the unequivocal notion

Weekend Tunes

Wolf Parade and "I'll Believe in Anything".

Weekend Tunes

"Leo's Song" by Kelly Meador & Daniel Elwing.

"Once agin, the young would lead the old and fight common fear with common sense."

Weekend Tunes

It is Sigur Rós and their new track "Gobbledigook" off of the upcoming album Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust (With a Buzz in Our Ears We Play Endlessly).

You can, as the video says, download this track for free at their website. You can also see the full version of the video there. And if you'd like you can click here to stream the whole album so you can hear it before it comes out June 23rd.

Weekend Tunes

My Morning Jacket and "I'm Amazed" off of their amazing new album Evil Urges that just came out this week.

Weekend Tunes

It is Weezer and their "Pork and Beans".

For those of you who spend more time online than in the yard you'll recognize a lot of the memes from the 'tubes.

Wilco tix for sale online

Contrary to what was released earlier, you can buy tix for the Aug. 20th Wilco show at Eagle Knoll online. You can still by them at the Co-Op, The Record Exchange or the Egyptian Theatre.

Get them here (today might I add -- I wouldn't be surprised to see this sell out pretty quickly).

Updated

Michael Deeds of the Idaho Statesman doesn't think that the tickets will sell out. I'd say that if the tickets to Wilco's show don't sell out, then Boiseans* can keep sitting here trying to figure out why all the really good bands pass Boise over.

*by Boiseans I mean Treasure Valley residents at large.

Weekend Tunes

It is The Get Out Clause and their track "Paper".

This video has been getting quite a bit of playtime on the 'tubes recently. Not necessarily because it is a good track, but because it was filmed almost entirely using London's big brother style network of CCTV's. The band would play in public places and then using freedom of information clauses they'd request the footage -- the result, mixed with some hand held camera footage is this video.

A little something...

...to get ya through the night.

One of my favorites, "We'll Understand It Better By and By".

Reminds me of my uncle's old church back in Kentucky.

Weekend Tunes

Death Cab for Cutie and their "I Will Possess Your Heart".

Wilco to play The Winery at Eagle Knoll

This should be an excellent concert, huge band, small venue, outside, vino, etc, etc...

Michael Deeds in the Idaho Statesman:

Wilco to perform at Winery at Eagle Knoll

OK, now The Winery at Eagle Knoll is really, REALLY becoming an alt-country mecca this summer.

[...]

Tickets to the concert will go on sale May 30 for $28 advance, $31 day of show, at the Record Exchange, Egyptian Theatre box office, Boise Co-op, or by calling 387-1273, or 345-0454 to leave a message.

Show is on Aug. 20th.

Updated

Go here for update for online tix sales.

Weekend Tunes

Josh Ritter's new tongue-in-cheek video for "Real Long Distance".

Ritter will be back at the Knitting Factory on July 21st, if you've never seen him live I highly recommend this show.

A Seasonal Disguise and The Very Most @ Market Limone

It was a great show in Downtown Nampa last night from two extremely talented songwriters.

A Seasonal Disguise

The Very Most

Market Limone

Weekend Tunes

Saul Williams and his "Children of the Night", ok, they really aren't "tunes" this week, but this is awesome. If you want your mind blown check out Saul Williams last album The Inevitable Rise and Liberation of NiggyTardust -- it is only 5 bucks.

If you're in the area don't forget A Seasonal Disguise add The Very Most @ Market Limone tomorrow night.

Built to Spill back in Boise

Built To Spill w/ openers Helvetia and The Universal will be playing @ The Visual Arts Collective in Garden City on May 24th.

Tix: 15$, pre-sale only, no tix at the door. Buy here starting tomorrow.

(thanks km)

Video for Built To Spill's track "Conventional Wisdom" is down below.

Going to be busy this Saturday in Nampa

The Very Most, a wonderful band out of Boise will be playing with the always excellent A Seasonal Disguise at Market Limone this Saturday at 7:00 p.m. The Very Most will also have copies of their just released-last-weekend album Congratulations Forever on hand for purchase.

Here is the video for The Very Most track "Spilt, Spilt Milk".

Also of note, Market Limone is having a Cinco de Mayo celebration all day long, with a mariachi band performing from 12-2 p.m., cooking demonstrations, some Mexican beer and wine tastings. There will also be margarita specials all day -- including a cilantro margarita that I hear is pretty out of this world (I'll be reporting live from the scene for that one!).

Combined with the Nampa Farmers Market earlier Saturday morning, well, let's just say that's it is going to be a busy day.

Click down below for A Seasonal Disguise's video for the great track; "Last Cigarettes".

Johann Helton @ Market Limone

Johann Helton
Market Limone

Weekend Tunes

Earth Week edition.

Radiohead, the band who played Late Night with Conan O'Brien's first show, returned this past Wednesday for a performance of yet another incredible song; "House of Cards" off of their amazing album In Rainbows.

The Invasion @ The Knitting Factory

Really a pretty good show. It's pretty nice to see a local band that has put not only a lot of thought into their music, but they've also put a lot of thought into their live show and their image (which like it or not kiddies, image is the front door in the music biz).

The guy on the right is Grammy award winner Art Hodge who helped produce the band's album and also helped out on stage last night for a few songs.

You can't help but compare this Nampa-based band to Muse, although they are a tad bit more pop"py" than Muse -- which isn't a bad thing at all. And for me this is a pretty good comparison because I happen to enjoy Muse quite a bit. The Invasion has great stage presence, they were extremely tight and Aaron Brown can belt out some pretty amazing vocals. I really wouldn't be surprised if you start hearing more of this band in the near future.

Check out the band's MySpace page here where you can listen to some tracks off of the new album. You can also check out the band's main website here.

Knitting Factory is now official

The Big Easy.

The change that has been rumbling for the last year is now finally official, The Big Easy has been bought out and renamed The Knitting Factory. From the sounds of it you won't notice anything different right now, but that'll be changing pretty quickly.

Idaho Press-Tribune has a story here.

Michael Deeds of the Idaho Statesman had this to say about The Bourbon Street Saloon:

The upstairs bar, Bourbon Street Saloon, also has a new name: the Alter Knit Lounge. (Get it? Alternate?) You can start calling it that now. No, go ahead, really. Unlike Bourbon Street, there will not be live bands in the Alter Knit Lounge. Just occasional DJs and "other programming." Food will continue to be served. I assume the New Orleans menu eventually will be tossed or, at least, tweaked. I hear they're bringing in the former chefs of the defunct MilkyWay.

This would be most excellent. Not only should (in theory) the Knitting Factory bring in more mid-level bands -- the food will get as they say... "kicked up a notch" (excuse the New Orleans/Big Easy irony in that).

Music notes

Local Stuff:

• The Invasion, an awesome band out of Nampa will have a record release party at The Big Easy , sorry, The Knitting Factory on Wednesday @ 7:30; tix are 5 bucks, available at TicketWeb, Flying M Coffeegarage in Nampa and at the door.
• The Very Most will have a record release party this Saturday at the Idaho Outdoor Association Hall in Boise. Show starts @ 6:30 p.m. with multiple openers - tix are also 5 bucks for this show.
• Speaking of The Very Most, they'll be in Nampa playing at Market Limone with guests A Seasonal Disguise, (one of my favorite local songwriters). The show is Saturday, May 3rd @ 7:30, admission to this show is free.

Some bigger stuff:

• If you haven't heard Death Cab For Cutie's new track "I Will Posses Your Heart" make sure you check it out -- all glorious 8 minutes and 31 seconds of it. I really can't wait for this album to release.
• I've really been digging The Black Keys' new DJ Danger Mouse produced album, Attack and Release, check out one of my favorite tracks, "Things Ain't Like They Used To Be" -- one of the better songs I've heard in a long time.
• Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds' new album Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!! is awesome.
• My Morning Jacket is offering a new track off of their upcoming album for free for the remainder of the week. If you'd like a copy of the track "Evil Urges" go here. This is probably the album I'm most looking forward to this summer.
• Fleet Foxes - check 'em out, good stuff.

Weekend Tunes

Leonard Cohen performing "The Future" on Later... with Jools Holland.

Weekend Tunes

Finally, two consecutive days of sun filled bliss in the Treasure Valley -- here's looking forward to being  close to the 80's on Sunday.

The Raconteurs and their track  "Salute Your Solution"  from their excellent new album Consolers of the Lonely.

Josh Ritter coming back to Boise

Pollstar is reporting that Josh Ritter will be performing in Boise on July 7th 21st at the Knitting Factory (The Big Easy).

I can't really stress this enough, if you haven't seen Idaho's Josh Ritter perform live then you are missing something very, very special. Although it kinda sucks he'll be coming back to The Big Easy, I'd much rather seem him play the Egyptian Theatre again. Knowing you're going to have a seat is a good thing when you know that Ritter will sell the place out -- quickly.

I know that I just had Josh Ritter as my weekend tunes last week, but here is some more...

Josh and company performing "Night Moves" from "Later... with Jools Holland"

If I keep this up I'm gonna have to rename my blog to "the unquivocal josh ritter".

Updated

Deeds also mentions Ritter returning and the name change from The Big Easy to The Knitting Factory.

Update II

Deeds now confirms it. Tix on sale May 9th at 10 a.m. on Ticketweb -- $23 in advance, $25 @ the door.

Weekend Tunes

It's Idaho's own Josh Ritter again with his "The Temptation of Adam" from Juan's Basement sessions.

I certainly hope that Ritter decides to grace us with another mind blowing performance this summer during the western leg of his current tour.

Wilco coming to Boise?

Deeds damn near says it without saying it.

Clue uno:

As Statesman readers will find out in tomorrow's Scene column, there's a notable summer concert series planned at the Idaho Botanical Garden. I'm pleased about the series — not necessarily for the three acts booked so far, but for future potential. Boise simply does not have enough outdoor concerts. (And if you can guess the "NPR/Paste/North Ender" band that I refer to in that column, I salute you. I'll give you one more hint: It has five letters in its name.)

As our own Red State Rebel pointed out in the comments: W-I-L-C-O.

Clue dos:

If that lineup feels a little bit country, well, it is. But organizers are working on adding a couple more performers to the series. Mentioning specific acts is bad luck, so mum's the word. But a Chicago alt-rock band is close to confirming that would make NPR listeners/Paste magazine readers/North Enders roll naked in the roses like Mena Suvari in "American Beauty."

Wilco just happens to hail from Chicago.

Let's hope they can get this one booked. Wilco in Boise would be an amazing show, Jeff Tweedy is one of the best song writers of our time. That being said I hope they'd have it at the Egyptian Theatre in Downtown Boise. Call me crotchety, but if I have to deal with dancing hippies then I'd rather deal with them in air conditioning, cause there isn't much worse than sweaty, inconsiderate stinking hippies at a concert.

Wanna check out Wilco performing "Sky Blue Sky"? Yeah, I thought you did. It's down below.

Updated

Go here for information on buying tix.

Weekend Tunes

Will it ever stop raining edition.

It's Travis and their video for "Why Does It Always Rain On Me?"

Weekend Tunes

"Thank God it's spring" edition.

It's the Grateful Dead performing "St. Steven" on Playboy's After Dark back in '69.

Time to open the windows, mow the yard and clean out the garage. The patio is once again open for business for yet another summer.

You learn something new everyday

Today I learned there is a really kick ass band in Nampa that I'd never even heard of in my tiny little bubble.

From IPT's PLAY:

The Invasion begins April 23 …

It’s not often a local band lands on the cover of PLAY (actually “More,” the predecessor to PLAY), but Nampa indie wonders The Invasion are certainly worthy of such distinction.

That’s why it’s exciting to find out the band is set to release their first full-length debut “How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love The Madness” in April. Judging from a few song samples posted on the band’s web site, The Invasion has taken an ambitious step forward in carving out an identity that transcends obvious comparisons, most notably to Radiohead. I’m looking forward to hearing the entire album.

The band is celebrating the release of the album with a party at Boise’s Big Easy on April 23. Stay tuned.

Check out their website and you can hear samples from the songs on their new album. Really good stuff, and what is surprising for the valley, it is really polished, one of my major complaints about most original bands in our area.

Weekend Tunes

St. Patty's day edition. It's The Pogues and "If I Should Fall from Grace with God"

My wife's family has quite a bit of Irish in 'em so they like to really throw down come St. Patrick's Day weekend. Which is fine by me, lots o' Guinness, Corned Beef and Cabbage, Jameson and other assorted goodies.

Weekend Tunes

This week, The Mountain Goats with their track "This Year", they are of course of no relation to our Nampa compatriot over at The MountainGoat Report, just a mere coincidence.

Lesson learned

People tend to toss strange glances at you when they walk by your cube and see you air-drumming uncontrollably to a really rockin' song in the morning.

I have noticed that the air-saxophone is capable of generating some weird looks from passers-by as well.

Weekend Tunes

Jackpot edition.

Kenny Rodgers and his "The Gambler" on The Muppet Show.

It's mornings like this...

Sun coming up in the valley, only a few clouds dot the sky, the smells of early spring starting make their presence known.

Mornings like this is when I think that there should be a valley-wide loud system that is broadcasting Josh Ritter's "To the Dogs or Whoever". Maybe it'd make everyone else as happy as it makes me.

Weekend Tunes

By way of Jake Shimabukuro, his ukulele and George Harrison's "While My Guitar Gently Weeps".

If you've got the capabilities for it, I highly recommend going to this Stage6 site and watching this and other Jake Shimabukuro clips in HD. I hooked my laptop up to my stereo system and tv and let 'er rip. Looks a hell of a lot better than YouTube, that's for sure.

Drive-By Truckers and The Felice Brothers

Last night @ the Big Easy, The Drive-By Truckers and The Felice Brothers (who will be returning to Boise to play The Bouquet Sunday, March 23rd).

An observation from standing at the bar -- nothing quite says "middle aged rocker dude" than a Jack and Diet Coke.

On a political note; the "Vote Cooley for President in 2008" camp was out in force last night at the show, when Mike saw this he said to make sure you change your vote from him to Obama.

Deeds:

Trading swigs from a bottle of Jack Daniel’s on stage, the Truckers were flawed yet they awed. They rocked loud and proud. You either got it or you didn’t.