“Long may you run/ Long may you run/ Although these changes/ have come/ With your chrome heart shining/ in the sun/ Long may you run/ Maybe The Beach Boys/ have got you now/ With those waves/ singing "Caroline No"/ Rollin’ down/ that empty ocean road/ Gettin’ to the surf on time/ Long may you run/ Long may you run/ Although these changes/ have come/ With your chrome heart shining/ in the sun/ Long may you run.”—Neil YoungNo matter how he surveyed the situation, August March continued to have deep reservations about mentioning anything that might distract from the fact that this town had the best damn music of just about any place on Earth. Though tragedy seemed to abound during that summer of 2018, March earnestly believed that there was also great joy to be found on the planet and that, ofttimes such pleasant feels—as the kids called subsequent emotional responses to certain stimuli—came from direct interactions with the thing called music.With that in mind, he pushed aside the feeling of dread and heavy rumination he had been feeling, put his fingers to the keyboard and as words filled the screen in front of him, began to rock the hell out, confident that he had found a path away from the chaos. That trail, by the way, started on the weekend and had a sign at its beginning that read: Listen to me.
Show Up!: Friday
Mike Trujillo and Roman Barham of ARISE
Dudes! Do not forget about the ARISE Music and Coffee fundraiser coming up on Friday, July 20 at Launchpad (618 Central Ave. NW). We spoke to the very interesting and rocked out fellows that run this essentially Burqueño music shop a couple of weeks ago and it’s got our thumbs-up as one of the best local music emporiums and hangouts to ever rise out of the dry desert dust in El Duque. Join Mike Trujillo and Roman Barham as they welcome support and performances from local prog and metal masters like Suspended, Cobra vs. Mongoose, Anesthesia, Brother Strange and Patema. It’s going to be an awesomely head-banging night; support your local scene, ese! 8pm • $7 • 21+.
Show Up!: Friday Part Ii
Nosotros
courtesy of the artist
En serio, I wouldn’t keep it up with the fine palabras about NMJW’s Salsa Under The Stars series if the dang thing didn’t keep on kicking it, weekend after pinche weekend this summer. That said, please consider joining other interested parties—which could mean many of your friends and neighbors, because who doesn’t like to get down to the intricate yet dance-y multi-genre stylings of one of Burque’s best and most reliably groovy Latin orchestras—at the Albuquerque Museum Amphitheater (2000 Mountain Rd. NW) on Friday, July 20. In nearly 25 years of gigging, Nosotros have evolved into a 9-piece Latino powerhouse that plays it all, homies. Oye, maybe I’ll see you there. 7pm • $15 General Admission, $12 NMJW Members /Students/Seniors • All-ages.
Show Up!: Saturday
Gemini Syndrome
Photo by Jonathan Weiner
Gemini Syndrome is an alt.metal band (notice how I used the OG, usenet style nomenclature there folks) that truth be told, I don’t know too much about. But they will be gloriously gigging at Launchpad (618 Central Ave. NW) on Saturday, July 21. The genre they immerse themselves in is, like any form of molten metal, in flux, heating and flowing and then solidifying into sounds that are pretty, pretty damn heavy. They’re reminiscent of Tool in that they produce very polished, even stylized music that has elements of metal buried in it, albeit alongside prog and emo tropes too. On tour, they’re playing with Las Vegas, Nev., alt.rock types Code Red Riot, another band that sorta sounds like another band that sorta sounds like Tool. I’ll put those bollocks aside though because I know for damn sure that the local bands supporting these credible but constrained bands from the western lands truly rock. Ashes of Jupiter and Darken The Day represent “alternative” roads taken by the metal community here in Burque, and while one’s been part of the scene for a few years, the other is new. Both deserve to be heard, early and often as they say, by local audiences. Go for said local flava, stay for the sexy Satanic rituals that happen after the show is over, yo. 8:30pm • $10 • 21+.
Show Up!: Sunday
Mary Lattimore
courtesy of the artist
As audiences may have guessed by now (it’s been more than four years, dang it) August March is deeply moved by the quirky, by the odd, by the experimental. I think it has something with the dude being a surrealist or at least a magical realist. Anywho, March will get a full filling of such sublime and vasty experiences when composer Julianna Barwick and harpist Mary Lattimore visit Burque’s home for hep happenings, Sister (407 Central Ave. NW) on Sunday, July 22. Barwick does much of her work using recorded sound loops. Her gauzy, ghostly and subconsciously derived vocalizations and atmospheric, droning melodies are featured on her newer work like 2016’s Will, but personally I prefer her early oeuvre, including (of course) her super-fantastic remix of Radiohead’s “Reckoner.” Meanwhile, harpist Lattimore, the recipient of a Pew Fellowship, classically trained, et cetera has been at the forefront of musical experimentation and genre deconstructing musical experimentalism for about 10 years. Her new recording is called Hundreds of Days and calling it ethereal seems like an exercise in circumspection because the work totally rocks, hijos y hijas. 8pm • $12 • 21+.
