This last month or so The Idelic Hour has been my saving grace. Life has certainly been in session. We’ve had sickness and death as well as fun and playtime too. Mom came to stay and I took my teenager to visit colleges on the east coast. On Valentines Day we filled our bellies with sweets and panda bear delights.
The songs and the shows have been cathartic for me, but the air around these last month’s playlists has been heavy. I started the week thinking it’s time to lighten things up a bit.
A good comeback performance is always something that makes ears perk right up for people, and Tractor Tavern is featuring a band this Sunday that hit it big in the late 80s and is releasing a long awaited new album in mid-March of this year.
The Ocean Blue formed in 1987—teenage friends who loved new wave and had the talent to create their own style. Throughout the 90s, the band had indie and mainstream success, opening for Aimee Man and Talking Heads. The band’s members have shifted over the last 20 years but the sound and the spirit are still the same, harking back to a time when MTV and dance clubs alike played good music (and in MTV’s case…actually played music). Yep, those were the days.
The band is set to release Ultramarine, on March 19 of this year; it will be the bands first full-length release in ten years. Catch the first of hopefully many performances from The Ocean Blue, this Sunday at 8PM at The Tractor Tavern. Math and Physics Club and Valley Fair will be opening for the band. Tickets are $10 advance and $12 at the door.
On the fence about the show? Well, here’s what else is going on around the Rainy City this weekend:
Hey, Memphis! No matter how long you stick around, you’re always bound to leave some kind of impression.
This weekend we’ll have you dancing to the beat of a different drum, doing the Memphis folk thing, and seeing the last show at one of Memphis’ most important venues. I hope you’re off the clock—it’s time for some weekend shots.
Friday(2/22) starts off differently than you’d expect. Something you’d never expect in town, the host of one of the world’s biggest recurring dance parties is playing a set at one of Memphis’ most cozy bars. Memphis’ own Handsome Mark has managed to bring Mr. White from his regular gig of hosting Sensation—a 40,000+ attendee dance event that happens around the world— to Mollie Fontaine Lounge.
He’ll be playing to a little more low-key crowd than usual, but you can expect the seasoned DJ to work the space proficiently.
Time to keep this Presidential birthday party week going strong into the weekend! Do our fore fathers a favor and head out there to catch some great shows.
For most it was a short, four-day week thanks in part to the celebration of President’s Day on Monday. It only fitting then that the weekend is full of shows from artists and acts who are native to our nation’s capital. The music scene—and really the entire entertainment environment—in Washington, DC is one that has a lengthy history, but in the past decade or so, has been relatively quiet. However, within the past few years it has been making a low-key comeback. If you’re not aware of this by now, take this weekend to familiarize yourself with some names that range from newcomers to seasoned vets from the DMV area.
Friday, February 22 | Tonight, two of the bigger DC acts pay a visit. On the one hand is a comedian who needs no real introduction, Lewis Black. Known for his angry, rant filled style, Black was born and raised in a town located right outside the DC-Maryland border called Silver Spring. Black will make his way to The Academy of Music on Borad Street for one night of laughs and funnys.
Texans now living in Brooklyn, Parquet Courts, have been making music since 2010, however you’d think they just arrived on the music scene with the rapid coverage the band has received over the past months. Andrew Savage (lead vocals, guitar), Austin Brown (guitar), Sean Yeaton (bass), and Max Savage (drums) released their debut album, American Specialties, on a limited cassette release, but now have moved toward releasing their latest album, Light Up Gold, originally released last August via Dull Tools, re-released by What’s Your Rupture? this year, leaving behind the lone cassette tape.
Parquet Courts were originally set to play a house show in DC last month, but with their quick rise, cancelled and are now playing Black Cat’s Mainstage. However don’t let their fast rise to indie fame fool you, these twenty-something men wear their heart on their sleeve. “Emotional honesty isn’t encouraged in our generation; cynicism is encouraged. It’s not in vogue really to wear your emotions on your sleeve, mostly because people take that to be too nostalgic or romantic– but I don’t.”
Get to the Cat and check out what all the buzz is about, this time the bees are right and get there early for Foul Swoops- a headliner in their own right.
Looking for some live music in Chicago this weekend? We’ve got you covered. Check out this weekend’s featured show along with a more extensive weekend list below!
Chicago rock trio, Geronimo! will be playing Township this weekend, and we recommend heading out to the show. Formed in 2007, the group released their second full-length LP, Exanimate last October. Available on 12″ vinyl with a hand-screened jacket, you can pick up one of 200 copies from Geronimo!’s Bandcamp for just $12 and check out the music video for “Into the Sun” below.
The 21+ starts at 9:00 PM tomorrow night, 2/23, at Township – 2200 N California Ave. Supporting Geronimo! will be Dharmonic Deluxe, Rodeo, and velocicopter. Tickets are available online or at the door before the show for just $5.
Some jazz, some funk, some African music, and music while people are running a race–we got it all in New Orleans. Here are my picks for the spots to be this last weekend in February.
Meschiya Lake and the Little Big Horns are participating in a special offer between WWOZ, your favorite community radio station, and the Little Gem Saloon, the newest spot for jazz in New Orleans. Members of ‘OZ are getting in free to tonight’s concert at the new hot spot in the CBD. Just show your membership card at the door to take advantage of the deal.
This will be a great opportunity to check out the second floor performance space in this historic building, which was completely renovated, and reopened late last year. Also, with so many lovers of WWOZ in the house, the show is bound to be great.
“My first memory and experience of vinyl is actually of my mom’s own records that she recorded in the early 1960’s.”
“Carol Stromme was an LA based folk singer, playing regularly at the Troubadour and touring all over the world. She was briefly part of a group called The New Society which was a Randy Sparks project (of the New Christy Minstrels fame), and they put a record out called The Barock Sound, laced with flowery renaissance harmonies.
After that she made a pretty peach colored solo record called The Soft Sounds of Carol Stromme featuring feel good, psychedelic pop songs with choruses all about “…the Elec-lovin-tricity!” My sisters and I would always sing these songs at the top of our lungs, cracking ourselves up at what a hippie she was.
They were the glorious relics of her former life and were always kept around the house, despite the fact that we were mostly cassette tape-obsessed kids of the ’80s. Now, when I hear myself in recordings, I notice more and more how much I’m sounding like her “soft sounds.”
“Like a lot of the better things to impact my life in a good way, I’d have to say, I was pretty late to the party as far as my love of vinyl goes. When I was younger, I was too cool for vinyl, if you can believe that.”
“After my constant whining, three or so years ago, my wife got me a little record player for Christmas. It was the greatest gift ever, but I wore that bitch out in no time!
That’s when I decided it was time to call my Dad. After all, he was still bragging about the awesome turntable he had bought back in the Stone Age, even though it had been packed away for years. It really took a lot of courage for me to ask my Dad if I could have his record player, and I’ve got to say that I wasn’t surprised that he said no—but he did say I could “borrow” it!
Legendary post-hardcore/emo vets Texas Is The Reason brought their reunion tour to Union Transfer Saturday night for one last show here in Philadelphia.
For just the second time in 15 years, New York City four-piece Texas Is The Reason picked up the pieces again and set out on the road across the United States. Since their final show in Germany in 1997, the only other time the band has come back together was for two shows for the 10-year anniversary of their only full length album, Do You Know Who You Are? After recently playing as part of the 25th year anniversary shows for Revelation Records, it was announced that Texas Is The Reason would be hitting the road again for one final tour. Last Saturday saw their journey make a stop at Union Transfer in Philadelphia.
After headlining their own show a few months ago, local-ish pop punk sensation Title Fightopened the show. While throughout the night it was clear who the majority of the crowd was there to see, the Kingston, PA band brought out a sizable amount of fans early on in the night. In between sharing short stories about several songs and giving thanks to all those who came out to see them, Title Fight also acknowledged the importance and influence Texas Is The Reason had on them.
Hey, I just heard a great new album. And I scored an extra one for one of you! The band’s name is Beat Mark and here’s their deal…
“Beat Mark are one of a few French bands to strike with the noisy pop spirit of contemporary U.S. music (from MGMT to Dum Dum Girls), who don’t hide their mid-80s to mid-90s English influences. Their sound has been described as nuggets of The Vaselines, and The Television Personalities with a few drops of The Jesus and Mary Chain, The Stone Roses, and Primal Scream. Some have even evoked My Bloody Valentine.
Whatever, the mix, the 2 boys and 2 girls of Beat Mark from Paris have created a full-length album that has a raw and instantly refreshing new sound. Who would have thought the French could be so chic hot.”
“Ample Play Records’ co-owner Tjinder Singh of Cornershop remembers, ‘While I was in Paris – during a heat wave – a friend took me to a café and little record shop in a small hilly street just North of Canal St. Martin. He asked the owner of the record shop to play Beat Mark and I realized that I was listening to what England had lost the ability to create anymore, what’s more, it was a whole album of that stuff, an album of songs that immediately moves in with you.'”
The good folks behind the latest sensation to grace our evening concert calendar schedule are holding their first annual Spring Soiree. “Sowing Seeds in Sacred Ground” is a great chance to hear some wonderful music, drink from an open bar, eat fabulous hors d’oeuvres, and support a great cause.
Jazz in the Park is presented by People United For Armstrong Park. They began presenting Thursday evening shows in the park last spring. The upcoming concerts will be the third in the series.
The organization was founded to promote citizen awareness of and activities in Armstrong Park. They continue to fulfill that mission by forging connections via culture with the neighborhoods around the park and throughout New Orleans.
In 1979 the MnMs released a lovely 45, “I’m Tired” b/w “Knock Knock Knock” to a world that largely never knew it existed. Featuring the songwriting talents of Paul Collins (he of The Nerves and the Beat) as sung by passionate vixen front-woman Marcy Marcs, it was a record that should’ve made a much bigger splash. Alas, it didn’t. Instead it serves as yet another superb example of momentary rock ‘n’ roll greatness.
There’s nothing quite like the rush delivered by a top-notch, one-shot single. The music is the meat of the matter of course, but in a world where the discographies of worthy acts are often spread over numerous releases, some frustratingly obscure and expensive, a few even of dubious legality, it’s just a total gas to be able to absorb the entirety of a recorded legacy from the two opposing sides of sole 45. Hold it in hand, take a deep breath, and then exhale with the confidence that it’s all right there in your clutches.
Way back when the one-shot 7-inch was generally accepted and even valued as a natural part of the musical landscape, but as time has marched forward the esteem for these beautiful bits of brevity has declined considerably. The highest merit often gets awarded to those who display longevity through perseverance of inspiration. And there’s really nothing egregious about this tendency; in fact it’s nearly impossible to not fall into it to some extent when determining a hierarchy of personal bests.
Keep in mind the one-shot single isn’t the same thing as the one-hit wonder. A few are indeed one and the same, but a whole lot of acts of one-hit status have a whole lot of recordings under their belts (and many actually possess additional minor chart successes, giving the lie to their backhanded honorific). And the vast majority of bands or individual artists that actually managed to record only one 45 very rarely make it anywhere near chart success.
Yo La Tengo took the stage to a sold-out crowd at the 9:30 Club not once, but twice for Friday nights performance. An Evening with Yo La Tengo, as it was billed, was broken down into two parts, or acts if you will, and came complete with an intermission.
The club sold out well in advance, and it’s no surprise why. Yo La Tengo, which translates to “I have it” from Spanish, has been collecting fans for the last thirty years. The iconic band formed back in 1984 in Hoboken, New Jersey, and has consisted of the same three members since 1992: Ira Kaplan (Guitars, Piano, Vocals), Georgia Hubley (Drums, Piano, Vocals), and James McNew (Bass, Vocals).
For the first act, Yo La Tengo played a full-blown acoustic-style set. In fact, they played so soft and intricate that every now and then you could hear the whispers of people far across the room ordering drinks. The entire club welcomed the soothing percussive swagger of band and everyone seemed to listen intently. Just before guitarist and vocalist Ira Kaplan left the stage for a brief intermission, period he gently and humorously stated to the crowd, “We’ll be right back, and we heard some of you wanted us to get loud.”
Greetings from Laurel Canyon!
