[DID NOT ATTEND: June 5, 202] Tash Sultana / Daisy the Great
I saw Tash Sultana in 2017. She had just bubbled up on my radar from NPR. When I learned that she plays every single sound of her songs herself and she does it live using looping pedals that I became really interested in her. When I finally saw her, I couldn’t believe she played for nearly 2 hours–all by herself, bouncing around the stage nonstop–and kept the crowd watching her every move the whole time.
She was really a great performer.
And then I lost track of her completely. When her name popped up her, I did think, what has she been up to all this time.
According to the setlist, she played a few songs with a full band, and then a few songs solo (like Jungle, the first one I’d heard by her). Then the full band came back out and played together some more. She also has at least four albums out now. Realistically I wasn’t going to go to this show, but I’m happy for her that she’s going strong and headlining the Fillmore.
I could have seen Daisy the Great in 2022 when they opened for Half.Alive. But I didn’t go to that show. Daisy the Great is a band, not a person. Led by singer-songwriters Kelley Dugan and Mina Walker, their 2017 debut single “The Record Player Song” was a hit. Later, a remix of “Record Player” was released with production by AJR. I listened to the song and it’s possible I’ve heard it. It starts with an a capella intro which is pretty interesting. Then it turns into a kind of indie folk pop. The remix adds a kind of dance beat to it (with extra vocals–changes the song quite a bit actually). I’m interested but not hugely interested.
There are a few bands called dust. This band is from Newcastle, Australia. They’re a five piece with drums, bass, two guitars and a saxophone! And they were amazing.
They fall into that post-rock scene with roaring guitars and vocals that are kind of spoken, kind of shouted. Main lead vocalist Justin Teale has an understated style that relies on subtly sung melodies and occasional loud grunts. Drummer Kye Cherry plays fast and hard and bassist Liam Smith was a key component to the songs–whether keeping the low end with the rest of the song or playing independently–a rhythm of his own–he really held the songs together.
The songs are propulsive, moving along at a good clip with their singer kind of speak singing (in the vein of Fontaines D.C. but less accented). The biggest surprise came when Ridgway played saxophone–it wasn’t just saxophone solos–although New High does have notes dotting the song–the sax was manipulated and distorted, running through the songs underneath rather than as a main melody. I loved the end of the song where the band.
Then a song like Swamped has high octane stars and stops with jagged guitars and a rumbling bass. Just Like Ice opens with a simple punky bassline and then the whole band crashed in with guitars and sax. It was in this song that second guitarist Gabriel Stove traded off vocal lines with Justin. His style was similar but different enough to add a really cool sonic style to the voices. I enjoyed their back and forth a lot on this song.
Things changed up even further with Trust U See which opened with a slow threatening pulsing bassline and bleats of sax making a very noir-sounding vibe. It was even more so when Teale’s spoken vocals came over the top. The slow down in the middle was just long enough that the tension built even more.
Another surprise came when Stove sang lead vocals on Restless. His style isn’t that much different but he is more singing than spoken and his timbre is pretty different so that when Teale added his vocals toward the end, it sounded amazing. One of the more amusing things about this set was that when the lead singer/guitarist leaned forward, he almost hit the guy in the front of the stage in the head (about ten times) but the singer’s eyes were closed so he never noticed. (more…)
The fifth story in this collection is notable to me for the context of the mystery more than the mystery itself.
A gentleman named John Openshaw tells Holmes that his Uncle Elias has been killed. As a young man, Elias went to Florida, joined the Confederate Army, made some money and came back to England. John lives on his estate.
Recently Elias received a mysterious letter from India with the initials K.K.K. on it. The only thing the letter contained was five orange seeds (pips). Elias frekaed out and became even more reclusive.
Elias was found dead on the grounds of his house, but it was ruled a suicide. John did not believe it was a suicide.
John’s father inherited the estate. He soon received a similarly peculiar note with orange pips. This note told him to leave Elias’s papers at the sundial. But Elias had burnt the papers. John’s father was dead soon after–this one ruled an accident.
John has now received a letter asking for the papers and that’s why he has come to Holmes.
What’s most notable about this story is that the K.K.K. (and this seems really obvious now, but who would have guessed) stands for Ku Klux Klan. The Klan was effectively defunct at the time he wrote this. Sadly it has been revitalized since this writing and remains the scourge that it was at the time.
Obviously, Holmes didn’t go after the Klan, but it’s nice to know that the ship carrying the Klansmen was destroyed in the story.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The four novels of the canon:
A Study in Scarlet (1887)
The Sign of the Four (1890)
The Hound of the Baskervilles (1902)
The Valley of Fear (1915)
The 56 short stories are collected in five books:
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (1892)
The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes (1894)
The Return of Sherlock Holmes (1905)
His Last Bow (1917)
The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes (1927)
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (1892) contains 12 stories published in The Strand between July 1891 and June 1892
“A Scandal in Bohemia” (June 1891)
“The Red-Headed League” (August 1891)
“A Case of Identity” (September 1891)
“The Boscombe Valley Mystery” (October 1891)
“The Five Orange Pips” (November 1891)
“The Man with the Twisted Lip” (December 1891)
“The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle” (January 1892)
“The Adventure of the Speckled Band” (February 1892)
“The Adventure of the Engineer’s Thumb” (March 1892)
“The Adventure of the Noble Bachelor” (April 1892)
I saw Lady Lamb back in 2019 when they opened for New Pornographers. In my post I had singled out her bassist Jeni Magaña
fantastic bass from Jeni Magana. Magana is also the bassist for Mitski and she has such a dynamite sound. I could have listened to Magana play all night long.
I recently got a DM from Audio Antihero saying that since I seemed to be a fan, would I like to hear the new Magana solo record? I initially assumed that it was a new album by the singer of Lady Lamb (Aly Splatro), it had been five years, I can’t be expected to remember everything.
The record didn’t sound anything like Lady Lamb, and that’s when I read the liner notes and saw my mistake.
Teeth is available next month, and you can hear a few songs now. The bandcamp page says Magana describes the album
as “Witchy Rock,” … unlike any of her past works. An album about “regrowth and a new view on the world,” its sound touches on Acid Folk, Alternative Pop, and even Krautrock as she tackles the bleakest and most brutally honest subjects of her songwriting career.
I liked the album a lot and although I haven’t had time to write about albums so much anymore, I wanted to give this indie label a shout.
All other instruments: Jeni Magaña
The album opens with strummed guitar that sounds slightly-off–in an intriguingly (minorly) dissonant way that I found really intriguing. Then “Garden” introduces Magana’s lovely full voice. Keys float in to flesh out the sound as it builds somewhat. It’s not really an indication of what will come next, but it does hint a little at the unusual music within.
“Beside You” introduces a starkly fuzzy guitar line and what sounds like electronic toy piano. But most of the music fades back for the verses as an electronic drum (the snare is close to a clap sound) keeps the music going. It’s like eccentric bedroom pop, but it sounds really clean. The song is about 3 minutes long and half way through it’s like a full band joins in and the song explodes into fullness–with some terrific harmony vocals.
More unusual instrumentation follows on “Matter” which features not one but two (I think) clarinet melodies to introduce the song. Then comes in a cool electronic bass sound to propel the song. Incidentally, Jeni Magaña plays everything on the record except for drums (Jonathan Smith) and strings: Violin: Jenna Moynihan and Cello: Marie Kim. The mixing of the clarinets and the big synth sounds works wonderfully together–in one of those moments where when the bass notes return after the middle part it’s like an old friend returning.
“Paul” strips the music back to a quiet, prepared-sounding guitar and her beautiful voice. Magana’s voice sounds familiar in a way that I find very comforting (although I can’t place who I think she sounds like). After a verse the song builds up with a few flutes and strings. The melody is lovely. And I love the return of the clarinets. (more…)
I don’t recall what made me check out Aunty Donna one night. But the opening skit of the first episode had me cracking up. I’ve been a fan ever since.
The only “problem” with them is that their jokes are so vulgar, so over the top rude, that it’s hard to share them. Especially with the kids. I mean, even their merch–which includes a hat that says Morning Brown is hard to explain without going a bit red in the face.
So what was this show going to entail?
Well, the promo told us this
Dear Human Beings,
Hello, I am a Magical Dead Cat, the titular Magical Dead Cat from the very title of this very show. I write to you today because I have discovered the most wondrous sketch show on the popular streaming service Netflix – Aunty Donna’s Big Ol’ House of Fun. I was so impressed with said show that I issued Aunty Donna this challenge: entertain me with a 2 hour live show, one that features all new sketches, but also a few fan favourites. It MUST include a short interval, and based on availability / budget, possibly an opening act. If Aunty Donna succeeds in pleasing me with a rip-roarin’ show, I have promised to surprise them with a special, web slinging, mystery guest!
Come, sweet humans, and see if Broden, Zach and Mark are up for the task!
With loving grace,
The Magical Dead Cat.
The show also came with a warning that there would be occasional coarse kanguage. Nothing could be further from the truth. It was filled front to back with nothing BUT coarse language.
They opened the show by having an announcer introduce each of the three comedians. And as each one’s name was announced they came to the front of the stage and did a high-stepping dance. But the announcer continued to re-introduce Broden and Mark, as Zach’s face fell and the other two grew exhausted from all of their dancing. (more…)
[DID NOT ATTEND: November 7, 2022] The Murlocs / Paul Jacobs
I saw The Murlocs just before the pandemic. The show was a lot of fun and I was surprised at how crowded it was.
Everyone knows that King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard are hugely prolific. Well, fascinatingly, KGATLW’s Ambrose Kenny-Smith and Cook Craig are also in The Murlocs.
I’m not sure if this show was also in The Black Box (an awesome intimate venue), but I had scheduled another show for the following night, so I didn’t really feel up for two nights in a row (after the craziness of October, it seemed wise to back off a bit). I’m sure they’ll be back–they seem to need to constantly be on the road.
I didn’t know who Paul Jacobs was. Had I realized he was the drummer for Montreal band Pottery, I would have been far more interested. Pitchfork says of him
Paul Jacobs’ cartoon world is constantly expanding. Since uprooting himself from the border city of Windsor, Ontario to the perpetually buzzing Montreal music scene, his hand-drawn animations and hallucinatory illustrations have graced the covers of multiple albums per year. As the drummer of post-punk quintet Pottery, Jacobs is the engine behind yelpy extended jams that sound equally at home on a nightclub dancefloor or at a psych festival. Yet it’s solo albums like Pink Dogs on the Green Grass where Jacobs’ soft-focus, lysergic visions truly bloom.
He seems like a PERFECT fit for a KGATLW spin off. Indeed, he seems like a KGATLW spin off himself.
[ATTENDED: August 30, 2019] King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard [rescheduled from May 22 and then October 22, 2020 and again on October 23, 2021]
After the previous King Gizzard show in this very venue, I was all set to wait in line for this one. People arrive very early for the merch. But when I got there (close to 8), there was no line to get in. That’s because the merch line was (once again) insanely long. It went almost to the stage. In fact, it was unclear who was on line and who was just milling about. Well, even though I would have liked a poster, I certainly didn’t need to wait in that line (or spend $50).
The show started very late. While waiting last time, I felt a sense of existential “what’s the point” last time, and I kind of felt this this time. It’s crowded, it’s hot, we’re just standing here.
And then they came out and all was forgotten. They launched into Oddlife. By the way, the band has released six albums since the last time they played here, so who knew what was coming. This song featured the “Flying Microtonal Banana” guitar, so there was bound to be a couple more microtonal music.
Up next was “Billabong Valley” on which Ambrose sang (and played guitar).
At some point, all the yahoos who were hanging back started pushing in trying to get into the center for the inevitable pit. I was really blown away last time at how mobile the KGATLW crowd was. Slamming, pogoing, bouncing, just full body contact everywhere. We were all pushed way away from our original position.
After the looming fun of “K.G.L.W.” Stu switched guitars to his new inverted flying V. Although they had played songs from Infect the Rat’s Nest last time, this time they played two different songs from it, and they inserted the thrashing “Predator X” from Omnium Gatherum which fit perfectly.
Then things slowed down immensely for the mellow acoustic vibe of “Her and I,” the final song on I’m in Your Mind Fuzz.
So far, “Billabong Valley” was the only song they’d played for me before.
Then they began “Crumbling Castle” and the fans went nuts. It’s one of my favorite songs, but I didn’t know it was everyone’s favorite song (who knows with KGATLW–they have 22 albums out). “Castle” and “Her and I” take about 20 minutes alone, and this show was turning from a headbanging ball into a jam fest. Especially when it segued into “The Fourth Colour” also from Polygondwanaland/
Then Ambrose said it was time to dance as they played King Gizzard’s rap song “The Grim Reaper.” There was much dancing and waving. And then they segued into “Ice V” the only song from the three albums that they released in October. It’s probably my favorite track on Ice, Death, Planets, Lungs, Mushrooms and Lava.
Then they called Leah Senior out and she began reciting some of Altered Beast with Leah doing the narration. In 2018, they had played us Alter Me I and Altered Beast I. This time it was Alter Me III and Altered Beast IV It was like the ended the story four years later.
They ended with “Evil Death Roll” a rollicking good time from Nonagon Infinity. They jammed this out for a pretty long time, throwing in teases from other songs.
Comparing this show to previous shows, the number of songs in significantly lower. But they really jammed out some songs in the middle, giving this a more psychedelic feel than previous shows. This in no way stopped the crowd from pushing and shoving and surfing. Indeed ,some guy was just pushing me, for no reason that I could see–quite hard too–until I asked him to switch places with me. Which he did.
Despite how much I love them, I decided that I don’t think I’ll be seeing them again. The crowd is just not my crowd. Unless they play somewhere else (but there’s really nowhere bigger than Franklin Music Hall) and they keep selling that venue out pretty easily.
Markit Aneight had a much better view than me and filmed the whole show
Franklin Music Hall October 22, 2022
Franklin Music Hall August 30, 2019
Union Transfer June 18, 2018
Oddlife ∑
Planet B ℜ
Digital Black ⊗
Billabong Valley ⇔
Perihelion ℜ
Vomit Coffin ⊗
K.G.L.W. £
The Great Chain of Being Ω
The Lord of Lightning ⊗
Mars for the Rich ℜ
Stressin’ ℘
Cellophane β
Predator X Ø
I’m in Your Mind β
Alter Me I ⊗
Organ Farmer ℜ
I’m Not in Your Mind β
Altered Beast I ⊗
Her and I (Slow Jam 2) [Iron Lung tease] β
Cellophane β
Evil Death Roll ∝
Crumbling CastleΔ
I’m in Your Mind Fuzz β
Billabong Valley ⇔
The Fourth ColourΔ
The Balrog ⊗
Nuclear Fusion ⇔
The Grim Reaper Ø
Acarine €
Rattlesnake ⇔
Ice V ¥
Murder of the Universe ⊗
All Is Known Ω
Alter Me III (with Leah Senior) ⊗
The Bird Song €
Crumbling Castle Δ
Altered Beast IV (with Leah Senior) ⊗
Let Me Mend the Past ∼
The Fourth Colour Δ
Evil Death Roll ∝
(Altered Beast & Hypertension teases;
contained elements of Invisible Face)
[ATTENDED: October 22, 2022] Leah Senior [rescheduled from May 22 and then October 22, 2020 and again on October 23, 2021]
King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard created a record label (Flightless) and they released Leah Senior’s latest album.
I had listened to Leah Senior when it was first announced that she was going to open for them on the tour. I think her new album wasn’t out yet, because I found what I heard to be fine, decent folk music.
Or as NME says:
Her first two albums, 2015’s ‘Summer’s On The Ground’ and 2017’s ‘Pretty Faces’, are sparsely arranged folk records – usually just Senior and her guitar, maybe a bit of piano – with songs she says were often born from anguish. But on ‘The Passing Scene’, Senior moves away from the sounds of early Joni Mitchell to something echoing the late-’60s, jazzy, jam-band sound of Karen Dalton’s ‘In My Own Time’. Senior says she approached recording with a sense of playfulness for the first time.
Because live, these songs were delightful! Fun and bouncey with a fantastic band and, the killer ingredient: backing vocals by her sister, Andi. Together the two of them sang beautiful harmonies.
I expected to like her set, but I was enchanted by it. By her voice, by the way her band fleshed out these songs and by the overall vibe she generated. She played guitar for the first few songs and then switched to piano/keyboards for the rest.
I was less enchanted by the loud dude near me who felt compelled to talk a lot about which King Gizzard albums he had and how much he hated baseball and how mean the Aussies were during the lockdown. Fortunately, the person he was talking to moved away from him and he was left talking to no one and we all enjoyed the last few Leah Senior songs ever the more.
I couldn’t see her all that well–a wall of KGATLW fans were in my way, but her voice soared over any obstacles.
[READ: December 3, 2021] “A Lovely and Terrible Thing”
This year, S. ordered me The Short Story Advent Calendar. This is my seventh time reading the Calendar. The 2021 Short Story Advent Calendar is a deluxe box set of individually bound short stories.
As always, each story is a surprise, so you won’t know what you’re getting until you crack the seal every morning starting December 1. Once you’ve read that day’s story, check this link where editor Alberto Manguel is providing daily commentary on each of the stories he selected for this year’s calendar.
You know this story is going to be unusual because the main character works for Ripley’s Believe It or Not (I didn’t know they had that in Australia).
He is off to investigate a claim when his car breaks down in the middle of nowhere. After a few hours of fruitless struggle, a local man approaches. They decide that the place the driver is going is too far to walk so the local (named Angola) offers to let him spend the night at his place. (more…)
[POSTPONED: October 23, 2021] King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard / Leah Senior [rescheduled from May 22 and then October 22, 2020; moved to October 22, 2022]
On May 24, King Gizzard announced that they were pushing back this tour for another year. It seemed surprising since everyone else is filling in tour dates this fall, but they made a valid point
We’ve made the (very hard) decision to reschedule our USA/CAN tour once again.
This was an extraordinarily tough decision to make but I hope y’all can understand the complexities that come with a giant tour of the States and Canada with a 6 piece band and a 6 person crew from Australia during a pandemic.
We’ve tried our hardest to reschedule as many of these shows as possible at the same venues. That means your ticket will still be valid if you want to go.
For our NY show, we’re unfortunately going to be canceling it, you will be given a full refund and will have to buy a new ticket at the new venue. Sorry! It’s bigger though so everyone should be able to get tickets. Exciting news on that and other new shows coming soon! 🙂
If you’d like a refund contact your local venue as soon as you can to arrange.
Thanks to every gizzhead for your ongoing support and love. We will get back on the road as soon as we can.
Love king gizz Xoxox
I was bummed when KGATLW had to postpone a show in May. I mean, come on, Coronavirus, would certainly be over by May, right? Well, now it’s October and things are still crazy. I really hope they can do this again next year.
Of course, knowing them, they’ll have three more albums out by then.
I have become a huge fan of King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard (are there any other kinds of fans of them?) since I first heard about them a few years ago.
I’m sad that I missed them on the tour just before the first time I saw them (at a smaller venue when newbies like me hadn’t heard of them yet), but I have seen them twice since.
In both cases, the band overcame somewhat unpleasant (to me) situations (obnoxious capacity crowds and unreasonable heat) to change my mind from swearing I’d never bother seeing them again (before the show), to hoping they’d come back really soon (after the show).
I’m not at all surprised that this show was postponed and they have already rescheduled the new date. So we’re all good. I just hope the damned air-conditioner works next time.
The last time I saw KGATLW, the two opening bands were kind of doom/psychedelic–perfect matches for KGATLW’s more recent sound. This year’s opener is a singer named Leah Senior.
Leah Senior did the narration on KGATLW’s Murder of the Universe album. But her music is a completely other thing. She sings gentle folk songs with delicate guitar playing and her beautiful soft voice.
I can;t imagine how well she would go over with a rowdy KGATLW crowd and I also wonder if that means that KGATLW would play their more mellow stuff? Nah.
On May 24, King Gizzard announced that they were pushing back this tour for another year. It seemed surprising since everyone else is filling in tour dates this fall, but they made a valid point
I Just Read About That... 