Shawn Colvin (5/27/15)

This is one of those shows where I really go for the opener.  Sure, I liked Shawn Colvin back in the 90’s (that one album), but tonight was all about me catching my first glimpse of Tom Brousseau (A soon to be total crush).  Everything that man does sounds amazing to me.  Light & fresh, but with depth and complexity.  Unfortunately for this evening (not entirely) he was performing with Andru Bemis and was not playing any of his original songs.  Oh well…  There’s always next time.

Shawn was OK.  She’s a little stiff for me on stage, but she definitely has talent.  But not quite enough there for me to grab the album or see her again… 

Movement 2015

My second year of attending Movement, formerly known as the Detroit Electronic Music Festival (DEMF!).  Again, a fabulous year - but this time with the perks of VIP!  Totally worth it - and will do it again next year…   Here are some highlights.

Matt & Kim (5/19/15)

I was lukewarm on another Matt & Kim show, but having Waters as an opening act had tipped the scale for me.  I’ve tried catching Waters several times before, and just haven’t had success.  While we didn’t quite make the beginning of their show, I caught enough to really enjoy their live stuff.

And then Matt & Kim were typical Matt & Kim, over hyped and over sexualized - but hey, it’s fun!

Hessler Street Fair 2015

Every year the Risingsun Community Garage Sale falls on Hessler Street Fair weekend, and ever year my familial duties prevail - as they did this year.  However, a friend drug me out for the last night, and I was thrilled to see it was still going strong!  It ended up being a great night at the festival, and then the Barking Spider Tavern (of course!)

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John Fulbright / Great Lake Swimmers (5/14/15)

Yeah, I’m that far behind. And no - these guys were not on the same bill, but I did see both shows at the Beachland Ballroom and Tavern!  It’s kind of fun having the run of both spaces in a single evening (though you do pony up for the pleasure).  I’ve seen John Fulbright, who I really enjoyed, but I hadn’t seen the Great Lake Swimmers yet - so why decide?

John was just as good.  The room did feel a little big for him, but his voice and presence on stage is effortless.  

Great Lake Swimmers were also superb.  These folk-tinged harmonies are the best… 

Tonight! Heartless Bastards @ Grog Shop

Also happening tonight… It bums me out that this Heartless Bastards show had to be on the same night as this Jacco Gardner & Calvin Love.  I love Heartless Bastards and would *love* to see them again.  If you can’t make it out to the West Side of town for a show tonight, then this is your gig.

Tonight! Jacco Gardner & Calvin Love @ Happy Dog

It’s been some time since I’ve seen Jacco Gardner, and I missed him the last time he was at the Happy Dog.  This time, he’s coming with Calvin Love who I’ve also been enjoying.  Check these guys out and stop in!

Calvin Love! 

Only once with every blue moon comes an artist that seems so familiar yet out of space as Calvin Love. On Super Future, his first album for Arts & Crafts, the young charmer from Edmonton, Alberta, steeps songs of psychedelic wisdom in celestial sensuality. Calvin Love arrives an enigma, a strutting, crooning contradiction: as menacing as he is magnetic, like sex and murder wrapped together in a trench coat. With coolness that defies contrivance, Love links sounds and images of science-fiction vintage with an auspicious version of the future. The music drips with crystal aura, blending obsession with the beauty of artifice and the inner systems of real and natural things. It's this infallible match of the authentic to the inventive that make Calvin Love's Super Future so strange and inviting.

 

Video Day #tzaupbeat

Damaged Bug (part Thee Oh Sees) released their new video for Jet in Jungle. Waters is looking for What’s Real.  FIDLAR has some fun pop culture references on 40oz. On Repeat.

Django Django has a creepy crawly new video for Shake and Tremble.

Tonight! Shilpa Ray @ Beachland Tavern

I think this might be now my 4th time catching Shilpa.  She has a magnetic stage presence, not one that is soft and welcoming, but one that shows that she shouldn’t be doing anything else.  Some articles are below, as well as her new video! 

"Although Shilpa Ray dropped 'and Her Happy Hookers' from the bill, the Brooklyn-based rock musician and many of her same bandmates have returned with Last Year's Savage. On the album, which was released last week via Northern Spy Records, Ray maintains the deep, powerful voice and poetic lyrics for which she is known, while softening the underlying melodies and riffs, often opting for more exploratory sounds. Songs like 'Sanitary iPad' are written from the titular, inanimate object's point of view ('I've got a short shelf life / Who's gonna throw me out?') to address a type of mortality, while others, like 'Nocturnal Emissions,' playfully go straight to the point ('Don't wake me up, bitch!')."

(Via Without Her Happy Hookers - Page - Interview Magazine.)

"Shilpa Ray released her new album, Last Year's Savage, this week via Northern Spy. Her swaggering punk/blues/cabaret style is in full effect and lyrically sharp. You can stream the whole thing below. One of the album's more acerbic tracks is 'Johnny Thunders Fantasy Space Camp' and we've got the premiere of its video in this post. Using footage from a nightclub, it juxtaposes real life dancefloor debauchery with Shilpa's disdain of rock n' roll hedonism. It's pretty entertaining and you can watch it below."

(Via Shilpa Ray released 'Last Year's Savage,' shares "Johnny Thunders Fantasy Space Camp" video (stream ++ tour dates).)

Tomorrow: Hurray for the Riff Raff @ Beachland Ballroom

After first catching Hurray for the Riff Raff on NPR, I immediately knew I wanted to see her live.  Her recent album has been a go-to folk album for me, but it’s one that feels uniquely current and relevant.  And her voice is superb…  Check her out tomorrow at the Beachland Ballroom ($15).

(photo credit: Laura Partain)

Opening is Mechanical River...