Show Review: Grandchildren

I might actually be able to dub this my favorite b-sides ever, which is odd because those stories generally involve dancing. For this one, I sat down and had my mind blown... repeatedly. The first thing I noticed on arrival was the unusual setup-two drum kits at the front of the stage, backed by two keyboards and a wall of gear. When the show began, that wall of gear produced an enormous wall of sound to match. That "wall of sound" approach has been tried by hundreds of bands since Phil Spector created it in the 60s, with mixed results. The compelling difference with Grandchildren is their authenticity. In a band playing two of the hippest styles in music right now-polyrhythmic and psych/folk-at the same time, one might expect a hint of tongue-in-cheek pandering, but there is none here. Aleks Martray and friends play completely in earnest; they love this music.Each member is a multi-instrumentalist, contributing to the everything-including-the-kitchen-sink approach they seem to take to songwriting. Trombone, trumpet, vocoder, and electronic samples of various kinds all make their way into the percussion-heavy mix of more ordinary drums, guitar, bass, keys, and vocals. Pouring their passion into so many instruments, the band and their audience are rewarded with sweat and a sound so enthralling that my friends and I had to take time to digest before enthusiastically gushing over the band and purchasing merch. Apparently these are some of the guys behind DIY venue Danger Danger Gallery in West Philly, so I look forward to seeing them around when I move back in the fall. I might even make it down for their show at Kung Fu Necktie April 14th.

Show Review: Nathan Leigh

On Tuesday, Phil Wilmot booked Nathan Leigh to play at The Sycamore House's community dinner. The intimate living room environment and the shared meal helped give even more of a communal feeling than the last time at the SALT House [review here]. I only caught the first few songs because I had to go set up for The Fox and the Hound Show, but both the old and new tunes sounded great. Nathan played a 3-song set (two originals and a cover) in the second hour of the show, as did Alex Brubaker in the first hour, but we were unable to record properly due to technical difficulties-I assure you both performances were phenomenal. "Family of Ghosts" was my favorite of the new tunes Leigh played, yet another example of his great writing. His live show has improved over the past few months, though perhaps this owes more to increased confidence in a more traditional house-show setting as opposed to sitting on top of a dresser in a dorm room. Either way, he puts on a good show, and I look forward to his next tour. In the meantime, check out his hilarious tour blog, "The Adventures of Pen Pen".

John Glenn Remixes

John Glenn (aka John Kunkel, frontman of The New Division) has been doing some great remix work that fits nicely with his band's material more generally. The late-night "intelligent dance music" vibes I praised on The Rookie EP here get applied to hits by other electronic bands, specifically Phoenix and Toro y Moi. Enjoy! Catch the latter back in Philly at 1st Unitarian on April 12th courtesty of R5.

Show Review: Colour Revolt

Though their name is spelled in the King's English, Colour Revolt hail from Oxford, Mississippi-the name is a reference to 19th-century English schoolteacher Edwin Abbott's satirical novel Flatland. Their literary name is the first indication of the intelligence that enabled the mixture of huge portions of post-rock and punk in their distinctive Southern gumbo. Having opened for both mewithoutYou [show review here] and Brand New [show review here], it is perhaps unsurprising that lead vocalist Jesse Coppenbarger brings a howl not unlike that of Aaron Weiss with a deadpan delivery Jesse Lacey would be proud of.
The Southern rock that no doubt permeated their upbringing comes through most clearly in their guitar tones, Coppenbarger's a crunchy blues rhythm with Sean Kirkpatrick adding psychedelic accents. An impressive array of gear ensures their compelling riffs and complex rhythms move the crowd both physically and emotionally. Colour Revolt puts on a great live show, to the point that many of us on SAB were discussing hopefully the possibility of their imminent return with Brand New on April 30th (an eventuality that has not materialized).

My Review of The Rookie EP for The Swinging Bridge

When the hypnotic synth riff that drives opening single “Starfield” emerges from ambient noises to dominate the listener’s consciousness, it becomes clear that this is no ordinary bedroom electronica record. Building on this solid foundation, The New Division assemble a stadium-sized sound full of clattering percussion and laid-back guitars at the summit of which floats John Kunkel’s ethereal, reverb-drenched vocal. The glitchy rhythm and ‘80s snares of “Devotion” are reminiscent of a time when Joy Division, New Order, Kraftwerk, and Depeche Mode kept dancefloors packed until the wee hours of the morning. Its lyrical content, focusing on themes of solitude and spirituality, keeps The New Division firmly in such critically-acclaimed company—the purveyors of so-called ‘intelligent dance music’. Skittering cymbals and a pulsing bassline pick up the pace on “No Health” before smoothly flowing into the more rock-influenced “Nocturnal”. The rock influence remains in the ambient guitars at the beginning of “Festival”, a sound that would fit well on the last Ratatat album, before dropping an electro beat that has more in common with Deadmau5. Album closer “Bucharest” mimics the transition from hard-hitting club synths to more melodic lines one might experience on the way home from a night out, perfectly matched with lyrics about late-night conversations, loneliness, and the difficulty of communicating across cultures one might encounter both in the Romanian capital and The New Division’s hometown of Riverside, California. As a DJ, I appreciate their ability to balance a variety of songs capable of standing on their own and album-wide pacing to produce a smooth set of tunes that work extremely well in exactly the order they appear, from “Starfield” to “Bucharest”, almost like a narrative.

The New Division are clearly capable of producing a diverse array of electronic music, and their acoustic hidden bonus track hints at yet another direction they might go in the future. For an independently-released EP, The Rookie is an impressive effort. I had the privilege of seeing their CD release show in Riverside, and can honestly say it translates even better live, and with the recent addition of a drummer their act is sure to be even more compelling. Recent coverage from influential blogs like Pitchfork and NME (the British equivalent of Rolling Stone) leaves me hopeful that on their next effort they will have the benefit of a record label and its associated equipment and recording quality, distribution, and the possibility of a national tour so we East Coast residents can experience their music in the late-night environments it seems destined for.

- This is my original text. Check the final version at The Swinging Bridge here: http://media.www.messiahsb.com/media/storage/paper1242/news/2011/02/16/Entertainment/The-Rookie.Ep.Review-3975156.shtml

The Fox and the Hound Show with Will Millar

This Tuesday Will Millar stopped by for a live performance on our show to promote his entry in the Blue Microphone Songwriting Competition with guitarist Phil Smith (ex-Troubador). You can vote for "Iridescence" here: http://www.indabamusic.com/#!/submissions/show/43775, although doing so will no longer win you a copy of The Decemberists' latest effort The King is Dead, as it did for Valerie Nogueras.

Grammy Rundown

For anyone who didn't watch the 53rd Grammy Awards this year, here's a quick recap of the show with commentary by yours truly:

Yolanda Adams, Jennifer Hudson, Martina McBride, Christina Aguilera, and Florence Welch of Florence & the Machine kicked things off with a tribute to Aretha Franklin, who was present via video in drastically slimmed-down post-surgery shape. Christina sang her heart out, no doubt to make up for her Super Bowl lyric-forgetting fiasco, and managed to distract me from the fact that Florence Welch always looks like a transvestite for the majority of the performance.

Lady Gaga underwhelmed with the premiere of her latest song "Born This Way", which she would later gush that she imagined Whitney Houston singing it while writing because it was too good for her. False body modifications just don't cut it for over-the-top after the public spectacle she has been for the past couple years.

Justin Bieber amazingly did not ruin Usher's performance of "OMG" with what appeared to be their overly-complex secret handshake, singing less than Mr. Raymond got to on the same number at the Super Bowl. Fortunately the tween idol didn't win anything, so we all owe a deep debt of gratitude to Esperanza Spalding for having awesome hair, an awesome voice, playing upright bass, and being able to do all three at once. Katy Perry held it down with a ballad before hit "Teenage Dream", and Norah Jones, Keith Urban, and John Mayer did a wonderful version of "Jolene". Eminem's much-hyped performance with Dr. Dre and Rihanna was augmented by backing vocals from Adam Levine of Maroon 5 and Skylar Grey (who you may remember as Holly Brook from "Where'd You Go", but apparently wrote "Love the Way You Lie" and is featured on "Coming Home"). The hip-hop party took a break for the escapees from the old-folks home to do their thing, then came back with a vengeance as Drake tried his best to leer at and hump Rihanna in convincing fashion for anti-Chris-Brown benefit.

Country outfit Lady Antebellum gathered a ton of awards for "Need You Now", an inexplicably romantic-sounding ode to booty calls that has been all over the airwaves. Song of the Year, Record of the Year, Country Song of the Year, Country Album of the Year... all I'm thinking is that we better watch out for a swell in the number of redneck children born 9 months from now.

All this, however, was merely a distraction from the fact that this was the year of the hipster at the Grammys, with Arcade Fire performing twice and taking home Album of the Year, performances by Mumford & Sons and The Avett Brothers with Bob Dylan, who could not have cared less how hip they were when the accordion failed to cut off at his gesture. The trio of Janelle Monae [show review here], B.O.B., and Bruno Mars ensured that the more urban-oriented American Apparel shoppers would enjoy it all too, as did Muse for the rockers, and Cee-Lo Green outdid Gaga at her own game. They've arrived, ladies and gentlemen. And judging by Danger Mouse's win for Producer of the Year, they aren't going anywhere, either.

Show Review: Atlantic/Pacific

I missed Jarrod Gorbel, the first b-sides of the semester, because of a house meeting at my new residence in Harrisburg. Apparently Alex Brubaker did not deign to cover the show, so suffice to say that he is the frontman from The Honorary Title and my little sister felt the need to text me that To Write Love On Her Arms is on tour with him.

The next band to grace the Larsen Student Union with its presence was Atlantic/Pacific, fronted by a pair of music industry veterans. Garret Klahn most prominently played guitar and sang in influential '90s emo/hardcore outfit Texas Is The Reason, bookended with stints in Copper and New Rising Sons. John Herguth has played in House & Parish and The Love Scene before the two hooked up to form their current project. Billed as "psychedelic indie/folk", among other things, the duo plays live with the addition of a basic rhythm section.

To be fair, apparently a substantial portion of their equipment crapped out just before the show, surely a hard blow to any band that can be even tangentially linked to shoegaze. However, the show was simply uninteresting. The most positive comments I heard involved soundtracking mediocre movies, and quite a few students left early. The sound reminded me of a generic Guster by way of emo, and a lackluster performance gave me the impression these men are simply in a band because they don't know how to do anything else. In this era of television placements, however, perhaps all they need is to sculpt their niche sound and wait for commercial dollars to keep them afloat. A mildly catchy closing number offered a glimpse of hope, and Alex gave them the benefit of the doubt, so don't be surprised if these veteran rockers pull a great album out one of these days, but one thing is certain: Meet Your New Love is not it. This video captures the vibe pretty accurately:

If you'd like to make up your own mind, they are headed west with Gorbel at the moment-interesting coincidence-but they will return to the area without him at Kung Fu Necktie on March 4th. Hopefully they'll have some new gear.

The Fox and the Hound Show - 2/8/11

This week's radio show was a blast, minus some technical difficulties. Remember to become a fan of The Fox and the Hound on Facebook!

The Fox And The Hound Show - 2/8/11 by The_Fox_And_The_Hound on Mixcloud

Catching Up With Christina Grimmie

You may remember Christina Grimmie as the opening act for my birthday show to benefit To Write Love On Her Arms. That was the last independent show allowed by her manager, otherwise known as Selena Gomez' stepdad.

Since then she has been keeping herself busy getting even more YouTube famous, singing backing vocals for Gomez, and going into virtual hiding to avoid manic fans. A couple kids even tried to friend me on Facebook to get in contact with her. As an indication of her popularity, Billboard just reported that she is currently beating both Justin Bieber and Rihanna in a YouTube popularity contest, despite the former's self-parodying Super Bowl Best Buy ad. Vote for her here to ensure that I get to say "Remember when?" and "I told you so" when she becomes the new Miley Cyrus, but writes her own music. If you don't know who any of these people are, ask your preteen relatives.

The Fox and the Hound: Mixcloud

The Fox and the Hound Show is now on Mixcloud! We will be posting our 2 hour show each week (9-11 PM Tuesdays) there for your listening pleasure. Here is our first show back from our Christmas/J-term hiatus:

The Fox And The Hound Show - 2/1/11 by The_Fox_And_The_Hound on Mixcloud