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Archive for the ‘Music’ Category

Homer–“Ulysses and the Cyclops” [Greece] (translator Alexander Pope) [The 2021 Short Story Advent Calendar #5] (8th century B.C,/translated 1725)

Posted in Alberto Manguel, Alexander Pope, Canadian Content, Christmas, Cyclops, Death, Greece, Hingston & Olsen, Homer, Sheep, Short Story, The Short Story Advent Calendar, Violence on December 5, 2021| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK:  hiatus

[READ: December 5, 2021] “Ulysses and the Cyclops”

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.

Obviously Homer is a classic–the classic–poet.  But it seemed an odd choice to pick Homer (from B.C. days) when surely there was a more recent Greek writer who deserved some attention.

I’ve read The Odyssey at least three times.  However, I’ve never read it in verse form.   And I found this form to be very challenging.  I was certainly glad I knew the story already. (more…)

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Loudon Wainwright III / Deni Bonet (Sellersville Theatre, Sellersville, PA, December 4 & Count Basie Theatre, Red Bank, NJ, December 5, 2021) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Count Basie Theatre, Deni Bonet, Loudon Wainwright III, Red Bank, NJ, Sellersville Theater, Sellersville, PA on December 4, 2021| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: December 4 & 5, 2021] Loudon Wainwright III / Deni Bonet

Loudon Wainwright III has been playing pretty and also pretty funny music for decades.  I discovered him about fifteen years ago and quickly became a fan of his work.

His newer material deals more with old age than his earlier stuff but it’s still enjoyable.  I’m sure he would play songs from throughout his career.

I’ve been aware of Loudon Wainwright playing the Sellersville Theatre for a long time (like two years).  I’ve wanted to see him for a while now, but Sellersville Theatre is a real hassle to get to.  When I saw that he was also playing in Red Bank, I thought that I might go to that show instead.  And that something came up and I never got there either.

I’m under the impression that he tours a lot (when he’s not acting) so I’m sure I’ll be able to see him again.  I hope so (maybe a little closer to me).

Deni Bonet is a pop/rock singer/songwriter and classically trained violinist who has recorded and performed with R.E.M., Sarah McLachlan, Cyndi Lauper, Scissor Sisters, and Warren Zevon among many others.

I’m not sure if she played in Red Bank as well, since there was no opening band listed.  But I’ll assume so.

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Cave In / Cleric (Underground Arts, Philadelphia, PA, December 3, 2021) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Cave In, Cleric, Philadelphia, PA, Underground Arts on December 3, 2021| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: December 3, 2021] Cave In / Cleric

Back in 1998 I really like the Cave In album Until Your Heart Stops.  Then I pretty much forgot about them.

They came back on my radar when one of the band members died in a car accident a few years ago.  He sang lead (but was not the only lead vocalist) and I assumed that was the end of the band.

But they did not break up.  Indeed, they have a new album coming out next year.

I wasn’t planning on going to this show without looking into what they’ve done this century, and I never got around to that, so I didn’t go.

I didn’t know who Cleric was.  Their Wikipedia write up is interesting, but this could go in a direction I don’t like

Cleric is an American avant-garde metal band based out of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. The band is known for their experimental approach to grindcore, doom and avant-garde metal

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Surfbort / Smirk / Dog Date / Pure Adult (Underground Arts, Philadelphia, PA, December 2, 2021) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Full show video, Philadelphia, PA, Pure Adult, Smirk, Surfbort, Underground Arts on December 2, 2021| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: December 2, 2021] Surfbort / Smirk / Dog Date / Pure Adult

Here’s another great show from Underground Arts that I didn’t get to.

I had not heard of Surfbort until a few days ago.  They sound like an insanely fun band.  I mean, look at the picture of them.

They also seem to be all kinds of boundaries pushing.

Here’s what their blurb says about them

Channeling inspiration from the 80’s punk scene to produce rousing, explosive music, their feedback strafed, guitar-shredding music says no to a digital age full of intolerance; they radiate love and friendship. All are welcome in the SURFBORT FREAK FAMILY!

That’s right up my alley.  It’s a shame I found out about this show too late.

Smirk and Pure Adult were unknown to me.

Smirk is the solo project from Nick Vicario (who I don’t know).  The music is wiry, well-crafted punk with heaps of hooks.

Pure Adult has this as a write up

Pure Adult is pure experimental punk shit.

You will listen to this noisy goodness and you will love it.

(although, if you’re only looking for catchy bops, you might hate it)

That sounds pretty great to me.  And according to the videos below the longest set was 40 minutes.

Markit Aneight was there and recorded all four shows:

Pure Adult

Dog Date

Smirk

Surfbort

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Darlingside / Lullanas (Ardmore Music Hall, Ardmore, PA, December 2, 2021) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Ardmore Music Hall, Ardmore, PA, Darlingside, Lullanas on December 2, 2021| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: December 2, 2021] Darlingside / Lullanas

S. and I love Darlingside and have seem them several times.  I have them on my list of bands to see wherever and whenever. But sometimes things get in the way.

I think seeing them at Ardmore Music Hall would be a treat.  The sound would be amazing.  But sometimes getting to Ardmore is a hassle.

Plus, it actually felt nice to stay home for a week.  So we blew off this show, safe in the knowledge that they’ll be back to entertain us in the not too distant future.

I’d never heard of Lullanas.  According to their label

Twin sisters Atisha and Nishita Lulla, aka LULLANAS, create songs wrapped in Americana warmth, folk eloquence, country storytelling, and unassuming pop ambition. Their debut EP, Before Everything Got Real, thrives on an inimitable and familial balance.

They sound like an excellent complement to Darlingside.

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The Districts (Asbury Lanes, Asbury Park, NJ, November 27, 2021)

Posted in Asbury Lanes, Asbury Park, NJ, Set in New Jersey!, Sham, The Districts, The Scouts on November 30, 2021| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: November 27, 2021] The Districts

I was supposed to see The Districts play at Union Transfer on March 12.  COVID-19 had just found its way into New Jersey and Pennsylvania and I was being very cautious so I decided to skip the show.  It was a safe decision, but one that I now regret as it would have been a pretty great final show of the year.  Shows pretty much completely stopped after that.

I was then supposed to see the Districts three times in 2021 (a lot of that was coincidence).  The opened for Modest Mouse (I had no idea they were going to), then they announced a show in Asbury Park and then, at the end of the year they were supposed to open for Dr. Dog (they bailed on that show, as did I, even though the show went on).

After seeing them open for Modest Mouse, I wanted to see them headline, because they tend to go a bit more nuts when they are in charge.

I was happy to see them in such a small place, but I hadn’t really thought this show through.  Asbury Park, on Thanksgiving weekend.  Holy crap, the place was full of reunited and drunk college students.  Which made for a more festive atmosphere but also meant that security almost had to pull somebody out and that everyone was singing along (badly) at the top of their lungs.  And of course drunk people were pushing forward throughout the show.

The band seemed to be in a really good mood when they came out and they rocked several classic songs: “4th and Roebling,” “Salt” and ‘If Before I Wake” (the crowd loves singing the “I’m just a narcissist” line)  Then they moved on to You Know I’m Not Going Anywhere for “Hey Jo,” and the moody “My Only Ghost.” (more…)

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Sham (Asbury Lanes, Asbury Park, NJ, November 27, 2021) [THE DISTRICTS]

Posted in Asbury Lanes, Asbury Park, NJ, Set in New Jersey!, Sham, The Districts, The Scouts on November 29, 2021| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: November 27, 2021] Sham

After The Scouts, Sham came out.  Sham is the project of Shane Justice McCord.  It was him and a bass player (I loved his bass guitar!) for this set.

The bass player started by playing bird calls on a small device while Shane played acoustic guitar.

The set was quiet and acoustic and perhaps a little atonal.  Very experimental (in a video I took, you can barely hear the band from all the chatter, until a guy behind me says, “this band is so weird, this is the best.”

In no way were they the right band for this particular show–a rowdy New jersey crowd looking to rock.  But aside from talking over the set, the crowd was at least respectful.

A few songs in, the bassist moved to drums and a new bassist came out and that added a little (very little) oomph to their set. (more…)

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The Scouts (Asbury Lanes, Asbury Park, NJ, November 27, 2021) [THE DISTRICTS]

Posted in Asbury Lanes, Asbury Park, NJ, Set in New Jersey!, Sham, The Districts on November 28, 2021| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: November 27, 2021] The Scouts

I didn’t know if there were any opening bands for The Districts, and it turned out there were two.

The Scouts (a difficult search term, especially when combined with The Districts) are from The District’s home town of Lititz, PA.

They came out as a five piece and won me over immediately with some really solid guitar rock.  Their songs were all pretty long–about five minutes each with lengthy intros and multiple sections.

Lead singer Nathan Yager has long hair and a big beard but has a relatively restrained vocal sound (powerful but not overpowering).  He plays guitar as well and when he and Tom Hartman played together, they really brought in a nice mix of quiet and loud guitar. (more…)

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Jinjer (Theatre of Living Arts [TLA], Philadelphia, PA, November 24, 2021)

Posted in JInjer, Philadelphia, PA, Theatre of Living Arts, Ukraine on November 27, 2021| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: November 24, 2021] Jinjer

I first heard JInjer when I saw a video for their song “Pisces.”  The song starts out slow and melodic with Tatiana Shmaylyuk singing in a quiet, lovely voice.  At the one minute mark, the songs shifts to a heavy off-kilter riff and Shmaylyuk unleashes a guttural growl that you absolutely assume is from someone off screen–but it’s not.  [Check out hilarious vocal coach reaction videos].

So I wanted to see Jinjer to experience Shmayluk’s voice in person.  But I was absolutely blown away by the rest of the band.

Jinjer is from Ukraine and I don’t know how often they come to the U.S., but there were some really die hard fans there.  The band’s lineup has changed quite a lot over the years, but since 2016, the lineup has reamined Roman Ibramkhalilov on guitar, Eugene Abdukhanov on bass and Vladislav Ulasevich on drums.

Their sound is quite heavy, but with lots of moments of quieter, pretty melodies.  Indeed, they play really complicated rhythms and time changes, with terrific riffs and bass lines.  The drummer also adds a lot of percussive sounds to the songs making them a band where it’s hard to know who to watch. (more…)

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The Menzingers / Dirty Nil / Kayleigh Goldsworthy (Underground Arts, Philadelphia, PA, November 27 & 28, 2021) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Canadian Music, Kayleigh Goldsworthy, Philadelphia, PA, The Dirty Nil, The Menzingers, Underground Arts on November 27, 2021| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: November 27 & 28, 2021] The Menzingers / Dirty Nil / Kayleigh Goldsworthy

I saw The Menzingers during Philly Music Fest.  I really enjoyed the set but I was in a terribly location and the sound was dreadful.  I told myself I wanted to see them again.  And there it was, just a month later at Underground Arts!

I couldn’t go on Saturday night because I had tickets to see The Districts, but then they added a 2nd show on Sunday.

But I had just gone to a show on Saturday and the previous week was just chock full of shows.  I couldn’t bring myself to go out again.  Especially since I had just seen them.

I do hope they come back again soon.  And it would be amazing of they could play a small club like that again. (more…)

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