Monday, March 27, 2017

Thursday: Local Natives @ The Agora

Local Natives is one of those bands that I’ve collected the albums and enjoy their music, but for some reason or another I’ve never been able to catch them live (they’ve been here in 2014, and 2010).  With Thursday’s show I’ve been digging into their new album Sunlit Youth, definitely their best one yet.  Check out the video for Dark Days below.

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Another reason to go:

"For some shows around the country, including Cleveland, proceeds from tickets will go to an organization called Plus1. The organization redistributes funds to local charities and organizations so that donors can be sure their money is going to a non-profit that can use it. Ayers explains that ‘they help us get money from each show to either a local organization that will use the money to help people in that city, or to a broader nationally based non-profit if there isn’t one in that specific city. They basically make it easier for people to give money to causes that they care about. We really care, and that was just a small way that we could help. We’ve been doing stuff with them for years; they’re a great company.’"

(Via Indie Rockers Local Natives Embrace Electronica on Their New Album | Scene and Heard: Scene's News Blog.)

Opening for Local Natives is a new (to me) band called Little Scream.  I’m not sure what to think of this video - but it makes me want to see them live even more!

Another reason I’m particularly interested in this show is that it’ll be at The Agora!  It’s been a minute since I’ve seen a show there, with Radiate being the last time I was there in 2016, but I think it’s been since 2010 since I saw a typical concert, seeing Kid Cudi.  I’m hoping this is the beginning of a resurgence for the venerable Cleveland venue.

Video Day #tzachill

The Weeknd is channeling some MJ with his I Feel It Coming ft. Daft Punk. Perfume Genius dropped a new video for Slip Away, which will be off his new release No Shape coming out on May 5th!  Sheryl Crow gets political in her new animated video for Halfway There.


 
 
Bonus:  if you’re familiar with Das Racist, then you’ll recognize REMI’s voice, who’s been off putting out his own stuff.  One of the reasons I’m a big fan is how much he sounds like GURU (*swoon*)!

Friday, March 24, 2017

Cleveland Orchestra - All Stravinsky (3/16/17)

My knowledge of classical music is abysmal.  The most exposure I’ve had to it (prior to recently) was through a 100-level general music course in undergrad.  However, I do remember being particularly fond of Stravinsky, and more specifically the Firebird Suite.  While that wasn’t on the bill for this night, it was still an excellent night, including some incredible vocal work by Seraphic Fire.  More detail below.

Cleveland Orchestra - All Stravinsky (3/16/17)

Cleveland Orchestra - All Stravinsky (3/16/17)

"Extraordinarily innovative, enormously influential, Igor Stravinsky's work embraced multiple compositional styles, revolutionized orchestration, spanned several genres, practically reinvented ballet form and incorporated multiple cultures, languages and literatures. This concert is drawn from the wealth of music composed after he had established himself as a musical revolutionary with The Rite of Spring, and includes Threni, considered the culminating point in his career as an artist. "

(Via All Stravinsky.)

The Lumineers (3/11/17)

It’s nice to have friends, especially ones who offer you an extra (free) ticket!  That was probably the only reason I was seeing The Lumineers at the Wolstein Center.  Not because I dislike them but… that band, in that venue, for that price - doesn’t intrinsically motivate me.  However, it was still a great time with a good friend - and some decent music.  We just missed Susto, but were able to catch Kaleo, an Icelandic rock band that sounds a lot like the Black Keys.

Kaleo (3/11/17)

The Lumineers sounded great, and the lead singer had some touching and earnest stories about the songs they were performing.  The first video below is a collection of clips, but the second one is a video Charlie Boy with some nice effects (and a great story).  You can find more details about the show, and details on the specific songs via the Cleveland.com link below.

The Lumineers (3/11/17)
The Lumineers (3/11/17)
The Lumineers (3/11/17)

 

"Frontman Wesley Schultz told the crowd that band members put their heads together before the weekend's concert and decided their last appearance in Cleveland was a 2011 show at the now-defunct Barking Spider Tavern.

Schultz apologized for failing to make it to Northeast Ohio more frequently, encouraging much applause.

Their Saturday night show included a crowd-pleasing set filled with their hits, along with covers of a Tom Petty and a Bob Dylan song."

(Via The Lumineers bring their rousing brand of folk rock to the Wolstein Center | cleveland.com.)

Nikki Lane (3/7/17)

Nikki Lane was back at the Beachland once again!  Having seen her several times before, this night was really just about hanging out with friends and having fun… I will say that, I think it would have been a more compelling show with the intimacy of the Tavern.  Not that I’d wish her to step back into the smaller space (or a comparable smaller venue), but that’s what it might take me to see her yet again.

Nikki Lane (3/7/17)
Nikki Lane (3/7/17)

FiveOne Experimental Orchestra (3/4/16)

I’ve been expanding my scope of live music by going to more of these new music events, this one being my first 51XO performance.  Setting it in a brewery made for a great, imbibable setting.  If you’d like some more information on the night, others have already described it better than I.  The first performance was up in a tasting room, performing Buck McDanie’s PUT IT ALL IN (2014) 

FiveOne Experimental Orchestra (3/4/16)

From there we moved into the brewery’s production space, which was incorporated into the music!

FiveOne Experimental Orchestra (3/4/16)

Some other shots from the night… 

FiveOne Experimental Orchestra (3/4/16)

FiveOne Experimental Orchestra (3/4/16)

Tuesday, March 21, 2017

Video Day #tzaupbeat

Little Dragon’s finally back, and how Sweet it is (touring with Glass Animals in Pittsburgh on Monday, July 31st)! Future Islands are back with a new video for the first single of their yet to be released new album, The Far Field out on April 7th!  Generationals also have a new single and video out called Turning the Screw, but no date on their new album yet.

Bonus:  Glass Animals have a wacky new video out for Pork Soda. 

Article: Does College Radio Even Matter Anymore?

Yes.  Yes it does. 

"In an ideal world, college radio can best reflect what local broadcasting should strive for: freeform programming that’s community organized and unentangled in market-based obligation. It is also a continually replenishing talent pool for the industry at large, and every part of the musical ecosystem can count former college radio DJs among their staff. This network is indispensable. It’s also in serious jeopardy."

(Via Does College Radio Even Matter Anymore? | Pitchfork.)

Wednesday, March 8, 2017

Video Day #tzaupbeat

Lady Gaga gets “thrashy and colorful” in the new video for John Wayne.  STRFKR goes drag for their raucous video for In The End.  Janelle Monáe is everywhere these days, including in the new Grimes video for Venus Fly.

Bonus:  This week’s bonus belongs to Sondre Lerche (coming to the Grog Shop on Friday, April 21st!) who’s new video examines (straight) male intimacy.  More here: 

"I have such a close relationship with my band, and especially my drummer, David Heilman, who performed in the video. We have such a deep relationship in music, as human beings, as artists, and he is such a larger-than-life character unto himself. And I wanted to build a video around him, and around our relationship where we play out and act out all these different relationships that, sometimes, stem from how we are on stage, as colleagues, as artist working together."

(Via Premiere: Sondre Lerche Explores Relationship with Bandmate in New Video | Out Magazine.)

Monday, March 6, 2017

Video Day #tzachill

ANOHNI keeps with her lip-sync theme for her new video for Paradise. Communist Daughter’s new video for Keep Moving is as beautiful as the song is. Speaking of beautiful, check out this new video and song for Colin Setson’s Spindrift!

 

Bonus:  I stumbled across this Campbell L Sangster video, to which I’ll let others try to explain:

"Campbell performs alongside The Drakes – a posing gallant band of butches, bois, studs, transmen and genderqueers, whilst Edie Sedgwick lives on in the body and soul of a sun worshipping, silver-clad mother, desperate for rays to top up her tan.

Meanwhile, her budding gymnast daughter is mesmerized by the arrival of Buffy, a woman in her 70’s, physically strong and utterly focused. Buffy has the spirit of Esther Williams and verve of an assassin, diving effortlessly into the pool as the young girl watches, hypnotized.”  (Via Watch Campbell L. Sangster's "Odds Are Stacked" Music Video.)