Stacey Raskin @ The Fire Escape – July 29, 2005

The Fire Escape in Citrus Heights was graced with the presence of one Stacey Raskin ( http://www.4amp.net/naturalmystic/ , http://www.myspace.com/staceyandhersongs/ ), a 19 year old songwriter / musician. Stacey has been playing shows for 2 years, and her blend of soulful folk could be described as finger pickin’ good.

Stacey breathes life into her songs with significant depth to her chord progressions. Combined with exquisite tones vocally, her songs could be deemed rather favorable without lyrical content. But she also is capable of delivering insightful lines of prose to complete her craft. Few artists have such a grasp of the art so young to deliver such a competent product. Stacey is truly a local artist to watch.

At times in her songs she will bend her voice to deliver hums and gasps that will make you melt. Even the casual bar patrons at the club were struck by her grace on stage. Her soul is very apparent to the audience, and her ability to take a stage and transmit herself is impressive.

Stacey’s material is far from pop oriented, rooted more in folk and jazz. Her songs have similar intensity throughout, and that lack of diversity is the mark of a newer writer who hasn’t gotten bored with similar themes and tempos. But I believe strongly that she will evolve into as serious a force on the Sacramento scene as she wishes, although the market locally is flooded with peers of similar format. But few are as talented and confident…

Ratings:

Musicianship: 8
Songwriting Prowess : 7
Stage Presence : 6

Ms. Raskin is talented. I don’t believe anyone would argue otherwise. She enjoys performing and is very likeable. Should she continue to apply herself and write with passion as her compass, she will become a staple of the Sacramento music scene and possibly more.

Radiocure @ The Fox and Goose – July 23, 2005

The Fox and Goose was decently filled for a band called Radiocure (radiocure.com) this past Saturday. The stoic atmosphere of the club was complemented with upbeat pop rock from the local act.

Radiocure’s 14 song set included pop oriented country / alternative tunes. The five piece is composed of two singer / guitar players, bass, keys, and percussion (very talented, kudos).Two to three years in age, the band is very professional musically but a bit shy in audience interaction. The band could be compared in styling to Death Cab for Cutie, The Long Winters, or Matthew Sweet, but lacking similar writing ability. The act takes their name from a Wilco lyric, and makes strides to aspire to the likes.

The double guitar attack left the keyboard melodies indiscernible. Aside from a keyed intro at the start of one song, it was not present. The mix of the club was too heavy on vocals, an area the band is not as accomplished in, as say, their overall tightness musically. The material more country in nature was better executed and more complete artistically than the rest of the set.

With one catchy, radio friendly song, the act could reach a bit of success. They have the look, the presence, and they appear to enjoy performing. I recommend seeing them, I will again. They could be an acquired taste…end.

Ratings
Musicianship: 8
Songwriting Prowess: 3
Stage Presence: 5

Overall composition was satisfactorily done; the band clearly has put in the time for preparation. But generic themes littered with cliché notations and sub-par emotion left me unaffected.

Number 57, no wait… 56 with a bullet

I have blogged previously about the Top Sites list but I’d like to point out that after only a week or so of membership on the list your friends here at The Sac Rag are up to #56 (as of this writing) on the list. Our next opponent? The Crest Theater. You’re going down, beloved Sacramento landmark! Eat our shorts. I’m serious: first go buy our shorts, then open up the UPS package and eat them.

Sample this

Came across this article (RR) in the Bee today. This is something we used to do in college regularly when our Top Ramen supplies ran out.

    “The friendly allure of the demo dollies is made more attractive by the free nourishment they give in such quantities; company policy is to let shoppers have as much as they want.”

There you go all you Hornets and Aggies out there, don’t ever say your friends at the Rag never did anything for you!

Housing Boom or Bust or Boom?

As we say at The Rag, “if you live here, you’ll know,” and nowhere is that phrase more appropriate than when discussing the housing market in Sacramento. Whether you are on the outside looking in or sitting pretty in a 4 walled gold mine, you will certainly appreciate this little gem from our friends at the Bee. Just browse the article names mentioned on the right column (they seem to be dynamically generated and therefore may not appear after publishing). “House market in flux” – “‘For sale’ signs are increasing” – “Housing boom slows” – “Realtors see solid housing market”…whiskey tango foxtrot?

As long as we are on the topic check out the Capital region home sales by zip code and tell me you’re not a bit surprised. Specifically, the median price paid per square foot. Not bad for a cow town, huh?

Bonzi Is A Fun Name To Say

The Kings got Bonzi Wells in a three-way deal. Bobby Jackson and Greg Ostertag are leaving Sacramento in the deal.

I’m sad yet relieved to see Bobby go. He couldn’t stay healthy the past few years – if he had, we might have a ring (we? Ha!). Tag? Good riddance.

I’m excited for BONZI though, mostly because Bonzi is a really fun name to say. Also, he’s a beast. We need more beasts.

And pot dealers – get ready! Business is about to go up!

Say goodbye to Little Lucky’s

Via the Bee’s Anita Creamer, I have just learned that Albertson’s is going to close up its small store on 48th and J street in East Sac, always and forever known to loyal fans of the dingy throwback market as “Little Lucky’s.”

I invite our readers to comment on the passing of this institution my posting their memories of Little Lucky’s in the comments box. (I wish I had done the blogging thing back when they closed Frankie’s Pharmacy!) My own fondest memory of Little Lucky’s is that I once pilfered a gumball from the candy display there, and then a week later showed up looking for a job. Ah, nostalgia. Ah, youthful pilfering. I vow to return that gumball, or more likely its monetary equivalent (adjusted for 2005 dollars) to the store before it closes next week.

(By the way, I did eventually work a summer at Albertson’s, the big one on Folsom, and it was the absolute worst job I have ever had. More on that sometime.)

Local company to help destroy television

Via Bob Shallit, apparently a local company called ISO Talent (in search of) is going to be providing reality shows with “colorful contestants.” Meaning the next time I want to smash teevee good with club, it will have a local angle!

Check out their “Coming Soon” website (I assume this is them)… “If you are the owner of this web site you have not uploaded (or incorrectly uploaded) your web site.” Nice!

Sacto’s online scene: Sleazy with a Capitol S

Did you get my punny entry title? Anyway, one of the reasons RonTopofIt and I started this blog was our perception that there was an overall dearth of local Websites that were not of the “pictures of hootchies at the Distillery” variety. Ugh. The non-aptly named Sacramento’s Top 25 list of Websites is full of this kind of PG-13/TV-MA rated crap. What is up with that, Sacramento? we asked ourselves. Why does it seem like it’s either FairyTaleTown.org or BlueCueSkanks.com? Family fun in the hot hot sun or the sleazy Sacto singles scene? Right in the middle is where we wanted to position ourselves.

As we look into it further we’re finding plenty of decent blogs out there covering local stuff. Start with Postcards from Sacramento and work your way around this interconnected network of computers we call the Information Superhighway. And stay away from the benign-sounding site “916 Online.” Nothing that will get you fired from work, but nothing that will make you happy you live in this fair city, either.