Bands at Sasquatch: The Heavy

Thursday, May 20 at Memorial Union ??

So since all I can really think about lately is my trip to the great NorthWest for Sasquatch, I decided to post some bands that I haven't heard of before but after listening to them I really enjoyed what I heard.  First up is British band, The Heavy.  While looking them up, I noticed that they say on their Myspace page that they are coming to the Memorial Union on May 20th.  Really?   I wonder why WUD didn't have this up on their site?  If this band is coming here, they need to publicize it tremendously so that they get the audience they deserve.   
The Heavy have been compared to James Brown and Curtis Mayfield with the style of their music and the similarities in vocals from Kelvin Swaby.  My feeling is they definitely are taking lessons from older R&B beats and sounds and Kelvin's voice definitely has a great blues sound to it.  If they are coming to the Union, I would hope the terrace will be as packed as it was for Janelle Monae, because these guys really are amazing.  And for Christ's sake they are coming from Britian.  That ain't cheap.  Check out some of their tunes here.

The House that Dirt Built (2009)

Sixteen (video)
How You Like Me Now? (video)

MC Frontalot

Monday May 17th at High Noon

I can't believe I forgot to mention MC Frontalot in my blog.  I'm sure Neil and Hannah would have been slightly upset that I didn't mention this very talented and very dorky rapper who is coming to the High Noon Saloon next week.  

MC Frontalot is one of the founders of a sub genre of rapping called Nerdcore.  MC Frontalot cointed the term in 2000.  It's pretty much just how it sounds, with rappers breaking it down on such hot topics as Star Wars, mathematical equations, shyness and isolation, and all that is reveled in the geek society.  I remember that a precursor to the Forward Music Festival two years ago, there was a huge group of Nerdcore rappers performing at the Cardinal.  And for me being someone who doesn't necessarily like rap, I really enjoyed myself.  I guess if you rap about more innocuous stuff like your love for Star Trek and how electronic media is overated then I guess I will like you.  So if you like rap, computers and or Science Fiction, then you should head out and see this Maestro at work.

Oh, and you can get a lot of free MP 3's on his website if you want to check him out before going out. 

Some Rhymes from MC Frontalot.  

Goth Girls 

I Hate Your Blog

CocoRosie

Saturday June 19 at Barrymore Theater

I actually just discovered CocoRosie after perusing a large mixtape that someone posted online.  The voices of these two sisters are really enchanting and unique.  Their songs have a mystical, exotic feel to them that both lulls the listener at the same time mesmerizes them.  I didn't know that they were famous enough to be at the Barrymore, but maybe that is just because I just heard of them.  Check out some of their songs below.

Beautiful Boyz 


Grey Oceans (2010)

Lemonade 

Smokey Taboo 

Yeasayer and Sleigh Bells at Majestic April 28

Yeasayer played to sold out show at the Majestic, and other then the extremely expensive drinks ($3 for water, come on) the show was great.  Openers were Sleigh bells who I thought had everything down except their stage show.  Sleigh Bells are so similar to Crystal Castles, that throughout the show I kept wanting them to turn on a fog machine and have crazy strobe lights flashing just to remind me of the Crystal Castles show I was at.  But just having her up on stage screaming and him bopping his guitar up and down seem to take away from the craziness and punk feeling of their songs. 

The crowd really loved her though and kept moshing towards her as she sauntered from one end of the stage to the other.  What made their songs more then anything was the bass beats that were laid down behind the guitar and her vocals.  Wow.  Those beats were fierce!!  Definitely wish I had earphones and was pressed against the speakers for them.   One big disappointment though was that they didn't seem to have any CD's for sale and didn't have anyone selling their stuff throughout the whole show.  Boo.  But I definitely recommend acquiring their music online if you can.

Yeasayer came on and the crowd was ready to start dancing.  This is the third time seeing them and I can definitely say they were right on with their songs and their stage presence.  And I got to see my lover who I think his name is Anand Wilder.  Correct me if I'm wrong though.

This guy isn't just beautiful, he has the best voice out of everyone in the band.  Swoon. 

I really like that this band now has two great albums behind them because I can only think of maybe one or two songs that I didn't like during this whole show.   But they played all their single hits and the crowd loved every moment of it.  Especially the guy beside us who kept screaming throughout the entire show while doing some kind of finger puppetry to every lyric within their songs.  Kind of adorable.  Kind of annoying.  We got a laugh out of it.  

And to top off the night, we got to drink with our new pal Bruce, who if you go see a show at the Majestic, you should look for sitting outside of Woof's across the street.  Bruce is great fun! 

Jonsi at Pabst April 26

Hands down, I think this is going to be the best show I see all year.  I believe I can say that even though I'm planning on going to Sasquatch this year, which will be exciting in itself.  But seeing Jonsi's concert at the Pabst was one of the most visual and aural experiences I've ever been a part of.  And you did feel like you were a part of the show by the end. 

Before I get to the main act, I definitely have to mention the opener.  It takes a lot for a man and a guitar to go up on stage and entertain me.  I've seen acts similar to this and most people know that this guy either has to be an amazing guitar player or has to have an interesting and amazing voice.  Luckily for us, both of these applied to Death Vessel.  Unfortunately, I don't think the songs on his myspace capture how amazing this guy was.  His falsetto voice and his choice in words just complimented each other so well.  Both Tree and I were swooning to this guy by the end.

Now on to Jonsi.  First off, there was this giant "cloth" hanging at the back of the stage.  I had read up on this show and I know that he said there was this huge theatrical component to the show that they were having to lug behind them when they were touring the US.  So I was a little disappointed when all I saw was this huge cloth hanging from the back of the stage.  But that changed right from the first song.  The sheet became a backdrop for the beginning of Jonsi's nature motif that would carry on throughout his show. Here's a pic from the first song. 

The image of the cave drawings "burned" up by the second or third song and all that was left was this giant burned out structure.  It's hard to describe it and I wish I had a better picture of it, but it was huge and there as a lot of other elements a part of it that created this multi-texture look.  Through out the show, different drawings and art danced across this backdrop, from ants scurrying across dragging bits of garbage, to what looked like the whole back of the stage filling up with water, to then at the climax of the song to "burst" forth.  The coordination between his songs and this art and also just the beauty of the art itself astounded everyone that was in attendance at this show.  Again, best show I will see all year.  If you are lucky enough to have Jonsi come even remotely close to where you live, I would encourage you to pay the $30 or so to see him.  Amazing.

Janelle Monae in Concert

 

I didn't know how the turnout for this show would be.  The air was chill.  There was more then a slight hint of moisture in the air. As far as I know, I was sure the show was going to be moved inside.  And that would have been awful.  To see a crowded show inside the Rathskellar is unbearable not to mention uncomfortable.  In one sense, I was glad then to see them doing a sound check outside.  In another sense, I hope they still would get the crowd they deserved even with the weather.

I didn't have to worry for long.  Although there was no one there at 8pm, by 9pm the terrace was packed full of people.  Luckily I found myself in the gay friendly section which apparently for those newbies to the terrace is at the left corner of the stage.  Who knew?  I was glad that a large number of my friends were also excited to see this Diva in action.  Including these very attractive men. 

The show opened up with a beatbox guy from Minneapolis who I think was called Heatboxx(?) which at first glanced looked like a skinny version of Fred Durst.  I wasn't really that interested.  He was definitely no Janelle Monae.  But when he started looping his beatboxing and rapping over the top, I knew this guy was a helluva lot better then Mr. Durst.  I couldn't get any good pictures of him, but I can say there were a number of songs that he really impressed me with especially since the only "musical accompaniment"  behind his rapping was his own beatboxing.  It also gave me fond memories of TuNe-YaRdS when she played here.

And then she came.  Or at least I was pretty sure it was Janelle Monae even though they came out wearing these devil worshipping cloaks.  Not that I know exactly what kind of cloaks devil worshippers wear.

  But it wasn't long before the cloaks were off.   She asked the audience if they were ready for the Archandroid Experience (the name of her newest and as of yet, not released album).  With the approval of the audience, She began to sing quite a few songs that were off her new album.  I can say right now, it's definitely an album you don't want to miss.  The songs were amazing.  Some songs are just as dancy and fun as the ones off of her debut album, Metropolis.  Others she slowed down, cooing to the audience with that amazing voice of hers.  She did sing a few songs from her first album, Sincerely Jane, Violet Moons...etc.  And these of course made the audience go crazy though by going crazy just means a few people jumped up and down and danced.  I mean come on, college students can't blow their cool with too much craziness.

By the end, although the temperature was cold outside, I was definitely hot and sweating.  I also couldn't hear anything since we were right up against the speakers.  But I had a great time and I would love to see this woman again if she comes back to Wisconsin.