First/Last-The Big Sleep

Photo courtesy Andy Ryan

The Big Sleep

Brillobox

Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Larryville

The Big Sleep are a rock duo from Brooklyn who's latest album 'Nature Experiments' was released on Frenchkiss Records earlier this year. They are touring behind it this Spring, playing shows with Fang Island and stop in Pittsburgh tomorrow night at Brillobox. My boy has two tickets to give away here. Sonya and Danny were nice enough to take some time to participate in this edition of First/Last.

The first album you ever bought?
Sonya Balchandani: It was either ‘Thriller’, or the ‘Colour By Numbers’ picture disc.
Danny Barria: Can't remember but I know the first record my mom bought me was ‘Electric Avenue’ by Eddy Grant.

Your last album bought?
Sonya: Shocking Blue, ‘At Home’.
Danny: Bill Callahan, ‘Apocalypse’.

Favorite album of all time?
Sonya: Hmm, probably ‘Rumours’, with the exception of two songs.
Danny: Right now, Smog, ‘Knock Knock’.

Most disappointing album?
Sonya: Anything by Style Council. The Jam was IT for me when I was younger, so I was thinking I was going to have a whole other love affair, but it didn't work out that way.
Danny: The Cure, ‘Mixed Up’.

First concert attended?
Sonya: Not sure, maybe Adorable in Philadelphia. It was at a bar that's not there anymore. They wouldn't let me in because I was underage, but I told them my dad (who dropped me off) already left, so they let me stand in the back near the door. First stadium show was The Cure on the ‘Wish Tour’ at the Spectrum.
Danny: Beach Boys, Yankee Stadium, between games at a doubleheader.

Last concert?
Sonya: Ego Puppets.
Danny: Oberhofer at Valley of the Vapors in Hot Springs, AK.

Favorite concert ever?
Sonya: That's tough. I like intimacy more than the big spectacle, maybe a toss-up between The Verve (Northern Soul Tour) and Spiritualized (can't remember what year, but was with Curve), both in Philly.
Danny: Verve at the Troc or Portishead at Hammerstein or Everything is Fine at The Charleston or Smog at Upstair's at Nick's.

Least favorite concert?
Sonya: I just leave.
Danny: We go to so many shows and festivals and things that nothing really registers on that end of the spectrum.

Any thoughts, experiences about Pittsburgh?
Sonya: I love coming through the tunnel and seeing the city. It feels like a revelation. And in my experience, fun, friendly people!
Danny: Like Milwaukee, Pittsburgh was a lot cooler than I thought it would be and I've always had a really good time there. The kids have been cool. We were taken to a speakeasy, and last time I was there I saw Fast 5, which I loved.

Thanks to both of you. It always amazes me how many musician's first show was The Beach Boys, usually for free and usually before some sort of ballgame!

Ticket Giveaway-Squeeze/The English Beat

Squeeze

The English Beat

Carnegie Music Hall Homestead

Thursday, April 26, 2012

Munhall

Courtesy of the cool people at Drusky Entertainment, I have a pair of tickets to this show. To enter, email me at hughshows@comcast.net with the subject line Squeeze and the name of the person who will bring I.D. to will call the night of the all-ages concert, good for two passes. This contest runs till Friday, April 20, 2012 when the winner will be randomly chosen and contacted. Good luck.

Saturday Vault

World Party's 1990 album Goodbye Jumbo is firmly established in my Top 5 favorite albums of All-Time. Being a long time fan, I am amazed at the just released box set 'Arkeology' which arrived and I immediately tore into yesterday. Comprising 5 discs of all previously unreleased original tunes, demos, live tracks and b-sides, this is a WP fan's wet dream. Incredible.

First/Last-These United States Deux

  

"These United States has announced the release of its forthcoming self-titled album, out on June 12th with United Interests. Written and recorded throughout 2011 with 20 outside musical collaborators from coast to coast, the s/t release is aptly named serving as a culmination of bandleader Jesse Elliott‘s geographical aspirations. The band will support the album on a run of Midwest and East Coast dates with Trampled By Turtles, commencing the tour with a sold-out Minneapolis performance.These United States is the quartet’s fifth studio album to date and features collaborations with John McCauley of Deer Tick, Michael Nau of Cotton Jones, Matthew Houck of Phosphorescent, Laura Burhenn of The Mynabirds, Ben Sollee, David Moore of Langhorne Slim, Josh Read of Revival, and the entire Frontier Ruckus band. Recorded with Duane Lundy (Jim James, Ben Sollee, Adam Arcuragi), the LP is a rambunctious melting pot of rock-and-roll, psych pop, folk balladry, and outlaw country. It’s a concept album that acts as a panoramic snapshot of numerous American musical styles over the past century, but still looks forward to the weird new world at the completion of the Mayan calendar."

The band is playing a sold out show tomorrow night at Smalls opening for Trampled By Turtles. I previously featured them a few years ago when drummer Robby Cosenza played the First/Last game. Today it's the band's songwriter Jesse Elliott's turn, and as always, I really appreciate him taking some time in doing so. 

 

The first album you ever bought?
The Moody Blues – “Legend of a Band”.

Your last album bought?
“The Concert for Bangladesh”.

Favorite album of all time?
ELO – “Time”.

Least favorite/most disappointing album?
“Metallica (The Black Album)”.

First concert attended?
The Moody Blues at Timberwolf.

Last concert?
The Lumineers w/ Y La Bamba at The Casbah, SD.

Favorite concert ever?
Beatles Rooftop '69.

Least favorite concert?
Aerosmith- Rupp Arena '97.

Any thoughts, experiences about Pittsburgh?
While traveling it's always exciting to arrive in a new town. Pittsburgh is one of the greatest towns to drive into, through the mountain...We've had a bunch of great shows here. Looking forward to exploring the city a little more.

Thanks Jesse. From the small preview, I have to say I am really looking forward to the album!

Video of the Day-"Can't Control At All"

Mind Fish

31st Street Pub

Thursday, April 12, 2012

Strip District

I have featured the band here before with frontman Dean Tartaglia's First/Last segment back in January. Dean wanted to let me know that the band is playing in Pittsburgh tonight and a local house gig tomorrow. They also just dropped a sweet new video which you can check out below.

First/Last-The Color Bars

"The Color Bars started out as three mildly autistic doorknobs with nothing but a swimming pool full of pureed television sets and a petri dish full of bone cells from the spine of Joseph Stalin. After 4 or 6 years, they had grown into a 35 year old skydiving instruction business with a robust hazelnut aroma and sympathetic after-taste. Like a lot of bands, they set their sights on the frigid dunes of Lower Manchuria and quickly fell in love with themselves. Their fans, a disloyal and untrustworthy flock of methodone-dependent sandhill cranes, became a threat to the band's virginity, and they had to resort to becoming mothers just to keep from rusting.
Amazingly, despite all of their pups and hounds, they managed to carve out a distinctly obese sense of humidity in an increasingly dry and anorexic clam bar. Their story is that of the Hopi, the Souix, the Kennedys. It’s inspiring to think that even now, 12 decades after the dotcom bubble turned into a coming of age travel memoir, they’re still strangling themselves with licorice rope on pianos made of concrete and mormons. Something tells me these gals will be hiding out in Bea Arthur’s wardrobe for years to come!"

The band arrives in Pittsburgh tonight, Thursday, April 5 at The Rex with local favs Triggers, School of Athens and Paul Luc on the bill. You can get a taste of the band's latest courtesy of Bandcamp here. Frontman Gerald Slavin was nice enough to participate in this 'Opening Day' edition of First/Last.

The first album you ever bought?
Guns and Roses’ ‘Appetite For Destruction’ on cassette. I remember being at Tower Records and strategically placing my thumb over the Parental Advisory Explicit Lyrics logo as my dad was paying for it.

Your last album bought?
King Sunny Ade and his African Beats. The album called ‘Juju Music’ on CD. So good.

Favorite album of all time?
That’s a tough one because it changes so often, but I’ll go with The Kinks’ ‘Arthur or The Decline and Fall of The British Empire’. It really has everything, both musically and lyrically; I never get tired of it.

Least favorite/most disappointing album?
That’s also a hard one.  The first thing that comes to mind is Weezer’s ‘Make Believe’. I feel like I had given them the benefit of the doubt on ‘The Green Album’ and just kind of ignored ‘Maladroit’, but by the time ‘Make Believe’ came around, there was no more denying reality. I remember being in my car and abruptly ejecting the disc during the song “We Are All on Drugs.” So tragic.

First concert attended?
Weird Al at The Westbury Music Fair with my cousin. We were both huge fans and had front row seats, so it was a huge honor to get sprayed with his fake blood as he hacked into his seemingly real left arm with a meat cleaver during the song “Since You’ve Been Gone.” Kind of creepy how well I remember that.

Last concert?
I don’t go to a ton of big shows really, which is sad because I certainly enjoy them. The last mid-to-big sized show I attended was The Books and Andrew Bird last summer as part of the Celebrate Brooklyn festival.  I can’t remember if they played on the same night or not.  In my memory they did…Both sets were fantastic. Those artists are real innovators in how they construct and execute their live performances. The Books incorporate video art into their music better than anyone I’ve ever seen and Andrew Bird has this surreal gramaphone contraption that he loops his voice and violins through and it’s really just incredible.

Favorite concert ever?
I got to see Pavement on their ‘Terror Twilight’ tour, which was their last tour as a functional band. I saw them at Bogarts in Cincinnati and they were really just explosively good at that point. There was so much force behind every song and so much creativity in the arrangements. Steve Malkmus seemed larger than life and the whole band just blew my mind. When I heard they broke up it made sense to me because I couldn’t see how a band could possibly get any better than that.

Least favorite concert?
I’ve seen some pretty poor shows, lesser known acts and stuff, but since we seem to be talking about big names here, I saw Wilco at Roseland a few years back and was pretty disappointed. I love them, and I know they’re a great live band, but it seemed like an off-night for them or something because it was strangely dull and uninspired-feeling. Maybe they just weren’t in the right state of mind that night, which happens.

Any thoughts, experiences about Pittsburgh?
I have some very good friends who live in Pittsburgh and The Color Bars have always been well received when we’ve played here. The audiences here are really welcoming and genuine, so it’s always awesome to come through.

Thanks Gerald. Great night for music in Pittsburgh tonight!

Image of the Day-"Never Change"

Julianna Barwick

 CMU Underground

Monday, April 2, 2012

Oakland

Arriving early as I usually do, I found Julianna already set up and sitting by herself. She was very nice and among other topics, we talked about the media's perceptions of her and her music and how she herself perceives it. It's always cool to find out from the musician themselves different aspects of the industry that they ultimately really can't control. She then played to a full and attentive room. By 'room' I mean a cafeteria that turned out wasn't the awful space it seemed to be before she began. Very cool little set to see.