iCedric’s Neighborhood

J Tillman - Year In The Kingdom J Tillman Tour Dates 11/10/09 Pike Room  Pontiac, MI 11/11/09 Horseshoe* Toronto, ON 11/12/09 Motore* Montreal, QC 11/13/09 Space* Portland, ME 11/15/09 Middle East* Cambridge, MA 11/16/09 Bell House Brooklyn, NY 11/17/09 First Unitarian* Phila, PA 11/18/09 9:30 Club* Washington, DC 11/19/09 UVA Chapel Charlottesville, VA 11/20/09 Grey Eagle* Asheville, NC 11/21/09 Earl* Atlanta, GA 11/23/09  Bottletree* Birmingham, AL 11/24/09 One Eyed Jacks NOrleans, LA 11/26/09 Walter’s* Houston, TX 11/27/09 Mohawk* Austin, TX 11/30/09 Modified Phoenix, AZ 12/01/09 Casbah San Diego, CA 12/02/09 Troubadour* Los Angeles, CA 12/04/09 Great American Music* SF, CA 12/11/09 "The Crocodile"* Seattle, WA 12/12/09 Mississippi Studios, OR with PGM Read More Fleet Foxes http://weheartmus... Fleet Foxes are a five-piece Seattle-based band signed to Sub Pop and Bella Union. The band came ...

J. Tillman @ The Music Box Theatre, Minneapolis, MN 11.6.09
+ abridged album review

J Tillman ♥ Music Box

Despite his minor fame with unpopular, critically-ignored Fleet Foxes, Josh Tillman has been active in the music scene since 2004.  This past September he released Year in the Kingdom, a 9-track odyssey through stoic mountain towns by way of moderate folk sensitivity.  Merely 28, Tillman evokes an image of timeless worldly servitude that befits his preferred musical genre but also confuses.  He acts the part in person—bearded, casually nondescript, a man of few words; yet once he hits that first note, it’s obvious there’s something judicious beneath the weathered layers.  For one, the quality of his voice is beautiful.  There is simply no masculine way to describe it.  The probability that Tillman drinks and indulges like a big boy is high, but you wouldn’t know by listening to him sing.  Perhaps the impressive facial shrub is actually a clever disguise, masking a sweet, even-tempered fellow who rescues kitties and bakes things for charity.  Doubtful, but my point being Tillman’s ambiguity—it’s equally believable that he wandered into town from the wide blue yonder as it is that he stumbled on stage from the local, artist-packed watering hole.

Year in the Kingdom remembers a simpler era that Tillman was not alive to experience.  Softer tracks cite 60s folk influences like Joni Mitchell, had Mitchell penned her songs in a humble log cabin, without basic comforts save for canned beans and a faithful canine companion.  The sparse “Age of Man” is a few twangs/few stringed instruments short of Americana territory, while “Though I Have Wronged You” reminds us that Tillman isn’t seriously concerned by FF comparisons.  At times matter-of-factly somber (“There is No Good in Me”), the album lulls its listeners into a false feeling of peace (albeit reflective, disquieting peace) that does not prepare the ears for the sheer force of Tillman’s live rocking.

Kingdom-the-album clashed awesomely with Friday night’s show at the Music Box Theatre in Minneapolis.  I now have a physical point of reference for the expression “it blew my mind,” as I’m pretty sure I lost a piece of my skull when Tillman blew my mind.  Similar to the structure of the studio tracks—gentle start, build-up, full instrumental progression—the show began as one would expect had they listened to Kingdom:  Tillman + band = traditional 3-dimensional engagement.  Then, maybe a third of the way into the set, all hell broke loose.  Cue roar of full instrumental capacity, skin-tingling whine of amped slide guitar, psychedelic transformation, and crazy apeshit thrashing.  On top of everything unholy, we, the audience, bore witness to grown men playing plastic recorders and finger cymbals. Surely I wasn’t the only one to lose some head mass by the end of the night.

Cerebral hemorrhage notwithstanding, strong tracks like “Though I Have Wronged You” sounded ridiculously swollen with intensity and deliberate flair.  Not showy, per se; rather, phrenic but perverted by foggy invention.  It was like walking into the Louvre for the first time—extraordinary but strangely unfocused, as if the senses were forced into overdrive.  Had I lapped a taste of Tillman’s sweat*, the experience would’ve been complete.  Unfortunately, there was no exchange of bodily fluids; there wasn’t even an encore (a mumbled “thanks” and the musicians made their hasty exit).  It didn’t matter.  How do you follow an act like yourself?

J Tillman ♥ Music Box, Minneapolis (11/06/09)

A few random thoughts without homes:  in high school, Tillman visited Crown, a conservative Christian college in St. Bonifacius, MN; Miracle Whip is the default condiment of Fargo, ND, this according to the band; Josh’s younger brother, Zach, opened the show and also played bass for the elder Tillman’s set.

J. Tillman is currently on tour in support of Year in the Kingdom.  Upcoming shows include stops in Chicago and New York.  For more information or to listen to select tracks, visit his Myspace at http://www.myspace.com/jtillman. 

* I’m not a creeper, promise.

 11/09/2009 03:26:24 ♥ lara (/lara206.vox.com) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ myspace.com/jtillman

Coup d'envoi.

C'est sûr, au footeux, faut pas essayer de lui parler sans ce petit ascendant psychologique qui peut arriver lorsqu'il baisse la garde. On profite d'une ouverture, on annonce la nouvelle, et on attend le contre favorable. Le seul souci, c'est qu'il nous réponde en contre pied, et qu'il profite du temps réglementaire pour s'opposer à notre demande. Dans ce cas, une seule parade, repousser le non en faveur du je te comprends on en reparlera plus tard mon chéri, s'incrire dans une dynamique de tacle, réglementaire bien sûr, et récupérer l'ascendant. Cette intelligence du déplacement sur la surface de négociation permet de dégager loin, quasiment au second poteau. Au final, une inscription en soutien qui permet de patienter jusqu'au temps additionnel, et de finir sur un score final de 1 partout;)

20h00, samedi soir.

Les 5 enfants sont chacun dans leur chambre, attelés à diverses activités silencieuses ou minutieuses selon l'âge, dodo, challenge du coloriage à réaliser absolument sans dépasser, mini paillettes à coller le long d'une longue ligne en zigzag, lecture d'une encyclopédie minimum, le retour de la momie en volume 3 maximum.

Et pour moi?

Pour moi, c'est le top sonore qui marque la fin d'une journée de 14h d'affilées, (pour l'instant), dédiée à tous, sauf à moi. Pfiou.

20h00, l'heure où la pression tombe d'un coup.

Et c'est là que je réalise pour la première fois que mon tee shirt est maculé de lait caillé, que mon jean est décoré de Petit Ecolier machouillé écrasé, que les lacets de mes baskets ne se sont pas ré-attachés tout seuls finalement, que mes cheveux ne ressemblent à rien, que j'ai 7 appels en absence de ma mère, que le contenu de la troisième machine de linge ne s'est pas étendu par magie, et que mon laptop n'avait plus de batterie à force de m'attendre en veille.

Pas grave.

A ce top sonore, c'est pour moi. Enfin. Un petit morceau de ma journée m'appartient encore. Et c'est maintenant.

C'est maintenant que je m'assoie avec un petit verre rempli de veritas, que je tape ces mots, avant d'aller lire mes blogs préférés.

Au prochain top sonore, je serai sur votre page;)

Har Mar Superstar - Game Night Har Mar Superstar Tour Dates 11/08/09 Aquarium* Fargo, ND 11/09/09 Waiting Room* Omaha, NE 11/11/09 Brick Kansas City, MO 11/29/09 Oxford O2 Academy 3, UK 11/30/09 Relentless Garage London 12/01/09 Thekla Bristol, UK 12/02/09 Wedgewood Portsmouth, UK 12/03/09 Cabaret Voltaire Edinburgh 12/04/09 Bodega Nottingham, UK 12/05/09 Brickyard Carlisle, UK 12/06/09 King Tut’s Wah Wah Glasgow 12/07/09 Ruby Lounge Manchester, UK 12/08/09 Plug Sheffield, UK 12/09/09 Academy 2 Dublin, Ireland 12/10/09 Stiff Kitten Belfast, Ireland 12/12/09 Concorde 2 Brighton, UK 12/13/09 Barfly Cardiff, UK * with Bang Bang Eche Read More Har Mar Superstar http://weheartmus... Har Mar Mall - I mean Superstar - is back, after five years of absent since 2004's The Handler......

Parking in the college area known as "Dinkytown" in Minneapolis can be kind of hard, especially when the meters on 4^th Street runs until 10pm. I didn't mind walking a few blocks to the beautiful Varsity Theater as the weather was nothing less than perfect that Friday evening.

Opening up for Har Mar Superstar are three very different genre and acts. Starting with Koo Koo Kangeroo (official / myspace), whose music styling is that of hip hop - for toddlers. Their songs are dead simple, like "AOA" (sample lyrics: "aye oh aye oh aye") and "Cheh Cheh Chi" and "LMNOP", but they're catchy and easy to sing along. The highlight of their set was when they threw down a white tarp-like covering and the audience was dancing under it like a party fort.

Wow, Bang Bang Eche (myspace) are young. Someone told me that they're about 18 years old, but they certainly look much younger. Their music is very punk high-energy and reminds me a bit of Arctic Monkeys influenced. My easily favorite song from their set is "Fist Full of Dollars", perhaps a reference to Sergio Leone classic film? They ended their setlist with "Die Hippy Scum". Oh, also, it's worth noting that bassist T'Nealle sported a three keyboard cat moon t-shirt. Adorable.

The odd group on the bill was two-person group, Lookbook (myspace). The band is basically guitarist Grant Cutler, who plays guitars and handles the pre-recordings, with vocalist Maggie Morrison. Their music sounds like 80s pop, not exactly the "body-moving" type of music that you'd think Har Mar's audience would demand. Not really much to say, except I think Maggie looks really cute and I will be talking about them in further detail on my "book"-theme news on Sunday.

Har Mar Superstar ♥ Varsity Theater, Minneapolis (11/06/09)

Compared to the last time I saw Har Mar Superstar, which was basically a man and his undies and boombox - he now has a full band, all dressed in white with a red cross on the back. Also, the last time I saw him, he basically stripped down after the first few songs - this time, he started off very heavily dressed with an African cover, hat, etc.

After the first song, he took off his hat. After "DUI", he took off the overall to reveal a Prince "Purple Rain" shirt. He kept taking off articles of clothing as the night went on. From "EZ Pass", to "Girls Only", to "Creative Juices"... the audience was loving it all.

Har Mar and Melinda Park singing "Powerline"

By the time "Brothers & Sisters" was played, he inevitably took off his shirt. The pants disappeared with "Apple Sauce", followed by "Turn it Around". The finale song was "Tall Boy", which Zach, from Bang Bang, and some woman called Melinda Park (or was it Mindy Park?) joined on stage to help sing the song. Park would later turn up again to help sing one of the encore, "Powerline".

The very last song, Har Mar sang an a cappella version of Boyz II Men's "It's So Hard To Say Goodbye To Yesterday". He would pretend the song ended and everyone would clap... only he would continue to sing the refrain. After the third false ending and after he said "goodnight", he came back and sang some more.

Har Mar's latest album is Dark Touches, available from Dilettante Recordings. Read Andrew's review of the album, pick up a copy at amazon

 11/07/2009 04:22:06 ♥ vu () ♥ harmarsuperstar.com ♥ myspace.com/harmarsuperstar ♥ twitter.com 

Wow. Je viens de réaliser: Je suis plus rentable que le Livret A.

La seule variable de ma journée, c'est le temps.
Ce qui est invariable, c'est le travail, les enfants, le couple, la maison, les 6 heures de sommeil par nuit, le blog;)
Et tout le reste relève de l'accidentel (le social and co qui se joue hors de l'enceinte du foyer ou du lieu de travail).

Ainsi, le seul élément sur lequel je puisse jouer, ce sont les minutes que je grapille à droite et à gauche, et que je suis libre de réattribuer selon mes invariabilités et mes accidentalités.

Mais pour grapiller des minutes, il faut vivre dangereusement les amis.

Je marche au minimum au pas de course, env. 8 km/h, en comptant les gens que je dépasse en guise de trophée.
Je zigzague entre les passants sans même m'en rendre compte.
Je m'impose sur les passages piétons qui n'ont pas de feu rouge (c'est absurde à Paris), jouant avec ma vie.
Je ne connais pas la file de droite des escalators.
Je descends les escaliers 3 à 3 en évitant avec brillo pour l'instant les foulures de cheville sur mes talons.
Je connais les raccourcis des stations de métro.
Je suis incollable sur les meilleurs wagons de RER pour accéder directement aux sorties.
Je suis diplômée agrégée du Shiva Institute pour mes 2 bras qui en valent 4.
Je connais les décomptes de minutes entre chaque passage du piéton rouge au piéton vert.
Je dépense systématiquement le double de calories que j'ai beau ingèrer.

Ben oui! Je vous vois rigoler doucement, mais que voulez vous? Les journées ouvrables (sans les 6 heures de sommeil) n'ayant que 1080 minutes, si j'en gagne 40 à réattribuer en toute liberté grâce à ma vie hyper dangereuse, c'est énorme les amis! C'est du 3,7% d'optimisation et de rentabilité pure et dure... J'explose le taux du Livret A;)