Monday nights are typified by being the first night after work / school / sleeping all day every week. Usually there’s no good reason to leave whatever domicile you tend to reside in. Tonight is an exception, and a big one. Heed my warning.
The night starts with Kalamazoo’s newest old band, Night Wired. Newest old, because Night Wired is a slightly reorganized Tiny Rhythm, except their bassist headed on for greener pastures, and the legendary maracca player Gitis Baggs has taken up that position. Now they play spooky surf revival tunes, and it is good.
The middle of the evening belongs to Kalamazoo’s UFO Dictator’s Legendary Wings, old-school punk for your old-school punk heart. Enough said. Rock it.
Finally, Ireland has SO COW on loan for the evening. Punky surfy do-woppy goodness from across the big pond. They’re pretty rockin’. Don’t take my word for it though, check out what Pitchfork has to say about it. I’ll be there jockin, so you better be there rockin. See you tonight.
The Philadelphia-based outfit Conversations with enemies had a transmission drop out of the bottom of a van on ’em, and so won’t be able to make it up tonight for the show at No Fun. As a result, No Fun House’s show tonight has been canceled. We know, it’s lame, but hopefully we’ll catch them next time around.
Meanwhile, there’s all kinds of great stuff going on this weekend at The DAAC, the Strutt, and elsewhere, so make sure you check something out. Oh, and some punk-sissy jazz quartet is at the Craftsman Chop House in Portage tonight from 7:30 to 10:30, so if you really need something to do, the food is good, the drinks are reasonable, and the band will probably do something that closely resembles music. Probably.
One way or the other, you probably ought to be at a show on Saturday night.
Not only will spastic math-rock virtuosos Tera Melos be in town performing with our local boys Pan and Good News, but legendary folk punks Defiance, OH will be coming to Grand Rapids performing with our very own The Almanac Shouters.
Something like four years ago now I had the chance to catch a little band called By the End of Tonight at the Dolphin House (RIP) here in Kalamazoo. Not only was I blown away by their performance that night, I was also introduced to the equally mind-altering Tera Melos through the split release they put out, Complex Full of Phantoms. Here we are, four years on, and they’re finally making their way from California for what I believe will be their first ever visit to our fair city. Since 2004, this three-piece (formerly a quartet) has been honing and constantly evolving their style, putting out release after release, and touring hard – thus establishing themselves as a touchstone of the math-rock genre. They’ll be touring behind their newest release, the poppier, Patagonian Rats.
Joining them for this show will be locals Good News who may arguably not be the band they are today if it weren’t for Tera Melos (or at least bands of that ilk) and Pan, who I’ve watched only get better and better in the year and a half since they’ve formed.
That same night Defiance, OH will be playing what will surely be a packed to the gills show at the DAAC in Grand Rapids. For about the last decade these folk punk troubadors have been defining a genre and inspiring countless others to mix up their punk rock with banjos and upright basses and cellos, invoking the the activist spirit of classic rabble-rousers like Woody Guthrie or Pete Seeger. All the while, they’ve remained true to the DIY ethos. If you’re a fan of sing-alongs and capacity shows you can crowd surf at, you would do well to be at the DAAC Saturday night.
Also performing will be solo artist Toby Foster from the punk mecca of Bloomington, IN (original home of Plan-It-X Records) and Grand Rapids’ Radiator Hospital, as well as the afformentioned Almanac Shouters (our Kalamazoo darlings).
It’s easy to be torn, but Saturday will be an undeniably excellent night for music in Southwest Michigan. Either way, you win.
Unless you’re talking about the game, in which case you definitely just lost.
Tomorrow the Strutt is hosting a veritable smorgasbord of musical delights. I am excited, and you should be too.
The headliners are Caspian, instrumental post rockers supporting their recently released album Tertia. This is a video from that album:
Caspian has explored many formats for this release, which has been praised as their most cohesive and talented piece of work to date. I can only expect the live version to be captivating and loud as hell.
Supporting acts include Her Majesty’s Ship Victory! and Lights at Sea. These are two of my favorite bands in the area. HMS Victory! just practiced in my basement and I am sure that their performance tomorrow will only be more intense. These kids have been out of town for the summer, and we welcome them back. Think huge swells and epic soundscapes.
Lights at Sea continues in the same vein as the other two acts. Hailing from Grand Rapids, this group recently recorded a new album. So, we can look forward to new material. Let’s hope they continue with the same sense of foreboding, heavy post rock we have come to love.
Doors are at 7pm so don’t be late. Tickets are $10 at the door. If you hurry, you might still be able to pick up an $8 advance ticket from one of the HMS V! dudes, or at the Corner Record Shop in Kalamazoo. See you there!
“I know not what they mean – tears from the depth of some divine despair – rise in the heart, and gather to the eyes – in looking on, and thinking of the days that are no more”
This slightly abbreviated quote from “The Princess” by the United Kingdom 1800s Poet Laureate Alfred, Lord Tennyson graces the back cover of Inhalant’s “Bondage”, and seems to serve as the general theme of the record: the pull of love and the pain of the loss, obsession and control, and the fear of abandonment, or the feeling thereafter.
Recorded in Fall 2008 by C.A. Odom out of Vernon, Texas, “Bondage” was released earlier this year on Kalamazoo-based label SNSE and is the first vinyl release from the artist after years of cassette releases and compilation appearances. While the album begins abrasively, aside from a brief ethereal intro, gradually, with each track, the feeling shifts from an angry, domineering tone into what sounds reflective and thirsting as the pieces take on a more ambient, hypnotic, even rhythmic quality. An airy piece called “Love Song” includes the lyrics “flesh, I love you so”, and was the first moment on the record that my roommate, who is no noise fan, exclaimed “that wasn’t bad”.
The record concludes with “Ghosts of Liberation,” the highlight of the record for me, as at this point the sound has evolved into a full-on pulsing, dark, destroyed electronics groove that could be the soundtrack to an alien metropolis in a sci-fi flick. For those interested in exploring harsh noise but often find the full-on white noise attack a bit too grating to sustain time and time again, this record could be a gateway into hearing sound differently.
Well, while I’m not trying to tell you what to do, I am trying to tell you that Kalamazoo Gazette’s Reader’s Choice awards are occurring presently, and that WIDR is in the running. You can vote at the Gazette’s portion of MLive.
There isn’t any real good reason that a student-run, 100 percent local, ad-free radio station shouldn’t win a popularity contest by it’s local newspaper, but let’s make sure of it anyway. Support your source for Radio evolution, and of course, make sure you tune in to 89.1 on the FM dial. Hippies.
Friday night’s Mighty Vine Music festival was, from all accounts excellent. No surprise there, though, what with some of Kalamazoo’s best talent on display that night. Likewise, reports have come in of a well-played, if poorly attended, Avant-Midwest Conference on Saturday. If you missed either of these events, you surely missed out. That’s alright though, because this is Kalamazoo, and one thing is certain: There’s always more to come.
This week is going to be a mixed-bag of fantastic music. Thursday sees Caspian visit the strutt, in addition to Lights At Sea and Her Majesty’s Ship, Victory! It’s going to be an absolutely mind-blowing display of post-rock showmanship on all three counts. Having seen both Lights at Sea and HMS, Victory! live, I can assure you they are most excellent acts to catch. Caspian, of course, speaks for itself. Check it.
Simultaneously (and unfortunately), The William Wengers Jazz Quartet will be jazzing it up and jamming it down at Louie’s Trophy House Grill. Smooth sounds, raucous licks and groovin’ pockets will be a main-stay of this 3-hour set, so if you like almost-but-not-quite straight-ahead jazz, this will be the show for you.
Friday the 17th, No Fun House is hosting Pennsylvania-based weird folk-rockers Conversations with Enemies. They tend to mix klezmer with more traditional American sensibilities, and a bunch of other textures for an overall sound that is new yet somewhat friendly. Local support will be brought in by The Philly Crawlers and Son Drop. It’s sure to be a good one. As always, 2 dollar donation will be taken for the touring band, and the music starts at 9.
No punk rock time. See you cats there.
The night starts with Kalamazoo’s newest old band, Night Wired. Newest old, because Night Wired is a slightly reorganized Tiny Rhythm, except their bassist headed on for greener pastures, and the legendary maracca player Gitis Baggs has taken up that position. Now they play spooky surf revival tunes, and it is good.
DITKalamazoo 
