

new album tracks… show

tour dates/locations… show

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I suppose not really movie news, but it is related considered the subject of this story, Anvil!, is the focus of one of last year’s best documentaries, Anvil! The Story of Anvil.

According to an article in The Toronto Star (written by Lips himself) Anvil! found themselves playing to a crowd of over 40,000 people at Gillette Stadium – rather than the 20 or 30 that usually show up in the local bar scene. If you’ve seen the documentary you know how big of a deal this is.

“I was thanking him as he shook my hand saying “great show, great show!” He then shook my son’s hand as he was being whisked away in his SUV. Wow! I had just met Angus Young, lead guitarist of the mighty AC/DC. It was such an honour to be able to thank him in person for his big heart and generosity for letting Anvil have an opening slot at the biggest and most meaningful show we’ve ever done in America….

What a night! What a show! We so appreciate these kind of moments. It’s been a long, hard road to this destination. Next stop, Giants Stadium in New Jersey!”

The story of Anvil! just gets better and better and couldn’t happen to a more devoted group of guys. Head over to the Toronto Star article and read Lips experience for yourself. He’s like a kid in a candy store finally realizing his dreams – with not even a hint of egomania. Keep on rockin in the free world guys. We in the third row love ya.

Oh and Brookly Vegan has a bunch of stills from the show.

Sunday was a gorgeous day in Minneapolis. What did I do? I got sucked into listening to live webcasts from two different amazing festivals going on over the weekend: Newport Folk Festival and All Points West 2009.

Sunday got pretty wet at APW in New York. Actually that’s an understatement. Much of Sunday’s lineup unfortunately was cancelled due to severe weather and all of the rain from Friday and Saturday turned the venue into a giant mudpit. But as I type this, I’m listening to a fantastically beautiful performance by Elbow. I’m a big fan but have never had the opportunity to see them live – which as I realize now is a major oversight and a real shame. I hereby pledge to see them soon. The live shows were airing on the iClips Network – the shows may be archived when the festival ends. If not I’ll be seeking out the shows and will post them here if I can find them.

Just a few miles away in our smallest state, The Newport Folk Festival raged on without a hitch on a gorgeous day. I listened to a little bit of Arlo Guthrie and almost all of Neko Case’s set (who I’m pretty stoked to see next weekend in Chicago). Other guests included Joan Baez, The Decemberists, Iron & Wine and Fleet Foxes among others. The good news is if you missed any of it NPR has all of the shows (most in their entirety) available for free download.

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Finally! For those not in the Minneapolis music scene right now you’re really missing out on good times, but exactly what this village needs more of is straight-up instrumental bands. Wizards are Real helps fill that void with melodic tunes and original arrangements that are tight and snazzy.

Comprised of drums, bass, steel guitar, saxophone and moxie, Wizards are Real sounds a bit like what Explosions in the Sky would sound like if they were funked up just a hair. The sustained, haunting (yet melodic) ambiance from the steel guitar is there just enough to give some aggression and setup for the licks from the bass (at the forefront of the stage) and the melodies and solos from the sax player. One song will be head bobbing and finger snapping and the next may have your eyes closed or shoe gazing whilst escaping into wonderland.

In their hour long set on Friday night at Big V’s in St. Paul, they did have one track that was slightly more “bubble-gummy” and jazzy, but for the most part there are lots of sustained chords overlayed with smooth melodies, groovy tones and an entertaining and tight rhythm foundation.

I’m no music critic, but I know do know and understand music. I know what I like and I know originality and quality sound when I hear it. “Wizards” certainly are for real. Do yourself a favor and catch them in August at Eclipse Records in St Paul. In the meantime, check out their MySpace page to get a handle on the sound – or become a fan. It’s worth it.

Oh, and the drummer holds his sticks properly.