"What Happened Miss Simone?" Yale School of Architecture

. Screening of the new documentary about the "high priestess of soul", Nina Simone.  Jammed into a classroom with other NS fans and the filmmaker, Liz Garbus, we saw a fascinating and sad tale of this iconic singer. Born in South Carolina,  Eunice Waymon showed an aptitude for piano at an early age. Trying to become the first female black pianist to play at Carnegie Hall, Eunice and family moved to Philadelphia to further her classical training. For money, Eunice changed her name to NS and played joints in Atlantic City. Eunice changed her name so her mother would not know of her night job playing the " devil's music". A club owner said she could keep the job if she played and sang.  She moved to NYC and married a tough ex-cop who managed the beginnings of success. The husband turned out to be abusive. Nina found refuge in the blossoming civil rights movement. They moved to Mount Vernon next to MalcolmX ( probably some awesome block parties!), and had a child. NS's music became more socially conscious and her fame and marriage suffered. A true artist, NS was difficult onstage. Her longtime friend and guitarist became wary of her ability to perform. In the 90s, we had tickets to a Newport Jazz festival with NS as top billing only to have her cancel for health reasons. Moving to Liberia, Switzerland, Paris, finally Holland, NS was an ex-pat of the "United Snakes of America". Ultimately diagnosed and treated for bipolar disease, drug therapy compromised her art. The arc of her career was fascinating and sad. This film opened this years Sundance festival and will soon be available on Netflix,  a worthwhile documentary.

Swervedriver w/ Gateway Drugs 3/26/15 Spaceland

 Caught the last two songs from Gateway Drugs. The final tune was a snarling cover of the 60s psych-pop nugget Psychotic Reaction.
  I had some Swervedriver on vinyl, which gives you an idea of the timing of this British band. They took a ten year hiatus and re-emerged with the same dual guitar, bass and drums sonic attack. Sludge and fuzz guitars are central to the SD sound. Without any true hits, SD marched through some old and new songs. The regular SD bass player was absent, with the bassist from Supergrass as a fill in. The drummer was a big fella who played in perpetual motion and anchored the sonic assault.

Perfume Genius w/ Jenny Hval 3/23/15 Spaceland

Opener Hval hails from Oslo. Scandic freaktronica  from Hval on voice and video and an accomplice on keys and synths. An odd mirror/ video screen  showed images of Hval and some mildly erotic footage of people's mouths and chains. Hval had long red hair and a track suit to "make her feel more American". She gave off a woozy Charlotte Gainsbourg aura. Her voice was beautiful at times and screechy at others. She even chirped her way through a Simon and Garfunkel song. Her final song, in true performance art fashion, had her remove her red hair (wig) and faux strangle herself.
  Perfume Genius from San Francisco is set to appear at many international festivals this summer. A quartet of synths, drums, guitar/bass/electronics with PG on vocals and keys. An extremely "out" artist, PG's songs speak to the trials of being openly gay in 2015. The music seemed to have two gears: soft piano ballads, and full on clubby ragers. Excellent voice and good stage presence bode well for PG's success. I had to laugh when he lispily launched in to the encore without leaving the stage because he "was not wearing pants".

California X 2/25/15 Bar

Crowded house to hear California X whose recent recording is catching a buzz. Always interesting for me to try to pick which peck of pizza munching freak show denizens grab instruments and play. The CalX quartet was not readily apparent. The music was decidedly indie-metal with two indie guitarists and a metal bass and drums rhythm section. Loud and sludgy, CalX had a good handle on the music but lacked a decent vocal delivery.

Funky Dawgs Brass Band 2/1815 Bar

  What better continuation of Mardi Gras than a healthy dose of FDB. The back room at Bar was rocking with two trombones, two trumpets, two saxes, a drummer, and a tuba player. FDB is a spin off from the Uconn marching band (they even channel Jonathan the mascot in their logo). Like the JB horns on spring break, FDB honked through numbers like "soul power", and " shake your booty".  All I'm sayin is the Dawgs is awn.

Steve Earle 2/7/15 MassMoca North Adams MA

The hardcore troubadour travels to the large scale contemporary art Mecca that is MassMoca. Nestled in the Berkshires, MassMoca just received some funding that will make it the largest contemporary art museum in the world. We were able to spend the afternoon in the museum. Exhibits of drizzled India ink, plastics, and an awesome ceiling film depicting passenger pigeon (now extinct) flock movements were the highlights.

  Earle played a solo set. The first few tunes were blues numbers from the soon to be released Terraplane. On to some valentines-oriented love songs. Earle just turned 60, and had some hard years early in his career. A protege of Townes Van Zandt, Earle chose heroin instead of alcohol (the addiction that killed the mentor). Perhaps 20 yrs sober, Earle has two distinct periods: the early "outlaw country" period that owes success to hits like Copperhead Road, and the liberal-thinking songwriter who penned hits like Can't Remember if We Said Goodbye, and Jerusalem. Joking that he was a socialist, not Obama, Earle told an Affordable Care Act success story about the artist that has decorated his past 10  or so albums. "Before the ACA, this guy would have lost everything." Closed the show with "Christmas in Washington."

Lotus 1/29/15 Toads

Must be the start of winter. Hundreds of hippies descend on Toads Place for Groove-hogs day hosted by Philly groove-merchants Lotus. I find it hard to believe that this troupe has existed for this long sans any vocalist. The awesome Talking Heads deconstruction at the 2014 Vibes made use of a cast of extras that fleshed out the normally instrumental sound. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy the sound, but I do think Lotus is one snarky vocalist away from LCD Soundsystem popularity. No matter, Lotus' extendo-jams with Moby-on-Molly samples puffed life into the grinding ragers. Two full sets with Cross-eyed and Painless anchoring set two made for a full evening.