Beach House – The Bowery Ballroom – May 15, 2012
May 16th, 2012
Jonathan Wilson Plays the Early Show on Friday at Mercury Lounge
May 16th, 2012
Growing up in North Carolina, Jonathan Wilson was often surrounded by music, especially since his father was a musician and bandleader. By his early 20s, Wilson had become a musician himself, playing guitar and keys, and he formed a band with a friend. The group broke up, as most do, and Wilson wandered, living in California, Georgia and New York City before returning to California, specifically the famed Laurel Canyon neighborhood. He opened a studio and produced and worked alongside the likes of Jackson Browne, Chris Robinson, Bonnie “Prince” Billy and Dawes, plus he was known for hosting jam sessions at his house. But he still had songs in his head so Wilson produced his own album, Frankie Ray, in 2007, but it was never officially released. Still, the singer-songwriter was undeterred and a second disc, Gentle Spirit, backed by a full band, came out last year. And now Wilson (above, performing “Can We Really Party Today?” at last year’s Crossing Border Festival in the Hague) has taken his act on the road. See him—and don’t miss Jenny O playing first—at the early show at Mercury Lounge on Friday.
Start Your Weekend with JJ Grey & Mofro at Webster Hall
May 16th, 2012
JJ Grey (vocals, piano, guitar and harmonica) grew up outside Jacksonville, Fla., with twin interests in surfing and music. So he began making music, which eventually grew into a band—with Anthony Cole (drums), Art Edmaiston (sax), Anthony Farrell (organ), Dennis Marion (trumpet), Todd Smallie (bass) and Andrew Trube (guitar)—playing a stew of North Florida influences: country, blues, gospel, funk, R&B and Southern rock. Sure enough, JJ Grey & Mofro (above in the trailer for the group’s live DVD, Brighter Days) became known for their gritty soulful performances, one of those bands you’ve just got to see live. And you can, on Friday night at Webster Hall.
Two Nights of the Legendary Willie Nelson at The Wellmont Theatre
May 15th, 2012
Let’s face it: With a career spanning more than 50 years of a ridiculous number of hits and albums, plus a healthy dose of acting, poetry and activism, music legend Willie Nelson needs no introduction. He could happily spend all his time in a solar-powered house on Maui, but Nelson, who’s got music in his soul, is a road warrior. His newest studio disc (the 66th!), Heroes—which covers the likes of Coldplay—is out today, and Willie Nelson & Family (above, doing “Roll Me Up and Smoke Me When I Die”) play The Wellmont Theatre tomorrow and Thursday. If you’ve seen him before, you already know you shouldn’t miss this. And if you never have, now’s your chance.
Gossip Will Stream Live from Terminal 5 on 5/22
May 15th, 2012
Since That’s Not What I Heard came out in 2001, Gossip—singer Beth Ditto, guitarist Brace Paine and drummer Hannah Blilie—has gotten bigger with each album. According to NME: “Everyone needs to hear this band and dance like there’s no tomorrow.” Which, as the dance-punk trio has toured extensively, people around the world have learned, from Coachella to Glastonbury. And you can, too. The group’s fifth album, A Joyful Noise, comes out next Tuesday, 5/22, and that night at Terminal 5 Gossip’s show will stream live on The Bowery Presents Live. Don’t miss it.
Grow a Pair: Win Free Tickets to See Ingrid Michaelson on 5/17
May 15th, 2012
With a recently released new album, Hungry Again, Ingrid Michaelson is now out on tour, which brings her to Terminal 5 on Thursday. She’s popular and the show is sold out. But if you’d still like to go, The House List is giving away two tickets. So try to Grow a Pair. It’s easy. Just fill out the form below, making sure to include your full name, e-mail address and a brief message explaining which song you like the most off her new disc. Eddie Bruiser, who’s got a thing for musicians discovered on MySpace, will notify the winner by Thursday. Good luck.
Justin Townes Earle Comes to Webster Hall
May 15th, 2012
His last name comes from his father and his middle name pays homage to Townes Van Zandt, so it seems Justin Townes Earle was destined to become a musician. He grew up in Nashville, playing music at a young age, but not just country or bluegrass as you might expect. Instead, Earle played in a rock band and also toured with his dad before self-releasing the EP Yuma in 2007. His debut full-length, The Good Life, an interesting mix of bluegrass, country and folk, followed the next year. And then like so many before him, Earle headed to the big city, eventually becoming a denizen of the East Village. Two months ago, the talented Earle (above, playing “Look the Other Way” on Late Show with David Letterman) put out his fifth LP, the aptly titled Nothing’s Gonna Change the Way You Feel About Me Now, and you can see him live on Thursday at Webster Hall.
Ty Segall Plays Webster Hall with White Fence Tomorrow
May 15th, 2012
For such a young guy, Ty Segall is a busy dude. The singer-songwriter, who plays guitar and drums, was a part-time musician until 2008, when things exploded musically for him. Since then he’s put out several solo albums, including last year’s Goodbye Bread, and he’s worked on discs with Epsilons, Party Fowl, the Traditional Fools, the Perverts and Mikal Cronin. That would be enough for most people. But this year alone Segall has already put out Hair, an album with Tim Presley’s distortion-heavy, psychedelic-influenced White Fence, and he intends to release Slaughter, recorded with his touring band, in June, before putting out another disc later in the year. With all of that to keep him busy, it’s surprising Segall (above, doing “Scissor People” for Room 205) has time to tour. But fortunately he does, and you can see him playing with White Fence (separately and together) tomorrow night at Webster Hall.
An Upbeat Night of Old-Timey Music
May 14th, 2012The Dirt Daubers/Spirit Family Reunion – Mercury Lounge – May 12, 2012
If I’m using the word correctly, what went down Saturday night at Mercury Lounge was, in fact, a hootenanny complete with banjos, washboards, kazoos, group singing and more than enough fun to go around for everyone. First up, Brooklyn’s Spirit Family Reunion, a sextet with stripped-down instrumentation and plain white undershirts to match. They were a blast from a bygone era, putting the (good) time in old-timey music. Despite the songs’ austere nature, with a bountiful mix of bluegrass, gospel, jug band and the like, the infectious energy was high. It’s rare to witness a spontaneous, overwhelming response in the middle of a set that’s unassociated with any expectations but is instead just a swelling of love from the audience. But Spirit Family Reunion got such a roar and deservedly so.
The Dirt Daubers, from Kentucky, the birthplace of bluegrass, followed. Although their roots and style are similar to the opener’s—with banjo, mandolin, bass and harmonica—the trio’s look and sound are slightly more polished (plus there were some corny Cracker Barrel jokes). But where Spirit Family Reunion pushed the uplifting side of the music, the Daubers, like their name, were darker, not only playing a murder ballad but announcing it to warn you. When they threw in some harmonica, the sound firmed up, like on “Cindy.” An up-tempo version of Elvis Presley’s “Just Because” was another highlight. At one point the lead singer had one hand on a harmonica and the other on a washboard, impressively playing both at high speed to impressive results.
If the contrast between the two groups wasn’t obvious enough, while Spirit Family Reunion closed with an arena-sized version of the optimistic “I’ll Find a Way,” the Dirt Daubers finished with the more ominously titled “Devil Gets His Due.” Still the Daubers, due a gospel number, encored with a wonderful sing-along rendition of the classic “I’ll Fly Away,” but not before explaining that singing a gospel number gave you the liberty to have a night of bad behavior to balance out things. And on that note, the crowd helped close out the veritable hootenanny with the loudest singing of the night. —A. Stein
Neon Indian – Terminal 5 – May 12, 2012
May 14th, 2012
Such a Night
May 14th, 2012M. Ward – Webster Hall – May 11, 2012
It felt like summer had just arrived in New York City on a warm Friday night. Things were even hotter inside sold-out Webster Hall when M. Ward descended on to the stage as the “Post-War” interlude slowly grooved. Those in the crowd cheered as he dug into the older album Post-War, early into the show, and then sang along to “Poison Cup” and “Chinese Translation.” Ward was packing oldies but goodies to please longtime followers (pre–She & Him). He even delved deeper into his catalog, touching upon “Fuel for Fire” from Transistor Radio. Although the singer-songwriter let his tunes speak for him most of the show, Ward confessed, “It’s still early in the night, but you’re my favorites.”
Upon cheers he sang, “New York, I’m falling into a deep, deep depression.” But those lyrics from “Pure Joy,” the last track on his latest, A Wasteland Companion, were the opposite of what he was feeling. Chris Scruggs added the melodic reverb of the lap steel on “Clean Slate,” another off his latest. Ward’s twangier rendition of “Magic Trick” had quite a few couples dancing. And he treated the audience to a few covers, like John Fahey’s “Bean Vine Blues, No. 2,” Buddy Holly’s “Rave On,” which appears on his last record, Hold Time, and Daniel Johnston’s “To Go Home.”
Rachel Cox provided backing vocals for “I Get Ideas,” and also stepped in for Zooey Deschanel on the rollicking Budweiser-selling “Never Had Nobody Like You.” There was no doubt there would be an encore and Ward sure didn’t disappoint. He unveiled a sweet take on “Such a Night,” made famous by Elvis Presley, followed by a floor-shaking cover of Chuck Berry’s “Roll Over Beethoven.” The latter was a special Record Store Day–release B-side. While the longtime live favorite would have been enough, Ward brought out one of his Monsters of Folk cohorts, Conor Oberst, to end the night with “Vincent O’Brien.” —Sharlene Chiu
Photos courtesy of Mina K
Rusko – The Wellmont Theatre – May 11, 2012
May 14th, 2012
Get Reckless on Saturday Night
May 11th, 2012
Willy (vocals and guitar) and Cody (vocals, fiddle, mandolin and harmonica) Braun were in a Western swing band with their dad before forming Reckless Kelly in Bend, Ore. Perhaps it was because they specialized in roots-Americana music that the group relocated to Austin, Texas. Now a five-piece, with the addition of David Abeyta (guitar and vocals), Jay Nazz (drums) and Chris Schelske (bass and vocals), Reckless Kelly (above, doing “I Stayed Up All Night Again” for musicfog.com) continues to put out quality albums, most recently Good Luck & True Love, and playing high-energy live shows. You should see them tomorrow night at The Bowery Ballroom.
The Affirmations of M83
May 11th, 2012M83 – Terminal 5 – May 10, 2012
To some, M83 has always had an uncanny resemblance to the John Hughes classic The Breakfast Club. This has nothing to do with the aesthetic reality that the band plays music with influences from the enormous synthesizers that so dominated mid-1980s pop music. Frontman Anthony Gonzalez possesses a knack for distilling human experience down to one frozen moment: a fist raised against a cloudy sky, a human story of difference and commonality, to say everything all at once, a frozen slice of self-actualization. Gonzalez’s gift for this type of tableau universality emerged immediately, taking the stage in full costume of the band’s creepy cover art from 2011 double LP Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming. It was doubtful this thing, somewhere between Donnie Darko and Maurice Sendak, was Gonzalez himself (he took the stage far too quickly after the bit of theater concluded) as the character, creepy and triumphant, slowly raised his arms in a crosshatch between invocation and professional wrestling introductory pageant.
The creature departed and the band took the stage as the opening notes of “Intro” leaked from the speakers. It was simple: Bring your cover art onstage in full dress, play the first song from your most recent record—form meets function. Now everybody freeze. Some in the crowd turned to their phones starting a brief but erroneous Twitter rumor that Zola Jesus, who sings on the album version of “Intro,” was in the house and singing the hook. M83, unwitting to this secondary narrative, ran through the enormous “Teen Angst” and “Graveyard Girl,” both of which possess an even more affirming quality with live drums and, at high volume, an urging to stop commenting and simply experience.
The middle of the set slowed as Gonzalez effusively thanked the audience in his French-accented impeccable English. The band played “Reunion” and “Wait,” the latter featuring an enormous duet between Gonzalez and his female keyboardist. Everything stopped for a moment. This was what the audience wanted. Next was “Midnight City,” a song with no more than four serious notes, which appeared to lift the crowd toward the top of the room, snapping digital images against the blinking stage strobes, an attempt to save this and keep it, an aperture big enough to capture the desire to feel this affirmed always. —Geoff Nelson
(M83 plays Hammerstein Ballroom on 10/2.)
Neon Indian Plays Terminal 5 Tomorrow Night
May 11th, 2012
Neon Indian is the brainchild of composer Alan Palomo. He had been writing and creating music as part of the band Ghosthustler and then as the artist VEGA prior to creating the dreamy lullabies and grinding guitar of Neon Indian. After Palomo missed a date to take acid with a friend—Alicia Scardetta, who now provides Neon Indian’s visuals—he sent her a musical apology called “Should Have Taken Acid with You.” When she responded positively to the tune, it spurred him on to create more. The results of which, Psychic Chasms, were released in 2009 to much acclaim. A second disc, Era Extraña, came out last September and so Palomo is out on the road in support of it. And when playing live, he’s joined onstage by drums, keys and guitar, which you can see for yourself when Neon Indian (above, doing “Polish Girl” for KEXP FM) plays Terminal 5 tomorrow night.
