“Then I let the Alpine play/ Pumpin new shit by NWA/ It was gangsta gangsta At the top of the list/ Then I played my own shit/ And it went somethin’ like this…” – from the hip-hop composition “Boyz-N-The-Hood,” performed by Eazy-E and written by Ice Cube.Sure, the story excerpted above gets seriously wack and suspiciously misogynistic as our narrator describes his day; nonetheless it speaks of a music-connected life that’s comically self-aware as much as it is petulantly triumphant. That makes it perfect for this edition of “Show Up,” the weekly music column that answers eternal existential questions about where to best spend one’s listening hours. I hope that sounds legit; anywho here’re five shows bound to be more entertaining that rolling about in a 1964 Chevrolet Impala could ever hope to be.
Show Up!: Thursday
Electropop pioneer Chazwick Bradley Bundick goes by the name Toro y Moi when he’s creating the down-tempo, electronically manipulated tuneage sometimes referred to as ‘chillwave’ by some in the music blogosphere. He’ll make an appearance at Sunshine Theater (120 Central SW) on Thursday, Oct. 22, with ascendant acolyte Anthony Ferraro whose own spaciously wandering pop project is known as Astronauts, etc. Together and apart these gentlemen engage in the sort of musical constructions that have been compared to musique concrète and shoegaze filtered through the lens of late 20th century synth-pop. Seamlessly melodic, Bundick’s work spans multiple genres with particular attention paid to entrancing danceability. Similarly, Ferraro—a classically trained pianist—builds compositions that, while hook-laden, shimmer and shine with a fantastic variability that touches on traditions as diverse as deep house and lo-fi rocanrol. An all ages (13+) excursion to the edge of tomorrow’s aural dreamscape, this event costs $15. The doors open at 7pm and the music begins an hour later.
Show Up!: Friday
With Halloween on the verge of raising its perpetually decomposing head for, like, the 150th time in American history, references to the undead are popping up all over pop culture. Your best chance of making sense of this occult phenomenon may be at a show called “Night of the Living Cover Bands” at Low Spirits (2823 Second Street NW) on Friday, Oct. 23. All sorts of local bands—13 in fact—will be trotting out their pastiche-laden proclivities at this gig. The list of performers is too extensive to summon completely in this brief concert compendium, but I took a look at it and hereby propose the following soon-to-be highlights of a night filled with far out fakery and reverent re-invention. The Dirty Shades will become Radiohead, for instance. Shoulder Voices’ portrayal of the Velvet Underground and Nico should be sumptuously spare, as long as Little Bobby Tucker sticks to Lou Reed and eschews John Cale. The Talking Hours will come as close to Nirvana as any band in this town might, while Time Wound devolves into DEVO. But perhaps the summit of this simulacrum will be achieved by none other than the mysterious and mellifluous Daddy Long Loin as he becomes Tom Waits. It’ll cost between $5-7 to enter into this 21+ carnival of verisimilitude, but afterwards you’ll want to parade around in costume for days while your favorite rock anthem blasts in the background. It all begins at 8pm, folks.
Show Up!: Saturday, Part I
Duke City Sound Stage (2013 Ridgecrest SE) has established itself as a vibrant venue with plenty of vitality. The joint’s illuminated rock acts like local wunderkinder Five Mile Float as well as veterans like Dash Cooper, son of Alice, who made the rounds with his band CO-OP this past summer. With plans to expand into the Freed Company building downtown in November, Duke City Sound Stage impresario Rhett Butler says he’ll continue to provide an alternative to the alternative for rock audiences in these parts. On Saturday, Oct. 24, Duke City Sound Stage plays host to The Jukebox Romantics, a trio of punks from Nueva York. Their latest recording, Transmissions Down, includes quickly enumerated nuggets of guitar driven nihilism like “Spilling Your Intestines” and “We Kill Pirates.” Local support for Burque’s iteration of their tour includes David Webb and Ray Gutierrez performing as Typical Hairless Ape, a surfy-sounding duo with deep roots in the punk community. Folk-punk dude Jacob Sinclair and SLUG open up the evening’s can of wild ear worms. All ages are welcome at the alcohol and drug-free sound stage for a concert that commences at 7pm. $8 gets you in, by the way.
Show Up!: Saturday, Part Ii
Sometimes, as a kid, I’d sneak away from my old man’s hi-fi (usually when he was trying to explain what Dean Martin and Maurice Ravel had in common) long enough to take in an episode or two of “Hee Haw” on the teevee in the back room. I was especially pleased the time Mel Tillis made an appearance and performed his sweetly-sour honky-tonk classic “Memory Maker” for all the folks back home. Well, that old man’s kid, a singer-songwriter Pam Tillis recently hooked up with country western chanteuse Lorrie Morgan to perform and tour as Grits and Glamour. Together, these two have transformed into a duet that captivates audiences with knowing nods to country classicism imbued with contemporary cross-over conceits. They’ll be gigging at The Showroom at Isleta Resort and Casino (11000 Broadway SE) on Saturday, Oct. 24. Tillis learned the trade from her Pa early on, playing to a stunned audience at the Grand Ole Opry when she was only 8. Besides writing hits for Gloria Gaynor and Chaka Kahn, Tillis scored gold with the album Put Yourself in My Place. Morgan is also the offspring of Nashville royalty; her father was Country Music Hall of Fame member George Morgan. She’s known for heartfelt, modern C&W shout-outs like “I Didn’t Know My Own Strength.” Tickets range from $20-30 and the show gets underway at 8pm. When the music’s over, take a few minutes to wander the casino while you wonder about the influence and outcomes of paternal talent.
Show Up!: Sunday
Sound of Ceres is a duo of dream-poppers comprised of Ryan and Karen Hover who will be playing at Low Spirits (2823 Second Street NW) on Sunday, Oct. 25. They’re from Fort Collins, Colo. but often work with members of Denver’s neo-psychedelic Apples in Stereo (you remember them, right … the Elephant 6 Collective, The Olivia Tremor Control … okay, never mind) in creating and executing their peculiarly precise and prescient vision of rocanrol music. Certainly, the results can be loosely categorized as psych-pop, yet the result here really defies the strict application of genre-related signifiers. Simply put: Check out their recording “Bryn Marina” for a hint of the mad instrumental universalism and ghostly melodicism that runs like a glowing thread of starlight through their oeuvre. They’ll be joined onstage by Bloomington, Ind.’s Mike Adams At His Honest Weight, a band that features jangly guitars, soaring keyboards and a solid narrative lyricism that reflects a mid-western rock aesthetic occasionally but noisily embraced by antecedents like The Replacements. The band’s recent work, Oscillate Wisely and Best of Boiler Room Classics, has a crispy and climbing surface tension that consistently and tremulously contains dark undercurrents and deep passages revealed through the spot-on intuition of guitarist/songwriter Adams. It’s only five bucks to attend this 21+ show, quite a score for listeners seeking the new yet historically informed directions American music has lately taken. The joint opens up at 7pm; expect the rock at 8pm that night.
Show Up!:
So, yeah that oughta keep you all occupied for a few days. It’s all about making that C.T.A. (concert-time action), you know. In the words of Eazy-E, “Why don’t you come out from the piano/ And bust this crazy shit?” Roughly translated I think that means, ‘Show up!’
