For my money, The Hold Steady was the Buffalo show of the year until Monday night's Black Keys show at Buffalo's Outer Harbor site with The Joy Formidable. They might still be Buffalo show of the year had there been more than 500 people at Canalside due to dubious weather, severely limiting the band's impact and robbing them and us a mass transcendent experience. Monday night's show however came together perfectly, and at last, the Outer Harbor lived up the hype.

The Joy Formidable got things started right with an thrashing, electrifying set that riled up the growing crowd up front and mesmerized the crowd back by the beer tents. I knew we were in for some powerful stuff when I saw that the drum set up was to the side of the stage instead of near the rear, and the Welsh band delivered in spades, with drummer Matthew James Thomas jamming out and communicating directly to bandmates Ritzy Bryan and Rhydian Dafydd Davies (the Welsh are the best), who were busy bewitching me with some wonderful vocal harmonies. They were the perfect opening act for The Black Keys. The crowd absolutely loved them, I loved them, and their explosive set kind of reminded me of the Keys show at the Town Ballroom in 2010, where hopefully we'll get to see them again as headliners.

After a tastefully short interregnum, Dan Auerbach and Pat Carney came out to a properly rapturous welcome and positively tore through a set heavy on their most recent LP's, 2010's breakthrough Brothers and 2012's El Camino, with a few older cuts sprinkled throughout for their longtime fans. "Howling For You" kicked things off and set the tone for the evening with it's naked longing and rowdy sing-a-long chorus that instantly swept the crowd up and established the group mind meld that prevailed for the rest of the show, even when they brought out their additional musicians for a few numbers throughout the set. I would have to attribute that to the fact that the focus never comes off of  Auerbach and Carney thanks in no small part to their profound energy and workingman's ethic of working for that dollar. They didn't take it easy in the least, and the crowd properly appreciated and responded to their energy in kind.

Still, one of the highpoints of the night came when Auerbach (Can I call him Auerbach? I'm calling him Auerbach) said that we were "like a mini Lollapalooza out there," which was frankly a lovely thing to say, and more importantly, a fine idea to consider. No, not a three day indie music blow out (not yet at least), but that Outer Harbor site is crying out for a solid one day music festival. They've got the Port-A-Cans, they've got the food trucks, that stage is dynamite, that ground is nice and Bonnaroo soft, and hot damn that would be nice. Maybe next year. Auerbach also scored when he asked the crowd if the Old Pink has the best steak sandwich, further establishing his Buffalo and old smoothie bona-fides with his rather large congregation.

By the time things came to a head with raw and unflagging jams on "Tighten Up" and "Lonely Boy," the  scene was one of people either ecstatically jamming out or contentedly blissed out to the powerful vibes being laid down by the guys from Akron, Ohio in a properly Rust Belt post industrial tableau, and everything just seemed right... like this was why they're doing shows on that site in the first place, and it was all good. The obligatory encore, a gritty and nasty shredding of Attack and Release's "I Got Mine" sent the crowd home on their death marches back to their cars happy, and with joy in their hearts (believe me, I had time to gauge reactions during my death march).

If the last ten years has seen Buffalo emerge as genuine Springsteen country, then the last three have done the same for The Black Keys, as the band has moved in that short period from playing to 450 people at the Town Ballroom to Artpark in 2011 and culminating Monday night at the Outer Harbor. The Black Keys proved that they are indeed true Rust Belt compadres; good people, hard working dudes, and soulful bluesmen who've turned it up to 11 to set themselves, and us free.

Welsh indie rock band The Joy Formidable formed in 2007 when childhood friends Ritzy Bryan and Rhydian Davies, returning to their hometown of Mold, were united with drummer Justin Stahley. The band's debut EP A Balloon Called Moaning, which included the single "Austere," was released in 2009 and contained elements of noise rock as well as shoegaze.

After signing to Canvasback Records in 2010, they recorded their debut LP, The Big Roar, in London, receiving favorable reviews from publications like BBC Music, NME, and Spin. During the year long world tour supporting the record, the band began writing material for their latest full length, Wolf's Law. The title references a scientific theory suggesting that bones become stronger in response to stress as an adaptation and is said to be influenced by Native American Mythology.

Since the album's release back in January, the trio has been touring nonstop throughout North America, making their way to Buffalo's outer harbor concert site in support for Akron blues rockers The Black Keys (in what promises to be the show of the summer). Gates open at 6pm so look for The Joy Formidable to take the stage around 7:30pm.

Tonight, The Black Keys are playing at the Outer Harbor. At the risk of overselling it and with apologies to Guns n’ Roses 2.0, this show is easily the concert of the summer and probably the biggest thing to happen at our waterfront in recent memory. Last year, we were all getting used to the idea that there were actually going to be concerts at the Outer Harbor; if I remember correctly, Girl Talk, Dropkick Murphy’s and Chevelle were the “big names." I’ll pause here to give you a minute to catch your breath before I continue. This year’s lineup is considerably better: The Black Keys are arguably the biggest band in Rock right now, and The Tragically Hip with Grace Potter and Mac Miller & Odd Future are coming later in the year.

But about tonight: The Black Keys are quite good. Dan Auerbach’s got a voice that was tailor-made to sing the blues and he can seriously shred. Meanwhile, Pat Carney – when not engaged in immature Twitter beefs with Justin Bieber – is a pretty ridiculous drummer and while he may not be the heart and soul of the band, he’s at least the heart, responsible for keeping the rhythm pumping. If you haven’t had a chance to see them, their setup on stage is unique: Carney’s drum kit is featured prominently stage right, sometimes tilted sideways so the audience can see him beat the crap out of it. Auerbach often plays right next to him, offering an insight into how these two got their start, letting you marvel at the enormous sound two human beings can create.

This is the show of the summer, and you absolutely shouldn’t miss it. Doors open at 6, and The Joy Formidable should start somewhere around 7:30. Tickets are $48 plus surcharges, and are still available at Outer Harbor's website and the Town Ballroom box office.

After surveying the list of nominees for 2012, the strangeness of the 55th annual GRAMMYs’ selections were instantly striking. Were the nominations inspired by critical consensus, Billboard popularity, or merely personal voter taste? And why did it seem, as in years past, that the judges were unaware of the actual year the music they selected was from? Why, again, were the options for Best New Artist comprised of artists who had already released records years before? Just what are the GRAMMYs out to celebrate and who are they hoping to appeal to?

Mystery #1: The Case of the Same Sound, Different Genre

El Camino by the Black Keys is a groovy joyride of an album. It’s more than licensed to drive on the GRAMMYs’ highways. The Album of the Year nominee was released, however, in December of 2011. Furthermore, the Black Keys previously were categorized by the GRAMMYs as an alternative act, winning Best Alternative Music Album for Brothers (bafflingly beating out Arcade Fire’s The Suburbs for the award although The Suburbs were handed Album of the Year). They are now in the running for Best Rock Album and were not considered for Best Alternative Music Album, though Tom Waits, rarely classified as “alternative,” was. Additionally, Jack White’s White Stripes-sounding solo release was labeled as a Rock Album, despite the White Stripes’ consistent placement in the Alternative Music category. Has the alternative genre been reconsidered by the Recording Academy for sociological reasons or do the changes reflect some other form of enigmatic politicking that subtly serves record sales?

Mystery #2: The Case of the Rapidly Aging Definition of “New”

Last year, Bon Iver was notably given the award for Best New Artist. In the year prior, Esperanza Spalding beat out Justin Bieber for the same commendation. In both cases though, Bon Iver and Spalding had popular careers and followings established long before being declared “new.” For Emma, Forever Ago by Bon Iver was a massive hit in 2008. Bon Iver received his Best New Artist award for Bon Iver, Bon Iver in 2011. This year, fun. are up for Best New Artist, in spite of debuting an LP in 2009, while most of their fellow nominees are blatant 2011 acts. Is “new” now defined by when members of the Recording Academy have heard of a band? And if so, how had they not heard of these bands if they are touted as industry experts?

Mystery #3: The Case of the Hat-Picked Nominees

According to besteveralbums.com’s calculations, based on critical lists the most acclaimed albums of 2012 were Bloom by Beach House, Blunderbuss by Jack White, Channel Orange by Frank Ocean, good kid, m.A.A.d city by Kendrick Lamar, and Shields by Grizzly Bear. The best-selling albums of 2012 released in 2012 were Red by Taylor Swift, Babel by Mumford & Sons, Tuskegee by Lionel Richie, Believe by Justin Bieber, and Blown Away by Carrie Underwood. Of the aforementioned albums, three were considered for Album of the Year (Blunderbuss, Channel Orange, and Babel). The other two selections, Some Nights and El Camino, were both highly successful chart-topping records. Acts like Beach House, Kendrick Lamar, and Grizzly Bear, however, were uniformly snubbed. None of this was unexpected.

More unexpected and quite confusing are the nominee selections for nearly every other category. Critical darlings like Kendrick Lamar and Killer Mike were omitted from Best Rap Album nominations. Mumford & Sons received a nomination for Best Americana Album despite being very very British and did not receive a nomination for Best Folk Album. Films like Midnight in Paris from early in 2011 were nominated for Best Compilation Soundtrack For Visual Media alongside movies from midway through 2012. Music videos from albums nominated for GRAMMYs last year (such as Foster the People’s Torches) were given recognition. The Recording Academy appeared absolutely obsessed with “Stronger (What Doesn’t Kill You)” by Kelly Clarkson for no identifiably justified reasons, showering the track with three nominations. The difference between Song of the Year and Record of Year came across as puzzling as ever, apparently with the former focusing on quality lyrics. Which clearly explains why “Call Me Maybe” is nominated for Song of the Year but not Record of the Year, and “Thinkin Bout You” is nominated for Record of the Year but not Song of the Year.

But who can unpack and unfurl the logic of the GRAMMY nominations? Who can penetrate the haze of their incoherent mysteries? Can the Recording Academy even explain them? Can you?

It was sometime in 2004 that I had The Awakening. The period that every music fan goes through where they realize that a lot of the music on the radio just isn't very good. I can't pinpoint it down to an exact date, or even an exact month. I just remember that as the year went along, my interest in mainstream music was rapidly waning. Bands like Three Days Grace and Good Charlotte, who I never loved, but at least thought were decent, had now become stale and pedestrian. So, I sought out music from other sources. A lot of it was old stuff, music you hear on classic rock radio, like Tom Petty and The Who in particular. Then I got into some old-school indie stuff, like The Replacements, and R.E.M.'s early IRS albums. A big part of my musical evolution came from posting on a message board that was really into a lot of indie bands that I had never heard of. What's a Neutral Milk Hotel? Who's this Olivia Tremor Control I keep hearing about? Why aren't Of Montreal actually from Montreal? These were the questions that made me want explore further, into more obscure music.

Still, it's not like I hated everything I heard on the radio. In early 2004, Modest Mouse broke through with their single "Float On," a jaunty, poppy little number that ranked among the best music released that year. It seemed impossible to not like. The thing is, I couldn't help but notice a bit of resentment when the song hit the airwaves. All the original Modest Mouse fans - or at least a lot of them - were upset at how quickly the mainstream audience had taken to the song. It was as thought hey were upset that the philistines of the music world had discovered their thing. "Ew, get your gross Nickelbackgerms away from my cool band!"
This was also around the time Death Cab For Cutie got really big thanks to their music being played on The O.C.. Suddenly, the teenage girls who were rocking out to Blink 182 and Box Car Racer now had "the Sound Of Settling" blaring from their iPods nonstop. The people who had been there from the moment Something About Airplanes was released no longer felt special.
It was from this that I realized that hatred of the mainstream wasn't about hating music; it was about hating a concept. Oh, sure Nickelback and the rest of their post-grunge ilk truly were awful, but that wasn't the reason modern rock radio drew so much ire from fans. There's a tendency to hate anything that becomes popular, to be underwhelmed by it. Just look at The Black Keys. Longtime indie darlings, they stopped being a secret when "Strange Times" became a radio hit in early 2008. Since then, they've only gotten bigger, as singles like "Howlin For You," and "Lonely Boy" have topped the charts. Now, the people who once thought the Keys were a breath of fresh air now find them boring. Is it because of a legitimate decline in their music, or is it because the Chad Kroger-loving masses have finally gotten in on the action. Well, considering how many quality tunes were on El Camino, I'd argue heavily for the latter.

I have no problem with loathing mainstream music, but only when it deserves it. When the bands being played on rock radio really are weak and uninspired - and a lot of them are - I'm more than happy to point that out. But let's not forget that just because a band breaks through, doesn't mean they stop being good. Instead of being sad that we "lost" one of our favorite bands to the masses, can't we be happy that they've found a new audience? When musicians whom we've admired for a decade finally get to be millionaires, shouldn't we be happy for them? I'm all for hating bland, commercial music, but let's not turn our backs on good music just because it happens to be popular. 

The difficulty in writing about music is excellently articulated in an article, originally printed by The Believer  in 2009. "Dancing About Architecture" (full text can be found here, luckily), points out that music can be such a subjective experience, that the act of writing can, when it seeks to communicate an experience in words, often fall short. I was struck by this thought when writing about some of this week's songs, especially the track by Tops. "Easy Friends" is a fairly straight forward track and one that I liked a lot, but, again, how to explain it to you accurately and without falling into a series of cliches. Then again, cliches can, despite what your writing instructor often tells you, be very useful. If your goal is to communicate to as many people as possible, the meaning is often not most universally discussed by using conventions in which everyone is intimately familiar with, which, in this case, is a cliche. That said, it is a somewhat thorny issue that cannot be thoroughly approached in a short column meant to tell you about some new music released this week.  I include it here merely to point out how interesting the continued discussion about music can be even from the standpoint of something as basic as writing about music on a regular basis. Here, without further pseudo intellectual rambling, is this week's edition of Listener's Digest.

Tops - "Easy Friends:" Montreal band, Tops, will be releasing this as a 7" next week. Easy going and poppy, the song features jangling guitars and unique female vocals.

FIDLAR - "Cheap Beer:" You have to admire the brazen youthfulness of this track. The band name is an acronym for "fuck it, dog - life's a risk," which seems to sum up the ethos of this whole song. A sloppy ode to cheap beer, which I can definitely get behind (because PBR isn't so bad when it is cold, no seriously), "Cheap Beer" is a great example of raucous garage rock with a great opening.

Teen Daze - "New Life:" It has hit home that I have been writing about synth driven electronic songs all summer and that every song alternates between this and garage rock. I apologize if that has gotten boring but there have been some really enjoyable things put out within these genres. "New Life" is an atmospheric track driven by synths and smooth vocals and the first single of the act's second album this year, which is set to be released this November.

The Album Leaf - "Descent:" A gorgeous instrumental track off of the quartet's upcoming EP. "Descent" masterfully employs guitar and synths to creating a sweeping track that grows in magnitude over time. This is a great change of pace from the alternating synth pop/garage rock cycle I just discussed. A pensive and satisfying song.

The Black Keys - "I Got Mine" (Tobacco Remix): OK, so this track came out a day before my normal cut off but it was just such a great remix, I had to include it. This remix, done by Black Moth Super Rainbow's frontman Tobacco, mixes sensibilities to create a much stronger version of this song, in my opinion.

Today has to be an Odds and Sods post because my last 3 have been about Record Store Day, and a fourth would've been too much.