turkey day weekend happenings

Wednesday, November 25

• Thanksgiving Extravaganza w/ Shemale Fiesta and Goldenrod at Charlie's. Truth be told, I don't know if this band is pronounced "Shemale" as in rhymes-with-tamale, or "Shemale" as in a frightening man-girl creature. I don't think it matters. Come watch Mark Evans take his shirt off and writhe around on the floor and sing "Spottieottiedopalicious." Goldenrod will bring their R&B dance jams to the party too.
  

(Black) Friday November 27

• The Butchers and Speech Boys at The Hive Art Haus & Salon. The Hive, Lexington's most adorable little beauty salon (on Deweese St, near Short and Elm Tree), is now regularly hosting live music & DJ dance parties. The Butchers = lo-fi 90s-style pop punk of the highest degree. Speech Boys = one part Bedtime/one part Tiny Fights = recipe for greatness? (honestly haven't heard 'em)
  
• Englishman and Clifton Keller at Al's Bar- two of Lexington's finest songwriters and a little bourbon should warm up your Friday night. Al's is slowly becoming one of my favorite draught beer dispensaries - their selection isn't big because it doesn't have to be. They realize all you need is 2-3 really solid craft brew selections and cheap PBR.
  

Saturday, November 28

• Ben Sollee and Daniel Martin Moore at Red Mile Round Barn (benefit for Institute 193). Two of NPR's favorite Kentuckians. Indie cello magic (Sollee) and folksy heartstring-tuggers (Moore) should make for a lovely evening at the Round Barn. $12 in adv/$15 at the door.
  
• Same as it Ever Was (Talking Heads Tribute) at Cosmic Charlie's. You might know by now that tribute bands aren't typically my forte, but these guys rule. Best dance party in town. Seriously, who out there doesn't like the Talking Heads?? Bring them to me. Or better yet, bring them to Charlie's Saturday and show them the light.
  
• High Water Marks and ATTEMPT at Al's Bar. High Water Marks is the band formed by Apples in Stereo drummer Hilarie Sidney and her husband Per Ole Bratset. ATTEMPT = Trevor Tremaine's solo project (with occasional guests?). Really good stuff.
  
• Rakadu Gypsy Dancers at Natasha's Bistro. Sexy, to be sure...yet somehow...family appropriate? As in, it might be something you AND your mom could enjoy together. Or maybe I'm just thinking it's something me and my mom could enjoy together. Anyway.
  
• Coralee and the Townies at Lynagh's Pub. Americana twinged rock songs fronted by the lovely and talented Corey Wilson and backed by her rockin' band.
  

If you have others feel free to add them in the comment section...!

ACID MOTHER'S TEMPLE to play Lexington in April

What has been an amazing fall to be in Kentucky is closing in and it's time to start looking forward to spring happenings. Oh, here's a good place to start...

I caught wind word of mouth this weekend that Japanese freak-out-psych collective Acid Mother's Temple had scheduled a Lexington date in April at Cosmic Charlie's. The news was a nice start to my Saturday night, which only proceeded to get awesomer from there once Shellac took the stage for a stellar show at Louisville's 930 Listening Room.

While the venue doesn't have the show on their calendar yet, Windish Agency has the AMT tour dates posted, and lo and behold, Charlie's has Wednesday April 14 on lock-down. (A big fat thank you to venue manager Mark Evans! And a 'my bad' if you were trying to keep this information to yourself for the time being for some reason.) The rest of their tour dates listed below....

Mon 03/22/10	Casbah	San Diego	CA	Over-Gain Opitmal Death
Wed 03/24/10	Bottom of the Hill	San Francisco	CA	Over-Gain Opitmal Death
Fri 03/26/10	Mississippi Studios	Portland	OR	Over-Gain Opitmal Death
Sat 03/27/10	Biltmore Cabaret	Vancouver	BC	Over-Gain Opitmal Death
Sun 03/28/10	Sunset Tavern	Seattle	WA	Over-Gain Opitmal Death
Wed 03/31/10	7th Street Entry	Minneapolis	MN	Over-Gain Opitmal Death
Thu 04/01/10	The Picador	Iowa City	IA	Over-Gain Opitmal Death
Fri 04/02/10	Empty Bottle	Chicago	IL	Over-Gain Opitmal Death
Sat 04/03/10	Crofoot Ballroom - Pike Room	Pontiac	MI	Over-Gain Opitmal Death
Sun 04/04/10	El Mocambo	Toronto	ON	Over-Gain Opitmal Death
Mon 04/05/10	La Sala Rossa	Montreal	PQ	Over-Gain Opitmal Death
Tue 04/06/10	Middle East Upstairs	Cambridge	MA	Over-Gain Opitmal Death
Wed 04/07/10	Knitting Factory - Brooklyn	Brooklyn	NY	Over-Gain Opitmal Death
Thu 04/08/10	DC9	Washington	DC	Over-Gain Opitmal Death
Fri 04/09/10	Johnny Brendas	Philadelphia	PA	Over-Gain Opitmal Death
Sat 04/10/10	Ottobar	Baltimore	MD	Over-Gain Opitmal Death
Sun 04/11/10	Local 506	Chapel Hill	NC	Over-Gain Opitmal Death
Mon 04/12/10	Pilot Light	Knoxville	TN	Over-Gain Opitmal Death
Tue 04/13/10	Grey Eagle Tavern	Asheville	NC	Over-Gain Opitmal Death
Wed 04/14/10	Cosmic Charlie's	Lexington	KY	Over-Gain Opitmal Death
Thu 04/15/10	Hi-Tone Cafe	Memphis	TN	Over-Gain Opitmal Death
Fri 04/16/10	The Loft	Dallas	TX	Over-Gain Opitmal Death
Sat 04/17/10	Emos Alternative Lounge	Austin	TX	Over-Gain Opitmal Death

Gallery 193 features Louis Beckett's Archives

Louie Beckett's archives of remnants he has collected over his life will be on display at Gallery 193 during
Gallery Hop Friday.

Got this press release from Philip Jones, creative director of the new gallery Institute 193 on Limestone, and I thought I would pass on the info. The gallery's first exhibit, Louis Bickett's archived collection of *fill in the blank* ends next weekend. I've seen some of his stuff before and it is utterly fascinating. Methinks this Friday's Gallery Hop would be a good time to peep the show and check out one of Lexington's newest gallery spaces.


SELECTIONS FROM THE ARCHIVE: LAST DAY IS NOVEMBER 27
OPEN GALLERY HOP ON FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 20: 5 - 9 PM

"Since 1972, Louis Zoellar Bickett II has meticulously collected and cataloged items from his daily life and assembled them into a functioning installation he refers to as: THE ARCHIVE. Photographs, dinner receipts, dog brushes, jars, binders and items of every sort are tagged and neatly placed within the 3-D collage that serves as home and studio to the artist. The archive's contents are seemingly endless and infinitely varied. Bickett's genius lies in his ability to transform the most basic object into a highly sophisticated work of art using a simple associative process. The collection, organization and archiving of everyday objects imbues them with significance beyond function or simple metaphor. Every object is tagged with a name and date, corresponding to a set of events, an idea or some larger on-going project. The object's viewer knows precisely what it is, where its from, why it was purchased, the name of its previous owner or the role that it plays in the artist's life. Its placement within the archive further secures its importance and guarantees its survival. Sculptures, photographs and paintings are tagged in the same manner (and with the same precision) as flashlights, bowling bags and hats. Certain objects are "tagged" or "stamped" several times to reflect their inclusion in several projects. The debate about "what is art" is clearly answered in Bickett's process: anything I choose. Selections from the Archive is a quick glance at a seemingly random sampling of objects. It is not intended to be a retrospective or an accounting of various projects. Indeed there are too many for a book and exhibition of this size. The intention is rather to select objects that resonate with simplicity and illuminate the artist's transformative abilities while hinting at the larger themes of sex, identity and death that permeate Bickett's work. Furiously collecting and archiving towards death, Bickett has become the central object of the archive - missing only the tag he will receive, not unlike the rest of us, upon his own death. With this book, we invite the viewer into the artist's studio for a fleeting glance at Bickett's work and the machinations of his vast and ever-growing archive.

-Phillip March Jones, Creative Director

In related news, Institute 193 is hosting a fund raiser on November 28 at the Red Mile Round Barn, featuring local cellist extraordinaire Ben Sollee and folk singer Daniel Martin Moore (both of whom have a compilation with Jim James - can't. call. him. Yim. Yames. - out in February 2010). $12 advanced/$15 door. More about Institute 193 here.

Phantom Family Halo/Invaders Preview Part 2

CROSS/INVADERS/PHANTOM FAMILY HALO at AL'S BAR
601 N. Limestone
(Tonight) Thursday November 19, 2009
All Ages, $3

Sooo, I hope it didn't appear that I was trying to slight Invaders in my lengthy dealings with Phantom Family Halo last entry. I just didn't have the time to finish the entry at the moment. (And I'm also definitely not trying to slight Lexington's CROSS, I just don't have any albums of theirs to listen to & stew over, probably because they are a relatively new band and they don't have any albums. I have caught them live a couple times, though not with the current line-up, and it's always super rad and super different, just like Warmer Milks, the former band featuring Cross's Mikey T and Clint Colburn [to clarify, they don't sound just like the Milks, but they are always super rad and super different like the Warmer Milks were].)

Here's an adapted version of my review of Invaders' 'Floating' for WRFL.

I was hooked on Louisville's Invaders from the first track I heard ("Couldn't Come"), a couple months ago on their MyFace page. Lucky for all of us, their entire new album (I believe it's their first) happens to completely slay from start to finish.

This album manages to be dreamy and feel-good and dark and forboding all at the same time. The songs are tight and structured, with riffs and driving percussion, but just enough garage noise, distortion and shrieking to make it interesting (without getting too aloof). They've achieved a really sexy and sophisticated sound for being such a new band (I assume they are a pretty new band but I honestly couldn't find much history info on them). Definite 1990's British vibes – lush, dense shoegazey soundscapes shrouded in fuzzy-yet-Hope-Sandoval sounding female vocals. There's something nostalgic about it. But there's something new I can't really place.

This album got me sincerely excited for wherever it is that this band is going. Judging from the recent slew of Karate Body releases, it would appear the historically amazing underground music scene in Louisville is totally alive and well.

RIYL: Joy Division, My Bloody Valentine, Brian Jonestown Massacre, Thee Oh Sees, Tom Tom Club, Atlas Sound

Phantom Family Halo/Invaders Preview: Part 1

This Thursday, two of Louisville's finest will bring their jams to Lexington : Phantom Family Halo and Invaders, playing with Lexington's own Cross. I've already mentioned that I've been wanting to see both bands for some time now, and fortunately the show coming up put a fire under my ass to spend some time with their new albums (both out through the magic of the increasingly impressive vinyl pressing wizards at Louisville's Karate Body Records, co-founded by Leo Weekly Music Editor Mat Heron).

I reviewed both albums for WRFL last week, so without further ado I'm gonna post adapted version of those reviews (Invaders' Floating, which I also love, to follow soon):

Phantom Family Halo - Monoliths & These Flowers Never Die


Unabashedly re-posting this video for 'Monoliths', which I also posted yesterday, because it's a great song, and at approximately 10 minutes should provide nice background music for reading the review.

The second release from Louisville neo-psychedelia masterminds Phantom Family Halo has got me pretty stoked. I’m not sure exactly what I expected from it, having never listened to their debut - I was hoping it'd be good stuff, of course, but these guys went and took it to the next level, creating what is seriously one of the most diverse and surprising albums I've heard in a while.

Throughout the 18-song duration, there are blatant nods to Bowie, Black Sabbath, Pink Floyd - which are stupid-generic influences, I know, but don’t be misled. Yes, Phantom Family Halo borrows the glam, the heavy riffs, the acid-drenched ambiance from bands that we all know for a) introducing many of us to music in the first place, and b) proceeding to become so oversaturated on classic rock channels everywhere that the up-and-coming generation of hipsters seem to all but dismiss them. As a defender of classics, I applaud Phantom Family Halo for this rather ballsy move – they’ve reverted to the roots of '70s rock in a way that many bands seem too cool to do, but by no means do they dwell there (or anywhere, for that matter) for too long. From there, they rather effortlessly traverse straight into some futuristic time and place, leaving no real evidence of having traveled through or been affected by all the genres and sub-genre spin-offs that have popped up and keeled over between these two places. It gives the album a certain timelessness that is somehow disorientating and invigorating at once.

The songs vary from minimalist instrumentals to feral heavy metal to experimental lullabyes, but the overall ambiance is dark and apocalyptic, like some sort of science fiction or occult soundtrack (though I’m pretty sure there’s also a rock opera hiding in there somewhere).

With this album, Phantom Family Halo have distinguished themselves as artistic and psychedelic in a genre that tends to be characterized by (too much) fuzz, distortion, noodling and general f-ing around – Monoliths has those elements, don't get me wrong, but they seem to be much more controlled and intentional than in much of the neo-psychedelica that's come out in recent years. Further, this album, which the band recorded themselves in various locations, is refreshingly clean and sharply-produced – layered and complex without sounding like it’s hiding from some element of itself.

Founded by members of Sapat and The For Carnation, Phantom Family Halo are currently gearing up for a 12-date tour opening for Louisville's Young Widows and Russian Circles, including a record release party with Softcheque at Zanzabar in Louisville on November 25. Their Lexington show with Invaders and Cross (Al's Bar, tomorrow! - Thursday November 19) is the band's first show since drummer Tony Bailey, a longtime fixture in the Louisville music scene, unexpectedly passed away in October. The band decided recently that vocalist Dominic Cipolla (of Sapat), who has played stand-up drums in the band in the past, would take on the percussive roles for this tour. "This band has always been an ever-changing live situation," Cipolla said. "Every tour has been different and keeps us interested."

RIYL: Witch, Black Mountain, David Bowie, Hawkwind.

This Week, November 17 - 23

It's been a minute since I did a This Week Post. (thanks for bearing with me.) Here's my picks for the week, there's lots & lots going on...

Tuesday, Nov 17:

• Outside the Spotlight presents KLANG: Chicago jazz quartet featuring clarinetist James Falzon, percussionist Tim Daisy (who has performed in Lex a number of times with the Vandermark 5), bassist Jason Roebke and vibraphonist Jason Adasiewicz. Read Walter Tunis' preview here.
• Balagula Theater presents "The Bald Sporano" at Natasha's Bistro (through Wed.) Balagula Theater, Natasha's Bistro's in-house theater company, has consistently been presenting the most daring and unique stage productions in Lexington for years, but 2009-2010 marks their first official "season," a 4-production exploration of absurdist and existentialist plays of which Eugene Ionesco's "The Bald Sporano" is the second installment (following September's "B is for Beckett"). Written in the '50's, "The Bald Soprano" is an absurdist comedy in the vein of "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf" (a movie I love, though I have yet to seen it performed on stage), touching on the banality of everyday existence and human communication...I saw it last night and absolutely loved it. The play itself (which I was unfamiliar with) is completely hilarious; the phenomenal acting, direction and set design all topped it off. I wouldn't say it's for everyone - the humor is British, and waaaaay left-field British at that (even though the playwright was French Romanian; weird) and there's a point where the entire play falls off its rocker altogether. But if you're looking for a unique theater experience that forces you to step outside your comfort zone, this comes highly recommended. Stay tuned for Sarte's "No Exit" in February/March and Aruthur Kopit's "Oh Dad, Poor Dad, Momma Hung You in the Closet and I'm Feeling So Sad." Dinner seating from 5:30 -6:45/ Theater seating at 7:30/ Curtains at 8/ $15.
  

Wednesday, Nov 18:

• Holler Poets Series: The 19th (!) monthly installment of the hugely successul Lexington litereary series features readers Renee Rigdon and Jude McPherson (founder of Blacoetry Press). Music by Karly Dawn Higgins of the Clack Mountain String Band. Open mic starts at 8 with limited slots, so show up early if you want to sign up.
• Alexa Woodward/The Rainjunkies at Buster's. One of the preliminary "Front Room Shows" at Buster's, inspired in part by the intensely fun front room shows at Boomslang that included Ga'an, Peaking Lights, Tiny Fights, Caboladies and Burning Star Core. Alexa Woodward = angelic banjo picking songwriter from NYC who has been compared to Gillian Welch, Jolie Holland and Judy Garland. Rainjunkies = solid Lexington-flavored indie rock with just a tinge of twang. The show is FREE, pool tables will be open and inside sources tell me "it will legitimately start around 9:00."
  

Thursday, Nov 19:

• Phantom Family Halo/Invaders/Cross at Al's Bar. Phantom Family Halo and Invaders are two Louisville bands who I have been wanting to see live for quite some time now. So I was obviously psyched when they approached me to help get them both on a bill here in Lex. I'll be doing a more full blown show preview soon, but in the meantime know that they are both psych-influenced rock bands (most generic description ever?) and they are both seriously, seriously rad. Listening to the new albums by both bands (Invader's 'Floating' and Phantom Family Halo's 'Monoliths & These Flowers Never Die,' both out on Louisville's Karate Body Records) has restored my faith that the Louisville underground music scene continues to pump out severely original and exciting music. Maybe one day I'll be motivated enough to spend the time to figure out how to post songs on my posts (I openly admit my complete amateur status), but in the meantime you can check out Invaders here and PFH here. Oh yeah....Lexington's own CROSS featuring members of Warmer Milks and Tight Leather will open. SEE YOU THERE.

Friday, November 20:

• GALLERY HOP - I admit I don't know much about what's going on for the November Gallery Hop, but photographer Richie Wireman's "Visual Block" Exhibit is essential. Wireman, in case you didn't know, is one of the greatest artistic assets to Lexington - he documents an incredible amount of events, and he does it beautifully and tirelessly. At the Thriller Zombie Parade this Halloween (one of the craziest events of the year, by the way - where did those people come from???), I spotted him walking backwards with the parade, and walking quickly, snapping two cameras simultaneously. Anyway, this exhibit, which has been in the works for quite some time, is his documentation of The Dame/Centrepointe block, "as it was and as it is." Photographs as well as relics he salvaged from the block will be on display. Bellini's Ballroom (above Bellini's Restaurant on Main Street); 5:30 - 9:30. Dave Farris and Willie Eames will play music at 7 and again at 9.
  

Saturday November 21:

• Benefit for Jason Noble featuring SHELLAC, Shannon Wright, The Web. In case ya didn't know, Shellac totally slays - with a line-up featuring Steve Albini and Bob Weston, I don't know that there's much else they could do. More in-depth preview from yesterday here.

Monday, November 23:

• Sound/Vision perform Steve Reich's DRUMMING at Singletary Center. Last year's FreeKY fest was the first time these guys popped up on my radar. I was floored, and they have continued to impress every time I've seen them since; most recently when they opened for Rachel Grimes at the Second Presbyterian Church with video accompaniment by Jason Corder. They've performed excerpts of Reich's Drumming before, but they plan to take it to a new level this time - they actually purchased the rights to the piece and will be performing it in it's entirety. 7:30 pm. I think it's free....
  

Other happenings:
Tuesday, November 17 - Charlie Louvin/Dex Romweber Duo @ Cosmic Charlie's (Lex).
Friday, November 20 - R. Kelly @ The Palace Theater (Lou).
Friday, November 20 - MV & EE; Cross; A.V. @ The Palace Theater (Lou).
Saturday, November 21 - (Wooden) Wand w/ Doug Keith and Street Gnar @ Buster's (Lex.)

SHELLAC in Louisville, this Saturday

"Whenever I talk to a band who are about to sign with a major label, I always end up thinking of them in a particular context. I imagine a trench, about four feet wide and five feet deep, maybe sixty yards long, filled with runny, decaying shit. I imagine these people, some of them good friends, some of them barely acquaintances, at one end of this trench. I also imagine a faceless industry lackey at the other end holding a fountain pen and a contract waiting to be signed."
~from the article "The Problem with Music" by Steve Albini, which originally appeared in Maximum Rock 'n' Roll Issue #133.

Sooo, I'm pretty sure many of you are aware I helped organize a festival in Lexington this past October called Boomslang (even though I pretty much never posted about it for some reason, which, looking back on it, I now find rather odd). Anyway, some of you probably also know that one of the bands I was most excited to score for said festival was Louisville post-rock greats Shipping News, a definite personal favorite of mine that I saw as kind of a long-shot – to my knowledge, they have been relatively reclusive over the past few years, not playing many live shows and having not released an album in a few years. Their booking agent confirmed that yes, it would be awesome, but true, I probably shouldn't hold my breath. After what must have been a couple of months after my initial feeler, Erik from Uncle Booking finally reported back to me, kind of out of the blue, that lo and behold, Shipping News were indeed interested in playing Boomslang. Much to my glee, they seemed genuinely stoked on it, sending me personal e-mails complimenting the line-up and expressing their excitement. Unfortunately, a few weeks after the show was announced, the band had to cancel their performance and also postpone their November recording plans, due to suddenly finding out about some serious health problems that had progressed with guitarist Jason Noble, who needed to immediately undergo an extensive surgery & recovery process that I believe included traveling to Texas for chemo/radiation.

Scrambling to fill their spot at Boomslang, in the midst of my sadness that the show was canceled under the crappiest of circumstances, one of the first bands that came to mind was a little band called SHELLAC. Again, a long shot, I thought – this is engineering wizard genius STEVE ALBINI'S band, after all. Not only is Albini, who founded and runs Chicago recording studio Electrical Audio, an incredibly busy dude (most epic production catalogue ever, including albums by Pixies, Nirvana, Breeders, The Jesus Lizard, Tony Conrad, Dirty Three, many more) but being versed on his stance on agents & managers and whatnot, I kind of assumed he would also be an incredibly difficult-to-get-ahold-of dude. Not to say the band wouldn't have agreed to the show, given the circumstances – I think they would have at least entertained the notion – but I saw Mission of Burma as an equally amazing and potentially more easily accessible replacement, and fortunately they jumped on it pretty much right away (and gave a performance that all but stole the entire fest). Anyway, long story short (or rather, getting to the short of an unnecessarily long story), I was obviously stoked and reaffirmed in this decision when I got word that Shellac had scheduled a benefit show for Jason Noble at Louisville's 930 Room with Shannon Wright and The Web (organized by fellow Shipping Newsian Jeff Meuller) for November 21. I got my tickets pretty much immediately, and I suggest you do the same - this is a 450 capacity venue and the show is coming up this Saturday. Tickets are $17 in advance/$20 at the door and all proceeds go to Jason and his family to help cover hefty medical costs - get them here.

SHELLAC = intense and heavy-hitting no frills math rock trio based out of Chicago featuring guitarist Steve Albini (I repeat, one of the most influential audio engineers of all time), drummer Todd Trainer and bassist Bob Weston ('live engineer and tape manipulator' of the most recent Mission of Burma incarnation; also a renowned sound engineer).

I don't know much about Shannon Wright, but she has been a frequent collaborator with Shipping News family from what I understand. The Web, also performing, appear to be in the weirdo Louisville avant garde camp.

If you're still not convinced that this is going to be the place to be on Saturday, I should mention that I've been reading up lots of interviews with promoter Barry Hogan, whose All Tomorrow's Parties festivals have seen the likes of bands such as, oh, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Slint, Boris, Om, Portishead, Deerhoof, Explosions in the Sky, pretty much every single band I've ever wanted to see, etc., and in more than one interview Hogan has referred to Shellac as one of the greatest live performances he's ever seen. So there ya go.

If that doesn't convince you, well, yeah, you should probably just stay home and listen to Bon Iver or something. But still feel encouraged to keep up with Jason's progress and even make a donation to his health fund through his Caring Bridge site if you are so inclined.

Monsterpiece Theatre at its finest

In honor of Sesame Street's 40th Anniversary this week, I thought I'd share this way awesome Twin Peaks satire my friend Robbie shared with me the other day at work (same friend who hosted a Twin Peaks themed Halloween Party this year (aka Coolest Halloween Party ever)).

R.I.P. Louis "Shoeshine" Cobb

I was saddened to hear that Louis "Shoeshine" Cobb died today of an apparent heart attack. He was a downtown Lexington fixture and the best dressed fella' you ever did see. One of the most unique characters around, to be sure. Seriously, always dressed to the nine, coattails and all, and ready to shine your shoes. I wish now that I had let him, at least once.

I didn't know him personally, but saw him often (as did anyone who was ever downtown, ever) and spoke with him occasionally. I'm sure he had his moments, but he was never anything but polite and classy in my encounters. I was also intrigued to find out that he attended practically every single LFUCG Council meeting and often spoke on behalf of a number of issues.

There's a documentary about him floating around somewhere called "Can't Stop the Shine" - if anyone has a link, or more info on that, please send it my way (kyblueline@gmail.com).

I have no doubt that he will be missed by many.

Link to Louis' Shoeshine web site

More details about Louis at ACEWeekly

Bill Callahan coming to Lex

Moments after posting a barfly overview of newish Lexington club Cosmic Charlie's, I caught wind that Sprouse House Productions (aka Nick Sprouse, former general manager of The Dame who went his own way to form his own promotion company in recent months) is bringing BILL CALLAHAN to the club with Lights on Monday December 7.

In the opinion of someone (aka myself) not typically apt to tout singer/songwriters, Bill Callahan is a superb contemporary singer/songwriter, in the vein of Jim O'Rourke and Leonard Cohen - yeah, he does stripped down heartstring tuggers, and he does them really really well. His most recent album 'Sometimes I wish we were an Eagle' comes highly recommended; and check out his older stuff while you're at it.

Kudos to Sprouse House; sincerely excited for this one.

New local ticket giveaway site

Smiley Pete, the publishing company I work for, is instituting a new Ticket Giveaway headquarters on our website. I think it's pretty snazzy. We've currently got some tickets for some upcoming shows at Buster's and Cosmic Charlie's, and hopefully in the near future, we'll have some more clubs/organizations on board. Feel free to bookmark the site, enter any of the shows you want to attend and check back as more shows are being added! (It's really easy to enter, you just give us your name, digits and e-mail info.) We ark that you only enter contests for shows you actually plan on attending, to ensure the tickets are going to a good home.

If you're promoting a show and you'd like us to give away tix, contact me at saraya@smileypete.com.

Cheers!

Barfly Overview: Cosmic Charlie's

Despite what it's name, logo, and decor might suggest, Cosmic Charlie's, a new concert hall that opened in University Plaza (Euclid and Woodland) a few months ago, is not exclusively a hippie joint. (I for one am trying to get in the habit of dropping the 'Cosmic' schtick in favor of just calling it Charlie's, and I don't think I'm alone on this one.) Manager Mark Evans has been working hard (and doing a damn fine job) to get a variety of cross-genre shows in there, local, regional and national acts, and so far has succeeded in getting a show practically every single night of the week. It's been a hodge-podge mix : some jammy stuff, some funky stuff, a little Americana stuff, some bluegrass, a little punk, some electronica, indie, hip hop...nothing too crazy but a little bit of everything.

Since I think Charlie's might not be completely on the scenester radar yet, I figured I'd wax on the place for a minute.

The actual physical space has a special place in my heart - when I first moved here for college about 9 years ago, it was called Lynagh's Club (1990ish - 2002. R.I.P.). This place basically served as my gateway to the music scene in this town (albeit, the overall scene and my taste in music have both gone through some changes since then). It was the first place I ever saw live music on a regular basis in Lexington, and it didn't take long to get quite comfortable there - I found myself there pretty often in its final two years. The club was 21 + and I hadn't quite reached that age yet, so I had to exercise creative measures to get in (scandalous, I know - do note that they weren't particularly lax on IDs or anything; my friends and I were just realllllly determined, and quite thorough in our methods - you gotta fight for your right, man). And considering that the club ended up closing down before I turned 21, I have no regrets about sneaking in - there were very few (if any) 18+ clubs that I knew of, and going there regularly really got me turned on to the wonders of seeing live music in a small club. I'm not just putting it on when I say that having a comfortable place like that really helped me feel connected to this town in ways I might not have if I didn't have the chance to get out and enjoy live music regularly. This is an issue that has been addressed among concerned Lexingtonians repeatedly in the past few years, but in case it hasn't been on your radar very much, just think about how many kids leave Lexington directly after they graduate, because they "wanna get away from this town." Think about how they might feel differently if they had a regular spot that they loved, where they could see live music and meet new people and really become part of a music community. Fortunately, we now have a number of options (Buster's, Al's, Round Barn, etc.) to remedy this, and I know I'm not alone in feeling like Lexington has seen a great resurgence in entertainment options over the past few years.

But I digress.

First off, Charlie's is a really cool space. There are two main areas, separated by a few steps, and stage is really visible from both. If my memory serves me correct, the walls, floors and ceilings are all black, and there are basically no windows in the place, so it's got this dark & cozy atmosphere, which I love. The stage seems higher than the one that was at Lynagh's, which is good, and it's also been repositioned from the center of the back wall to the back right corner, kind of at an angle. Both of these factors seem to contribute to giving the stage better visibility from everywhere in the club. The back wall across from the stage has this crazy alternating LED light spectrum thing going on that's actually pretty cool. There's a number of places where you can sit down and have a conversation and still see the stage really well (though the conversation thing might be difficult if a super loud band like the All American Werewolves are playing, which was the case last time I was there) and also a decent sized open floor right in front of the stage. Capacity is just under 300, so it's a good sized venue for Lexington, but it's still really intimate. They also have one of the best beer-on-tap selections in town.

Overall consensus = Charlie's is a really quaint place to see small & mid-sized shows. I love Al's and I love Buster's for various reasons, but Charlie's has it's own thing going on and I think it can potentially offer a lot in rounding out the Lexington music scene. They've attracted a handful of shows that the old Lynagh's or even the old Dame would have gotten, like Dirty Dozen Brass Band (tonight), Asylum Street Spankers (tomorrow), Velvet Elvis (Saturday), Same As it Ever Was (November 28) AND you can find Bluegrass Collective, Lexington's most fun bluegrass band, there every Sunday. At this point, you probably won't find very many hipsters or WRFL kids there, or the young professional happy hour club - this is a place for the old school, down home, eternally casual-yet-enthusiastic Lexington music lovers of generations past. My sincere best wishes to the club.

Win tickets to see Asylum Street Spankers Thursday, November 17
Business Lexington article about Cosmic Charlie's
Cosmic Charlie's web site
Follow them on Twitter and shizz

ELandF Gallery

Kudos to local "small project accelerator" ELandF Gallery for continuously instigating quirky community projects. I was sold from my first encounter, in July of last year : a classified ad in ACE Weekly seeking to hire mourners to publicly grieve over the loss of "The Dame block," which was torn down to make way for the CentrePointe debacle.

Since then, ELandF (which is basically Bruce Burris of Latitude Artist Community, a community that encourages people with perceived disabilities to create art) has initiated lots of fun, off-the-wall public art projects - including poetry readings in public buses and nursing homes; inviting folks to decorate the "last kiosk in Lexington"; selecting public readers to read their favorite book in a parking lot, to name a few.


Latitude Artist Community's Frankenstein Music Park was the brainchild of ELandFGallery's Bruce Burris. They set this tent, which had 100 records and a record player inside, at Parking Day as well as the Boomslang Carnival.

Now they've gone and hired 3 people to publicly watch clouds (yes, these people actually get paid). This is going down tomorrow from 12- 1 near Wine + Market (2nd & Jefferson Streets).

You've still got a chance to participate in the next ELandF Gallery project: Share a taxi with Lexington Vice Mayor Jim Gray. The selected participant, sure enough, gets a scenic bluegrass ride in a taxi with the Vice-Mayor. For more details (and archives of past events), visit their blog here.

Again, thumbs up to Burris and ELandF for imparting some weirdness to our humble town.

super sweet Butchers video

Totally awesome video of Lexington band The Butchers' song "Soda Pop Soda." Video by Case Mahan (visit his blog here and other videos here).

The Butchers are playing this Friday, November 13 at Natasha's with Partly Cloudy (proceeds from the $20 show benefit Partly Cloudy's upcoming tour...if you don't want to swing that, you can catch The Butchers November 27 at Lower 48.). You wanna see this band.

In related news, Case (Street Gnar) played a kickass set to about 25 people in the woods this weekend...hooked up to a generator on the front porch of a cabin just outside the Red River Gorge. Reggae/samba beats. Everyone Lives Everyone Wins and Jovantaes also played wicked jams...awesomely weird times on one of the most magical pieces of land I've ever been on. My deep love for Kentucky reaffirmed once again.

Street Gnar will be opening for experimental psych-folk Wooden Wand at Al's Bar November 21. Of interest to me, Wooden Wand signed with Young God Records (label owned by Michael Gira of the majorly and equally epic SWANS and ANGELS OF LIGHT) for his next release, and is set to start recording early next year. (You can read a bit more about that here.)

TONIGHT - November 5

Olympia, Washington underground-indie "crushpop" label K Records is representin' majorly in Kentucky tonight - LAKE and Karl Blau will be at Al's Bar in Lexington, and Mt. Eerie/Tara Jane O'Neil will be at Skull Alley in Louisville. I feel like I've blathered enough about Mt. Eerie and Tara Jane already, but do note that they played Lexington's Red Mile Round Barn a couple weeks ago and it was one my favorite shows I've seen this year (and I have seen a lot of good ones).

Al's Bar (presented by WRFL; all ages; $5)
Karl Blau - avant/jazz/folk inspired indie rock - this guy is all over the board, really, and he's good. (Apparently his new album Zebra is an homage to Africa to some extent?)
LAKE - I'm not that familair with them so I'll borrow directly from their bio: "The sounds they craft are straight from the playbook of the good parts of Billy Joel, Fleetwood Mac, and Turkish psychedelic music. Caressing the Rhodes piano, endearing drum fills, guitars that don't sound like guitars, and some slamming bass lines: Listening to LAKE is like pouring sugar in your ears. They'll turn your brain into chocolate, 67% cacao."
Little Noodles - Lexington's own adorable crushpop duo, featuring Eli Riviere and Nick Warner. Currently on a 3-stop in 9-days tour of Al's Bar.


Little Noodles at Gumbo Ya Ya. Photo by Mr. Toastey of MingleFreely.

If that doesn't suit your fancy, there are a couple other great events in Lex tonight:
Forum on Coal in Kentucky - all-day forum on the future of coal in our state, presented by the University of Kentucky College of Engineering. Timed accordingly (though coincidentally) with the recent controversy over UK's acceptance of $7 million from a group of Big Coal advocates (who call themselves "The Difference Makers") for the new "Wildcat Lodge." The event appears to be truly bi-partisan, featuring a variety of speakers and presentations representing various angles of the coal business, including: Jeff Goodell, NY Times writer and author of "Big Coal: The Dirty Secret Behind America’s Energy Future;" prominent environmental lawyer Tom Fitzgerald; Senior Vice President of Government Relations of Peabody Energy Fred Palmer; president and CEO of Alliance Resource Partners, L.P. (one of the largest coal producers in the states) Joe Craft (who incidentally put together the proposal for Wildcat Coal Lodge); and UK journalism grad Brad Luttrell, who wrote this fantastic expose on the effects of coal in Eastern Kentucky (Luttrell is also the author of the really well done Shock and Yawn music webzine). Given the high emotions currently surrounding this issue at UK and the extreme closeness to home, this all-day event is highly relevant, and much needed. Check the website for more info.

Sprouse House Productions and Lower 48 present Wu-Tang 'affiliate' Killah Priest at Lower 48 (21 +; $10)- what may be one of Lexington's biggest hip hop shows of the season (excepting the fantabulous October Boomslang events!) happens at one of Lexington's most intimate venues (read: Lexington's most tiniest venues). While I don't think he was ever officially "in the clan," he is considered a "Wu-Tang affiliate" (my hip hop knowledge is struggling, y'all). I don't know much about Killah Priest's solo career, but his list of guest appearances is hella impressive, including appearances on my personal two favorite Wu-Tang follow-up projects (Ol' Dirty Bastard's Return to 36 Chambers and GZA's Liquid Swords). Word is he will be doing an ODB tribute set tonight. The show also features 60 Second Assassin, Loose Change and Nate FX - so, my advice would be get there early because the venue is SMALL, but be prepared that Killah Priest may not start until LATE.

rocktober is over...only remnants remain....

Recording artist extraordinaire Patrick Smith (known in some circles as the Tapeburglar) posted some boss Boomslang recordings on his blog Pretty Creatures a couple weeks ago, and as I am just getting around to checking 'em out, I wanted to pass along the info. Recordings include shows by Atlas Sound & Casino Versus Japan (!), Burning Star Core, Peaking Lights, Ga'an, Psychedelic Horseshit and more - check it out here. Particularly enjoying the Tiny Fights set at the moment - hands down one of my favoritest Lexington's bands.

While you're milling around Pretty Creatures, check out P Diddy's recording of last week's Broadcast show at the Wexner Center in Columbus. I was there, and I'm looking forward to listening to the recording to confirm my feelings about the show - I happen to fall in the "disappointed by Broadcast's live show" camp, which might be considered blasphemous to those who found the show to be one of the greatest experiences ever (I admit, my disappointment was likely shaped by my expectations for it to be one of the greatest experiences ever, as well as by the rather severe tummyache I developed that weekend - throughout the show I was poised for it to morph into full-blown swine flu, which thank god it never did). I have talked to a handful that agreed with me that Broadcast is just one of those bands that sounds way better on their albums, but overall the crowd seemed pretty much split.

Granted, they did have some of the most amazing psychedelic video projections I've seen-

(photo by Shanna Sanders)
But the 20 minute noise intro got me started on the wrong foot - not what I wanted to hear from Broadcast. Things picked up when they played some of my favorites from Tender Buttons ("Black Cat," "Corporeal") but something about the performance wasn't really capturing me as much as I had hoped. In what came as a pretty big surprise to me, I think I actually enjoyed Atlas Sound's set more than Broadcast's...

Anyway, in case you couldn't tell I'm really not a fan of doing concert reviews so I'll stop there...check out the recording of the show here and some photos by Shanna Sanders here.

All in all, October was one of the most unforgettable months ever as far as live music goes, at least to me...If you missed Mt. Eerie/Tara Jane O'Neil/No Kids at Round Barn a couple weeks ago, I highly encourage you to check them out at Art Damage Lodge in Cincy tonight or Skull Alley in Louisville tomorrow!!

ELEW at Boomslang Video

Someone took some time editing together some really sweet footage of one of my favorite Boomslang events, Everyone Lives Everyone Wins performing at the Drone Temple at Hop Hop. As "you had to be there" as this particular event was (lots of smoke, candles, church altars, darkness, hidden caverns, radio installations, a live performance feeding off a simultaneous performance broadcast live from the WRFL studios), this video does a great job capturing the overall psyched-out creepiness of the event.

coolest halloween party ever

photo by chris rosenthal