"Life is Like ... Mario Brothers 1 ... Because You Can't Go Back"

(I've discovered I prefer the way blurry pictures look over how regular pictures look.)

I love Denver during the beginning of the summer, which is possibly caused by the fact that I love both Denver and the beginning of the summer, regardless of whether or not the two are attached. Why do I love the beginning of the summer? because it's hot, and after all that cold, one yearns for some heat. The only thing that could've made this trip I took to Denver, during the beginning of the summer, better would be if I had gone to a show. Well shoot, I happened to have done just that.

Down at the Larimer Lounge 3 bands were fixin to make this night quite the evening (especially since they had to compete with M.I.A. at the Fillmore [which, in my mind, was no competition, because I hate the sound system the Fillmore has]). Between each act (and during the first one), a spoken word artist, Ken Arkind, said a SLAM poem or two, and I personally think it was a nice addition. He and I actually talked for a little bit, but seeming how I'm hella awkward when I'm alone at shows, it was like a 2 seconds encounter ... haha ... yeah ... anyway...

Local act Achille Lauro started off the night. Now, one must understand that I have a certain affinity towards local bands (granted, sometimes this affinity stretches to bands that are local to places where I don't live, but that's beside the current point). That said, I liked Achille Lauro. Sometimes I think the guitar was a little too loud, sometimes the vocals were nearly imperceivable, sometimes the only thing one could truly make out was the drums. Maybe this was the sound they were going for, maybe the sound man didn't understand what the band would have wanted to sound like, I don't know. When the band did shine through, I caught glimpses of The Fray, which scared me, because I hate the Fray, and I didn't want to hate these guys. Achille Lauro did however play some fairly interesting instrumentals and did, a few times, remind me a bit of Explosions in the Sky, which certainly did not scare me, because I love me some Explosions in the sky. Over all, I don't think I'd pay to just see them, but I would see their presence on a lineup of other bands that I would pay to see as a good thing, and listen hopefully. I think they're on their way to making a good sound. (drop the fray sound though).

Up next was Kid Dakota, the band I was most anxious to see. Ian Prince, drummer, and I talked for a little while prior to Achille Lauro taking the stage, and from that short conversation I can tell you he's a rad, genuine person. This got me even more stoked for their performance. I'd only ever heard their studio recordings, so I was anxious to see how it translated into live material, and, truthfully, I was a little ... not bored ... not let down ... just ... mediocre-d. The first two or so songs were really light with the drumming and for some reason Darren Jackson's voice didn't reach through my sternum and shake me up like it did on the albums. I began to think that maybe this was just how they were live. I didn't give up hope that it was going to be stupendous though. And, after a little bit, I was rewarded for my faith. The powers that be must have been sleeping for a moment, but they were certainly on top of things by the 3rd or so song, because the energy shot from the duo like nerve gas (what am I even babbling on about?). What I mean to say is that they really kicked it up a notch, and from then on in it was just magnificent. No, not the loudest duo, not the fastest or most distorted or most dancy, but certainly being full of soul and talent makes up for those things. I think it does. I find it interesting, and non-coincidental, that Ian is a Battles fan (he was wearing one of their shirts), because his drumming reminded me a lot of the intelligent but well fitting beats that Battles' drummer, John Stanier, tends to throw at us (we're talking Hi-Lo here, not Atlas). Darren actually reminded me a lot of Jeff Mangum during the last half of the set. Granted, only because of how he sounded, because I've not been lucky enough to actually see Jeff Mangum perform. Anyway, I have to say these guys, for me, stole the show.

How could they steal the show when Cloud Cult played after them? I have to start here: When I saw Cloud Cult at the Monolith Music festival last year, it was the first time I'd seen them. Having fallen in love with their album The Meaning of 8 just 8 or 9 months prior, I was rather stoked to see them. So when they took the stage and played and I didn't feel as overcome with pure unadulterated joy as I had hoped I would (regardless of what I may or may not have said in my post on their performance), I made excuses. I told myself it was because the Flaming Lips were playing at the same time and the sound was just mixing very awkwardly. I told myself that it was because it was an outside performance on a huge stage, 2 things I've very much not used to when it comes to seeing bands. I had hoped that was true. This night, after they took the stage, I could tell things weren't going to be as good as I hoped. Cloud Cult played their freaking hearts and souls out, there is absolutely no doubt about that. Larimer Lounge is not known for their epic sound system. There are just so many things to think about and consider when I remember this show. All I can say is that I love their music. LOVE it. And they perform their songs well. I just know that I didn't leave with the feeling I was hoping for. See them live though, I really do encourage it, because everyone else was just doubled over in bliss.

I was not too upset though, because I was to see them again the next day. I'll tell you how that went in a few days. In the mean time, here is the live recording of the show:

Artist: Ken Arkind, Kid Dakota, and Cloud Cult
Date: 2008-05-17
Venue: Larimer Lounge, Denver, CO

Ken Arkind - Maggie
Kid Dakota - Smokestack
Kid Dakota - (why do you think we need)
Kid Dakota - Crossin' Fingers
Kid Dakota - Winterkill
Kid Dakota - Transfusion
Kid Dakota - So Pretty
Kid Dakota - Lungs That Try To Breathe
Kid Dakota - Ivan
Kid Dakota - Pilgrim
Ken Arkind - (A Love Poem)
Ken Arkind - (A Short Pop Song About Videogames)
Cloud Cult - intro
Cloud Cult - Hope
Cloud Cult - No One Said It Would Be Easy
Cloud Cult - Pretty Voice
Cloud Cult - We Made Up Your Mind For You
Cloud Cult - Please Remain Calm
Cloud Cult - Chain Reaction
Cloud Cult - Story of the Grandson of Jesus
Cloud Cult - Happy Hippo
Cloud Cult - The Ghost Inside Our House
Cloud Cult - A Girl Underground
Cloud Cult - Hurricane and Fire Survival Guide
Cloud Cult - Everybody Here Is a Cloud
Cloud Cult - Take Your Medicine
Cloud Cult - Chemicals Collide
Cloud Cult - (Instrumental)
Cloud Cult - The Tornado Lessons
Cloud Cult - Love You All (encore)

Jandek is coming to town.

Yes. Yes. Yes. Jandek people. Jandek is coming to town. Who, might you ask? refer to this post I did a while back. Go here to buy your ticket. I heard a rumor there were only around 200.

"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.

"Whoa-ooo-ooohhh-ooo-oohhhh!"

This band named HEALTH came to town, and I went to see them, because that's what you do when HEALTH comes to town. It was at Rhinoceropolis, so it started somewhere around 10PM and went until Late-O'clock, but that's part of the charm of Rhinoceropolis. As luck would have it the batteries for my audio recorder were dead, so this time I only had the camera. Oh well, maybe one day both of them will be working at the same time.

Anyway, the first band was a new group by the name of Hot White. Being somewhere in the range of 16 years old, I have to hand it to them for not only having the balls to play this type of music, but do it at Rhino ... but, then again, I was ignorant to most things this hip when I was 16, so maybe this is a trend that will become more prevalent. I personally hope so. That said, they were all right. Not the best thing ever, but I pride effort over performance with bands like this, which is sometimes a fault of mine. After their performance they handed out free white Hanes shirts with "Hot" spray-painted on it. Now all I want to know is whether or not it'll ruin my other clothes if I wash them together. I guess I'll just have to find out... Anyway, I honestly expect to see these guys to some good in the music scene, just listen to their demos:

Hot White - Ocho
Hot White - De Ocho
Hot White - Song Four

Up next was Everybody's Stomached. Their performance reminded me of a more noise oriented version of High Places, with a percussionist and a singer, except the percussionist also played what looked like an electric ukulele and the singer also played guitar. I only got one good photo of them, and it's of the singer so that's that. They were interesting but I really couldn't really make out much of what was going on. If that was the point, then well done fellas. I can't find any music site for them, so I guess if you're interested in them, just watch for fliers.

Legendary HEALTH began to set up shortly after, and that took a little while, which gave the crowd ample time to ... well ... crowd the front. Julio, who was there to see HEALTH and to a photo essay for the Denver Post, was promptly pushed right up and next to me. HEALTH began, and the crowd went nuts sending many people flying in different directions (including Julio who ended up breaking his flash a little bit). Dance Noise Math Punk, my friends, is ... well ... Freaking rad when HEALTH plays it. The room was nuts for their entire set, rarely letting up. I wish I could see them every night.

HEALTH - Crimewave
HEALTH - Triceratops
HEALTH - Heaven
HEALTH - Perfect Skin

After HEALTH were all packed up, the majority of the audience left, which was really a shame, because Pictureplane was up last. After he set up, the lights were dimmed and he shit was turned way up. The crowd was in a rowdy mood after HEALTH, so Travis' stuff was almost knocked over a few times, but everything turned out all right, the new songs were very well received, and everyone who stayed had a bombastic time, including me.

Pictureplane - Found Too Low RMX (Featuring Zach Condon of Beruit)
HEALTH - Lost Time (Pictureplane Remix)
Pictureplane - double sets of lungs now

Go here to get a Pictureplane live set I recorded a long time ago (if it's not working and you still want it, let me know, sometimes those old links die pretty quickly)