Above all I will say Tim Cushing’s music is charmingly understated. Cushing folk songs can easily draw comparisons to Daniel Johnston, Jeff Mangum, and more recent artists The Tallest Man On Earth, Deer Tick and in a strange way his delivery is similar to Yoni Wolf’s; yet Cushing does not let his influences paint a picture of his music, but rather a mural. His most recent album Telephone Lines brings to mind mid-century beat culture and the traveling aesthetic associated with it and namely Kerouac. Cushing’s music is at once sorrowful, uplifting and enjoyable to the last chord.
This entry was written by , posted on October 23, 2009 at 10:22 pm, filed under New Tunes and tagged daniel johnston, Deer Tick, jeff mangum, The Tallest Man On Earth, timothy cushing, yoni wolf. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink and follow any comments with the RSS feed for this post.
No apologies this time. I already missed the Jenny Lewis / Heartless Bastards show this Tuesday. Pissed. Really wanted to go. I’ve loved her since Troop Beverly Hills and The Wizard. Someone please tell me about the show. Send me pics. Please.
Thursday, June 25
Starlight Mints / Evangelicals @ Granada Theater
John Vanderslice / The Tallest Man On Earth @ House Of Blues Dallas
Oklahoma must be a weird place. On the one hand, the Official Rock Song of Oklahoma almost definitely puts your state’s Official Rock Song to shame. On the other hand, this is the state that gave birth to Bush-fellating douche-bag, Toby Keith. Thankfully, the two Oklahoma bands playing Granada on Thursday night have more in common with Yoshimi than with Shock’n Y’all.
If you really hate Toby Keith, you should definitely check out the John Vanderslice show. His 2005 album, Pixel Revolt, and 2007 album, Emerald City, are extremely rare in that they actually say something intelligent about post-9/11 America. The multi-talented Vanderslice happens to have been in one of my favorite bands of the 90s, MK Ultra (their 3 records are available in hi-res mp3 for free), and he’s also collaborated with some of my other favorite bands like The Mountain Goats and Spoon. I’m not sure the political leanings of Swedish folkster Kristian Matsson aka The Tallest Man On Earth, but I’m guessing he’s no Keith fan either.
So basically, either way, the terrorists win.
Friday, June 26
Cryptacize is an unconventional band. Much like Deerhoof is an unconventional band. When Chris Cohen parted ways with Deerhoof, I thought one of my favorite bands might be ruined. Instead, Deerhoof never missed a beat, and thankfully Cohen found a new avenue to explore his unorthodox arrangements and childlike sense of wonder. Cryptacize continue to get better, and I can’t wait to see them up close and personal on stage at Rubber Gloves. Apparently, they use very tiny drums.
If you want to make your girlfriend happy, take her to see local hero Ben Kweller. Girls dig Ben Kweller. It’s a fact. Just be sure to have your girl pack a few tampons. For Ben.
This entry was written by , posted on June 24, 2009 at 7:05 pm, filed under Shows, Uncategorized and tagged Ben Kweller, cryptacize, deerhoof, Evangelicals, Heartless Bastards, Jenny Lewis, John Vanderslice, MK Ultra, Spoon, Starlight Mints, The Flaming Lips, The Mountain Goats, The Tallest Man On Earth, Toby Keith. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink and follow any comments with the RSS feed for this post.
