I had a great time seeing music last night at Light Club Lamp Shop. It was the final night of Matthew Bryan Hagen‘s Shocktober Thursday series. I got myself in and settled as Surf Sabbath took the stage. As you would guess from the name, the band play instrumental versions of Black Sabbath songs rearranged in a surf rock style. You know, all the doom and gloom, but a lot more notes. They opened with a long looping storm sound that led into Black Sabbath. Up next they took us Into The Void then we rolled up a Sweet Leaf. Am I Going Insane was a fun addition to the set then we rose up, we Children Of The Grave. We experienced a Wicked World for a while then punched a Hole In The Sky. Sabbath Bloody Sabbath followed then they closed with War Pigs. i zipped out the door as the last note was trailing off to get my radio show ready to go.

I really want to thank Matt for an incredible run of shows this month. I can’t wait to see what he has in mind for us next.

Photos by Luke Awtry Photography

I had a great time seeing music last night at Light Club Lamp Shop. I got going at the last minute and took the quick walk downtown. The clock finished striking 7 as I was 50 feet from the door. I slid into the club and Matt the Gnat and the Gators featuring Miss Saxy were on stage singing a song about a witch doctor making gumbo. The fourth night of the weekly Shocktober series was off to the usual dark start. Matthew Bryan Hagen‘s stark guitar and deep voice were nicely complemented by Caroline Marie‘s mournful sax and choice backing vocals. They continued on with a tale of someone who was Done Saving Bones then sang the tale of a man who’s dog found a human bone in the neighbor’s back yard. It was called Two Dirty Dogs. Up next was a true story of a man who’s life was saved on a frigid night by finding an abandoned winter jacket. Much time was spent afterwards Looking For Forgetful Louis Brown. Paper Doll was fraught with several hilarious jokes, then things took a darker turn when a hitchhiker got picked up by a nefarious character. I believe the song was called One Day Closer To The Devil Man. A cheery tale followed from a man who lived on a cobblestone street in 1847 and suffered blackouts and wondered if he is Jack The Ripper. I believe the proper title is Born On Cobblestone In 1847. From there we went from tremendous highs to stupendous lows in Frozen Winning Streak Of A Gambler. A tale of a man in a space capsule that was out of energy and heading towards the atmosphere, in a bad way, changed perspectives to that of a child on earth who sees the capsule burning up and experiences it as A Cut In The Night Sky. They closed the night in a joyous fashion and celebrated A Monsters Holiday.

I said a couple of quick hellos, but was out the door with haste. The walk home was quick and I had enough time to get that night’s radio show running. Next week’s show is Surf Sabbath and I may need to go see that one too, since I’ve made it four of the four so far.

Thanks for the pictures Luke Awtry Photography   

 

All photos by Luke Awtry Photography

I had a great time seeing music Thursday night at Light Club Lamp Shop. It was the third part of Matthew Bryan Hagen‘s Shocktober series.

This week’s version was billed as “Angel Bones and the Filthy Fist”. Imagine if you will, Matt Hagen alternating between a spooky guitar and a spookier keyboard. Imagine a long sprawling jam that rose from gentle beauty to terrifying heights. What could give the sound even more depth? How about Lauren Costello‘s amazing cello playing. What could give the sound a more eerie edge? How about Johnnie Day Durand‘s musical saw. Together they built a dark sonic platform. Once they settled in a little, Annie Parmalee cited the name of a movie and two characters. Chris Friday and Kris Brown became the characters and recited a few lines from the classic horror movie that Annie mentioned. Throughout the night they moved through some of the Halloween movies and some of the Friday the 13th movies. Some bits of dialog were just a couple of lines and some were extended sequences. Some were terrifying and some were outrageously funny. They hit on the classics like The Exorcist, Carrie, Psycho, and The Birds. The packed room hung on every word. Some lines were delivered with exquisite terror and some amusingly butchered. Sometimes they broke the fourth wall and asked, is Happy Death Day really a movie? And, while the dialog was the focus, watching Lauren and Johnnie listen to where Matt was going musically and staying locked in was my favorite part.

The whole show was a very amusing hour, then I zipped home to put a radio show together. There are two more eerie weeks of Shocktober shows still on the books, so head to the Lamp Shop for your Halloween needs.

Thanks to Luke Awtry Photography for the photos. Thanks Robot Dog Studio for filming and recording the show. I’ll be playing parts of it soon on WBKM 

 

I had a great time seeing music last night at Light Club Lamp Shop. It was the second show in the weekly Shocktober series that Matthew Bryan Hagen has created to bring us into the Halloween mood. This weeks version was the return of Brainscapes.

I met up with Nathan Curtis and we drove downtown. As we got settled, the band donned their squid hats and slipped into the groove. With Matt on guitar, Bob Wagner on guitar, Dan Davine on bass and maybe Ari on keys, they had a bit of an old Floyd sound. The whole show was one long piece of music that began as a slow drippy soundscape with a steady driving bass line. The music built intensely for a bit and eased up and down and found all of the cavities in our brains. Both Wagner and Hagen were stunning on guitar with Matt working the sound hard and Bob playing gentle and incendiary leads, sometimes with a slide and sometimes not. At one point the music was so intense it was almost shrieking then it eased way back and Matt wrapped his hands around the Theremin and coaxed out some delightfully creepy sounds. The music rose to new depths and almost sounded like a giant squid attacking a ship during a raging storm. It eventually eased back and Matt tossed in some words about a gnome and the piece quietly ended.

We hung out and chatted for a moment then Nathan drove us back, dropped me off and headed to his place. I got in and logged into the WBKM computer and had plenty of time to run my radio show at 9. Even if it’s a bit stressful to see a show before I go to work on a Thursday night, the timing seems great and I might just have to do it again. There are three more chances this month. Stop by if you want.

 

I had a great time seeing music last night at Light Club Lamp Shop. I have a radio show on Thursdays on WBKM that begins at 9pm. I trigger the show from my laptop and usually like to stay close to home so everything runs smoothly. Every once in a while, a Thursday show seems doable, and the idea of seeing Matthew Bryan Hagen play murder ballads with Brett Lanier on Pedal Steel seemed too good to pass up, especially as the show was set to go from 7-8pm. That should have allowed plenty of time to get home and get things running.

I headed out around 20 of 7 and the door was still locked when I arrived. I grabbed some coffee at Radio Bean then made my way into the Lamp Shop. Everything was mostly set up and Ryan Cohen was there to record the show for Robot Dog Studio. A little bit of warmup/soundcheck quickly turned into the beginning of the show. Matt began with gentle dark chords on the acoustic guitar and a deep haunting vocal. Brett’s mournful slide added extra shivers to the songs. They began with a cheery song about about a guy asking someone to watch his bar stool since he gave the person the skin off his back to make a coat. Things turned darker on a tale of honeymooners who robbed a bank and were later hung together. That’s one way to celebrate a wedding. Up next was a tale of a man who had a wolf as his spirit animal until the wolf ate him and he became the wolf’s Spirit Man. A song about Bone Picking kept the spirit dark, then they followed with a tale of unknowing revenge. You know how sometimes kids make a pact to marry each other when they grow up, but the man leaves instead,and takes the woman’s knife and heart? Hearing the story of how that woman in black dealt with the situation when he returned was both surprising and not surprising at all. A song about some cold friends showed that they were not really such good friends in the end. A song about an outlaw who knew his time was almost up followed. I found it easy to sing along with the chorus about the Horizon the second time through. After the song, Matt said it was an old Kyle The Rider song, so it’s likely I’d heard it a few times before, a long time ago. A tale of selling your soul to corporate America revealed itself in Wallet Of Sin then came a song about tables that had been turned. It turned out that Larry The Canary had picked up on how this coal mine thing works. He flew in just far enough to no longer be seen, waited a while, then flew out. The miners went in with the expected results. They capped the night with a fast rousing cover of Bobby Bare’s song about Voodoo Queen Marie Laveau which was a great end to the show.

I ducked out quickly and zipped home in plenty of time to start my show. Wow, with that timing, I just might be able to make the other four shows this month. Matt’s got a lot of creepy Shocktober plans, so if you need a Halloween fix, head to the Lamp Shop from 7-8 on Thursdays.

Ouzkzqlzn

I had a great time seeing music Wednesday night at The Monkey House. The walk to Winooski went quickly. I got in and settled, then wandered to the front and stood in awe as Ouzkxqlznbegan to play. She began by playing some cello parts and putting them into the loop. She added a little guitar and even had a microphone on a bowl so when she tapped it, a cool sounding beat entered the mix. The sound of a radio playing Runaway Train by Tom Petty entered the mix and the swirling sound was intoxicating. Characters arrived and told their stories then faded back into the music. Late in the set a character said we gotta move toward love then the distressed tape sound of Runaway Train returned. Lauren Costello finished the set on cello and I swear she was playing to the distressed sound rather than the song. It was a mesmerizing set as always.

 

Ouzkxqlzn

Ouzkxqlzn

 

Up next Community Garden began with a big flowery sound and a nice rocking flow. The bass was especially insistent all night long, whether the song was slow or fast. Though they played as a guitar, bass, drums trio there were some keyboard sounds triggered in the mix somewhere. They played songs about the new normal and about not sweating it. A song about brushing it off was cool then they played a really fun rocker. They played an appropriate song called Planting then closed the set with a song about being high. It was a really nice set and I’m very glad I was there.

 

Community Garden

A band from Austin called Grivo followed and let loose a huge wall of rocking sound. They began a bit slow with a song that was kind of bright and shiny and dark and sleepy at the same time. The sound built and built and cascaded in waves from the stage. They sang a bit but the voice was more of an instrument in the mix and the lyrics floated behind the veil of the music. It was a huge heavy show and I’m so glad I was there.

 

Grivo

The set break was reasonable then Father Figuer took the stage. Armed with a new bass player, the band let it’s music flow from quiet gentle parts to a ferocious rock sound, before easing back down again. Most of the set was that familiar sound but a few songs were a bit more concise and almost poppy. The show was super fun and it’s cool to watch them progress as a band. They mentioned that they were recording a new album, so I guess we will find out where they are going soon. I had a great time listening to them play as always.

I hung out for a little bit then took the long walk home. It was another great night of music in our town

 

Father Figuer

https://www.wbkm.org/

 

 

 

Tonight’s local music radio show on WBKM.ORG will run from 9-11pm Eastern time Thursday September 12. You can stream it from the website or here WBKM It will go as follows.

Lined up before
Makarov – James and the Giant Sleep
Exuviae – Kali Ma and the Garland of Arms – KMGA

Song before: Liar – Queen

intro

From our small city to the great big world, these are the Sounds Of Burlington. Fall is in the air and the nights have been chilly but the days have been warm. Will it stay that way for a couple of weeks?

1.) 80 Degrees In October – Jesse Taylor Band
2.) Darker Now – Eastern Mountain Time
3.) Joyless – SWALE
4.) London – Matthew Mercury

That’s the next song on the Mercury album that I’m playing all the way through, song after song, week after week. That one features a lyric that says don’t break this poor boy down until there’s nothing left. I think we all feel that way sometimes and each song in that set looks at depression and metal illness from different directions. Swale lament the fate of the downtrodden and remind us that we’re all going through this together and that we’re all the same. Eastern look deeply into those dark feelings and Jesse wrote that song to help her come to grips with her demons. If you haven’t read her recent post about why she supports the suicide prevention hotline, you really should. It’s hard to share stories like that but should remind us all that people struggle with life and we need to watch out for each other and if you are feeling very down, please reach out to a friend, and if you don’t have a friend to reach out to, reach out to me. I care about you. OK, I was lucky enough to see this band rock The Monkey House on Tuesday.

5.) Coffee – The Pyros
6.) Dark Circles – The Wet Ones (Amy Wild)
7.) Can’t Stand It – B Boys
8.) Cave – Grivo
9.) Outside – Father Figuer

I caught a great set by Father last night at The Monkey. Grivo came from Austin to play that show and were brilliant. On Tuesday, Pyros, Wet, and B rocked the Monkey nice and hard. It was a fun couple of days. Oh, and this band played last night too.

10.) This Is How It Ends – Community Garden
11.) Two Weeks (’till The End Of The World) – Grand
12.) So Good (I Could Die) – J Bengoy
13.) My Heart – Francesca Blanchard

J, Francesca and Matthew Mercury will play GPN on Saturday on the waterfront. At work we are going through a major computer system upgrade, so I thought I’d play a couple of doom and gloom songs just in case. OK, so I caught a bit of cool music at Art Hop last Friday. Here’s a little taste.

14.) Lights Of Montreal – Lobot
15.) Frosty Pink Skies – Miku Daza
16.) Ragged Way – The Bobby Lees
17.) Owen – Clever Girls
19.) Procession 1 – ROUGH FRANCIS

There was an incredible show at Speaking Volumes that featured Miku, Bobby, Clever and Francis and it was amazing. I saw Zeus Springsteen play the Lobot song at the Green Door and their whole set was great too. OK, let’s head back to the ;90’s.

20.) It’s Real Again – Zola Turn
21.) Pennsylvania – The Red Telephone
22.) Made Of Stars – Milton Busker and the Grim Work
23.) This Ain’t No Love Song – The Red Newts

I’m so happy I have nice recordings of the Newts to play for you. Milton and the band will be at The Double E in a couple of weeks. Those are amazing songs from Telephone and Zola and show off some of the deep rich musical past that we had in town. OK, there was one more performer who played at the show at the Monkey last night. Let’s take a deep dive into exploring art.

24.) What Isn’t Performance – Ouzkxqlzn

I know that was long and intense but wasn’t it so amazing? Well, I hope you enjoyed checking out the music of our town. Let’s do it again next week, shall we?

outro

Songs after
A Feast Of Consequences – Fish
Use It Up – The Tragically Hip
Blow At High Dough – The Tragically Hip
Twist My Arm – The Tragically Hip
All Canadian Surf Club – The Tragically Hip
Every Time You Go – The Tragically Hip
Bring It All Back To Me – The Tragically Hip
Boots Or Hearts – The Tragically Hip
Cordelia – The Tragically Hip
The Luxury – The Tragically Hip
Three Pistols – The Tragically Hip
New Orleans Is Sinking – The Tragically Hip
Cellars – decker.
Wastelands Of Sleep – Hawkwind
Jigsaw – Marillion
Dormant Magic – Jason Baker
The Surprising – Deep Purple
Heavy – Clever Girls
regular awesome programming

The Wet Ones

 

I had a great time seeing music last night at The Monkey House. I had plenty of time after work to get some dinner before taking the misty walk to Winooski. I got in and settled and said hi to ace new bartender Diane Jean, then it was showtime.

The lights went down, the dancers started grooving and The Wet Ones lit into their fast cool surf-rock set. They played surf rock songs with a western feel and songs with a spy feel. Everything was instrumental and flowed through fun challenging changes, though the overall sound was super smooth. They played one with a surf noir feel then played one that was slow and pretty. They played one that felt like a High School prom song that ended furiously. Late in the show they played one that began slow and sultry then Amy Wild took the bass line in fun directions. The band let the song build and build before crashing to a conclusion. They kicked it hard for one more song and called it a night. The Wet Ones are lots of fun and should be seen anytime possible.

The Pyros

Up next, The Pyros let loose some fun jangle pop/rock and took the songs to fun places. They infused elements of rockabilly and 50’s soul into their indie rock sound. They opened with a song called Please Go Away and followed with one about validating me. They sang a song about Yellow And Dark Blue and had me bopping around happily. They played a song about a royal flush that had a mellow opening and a heavy ending. As the night went on, it was clear that each of the three band members were extremely good and added lovely touches to each of the songs. They played the full new ep with Coffee, Christian Mingle, and Casanova, and all of the songs were strong and fun. Life got a little scary on a song about a zombie, then we went Hydroplaning for a while. You’re So Beautiful You Scare Me made some sort of sense then they closed with a ’50’s inspired song called Tears I Cry Shoo Be Do Wop, or something like that. Their whole set was great and I’d go see them again in a heartbeat.

 

As is often the case, I did not know anything about headliners B Boys so I stood and listened as they roared into their set. The music had a punk base and they took it in indie rock directions. They came out of the gate at full throttle with a song that said look at me then they asked us to prove it or sue me. The next song had a bit of a Hawkwind flowing vibe then they played a punchy punk song that had a couple of smokes. The next one had a hint of the Talking Heads and the one about how you don’t go my way was a little Beastie. As the set went on some songs had a nu wave feel and there was at least one epic punk song. They ended with one that had a Rush vibe and closed with beautiful fast loud punk song. They were really good.

At some point early in the evening my coworker Nathan Curtis had showed up, and he was nice enough to give me a ride home. It was another great night of music in our town.

 

B Boys

https://www.wbkm.org/

 

 

Tonight’s local music radio show on WBKM.ORG will run from 9-11pm Thursday September 5. You can stream it from the website or here: WBKM It will go as follows.

Lined up before
Navigate – Kali Ma and the Garland of Arms – KMGA
Make It Work – The New Siberians
Cellars – decker.

Song before: Should I Stay Or Should I Go – The Clash

intro

From our small city to the great big world, these are the Sounds Of Burlington. Let’s begin with a song about something that should never be said to a woman, by a band who are releasing their ep tonight.

1.) Don’t Tell Me To Smile – The Red Newts
2.) A Little Notion – Matthew Mercury
3.) Empty Handed – Heavy Sleeper
4.) All I Want – The Silent Mile
5.) Monsters Are Due On Maple St – Doom Service

It was great to see Doom and Silent rip it up at The Monkey House on Tuesday. Sleeper came up from Boston to play that show and sounded really good. That’s another great song from Mercury, and a well-articulated plea from the Newts. OK, this band will be at the Monkey on Wednesday.

6.) Outside – Father Figuer
7.) What’s Inside A Thing – Zeus Springsteen
8.) Making Room – Matt Hall
9.) Bomb – Envy
10.) The Bomb – The Mountain Says No

I haven’t done that fun bomb mix in a while. That’s a new song from Matt. Zeus will play the Green Door as part of Art Hop this Friday. If you are in town, head to the South End this weekend. Art will abound, and there is lots of music too. Father just rock. OK, let’s head back to the ’90;s for a while.

11.) Finder – Madelines
12.) Throw Me Away – Spill
13.) I Regret – Chin Ho
14.) Check The Gravity – Wide Wail
15.) Las Vegas – Ninja Custodian

Ninja rocked us so hard in the early ’90’s. Chin and Wail were legends of that time. Spill and Madelines rocked us hard back then too. OK, let’s keep rocking.

16.) Oh How The Mighty Have Fallen – Barbacoa
17.) Casanova – The Pyros
18.) Pale Blue Dot – Sputoola
19.) Escapegoat – Sad Turtle
20.) Laughing Jim – The Edd

Edd will be in town on Friday at Nectar’s for all of your space rock needs. Turtle will play Friday at the Hop with Zeus. I haven’t checked out Sputoola live yet, but hope to sometime soon. The Pyros will rock the Monkey on Tuesday. That’s a new classic from Barbacoa. OK, let’s keep rocking.

21.) Bandit Cult – Wolfhand
22.) Red Fkags – Night Protocol
23.) Super Powers – The Dead Shakers
24.) On Backstreets – Eastern Mountain Time
25.) Bacalao Con Pan – Mal Maïz
26.) Future Shock – Ruckzuck

I love rocking with Ruckzuck. Mal will be at the Hop on Saturday at Riven Studio. It was great to see Sean Hood from EMT doing sound at the Monkey on Tuesday. I love that Shakers song. Protocol will be at Citizens Cider as part of the Hop on Saturday. Wolfhand are so cool. Well, I hope you enjoyed checking out the music of our town. Let’s do it again next week, shall we?

outro

Songs after
Moving Targets – Fish
Are You Ready? – The Tragically Hip
Sparks – The Color Exchange
Satellite – Guster
Waiting For The World To End – The Depth and the Whisper
Send Him The Bill – Phil Yates & The Affiliates
Paycheck – Slingshot Dakota
Twilight Alehouse – Genesis
King Of The Mountain – Kate Bush
The Revenge Of Vera Gemini – The Contrarian
I love The Night – The Contrarian
Wastelands Of Sleep – Hawkwind
Jigsaw – Marillion
Dormant Magic – Jason Baker
The Surprising – Deep Purple
Heavy – Clever Girls
regular awesome programming

Lake Waves

I had a great time seeing music last Tuesday at The Monkey House. It was set as a show with a band I really wanted to check out, one I had seen once and wanted to see again, one that I loved and one I knew nothing about.

I got out of work at 6, had a little time to eat and relax then took the lovely walk to Winooski. I got in and settled as Lake Waves took the stage. They opened with a song about dirty fingernails and their breezy indie rock sound caught the room. I remembered liking them when I saw them a couple of months ago and instantly remembered why. They followed with a song about being hung out to dry then played the banger. The song about little things that come and little things that go is beautifully crafted pop that also rocks, It sounded huge that night. The next song was slower and more dreamy and I think it was about raking leaves. They ended with another pop epic about not wanting to be on your own. It was a great set and each bad that played after gave them a shout out.

After a quick break, The Silent Mile took the stage with a roar. Their heavy off-kilter indie rock was fast and fun. The first song was furious then they played a huge version of the single All I Want. They played a new song with no lyrics that built into a huge rocker then told us some tales from Last Summer’s Odyssey. They rocked us through some Sleepless Nights then closed with something huge and loud that oozed passion and angst. I had been aching to check them out and I can’t wait to see them again.

Up next, Heavy Sleeper came from Boston to play for us and let loose a flowing heavy jangly sound. They played songs about dying alone and not fearing changes and never letting you go. As the set progressed the sound became less bouncy and was a little more smooth as their lush music filled the air. They played the new single Castaway then played a huge fuzzy poppy slice of gorgeous rock. It may have had a lyric about letting it get away, but either way, it was wonderful. They brought the pace up to full throttle on a song about waking your love and called it a night. They were really good. I’m glad to get to know them.

Just in case we had not already rocked enough that night, Doom Service unleashed their smooth heavy indie punk rock on us. It had been way too long since I’d seen them and I was elated to correct that. Stories of comic books emanated from the stage then the band launched into Monsters Are Due On Maple Street. The song refers to the Twilight Zone episode of the same name and makes some fantastic points about human nature and rocks blisteringly hard. They hit us hard with Collider then welcomed us to the Hellmouth. We went prospecting with the Miner 49er then the Curse brought us down. The Other Iron Sheik rocked us hard and we ended the night with a little Jurassic Bark. They are such an amazing band and all of their songs are so much fun. I just love it every time I get to hear them play.

I hung out for a little bit then took the long walk home. It was another great night of music in our town.

Sorry about spacing out and not getting a picture of Silent Mile.

 

Doom Service

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