buffaBLOG - The Buffalo music blog: Cliff

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Cliff, gord downie, tonight, town ballroom, tragically hip, U2 — 0 comments

Tonight: Healing Mary Moser

When one goes to a U2 show you are invariably treated to a sermon (or two) from Bono about people of great importance, usually in far away lands, like Mandela or Aung San Suu Kyi. The last time U2 played Buffalo in 2005 the audience at the HSBC Arena however was treated to a loving and beautiful tribute from Bono to WNY's own Bruce and Mary Moser. It was almost surreal, seeing and hearing the frontman for one of the biggest bands EVER paying heartfelt homage to local folks from our music community from the stage, but if anybody deserved it, it's the Mosers. Their contributions to Buffalo's music community is incalculable, and it's safe to say that the burgeoning scene we're enjoying today has been built on the foundations they've laid by folks following in their footsteps, which is why the benefit being held for Mary Moser tonight at the Town Ballroom is so important.

Mary has been in a coma since an accident last July, and with medical bills piling up on the family, Buffalo's music community is coming together to do their part, with the help of Canadian legend and mensch Gord Downie. Kingston Ontario's Tragically Hip were one of the bands that broke in Buffalo thanks in part to the efforts of the Mosers, and when you consider the intense popularity the Hip have in this region today, it's no surprise that Gord is in town tonight at the Town Ballroom with a raft of local bands to raise a lot of money for a friend dear to their hearts and pillar of Buffalo's music scene. You too can do your part and see said raft of bands, for the reasonable price of $20 that includes free food and beer. There will be a cash bar, a 50/50 raffle, Chinese and Silent auctions, and door prizes. To read more about Mary and the benefit, check out what Jeff Miers and Cory Perla wrote for their respective publications and the benefit's website. See you there.

amy helm, buffalo iron works, Cliff — 0 comments

Tonight: Amy Helm & The Handsome Strangers

Tonight, Buffalo's incredibly busy spring rumbles on with a visit by Amy Helm & The Handsome Strangers to the Buffalo Iron Works in the Cobblestone District. The daughter of The Band's Levon Helm and singer Libby Titus, and veteran of the Midnight Ramble Band, Amy Helm serves up a potent and soulful brand of Americana music that's eternally evergreen, delightfully mischievous, and sure to please fans of The Band and the Blue Heron Festival set. Local troublemakers and blog favorites Ten Cent Howl open the show with their country infused bold mayhem. Doors open at 8 PM and tickets are $25.

beastie boys, Cliff, daft punk, david bowie, flaming lips, kate bush — 0 comments

Cliff's Cosmos Intergalactic Playlist

I've been all about the new Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey series on FOX. Yes, FOX. Say what you want about Seth McFarlane, but they guy used his Hollywood mojo to get a Neil deGrasse Tyson and Ann Druyan produced update of the Carl Sagan classic made on a network that thanks to corporate synergy insulates it from attacks from Fox News, and that's beyond heroic. More importantly though, it's brilliant television that expands the mind through... get this... the imparting of scientific knowledge, and boffo CGI that's in true Sagan fashion rather trippy. Colbert Report favorite deGrasse Tyson has been hitting it out of the park these last few weeks, and in honor of his service to America and humanity I've compiled a playlist celebrating space and it's psychedelic virtues. Enjoy.

"Space Oddity" performed by Scott Hadfield on the International Space Station. This dude got everything right for this one, a wondrous fusing of art, taste, and science.

Daft Punk, "Contact." This one is for the die hard Sagan fans out there, fans of the dubious screen adaption of his book with Jodie Foster, Matthew McConaughy, Buffalo native William Finchner, and fans of Kubrick.

The Flaming Lips, "Vein Of Stars." This fan made video amazingly makes this already sexy Flaming Lips ode to oral sex under the stars even sexier.

Sun Ra Arkestra, "Face The Music" and "Space Is The Place." Sun Ra's deeply soulful and liberating space jazz is a perfect vehicle for freeing one's self from the static checking and holding you back, a metaphor for the societal backdrop for DeGrasse Tyson's "journey of imagination."

Kate Bush, "Hello Earth." Part of the joy of Cosmos is how it provides a universal context for where our planet and the life on it fit into it, providing a new way to view us. Also, welcome back Kate Bush, who's slated to perform live this year for the first time in decades!

Beastie Boys, "Intergalactic." Another "journey of the imagination," with the Beasties, a giant robot, and Godzilla.

David Bowie, "Life On Mars?" Alas, the answer is no.

Cliff, st vincent, sxsw, war on drugs — 0 comments

One Month To Joy

Another year... another SXSW to endure via social media. I used to be jealous of SXSW attendees but that was before SXSW went ultra corporate and Austin, TX became old hat (except for the BBQ, which I need to get with, I admit) and Buffalo now hot shit, so now really it's just a question of weathering the tsunami of SXSW Tweets now clogging up my Twitter feed (@BfloDude - feel free to follow) from all of the music writer types I follow as an amateur music writer type. If I have to read one more Tweet about how much of a slog SXSW has become, or how much hard work it is to take in so much live music... so help me God, I might chuck it all in and listen to mainstream country music. And worse, we're getting nailed by our second blizzard in three months, and that's not helping at all... but wait, it's not all bad because we're one month away from one of the best weekends of live music Buffalo might ever see.

Yes, exactly one month from today, Buffalo music fans (and music writers) will be putting themselves back together after St. Vincent plays Asbury Hall so they can hit up the Town Ballroom for The War on Drugs, in town to flog their hotly anticipated third album Lost In The Dream. How the stars aligned so perfectly I cannot say, but having two of the most incandescent indie rock acts IN THE WORLD playing our city back to back is serious business, and maybe even proof that Buffalo might well be hot shit. If nothing else, thinking about the awesomeness lurking around the corner a month from now is enough to warm me up and be a light at the end of this dark tunnel stretching ever longer. In the meantime, however, there's St. Vincent's excellent eponymous fourth album to savor, the new War on Drugs album out next week, and their pleasantly wry yet joyful video for "Red Eyes" that's clearly influenced by the videography and filmography of Talking Heads.

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See, didn't that make you feel all warm and fuzzy inside?* Indeed, SXSW will be over soon, our never ending winter will finally end, and an incredible spring of live music will be here before you know it. One month to go.

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* If that little kid in the plaid shirt jamming on air guitar with the band didn't make you smile, you are dead inside. Dead, dead, dead inside. Good luck with that, hater.

Cliff, kurt and the loders, nietzsche's, Pearl Jam, tonight — 0 comments

Tonight: Kurt & The Loders Play Pearl Jam Part II

Tonight Kurt and a full assemblage of Loders will be doing their thing and paying tribute in a big way to seminal 90's band Pearl Jam in the heart of Allentown at Nietzsche's. Not content to unleash one set of Pearl Jam jams after a warmup of non PJ 90's classics, this year's tribute to the former Mother Love Bone will also feature a bonus set of Pearl Jam classics. That's right, for $5 you get a 90's sing along, a set of Pearl Jam love and another set of Pearl Jam love at no additional charge. Doors open at 10, music starts at 10:15.

Cliff, girlpope, irving Klaws, lou reed, nietzsche's, tonight, wooden waves — 0 comments

Tonight: Transformers: A Birthday Tribute To Lou Reed

Tonight, Nietzsche's plays host to a tremendous array of Buffalo bands gathered in tribute to Giant of Western Civilization Lou Reed. Starting Saturday night and carrying on into Lou's birthday March 2, High Flyin' Babys, The Good, The Vores, Wooden Waves, After Hours, Dark Marbles, Girlpope, and The Irving Klaws will be exploring Lou's wildly influential career, both his seminal work with The Velvet Underground and years as a vital solo artist, and honoring the Great Man we prematurely lost to liver disease last October. It will be Buffalo's walk on the wild side, downtown adjacent in Allentown, and it can all be yours for $5 at the door. Doors open at 8 PM.

Cliff, flaming lips, miley cyrus — 1 comments

Signs Of The Apocalypse: Miley Cyrus Has A Duet With The Flaming Lips (NSFW)

Initially I was inclined to pretend this never happened, but the whole thing is just so ludicrous that I had no choice but to acknowledge the fact that Wayne Coyne and Steven Drozd joined Miley Cyrus for an onstage duet Saturday night of "Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots Part 1." Yes, that's Wayne dressed like an orange obsessed comic book villain and holding a big helium balloon saying "____ YEAH" (where does one obtain a ____ YEAH balloon?) sloshedly muddling along while Miley and her band of crack musicians drained the life out of that Flaming Lips classic. And yes, that's Miley Cyrus, singing like she has gumballs in her mouth and performing in a t-shirt with her face splashed across the front and back as the vast majority of her audience starred blankly ahead. Who does that?

Not even Steven Drozd can save the day; of course his keyboard strains are tasteful and emotive, but Miley's band is so milquetoast he underplays it, denying her already zoned out fans some of his patented ear candy. Not that I entirely blame him, considering those people paid American money to watch a former Disney star warble along poorly to abjectly cheesy countrified pap... wearing a t-shirt probably on sale at the no doubt abundant merchandise stands. Why should he tingle their ear drums with his sweet sonics? Being boring, most probably would have no idea what was happening and freak out anyways.

But is this it? Has Wayne and Co. finally jumped the shark? Considering they did that at the outset, way back in the early 90's when they did "She Don't Use Jelly" on Beverly Hills 90210, the Flaming Lips have effectively proofed themselves against that charge, or at least have raised the bar higher than a blatantly self serving duet with Miley Cyrus. Maybe they'll find some new fans among her flock, fans who would then eventually and inevitably realize that Miley Cyrus is actually TERRIBLE, and defect. We can only hope. If nothing else, it's another context to appreciate just how truly woeful she really is. Just watch out, Wayne and Miley liberally and gratuitously drop the F bomb before and after their performance.

Cliff, Concert Review, cults, the tralf — 2 comments

Concert Review: Cults

Calling the Cults fourth Buffalo show in 34 months a "reunion" would be a bit of a stretch and somewhat weird, but periodically charting the San Diego via NYC band's growth and progress from their early shows at Soundlab (which I wasn't at) and Ninth Ward (my first Cults show) in 2011 through their Town Ballroom blowout 2 years ago has been immensely satisfying. I'm not sure what keeps bringing them back to Buffalo, or if there's a two way connection going on here, but Monday's show at the Tralf with Mood Rings and their first since the release of their sophomore album Static felt a litle belt special, and they didn't disappoint.

Mood Rings did not mess around with their enthusiastically received opening set of straight up 80's New Wave romantic jams. Featuring a Spectoresque Wall of Sound also favored by Cults' Brian Oblivion, the Atlanta band played a number of exquisitely lush and reverb drenched songs off their new album VPI Harmony, gathering power and mojo as their set progressed until their positively Goth tinged climax that indulged the darkness that lurked sweetly under the surface of the entire performance. My only regret of the night was that they sold out of their debut CD before I could hit up the merch table at the end of the night. For their Buffalo debut, Mood Rings were bold, captivating, and like many in the appreciative crowd, I definitely wouldn't mind seeing them again.

Starting with the fiercely uptempo "High Road" off of Static, this Cults show was absolutely potent as the band used the Tralf's excellent acoustics to their fullest. The Brian Oblivion/Cults Wall of Sound was in full effect with each instrument contributing to a sweetly all enveloping caress of sound that was especially nice in the ears thanks to the denser, beat heavy, and more guitar driven songs from Static. Favorites from their instant classic eponymous debut also seemed beefier than usual, but I could be wrong about that because Cults definitely rocked the Town Ballroom in 2012. And there can be no doubt that Madeline Follin is realer than real, a very human voice at the heart of Cults sonic storm to focus the heart and mind while vocally shredding jams like "You Know What I Mean" and "Rave On" and a cover of The Motels' "Total Control."

By the time they finished off the night with heavy duty run-throughs of classics "Go Outside" and "Oh My God," it was clear that Cults had fully delivered the goods once again. What fully sold me on Cults was their wonderful June 2011 show in that acoustically wonderful brick basement at the Ninth Ward, a magical night that was very much on my mind as I and the (decent) crowd grooved to a band clearly growing in power and sonic gorgeousness, having successfully vanquished the sophomore slump. When Brian Oblivion and Madeline Follin bring Cults back for fifth WNY show, I will be there.

~ Video courtesy of Erica Morano

arctic monkeys, artpark, Cliff, just announced — 2 comments

Just Announced: Arctic Monkeys

Western New York's concert scene is definitely taking it up a notch this year, and there's no better evidence of that than today's announcement that Brit band of the moment Arctic Monkeys, will be playing Artpark on June 18th. OK, that's not completely fair to the pride of Sheffield (position previously held by Pulp), who've been kicking around and building up to this moment for over 10 years, and they're taking full advantage with an expanding tour that's bringing them far and wide across our great nation and to our neck of the woods. Frankly we're usually skipped over by these big UK band shows, so this is entirely refreshing and something of a big deal... especially with the nice advance general admission ticket price of $10 and $25 for in front of the stage. Tickets go on sale this Friday at 10 AM.

Cliff, cults, ESI Events, the tralf, tonight — 0 comments

Tonight: Cults

Tonight, NYC dream pop group Cults make a welcome return to Buffalo at the Tralf with Mood Rings. Arriving a few years back as if out of a dream, Cults seduced audiences with a timeless 60's girl group sound exquisitely curated and updated by Brian Oblivion, the ethereal vocals of Madeline Follin, and a sweet air of darkness to balance it all out. Touring behind their excellent 2013 sophomore effort Static, Cults are back in Buffalo after memorable shows at Soundlab, The Ninth Ward, and Town Ballroom, and I for one am somewhat gratified that they've made a point of stopping here because not a lot of national acts do. Openers Mood Rings, from Atlanta will be kicking things off and setting the stage perfectly for Cults with their reverb drenched and deeply resonant brand of dream pop showcased on their 2011 ep Sweater Weather Forever. Tickets are $17 (and amazingly/laughably still available), doors open at 7 with the show at 8. See you there.

Cliff, music video, phantogram — 0 comments

Phantogram Releases Video For "Fall In Love"

With a new album in shops next week and a ton of buzz and radio play behind them, Phantogram released a video for their hit "Fall In Love" earlier this week. Featuring kinetic editing and a psychedelic light show that hopefully previews their live shows, the Greenwich NY duo, like Ra Ra Riot, is another upstate act getting national attention. Phantogram's continued buzz can be attributed to throbbing beats, tasteful sound collages, and the soulful and sensual vocals of Sarah Barthel. Recorded in upstate Saratoga Springs (the pair's home town), the duo's sophomore album Voices, looks to be a breakthrough album for the band with "Fall In Love" all over Toronto radio, 91.3 and Alt Buffalo, and while a local show might be a bit of a stretch, it'd sure be nice.

Voices drops February 18th.

Cliff, milkie's, sugar city, sugar city soul night, tonight — 0 comments

Tonight: Sugar City's "Soul Night"

Sugar City is going all out for the next edition of their highly popular "Soul Nights" tonight at Milkie's, the joint formerly known as the Elmwood Lounge, home base of local treasure Lance Diamond. Milkie's recently got some national TV love from Mo Rocca and "CBS This Sunday Morning" during his Super Bowl Sunday bit about our beloved chicken wing (yes, chicken wing- they can call them "Buffalo wings" everywhere else, but here, they're chicken wings, deep fried and served with bleu cheese, not ranch dressing) as a place for getting down.

Tonight, asses will be moving to sweet soulful sounds served up by Handsome Dan, Fab Frankie Rainbows, Lil Nicky, The Good Reverend Johnny Drama, and DJango featuring Lawrence Luster. They'll be laying down the sounds starting at 10pm while Sugar City rocks a mixtape/mix cd exchange, raffles, and surprises all night long all for the donation of $5 (or $4 if you bring a mix). Milkie's will be where it's at tonight. Show up. Get down.

Cliff, music video, st vincent, watch this — 1 comments

St. Vincent Drops New Video For "Digital Witness"

I don't know about you, but I love a good countdown, and the countdown is definitely on to the February 25th release of St Vincent's eponymous fourth solo album and first since 2012's excellent Love This Giant collaboration with David Byrne. The countdown actually began when the first single "Birth In Reverse" hit the Internet last month, but now it's in high gear with this week's debut of the video to "Digital Witness," directed by Chino Moya. A dazzling fusion of Talking Heads visuals, Pink Floyd-esque grandeur, and the funky and potent mojo of Annie Clark (do I need to explain the "St Vincent is Annie's nom de plume" thing? Really? Didn't think so), it's visual stimuli is the perfect accompaniment to the song's sweet and immensely satisfying ear candy. With a new album out in a few weeks and a hotly antipicpated show in April, it's a great time to be a local St Vincent fan, and if you're new to her work now's the time to check her out starting right now. Enjoy.

Cliff, r.e.m., U2 — 1 comments

The U2 Deathwatch

I listen to a lot of music, and have listened to a lot of music and been to a lot of shows, but the band that's been "it" for me going back to before high school has been U2. I've had my ups and downs with the band, and I've loved some albums and tours more than others, but they've been the soundtrack to my life, high school, college and adulthood, and a true inspiration. Their early apolitical activism; their 90's dalliances with art, literature, and culture jamming; and the fact that they've used their status as "the world's biggest band" to mean something, for me it's generally been real easy buying into what U2 was up to. But not always, and nothing lasts forever, which is why reading the tea leaves about U2's future has been both fascinating and a wee bit difficult.

For me personally, the warning signs started with 2005's How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb, which not only featured an unwieldly title but worse, subtle reworkings of vintage and tried but true U2 sounds for new consumption. The accompanying tour also felt like a retread of their highly successful 2001 arena tour that culminated in their blockbuster set during Super Bowl XXXVI. That 2001 U2 show at the HSBC Arena was sensational and an intense communal experience that had the whole place jumping; the show in 2005 however felt a bit hollow... even though they played lots of material off of Achtung Baby, my favorite U2 album. At the time I forgave them because it was the end of a long and stressful tour, but I felt the same ambivalence watching the obligatory live dvd, and it worried me.

Then U2 delivered No Line On The Horizon (unwieldly album title alert) in 2009 to a pretty big thud, which was the result of the band's ill considered desire to pursue Middle Eastern fusion prog rock (with a few strained sounding "hits" interspersed for fan service), but it was the title track that bummed me out the most because it was a blatant rip off of the old U2 b-side "Lady With The Spinning Head," which was itself a dry run for classic Achtung Baby album tracks "The Fly" and "Zoo Station." It was bad enough that U2 thought they could slip that by their die hard fans, who would remember the song from the infamous and widely circulated stolen tape bootlegs of the recording sessions from Berlin, the single it was originally featured on ("One," with the brilliant David Wojnarowicz cover), or 2002's The Best Of 1990-2000 & B-Sides compilation. The real rub however was the stark realization that at the end of the first decade of the 21st Century, U2 was out of ideas.

Funny and telling story: The U2 "360" show at the Rogers Centre really felt like some of that old magic was back after the No Line On The Horizon dud. The band gave it their all, and with Bono preachifying at every opportunity (never a line wasted with that guy- the result of hanging out with too many politicians), it felt right, with the communal experience restored. Of course upon further review I concluded that was in large part due to the ridiculous and brilliant stage design- you remember the vaguely Dalekesque space claw (the band even went onstage to Bowie's "Space Oddity") featured in the the accompanying video clip that actively incorporated the crowd into the band's visual/spatial tableau enjoyed by said crowd. Credit is due where credit is due, it was an inspired decision that worked artistically and commercially from a ticket selling perspective, but at the time I was all warm and fuzzy, and like many of the faithful I wanted to soak the experience up until the very end. But after a few post show songs on the PA the staff ushered us out, and no sooner had we cleared a point in the tunnel near some Portapotties, an "all clear!" was given into a walkie talkie, and a stream of big rig trucks started ripping 30 mph into the backstage area, one after another in a frankly surreal display that amazed the exiting die hards. Time is money, the space ship was due in another city, and U2's organization clearly didn't mess around.

U2's organization has a problem though, and that's the seeming fact that the band has run out of creative gas. There is a precedence for this: fellow 80's stalwarts R.E.M. soldiered on after the departure of Bill Berry in 1997 to mixed success until their inertia ground to a total halt on 2004's torpid Around The Sun. That said, by the time they were recycling their original pre Chronic Town punk sound on Accelerate, R.E.M. knew it was over, and after tidying up their affairs with the largely unremarkable Collapse Into Now in 2011, they honorably called it quits on their own terms... and proceeded to seemingly fall off the face of the Earth.

U2's organization also just went through a seismic shakeup (chronicled by Toronto DJ, music writer and U2 watcher Alan Cross) the saw the retirement of their long time manager (and unofficial/official fifth*) member Paul McGuinness, with Guy Oseary (Madonna's manager) taking over day to day U2 operations. It's easy to forget that while U2 got started as teenagers, it was grown ups who tended the flame, and now after 30 years, many of those vital parts of the U2 family have moved on, with the organization merging into another organization built around another long in the tooth pop star. Paul McGuinness was U2's chief grown up and the only manager they've ever known, and among U2 watchers, there's a real question as to how long they'll continue without him steering the U2 ship of state.

Which brings us to right now. The band snagged a Golden Globe for the nice yet unremarkable song for the recent Nelson Mandela biopic with Idris Elba. Cross linked to an uncredited ditty that's allegedly an outtake from U2's upcoming album, a ditty that sounds suspiciously like vintage U2 (I mean come on, that's clearly Dave Evans playing that classic, vintage Edge guitar), and U2 is set to unveil the first single from the Danger Mouse produced album set to land later in the spring during the Super Bowl thanks to a possibly unholy alliance with Bank Of America ("the most hated bank in America").

With the gears of the U2 machine turning again, and on the biggest platform, will it be for their last hurrah, with the big valedictory album roll out and subsequent swan song global mega tour? Will anybody beyond their legion of fans, and the fans studying the signs, even care? Hell, R.E.M. didn't give us fans a farewell tour. I hope U2 does, but I'll cross that bridge when I have to. Maybe U2 will catch their fourth wind, and emerge creatively recharged, relevant, and cool with Madonna's manager coordinating the show. I'd be cool with that; they've been the soundtrack to my life and I'm not against them keeping on keeping on so I can grow old with them like Stones fans have with Mick and Keith. If not, well, I might be OK with that too, if it's time. Might be.

* Unofficial because obviously he wasn't part of the band. Officially because they split U2's take 5 ways. Or at least they used to.

Cliff, just announced, of montreal, town ballroom — 0 comments

Just Announced: of Montreal

Local psychedelic funk fans and art lovers will be coming together again for the semi annual ritual that is the welcome return of Athens, GA's of Montreal to the Town Ballroom on May 13th. Kevin Barnes and company have treated us to some fantastic shows over the years; some full on multi-media art freakouts, others stripped down and direct, but always they are weird, beautiful, and a total dance party. Ticket prices and the on sale date are not available yet but definitely circle that day.

Cliff, miami horror, picking up the slack for mtv — 0 comments

Picking Up The Slack For MTV: Miami Horror - "Real Slow"

With Buffalo enduring the dog days of winter and the RETURN OF THE POLAR VORTEX, it seemed appropriate to spotlight a video from a band who's native land is enduring the worst heat wave in forever, hence "Real Slow," the most recent single from Australian electro-pop outfit Miami Horror. Directed by Victor Pakpour and featuring vocals by Sarah Chernoff, it's a sun drenched and hyper aware ode to the 80's, Faster Pussycat Kill Kill, and crime, beautifully rendered in a low fi 80's video haze. It's been more than a few years since their 2010 debut Illumination so hopefully there'll be more Miami Horror on the way in 2014... if their new base of operations in Los Angeles doesn't burn to the ground thanks to drought and wildfires.

Cliff, hallwalls, tonight, Young Mothers — 0 comments

Tonight: The Young Mothers

Tonight Hallwalls launches their 2014 concert series and 40th year in grand experimental fashion with Austin, Texas fusion rockers The Young Mothers. Bringing together hip-hop, free jazz and rock, and "a caterwauling Afro groove" (according to the FB event page), the Young Mothers are the brainchild of Norwegian bass wunderkind Ingebrigt Håker Flaten. They'll be previewing their upcoming debut due in March, A Mother's Work Is Never Done, and unleashing their joyful noise in one of Buffalo's most important cultural institutions, Hallwalls. The show is free with a suggested donation of $10-$15 and starts at 8 PM.

Albrights, Astrid Young, bearhunter, Cliff, nietzsche's, Ten Cent Howl, the good neighborhood, tonight — 0 comments

Tonight: Bearhunter, Ten Cent Howl, The Albrights, and Astrid Young

Tonight, the Good Neighborhood's ongoing Tributaries series at Nietzsche's benefiting the Buffalo Niagara Riverkeeper continues with an important installment featuring new original music from the bands that convened 3 weeks ago in honor of Neil Young. Seamus Gallivan's rounded up Bearhunter, Ten Cent Howl, The Albrights, and Astrid Young for a night showcasing their own compositions in an effort to not only do right by our region's waterways, but also our local artists and their art. The doors for this inaugural Tributaries tribute to original music open at 9 with the show starting at 9:30 and non stop music all night long... all for $5.

Cliff, daptone records, sharon jones — 0 comments

In Praise Of Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings

For me, it's impossible to even try to offer an impartial critique of the latest Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings release Give The People What They Want. It was supposed to come out last year and it's been keenly waited for, but the SJ faithful didn't care about that because the health of our beloved Sharon Jones came first when we learned about her battle with bile duct cancer. Now that she's on the mend with the album in shops and some heartening and on point live TV performances under her belt, it almost feels like we're getting back to normal, but it's not the case at all.

I also don't want to define Sharon Jones like that when her music with the Dap-Kings has been such a beacon of quality and righteousness these last 12 years since the release of 2002's Dap Dipping With Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings. When I got onboard with 2007's 100 Days, 100 Nights, SJ&DK became a gateway drug that got me hooked on the rest of the Daptone Records ouevre, including but not limited to Charles Bradley, The Budos Band, Sugarman 3, and a reissue of the forgotten debut album from Buffalo's own Bob & Gene. The brand new vintage soul sounds coming out of Brooklyn embodied by Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings was up to the minute yet instantly timeless, pulsatingly alive and thus profoundly invaluable.

There's also the fact that I've never been to a less than transcendent Daptone show, whether it's The Budos Band, Charles Bradley, or the Queen Bee Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings, whose show at the Town Ballroom (with Charles Bradley opening) a quasi religious experience. If Charles Bradley set the room on fire with a mighty introduction to his art, Sharon Jones took us to church, shaking, twirling, and wringing every drop of soul from her performance before a rapt and transformed audience. That was a show unlike any other I'd been to, and an experience I long to have again.

That said, Give The People What The Want, like the albums that precede it and those of the great recording artists, utterly replaces what had come before to be the latest iteration of their art. Like their previous four studio albums, the meticulous curation and production of Daptone mastermind Bosco Mann (Gabriel Roth) and musicianship of the Dap-Kings works entirely in the service of Sharon's powerful and evocative vocals to such an extent that it seems offhandedly naturalistic like the best Stax and Muscle Shoals productions which are of course the standards for soul and pop music. Just another day at the office for the Daptone Records crew.

If I Learned The Hard Way was notable for a sense of hard bitten lessons learned, Give The People What They Want is all about defiance and soldiering on with your head up, and even though it was recorded before Sharon's health issues, these songs resonate triumphantly even though the songs are about dudes doing our heroine jive (as usual). But her dignity and strength never flags, and that feeling is infectious, and inspirational on a variety of levels. Songs like "People Don't Get What They Deserve," "Retreat!" and "We Get Along" are clarion calls for perseverance and grace during trying times... both in the personal and societal sense. Life isn't fair, and all we can do is "get along" and go with it the best we can, and that gritty and real sentiment is something one can appreciate within the context of the African American historical and cultural experience, and definitely draw strength from.

So while not groundbreaking or particularly forward looking, the new Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings album is still an essential and intensely valuable work that provides a snapshot of where that Brooklyn soul music outfit is at right now, and more importantly little bit of inspiration, wisdom, and hope for both listener (and artist) during these unsettled times. And maybe if we're lucky Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings will make a welcome return to Western New York. Keep your fingers crossed...

bring me your vultures, Cliff, mohawk place, roger bryan and the orphans, tonight — 0 comments

Tonight: Bring Me Your Vultures: A Mohawk Place Documentary

A year ago Buffalo music fans and Mohawk regulars gave the now departed Mohawk Place a proper two night Irish wake: there was copious drinking, clutches of devotees bittersweetly sharing reminisces and laughs, a plenty of music before the final goodbyes were said. Tonight, a year to the day since those goodbyes were said, Bring Me Your Vultures: A Mohawk Place Documentary, the cinematic epitaph and ultimate word on that storied spot makes its debut at the Town Ballroom.

Produced by Highwatermark Films and Quiet City Audio, and directed by Roger Bryan & The Orphans drummer and documentary filmmaker Michael Sobieraj, Vultures is a true local labor of love, with filmmakers and musicians volunteering time, talent, and memories to a create a chronicle of a beloved music venue that defined Buffalo's music scene and maybe Buffalo itself before it's untimely demise. Tickets are $15, doors open at 8 PM with the screening at 9 and a Mohawk worthy after party to follow. Say goodbye again once more before we move on.