The Zender Agenda

Tomorrow: Defend Music Night!

2012-02-09T10:22:00.001-05:00

It's a big night for live music in Cleveland tomorrow night. Details from irockcleveland.com and cleveland.com down below. More details here: https://www.facebook.com/CleveMusicClubCoalition

I Rock Cleveland | Indie Rock, College Rock, Alt Rock, Modern Rock, Cleveland Rock, and Rock
"Still, the issue is far from settled, and that’s why ten of the member clubs in The Cleveland Music Club Coalition have banded together to host an event they are calling Defend Music Night. Taking place this Friday, Defend Music Night will not only give you the opportunity to rock out at venues like The Happy Dog, Beachland, Brother’s Lounge, and Now That’s Class, but also give you the knowledge needed to become a part of the cause.
Defend Music Night: Friday, February 10th:
Beachland: Outlaws I&I, We the People, GS Harper
Brothers Lounge: Reese Daily, Justin Gorski
Garage Bar: Restless Habs, Drunken Bishops
Happy Dog: Herzog, Bill Fox
The Harp: Brent Kirby
Now That’s Class: Woolen Kits, Puffy Areolas, Smooth Brain
Prosperity Social Club: Martini Five-O
Peabody’s: Tenafly Vipers, Not So Good Ol’ Boys, Jason Charles Miller, Scattered Heart
Roc Bar: Patrenzo, Kennedy & Keilyn, Veeno, Treazon, Dasanto, Soul Kryziz, Zup
Rockstar: Snipez, JMO"
(Continued... I Rock Cleveland | Indie Rock, College Rock, Alt Rock, Modern Rock, Cleveland Rock, and Rock)

Cleveland music clubs rally against city tax | cleveland.com
"We want to put the spotlight on the threat that the admissions tax poses to local clubs and the musicians," said Sean Watterson, owner of the West Side's Happy Dog. "We want more venues to open. It allows creative musicians to play here instead of moving to New York or Nashville or Chicago or Los Angeles."
(Continued... Cleveland music clubs rally against city tax | cleveland.com)

Tomorrow: Blind Pilot @ Beachland Ballroom

2012-02-08T20:44:00.001-05:00

Tomorrow's Blind Pilot show comes *highly* recommended by kingofthecastle7. I mean like, he lit up telling me about them. I think this show would have caught my attention anyway - but it's always great to have a personal recommendation… and I'd hope so, as that's the entire point of this blog. Beachland Ballroom / 8:30 / $15 (The Barr Brothers opening - nice stuff as well!)

Check out an official, and a live video - for the full spectrum.

Video Tuesday

2012-02-08T19:48:00.001-05:00

After blowing through 10 concert reviews straight, I don't feel so bad about being a day behind here. Feels *so* good to be caught up - and just in time for some more shows this weekend! Until then - here's some great stuff. I've really been digging the new Class Actress stuff and here's a mediocre video for Bienvenue (the song makes up for it). Next up is First Aid Kit with Emmlou. Finally, Justice with a sweet tits video for On'n'On. …and a bonus.

Walls' Into Our Mist - a sweet "how it's made" video.

Estelle (2/2/12)

2012-02-07T16:20:00.001-05:00

I've been digging Estelle's American Boy (w/ Kanye West) for *years*. Since then, she's dropped a couple singles, but not much since. I was thrilled to see she was coming to Cleveland - and that it would be in the smaller Cambridge Room at the House of Blues. After a bite to eat at Chinato before-hand (mmmm), we showed up ready to dance.

We caught the end of Luke James set and his big single, I Want You. Man has got a voice (and a body & smile to match). Impressive. We settled in with drinks and waited with anticipation. From the moment she was announced, I immediately realized how lame the crowd was going to be. I'm talking - barely clapping. Then once the music started no one barely moved a hip!! I'm used to this at these indie rock shows, but this R&B / Rap show was even worse! I was stunned. Just stunned.

Luckily, equally as stunning was Estelle. She had a swagger and confidence about her that matched her talents. I have to give her credit for working that crowd as best she could - lesser artists would have given up. She provided a full night of great songs, a few covers, and insight that left any conscious person wanting more. The juxtaposition of that crowd to her performance was just amazing.

Also working against her was this seemingly self-proclaimed MC, someone from one of the local radio stations I believe who kept cutting in on her. I really have never been more embarrassed of Cleveland as a audience than I was at this show. At the same time, Estelle has solidified herself as one of my top favorite female performers after being able to shine through that debacle. I just hope she hasn't given up on us.

I did catch a clip of American Boy (interrupted of course):

Acoustic Cafe Tour (1/29/12)

2012-02-07T15:59:00.001-05:00

Erin McKeown with Carrie Rodriguez & Kelly Joe Phelps - at Nighttown - YES PLEASE. This was another year of a traveling Acoustic Cafe tour supporting artists and the Acoustic Cafe radio program. While I guess Carrie Rodriguez has at the "helm" this show was really about Erin McKeown for me. Having seen Erin several times before, I was really excited to see her in this venue - which I had actually already seen Carrie Rodriguez. I wasn't too familiar with Kelly Joe Phelps - but was willing to learn.

The first half of the show had each artist performing a couple songs of their own, typically with a transition parter to then perform their own set. Not bad. The second half was all three performing together. I'll reluctantly admit that things did seem a bit off… like Erin & Carrie were really trying to work things up - but Kelly gave off this old grump mentality. I only note this because I've seen how good these kinds of shows can be - and this wasn't quite there. But then, I could see just about anything at Nighttown and be super-pleased in that venue.

Check out some pics, and there's a clip of an article talking about the tour below...

Carrie Rodriguez helms "Acoustic Cafe" tour
Austin singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Carrie Rodriguez will host the third annual "An Acoustic Cafe Evening" trek, sharing the stage with Kelly Joe Phelps, Erin McKeown and Pieta Brown along the way.
The singer/songwriter-focused road trip, inspired by the syndicated radio show "Acoustic Cafe," gets underway Jan. 24 in Ann Arbor, MI, and cruises through the Midwest, stopping by clubs and theaters in 11 cities. The schedule is currently slated to wrap up Feb. 4 in Minneapolis.
Rodriguez will host and perform each evening, as will Phelps. McKeown will be part of the line-up through Jan. 30, after which Brown will join the tour."
(Continued... Carrie Rodriguez helms "Acoustic Cafe" tour)

He's My Brother She's My Sister (1/26/12)

2012-02-07T14:03:00.001-05:00

As I mention before, these guys have toured with Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic fields before, and I can see the symbiosis. He's My Brother and She's My Sister is definitely a slightly-off the center party band with amazing energy and creativity. They were just beaming good energy… but we'll get to that.

The night started out early - particularly so I could catch both opening acts and grab a bite to eat. I do want to make a point to say how GOOD the new menu is at the Beachland. My friend Carrie & I tried three different things between us and they were all amazing. I'm excited to eat there again!

OK… back to music. I've seen the local Lowly, the Tree Ghost before - and they're fun to listen to. Definitely a solid local band that has the big chamber-folk thing down - but with some room for polishing.

Next up was my first time seeing Shivering Timbers - finally! This band out of Akron has been eluding me, to my detriment. These guys have the dark, sultry folk thing down pat, and Sara Benn's voice was superb. I'm just now getting familiar with their stuff - but anxious to see them again (and again). Looks like there are plenty of opportunities!

By this time it was a well primed evening when He's My Brother She's My Sister just took it home. Again, another strong female voice (swoon). Throw in a painted upright bass, a top hat, some glitter, and a person tap dancing on a drum and I'm sold. A total party, and I was thrilled to see some people dancing to this. Go see these guys!

Akron/Family (1/19/12)

2012-02-07T13:06:00.001-05:00

This was a particularly exciting show, as I had family visiting from back home and was very excited to take them to a show at the Beachland! Especially being Akron/Family, who I thoroughly enjoyed last time I saw them. Leave it to this scenario (where I'm showing someone the Beachland for the first time) for it to be a completely different experience than normal. We walked in to the band being set up in the middle of the floor. Case in point:

It was an interesting setup and it played nicely with the crowd - but this was a completely different experience than before. Last time it was just this amazing non-stop jam session. This time, there was much more engagement with the audience (which always makes me a little nervous). I think part of the issue was that there were just generally less people than last time (and in a larger space). That didn't stop Akron/Family from rocking out though. They were as avant-garde as ever… I'm not sure my guests entirely appreciated it, but I still did. I'll be looking forward to a new release from them coming sometime soon.

Caveman (1/15/12)

2012-02-07T11:11:00.001-05:00

Caveman was another last-minute discovery, and another show at the Happy Dog. Though I was hoping that the sunnier, pop/electronic aesthetic would play better at the Happy Dog. It did, but I have to admit that since that show, I like these guys even more - and now I'm even MORE excited for their return at the Beachland Tavern (Wednesday, March 21st). Check out some photos - and then a clip from my favorite song of theirs, Thankful.

Now download a copy of it for yourself for free.

Greycoats (1/12/12)

2012-02-06T22:35:00.001-05:00

In a last-minute decision, I chose to go see the Greycoats at the Beachland Tavern instead of Langhorne Slim at the Grog Shop. Having seen Langhorne before, and with some sweet new singles by Greycoats - I thought I'd try my luck with the dark horse.

Opening was Winter's Warm who played with no drummer - not bad, but not fair to review with missing a third of their band. Next up was ME. Now I wish for the life of me I could find a website for them (realize how hard searching just those two letters are), because I would love to know when they come back. An extremely quirky duo, with an alternative swagger that was raucous and unapologetic. These guys made the night for me. Anybody know them?

Thankfully ME was good, because Greycoats were meh. They did play a song from their upcoming album that would give me some hope, but I can't imagine seeing these guys again.

Theophilus London (1/11/12)

2012-02-06T21:46:00.001-05:00

Finally, getting into the new year. As I mentioned, I was late to the Thesophilus London game, so I didn't have a lot of context coming into this show. This was one of the situations that with the right crowd it could have been an amazing performance, but not nearly as many people were there as I would have expected. The overall performance was decent (sans crowd contribution) but not much to write about, though you can get a much more emphatic review of this show over at TVD Cleveland if you're interested. (btw, the crowd looks great in these photos, but directly behind me was sheer emptiness)

Machine Gun Kelly (12/15/11)

2012-02-06T21:24:00.001-05:00

I'd been waiting to catch Machine Gun Kelly for some time - as I think it's a straight-up guy who I'm glad loves Cleveland so much. I missed his last performance at the Grog Shop and was really excited to see him perform at House of Blues, now supported by Diddy. But the night ended up being a longer story than I'd put here, but I basically got to House of Blues late, only catching a couple songs before the show was over. From what I saw, it's what you'd expect... but it's a little consolation that MGK'd be proud knowing I raged. I would still like another chance for a truly Laced Up experience.

Here's another crappy iPhone photo:

Beirut (11/30/11)

2012-02-06T21:08:00.001-05:00

I suppose that since this post is about Beirut, it should be some extensive review about an awesome show by a stunning band. And I guess it could be - but this show left me a little salty for paying $30+ to see a band perform for about an hour. Granted, they performed *very* well - so much that I would recommend & probably see them again (for less, or at least a different venue) - but in keeping up with my catching up, you're getting a couple crappy iPhone pics (courtesy of HOB Cleveland's no camera policy).

Herzog (11/23/11)

2012-02-06T20:51:00.001-05:00

I'm about to start the grueling process of catching up on some shows that I've seen, but not written about. The sad thing is that I'm reaching all the way back to late November here - though things were quite slow through the holiday, which means I've probably been behind by more shows at previous times (just my own self-pacification).

So the last Herzog album has been winning me over. To see they had a new album coming out, and that the CD release show would be at the Happy Dog was thrilling. However, some happy-hour drinks and a really late show at the Happy Dog left for not much of an attention span (not to mention the on-going, excessively loud sound issues) - so not much to wax poetic about this show. I did grab some pics though...

Though not to do Herzog a complete disservice, you should listen to a new track "Fuck This Year" over at thenoiseis.net. Here's the rest of the pics...

www.flickr.com

The Dø - The Calendar

2012-02-05T15:10:00.001-05:00

Just posted about The Dø on this past Video Tuesday. Let's follow that up with a live performance from The Best Fit Sessions. Again - I think these guys are superb.

Video Tuesday

2012-01-31T20:51:00.001-05:00

So I had a whole other Video Tuesday planned, but I'd already filled up next weeks' and decided to just swap them. Particularly, because I'm thrilled to be posting a video for The Dø's Too Insistent - one of my favorite bands of the last couple years. Next up is a gorgeous video by Feist for The Bad in Each Other. Finally, Eleanor Freidberger's Heaven. Some heavy stuff for an all ladies week.

Tonight! He's My Brother She's My Sister @ Beachland Tavern

2012-01-26T10:09:00.001-05:00

Really excited about this Beachland show tonight, seeing He's My Brother & She's My Sister ($10)… They're a little bit like Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros with some tapping action a la Tilly & the Wall. This could be stunning.

Opening, I'm FINALLY going to get to see the Shivering Timbers!

Video Tuesday

2012-01-26T08:59:00.001-05:00

I really need to think about renaming this weekly piece… Another slate of great videos, starting with Wilco's Whole Love (via Jeff Tweedy's son Spencer). Next up is a great song by Youth Lagoon for July. Finally, an incredibly flexible video by Antony & the Johnsons for Christina's Farm

Finally, the bonus is a new (to me) band with a striking video & song from Perfume Genius. Why have I not heard this before?

Shows This Week!

2012-01-23T21:30:00.001-05:00

There's a lot going on this week and I thought I should get it all down at once...

Tuesday:Los Campesinos! @ Beachland Ballroom ($15)
A fun, Welsh party band, these guys sound like they'll be a lot of fun. (DJ'ing in the Tavern afterward)

Tuesday: Indie Orthodox New Year @ Music Saves & Beachland Tavern
Great deals from Music Saves during the day / DJ Barbergoth (Cloud Nothings) DJ'ing early.

Wednesday:Chiddy Bang @ The Spot (CWRU) (FREE / Student Only?)
Glad to see this show, as I thought we (CLE) were getting passed up. New album out Feb. 28th. Download some Free Stuff.

Wednesday: Ryan Adams @ Ohio Theater / SOLD OUT

Thursday: He's My Brother, She's My Sister @ Beachland Tavern ($8/$10)
This brother-sister combo sounds amazing (more details here). Also excited about Shivering Timbers & Lowly, the Tree Ghost opening!

and while it's not technically "This Week" - you should also plan on...

Sunday: Erin McKeown / Carrie Rodriguez / Kelly Joe Phelps @ Nighttown ($20)
SO EXCITING to see these guys at this venue. I. Am. So. There. You should be too… Full Details Here.

acafe.com "In its third year, the "An Acoustic Cafe Evening Tour" features the diverse talents of four critically acclaimed singer-songwriters: Austin-based multi-instrumentalist Carrie Rodriguez, Northampton lit/pop darling Erin McKeown (1/24-29 only), Northwest finger-picking master Kelly Joe Phelps."

Video "Tuesday"

2012-01-19T10:16:00.001-05:00

Let's just say I delayed this week's VT in protest of SOPA/SIPA (yeah, that's it). Let's start off with Austra's freaky Spellwork video (admittedly, the song is better than the video). Next up, take flight with Birdmonster's Sonny Pete and The Ghost of You. Finally some Gauntlet Hair with Top Bunk (and some Arnold awesomeness).

Keeping the bonus tradition alive, this Wiley video caught my eye (and ear). Here is Boom Blast.

Tomorrow: Greycoats @ Beachland Tavern

2012-01-11T21:37:00.001-05:00

I was originally planning on the Langhorne Slim show at the Grog Shop tomorrow, but having seen him before, I'm trying something new (not that one should be discouraged from that show either). I've been intrigued with the new stuff from Greycoats. Check out these couple new songs (download one for free) and see what you think. $6!

&lt;a href="http://greycoats.bandcamp.com/track/the-chemic-drop" _mce_href="http://greycoats.bandcamp.com/track/the-chemic-drop"&gt;The Chemic Drop by GREYCOATS&lt;/a&gt;

<a href="http://greycoats.bandcamp.com/track/the-lions-and-the-swans" _mce_href="http://greycoats.bandcamp.com/track/the-lions-and-the-swans">The Lions and the Swans by GREYCOATS</a>

I kinda hope they're a cult.

Tomorrow: Theophilus London @ Grog Shop

2012-01-10T20:31:00.001-05:00

I can't explain it, but I held a little grudge against Theophilus London - for some reason… I once saw the album cover, which didn't do much for me, then I just started seeing his name everywhere. It became just an easy name to overlook (he was already getting a ton of press - he didn't need any more). But once I see someone is coming to town, they get a closer look - and boy I'm glad I did with Theophilus. I didn't realize how fun and original his sound is. As allmusic.com describes him: "genre-bending approach draws from a range of styles, from soul-pop and new wave to electro and contemporary R&B. Citing influences that include Michael Jackson and Prince as well as Kraftwerk and the Smiths" Whoa. Grog Shop here I come.

And if you need some help with his name...

Video Tuesday

2012-01-10T18:22:00.001-05:00

These videos have been burning a hole in my computer… The 2 Bears (part Hot Chip) will show you how to Work, with a great song and better video. Next up is YELLE's fun Comme Un Enfant. Finally, a new track and (uncomfortable?) video for Scissor Sisters v. Krystal Pepsy with Shady Love.

Yet another "bonus" video - this time is Lana Del Rey's overly grandiose (and a bit wacky) Born To Die. I actually don't mind her (yet).

Tomorrow: DOM @ Happy Dog

2012-01-09T21:06:00.001-05:00

What a little break that was… The holidays aren't the best time for live music or new releases, but this week is bringing it back in style - starting tomorrow. DOM will be performing at the Happy Dog. They are "hazy cosmic jive" group from Massachusetts, on Astralwerks, and hailing from Massachusetts. This isn't my first time going to a pop show at the Happy Dog, which you wouldn't normally equate as a pop venue (at least I haven't yet). But it turns out to be a pretty good one...

This single got me so excited to see them live… I hope they bring the same shenanigans. Check 'em out and see why it's so sexy living in America.

Gossip Culture is back, opening this show as well.

New Find: CANT

2011-12-27T13:30:00.001-05:00

So I posted a video from CANT on a previous Video Tuesday and mentioned talking about them (him) more. The more I listen to the new album, the more I like it.

Particularly this song (play it loud):

Here's a live version from KEXP (and here's the rest of the videos).

A bit more info…

CANT: From Grizzly Bear's Friction, A Solo Gem : NPR
" as far as side projects go, Grizzly Bear is basically a high-school valedictorian."
CANT is the latest addition to the pedigree — a Chris Taylor solo outfit with a moodier strain of after-hours sultriness than can be heard in Grizzly Bear's lofty melancholia. Its debut album, Dreams Come True, grooves as readily it sulks, borrowing liberally from Prince and Depeche Mode, and "She Found a Way Out" is a clear standout. Taylor's sparse guitar arrangement and airy harmonies evoke intimacy akin to Daniel Rossen's take on "Deep Blue Sea," right up until the sucker-punch second half erupts. Synths wash over the track, nearly swallowing the heavy bass-snare hits as Taylor professes, "She can't / She can't / She's gonna find a way out."
The result has all the grandeur of Gary Numan's Pleasure Principle, and belongs nowhere near a proper Grizzly Bear album, but as Grizzly Bear's Yellow House proved, a little friction makes for better music. Best of all, in that band's case, what doesn't fit makes for great solo material."
(Continued... CANT: From Grizzly Bear's Friction, A Solo Gem : NPR)

Pitchfork Music Festival Paris Documentary

2011-12-20T09:03:00.001-05:00

Knowing how much I love both La Blogotheque and the Pitchfork Music Festival, you could imagine my delight to see them converge in Paris. Watch the magic.