the bands I haven't seen, tiny music reviews
Hi everyone! Very glad you reached into your inboxes again, saw my newsletter, and opened it, scanning it quickly for your name.
the bucket list
April is off to a raging start, as I'm seeing Unknown Mortal Orchestra and Tennis on back-to-back nights this weekend. They're both so good. In fact, I've told people "these guys are in my top-ten acts I haven't seen yet, for sure".
But what does that top-ten-acts-I've-never-seen really look like? Who will be on it after Saturday? Let's limit the scope to acts that are still alive (so no Bowie, no Sam Mehran, no Hers), have some commitment to performing (so no Michael Penn or XTC), and that I haven't more-or-less seen most of the components of (so not any of the Mike Patton spinoffs, and I'm not going to make you hear about John Reis again).
- Damon Albarn - Gorillaz has been through a couple times, but I haven't been too sure what a "virtual band" looks like on tour. Given how important Albarn and his music have been in my life, I have to catch him at some point.
- David Byrne - another huge influence and inspiration for me, I have simply not gone out of my way to catch his shows in town of late. There's a rumor that "Nothing But Flowers" was written about the parking lot of my childhood Target store in Coon Rapids, MN. I would be thinking about that thing we have in common if I saw him in person.
- Elvis Costello - this newsletter is old enough to have seen one hastily-rescheduled EC show actually happen at my favorite club, First Avenue. I did not check how steep the secondary market ticket price would be. I might be running out of chances.
- Donald Fagen - I don't hold out hope that the seeing the 75-year-old genius in some arena somewhere would be stellar, but it would be an experience just to be in the room.
- Pinback - Pinback appears on this list so I don't go on about PLOSIVS any further - PLOSIVS features Rob Crow of Pinback, and I've been a huge fan of his for 20+ years. I actually get to cross this off before April ends.
- Radiohead, or maybe The Smile - there's a rumor that Radiohead may be consciously avoiding Minnesota entirely. But at some point, maybe you drive to Milwaukee? (The Smile came there recently.)
- Britney Spears - we don't talk about it much (for reasonable reasons), but Britney Spears will always have my respect for "Blackout". It's brilliant. Is a modern Britney Spears show "worth it"? Almost certainly not. Still, if, some night, I'm in Vegas? I'm in.
- Superdrag - John Davis is a master songwriter, and (a modicum of) fame nearly destroyed him. After a 12-year-break, Superdrag played two shows in Tennessee last year, and are reported to be recording. (Maybe I should make the trip to Tennessee!)
- Pharrell Williams - Pharrell has packed a lot into his career, but I've been an enormous fan for 25 years. I actually could have crossed this off when his "rock band" N*E*R*D was out with Rihanna and that other guy we don't talk about anymore on the "Glow in the Dark" tour. Shame.
- The Wrens, or I guess whatever components ever end up getting near me in whatever shape, so Aeon Station or Charles Bissell. I am so there if any configuration of those dudes comes by.
Honorable mention for Arctic Monkeys, Duran Duran, JAY-Z, Interpol, Dinosaur Jr, and Pavement, though I can't really imagine myself at any of those things.
how I spent my February
I would have loved to have talked with you (or done anything else, really) but the tradition of "#MWE" (Music Writing Exercise) came with me from Twitter to Mastodon. I wrote 27 reviews of 27 albums I'd never heard before in 28 days. (I had stuff going on Super Bowl Sunday.)
Daniel Nordquist: "Tom Dissevelt - Electronic Movements. This is an …" - Mastodon
Attached: 1 image Tom Dissevelt - Electronic Movements. This is an #mwe warmup, really, as it's only four songs, fifteen minutes, and technically a "single". I learned of it yesterday while listening to an interview between Henry Rollins and Mike Patton. The songs here predict synth-based experimental pop - but also reflect the weird jazz / exotica / bachelor-pad stuff of the era. Some pockets are very cinematic, but there's never a sense of "nothing's happening". #Plexamp recommends Squarepusher next. OK?
Anyway, it's all one thread, and it starts there with Tom Dissevelt. If #MWE was not your jam last year, hey, Mastodon allows me to type something like twice as many characters. It's cool.
the year-end mix
I spent a few hours in December putting together a year-end music mix (MP3, 141 MB). What's on it? I forget. (I think just the 2022 songs I listened to the most, without discretion? Also a Kids in the Hall sketch.)
It's a free download! Go get it!
the calendar
April is back-to-back month (I have a number of back-to-back shows, something I try to avoid), but also it's Australia-and-New-Zealand-year (having already seen The Beths and The Church). Try to keep the themes straight.
- Apr 7: Unknown Mortal Ochestra. They're so good. (From Auckland.)
- Apr 8: Tennis. Also so good.
- Apr 22: Pinback. Off the list!
- Apr 22: Sunny Day Real Estate - if Pinback cancels or if I accidentally drive to First Avenue instead of Fine Line.
- Apr 23: Caroline Rose. I saw her twice about five years ago, and she's great, but the new stuff is kinda moody.
- Apr 24: ionnalee. On a "list" of sorts - her "iamamiwhoami" project turned heads on YouTube in the '10s and she's come all the way from Sweden.
- Apr 29: Charly Bliss, maybe, but I have already seen them. They're so good.
In case I get lazy and don't write to you again before May, here's the May plan as far as I know it:
- May 12: Man or Astro-Man? Bonkers that these guys are at the Entry, because I thought they had a following. It's gonna be me and 200 other people tops.
- May 30: YOB, who I know nothing about, but Cave-In opens. Cave-In was a favorite of mine in their chart-chasing pop-metal days, but they're much less radio-friendly now. Having survived the Pusha T crowd, I am no longer afraid of dying at a metal show.
Thanks guys! Bye!