Our own Morning Benders return home on March 30th to headline the Independent, and we have a pair of tickets + the Limited Edition Promises 7″ to give away; leave us a comment or @tweet us and I’ll pick a winner at random the week before the show. Phoenix, Arizona’s Miniature Tigers supports.
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[mp3] The Morning Benders – Excuses from Big Echo (2010)
Believe it or not, this was my first Noise Pop Festival. Last year I worked through the whole thing and wasn’t really too happy about that. Weird hours will do that to you. Anyways, I kicked off my experience with the pre-party at the California Academy of Science. Not a huge fan of The Frail but a huge fan of science, so I got to geek out with some friends about both music and the Late Cretaceous period.
Har Mar Superstar
Tuesday, February 23rd: It was really neat meeting some fellow SF music bloggers as well as members of the Noise Pop crew who have been wicked supportive and professional throughout the whole festival. After taking advantage of the free drinks at the bar that night, I enjoyed a bizarre and entertaining set by Har Mar Superstar. All Ron Jeremy comparisons aside, he’s got a good ear for pop music. Really fun stuff. I skipped Yoko Ono because, let’s be honest, Lost was on. Pictures here.
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[mp3] Har Mar Superstar – Tall Boy from Dark Touches (2009)
Foreign Born
Wednesday, February 24th: While it was kind of hard to decide with either Gorilla vs Bear’s Harlem and Best Coast show or Foreign Born, all I had to do is look back at my Best of 09 list and figured Foreign Born was the wisest choice. Opening the night was the East Bay’s The Splinters and they were actually really charming and enjoyable. Good on-stage chemistry. Free Energy are getting a fair share of hype lately but I’d like to think that’s due to their live performances. They played like a low key punk band and seemed pretty happy to be there. The Fresh & Onlys just wasn’t my kind of music. Plain and simple. They have this psych-garage sound that, out of nowhere, switched to goth for one song. Foreign Born on the other hand, was amazing and sounded amazing. Their remarkable African high-life guitars mixed with the singer Matt Popieluch’s carefree vocals got everyone moving. Particularly the bizarrely dressed hippies in the front row. It was a short set, but most of the show consisted of their latest (and best as far as I’m concerned) album, Person To Person. It was a good time and I was convinced I made a wise choice. Pictures here.
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Thursday, February 25th: My day! I got the distinct honor to co-present the Far show at the Bottom of the Hill. This was particularly special due to the fact that Far is one of my favorite bands of all time. I wasn’t sure about the turnout due to the Dodos doing a set with the Magik*Magik Orchestra, but I was pleasantly surprised that the show sold out that night. The Trophy Fire kicked it off with their middle-ground rock music. Their style is nothing new or surprising, but a nice addition to the line-up nonetheless. Picture Atlantic really brought their game that night with a buttload of energy. You can tune your ear to the band’s obvious pop but they still keep the music edgy and slightly experimental which keeps the experience lively and unpredictable. Stomacher has been often compared to Muse and even (gulp) Radiohead, but I think the band is less grandeur and more modest than that. Stomacher creates a mesmerizing atmosphere (albeit somewhat dark) that you can ‘immerse’ yourself into from beginning to end. There is much potential in this band and hope to see more from this talented group. Now when it comes to Far shows, particularly these recent reunion shows they’re doing, the audience comprises of mid-late 20 year olds with definite knowledge of Sunny Day Real Estate, Promise Ring, and Texas is the Reason. More importantly, they are willing to let loose and just rock the fuck out. For the very beginning of the show, almost everybody (including this guy) was singing along to every word and hyped up on the sheer energy of Jonah’s impressive stage presence. No new material was played, but the show catered to the audience Far knows and loves. I can safely say that we all knew that and appreciated hearing our favorites from Water & Solutions and Tin Cans. After the show I heard so many people saying, “I felt like I was 18, it was like 1998 all over again.” I think that was Far’s intent and they displayed it perfectly. Pictures here.
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Friday, February 26th: I skipped the happy hour shows because I just gotten back from work and, well, I needed to take a nap. I made it over to Slim’s to catch our friends The Limousines and see Butterfly Bones wrap up their glossy and danceable set. The Limousines, as I’ve said, are maturing and becoming a tighter and more entertaining act. After The Limos, I tried to catch Atlas Sound…but no more room in the venue. Bummer. So then I remembered that Four Tet was at The Independent. I high tailed it over to Divisidaro and just made it for his first song. Review and pictures here.
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[mp3] Butterfly Bones – xoxo from Pretty Feelings (2009)
Thao Nguyen / Mirah
Saturday, February 27th: I am a huge Mark Kozelek fan. So imagine my face when I was told I couldn’t enter with my photo pass because Mr. Kozelek doesn’t want photographers at his show. Damn it! I had found an awesome parking spot too! So I shuffled back to the car and tried to decide on either !!! or Mirah. I figured that I had my fair share of dance rock last night, so it’s time to bring at down a notch and see a singer-songwriter. I am so glad I made that choice. Every performer displayed an ethereal and moving performance. Witnessing Mirah and Thao (who remains one of my favorite people to photograph) rock out together was as unique and entertaining as you’d imagine. A very very good night. Review and pictures here.
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[mp3] Thao Nguyen – Tallymarks from Like The Linen (2005)
Note: I skipped Sunday’s and Monday’s festivities due to some work I had to do and physical exhaustion. From what I hear, Edward Sharpe brought it that night. If it was half as good as his Treasure Island performance, I imagine it was another magical experience.
Conclusion: This was a nice training session for this month’s SXSW. I realized that sometimes you can’t make every show you want to and when you make a decision, it’s usually a pretty good one. Noise Pop selects some of the best in the current music scene and whatever you decide on, you’re guaranteed to enjoy yourself. Well done Noise Pop. See you next year.
After checking out The Limousines at Slim’s, I got in my car tried to hightail to The Independent to check out Four Tet. Once I found a decent parking spot, I literally just made it for his performance. The show is what you’d expect, Kieran Hebden deep in concentration mode, his music cranked, and the crowd either absorbing the sound or letting loose and dancing like an idiot. The new stuff translates well live and every click and clack was riding on a meticulously crafted and free flowing wave of digital sound. Also, if you haven’t already, pick up There Is Love In You (2010) when possible. It is quite good.
Saul Williams with his album, The Inevitable Rise & Liberation of Niggy Tardust, Saul showed that he truly is a genuine and unique ‘hip-hop’ artist. Featuring a cover of U2’sSunday Bloody Sunday, the album produced by Trent Reznor/NIN is a clash of industrial clangs and free flowing hip-hop with a dash of Prince. First establishing himself as an influential poet, and then as an award-winning screenwriter/actor, Saul Williams then went on to establish himself as an MC. His approach to MCing, though, wasn’t exactly in line with the traditional school of hip-hop. His rhymes weren’t really rhymes but rather his poetry delivered in a frenzied spoken word manner that was more rhythmic than alliterate. While the now famous List of Demands, featured in the massive Nike ‘My Better’ TV campaign may have made a few question his view on consumerism and conformity, the song is kind of like a sneak attack to those willing to hear his message.
Saul Williams– Sunday Bloody Sunday (U2 Cover)from The Inevitable Rise and Liberation of Niggy Tardust (2007)
Earl Greyhound
Earl Greyhound’s raw, emotive rock has earned the group high praises from both critics and fellow musicians alike. It’s clear that Earl Greyhound make rock and roll with a modern edge. Today, these three musical renegades spark an explosion, but with verbose riffs, thought provoking vocals and a smooth yet raucous groove. If this doesn’t make you want to pick up a Les Paul, you have no soul.
American Fangs
Houston’s own American Fangs is taking the pop-punk genre out of its box and is expanding it to much needed levels. The opening song off their own self-titled EP, Le Kick is just a taste of what’s to come with this band. Singer Gabriel “Gus” Cavazos, guitarists Shelby Hohl and Kenyon Puntenny, bassist Kyle Shimek, and drummer Micah Miller take their Pixies inspired tunes and combine it with Black Flag-like punk and Southern-style hip-hop. Hard to imagine? That’s the point.
American Fangs– Le Kickfrom American Fangs(2009)
Afro Punk presents Saul Williams with Earl Greyhound :: American Fangs
at The Independent
Novemeber 10th, 2009
Doors 7:30 PM | Show 8 PM
Tickets $18 adv | $20 door
Warming up to promote his next album, Fall In, due out in January, and an EP, Honeybees Falling, scheduled for release next month, Sean Hayes visits The Independent again to share his folkish coastal drive music tonight. Over the years his music has gone from stripped down lo-fi acoustic recordings [1999's A Thousand Tiny Pieces and 2002's Lunar Lust] to traveling vagabond blues-folk [2003's unforgettable Alabama Chicken] to a groovy and fuller freak-folk sound [2006's Big Black Hole and Little Baby Star and 2007's Flowering Spade] and now with Fall In he follows the trend of his past two albums with a more upbeat and lovable feel. I highly recommend witnessing this man live in all his glory.
Kata Rokkar is a place where you can download free mp3 from artists and bands that I currently love and listen to. They are only for sampling purposes and to influence you to go out and support these artists by purchasing their records and going to their concerts. If you are a record company or an artist that is displeased with a song being displayed, feel free to contact me and I will remove it ASAP. Thank you and enjoy!
