Tonight I saw the Dodos and Or, the Whale at the Cafe du Nord.

I got there in the early part of the Bodies of Water set. Already people with badges were being turned away from the door. There was a small crowd of frustrated and nervous people outside. The Bodies of Water were pretty prog and energetic in a way that did it for some, but not really for me.

The crowd continued to swell as Or, the Whale took the stage to set up. After they’d managed to fit the seven of them and all their instruments onto the small Cafe du Nord stage, they did a quick set of mic and instrument tests and launched into their set. It was a mix of new and old tunes with people singing along to “Call and Response”, nodding their heads to “Givin up Time” (with Matt and Linsday singing lead) and quieted down for the beautiful new tune “Shasta”. (I was singing this song most of the walk home.) In the end, the set came and went too quickly.

The Dodos took a while to set up, with their quirky instrumental set up. There was Meric on guitars, vocals, loop pedals and trombone. Logan’s on drums and vocals and tambourine-taped-to-his-shoe. For the first time in the times I’ve seen them, they had a third on stage: Joe, I’m told, of the Gris Gris. He handled vibraphone, toy piano, casio keyboard, gong and trash can (I’m serious).

It’d been months since I’d last seen this band and almost immediately upon the start of their set was I reminded by how much energy they put into their set. They played a set of new and old tunes, including the new and addictive “Jodi” and the old favorite “Fools”, both right near the front of their set.

Meric’s a great guitarist and you can whitness his hand clenched and twitching in such rapid succession to bring out those fast fingerpicked passages. He sings with passion and abandon. But, I must say, the most compelling member of the group is Logan. I was transfixed by the intensity with which he plays the drums. He’s on the edge of his stool or standing up, hands choked up on the drum sticks and his arm a blur of inventive drum patterns.

The group’s non-verbal communication is really something, too. The only other rock group I’ve seen be able to seemingly communicate this well mid-song is the Mates of State and those two are married. Meric and Logan will just glance at each other and seemingly know what to change or what to do next.

They came back for an encore after applause from the appreciative crowd. They played for the encore, I think, three old favorites: (which might have been) “Trades and Tariffs”, “Horny Hippies” and “the Ball”.

Between Or, the Whale and the Dodos, I think everyone that was there got what they were coming for and a little more.

Updated: Photos added. More after the jump or view my photo album.

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Song obsessions are those songs that we listen to on repeat. I noticed that my obsessions are often a week long. I also thought that other people might have similar obsessions. I’ve collected a panel of a few like-minded individuals and gotten their “song obsessions of the week.” Quite often it’s easy to explain why the song is good; it’s much hard to explain why we’re obsessed. Maybe you’ll become obsessed with one of these.

–

Adrian (me):
Two Sheds - It’s Hard (mp3) (buy)

I’m still obessed with this track that I found originally through the a Bay Bridged podcast. It’s still the distorted guitar and melancholy and melodic vocals that are getting to me.

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Scott:
Camper Van Beethoven - All Her Favorite Fruit (Orchestral Version) (mp3) (available free from epitonic or buy)

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Dave:
Snowden - Anti Anti (mp3) (buy)

Talk about catchy, I’ve been obsessed with this song/album on and off since I first heard it. The “Oh-oh-oh-oh..” at the beginning snags me every time and I have to listen to it again.

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Natalie K:
Bon Iver - Skinny Love (mp3) (buy)

I’ve been hearing about Bon Iver for a little while now, but it wasn’t until this month, when his album For Emma, Forever Ago was finally released, that I really paid attention. And this song got the hallowed triple-repeat the first time through the album. It’s such a simple song, but those “My my my”’s get me every time, as well as how it gets progressively more plaintive with each chorus.

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Oz:
Alberta Cross - Known for Long (mp3) (buy)

It’s safe to say that I’m completely obsessed with anything Alberta Cross puts out. “I’ve Known for Long” is one of the slower, more emotional tracks off of their debut EP The Thief and The Heartbreaker. This acoustic version was released recently on their UK EP. If you haven’t already, I’d recommend connecting with their full body of work. I’m waiting anxiously for stateside tour dates.

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This week is a first twice in the same regard: repeats of previous song obsessions. My song obsession is the same as my obsession last week and Natalie K’s obsession is the same as Oz’s one week back in July. A second opportunity to hear a couple songs and a couple new songs.

Last night I hosted ipickmynose-fav Or, the Whale (myspace) on KZSU.

I didn’t know beforehand, but they decided to do an acoustic set: guitars, banjo, accordion, a variety of percussion and lots of voices. Given their sound and this set up, it had a real front porch feel to it. It was loose and fun while still keeping the musicianship that the stage show has.

Here’s what they played:

• Call and Response
• Threads
• Crack a Smile
• Bound to Go Home
• Givin’ up Time*
• Shasta*
• Isn’t She Awful
• Death of Me

* unreleased songs

Here are a couple tracks from last night’s show. It was a challenging set up for our sound engineer. It sounded pretty good, but these are slightly on the rough side. I think they capture the fun of set up.

Here’s a slow and subdued version of their normally upbeat-rocker “Call and Response”. I almost didn’t recognize it.

Or, the Whale - Call and Response (Live at KZSU) (mp3, exclusive, originally on Light Poles and Pines)

“Shasta” is a new tune I first heard at their Starry Plough show a few weeks ago. I really love it. It’s slow and beautiful and definitely worth a listen.

Or, the Whale - Shasta (Live at KZSU) (mp3, exclusive, unreleased)

Head over to the Bay Bridged to read the interview I did with the The Mountain Goats’ John Darnielle.

Here’s a sample:

TBB: Now that you’re touring with a drummer and even playing electric guitar on occasion, I’ve heard people talk about the Mountain Goats “rocking out” more than before. Do you see this as a change in the amount of “rocking” or just its manifestation?

JD: I personally don’t, but that’s because I don’t equate rocking with instrumentation. My old solo shows back when I was just totally spazzing out all night, those rocked harder than any ten full-combo rock bands. Any day. Give me enough liquor and cause for a bad attitude and I’ll still put me & an acoustic guitar up against most any band who think they rock. I have always had something of a chip on my shoulder about this.

Go check out the full interview.

Despite my doubts there will be another Treasure Island Festival in 2008. No confirmed artists yet.

So that’s another in the mounting list of festivals in SF:

• Noise Pop - now!
• Mission Creek Music Festival - May 16-22
• Outside Lands - August 22-24 [unconfirmed]
• Treasure Island - Sept 20-21
• Hardly Strictly Bluegrass - early October

Of course there are some great smaller festivals as well.

Posted every Thursday On Sale Soon is a weekly series of the tickets going on sale that weekend.

Where to get tickets: The Independent, Great American Music Hall, Slim’s, Fillmore, Warfield, and other Livenation venues. Another Planet booked venues like Greek Theatre @ Berkeley, Palace of Fine Arts, etc. Bimbo’s.

Wow, this is a great on sales week. I’ll definitely get Death Cab and I’m from Barcelona tickets. That REM/ Modest Mouse/ the National bill at Berkeley is unbelievable. I can’t believe I hadn’t heard about that already.

4/26 is shaping up to be a tough choice for concerts. Mark Kozelek w/ David Bazan or mum or the Swell Season. I think they’ll all be good shows.

On sale now/ Thurs Feb 28:
4/18 Gossip @ Bimbo’s
4/29 Minus the Bear @ Bimbo’s

5/27, 5/28 Beirut @ the Grand (pre-sale codes “flying” and “gulag” respectively).
5/31 R.E.M., Modest Mouse, The National @ UC Berkeley Greek Theater (What??)

6/27 Robert Plant & Alison Krauss feat. T Bone Burnett @ UC Berkeley Greek Theater

On sale Sunday March 2:
3/26 Katt Williams @ The Warfield

4/10 Jackie Greene @ The Fillmore
4/20 Cypress Hill @ The Fillmore
4/23 Death Cab for Cutie, The Cave Singers @ The Fillmore
4/25 Sasha & John Digweed @ The Warfield
4/25 Kimya Dawson, Angelo Spencer, L’Orchidee D’Hawaii @ Herbst
4/26 The Swell Season (aka the artists from Once) @ Paramount Theatre
4/26 mum @ the Independent
4/27 Yelle @ the Independent
4/29 Black Mountain @ Blakes
4/29 Mike Doughty’s Band, The Panderers @ The Fillmore
4/29 I’m From Barcelona @ the Independent
4/30 Akron/Family @ the Rickshaw Stop

5/4 UFO @ the Independent
5/15, 5/16 Hot Tuna @ Great American
5/17 Bassnectar @ The Fillmore
5/20 Kathleen Edwards, The Last Town Chorus @ the Independent
5/21 M83, Berg Sans Nipple @ Great American
5/23 JGB featuring Melvin Seals @ Great American
5/27 Teitur, Jessie Baylin @ Great American
5/28 The Cure with 65daysofstatic @ HP Pavilion

6/2 The Long Blondes, The Young Knives @ Great American

7/17 Wall of Voodoo’s “Call of the West” @ Great American

Double check all information as venues and promoters often change on-sale times and days up until the last minute.

Noise Pop starts tonight! Are you psyched??

I’ll let you know which shows I’m heading to and some other great shows (among those that aren’t sold out yet–after all, what good is it for me to tell you about concerts that you should see but can’t?)

Shows I have tickets to:

• 2/28 the Dodos and Or, the Whale at Cafe du Nord
• 2/29 Magnetic Fields @ Herbst Theatre
• 3/2 the Mountain Goats @ Bottom of the Hill
• 3/2 She & He @ Great American

Feel free to say hi if you see me.

Free events I want to check out:

• 2/27 Dodos Visiter listening party @ Doc Clock’s (not Noise Pop, coincidentally scheduled)
• 2/28 Autumn de Wilde’s Elliott Smith photo exhibit @ Queen’s Nails Annex
• 2/28 NP Happy Hour w/ Anticon DJs Odd Nosdam & Jel @ thee Parkside
• 2/29 NP Happy Hour w/ an acoustic set by Port O’Brien, DJ sets by Film School, Scissors for Lefty @ Diesel
• 3/1 NP Happy Hour w/ an acoustic set the Morning Benders, DJ sets by Delta Spirit, others @ Diesel
• 3/2 Noise Pop shop @ 12 Galaxies (but unfortunately the Small Stakes won’t be there)

Other shows (that aren’t sold out, as of this posting) I can recommend:

• 2/27 Minipop, Two Sheds @ Bottom of the Hill
• 2/28 Blitzen Trapper @ Bottom of the Hill
• 2/28 Kelley Stoltz, Grand Archives, The Morning Benders @ the Independent
• 2/28 Human Giant @ Mezzanine
• 3/1 Port O’Brien & Delta Spirit, What Made Milwaukee Famous @ Cafe du Nord

What shows are you psyched about? What’s not to miss?

Or, the Whale at the Starry Plough, Feb 9

Prepare for Thursday’s Or, the Whale (myspace) Noise Pop show (with the Dodos) by listening to their appearance on KZSU the previous day Wednesday Feb 27 from 9-10pm PST. I’ll be acting as the host.

I love this band and they do a great set live. I saw them a few weeks ago and they’ve been working on some new tunes which sound really good. We’ll see if I can’t get them to play any of those.

You can listen at 90.1FM or online.

I finished Johnny Cash’s second autobiography, Cash: the Autobiography a couple weeks ago.

You’ve seen Walk the Line (probably) so you know the Johnny Cash story, approximately at least.

But there’s a lot more to this book than the story of his life. In fact, this isn’t so much the story as the stories of his life: vignettes, tales and anecdotes from many different periods of his life.

Some parts are funny. Some are poignant. Some give you a better background to where his music’s coming from and the artists he grew up on. There are even a couple advertisements for things he likes (like the Carter Family Fold he’s totally upfront about these endorsements).

I was most interested in the stories of music on the farm growing up–listening to the radio late at night, singing out in the fields–and also of the story of how the partnership with Rick Rubin came about. There was another interesting snippet about preparing for a mid 90s concert (with an audience of younger people) at the Fillmore.

The style is very fluid, conversational, upfront and personal. There’s a ghost writer, but it honestly feels like he must not have done much because it seems like Cash put down these words himself.

At some point I read someone say something like Cash by Johnny Cash is the best music biography or perhaps the best writing on music. I can’t find who said that or the context now, but I’m leaning toward that sentiment. It’s an engaging and entertaining read and give a good background and context to this great artist’s music.

You can buy it at Amazon.

On Friday I saw Love is Chemicals’ (myspace) CD release show at Bottom of the Hill.

I got there after the Don’ts set, just before HIJK (myspace) went on.

Their set up is the standard rock trio set up (bass, guitar, drums) but with some keyboards thrown in here and there as well. HILK’s style has crossover appeal but still has some pleasant quirks. I’d place it somewhere between “art pop” and “radio alternative pop”. It was a fun set with plenty of head nodding. They even covered a Love is Chemicals song.

Love is Chemicals came on after a short set of DJed music (by BagelTed). Their set up is keys/ bass, guitars and drums. Their sound reminds me of some of the 90s indie rock sounds that I came of age listening to. They put on a solid set.

This was the CD release show for Love is Chemicals’ Song of the Summer Youth Brigade. You can stream it and buy it at the band’s website.

More photos after the jump and at my photo album.

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Of course it’s all over the blogosphere, but you might not have heard this Throw Me the Statue song yet.

Honestly, I hate the first few seconds of “About to Walk” (the fuzzed drum machine is irritating) but it gets better quickly and holds a very catchy line the rest of the song. The chorus’ vocal melody is really great and the instrumentation builds well throughout the song.

Throw Me the Statue - About to Walk (mp3)

The band is playing this year’s Noise Pop in just a few days:

2/28 Stellastarr*, Birdmonster, Throw Me The Statue, The Hundred Days @ Great American, 7pm, $18, 6+

There’s a lot more tour dates at Secretly Canadian’s site.

‘gum has another track. The album, Moonbeams is out now on Secretly Canadian and is available from insound.

Last night I saw the Ian Fays, and the Rooftop Vigil play a show at the Great American. Maldroid (myspace) was headlining, but I decided not to stick around after hearing some of their stuff on myspace.

Geographer/ the Rooftop Vigil were on when I got there a few minutes after the “show time”. (Since when do Great American shows start on time?) The set up is, left to right, Kacey on keyboards and vocals (and guitar for one song), Mike on keyboards/ guitar and vocals, Nathan on cello and Brian on drums.

They have an indie pop sound that’s a little bit off the standard sound: varied keyboard sounds, cello holding down the low end and a lead vocals (for most of the songs) that had a really nice Jim James quality to it. (A “floating” or “soaring” quality, I’d call it, conscious of the fact that that description sounds strange.)

Their songs worked really well, especially live, and it was an enjoyable set overall. Good songs, decent banter (though there could be more) and good musicianship. The set ended with me feeling like I’d be hearing more from this band.

The Ian Fays went on, complete with matching plaid outfits, at least for the girls, after a short break.

They played a solid set of their indie pop, complete with guitars, bass, keyboards, interesting percussion (glockenspiel, finger cymbals), and drum set. It was a fairly consistent but enjoyable set. In addition to their coordinated outfits, they had coordinated hand movements and things that gave the set some extra interest.

Between Geographer and the Ian Fays, I was thrilled by this show. Two really solid sets, a small and intimate show and a great venue. I left very excited about the state of music.

More photos after the jump. You can also view the whole photo album.

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SF Weekly’s All Shook Down blog reports that SF is getting another festival, this one a 3 day affair (August 22-24) in Golden Gate Park called Outside Lands Festival[1]. This one has Radiohead, apparently. Others are reporting Jack Johnson and Tom Petty will perform as well.

Apparently it’s another Another Planet Entertainment festival, Makes me wonder: will they also organize another Treasure Island Festival just a few weeks later in September? I also wonder if there’s any friction with Noise Pop who co-organized last year’s Treasure Island but appear to be absent from the organizers on Outside Lands with Superfly (of Bonnaroo, Vegoose) apparently in on it instead.

ANYWAY, go ahead and go into your excited squealing mode. It’s ok. I’ll wait.

I’m not squealing. I’m not a huge fan of the big outdoor festivals. I can see more bands I actually want to see for less money and with fewer other people in clubs, simple as that. (Case in point: last March I saw 11 bands for a total of $98. Three incredible shows, four great shows and four good shows. My outdoor festival experience hasn’t matched that and I don’t see reviews of outdoor festivals with that sort of hit rate.) Also, I like listening to Radiohead occasionally, but I’m not a die hard fan at all. They’re just not meaningful to me beyond making some nice-to-listen-to music.

I’ll post later today or tomorrow about the awesome experience I had last night seeing a couple small bands put on great sets in a nice club with a small audience. That’s the sort of stuff that gets me really excited about music.

[1] see also regarding the name

Song obsessions are those songs that we listen to on repeat. I noticed that my obsessions are often a week long. I also thought that other people might have similar obsessions. I’ve collected a panel of a few like-minded individuals and gotten their “song obsessions of the week.” Quite often it’s easy to explain why the song is good; it’s much hard to explain why we’re obsessed. Maybe you’ll become obsessed with one of these.

–

Adrian (me):
Two Sheds - It’s Hard (mp3) (buy)

A was listening to a Bay Bridged podcast and was instantly struck by this track. I then found the band’s myspace page and listened to it a dozen or two more times. The mournful and breathy female vocals over the sparse, slightly distorted guitar and plodding drums (with a lick or two of organ in there) just works so well. That all of this is going toward two words–”it’s hard”–seems oddly appropriate.

–

Keith:
Georgie James - Long Week (mp3) (buy)

I do recall advising the legions disappointed by The New Pornographers’ lackluster effort called Challengers to consider a move to Georgie James and their enthusiastic effort Places. But I don’t recall being so completely entranced by the 4th track until today’s drive home, where it received the triple play award.

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Scott:
Goslings - Mandy (mp3) (buy)

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Chris (not Dave):
Sonic Youth - Superstar (mp3) (buy)

apparently this cover has been around since the mid 90’s, and i had no idea until i heard it on the juno soundtrack (and movie). it’s catchy, of course, and it makes me wonder if having a legendary band cover a (cheesy) song automatically gives the song massive cred. i’m inclined to say yes.

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Pitchfork reported this morning that Death Cab for Cutie will be heading to the Fillmore on April 23. Given that they’re releasing a new album May 13, the tour is totally unsurprising, but the choice of venue is. This is Death Cab after all. The same band that’s over one and a half million in total album sales. The same band that headlined (and sold out, if memory serves) the 8500 capacity Greek Theater. Much smaller (but still good) bands like Andrew Bird head to the 2100-capacity Warfield over the 1250 capacity Fillmore, so this is a surprise for sure.

Then again, it’s not like Spoon playing the Cafe du Nord or anything, but that was presented as a purposefully ridiculous “secret show”. Expect tickets to sell out quickly, of course.

No word on when tickets go on sale yet. March 2 with a pre-sale a couple days before is my guess.

All tour dates after the jump.

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