Xiu Xiu w/ Headroom 4/12/17 Bar

Local psych outfit Headroom is a veritable guitar army. Three guitars, bass, drums, and a guy on what looked like an old Royal typewriter. Sludge and fuzz drenched instrumentals are the M.O. of Headroom. At one point, the churning wall of guitar squall morphed into a wordless drone metal reading of the Dead's Wharf Rat.
Xiu Xiu is an avant rock trio that has been plying their oddball craft for twenty years. Tributes to Nina Simone, film music, and a recent stint doing the music of Twin Peaks in their trademark drone metal delivery. On this evening Xiu Xiu was a duo, a diminutive Asian woman on drums and synths, and a quirky male singer on caterwauling guitar. The singer's schizophrenic style reminded me of Pere Ubu, Fred Schneider, David Byrne, Wayne Newton, Norman Bates (for his violent stabbing of his lone cymbal), and even the guy from Spandau Ballet at times. Good set played to a packed crowd. Wild cover of ZZ Top's Sharp Dressed Man was the show highlight.

Diet Cig w/ Daddy Issues 4/5/17 Bar

Opener Daddy Issues is a female power trio from New York. Guitar/vocals, bass/backing vocals, and drums formed the group. Punk and grunge were the formula for their original tunes. These girls are in their 20s and were happy to be on tour. The singer reminded me of Syd Straw fronting Husker Du. The song "Creepy Girl" was the highlight.
Diet Cig from New Paltz are a duo. Female vocals and guitar and a male drummer oozed pop punk numbers. The singer bounced around the stage like Peter Pan while the drummer pushed the high velocity pace. Some duos have limited sound, but the strong vocals and stage presence filled the room.

Kevin Morby w/ Waxahatchee 3/29/17 Spaceland Ballroom

Waxahatchee is the brainchild of Katie Crutchfield. Armed with just an electric guitar, Crutchfield is a solo indie folk artist. Deliberate droney picking was the backdrop for heartfelt songs. The local library has copies of her recent Ivy Trip and earlier Cerulean Blue recordings. She reminded me of the melancholy of Sharon Van Etten.
Kevin Morby is also a singer songwriter who played mainly acoustic guitar. I noticed that he played bass in an early incarnation of the band Woods that was favorably reviewed in this blog. Like so many artists, Kevin resides in Brooklyn. Strong vocals and deft picking had me thinking of Grant Lee Philips (of Grant Lee Buffalo fame). Strains of Van Morrison and Dylan could also be heard, he even tried to rhyme "easy" with "baby Jesus" which was a Dylanesque stretch. Kevin pulled the first opener, Mary Lattimore, a harpist, onstage to accompany him on keyboard. The harp gave an ethereal effect to the song. I realize that solo performers rarely play as long as full band sets, but Kevin's show ended abruptly with no encore.

Laura Stevenson 3/22/17 Bar

Indie-pop songstress Stevenson is from Long Island. Stevenson on guitar and vocals, bass, female drummer, keys/accordion, and an older than the rest fella on lead guitar. Good songs and a clear full voice played to a large crowd. A stoner contingent must have traversed the Sound, they knew all the lyrics and we're almost on the non-existent stage at Bar. Laura's voice morphed from smart-ass slacker Juliana Hatfield to alt-country crooning of Emmy Lou Harris. Song structure ranged from high energy punk to heartfelt ballads. Tight backing band allowed this singer songwriter to shine.

Chris Goutreau w/ Snake Union Neverending Books 3/11/17

Part of the monthly Uncertainty Music Series that highlights new and experimental music at the decidedly lo-fi Neverending Bookstore. Musty and dimly lit, a sad amalgam of discarded office chairs (mine had a non-functioning back) and a stage that looks unfit even for creepy puppet shows is the venue. Snake Union was a synth duo who coaxed squeaks, squiggles and beats from a tangled mess of laptops and wires. Vocal snippets were looped to an ethereal effect with one dude on "lead laptop" and the other on "rhythm laptop". One sequence sounded like a seagull being strangled. It's hard to appreciate the lack of performance movement associated with this type of music, I mean the lead guy looked as if he was garnishing a salad or performing CPR on a very small animal. I liked their dreamy duo sound.
Chris Goutreau (sp?) was a solo knob-twiddler. His unit looked like a window box chia pet of colorful wires and connectors. His sound was more grating and choppy than Snake Union. He rocked autistically while lifting and re-inserting connectors yielding loud pops and crackles which put forth an odd sounding cyborgasm. Always interesting to see who makes it to a show like this, these guys could compose the national anthem for Bleep or Blapland.

Heat 3/8/17 Bar

Montreal quartet Heat brought a good dose of jangle pop to a sparse post-Lips show at Bar. Guitar, bass, solid drums, and charismatic frontman on rhythm guitar and vocals. Original songs and solid vocals reminded me of Luna and in particular Dean Wareham. The singer had one of those large 1960s looking guitars. The Montreal music scene is fertile, and these guys are traveling down the east coast for their mini pre-festival tour.

Flaming Lips 3/8/17 College Street Music Hall

It's hard to believe the last time I saw The Flaming Lips was at a 1999 Berkshire Mountain Fest. On that occasion, the Lips festooned the stage with cartoon inflatables while showing video of  brain surgery. Fast forward 17 years and this lysergic band of merry pranksters hits the College Street Music Hall. The stage was flanked by two huge inflatable mushrooms. Wayne Coyne, the grizzled frontman for the Lips emerged with a huge Mylar balloon sculpture spelling out "Fuck Yeah New Haven" which  floated over the crowd. The recorded history of the Lips has been varied, The Soft Bulletin, Yoshimi, Embryonic, The Terror in addition to homage projects to Pink Floyd and the Beatles. The evening was made even trippier with an excellent light show. Wayne sang Bowie's Space Oddity while floating over the crowd in a huge clear balloon. Lips shows are always happenings and this evening was no different. Good setlist of old and new songs.