T. McAfee performs Feb. 10 at Zanzabar, one of Germantown’s newest nightspots that has been lacking in hip hop bookings. The free, 21-and-over show starts at 10 p.m., with McAfee and DJ Empty Beatz on the tables. If this show does well, we can only hope this becomes a regular feature on South Preston. T. McAfee has begun work on the follow up to his excellent Courtesy of Self, and promises The Prequel will drop later this year. —Damien McPherson
See them Feb. 11 @ Headliners Music Hall with Disappears.
Tortoise - Prepare Your Coffin from Thrill Jockey Records on Vimeo.
Johnny Spanish drops the video for “The Shining,” this time as a remix featuring featuring Nappy Roots. Listen to the remix courtesy of Johnny’s Twitter. —Damien McPherson
The J. Wagner Group is launching a new weekend concert series begins Feb. 5 with Soul River Brown. Ladies get in free, guys pay $2, and there will be a $5 donation for shows benefitting VH1’s Save The Music Foundation.
2/12: Southern Comfort Mardi Gras Party with Hambone
2/19: The John Sutton Sand*
2/26: Fusionary
3/5: Kevin Cummings
3/12: 64 West
3/19: Southern Comfort Presents Wax Factory*
3/26: Justin Lewis & Chasing Midnight
*Benefits VH-1 Save the Music Foundation
The Feb. 26 all ages show with Ben Sollee and Daniel Martin Moore has been moved to The Brown Theatre. Tickets are $25 and are on sale now. If you bought a ticket for this show in its previous venue, The Bomhard Theater, the box office will call to re-seat you in the Brown. Tickets can be purchased at The Kentucky Center box office, www.kentuckycenter.org or by phone (502) 584-7777, (800) 775-7777 or TTY (502) 562-0730.
Sollee and Moore’s new album Dear Companion drops Feb. 16 on Sub Pop.
Paul Kopasz and Joee Conroy stop by to talk about Gavage Vol. 1 Queen of Hearts, the first in a new series for the prolific songwriter. Paul performs a solo set on Feb. 24 at Al’s Bar in Lexington and Feb. 26 at Southgate House, but a release show is in the works for March at Monkey Wrench. More details as we get them.
No, we still haven’t been able to schedule quality time with Robert Schneider to talk about AIS’ impending album, Travellers In Time And Space. In due time. For now:
April 16 @ Lexington, Ky.: Cosmic Charlie’s
April 17 @ Morgantown, W.Va.: 123 Pleasant St.
April 18 @ Washington, D.C.: The Rock & Roll Hotel
April 20 @ Philadelphia: Johnny Brenda’s
April 21 @ New York: Bowery Ballroom
April 23 @ Cambridge, Mass.: Middle East Underground
April 24 @ Ithaca, N.Y.: Castaways
April 25@ Rochester, N.Y.: Bug Jar
April 27@ Cleveland: Grog Shop
April 28 @ Pontiac, Mich.: The Pike Room
April 30 @ Chicago: Lincoln Hall
May 1 @ St. Paul, Minn.: Turf Club
May 3 @ Milwaukee: Turner Hall
May 4 @ St. Louis: Billiken Club
For one week only, all comers can get the excellent collaboration between emcee Nacirema and producer Dr. Gonzo for the low, low price of nothing via Nacirema’s Bandcamp site. This was easily one of my favorite hip-hop albums of 2009. They begin work on a new album for release later this year, so grab this while the price is right. —Damien McPherson
Daniel Higgs
Feb. 2 @ Skull Alley
DANIEL HIGGS (ex-Lungfish)
STELLAR OM SOURCE
NATHAN SALSBURG
8 p.m. $5
all ages, beer w/ ID
“Daniel A.I.U Higgs, Interdimensional Song-Seamstress and Corpse-Dancer of the Mystic Crags was born in the Harbor City of Baltimore, USA in the early-mid ’60s of the previous millenium. Having begun singing 25 years ago, he is perhaps best known as the singer and lyricist of the band Lungfish, which is now, as it often has been, quasi if not entirely defunct. Presently, the music Daniel manifests proceeds without the blessing/curse and help/hinderance of collaborative influence. Daniel currently has three solo albums available, “Magic Alphabet” on Ian MacKaye’s Northern Liberties imprint, Ancestral Songs on Holy Mountain and Atomic Yggdrasil Tarot, the new book/cd and LP on Thrill Jockey.
Coming all the way from Holland, Stellar OM Source is the solo project of electronic musician and visionary artist Christelle Gualdi. According to Daniel, SOS makes “soundscapes for soul transport.”
Archivist, writer, record label owner and Americana/folk musician Nathan Salsburg rounds out the show.
Photo: Cassie Doumas
Yardsale
Jan. 30
Vernon Club
Yardsale’s current lineup is by far the largest and tightest they’ve had, which you need to be if you open with The Band’s “Don’t Do It.” They followed with two cuts of Yardsale’s previous album This Week, “Last To Know” and “While She Sleeps.” I’d only seen them once before, at an outdoor block party where the sound was mostly lost to passing traffic and the wind. Damn, this band has energy. They play like they have something to prove, and the first three songs proved to be a warm-up when second vocalist Kirk Kiefer announced they will play their new album, Knock Alley West, in its entirety, “Because that’s what you’re supposed to do at these things, right?”
“Until I Can’t Remember” is an uptempo swing that is ’60s-era Rolling Stones with a David Byrne-style yelp on the hook. Colin Garcia’s drums drive the song, while the two-piece horn section of Melanie Dillman and Elmer White provide depth and color. Why every band in this town doesn’t have a horn section is beyond me. Midway through comes the centerpiece and strongest cut of the night, the anthemic “Mississippi’s Flooding,” Yardsale’s “Purple Rain.” Every concert they do from this point on should close with this song, complete with lighters-in-the-air, 15 minutes-and-everybody-gets-a-solo fervor. Chris Scott’s lead guitar makes nearly every face in the room a “funk face” (Look at pictures of your favorite guitarists mid-solo. That’s the funk face.) as the band drives you higher and higher until the interplay of guitar and drum end the song on an abrupt downbeat. Exhale.
Speaking of “Higher,” as the album’s last note fades off the stage, and the thank yous and applause die down, the band reaches down for one more: the completely unexpected Sly & The Family Stone classic “I Want To Take You Higher.” This gets the people out of their seats. If I had any complaints about the show at all, it was the presence of the chairs around the stage. This band is made for dancing. They swing, and for far too much of the show, the crowd was resting their feet, with only the occasional brave soul bounding past the front row to do a few steps. Take those chairs away, and you’re going to have a full-on square-dance.
Yardsale is playing several shows over the next few weeks in support of Knock Alley. Make sure you catch at least one. Don’t be surprised if this is not the next band to blow up outside our borders. —Damien McPherson