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Of course
the plan on Friday was the Danglers. They're leaving for the
Nemo New Music festival in a few weeks! :-) But
I've seen them so often, there was no great anticipation
except that I'd be hanging out with Julia & Mel.
But then... I heard Andrew Bird & his band, Bowl of
Fire, from Chicago, on WMSE 3:15ish the day of this show.
They were playing what I think was an unexpected
in-studio set w/ an interview. I'd never heard their music
before, and all I knew was that Andrew Bird did some work
with the Squirrel Nut Zippers. (You remember the Squirrel
Nut Zippers, right?? Had a fairly big hit called "Hell"?
Peppy little number? Kind of dark, interesting lyrics about
death? "In the afterlife, you could be headed for the
serious strife. Now you make the scene all day, but tomorrow
there'll be Hell to pay.") Well, anyway, the WMSE dj
introduced them, and I decided to record it (right over
Dinah Washington!)... Their music was instantly infectious.
A blend of incredible violin, with guitar, bass and drums,
combined with smooth and animated vocals, musical twists,
and quirky hooks ... and lyrics that will soon adorn my
lyrics page! Honestly, after two listens to the live
broadcast, I was able to recognize the tunes come show time!
I immediately called my friend and asked them to arrive
early so we could be sure and get up
front! :-) This, my friends, was truly blown
away.
I'm still
struggling for a classification for their music.
Loungy/bluegrass/swing/40s/bebop/rockabilly.... I don't
know!! (Kim - help me out on this!!!) But to say it's
unique would be a vast understatement.
Andrew
Bird’s voice is simply beautiful, rich with character,
and is, at times, hauntingly reminiscent of Jeff Buckley
when crooning the higher notes. He's born for that damn
violin - alternating from bowing to strumming then
pickin’. I must have said at least 5 times during the
show “Damn, is he amazing!” I imagined what it
would be like to live next door to him and listening to him
play through the walls…
There was no
great "show" here. No one was jumping around on stage. No
one was sweating profusely. (Occasionally Nora did a little
hip swing... ) but for the most part, the "show" was
was all in the music. The other musicians in the band played
and melted wonderfully together, keeping the focus on the
front man, and yet never "disappearing" to where you didn't
keep an eye on what they were doing. None of them smiled
much (except Nora), but when they did, you noticed!
:-) And there was a moment on one song when the guitar
player - who did a smattering of backup vocals, but mostly
played in the background - was doing a little jazzy
background vocal duet with Nora, and when they finished,
I said "Wow - that was incredible!" And then
I don't believe he sang again!! :-( sad.
Background
vocalist Nora became my new idol, for a number of
reasons… 1) she has a beautiful, beautiful voice, 2)
she was extremely understated and atypical for a woman on
stage – black sweater and jeans, no flash, just pure
talent, pure cool! (Ah yes – it’s a dream to ask
an audience to get me a shot of whiskey and have them lay
them at my feet!!), 3) she gets to sing this amazing music,
and finally 4) she played a guiro!! A guiro (the kind I had)
is a percussion instrument made of wood (mine was), long and
rounded (often in a fish design), played by scraping a stick
along cut-in grooves on the surface. I know – playing a
guiro is an odd reason to send her into idol status, I
suppose. But my mom (who was a little offbeat, for lack of a
better term) got me a guiro when I was 10 or 11(for no
apparent reason!), and I would play it all the time, tape
record myself playing it as background for piano songs,
etc… even through high school! It was something that I
always loved and reminded me of her, but by the time I could
truly appreciate it was about the time my children destroyed
it. :o( It’s an odd sentimental instrument for me to
see played.
I suspect
that in everyday conversation, Andrew Bird is as engaging,
wry and sharp as his lyrics. Intellectual, unusual and
witty, I was hooked. I actually said to a coworker as I
listened to the live broadcast “Gosh – no one uses
the phrase ‘pell-mell’ in conversation, let alone
song lyrics!!” On Core & Rind - “You
don’t know my mind… what you thought was the core
turns out to be the rind… If I need your advice, I will
let you know. But listen until then, this is no call-in
show. No, no, no.” On Why? – a wonderful,
slow and sauntering tune about a relationship lacking in
fire “I wish it was your dishes you were throwing…
Damn you for being so easy going.” On Two Way Action
– “I’ve been driving all night, bathing
in florescent light of a western Tennessee gas
station…” Well… you just gotta hear it!
Napster, Audiogalaxy, whatever it takes… Maybe you
won’t care for it. Who’s to say??
At one point
during the night, the man sitting next to Mel noticed her CD
on the table. He said “Can I see that CD? Oh, it’s
for the 2nd band? I didn’t really care for that
band… I’m here for the first and the last band.
Those guys just didn’t do it for me. Sorry, if that
offends you…” Gosh, I try… I really try to
hold back from reacting negatively and simply say “hey,
no problem,” because, as I’ve stated, it’s
all relative. What catches my ear may not catch yours, one
man’s trash is another man’s treasure, all that
crap… I wasn’t offended, but I was shocked. I just
dropped my jaw and said “Uh… ah… uh…
wow… no problem.” Of course, he and his buddies
were also the ones carrying on conversations through much of
the Dangler’s set (which was being recorded!) –
yet another huge pet peeve of mine.
They’re
playing at the Metro in 2 weeks. **sigh** I probably
can’t get there. Most likely they’d be sold out
before I get tickets. The night before is the symphony
anyway… Friday the 13th. I’d like to visit the
Metro again. Haven’t been there since the ever-so-odd
evening of the Skinny Puppy concert in the 80s… 85? 88?
(My life is one big concert blur sometimes.) Yep. Went to
that gig by myself too. That was a surreal night if ever
there was one.
I know…
you’re thinking - What about the Danglers and
Happy Apple??
Happy
Apple is a bass/sax/drum trio from Minnesota. I’m
not very capable of describing their type of music.
Freestyle, experimental jazz, I suppose. Sometimes I have a
hard time listening to and appreciating musicians in a
group, all going in their own directions, different keys,
different rhythms, in what seems to be pure non-melodic
chaos… and yet it always shocks/baffles/amazes me when
they suddenly come back together with some sense of
structure all at the same time. Maybe it’s the fact
that no one has ever sat me down and told me “how”
to listen to it. Maybe it’s that I’ve never done
mind-altering drugs. :o) (sorry, but I have thought about
that fact.) Maybe it’s that I have enough chaos in my
life and I like at least a little structure in my music. Who
knows. So, knowing that, I can’t really get
“negative.” I will say this: their drummer was
very interesting to listen to – really unique and
unusual style. At one point he even “played” one
of those balls meant for infants with a bell chiming gently
inside. Very cool effect. He was definitely in his own zone,
talking a bit after every tune, trying desperately to be
humorous but never quite hitting the mark, and reminding us,
again and again, they were Happy Apple. The sax player was
pretty good, and really wailed on his alto and soprano saxs
(would have curled Kenny G’s hair even more, I’m
sure!). To be honest, I did notice anything extraordinary
from the bass player. (sorry)
The
Danglers? hmmm… I tried to figure out how many
times I’ve seen them since the first time (on the
Linneman’s open stage well over a year ago) – at
least 8 different venues, from packed houses to an almost
empty Thursday night at Linneman’s this past fall!
I’ve seen them alone, with a blind date, with a
boyfriend, with friends… As I mention under
“local” on the music
page, they’re 3 really genuinely nice guys who are
unlike anything to ever hit the stages of Milwaukee. First
off, I never tire of watching them. It’s always an
experience. Classically trained Jason playing un-classical
music on his violin never ceases to amaze me, not only with
his varied sounds and style on the violin mostly (w/
mandolin and other instruments on occasion) – bowing,
pizzicato, strumming, screaming, reverb… But also with
his sometimes loungy and suave, sometimes forceful vocal
style and quick, tongue-twisting, edgy & raw lyrics.
(Now that I own the last CD, some day I’ll get all the
words to “Aphrodite’s Thighs” down enough to
sing/mouth along while I slap the table with the drumbeat.
Yeah. I know. I can’t help myself.) David Gelting and
his “baby” – that standup bass – are
awesome, occasionally bowing, but usually feverously
pluckin’ the strings, eyes closed, & totally
zoned... or smiling a huge smile and simply having fun!
“Cheers!” John Sparrow is about as tight and
talented drummer as you are ever gonna hear, and beyond
that, he is really great to watch! (They all are!) The
Danglers definitely fall into the experimental category. I
remember sitting at a show and trying to keep time… 4/4
time… 9/4 time…etc., etc… Counting... trying
to follow... There are times when I want to crawl in their
heads and hear what they hear that makes them all fit
together so well, to be in that same groove. If you want
just a taste of Danglers, find them at their
MP3
site.
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