M'balia 4/22/17 Yale Art Gallery Theater

I heard from a friend that the Yale Undergraduate Jazz Collective were staging a free weekend long festival with free concerts at various venues around Yale. The Art Gallery theater was a perfect place to see jazz vocalist M'balia. When I arrived, it seemed like some students were warming the place up. From the Peanuts gang, Lucy was on piano, Pigpen on standup bass, and Schroeder ( probably booted from piano by Lucy) was on drums, all they needed was Peppermint Patty on thumb piano to round out the group. M'balia, an impressive stage presence, joined the crew. Big hair, big earrings, big voice and attitude poured out of this singer. The Peanuts gang were her band, and they all had chops. M'balia charged through her set with the kids holding fast to her coat tails. "April in Paris" and Cole Porter's "Just One of Those Things" were great. She also put lyrics to some original compositions to great effect. The band was tight, especially piano, showing flourishes of McCoy Tyner and Mulgrew Miller. M'balia sounded at times like Betty Carter crossed with Jill Scott. She definitely had control of the kids and worked them for an impressive set. My one complaint was with the crowd, this afternoon crowd of hipsters and academics felt compelled to clap at each handoff of the solo baton which disrupted some song flow. I was happy to be in attendance, and clapping at the conclusion of each tune rather than five times during each song seemed like an appropriate level of appreciation.

The Decemberists 4/15/17 College St. Music Hall

The Decemberists, Portland Oregon's literate band of indie-prog-folk rockers brought their genre bending show to a sold out College St. Fronted by the the nerdy charisma of  singer guitarist Colin Meloy, aided by keys/accordionist Jenny Conlee, lead guitar (also played pedal steel), bass (electric and standup, drums (melodica too), and two female backup singers put forth a polished and relaxed show. It's been a couple of years since their last release, but the back catalog of songs gave them a sufficient pool to draw from. The setlist included: Down By The Water, O Valencia!, Dear Avery, We Both Go Down Together, The Crane Wife, Lake Song, The Wanting Comes in Waves-repaid, Odalisque, Red Right Ankle, The Chimbley Sweep, and the new Everything's Awful (Meloy's take on the state of the Union). I saw this band at a Newport Folkfest about ten years ago and I must admit that they have grown on me since that time. The quirky hyper-literacy couched in revolutionary war era murder ballads presents an independent indie rock group that has snowballed in popularity. Meloy, a total wordsmith, has hundreds of years of English to pull lyrics from. I was amazed that the crowd seemed to keep up with this wordy juggernaut, the dude next to me sang every song. Rhyming parapet with arabesque or using terms like ventricle and prevaricate made me feel like I was studying for the SATs

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.