Hellhole Ratrace

Just became aware of Girls (the band) from San Francisco. This song has been on repeat ever since. Looking forward to their full length when it comes out in Sept. Definitely worth checking out.

MP3: Girls - "Hellhole Ratrace"

Cat Power

Saw Cat Power at The Earl here in Atlanta last night. It was like night and day from the first time I saw her perform at The Earl years ago. It was a Thanksgiving day show in 2001. She was a mess. She set up her amp on the floor in the middle of the room and sat next to it on a chair. There was one other guitar player to accompany her on some of the songs. By the end of the night she was berating him badly for the way his guitar sounded and he eventually got up and left. She stopped and started songs, mumbled into the mic and barely looked up and faced the crowd all night. Her hair was intentionally long and covering her face the entire show. The room was half full and had emptied out considerably by the time she was done torturing herself. As much as I loved the covers record she had put out around that time, it was painful to watch.

Cut to last night and it's like watching a completely different person. She's still quirky when she sings, but she has taken her craft to a whole other level. Her vocals sounded amazing and the band she has backing her now is one of the tightest group of musicians I have ever seen perform live. It was like getting a crash course in the power of restraint. It's obvious those dudes can play their instruments along with the best of them, but the bulk of the night was just them looking at each other and grooving on simple tight flourishes of sound that were the perfect back drop for her vocals. The drummer in particular was playing so simple and quiet in some moments, mostly with brushes, then out of no where would come a loud crack of the snare as the band would amp up the sound. It was really powerful to watch. The sound in The Earl was flawless too. Every sound was in its right place. There were many great moments, but I was especially blown away by a very raw stripped down rendition of Fortunate Son by CCR. Overall, I came away with the feeling that I had just witnessed a performance by an artist who will most likely be looked back on years from now and be held in the same regard as singers like Billie Holiday, Nina Simone, etc. I was glad I got to witness it up close, and in such a small intimate setting as The Earl.

Sand Painting Amazingness

I'm pretty much blown away by this...

No Words No More

Over at the Snowden myspace page we're streaming the Love & Rockets cover we did for the upcoming tribute album I mentioned a couple posts down. The song is called No Words No More. Jordan basically just took the lyrics and made up a whole new song. Hope ya'll like it.