Interview: White Mystery

A few weeks back, I had the pleasure of seeing Chicago power-duo White Mystery in my adopted hometown of Athens, OH. The band was in town for the 16th annual Blackoutfest—a yearly gathering of like-minded garage rock groups that included the likes of Times New Viking, Fergus & Geronimo, Buffalo Killers and many, many more. Alex and Francis White were in town on Thursday night and proved to be the undeniable highlight of the evening, gracing the Union's stage with a ferocious, two-pronged musical assault that drew heavily from their newly released sophomore effort Blood & Venom. There was slam dancing, there was crowd surfing, there were good times shared by all. To put things in perspective: I've seen this band three times (in three different states!) in the span of the past month, and I still get this goofy grin on my face when I'm the same room as this pair. The energy these two create is addictive, and it's safe to say that I'm hooked.

Before they took the stage in Athens, I sat down with Alex and Francis White to talk about their latest record, how to write a song about your band and the influence of Black Sabbath

Wrap-Up: SXSW 2011

Reading through the various SXSW wrap-ups that have been hitting the web over the past week or so, I feel as if my experience differed quite drastically from those of many of the journalists covering the festival. Sure, I managed to walk by an Odd Future show in progress, but I certainly didn't catch any sets from the Strokes, Kanye West or even the girls in Wild Flag. That's one of the things that makes city-spanning events like SXSW so great—one has the ability to tailor every waking moment to their current tastes and whims. For five days, Austin plays host to every musical genre under the sun, in both official and unofficial settings that stretch all the way across town. I may have not had the full experience, but in between finding my way around, getting slightly sloshed and running into friends, I managed to see some pretty great bands during my two-day taste of the SXSW festivities.

Austin Bound

We're already a week into March, which means that SXSW is officially a little less than a week away. Traditionally, this is a week in which I furiously scour music blogs, squirming with jealousy at the bounty of quality live music happening just over 1000 miles away. This year, I'll be joining in the music industry's mass exodus to Austin, TX to drop in on a portion of the week's festivities.

I've never been to Austin before, so I'm excited to experience the city firsthand. I'm certainly interested in any place whose two major food groups seem to be barbecue and Mexican cuisine. Initially I was a bit worried about diving into the festival without any official credentials, but the amount of free shows and parties I've stumbled upon thus far is staggering. The past few weeks have been a deluge of e-mailed invitations and hasty RSVP's—at this point I'm just trying to narrow my list down.

I'm looking forward to catching up with the folks in Santah, who are heading down to Texas fresh off of several weeks of recording for their latest EP. The Graveface Records showcase on Friday night will also be a priority for me as I've been wanting to catch Dreamend live for some time now and am curious about what the Appleseed Cast's latest material sounds like. On Saturday, the Mess With Texas Party looks like the day's best bet, featuring sets from the likes of the Dodos, Strange Boys, the Fresh and Onlys, DOM, Surfer Blood, Deertick and the Dead Milkmen (!) at a drive in theater in Austin. If I can drag myself out of bed on Sunday, I'll definitely be hitting the Panache Annual Hangover Party to catch sets by Turbo Fruits, Surf City, Fergus and Geronimo, Suuns and White Mystery. It's going to be an endurance test, but one I'm happy to submit to.

I'll be doing my best to document as many of the sets I see as possible and report back once it's all over, much like I did at CMJ this past Fall. For up to the minute dispatches, keep an eye on my Twitter feed as I'll likely be chronicling my journeys (and taco consumption) there. See you in Austin!

Tapes on the Floor's Favorite Tracks of 2010 (Part II)

Not content to merely list off my favorite records of 2010 and risk overlooking some really great music that didn't quite make the cut, I'm once again running through my favorite tracks of the year. You're about to embark into part two of my 36-song list—if you missed part one, you can find it right here. So, let's wrap this up—here's the second half of my list of my favorite tracks released this year, arranged alphabetically by artist.

Kings Go Forth - "Now We're Gone"
This Milwaukee-based neo-soul band was one of my favorite musical discoveries of 2010, cemented by their killer live show at the Double Door this past summer. Lead singer Black Wolf howls his way through this joyfully forlorn track, backed by a formidably tight horn section. Record store owner and band leader Andy Noble has undoubtedly done his crate-digging homework, arranging one of the most stirring nods to the classic soul sound without a Daptone logo on the spine.
Buy: The Outsiders Are Back

Maps & Atlases - "Living Decorations"
The topography-obsessed group's latest record strips away some of the overtly technical finger-tapping fret-play of their earlier work in favor of a more rootsy, percussion-based sound. "Living Decorations" is the most rousing demonstration of this new direction, replete with ample rapid-fire rhythms and melodies. It's a reminder of the unique musical territory this band occupies—bringing a heaping dose of musicianship to the realm of pop-rock.
Buy: Perch Patchwork

Marco Benevento - "Greenpoint"
Keyboard extraordinaire Marco Benevento showcases all his toys on this track from his latest release, seamlessly shifting from piano to organ to circuit-bent electronics over the course of six minutes. It's not a showy piece, but rather a calculated, atmospheric arrangement—a veritable symphony created by way of fingertips on keys. It can be difficult to take in all at once, but it makes for an immensely rewarding list from an artist clearly testing his own limits.
Buy: Between the Needles and Nightfall

Mimicking Birds - "Pixels"
I'm still not exactly sure if lead singer Nate Lacy is trying to sound exactly like Issac Brock, but if his intention is to provide the antidote to Modest Mouse's current overtly-pop tendencies, he's succeeding. This track in particular evokes the headier, less hook-ridden days of Brock's de facto outfit—that the trio still manages to find a voice of their own is an even greater accomplishment. It'll take some serious effort to come out from under their mentor's shadow, but a song like this proves they just might have the chops to pull it off.
Buy: Mimicking Birds

The Mynabirds - "Numbers Don't Lie"
Over the course of this track—as well as the record from which it originates—frontwoman Laura Burhenn joins the likes of Neko Case and Lætitia Sadier on my list of favorite female vocalists. Beginning with its wavering organ intro, the song quickly settles into a Motown-tinged groove, anchored by a jangling piano and some great back-up singers. To cap it off, production work from the amazing Richard Swift makes it all leap from the tape straight to your ears in the most pleasing way possible.
Buy: What We Lose in the Fire We Gain in the Flood

The National - "Bloodbuzz Ohio"
If you ask me, "Bloodbuzz Ohio" is a song about growing up and coming back to its titular state—something I've been doing quite a bit of myself as of late. As usual, Matt Berninger's wonderful baritone is carried on top of the Dessner brothers' atmospheric instrumentation, creating the moody sound for which this group is known. It's a track with an epic tone derived from sweeping moments of grandeur and a relentless sense of purpose.
Buy: High Violet

The Nels Cline Singers - "Red Line to Greenland"
The Singers have always been an outlet for Cline's incessant noodling, and as such, I can forgive the three minutes of effervescent noise that preface this track. When the main riff kicks in, Cline quickly proves why he's one of the best guitarists around, building a shifting post-rock melody with help from his able-bodied rhythm section of Devin Hoff and Scott Amendola. No one can do a six-string freakout quite the way Cline does, and as a showcase of that talent, "Red Line to Greenland" is a rousing success.
Buy: Initiate

Percolator - "Deduction"
Discounting the fact that I'm friends with the good folks of Percolator and even helped with the creation of the music video for this track, my love of this song transcends my association with it. The band's polyrhythmic, math-rock riffage is in full effect here, presided over by an oblique set of lyrics that would make Stephen Malkmus proud. It's something I would be listening to even if I didn't have a personal connection to it—is that high enough praise?
Buy: None of These Are Words

Pomegranates - "Anywhere You Go"
If there's one thing that really brightened the end of my year, it was the Pomegranates' particular brand of psychedelic space-rock, as exemplified on this track. "I like you / I really like you" screams Issac Karns, vocalizing a yearning which permeates this song, informing its ever-shifting dynamics and moods. It's the kind of finessed angst and hopeless romanticism that actually serves a purpose, coalescing in a song that is at once weird and beautiful.
Buy: One of Us

Quasi - "Repulsion"
Between Sam Coomes' gut-punching guitar-line and Janet Weiss' pummeling turn on the skins, fuzzed-out Portland rock and roll from a pair of former lovers doesn't get much better than this. Top that off with one of the best choruses to grace a song this year and you get an album-opening track that doesn't make any effort to hold back out of the gate. Vehemence, thy name is Quasi.
Buy: American Gong

Retribution Gospel Choir - "White Wolf"
You might never suspect it, given Alan Sparhawk's better-known day job as frontman of slowcore superstars Low, but the man can pen one hell of a rocker. Such is the case here, on the pick of the litter from Retribution Gospel Choir's second LP—a track dominated by '80s-style drums, a pulsating banjo line and beefy guitar chords. It's a rollicking good time that is as genuinely enjoyable as it is out of character.
Buy: 2

Santah - "Chips of Paint"
"How am I gonna be normal?" exclaims Stanton McConnell over this track's earnest opening strains—a question answered only by a song that transcends mere normalcy. With it's serpentine guitar leads and an exceptionally harmonious solo, the Illinois quintet create a phenomenally varied sonic composition with palpable emotional heft. Even its subdued last minute makes perfect sense, providing a sensible cool down after three-and-a-half minutes of meticulous intensity.
Buy: White Noise Bed

Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings - "I Learned the Hard Way"
When a voice with the commanding presence of Sharon Jones' talks to you about love and loss, you listen up. Backed by the indomitable Dap-Kings, Jones' message is all the more powerful, riding atop the big brass sound of one of the most seasoned groups of players around. By the track's end, its abundantly clear that Sharon learned the hard way so we don't have to—she puts the 'soul' in resolution.
Buy: I Learned the Hard Way

Someone Still Loves You, Boris Yeltsin - "All Hail Dracula"
Over the summer a colleague of mine proposed that this track was about the record industry's blood-sucking tendencies. Singer Jonathan James shrugged that theory off and said the song was merely based off of a cool-sounding headline he read. That's an indicator of the fun-loving attitude that permeates the group's latest, Chris Walla-helmed effort. SSLYBY don't take themselves too seriously—the perfect attitude for a pop-rock treasure such as this.
Buy: Let It Sway

Stornoway - "Zorbing"
There's something about Brian Briggs' voice and the minimalist arrangement present on this track that evokes the pastoral English landscape that undoubtedly served as inspiration. Fleshed out with rumbling baritone harmonies and a jubilant horn section, "Zorbing" quickly takes on all the trappings of a left-of-center pop hit. It's no small feat for such a young group, but on a record full of similarly wonderful songsmanship, it's almost assuredly not a flash in the pan.
Buy: Beachcomber's Windowsill

Superchunk - "Digging For Something"
As the punk rock riffs and Mac McCaughan's nasally drawl come into sharp focus on this track, it's refreshing to hear just how little Superchunk has changed in the nine years since their last record. Age hasn't slowed down these pop-punksters—they sound as raucous and raw as ever, with years of experience to back it all up. It may have taken a bit of digging, but this track proves that these guys can still muster that magical sound.
Buy: Majesty Shredding

The Walkmen - "Angela Surf City"
It takes about a minute for this track to hit its stride, transitioning abruptly from a cursory ballad to a boisterous rocker. "Life goes on all around you" belts frontman Hamilton Leithauser, propelling this song forward with some of the most powerful pipes in the biz. For a group that have quickly become regarded as elder statesmen of indie rock, the Walkmen firing on all cylinders are still a beautiful sound to behold.
Buy: Libson

White Mystery - "Take A Walk"
The latest project from Alex White (who formerly headed up the Detroit-based Red Orchestra) finds the red-headed guitar-slinger teaming up with her similarly coiffed brother Francis to create heavy-hitting garage rock. On this track, White takes some simple lyrics about walking around Chicago and turns them into a blistering two-and-a-half minute showcase of joyous musical energy.
Buy: White Mystery

Keep an eye out for my Favorite Albums of 2010 list—guaranteed to be up before year's end!

The Long Goodbye

It's been about two weeks since my summer residence in Chicago stopped and my Ohio-based life began anew. I'm still not entirely at ease with being back, there are a ton of things about the city that I continue to miss. But there's no use in moping—I had one of the best experiences of my life and learned quite a bit about what I might want to do with myself after this whole education of mine comes to its logical conclusion. Having what amounted to an all-access pass to just about any concert or event I felt like attending certainly didn't hurt either. I wanted to do a short wrap-up of my last few weeks in Chicago—which is exactly what I'm about to do.

Towards the end of August I got the chance to catch one more White Mystery show at Lincoln Hall—hands-down my favorite place to see bands in Chicago. Their set stuck pretty close to what I'd seen a bit earlier in the summer, but the unabated garage-band energy these two put forth makes it work, even on repeat viewings. Honestly, it's just awesome to see Alex White up on-stage yelling into a mic and trashing at that beautiful Rickenbacker guitar. They're doing a ton of shows around Chicago in the coming months, if you're in the area you have no excuse not to see them.

I also had the chance to make it over to Schubas—although sadly I arrived too late for one last bowl of their glorious mac and cheese—to see Lou Barlow and Wye Oak. The latter are a band who's music I'm totally familiar with, but whom I was somewhat surprised to discover to be a duo. They always struck me as at least a trio, but I suppose that's just a testament to how full they can sound thanks to one of them pulling double duty on drums and keyboard. The raw, almost alt-country sound served as an admirable lead-in to Lou Barlow's eclectic set which transitions between delicate acoustic ballads and loud, straight-ahead rock. It was pretty cool seeing the Dinosaur Jr. bassist in action with the Missingmen, turning in tracks from their Sentridoh III EP. For pictures and further thoughts, kindly direct your gaze to the post I wrote for the TOC blog.

During my last week of Chicago residency, I finally made a trip to famous Superdawg drive-in, a hot dog joint so iconic that it served as the backdrop for a particularly awesome Wilco photoshoot. While I can't say it was one of my favorite hot dogs—that honor still, and will likely forever, belong to Hot Doug's—it was pretty damn good. More than anything, it's really kind of amazing that a place like this still exists but I'm sure we have many Food Channel specials and its great local reputation to thank for that.

Throughout my last week at Time Out I was one of the only interns left, so I was assigned the (at times, arduous) task of taking photos for a feature in the magazine that mapped out walking tours based around locations shown in movies. It turned out to be a pretty good way to spend some of my last days in the city—seeing some sights I was already familiar with and making my way to some new corners of town. I walked through the High Fidelity tour of Wicker Park, took a jaunt through the sports-centric locations in Wrigleyville and completed an extremely long romantic comedy-themed journey down the Gold Coast. All in a day's work for this intrepid pseudo-photographer.

My last day at the office, a couple of the guys from Someone Still Loves You, Boris Yeltsin came in and did an in-office performance which you can see over on the TOC blog. They were nice enough to invite me to their show later in the evening, so I ended up getting one more chance to see a show at Lincoln Hall before hitting the road. I caught a set from co-headliner Telekinesis, a band that seems to have matured quite a bit since their Merge records debut. SSLYBY's set was the highlight of the night, heavy on tracks from their brand new record Let It Sway. I can't say I've ever kept track of this band in the past, but I'll definitely being keeping my eye on them in the future—years on the road have molded this group into an extremely tight and fun live act. After a few Schlitz and some words with the SSLYBY boys, I bid Lincoln Hall goodbye (for the time-being).

My last night in Chicago was—oddly enough—spent with a bunch of folks from Athens who were in town visiting friends. It got me pretty excited about getting back home, so I guess it was somewhat opportune. Regardless, I miss all the great folks I met, and all the places I became accustomed to hanging out at. If nothing else, this summer solidified my resolve that Chicago is definitely the place where I can see myself ending up. I'm extremely grateful that things panned out the way they did—Marvel, I think you actually did me a favor by rejecting me (water under the bridge, I'll still read your comics). But, like I said, there's no use in moping about it, I've got some great memories, and I'll be back soon enough.

Behold The Man

This past week started out with a BANG at the Scott Pilgrim's Finest Hour release party at Challengers Comics in Bucktown. I mingled with the costumed attendees (I like to think my plaid attire and scruffy facial hair was a respectable attempt at a Stephen Stills get-up) and sipped on a soda that gave +1 to Will. At midnight, the books went on sale and I nabbed a copy and headed home to read. I have to say, O'Malley really outdid himself with this one. The ending was pretty perfect; so much so that I hear Edgar Wright re-shot the ending of the upcoming movie to match it. It's sad that it's over, but it's nice that it went out on such a high note. The launch at Challengers got covered by Bleeding Cool (check out my shoulder in the fourth pic down!) and the TOC blog (and I didn't even have to write it!)

Over the weekend I braved the flood waters (we got something like 7 inches of rain here in Chicago) and ventured out to Pullman to check out the Backyard Film and Music Festival. I think the weather scared quite a few people off, as the whole event wasn't nearly as well attended as it should have been. Dosh was the reason I showed up, and he did not disappoint. This was actually the first time I've seen him perform completely solo, and the experience was quite different. He strayed away from much of his newer material (most of which relies heavily on the talented Mike Lewis) in favor of older tracks such as "Steve the Cat" and "The Lost Take." Much of the set was made up of tracks that I didn't entirely recognize, including one really interesting song that featured a very cool choral loop. It seemed off the cuff, although I suppose these might be new tracks that Dosh is still fiddling with, seeing as this appearance was a one-off gig. Regardless, it was a real treat to see him for my third time this year (with a fourth on the way... he's touring with Baths this fall and they're hitting Cleveland and Cinci). Oh, you can check out more pictures and thoughts in my TOC blog post.

The following day I made my way down the road I live on for the aptly named Milwaukee Avenue Arts Festival. I checked out some galleries, but the real allure of the event was an appearance by Detholz! in Logan Square. I haven't seen these guys since they opened at the first Wilco show I ever attended, but I've kept tabs on them over the years, and their Who Are The Detholz!? LP is still a favorite of mine. Unfortunately, they didn't play any songs I knew ("Sunburned in the Sun" would have been so appropriate!), but the tracks they did play were pretty great. Once highlight of the set was a tune called "Catherine Zeta Jones" which was an ode to T-Mobile. I was surprised to hear that the band actually started out and is still based in the Logan Square area (I knew I moved here for a reason). It was a nostalgic trip down memory lane, and I only hope that I'll cross paths with a Dethole again sometime soon.

But that's not where the reminders of good-times past ended! Alex White, formerly of Miss Alex White and Her Red Orchestra (a Detroit-based group that opened many a Columbus show in the days of my youth), was also playing the fest as part of a brother-sister duo called White Mystery. They're alot like the White Stripes, except they're actually brother and sister, and the gender-to-instrument roles are reversed. It's the same kind of hard-hitting garage-soul-rock that Miss White has always delivered, and it definitely took me back. They're out on tour right now, so catch them if you can before they come back to Chicago at the end of August to ease the suffering that the prospect of leaving this town is going to inflict upon me.

Well, I've said entirely too much. In just a few hours, my good friend Danny Clay is coming to visit my humble abode for a few days. We're going to be seeing Tortoise at Millennium Park on Thursday and checking out the madness of Wicker Park fest this weekend. Oh, and I'm going to use his visit as an excuse to visit Hot Doug's one more time before Doug goes on vacation for the majority of August. Until next time...