we are about to roll over a thousand visitors since switching over to this dedicated url from the old blogger site — so thanks!
kansas city has some really interesting shows coming up over the course of the next few weeks, mostly at the record bar.
the first one up is this sunday with califone. they have quite a few live clips hosted via youtube in their multimedia section, which will give you a good idea of what to expect sunday night.
october 6th showcases two local kansas city-area bands, doris henson (who are actually 5 guys playing some very interesting rawk) and the republic tigers. the doris henson stuff is pretty good, but it’s the tracks on republic tiger’s myspace that are really catching my attention . . . here’s a couple of them:
republic tigers - made concrete
republic tigers - buildings and mountains
i’m really impressed with the polished, multi-layered approach this band is taking.
here’s a few from doris henson also:
doris henson - dark times for the light side of the earth (from 2005’s give me all your money, on desoto)
doris henson - sidestepping (from 2005’s give me all your money, on desoto)
the band also features localish electronic experimentalists namelessnumberheadman covering their song “saturday night”:
namelessnumberheadman - saturday night (doris henson cover)
october 10th brings a rare treat in kansas city — two shows worth seeing in one night. the early show will be the 7PM start of the incredible thanksgiving at the icehouse, which is apparently moving over to the el torreon space sometime next week. the band is essentially the brainchild of portland, oregon’s adrian orange, and has featured the usual stellar guest work that goes along with the tightly-knit music community of that region — phil elvrum (microphones/mt eerie) and kyle fields (little wings) are kindred spirits, and like them, orange has built a dedicated following across the country due to his endless touring. i was unfortunate to be out of town when he played kansas city earlier this year, and i’m thankful for the opportunity to see one of my favorite artists in a live setting.
openers drakkar sauna are on orange’s marriage records label, and hail from lawrence, kansas. they have quite a few tracks up, and here’s a few for you:
drakkar sauna - glissade pressee
drakkar sauna - very much alone part 2: the coke binge
drakkar sauna - hello, my love has faded
the record bar then comes with a worthwhile triple bill featuring caspian, actors & actresses, and trilobite. i was familiar with caspian through their 2005 debut ep you are the conductor on dopamine, which is a very nice collection of crushing post-rock. as far as the other two bands go, it was off to myspace to check them out, and doing so has ensured me that this will not be a show to miss.
here’s a few caspian tracks to warm you up, since they’ll be headlining this show:
caspian - further in (from the you are the conductor ep)
caspian - loft (from the 2004 demo)
caspian - last rites (live)
i also highly recommend checking out the music section of the caspian site for the ambient material they’ve posted at the bottom. these are very nice loops and it’s great to see a band willing to give this sort of thing away instead of just sitting on it.
although they are doing several dates with caspian, actors & actresses are from kansas city, and i’m sure the relationship is working out thanks largely to a shared idealogy of creating glacial, crescendoing walls of sound. they do however bring vocals into the mix, which is a nice change of pace in the vastly instrumental world of post rock. they have a two tracks up on their myspace, but just this one to share:
actors & actresses - shellshocked
the other band on the bill, trilobite, was a total mystery to me as well, but i think this will be the band that ultimately makes the night complete. i’m hoping that the early start of the thanksgiving show will allow me to make it for this roots-folk-americana outfit. trilobite is centered around mark ray lewis, a noted writer and the son of a hannibal, missouri preacher, and these influences show heavily in the dark, dusty, reverent music he creates. this stuff will seem out of place once actors & actresses and caspian have hit the stage, but i can’t think of a better way to segue between the two shows. check out the tracks trilobite have on their myspace:
trilobite - pumpkin farmer (from the plains of augustine, catamount)
trilobite - samsara (from the plains of augustine, catamount)
trilobite - lucky toes (from the plains of augustine, catamount)
there’s several other shows coming up that i’m really looking forward to (charalambides and tara jane o’neil on november 17th!) and i’m very happy to say that the kansas city scene is continuing to improve — in no small part of course to the efforts of the record bar. keep an eye out for more coverage of upcoming stuff in the next few days . . .
