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December 29, 2009

Josh’s Favorite Shows of 2009

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Tags
David Bazan Grizzly Bear Hopscotch Boys Macklemore & Ryan Lewis Macklemore Zoe Muth Widower What What Now The Whore Moans Thee Emergency Nurses Pearly Gate Music The Lonely Forest The Maldives The Moondoggies

The Ironclads CD Release Show ::: Photo by Josh Lovseth

As a person who goes to grippa shows, it’s a hopeless task to put properly put into any meaningful order the favorite shows they’ve been two beyond saying a few were the very best or stand out as special moments and deserve recognition as such for the annals. So I’ve chosen a list of twenty shows and sets from this year that I’ll never forget, presented in chronological order.

Blind Pilot @ The Triple Door (January 2009) – read the full review

The Murder City Devils first show back at the Showbox at the Market (February 2009) – read the full review

Dan Auerbach at the Showbox at the Market (March 2009) – read the full review

The Ironclads CD Release w/ Hands, Whore Moans, What What Now (April 2009) – read the full review

Blue Moon 75th Anniversary Show w/ High Class Wreckage, Thee Emergency, Hopscotch Boys, and The Whore Moans (April 2009) – read the full review

The Lonely Forest CD Release at the Vera Project (April 2009) – read the full review

Bon Iver at Sasquatch (May 2009) – read the full review

Nurses at the South Pole (DIY venue) (June 2009) – read the full review

David Bazan in a Living Room in Edmonds (June 2009) – read the full review

 

Robin and Josh ::: Photo on Film by Josh Lovseth

Robin Pecknold at Neumos (July 2009) – read the full review

Rural Alberta Advantage at the Sunset Tavern (July 2009) – read the full review

Widower, Pearly Gate Music, Final Spins at Sunset Tavern (July 2009) – read the full review

Doe Bay Fest (August 2009) – read the full review

The Maldives CD Release at the Tractor Tavern w/ The Moondoggies and Zoe Muth & The Lost High Rollers (August 2009) – read the full review

Macklemore at Bumbershoot (September 2009) – read the full review

Dirty Three at the Crocodile (September 2009) – read the full review

Fanfarlo at Chop Suey (September 2009) – read the full review

Grizzly Bear at the Moore (October 2009) – read the full review

Black Eyes & Neckties Last Show (October 31, 2009) – eulogy never written

Regina Spektor at the Paramount (November 2009) – read the full review

 

Taking in the Bay at Doe Bay Music Fest ::: Photo by Abbey Simmons

September 23, 2009

Dirty Three at the Crocodile

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Dirty Three ::: Photo by Josh Lovseth

Warren Ellis and his band Dirty Three are the mad alchemists of rock n’ roll. Not unlike the self-styled chemists of the middle ages who sought to remake lead into gold, the Dirty Three routinely delve into the forbidden and unknown with results surprising and haunting. A sinister beauty emerges from and a swirling and sometimes painfully shrill cacophony, with Ellis as equally responsible for the sense of borderline chaos as he is for it’s rare rugged grace. I waited nearly a decade to experience an Ocean Song in person it was literally beyond description. Nothing I can write in words will properly do the performance justice. The pictures will just have to do then, at least until you can experience a Dirty Three show for yourself. It’s something everyone should do before they die.


Dirty Three ::: Photo by Josh Lovseth

Dirty Three ::: Photo by Josh Lovseth

Dirty Three ::: Photo by Josh Lovseth

Flickr: Dirty Three at the Crocodile, September 18th, 2009

January 31, 2007

Somme – Weight EP

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Instrumental bands fascinate me. After being in a band myself now for a little while, I am beginning to understand how much of a central element the voice is to the composition of so much of popular music. Those bands that are able to transcend that missing element (at least missing in comparison to other forms of American popular music) are the bands who interest me the most. Somme is one such band that after my first listen I was unusually intrigued.

I’ve only encountered a few bands that are purely instrumental as well as engaging. I can’t tell you how many prog-rock bands I have seen and heard that just bore me to death with their uninteresting repetitive riffs, boring stage presence, and botched attempts at riding the coat tails of Built to Spill. I will mention “a few” that I have been listening to recently though. Lately local duo Talkdemonic has been in the rotation heavily, as well as guitarists Rodrigo Y Gabriela, who’s guitar playing reminds me of Ottmar Liebert’s updated flamenco compositions. I should tell you though, that my central point of reference, the band which all other instrumental bands are stacked up against, and a band that I listen to incessantly, is Dirty Three. Their albums Ocean Songs and Horse Stories are two of the finest albums I own. Ocean Songs would be a “desert island disc” for me, even if I only had three choices. Anyway, to make a long story short (and I could talk about Dirty Three for some time), the point of that is this: in the latest Somme tracks, I was reminded of the power of music unhindered by the constraints of adhering to a formula or accommodating a voice, as so much of popular music is reliant upon today, in much the same way that Dirty Three gave me the recognition of that power when they were introduced to me.

From Chicago, Somme is only two gentlemen, Daniel Medina on guitar and Kenny Preski on drum, but they produce a sound that belies their small stage footprint. The first song they sent over was “Massless” and it was a slap in the face. I listened to it and all I could think was Whaaaa? Where did this come from? “Massless” is journey on a stormy sea of expertly wielded distortion and aggressive drumming. Beginning in the pensive and quiet waters of a secluded cove then progressing to the fifty foot waves of a hurricane, this song hurls me overboard and back again. The companion track “Forge” is a quieter song filled with frenetic distorted riffs that while not as in-your-face as “Massless”, still serve up a heaping helping of brooding textures that tug at my heart strings in much the same way Horse Stories still does to this day.

The above mentioned tracks appear on a 5 song EP called Weight which was recorded entirely to analog tape in a single day, in this very month of January 2007. They term this EP “a spectacularly ambitious sonic marvel” and I can’t agree more. A “sister” EP will be appearing later this year. I leave you with “Massless.”

Listen (mp3): Massless – Somme from the Weight EP

Related

Myspace: Somme (where you can listen to both of the above mentioned tracks)

November 2, 2006

News News News

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Borat is on the Daily Show tonight. And it looks like Viacom may have realized exactly what a dumb idea it was to take down Daily Show and Colbert report clips from YouTube and have given the okay to put them back up.

Damn. I love this band. Pitchfork tells us about how a Dirty Three show ending early in China incited a riot:

“It was in the middle of ‘Sue’s Last Ride’. I had my back to the crowd. When I turned, I noticed some people climbing the curtains trying to pull them open. The audience was going crazy. Probably one of the most exciting moments I have ever had onstage. You could hear them screaming over the music, and we were playing very loud. In the wings, the acrobats were dancing and watching. Then a guy ran and jumped on me.

“By this stage, I had no idea what was happening, but our tour manager was white and shaking, holding people and the curtains back, assisted by others. There were people everywhere: crowd, security, and acrobats. It was fantastic. When we stopped, the place exploded, and James [Chen] grabbed me and said, ‘Get the fuck out. The police are coming, and you may be arrested.’ I asked why, and he said he couldn’t explain. We packed and were shielded into a waiting van. The audience was chanting ‘Dirty Three,’ and the theatre staff shook our hands. Confusing? You bet.

Pitchfork also lets us know about upcoming TV performances on Austin City Limits including Sufjan Stevens, Ray Lamontagne and What Made Milwaukee Famous.

Stereogum has a new video for Tokyo Police Club’s “Nature of the Experiment.” It’s pretty sweet.

October 20, 2006

A reason to vacation in England next April

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Just like everyone else in the world I have a love/hate relationship with Pitchfork. But they are great for news about many of my favorite bands. This friday brings us news about the “Dirty Three-curated All Tommorows Parties festival” happening in Somerset England, April 27-29, 2007. Dirty Three themselves will be playing as well as a solo Nick Cave, Low, and SOTS favorite Magnolia Electric Company.

At certain moments when listening to Ocean Songs and Horse Stories, Dirty Three’s two best albums in my opinion, I realize that I would give my left nut and more to see Dirty Three live.

September 21, 2006

The Weather’s Changing… and so’s my play list

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Seattle’s a funny town… a bit of a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. In Seattle, our personality changes with the weather. Seattle in the summer (or spring) is a completely different city than Seattle, two months into the dreary season. We suffer from SAD thanks to lack of sunlight and we know intimately the thousand shades of grey. The past two days have offered a preview of the coming 6 months… wet, colorless, and cold. My music has begun to adjust conincidingly… I’m trading in my summertime pop for my winter blues. Por ejemplo:

a sample of summer listening: The Long Winters, Cold War Kids, Regina Spektor (begin to hope), Thee Emergency (can you dig it), Beirut, SilverSun PickUps.

replaced in the past two days with: The Mountain Goats, Dirty Three (Ocean Songs), Radiohead (Kid A), Cursive, The Prayers and Tears of Arthur Digby Sellers… a virtual panthenon of sad bastard music.

… come on, bring the rain…