Thursday, February 14, 2013

Little Tybee



Atlanta's Little Tybee have released  a transcendent video for their song For Distant Viewing, the title song for their new album out March 7, when they'll be performing at The Goat Farm.

Hmmm, another March Madness gig.  Beats going down to Savannah to see Little Tybee perform at the Savannah Stopover festival, and it gives us a good excuse not to see The Ruby Suns at The Drunken Unicorn.


Wednesday, February 13, 2013

Acid Mothers Temple

Acid Mothers Temple are coming to The Drunken Unicorn on Tuesday, April 23, 2013.  That's all the information you need.

Tuesday, February 12, 2013

Youth Lagoon

Youth Lagoon at The Drunken Unicorn, March 22, 2012

Boise, Idaho's Youth Lagoon, having previously dropped Dropla ("You'll never die, you'll never die, you'll never die"), a song from the new album Wondrous Bughouse, has now released a second song, the expansive Mute, below, further confirming his growth as an artist and a performer.




Youth Lagoon will be touring in support of the new album, including a set at Atlanta's fine venue, Terminal West on Wednesday, May 1, 2013.

Monday, February 11, 2013

Lost In The Trees Perform with Full Orchestra

Lost In The Trees at The Earl, November 3, 2012
North Carolina's Lost In The Trees recently teamed up with Duke University's Chamber Orchestra for a one-time-only performance and the video for Garden was posted to Brooklyn Vegan (below).

We last saw Lost In The Trees last November 3, when they officially closed out Rocktober 2012 at The Earl.

Sunday, February 10, 2013



Way back in the day, 1977 to be precise, I was a student at Boston University and radio station WBCN frequently played a regional hit called Roadrunner by a band called The Modern Lovers.  At the time, I found it humorous that the song, with its frequent references to Massachusetts and the City of Boston, to the Town of Roslindale and Stop 'n' Shops, to Needham and Route 128, was such an obvious local hit, and wondered if every major city didn't have a local performer parlay a similar song into a regional radio hit at the time (e.g., "I'm in love with Peoria. . .").  I liked the song but didn't pay it too much mind (I was more into jazz in those days).



Years later, life found me living in Atlanta, where local radio station WRAS frequently played songs from a pair of amusing records, almost comedy albums, called Jonathan Sings! and Rockin' and Romance by Jonathan Richman.  It took me a while to realize it was the same performer who earlier had recorded Roadrunner, but my life still went on more or less as normal (I was more into post-punk in those days).




Flash forward a few years and I'm living in Albany, New York, and see that Jonathan Richman is performing in town.  I went to the club, which was located in the back of a White Castle hamburger joint, and saw Jonathan for the first time.  He didn't perform Roadrunner, but he did performed his standards Pablo Picasso and I Was Dancing In the Lesbian Bar, as well as a memorable extended version of Down In Bermuda from Rockin' and Romance, in which he explained how he transformed from the stiff new wave performer of Roadrunner, to the wonderfully fluid and engaging performer we saw that night.



That was 1986, and I realized that night that I would be seeing Jonathan every chance I would get for the rest of my life.




I've lost count over the years, but I estimate that I've probably seen Jonathan perform 10 to 12 times now, most recently at Atlanta's Star Bar back in 2010 and the Ballroom at the Highland Inn in 2011.  I've seen Jonathan more times than any other performer, possibly twice as many times, or even three times more.



His music has continues to evolve over the years, incorporating flamenco and Italian influences and becoming ever more poignant and emotionally honest.  Yet, he's always maintained his sense of humor, a childlike naivety, and an intimate engagement with his audience.





Last night, Jonathan played the first of a two-night set at The Goat Farm.  I went last night and would go  again tonight, but it's raining balls out there and The Walking Dead season premier is this evening.  So there's that.

It was one of the best Jonathan performances I've seen, although I say that every time and nothing will ever beat that first time at the Albany White Castle, anyway.  He and long-time drummer Tommy Larkins clearly enjoyed the acoustics of the old brick and mortar building and the attentive quiet of the audience.  In all his years of performing and touring, he's clearly honed his craft - whatever you want to call it - to a fine art, and each of his audiences are clearly in the hands of a master.

Last evening, he played his relatively recent songs almost exclusively, and it's probably the first time that I've seen him when he didn't cover Pablo Picasso or I Was Dancing In the Lesbian Bar.  But that's okay, maybe he's saving them for tonight.  He did perform Egyptian Reggae, giving Tommy Larkins a chance to solo for a while, as well as new classics Because Her Beauty is Raw and Wild and Her Mystery Not of High Heels and Eye Shadow, as well as a brilliant and simultaneously heart-breaking and hilarious rendition of When We Refuse To Suffer.

Hmm.  Rain's letting up a little.  Maybe I can make it tonight after all.

Saturday, February 9, 2013

Budos

For no apparent reason (except the obvious), here's The Budos Band.

Friday, February 8, 2013

Dawes

Dawes at Variety Playhouse, October 18, 2011
Perennial Rocktober favorites Dawes have released a new song, From A Window Seat, the first single from their forthcoming album Stories Don't End, due out April 9, 2013.



We last saw Dawes headlining Variety Playhouse back on October 18, 2011, with Smoke Fairies and Blitzen Trapper opening, and prior to that, at an October 30, 2010 show at Smith's Olde Bar with Vetiver and Peter Wolf Crier.