January 25, 2010
This Week In Shows (Haiti Benefit Concerts)
THIS WEEK IN SHOWS
Alright, I usually write a little blurb about each show I’m recommending, you know, arguing for why you should check it out. But this week I’m recommending these shows all for the same reason: each of them is a benefit for the relief efforts in Haiti. Hopefully you see something you like here, but if not, why not check out something new? Please help us show these artists and venues some love, but more importantly, let’s show a little love to the world outside our little pocket of the city.
MON, JAN. 25
Amber Rubarth, Ian Axel, Vienna Teng, Wes Hutchinson, Ari Hest and more
City Winery
8:00, $20, 21+
WEDS, JAN. 27
Cold War Kids, Ted Leo, The Wrens, Sondre Lerche, Eugene Mirman, AC Newman
The Bell House
6:00 PM, $50, 21+
El Medio, No Eye Contact, Breakfast in Fur, Drew Citron
Bruar Falls
8:00 PM, $5 with can of food / $6 without, 21+
The Roots, Kaki King, Eric Krasno & Chapter 2 with John Scofield, Matisyahu
Music Hall of Williamsburg
8:00 PM, $35adv/$40do, 18+
THURS, JAN. 28
Flanagan Smith, Matt Jones, Alyson Greenfield, Charlene Kaye, Outernational, Automa
Public Assembly Back Room
8:00 PM, $10, 21+
SAT, JAN. 30
Blag’ard, The Barrens, Sing With Voices,
Fontana’s
7:00 PM, $8, 21+
compiled by Erin Sheehy
January 7, 2010
Hidden Gems
HIDDEN GEMS
Dan Melchior’s Broke Revue | Heavy Dirt
Billy Childish is known for his millions of side-projects almost as much as his work influencing garage punk as we know it. But what about the people HE works with? Holly Golightly’s had her White Stripes fun (“It’s True That We Love One Another”), but what of Dan Melchior, longtime collaborator with both? He’s had his Stripe-y touch too, with Dan Melchior’s Broke Revue opening for the band, but this is about Heavy Dirt, released on garage mainstays In the Red Records, during the now excellently vintage year of 2001. With the right dash of blues, and Melchior’s ever-so-slightly British touch, this is a strong album that offers a familiar The Headcoats-esque sound.
by allison levin
Various Artists | Skulls Without Borders
I was listening to Dan Melchior when allison sent me her writeup of Heavy Dirt, so I decided it was fate and that I had to tell you about Skulls Without Borders, Siltbreeze’s new limited-edition compilation that features a menacing, aloof track from Melchior, along with other gnarlies from Kurt Vile, Sic Alps and more. All in all, this little comp is the auditory version of something you find growing under a dumpster – grimy, fuzzy, and fascinating. Siltbreeze has sold out of their 10”, but digital copies abound in the blog world, and if you prefer not to freeload from awesome artists and labels (insert finger-wag here), Siltbreeze should have a digital edition available to buy soon. Listen here.
by Erin Sheehy
More on Hidden Gems
January 27, 2009
A.C. Newman | Get Guilty
FRESH BAKED
A.C. Newman
Get Guilty
2009 | Matador
C+
Taking another break from the New Pornographers, A.C. Newman returns to the solo circuit with his new LP Get Guilty. With it, he’s decided to stick to his strengths and create a relatively straight forward pop record; keeping piano and acoustic guitar in the forefront while peppering it with off kilter arrangements of strings, horns, organs and electric guitars. The result continues to display the man’s great talent for melody, but most of the songs are far too comfortable with their initial bars to get anywhere exciting – making an album with few disappointments, but at the same time, with few surprises.
More on A.C. Newman | Get Guilty
FRESH BAKED
A.C. Newman
Get Guilty
2009 | Matador
C+
Taking another break from the New Pornographers, A.C. Newman returns to the solo circuit with his new LP Get Guilty. With it, he’s decided to stick to his strengths and create a relatively straight forward pop record; keeping piano and acoustic guitar in the forefront while peppering it with off kilter arrangements of strings, horns, organs and electric guitars. The result continues to display the man’s great talent for melody, but most of the songs are far too comfortable with their initial bars to get anywhere exciting – making an album with few disappointments, but at the same time, with few surprises.
More on A.C. Newman | Get Guilty
November 17, 2008
Song Review: “There Are Maybe Ten or Twelve”
A.C. Newman
“There Are Maybe Ten or Twelve”
Get Guilty
Matador | January 20, 2009
B
Sometimes a song is only surprising because of how not-surprising it is. A.C. Newman has carved out a nice niche for himself in the indie-rock world – he is the most melodic writer of his generation, and a prolific one at that. He is easily compared to Paul McCartney, another guy who just oozed melody, but so far Newman has managed to shake the schmaltz that McCartney so often suffers from.
He continues down his path on “There Are Maybe Ten or Twelve,” the opening cut from his forthcoming solo record, Get Guilty. A majestic piece built around a strummed acoustic guitar and a shaker, with little more than a flute, an electric guitar and a crash symbol (and eventually a pizzicato violin) providing the backdrop for Newman’s customary male/female vocal interplay.
This song is more of the pleasant music expected from Newman at this point, and could have easily fit right in on Challengers, the last record by his full-time band, the New Pornographers. If this review seems unenthused, it is simply because, again, the only surprise here is the lack there-of. But I am glad to A.C. is out there churning out these songs every few years like clockwork – I just hope the rest of the album offers a few more surprises.
by Brian Salvatore
