Tonight the New Daisy gets a blast from pop punk’s past as The Ataris will take the downtown stage with locals Shamefinger and Indeed, We Digress.
The Ataris at the New Daisy (2)
The Ataris formed in Indiana in 1995 and achieved their highest level of sucess with their 2003 album So Long, Astoria. The album featured a cover of Don Henley’s “Boys of Summer” and was certified gold.
The Ataris at the New Daisy (3)
And while a “Black Flag sticker on a cadillac” seems highly unlikey, the song got tons of radio play, and is their most known song. Tonight’s show will run you between $14 and $17, but advanced tickets are available here.
Good evening and welcome to the 91st edition of my Weekend Roundup. Show opportunities are a bit few and far between this weekend, but you should definitely make plans to go see Boyz II Men on Saturday, especially if you were born in the late ’80s and were getting your first taste of RnB thanks to the Philly super group.
Friday, December 16th.
Alexis Grace Trio, 6 p.m. at Lafayette’s Music Room
Weekend Roundup 91: Heels, Lucero, Boyz II Men (2)
Don Lifted, 8 p.m. at Crosstown Arts, $10.
Heels album release, Batmobile, 8 p.m. at the Hi-Tone, $10.
Weekend Roundup 91: Heels, Lucero, Boyz II Men
Saturday, December 17th.
Boyz II Men, En Vogue, 7 p.m. at the Horsehoe Casino, prices vary.
Weekend Roundup 91: Heels, Lucero, Boyz II Men (3)
Lucero Family Christmas with Nikki Hill, 8 p.m. at Minglewood Hall, $21.
Weekend Roundup 91: Heels, Lucero, Boyz II Men (4)
Southern Avenue, 8 p.m. at Lafayette’s Music Room.
Ex-Cult, Hartle Road, Bluff City Vice, 9 p.m. at the Hi-Tone, $6.
Weekend Roundup 91: Heels, Lucero, Boyz II Men (5)
Sunday, December 18th.
John Paul Keith, 8:30 p.m. at Lafayette’s Music Room.
Weekend Roundup 91: Heels, Lucero, Boyz II Men (6)
Ben Ricketts, Glorious Abhor, Wild Holiday, 9 p.m. at the Hi-Tone, $7.
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds made our Staff Picks for Top Releases of 2016.
In no particular order, here are music staff writers Josh Cannon, Andrew Earles, and J.D. Reager’s favorite non-local releases of 2016.
Blood Orange — Freetown Sound
On Freetown Sound, Devonté Hynes (AKA Blood Orange) takes the harrowing blemishes woven into America’s identity — the rampant police brutality, the growing inequality in a country divided — and creates a searingly beautiful album. Blood Orange’s third LP is arresting, too, in dynamic. Hynes, a multi-instrumentalist, utilizes it all, weaving tracks together that call on funk and pop in a timeless way that’s all but gone in today’s music climate. — Josh Cannon
Staff Picks: Top Releases of 2016 (4)
OCTAGRAPE – Aura Obelisk
Prior to founding Octagrape in 2012, Glen “Galaxy” Galloway had already spent two decades building one of the most enigmatic and exciting bodies of work (that also remains unburdened of a grossly-deserved reexamination/reassessment) with Trumans Water and then Soul-Junk. Considering the sound he got for the Spray Paint album listed below, it’s worth mentioning that Chris Woodhouse also recorded and mixed half of this record. Note: One of these 19 songs is an amazing cover of the Swell Maps’ “Vertical Slum” and the Octagrape feature-length documentary, Why Are We Doing This In Front of People? was just released and is available here. – Andrew Earles
Staff Picks: Top Releases of 2016
Nada Surf- You Know Who You Are and Peaceful Ghosts Anyone who really knows me, knows that my favorite band of the last decade or so has been Nada Surf.
My wife and I have travelled to relatively faraway places such as Vancouver, B.C., Seattle and Chicago
(among others) to see the band on tour, and earlier this year we even got matching Nada Surf tattoos –
so maybe take this with a grain of salt: 2016 has sucked in lots of ways, but it was a fine year for Nada
Surf fans.
Not only did the band deliver an excellent new studio album (You Know Who You Are) in
March, but they also released Peaceful Ghosts, a live set with the Babelsberg Film Orchestra that was
broadcast earlier in the year on German radio, in October. For the uninitiated, or those who only
remember Nada Surf for the 1996 alt-radio hit “Popular,” Peaceful Ghosts’ mix of new and classic
material would be a fine place to start discovering a truly under appreciated American rock band. -JD Reager
Staff Picks: Top Releases of 2016 (2)
Nasa Space Universe- 70 AD
The opinion that hardcore stopped being important, exciting and forward-thinking at some point in the distant past is the “I don’t own a TV” of punk/HC-based conversation. This notion is usually posed by people who first need the reminder that when they speak, others can hear it, and secondly to block out however many hours might be needed to achieve an appreciation and understanding of what this band has been doing over the last eight years. 70 A.D. is NSU’s final release. – AE
Staff Picks: Top Releases of 2016 (3)
The Posies- Solid States
Seattle power-pop legends and Memphis music Hall-of- Famers (as latter-day members of Big Star) Ken
Stringfellow and Jon Auer released their eighth studio album as the Posies this year, and, despite the tragedy of losing longtime drummer Darius Minwalla in 2015, it did not disappoint. Highlights include the
grandiose rocker “Squirrel vs. Snake,” and the album’s revved-up, dance-y opener, “We R Power!”
P.S., new drummer Frankie Siragusa is a powerhouse. -JDR
Staff Picks: Top Releases of 2016 (5)
Kanye West — The Life of Pablo
What makes worship music so beautiful is that it takes an open mind. The Life of Pablo, Kanye West’s seventh studio album, is a turbulent derailing of the rapper’s psyche — a “gospel album with a lot of cussing,” as he dubbed it. It’s messy and full of grace. It features some of the best songs he’s ever written (30 Hours on repeat) and some of the best features on any album he’s released. Pablo’s been widely-panned, and though it’s not as definitive as other albums in his discography, it’s definitively Kanye. He’s always growing, lifting up a mirror to the fans and shit talkers looking up at him through their smart phones, demonstrating — on some level — we share the same self-aggrandizing traits we criticize him for. — JC
Various Artists-Brad Neely’s Harg Nallin’ Sclopio Peepio Music
This miiiight be a bit of a stretch for this list, because it isn’t exactly an official band album, but for my money the music on the new late-night Adult Swim comedy show Brad Neely’s Harg Nallin’ Sclopio Peepio is more fun to listen to than anything on the actual pop charts this year. There’s no way to describe it, really. My favorite moments are the ‘70s soul band of hamsters excited about getting fed sesame seeds, and the numerous iterations of Fruit Blood, an S&M/Carnivale-tribe pop group whose biggest fan seems to be Stripe from the movie Gremlins for some reason. Get ready for pure, absurd, pop-culture satirist joy. -JD
Staff Picks: Top Releases of 2016 (6)
The Body- No One Deserves Happiness
Well, that may be the case, but everyone deserves to hear what it might sound like if melodies and hooks were incorporated into The Body’s proprietary amalgam of noise-rock/doom-metal/harsh-noise/experimental-whats-it. -AE
Staff Picks: Top Releases of 2016 (7)
Bon Iver — 22, A Million
Following a five-year absence, Justin Vernon’s return to Bon Iver with 22, A Million feels like a sensible progression and also a deconstruction of the band. Vernon’s third release under the moniker, 22 takes the sparse singularity of For Emma, the ethereal, orchestral arrangements of his second Self-Titled LP, and manipulates them into structureless songs layered with samples. His vocals, drowning in autotune, take on the life of an instrument all their own, and heighten a record that’s as numb as it is alive. — JC
Staff Picks: Top Releases of 2016 (8)
Boris- Pink
Boris is misunderstood as simply a “Japanese doom metal band” when in reality at least half of their massive (and still rapidly growing) discography is a masterclass on making gold-standard examples of so many disparate styles of under and above-ground music. 2005’s Pink was the album that broke them through to American audiences….one listen to, say, “Farewell” and the 18-minute “Just Abandon Myself” (candidate for “most intense and powerful garage-punk song ever” up to that point) and it’s easy to see how. – AE
Staff Picks: Top Releases of 2016 (9)
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds — Skeleton Tree
Sometime in 2015 while the Bad Seeds were writing their 16th studio album, Cave’s 15-year-old son Arthur died after falling from a cliff in Brighton, United Kingdom. What followed would become Skeleton Tree, a record that listens like a candle burning out. And, 16 records in, it’s the Bad Seeds best album yet. It’s a tormenting lesson in being transformed by unforeseen grief, the power it holds over you, and how to possibly move past it. Cave, his voice quivering, explores that here, in the supermarket aisles, the mundane day to days, and finds a way to keep going. It’s a slow-moving triumph, unlike anything they’ve released, and it leaves a mark. — JC
Staff Picks: Top Releases of 2016 (10)
Conor Oberst — Ruminations
Ruminations was recorded in just two days, the urgency in Conor Oberst’s voice apparent. Ten songs capture Oberst alone at a microphone, and he’s never sounded more alone, with a guitar, a piano, and sometimes a harmonica. An abundance of musicians taken the same avenue in recording, but Ruminations is raw in some way that most are not. These songs are sung like Oberst had to get something off his chest, unpolished, like thoughts desperate to exist openly in the world. — JC
Staff Picks: Top Releases of 2016 (11)
The 1975 — I Like It When You Sleep, for You Are So Beautiful Yet So Unaware of It
The 1975 is a punching bag for indie elitists who might come at ‘em with an open mind given they caught their show in a small club or living room. But their second album, I Like It When You Sleep, for You Are So Beautiful Yet So Unaware of It, is so unreasonably titled that I can understand the hate. Funny though, that before they garnered praise as The 1975, they were a bedroom band just like so many others before and after them. The difference: There was a stride in their sound lacking everywhere else. Even when written off as teenpop, The 1975 is good. Their sophomore LP is ambitious and ridiculous, with six-minute instrumental tracks resting between shiny pop, and it’s worth your attention. — JC
Staff Picks: Top Releases of 2016 (12)
Frank Ocean – Blonde Channel Orange’s concentrated pop structure introduced us to an ineffable power in Frank Ocean. His debut gave us a taste and then he disappeared. In his silence, Ocean deconstructed every expectation placed on pop stars climbing fame’s ladder. And now there’s the enigmatic Blond(e), a highly-anticipated follow up of which there’s too much to be said and, yet, not enough words to do the album justice. Blond(e)’s 60 minutes transcend genre: Ocean’s vulnerability made bare over ever-changing soundscapes — a definitive statement told through queer perspective that will be digested for years to come. — JC
Kevin Abstract — American Boyfriend: A Suburban Love Story
It’s doesn’t serve American Boyfriend to categorize it as a hip-hop record. There’s so much happening on Kevin Abstract’s sophomore LP, tracks free flowing with multi-layered instrumentation — it shouldn’t be confined in a box. Abstract’s second record is autobiographical and hyper-personal, a pursuit of self-discovery reminiscent on growing up in the suburbs of Texas. On American Boyfriend, Abstract analyzes his race and sexuality and how their intersection is lived and perceived. Musically, Abstract said artists like Vanessa Carlton and Sunny Day Real Estate influenced the album. Spanning 16 songs, where it doesn’t succeed, it at least remains one of the more interesting and ambitious releases this year. — JC
Good morning and welcome to the 90th edition of my Weekend Roundup. This weekend there are plenty of day time concerts going on, including Grilled Cheese Fest 2 on Sunday and the Sounds of the Season Concert happening later this afternoon at the University of Memphis.
From folk rock to gospel, here are the best concerts happening in Memphis this weekend.
Saturday, December 10th
Sounds of the Season Concert, 1:30 p.m at the University of Memphis, Harris Concert Hall, $10. wARM, Sleepwlkrs, What We Do In Secret, Thief’s Hand, 7:30 p.m. at the Hi-Tone, 7 p.m.
Emile Pandolfi with Dana Russell, 8 p.m. at the Bartlett Performing Arts Center, prices vary.
Mark Edgar Stuart, Jed Zimmerman, Kelley Mickwee, 8 p.m. at Otherlands, $7.
Weekend Roundup 90: Mark Edgar Stuart, Faux Killas, Kirk Whalum
Wirms, Faux Killas, The Phlegm 10 p.m. at The Lamplighter, $5.
Bear Grillz, 10:30 p.m. at the New Daisy, $10.
Weekend Roundup 90: Mark Edgar Stuart, Faux Killas, Kirk Whalum (2)
Sunday, December 11th.
Grilled Cheese Fest 2 featuring The Cassette Set, Faux Killas, The Sheiks, 12 p.m. at the HI-Tone, $5.
Weekend Roundup 90: Mark Edgar Stuart, Faux Killas, Kirk Whalum (3)
A Gospel According to Jazz Christmas with Kirk Whalum, 7 p.m. at Clayborn Temple, $35.
Weekend Roundup 90: Mark Edgar Stuart, Faux Killas, Kirk Whalum (4)
Here is a collection of some of the best Tommy Wright III songs YouTube has to offer as you prepare for the show at the Hi-Tone tonight.
The gig will reportedly start right at 8 p.m., and there is a great chance the room will be at capacity. In the words of Tommy Wright, “don’t get caught slippin’.”
It is safe to say that this Thursday night’s bill featuring Reserving Dirtnaps, Yesse Yavis (formerly Chickasaw Mound), Tom Skee Mask, Broke, and Tommy Wright the III is the most bizarre lineup the Hi-Tone has ever produced. Pairing hip-hop and hardcore isn’t exactly a new phenomenon in Memphis — see the ’90s New Daisy show featuring Stoned at the Moment, Clenched Fist, and Three 6 Mafia — but throwing the soulful garage rock of Yesse Yavis into the mix is enough to make any genre-purist’s head spin. This is where we find ourselves at the end of 2016 — underground rappers playing with garage rockers, dogs and cats living together, etc.
In all seriousness, Thursday’s show will no doubt introduce the audience to a band they probably haven’t seen before — all of which are worth the audience’s attention. Broke and Reserving Dirtnaps are both formidable hardcore bands — the latter just released their latest EP. Yesse Yavis is also gearing up to release their debut single next week at Bar DKDC, but you just may be able to snag one this Thursday. Tom Skee Mask doesn’t perform that often, but when he does, you can normally find many a fan of old-school Memphis rap in attendance.
And that brings us to Tommy Wright the III. A living legend in the underground world of hip-hop, Tommy Wright III deserves all the hype and recognition he can get. His mix tapes are legendary on YouTube, and he’s long been known as the late Jay Reatard’s favorite rapper. This also won’t be the Memphis rapper’s only foray into hardcore punk, as he’s set to perform at the This Is Austin, Not That Great hardcore fest in Austin, Texas, this January. Unity makes the world go round. Here’s hoping we get more shows like this in 2017. Oh, and make sure to get there on time. You can expect the house to be packed for this one.
Sunday, December 4th. The Dead Soldiers, John Paul Keith, The Mighty Souls Brass Band, La Pistola, Brad Birkedahl, The Rough Hearts, 6 p.m. at Minglewood Hall, $25.
Nobunny, The Cowboys, China Gate, 9 p.m. at the Hi-tone, $12.
This Thursday night, friends and family of Clay “Otis” Hardee will gather for a memorial show at the Hi-Tone. Memphis music suffered a great loss when Hardee passed away unexpectedly in his sleep on the night of Thursday, October 20th. He was 35 years old. As a longtime member of the Memphis music community, Hardee started out as a band cheerleader of sorts before getting on stage himself and releasing album after album of thoughtful yet humorous music that only he could create.
To memorialize the larger-than-life mascot of Memphis music, a handful of prominent musicians and bands will gather for a weeknight showcase. Toby Vest, Luke White, the ADDults, Snowglobe, the Sheiks, Dead Soldiers, and the Plaibois will all perform, in addition to appearances by Jack Oblivian, Kelly Anderson, and Dave Shouse. All proceeds from the concert will benefit the Clay Hardee Memorial Fund, and those in attendance are encouraged to wear Clay Otis-themed outfits (meaning coke bottle glasses, sneakers, and a cardigan).
Clay Otis
Longtime friend and collaborator Toby Vest remembered Clay in an interview with the Flyer earlier this year:
“Even though he wasn’t born here, he was a true Memphis original and a true believer in the mystical power of this city to transform people,” said Vest.
“The music he leaves behind is a testament to that. He was a musical pied piper. He convinced so many of us to follow him down musical paths we might not have taken on our own by simple force of will and his unbridled enthusiasm for the talents of the people around him.”
Next week our music staff writers and I will tackle the best local releases of 2016, but I’m sticking with albums not from the birthplace of rock-and-roll for this list.
In no particular order, here are my picks for the albums and singles of the year.
Tim Presley — The Wink (Drag City)
White Fence has long been one of the most interesting psych bands to come out of California, and the mastermind behind the many LPs the band has released is San Francisco artist Tim Presley. After recording a killer record with Cate Le Bon under the name DRINKS last year, Presley released The Wink, his first record without the White Fence moniker.
The Wink is a departure from Presley’s mad-scientist style of home recording, as Le Bon produced the album earlier this year in a proper California studio. The result is a kaleidoscope of krautrock, California psych, free jazz, and late ’70s New York City rock, and the album hasn’t moved more than a few feet from my turntable since I bought it.
Heavy Metal — LP (Static Shock)
A completely odd and perfectly offensive punk album from the band known as Heavy Metal. There isn’t a whole lot out there to learn about the two-piece band hailing from Berlin, Germany, save for BandCamp with a link to buy the album. The internet yields no other information on Heavy Metal, and the album’s “lyric sheet” is just a piece of construction paper that reads “ANTI LYRIC SHEET.” Probably the best punk record I’ve heard this year.
Merchandise — A Corpse Wired for Sound (4AD)
Merchandise fans knew a change in the band’s sound was probably coming after the Florida boys signed to indie label titan 4AD. Their first offering for the label — After the End — was met with
mixed reviews, and critics wondered if the band had lost their ability to make behemoth post-punk ballads with budget recording equipment.
The band didn’t really answer the questions posed following the release of After the End and instead made an album featuring some of their most moody and vulnerable songs to date. It’s been fun watching Merchandise grow into their new label as they challenge the songwriting that made them a great band in the first place, and here’s hoping the quartet will finally come to Memphis after skipping us over for both Birmingham and Oxford on past tours. What’s up with that?
The Fall — Bingo-Master’s Break-Out! (Superior Viaduct)
I tried not to mention a reissue in this list, but not including the debut single from The Fall would just be irresponsible. Mark E. Smith is still making music as The Fall (occasionally with Tim Presley), but this three-song attack is arguably one of the best punk singles of all time and definitely some of the band’s best work. This was technically a Record Store Day release — the original came out in 1978 — but there are still copies of the reissue floating around. The Fall’s discography can be a daunting collection to try and tackle, so why not start at the very beginning?
Rixe — Les Nerfs a Vif (La Vida Es En Mus)
The Oi! sub-genre of punk can be a little tricky to master, and more often than not, bands that attempt the classic British sound miss the mark. That rule doesn’t apply to Rixe, whom I had the pleasure of watching in Los Angeles this summer before quickly buying all of the merchandise they had to offer. Rixe’s 2016 EP, Les Nerfs a Vif, is like taking a trip back in time, and opening track “Hexagone” is an instant classic.
Omni — Deluxe (Trouble in Mind)
Omni’s Deluxe wins surprise album of the year. The perfect summer record from a band that literally seemed to have appeared out of nowhere. If you dig around hard enough, you can find an Omni feature on the Flyer website written by yours truly.
Cheena — Spend the Night With … (Sacred Bones)
Cheena had all the hype a new band could ask for prior to the release of their debut album, but critics were quick to call the band all sorts of things that they weren’t. Sure, members of Cheena have played in some of the biggest bands to come out of New York City’s underground rock scene of the last five or so years, but Cheena deserves to be looked at as its own project. From that vantage point, Spend the Night With … is one of the most interesting and complex albums of the year. Also, any band that can get Daniel Stewart (Total Control, UV Race, Distort) to write a press release deserves a spot on a year-end list.
Exploded View — Exploded View (Sacred Bones)
This record sounds like if the Velvet Underground and Isolation Ward shared a practice space, got their scheduling dates mixed up, and decided to create a family band. Exploded View’s debut LP weaves so many genres together so seamlessly that you can’t help but wonder what the record collections of the band members of Exploded View have to offer.
Albums like these are why we yearn for new music in the first place. Exploded View takes the listener on a journey through both familiar and unfamiliar territory, accessing different emotions in the process. Essential listening in 2016, and mindblowing with each and every listen.
Juicy J returns to Memphis on February, 20th 2017.
Memphis rap legend Juicy J is bringing his “Rubba Band Business” tour to Minglewood Hall next February. Joining the founding member of Three Six Mafia will be Ottawa rapper Belly. Tickets are currently on sale for the February 20th gig, and can be purchased at the Minglewood box office, or by clicking here.
The show is all ages- making for one of the first times in recent memory that children of all sizes can enjoy the national treasure known as Juicy J. Check out music from the Memphis icon below.
