Thursday, June 30, 2011

My Gold Mask (6/24/11)

So right after a great house concert, we went to see My Gold Mask at the Beachland Tavern.  These guys were just as good as I was hoping for.  I had recently purchased their A Million Miles (From Where We Were) EP and was instantly smitten with their darker, more eclectic  pop/rock sound.

My Gold Mask (6/24/11)

My Gold Mask (6/24/11)

Gretta Rochelle, as a one-woman percussion goddess, really re-envisioned what could be a ho-hum two-person band structure - and it worked fabulously.

Throw in a Robyn cover, and I'm smitten.

I even re-purchased the A Million Miles EP on vinyl because I liked them so much...

Here's an article from Scene that I'd been holding on to as well...

Love and Darkness | Music Feature | Cleveland Scene

"It's just about connecting with people that are interested in what you're doing," says Armando. "A lot of bands can probably say the same, but I do feel like our fans seem to really connect with [us]. At the end of the day, it's all about your music. If you have a song that connects with people, that's what is going to matter the most. It'll filter its way through everything."

So far, My Gold Mask's brief existence has yielded a couple of heavily blogged tracks ("Bitches" and "Violet Eyes") and a slew of comparisons to other bands with dark undertones, surf rock riffs, and dynamic femme-fatale vocalists — the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and the Raveonettes among them."

(Continued... Love and Darkness | Music Feature | Cleveland Scene)

Oh, btw... Kudos for for the Fangs Out opening performance.  Been wanting to catch these guys and glad I finally did:

Fangs Out (6/24/11)

Corissa Bragg (6/23/11)

Kicking off what was to be an amazing weekend was an amazing night with Corissa Bragg playing in my living room.  This was my second house concert, part of a series I'm calling the Princeton Road Sessions.  Not sure why, or if it'll stick, but I am for now.

Once again I was able to bring 20+ friends together to listen to a local, and extremely talented singer-songwriter.  I first saw Corissa Bragg when she opened for Shilpa Ray & Her Happy Hookers.  We were kinda awed by her and Matt mentioned her as a follow-up to Tom Evanchuck (my first).  The light went off and I knew she'd be perfect.

I took off a half-day from work and got things ready, even picked up keg from Great Lakes Brewery (again).  Friends brought food and wine, and it turned out to be a pretty decent spread.  Tickets were $10, and all proceeds went to the artist, which I think is a pretty good deal.

Corissa Bragg House Concert (6/23/11)

Corissa Bragg House Concert (6/23/11)

Corissa settled in front of two rooms of people looking at her, perfectly quite.  She said this was the most intimate experience she's had peforming and I can see it.  It doesn't get much more intimate that this, which is why I like it.

Corissa Bragg House Concert (6/23/11)

As soon as her she hit her first soaring vocal, I knew this would be good.  Kudos to my house for providing such a great sound for these performances - which sounds like they're professionally miked.  She played through two short sets, with a nice intermission in between.  Before, during intermission, and afterward Corissa just hung out with this group of strangers as if we've all already been friends.

Corissa Bragg (6/23/11)

During her second set, she loosed up a bit and played some of my more favorite songs - including W. 46th & Storer, and that song about Cleveland - which I adore.

I can't wait until the next...  The full concert should be posted to my YouTube account soon.

Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Tomorrow: Hey Rosetta! @ Beachland

Two days in a row for the Beachland, this time in Tavern!  Tomorrow they'll be hosting the (very?) popular Canadian band, Hey Rosetta! With a sincere video like this, how can you not love these guys.  (8:30pm / $8).

Hey+Rosetta+2

Video Tuesday

Time for some fun new videos... A new Noah & the Whale for Life is Life. Yacht, with a 2-for-1 video for Utopia / Dystopia.  And finally, The Joy Formidable with a video for A Heavy Abacus (Who will be performing at the FREE Rock Hall series on Wednesday, Aug 3rd)

Monday, June 27, 2011

Tomorrow: Joe Purdy @ Beachland

Seems Joe Purdy has some legs and has been releasing albums since 2001.  With his sound and talent, I'm shocked I heard about him sooner!  He has an amazingly soulful folk singer and is right up my alley.  This is in the Ballroom, and is a "primarily seated show" (8pm / $17)

Purdy

Opening are the Milk Carton Kids... a couple talented kids at that.  Download their album for free from their website.

Sunday, June 26, 2011

Larchmere Porchfest

So it's the Sunday night after a long, amazing weekend in Cleveland.  Definitely one of the busiest...   I'll be catching up on all the music-related frivolity here shortly, in the meantime - here are some (great) photos for one of the thing I wanted to see but couldn't fit it in:  Larchmere's PorchFest

I've unfortunately have missed it ever year, hopefully that will change next year.

New Facebook Music Features

Interesting...

Facebook To Launch New Music Service June 21, 2011, By Kate Shapiro

As Myspace continually recedes into the graveyard of social media, Facebook has stepped up to fill the void. And now the network and may be slated to give Myspace 677166248another kick as Facebook launches its own music service. The backbone of Facebook’s music service is the ability to listen to all kinds of music over a vast social network with theoretically millions of other people at once.

Just a few weeks ago, Facebook announced that its new music service would be in conjunction with the European music sharing service Spotify. Spotify is similar to iTunes—it’s a service that allows you to listen to whatever music you want. The only difference being Spotify allows you to do this for free as opposed to charging up to $1.29 a pop for a song. So, the partnership between Facebook and Spotify makes sense. However, it’s recently come to the attention of tech blogs everywhere that Facebook Music won’t just be an exclusive partnership with Spotify but a grand aggregate of many different music services such as Pandora and Rhapsody.

(Continued... New Facebook Music Features | CMJ)

Friday, June 24, 2011

Tonight! My Gold Mask @ Beachland

So I hosted my 2nd house concert last night, which is a great way to kick off what's going to be an amazing weekend.  It continues tonight with My Gold Mask at the Beachland Tavern!  This Chicago band has a heavy, pop/electronic sound, almost a 90's throwback feel.  I was sold after listening to their first single, Violet Eyes, from their newest release A Thousand Voices EP.  Check it out.

Oh and... check out A Million Miles (From Where We Were Last), which I just bought on Bandcamp for $3.

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

House Concert This Thursday! Corissa Bragg

If you haven't done so already, please RSVP (asap) for this Thursday's House Concert (at my place)!

Corissa

Video Tuesday

Back on the horse...Let's start off with a new find for me, a band called BIKINI with their awesome party video for ACheerlaeder.  Next is a retro-feeling video from Twin Shadow's Tyrant Destroyed.  And speaking of retro, check out this new Callers video for How You Hold  Your Arms.  They'll be performing at the Beachland on  Sunday, July 24th.

Monday, June 20, 2011

Blitzen Trapper Announce New Album

Blitzen Trapper's new album, American Goldwing, will be out on Sub Pop on September 13th!  Hoping they'll come back this way again!

"With subjects ranging from falling in love to drug running good old boys and the final high school dance, American Goldwing is a freewheeling collection that balances the roughness of rock ‘n’ roll with fateful heartfelt loss. “It’s me trying to evoke a true American nostalgia” explains lead singer and songwriter Eric Earley."

Previous sightings:  Beachland Ballroom (7/29/10) and at Pitchfork 2009

Sunday, June 19, 2011

Free Albums by Josh Rouse, Josh Garrels, etc.

I've been getting these great emails from Noisetraide.com that are offering free albums - as well as the opportunity to pay / tip / contribute.  A pretty sweet deal - and some great albums to get.  Here are a couple new ones to consider:

Garrels

Rouse

Friday, June 17, 2011

Video... err, Friday

Finally getting caught up with shows, and now for some videos... First off, I think anything Robyn touches is superb. I don't know who Rye Rye is, but loving this video/song. Next up is a new video for Okkervil River for Wake and Be fine. Finally, a new slick new for Fire by The Submarines.

Thursday, June 16, 2011

Lovers (6/13/11)

This is the show I have been anxiously waiting for, and one that almost didn't happen.  Originally (and oddly) scheduled for Wilberts, the Lovers show ended up getting canceled.  Luckily, it was rescheduled (last-minute) at the 71st Door.  What *is* the 71st Door you ask?  Good question.  I had the same one, and could find nothing about it online - except one randome FaceBook check-in location.  Showing up, it ended up just being a house at the corner of E.71st & Chester.  Let's just say I'm glad I came prepared with a 6-pack.
71st Door (6/13/11)
After walking in, I was instantly greeted with the band.  I was very excited to meet them and introduce myself, as we had already had some communication via FaceBook.  Charming as I would have expected.  As we're sitting around and waiting for the openers to arrive, I discover that this house actually has a history as a long-time Cleveland house concert destination, and has been under different names.  One of them sounded slightly familiar so I Googled it.  To my surprise, one of my own blog post came up on top - wtf??  Here, I had been asking about this place back in 2009.  Weird.
71st Door (6/13/11)
Anyway, after getting to lounge around this person's living room with the band, Lovers took the "stage".  While the sound for this house concert wasn't great, I'd trade that off for this kind of intimacy in a heartbeat.  They played mostly from their new album Dark Light, as this album is the first with this line-up.  Fine with me, because every song on that album is spectacular.  It might even be my top album of 2010.
Lovers (6/13/11)
I really wanted to record as many songs as possible.  Unfortunately, the lighting was such that barely any visuals are clear.  I debated if I would even put them up on my YouTube channel - but being that I had to compromise rocking out to get these videos, I thought I'd post them anyway.  Here's one, but you can see/listen to the rest here (5 total).
So a completely amazing experience.  While I guess future events at the 71st Door are being put somewhere on FaceBook, you can at least get a list of upcoming shows from the kitchen:
71st Door (6/13/11)

Patti LaBelle (6/11/11)

Yet another show (I hope) you wouldn't expect to see on this blog.  However, it's still my goal to document every concert I attend (and have been doing so since 2005).  For this one in particular, we were in Pittsburgh for Pride and Ms. Patti LaBelle was performing.  She's big right?

While the Pride festivities were great, we didn't end up hanging around for much of Patti's set.  My assumption for her was that this was a quick paycheck kinda show, a quick 40 mins. and she's off stage.  She even had one of her back up singers sing a song for her.  Great festival though!

Pittsburgh Pride (6/11/11)

Patti LaBelle (6/11/11)

Yvette (6/9/11)

As I'm sure I've mentioned here before, I look for any reason to go to a show at Now That's Class, which is unfortunately not very often.  While I guess I could go more and just hope for the best - I just don't have time for that.  But when I get a promo email for a band that says this "YVETTE are the hard-edged, ultraviolent, spooktacular response to years of the fluttery squish of Animal Collective and HEALTH" and says they'll be at NTC, I'm sold. Then when I get to hear a song with an amazing, driving electronic force like Less (listen here), I'm giddy.

We got to the venue early and surprisingly the band set up in the bar-side, and even cooler that it was right in front of my bar stool.  These guys actually played first (well, after the schiztophrenic comic), and they sounded great.  Ear plugs were needed for the wall of sound these guys put out.  I'd have to say this is a little harder edge than I normally go for, but these guys pull it off extremely well.  I was thrilled.

Yvette (6/9/11)

With such a good vantage point, I even stayed around for another drink just to see who was up next.  Folded Shirt took the stage and these guys were pretty extreme (well, for my tastes anyway). I will say that I dug the smoke machine, and loved how so many people knew the lyrics and even moshed (thankfully my bar stool back kept me safe).

Folded Shirt (6/9/11)

More good photos here, including some general bar shots:

Dodos (6/7/11)

I was a huge fan of the Dodos back during their Visiter album.  Since them I've continued to watch them, but I find them getting superceded by other bands recently.  I don't know what it is, but this was also the case with this new album.  Still, I wanted to go to their show - in part to catch the opener, Gauntlet Hair.

Aside the distraction of a superskinny, show-off drummer that sat center stage, these guys were a lot of fun.  Check out one of my favorite tracks by them:

Gauntlet Hair (6/7/11)

So I wish I had more to say about the Dodos performance, but I think it's one of the shows that is much better when you already have a personal connection with the songs, which I just don't have anymore.  Maybe (hopefully) they'll come back around for me.  I was glad to see they brought such a nice crowd to the Grog (as you can hear in the video)!

The Dodos (6/7/11)

Josh Groban (6/4/11)

So I hope you're a little surprised by this post.  Not my kind of show - but - it is my Mom's kind of show, and what better way to spend quality time with your Mom than taking her to see one of her most favorite acts - FOURTH ROW.

So, it's not my style of music, but I have to give it to Josh Groban for being amazingly charming and extremely down to earth.  And there is some genuine talent there.  My Mom would give this show a 10.  :-)

No good camera shots, but here's an iPhone pic:

Josh Groban (6/4/11)

There's even a video if you're still interested...

Wednesday, June 8, 2011

First Rock Hall Summer Concert Series Shows Announced!

These are one of my favorite aspects of summers in Cleveland, and this year is shaping up to be as good as last year!

From the Rock Hall Website:

Summer in the City, a FREE live concert series featuring the most buzzed-about bands on the rise, returns this summer at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum on the Museum plaza (weather permitting, if necessary it will be moved inside to the Main Stage).

Wednesdays 7-9pm:

...additional shows to be announced in the coming weeks!

Carolina Chocolate Drops (7/14/10)

Looking forward to it!

Tuesday, June 7, 2011

Video Tuesday

Here are some sweet new videos... Battles new Ice Cream Video, which you should take some time with - it's pretty amazing.  A new video from Patrick Wolf for House.  Next is the magnetic new video from Tyler the Creator for She.  (...and a bonus video below)

And to make up for lack of posts, I'll throw in one more.  This version of Now Fade Away by Florence & the Machine is amazing.

"Apple Just Monetized Pirated Music"

Icloud

So yesterday was big news for Apple / iTunes fans.  Nothing quite as exciting as I was hoping, but this article presents an interesting point.

TuneCore CEO Says Apple Just Monetized Pirated Music, Reset Music Industry - hypebot

"Apple’s new free iCloud and $24.99 a year iTunes Match, "marries the two disparate ideas of consumer convenience and the monetization of pirated music, providing what could be the 'missing links' between consumers, artists, labels, music publishers and the emerging digital music industry," according to Tunecore CEO Jeff Price. "With its launch, the odometer on the music industry is about to reset itself (again)..And the results, I believe, will be stunning.""

(Continued... TuneCore CEO Says Apple Just Monetized Pirated Music, Reset Music Industry - hypebot)

 

Friday, June 3, 2011

This Train is Bound For Glory

Especially with all these guys on board.  Mumford & Sons, Edward Sharpe, and Old Crow Medicine Show!

Along stops of their recent Railroad Revival Tour, Mumford & Sons, Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros, and Old Crow Medicine Show have been teaming up for an ecstatic hoedown of a closing number: Woody Guthrie’s “This Train Is Bound for Glory.” In the clip above, VH1 caught up with the folk-rock super-troupe next to some Austin, Texas train tracks for a nearly 7-minute, raucous rendition, in which Jade Castrinos (who kills it, as usual, at 3:45), Marcus Mumford, Alex Ebert (complete with evangelical-tinged dance moves), and friends trade lead vocals between sing-along choruses."

(From... Video: Mumford & Sons, Edward Sharpe, Old Crow... | TwentyFourBit)

Wednesday, June 1, 2011

Must See Shows: June

Reposted from the original Spangle article here.

It's hard to imagine a better month in this city than June. As you can see by the slew of shows and festivals below, there is plenty going on. First let's recognize the non-typical venues for June's featured events, a definite change of pace. Then take note of the busiest Saturday of the year (June 25th). The ability is to hit multiple events in a single day is one of my favorite aspects of this city. You should see how many you can hit. Finally, you have a couple more road-trip chances this month to see the amazing Robyn in concert. Don't miss her.


Featured Event

June 13 :: Lovers (Pop) / loversarelovers.com (MySpace)
Wilberts / Pay What You Want
Have you had that experience when you first hear a song and you know instantly that you love it, as well as the band who produced it? That's how I felt when I first saw the video below, which I found through JD Sampson (of Le Tigre and MEN). These ladies had me at the first note and I've since fallen in love with their entire Dark Light album. It's seriously superb. What doesn't quite fit is that they'll be performing at Wilberts of all places. This could be a huge bonus.



June 25 :: Summer Solstice Party (World / Dance / DJ) / clevelandart.org
Cleveland Museum of Art / $15 ~ $175
This has been one of the best parties of the year in Cleveland for the last 3 years. I expect nothing different this year. This year I'm noticing there are no real big-name performers, but instead a nice blend of ecclectic music. The afro-latin sounds of Sofrito, the boogie funk sound of Dam-Funk, and the circus punk sound of a marching band with Mucca Pazza, and that's all with the $15 ticket starting after 10pm!

Best of the Rest

June 2 :: Charlene Kaye (Pop) / charlenekaye.com (MySpace)
Beachland Tavern / $5
Corissa Bragg is opening, who is a new local favorite. Charlene's jazzy pop would be worth staying for.

June 3 :: Yourself & the Air (Pop/Rock) / myspace.com/yourselfandtheair
Beachland Tavern / $7
This group of young up-and-coming Chicagoans have a good thing going. Check out Sick Days.

June 4 :: Grace Potter & the Nocuturnals (Rock) / gracepotter.com (MySpace)
House of Blues / $25 ~ $35
Catch Grace and crew, and her infectious bluesy rock, on their way to a headlining stop at Bonnaroo.

June 7 :: Dodos (Pop/Rock) / dodosmusic.net (MySpace)
Grog Shop / $10 ~ $12
These indie San Francisco folk rockers are finally hitting the Grog Shop. Opening is Gauntlet Hair, who should also be great!

June 8 :: Ray LaMontagne (Folk / Acoustic) / raylamontagne.com (MySpace)
Jacobs Pavilion at Nautica / $42.50 ~ $62.50
I couldn't think of a better summer concert to have out at Nautica than Ray. Brandi Carlile is opening.

June 8 :: Nicole Atkins & The Black Sea (Folk / Rock) / nicoleatkins.com (MySpace)
Beachland Tavern / $10
A powerful female voice that will definitely fill the Tavern. The great (and local) Rebekah Jean is opening.

June 9 :: Yvette (Experimental / Rock) / yvetteyvetteyvette.com (MySpace)
Now That's Class / FREE
Being billed as more forceful, hard-edged version of Animal Collective and HEALTH. I'm intrigued.

June 10 - 12 :: Weapons of Mass Creation Festival / wmcfest.com
Happy Dog / $5 per Day
A great, upcoming Art, Design & Music Festival in Cleveland. Great pre-show on Friday th 10th feat. David Dondero!

June 10 :: Elizabeth Cook (Country) / elizabeth-cook.com (MySpace)
Beachland Tavern / $12
With live shows drawing comparisons to Dolly Parton, that is all the convincing I need.

June 11 :: Neon Indian (Electronic / Pop) / neonindian.com (MySpace)
Grog Shop / $12 ~ $14
What first drew me to this show was another chance to see the amazing Oberhofer, though Neon Indian is quite intriguing too.

June 14 :: The Cave Singers (Folk / Rock) / thecavesingers.com (MySpace)
Grog Shop / $8 ~ $10
A folk group made up of members of other bands who are not folk music performers. A great dynamic.

June 14 :: GLEE: Live on Stage (Musical) / fox.com/glee
Quicken Loans Arena / $52.50 ~ $92.50
If you want to go the exact opposite of The Cave Singers, go get your GLEE on.

June 15 :: Shivering Timbers (Folk) / shiveringtimbersmusic.com (MySpace)
MOCA / Free (Members) or $5 (Non Members)
Experience Akron's Shivering Timbers during MOCA's "Secret Garden" GAL-ery Night!

June 16 :: Art Brut (Rock) / artbrut.org.uk (MySpace)
Beachland Ballroom / $12
Much talked about British post-punk rockers with a new album, produced by Frank Black.

June 16 :: Rubblebucket (Roots/Afro-Beat) / rubblebucket.com (MySpace)
Beachland Tavern / $12
These guys are becoming a Beachland favorite. Details on their last performance are here.

June 16 :: Janis Ian (Folk) / janisian.com (MySpace)
Cain Park / $18 ~ $23
This 70's folk legend performing at the beautiful Cain Park. Her stories under the night sky will charm you.

June 23 :: Corissa Bragg (Singer/Songwriter) / myspace.com/corissabragg
House Concert / $10
This is the second house concert hosted by The Zender Agenda!! The first was amazing, I'm expecting the same for this one.

June 24 :: My Gold Mask (Pop / Rock) / mygoldmask.com (MySpace)
Beachland Tavern / $7
A dense pop / electronic performance from this Chicago duo. I have a great feeling about this show.

June 25 :: Cleveland Pride (Festival) / clevelandpride.org
Voinivich Park / Donation
I'll admit I'm not typically a fan of the music at our Pride Festival (this year seems no different), but I'll still list it.

June 25 :: Larchmere Porchfest (Festival) / niceredshorts.com/porchfest (MySpace)
Larchmere Neighborhood / FREE
If Pride's not your thing, check out these 30 performers on 30 porches!

June 25 :: Waterloo Arts Fest (Festival) / waterlooartsfest.com
Waterloo Neighborhood / FREE
No word yet on perormances at the Festival, but the Beachland has a great afterparty of local acts (Cloud Nothings, Filmstrip, etc.)

June 28 :: Joe Purdy (Folk / Rock) / joepurdy.com (MySpace)
Beachland Ballroom / $15 ~ $17
A successful self-releasing artist who's acoustic folk sound is spectacular.

June 28 :: Mishka (Pop / Reggae) / mishka.com (MySpace)
Grog Shop / $12 ~ $14
A perfect summer soundtrack, this pop-infused reggae sound is superb.

Notable Road Trips

June 4 & 5 :: Robyn (Pop / Dance) / robyn.com (MySpace)
4th / Royal Oak Music Theater (Royal Oak) / $20
5th / LC Pavilion (Columbus) / $15
omg. omg. omg. She's back in the area. If you missed her the first time around, get in your car, now.

June 11 :: Okkervil River (Rock) / okkervilriver.com (MySpace)
Newport Music Hall (Columbus) / $17
Okkervil River is touring with both Titus Andronicus and Future Islands, which should make this a must-see show.

June 25 :: Junior Boys (Electronic / Pop) / juniorboys.net (MySpace)
The Crofoot (Pontiac) / $12 ~ $14
This electronic duo finally has a new album out and this is unfortunately their closest stop.

Video Tuesday +1

Holy sh*t... It's June already?  Time is flying by... but at least we have a good soundtrack: Dodos's Companions video (coming to the Grog Shop on Tuesday!). Digitalism's 2 Hearts from their upcoming  "I Love You Dude" (Out 4/20!).  James Blake's (slightly odd) Lindisfarne video (who will be at Pitchfork).  And finally a bonus video for being so patient... Justice's Civilization.