PHOTOS: NATHAN PARDEE | “They’re like if Led Zeppelin and The Band had a baby in Joshua Tree that grew up listening to Ryan Adams covering the Stones’ ‘70s country-influenced songs.”
Take a gander at the The Wild Feathers’ Twitter page, and you’ll find quite the bio. And if you’ve never heard of these guys, you’re likely confused by it. Or maybe a bit skeptical. Or, probably, both. Let’s face it, those are some lofty comparisons there.
But go to a Wild Feathers show and, trust me, you’ll get it.
All apparent pretensions aside, in reality The Wild Feathers are simply a modest group of musicians with a shared passion for classic, true American rock n’ roll. And this Friday night in Dallas, Texas, the band ensured that rock n’ roll was alive and damn well.
It was a freezing 12 degrees outside in DC when Phosphorescent took the stage Wednesday night at 9:30 Club, but the sold-out crowd made for what felt like a cozy night in with friends.
Starting off with “The Quotidian Beasts” off of last year’s Muchacho, which led the charge for the eight-song section featuring the full backing band, the set drew heavily from Muchacho but still managed to feature a generous sampling of back catalog material.
The band then left the stage for a four-song break that featured Matthew Houck performing solo for what was arguably the stand-out section of the show. That’s not to say the band was poor in any way—far from it actually—but stripped down to its essence, you could really begin to appreciate the vocal delivery and the emotive performance. What was also notable was how silent the club became.
“Vinyl makes me think of my Mom, first and foremost. One of the earliest memories I can access from my childhood is of dancing around her studio, flailing my every limb, listening to Bruce Springsteen’s Born in the USA. Of course, I had no real-world idea that in 1988, vinyl’s hibernation was about to begin.”
“It was the sort of dancing that happens in a vacuum; none of my movements were planned. I was made of jello for a handful of minutes, mimicking my mom’s goofy dance moves and absorbing all of that good Bruce Springsteen vibe.
When I turned 17, my Mom took her record collection out of storage and gave it to me as a gift—a rite of passage, in a way. At that point, vinyl was essentially a museum piece. It was the beginning of the mp3 age, towards the end of the CD age. But making my way through original pressings of Hendrix, Cream, Bob Dylan, the Beatles, Bob Marley, and even some great early blues recordings, made me realize that my Mom was a super hip lady in her heyday. That is an inherently difficult realization for a 17-year old to make about his mother.
Less than a week before the New Orleans jam stalwarts head back on the road, they have released an online single, “Dolla Diva.” The song features David Shaw of the Revivalists on lead vocals and Maggie Koerner on backing vocals.
Koerner has been touring with the band and put on a mighty impressive performance during Galactic’s fiery Halloween show at the Civic Theater in New Orleans.
http://youtu.be/mg1NQItVtoc
The band starts the next phase of their relentless touring on January 30, 2014 with a show in Milwaukee. They bop around the Midwest and the Northeast before returning to New Orleans for Mardi Gras. Full tour dates are here.
She just wouldn’t leave me alone. The ex-wife, that is. She kept telling me, “You have to listen to Mumford and Sons!” Yeah, right. I had no intention of listening to the Mumps, or Sanford and Son, or—I can never remember their stupid name. But she kept at me, the way fanatical Rush fans keep at you, crazy-eyed to convert you to their weird cult. I finally surrendered—you can only hold out against a John the Baptist-type for so long—and grudgingly agreed to give Mumford and Sons a listen. It was the least I could do for the ex-, who is lovely, sweet, and German, and the only person I’ve ever known who celebrates the anniversary of The Night of the Long Knives (mit Schnitzel and Kuchen!)
Having listened to Mumford and Sons’ 2012 release Babel, what’s my expert (ahem) critical opinion of the enormously popular English folk rock-bluegrass quartet? Well, first of all, I think they’re a fraud. There’s a Mumford, but no sons, when here I expected a nice family act like The Osmonds. I also think Mumford and Sons are too slick by far, and Marcus Mumford’s spirituality-laden lyrics and total lack of a sense of humor do nothing for me. Furthermore there’s a sameness to their music, as my friend Alyse noted recently: “I hope you write a review of their song! It’s one song, right? The one they just keep renaming? (Shhhh, I am so onto their marketing ploy….)”
That said, by God when Mumford and Sons get a head of steam up on their banjos, mandolins, accordion, resonator guitar (whatever that is) and multiple drums, you’ll think it’s the second coming of The Pogues. They know how to cut loose, although they don’t do it nearly often enough. Then there’s vocalist Marcus Mumford, who sounds great when he’s singing passionately at the top of his lungs, but comes off as a pussy when he isn’t. Is it okay to call Mumford a pussy, Jon? (Yes. —Ed.)
Press Play is our Monday morning recap of the new tracks received last week—provided here to inform your vinyl purchasing power. Click, preview, download.
Yep, another Friday in January blowing through the Canyon. As fires burn canyons to the east, “warm” and “dry” are two words that come to mind this morning. The great drought of ’14 has begun.
The story of 2014 is beginning to feel much like one of those “clever pop songs” of late. Catchy, ironic, and fun in an upside kind of way.
Speaking of pop, it’s Grammy weekend in LA! Thanks to the oncoming Winter Olympics, LA—or I should say NARAS—is pushing the party panic button early. (Quite a parade of most things not so cool about the music business.) Yet, like the clever pop song and our drought, it’s not all bad. They’ll be plenty of sunshine and clever smiles to go around.
These days, 5 years is pretty long for most anything. Hell, what were you watching 5 years ago? Bet you still don’t have the same boyfriend, girlfriend, husband or wife, do you? Your shoes…5 years old? (No way.) Your phone? (Please.)
We will wager however that you were taking in a ton of music 5 years ago and we’ll double down on the fact that it was on vinyl, right?
http://youtu.be/Q1OhbfGVc2I
Which is why we’re thrilled to announce that the DC Record Fair—now in its 5th year—returns this January 26th to DC’s Penn Social for a bit of a birthday blowout! And 5 years in, some things are still a given: the 40+ vendors from up and down the East Coast, the curated DJ line up, the bar, the food, and the random other surprises that make the DC Record Fair a special community event for all ages. In addition, Zeke’s Coffee will be on site with a special blend just for the DC Record Fair!
“My first record ever was a yellow 7″ that I do not remember the name of. It was an eerie couple of kid’s songs and I somewhat remember—a chorus of men singing lyrics about a girls head falling off. I fucking loved it, but alas I was only 2 or 3, and the record probably didn’t even survive till I was 3 or 4. (Kids are hard on stuff.)”
“I grew up in a fairly censored household. My parents were very religious and didn’t allow me to listen to anything that wasn’t Christian. So I grew up listening to a lot of shit. But there was one guy, Russ Taff, who was, and IS excellent, in spite (if you will) of his religious lyrical agenda. I got his tape Medals and I remember I used to just keep flipping it over and playing it through.
It had musical depth and cool sounds and groove and reverbs and chorus and distortion and huge 80s drum machine drums and synthesizers and pretty much everything I love most about music. Seriously, check it out. If you can’t get past the fact that it’s probably about something you don’t believe in and appreciate, the awesome 80s pop/rock masterpiece that it is, then you’re probably pretty fucking dumb.
Reigning victorious after battling stage two cancer, soul/R&B singer Sharon Jones jumps right into the new year with a new album, new tour, and new life.
After recording her fifth and latest album Give the People What they Want, Sharon Jones did not get to promote the release with a tour, physical release, and the usual. Instead, she spent her 2013 battling cancer and taking chemotherapy. Though postponing tours is not what the singer had planned for last year, she emerged victorious and cancer-free.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PrOYkHjdpdM
The anxiously awaited Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings’ fifth album Give the People What they Want was released earlier this month. To promote the new album, and partially to celebrate Jones’ good news, Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings are embarking on a tour that begins on February 6. As a part of the tour, Jones and her band are stopping by The Lincoln Theatre in DC for not just one night, but two: February 10-11. The February 11 show is sold out, but we do have a pair of tickets to the February 10 show that we’re giving away!
“There I was at Shangri-La Records in Memphis, digging through the 45s in the back.”
“I found this one Elvis song. “They Remind Me Too Much of You.” It was just sitting there. Didn’t know about anything about it. Still don’t, really. “Elvis Presley and The Mello Men”—not The Jordanaires—like all the others.
http://youtu.be/pBmqGftTiUA
I put it on and what I heard was more dust that I was hoping for, but then out of the crackling snow comes that unmistakable voice, then the piano line, then those other voices, and then, only when I listen a second time, the light strum of a guitar. It’s a miracle you can hear any notes at all above the hiss.
http://youtu.be/p_bPQCEskws
It’s like a tree line where nothing past it can come up.
The Mardi Gras Indian funk band is following in the big footsteps of legendary stage acts such as Big Chief Bo Dollis and Wild Magnolias and Big Chief Monk Boudreaux by fusing the ancient call and response of the black Indians of New Orleans with blues and funk.
The band’s original guitarist Colin Lake will reunite with the group for the first time since last spring. He has been focusing on his highly acclaimed solo career but plans on electrifying the stage at the Leaf.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ixAmxsG-ycU
He plays electric guitar as well as lap steel guitar creating a unique sonic palette in the Mardi Gras Indian community.
Fantôme’s latest single “Love” is out very soon and the Berlin based duo have just released this very odd but highly compelling video for the track.
Fans of Atari Teenage Riot will recognise Fantôme’s leading lady, Hanin Elias. Moving away from the industrial sound of ATR, Fantôme are channeling a modern new wave sound, showing Hanin’s diverse approach to music making.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=klgju551DKc
The video itself is like a twisted fairytale with Hanin’s Fantôme bandmate Marcel Zürcher chasing lovely Hanin all painted in black, hiding amongst the foliage and being, well, a little bit creepy!
Fantôme’s debut album It All Makes Sense is out on 17th February 2014.
Have you ever loved something to death but were unable to tell anyone why? A particular mangy bong, a certain flashing array of exterior bar lights, that chimney atop the old house on the corner, your asshole boyfriend? Well that’s the case with Lambchop—the band, not the famous sock puppet sheep—and yours truly. I adore them, but I’ve always been loath to review them, because I’m afraid I lack the words to tell you just exactly what it is that makes them so goddamn great. Some things, as Samuel Beckett would have said, are Unnamable.
The Nashville-based Lambchop are singer, guitarist, and songwriter Kurt Wagner—who is never to be seen without some manner of non-baseball-related baseball cap and a graying soul patch—and a constantly shifting cast of musicians who on any given day may number as many as 14. They play an indescribable scramble of rock, funk, R&B, gospel, country, lounge music, and vintage folk that generally leaves you feeling either a lingering sense of melancholy (“Your Life as a Sequel,” “Slipped Dissolved and Loosed”) or joyously uplifted (“All Smiles and Mariachi,” “Your Fucking Sunny Day.”)
But those are just words; I love them because, because: hell, all I can say is check out “Give It (Once in a Lifetime)” from 2009’s Live at XX Merge on YouTube, and you’ll know why. (And if you don’t like it, we’re different species. You’re a wombat.) Or listen to “Garf,” which begins as a recollection of childhood only to make an abrupt left into this: “And I could be sitting/By the telephone tomorrow/To receive a call/By the overweight Garth Brooks/Who would then try to offer me/Like a hundred thousand dollars/Just for me to go the fuck away.” I laugh at the preposterousness of those words every time I hear them, but I don’t think that’s why I adore Lambchop either.
Often called “one of the greatest female MCs of all time,” former Fugee emcee Ms. Lauryn Hill celebrated the 15th anniversary of her solo masterpiece The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill behind bars. Recently released, the singer, rapper, humanitarian, producer and actress isn’t letting a short stint in federal prison slow her down.
Shortly after being released, the five-time Grammy winner has already made her comeback into the music world through the release of her latest single titled “Consumerism.” The single was posted on the same day Ms. Hill was released with the statement, “it is a product of the space she was in while she was going through some of the challenges she has been faced with recently.”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mFPhKf_dg7g
In addition to the release of “Consumerism,” Ms. Hill didn’t hesitate to get back on the stage. She announced a brief Homecoming tour, which kicked off in New York City. As a part the Homecoming tour, the five-time Grammy winner stopped by the 9:30 Club in December, and she’s back in DC again on February 9 at the Lincoln Theatre. We happen to have a pair of tickets to give away!
