!!!Major Announcement!!!

My Morning Jacket will be headlining and helping to curate this year's 10th Forecastle Festival here on Louisville's waterfront.  The festival with band members Jim James and Patrick Hallahan made the announcement this morning in a joint press conference.

Album Review

Silver Tongues

Black Kite

Karate Body Records

 

“Can someone tell me where I’m going; I forgot, caught up in the showing…”

-Silver Tongues

“Greater Times”

On their debut album Black Kite, Silver Tongues have finally given a voice to despondence.  Something so dark but passively optimistic that you can’t help but want to submerge yourself completely in the quiet madness these nine tracks.

The album opens with a stomp, a clap, and a single note.  Sparingly arranged “Highway” is uncomfortably intimate.  It’s like rattling around in the skull of a man who’s caught in the fall between a ledge and the sidewalk below.  Dave Cronin’s vocals are soaring and angelic, no question.  But he also sings with a visceral urgency that drives the underlying pulse of Black Kite – and makes it an album that’s impossible to ignore.

Beyond the fact that my irrational ear decided the opening chord of the title track sounded The Beatles’ classic “Yesterday” – this is a band of innovators.  A group of guys making something they’ve never heard but have always felt.  And ultimately Black Kite is a mellow album.  The band does a fine job of layering without sounding abrasive or self-indulgent.  The tracks are often completely unassuming, but drive you to peel away each instrument, one-by-one, to catch a fleeting glimpse of the album’s emotional core.  Michael Campbell’s guitar, while rarely ever stepping into the forefront – leaves stark, plucked notes all over the record, opening each track up so it can breathe.  And when you have a band capable of such instrumental depth, it opens up Cronin’s lyrics to carry the weight of profundity throughout this collection.

It’s easy to get lost here, the way one could get lost in Springsteen’s Nebraska.  Black Kite is haunting, no doubt, but there’s a sprawling airiness to it, as well.  They seem to want to exist in that calmness that happens before an inevitable catastrophe.  One of the few lessons I’ve learned in my thirty years is that there is an internal peace that comes with embracing pending doom – and that that embrace is precisely what Silver Tongues have captured so superbly on Black Kite. 

By the time his voice swirls into the last song, the nostalgic “Home” – you’re ready to wind back around to a stomp, a clap, and a single note.

They will be performing January 28^th at Headliner’s Music Hall w/ Cheyenne Marie Mize, and Dare Dukes.  $5, 9:00 PM

Cannot wait...

Royal Baths have a new album out next month with fantastic title:  Better Luck Next Life.  They have recently released a video for "Black Sheep" and a stream of "Darling Divine" both over at Pitchfork

In Memorium...

Etta James

1938-2012

Sadly, the now late, great Etta James passed away today of leukemia complications.  While not wholly unexpected it is a moment of surrender for anyone that was not just a fan of hers but a fan of music in general.  Our titans, no matter how mighty the voice, will eventually fall.

Ms. Etta, your voice now belongs to the ages.

Keep An Eye Out

FELA! is a Tony Award winning play that celebrates the music and life of Fela Kuti. Recently the play has been touring all over the country and apparently it has become the hot spot for some of music biggest stars. People like: Nas, Prince, Stevie Wonder, Kanye West, Mos Def, Talib Kweli, Quincy Jones, LL Cool J, Ziggy Marley, and Smokey Robinson - have been seen and even performed at recent performances of the play, which was produced by Jay-Z, Will Smith, Jada Pinkett Smith, and ?uestlove (of The Roots).

This show looks absolutely frickin' amazing!  And it is currently traveling the country.

Here's a clip of Mos Def and Talib Kweli at a recent performance (after the jump).

Dropping Videos

Doomtree just released a new video for the song "Bolt Cutter" from their latest album No Kings.

Holla Back Album of the Week

R.E.M. 
Reckoning
(1984)
I.R.S. Records 

Album highlights:
7 Chinese Brothers
So. Central Rain
Letter Never Sent
(Don't Go Back to) Rockville
Little America

!!!Happy Martin Luther King Jr. Day!!!

M.L.K.
lyrics by: Bono


Sleep
Sleep tonight
And may your dreams
Be realized
If the thunder cloud
Passes rain
So let it rain
Rain down him
So let it be
So let it be

Sleep
Sleep tonight
And may your dreams
Be realized
If the thundercloud
Passes rain
So let it rain
Let it rain
Rain on him

More Concerts on the Horizon

93.1 The Fox announced two big shows yesterday!

March 23rd - The Palace Theater - Jane's Addiction w/ Black Box Revolution










May 26th - KFC Yum! Center - Nickelback (bleh), Bush (nostalgic), Seether (indifferent)

Upcoming Concerts

January:
13th - Bettye LaVette, Clifton Center
13th - The Civil Wars, The Brown heater
15th - Big Head Todd & The Monsters, Headliners Music Hall
20th - J.J. Grey & Mofro, Headliners Music Hall
29th - Anthrax w/ Testament, Expo 5
30th - Ryan Adams, The Palace Theater

February:
2nd - Ha Ha Tonka, Uncle Slayton's
9th - Drive-by Truckers, Headliners Music Hall
13th - Heartless Bastards, Headliners Music Hall
14th - Supersuckers, Phoenix Hill Tavern
15ht - Divin' N' Cryin', Headliners Music Hall

March:
2nd - Dr. Dog - Headliner's Music Hall
3rd - Jimmy Buffett, KFC Yum! Center
8th - Reverend Horton Heat, Headliner's Music Hall
9th - Lucero, Headliner's Music Hall
20th - Henry Rollins, Headliner's Music Hall

18th - Van Halen w/ Kool and the Gang, KFC Yum! Center

!!!Brand Spankin' New!!!

Van Halen has released the video for their new single "Tattoo". David Lee Roth's voice sounds great, the hook is mediocre, and Eddie barely seems to be present. However, I must admit that it exceeded my expectations.

Check This!

Here's a story on the sixth anniversary of Little Heart Records.

(click the pic)