Before joining the Red Hot Chili Peppers in 2009, Josh Klinghoffer formed Dot Hacker, an experimental rock band based out of Los Angeles, California.
The group, which features Klinghoffer on guitar and lead vocals, is made up of fellow established musicians, including Clint Walsh, Eric Gardner and Jonathan Hischke. Collectively, the members of Dot Hacker have a history of touring and recording with the likes of Beck, Gnarls Barkley, PJ Harvey, Broken Bells, and the Butthole Surfers.
Gary Clark Jr. was SPIN magazine’s Breakout Artist for the month of November, and Rolling Stone magazine ranked Clark’s Bright Lights EP number 40 on its list of Top 50 Albums of 2011. He’s been called the next big thing out of Austin, TX for some time now, but now with a major label (Warner Bros.) behind his critical acclaim, 2012 is primed to be the year of the blues.
It’s easy to compare a bluesman from Austin to Stevie Ray Vaughan, but once you see Gary Clark Jr. for yourself, there’s really no other way to describe the phenomenon. Just as SRV seemed to channel the spirit of Jimi Hendrix, Gary Clark Jr. does the same with his own unique twist. This guy has the chops and the songwriting to bring the blues back to the forefront of modern music.
I was lucky enough to get a ticket to the sold-out jam-packed Great American Music Hall here in San Francisco last Wednesday to witness Clark Jr. blow the roof off of the venue. It was his 28th birthday, and the crowd greeted him accordingly by serenading him as he walked out on stage. I had seen him before in Dallas many years ago, and you could tell he was something special then; he just put the exclamation point on it last week.
Galactic’s playful blend of acid, jazz fusion, and New Orleans Dixieland is getting a revival here in D.C. Its founding members Robert Mercurio and Jeff Raines, from the District, will bring the parade to the 9:30 Club this Thursday, February 23rd, and we have a pair of tickets for you to win. Joining their musical procession will be Corey Glover (of Living Colour) and Corey Henry of the Rebirth Brass Band.
Originally a band of eight, Galactic surreptitiously inked their namesake into a new portal of N’awlins neo-jazz artists in the early ’90s. Though they’ve been categorized as contemporary jazz players, Galactic applies intricate time signatures to traditional Southern music.
Then they effectively blend skiffle motifs (an early blend of horns, folk, and country) to stylized hip-hop rhythms. All these ingredients come together to form harmonious equal parts smooth and rugged, like gator-skinned boots.
Back in 1951, Jackie Brenston and his Delta Cats recorded “Rocket 88” at Sun Studios with song composer Ike Turner on keyboards. One of their amps was broken, which led to the guitar sounding distorted. This song is almost universally known as the first rock and roll song, leading the studio to claim status as the birthplace of rock & roll. The studio recorded many of rock’s earliest pioneers including Johnny Cash, Elvis Presley, Carl Perkins, Roy Orbison, Charlie Feathers, Ray Harris, Warren Smith, Charlie Rich, and Jerry Lee Lewis.
Victor Bernabe, a tour guide at Sun Studios, would be able to tell you this story. Tour guides at the legendary Memphis studio are revered as local musicologists and guide visitors on over 600,000 tours a year.
Additionally, Bernable, who is better known by his DJ name Memphis Vic, likes to spin records on his Tectonics turntable system with a Pioneer mixer. He is originally from California and loves collecting records, hitting as many flea markets as possible just to buy vinyl. We wanted to share with you the records that this local music historian recordmends.
Paul Adelstein has been making music for over a decade, but you probably know him best from his role as Dr. Cooper Freedman on TV’s Private Practice, or from one of his many other big- and small-screen appearances alongside some pretty big Hollywood names. The Chicago native also dabbles in directing, scoring films, writing, and music production. But with the release of his second LP, All the Details (out today!), and a spring/summer tour in the works, Paul Adelstein might become better known as the frontman of his band, Doris.
It’s easy to see how All the Details—which is full of Adelstein’s smart, wry, and sometimes satirical songs—has already been compared to the work of Randy Newman and Harry Nilsson. Songwriting takes center stage on this “come for the music, stay for the lyrics” record. It is a collection of musical short stories played out in folk rock, powerpop, piano-based, early-‘70s ballads, and a smorgasbord of other influences that even Adelstien is at a loss to name. He jokingly describes his music as “sad songs with a snappy beat.” However anyone chooses to describe it, All the Details just may be the one of the most surprising albums of the spring.
You’re obviously a man of many talents. What was your first love: acting, film, writing, or music?
I think music was probably my first love because I just always, always remember it [in my life]. My mother and my sister played piano, and I remember falling asleep and hearing them practice and stuff. I was always hanging around the piano, but I started acting pretty young, too. But there’s something kind of essential about music that’s always been with me. I mean, I think I’ve always been a bit of a performer, I suppose; there’s no denying that.
There’s a shift going on in music. An undercurrent of bands that are fueled by a passion for what they are doing coupled with a cathartic quality in their writing that embraces the listener and pulls them in. Kent’s Bethesda is no exception.
This band draws you in with the angelic vocals of Shanna Delaney and wraps you in its delicate folk rock instrumentation by fellow band members Eric Ling (guitar/vocals), Jesse Scaggs (banjo/guitar), Chris Black (violin/viola), Dan Corby (bass) and Justin Rife (drums). The result is an uplifting sound that breathes a breath of fresh air into the mundanity of life.
We had the opportunity to meet up with Shanna Delaney and Eric Ling—the couple that fronts the band—prior to their performance at Cleveland’s Brite Winter Fest. Get to know a band that is trying to build a community of musicians who can inspire one another to create together.
Calling all collectors—get out your cameras and show the world what you’re hiding in those shelves! Check this out from our friends at Dust & Grooves and Flea Market Funk! I’m in!
Wax On Film: A Vinyl Photo Contest is an opportunity for vinyl collectors of all walks of life to showcase their true love for vinyl. It’s put together by Jamison Harvey of Flea Market Funk and Eilon Paz, of the acclaimed vinyl documentary photo site Dust & Grooves.
The mission of this photo contest is to help preserve vinyl heritage, as well as the artists that make it, just as our contestants do with their collections.
On La Grande, Portland, Oregon’s Laura Gibson expands upon the fragile alt-folk of her previous releases while retaining the qualities that make her such an appealing example of contemporary Americana.
My introduction to Gibson came in the live setting, where she opened for and accompanied a solo show by Decemberist Colin Meloy to fabulous effect. His tour CD Colin Meloy Sings Sam Cooke also happened to be enriched by Gibson’s strong backing vocals, their presence prompting me to seek out Six White Horses: Blues and Traditionals Vol. 1, an exceptional all covers EP featuring versions of a half-dozen tunes drawn from such acoustic legends as Elizabeth Cotten, Mance Lipscomb and Furry Lewis.
While released by Hush, the Portland-based label that served as the early home of the Decemberists, Six White Horses still felt very much like a homemade document, the kind of recording passed around amongst friends/fans that slowly gains a small, devoted following. From there I tracked down 2006’s If You Come to Greet Me and 2009’s Beasts of Seasons, two full length records that showed Gibson’s talent extending beyond the realms of imaginative interpretation. Both records detailed an ability to sound out-of-time without seeming contrived and combined this with a talent to express vulnerability and loss without registering as maudlin.
Spirit Animal plays the Black Cat backstage next Monday, February, 27th.
“After moving away from DC in 2003, the act of returning to visit became a guaranteed great time. Re-frequenting the Black Cat, Saint Ex, The Big Hunt, and the other bars where my friends still worked was something I looked forward to every single time.”
“One of these kind souls who I loved to go see shows with was Ana Marin, now a chef at Bibiana (w00t!) and a long-time area bartender. She told me we HAD to go see this band, The Points, ’cause they were doing some legit punk rock at a time when the genre had pretty much disappeared, even in a city as steeped in hardcore and punk as DC. So, naturally, I agreed excitedly.
But then I missed the show.
I don’t know if they went on exactly on time and I didn’t expect them to, or if I was just slacking that night for some odd reason. But when I arrived, Ana handed me a copy of their 7″, “RNR No Rules” —which she had bought me. She said their set was awesome and I apologized for missing them. Then we had beers.
Washington state’s Scottie Yoder has been creating melodic garage rock for ten years now with friend and trusted collaborator Brendhan Bowers. Classically trained pianist Stefan Rubicz joined the duo in 2007 and The Pharmacy became a threesome.
Since then the trio’s amazing work ethic has produced three albums and a handful of 7″ singles with tours all across North America and Europe with acts such as Japanther, Vivian Girls, and Kimya Dawson.
They spent 2009 living in New Orleans where they recorded the LP Weekend, creating the most consistent record the band has ever made, capturing a magical mid-‘60s vibe that yours truly believed had been lost forever. This was followed by three US and two European tours and a SXSW session with Daytrotter, before returning to Seattle with a wealth of new material.
It feels like a disservice to Nika Roza Danilova to comment on Zola Jesus’ appearance before acknowledging her vocal prowess, but that’s the first thing that strikes you when seeing the outfit in the flesh.
Her records conjure up an image of a larger-than-life goth priestess, but when she took the stage Thursday night at the U Street Music Hall, the audience was instead met with a petite, almost pixie-like, figure shrouded in white.
The juxtaposition highlights one of the most interesting aspects of seeing Zola Jesus live. On vinyl, particularly their latest release Conatus, they craft lavish dreamscapes that sound damn near otherworldly. While this translates to their performance, there’s another surprising element: the music is just as entrancing, but suddenly approachable.
After seeing the all-female trio, Architecture, live at the Chicago Mixtape show last weekend, TVD-CHI fell in love with their nostalgic psychedelic/pop sound. Since I’ve been spinning the debut record, When We Were Young, almost exclusively since the show, I thought that I would spread the good vibes and giveaway a copy of the album on vinyl.
The album was written and recorded by Rebecca Scott and Melissa Harris, and they have since added bassist Erin Dorr to the lineup. While the record consists solely of electronic drums, Architecture utilized live drums for a few songs during their powerful set. I was able to catch up with vocalist and guitarist, Rebecca, after the show for a brief chat about the band and the incredible record.
What time period(s) do you look to for inspiration?
The ‘90s a lot, actually. I feel like the ‘90s were a time when women were really bad-ass, then Britney Spears killed it all. Now it’s come back, and personally, I draw a lot of inspiration from the bad-ass women from the ‘90s.
With the recent announcement of some US dates and some catalog replenishment over the last year or so, the Jesus & Mary Chain are a busy lot. This includes a brand new coffee table book by Andrew Catlin and Jim and Julie Reid.
Have a look at the entire thing above, or preview and order here. The price is $46.58.
It’s our weekly Twitter #MusicMonday recap of the brand new tracks from last week that the folks in the press offices want you to be hearing. We post, you download.
I Am Oak – Gills
School of Seven Bells – Lafaye (Scissor Sisters Remix)
White Hills -Pads of Light
SKATERS – Schemers
Fenster – Fantasy II
FIDLAR – No Waves
Dunson – Count On It
The Weeknd – The Party (Chi Duly Remix)
People Get Ready – Disappear (Greg Saunier Remix)
Leonard Friend – Everything For The Sake Of Everything
TVD SINGLE OF THE WEEK:
Emily Jane White – Black Silk
Karen Dalton – Katie Cruel
Howlin Rain – Phantom In The Valley
Black Tambourine – What’s Your Game
Voltaire Twins – Animalia
Wave Sleep Wave – Hey… What
Luke Roberts – His Song
James Low Western Front – I Would Have You
La Sera – Break My Heart
Bryan Dunn – Audio Stereo Radio
Elias – Hands And Knees
37 more FREE TRACKS after the jump!
Bristol based Towns (James MacLucas – vocals, John Paul Beaumont – guitar, Adam Hastings – bass, Miles Hastings – drums), was formed in February 2011 in their native town of Weston-Super-Mare. Squeezing inspiration out of the nineties’ British guitar-pop scene, the Somerset shoegaze foursome are on the cusp of great things this year.
Always keen to plough their own furrow, Towns spent last year hosting band nights in Bristol, featuring such acts as Tribes and The Chapman Family. They also released an über-limited edition cassette through local label Howling Owl Records, and prior their own two track demo, “Fields” and “Heads Off,” the latter receiving a wealth of support from key online taste-makers and publications.
Now, two months into 2012, the boys release their new Owen Morris (Oasis, Verve) produced split-single, “Gone Are The Days.” The track is a fuzzy reverb drenched affair filled with shoegazey guitar, Gallagheresque vocals, and a lot of swagger, looking to propel the Somerset four smartly along to the next level.
