Solid State

Higher Ground just announced that Bonnie "Prince" Billy, a.k.a. Palace, a.k.a. Palace Songs, a.k.a. Palace Music, a.k.a. Palace Brothers, a.k.a. Will Oldham will make a return visit to VT on Monday, May 18. If I may, woo hoo!, a.k.a. hell yeah!, a.k.a. yippee!

(Editor's Note: While Grace Potter & the Nocturnals are on a brief hiatus to recover from extensive touring and to prepare for hitting the studio again, bassist Bryan Dondero has some time to kill. He recently approached me about contributing to the blog to "get his write on." To which I said, "right on." Today, he chimes in on Dan Auerbach and the Amish. Take it away Bryan. . .  - DB)

The Black Keys front(ish) man,  Dan Auerbach (pictured), is leaving his cohort Patrick Carney for a brief stint 'cross the U.S. of A. in support of his new record Keep It Hid. Auerbach will be backed by Austin's Hacienda. Remember them? They were those fine fellas who opened for Dr. Dog at Higher Ground a few wiffens past. Oh wait . . . there were only 3 other people there that night during their set . . . ahem.

Nonetheless, them boys got chops and surely will provide the perfect counterpoint (and look) to Auerbach. Sadly, the closest he gets to our neck of the woods is the Paradise Rock Club in Boston on Sunday, March 1. It's a fine club though, and a short drive away if you ask me. (Price of tix includes complimentary barn-raising.)

Radio Bean is my favorite coffeehouse in Burlington, despite never having had any coffee there. It's not that I don't drink coffee. It's just that I'm usually there at night to check out live music or play an open mic. And after dark, I much prefer a draught of Switchback over a cup of java. Anyway, the Bean was advertising garage rock last Saturday night, so I went down to catch Burlington's The Fatal Flaws.

Garage rock is a simple art form. And therein lies its beauty and strength. I've been a fan of the genre's minimalist characteristics — sparse drumbeats, bluesy R&B 12-bar chord changes and tales of love and heartbreak — for a long time. Heck, I have even played music in a garage. (Today's free history lesson: That's how the term originated in the mid sixties, when kids all over America heard The Beatles and became so inspired that they bought guitars and drums and set up in their parent's garages to start their own bands.)

The Fatal Flaws definitely fit the description, and I enjoyed the show. Comprised of Chris Beneke on guitar and vocals and Sasha Rodriguez on drums, this husband and wife duo makes a sound that is bigger than the sum of its parts. Beneke played a pale green hollow-body Gretsch through a little Savage tube amp propped up at his feet. He faced sideways toward the wall the whole night. But I assume this was so he could see Sasha and not a stage fright issue. The Flaws play spontaneously and without a set list, so eye contact is important. When a song wasn't working they would just start over or scrap it altogether. Rodriguez enthusiastically played a children's drum set. To wit: when she substituted a pair of maracas for drumsticks, alternately shaking them in the air and banging on the kit.

As my wife and I walked in, Beneke made a comment about Bo Diddley and Lux Interior jamming together in hell, which could actually serve as a good description of their sound. While a comparison to The White Stripes is almost inevitable, I would also liken them to The Velvet Underground, early Beck and sixties rockers such as The Pretty Things or The Sonics. Clearly, their music is made from the outside looking in.

Beneke has a dark muse in his songwriting, exhibited by entertaining lyrics such as "some intercourse with a side of tits" and "I want to hurt the pretty people, but first I want to fuck them." I'm pretty sure that last line was directed at the large group of people who were there for an "ugly sweater pub crawl," and couldn't have cared less about what was going down on that tiny stage. Besides them, there were only a few of us there to actually hear the music. You know it's a small show when Radio Bean feels empty.

When Beneke asked for requests, my wife yelled out for The Cramps, since he had already mentioned their recently fallen front man. Beneke revealed that they didn't know any Cramps tunes, but that he had seen the band a decade ago in New York City at the Roseland Ballroom, a show that my wife and I had also attended. The universe is funny like that. We settled for a repeat performance of "Fuckbait," an awesome song that I am sure Lux would have enjoyed as well.

You can check out The Fatal Flaws for yourself when they return to Radio Bean on Saturday March 7.

I swear I'm not making this up.

According to Boston.com and various other media outlets, Etta James publicly threatened to whoop Beyonce Knowles' ass at a recent concert in Seattle. The legendary singer was apparently miffed over Knowles' Inaugural Ball performance of "At Last," James' signature tune — though she was hardly the first to sing it. No word on whether Knowles has accepted the challenge. But one would have to figure Vegas would put long odds on the 71 year old James. Although if Danny Bonaduce can box Jose Canseco to a draw, I guess anything's possible.

Here's the transcript:
"You guys know your President, right? You know the one with the bigears? Wait a minute, he ain't my President. He might be yours; he ain'tmy President. You know that woman he had singing for him, singing mysong? She's going to get her ass whipped.

"The great Beyonce. Ican't stand Beyonce! She has no business up there, singing up there ona big ol' President day, singing my song that I've been singingforever."

And here's the actual audio clip, courtesy of CrownCityMedia.net.

This just in from prodigal laz-e-boy Arthur Adams and his poptastic San Fran rock outfit Blammos:

The band's video for "How Do You Know?" was voted the number one rock video at OurStage.com for the month of January, beating out a bunch bands you've never heard of to win a king's ransom of $1000. According to recent email from Adams, rather than blow the loot on celebrating, Blammos will use the cash to return to the studio. So in a way, we're all winners. But in another, more accurate way, Blammos is the winner. (That's right, two Simpsons references in less than a week. Do something.)

It's certaily a nice win for Adams and Co. But it's probably not entirely unexpected. If you go to Ourstage and check out the runners up, you'll notice that the "competition" is similar to, say, the New England Patriots scrimmaging Burlington High School's JV squad. Talent-wise, Blammos is in a different league from the rest of the pack. And it ain't even close.

(It should probably be noted that I've known Arthur since he was in grade school. I'm friends with bassist Tim Marcus, formerly of Concentric renown. And the band's drummer, David Stockhausen, was, once upon a time, my partner in alt-country crime in The Middle Eight. Obviously, I'm all sorts of biased on this one. Deal with it. But I'd urge you to check it out and see if you don't agree.)

Anyway, here's the Blammos vid. 'Tis a beaut. Congrats, guys!

10. Bruce Springsteen & the E-Street Band: Don’t be refilling,snacking or outside the party when they wheel out Bruce mid-game in what’s sureto be the most awkward six minutes of his venerated career since “We Are theWorld.”

9. Jennifer Hudson’s National Anthem: Bound to impress, bearing in mind that no one will ever top the triumphant Whitney Houston headband-version of1991.

8. Cardinals Quarterback Kurt Warner: Warner worked nights as a clerk at a grocery store in Iowa when his professionalfootball career began in 1995. He’s earned approximately fifty-million dollars since. But like a polyethylene bag, his Everymanpersona will never die. Selected to start earlier this season over Cardinals hot shot draft pick and renowned gentleman MattLeinart, Warner’s "last chance at glory" tale is great stuff, whether he rides off into the sunset or laughably fails due to the onset of old age.

7. Arizona Head Coach Ken Wisenhunt vs. His Former Employer: Wisenhunt, a former Steelers assistant, was passed up for a promotion to their vacant Head Coach position resulting in his exodus to Arizona. Conditions are such that Ken may have many a disgruntled former employee in his corner.

6. Local Truce: The regional favorites New York Giants and New England Patriots aren't playing. Takes the pressure off. No high speed flipping of the bird back and forth to each other on I-89. No workplace awkwardness. No high spirited, near-violent discussions at the bar. Giants fans can quietly ponder why their players literally and figuratively shoot themselves. Smug Patriots fans can silently dream that their team may have been a major factor in this years tournament had they been allowed to participate and/or were it not for the eternally hapless Buffalo Bills.

5. Pittsburgh Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger: Big Ben has suffered a injuries to both knees, multiple back problems, an emergency appendectomy, a near fatal motorcycle crash without a helmet, two normal concussions and something called a 'spinal' concussion. Roethlisberger's list of injuries is so lengthy and complex that he may very well become the first player in league history to spontaneously combust mid-play.

4. Super Bowl Commercials '09: Art for cola's sake.

3. Spring on Television: Green grass - not turf. People are working on this lush Florida plot this very minute. Tampa's field has a tifway 419 Bermuda blend that’s sure to be decadent. Thepreparation of players and production staff are the oft-heralded sources of Super Bowl hype – but give a nod to the grounds crew. And green grass.It’s probably been a while since you’ve seen it.

2. Pittsburgh Steelers defense: To paraphrase Pittsburgh linebacker/convicteddomestic assailant James Harrison: “No one likes to see anyone get injured. But hurting people is a different story.” Yikes.

1. Cardinals Wide Receiver Larry Fitzgerald: Fitzgerald has a rare combination of speed, strength, humility and genuine personality rarely found in professional sports anymore. He is a truly a welcomed  relief.

Pick: Steelers 28, Cardinals 13. Post your picks below.

http://highergroundmusic.com/calendar/show/3170/

Alex Crothers and Co. just made one local music critic very, VERY happy.

And this guy just made the same local music critic very, VERY sad.

Local hip-hip mover and/or shaker Burnt MD has gotta be just about the hardest working musician in VT, hip-hop or otherwise. He's also one of the more aggressive promoters I've come across in my time behind this desk — and I've come across quite a few. Hardly a week goes by that he doesn't drop a line — or six — updating me on his latest dealings. Usually it's interesting, if not exactly stop-the-presses type stuff. But this week, he offered a little nugget that could go a long way towards bringing VT hip-hop to a larger audience.

The estimable Microphone Doctor has been selected to compete in the Soul Assassin's MC Contest. For the uninitiated, Soul Assassins is a collective of musicians and graphic designers affiliated with Cypress Hill. For this contest, Cypress Hill's DJ Muggs created a beat for MCs from around the country to rhyme over. I'm not sure how many folks entered, but judging from the number of comments on the website, I'm guessing it was quite a few. For Burnt MD to be one of 11 finalists is an honor in itself.

But frankly, fuck that noise, yo.

On behalf of the 802, I want to see the hometown product make good and win this thing. But he's going to need our help. At the moment, he's about 130 votes behind the current leader. But with two weeks to go before the polls close, anything can happen, especially if we mobilize, grass-roots VT style.

So here's the link to the contest. Check it out and take a listen to B's work. Then vote. It's just that simple.

Happy Obama Day, Solid State!

As I'm sure many of you do, I know several people who were at the festivities in DC today, including a few who areattending Inaugural Balls this evening. While I normally avoid large crowds like the plague, I haveto admit, I'm a little jealous. Given the electricity just in the tinyconference room in which I watched the speech with a handful of 7Dstaff — via an intermittent web feed, no less — I can only imagine the feeling of being there in person. Even the most ardent naysayers would have to admit that this was a pretty remarkable day.

Anyway, a few quick, random thoughts on the Inauguration:

Aretha: Still the best pipes in soul. And what a hat!

Any combo featuring Yo Yo Ma and Itzhak Perlman is guaranteed to impress. But am I the only one who would have preferred Danny Elfman to John Williams? That's change we can believe in.

Ironic that the most eloquent President since Kennedy would fumble the swearing in.
(Note: Upon further review, totally not Obama's fault. The Chief Justice dropped that ball.)

"As for our common defense, we reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals."
If I'm President, er, ex-President Bush I'm squirming like a whore in church at that line. If only a camera had cut to his reaction.

Do you even remember the last time the man in control of the nation's nukes could actually pronounce the word "nuclear?"

". . . know that your people will judge you on what you can build, not what you destroy."
Proof that the most profound sentiments are almost always the simplest.

And finally, goodbye, Dubya. Can you believe we put up with eight years of this guy?