Shirley Manson Takes The Piss

I'm usually not a big sci-fi fan, but last spring I got hooked on Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles. I think it was because of one if not all of the following reasons:

1. Due to the writers strike, none of my other favorite shows were on.
2. Nostalgia from watching the original movie as a kid.
3. Summer Glau is ridiculously hot.

Season two started a couple of weeks ago, and one of the new characters they've introduced is a Terminator played by Shirley Manson. And not just any Terminator, one of those cool Robert Patrick style shapeshifting ones. Granted, the visual isn't nearly as awesome as it was in 1991 when the second movie first came out, but you gotta admit that having one of the 90s finest frontwomen play a urinal is kinda cool. Anyway, this seemed like a good excuse to post a monday morning b-side from Garbage. This song was released in 1996 on the Only Happy When It Rains single.

Garbage - "Girl Don't Come" (mp3)

The Titans Blow It Out

So there I am, sitting in the the stands at LP Field in the first quarter, watching the Titans take an early lead over the Viking en route to starting the season 4-0 for the first time in franchise history. And during a timeout, this song comes barrelling out of the giant endzone speakers...

The Features - "Blow It Out" (mp3) from Exhibit A

This was unbelievably cool. Not just because a local band was getting played at a NFL game, but because the music at LP Field is usually pretty... well, pedestrian. It's generally a steady diet of hip hop, classic rock and country, and if you haven't heard it on mainstream radio, you're not going to hear it in the stands. So to hear non-country locals getting some love was kind of awesome.

Of course, this feel good musical moment was almost erased from my memory during the second half when the fans chose Big & Rich's idiotic "Coming To Your City" over Van Halen's "Jump" as the AT&T Ringtone of the Game. Seriously Nashville?

The Return of Nashville Jumps

By far my favorite show on WRVU is Pete Wilson's Nashville Jumps. It's been a staple of my morning drives for ten years now, and when he took this past summer off, my Friday commute was sorely lacking. The very first time I stumbled onto his show in the fall of 1998, I heard the studio version this song, and I've been hooked ever since (this live take is twice as long, and twice as funny).

Louis Prima & Sam Butera - "Next Time (Live at Harrah's)" mp3 from The Capitol Recordings

Pete describes the music on his show as "jump blues, jumping jive, classic R&B, boogie woogie, jazz, and early, unbleached rock and roll." I would more succinctly describe it as ridiculously fun. The songs are often laced with innuendo and decidedly un-PC humor. You might hear Bull Moose Jackson inviting you to pull out his "bit ten inch.... record," or Margie Day asking "take out your false teeth daddy, momma wants to scratch your gums." You'll definitely hear tales of infidelity, drunken nights, and probably a little domestic violence for good measure. You're guaranteed to get songs from Louis Jordan and Wynonie Harris, and you just might catch something from Nat King Cole or Lady Ella as well.

After taking the summer off to attend to family matters, Pete is back on the air in his usual spot on Friday mornings from 8 til 10 am. You really won't find a better way to kick off the last day of the work week, so tune in to 91.1 FM if you live in Nashville, or listen live online at wrvu.org. If you can listen to this stuff without cracking a huge smile, you're made of stronger stuff than I am.

Wynonie Harris - "Bloodshot Eyes" (mp3) from Lovin' Machine

For more information on the show, check out the Nashville Jumps blog. You can also listen to the streaming archive of last week's show here, or check out past playlists.

Next Big Nashville 08 Friday Recap

Friday night's Next Big Nashville festivities got started with free booze and killer views at the pre-show reception at ICON. After two hours spent comparing notes with bloggers and band members, and getting an early start on the evening's drinking, it was definitely a good night to take advantage of the free shuttle service. I'm happy to report that they only missed on their "every 15 minutes" promise once. It's definitely the best way to get around at NBN, especially since Metro's finest were seen out in full force throughout the weekend.

Night two featured quite a bit of club hopping, but again focused primarily on dodging cars walking across Elliston. Reid & Wright were the first act of the evening, kicking off the Infinity Cat showcase with their experimental noise. I always learned if you can't say anything nice, don't say anything. So... later in the evening Cake Bake Betty took the stage at Exit/In for an engaging set of skewed piano pop.

Across the street at The End, the Birmingham based Skybucket Records were showcasing their label's rootsy Southern pop. Duquette Johnston turned in a solid set of alt-country, while Through The Sparks leaned more towards John Lennon's post-Beatles output. But of the three bands on the bill that I saw, the one who stole the show was the Dexateens, whose "Alabama Rock 'N Roll" sounded something like if Lynyrd Skynrd had jumped in a time machine and became an indie rock band instead of classic rock staples. Their three guitar attack was catchy as hell and ridiculously fun.

In between the Elliston club hopping, I caught the shuttle down to 12th & Porter where I was supposed to meet a friend. He never showed, but I did catch Ferraby Lionheart's solo acoustic set. While his indie folk tunes were great, it was definitely the kind of thing I'd probably have enjoyed more during this week's Americana Music Association festival. It was just a bit too mellow to be stuck in the middle of a rock showcase.

As the clock turned towards midnight, it was time to head down to the Cannery for Superdrag's headlining set. Starting early, the guys were on fire as they tore through a set packed with old favorites and a couple of new jams. After an all too brief forty-five minutes, they left the crowd desperately chanting for an encore, but all they got for their efforts was the cocktail jazz on the PA turned up louder and louder.

When I got to the afterparty at City Hall, The Dynamites were already well into their set. The band was tight as hell, laying down fat funky grooves and slower soul jams. Frontman Charles Walker was working the crowd like the veteran soulman he is, equal parts smooth crooner and R&B shouter. But despite the sizable crowd getting down in front of the stage, the room had kind of a weird vibe. There was a whole lot of weary mingling going on in the back as well, probably attributable to the fact that most of the crowd had been club hopping for at least six hours at that point. It was pushing 2 a.m. when I finally called it a night, and the band was still wailing into the night.

Dexateens - "What Money Means" (mp3)
Through The Sparks - "Falling Out Of Favor With The Neighbors" (mp3)

Photo of The Dynamites by Chris Wage. His NBN galleries can been seen here, here, here and here.

Next Big Nashville 08 Thursday Recap

When the schedule for Next Big Nashville came out, my first thought was how front loaded it was. It seemed that most of the bands I really liked were all playing on Thursday. This made for some tough decisions, but my goal for the weekend was to try to focus as much as possible on seeing bands that I wasn't as familiar with, or at least hadn't seen live yet. Unfortunately this meant passing up an obscenely awesome lineup at The Rutledge, but as great as the night turned out it was hard to be disappointed.

My original plan was to begin the evening by checking out some of the experimental lineup at the Anchor. Hollow Ox kicked off the evening with their trippy space rock, playing in front of a projection screen that combined with the setting in an old church made a fantastic visual companion to their sonic atmospherics. Unfortunately I only made it through one song because it was so fucking hot. Apparently the Anchor doesn't have air conditioning, and the fans they had blowing just weren't cutting it. I feel bad for the bands who were scheduled there that night, not only because the oppressive heat surely chased off any potential crowd, but also because I can't imagine having to perform in temperatures like that.

Wanting to beat a hasty retreat to somewhere with adequate AC, I headed for the Cannery, where L.A.'s Run Run Run was halfway through their set of ultra-polished alt-rock. They had a fifth member onstage running an impressive light show, although it was a bit odd seeing that kind of production in front of smallish early evening crowd.

The the bulk of my Thursday was spent shuffling back and forth between The End and Exit/In. At the former, Kindergarten Circus played their high school punk with the kind of enthusiasm that only teenagers can pull off, and Velcro Stars followed up with superb set of their infectious indie-pop ear candy. Hotpipes didn't exactly mesh with my goal of seeing bands I wasn't familiar with, since I'd seen them just five days prior. But I also didn't feel like I was cheating myself by seeing them again, because they were entirely awesome. Glossary closed out my evening on the Rock Block with an insanely great set of southern flavored rock.

I figured that I'd spend most of the evening at the Grand Palace showcase at The End, only popping over to the Exit/In to catch a couple of songs during set changes, but the bands playing the big room were all too good to play hit and run, and I ended up staying through the end of all of their sets. Paper Rival played a set of tight indie rock with lyrics that seemed to focus on big themes. The Deep Vibration might have won the award for the dumbest band name of the festival, but their music more than made up for it, coming off like Gram Parsons fronting Crazy Horse. Their set was incredibly well received, and apparently they wanted to thank the crowd by playing past their allotted set time. When turning off the lights and the PA didn't get the message across that it was time to stop, the soundman walked up front and cut the onstage power. The biggest surprise of the evening came courtesy of Skyblazer, another in a seemingly endless line of side projects from the Infinity Cat family. Comprised of members of JEFF the Brotherhood and Cake Bake Betty, their set of psychedelic jams was jaw droppingly awesome, like Black Sabbath with a chick singer. The only thing missing was a liquid light show.

It being a work night, I decided that I'd call it an early evening and started heading for home just before midnight, but at the last minute decided to pop into the 5 Spot to catch the tail end of Totally Snake. They must have started early, because I walked in just as their set was ending. But before the crowd could begin to dissipate, Party Cannon crashed the stage for an unannounced performance. Obviously more concerned with the party part of their name than actually playing music, they started spraying the crowd with silly string and tossing poppers on the stage in between short bursts of what I guess they call songs. The crowd was eating it up until someone lit up and entire handfull of sparklers which filled the club with smoke and sent most of the crowd scrambling outside gasping for air. And it was on that note that I called it a night.

Glossary - "Little Caney" (mp3)
Velcro Stars - "Cascade" (mp3)
Hollow Ox - "Badminton In December" (mp3)

Photo of Glossary by Lance Conzett. His Next Big Nashville gallery can be seen here.

Next Big Nashville 2008 Previews

Last night marked the opening festivities of Next Big Nashville, the local rock scene's third annual celebration of great music and even greater alcohol consumption. Last year's festival was one of the highlights of my year, and this year promises to equally great. With some 250 artists playing over five nights at sixteen different venues, trying to decide who to see can be a bit overwhelming. So to help you out, here are my recommendations. I can personally attest that each one of this acts put on a great live show, and I'm happy to give them the Page 300 Seal of Approval (apologies in advance for being very brief and recycling old comments, but I've got a lot of ground to cover).

Without a doubt, the best bill of the festival takes place on Thursday at The Rutledge. If you can only make one showcase this week, this is the one to catch.

Altered Statesman - Psychedelic soul with lyrics like beat poetry.
Thursday at The Rutledge, 8:45 pm

Altered Statesman - "Lightning Rod" (mp3)

Eastern Block - I'd never heard of these guys before I saw them open for Ladyhawk earlier this year, and I was absolutely blown away. Kinda like an American version of Bloc Party.
Thursday at The Rutledge, 9:30 pm

And The Relatives - Garage rock that will appeal to the Pixies fan in everyone.
Thursday at The Rutledge, 10:15 pm

All We Seabees - If you've been reading this blog for the past week, you already know how much I love these guys. With the release of MKUltra, they've expanded on their folk rock roots to simply become of Nashville's best bands.
Thursday at The Rutledge, 11 pm

All We Seabees - "Howard" (mp3)

Hannah Barbarians and Eureka Gold round out this bill. But as absolutely fabulous as that lineup is, there are plenty of other plenty of other great options worthy of checking out, especially on Thursday. The best of the rest...

Amanda Shires - Chances are you'll be smitten with this alt-country chanteuse the minute she steps on stage. And after you've heard her singing and fiddling, you'll probably be ready to propose. More than just a pretty face, she represents everything thats great about country music.
Thursday at 3rd & Lindsley, 9:30 pm

The Pink Spiders - Their first NBN appearance was infamous for their showdown with the production crew, and last year a puke break was a highlight of their set. At this point they are more notorious for their antics and lineup changes than their music, but whatever happens it's sure to be entertaining.
Thursday at Cannery Ballroom, 10:30 pm

Lylas - With Halloween just around the corner, their brand of macabre/romantic folk pop is just what you need to put you in the proper frame of mind.
Thursday Douglas Corner, 11 pm

Hollow Ox - Ambient instrumental soundscapes perfect for getting your head lost in.
Thursday at The Anchor, 8 pm

Hollow Ox - "The Fields Are Cold" (mp3)

Timbre - Bridging the gap between classical and indie, this band of siblings is chamber pop in the truest sense of the word. Imagine Sigur Ros if they only used orchestral instruments.
Thursday at The Anchor, 9:30 pm

Hotpipes - I'm not sure there is a better band in town right now. Future Bolt easily wins my vote for the best local release of the year.
Thursday at The End, 10:15 pm

The Nobility - If you think pop music started sucking around once we flipped the calendar into the 1970s, these retro tunesmiths will appeal to your longing for the golden days.
Friday at The 5 Spot, 11 pm

The Nobility - "Halleluiah Chorus" (mp3)

Jennifer Nicely - Imagine a young Billie Holiday fronting Chris Isaak's Silvertones.
Friday at The Basement, 8 pm

Cortney Tidwell - Based on the new material she's been performing at recent shows, her next album will take her ethereal pop in a much rockier direction, but it's still absolutely gorgeous.
Friday at Cannery Ballroom, 8:45 pm

Cortney Tidwell - "Missing Link" (mp3)

Superdrag - What needs to be said about these guys at this point? Probably Tennessee's finest rock band.
Friday at Cannery Ballroom, 12:15 am

The Howlies - Chances are this will be the most ridiculously fun set of the week. They wrap up everything that's great about rock and roll in quick three minute bursts.
Saturday at Exit/In, 10:30 pm

Caitlin Rose - If you like country songstresses old school with a healthy dose of wit, this will be right up your alley.
Saturday at The Basement, 9:30 pm

Plex Plex - On record, they are a lot closer to their early 80's electronic influences, but live they come off like Karen O fronting The Killers.
Saturday at The Rutledge, 11:45 pm

Check out the complete schedule here, and head out secure in the knowledge that wherever you end up going over the next four days, you're guaranteed to discover some amazing local and regional talent.

MKUltra

All We Seabees - MKUltra

It's always a good feeling when you introduce a friend to a band, and they enjoy their show so much that they go home with a CD. It's probably akin to the way a political fundraiser feels when they convince someone to pony up a donation to their candidate... except in this case the person actually gets something for their money other than a bunch of promises. The latest case of my musical tastemaking was Saturday night, when All We Seabees celebrated the release of their third album at The Basement.

All We Seabees have been one of the most promising bands on the local scene since their arrival from Detroit two years ago. Though their previous two albums have been fantastic in their own right, with MKUltra they've managed to match the eclectic arrangements that have been a hallmark of their live shows. Their folk rock roots are still very much evident, but they seem to be taking a Wilco like approach and have considerably weirded things up. In addition to an expanded sonic palate, they've also dipped their toes into odd time signatures... not so much that you're going to mistake them for prog rock, but definitely enough to keep you guessing if you try to dance to it. The experimental flourishes of "Hoi Polloi" would feel right at home on any of Radiohead's last couple of albums, and "Alt. Country" rocks harder and quirkier than anything the Seabees have previously done. Despite the bold new window dressings, the lyrics still have the same narrative soul worthy of a poet laureate. With the creative heights they've achieved on MKUltra, perhaps from here on out they'd be best described as folk-art-rock.

All We Seabees - "Howard" (mp3)
All We Seabees - "Leather Leashes" (mp3)

All We Seabees perform this Thursday, September 11 at The Rutledge at 11 pm as part of Next Big Nashville.

Turn Of The Century Revisited

A few years ago (eight to be exact), long before the advent of music blogs, I put together a website to go along with my annual Christmas card. I guess it was like the online version of a Christmas letter, except that it centered almost entirely around music. As part of it, I put together a soundtrack for the year, which I explained as such...

Sometime this spring, I sent out an e-mail to some pallies having everyone make a soundtrack for their lives. The rules were pick 12 songs that would serve as a killer soundtrack album, should they ever make the movie of your life. It was so much fun, I thought I'd do one for this year. So here it is, in no particular order, the songs that will be forever etched in my brain as reminders of the turn of the century...

Why Does It Always Rain On Me - Travis
Accelerator - Primal Scream
Time Machines - Lexo and the Leapers
When I Fall In Love - Nat King Cole
We're Going To Miss You - James
Pumping On Your Stereo - Supergrass
To Find What's Waiting For - Sixteen Deluxe
It's My Life - Bon Jovi
In Love With A View - Mojave 3
Drive On To Me - Elliott
Sunshine - Samiam
The Bends - Radiohead

So why am I revisiting this today? Because I heard two of these songs last night. One, "Why Does It Always Rain On Me," was performed by the acoustic duo that apparently performs every Tuesday at the Flying Saucer after trivia is over. It was actually pretty cool, except that they promptly ruined any goodwill I had towards them by playing John Waite's "Missing You" right after. Bastards. This was actually my favorite song of 2000 by far (Travis I mean, not John Waite). I wrote about that on my Christmas website too, but I'm not going to repost that bit. I went through a bit of a sad bastard phase in 2000, and I'd rather not get into all that crap. It's still a great song though.

Travis - "Why Does It Always Rain On Me?" (mp3) from The Man Who

The other song I heard at Kroger when I stopped to pick up some pop on the way home. I caught quite a bit of shit from my friends for my unabashed love of this song back in the day. It wasn't even a guilty pleasure... I honest to god loved this song. And frankly I still do. I remember getting an email from my friend Joe chastising me for only liking it because it had a reference to Sinatra in the chorus. I replied that I hadn't even realized that the "Like Frankie said I did it my way" line was a reference to Ol' Blue Eyes until he brought it up (probably because "My Way" is without a doubt my least favorite Sinatra song). I'm pretty sure he threatened to never speak to me again after that. I've listened to it about twenty times while writing this, and it's easy to remember why I liked it so much... it fucking rocks. The talk box intro, the anthemic chorus, the key change at the end... it's like aural crack. You know it's probably not good for you, but you can't help yourself.

Bon Jovi - "It's My Life" (mp3) from Crush

Construimus, Batuimus

The boys (and gal) in All We Seabees have had a busy year. In February, they released their second album, Lady Alaska, and then almost immediately went to work on their third. Now just six months later, they're ready to pull back the curtain on MKultra. I'd love to tell you all about it, but the one thing the band hasn't been busy doing is delivering promised advance copies of the album. I'll forgive them though, because the two songs I have heard from the album already are fantastic (one is available below, the other can be heard on their myspace profile). They'll celebrate today with an in-store performance at Grimey's at 6 pm, and then again on Saturday, September 6 at The Basement, along with Hotpipes and Hands Off Cuba.

All We Seabees - "Leather Leashes" (mp3)

ETA - So either I didn't check my mailbox yesterday or my post and the delivery crossed paths in the space/time continuum, because the CD was in my mailbox when I got home tonight. Expect a full review shortly.