owen’s Neighborhood

I arrived late to the Triple Rock, in Minneapolis, so I had already missed some of Surfer Blood (myspace / twitter). However, I did get the gist of the band, who seems like they are going to be a hot new buzz band - like Vampire Weekend. Highlight of their set was the last song, in which the guitarist brought the solo drum into the audience as everyone on stage went monkeys. (Sort of feels orchestrated to me, like they didn't really put much effort in trashing their equipments). The audience seem to welcome Blood Surfer, so it's all good.

Art Brut

Loads of Art Brut fans were in the audience that night. You can tell by all the t-shirt and their eagerness of being in front and center. When the band came on, doing "Formed a Band", which singer Eddie Argos turns to the audience and said, "you ought to try it, it's brilliant!"

Eddie looks like a guy that doesn't take himself too seriously. He seems to like to drink a lot and talk a lot (but with his thick British accent, it's not like we could understand half what was said). He seems to swagger on stage a lot, often using his left arm to illustrate the songs.

There wasn't enough room on stage for Argos to do his infamous microphone skip, but he did manage to sing half of "DC Comics" by the bar section. Speaking of which, I think it's cool that Argos is a huge DC fan - since UK comics are usually, you know, 2000 AD/Judge Dredd sort. During the song, Argos spouted out what I hear as "Christian Bale", "Booster Gold" (if I can remember, I think he was basically a janitor from the future with future tech and a Legionaires flight ring), and something about "Metropolis".

Setlist

As you can see from the setlist, they did a mix of new and old songs. The setlist also doesn't reflect what was played, for instance, I know "The Passenger" was played well after "DC Comics". I suppose the setlist was more of a rough guideline than actual instructions.... which actually fits the way Art Brut operate.

The thing about "The Passenger", from their latest album Art Brut vs Satan, is that it got this great introduction. Eddie explained how he thought the Iggy Pop song was about taking the subway, "Iggy doesn't seem to me to be the driving sort." It wasn't until later did he discovered that Iggy's song was about taking heroin in back of a limo with David Bowie. Too funny.

Oh the other thing, the way Eddie sings, if you can call it singing, is quite interesting. It's more like rambling, it definitely feels at time like The Fall - only with a lot heavier backing band.

The band left and came back with three encores. I thought I heard Eddie saying "we don't normally do this", which may have been said in an ironic kind of way. I really couldn't tell, all I know is that the encores were met by the fans' demands.

Art Brut's funk sole brother            1 comment

PS, They only had T-Shirts and CDs for sale at the merch table. I was hoping to see some of their awesome shoes. It's £20 online, which is about $40 USD, but totally worth it if you are a massive Art Brut fan. Get those shoes, and also their latest album, Art Brut vs Satan, at the usual online stores.

Taking a break from the usual live reviews of late, I will be doing some much-ignored reviews this week. Today's theme is all from the same record label.

Suburban Noize Records have been around since the mid-90s, catering to a very certain market of young hip hop, herb culture, and punk fans. We have a few items from them for review.

For starter, SubNoize Souljaz (myspace) is like the all-star supergroup, consisting of 15 or so Suburban Noize artists, including members of Kottonmouth King, Big B, and Jared Gomes (singer of Hed PE).

Their third album, Blast From The Past, just dropped late last August. While I am unfamiliar with some of these titles, I almost knew all the cover songs from hearing them on the radio. Except this album are all done in the style of that only Subnoize can deliver. With the variety of rappers and lead singers - the music is somewhat uneven, but at least the vocals stands out from each other. Particularly, I was impressed with Judge D's cover of LL's "Mama Said Knock You Out" and a funky The Dirtball's cover of RATM's "Microphone Fiend" (the bass is really good on this song) and Slick Rick's "Children's Story" by Daddy X.

It's evident that these guys owe a lot to influential bands that came before them (NWA, 2Pac, Snoop, Dre), so this album is a tribute to them. If you like old-school rap, particularly Death Row Records, as much as anyone that grew up in the 90s, you will definitely do yourself a favor and check out Blast From The Past.

Tour Dates 11/15/09 El Corazon Seattle, WA 11/16/09 Satyricon Portland, OR 11/17/09 DNA Lounge SF, CA 11/18/09 Boardwalk Orangevale, CA 11/20/09 Starline Fresno, CA 11/21/09 Modesto Virtual Modesto, CA 11/22/09 Chain Reaction Anahiem, CA 11/23/09 Karma Victorville, CA 11/24/09 Roxy Los Angeles, CA

Brokencyde, or seemingly nonsense caplock problem, brokeNCYDE (myspace), is also under Subnoize's screamo/punk label, BreakSilence Recordings. This sub-label also houses Eyes Set To Kill and Kill Paradise.

Anyway, Brokencyde is a "crunk"-core band (apparently this genre is a fusion of hip hop and electro, and possibly other genres like punk and rock). The band embrace the brand, and even have a song called "Get Crunk!".

The album actually did chart on the Billboard 200 at #86, which kind of impressed me, considering that many of the artists I hear about, they never chart. I think the high debut might possibly be due to their presence on this year's US Warped Tour. However, despite the success, the album was critically condemned. My favorite is (name redacted) review from NME: "even if I caught Prince Harry and Gary Glitter adorned in Nazi regalia defecating through my grandmother’s letterbox I would still consider making them listen to this album too severe a punishment." Critics who hates them, I don't think they understand that the album was meant for them... certainly the album is not meant for me. I am curious what the band will sound like when they've matured a bit. Although, I will have to confess that I did smile a bit when I heard "pee pee" sung on "Sex Toys" and "let's get retarded" on "Rockstar".

They look and sound very young (hey, FYI, their singer is called Se7en), which makes their debut album I'm Not a Fan... But the Kids Like It even more-so ironic. I did feel that despite their youngness, that some ALL of their songs with messages of drinking and sex, might not appeal to everyone. Then again, perhaps that's why "the kids like it". The real irony is that with all the cursing, you may have to be over 18 to purchase it.

Stronger songs on the album are: "Freaxxx" (with the catchy "let's get freaky" lyrics), and "Yellow Bus" (boasting about sex with groupies like Miley Cyrus??? WTF!).

If you don't mind the naughty messages, some autotune, some screamo, some electronica, check out I'm Not a Fan... But the Kids Like It at amazon.

Tour Dates 11/13/09 Budweiser Event Center* CO 11/14/09 Mid America Center*, IA 11/15/09 Uptown Theater* Kansas City, MO 11/17/09 Val Air Ballroom Des Moines, IA 11/18/09 Aragon Ballroom* Chicago, IL 11/19/09 The Fillmore* Detroit, MI 11/26/09 Grove of Anaheim, CA * with 311

Kottonmouth King (official / myspace) should need no introduction for any fans of Hightimes. The group found success in that "green" niche market, and is the flagship band on Suburban Noize label - possibly due to the record company being started by member Daddy X, and their manager, Kevin Zinger.

Their latest release is Hidden Stash 420, an epic 2-disc album. This is basically a collection of unreleased tracks, b-sides, remixes, demos. The packaging is also nice, it's a fold-out digipak. Hardcore fans will want to purchase the album directly from Subnoize Store or Best Buy stores, as that comes with a bonus DVD called The Lost Adventures of the Kottonmouth Kings.

While it's easy to just dismiss the band as pot smokers, that all their songs about weed, and although it's true, I believe they also deceptively paint a vivid picture of what their lifestyle is like. Check out tracks like "Take a Ride", as it describes California and family, all under a catchy chorus of "west coast is the place for me, never know what you'll see". But it's not all serious, there's a goofy song called "Late Night Call" with cultural reference of "me so horny", "facebook" and "myspace".

The collection is mostly older songs, and it's interesting to see some of their experiments. One song, "Tangerine Sky", seems like it's paying tribute to the Beatles LSD song "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds". "Tangerine Sky" comes off as being more melodic and slower than most of their songs. The other non-conventional KMK is a poppy song "Let the Music Play". I wish I knew the story behind this song, but what I can tell you that it sounds very happy and 60s love. Perhaps Jackson Five?

Anyway, my favorites are usually the faster-constantly rapping songs with a loopy DJ backback, like "Evolution" and "Got It Get It". The later is a new Kingspade (a division of Kottonmouth King's rap duo, Johnny Richter and D-Loc) venture, which may be important for fans, as they haven't released anything under Kingspade in the last two years.

The Lost Adventures of the Kottonmouth Kings

The DVD portion is a Best Buy exclusive. The two hour DVD featuring the band on tour, music videos and various miscellaneous. The audio and video quality can sometime be quite poor (night-time shooting is always an issue) to quite good (see image capture of a great quality), and I think sometime the director overuses the fisheye lens. Still, can't complain too much since it's added value.

Hidden Stash 420 is out now. A perfect Christmas gift for any stoner in your family.

PB&J and El Perro del Mar ♥ photograph by Michelle

At Webster Hall, the perils of sitting in the VIP balcony often outweigh the perks. True, it’s the ideal place for a certified midget like me, and there’s a private bar and quasi-comfortable seating – but one must also put up with being asphyxiated by the many fog machines, the not-so-subtle orgies taking place on the couches, and that one skeezy guy who keeps trying to offer you a flask full of absinthe. (“It’s the nectar of Satan!”)

But last night the VIP balcony was the place to be since it was the location of a historic fist bump between me and Andrew W.K.

I already knew he was set to make a cameo during PB&J’s set, along with a slew of others, but I did not expect our paths to cross. I don’t know what compelled me to lamely offer him my fist the moment I saw him, but all that matters is that he returned it and all was right in the world. Then he left, and I immediately texted my 13 year-old brother, who soon lapsed into an envy-induced coma.

Anyway: PB&J. I have to admit, I was really there for opener, El Perro del Mar. I’ve become obsessed with her latest LP, Love is Not Pop, as it is the perfect soundtrack for long nights of procrastination. Although the crowd didn’t seem too familiar with her work, she won them over with her peculiar brand of melancholy dream pop. She stuck to songs mostly from her new album, including her mind-numbingly lovely version of Lou Reed’s “Heavenly Arms.” The absinthe guy next to us dismissed her as “vagina music,” but I was too distracted by my estrogen-fueled state of euphoria to care.

Swede-fest ’09 continued with PB&J, who announced that this was their 10^th anniversary tour. It was easy to distinguish who was who, as Peter was the one in the pink shirt, Bjorn was the one not in the pink shirt, and John was the drummer. It only got slightly confusing during the smorgasbord of cameos that took place throughout their set. Some made perfect sense (El Perro del Mar on “Young Folks,”), some not so much (an L.A. rap duo who remixed an unrecognizable song off of Living Thing). The final cameo was Spank Rock, who seemed like a solid addition to “Nothing to Worry About” but his appearance was much too brief and almost abrupt.

Obviously the most dramatic cameo of the night was Andrew W.K.’s “interpretive” dancing during “It Don’t Move Me.” He didn’t utter a single word the whole time, yet he left the audience virtually speechless. It was spastic and random but ultimately the best moment of the night.

As for the band themselves, they were in top form as usual. Since the last time I saw them in March, people have warmed up considerably towards their newer material and seemed to enjoy it equally as much as anything off Writer’s Block. The band eschewed slower stand-bys for faster, upbeat songs from their first two albums, and they ended the night with the infectious “Objects of My Affection.” I was kind of hoping they’d play the slow burning track, “Up Against the Wall,” but my friend told me not to be greedy. After all, one paradigm-shifting fist bump was good enough for one night.

I was like: "Huh?"

So he shouted: "The Berlin Wall! It's been knocked down! It's over, maaaaaaan!"

And that's all I remember. I vaguely recall a conversation later that evening with someone much older than me who talked about how this was an historical moment and that I would remember this night. Who was that? Russ? Josh?

I did know a lot about Germany since I started studying German when I was 12 years old. But I was much more interested in German language and literature and not so much about politics. Then (I was only 18!). So I didn't quite know what an important process had started that night.

We had all these friends who lived in (what we called) "the Franklin house," a huge old mansion a few doors down from our apartment. I do remember being up in Heather and her sister's attic apartment, holding their kitten, and listening to them talk about Germany and all the changes these developments would lead to. Haha, my most vivid impression of that old house, though, is the "water wars" that were constantly going on (the water pressure was terrible and everyone had to fight to be in the shower first or there would be no pressure anywhere in the apartment) and how STDs made their rounds throughout the entire building (we called Mindy "Clamindy" and Lea "Gonnolea" haha). All these straight kids screwing each other non-stop. In our apartment, we just had our crazy roommate, Wendy (who kept a mannequin, Mona, dressed up in the living room year round: at Christmas, she'd be decked out in slutty Christmas clothes, in summer, slutty summer clothes, etc etc) and her boyfriend Eric. They'd get drunk and beat the shit out of each other (not him beating her, them beating each other). Oy. How long did Jerry and I live there? Six months? 

Woops, got sidetracked wallowing in the past. The Berlin Wall. In the long run, I guess this hasn't really affected me personally very much. Or who knows, maybe the hand of history is so far reaching that its effects are impossible to truly understand on an individual level.

All I can think about now, these 20 years later, is my own life and how far I've come since that November night so long ago. It seems like I've lived 10 different lives since then, many countries, a few relationships, many friendships. 

Here is the Franklin house today. It looks similar but much more upscale. When I lived there, it was full of poor young students and stoners. It was practically falling apart. Our place (just a few doors down on the other side of the street) has been torn down and replaced by an office building. Too bad, too. It was such a beautiful place: it had this sun room in the back overlooking the garden that was one of the most beautiful rooms I've ever lived in. It was my favorite place to sit with a book. 

Ah, well. Time marches on. As the Chinese say, "You can't welcome the new until you get rid of the old."

J. Tillman @ The Music Box Theatre, Minneapolis, MN 11.6.09
+ abridged album review

J Tillman ♥ Music Box

Despite his minor fame with unpopular, critically-ignored Fleet Foxes, Josh Tillman has been active in the music scene since 2004.  This past September he released Year in the Kingdom, a 9-track odyssey through stoic mountain towns by way of moderate folk sensitivity.  Merely 28, Tillman evokes an image of timeless worldly servitude that befits his preferred musical genre but also confuses.  He acts the part in person—bearded, casually nondescript, a man of few words; yet once he hits that first note, it’s obvious there’s something judicious beneath the weathered layers.  For one, the quality of his voice is beautiful.  There is simply no masculine way to describe it.  The probability that Tillman drinks and indulges like a big boy is high, but you wouldn’t know by listening to him sing.  Perhaps the impressive facial shrub is actually a clever disguise, masking a sweet, even-tempered fellow who rescues kitties and bakes things for charity.  Doubtful, but my point being Tillman’s ambiguity—it’s equally believable that he wandered into town from the wide blue yonder as it is that he stumbled on stage from the local, artist-packed watering hole.

Year in the Kingdom remembers a simpler era that Tillman was not alive to experience.  Softer tracks cite 60s folk influences like Joni Mitchell, had Mitchell penned her songs in a humble log cabin, without basic comforts save for canned beans and a faithful canine companion.  The sparse “Age of Man” is a few twangs/few stringed instruments short of Americana territory, while “Though I Have Wronged You” reminds us that Tillman isn’t seriously concerned by FF comparisons.  At times matter-of-factly somber (“There is No Good in Me”), the album lulls its listeners into a false feeling of peace (albeit reflective, disquieting peace) that does not prepare the ears for the sheer force of Tillman’s live rocking.

Kingdom-the-album clashed awesomely with Friday night’s show at the Music Box Theatre in Minneapolis.  I now have a physical point of reference for the expression “it blew my mind,” as I’m pretty sure I lost a piece of my skull when Tillman blew my mind.  Similar to the structure of the studio tracks—gentle start, build-up, full instrumental progression—the show began as one would expect had they listened to Kingdom:  Tillman + band = traditional 3-dimensional engagement.  Then, maybe a third of the way into the set, all hell broke loose.  Cue roar of full instrumental capacity, skin-tingling whine of amped slide guitar, psychedelic transformation, and crazy apeshit thrashing.  On top of everything unholy, we, the audience, bore witness to grown men playing plastic recorders and finger cymbals. Surely I wasn’t the only one to lose some head mass by the end of the night.

Cerebral hemorrhage notwithstanding, strong tracks like “Though I Have Wronged You” sounded ridiculously swollen with intensity and deliberate flair.  Not showy, per se; rather, phrenic but perverted by foggy invention.  It was like walking into the Louvre for the first time—extraordinary but strangely unfocused, as if the senses were forced into overdrive.  Had I lapped a taste of Tillman’s sweat*, the experience would’ve been complete.  Unfortunately, there was no exchange of bodily fluids; there wasn’t even an encore (a mumbled “thanks” and the musicians made their hasty exit).  It didn’t matter.  How do you follow an act like yourself?

J Tillman ♥ Music Box, Minneapolis (11/06/09)

A few random thoughts without homes:  in high school, Tillman visited Crown, a conservative Christian college in St. Bonifacius, MN; Miracle Whip is the default condiment of Fargo, ND, this according to the band; Josh’s younger brother, Zach, opened the show and also played bass for the elder Tillman’s set.

J. Tillman is currently on tour in support of Year in the Kingdom.  Upcoming shows include stops in Chicago and New York.  For more information or to listen to select tracks, visit his Myspace at http://www.myspace.com/jtillman. 

* I’m not a creeper, promise.

Crypticon 2009 was a bit disappointing, compared to last year. As with last year's cancellation of Tom Savini, this year it's Charles Band. What upset me was that Band's disinvolvement wasn't even mentioned anywhere on their website. As of this writing, their website still lists Band as a guest: "6:00pm Charles Band and his Full Moon Road Show in the Music Room 2nd Floor."

This year, the merchandise room was reduced to a size of a large bedroom, so you walk in and out in about a minute. I did manage to pick up some stuff, but they weren't cheap. Celebrities prints are costs anywhere from $20-40, we weren't allowed to take pictures (if you did purchase a print, then taking pictures would cost an extra $5). Last year, most of the nicer stars let us take pictures for free.

As for merch, the usual bootlegs, toys, horror t-shirts were there, but because of the smaller room - it feels like there weren't a lot of choices. Some commonly seen t-shirts were Nightbreed and Hellraiser, which I thought were cool, since I have always thought Clive Barker is genius. 

Also, this year they had music as part of the show. The person that was supposed to give me a pass to the music area was not at the ticketbooth and I didn't feel like paying extra to see music. Besides, all of the bands seems to be either punk or metal, not really my cup of tea, so I didn't bother to make much effort in getting the pass. 

Anyway, since Charles Band wasn't there, his Q&A was replaced with Linnea Quigley and Don Calfa (both actors appeared in Return of the Living Dead). If I had known, I would've rewatched the film to refreshed my memory. But it would seem even the stars had some trouble remembering what happened on set. 

Still, some interesting stories came out of it. 

First of all, they paid George Romero a million dollars to use the name "Of The Living Dead".  Romero's third sequel, Day of the Dead came out a year later, but was not as successful as Return. 

My favorite was when Calfa said one of the star wanted him to punch him for real, so he gave two hard slap. What's funny was that as he was telling the story, his hand gestured the slap and the next thing you knew: he had hit the microphone in front of him! Way to each that mic a lesson.

With the disappointing cancellation, incorrect/false information (is updating a website too much to ask?), the smaller space, and expensive admission ($30 at the door) - this will be the last year that my group will attend.

It doesn't help that nearly everyone we know is traveling or making plans to: I&C are headed to France for two weeks, M just got back from Peru, C is in Berlin (we have Mac for two weeks), JP is in Japan, and R just got back from Hawaii. Even C&J are off to Italy in the spring.

And we're stuck here for the time being, facing a cold & bleak Quebec winter. Sigh.

I shouldn't complain. We've made a lot of sacrifices the last few years and it's been well worth it. And the end is in sight: just one more winter and we will just about have it set up so that we can leave every winter from now on. Or nearly every winter.

I think this is partly just job boredom. It comes in waves and because I've been doing a new part of a project, learning a new software system, I could distract myself for the past few months. But I guess I'm over that. Anyway, it's fine, another new project starting next month so that'll get me through a chunk of winter. Hopefully.

Thank God for friends. Last night M was working, so I went over to I&C's and we hung out in their kitchen chatting until late, then ordered Indian take out and watched "Good Night and Good Luck." Then, since I had missed the last train, I decided to forgo the taxi ride and I walked home from Point-St-Charles -- it took over an hour. But it was nice, walking over the canal in the moonlight, through downtown and past the throngs of drunk McGill and Concordia students, up St-Denis and through the Plateau. What a great way to spend a Friday night.

OK to work now. I've got a full day in front of this computer to get through, then a big dinner tonight around the corner that I am not really looking forward to.

Parking in the college area known as "Dinkytown" in Minneapolis can be kind of hard, especially when the meters on 4^th Street runs until 10pm. I didn't mind walking a few blocks to the beautiful Varsity Theater as the weather was nothing less than perfect that Friday evening.

Opening up for Har Mar Superstar are three very different genre and acts. Starting with Koo Koo Kangeroo (official / myspace), whose music styling is that of hip hop - for toddlers. Their songs are dead simple, like "AOA" (sample lyrics: "aye oh aye oh aye") and "Cheh Cheh Chi" and "LMNOP", but they're catchy and easy to sing along. The highlight of their set was when they threw down a white tarp-like covering and the audience was dancing under it like a party fort.

Wow, Bang Bang Eche (myspace) are young. Someone told me that they're about 18 years old, but they certainly look much younger. Their music is very punk high-energy and reminds me a bit of Arctic Monkeys influenced. My easily favorite song from their set is "Fist Full of Dollars", perhaps a reference to Sergio Leone classic film? They ended their setlist with "Die Hippy Scum". Oh, also, it's worth noting that bassist T'Nealle sported a three keyboard cat moon t-shirt. Adorable.

The odd group on the bill was two-person group, Lookbook (myspace). The band is basically guitarist Grant Cutler, who plays guitars and handles the pre-recordings, with vocalist Maggie Morrison. Their music sounds like 80s pop, not exactly the "body-moving" type of music that you'd think Har Mar's audience would demand. Not really much to say, except I think Maggie looks really cute and I will be talking about them in further detail on my "book"-theme news on Sunday.

Har Mar Superstar ♥ Varsity Theater, Minneapolis (11/06/09)

Compared to the last time I saw Har Mar Superstar, which was basically a man and his undies and boombox - he now has a full band, all dressed in white with a red cross on the back. Also, the last time I saw him, he basically stripped down after the first few songs - this time, he started off very heavily dressed with an African cover, hat, etc.

After the first song, he took off his hat. After "DUI", he took off the overall to reveal a Prince "Purple Rain" shirt. He kept taking off articles of clothing as the night went on. From "EZ Pass", to "Girls Only", to "Creative Juices"... the audience was loving it all.

Har Mar and Melinda Park singing "Powerline"

By the time "Brothers & Sisters" was played, he inevitably took off his shirt. The pants disappeared with "Apple Sauce", followed by "Turn it Around". The finale song was "Tall Boy", which Zach, from Bang Bang, and some woman called Melinda Park (or was it Mindy Park?) joined on stage to help sing the song. Park would later turn up again to help sing one of the encore, "Powerline".

The very last song, Har Mar sang an a cappella version of Boyz II Men's "It's So Hard To Say Goodbye To Yesterday". He would pretend the song ended and everyone would clap... only he would continue to sing the refrain. After the third false ending and after he said "goodnight", he came back and sang some more.

Har Mar's latest album is Dark Touches, available from Dilettante Recordings. Read Andrew's review of the album, pick up a copy at amazon