UMMMM... here's my to-see list

Denver's Underground Music Showcase begins tomorrow and doesn't stop until Sunday night. I certainly don't have the room, and you don't have the patience for me to talk about all the bands I want to see. Similarly, I'm having to leave off a number of bands that deserve attention, but you can go here and here and here and here for more previews, and you can check out the UMS Twitter too. Nonetheless, here's what I'm thinking so far:

Thursday:
Magic Cyclops
Everything Absent or Distorted
Langhorne Slim

Friday:
Hello Kavita
Elin Palmer
Bela Karoli
The Hollyfelds
The Wheel

Saturday:
Elin Palmer & Kal Cahoone
Dressy Bessy
4 great comics this night, including:
Jim Hickox
Greg Baumhauer
Ben Roy
Adam Cayton-Holland - Check out the new What's So Funny? while you're at it.

Sunday:
Everything Absent or Distorted (if you missed them the first time)
Reed Foehl
Bowerbirds
Ian Cooke

Monday:
UMS is over, and I feel sorry for anyone playing Denver Monday night, but... if you can stand one more night, you can check out Bloodshot Records artist Ha Ha Tonka at the Hi-Dive. They've got some promising new material, so if you're just not ready to let go of the 4 day party that was the UMS, then why not make it one more night before you return to reality?

Mt. Inadale Records split 7" vinyl giveaway!

I've alluded to this giveaway a few times, and after a prolonged period of gut wrenching anticipation, the time has come to give away some vinyl.

As you should well know, Austin label Mt. Inadale Records recently released a 7" vinyl split with Lubbock bands Thrift Store Cowboys and One Wolf. These two bands represent some of the best talent Lubbock has seen in recent years, and this record is no exception. Hopefully you are such a big fan that you've already bought a copy to support this label and the bands, but alas, I'm sure some of you have not.

This vinyl includes two amazing songs from the bands: "Everything's On Fire" by One Wolf, and "Nothing" by TSC, recorded specifically for this release, and not likely to appear on future albums in the same form.

Here's the deal. All you have to do to enter to win is send an email to windfarmblog(at)gmail(dot)com with your name in the body of the email, and "Mt. Inadale vinyl" in the subject line. You will be assigned a number based on the order in which your email shows up. In one week (i.e., after 11:59 p.m. on 07/28/09), I will count the number of responses, and then proceed to use this random number generator site to pick 2 winners. You have my word that I will take the first two numbers that pop up, even if you are a person I do not like. Please limit one entry per person.

Not that you need to be a super educated consumer to get things for free, but you can hear the songs from this record on each band's respective myspace. And in the event that you do not win, first of all, I am terribly sorry, but second of all, perhaps you should ease your sorrows by ordering the record from Vinyl Collective, and consider picking up a copy of the 12" Cory Branan/Jon Snodgrass split while you're at it.

Let me know if you have any questions or can't/won't read directions. I am not responsible for your own failure to comply with the unbelievably simple rules (i.e., don't enter multiple times or you'll be disqualified).

A dilemma of not very epic proportions (not epic at all)

Of all the conundrums I’ve dealt with in the past, this one is completely inconsequential, yet it really has me worked up. As of late, I feel as though I’ve been caught up in a whirlwind (“dust devil” for West Texan readers) of new music and good live shows. The Denver area music scene goes back and forth with periods of no good live shows, and then periods of too many to attend (or afford). New music releases have a similar ebb and flow in my experience.

I’m starting to feel like new music burnout is just down the road, yet I can't stop myself from really wanting to go check out the Denver Underground Music Showcase this year. Not only are there a ton of good local bands I’d like to see, I know there are many I don’t even know about, and said showcase would afford me the opportunity to begin filtering through those and deciding who is worth a longer listen. Nothing wrong with any of that.

Photo credit: Mark Holthusen via Wovenhand's myspace

Enter David Eugene Edwards. It so happens that one of Colorado’s most compelling artists is playing a show in Boulder (i.e., about 5 minutes from my house, no less), on Friday night, the same night when there are a number of bands I’d like to see at the UMS. Not that I haven’t seen him before -- quite the contrary -- but I hate to miss his show at the Fox Theatre, because at least according to a 16 Horsepower fan site, DEE has only played Boulder 3 times, ever (two with 16 HP, and one with Wovenhand). And it's a very reasonably priced show for Boulder ($10, or $14 DOS).

Even as I write this, I’m leaning back and forth on what I think I should do. I’m not sure I have the energy to make all 4 days of the UMS, but if I had to choose, I wouldn’t purposely make Friday one of the ones I missed.

Can anyone talk me through this one?

Grumbling and stuff

I wanted a vinyl copy of the Jim James tribute to George Harrison:
released under the name Yim Yames, until I found out it costs $35. The CD plus the download is just $10. I mean, I know that some of it goes to charity, but $35 for 6 tracks and a t-shirt?

$35 -- Seriously?
If it was maybe $20, I'd totally be on board, but now I think I'd rather just have the $6 download.

Have I ever told you:
how much I hate when people use the phrase "rock and roll" or "that rocks!" or "s/he is a total rock star" in the everyday workplace or in casual conversation? No? Well, I hate all those phrases and how they have tricked us into thinking our office jobs "rock" in the same way Zeppelin "rocked" in the 70s. Don't even get me started on the energy drink...

And then:
there's the phrase "we partied like rock stars." Just because you got too drunk and (insert stupid behavior), that doesn't make you a rock star, and alternately just makes you a sad 16-48 year old.

Big announcement from Lucero:
New album out on Oct. 6th, entitled 1372 Overton Park. One track is up on their Web site.

For fans of Fleet Foxes:

You Ain't No Picasso posted a pretty sweet live recording of a Robin Pecknold set, in which he performs a number of covers, including songs by Fleetwood Mac, Bob Dylan, and B.B. King.

This Tuesday, 7/21:
You can catch the Flatlanders on Late Night with David Letterman.

This isn't breaking news:
but I have to commend the Monolith Festival for their recently announced headliners: The Yeah Yeah Yeahs and the Mars Volta. Nice to see a mid-level festival that focuses on bringing in fairly relevant indie bands, and, I think, taking a gamble by bringing in so many other bands that are largely unknown.

a good day at the record store

If you have a regular record store in your town that you frequent, you likely know a couple of things. 1.) Once you've gone through the used records a few times, there's not much to look at other than the new arrivals, and unless your store gets tons of new stuff, new used records of interest are few and far between. 2.) You know that because of reason 1, there's a lot bigger satisfaction to finding something good at your local store than locating something on ebay.

You've probably stopped reading by this point, but today was right up there with some great finds. I've come to find that Talking Heads albums are few and far between at record stores these days, and hence finding this one ranked up there with the time I found an original Grievous Angel at Twist and Shout. Also, judge me if you must, but the Jackson 5 Greatest Hits is a 1971 original in great shape (not that I'm planning to resell it), and surprisingly, it wasn't horribly overpriced, as I'm sure a number of Jackson's albums are these days. Some idiot on ebay had one of these same records posted for $500 (it didn't sell).

Rounding out the day's finds were records from John Prine, Faron Young, and Waylon. After a first listen to the Waylon record, I'm really coming to decide that he may be one of the more under-appreciated legends of country music, or more appropriately, of music in general. Not that he's been forgotten, but I think his impact and artistry aren't recognized to the extent that they should be.

We should talk more about this Waylon business soon. Until then, why don't you read up on Littlefield and be ready for a quiz next week.

Old 97s - Boulder Theater - 07/16/09

As anyone who has ever read this blog well knows, the Old 97s are probably my favorite band of all time, and probably have been since around the first time I saw them on Austin City Limits 11 or so years ago. Living in Fort Worth for 3 years, I had the opportunity to see the band a number of times at the beginning of this decade, but moving to Lubbock in 2003, and then Colorado in 2006 has made for far fewer opportunities to see them. So when I found out they were playing within walking distance of my house, it was almost too much to handle. And then when I found out that Murry and Rhett were opening the show with solo sets, I had to go see my doctor to see if I would be healthy enough to attend this show given the excitement it would cause.

The first thing we noticed when we arrived at the Boulder Theater was that the Old 97s crowd these days is really...old. I'm sure a substantial portion of them were the "Question" crowd, and were there because they heard the song at a Rockies game one time when someone got engaged on the Jumbotron. However, as the night wore on, the crowd began to fill in with the jaded looking 30-40 year olds that I was so accustomed to seeing at Old 97s shows in Dallas. Then of course there were a couple of token beat up cowboy hats that apparently some people still wear, and to round it out, of course, were a few people wearing the band's t-shirt to their show.

Murry Hammond opened up the show with a set of his solo material, which was pretty well a dream come true for me. The set was fairly eclectic, comprised mostly of acoustic gospel songs from his album I Don't Know Where I'm Going But I'm On My Way, but also including "I Will Never Marry" performed on the harmonium, and my personal highlight "Valentine." I guess the mellow set gave the audience a bit too much room to talk, so Murry sang the latter half of his set over a sizable background noise from the audience. However, he seemed unfazed by such, and for those listening, the music was well appreciated. In the men's room, I overheard someone say "it takes balls to be that guy," which pretty well sums up a guy who plays gospel music in front of an audience who came to see a loud and raucous rock band.

Songs I could identify from this set were:
What Are They Doing In Heaven Today?
Between the Switches
Lost at Sea
I Will Never Marry
Valentine
I Believe, I Believe
(Might have been one more song on here that I didn't recognize)

Rhett Miller followed with a short solo set. While I was well aware that Rhett is an amazing rhythm guitarist, this set really highlighted his ability to strum the guitar so fast that you can't see his right hand. I don't know all of his solo material quite as well, but I've increasingly become a fan of it, probably more so now that it's clear the Old 97s aren't likely to dissolve as a result of his solo career. That's kind of ridiculous I know, but you have to understand, things were a little tense for 97s fans around the time The Instigator came out.

Songs I could identify from this set were:
This Is What I Do
Fireflies
Singular Girl
Caroline
(Sorry, probably missed 2-3 songs from this one)

The Old 97s set was great, as always, and the band sounded extremely tight. There aren't a lot of bands with this many albums that I would be able to identify every song in their set, but this show wasn't even really a challenge. Keeping with tradition, they played at least one song from every album. Maybe I overdid it, but my three twitter requests - "Hands Off," "House that Used to Be," and "Melt Show" - didn't make it into the show.

The set list was as follows:
Won't Be Home
The Other Shoe
Dance With Me
Lonely Holiday
W. TX Teardrops
The New Kid
No Baby I
Barrier Reef
Murder (or a Heart Attack)
If My Heart Was a Car
Color of a Lonely Heart
I Need to Know Where I Stand (new Rhett song)
Question (and a verse in French)
Indefinitely
Smokers
I Will Remain
Rollerskate Skinny
Big Brown Eyes
Easy Way

Encore
Rocks Off (Rolling Stones cover)
Bel Air
The Fool
Timebomb

With this concert done, now all I've got to do is try and figure out if I can make all 4 Colorado shows for the Avett Brothers.

Shhh. Don't tell anyone.

The one music event that happens in Boulder each year, when we typically get a slight influx in the availability of good music, has been for years the Triple A Radio Summit. It has brought great acts to Boulder in smaller than normal venues, most recently Ryan Adams at the Fox Theatre in 2007 (I should be shot for missing it, but in all honesty, I did). However, there are typically a number of good acts and those shows almost always sell out. As the Colorado Daily reported, the long time backer of that conference dropped out this year (because it went out of business). However, the event was saved, so to speak, by another organization, FMQB (Friday Morning Quarterback Album Report, if you cared.





















The oddest thing is that, despite the fact that the conference is apparently still scheduled, not a single thing has been reported for close to a month, when FMQB was announced as the new backer. Sure, they did say in the article they wouldn't announce the lineup until July 20th, but come on - if it's set, then announce it now. Even though it hasn't been officially announced, I did finally find the schedule here.

I'll be out of town for majority of the conference (not that you care), being held August 5-7, and sadly, I'm not even that bummed about it. The lineup seems to be a bit trimmed back compared to previous years. The Fox has a few acts that might be worth seeing in a small venue. Among those, Ben Harper and Andrew Bird on Wednesday, and Gomez on Thursday. Odd that Yonder Mountain String Band is also playing the conference at the Fox on 8/7 when they already have a sold out show there on 8/27...not that they'll have any trouble selling out again in this town. That thought alone almost brings me to a grumpy old man rant about the state of the Boulder music scene, but I'll spare you for now. Well, except for the fact that it really shows how ridiculous this town's music scene is that the David Gray E-town performance has already sold out.

So in summary, I *guess* the newly sponsored radio summit will happen. However, I'm still not sure anyone is going to hear about it until a week or two before it happens. I guess they are banking on the fact that people in Boulder don't really like good music anymore and will turn out in droves to see mostly non-cutting edge acts.

Well, I say non-cutting edge, but I guess that is unfair to the big Fox second stage show on Wednesday night featuring...yep, Marcy Playground.

Festivals and stuff

Best news I've heard in some time:
Doug Burr will be heading back into the studio at the end of the summer.

Congratulations:
to Amanda Shires for her recent spotlight piece in Texas Music magazine, and also for charting on the Americana Radio charts (up to #28 so far).

If you care about this type of thing:
Bloodshot Records now lists the limited edition vinyl for Justin Townes Earle's The Good Life as sold out. You can probably still find some copies here and there, but probably not for a lot longer.

More congratulations:
to Telegraph Canyon, from Denton, whose next album will be released on Velvet Blue and Spune, which is also Doug Burr's label.

No matter how long we've had cell phones:
it turns out that it's still not a good idea to be talking to someone on the phone while you're pulling out into traffic on a busy street. Just in case you didn't know.

Austin City Limits Festival:
is looking more and more tempting. Must keep in mind how expensive it is though, and how it will be 150 degrees and 50,000 people will share 2 porta potties. But then again, there's also the Avett Brothers, Bon Iver, Devotchka, Grizzly Bear, and the Felice Brothers. Sorry to offend any major Arctic Monkeys fans, but I can't see much reason to go on Sunday.

Denver's SXSW equivalent:
is called the Underground Music Showcase (the UMS), although there's probably about 5,000 less bands in town for it. However, I count that as a plus. Hoping to make it down, with early intentions to catch Bela Karoli, Elin Palmer, The Wheel, Dressy Bessy, Adam Cayton-Holland, and Everything Absent or Distorted.

Is there any reason:

that I shouldn't go see both the Boulder AND the Denver Avett Brothers shows next month? I'm starting not to see any.

Thinking about giving away:

a few copies of the new Mt. Inadale 7" split. I'll keep you posted.