Author Archives: leslieloudspeaker

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About leslieloudspeaker

Currently writing, taking photos and voiceovers at the Arvada Center for the Arts and Humanities. Former music writer/photographer at Westword and overall arts lover.

Mike Donovan new album Wot is clean and strong.

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large_donovan_mike photo by John Dwyer

Mike Donovan sounds like a city punk who went to the country and found out he fits right in. Former member of the grittier Sic Alps, he shows himself to be an extremely capable singer/songwriter with this solo effort. The single “Do Do Ya” has such a great guitar twang background slinking up the half step melody, sounding like early Rolling Stones honky tonk. His soft, almost muted at times guitar tone is gorgeous on opening track “New Fieldhand Bop” as he strums just ahead of the beat, sliding each note into place and giving the whole thing some sass.

The tempo of “Fly Them Yourself” drags too slow for my taste, but the energy is high on most tracks, “Sic Ballad” having a soulful “Hey Joe” reminiscent verse; electric guitar sounding just properly dirty enough. The spaghetti western horns and slide guitar of “Sexual Reassignment Surgery Blues” gives serious credence to a song that could be seen as novelty. “MP3 Farm” has a forceful downward strummed rhythm that begs for getting down, and a simple acoustic major key solo. Overall, it’s a really well produced album, he can write beautiful songs, and he sounds good singing them.

Mike Donovan “Do Do Ya” video

R.I.P. 5 Pointz

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20131123-094845.jpg photos by leslie loudspeaker

This month I was fortunate enough to be near Queens, NY to see the famed street art Mecca before it was torn down to be turned into condos. The place had a couple guys taking pics of their cars up on the sidewalk, and you had to get out of the way of delivery trucks (the place still has companies doing business inside), but otherwise it was fairly empty and magical. The owner whitewashed the building last Tuesday, saying it would break his heart to see the art go down with the building, an excuse not very well-received. Recent news is that he may have to pay damage costs to the artists, and numerous people have been arrested for tagging the white washed building. End of an era.

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For decades artists came here to legally paint on the walls, from elaborate bubble letters to giant Biggie murals, the styles displayed on the place reached far in variation. Leased to a company that made 8-tracks then cd covers, the digital world left business slowing down, and art then going up.

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Since Banksy was in town when I went, I was on the hunt. I had a mini heart attack when I saw this little boy with dynamite stencil, thinking I’d found one early. Alas, upon closer inspection, it had been there for awhile. Anyone know who did this?

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Luckily, I was near Coney Island and managed to get a pic with the Banksy piece that day an hour before they put a metal gate over it. Street art is temporary, get out there!

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What 5 Pointz looks like now: whitewashed 5 Pointz

Cass McCombs double album brings a lot to the table, including Mike Gordon

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Cassmccombs

When you see over twenty tracks listed, you think either someone has a lot to say, or they need an editor. Cass McCombs is the former, his sound is so pleasing and easy going he could have recorded a box set and it would have all been listenable. With Mike Gordon of Phish playing bass here and there, the thumping backbone of the rhythm section lets his vocals echo and wisp above it all while remaining strong and direct. “Big Wheel” trucks along strong, a beat similar to “When the Levee Breaks” chugging on as Cass purrs seductively with the slightest sneer. The slide is used to maximum beautiful effect in “Angel Blood”, amazing AM pop hooks that remind me of early Beatles through it and the remainder of the album. Some tracks are more segments of songs, as McCombs seems to be sharing any idea he had at the time, fully formed or not. “Brighter!” appears twice, a melancholy song that sounds like it would have fit in on the Twin Peaks soundtrack, and then having cult actress Karen Black take over the vocals the second time around, giving the song and even eerier turn as her final performance before succumbing to cancer.

“There Can Be Only One” has a very Velvet Underground feel to it with the flat story telling vocal delivery, bouncy bass from Mike Gordon (Go Cactus!) and shimmying drums from Furthur’s Joe Russo sprinkling all over the album. “Name Written on Water” is as close to an homage to Bob Dylan as you can get, the repeating Watchtower sounding rhythm growing stronger and stronger as his snarky delivery questions life. The production on this album is great, warm with a vintage feel that just sounds so damn pleasant. This is one of the better and more prolific songwriters out there right now, and with his galley of talented collaborative friends, there’s no telling the body of work he will create in his lifetime.

“There Can Be Only One” with Mike Gordon:

New video for Quilt’s “Artic Shark” makes a pretty song even prettier

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Quilt by Allison Pharmakis3

Quilt by Allison Pharmakis3

I posted this song a few weeks ago, the video is out now and it’s gorgeous. When the lace comes off her face, I actually gasped, Anna Fox Rochinski is such a stunner. The whole thing has such a beautiful, sun drenched feel, the lazy day in the park images blending seamlessly with the dreamy tune. This band continues to impress me and hit just the right spot. It helps that the picnic layout looked like it came out of a Free People catalog, who doesn’t love bohemian multi colors.

Ten newer acts that jam out live

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In the world of indie rock and pop, there are a lot of bands that really elaborate on their ideas live through improvisation. I compiled a list of the best newer bands that certainly aren’t typically considered jam bands, but whose songs openly stray from their studio recorded brethren in concert, causing unique and surprising moments at every show. White Denim (pictured above) lead the list, but it’s certainly not a competition, all of these bands I highly recommend live. Check out the article over at the Westword, and hit like if you like it!:

http://blogs.westword.com/backbeat/2013/11/ten_indie_bands_that_jam.php

Interview with Shakey Graves

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20131103-181250.jpg photo by leslie loudspeaker

I had the chance to catch up with Shakey Graves before his Ogden show with Devil Makes Three and he gave me the scoop on future collaboration possibilities, Guate boots, and dealing with Austin’s finest cable company. Check out the interview over at the Westword:

http://blogs.westword.com/backbeat/2013/10/interview_shakey_graves.php

Band to Watch- Gloom Balloon

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photo by tony galloro

photo by tony galloro

Patrick Tape Fleming of Iowa based band The Poison Control Center has recorded himself a delightful carnival on his new solo release under the name Gloom Balloon. As listeners, we are so lucky to get to hear the album released on December 3rd, as Fleming had suicidal feelings of dejection after his band’s hiatus, saved by the shock of the death of Olivia Tremor Control’s Bill Doss, a personal hero of Fleming’s. Naming the project after the first painting that he created when craving an artistic outlet during the hiatus, Fleming blends flutes, saxophone and honest, spoken word lyrics into a gorgeous eclectic sound on his new single “She Was The One That Got Away”. It sounds like walking down the street on a nice fall day and catching the scent of an ex’s perfume. Listen to his new single at the link below and check him out in your town:

https://soundcloud.com/teamclermont/gloom-balloon-she-was-the-one

10/24 – Northfield, MN – The Chapel
10/25 – Minneapolis, MN – Triple Rock Social Club (w/ Jacuzzi Boys)
10/26 – Beloit, WI – Coughy Haus
10/27 – TBA
10/28 – Chicago, IL – Township
10/29 – Galesburg, IL – TBA
10/30 – St. Louis, MO – Livery Company
10/31 – Nashville, TN – TBA
11/01 – Chattanooga, TN – JJ’s Bohemia
11/02 – Athens, GA – Flicker Theater
11/03 – Asheville, NC – Emerald Lounge
11/04 – Memphis, TN – CourtHouse Co-op (all ages)
11/05 – Memphis, TN – Poplar Loungs (21+)
11/06 – Lafayette. LA – Artmosphere
11/07 – Houston, TX – TBA
11/08 – Austin, TX – Hole in the Wall
11/09 – Denton, TX – JJ’s Pizza
11/10 – Fayetteville, AR – Nightbird Books
11/11 – Colombia, MO – TBA
11/12 – Kirksville, MO – The Aquadome

Yamantaka//Sonic Titan UZU album review

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Yamantaka

Everything about this band is yin and yang, even the name. Two art students in Montreal with Anglo-Asian heritage created a unique new style they dubbed “Noh-wave” that blended progrock with elements of asian theatre and opera, sometimes even performing in kabuki face paint. Their sophomore UZU comes out on October 28th, and it’s a unbelievably odd and pleasant and easy to listen to from start to finish. “Atalanta” opens the album with classical piano and operatic soprano vocals, bombastic drums crashing in for the next song “Whalesong”, straight progrock with fantasy style lyrics and a very epic feel. Throughout listening to this album, I kept picturing it as the soundtrack to some massive video game, Lord of the Rings meets the Last Samurai. Eastern melodies weave in and out in “Windflower” while massive walls of high frequency sounds build up into chaos in “Hall of Mirrors”. The production is super clean on this, making me really want to see what they sound like live. The highlight of the album is the new single “One”, starting out with a traditional Iroquois tribal song, building up into a massive pile of percussion, chanting and twangy guitar that would fit in on a Quentin Tarantino soundtrack. Listen to “One” here:

Ty Segall side project FUZZ at Hi Dive tonight

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Photo by Denee Petracek

Photo by Denee Petracek

San Francisco garage rock wunderkind Ty Segall is at the hi dive tonight with his side project FUZZ. He sings and plays drums with Charlie Moothart taking over on guitar and Roland Cosio on bass. They released their self titled album on October 1st to great reviews, check out the two new singles they have released lately here:

FUZZ “What’s in my Head”: http://pitchperfectpr.com/mp3/FUZZ_WhatsInMyHead.mp3

FUZZ “Loose Sutres”: http://pitchperfectpr.com/mp3/FUZZ_LooseSutres.mp3

Also playing tonight are CCR Headcleaner and The Zebroids, so get in early. Tonight shall be a joyful, noisy celebration. Buy your tickets here:

tickets for tonight

Leftover Salmon release new song, welcome new drummer

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Photo by Susan Weiand

Photo by Susan Weiand

Jose’ Martinez, long time drummer for Leftover Salmon has decided to quit touring, and the Leftover family happily welcomes Alwyn Robinson to the joyful fracas. This Texas born player brings a varied background to the table, including steel drumming and classical percussion, so he should fit right in with the multi-faceted motley crew. Along with that news comes a new song, “Two Highways” which features Steve Berlin of Los Lobos, a supremely talented musician that showed up to play sax at their last sold out Bluebird show in Denver. It’s released through Breckenridge Brewery of Colorado, and has a sick poster by acclaimed poster artist Tyler Stout to go with it:

Poster by Tyler Stout

Poster by Tyler Stout

Listen to the new single “Two Highways” here:

https://soundcloud.com/leftover-salmon/two-highways/s-Bl2SW