Tuddd's Muddd

Pretty much sums it up

from the Titus Andronicus/Vice/Colt 45 free show (with free Colt 45!) at Glasslands last night:

FREE BEER MAKE TUDDY HAAAAAAPPY

Kylesa with Stinking Lizaveta, Unearthly Trance and Darsombra at Cake Shop, May 31 2009

KYLESA



STINKING LIZAVETA

------------

Happy June, assholes!  I had a slow weekend, which is nice for a change, especially considering the toxic disaster that this coming week and weekend is going to inevitably morph into.  I'll have friends in town during the week for several shows, then a road trip with still yet more friends for another show and massive afterparty during the weekend.  Pray for me.*

So, Kylesa.  I'm liking the shit out of their newest album, Static Tensions, which contains several great tunes (most notably early song-of-the-year contender "Unknown Awareness").  I'm a huge, gay sucker for awesome stoner sludge with psych flourishes, and face it, you should be too.  I'd missed Kylesa last time they were in town (I think they played the Charleston) so no time like the present etc.

Rolled up on Cake Shop a little after 8:30 and after going inside and paying for admission ($10, not too shab) was told that the show's start was going to be pushed back a bit.  Fine.  As such, I spent the next half hour or so nursing $3 PBRs at Iggys down the block.  When I got back to Cake Shop, I could hear the opening band, Brooklyn's own Unearthly Trance, wailing away.  Again, I missed a lot of their set, but from what I could tell they seemed to be a pretty decent doom outfit, and I enjoyed what I heard.

Next act was a one-man project called Darsombra, which consisted of a dude on 8-string bass, Les Paul and occasional vocals, looping his sounds and manipulating a ton of effects pedals.  Good shit, although I should say that this was a bit more riff-heavy than some of the more unstructured stuff that's out there.  Maybe like a heavier Grails?  Some of it kinda sounded like stuff from last year's Pyramids record (which I liked) if that helps. 

By now I was several beers into the evening and I figured "what the hey, time to get high."  So I whipped out my one-hitter and walked around the block (Ludlow/Rivington/Essex/Stanton/back to Ludlow).  As per usual in this area, the cop presence was massive, which kept me from toking recklessly, and with my oneie being freshly cleaned earlier in the morning, the hits were not terribly pleasant unless you consider mouthfuls of flaming weed pieces "pleasant."  Whatevs.  This brief interlude paid its real dividends when, after returning from around the block,  I saw some drunk jackass walk full-speed straight into a closed glass door and bounce off like a sparrow flying into your window, which was hilarious. 

By the time I got back inside Cake Shop, I was feeling pretty fucking good, the cheap beer and expensive weed combining to create the ideal glowing/borderline meditative/"all is momentarily well in the world" mindset.  Ahhhhhhhh.  Anyway, the evening's third band, Stinking Lizaveta, a 3-piece with guitar, electric stand-up bass (!!) and drums, ripped into their set with road-tested fury.  Apparently these guys have been around for a decade-and-a-half... well, I wish I'd heard of them at some time during said decade-and-a-half, because they are, as it turns out, ABSOLUTELY FUCKING AMAZING.  Here's a description of them from the New Yorker event listings (by way of the band's MySpace page): "heavy instrumental rock that meshes complicated and precise prog-rock passages, gloomy riffs in the Black Sabbath vein, and occasional free-jazz blowouts."  If there's ever been a more promising band description anywhere, I'd like to see it.  At this point the room was gradually getting more and more packed, and, as such, within minutes everyone -- band and audience alike -- was dripping wet.  This didn't keep the guitarist from gallivanting about the stage, ripping off insane solos while hopping onto (and off of) his amps and other equipment.  The set included a positively ripping cover of Band of Gypsys' "Power of Soul" which was exactly what the doctor ordered-- man these guys rock.  I eagerly await the delivery of their new album, which I ordered minutes after getting home from the show.

It just so happened that I sweated so much during Stinking Lizaveta's set that I didn't have to piss before Kylesa started setting their shit up, which was good because by this point the room was totally packed (definitely the most folks I've ever seen at a Cake Shop show) and people were jostling for position up front.  Kylesa seemed to be having trouble with some of their gear (notably an amp and a mic) so it was a while before any music was played.  Once they started, though... *whistling noise* man did shit get rowdy.  Yes, I go to see a lot of metal shows but usually people just kind of mind their own business, at the very most just kinda thrashing solo -- that's the NYC way.  But the evening's delays, combined with the fact that people were by and large fucking hammered, combined with the stinky sweatbox Cake Shop's basement had become, combined with the fact that people seem to legitimately love Kylesa, added up to some furious mosh-pitting up front.  Interestingly, the most flagrant of said thrashers were not necessarily your typical metal-show fare, encompassing yuppies, hippies and random hot chicks in addition to the usual assortment of chinbearded n'er do-wells, tiny Napoleonic meatheads and fat bearded stoners like myself.  Kylesa's two-drummer setup is really showcased in the live setting, as the beats have a primal, tribal element not perfected by many bands not named Sepultura.  But yeah, sick set, and a pretty great show all around. 

*NOTE: do not pray for me.

------

Expecting a "special delivery."  The timeliness of said delivery will have an effect on whether or not I get out tonight.  Muddd outward and such.

Me pukey

   

    Um, subject line pretty much sez it all.  I'm in fucking rough shape.  Also, the count for the bigtime riff on Don, Aman is 14-8-10.   Try that shit!

Goes Cube record release show Thursday May 14th! Studio at Webster Hall!

       

    Thursday night's Goes Cube show is a special one, for many reasons.  At the moment, I'm too groggy to organize said reasons into coherent paragraphs, so let's go with some ever-popular, easily digestible, fucking adorable bullet points:

• Goes Cube's new record, Another Day Has Passed was released on Tuesday.  Full disclosure: no, I haven't heard the album yet, but having caught over half of the album's songs in the live setting, I can personally verify its awesomeness.  [check below for some righteous-ass mp3s.]  Seriously, come on out and buy a copy, you poser.
• This is the first show of Goes Cube's cross-country trek supporting said record, and the first time they've played at The Studio at Webster Hall.  Celebrate that shit!
• All kinds of great bands, with Austerity Program and Jones Street Station performing, in addition to Constants and Red Beard.  
• Last time I saw Goes Cube was about a month ago at The Charleston, and they were white-hot.  They've always been sick live but the speed, precision and confidence with which they're playing right now is flat-out fucking unreal. 
• I've written up Austerity Program a few times here on the Muddd (they're one of my favorite bands), and having seen them twice already this year (but really, who's counting), I can report that they're also on top of their game.
• Drinking alcohol is fun, especially when you're watching excellent live music.
• Perhaps most importantly, as covered here, this will be Goes Cube bassist Matt's final show performing with the band.  Matt, you will be missed!

Download Goes Cube - Grinding The Knife Blade

~and~

Download Goes Cube - The Only Daughter

The Kills at Music Hall of Williamsburg, May 4th, 2009 [May Daze day 4]

    Man, was Monday rough.  Still hurting from Sunday's unexpected debacle, I got back from "work" and immediately passed out for a couple hours.  This did not help things.  I got up 8ish, puffed a couple bowls, and drove over to MHOW.  Fuck.

    This would be the third time I've seen The Kills live, with the first time being in September '06 at Southpaw, for what (if I'm remembering correctly) was basically a one-off show (not part of a full tour or nuthin').  I remeber this being an excellent show, and VV and Hotel played the part of fucked-up derelicts to the hilt; I remember remarking at the time that that was the most fried I'd seen an onstage performer since Trey Anastasio's infamous meltdown at Coventry.  But fuck it, when The Kills do it it actually adds to the intensity and the drama of their garage/blues/beatpunk jams.  Next time I saw them was May '08 at Webster Hall for a Midnight Boom (my 28th favorite album of 2008, dontchaknow)-heavy set, which was interrupted by the NYFD when Webster Hall apparently CAUGHT ON FIRE.  Despite me (and, presumably, other members of the sold-out audience) remembering this, nobody fucking budged, which was odd.  Good set although it woulda been gooder if the bastards at Webster Hall would have turned on the AC. 

    But back to the present.  The evening's first band was Magic Wands whom I had seen with Young Knives last year at Mercury Lounge (first show in this post).  It's pretty rare that a headlining band (in this case, The Kills) chooses an opening band that's so shamelessly copping their aesthetic (in this case, Magic Wands), but there you have it.  Still totally exhausted, I was not the least bit in the mood for this.  I did notice this time around that Magic Wands' music leans a lot on '80s teen pop influences, from the lyrics to the piped-in synth.

    Next up were British post-punkers The Horrors, for whom I actually chose to stand up.  The music was fairly generic post-punk fare, with the most distinguishing characteristic being the tall, gangly singer's monotone barking singing style.  Nothing terribly interesting here, but at least the beats had my head bobbing.  (Directly following their set, an overenthusiastic dude who had apparently misjudged my enthusiasm grabbed me by the arm and exclaimed "fucking GENIUS!" which was funny in its sheer wrongness.) 

    After about 20 minutes, The Kills came onstage and from the intro beats of "URA Fever," the house was sufficiently rocked.  There's really not another group I've ever seen that has a similar stage presence to The Kills, as it's tough to pull off tough/cool/sexy bit without seeming really really insincere, but they manage.  Indeed, no one on the corner quite matches VV and Hotel's swagger.  Musically, the evening's biggest surprises were a cover of "Crazy" (yes, the Patsy Cline song) and a dark take on "I Put a Spell on You," with the highlights for me being "No Wow" and "Hook and Line" (no, they didn't play "The Good Ones").  Non-musically, there was some genuine oddness precipitated by a heckler, who at first Hotel repelled by jabbing him in the forehead with his guitar neck.  Eventually the dude (who as it turned out had ripped jeans making his ass visible) made it onstage, making a halfhearted attempt at chasing VV before being tossed offstage by a roadie with a sickening/hilarious thud.  Weird shit.

    Good show, though.  Here's the setlist, I think.

URA Fever

Sour Cherry

Tape Song

No Wow

Alphabet Pony

Last Day of Magic

Kissy Kissy

Black Balloon

Hook and Line

Crazy

Getting Down

Cheap and Cheerful

Fried My Little Brains

~encore break~

Good Night, Bad Morning

I Put a Spell on You

Dropout Boogie

May Daze day 3

    Went to a bar with some cool people, drank my face off, may or may not have blacked out, brought the party back to my apartment, and definitely offered my new roommate -- who I barely know -- a rail.  She politely declined, although I do remember her smoking a bunch of my weed.  Stellar performance all around, although I'm puzzled -- and pleasantly surprised -- that I didn't piss my bed.  (Just remembering that I puked in my garbage can at about 4 AM.  Good times.) 

Pontiak and Bloody Panda at Death by Audio, May 2 2009 [May Daze day 2]

   

Above pic: Bloody Panda (photo not from this show)

--------------

    Had a reasonably productive day, which is weird for a Saturday.  After being inconvenienced/misled by a procession of semi-literate lazy pieces of fucking shit employed by two (2) separate Targets, I finally wound up with... drumroll, please... A VACUUM!!! VICTORY IS MINE!!!  Ugh.  Tried out the newish Vietnamese sandwich place on Havemeyer (decent, but I wasn't terribly impressed) before watching a truly awful, poorly done, idiotic movie.  Yes I'm only a couple days into "May Daze" (aka my attempt at going out every night this month) but the idea of staying in is mighty tempting when there are so few interesting concerts on the docket, and I can't find anyone who wants to see either of the Anvil or Tyson documentaries with me.  Yes, my journey of frivolous leisure over the next month shall be a tumultuous (read: excruciatingly boring) one. 

    (You know what? After some initial apprehension, I'm getting more and more okay with the "May Daze" name, mainly because I'm usually lumbering around in a sleep-deprived, stoned "stupor," or "daze."  Also, I was considering an attempt at timeliness and, as, such, maybe calling it "Fuck the Swine Flu" or perhaps the rhymier/less personable "Fuck You, Swine Flu."  But fear not, timeliness is for people with paying jobs.)  

    After puffing a few bowls I finally got motivated at about 9:45 or so and walked over to Death by Audio only to be told that the show wasn't going to start for awhile, which kind of blows.  See, in NYC when a show is advertised as starting at 8, that usually means that the first act takes the stage at 9, and so forth.  Maybe there were some extenuating circumstances further delaying the show's start, who cares.  I used this opportunity to head over to Oasis and eat a shawarma.  Not too shabby, but by the time I got back to Death by Audio  it didn't look like anyone was any closer to, you know, performing music.  Sat around for another long while.

    Eventually, Bloody Panda took the stage, and I dug their shit good 'nuff.  Elements of black metal, doom and stoner stuff which is always a good combo.  Their stage presence was kind of fucked up, with all 5 members of the band wearing black hoods covering their entire heads, and with the keyboard player and vocalist standing in front of the stage (as opposed to on it).  Because I had no idea what was going on, for much of the set I was under the mistaken impression that the female vox were canned only to eventually discover that the vocalist was standing about fifteen feet to the left of me.  Huh.

    Pontiak was up next and they had kind of a slow stonery vibe which I also enjoyed, alternating between more traditional chunky riffing and quieter strumming.  At one point the guitarist/vocalist came offstage and began smacking shit around on a drumset that was against the front of the stage, facing the rest of the band.  Neat-o.

    At least one other band played after Bloody Panda and Pontiak, although by this point it was 1:30 AM, my back was killing me and I didn't feel like sitting on the floor, my cell phone and iPod were both dying, and I had places to go (my room), people to see (HAHAHAHA good one) and things to do (smoke more weed, watch porn).  So if you're one of the bands I missed and you're Googling yourself expecting to find a review of your set, next time try taking the fucking stage at a reasonable hour.  Thanks!

------------

King Khan tonight (probably).  Muddd onward and such. 

Liturgy et al, at Death by Audio, May 1, 2009 [May Daze night 1]

   

    So I'm going to try to go out every night this month.  (That's what the whole "May Daze night 1" thing above means.  Yes, that's a super-lame name but I'm tired and cranky.  If you can think of a better name send that shit along, thx k bai.)  This may sound absurd, but fuck it.  This is the type of meaningless, hollow gesture that most folks my age gave up on long ago, but if there's anywhere an asshole like me should be trying to act younger than he is, Williamsburg's probably as good a place as any.  Yes, my back will probably give out at some point, but by now with me never really knowing whether or not I'm actually getting any rest while I'm "sleeping"/waking myself up while snoring/randomly stopping breathing every 2 minutes or so in the middle of the night, getting adequate sleep isn't really too big of a consideration these days/ever. 

    Was considering going to the King Khan show at MHOW, but 1.) I've already seen them twice and 2.) I really didn't feel like drinking, and seeing King Khan live without being hammered is a fool's errand, and 3.) they're playing Santos Party House Sunday night, and I still haven't seen a show there so in all likelihood I'll get out to that instead.  Also was considering seeing A Place to Bury Strangers but I didn't feel like getting all stoned just to ride the train into Manhattan.  Plus, APTBS' live show is fucking insanely amazing, but I've seen them at least six times over the past couple of years and I'll be catching them at least once later this month with Holy Fuck.  So this left me with the option of seeing Liturgy, who I'd caught at Market Hotel about a month ago opening for Future Islands, and who I remembered enjoying quite a bit.  (Another fine band that played that same show: Double Dagger.) Taxed a bowl and headed out.

    I really don't know what to say about the openers, because since I got to the show a bit late I have no idea who was who.  First group was a drums/guitar duo which to me sounded like Mouthus mixed with Harvey Milk.  Kinda cool.  The next two acts (I have no idea what order they performed in was) were a dude with a guitar kneeling down in front of his amp and creating some meditation-tastic single-tone feedback (yes, that description blows) and another duo that added candles and a wall projection to the usual noisy/electronic stuff you hear at a lot of Todd P shows.  Meh.

    Liturgy closed the show with a set of blistering black metal.  This time they were without their drummer, replacing live beats with an iPod full of doomy metronome beats which shifted speed and tempo seemingly randomly.  Also, they did a sort of Gregorian chant type thing with looped vocals, which was pretty rad.  Not that I'm a huge authority on black metal but compared to other stuff I've heard these two aspects of their music would probably distinguish them from other black metal wannabes.  Last time I saw these guys I labeled them "kiddie Krallice" in my notes and for lack of a better idea (and lack of ambition to make this post more clever) I'm going to stick with that.  Good shit.  Post show: $3 falafel at Oasis (kiiiiiid!) and multiple listens of Spiderland.

    Naptime.  Not sure what the fuck I'm doing tonight, but I'm going to take a wild stab in the dark and guess that it will involve weed and live music.  Muddd ya later. 

Austerity Program with Tournament and Wet Nurse tonight at Union Pool!!!!!!!

The Austerity Program have a show tonight at Union Pool... here's a review I posted of one of their shows from last summer.  I had never even heard of these guys until a year ago and they've quickly become one of my favorite bands... a quick scan of Tuddd Archives reveals that I've actually seen these guys live at least 6 times since last May, including once a few weeks ago (here's some pics from that show).  They're working on a new EP and the new shit sounds fucking fantastic.

Wet Nurse and Tournament are also playing, and I having seen them both live I recommend them highly as well.  Seriously, it's fucking hot out and you're going to be sweating your ass off no matter what you're doing, so why not come out and thrash at Union Pool while swillin' PBRs?  See you there.

Tuddd sighting!!!11!!!

Here.

Go down to the Austerity Program pics, look at the third pic down, and look for the fat dude with the weird shaped head.