Having been away in Los Angeles for most of July, I thought I had missed my chance to see the Cleveland Museum of Art’s City Stages performances in Ohio City. Thankfully there was one remaining, after I returned. It was a gorgeous night, and an amazing story to hear about Bia Ferreira’s travel challenges. Apparently her band wasn’t able to arrive in time, so the organizers assembled a group of local musicians to quickly learn and fill in. It made for a unique and rewarding night.
In what felt like an ideal Los Angeles experience, I was able to see Juan Wauters performing at El Cid. The venue is apparently both a restaurant and performance space. Quite cute. Juan Wauters was a bundle of energy on stage and was one of the most unique performers I’ve seen live. Thoroughly enjoyed his performance.
Tall Juan opened the show. I’m bummed I didn’t catch any video.
Rostam just released a charming new video for From the Back Of A Cab, with a cadre of folks you may know, including HAIM and Charli XCX. Mandolin Orange announced that they’ve changed their name to Watchhouse, with this new single and video for Better Way. José Gonález released his stunning new video for his new sing Visions, off his new album Local Valley (due 9/17).
Bonus: Excited to hear about the new Mdou Moctar album, and really enjoyed this peak into (one) of their worlds with this video for Tala Tannam.
Golden Vessel was a surprise, late-addition to my TZA calendar. Crawling the Beachland website, this show popped up and was instantly intrigued by this pop / electronic artist from Australia. His album is full of guests vocalists, and each song would just get better and better with every listen. I was curious how this was going to translate into a live performance. His stage mate (the guy on the left) jumped on the tour and took on all the vocal parts - very well I might add. Overall, the show didn’t have quite have the quicker tempo of the album, but I was still very satisfied with the performance.
Opening was Instupendo out of Philadelphia. Very low key set, which was very appropriate for the Rostam vocals he brought in, and I recorded, below. He had also scored a guest spot on the newest Toro Y Moi album - so there’s something going on there, I just missed it I guess.
There were a lot of options for live music on this night. Not only was this City Stages event happening at the Transformer Station, there was also the Eilen Jewell show at the Beachland and And The Kids were at Mahalls. Bergen’s attendance was requested, so i just stuck with this Tal National show. The weather was superb, friends were plentiful, and the music played the perfect backdrop to a perfect Summer evening.
Marina has a video that spans that human condition, aptly called To Be Human. Tierra Whack is far from Unemployed right now with her new video. Betta Lemme just put out her video for Play, a fun 90’s club throwback.
Bonus: Bomba Estéreo, along with Systema Solar, put out this new video for Carnavalera.
Klaus Johann Grobe is an amazing band from Zürich, Switzerland. This is what I would imagine Swiss pop music sounding like: synths, smiles, and amazing beats. I really hadn’t heard much about them before this tour stop, but I’ll definitely keep an eye on these gents going forward. I’m already ready for a new album and another tour stop!
What an incredible show. I was surprised to be seeing Mdou Moctar performing at Now That’s Class, but putting these unusual elements together, the result couldn’t have been better. Mdou has a great story, which you can read a little about in the Pitchfork review of his album below (8.0!). He was raised in Niger but has this incredible ability to weave together his culture of music with the West. Blistering jams filled the night, ones that you kinda wished never ended (as you might pick up from some of my video below). I’m still stunned, and will be enjoying this album for quite awhile...
"Whether it’s stories about African-American legends reared on plantations in rural Mississippi or the apocryphal tale of a young Jimi Hendrix carrying around a broom until his family could afford a real guitar, blues and rock aficionados love a hardscrabble creation story. So it makes sense that in the discourse around one of the year’s most incandescent examples of guitar music, much ado is made about Mdou Moctar’s first instrument. The Tuareg guitarist was raised in northern Niger by a deeply religious family where music was verboten. He made his first guitar from a piece of wood strung with brake wires from an old bicycle, his many hours of practice kept clandestine."
(Via Mdou Moctar: Ilana (The Creator) Album Review | Pitchfork.)
Opening was Guerrilla Toss from NYC. Not the band I would have imagined being paired with Mdou Moctar, but a thoroughly enjoyable band in their own right. Throw in lead singer who brings in a violin into a jam-based rock show, and I’m impressed.
M.A.K.U. Soundsystem performed at the PNC Glenville Arts Campus as part of Front International’s City Stages series. Yet another great show in this series focusing on bringing international artists from around the world. This was a first, seeing a concert outside in the Glenville area of Cleveland too!
I first caught wind of the Columbian band, Bomba Estéreo, back in 2011 from La Blogotheque, such a stunning performance (and visuals!). Since then I’ve been following along and enjoying just about everything they’ve been putting out - except for that crappy song / video with Will Smith. But hey, they’re just trying to make it. When I heard they were coming to Cleveland and performing at the Grog Shop, I was shocked. Unfortunately, this evening the sound setup wasn’t quite on their side. Some muddled vocals really took away from the night. Still, I’m so glad they came and that I was able to see them.
I first took note of Sidi Touré back in 2013 when he released Alafia, noticing the name similarity to Ali Farka Touré. It was a great album, and I was happy to see another one of his released earlier this year! Then, I couldn’t have been happier when I then saw he was performing at the Transformer Station as part of Front International’s City Stages concert series! Such a great experience.
Later I went back to just confirm the connection between these men with the same last name, which you can see below (no relation).
"When Malian songwriter and guitarist Sidi Touré first emerged on the international scene in 2011, he was regularly compared to Ali Farka Touré, his countryman and predecessor. There was a similarity in means, sound and even surnames, and both musicians hail from the Songhaï region of Northern Mali. The signature blues-inflected guitar and plaintive vocal melisma of Songhaï folk music carries melodic and repertory characteristics that extend from Ibrahim Dicko—Touré’s mentor—to Ali Fakra Touré’s pioneering work. Over the course of two recordings—last year’s critically-lauded Koïma and his revelatory debut Sahel Folk—and attention from NPR, SPIN and Pitchfork, among others, Touré’s musical identity has fully come into its own."
(Via Alafia | Sidi Touré.)
If you haven’t heard about FRONT International: An American City events happening around the city - don’t wait! So much cool stuff happening, and this show was just the beginning. It was great to have Uptown closed off for this FRONT opening concert celebration with Jupiter & Okwess from Congo to kick off a series of excellent music events around the city. The entire City Stages schedule can be found here. (Sidi Touré tomorrow night!)
If anyone calls their sound "tropical futurism” I’ll be instantly intrigued, as I was with Combo Chimbita. Hailing from New York City by way of Columbia, these guys are high energy and their music matches their description quite well.
Opening were The Admirables, a funk/soul band out of Akron, OH. Check out that saxophone work!
A last-minute tip off for this show came with mixed blessings. Focusing on the positive side, discovering an seeing Mokoomba was a real treat! This Zimbabwean band, performing their Afro-fusioni music outside as part of the Ohio City Stages via Transformer Station, could not have been any more perfect for an outside show on this summer’s eve. Throw in some good beers and the ability to bring my dog… amazing. I really need to keep a closer eye on the concerts the Cleveland Museum of Art are putting out!
I already loved this song by Troye Sivan, but this rework with Alessia Cara is is pretty amazing - with a frolicking fun video for the Fall. A new Starfucker video for Never Ever. Bomba Estéreo releases a fun new video for Soy Yo.
Bonus: Cleveland’s own Marcus Alan Ward (formerly Freeze-tag) has a new video out for Little Sunshine. Some further details below.
"You may have heard of Cleveland’s self taught multi-instrumentalist Marcus Alan Ward under his other moniker, Freeze-Tag, but as of August 2014, he’s shed that name and started recording under his own. He says that it draws distinction to the fact that he’s a one man composer and it’s more honest, and we couldn’t agree more. His a music is a combination between psychedelic pop, rock, and funk, and we are so excited to be premiering his latest music video."
(Via Marcus Alan Ward, "Little Sunshine" | Video | Impose Magazine.)
Yelle is a great pop band from France. I’ve been liking their stuff for years, but this was my first time catching them live. Seeing this show at the Grog Shop has just cemented these guys as one of my favorite pop bands! Lively, theatrical, and knows how to get a crowd moving (a huge change from the Beachland a couple nights before). All around party.
(Here’s a bunch of other songs together…)
Starting off this Video Day with a gorgeous cover of Ancora Tu by Roisin Murphy. Elliphant and MØ, both Scandanavian artists, collaborate on this track for One More and produced this raucous video. Finally, HAIM’s new video for My Song 5.
Bonus this week comes from a name that’s new to me, Hollysiz, with a heart-felt video for The light.
Stunning video. Thanks to Boooooooooooom for showing me the way with this video (love the heart shape they form)
La Iaia “L’Ós” music video produced by CANADA
"Young love perfectly captured in this video, directed by Marc Oller for La Iaia’s song ‘L’Ós’. Whenever the name CANADA appears in the production credits you know it’s worth watching. Watch the video below."
Starting this week is a beautifully shot (and creepy) video for Children of the Night by Isaac Delusion. Next up is Danish artist MØ with a slick, yet odd video for Don’t Wanna Dance. Then… Phantogram with an incredible bass line for Fall in Love.
Bonus, is a slightly older video from my favorite Colombian band, Bomba Estereo! Now I have to grab the album…
