A long time ago, in a galaxy far away, I lived in Charlottesville, VA.  One of the best venues in town was the basement of a sushi restaurant in a strip mall called Tokyo Rose.  I saw Magnolia Electric Co. there in October 2004, where they played this little gem as the finale for their main set.  This is a soundboard recording, but at least two of the eight inputs were not functional (what do you want from a sushi restaurant?).  The guitars were recorded indirectly through the other mikes.  EQ tinkering has made up for some of the sound problems, and it actually sounds OK now, if a little quiet.

Incidentally, I just want to say that Jason Molina and the rest of the band are some cool cats and very interesting to talk to — ask Jason about the antiquities he finds on his property in Indiana some time! — and if they read this, I know they get weirdly low turnouts in the Deep South, but there are folks down here who love to see them play.

Download: Magnolia Electric Co. – Mamas Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys (Live)

I suppose the blame can be placed on the success of “Maps”. That song has been ridden a little too hard even being performed on SNL two albums and six years after it was released. It’s a decent song but would best served if it were to stay a hidden restrained respite in a slab of of otherwise relentless rawk that is Fever to Tell. This bozo music blog critic says: “More ‘Black Tongue’, less ‘Maps’!”

This is a live track from the 2009 show at Radio City.

Download: Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Heads Will Roll (Live)

Download: Phantogram – When I’m Small

Download: Poplin – Une Débutante Au Jeu (feat. Bridget Low)

Credit: Carlie's Blackberry

Midlake is serious about their flutes.  OK, maybe that’s not the way to start off a post, but it’s true.  Look at the picture: two guys playing flutes at the same time.  (”I love the jazz flute!” yelled one fan.  “Flutes rock!” added another.)  I’m not sure how many commandments of The Rock Bible Midlake are breaking, but they are definitely unholy.

They opened their 2010 tour at Spanish Moon, right here in Baton Rouge, on 5 January.  They’re a collective (those commies!) from Denton, TX, guys who got together at the highly-regarded University of North Texas music school.  We shouldn’t, therefore be surprised, that they’re conceptual — which, let’s remember, doesn’t mean that they have to use two flutes.  They made that choice after careful thought, and with great care that really, two flutes were the only way to achieve what the songs required.  But the track here, the title song from their last album,”The Trials of Van Occupanther,” only needed one flute.  It’s pretty good.

Download: Midlake – Van Occupanther (Live)

Download: The Diogenes Club – Tie Ourselves Around

Download: Stricken City – Small Things

Man Is The Bastard – Puppy Mill
Huntington Beach Library
Huntington Beach, CA
12/17/95

One of my favorite tracks off the “Thoughtless…” record. Dueling bassists and animal rights lyrics, what’s NOT to love?

Download: Man Is The Bastard – Puppy Mill (Live Video)

It’s been long enough now that my primary memories of this show are that it came in the middle of spring break (thank you, academic calendar) and that at various points in the show, Leo complained of undisclosed technical difficulties and had to ask for the levels to be changed after pretty much every song.  He contrasted these problems with his previous time at Chelsea’s (which I think was before my time in BR), when he apparently lost his voice during “Where Have All the Rude Boys Gone?”  So I guess this was a more positive experience.  Maybe when he shows up in New Orleans this April, all the issues will have been sorted out…

Download: Ted Leo and the Pharmacists – Little Dawn (Live)

William Fitzsimmons – Please Forgive Me (The Song of the Crow)
Storan
Gothenburg
11/5/09

I caught William Fitzsimmons while I was on a business trip to Gothenburg in November. (Incidentally, a big shout-out to Jens Lekman, who, when I wrote him an e-mail via his website, immediately — like, within 6 hours — responded with a list of things to do and see in G-burg.)

I didn’t know much about Fitzsimmons apart from comparisons to Iron and Wine, Bon Iver, etc.   These comparisons turned out to be both apt and welcome, as he later admitted to me after the show.  His bio was certainly intriguing, though I don’t like making too much of these things, since they encourage overly simplistic interpretations: his parents were blind, but music-lovers, so he learned from their passions; he worked for a time as a professional therapist, but gave that up for his music career; he grew up in Pittsburgh but now lives in rural Illinois.

Word to the wise: Swedish shows start on time!  Intending not to spend too long standing around by myself, I arrived a few minutes late to find myself checking my coat to the end of a song.  The show was in a tiny venue called Storan, in the city center, but it was packed with clearly rabid fans who knew all the words. Fitzsimmons was self-deprecating (perhaps too much so) and chatty between songs — as seen in the video — but also a genuinely nice guy.

Afterwards, a DJ spun tunes, including a song that sounded like brand-new Shout Out Louds. Turns out the singer from SOL, Adam Olenius, and Peter Morén from Peter Bjorn and John have formed a new Svensk super-group called Tutankamon. I grabbed their eponymous album the next day (not nearly as good as the sum of its parts); no word if it will be released in the US.

Download: William Fitzsimmons – Please Forgive Me (The Song of the Crow) (Live Video)