Tonight at 5:00pm on Public Access Channel 17’s live public affairs show LiveWire! catch 2008 SAMMIES pop nominee The Ancient Sons. What you’ll like about The Ancient Sons is their melancholy Syd Barrett sound — this is not your typical ’60s throwback band. Expect a review of the Son’s debut album “The Dark Gospel” on this site soon…
Fans of late ’90s electro (for lack of a synonym) rockers ELECTRO GROUP rejoice! The band is playing a hometown show for the first time in forever, to back their late-2006 2007 release “Good Technology” on Claire Records clairecords. I hope they do that one song with the crunchy guitars and the mumbly singing. I kid the Electro Group! Their last full-length, “A New Pacifica” on the defunct Omnibus records, is a great record, and the reviews are very positive for “Good Technology.”
I’m also very intrigued by Holy Smokes, which Electro Group bassist Ian Hernandez formed with Pinback’s Rob Crow and Hella’s Zach Hill. My brain can’t generate a sonic “If They Mated” for Pinback and Hella, but it sounds interesting! A few MP3s are available via the label’s site (only bother if you have ever listened to Hella and thought, let’s tone that down by maybe 2-3% and add cool vocals).
Continue reading “Electro Group live at Old I on May 22 (w/mp3)” »
The Concerts of All Hallows, one of only 2 Catholic parish full symphony orchestras in the nation, is featuring a double bill this weekend — Dvořák’s Cello Symphony and Mozart’s Grand Mass in C Minor. The concert is at 8pm at All Hallows Catholic Church in beautiful Tahoe Park. I have been noticing signs advertising the concert and then my wife pointed out the bit about the orchestra’s notoreity — the other Catholic parish orchestra is in a little church called St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City. Come for the orchestral music, stay for the eternal salvation!
The Concerts of All Hallows
Dvořák - Cello Concerto/Mozart - Grand Mass in C Minor
Saturday, May 17 - 8pm
Tickets at ticketweb.com
Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks will be performing tonight at Harlow’s. Malkmus was the primary songwriter for Sac-Joaquin Valley 90’s legends Pavement, and has fronted the Portland-based Jicks since 2000. The band will be supporting their new release Real Emotional Trash, his 4th album post-Pavement, and is the first major tour for the act in several years as Malkmus is a recent parent.
Attendees can expect hipsters enjoying butt-bouncingly infectious tunes accompanied by witty lyrical poetry and blistering psychedelic guitar solos. Don’t miss out on a great band that happens to include two indie-rock luminaries, SM and former Sleater-Kinney drummer Janet Weiss.
So I finally caught wind that rapper Kanye West made the classic concert no-no in calling out the wrong city during his show at Arco Arena on Friday.
Kanye quickly apologized on his blog:
PLEASE FORGIVE ME SAC-TOWN
04.19.2008I can’t believe I bust a spinal tap! It’s no excuse for this I wish I could sink in a black whole. When I said Seattle and there was no crowd response I was up on my spaceship platform thinking damn… I think I just said the wrong city!!!!! I kind of muffled the words so I was praying nobody really caught it. I guess all those hours that me and Phill spent making my mic clear as possible back fired on me! We had alot of problems with the video servers on the first 3 songs and that completely threw me off! Hey, I’m not perfect. Hope everybody had a good time. I’m a man, I can say it… I’m sorry.
Maybe Kanye heard that Sacramento hates hip hop?
Note: A few commenters on this blog picked up on the “Sac Town” reference. People are funny.
Nick Miller blogs at Sound Advice today that the words “Sac Hates Hip Hop” have been tagged on boarded-up former site of the Library, which closed last year after a fatal shooting.
What would it take to prove that Sac does not hate hip hop? Would it entail a single Sacramentan saying they love hip hop? Would a hip hop issue of Sac Mag settle the deal? Would Mayor Fargo have to freestyle at city council meetings?
Eau contraire, mon graffito, I think it is you who hate painted walls.
The nominations for the 2008 Sammies readers’ choice are up at SNR. Just looking at the list of great local bands really makes you dig our local scene dunnit?
(The Ancient Sons!!)
All that talk about local radio made me remember one of my favorite local shows that I’ve always meant to highlight: “Color Radio” on KVMR. Host Brian Lee spins doo-wop, R&B, and rock ‘n’ roll (see the double ‘ RG?) from 4-6 pm Saturday evening on KVMR Nevada City, 89.5 on your FM dial. Lee has a great gravelly radio voice and is somewhat of a savant about the classic wax he spins. Don’t expect to hear the Beach Boys or the boys from Liverpool: you’ll hear a couple of recognizable tunes but mostly you’ll hear a solid 2 hours of great old music. A recent playlist includes the Velveteens, Big Maybelle, the Drifters, and Mickey & Sylvia.
Rachel Leibrock has a great, although brief, profile on KYDS 91.5 FM in this morning’s Bee. I do love KYDS, although the eclectic radio thing only goes so far for me. I like alternative radio because of the niche programming but it has to be that–programming. Throwing everything on the air but the Kitchen Sink (unless that is an obscure Lithuanian band, in which case it’s probably on their playlist) at a certain point just turns into The Jack or The Bob or whatever, only with substantially less BTO, which let’s face it we all need.
Leibrock highlights the station’s “45-hour audiothon” this weekend; the kids are hoping to raise a modest $2,000 for its reserve funds.
Overall it’s a good read. She must have given KYDS more than a half hour after placing a call before she ran her story!
It’s been a little over a year since I saw Agent Ribbons play, for the first and only time, opening for the Dead Hensons at Old Ironsides. When they had finished their set, I was left with the satisfied feeling that one gets after seeing a very promising band at the beginning. Unfortunately, that summed up what I knew about the band. Shows came and went and I twiddled my thumbs, barely registered their passing until on Monday I finally got the gumption to see them. I even braved the echo chamber that is the Press Club, wary of the fact that I’ve been near deaf for days after going to punk shows there.
Agent Ribbons, of course, is nothing like punk. Their collection of love songs is charming, pleasantly full of sass and embodies a whimsy more along the lines of LA’s the Ditty Bops, though without the signature vocal harmonies and less complex songs. However, the lyrics are intricate and clever; paired with the music, the songs bring to mind the some Anne of Green Gables universe where troubles are something that can be kissed away. Considering that Agent Ribbons boasts a mere two musicians, drummer Lauren Hess and singer/guitarist Natalie Gordon who play without a backing band, they’re also remarkably complete. “Birds and Bees,” a fifties throwback ballad, is filled in on the chorus with a quickly strummed guitar and Lauren’s tom playing keeping time until the music simplifies to the next verse to give attention to the lyrics.
Continue reading “Sacramento’s Darlings: Agent Ribbons at the Press Club” »
Copyright © 2008 The Sac Rag. All rights hella reserved. Powered by WordPress. Hosted by Cornerhost.
