CoMusic Preview: Milagres at Mojo’s, 10/11

October 6, 2011 By 2 Comments
Milagres, Photo by Cameron Wittig

Photo by Cameron Wittig

A few weeks ago I downloaded a track off iTunes by a band called Milagres. “Glowing Mouth” grabbed me right away with its gloomy luster, making me want to dim the lights and kick back in a smoky haze of cloves (never mind that I haven’t smelled a clove cigarette in fifteen years). The song is chill and dark and lovely.

Listen here.

Then last week I got a tip that Milagres was playing right here in Columbia at our very own Mojo’s. The Brooklyn-based quintet is touring to promote their just-released second album, Glowing Mouth (Kill Rock Stars). They’ve been compared to lo-fi bands from Grizzly Bear to Radiohead with some Prince thrown in for color (likely due to lead singer Kyle Wilson’s falsetto). Layering rhythmic keyboards with lush melodies, Milagres creates the kind of songs that wrap around you and don’t let go.

Come see Milagres with Peter Wolf Crier at Mojo’s on Tuesday, October 11. Doors open at 8:00; tickets are $8.

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CoMusic Preview: Dovekins with Prints and Mount Peru

June 20, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Photo of Dovekins

Dovekins; image taken from songkick.com

This may be late notice, but don’t let that stop you from catching Dovekins Tuesday night, June 21, at Mojo’s with Prints and Mount Peru.

Dovekins is a five-member band from Denver, Colorado, with a vintage sound best described as “old-timey.” They call themselves “folk/psychedelic/Western swing,” so be prepared for a pleasant mix of all three sewn up with accordion, upright bass, banjo, guitar, mandolin, drums, clarinet, flute, and even kazoos, not to mention five-part vocal harmony. If Squirrel Nut Zippers and Beirut mated, it would sound something like this. Landlubbers by nature, the band formed after an ill-advised sailing trip to Hawaii aboard a ship called the Dove. The trip was a bust, but the band was born, and they’ve been stirring up crowds cross-country ever since. The band is currently touring to promote their debut album Assemble the Aviary—13-tracks made for dancing barefoot and reveling in nostalgia.

To hear Dovekins, check out their June 14 Daytrotter Session or their Bandcamp site.

Prints and Mount Peru will be adding to the awesomeness. (Mount Peru claims to merge cosmic psychedelia with Americana. Come see if they succeed.)

Doors at Mojo’s open at 8:30. Tickets are a steal at $5.

 

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CoMusic Preview: Yo La Tengo

June 17, 2011 By 1 Comment
Yo La Tengo

Yo La Tengo; image taken from billboard.com

This Monday, June 20, alternative rock veterans Yo La Tengo bring their “Spinning Wheel” tour to The Blue Note. One lucky audience member will get to spin a giant wheel on stage and determine the course of the show—whether the band will play only songs that begin with an “s” or act out an entire Seinfeld episode, as they did in Chicago recently. (Mind you, they acted out the entire episode, not just part of it; watch here if you have the patience.) But not to worry: the band plays a regular Yo La Tengo set after the bizarre conceptual one.

“Yo la tengo” means “I have it” in Spanish. While the band’s name actually refers to a baseball anecdote, it could just as well describe the elusive “it” factor that’s sustained them for so many years.  Yo La Tengo began as a husband/wife project for Ira Kaplan and Georgia Hubley in 1984, the same year Katy Perry, Mandy Moore, and Ashlee Simpson appeared on the planet and Wham! jitterbugged “Wake Me Up Before You Go Go.” I was in second grade and much more interested in Bananarama and Fashion Plates than in some underground band from Hoboken, New Jersey, that would one day be the darling of alternative music critics without ever achieving mainstream success (the usual fate of critically acclaimed “thinking man’s” bands). In the grand scheme of progressive rock history, these guys have been around a LONG TIME but always just under the radar.

Band mates have come and gone over the years; the current lineup is a trio including Kaplan and Hubley and James McNew on bass. With 12 studio albums under their belts, Yo La Tengo has had time to explore and evolve their sound, dabbling in everything from low-key REM-style pop to Sonic Youth-inspired drone rock, finally landing on their current mix of strings, piano, horns, and guitars paired with falsetto vocals and smart lyrics. In 2002 they released The Sounds of the Sounds of Science, an album of documentary film music, and followed it up with film scores for sleeper hits like Junebug and Adventureland. The band’s recent releases include the spectacularly titled I Am Not Afraid of You and I Will Beat Your Ass (2006) and Popular Songs (2009). It seems the “it” that Yo La Tengo has is actually a little bit of everything.

Listen for yourself. In this live performance of “Mr. Tough,” Ira Kaplan lays his falsetto down over a metronomic riff just begging for more cowbell.

Come see what gives Yo La Tengo their staying power. Doors at The Blue Note open at 7:30. Tickets are $20.

 

 

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CoMusic Preview: Cheyenne Marie Mize and Vandaveer

June 11, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Cheyenne Marie Mize

Cheyenne Marie Mize; image taken from theirbatedbreath.wordpress.com

This Wednesday Mojo’s welcomes two of Kentucky’s finest folk troubadours to Columbia, Cheyenne Marie Mize and Vandaveer, for a show that promises to deliver alt-rock goodness by the jugful.

Ms. Mize cut her folk chops in Louisville in local bands Arnett Hollow and Maiden Radio. She’s currently touring to promote her solo debut Before Lately, an album of torch ballads fortified with guitar, piano, bells, and Mize’s sweet voice—burnished to a rich luster after years spent in the land of tobacco fields and whiskey. Mize is a multi-instrumental tour de force, playing piano, guitar, violin, banjo, and any other instrument she can get her hands on. And she’s busy, too: Mize works as a music therapist when she’s not on tour.

In the video for “Friend” from Before Lately, Mize channels her inner vamp while plucking a banjo on a stage populated by giant puppets:

A fan of all things vintage, Ms. Mize recorded a vinyl-only EP, Among the Gold, with Will Oldham (aka Bonnie “Prince” Billy) in 2009. Mize had been planning to record the songs—a collection of late-nineteenth century American parlor music—since college, but when Oldham stepped in to help her record, it was clear the songs were better as duets. On “Only a Dream” Mize and Oldham conjure summer evenings on the porch with a glass of chilled wine—sweet but never saccharine.

Vandaveer in concert

Vandaveer; image taken from kungfunecktie.com

Vandaveer is alt-folk musician Mark Charles Heidinger, a Kentuckian who now calls Washington, D.C. home. He writes and sings songs that blend folk, rock, and even smooth jazz, teaming up with singer Rose Guerin for perfectly balanced duets like “However Many Takes It Takes.” This year Vandaveer released a third album, Dig Down Deep, which includes a track recorded with touring mate Mize.

In the gorgeous “Dig Down Deep,” Heidinger and Guerin do what they do best—wrap their voices around the song and pull you in. By the time the rest of the band wakes up around the two-minute mark, you’ll be stomping your feet in rhythm:

Cheyenne Marie Mize and Vandaveer will likely combine forces on stage for several songs—an experience not to be missed.

Doors at Mojo’s open at 8:00. Tickets are $7.

 

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CoMusic Preview: Yeasayer with Smith Westerns and Hush Hush

June 2, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Photo of three members of Yeasayer

Yeasayer (Image taken from Sezio.org)

Don’t miss your chance to hear the band The Hype Machine called the most blogged-about of 2010. Yeasayer are bringing their psychedelic 80s sound experiment to The Blue Note this Friday with Smith Westerns and Hush Hush. The Brooklyn-based trio has never been a naysayer when it comes to pushing aural boundaries, describing themselves as “Middle Eastern-psych-snap-gospel.” Their first album, 2007′s All Hour Cymbals, established them as Talking Heads for a new generation, with chanting, yelping, and world beats thrown in for good measure.

Neohippie indie darlings they may be, but their follow-up album Odd Blood (2010) reinforced their staying power. “Ambling Alp,” the first single off the album, is a crowd pleaser so full of teen spirit it’s played in Old Navy dressing rooms (I swear). At times the band ambles right over the alp, losing their listeners. They can be muddy and meandering, sometimes suffering from identity crises, but they ultimately woo you back with the element of surprise. Prog-rock anthems? Electro-boogie? Exaggerated reverb? Yeasayer brings it. In April they released End Blood, a limited edition EP with two overflow tracks from Odd Blood.

Word has it the lads of Yeasayer are chatty on stage and comfortable in their own skin. They perform a solid, energetic live set that just might blow the art right out of the park this weekend. For a preview, check out Chris Keating’s one-of-a-kind vocals on the live video for “Tightrope” from the Dark Was the Night (2009) AIDS benefit compilation.

Photo of Smith Westerns

Smith Westerns (Image taken from timeoutchicago.com)

Openers Smith Westerns are a band from Chicago promoting their January 2011 album Dye It Blonde. Listing their influences as David Bowie and T. Rex, they offer a much weaker version of both, but as the video for their single “Weekend” shows, they’re still in the pupal stage. Hush Hush is just that—a one-man side show about which little is known. His hits include “Open Your Mouth,”  “Sex Party,” and “Bloody Sex.” Sense a theme?

Doors at The Blue Note open at 8:00. Tickets are $20.

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