Category Archives: Music This Weekend

Maserati, Majeure, Trotter Riles at Zanzabar, Friday, November 16th

LEO Weekly ran my interview today with Coley Dennis of Maserati:

B-sides
By Joel Hunt
Give the drummer some

Maserati’s latest album, VII, is a tour-de-force of danceable rock grooves recorded in Louisville with engineer Kevin Ratterman. They play Zanzabar Friday. Guitarist Coley Dennis answered LEO’s questions.

LEO: In the nearly three years since the tragic passing of (drummer) Jerry Fuchs, what have you learned about living life?

Coley Dennis: The most important thing I’ve learned through all of that is to live every day like it could be your last, tell your friends and family you love them, and do what makes you happy, because you might not be here tomorrow.

LEO: How easily did new drummer Mike Albanese mesh into recording with Maserati?

CD: We’ve known him for over 10 years, so when we were thinking of who to ask to interpret the drum parts from the demos, he was first on the list.

LEO: How was your experience recording with Kevin Ratterman?

CD: Kevin was working out of the church where he recorded the last My Morning Jacket record. The studio was set up next to the church in the house where the priests lived. It’s a huge old house, it felt like recording a Zeppelin record.

LEO: Did Kevin’s experience as a drummer bring anything special to working with Maserati?

CD: Kevin being a drummer definitely helped a lot. Like the drum solo in “Abracadabracab.” We had the basic idea that we wanted this Cerrone/Phil Collins-style drum solo section, but we were not sure how to do it. We mentioned the idea to Kevin, and he said, “Oh, I have some Ludwig concert toms that would be perfect!” We ran the cables in the sanctuary in this huge room. Mike did a bunch of passes of the drum solo, and we said, “Kevin, you should try a take, too, dude!” His eyes lit up, and he did a couple of takes. After that, we all did takes of the drum solo. It was pretty hilarious.

You can catch them this Friday night at Zanzabar with Majeure and Trotter Riles, who are making their Louisville debut.

Black Moth Super Rainbow at Zanzabar, Thursday, November 8th

LEO Weekly ran my preview today of Thursday’s upcoming Black Moth Super Rainbow, Casket Girls, and Karass show at Zanzabar (scroll down to Thursday’s entry):

Thursday, Nov. 8
Black Moth Super Rainbow
Zanzabar
2100 S. Preston St.
zanzabarlouisville.com
$13-$15; 9 p.m.

Hailing from rural western Pennsylvania, Black Moth Super Rainbow traffic in a sort of murky, low-fi but high-tech psychedelic pop, equal parts new wave and krautrock (though sometimes not resembling either). Their fifth album, Cobra Juicy, was just released last month, and some might say it’s their most ambitiously accessible record yet. Main man Tobacco still sings enigmatic lyrics through a vocoder, but the melodies seem a bit more straightforward, almost like radio hits from an alternate universe. Much like the vintage arcade games that line Zanzabar, Black Moth Super Rainbow offer a trippingly fun look backward. With opening sets from Casket Girls and Karass; tickets are available at Astro Black and Underground Sounds. —Joel Hunt

Sic Alps and CROSS at the Kentucky Museum of Art and Craft, Friday, October 19th

LEO Weekly ran my preview today of Friday’s upcoming Sic Alps and CROSS show at the Kentucky Museum of Art and Craft (scroll down to Friday’s entry):

Friday, Oct. 19
Sic Alps
Kentucky Museum of Art and Craft
715 W. Main St.
kentuckyarts.org
$6-$8; 8 p.m.

Sic Alps have a not-unpleasant tendency to sound like scraps of an overheard conversation interrupted by a 10-car pileup. To perhaps understand the stops and starts, the utterly lo-fi, heavily fragmented style, know that frontman (and only constant) Mike Donovan drives a cab in San Francisco when he’s not touring. On their new album, the new lineup ditches noisy home recording techniques in favor of a clear, crisp style (including some string arrangements), and the result is like graduating from The Crying of Lot 49 to Gravity’s Rainbow. While former versions have been mystifying, enjoyable and unique, this new recorded version is more cohesive, expansive and epic — without being yawnsome “epic rock.” However, expect a white-hot live performance — their set at the 2010 Cropped Out festival was one of the more blazing moments. —Joel Hunt

Not sure why mention of Lexington’s excellent CROSS was excised, but they’ll be opening the show. Their new album, Die Forever, is now available from Sophomore Lounge.

Also, you can stream Sic Alps’ new self-titled album here: http://www.spin.com/articles/hear-sic-alps-fantastic-studio-recorded-self-titled-lp.

CROPPED OUT is a WEEK AWAY!

We’ve got one week until the first day of this year’s CROPPED OUT festival, beginning next Friday, September 28th (which, coincidentally, is my birthday!), so let’s take a look at this year’s lineup, schedule, and tomfoolery. Firstly, if you haven’t seen this preview video yet, what planet are you from? Well, you better get in your saucer and get here soon! Check it out:

The entire schedule, broken down by venue, is available here: http://croppedoutmusic.com/cropped-out-2012-schedule/. Let’s take a look at each day’s offerings, shall we? Our “picks to click” are in bold:

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 28th at the TURNERS CLUB —
Turner Tavern:
SHE MIGHT BITE, MICROWAVES, THE SEDIMENT CLUB, TWIN SISTER RADIO, TV GHOST, CHAIN & THE GANG
Scully Alley: DISCO DOOM, GANGLY YOUTH, BUCK GOOTER, LANTERN, EUGENE CHADBOURNE
Phreedom Hall: THE RITCHIE WHITE ORCHESTRA, JANDEK, STREET GNAR, SLUG GUTS

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 29th at the TURNERS CLUB —
Turner Tavern:
BINARY MARKETING SHOW, CAVE BEARS, GRAY/ZERANG DUO, COOL MEMORIES, SHAVED WOMEN, DAVID LIEBE HART, R. STEVIE MOORE
Scully Alley: WET, KARK, GLOBSTERS, WHITE WALLS, NEW MOTHER NATURE, GUERILLA TOSS, NEIL HAMBURGER
Phreedom Hall: BLACK KASPAR, RAW THUG, CRYS, PC WORSHIP, MERCHANDISE, LIL B
Spooky Beach: ASHCAN ORCHESTRA

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 29th at the WORKHORSE BALLROOM —
PAPA M, WOODEN WAND, JOZEF van WISSEM

Wait, you want more? Well, we’ve got more for ya! How about a DOWNLOADABLE MIX of lots of this year’s CROPPED OUT performers, put together by CROPPED OUT homie James Ardery? Sound good? Well here it is! And here’s the tracklist:

1. Jozef van Wissem, “Lux Divinitatis”
2. PC Worship, “Tides”
3. Wooden Wand, “Servant to Blues”
4. CRYS, “Pass on the Third”
5. Shaved Women, “Circles”
6. Eugene Chadbourne, “Wine Me Up”
7. Globsters, “Roll You Up and Smoke You”
8. White Walls, “The Milk of a Lonely Man”
9. Microwaves, “Hammerspace”
10. Lil B, “Still Cookin'”
11. Guerilla Toss, “Breeding Snakes 4 Variety”
12. Buck Gooter, “Consider the Grackles”
13. Merchandise, “Time”
14. Wet, “Wetter than Wet Pt. 2: Pink Pearl”
15. Gangly Youth, “Jangly Youth”
16. The Ritchie White Orchestra, “Matt Says 2”
17. Chain & The Gang, “If Only I Had Your Brain”
18. R. Stevie Moore, “Schoolgirl”
19. Lantern, “Dreammine”
20. The Phantom Family Halo, “Black and White Magic”

It’ll only be up for a limited time, so grab it like it’s hot. Yeah. And enjoy.

Of course, a wealth of information, including tickets, is available at www.croppedoutmusic.com. Don’t miss what promises to be an awesome weekend! And we’ll see you there, by some bonfire, tellin’ jokes or something…

UPDATE, 9/27/2012: CROPPED OUT IS A DAY AWAY!

Some lineup changes to note: DAHM is unfortunately sick, so he will be missing this year’s CROPPED OUT. Get well, Dahm!

In his place are not one but two doozies: 90’s power-violence pioneers SUPPRESSION (from Roanoke, VA) and FAT HISTORY MONTH (from Boston, MA; on Sophomore Lounge).

Lots of food trucks and vendors and whatnot will be there too, so don’t forget the tomfoolery!

São Paulo Underground Tomorrow at Kentucky Museum of Art and Craft

LEO Weekly ran my preview today of tomorrow’s upcoming São Paulo Underground concert at the Kentucky Museum of Art and Craft (scroll down to Thursday’s entry):

Thursday, Sept. 13
São Paulo Underground
Kentucky Museum of Art and Craft
715 W. Main St.
kentuckyarts.org
$5-$10, 8:30 p.m.

Living in Chicago in the 1990s, it was nearly impossible to miss trumpeter/cornetist Rob Mazurek’s many projects. Whether he was gigging with Tortoise, workshopping at the Green Mill, or playing with drummer Chad Taylor in Chicago Underground Duo, Mazurek’s signature style (reminiscent of Dark Magus-era Miles Davis) was inescapable. After adding electronics to the mix, Mazurek’s sound got even bolder, charting a new course that wasn’t quite jazz in the traditional sense but was exciting in its boundary-crossing openness. After moving to Brazil, he started São Paulo Underground with Mauricio Takara (drums, percussion, cavaquinho, electronics), then enlisted Guilherme Granado (keyboards, electronics, samplers) and Richard Ribeiro (drums). The result is a smoothly rendered Brazilian/American melodic hybrid, held together by a fluid rhythmic sensibility. This rare performance — part of KMAC’s “Storytelling As Craft” exhibit — should not be missed. —Joel Hunt

I actually will miss the concert, due to work. Don’t be as unlucky as me. Read more about São Paulo Underground, and listen to a killer track, here: http://www.cuneiformrecords.com/bandshtml/saopaulo.html.

PUJOL, ANIMAL CITY, and MOTE at ZANZABAR, Friday, June 29th

Cropped Out and The Other Side of Life are proud to present:

PUJOL (from Nashville, on Saddle Creek/Infinity Cat/Third Man, etc.)
ANIMAL CITY (from Chicago, on Sophomore Lounge)
MOTE (from Louisville)

Friday, June 29th
at ZANZABAR
2100 S. Preston
9 PM doors, $5, 21-and-over

PUJOL’s new album United States of Being was released on June 5th.  PUJOL formed in 2009 as a last ditch effort to appease the Sarlacc Pit of Life with adeptly crafted songs based firmly in meaningful lyrical content. It’s these motives and songs that have taken PUJOL from the basements of Middle Tennessee to stages across the country and have garnered notice from more than just those with their ear to the ground. Following a plethora of singles and cassettes, PUJOL finally has an official debut full-length ready for unveiling. United States of Being continues on with PUJOL’s doctrine of trying hard everyday and ventures lyrically to a place that most contemporaries fail to reach. Addressing the current status of twenty-somethings in America’s present and capturing their shared dispositions, the album throws the brakes on “catharsis,” and begs the listener to decide for themselves how to answer the robot’s last question, “What is love?” With riff-oriented guitar playing reminiscent of greats like The Replacements and Beetlejuice-esque earworms, PUJOL now sits atop the fringes of the rock and roll and DIY vernacular.

ANIMAL CITY is finally a full band. After adding two of the funniest Jewish cousins that the music world has had to deal with, the longtime two-piece is an upbeat and funky version of itself, without ever abandoning its long-loved, lo-fi aesthetic. New adaptations of older songs make the old songs seem new and the new songs sound newer (because they are newer, duh). Transcending film, music, and social-chameleonism, the prolific four-piece is starting a creative parade on the streets of ANIMAL CITY. Won’t you join them?

MOTE are a rather mysterious, relatively new, totally rockin’ new band from Louisville. What more do you need to know?

CHECK IT OUT: Our friends at Backseat Sandbar are giving away tickets + merch for the show, but ya gotta get in by tomorrow, June 27th! Click here for details: http://backseatsandbar.com/2012/06/25/win-tix-media-bundle-pujol-animal-city-mote-zanzabar-629/.

And of course, here’s the Facebook invite: http://www.facebook.com/events/212685365519622.

To join our email list, send an email to hstencil@gmail.com. You can also join our Facebook group at http://www.facebook.com/groups/232825523444477/.

Some Good Shows This Week

Tonight Vice-subsidized living legends PIERCED ARROWS play Headliners, with OLD BABY and DON’T (who have some sort of WIPERS connection). PIERCED ARROWS consist, of course, of Fred and Toody Cole from the amazing DEAD MOON, who we never got to see because they never played Louisville back in the day. Let’s hope tonight makes up for that. 8 PM doors, 18+, $10.

On Saturday, SONIC YOUTH‘s LEE RANALDO plays Zanzabar with his new band, which also features SY‘s drummer Steve Shelley as well as guitar slinger Alan Licht (one of our favorites). Opening is another favorite of ours, the ever-quotable WOODEN WAND. James Toth is a certifiable genius, or at least he’s married to one. Some other band called SEA HERO plays too. 9 PM, 21-and-over, $16 advance tickets (here), or $18 day of show.

Lots of Shows This Weekend!

So we’re gonna tell you about a few things going on in Louisville over the next few days that are worth your attention. First, on Saturday night at Harley’s Main Street Tavern, Michigan’s Child Bite performs with locals Opposable Thumbs and Friends & Relatives. Here’s the flier:

Harley’s is located at 122 W. Main between 1st and 2nd Streets. Music gets underway around 10 PM and costs five bucks.

On Sunday our favorites PARLOUR play at the Chestnut House (714 East Chestnut Street, between Clay and Shelby) with Dischord recording artists Edie Sedgwick, Julie of the Wolves (a new band consisting of members of Venus Trap, Second Story Man, Minnow, The Frequent Sea, and Madame Machine) and Life at Home (Don’t know anything about them, unfortunately). Here’s another flier:

Also on Sunday at RYE (900 E. Market at the corner of Market and Campbell), Bro. Stephen plays with Joan Shelley. Cost for that one is $15, which includes food, and it starts at 7 PM.

Last but not least, on Monday Brooklyn noise merchants VAZ play Cahoot’s with Trophy Wives, Alcohol Party, and Neighbor. We’re seriously considering breaking our no-Cahoot’s rule for this one. Maybe we’ll see you there?

UPDATE: We knew we forgot something! There’s also another show on Sunday at Zanzabar with SOFTCHEQUE, Y/Y, and the Ecstatic Girth Survival Sextet. Or something. Info on the flier:

Rumor has it one band is TROPICAL TRASH-related, who killed it last Tuesday at Harley’s. So there’s that. Enjoy!

CHIKAMORACHI with special guests STEVE GOOD and TIM BARNES at the NACHBAR, Sunday January 29th

Black Velvet Fuckere, Cropped Out and The Other Side of Life are proud to present:

CHIKAMORACHI (Chris Corsano and Darin Gray)

with special guests:

STEVE GOOD and TIM BARNES

Sunday, January 29th
at NACHBAR
969 Charles Street (at the corner of Charles and Krieger)
First set at 9 PM, second set at 10:30 PM — 21 and over
FREE!

Since 2005 DARIN GRAY (upright bass) and CHRIS CORSANO (drums) have performed side by side as CHIKAMORACHI. Working either in a trio with saxophonist Akira Sakata or a quartet that adds Jim O’Rourke on guitar, they’ve released six albums to date, including 2011’s And That’s the Story of Jazz double CD and Live at Hungry Brain LP. The high-speed empathy that Gray and Corsano have developed over the years will be brought to the fore in 2012, when the duo strike out on their own for a tour of the Midwest. Neither member is a stranger to the possibilities afforded when the melodic, harmonic and rhythmic duties are left to an upright bass and drum duo. Gray‘s group On Fillmore with Wilco drummer Glenn Kotche has been going strong for the past ten years. For his part, Corsano has gigged and recorded as a duo with double bassists John Edwards and Matt Heyner.

Darin Gray is best known as Jim O’Rourke’s go-to bassist for nearly 20 years, as half of the duo On Fillmore, and as the bassist for Grand Ulena, Dazzling Killmen, and Brise-Glace. As an improviser he has performed and recorded with among others: Loren Connors, Masami Akita (Merzbow), Josh Abrams, Jason Roebke, Axel Dorner, Kevin Drumm, Alan Licht, Thollem Mcdonas, and Jim O’Rourke. As a session bassist he has played on recordings by Will Oldham, Cheer-Accident, Rope, Bobby Conn, Daneilson Family, Early Day Miners, Bunnygrunt, Jim O’Rourke, etc… He has toured extensively in the United States, Japan, Brazil, Canada, and Europe.

Chris Corsano began a long-standing, high-energy partnership with saxophonist Paul Flaherty in 1998. A move from western Massachusetts, USA to the UK in 2005 led Chris to develop a solo music of his own, incorporating sax reeds, violin strings, pot lids, adhesive tape and other household devices into his drum kit. 2007 and ’08 were spent as the drummer on Björk’s Volta world tour. Returning back to the U.S. in 2009, Corsano shifted focus back to his own projects, most notably a duo with Michael Flower, Rangda (with Sir Richard Bishop and Ben Chasny) and solo work. In addition to the those mentioned above, he’s also worked with, among others: Evan Parker, Paul Dunmall, Nels Cline, Thurston Moore, Jessica Rylan, Jandek, Sunburned Hand Of Man, and Joe McPhee.

Watch a video of Chikamorachi with Akira Sakata here:

During the second set of the performance, CHIKAMORACHI will be joined by the addition of STEVE GOOD (saxophones, clarinet) and TIM BARNES (percussion). A vital natural resource in the Louisville music scene for multiple decades, Steve Good‘s musical vocabulary orbits lightly through a vast expansive local history: doing time with The Web, E-Or, Juanita, Ut Gret, Sapat, Crappy Nightmareville, Parlour, The Liberation Prophecy and many, many others.  He has documented via audio recording many thousands of local shows. Slint played in his basement, he recorded the first Will Oldham single, he ran sound and documented the weekly experimental music series at Artswatch through the 1990s, and yes, he shared a stage in Switzerland with Donovan back in the 1970s. Louisville resident and drummer extraordinaire, the list of Tim Barnes‘s collaborators is too long to list here, but it includes Jim O’Rourke, Silver Jews, Neil Michael Hagerty and the Howling Hex, The Tower Recordings, and countless others. Most recently, Tim Barnes played drums with the newly resurrected lineup of The For Carnation, as well as with MV+EE at Cropped Out in November, 2011.

Check out the Facebook invite here: http://www.facebook.com/events/154038334705749.

To join our email list, send an email to hstencil AT gmail DOT com.

Two Good Shows Tomorrow!

It’s going to be tough to decide on which of these to go to — that is, if we end up not having to work tomorrow night!

The Web
Brett Ralph’s Kentucky Chrome Revue
David Grubbs
Rude Weirdo
Straight A’s
at the Bard’s Town, 1801 Bardstown Road. 9 PM, $6, apparently now it’s all ages. This show, presented by Louisville’s excellent Noise Pollution label, should be a good one as it’s well-stocked with artists that (should) need no introduction. If you need more info, you might find it at the Facebook event here: http://www.facebook.com/events/145355115567233.

Also, over at Zanzabar (which is at 2100 S. Preston, of course), Natural Child and State Champion are playing (here’s the event invite: http://www.facebook.com/events/255787627819138). Natural Child played an excellent set at this year’s Cropped Out, so if you missed it, don’t sleep on this show! It’s $5, 21-and-over, and starts at 9 PM.

No matter what you end up doing, have a fantastic New Year!