Drive-By Truckers with Blitzen Trapper 3/18/14 Toads

Missed most of excellent opener BT. Portland natives have opened for the likes of Wilco, they know how to rock and usually have a busy festival dockett. Their current record is excellent and even though I missed them, I would recommend them. Logical opener for DBTs made for an enticing double-bill.
Patterson Hood and Mike Cooley, the axe-wielding core of DBTs have been together through many band incarnations. Former members Jason Isbell and Shonna Tucker have decent solo careers. Tour stalwarts, DBTs have discovered the knack of multiple guitar shred and lend it to many of their songs. Their current record is also quite good. Hood's songs have the Flannery O'connoresque angst of Skynyrd crossed with the Clash. Cooley songs tend more toward TomPettyisms and sometimes don't segue well the Hood songs. Good overall show with some muddy spots. Hard to not to yell the refrain "hell no I ain't happy!" during Hood's signature tune.

Moonface w/ Saltland 3/6/14 Spaceland

Caught a couple songs from Rebecca Foon aka Saltland. Cellist with a looping function played a couple of haunting melodies. I hear she did a stint with Thee Silver Mt. Zion crew which is pretty impressive cred.
Moonface aka Spencer Krug, did a solo piano show. Krug was part of the Montreal-based Wolf Parade. Accomplished on piano, Moonface played atmospheric piano ballads that ebbed and swelled. Despite one poor-working piano key (that I could not discern), Moonface songs of love and loss reminded me of David Sylvian crossed with Neil Diamond with lyrics by Lou Reed. Krug currently resides in Helsinki, and the chilly scandic desolation and beauty came across in his songs.

Sarah Borges w/ Girls, Guns,and Glory 3/7/14 Cafe 9

Good crowd for a friday night. From Boston, GGG offered some capable urban country.  A quartet of guitar, bass, drums, and hat-wearing singer recalled Cash-era country and not the slick faux-bro slop that passes for music in Nashville these days.
Sarah Borges is a charismatic singer and guitarist that uses GGG for her backing. Warming up to travel to SXSW in Austin, SB put on a good show. Sonny and Cher, NRBQ, and a J Geils cover blended seamlessly with her Lucinda Williams delivery. With more sass than twang, SB showed that she can rock.

Milagres w/ Plume Giant Bar 2/26/14

You may have read me rave about Yalie trio Plume Giant. Two males, one female multi-instrumentalists that have captured beautiful harmony vocals. First time I've seen them since they graduated and moved to Brooklyn (which seems like the indie path of least possible resistance for east coast bands). Genuinely nice, this threesome has latched on to a Bon Iver meets Grizzly Bear vibe. Wielding some boho effects (xylophone, triangle, drumpad) in addition to the regular instrumentation of guitars and fiddle top with soaring vocal harmonies, this band is one ear away from stardom, if they want it. Plume Giant even crafted a light sculpture band sign. Let's hope that the ear that can push PG to the next level, passes by the right dive bar on the right night in Brooklyn.
   Milagres is another Brooklyn band of hipsters. Tight and technical, Milagres had a Robert Smith (The Cure) type front man. Muscular guitar and bass were at least brothers (if not clones), and excitable drummer made up the quartet. Higher energy and less finesse than PG, Milagres are another good example of Brooklyn's sea of hipster musicians. How bout a battle of the bands reality show highlighting one of the worlds best breeding grounds for new music?

William Kentridge "The Refusal Of Time" ICA Boston, 2/22/14

Conceptual artist Kentridge from South Africa has his Refusal of Time installation at the Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston. A five channel video and audio project is very difficult to describe. A 30 minute project takes place in a room with a central "breathing machine", a large wooden metronome that pumps during the installation. All four walls have processional video comprised of black and white clips of dancers, sound comes through megaphones aimed at chairs in various locations in the room. Some video clips have torn paper mosaics arranged by Kentridge that are blown apart in slow motion. The soundtrack is a mixture of horns and tribal songs depicting South Africa. Unlike anything I've ever seen.

Cibo Matto 2/7/14 Spaceland Ballroom

Yuka Honda and Miho Hatori, the asian hiphop duo that are Cibo Matto, are kind of an enigma. A cult classic in the late nineties (Viva! La Woman), multiple name-checks by the Beastie Boys and Handsome Boy Modeling School, odd appearances on tribute albums (KCRWs sounds eclectic, Concert for Tibet et. al.), these ladies are free spirits. I knew I was in for a treat when I found myself standing next to Chris Frantz (Talking Heads, Tom Tom Club drummer). The crowd was appreciative of CMs return to the scene after a decade hiatus. Opening with the classic Sugar Water, playing some material from their new Hotel Valentine release, these musical chameleons are comfortable in hiphop, soul, and pop-punk. I dare you to put on your most sincere (or maybe cheesiest) asian accent and recite their lyric "Obi-wan Kenobi told me in the lobby" from Sci-Fi Wasabi and try not to smile.

Greensky Bluegrass 1/29/14 Toads

Medium turnout for "casual wednesday" show at Toads. It's amazing how many performers name check the Rolling Stones surprise show in 1986. I chuckle, because aside from maybe a bartender or "turban man", I am probably the only one in attendance who was actually at that show. Greensky Bluegrass was made up of banjo, mandolin, bass, guitar, and national steel standup slide guitar. Kind of a Yonder Mountain String Band plus one. These guys were capable, and have been around for 7 or 8 releases. It was a head-scratcher to enter the club at 10pm and be in my car at 11pm after they finished ,including one encore. Bluegrass bands are notorious for longer sets. Nice reggae intro to Mr. Charlie, a hoe down of a Midnight Rider, and a sweet Sittin On Top Of the World were not enough to outweigh the brevity of the set. Even the aging Glimmer Twins played longer and only charged me $3.01 to get in.