SoundLust

Now, listen carefully: I don’t like Shania Twain. Or rather, I hated what she became. That super polished and fashion-y poser. The songs below? A look at how good she once was. The second video is one of my early favorites from CMT.

I understand the desire to capitalize on whatever gifts one has been given, but to bank so heavily on looks rather than substance, well, it rubs me the wrong way. Especially because Shania possesses a great deal of talent. Yes, she reached a whole new level of fame and was able to make great money, however there were many people who turned away because they couldn’t just enjoy the music without having all that Twain-ness constantly rubbed in their faces. I was one of those people. Sure, there were a couple songs here and there that I could listen to and separate from her, mostly after I stopped watching any sort of music TV or country awards shows, but the damage was done.

Instead of dwelling on the negative, I’ve decided to embrace what I liked most about Shania Twain in the first place.

Took April 13, 2010 at Grinders Coffee in the Sunnyslope area of Phoenix. So few people have heard of these groups, it’s ridiculous. Violins are involved.

That’s Big.Fast.Easy
Thankful Birds
Mergence
Honey Pistol – one of the players works at Grinders, so, the pink highlight.
Banana Gun
About Freedom

You’re about to love you some snake and tiger noise!

The Phoenix music scene generally stays underground. Sometimes – as a fan, anyway – it’s better that way since intimacy remains.

That, and they stay hungry, bringing the raw and the edge out through voice and instruments. Again better for fans than band members but …

Miniature Tigers got their start in the Sol Valley. Cute as they are the band shows themselves Tuesday, July 27 at the Rhythm Room, ripping through a set to celebrate the release of Fortress (Modern Art Records). It’s their second release as they delve further into the weird.

The Spinto Band, Roar and the perennially overlooked Kinch are all part of the bill. Show starts at 8pm. Tickets available at Stinkweeds, Hoodlums, Zia and Ticketweb.com, or at the door.

And dearly beloved locally, Snake! Snake! Snakes! (a copy editor’s nightmare that) got themselves a self-titled EP out. They’ll hit the Rhythm Room August 11. All ages, and they’re that type of band to appeal to grannies in the old folk’s home and ten-year-old rocking out at home.

Gospel Claws and Sister Cities get some serious set time that night on the RR’s small stage – reach out and touch someone!

(Check a listen to two songs from the EP here, and “The Mountain Fire” via Phoenix New Times)

Once upon a time I hated Rod Stewart. I was five years old and my older sister told me I looked like him (I had a shag haircut and, granted, it was awful). I wept. I tried to break her album. I tried to kick her. But nothing worked. It took me years to grow into loving Rod, but it did happen and I was glad that the name my sister had uttered stuck in my mind.

I’ve seen Rod the Mod in concert a number of times, each show better than the last. Bagpipes, a soccer ball, running and jumping about, and the ability to deliver a damn good time has always been part of what makes Stewart special to me. Throw in a former boyfriend who usually accompanied me and some songs that make my heart beat erratically and it’s a recipe for awesome. Yes, I said a recipe for awesome.

While there is at least one generation who hear the name Rod Stewart and think he only does the old standards, let us please disavow this notion with a look back at the man in earlier times.

(rockinjac – Rod Stewart & the Faces, “Stay With Me”)

(dawgmusic – Rod Stewart and the Faces, “I’d Rather Go Blind”)

For those of you who hold fond memories of Rod going solo in the 70s, here’s a bonus video, albeit one from later in his career but he’s still rockin’ the tune! Every Picture Tells A Story is very likely my favorite Stewart album of all times although Gasoline Alley is a close second.

(rockinjac – Rod Stewart, “Every Picture Tells A Story”)

from Silversun Pickups, their photo from Marquee Theatre stage, Phoenix, July 17, 2010

Just over an hour ago. Three bands at The Marquee in Phoenix. The best concert I’ve been to all year – for the music alone. Each band had a keyboard player, which is more rare than you think.

Also rare? All three bands good enough to headline. Not popular – good. The Henry Clay People were first and you usually expect some kind of throwaway (you shouldn’t have to expect that by the way) but they surprised me and the crowd I think by how skilled they were. They were also there after the show, selling their own merch., friendly, talkative. (Look for a SoundLust review of their new CD, Somewhere On the Golden Coast soon!)

And the keyboard off to stage right, left as the audience looked. Against Me were next. Been around, been good forever with controlled chaos chops and enthusiastically attacking everything they get their white-knuckled hands on.

Fans of hard-driving punk rock? See ‘em. Jump. They deserve respect and earn it. Keyboard player. Off to stage left, right as the audience looked.

And then there’s the Silversun Pickups.

Look, they were what made the show something different, something up, something soaring above. How? Why? They keep an edge to their live music; an experimental energy and unpredictability that invigorates – at some level – anyone else with a creative bone in their body made alive by music.

If they can keep it, that’ll bode well. Not only for the crowds, but for their own sustainability as a band.

I’d never seen them live and except for a little too much reliance on the machine gun guitar pedal effect, they jellified my soul. Their hits were suitably highlights — Panic Switch, Lazy Eye, The Royal We – but to me the thrill was seeing them perform and interact and amaze with every single song, fast and slow. Keyboard player, off to stage right, left as the audience looked.

I want anyone who has a chance to go, to report back and to let me know their experience.

For a band considering themselves small-scale, they have a simplistic set, with stunningly effective lighting that strobes the band in lines of color but often puts them in silhouette.

Tight’s not the right word, but in control – every second.

“If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.” You’ve heard that. It’s wise.

Also, occasionally wrong.

Desert Bloom, and all its sights and sounds, plans to show you just how wrong by setting things right. Friday, the event that seeks to meld music and art heats up for Round 2. It’s free.

“It’s not a music festival,” says organizer Brandon Franklin. “It’s a hybrid.”

Beats and Brushes: Desert Bloom 2, brings together eight artists Gabe Velez, Heather Kozan, Jamie Mulhern, Nicholas DiBiase, Shannon Elizabeth Harden, Tony Deschiney, Victor Moreno and Dumperfoo. They and the public will paint with oils, watercolor, spackle – anything sanitary – with a background setting of seven sound-shifting DJs: [forced future], offering electro, industrial, cyberpunk sounds; Consumer (jungle / d&b); Halfacat (dubstep, d&b); Matt X (downbeat); Molotrash (60s Soul, RnB, 80s dance); RayRay (house, breaks); and William Reed (punk, new wave, Britpop) In the mix is a Jay McGavren light show.

Anyone who walks through the front door will suddenly have to decide what to do with the paintbrush smacked down in their palm. The goal by the end of the evening is to have four complete, large scale murals to likely be auctioned, painted by the artists and the audience.

The venue is free. The venue is Gangplank, a space rapidly gaining attention to the connected or those connected to them. Starting out as a shared work area for tech companies to share costs, and just as importantly ideas. It continues to grow into something bigger — and striving not to be too good to be true.

“No one get’s a free lunch.”

You’ve heard that, too. Gangplank won’t give you lunch, but they’re big on free. Free form. Free association. Freedom of thought. And increasingly, free space for different communities to find new ways to collaborate and eat lunch. Or dinner. Or 3 am burritos.

Branching out into music is new for Gangplank founder Derek Neighbors and his crew. Gangplank recently hosted its first Open Mic night for musicians, July 9, with Kenny Bump and Morgan Benavidez setting the tone before the spontaneous took over.

“Virtually every culture around the world has some form of music regardless of how remote or isolated,” Neighbors wrote to SoundLust. “It is at the very core of our DNA.

“For us music is one of the bases to express creativity. Which makes it a cornerstone of bringing in a culture of collaboration/ innovation. People looking to create are inspired and driven by other creators.  It only makes sense to have a building block like music supported to fuel creation.”

For Neighbors, support for growing Phoenix’s new economy comes about by “providing resources and outlets for all types of creatives.”

It’s within this freedom of space that Franklin, Brandon Mason, Greg Taylor and DiBaise started to believe their loose ideas for a hybrid clash of the arts could actually happen. Given a tour several months ago of Gangplank’s new digs in downtown Chandler (260 S. Arizona Ave.) Franklin said a planned recording studio, open to any style, and small-venue, high-end sound system seemed, well, too … perfect. But it set in motion Desert Bloom.

“I get teary-eyed just thinking about what they’re offering,” Franklin tells SoundLust. “It’s just ridiculous, ridiculous to even think of a free recording space. It’s unheard of but it’s going to happen.”

“[We] had one meeting with them and they ran with it,” Neighbors wrote. “Pretty much all planning and heavy lifting [was] done by them and volunteers. Amazing to see community passion in action.”

Desert Bloom happened for the first time in May to instant social media chatter and general acclaim. The plan is to hold the event several times a year, with each event offering a new sound, a new atmosphere. Always involving music and some other type of art.

Live music played at the first Desert Bloom. DJs, with no live singing or instruments will perform Friday, starting 7 pm. They’re behind the decks through “someone knowing someone,” Franklin says, adding that with the success of the first, it was easier to get people to step up this time.

“We put a call out for people wanting to change the face of music,” Neighbors said.

DiBiase is a Desert Bloom volunteer and one of the artists who’ll join in. He’s not at all used to painting with others.

“My usual process is to paint alone in the middle of the night, and generally without music as I get absorbed in the “story” of the painting as I create,” he responded in an email. “… I’ve collaborated with a single other painter before, but never with seven at once, and then a whole audience pitching in! It’s going to be much faster, more electric, and more athletic than my normal experience, by far.”

Who’ll play off the other more is difficult to figure out, but Franklin thinks the images in the music can’t help but find their way into the art. “They’ll supply a texture,” Franklin says. “I don’t want to get too esoteric, but that’s how it goes sometimes.”

photo by nooccar/Flickr, Creative Commons

• Edited to correct Gangplank address – 11:29, July 15.

I love discovering new music, new artists, new…well, everything. I was intrigued by the news of a free digital album and being the curious sort I am, I had to go check it out.

Benjy Davis Project is smooth and gentle on the soul and manages to avoid the soupy slop that most indie/rock/soft country (what on earth are we calling these artists anymore?) singer/songwriters find themselves in. A free sampler is the perfect route to go when you have a lot of material to cover and just a few minutes to land new fans.

“Check Your Pocket” has a nice bounce to it, “Sweet Southern Moon” is a perfect summer crush tune, “Mississippi” is my favorite of the bunch and almost demands repeated listens as do “Green And Blue” and “She Ain’t Got Love.” “The Day That I Die” could be easily forgotten, but it’s not. “No More Pills”…there’s just something about this song that makes you take a second listen. I hear a lot of different things in “214″ that strike a chord and they all call to me. The opening lyrics of “Same Damn Book” hooked me immediately, while the sparseness of the guitar on “Raining In Me” wrapped around my head and wouldn’t let go.

Curious about the rest of the BDP catalogue, I decided to head over to the BDP website and had myself a listen to every song available and ended up walking away with a copy of Dust for $4.99 (it says $2.99 on the site, but hell, even if you had to pay $10.99, it’d be worth it). Guess I have something new and different for my summer playlist!

Sadly, I won’t have the opportunity to see the band as they tour the country. However, you may have that chance and I’d take it if I were you.

7/13/2010 Evanston, IL SPACE (w/Matt Hires)
7/14/2010 Columbus, OH Rumba Café (w/Kate Tucker & Matt Hires)
7/15/2010 Cleveland, OH Cambridge Room @ HOB (w/Sister Hazel)
7/17/2010 Pittsburgh, PA Club Café (w/Matt Hires)
7/18/2010 Lancaster, PA Long’s Park Amphitheatre
8/4/2010 Seaside, FL Seaside Concert Series
8/13/2010 Destin, FL The Shed
8/14/2010 Ocean Springs, MS The Shed
8/17/2010 Jacksonville, FL Jack Rabbits
8/19/2010 Orlando, FL The Plaza Theatre (w/Jacob Jeffries)
8/27, 28, 29 Isle of Palms, SC The Windjammer
9/2/2010 Baton Rouge, LA The Varsity Theatre (w/Ingram Hill)
9/3/2010 Hattiesburg, MS Mugshots
9/4/2010 Nashville, TN Exit/In w/Ingram Hill
9/5/2010 Eclectic, AL Lake Martin Amphitheater (w/Shooter Jennings & Corey Smith)
9/9/2010 West Columbia, SC New Brookland Tavern (w/Ingram Hill)
9/30/2010 Birmingham, AL Zydeco (w/Ingram Hill)
10/2/2010 Auburn, AL Bourbon Street (w/Ingram Hill)
10/15/2010 Pensacola Beach, FL De Luna Festival
10/28/2010 Tuscaloosa, AL Jupiter Bar & Grill (w/Ingram Hill)

(by Joanie & Temple)

JOANIE

One of the things we love about music is that it has the power to join people together in many ways. Music truly is a universal language. A simple melody, words you can learn phonetically (think “Frère Jacques”), and the spirit of the tune are all enough to break down barriers, to end shyness, to cause you to reach out a hand to a stranger. It opens doors, heals the soul, and gives voice to those who might otherwise be too afraid to speak.

Take, for instance, Sarah McLachlan and Darryl “DMC” McDaniels. From the looks of things, you wouldn’t imagine there’d be any common ground. However, in the depths of a major depression, McDaniels heard McLachlan’s song “Angel” and he found the necessary wherewithal to reassess his life and career. While writing his autobiography, McDaniels discovered he’d been adopted as an infant. This led to a VH-1 special, the Felix Organization, and the song “Just Like Me.” While recording with his musical angel McLachlan, she revealed that she, too, was adopted. Once again, music opened a door to bring people together and gave voice to a group of people who weren’t necessarily represented in song before. I might have never known about this story if not for meeting McDaniels at a Harley event in 2008. If witnessing a rapper confessing his depression, adoption story, and his obsession with Sarah McLachlan before a throng of bikers isn’t a little surprising, I don’t know what is. What I do know is that I was deeply moved by his story and his involvement with foster care and adoption organizations. Gotta love a man who stands up, speaks his mind, and does something to improve the lives of others.

(sarahmclachlanfan – DMC ft. Sarah McLachlan, “Just Like Me”)

While I’m on this particular train of thought, why not include the duet that put RunDMC on the map? That would be “Walk This Way” with Aerosmith. Being of the generation that witnessed this pairing and who can visual Steven Tyler with lips that were still half the size of Texas at the time, I vividly recall thinking, “this is damn cool!” and rocked along with both bands.

(bustedkeys – Run-DMC ft. Aerosmith, “Walk This Way”)

Nothing groundbreaking these days, but once upon a time, this was a big deal. Aerosmith and Run-DMC both found new audiences and more than a little money was made along the way.
______________________
TEMPLE

Duet: Do it!

Has the concept of “duet” evolved from the classic romantic musical setting of two people singing back and forth? Can’t be sure, but the Judgment Night soundtrack? In its entirety? Yes. That’s where my brain went when I thought of “duet.” (Check the track listing)

(from kouldeliee)

Two modern hits that juice me are Mariah Carey and Ole Dirty Bastard, Fantasy and Eminem’s Stan, performed on the VMAs with Elton John. The song, of course, originally featured Dido. The latter seems obvious, but if you haven’t played the song in awhile the counterpoint and depth of the story being told hits hard again. And, it was an event, in a way, because Eminem had been dragged through a shitstorm backwards for sounding homophobic in lyrics to other songs. Eminem later called the performance, “career roulette” in another song, “Business.”

(from estetsvid)

Generally the unexpected angle of these duets comes from a contrast in styles. A smooth, pristine delivery somehow illicitly brought together with the harshness of heavy metal or with anyone thought of as messed up. Mash-Ups are a whole spin-off of this idea, pushing groups or artists together that you wouldn’t immediately think would work. But it does — through a shared bass hook, melody line, or tone in the voices.

All this is close to the same thrill you get when you get a cover version of a song you may not love from an artist you absolutely love (or vice versa) — Nina Gordon adding grace to the gangsta of “Straight Outta Compton”, Incubus’ “Like a Virgin” or pretty much any cover Seether releases.

There’s a literal beauty and the beast concept going on here, too. Old Dirty Bastard and Mariah, Shane McGowan and Kirsty MacColl, and the ultimate, Sarah Brightman’s starring role opposite Michael Crawford’s phantom of the Opera.

(SOUNDLUST REVIEW) — So as I was writing this review I fell asleep and dream-pictured Liz Phair, hands over bent-up knees, her face large-lipped, large-headed, floating above a small-bodied cartoon caricature, talking to people on stage with her. Not her band but fans, who’d crowded into this little anonymous, low-ceilinged place to listen to her play. “Normally we’d play packed,” she said, “but this one’s for the musicians and the band.” And then I woke up.

Tempted to say, Funstyle – it’s $5.99, just try the fucking thing. You get high-quality lossless mp3s and music that hasn’t been pasteurized.

Listening to Liz Phair here brings alive so many female music references. Madonna screaming, I have a reservation off of “Act of Contrition” started ringing in my ears, seconds after the bass hit of the amazing “Smoke” started.

Too, Janis Joplin’s rage at the world. Bjork’s loopiness at her most inspired and lucid, Tori’s intensity and obscurity. And Kim Carnes: She’ll turn the music on you / You won’t have to think twice / She’s pure as New York snow /She’s got Bette Davis eyes. / And she’ll tease you / She’ll unease you /All the better just to please you / She’s precocious and she knows / Just what it takes to make a pro blush / She’s got Greta Garbo stand-off sighs / She’s got Bette Davis eyes.

And, well, you know listening to Phair you’ll get her throaty voice. A sound full of resonant scratchy timbre that always pushed her past twee. Distinctive, character-filled. Can carry anything. She delivers malice aforethought with a smiling sneer, can turn on the innocence while gently but firmly, sliding cold steel inside you. Give me sharp wit over all the other shit. Anger in song, raged or quiet — almost pure ecstasy.

I wet my jeans listening to Funstyle.

As I always asks when someone inspires me, where the shit is this coming from? If all this obscure, random yet beautiful sound just flows from her au naturel – I love her more. There’s the ripe ballad-folk of “You Should Know Me” and “Miss September,” delicious hilarity on “Smoke” and “U Hate It”, “Bollywood” and “Beat Is Up”. That fine line between pretentious, self-indulgent and art? Phair always stays on the right side, while simultaneously redefining it.

Read more…