Music To Your Ears

\ Apr 20, 2006

3 min read

FHM CD Release Party–Fast Heart Mart bring their street performance aesthetic and a brand-new album to Harlow’s (NE corner of Central and Carlisle) on Friday, April 21. This show will be the official jumping off for An Orange Album, the lightning-quick follow-up to the group’s 2005 The Red Record.

FHM is an irreverent and, obviously, prolific duo comprised of Roblyn Crawford on a teeny (but not tinny) standing drum set and Martin Stamper on amplified acoustic guitar. You can read an amusing firsthand account of FHM at this year’s SXSW Music Festival by searching “SXSW Alternatives” in the archives at alibi.com. You’ll get a good idea of where these guys are coming from.

Back at the release party, a brace of the weirdest and wildest music our city has been lucky enough to put forth will play hour-long sets beginning at 9 p.m. Look forward to seeing FHM, Selsun Blue and The Potty Mouth Sherry’s in their respective oddball elements. As an added treat, Arjan McNamara will debut his music video of FHM’s “Hate Job” after the performance, followed by a final set by Martin Stamper’s funky DV8 collaboration. The whole night costs $7 at the door, which includes a free copy of An Orange Album.

Music To Your Ears

Get Me Out of This Retarded Town—So Nels Andrews packed up and moved to New York, and we’re losing The Gingerbread Patriots to—where else?–the Pacific Northwest this spring. I just found out that Jason Daniello is moving to North Carolina this summer. Hemorrhaging outstanding local musicians to bigger, better-paying cities has become commonplace here in Albuquerque. In fact, you could argue that the true benchmark of any band’s success is whether or not they can get the hell out of Dodge. Depressing as that may seem, there are still plenty of acts who prefer to stay right where they are and keep things interesting at home.

And then there are the critically acclaimed acts that move here.

Yeah, I said it. The musicians are coming. In fact, they’ve already begun trickling in, patronizing the same bars as you, quietly dating your friends and, above all, taking advantage of what many of us have known for years–that this city is incredibly fertile ground for music.

It’s a point that was driven home (so to speak) even louder last week, when Santa Fe’s critically acclaimed alternative rockers The Hollis Wake relocated to Albuquerque. To echo the giddy outburst of City of Albuquerque Music Liaison Tom Frouge upon hearing the news, “All right! We’ve got ’em!”

That’s right! Not Seattle or Portland, New York or “Hot”-lanta. The Hollis Wake has chosen Albuquerque as their home and central music hub, and we’re just tickled pink to have them.

The Hollis Wake will perform again at this year’s Spring Crawl, set for Saturday, April 29. Only this time, they won’t be the touring band.