Reno strikes again

Clint Reno is the go-to guy in Columbus for concert posters, and of all the ones I've seen, I think the Miranda Sound poster above is my favorite.

As the poster indicates so artfully and poignantly, Miranda Sound's last Columbus show ever is this Friday at the Ravari Room. It should be a bittersweet, don't-miss event. Stephen Slaybaugh wrote about the end of MS in this week's Other Paper.

The band takes the stage at midnight, and the poster will apparently be for sale at the show.

Indie Olympics

Commercials during the Olympics seem to have more indie-rock soundtracks than usual. Here's a few I've noticed. Any others I'm missing?

Chevy: Sea Wolf - You're a Wolf
Chevy: Silversun Pickups - Lazy Eye
AT&T: The Decemberists - The Crane Wife 3

edit--more:
Saturn: Noah and the Whale - 5 Years Time

It Always Happens First on Records

A few weeks ago I finally purchased a better turntable that will do my humble record collection justice, and it's been great rediscovering some gems and digging through crates at Used Kids and Lost Weekend to find new ones.

I came across the yellowed sleeve (above) inside an original 1969 Johnny Cash At San Quentin LP. It's Columbia Records' list of all the advantages of vinyl, which, 40 years later, is a hot topic again. All the major media outlets have been running stories lately about the comeback of vinyl, rife with quotes from audiophiles about the warmth of the medium, the big artwork, the tangible aspect of music, etc. Vinyl is the perfect counterpoint to the digital music revolution. Personally, I'm glad we have both. I love my iPod and my records for completely different (and probably obvious) reasons.

Anyway, some of Columbia's promotional claims fall right in line with what vinyl promoters have been espousing lately.

• Check out the "art" argument: "Record albums are never out of place. Because of the aesthetic appeal of the jacket design, they're beautifully at home in any living room or library." True. You can display records; you can't display eMusic downloads.
  

• And the "sound" argument: "Countless refinements and developments have been made to perfect the long-playing record's technical excellence and insure (sic) the best in sound reproduction and quality available in recorded form." Yep, there's still something about vinyl that sounds nicer than a digital file.
  

Some of the claims are humorously dated, though:

• "The Best for Less: Records give you top quality for less money than any other recorded form." It's the exact opposite now. Vinyl--at least new vinyl--is pricey compared to digital.
  

• "...because they're flat and not bulky, you can store hundreds in a minimum of space and still see every title." Pretty hilarious to describe an LP as "not bulky.
  

• "With records, it's easy to pick out the songs you want to play." I wouldn't say it's easy.

But I think the sleeve heading still holds true today: Records give you more of what you want. Especially when they come packaged with those digital downloads...

The Black Crowes - LC, 8/8

Nothing could save the Black Crowes on Friday night, not even the amazing weather. And it was amazing, the sun making the LC’s sheet-metal façade look downright warm and the night air becoming nice and chilled once the glowing orb finally descended.

I thought maybe, just maybe, a night like that would give me an extra portion of patience to enjoy a band that likes to showcase its musicianship on long, extended jams. I even tried to dispel any preconceptions when I noticed a.) an exceedingly high number of male ponytails, and b.) the sound guys carefully putting incense and patchouli around the stage before the band came on.

But this snoozer of a show never lived up to the potential created by such a pleasant night, making the outdoor experience even more disappointing.

The interminable jamming on almost every song, which I honestly can’t imagine enjoying unless you’re ridiculously high (and many folks were), led to copious amounts of awkward hippie dancing by singer Chris Robinson. He had just a few moves, like whipping his long hair from side to side, but his favorite was the ‘ole running-in-place motion, which looked more like a bad game of charades than a dance.

I guess you can’t completely blame Robinson, though. The dude rarely plays an instrument, so what else is he supposed to do while the other guys endlessly noodle? Plus, his singing was usually right on the mark, a bluesy howl that was equal parts 80-year-old gospel singer and Robert Plant.

And at least he was visibly into the music. His compatriots, on the other hand, played their parts--improvised and otherwise--with the emotion of an embalmed politician.

The band apparently is quite excited to have North Mississippi Allstars guitarist Luther Dickinson on board, since he got his own emotionless guitar solo just about every time Chris’s brother Rich got one. Neither lead player showed much variation beyond familiar, stereotypical classic/southern rock leads. (The sound mix was pretty muddy all night, too.)

The set was short on hits, with the band forgoing old radio favorites like “She Talks to Angels” and “Jealous Again” for stuff off the band’s newest album, Warpaint. The Bee Gees cover “To Love Somebody” was just as boring as the rest, but the Black Crowes’ version of “Senor (Tales of Yankee Power)” was surprisingly good--maybe because Chris Robinson picked up an acoustic for the tune, but more likely because it’s a Bob Dylan song.

Yes, these guys can play their instruments, but by refusing to edit themselves and make the music more than a side note to the communal concert experience, the tiresome show was too hard to handle.

Like the Black Crowes, openers Grace Potter & the Nocturnals’ best tune was a cover--the Rolling Stones’ “Paint it, Black.” Other than that, the songs were pretty blah.

Potter came out strapped with a Flying V for an opening number that significantly upped the rock factor compared with the band’s 2007 Hollywood debut, This is Somewhere. But she soon abandoned the guitar, retreating to the keyboard for some mellower tunes. Even the more upbeat ones only rocked out in the way that predictable Melissa Etheridge songs rock out. And the all-band drum solo came off as gimmicky instead of cool.

Potter does have some pipes, though. The woman can really sing with soul and didn’t miss a note. But she could use some songwriting lessons. Probably wouldn’t hurt to ditch the mom jeans, either.

This week's Other Paper

In addition to the Bon Iver review here and below, I wrote a story for this week's paper about bands that are converting their vans and buses to run on veggie oil. The topic is fascinating to me, and I think over the years we're going to see more and more people buying diesel vehicles and rigging them to run on grease. You can read "Powered by Crisco" in the print edition and online here.

Bon Iver, Bowerbirds - Wexner Center

Who knew Bon Iver could rock out?

Justin Vernon—the man behind the Bon Iver moniker—is known for the moody, ethereal songs he recorded during a winter spent secluded in a Wisconsin cabin. (If you’ve heard of Bon Iver, chances are you’ve heard the back story.) The woodsy retreat resulted in For Emma, Forever Ago, an album that will probably be perched atop more than a few Best of 2008 lists, including my own.

I knew Vernon had recruited a full band for the tour that stopped at the Wexner Center Sunday night, but I didn’t realize that band would be utilized to its full extent so often. There was a bassist borrowed from the openers, Bowerbirds, along with a drummer and guitarist, all of whom added backing vocals.

The band accompanied Vernon emphatically on familiar numbers like “Creature Fear” and “The Wolves (Act I and II),” filling the jam-packed performance space with powerful arrangements. It was wonderful.

The full-band mentality carried over to a couple of new tunes, too, both of which featured Vernon on the keys instead of guitar. “Babies” was a slow burner built around a repeated keyboard melody, dynamically adding more instruments as it developed. There was no verse, no chorus, just mood. Really lovely. “Blood Bank” was a rocker that found Vernon ditching his trademark falsetto for some deep, blue-eyed soul.

The new tunes proved Bon Iver is a different animal than the average flavor-of-the-month buzz band. And if the sold-out crowd wasn’t already an indication, the artistic yet accessible new songs suggested Bon Iver’s next release will increase his fan base far beyond a cult following.

It doesn’t hurt that Vernon is such an unassuming, affable guy. Oozing genuine humility, he couldn’t stop thanking the crowd for being so great. He was right, too—the audience was exceedingly respectful and attentive, as Wex crowds usually are.

The night had some hushed, spare moments, as well. The band left the stage for “re: Stacks” so that Vernon could convey the intimacy of the song on his own, and the selection was none the worse for it.

The set climaxed with a version of “The Wolves (Act I and II)” that had the entire crowd singing “What might have been lost” at the top of their lungs along with the band, followed by a stirring encore cover of Sarah Siskind’s “Lovin’s for Fools” with the band joined by Bowerbirds around a single mic.

For those who have yet to check out Bon Iver, it’s probably becoming annoying how many superlatives are thrown around about the bearded minstrel of the forest. But Vernon is one of those rare artists who actually live up to, and surpass, the hype.

I can’t think of many bands that would be fitting openers for Bon Iver, stylistically speaking, but Bowerbirds filled the role just fine. The trio played songs off its debut, Hymns for a Dark Horse (which was re-released this year on Dead Oceans), but it also played quite a bit of new material. It all sounded pretty similar, but fortunately Bowerbirds’ brand of folk doesn’t get tiresome.

Singer/guitarist Phil Moore used his full, slidey voice to accompany the casually creative strums of his nylon strings. Beth Tacular played accordion that was as awesome as her name, and multi-instrumentalist Mark Paulson handled bass notes on some sort of floor contraption, along with violin. Drum pieces were split among the three.

The trio’s harmonies were the best part of the set, but I welcomed the new song in which Tacular handled a verse on her own, just to spice things up. The song also had a quicker tempo, something I hope to see more of on the band’s next record.

Observation

Is it me or does Spiritualized's "Death Take Your Fiddle" off Songs in A&E sound a whole lot like Townes Van Zandt's "Waiting Around to Die"?