Au Pairs “Playing With a Different Sex”
Alex from the other room: “What’s next?”
Me: “Aw Paris.”
Alex (without getting up or pausing for a second): “Nope, the Au Pairs.”
Needless to say, I’ve never heard of this band. The cover is what looks like two Native American or Asian girls running through a field with bayonets, it’s a…
This is the right way to listen to the Au Pairs, y’all.
This won’t be a comprehensive review of the show, as I left about 5 songs in, because I was bored.
(It’s OK, I got to listen to a good This American Life episode on the drive home.)
My friend Richard was right about St. Vincent: there’s not quite so much there as ppl would have you believe, and there is an increasing amount of hand-waving deployed to distract from that.
The recent article in the Voice talked about the 12-hour rehearsals AC put her band through before the start of the tour, and it showed. Spontaneity seemed to have been fully engineered out of the equation.
Yes, there was choreography. No, it was not particularly good. Maybe she should have worked with those People Get Ready folks, whose music was kind of slight but who had some interesting ideas (and who tried to incorporate chance & chaos into the equation).
Perhaps the lesson is that just watching Stop Making Sense is not, in itself, enough. Nor, apparently, is making s record & going on tour with David Byrne.
I still like the St. Vincent music, although her second album remains my favorite of the four, which probably doesn’t bode well for my long term interest.
But everything I got tonight I could have gotten by staying home, turning up the stereo really loud, and periodically flashing extremely bright lights directly into my eyes.
The thing is that, at least up to the point when I left, the choreography had added very little, but the overrehearsal and generally overdetermined nature of everything else took a lot of the fun out of hearing Live Rock Music.
Other people seemed to be enjoying it, although there wasn’t much visible dancing, maybe because the quantized beats on the last couple of records really aren’t all that danceable, and the human drummer was clearly playing to a click track, so there was no room for him to open the beat up at all.
All in all, it was kind of baffling. So there’s that, I guess.
As for the HRB, I’m sure it’s lovely in the daytime. At night during a rockshow it’s just another shoebox full of people craning their necks to see an oddly small, seemingly too low stage. Or you can hit the balcony to have lights shined directly into your eyes.
It sounded better than the Ritz, and actually better than I have heard some touring shows sound at the New Cradle. No, that’s not saying much. It’s OK. It’s fine. It’s probably lovely at an early evening show of non-rock music in the summertime.
While North Carolina somewhat mysteriously tried to recreate the Atlanta Snowpocalypse of 2014, we went to LA (on a trip planned fully 2 months in advance, mind you).
We had such a great time I feel like I need to extend some shout-outs to the people & places responsible.
This was our first AirBnB experience, and it was lovely. We stayed here.
This was the view out the front window:
We were staying in the Echo Park neighborhood, which, we found out, is the neighborhood where Aimee Semple McPherson started her Angelus Temple (which apparently persists to this day). She was the preeminent radio preacher of the 20s; she also spoke in tongues & did faith-healing. The character Sharon Falconer in Elmer Gantry was based on her. We were bummed that Elmer Gantry isn’t available for streaming.
For the first time in the history of our decade of vacationing together, we batted 1000 meal-wise, at the following restaurants:
Here’s the carrot salad at Allumette:
We did the omokase at Kiriko at lunch, which was only about half as expensive as it would have been at dinnertime. Every single piece of fish was sublime. I don’t know where Kiriko stands in worldwide sushi rankings (although Jonathan Gold ranks it pretty highly in LA), but if you’re normal mortals & not wealthy world travelers, it’ll maybe go partway towards fulfilling your Jiro dreams.
The next most remarkable thing, across the board, was the freshness of the vegetables, and the willingness of non-vegetarian restaurants to really experiment with & put the vegetables front-and-center. Obviously the year-round California growing season helps enormously, but I still feel like our local restaurants could learn a lot.
In fact, generally speaking, nearly everything we ate at nearly every place in LA pretty much kicked the ass of just about anything you’d find in the Triangle (not surprising, given LA’s size, although it’s not like we were eating our way down some LA top-20 restaurant list, since we couldn’t afford to eat anywhere like that). Someone should tip off the New York Times; LA might just be the next Durham.
We didn’t just eat, of course. We saw a documentary about a rich obsessive named Tim (the guy who invented the Video Toaster back in the 80s, for those of you who were paying attention to computer graphics in the 80s) who became convinced that Vermeer had used a particular type of mirror apparatus to paint his paintings, and decided that the only way to prove this was to reconstruct Vermeer’s workroom/studio, including all the furnishings, in order to then paint his own version of Vermeer’s “The Music Lesson.”
It’s called Tim’s Vermeer & is pretty fascinating. For some reason Penn & Teller made it. It will apparently be playing the Triangle in the spring.
We saw the final chunk of the James Turrell retrospective at LACMA, which was even better than I had hoped. I’m pretty sure we subsequently decided to try to visit as many of the publicly-held Turrell SkySpaces as we can on any/all future vacations.
We checked out the Getty Museum, and spent most of our time outside because the weather was gorgeous, as were the gardens and the architecture:
We drove down Sunset Blvd to the beach:
We revisited the mighty Watts Towers, and this time took a tour led by a guy who had grown up in the neighborhood, who reminisced fondly about climbing up the 99-foot towers when he was a little kid:
We also revisited the Museum of Jurassic Technology, which seemed to be slightly the worse for wear compared to the last time we were there. Still a fascinating experience, but there were several exhibits out-of-order (and not just the intentionally broken one). If you’ve never been, it’s still worth a trip.
But if you’ve been before, maybe you won’t want to risk damaging your memories (although you should probably make a donation or buy something in the online gift shop to help them make repairs & keep the weirdness alive).
Our rental car came with this demonic feature that counted up the number of minutes spent in the car. At the end of 5 days we’d spent nearly 10 hours in the car, which I guess is as much a part of the LA experience as anything else.
Since the gods conspired against us, architecture-wise, on this trip (everything was either closed for renovations, mysteriously closed in February, or only open on weekends), we’ll be returning to LA. Probably in midwinter again, because honestly, the very best part of the whole trip was the weather, particularly in comparison to the snow-related news coming from back home.
I received this today from Durham City Councilman Steve Schewel, in response to my query about the statement cited by WRAL and by Diane Catotti. Both Steve and Diane stressed that this statement is based entirely on existing laws & ordinances.
I sent a note to Steve asking for clarification regarding the specific laws they have reference to. In particular, I’m curious as to how they would justify limiting access to the grounds of a public building like the police station.
I’ll post a follow-up if I get any more info.
Full text of the council statement begins here:
February 6, 2014
Durham is one of the most progressive cities in the nation, and
we are noted for our cherished understanding and appreciation of the rights of free speech and assembly to which all citizens are entitled under the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. Many of our Council members have participated in numerous public protest marches over the years for civil rights, justice and peace. So we welcome all of those who wish to participate in peaceful marches in our city.
We are saddened by the tragic death of Jesus Huerta, a
young and promising 17-year old tenth grader at Riverside High School,
and by the fact that his family has lost a son and a brother. Our prayers
go out to them, and many of our members attended the moving and
poignant service held in Jesus’ memory at Immaculate Conception Catholic Church.
Since the death of Jesus Huerta, three marches have been held during which some protestors have ignored both city ordinances and state statutes by marching at night without a permit, wearing camouflage masks, damaging both public and private property, and impeding traffic by marching in our streets. In addition, during the last three months, these marches have cost taxpayers over $11,000 in vandalism, including window repairs (office and police vehicles) and graffiti removal, and approximately $17,000-$20,000 in overtime police protection. This does not include the intangible costs incurred because our officers and detectives could not perform their normally assigned functions that day.
The Durham community respects the laws of our city and state, and we appreciate our police department’s public safety efforts in an exceedingly difficult and challenging environment.
We embrace the open, constructive and sometimes difficult community discussion now taking place at the Human Relations Commission regarding police practices. We recognize that there is confusion and mistrust among some people concerning the death of Jesus Huerta and others. We welcome all peaceful and lawful expressions regarding any of these matters.
At the same time, we want to be absolutely clear that these issues do not provide any excuse or justification for engaging in violent or unlawful activities which represent the antithesis of the values which the people of Durham hold dear. We expect that such activities, if they occur, will be met by appropriate action by our police department. This City will neither condone nor tolerate any acts of violence or vandalism.
* * *
For clarity to all concerned, this City Council outlines the following
rules of conduct based upon city ordinances and state statutes that all marchers must obey.
If and when our police department becomes aware of the potential for a march, the Council has the expectation that the department will pro-actively communicate about these rules to any potential marchers, if possible. We also expect that any police response to illegal activity at a march will be appropriate and proportionate to the situation. The City Manager and his staff will evaluate the police response and keep the Council informed as necessary.
Rules of conduct:
Anyone wishing to march upon the public streets shall first obtain a parade permit from the City. Such parade permits only allow marching during daylight hours. Demonstrators shall not impede traffic upon the City streets and may not wear masks, hoods or devices which conceal the identity of the wearer, other than masks which are worn in accordance with state law which includes exceptions for seasonal events. Demonstrators shall not damage property, commit assaults, participate in disorderly conduct, possess or use pyrotechnics, or possess dangerous weapons including the possession of any object capable of inflicting serious bodily injury such as rocks, bricks, etc. Demonstrators shall not enter upon Police Department headquarters and substation parking areas or grassy areas immediately adjoining the Police Department headquarters and substation buildings.
Letter to Durham City Council re: restrictions on protests
(in reference to this bit of news: http://www.wral.com/violent-marches-lead-durham-to-change-protest-rules/13369730/ )
Council,
If the WRAL coverage I just read was accurate, then surely you realize that aspects of the new protest restrictions are patently unconstitutional, particularly…
Response from councilor Diane Catotti: “ Thanks for writing.
The news reports are a little misleading. We issued a statement, and in that statement there was a recap of existing state laws and local ordinances. No new ordinances were passed.”
(in reference to this bit of news: http://www.wral.com/violent-marches-lead-durham-to-change-protest-rules/13369730/ )
Council,
If the WRAL coverage I just read was accurate, then surely you realize that aspects of the new protest restrictions are patently unconstitutional, particularly the restrictions on time and location of protests.
Why do you elect to waste the taxpayers’ money defending the city against the inevitable lawsuit (one that I myself will happily donate to the ACLU to fund)?
We can do better than this. Perhaps we should start by solving the real problem of police brutality, bias and incompetence.
Ross Grady
(note that I was dead serious about funding a lawsuit: I’ll pledge the first $500)
Steve is sending this to folks who have emailed him over the past few days, and asked that it be shared with anyone interested.
Steve Schewel
A Response Regarding Recent Police Actions
Many people have written me expressing shock and dismay after the demonstration and police response in downtown Durham on Thursday night, December 19. This comes on top of other recent controversies swirling around the police department. I have been thinking about and working steadily on these police-related issues for weeks, and I wanted to send a considered response to each of you who has written to me.
I do want to thank you for caring enough to write. Hearing your thoughts and feelings has been crucial to me as I work through the various issues that face us.
Everything that happened last Thursday occurred against the background of a family’s grief. Whatever else we do, we need to remember that. Our community grieves with this family for the loss of their son and brother, Jesus Huerta. Their loss diminishes us all. Three weeks ago, I knocked on the door of the apartment that I understood to be the home of the Huerta family. I wanted to offer my condolences, to make a human connection from the City, to ask them how I could help. I went back several times and did not find them home, so I called their attorney to ask him to arrange a time that I could meet with the family. I am hopeful that he will do this soon. My son, like Jesus Huerta, was a student at Riverside High. I coached soccer at Riverside for years, and I coached many young people like Jesus. My heart goes out to this family.
Now here are my thoughts on what happened on the night of December 19:
First, this is a scene that must never be repeated in Durham again. We, as City government and as a community, must do all in our power to prevent that. Protestors must be able to exercise their First Amendment rights to speech and assembly unimpeded. The relatively few people in the Thursday-night crowd who wanted to provoke the police must be isolated so that any demonstration is peaceful. And we must work with our police force so that they use the minimum required force to keep the peace and protect public safety. The force must be proportional to the situation.
For sure, there were people in the crowd on that night whose stated intention it was to confront the police. Their words, which you can find in their leaflets or all over the Internet, are filled with hatred towards police, including one recent post saying that “violence against the police can be justified and desirable.” These are just words, but these words were backed up by the violence last month at the police station and again by the rock-throwing on Thursday night. I want to be clear that these actions contributed mightily to the confrontation on December 19.
But I want to be equally clear that this provocation cannot be met by the kind of massive response of the police on Thursday night. This is not a law enforcement strategy that can succeed long-term, and it is not the kind of response that Durham wants. The police response was well intentioned. Instead of swinging night sticks at people, the police used first smoke and subsequently tear gas to disperse the crowd. This meant that no one got badly hurt, which was a real achievement. But it also meant that innocent people were terrified and sent reeling through our streets. I am deeply sympathetic to the police officers who reasonably fear people who advertise openly that they want to hurt the police. However, the kind of response Durham witnessed on Thursday night is not something that can be repeated.
So what should our community do? There is another vigil planned in a month, and the folks planning that vigil have every right to do so. We must use that month to prepare as a community and a City government to get it right this time.
I think we need three things: Truth, justice and reconciliation.
First, about truth. The entire truth about the death of Jesus Huerta must be known as quickly as humanly possible. Our police force has been waiting on the SBI’s independent investigation, and this was reasonable. However, the SBI is swamped with cases and grossly underfunded by the legislature, and they can’t turn around cases as quickly as we need them to. Whatever information is known from our police department’s own internal investigation should be released now. I spoke about this at length at the City Council meeting three days before the December 19 demonstration, and I continue to advocate for this.
Second, about justice. Once we know the truth about this tragedy, we must let the chips fall where they may. We do have some definitive information from the SBI. That includes the fact that residue from the gunshot that killed Jesus Huerta was found on both of his gloves and none of that residue was on the hands of the Durham police officer. I know only the same evidence that you read in the newspaper. As hard as it is to believe given the fact that he was handcuffed, all the evidence that I have heard points to the fact that Jesus Huerta shot himself. If so, this means that there was a gun that he could reach while handcuffed in the back seat of the police cruiser. If this gun was in his possession when he was taken into custody, it is clear that the police officer failed to adequately frisk him and so unwittingly contributed to this terrible tragedy. If the police officer was at fault, he should be appropriately disciplined. From what I can tell so far, it does not appear that the young police officer was intentionally doing anything wrong in this situation but he rather made a very tragic mistake. Without knowing more, it’s impossible to say exactly what the consequences for him should be.
Third, about reconciliation. Personally, I want to continue to reach out to the Huerta family. If they have needs that our community can fulfill, I want to help them with that. I hope that I will be able to meet them very soon, either through the avenue of their attorney or otherwise. Nothing we do can bring back their beloved child. But we can offer to help in other ways. At the same time, our police leadership should be reaching out to the community to listen and to reassure people that they respect the rights of speech and assembly and will protect them, and that they will use minimum appropriate force in the future. There is a role for peaceful demonstrators as well, and it is a critical one. I have been in hundreds of demonstrations in my life. I was at one last month on behalf of raising the wages of fast food workers. I spoke at one last week on behalf of in-state tuition for undocumented college students. This past year I was arrested and handcuffed during a Moral Monday demonstration. My experience tells me that peaceful demonstrators have the ability and the obligation to isolate and actively repudiate the violent, provocative people in their midst.
Peace-making before and during the next vigil is going to have to be a two-way street. The police need to carefully measure their response and minimize its impact on peaceful demonstrators, no matter how verbally provocative. At the same time, it is incumbent upon demonstrators to reach out as well and to isolate and repudiate anyone who advocates violence, who throws rocks, or who seeks to instigate a confrontation with police.
Durham is served by 515 uniformed officers, and our police force does an excellent job under incredibly difficult circumstances. Three weeks ago, I did a ride-along on a Saturday night with one of those young officers. Some of the night was spent responding to crime scenes, but most of it was spent helping people in the community—pushing a stalled car into a parking lot, helping someone try to stop harassing phone calls, responding to a call about a child found in the middle of the street after dark. On one occasion the officer was in potential danger, but he handled every situation he met with courage, wisdom and restraint.
Our police force is filled with men and women like this who are out there keeping us safe every night. Our community regards our police officers as friends and protectors, and they want more, not less, policing in their neighborhoods. That is what I hear continually from our neighborhood groups across the city. These police officers need and deserve our support.
At the same time, there are serious issues beyond the case of Jesus Huerta that need the attention of the police force, the city council and our community. There are the cases of Derek Walker and Jose Ocampo which also await the results of the absurdly slow SBI probe. As in the Huerta case, we need to get all the information out as soon as we have it.
Also, local groups have come forward with statistics about traffic stops and searches that give me grave concern. We need to make sure that there is not a hint of racial discrimination in the work of our police department. I am grateful to those who have compiled the statistics that have started a painful but useful public conversation about the critical issue of discrimination. I have been impressed by the good work of the police department in responding so fully and carefully to these statistics, and I thank Mayor Bell for starting us on a good process centered now at the Human Relations Commission and soon coming to us at the city council. We’ve got to face any charges about bias or police misconduct with an open ear and an open heart. Let’s look for solutions, for changes in our processes that can help us improve. Our department has already fully embarked upon this work. I commend them, and I know we can succeed.
Some of you have written me about the future of Chief Jose Lopez. Chief Lopez works for City Manager Tom Bonfield, not for the city council. I have total and complete confidence in Tom Bonfield to evaluate the performance of the chief and to make the right decisions.
Again, thank you so much for writing to me and to my colleagues. I value your ideas and opinions tremendously. Please write again.
In the meantime, let us keep the Huerta family in our hearts. I pledge that I will continue to think hard and work hard on this issue and to advance the program of truth, justice and reconciliation that I described above. I hope you will, too.
I kinda want to annotate these but I don’t think I have the stamina:
Oliver Mtukudzi – Jan 18, 2013 – Reynolds Theatre
NARAL benefit – Mountain Goats, Creedence Queerwater, Blooz Travellerzz – Jan 20, 2013 – Pinhook
Dawnbringer – Bull City Metal Fest – Feb 2, 2013 – The Casbah
Meow Meow – Feb 14, 2013 – PSI Theatre
Nick Cave, Sharon Van Etten – Mar 17, 2013 – The Orange Peel
Pat Benatar – Apr 23, 2013 – Carolina Theatre
Tig Notaro – May 4, 2013 – Carolina Theatre
Aye Nako, Drag Sounds – Jun 2, 2013 – Pinhook
Superchunk – Aug 20, 2013 – The Pinhook
Iron Maiden – Sep 3, 2013 – Time Warner Pavilion
Hopscotch Music Festival – Sep 5-7, 2013 – Raleigh NC
Naked Gods
Body Games
Sylvan Esso
Gorguts
Lonnie Holley
Scout Niblett
Inter Arma
Sleep
(+30+ other bands)
WXDU/3 Lobed Hopscotch Day Party – Sep 6, 2013 – Kings Barcade
Jenks Miller Band
Desert Heat
Thurston Moore / John Moloney
(+ more)
Theo Bleckmann – Sep 27, 2013 – PSI Theatre
D-Town Brass, Pipe – Sep 28, 2013 – Guglhupf
Billy Childs Jazz Chamber Ensemble feat. Dianne Reeves – Oct 4, 2013 – Baldwin Aud.
Nick Sanborn: Lend Me Your Voice – Nov 2, 2013 – Nelson Music Room
Felix Obelix – Nov 8, 2013 – The Carrack
WXDU 30th Anniversary – Nov 9, 2013 – Duke Coffeehouse
Malt Swagger
Blue-Green Gods
Torch Marauder System
Jett Rink
Pine State
Estonian Chamber Choir – Nov 12, 2013 – Duke Chapel
Absu – Nov 13, 2013 – The Maywood
Janelle Monae – Nov 19, 2013 – The Ritz
des_ark (3x, various venues)
This was either a particularly great year for metal, or just a continuation of my long slow slide back into metal as my favorite music. I guess either way it was a particularly great year for metal.
This year I’m posting a single top-20 list with locals and non-locals intermingled. It’s also in numeric order (!). There are additional lists below it, which kind of calls the whole notion of a top-20 into question, but whatever, it’s my list.
Fingers crossed that all of these multimedia embeds don’t break The Internet.
Top 20
1. VHÖL – VHÖL
West-coast supergroup of black & doom metallers dipping into their shared history with/fondness for hardcore & D-beat to make the most exuberant hardrock album of the year. This literally spent a solid 6 months in my car CD player with no breaks.
2. Goner – Faking the Wisdom
These Raleigh indie-rock lifers have been writing gripping character studies of aging townies in a college town for a decade now, but this album is where everything finally exploded fully into multiple dimensions.
3. Savages – Silence Yourself
If you’re not still obsessed with UK postpunk, I don’t know what to do with you. If you are, and you haven’t heard Savages, then … .
4. Scout Niblett – It’s Up to Emma
I never paid that much attention to Scout Niblett, but this one’s such a throat-grabber there was never any question of attention: She demands it from the first note of the first song.
She also put on the show of the year at Hopscotch.
5. Hiss Golden Messenger – Haw
This is the sort of gospel music I can fully embrace: slow Southern country gospel with a strong agnostic streak.
6. Gorguts – Colored Sands
Given that I never really got into death metal the first time around, it’s a little bit baffling even to me that I have two absurdly complex technical death metal albums in my top-20 this year. This is such astonishing music.
7. Audubon Park – Crazy Crazy for Feeling
Audubon Park are scattered across at least three different states, and apparently no longer bother even practicing before recording. And yet their skewed 5-things-at-once indie-rock is better than ever on this album.
Crazy Crazy for Feeling by Audubon Park
8. Lorde – Pure Heroine
You can be cynical & call it electro-pop for middle aged white former rock critic dudes. Or you can be non-cynical & just enjoy her amazing voice.
I determined during her run at #1 that the last time I was unabashedly in love with a #1 single, it was “Nothing Compares 2 U,” which makes too-perfect sense.
9. Midnight Plus One – Midnight Plus One
Such urgently weird rock music, like all the best snippets of 80s/90s Kim-sung Sonic Youth songs distilled down to 2-minute bursts.
Midnight Plus One by Midnight Plus One
10. Desert Heat – Cat Mask at Huggie Temple
The more Steve Gunn & Cian Nugent collaborate, the closer the universe gets to achieving oneness. Another band whose Hopscotch show is solidly in my top-5 for the year.
11. Inter Arma – Sky Burial
When I finally heard this album, I began endlessly kicking myself for all the times I missed these guys at Slim’s.
12. Sylvan Esso – Hey Mami
Just a tiny-but-perfect taste of what this duo has in store for us in 2014, I hope.
Hey Mami / Play It Right by Sylvan Esso
13. Schooner – Neighborhood Veins
All of Reid Johnson’s competing pop/non-pop instincts finally fuse into a fully cohesive & brilliantly realized whole.
Neighborhood Veins by Schooner
14. Arnold Dreyblatt & Megafaun – Appalachian Excitation
I don’t listen to that much experimental pulse/drone music, because when I do, I want it all to be this good, and it rarely is.
15. Inquisition – Obscure Verses for the Multiverse
The most distinctive & unholy black metal racket, all from just two dudes. Dagon’s crazy interstellar demon frog vocals & his utterly unique bend-heavy guitar style are like nothing else in the multiverse.
Obscure Verses for the Multiverse by Inquisition
16. Golden Gunn – Golden Gunn
I love living in a world where two heroes can dream up a goofy 70s boogie haze back-story *and* write & record an amazing album to go with it, all more or less on a lark.
17. Wormed – Exodromos
I only bought this album a few days ago, but it has blown my mind so thoroughly in that time that there’s really no question about its inclusion here. Outer-space tech death with unearthly overtone throat-singing vocals? YES.
18. Bryan & the Haggards featuring Dr. Eugene Chadbourne – Merles Just Want to Have Fun
Eugene Chadbourne has been exploring the overlaps between jazz and country for well over thirty years now, but rarely before has he found such sympatico partners-in-crime as Bryan & the Haggards.
19. Airstrip – Willing
Proving definitively that all krautrock-influenced electropop needs to involve the services of a top-flight heavy metal drummer.
20. Janelle Monáe – Electric Lady
I like the first “suite” on this one better than the second one, and overall it could probably stand to be shorter, but the highlights here are so high that it hardly matters. There is NOBODY else on earth making weirdo futuristic soul music on this level.
Five albums by 90s indie-rock titans that I’m kind of amazed didn’t make my top-20 list
The Kingsbury Manx – Bronze Age
Ten more local releases that I truly enjoyed playing on the radio, every time I did
Eros & the Eschaton – Home Address for Civil War
Felix Obelix – The Ringtone Album
Gross Ghost – Public Housing
Jonny Alright – Sings and Plays His Songs
I’ll probably make a list of memorable local shows I attended, but that’ll require some more thinking.
I posted this on the WXDU blog and I don’t remember if I posted it anywhere else. There’s no pithy commentary, which is weird for me.
Spider Bags – Shake My Head
des ark – Live at WXDU vol 3
Flesh Wounds – AAA
Some Army – EP
Mountain Goats – Transcendental Youth
Horseback – Half Blood
Flute Flies – Yes Means Maybe
Boykiller – Get Get
The Rosebuds – Love Deluxe
Gross Ghost – Brer Rabbit
Top 10 non-local releases:
Pallbearer – Sorrow and Extinction
Swans – The Seer
Mark Eitzel – Don’t Be A Stranger
Rodriguez – Searching for Sugarman OST
Sharon Van Etten – Tramp
Chelsea Wolfe – Unknown Rooms
Matthew E White – Big Inner
Dirty Projectors – Swing Lo Magellan
Lambchop – Mr. M
Bettye LaVette – Thankful n Thoughtful
