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MP3: Max Tundra – Which Song

Max Tundra plays at the Metro Gallery tonight with Deastro, the Water, and Comeback Ranch.

Max Tundra (aka Ben Jacobs) is a one-man electronic orchestra from England. His pieces have multiple personalities, movements that hop without forewarning from one intricate synth part and drum loop to another, topped off with falsetto vocals and a surprisingly human (and modern) lyricality. Max doesn’t really use any touring musicians, which means that on stage he is allegedly a bit of a whirlwind, putting on what could be the most energetic show you’re likely to see in some time. I haven’t been part of the event, and unfortunatelty won’t be able to see him tonight, but it promises to be fascintating.

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After listening to Raditude, I am convinced Rivers Cuomo is the cop (the FBI agent, the NSA spy, etc.) so deep undercover he can no longer tell the difference between the person he is and the person he is pretending to be. The line between perception and reality is distorted, and the point at which it was crossed is a distant memory.

Even though Make Believe was an exercise in banality and The Red Album was a weird-for-the-sake-of-being-weird album with horrible results, we still got occasional lyrical assurances that Rivers was the same singer who bared his geeky soul on The Blue Album and Pinkerton. On Raditude the music is more power pop than ever, with lyrics that cater to 15 year olds– the “cool” ones who wouldn’t know a 12-sided die if it hit them in the face.

It is here where we find our horn-rimmed hero and the rest of Weezer, the same guys who banged out geek rock anthems about crushing on unattainable girls and spending hours of solitude in the garage, singing about letting it all hang out “with my homies,” picking up girls on the dance floor and the inability to stop partying at the club.

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01. MP3: Syl Johnson – Different Strokes
02. MP3: Syl Johnson – Come On Sock It To Me (streaming only)

It’s not unusual for friends and acquaintances to ask us how a person should start “getting into” soul music. The general situation looks to be something like this: Soul, though it hasn’t suffered any loss in sheer memorability, has become a somewhat obscure taste among young people of our day. Most everyone still appreciates a hard-hitting 4×4 soul anthem–their dad’s old Otis Redding tapes, James Brown’s cathartic screech–the problem is that few have actually bothered to delve into music made by equally meritable, yet less popular artists of modern and classic eras alike. So how exactly do you go about entering the world of soul?

Obviously, getting caught up in the genre is just as simple as it is for any other type of music–recommendations, criticism, radio, the internet, and ideally: shows. That’s why we cheerfully advise you to attend Numero Group’s Eccentric Soul Revue when it winds its way down to the 9:30 Club tomorrow, Tues Nov 10th (one of only five tour dates). The Vinyl District is also giving away free tickets and swag.

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You might have noticed that tweens have a bastardized derivation of a once sacred screed from an Exploited album title: “Pop punk’s not dead.”

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01. MP3: Lonnie Walker – Compass Comforts
02. MP3: Lonnie Walker – Summertime

As compelling as any album released this year, and possibly one with a chance to stand the test of time, Lonnie Walker’s These Times Old Times is easily one of the best albums I’ve been introduced to since I started reviewing music.   Read the rest…

John Adams’ Violin Concerto comes across like a melodic discourse on gravitational forces, but a touch more tender. Alien tensions built slowly from the BSO, with little far-off explosions. The center around which this Adamonic universe whirled was Leila Josefowicz.

She’s the personal champion for this concerto, making it her signature piece, a task only a Hilary Hahn could envy.  She plays entirely from memory, giving full impression of a piece taken within — the raw stuff of notes — spit out with unexpected expression. I’d have to think even Adams is surprised at what she finds in it.

Without hearing a single other play it, I’m willing to bet she’s the definitive interpreter of the work. Read the rest…

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01. MP3: Toro Y Moi – Talamak from Well Tusked (2009)

02. MP3: Toro Y Moi – Human Nature (Michael Jackson cover) from CHUM ONAH: BxF celebrates the music of M. Jackson

03. MP3: Jemina Pearl – I Hate People featuring Iggy Pop from Break It Up (2009)

All photos: Greg Szeto | Full set

Toro Y Moi comes off initially like a variant of the whole indie dance shtick: solo artist pumping out insistent beats, synths and laptop samples while dancing around stage, the music is as fierce as any of his peers and leaves no 4/4 stone unturned. But there’s a twist.  What elevates him above the chaff and detritus is both the subtlety and execution; the fact that he actually sings the featherweight and often soulful vocals and plays the synth lines to his own music makes all the difference.  As a result, Chaz Bundick is downright intimate with his music: the payoff is much bigger, the riffs more electric, and everything overflows with funky heart and dance-worthy soul.  Foot-tapping pop couched in lo-fi swirls often sampled on the fly, his set was a good benchmark for meaningful indie pop. Read the rest…

So Percussion
Metro Gallery
Baltimore, MD
October 28, 2009

Band:
Josh Quillen
Adam Sliwinski
Jason Treuting
Eric Beach

Source: Peluso CEMC6/ck4(card)>PS-2>AD-20>NJB3
Transfer: NJB3>PC>SF-7>Wav>FLAC
Taper: Jeff Mewbourn (jm292@yahoo.com)

Download the full set formatted as: MP3 or FLAC

Stream and download individual tracks after the jump.

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1. Music for Pieces of Wood* (by Steve Reich)
2. Extremes (by Jason Treuting)
3. • September (by Jason Treuting)
   • I Love You (by Jason Treuting)
   • June (by Jason Treuting)
4. Drumming (by Steve Reich)

Notes:
Lineup:Holofcener-Zeiders>Gestures>Microkingdom>So Percussion>True Vine Trio
Show presented by Aural States
*with Adam Rosenblatt
Sound: Adam Cooke
SUPPORT LOCAL MUSIC