How's My Living? » the mountain goats

News & Links – January 15

Sarah — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 22:02:10 +0000

It’s slow at work, there’s nothing going on on the internet… I don’t know what to do with myself today.

Of course, dominating the news (and rightly so) are the disaster relief efforts that are ongoing (and which will be going on for a long while) in Haiti. Google has a great list of reputable charities which you can donate to, including UNICEF, the Red Cross, and Doctors Without Borders. Here in Chicago, the Hideout will have a benefit show on Monday at 8:00 pm, featuring the Waco Brothers and Eleventh Dream Day, with more bands to be announced. Tickets are $20 and all proceeds go to Partners in Health.

On a much lighter note, CHIRP, the Chicago Independent Radio Project, is almost ready to launch its internet radio station. The station officially launches on January 17th, although a beta testing stream has been available this week, and let me tell you, I’m impressed. In the interest of full disclosure, I’m looking forward to beginning to volunteer with CHIRP in the near future, and I know people involved with the project, so I’m hoping it does well. (Added bonus: me volunteering at CHIRP means I’m only in danger of bringing home new music. Me volunteering at an animal shelter means I’m more likely to bring home a puppy.) A launch party goes down at the Empty Bottle on Saturday at 10, featuring the Yolks, Hollows, and Rabble Rabble, with all proceeds going to CHIRP.

Consequence of Sound talks with Ashley Capps, the co-founder of Bonnaroo, AKA the festival I would love to go to except for the fact that I hate camping and being outside all day.

Brooklyn Vegan has the upcoming schedule for IFC’s Dinner with the Band series, AKA the television show I don’t get to watch because I don’t get IFC. Guests on the upcoming season include My Brightest Diamond, The Mountain Goats, and Rufus Wainwright.

The xx sit down and talk with Pitchfork about some of their favorite things.

You Ain’t No Picasso has 50 cover songs performed by My Morning Jacket.

Dawn Landes premieres her video for “Young Girl” on Stereogum. Her new album, Sweet Heart Rodeo, comes out on January 19th. You can catch her in Chicago at the Beat Kitchen on February 9th.

For the audiophiles amongst you, songs:illinois has a review of the Little Horn Speakers by Specimen Products. You may be familiar with the horn speakers because Andrew Bird always surrounds himself with them. If I ever happen to have a large sum of money fall into my lap, these are on the To Buy Immediately list. Not necessarily because of the Bird connection, but because they are both beautiful and incredibly high quality products.

News & Links – January 12

Sarah — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 20:45:14 +0000

Bowerbirds; photo by Alissa Anderson

In conjunction with the Tomorrow Never Knows festival, kicking off this week at Schubas and Lincoln Hall, Reckless Records has four fantastic (and free) in-store performance coming up:

Thursday, January 14, 5:00 pm - Bear in Heaven – Lakeview store (3126 N Broadway)
Friday, January 15, 5:00 pm – Icy Demons – Lakeview store
Saturday, January 16, 4:30 pm – Bowerbirds – Lakeview store
Sunday, January 17, 5:00 pm – Pomengranates – Wicker Park store (1532 N Milwaukee)

I’ve seen different times listed for all four of these shows at almost every source I’ve seen. My times are taken from Reckless’ website, but who knows what’s accurate and what isn’t. I’d recommend showing up early anyway. Shop around while you’re there and support local business. I’m going to try to make it to Bowerbirds and Pomengranates – the latter’s a little less likely, because cold weather + me trying to get motivated to go to Wicker Park = me staying at home and yelling at the television instead.

Gapers Block has a great summary of the Tomorrow Never Knows festival, including profiles of many of the bands.

Lizz Kannenberg at the Chicagoist has a set of fantastic photos from the first night of Butch Walker’s four show stint at Schubas last week.

Chromewaves has a preview of Basia Bulat‘s new album, Heart of My Own, scheduled to be released on January 26.

Pitchfork’s always captivating Cemetary Gates series features The Mountain Goats this week. First up, John Darnielle and company perform “Psalms 40:2″ in an old empty church.

Consequence of Sound gives a second look at Tegan and Sara‘s Sainthood. The album’s grown on me, though I still like The Con better. They also give a glowing review to Owen Pallett‘s Heartland, due out for release today.

Elvis Perkins in Dearland do four stripped down, acoustic songs for the Lakefever Sessions: Stay Zombie Stay, Weeping Mary, Gypsy Davy, and Sweet Roseanne.

NPR streams Spoon’s new album Transference, which is due out January 19.

NYCTaper has a listing of all recordings posted in 2009. Highlights include Alela Diane, a whole lot of Antlers shows, the Decemberists, Owen Pallett (Final Fantasy), the Mountain Goats, Sharon van Etten, and Wilco.

Robert Loerzel at Underground Bee posts a review of the My Gold Mask/Violetness/the Bitter Tears show at the Hideout last weekend, one of those shows where I’m wondering why I didn’t just suck it up and head out into the cold so I could go see it.

Speaking of My Gold Mask, Loud Loop Press profiles 10 up-and-coming Chicago bands, including My Gold Mask, Bailiff, and Puerto Muerto.

Cover Lay Down offers up acoustic blues covers by artists including Keb’ Mo’, Kelly Joe Phelps, and Taj Mahal, of songs by Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash, Pete Seeger, Cat Stevens, and more.

Muzzle of Bees takes a look at the upcoming release from Clogs, an artistic collective that counts Shara Worden and Sufjan Stevens among its members. The new album, The Creatures in the Garden of Lady Walton, features Shara Worden on vocals for a good portion of the songs. Sign me up!

2009 Favorites: Part Three

Sarah — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 21:25:45 +0000

Here are some more albums which have seen some pretty heavy play around here this year. In case you’ve missed it, check out albums 11 through 15 and 16 through 20 on my list of favorites from the past year.

A.A. Bondy, When the Devil’s Loose.

I had waited and waited and waited for this album to come out, as I had loved American Hearts, and I absolutely wasn’t disappointed. Bondy’s returned here with his own brand of Americana; if it weren’t for his intense live show, you’d hardly know that he got his start in grunge rock band Verbena. I find it easy to get lost into this album. I’ve put it on a bunch of times and just found myself listening to it over and over again. Even better than the album, though, is Bondy’s live show, which is what cemented this album as one of my favorites of the year. While the album at time is gentle, Bondy holds nothing back in performance. If you ever have the chance to see him (and oh, you will; he tours relentlessly), do go see him.

When the Devil’s Loose was released September 1 by Fat Possum.
MySpace
Buy the album here.

The Mountain Goats, The Life of the World to Come.

Over the past couple of months, I’ve come to realize that for the most part, I appreciate this album best as a whole, rather than individual songs. When listening on my Not iPod, I find that I skip a lot of songs when they come up on shuffle. As a whole, though, I love the album. John Darnielle really is one of the best songwriters out there today. Reading his lyrics can mess you up, to put it simply. The songs may be named after Bible passages, but I think it’s pretty safe to say that The Mountain Goats aren’t going to be running off and recording hymns any time soon. With lyrics like “And I won’t get better but someday I’ll be free, ’cause I am not this body that imprisons me,” The Life of the World to Come isn’t a happy little album, but it sure is beautiful.

The Life of the World to Come was released on October 6 by 4AD.
Official Website | MySpace
Buy the album here.

Phoenix, Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix.

This is the perfect summer pop album which turned into the perfect pop album for the whole year. The lyrics are smart, the songs are catchy, and the band is French. What’s not to love? Phoenix flew under my radar (and under the radar of pretty much everyone else outside of France, I guess) until I saw them on some late-night show earlier this year. Impressed with the performance, I sought out the album and loved it at first listen. It’s one of those feel good albums that you stick back into rotation every so often just to put a smile on your face.

Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix was released May 26 by V2.
Official Website | MySpace | Twitter
Buy the album here.

St. Vincent, Actor.

Annie Clark is so, so deceptive. I mean, just look at her. She’s this tiny little lady, all pale skin and cute curly hair. Her voice sounds just as delicate as she looks, but underneath it is something much, much harder, maybe even a little dangerous. ”Save me from what I want,” Clark sings, and you get the feeling that you probably should step in to intervene. Things might get a little messy otherwise. Clark is a musician not afraid to play with sound, inserting messy feedback and distortion into songs which could otherwise be seen as cute little pop songs. Her live show is what won me over, if only because the visual of Clark creating her ruckus on stage is just so incredibly striking.

Actor was released on May 5 by 4AD.
Official Website | MySpace | Twitter
Buy the album here.

The xx, xx.

I didn’t want to like The xx. I really didn’t. Every other blogger and hipster kid was going on about how awesome this album was. What can I say, I’ve been burned one too many times by buzz bands that ended up sucking. I finally gave in, though, and man, now I wish I hadn’t ignored them for so long. I don’t know that there’s anything particularly innovative about their brand of electronic pop, but it’s good, catchy material, delivered in a laid-back, almost disinterested manner which is intriguing in its own right. Time will tell whether or not The xx will be able to follow this up with something great, but I’m pretty sure the entire internet will be waiting to see what’s next.

xx was released August 17/October 20 by Young Turks.
Official Website | MySpace
Buy the album here.

Music Memoirs: Looking Back on 2009

Sarah — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 19:39:26 +0000

Today’s Music Memoirs post asks you to look back on 2009. Feel free to play along.

The albums that you love the most
While I’m still working on getting my Best of 2009 list up and running, I’ll give you a sneak peak at it now, I suppose. Fortunately for all of us, I wrote my list out at home, and I’m typing this up at work, so I don’t really remember what order I had my list in. So here are three 2009 albums that I know I’ve been loving.

Andrew Bird, Noble Beast. There are enough Bird fans out there who felt let down by this album that I almost feel like I shouldn’t love it as much as I do, like there’s some memo I missed out on getting. Sure, the record is no Armchair Apocrypha, but Armchair was no Mysterious Production of Eggs, either. I remember fans being similarly disgruntled whenever Armchair came out, saying that it didn’t live up to Eggs. Not to get into some music nerd discussion about it (ugh, this was supposed to be like, one sentence about why I love the album, not a dissertation) but I really feel like each album has its own motif, both in sound and in concept, and that it’s kind of difficult to compare the three, which are drastically different from one another. When Bird releases an album that I feel falls short of the mark, I’ll call it out, but for me, Noble Beast is not that album (in my opinion, blah blah disclaimer, you’re entitled to your own opinion and I won’t hate you for it).
Florence and the Machine, Lungs. The verdict is still out on Florence, mostly because I haven’t been wowed by her live performance (the recordings/videos that I’ve seen), and because I’m just not sure what she’ll follow up her debut album with. There are some fantastic songs on this album, though, and I’m hoping that she continues to bring it in 2010.
The Decemberists, The Hazards of Love. I have a love/hate relationship with the concept album nature of this one. I love and appreciate the fact that there are still artists out there who are creating albums that are pieces of art, that are meant to be taken in as a whole. But because it’s a concept piece and is meant to be listened to from start to finish, it makes for some abrupt changes when tracks change on the shuffle of my Not iPod.

Any new artists you discovered
2009 was an awesome year for discovering new artists (both new to music and new to me), but I’ll go with two similar-ish acts: The Avett Brothers and Mumford & Sons. I’d heard a few songs by The Avett Brothers before this year, but hadn’t really delved too much into their back catalog or anything. They got a lot of buzz with the release of I and Love and You, so I decided to check them out, and I’m really enjoying what I’ve heard. Mumford & Sons, I got into because I saw them pop up on the Best Of lists of some fellow bloggers whose opinions I trust, and I was totally blown away. Their music is fantastic, gritty folk rock, and “Little Lion Man” is pretty much one of the best songs I’ve heard all year.

Best concert you attended or watched
Andrew Bird and Alpha Consumer at Schubas. It wasn’t the tightest show I’ve seen from him, but the energy and vibe and feeling of community in that packed room was intense. It was one of those shows where you know you may never have an experience like that again, and so you appreciate every last moment of it. Plus, there was the added bonus of being pressed right up against the stage. Fangirl moment, what what?

The song that best defines 2009 for you
I don’t know that I can pick one song, but I’d say my 2009 Mix would be defined by delightful yet mostly meaningless pop music. Kelly Clarkson, Lady Gaga, Adam Lambert, anything with a good beat that would get me dancing around. 2009 had its fair share of crappy moments, but I also had a lot of fun, and a lot of that fun was had while flailing around on disgustingly dirty dance floors. And during those crappy moments, The Mountain Goats’ “This Year” has and always will be one of those songs that gets you through. “I’m going to make it through this year if it kills me,” indeed.

This Week in Great Music: 12/14 – 12-20

Sarah — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 16:10:54 +0000

My musical week can be pretty easily summed up in two words: Andrew Bird. For everyone else who isn’t as enthralled as I am at the prospect of watching Mr. Bird do his thing in a church, or who couldn’t get tickets, here’s the rest of what I find interesting this week in Chicago. But I’ve got to admit, it looks like anyone I would find even vaguely interesting has chosen to steer clear of Chicago for the beginning part of the week. No complaints here; with the exception of missing out on the Metric show (which, being at the Cubby Bear, I would have just complained about the entire time), I’m not seeing anything that I’m too heartbroken to miss.

Also: Our Lady Peace? Sister Hazel? No, seriously, what’s up with the 90s band resurgence here? I’m starting to get a little concerned.

I am a bit sad about missing out on the greatness that is Second City’s 24-Hour benefit show, which I’m missing out on more because of not being able to leave the day job just to go to concerts. But it should be a great time, and the money goes to provide presents for needy children in Chicago.

Monday, December 14
Andrew Bird, Fourth Presbyterian Church (126 E Chestnut). 8 pm, $15 (audio only; all other seats sold out)

Tuesday, December 15
Jeff Tweedy, Second City (1608 N Wells). $15 for 24-hour admission, 7 pm
The Bravery, Manchester Orchestra, and As Tall As Lions, House of Blues. 7:30 pm, $23-26
Andrew Bird, Fourth Presbyterian Church (126 E Chestnut). 8 pm, $15 (audio only; all other seats sold out)

Wednesday, December 16
Bonnie Prince Billy, Second City (1608 N Wells). $15 for 24-hour admission, 6 am
Nina Nastasia, Second City (1608 N Wells). $15 for 24-hour admission, 12 pm
The Mountain Goats, Second City (1608 N Wells). $15 for 24-hour admission, 2 pm
Andrew Bird, Fourth Presbyterian Church (126 E Chestnut). 8 pm, $15 (audio only; all other seats sold out)
Chicago Clarinet Conglomerate, The Velvet Lounge (67 E Cermak). 8:30 pm, cover varies
Metric, Cubby Bear (1059 W Addison). 9 pm, $10

Thursday, December 17
Andrew Bird, Fourth Presbyterian Church (126 E Chestnut). 8 pm, $35-40
Our Lady Peace, Cubby Bear (1059 W Addison). 9 pm, $10

Friday, December 18
Kathleen Battle and the Chicago Children’s Choir, Harris Theater (205 E Randolph). 7:30 pm, $45-95
Sister Hazel and Tony Lucca, House of Blues. 9 pm, $25-26.50

Saturday, December 19
The Klezmatics, Centre East (9501 Skokie Blvd., Skokie). 8 pm, $48
Sister Hazel and Tony Lucca, House of Blues. 9 pm, $25-26.50

Sunday, December 20
Apollo Chorus of Chicago presents Handel’s Messiah. Harris Theater (205 E. Randolph). 3 pm, $35-50
Dasboton, Hideout. 9 pm, $8

Concert Review: The Mountain Goats with Final Fantasy, Metro, 11/5

Sarah — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 20:31:45 +0000

John Darnielle is one of those performers who my husband would put in a category with singer-songwriters like Bob Dylan. This is sort of a backhanded compliment, though, as if you ask him to tell you what he thinks about Dylan, he’ll say that the man’s an amazing lyricist but a terrible singer. This, for the record, is why I rarely drag him to most of the concerts that I attend, since a lot of the music I like falls into that category for him. (There’s a hilarious side story in here about how I took him to an Andrew Bird show once and I spent most of the train ride home gushing about how great it was, and his response was “…I didn’t get it.”)

But he has a point. It doesn’t matter what kind of music you are most in to, Darnielle’s voice will never escape being called… quirky. Interesting. Different. It took me a long while to really get in to the music of The Mountain Goats, to let my musical tastes mature in order for me to be able to get past the fact that Darnielle’s voice just isn’t something that’s ever going to be mainstream. (The list of albums I hated on first listen but adore now is appallingly long, actually. Three cheers for growing up.) But once I did that, I discovered a whole rich world of intelligent, thought-provoking lyrics that just don’t happen in mainstream music.

While the songs may often be serious (“Here’s a song that has two suicides,” Darnielle said at one point), one thing that is readily apparent from the moment that Darnielle takes the stage with the rest of the band is that this is a man who loves what he does. It always makes me happy to see a performer up there on the stage with a huge smile, obviously enjoying every moment of the show. With Darnielle’s personality being every bit as unique as his voice, the band enthusiastically made its way through an eclectic setlist, covering a wide variety of material. Despite the fact that the tour is in support of the new album (The Life of the World to Come), the setlist didn’t shy away from older material, which delighted the audience.

One highlight of the night occurred when Owen Pallett of Final Fantasy came out to join The Mountain Goats, both with Darnielle playing solo and with the full band. While “Going to Bristol” isn’t exactly a cheerful song, it sure wound up lookingfun, with Pallett on violin and Darnielle gleefully going back behind the piano to spontaneously plunk out a few notes. And for something I haven’t seen in a long while, the band came out for two encores, the first beginning with “No Children”, which turned into a gigantic audience sing-along, with Darnielle and company stepping back from the microphones and letting the fans take the lead. There’s something a little surreal about standing in the midst of a group of people all happily shouting out “I hope you die, I hope we both die“.

Final Fantasy proved to be an excellent opening act, keeping the surprisingly appreciative audience captivated for the 40 minutes of his set. I heard that he had a rough time of it at Pitchfork, and the people I was with were hoping that his set would go over a little better at Metro, which it most certainly did. He played a number of songs from his upcoming third album, and humorously warned the audience that if we didn’t behave, he’d simply play all of the Mountain Goats songs during his opening set, so that the band had nothing to play for their set. The setlist included “Many Lives”, which features Pallett shouting “Son you must invest!” into his violin’s mic, and ended with the epic “Lewis Takes Off His Shirt,” which he performed earlier this year during a torrential downpour at an outdoors festival in a performance that has to be seen to be truly appreciated.

For a more thorough review and some fantastic photos, check out the review at Soundcheck Magazine. And though unrelated to the show, go read the awesome Q&A from Paste Magazinewhere Darnielle talks about the new album, religion, songwriting, and feminism, which basically puts him on my list of “coolest people ever”.

Setlist behind the jump, thanks to someone over at last.fm for posting.

1 Samuel 15:23
Letter From Belgium
Cotton
How to Embrace a Swamp Creature
Romans 10:9
(john switches to solo keyboards)
Cobscook Bay
Evening in Stalingrad
Enoch 18:14
Deuteronomy 2:10
Genesis 30:3 (with Owen Pallet of Final Fantasy)
Going to Bristol (with Owen Pallet)
(band returns to stage)
Hebrews 11:40
Ezekiel 7 and the Permanent Efficacy of Grace
Against Pollution
Psalms 40:2
Lovecraft in Brooklyn
Quito

ENCORE 1:
No Children
This Year

ENCORE 2:
Hand Ball
Going to Georgia

This Week in Great Music – 11/2 – 11/8

Sarah — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 14:53:17 +0000

I had hoped to liven up this week’s concert rundown with a picture of my Halloween costume, but I forgot to upload one while I was home, and now they’re only on Facebook, which I can’t access from here. Sad day. Suffice it to say, it was awesome and involved a lot of Kermit the Frogs, hint hint.

I’m sure this is a great week for someone out there in music land, but I’m seeing this week as a chance for me to catch up on all the sleep I’ve missed out on lately. I’ll be at the Mountain Goats show on Thursday, and I keep debating hitting up the Fine Frenzy show on Wednesday. I saw them several years ago when they opened for Rufus Wainwright and they were fantastic. And, of course, the delightfully quirky clarinet group that I play with has its last show for its fall concert series on Sunday.

Monday, November 2
Roger Daltrey, House of Blues. 8:30 pm, sold out

Tuesday, November 3
…wow, good luck on finding something interesting.

Wednesday, November 4
A Fine Frenzy with Landon Pigg and Among the Oak and Ash, Park West. 7:30 pm, $20

Thursday, November 5
The Mountain Goats with Final Fantasy, Metro. 9 pm, $20
Vic Chesnutt Band, Lincoln Hall. 9 pm, $18-20

Friday, November 6
Joan Osborne, McAninch Arts Center at the College of DuPage (425 Fawell Blvd., Glen Ellyn). 8 pm, $34-69
Emilie Autumn, Logan Square Auditorium. 8 pm, $15

Saturday, November 7
…quietest Saturday ever.

Sunday, November 8
Chicago Licorice Sticks, Chicago Waldorf School. 3 pm, free (donations accepted)
Jill Sobule, Erin McKeown, Old Town School of Folk Music. 7 pm, $21-25
Mt. Eerie with Tara Jane O’Neil, Lakeshore Theater. 7 pm, $10