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2007:02:28:08:00. Wednesday. NO!: THE APPLES IN STEREO (#232, FEB 26 2007).
This song is the first single from New Magnetic Wonder, and also among my least favorite tracks on that album. It's OK, but feels much less dynamic than the really good stuff that surrounds, and I also have a prejudice against songs that begin with the word "and." The odd thing is that early on in their set, they played so much old stuff combined with all the stuff I like least from the new record, and I found myself wondering if I just had a completely different idea about what made this band good than the band themselves. It was all cleared up later, though, when they played about half a dozen great new tracks in a row.
posted by Aaron S. Veenstra 2007:02:27:08:00. Tuesday. NO!: THE APPLES IN STEREO (#231, FEB 26 2007).
It was a packed house last night for the Apples in Stereo -- probably a sell-out, but it was hard to tell from where we were standing -- and they did not disappoint. The early part of their set was both marred by technical difficulties and full of older material like this song, which really got the true believers going. With such a big back catalog, it seemed like they spent about half the set just trying to establish the point from which to begin their first Madison show in years. Their new record is both a big step forward and a long time coming, and they did a nice job setting up the big block of new stuff that came later in the set.
posted by Aaron S. Veenstra 2007:02:23:08:00. Friday. NO!: MARITIME (#230, FEB 2 2007). The second new song of the evening was a bit longer and came with an accompanying discussion of the doomsday clock, so think upbeat. It's got the feeling of what you might expect from a Maritime epic, despite the fact that they don't really have any "epics," per se, in their catalog. A third new song was featured in their encore, and the three of them give me a good feeling about their upcoming album, which I hope will be out by the end of the year.
posted by Aaron S. Veenstra 2007:02:21:08:00. Wednesday. NO!: MARITIME (#229, FEB 2 2007). We probably won't get to see Maritime again too soon, as they're beginning work on their third album and only playing out sparingly. But as a going-away gift, we got three new songs at this show, and they all sounded pretty good and well evolved. The sound steps out into pushy rock a bit more than We, the Vehicles did, and I liked it based on the songs we heard.
posted by Aaron S. Veenstra 2007:02:19:08:00. Monday. NO!: MARITIME (#228, FEB 2 2007).
Maritime closed out this cold show to an extremely warm welcome from the large crowd. While touring We, the Vehicles, I think they've really established themselves pretty firmly as Wisconsin's best band, and also a friend of Madison, as this was their third free campus show in a year. This opener was one of I think only two tracks they played from their first album, to go with almost all of their second.
posted by Aaron S. Veenstra 2007:02:17:21:05. Saturday. WHO CAN WIN. It's early 2007, and who knows what's going to happen in the next 20 months, but I don't think I can vote for Hillary Clinton.
Two key black political leaders in South Carolina who backed John Edwards in 2004 said Tuesday they are supporting Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's bid for the Democratic presidential nomination.
State Sens. Robert Ford and Darrell Jackson told The Associated Press they believe Clinton is the only Democrat who can win the presidency. Both said they had been courted by Illinois Sen. Barack Obama; Ford said Obama winning the primary would drag down the rest of the party. "Then everybody else on the ballot is doomed," Ford said. "Every Democratic candidate running on that ticket would lose because he's black and he's at the top of the ticket -- we'd lose the House, the Senate and the governors and everything." Ford and Jackson are playing some long odds here. Clinton's support among black voters is undeniable, but even her supporters are unlikely to be happy hearing "black political leaders" say that black candidate would cost the party "everything." On top of her Lieberman-esque belief that her Iraq war vote wasn't "a mistake" and that holding that line shows resolve, which Democratic primary voters are sure to love, I am optimistic that a good chunk of her early support will evaporate. It's not a sure thing, though, and I fear the cause of female advancement in American politics will be more set back the longer she stays in. Would someone kindly draft Kathleen Sebelius into the race?
2007:02:16:08:00. Friday. NO!: BOUND STEMS (#227, FEB 2 2007).
Bound Stems are another up and coming Chicago band, but their sound takes more from the angular emo heritage of Washington, DC, than from Chicago's past. They're another one of those regional bands that I've been wanting to see for a while, and it turns out I'll have a chance to do so again soon when they open for the Long Winters. Hopefully this foreshadows them becoming a frequently visiting act ala the Dials or the Reputation. Madison could use more regular appearances by touring acts that aren't a) jam bands, or b) the Electric Six.
posted by Aaron S. Veenstra 2007:02:15:08:00. Thursday. NO!: BOUND STEMS (#226, FEB 2 2007).
Ted Leo's coming to play at Club 770 in April, at a student price of $14. I like Ted Leo a lot, but I've not had any intention of going to that show, for just the reason one of the Bound Stems mentions at the beginning of this clip. During the previous song all the lights in the room went off. At other times during the show, various instruments or mics weren't playing out through the PA. Club 770 has equipment problems at every damn I see there, which is fine when it's free, but not so much when it's not. On the plus side, Emily became a fan of these guys during their set, even though a) she didn't like them when I played Appreciation Night for her, and b) she almost never starts liking bands by hearing them live. So, bonus.
posted by Aaron S. Veenstra 2007:02:13:08:00. Tuesday. NO!: KID, YOU'LL MOVE MOUNTAINS (#225, FEB 2 2007).
I'd been wanting to see these guys for a while -- with two former Troubled Hubbles and Jim Hanke from El Oso, they've got a winning pedigree -- but I don't know if they've played Madison before or if they've really been pushing it in general. This song is from their only release to date, a EP documenting a live set they played on Milwaukee's WMSE. It's a lot less than I wanted to buy from them after their set, but the cool thing about it is that each CD is covered by a unique polaroid shot just before the show. The one I bought featured an extreme close-up of the drummer from Maritime.
posted by Aaron S. Veenstra 2007:02:12:08:00. Monday. NO!: KID, YOU'LL MOVE MOUNTAINS (#224, FEB 2 2007).
I know that, as a Wisconsinite, I'm supposed to hate Chicago and everything in it, but it's hard not to notice how super-fine their local music scene is compared to Madison and Milwaukee these days. Kid, You'll Move Mountains (which is actually 80% Chicago, 20% Milwaukee) is the latest entrant in the long Chicago indie rock line and should be making big noise if and when they get an album out. They have two former members of Troubled Hubble, but come more out of the Braid/Cap'n Jazz tradition than TH did. Impressive stuff, and hopefully they're back here soon.
posted by Aaron S. Veenstra 2007:02:09:08:00. Friday. NO!: ZOLOF THE ROCK & ROLL DESTROYER (#223, JAN 30 2007).
As they ended their set I was surprisingly satisfied. We'd driven all the way over to Milwaukee to see a half-hour set (the headlining act was actually the Loved Ones, whom we didn't care about) that was just as hot as the last time we saw them, albeit in a much more cavernous room. The first band was done by the time we arrived, but we still wound up sitting through two local opening bands before Zolof came on -- both of which basically stunk -- and it was still an evening full of fun.
posted by Aaron S. Veenstra 2007:02:08:08:00. Thursday. NO!: ZOLOF THE ROCK & ROLL DESTROYER (#222, JAN 30 2007).
Until I looked up the origins of this song, the only time I'd ever heard reference to Chamillionaire was a running joke on an early episode of 30 Rock, and yet, this song went over like gangbusters. They recently posted a live recording of it to their myspace page, which could explain why some people toward the front had a dance routine they were eager to try out.
posted by Aaron S. Veenstra 2007:02:07:08:00. Wednesday. NO!: ZOLOF THE ROCK & ROLL DESTROYER (#221, JAN 30 2007).
The second new song they played doesn't have a name yet that I could find, but it does have a much poppier, more old-school-Zolof sound than "Can't Stand It" -- the beginning actually sounds a lot like "The Hot Situation" for a moment before transitioning into a different melody. It's another winner, and I've been scouring the Intertubes to no avail looking for a high-quality live recording of it -- higher quality than my back-corner, mono one, at any rate.
posted by Aaron S. Veenstra 2007:02:06:08:00. Tuesday. NO!: ZOLOF THE ROCK & ROLL DESTROYER (#220, JAN 30 2007).
Zolof recently put out their first release since 2004 -- a split covers EP with Reel Big Fish. Unfortunately, they didn't play their scorching cover of the Human League's "Don't You Want Me," but they did play a couple of their own new songs from what I hope is an upcoming new album. This one is available at their myspace page and is catchy as hell, despite sounding a bit different from their Jalopy Go Far/Popsicle stuff. It's a good start, to be sure, but now I need more!
posted by Aaron S. Veenstra 2007:02:05:08:00. Monday. NO!: ZOLOF THE ROCK & ROLL DESTROYER (#219, JAN 30 2007).
Zolof! It takes a lot to get us to go to shows in Milwaukee these days, but Zolof the Rock & Roll Destroyer -- even in an opening slot, even in a less than perfect venue -- is more than enough. With the Journey now closed and with Zolof recording new material, they probably won't be back to Madison soon, but this show at the Miramar Theatre was well worth the trip. This track, their standard opener, provided a hot start to the set and got the sizable crowd jumping.
posted by Aaron S. Veenstra 2007:02:02:08:00. Friday. NO!: HELIGOATS (#218, JAN 19 2007).
While he's been recording songs for his record in a proper studio with real mixes and stuff, Chris has also been posting new material on the Heligoats myspace page. He said that some of it was just experimenting and messing around, so I guess those songs may not be on the album. He played several of them during his set, including this one, which, as he explains, is a complicated story about a porn actor who's surprised to find that the guns being used as props in his porn movie are... not real. If they're not on the album, hopefully they'll see some kind of permanent release, because they're all pretty good tunes.
posted by Aaron S. Veenstra 2007:02:01:10:42. Thursday. EVERYONE, BOW YOUR HEADS AND PRETEND TO BE SERIOUS. 
posted by Aaron S. Veenstra |
