'08's Music to Love More Than Music: Love, Pt. 3

Love (<)
The Dodos - Visiter
People went absolutely gaga over this album, and I still think that it is very good, but not the best thing ever. I think the methods of songwriting are very inventive, and the drumming is fantastic, but I was overall kind of underwhelmed, especially considering all the hype surrounding the group. Even live the songs were kind of more drab than I had expected. That said, the songs themselves are heart warming, soothing, and masterfully composed.
The Dodos - Red and Purple

The Alligators - See Ya Later (it might just be called "EP" though...)
Ever since I saw Seve vs. Evan (one of my all time favorite bands), I've trusted anything they think is awesome. The Alligators are on that list. Also from Provo, this group makes some pretty cute electro power pop. It's not the best formed music ever, but that adds to the quaintness of the Alligators and, man, they show a lot of promise, and each song has it's own cutsie qualities that cannot be denied.
The Alligators - Oh Oh Oh

The Heartbreak Scene - The Szabo Songbook
Destroyer's Dan Bejar and Marcy Emery (from various other projects) came together to perform the songs of Mark Szabo, a friend of Marcy's. The songs are very good, and the performance of them doesn't lack depth at all. Yeah, it's an album of guitar songs and sweet singing, and it's honestly only incredibly interesting to fans of Destroyer, but it's still a great little album.
The Heartbreak Scene - Love Outside Movies

Tall Firs - Too Old To Die Young
A great example of stellar musicianship, but ... I dunno ... it didn't grab me as much as I think it ought to have. I really enjoyed parts, but as an album I found it sort of forgettable. Still, when the right parts hit, they were fantastic.
Tall Firs - So Messed Up

Sian Alice Group - 59.59
Long, ambient stretches between songs, but they set the mood for gloriously underwhelming performances. I mean for that to be a compliment, but I just can't phrase it to say what I want it to and say it nicely. I think the slower points of the album are some of the high points, and it always seems like its heading toward a huge build up that it never quite makes it to, but for some reason I really like that.
Sian Alice Group - When...

Showbread - Anorexia
I honestly think this is what Showbread has been building up to for a while. This is their best album by far. Considering the hooky nature of the songs and the energy that they have put into everything I've ever heard by them, there's no way I could have given this album a poor rating. It was awesome. I think it may be the best that this get up can produce considering their sound.
Showbread - The Sky

"That's Four Days. We're Gonna Live Forever"

A few Monday nights ago (4/21), Brian and I went down to see our friends Lil' Slugger, who happened to be playing a show with The Dodos, a band that has gotten a lot of friendly press as of late. We got down there a little early, so we hit up Twist & Shout, where I picked up an old Accept vinyl and he picked up a few random LP he's had on his list for a while. After getting food, we headed into the Hi-Dive, just as the first band was starting their set.

There are some half decent recordings of the show, which I've hosted at the bottom of this post.
Golden Brown is an eclectic little bluegrassy post-rockish band from Denver. This being the first time I'd ever even heard of them, I was fairly impressed. During one song they sounded like a Bluegrass/Post-Rock version of Mastodon, which was both awesome and awkward, making it more awesome than I could have expected. I was honestly impressed by not only their skill as musicians, but by their stage presences. They were not afraid to mess around and have some fun, which shinned through not only in their music, but in their banter. It's nice to see nice bands.

Lil' Slugger was up next, after a surprisingly short set up time. This being only the second time I've seen them, I was pretty excited to see how they were in a higher profile place (granted, the Hi-Dive isn't the Pepsi Center, but it's certainly no Alley House either). As some of you may or may not know, I absolutely adore their album, and look forward to getting my hands on their new EP (which may or may not be out by now ... I'm honestly not certain). This night they played, in the opinion of my buddy Brian, the most together that they have ever played. This may be music to the band members of Lil' Slugger's ears, but, maybe not. Either way, I think it was a stellar performance. Their songs were just as awkward and crazy live as they were on the album, and I certainly appreciated that. A few people in the crowd didn't so much, but Lil' Slugger took the situation and made lemonade out of it by inviting the hecklers (along with a few friends) on stage for the last song to bang around different things. Just a grand old time.

The Dodos were on next, and the Hi-Dive made a collective smoosh towards the front, any spot where a person could fit, a person fit themselves. I don't know how packed it actually was in there, but the stage was certainly more than crowded. To be entirely honest, I was a little disenchanted with the Dodos, but I don't think it was their fault, I think it was plainly that the drums were mixed waaaaaaaaaay high, and that you couldn't really hear the guitar or, really, much else other than the drums. Their songs are inventive and different and gimmicky, and, as some of you may or may not know, sometimes I'm a sucker for gimmicky. I just can't get past the fact that the drums were just overwhelming, which wouldn't really have been a problem had the drum beats had more variety. This isn't a slam to the drummer, I think the drum parts are exactly what the songs need, it's just that when that's all you can hear, it gets a little old. Had the drums been mixed lower, I would have liked it a lot more.

For the most part, the bad was well received, being called back for 2 encores, but ... I dunno ... I may miss their next trip through Denver unless they're supporting a new album. See them to see them I guess.

Artists: Golden Brown, Lil' Slugger, The Dodos
Date: 2008-04-21
Venue: The Hi-Dive, Denver, CO

Golden Brown - 1
Golden Brown - 2
Golden Brown - 3
Golden Brown - 4
Golden Brown - 5
Golden Brown - 6
Lil' Slugger - 1
Lil' Slugger - 2
Lil' Slugger - 3
Lil' Slugger - 4
Lil' Slugger - 5
Lil' Slugger - 6
Lil' Slugger - 7
Lil' Slugger - 8
The Dodos - 1
The Dodos - 2
The Dodos - 3
The Dodos - 4
The Dodos - 5
The Dodos - 6
The Dodos - 7
The Dodos - 8

As a side note, I just want to say that I really enjoy this whole "scheduled posting" thing that Blogger has implemented.

The Dodos - Visiter
Verdict: Love More (<3)
What can I say? The drums make this album. If anyone out there wants to know what Lead Drums sounds like, give this shit a whorl.
The Dodos - Red and Purple
The Dodos - Joe's Waltz
The Dodos - Paint the Rust