'Sup in March: Ten Picks

After a couple of months of relatively casual concert going action, it looks like the month of March is going to be a busy one for me, concert-wise. If you couple that with the fact that life is also going to be quite busy life-wise, than you're going to be looking at a fairly exhausted guy come months end. For the most part however, it'll be worth it, since the month promises not to leave me wanting in terms of high quality shows, so here are a few picks if you're looking for something to do.

For more detailed listings, as usual, go check out Stillepost, Zoilus and Jen's Semi-Weekly List (of shows under $10)

1. Joanna Newsom / Kevin Barker @ The Phoenix
(Saturday March 13th; Cost: $28)

I've been listening to Joanna Newsom's (pictured above) latest 3-disc opus Have One On Me over and over and over again this week, which is amazing considering the fact that it is certainly what one could classify as a daunting listen. Her voice may be a tad normalized this time around (no doubt making some people quite happy) but this is still an example of primo Newsom as it showcases her usual penchant for adventure, both lyrically and instrumentally. There are so many layers to peel back throughout this recording that I hope I'll be able to have it fully absorbed in time for the show, which is sure to be a classic performance. [Myspaces: Joanna Newsom, Kevin Barker]

2. Thrush Hermit @ Lee's Palace
(Fri. Mar 26th - Sun. Mar 28th; Cost: $17.50)

The reunion of the boys in Thrush Hermit admittedly brought me mixed feelings since my tastes have changed a little bit over the last 15 years, and I'm fairly indifferent to the solo version of Joel Plaskett. Both this fact, and the other fact that I have not listened to the Thrush for several years had me wondering if the old tunes would still do it for me in my advanced age. Well, I recently dusted off both the Smart Bomb EP and Sweet Homewrecker and I hafta say that both of those albums held up exceptionally well, proving to me that Plaskett's former band truly was a different beast altogether. Two sold out nights at Lee's, with undoubtedly a third one on the way confirms that they've still got the ability to generate some great enthusiasm. [Myspace: Thrush Hermit]

3. Canadian Music Fest @ Various Venues
(Wed. Mar 10th - Sun. Mar 14th; Cost: $63 for the 5-day pass)

To be honest, I'm still perusing the schedule for this one, trying to use the opportunity to focus on bands that I wouldn't normally get to see, but making a decision on what to do ain't coming as easily as it has in the past. I'll keep you posted on some picks in relation to this as we get closer to the date. [Myspace: Canadian Music Fest]

4. Language-Arts/ The Pinecones / Allie Hughes @ The Garrison
(Friday March 5th; Cost: $6)

Vancouver's Language-Arts are an amazing band that I only recently was introduced to, but within seconds of listening to their debut LP Where Were You In The Wild, I knew that this band was going to be right up my alley. Their airy and organic tones, in theory, should really serve as a contrast to Kristen Cudmore's pixie-ish vocals, but the pairing is one of pure magic as the compositions themselves are abstract works of art that defy characterization by showcasing something new with every listen. This is mesmerizing stuff that I'm curious to see how it will translate to the live stage. [Myspaces: Language-Arts, The Pinecones, Allie Hughes]

5. David Ford @ The Drake
(Tuesday March 9th; Cost: $11.50)

At first listen, David Ford doesn't seem like much, as his vocals are certainly not all that unfamiliar and the songs themselves at first seem like your typical pop fare. But as you let his sounds linger a bit, it becomes apparent that there is some pretty impressive Tom Waits-ian lyricism taking place, not to mention the articulate musicianship that refuses to limit itself within the confines of the 3 or 4 minute pop song. The looping machine is being used by many these days, but I guarantee that you have never seen it used to the impressive extent that it is used by this multi-instrumentalist, to the point that you can actually hear the sound of a full stadium band emanating from that stage, even though Ford may be the only person up there. If you haven't seen him live yet and you appreciate pure musicianship, than you owe it to yourself to be at The Drake on March 9th. [Myspace: David Ford]

6. Scout Niblett / Picastro @ The Horseshoe
(Wednesday March 17th; Cost: $11.50)

Scout Niblett is the perfect antidote for those who are suffering from "lack of rawness" syndrome. Too many artists start out with an intensely raw sound, only to trade it in for delicacy later on. (I'm looking at you Chan Marchall). Scout Niblett, on the other hand, is about as raw as it gets, with a sound that encapsulates all that grunge attempted to create, without actually be grungy at all. In fact, Scout probably has more in common with P.J. Harvey than Kurt Cobain, but if you're in the mood for some a little bit harsher than usual, her show comes highly recommended. [Myspaces: Scout Niblett, Picastro]

7. Spoon / Deerhunter / The Strange Boys @ Sound Academy
(Monday March 29th; Cost: $32.50)

There was a lot of excitement generated by this double bill, featuring the consistently catchy indie rock of Spoon and the atmospheric, yet still mildly hooky, ambient-punk of Deerhunter. While I'd imagine that a certain majority of the crowd will be there for Britt Daniel's band, I really hope that many will show up early enough to catch Bradford Cox's band, since they really are awesome live. I, however, won't be there in time for either since I think I've lost my ability to not be grumpy when I'm at the Sound Academy. Yep, don't think I'm in the mood for that. [Myspaces: Spoon, Deerhunter, The Strange Boys]

8. Justin Townes Earle / Joe Pug @ The Horseshoe
(Monday March 1st; Cost: $15)

When your father is a country legend and you're named after another country legend, I think it's safe to say that certain expectations are going to be pretty dang high. Well, if there was one thing proven by last year's Midnight At The Movies, it was that Justin is not one for undermining the aforementioned expectations. He may have definite similarities to his father Steve and his mentor Townes, but Justin Townes Earle is very much an individual songwriter and performer that is all his own, and from what I've heard, he puts on a pretty impressive live show too.  [Myspaces: Justin Townes Earle, Joe Pug]

9. Rodrigo y Gabriela @ The Phoenix
(Friday March 5th, Cost: $29.50)

I was recently thinking that I simply don't cover enough jazz tinged, acoustic guitar, instrumental duos from Mexico on this here blog, so I figured Rodrigo y Gabriela's show at The Phoenix would be an excellent opportunity to do so. Seriously though, Rodrigo Sánchez' natural abilities on lead guitar coupled with Gabriela Quintero's accompaniment on rhythm guitar is one of those great musical wonders of the world that I don't get the chance to see too often these days. [Myspace: Rodrigo y Gabriela]

10. The Besnard Lakes @ The Horseshoe
(Thursday March 11th; Cost: $16)

I would've assumed that The Besnard Lakes were big enough to fill a larger capacity venue than The Horseshoe by now, but I guess that the collective longing for neo-progressive orchestral flourishing isn't as intense as I thought. Perhaps the release of their upcoming new disc entitled The Besnard Lakes Are The Roaring Night will be epic enough to change that, In the meantime, smaller venues seem to be the way to go for this trippy outfit, and if The Horseshoe is still a little too large scale for you, than perhaps you can catch their instore performance the day before (March 10th) at Criminal Records at 6:30pm. [Myspace: The Besnard Lakes]

Honorable Mentions:
Steam Whistle Unsigned #13 takes place at the Steam Whistle Brewing Club featuring three of the city's finest in Make Your Exit, Everything All The Time and Dinosaur Bones (Mar. 5th / $5); TWM 58 looks pretty interesting, boasting a lineup including BA Johnston, Racoon Wedding and Andrew Vincent (Mar. 6th / $7); Brooklyn's Vivian Girls are playing The Wrongbar (Mar. 10th, $14); my friends Maned Young Lions are at The Horseshoe (Mar. 15th / FREE); and finally, one of my favourite local alt-country acts Elvyn is celebrating the release of their new album The Decline at The Silver Dollar with The Champion Heartache opening for them. That show takes place on March 26th (Cost: TBA)

Where I'll Be:
I've already got my tickets for Joanne Newsom, David Ford and Thrush Hermit, and I'm pretty positive I'll be going to see Language-Arts as well. Canadian Music Fest is pretty much a sure thing whether I'm officially accredited or not. I'll also be checking out as many instores as I can, including Zeus at Soundscapes on March 6th, as well as whatever other ones I can squeeze into my schedule. Gonna be a busy one peoples, so we'll see how I fare.

The Space Between Things - Songs About You EP

I've been following the evolution of local lo-fi phenom The Space Between Things (aka Chris Hobson) for over a year now, and it's frightening the amount of prolific output that has been created by this musical workaholic in that relatively short time. Other than the odd song being featured on a compilation or soundtrack however, the amount of stuff actually being exposed to more than a fleeting myspace appearance has been ridiculously low. The reason for this can only be attributed to Hobson's borderline obsessive nature in making sure that the music that is provided to the public meets his high standards of excellence. Thankfully the wait is finally over, now that this one man psych experience has made the Songs About You EP available to the masses. Upon hearing the release, it's become obvious to these ears that the result is well worth the effort put into it.

Perfecting a psychedelic lo-fi sound that is free of gimmick and pretentiousness is no easy task. Too many times have I come across an album that is made to sound like a basement recording, only to be irritated by the fact that the buzz and hiss involved is creating too much of a distraction to be endearing for long periods of time. Although Songs About You definitely has an earthy feel to it, the pristine production means that the sounds and effects are there to enhance the experience, not detract from it. Taking a cue from the early days of studio wizardry, this collection is a psychotropic journey unto itself; an amalgamation of highs and lows that enable the EP's 4 tracks to meld together into one satisfying piece of music, even without a literal segue. In fact, "the space between things" is a highly accurate moniker since it is the atmospheres and the white noises in between the melodies that are used to paint such a sonically menacing landscape. Even Hobson's singing is presented in an indistinct hush that makes it just one ingredient in the overall picture, as opposed to being the main ingredient.

The most obvious point of comparison can be found in the work of Rick White, most noticeably with Elevator, although Eric's Trip parallelism would be justified also. Fans of Guided By Voices and Sebadoh are also likely to find something interesting here. The Space Between Things has a couple more releases planned for this year, but for now, the entire Songs About You EP is available for free here.

Above photo from myspace.

Listen: Love's On The Run

Myspace: The Space Between Things

Other stuff:

The Waking Eyes' Rusty Matyas has apparently joined The Weakerthans. This is according to an article in Chart Magazine. The Waking Eyes are opening for The Weakerthans and The Constantines at The Phoenix on March 31st - April 2nd. [Myspace: The Weakerthans, The Constantines, Waking Eyes]

Metric's Emily Haines and Jimmy Shaw express some thoughts on the recent online leak of their upcoming new release Fantasies, as well as some other comments on the album over at Clash Magazine. [Myspace: Metric]

Torquil Campbell of Stars and Memphis has started yet another new band called Dead Child Star, which also features Apostle of Hustle's Julian Harris Brown. Info on this new project is on Pitchfork. [Myspace: Dead Child Star]

Dinosaur Jr. has a new album entitled Farm that will be released on Jagjaguwar on June 23rd. Stereogum has some of the details. [Myspace: Dinosaur Jr.]

One of the strangest new releases I've heard about would be Iggy Pop's upcoming foray into french pop jazz entitled Préliminaires, set for release on June 2nd. If you're as confused as I am about this, hopefully Iggy will be answering some of your questions on an interactive online press conference over at the Iggy Pop Préliminaires Official Website being held tomorrow (Thursday March 26th) at 11am CET (6am EDT). [Myspace: Iggy Pop]

Deerhoof has an artsy new video for their equally artsy new song Eaguru Guru from their latest album Offend Maggie. It's up on Pitchfork. [Myspace: Deerhoof]

And finally, it's been a couple of years and I've been really craving some live Jay Farrar like nobody's business. Well, Son Volt has a new album slated for release in May, and it looks like a full tour cycle will follow the release of the new album. OK, that's not much in the form of new news on the Farrar front, but I'm just making it clear that I've been checking up regularly. [Myspace: Jay Farrar; Son Volt]

Deerhoof - Friend Opportunity

In the 13 years of their existence, Deerhoof has consistently pushed the boundaries of modern rock. Their structures are weird, their vocals are weird, their lyrics and melodies are weird. But their longtime supporters (like myself) wouldn’t want it any other way. “Friend Opportunity” is bound to be one of the greatest releases of the year. “The Perfect Me” contains one of the most psychotic cowbells I’ve ever heard, while the rolling keyboards and vocalist Satomi Matsuzaki vie for attention. “The Galaxist” begins with a classical sounding acoustic style to it, before it morphs into a Mothers of Invention type of jazz-fusion number. The album continues to throw us several curveballs (as is Deerhoof’s specialty), such as the ballad “Whither The Invisible Birds?” where the voice reminded me of either Oliver (y’know in the movie Oliver?) or the little girl in the movie Hook. It just has a real cartoonness to it. That song leads into the psychedelic psnack of “Cast Off Crown”, which sounds like a strange amalgamation of The Monkees and The Grateful Dead after some sort of nuclear meltdown. “Matchbook Seeks Maniac” is a pop song. “Look Away” is almost 12 minutes long, and is not a pop song. In all, “Friend Opportunity” redefines the phrase “art-rock” and I figure most people will fall in love with it at approximately the 3^rd listen.

Download:
+81 mp3 (This is the single they’ve chosen to give away, although I don’t personally think it’s as strong as some of the other cuts on the album)
Wrong Time Capsule mp3 (from their last album “The Runners Four”)

Deerhoof on myspace
Purchase “Friend Opportunity” at Kill Rock Stars.com.