Categories
Sing All Kinds We Recommend

10 for 10: October Sound Advice

Aviana Monasterio

Neev

1. Neev with Aviator, Rescuer and Gone Yard

Crosstown Arts, Oct. 5. $5. 7:00 p.m.

For those looking for something heavier than Katy Perry’s Prismatic World Tour, post-hardcore local NEEV will be opening for Aviator and Rescuer as they make their way through Memphis on their “Death-to-False Music” tour. While both touring bands have recently released records on No Sleep Records, NEEV put out their first full-length album Those Things We Tomorrowed on cassette in May through Ireland based ndependent label Little League Records. The post hardcore outfit combines melodic math rock with chaos, and while no song meets the three-minute mark – they are each packed with unpredictable twists and turns that keep you on your toes. This is not a band to ignore.

10 for 10: October Sound Advice

[jump]

[page]

2. Hea Head and the Heart

d and the Heart with Rayland Baxter

Minglewood Hall, Oct. 6. $30. 8:00 p.m.

On The Head and the Heart’s sophomore release Let’s Be Still, they managed to capture a sense of sincerity that is often lost in the now saturated indie folk genre that has grown popular over the last few years. This is serious, heartfelt songwriting. Perhaps it’s the band’s humble beginnings playing on street corners that separates them from the rest of the crowd. Without a doubt, their live show is less of a concert and more of an experience that will pull your mind away from Memphis for the evening and take you somewhere special.

[page]

3. Berkano CD Release with Ugly Girls and Hair Party


The Hi-Tone, Oct. 7. $7. 9:00 p.m.

Berkano is everything that is right about garage rock. The guitars blend distortion and reverb while the vocals lazily echo their way into the mix. It’s beer-drinkin’-head-bobbin’ rock ‘n roll, and you’d be silly not to come pick up a copy of Santa Sleeping. Ugly Girls are also not to be missed. The three-piece punkers are unapologetic. They sing songs about hating “frat boys” and being gifted cancer from God. You can find more of that on their EP Bad Personalities that they released in February. 

10 for 10: October Sound Advice (2)

[page]

4. Juicy J with Project Pat

Juicy J and Project Pat


Minglewood Hall, Oct 8. 8:00 p.m.

Juicy J has risen far beyond Three 6 Mafia fame, making his way to the soundtrack of the latest reboot of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Now, he’s rapping alongside Miley Cyrus and is an active member of Wiz Khalifa’s Taylor Gang. His third studio release Stay Trippy featured the radio favorite “Bandz a Make Her Dance,” and landed at 29 on the Billboard Top 100. J and his older brother Project Pat will be returning
to Memphis with some new, and, fingers crossed, hopefully some of the old iconic sounds that defined Memphis rap from the ‘90s to late 2000’s. If we’re lucky, maybe we’ll get to hear some classic Three 6 Mafia tracks. 

Footnote: Juggalos gather and spray your Faygo. Da Mafia 6ix, a new project formed in 2013 featuring six original members of Three 6 Mafia, will be joining Insane Clown Posse and Mushroomhead at The New Daisy Oct. 11.

[page]

5. Interpol with Rey Pila

Interpol


Minglewood Hall, Oct. 9. $25 advance / $30 day of show. 8:00 p.m.

Interpol didn’t reinvent the wheel with their nearly brand new release El Pintor, but after four years, it breathes life into their tired, old routine. It’s reminiscent of Turn On The Bright Lights, the album that launched them into the spotlight, and is arguably the best thing the band has released since Antics. With bassist Carlos Dengler having the left the band, the former four piece is now made of three, which is not at all a bad thing. Interpol is playing like a band in their prime again, and the energy of their live show may very well be the best that it has been in quite some time.

[page]

6. Slugz with Gimp Teeth and DJ Wasted Life
Josh Miller

Gimp Teeth


Murphy’s, Oct. 12. $5. 9:00 p.m.

Richmond, Virginia’s Slugz plays raw, punk music that gives show goers a reason to thrash their bodies against each other. Local punkers Gimp Teeth merge power violence with surf rock to create a sound that belongs in a Harmony Korine film. They recently played Gonerfest 11 and released an EP titled Naked City earlier this year.

10 for 10: October Sound Advice (3)

[page]

7. The Jack Oblivian and Monsieur Jeffrey Evans Revue

Josh Miller

Jack Oblivian

The Hi-Tone, Oct. 18. 9:00.

Jack Oblivian and Monsieur Jeffrey Evans have spent decades creating and cultivating a sound derivative of blues and punk that has forever left a stamp on Memphis music. On Oct. 18, the two will share the stage with a batch of Southern musicians. If you can make it to only one show during October, this is it.

[page]

8. City and Colour with Clear Plastic Masks

City and Colour


Minglewood Hall, Oct. 30. $25 advance / $30 day of show. 7:00 p.m.

Dallas Green’s distinguishable tenor and stripped down, acoustic structure coupled with his sentimental lyrics and catchy melodies have carried City and Colour from a small, independent band with a cult following to a household name, selling out venues all over the country. His latest release, The Hurry And The Harm, sees
Green moving into the mainstream with additional musicians and even poppier sensibilities. More recently, Green released the single “You and Me” with Pink, and the two have formed a duo under the same name with plans to release an album titled Rose Ave. While Green’s place in the indie music world seems to be ever growing, he hasn’t lost sight of the intimate performances that define City and Colour’s live show, and you shouldn’t miss out on it, either.

[page]

9. Dead Soldiers with Clay Otis and James & The Ultrasounds
Jamie Harmon

Dead Soldiers


The Hi-Tone, Oct. 31. $10. 9:00.

Dead Soldiers are one of the most hardworking bands out there – playing a brand of alternative-country that is similar to no one else in Memphis. The Soldiers are packing out every show they book, and for good reason. For a relatively new band, 2013’s LP All The Things You Lose and follow up EP High Anxiety are impressive, to say the least. On Halloween night, they will play alongside local pop singer Clay Otis as well as James & The Ultrasounds, whose first full-length Bad To Be Here is due out through Madjack Records in December. The Hi-Tone will also hold their annual costume party, where they will choose the best dressed male and female who participate. The winners get free admission to The Hi-Tone for a full calendar year.

[page]

10. Manchester Orchestra with Chris Staples

Manchester Orchestra


The New Daisy Theatre, Oct. 31. $18. 7:00 p.m.

The last time Manchester Orchestra came to Memphis, it was a cold February evening in 2010 at The New Daisy Theatre. The Atlanta-based rock quintet was touring heavily on their sophomore release Mean Everything To Nothing, and they were just on the cusp of the success that would carry them through 2011’s Simple Math. After releasing 2013’s COPE, an 11-track album that capitalized on the huge guitars and roaring vocals of Frontman Andy Hull that have come to define Manchester Orchestra’s sound, the band later released a stripped-down album entitled HOPE featuring alternative versions of all 11 songs accompanied with a string of stripped-down tour dates. When Manchester Orchestra comes back to The Daisy, it may be the first and last time we get to see the band abandon their amps and tone down their songs.

Categories
Sing All Kinds We Recommend

Sound Advice: Saturday April 5th

Saturday provides a musical bounty. Take to the streets and rejoice in our good fortune.

Memphis International Guitar Festival at the University of Memphis

Sound Advice: Saturday April 5th

Kool & the Gang at MED Night: A Soul Celebration

Sound Advice: Saturday April 5th (2)

The XX at the New Daisy Theatre

Sound Advice: Saturday April 5th (3)

Categories
We Recommend We Recommend

What a Joke

Neither a part of the hip yet relatively safe alternative comedy movement (David Cross) nor the clean-cut frat-boy crowd (Dane Cook), Doug Stanhope walks the line between what we’re all thinking but terrified to say out loud, offensive nastiness, and traditional stand-up comedy. The result: fetal-position laughter.

Stanhope began to perform live and tour (or “road-dog it” in comedian vernacular) in 1990 and got his first break when he won the 1995 San Francisco International Comedy Competition, for which he beat out Dane Cook in the finals. Stanhope has released 13 full-length comedy titles since 1998. It should be noted that the appropriately titled Acid Bootleg (2001, self-released) is just that: a bootleg of a performance in which the comedian is thoroughly under the influence of LSD by the halfway point.

After co-hosting the fifth and sixth seasons of Comedy Central’s The Man Show in 2003 and 2004, Stanhope had one of the more memorable scenes in The Aristocrats (a film that documents numerous comedians’ individual takes on the same legendary joke) in which he tells the notorious bit to an infant. Stanhope has hosted several TV comedy specials for various networks (including Showtime) and self-published a book, Fun With Pedophiles: The Best of Baiting, in 2006. Stanhope’s most recent full-length album, Oslo: Burning the Bridge to Nowhere, was the inaugural release on Roadrunner Comedy, the long-running metal and hard-rock label Roadrunner’s comedy imprint.

Comparisons to the late and legendary comedian Bill Hicks are more than apt. Still, Stanhope often goes where the majority of the stand-up comedy world won’t, especially when dealing with hecklers. Both of these points are warnings to the easily offended and misguided seekers of attention.

Doug Stanhope’s “Big Stink Comedy Tour,” The New Daisy Theater, Saturday, March 16th, 8 p.m., $25

Categories
Music Music Features

Memphis Music Launch

The Memphis Music Foundation‘s latest ambitious undertaking, the Memphis Music Launch, culminates this Friday night with a showcase at the New Daisy Theater. The project was born roughly a year and a half ago out of a casual conversation between the foundation’s Cameron Mann and Launch Memphis president Eric Mathews.

“Eric had just completed one of Launch Memphis’ 48-Hour Launch events and was explaining it to me,” says Mann, director of the foundation’s Music Resource Center. “My first thoughts were: Could we do this for music, and has anyone done it before?

“Eric’s answer was yes and no but that he was working with a local nonprofit called Fuel Film on a 48-Hour Film Launch and that he would be happy to work with us to form the music version of this event. We got out a blank piece of paper and started taking the notes that would lead to our first event in April 2011.”

That first stage, and indeed the principal element of the Memphis Music Launch event, was a two-day crash course in all aspects of the music industry (as well as good business practices, in general) undertaken by eight teams assembled from the 68 participants — all hopeful musicians and music business professionals who at the end of the two days pitched their prospective projects to a panel of experts.

The panel then selected the finalists who will compete for the grand prize at Friday’s showcase: Arvada, Butta MD, Go Judo Presents: Sunny Uppercut, and the Delta Collective — four relatively unknown local music entities.

“We are excited about all eight groups that got to go through the weekend, as they are all still together and working toward goals,” Mann says. “We are especially excited for the four finalists competing in the showcase. Each of those teams worked hard to get into the finals at the launch weekend, and they have spent the last 90 days grinding, recording, writing, rehearsing, and working on their marketing plans.

“They are all very different, and each one has their own unique approach to their branding, their show, and their use of the tools available to them,” Mann continues. “Four totally different genres of music came out of the weekend, and I don’t believe that’s an accident. We have a very diverse community of artists in Memphis.”

The finalists are competing for an array of career-advancing prizes, including a distribution deal with independent label/distributor Select-O-Hits, a CD replication package from AudioGraphic Masterworks, $1,000, and a host of other promotional services from local providers.

According to Mann, the project is exemplary of what the foundation does every day:

“Memphis Music Launch is a compressed version of everything that we do at the Music Resource Center — it’s a microcosm of the music industry.

“Our mission is to educate and empower artists to make more money from their music. We connect them to our local ecosystem of music businesses and resources. We foster networking and creative collaboration within that network and in some cases help to incubate new businesses that fill gaps that exist in the local industry. Since the weekend brings together artists and creatives, music business professionals, local studios and attorneys, it’s almost like seeing our mission and purpose happening live, in real time.”

The Memphis Music Launch showcase takes place Friday, July 8th, at the New Daisy Theater and features the bands Arvada, Butta MD, Go Judo Presents: Sunny Uppercut, the Delta Collective, and a supergroup featuring Jody Stephens (Big Star) and Steve Selvidge (the Hold Steady). Doors open at 7 p.m., and admission is $5.

Go to memphismeansmusic.com/mll for more information.

Categories
Music Music Features

Local Beat: Takin’ It to the Streets

In celebration of 10 years of the Stax Music Academy, the Soulsville Foundation, which operates the music academy and the Stax Museum of American Soul Music, is bringing the culture back onto McLemore Avenue with the first Soulsville street festival, dubbed “Stax to the Max.

The free outdoor festival will take place from noon to 10 p.m. on Saturday, April 16th, on the grounds surrounding the museum. There will also be free admission to the museum during regular hours, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

As part of the entertainment, ensembles from the Stax Music Academy and the Soulsville Charter School orchestra will be joined by the Rhodes College Jazz Band and an ensemble from the Memphis Symphony Orchestra. Local jazz/funk trio The City Champs will also perform, as will comedian Sinbad.

The headlining event, however, will be “Stories of a Real Soul Man: An Evening with David Porter & Friends, a program built around the venerable Stax songwriter and performer. Joining Porter will be current Soulsville president and Grammy-certified saxophone great Kirk Whalum, singer Wendy Moten, guitarist Gary Goin, J. Blackfoot (of the Soul Children), newcomer Jeremy O’Bryan, and others.

“Stories of a Real Soul Man” is a touring production created by Porter, which features storytelling, live music, and video.

Record Store Day

While Soulsville is having a street festival, the country will be having Record Store Day, a “holiday” of sorts designed to promote business at brick-and-mortar record stores. The local chapter of the Recording Academy is holding one of their Grammy GPS events Saturday in conjunction with Record Story Day. Dubbed Exploring the Resurgence of Vinyl, the event will be held at Ardent Studios from 2 to 6 p.m. and will be built around a panel discussion that will look at aspects of using vinyl — from recording to production to promotion and distribution. Panelists include Ardent owner John Fry, mastering engineers Larry Nix, Scott Hull, and Jeff Powell, and manufacturer Eric Astor. Admission to the event is $20, or free to Recording Academy members. For more information, contact the Memphis chapter of the Recording Academy at Memphis@grammy.com or 901-525-1340.

While the number of specialty releases flooding stores on Saturday is many (see thevinyldistrict.com/Memphis for a lengthy guide), Goner Records in Cooper-Young will have their own exclusive. San Francisco-based Goner artist Ty Segall is putting out a six-song, 12-inch EP of covers of British glam-rock band T.Rex, with a clear vinyl pressing available only at the Goner store. Goner will open at 11 a.m. for Record Store Day, with everything in the store 10 percent off and local bands The Limes and Manatees playing a free show in the adjacent alley from 2:30 to 5 p.m.

Meanwhile, over at Shangri-La Records on Madison, there will be live music on tap to celebrate Record Store Day, with Good Luck Dark Star and The Wuvbirds playing at 6 p.m.

Music notes: Congratulations are in order to the four finalists who emerged from last weekend’s Memphis Music Launch event, sponsored by the Memphis Music Foundation. Delta Collective, Butta MD, Go Judo, and Arvada made it through the pitch and performance process and will go on to develop projects for a showcase concert in July. … Some shows of note this week: With the local underground hip-hop scene having a bit of a rebirth, scene godfathers the Iron Mic Coalition are also having a resurgence. The group will celebrate its seventh anniversary on Saturday, April 16th, at the New Daisy Theater. Group members such as Jason Da Hater, Fathom 9, the Mighty Quinn and others are scheduled to perform. Tickets are $11. Doors open at 9 p.m. … The Peabody‘s annual Rooftop Party series kicks off Thursday, April 14th, with live music from Ingram Hill. … Snowglobe’s Tim Regan brings his Austin-based band Oh No, Oh My to town for a gig at the Hi-Tone Café on Sunday, April 17th. Doors open at 9 p.m. and admission is $8. Regan’s Snowglobe bandmate Jeff Hulett opens.